The Gift of the Princess (HTTYD)

Disappearances

Chapter 29: Disappearances

Snotlout had been acting funny all day, and Ingrid did not understand it. It started on their air patrol but continued as they checked on the dragons on Berk. He rotated between babbling nonsense and clamming up. Ingrid decided to ignore it for now because they had more important things to worry about.

"Didn't there used to be more dragons living in the village?" Ingrid said after they finished their tour.

Snotlout shrugged. "I think so, but didn't Gobber say there were too many and he was going to bring it up with Hiccup?" He looked away quickly when he finished speaking.

Ingrid could not imagine Hiccup kicking dragons off Berk, so he had to have suggested something else to them. "Let's check the forest."

"Or maybe we could just talk and-"

Ingrid had already flown into the air with Shadowwhisper, leaving Snotlout and Hookfang no choice but to follow. They scoured the forest as they had done the village, and even here the dragon numbers were slightly off. They stopped at the edge of the island, still on their dragons. "Something's not right, Snotlout. Dragons are leaving Berk, and we need to find out why."

"Maybe they're upset because, uh, Hiccup and Astrid won't get married."

Ingrid stared at him. "What has that have to do with anything?" A white blur suddenly whipped past them. The young woman gasped as she watched a pure white dragon that looked awfully like a Night Fury fly away from Berk at incredible speed. "That must be the Light Fury!"

Snotlout whistled. "Wow, she's going somewhere in a hurry."

"Maybe we should follow her."

Snotlout gave her an incredulous look. "Are you crazy? She attacked Hiccup twice! I'm not going anywhere near her."

Ingrid stopped herself from suggesting that Shadowwhisper could keep the dragon calm enough for them to talk to her. It was just as well, for the Light Fury faded into the light. "Fine. Let's go back."

"Or we could stay here and talk."

Ingrid raised her eyebrows at Snotlout. Something about his smile seemed way too forced. Something was definitely going on. "Okay... what do you want to talk about?"

Snotlout scratched his head. "Uh, nice breeze we're having?" Hookfang snorted.

"If you're not going to be serious-"

"No, wait! I, uh..." Snotlout darted his eyes around nervously. "I wanted to talk about... our relationship."

Ingrid's heart skipped a beat. "What about it?"

"I... don't think we should follow Hiccup and Astrid's lead, do you?"

Ingrid blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"You know, dragging things on for years with nothing going anywhere..."

Ingrid's eyes widened in realization. He mentioned something earlier about those two getting married. He wasn't suggesting the two of them should marry, was he? Panic set in, and she found it hard to think straight. "You know what, Snotlout? I think our relationship is just fine. There's nothing to change at all. Now I've got to, uh, go bathe Shadowwhisper!"

"But I just-"

Ingrid urged her dragon into the air, and soon, the two of them were too far away to hear Snotlout. Thankfully, he and Hookfang did not follow them. She let out a breath of relief. "Thanks, boy." She rubbed the side of Shadowwhisper's neck. Maybe she should not have run, but she was not ready to have a conversation with that just yet! Besides, there was no way Snotlout came up with that on his own. Someone had baited him.