The Hero's Return

Chapter 9 - Heart Break Turn Into Bond

By the time that she landed on the ground and headed straight toward her home. Her mind was filled with thoughts and questions that she had for herself. "Why did I do that? Why did I run like that? But why am I doing this with him in the first place? I am going to be the shieldmaiden and I cannot fail that. I need to be a shieldmaiden." Astrid paused for a moment as her eyes turned toward the Dragon's Haven. 

To her, everything that he had shown her and every moment that the both of them spent together was always the highlight of Astrid day and the fact that since his appearance, she had not experienced that nightmare or she felt the desire to unleash her emotions. Instead, she felt calm at the end and at the beginning of every day.

"I am sorry, H. But I promised to myself and to him that I am going to become a shieldmaiden." Astrid let out a long sigh before letting the day just passed by a heavy heart and hope that tomorrow everything was going to be the same.

Unfortunately, it was not. The Dragon Master did not appear as she had hoped, he did not attend the meeting with the Council of Chief as he should. They could still see him soaring the sky as a black dot would zip around the sky before landing back at the Dragon's Haven. 

Soon, a week had passed and not once that the Dragon Master had shown himself on Berk, nor he had told anyone about his sudden disappearance. The Berkians wondered among themselves, however, everyone just assumed that he was busy. He was the Dragon Master after all. 

"It had been a while since his last appearance, hadn't it?" Fishlegs asked.

"Yeah, he had been awfully quiet for the last week, no news, no information." Heather sighed. "Even Stoick is getting anxious." 

"Maybe he is just really busy." Tuffnut suggested hopefully.

"I don't think so Tuff, he hadn't been busy last week, we could even see he flying above the sky from time to time."

"I miss him already." Ruffnut said with a heavy tone.

"We all are."

At this point, the five of them noticed the sad expression that had stolen Astrid face and the lifeless energy that seemed to surround everything that she did. A sight that all of them had all seen before. This was something that would always happen nearing his date, but the fact that it had passed for more than two weeks now, Astrid's action would only make them even more confused. 

"You okay, Ast?" Heather asked with a worrying tone.

"Yeah, I think that I am going to be okay." Astrid answered lifelessly just like all of her others response. "I think that I am going to go to the forest."

With every step that she took, she felt the weight of her decision, the decision that she was just had driven the Dragon Master away. Holding the axe firmly in her hand, she began to swing it at the innocent tree before her. With every impact, she could feel the frustration and the doubt that she had for her own decision. Most important of all, one question continuously showed itself to her. "Why is he so special?"

As afternoon turned into night, Astrid finally exited the forest and headed back home not caring for dinner. The thought in her mind alone more than enough to drive her to such state of despair. Thus, she did not want to be showered with worries of her friends like always.

The following morning was the same, Astrid slugged out of bed, prepared, got dress and exited her house with no energy. Until she saw a dark figure in the distant. As the figure approached, she felt her body rejuvenized. It was none other than the Dragon Master finally showed himself after a week of missing.

However, instead of landing in the middle of the village like his previous one, this time, he landed right outside of the Chief home, where he immediately knocked on the door and handed Stoick a scroll the moment that Stoick opened the door. As sudden and unannounced as his appearance, he simply mounted on his nightfury and took off for the Dragon's Haven before anyone could even come close to him.