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Music began to fill the air as Hiccup approached a pit crater. His eyes widened when he saw who was sitting at the bottom. “Astrid?”
She smiled up at him.
The bottom of the crater was mostly underwater with the pond extending into the darkness of a cave directly across from him. Astrid was sitting on a rock that was both at the edge of the pond and just outside the cave. Instead of her normal clothes, she was wearing a long dress that fell into the water. It must have been white, but it looked almost iridescent as the sunlight reflected off the water. Although she usually kept her hair up because she hated when it got in her way, it was left down now and it framed her face beautifully.
“Astrid!”
Her betrothal necklace glinted in the sunlight as she reached up towards him. “Don't you miss me?”
“[More than you know,]” he sighed, leaning against a tree.
“Then come down here and kiss me,” she teased, standing up. Her dress dragged through the water as she took a step back towards the cave and gestured for him to follow.
“Astrid, [I've told you this before,]” he chuckled, shaking his head. “[You know I'm afraid of the dark.]”
“I'll make sure that you are safe and sound,” she comforted before turning to the cave. Brisk’s tail drifted into the light briefly as she darted around the cave and Astrid stroked it. “Come play with me and our daughter and let's watch our love leave the ground.”
“[Oh, I would, but I'd be suffering trying to climb all the way down there,]” he groaned, sitting down on the edge of the crater.
“I would take the suffering from you!” she cooed as Brisk’s tail disappeared back into the cave.
He hummed. “[As good as that sounds, I'm just fine right here.]”
“I can take the suffering from you!” she cooed a little more insistently, waving him forward again.
“[You know that I prefer to be in the sky, not underground,]” he said.
“I will take the suffering from you!” Her smile fell to a pout and he sighed.
“[Fine, but only if you answer a question or two.]”
“Of course!” she cheered, her smile back to being blinding.
“[Okay, so let's say my flock was on the run or hiding from, I don't know, dragon hunters. And let's say they’ve kept us from finding a new home with giant boats and giant nets.]”
“Oh, no!” she cooed, but a flicker of annoyance passed over her face.
“[How are we to evade them? How do we find a new home? Which route should we take? Where are we supposed to go?]”
Something glittered in her eyes as she said, “They will chase you high and low so find a place they'd never go. The one place you'll find home is settling where they’re scared to roam. Oh, it's on the Isle of the Shadow!”
“[No,]” Hiccup gasped, fists clenching in the grass.
“This is the only safe home, the Isle of the Shadow.”
“[But the Shadow terrorizes all.]”
“Well, you asked and now you know.” The light left her eyes and she relaxed, reaching up for him again. “Now, come down here already!”
“Astrid, [why? You know I'm too shy and terrified!]” he laughed, ruffling his hair.
“I would take the suffering from you,” she crooned, her hands grabbing at the air like she wanted to drag him down.
“[Ooh, for you, I would die, but can't you let me stay in the sun?]”
“I can take the suffering from you!” she sang, her focus shifting off him for just a second before quickly returning.
“[You should come up here and we can head down together,]” he said, standing up and half turning away as he leaned against the tree again.
“I will take the suffering from you!” she hissed, smile growing a bit too wide.
“[Ah, the things I do for you,]” he said, shaking his head. Then he spun around, smacking his shield into the figure sneaking up on him.
The vision of Astrid vanished with a screech and a glittering, iridescent tail slipped back into a nearly hidden hole on the crater’s cliff face.
He stepped back up to the edge of the crater to see the original Astrid still staring up at him from the bottom, though it was starting to fizzle at the edges as it stared up at him in shock. “[Let's cut the charade, you are no heart-sought of mine. You've been trying to take my life this whole time. I know underground, there’s a pack of you hiding. Yeah, I know exactly what you are, a spine-mocker.]”
The vision of Astrid vanished as the dragon stepped out of the shadows, hissing. Her large, iridescent eyes glittered in the sunlight as a match for the long tail she dragged through the water.
“[The real Sunblade knows I'm not scared of the dark. And she’d never call Brisk her daughter. But while you were so focused on turning my flock into snacks, you didn't notice that your food got snatched.]”
She hissed something and spun around as around a dozen dragons shot past her out of the cave, fleeing into the sky with some of Hiccup’s flock-mates watching their backs or carrying them away.
He purred. “[We've been trying to find a good home for about twelve months or so. First, we slaved in our own war and now we're here with more foes. While on the run from the hunters, we began to hear whispers about this island. I realized nearby, there were Singers, Singing dragons to their doom.]”
She snarled and started towards him, but froze when one of Toothless’s blasts hit the water in front of her.
He stepped into sight of the crater and pressed up against Hiccup, who smiled and scratched behind his ear.
“[I filled our ears with beeswax, that's how we resist your Song. You pretended to be my heart-sought so I just played along. I read your lips and phrases, scanning for information. Mockers gather information from every dragon they capture. Now I know what island to investigate next.]”
The mocker roared and the light glinting off her tail became blindingly bright, but Hiccup and Toothless just turned away and took off to return to their flock.