Chapter 4: Not Tonight *Edited*

                                    

                                          
The sun was starting to set, casting beautiful rays across the pink and purple clouds below the young couple. They had been flying for a few hours in complete silence, unsure of what to say to each other. Hiccup was pondering the reasoning behind Astrid's sudden lust for a vacation while she was wondering how she should bring up the subject of his sorrow. The blonde Viking pulled up her fur hood to shield her head from the bitter wind that swirled around them in the darkening night. It was very chilled, but it was not snowing...yet. She rubbed the side of Stormfly's head, silently commanding her to fly over to the black dragon. She leaned over to her dragon's ear and whispered 'follow' before jumping onto Toothless' back and wrapping her arms around Hiccups middle.
                          
She stared up into the sky, watching the stars twinkle as the Aurora Borealis were trying to come out and dance along with them. It reminded her of the first time she flew on a dragon, they night she had found out that Hiccup, the boy she had been crushing on since forever, was harboring a dragon, but not just any dragon, but a Night Fury. Oh, how she wishes she could bring that Hiccup back, the happy, joyous one. She sighed quietly as she wrapped her arms a little tighter around her boyfriend.
                          
"What is it milady?" He asked.
                          
"You."
                          
He grabbed her right hand with his and interlaced their fingers while rubbing his thumb in a circle around the back of her hand. He looked down at their interlaced fingers.
                          
"What about me?" He asked.
                          
She stifled a cry and put her head in the crook of his neck. "Your health."
                          
He chuckled worriedly. "Am I sick?"
                          
"Yes...no...um, sort of..." She mumbled.
                          
Hiccup gave no response, finally catching on to what she was doing. He adjusted the pedal on Toothless' saddle and they began their silent descent to Itchy Armpit. Toothless glided with the current and flapped frantically before landing on the mountain. He let the two Vikings off his back before running off with Stormfly, knowing that their riders needed some time alone.
                          
Hiccup helped his girlfriend over to a rocky area settled within a few trees, the same place he was just 3 days ago, mapping out the terrain with Toothless when the two found it. Astrid sat on one of the mossy rocks, fiddling with the green bits on it and smiling while doing so. It was one of her favorite memories, alongside when she found out about Toothless, when Hiccup woke up after defeating the red death and the whole towns first Snoggletog with the dragons. They were all pretty hectic days, but they all ended up happy and the only reason why Itchy Armpit made the cut was because it was the last time she saw Hiccup completely happy with his head in the clouds like normal. Now he had his axe to the grind, he was all too fixated in his own sorrow and taking care of the village, but he was also very confused. His grief caused mood swings, making him perfectly fine one moment, stressing about the village another, then crying over the lose of his father or yelling at everyone in his path. That is exactly why she took him away from Berk, so he could forget about everything just for a few days and focus on her and Toothless, boy was he getting the brunt end of it.
                          
Hiccup knows it was not Toothless' fault, Astrid knew that, but he was still getting ignored for reasons she thought to be because he was just so busy. Not once, besides after becoming chief, had Hiccup and Toothless gone for a flight. Astrid would have done it herself, but the pedal on his saddle didn't allow it. But that didn't matter now; Astrid decided she is going to try to change that now.
                          
She watched him as he collected firewood from the leafless trees, setting them within a rock circle he had formed a few seconds ago. Astrid then began to dig through the bag that Valka gave her, and pulled out a large woolen blanket. She wrapped it around her shoulders, trying to warm up in the freezing night while her boyfriend now began to strike his dagger across a piece of flint. It took a few tries and lots of sparks flying before he set flame to the wood, but when he did manage, it erupted into a huge fire that flickered at least three feet high. Its brilliant yellow flames flickered brightly in the night and sent warming rays onto the couple, easing the winter night ahead of them.