Saving You

Chapter 4

"Speech!" shouted a Berkian, who turned out to be one other than Tuffnut. The feast was finished, and the villagers and traders were looking up at their chief expectantly.
"Umm.." Hiccup got to his feet, and Astrid gave him an encouraging pat on the back. "Thank you." He nodded to the Tuff, rolling his eyes at him, as he began to jump up and down on the spot. "Fellow Berkians!" Hiccup yelled after clearing his throat. "Today marks the beginning of the 34th annual trading festival, and I am honoured to be your chief during it." The crowd erupted into cheers, the majority of the Vikings high on excitement and mead. "Also" Hiccup continued. "I am sure my dad, Stoick the Vast, is sad to miss it. May his soul rest on in Valhalla." He looked at Valka, who nodded at himAnyway," he paused for a moment, as the mystery trader shuffles in his seat, and gets up to leave. "Enjoy your evening, and look forward to the events continuing tomorrow." With that, he pushed himself away from the table, and began running towards the doors, which had just slammed shut. Confused, the crowd looked around, whispering to one another, trying to find out where the chief was going, and why his speech was cut short. Astrid and Toothless exchanged a quick glance, before running after him themselves.
"Hiccup!" Astrid yelled, as soon as she and the dragon had exited the great hall. "Hiccup!"
He whipped his head around, stopping for a second, before putting a finger to his lips and nodding his head, signalling for her to follow. The pair raced forward, joining Hiccup in doing whatever he was doing.
Hiccup's mind was racing. Of course something was going to go wrong, he thought. Of course someone shady is going to show up, and probably try to attack me or the village . I'm Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the III! When does anything I do not end in danger? They continued to run, until they reached the centre of Berk, where there was nothing or no one to be seen. Hiccup stood, turning around in circles, trying to find something, and failing.
"What are you looking for?" Astrid began after catching up to him, before being 'shh'ed again by him. Her and Toothless exchanged yet another look and use watched as Hiccup looked around. Suddenly, they heard a rustling noise coming from a bush.
"There," Hiccup pointed in the direction of the noise, and drew his Gronckle-iron sword. Following his actions, Astrid crept closer, drawing her axe as she did so, and Toothless joined in by developing a plasma blast, ready to shoot.
"The trader, from the hall. The one we didn't recognise," Hiccup explained, his weapon still in hand. "He left during my speech." He paused. "I have a bad feeling about this one, Astrid."
As the two approached, the shrub started rustling even more, almost shaking uncontrollably. Directly before Toothless was about to let fire, a figure emerged from the bush, but it was not who they suspected.
"Strouse?" the pair exclaimed, and Toothless extinguished the blast. "What are you doing here?"
"Ah Master Hiccup! I was just looking through these magnificent flowers." Sitting right in front of them was a bush of red oleander flowers, which had bloomed perfectly It was spring, after all. "Did you know that red oleander flowers can produce a creamy gel if harvested at the right hour? It can be almost as valuable as a dragon eye these days! Almost, that is."
"How interesting." Hiccup said, hiding the sarcasm caused by nerves in his voice a best as possible. Strouse didn't seem to notice. "Hey, did you happen to see a dark-haired man run by here? Trader?"
"I'm afraid not, Master Hiccup. Actually, I've never heard of any trader who matches that description. There was a boat, at the docks." He paused, but Hiccup urged him on. "A boat I didn't recognise to be one of my traders."
"Did you catch any details? A crest? A person? A scroll? Anything?" Astrid urged.
"This is important, Strouse, the lives of the Berkians and the Traders could be at stake here." Hiccup added, purposefully.
"No, Master Hiccup, I can only apologise that I can't be of more assistance. Can I interest you in some red oleander gel?"
"That's okay, thanks Strouse." Hiccup replied, only half listening as he thought about the situation.
Hiccup and Astrid looked at one another. This was the breaking point. This confirmed their suspicions- there was indeed an intruder on Berk.
"Strouse, round up all of the traders, get them back to their boats, and tell the villagers to return to their homes. Also, tell the other dragon riders to meet us in the air. Lock all the doors, windows, stables, anything that could give someone access to anyone or anything. Astrid, Toothless, follow me." After letting out her call fo Stormfly, Astrid mounted the Deadly Nadder, closely followed by Hiccup on Tootless.
Before the dragon riders took off thee trader questioned. "Master Hiccup, is there any chance of your telling me why?"
The chief answered bluntly, before taking to the skies. "There is a imposter on the island."
"TO THE GREAT HALL! NOW!" yelled Hiccup, and the pair zoomed off into the night sky, leaving Strouse running below them in a similar direction. But before they arrived, something happened. Something drastic. Something life changing. Something confirming that Hiccup and Astrid's worries about an attack were actually accurate.
The Great Hall burst into flames.