Astrid's POV

"Ouch..." I groaned as I massaged the side of my forehead with the heel of my hand, my head thundering like a rainstorm over the ocean. After my headache had the chance to calm down a little, I slowly opened my eyes and took in the room around me.

The first thing I noticed was that I was sitting in a surprisingly soft bed, which was an upgrade from the last time I had woken up in an unfamiliar place. The room around me was not a big one, and it reminded me a lot of the cell I had spent a year in not too long ago, which sent a spiral of fear up my spine as I shot up from the bed and sprung over to the dark, wooden door. I tried pushing and pulling the door, but to no avail, it wouldn't budge. I let out a heavy sigh as I plopped back down on the soft bed with my head hung low. Once again, I had managed to get myself kidnapped, good going Astrid!

The wooden door I had stood before earlier began rattling before it swung open, revealing a curvy woman with a sweet smile and bright, blue eyes. "Ah, you're finally awake!"

"Uh, who are you, and where am I?" I narrowed my eyes at the sweet-seeming woman as she closed the door behind her and placed a basket beside it.

The woman chuckled as she began pulling up long measuring bands and white fabric from the basket she had brought in. "I'm Hilda and you're on the glorious island of Midnatter."

"Midnatter?" I asked as the woman began measuring and poking me, which I did not like at all. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?"

The woman, Hilda, shrugged as she held up the measuring band. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm taking your measures!"

I took another step away from Hilda. "Measures? And for what exactly?"

Hilda let out a shrill laughter as she let her hands fall to her sides. "Well, for your wedding of course!"

"My wedding? Sorry, I'm already married and I'm not about to do it again." I snorted as I swatted away the older woman who was trying to measure my body.

"Oh darling, you refused, didn't you?" Hilda asked as she swiftly swung the measuring band around my chest and tightened it to a point where I could barely breathe.

"Refused? What? Fennir's ... oh." I felt my shoulders slump as I put the pieces together and realized what situation I had managed to get myself into.

"In my own experience, I find that it's just better to nod along and cooperate until you find a way out." Hilda hummed as she calmly wrapped the measuring band around my waist.

I furrowed my brows at Hilda. "In your own experience?"

"Oh yes, when I was a young woman, my parents told me that I was to marry this boy from another village I had never seen nor spoken to. At first I thought that it couldn't be as bad as I imagined it to be, but unfortunately, I was wrong. I despised him from the second he opened his mouth. Three failed attempts of escape later and a round of whipping, I found that it was just wiser to be silent and nod along. And that worked from the day we married to the day he died, and fortunately for me, he died on the battlefield about a week after the birth of our third child, ultimately freeing me and the children from his bad habits and atrocious behavior." Hilda smiled wistfully as she recounted the tale of her life, clearly over the moon to have gotten rid of her husband after such a short period of time.

I blinked rapidly as I processed Hilda's story. "But if you were put through nearly the same thing as me, then why won't you help me escape?"

Hilda stopped and met my gaze, her usually cheery eyes turning downcast as she knitted her brows together. "If I could, I would help you escape this Hel in a heartbeat, but it simply isn't possible. First of all, Midnatter is a small, flat and sparsely populated island, which makes hiding very difficult, second, Midnatter is also in the middle of nowhere and with all ships controlled by the Chief and his men, it's quite impossible to escape with any of those. And if you were thinking about swimming, the next Island isn't for another 80 miles."

"Oh." I bit my lip as I sank down on my bed. "Hey, Hilda?"

Hilda looked back up from the parchment she had been scribbling my measurements down on. "Yes?"

"Do you think that I could maybe have a piece of parchment and something to write with?" I asked her as I twiddled with my thumbs.

Hilda's lips bent up in a warm smile as she handed me a piece of parchment from her basket and something to write with before slipping out the door, locking it behind her. I glanced down at the paper as I channeled every one of the positive feelings I had for my dear husband before scribbling down my cry for help.

I rolled up the parchment before making my way over to the window, where I whistled for a terrible terror. Not too long after, a terrible terror appeared at my window, sniffing the rolled up parchment before tilting its head at me. I quickly stuck my hand into one of the pouches I had tied around my waist, pulling up one of Stormfly's beautiful blue scales and some string.

I tied the scroll to the terror's leg, before allowing it to sniff Stormfly's scale. "Here, little guy. Go find Stormfly and Hiccup and they will give you some dinner for your service."

The terrible terror squawked happily before taking off in what I presumed to be the direction of Berk. I let out a sigh as I watched the little dragon flap away. How I hoped it would reach Hiccup in time.

Hiccup's POV

Our search for Astrid seemed to be going nowhere. After searching every island, seastack and cave in the archipelago, we still had no clue to where she could be. I gently massaged my temples before once again crossing off another island off the map.

"That was the last island in the archipelago," I admitted to my council, who were all gathered around the table with me. "And we haven't even gotten a whiff of Astrid."

I glanced over to the corner of the room where Stormfly laid, watching us with half-open eyes and head resting on the ground. It was clear that I wasn't the only one who missed Astrid. Beside Stormfly sat Toothless, who was gently judging her with his head in an attempt to cheer the Deadly Nadder up, but to no avail.

My gaze remained on the two dragons for too long as my mind wandered to Astrid, my beautiful Astrid. How is it possible to be as stupid as I was? I was the root of all of our problems, and I was the cause of the rift in our marriage.m

Suddenly, the doors to the Meade Hall were thrown open, followed by a pair of screeching twins running away from what seemed to be a ... terrible terror? I knitted my brows together at the twins as they scrambled to get away from the puny dragon, who seemed to pay no attention to the twins as it made a beeline towards Stormfly.

"ACTIVATE STATUE MODUS, RUFF, STATUE MODUS!" Tuffnut hollered as Ruffnut clawed to get atop his shoulders and freeze into position, right as the terrible terror passed them. The pair were visibly relieved as their shoulders relaxed, ultimately causing the twins to tumble to the ground, earning a round of laughter and shorts from the council.

The terrible terror landed at Stormfly's feet, climbing atop her large body as it seemed to be sniffing her scales. As I watched the strange scene in front of me unfold, I noticed something wrapped around the little dragon's foot. I made my way over to the dragons and untied the roll of parchment from the terror's foot.

^^^

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III,

Hiccup,
I'm so sorry for everything that has happened between us, after some time of thinking, I've realized that I can't just let you go, at least not without trying to hold on for a little while longer. If you decide that you want me back as well, I swear I will help raise the child as if it was my own.

Even if you decide you no longer want me, I will still share this information with you:

I have been kidnapped by a man named Fennir Isleson and am being held captive on an island by the name of Midnatter. If you could send a rescue team to help me out before I am forced to marry Fennir, that would be highly appreciated.

Yours truly,

'Fearless' Astrid Haddock.

^^^

The parchment quivered in my hands as pure rage flowed freely through my veins. Someone had kidnapped my wife and had the intention of marrying her without her consent? I was close to tearing the parchment to shreds before I remembered that the council were all watching me, waiting to hear what was causing me to shake like a leaf.

I gritted my teeth as I swiftly folded the parchment and stuffed it into my pocket. "Pack your bags and get the auxiliary team ready, everyone. We're going on a trip to Midnatter."