Edge of Memory

Chapter 13: Static in the blood

He was pissed. That was the easiest thing to admit.

You hadn't told anyone. Not even him.

You just... left.

Because you didn't think they could help?

Or because you didn't want them to?

He didn't know which thought made his chest tighter.

⸻

He remembered the last time he saw you. Not the flirting, not the teasing. Just that moment when you'd leaned back against the training post, eyes half-lidded, smirk in place. Like you were invincible.

And he'd believed you.

But he should have noticed the way your hand lingered on Nyx's snout a little too long.

The way your gaze flicked toward the horizon when you thought no one saw.

He should've stopped you then.

The guilt hit sharper than the wind.

"She left because she thinks we'll get in the way," he muttered to Hookfang.

The dragon grunted, exhaling heat.

"Or because she thinks she's not coming back."

He hated that more than anything.

⸻

The island crested the sea like a monster surfacing from the deep. Jagged cliffs, steel cages, glowing red from inside like something was burning beneath it.

Snotlout reined Hookfang back, wings stilled into a hover just inside the cloudline. Steam hissed off the dragon's snout.

Below, the island teemed with movement.

Dark shapes patrolled the air — Deathgrippers. Their tails curled in hunting arcs. You couldn't get within a hundred feet without being seen.

Unless...

Snotlout angled Hookfang lower, circling wide, sticking to the shadowed side. He scanned the island.

He didn't know what he was looking for. A cage? A signal? A figure at a window?

Anything.

Nothing.

Hookfang shivered beneath him.

"She's here," Snotlout said. He felt it like a pull in his chest. A tension that didn't loosen even now.

"She has to be."

He hovered another few seconds, biting down the urge to dive straight in.

But he wasn't that stupid. Not without eyes on the target.

He'd wait until the guards thinned. Until he found a hole.

Until then, he'd watch.

He'd wait.

But only just.

⸻

Back at Dragon's Edge, Hiccup stood at the cliffside, watching the stars disappear westward.

"Toothless?" he murmured.

The Night Fury looked up.

"Think they'll be okay?"

Toothless turned toward the sea.

And for the first time in years, he didn't blink.

⸻

🩶 Bonus Scene: "The Name That Echoed"

(Reader's POV, in the cell beneath Grimmel's stronghold)

⸻

The stone floor had long gone numb beneath you.

You weren't sure how long you'd been down here — hours, maybe a day. Time didn't move in straight lines when pain and hunger crept in. The only light came from the flickering torch outside your cell. Every few minutes, it spat and hissed like it might go out for good.

You stared at it anyway.

There was nothing else to look at. Just steel bars, rusted bolts, and claw marks on the far wall — not yours. Old ones. Deep.

Vox had been here longer.

Your hands were scraped raw from pulling against your restraints the first hour. The shackles around your wrists now sat loose from how still you'd gone. Maybe Grimmel thought you'd given up.

He didn't understand what you were waiting for.

You sat curled against the wall, legs pulled in tight, chin resting on your knees.

Then you heard it.

A whisper.

Soft. Fractured. Almost a growl, almost a cry.

"...Y/N..."

Your heart stopped.

It wasn't human. It was him.

You scrambled toward the wall, pressing your palm flat against the cold stone, like you could touch him through it.

"Vox," you whispered, voice hoarse.

The silence that followed was unbearable — but it wasn't empty. You felt it. A weight on the other side. A presence that knew you, even if he barely remembered your face.

He'd said your name.

Not the one Grimmel used. Not what others guessed.

Your name.

Y/N.

You hadn't heard it like that in so long. Not from him.

You leaned your forehead against the wall, eyes closed. Whispered back:
"I'm still here."

Another pause.

Then... something scraped against the other side. A claw? A wing? You couldn't tell.

But you weren't alone.

Not anymore.