Haley and the Dragon Riders

Whispered Promises Of Love

"I can't help but love you, even when I try not to." I whispered to myself once I was in the air and far enough away for him to hear me. River squawked in agreement, and I pet the side of her head.

On the way back to the edge, I hunted a few boar so I'd have an excuse for why I left.

After my little stunt with Viggo in the woods, he hasn't returned any of my letters. I've been writing to him every few weeks. Usually, he'd send a response letter once a month, but it's already been 4, and I haven't gotten a single letter from him.

I hope I haven't lost him for good because of that kiss. It was just friendly teasing for all he knows, right? He wouldn't cut contact for something as small as that, would he? Oh Loki, I've lost him. He's gone forever. Damnit! I'm an idiot. Letting my feelings get the better of me. That's it, no more feelings of love, except for River. She'll always be in my heart.

"Haley!" Snotlout's sudden outburst scared me back to reality.

"Huh? Oh, uh, right! Uhm.. what were we talking about?" The others were all staring at me.

"We were talking about the twins' insane idea to use River in their boar pit." Fishlegs explained.

"Having a Speed Stinger in the boar pit would make an excellent addition to the games." Tuffnut stated.

"Indeed, indeed. Every good boar pit with an ounce of respect for itself has a Speed Stinger in it. Just imagine the possibilities!" Ruffnut added.

"I'm not following?" Their idea was insane like the others said, but I needed something to get my mind off of Viggo for a bit.

"Okay, so imagine this-" tuffnut started, and as he and Ruffnut were talking amongst themselves, Astrid leaned over the table and whispered to me.

"You're not seriously going along with this, are you?"

"Of course not. I just let them talk while zoning out and giving them a firm no at the end, like always." I reassured her. She laughed at my reply, and the twins looked at us, seemingly confused.

"Uh, excuse us. This is a serious business we are discussing." Tuff seemed offended at our laughs.

"Yeah! Take your unserious lau

ghter somewhere else." Ruff added.

"Alright, sorry guys, but River is not going into any pit." I stated as I stood from my chair.

"But -" They both started, but I was tired of listening to them, so I cut them off before they could argue.

"No buts. I don't care what's in the pit, if anything, River is not going in it. Now, it's getting late. I'm heading back. Goodnight, guys." I waved as I left the Great Hall before the twins had time to say anything.

Back in my hut, I found a Terrible Terror sleeping on my desk. It had a letter tied around its body. I woke the dragon briefly to take the letter before letting it continue sleeping.

It was from Viggo. He hadn't abandoned me completely. In the letter, he had written that he needed to meet with me and that I should go to the island where he handed himself over. It sounded urgent, and I wanted to go right away, but he wrote that I should wait until nightfall. Possibly to make it easier to get away. As eager and curious as I was to go, I did as instructed and waited until everyone had gone to bed at nightfall before leaving.

Once I felt that it was dark enough, I left. I wanted to make sure I wasn't being followed, so I took a bit of a detour to get there.

It was hard to see anything when I got to the island. I had landed on the shore and walked further inland in hopes of finding Viggo.