As promised this is a Hiccup/Astrid fanfiction. I didn't realize that using – instead of "" for dialogue would cause such a confusion but a surprising amount of readers called my attention for it, I'm sorry I didn't realize it was wrong but thank you for pointing it out. I promise that from now on every new fanfiction I write it would properly correct.
Thank you to all my readers, and especially my reviewers who I need to keep me on my toes.
Enjoy!
You reap what you sow, that's what her Mother always said every time Astrid felt the consequences of a stupid mistake and she made those words into her life philosophy, after all there was a price to everything.
Now Astrid was a simple girl, give her a sharp axe and she was a happy Viking, no need for fancy dressed or jewels. She was happy in Berk were the land was tough and the elements were tougher those two combined helped to make the strongest warriors male or female that ever sailed the cold Nordic sea. Her pride at belonging to such a tribe made raise her chin, gave confidence in her walk, to be the best among the best, and in her mind there was no question that Astrid was the best of the teenagers no one was as fast, graceful or could hurl an axe like her, people described her as a natural leader she was respected and admired by her pears and superiors, pointed as an example to follow.
And really why shouldn't she?
Every since she witnessed her first dragon raid and the dedication her people defended their homeland made her blood boil for battle her heart thundered at the thought of defending her home for her war was an art and she fully intended to become a great artist. To that purpose she had worked, for it was only fair that she had to pay a great price for an ambitious dream, she always got up at the crack of dawn to work out relentlessly and only stopped at sundown muscles sore and hands bloody and raw.
You reap what you sow, and Astrid had made sure that she sowed nothing but success. That is why she really didn't noticed the Hiccup, the screw up, sure he messed up all the time but he was just not worth her time if he didn't want to pay the price and work hard than he couldn't really complain about the outcome.
It never occurred to her how childish she was being.
She went into dragon training pumped up, ready and so sure of herself, after all no one deserved the honor of killing the Monstrous Nightmare more than her.
That was when she was forced to notice Hiccup, it was one thing for him to ruin his own reputation but to put a spot in hers was stepping the line. She did not feel guilty for yelling at him in public, in her opinion someone should have told him that a long time ago, he holding everyone back and fortunately Berk hasn't the type of place were being the Chief's son would make anyone hold back.
"Figure out which side you're on."
Well he showed her.
She never actually intended for her words to be taken literally but you reap what you sow and she really should have realized that Hiccup never did anything the traditional way. And when she found out which side he picked she had been surprised that after the initial horror, confusion and betrayal she had been elated, all of the things in Dragon Training finally made sense, it wasn't that she hadn't trained hard enough or that all of her hard work was worthless because Hiccup had found a faster easier way, he was merely cheating! And once she had told everyone of his betrayal she would be back at her proper place.
It was all very stupid when she thought back to it…
It was like all of her life she had been living trapped following her own little narrow path wearing blinders and now she was being forced into a reality that she had never even dreamed that existed. First Toothless had decided that she needed to be brought down a peg or two and when it came to protecting Hiccup Toothless made sure the lesson sunk in. Then the flight, ah that flight, even in her old age she would never forget the wonder that she experienced, the freedom, the pleasant feel of the wind on her body yet the comforting warmth of Hiccup's, the feel of a dipping her hand in a cloud, she had been allowed into the wild kingdom of the skies were only birds and dragons had ventured before and to finally see with her own eyes how small Berk was from the sky, she only needed to glance one to take in the whole island, the Arena, the village were so insignificant when compared to the immensity of the sky.
She didn't blame Hiccup for growing addicted to it.
And then the discovery of the Green Death had her realizing that all of their history they had been fighting the wrong enemy and they were nowhere near ready to defeat the root of all evil.
However that was not the most surprising part of the night.
"…you want to keep it a secret? To protect your pet dragon! Are you serious?"
"Yes."
That simple word uttered so calmly, so firmly in face of her frustration sent her reeling, was this Hiccup? Hiccup the screw up, Hiccup the useless, this man who stood in front of her willing to stand up to her and the whole village to protect his friend, who had managed to befriend a dragon and sore the skies with it, there was no fear, no sarcasm in his voice, his back straight his green eyes staring straight into hers with such an authority and strength that she couldn't fight back. Was this what had been inside him all along? This strength, this maturity, the authority… How come no one had seen it? The dragons had…
How childish she was in comparison to him, how insignificant her problems were when faced with his burden, caring only about her glory and success while he had to balance his people and family to his best friend and the dangerous truth he had uncovered. In the middle he became a man and she was still a child.
Was it then? Then that she became so attracted to him, to get the full blown of Hiccup's true worth made every part of her tingle with something close to exhilaration, when she had kissed him it was an impulse, she couldn't resist it… him and she had been so embarrassed later, her sudden attraction to Hiccup had taken her by surprise and she blamed it on the several shocks she severed trough out the day.
Later when she had confronted him after the disaster of the arena she had been desperate to bring that strength back, and she when she listened to his reason and saw hope come back to his eyes she felt it again the same quiver accompanied by a heat and she had been happy to feel it for the true Hiccup was back.
And when he had tamed the dragons in the arena, Thor help her, she could barely get her eyes of him.
You reap what you sow, by following Hiccup because of jealousy and hate she had ended up completely and utterly attracted to him.
When she fought he was dead she felt as this was the old saying at its most cruel form, the price for their despise over Hiccup for being stupidly blind was when they finally saw the truth about the dragons and about Hiccup the Gods took him away. The news of his survival had been a balm on her soul until Gobber let out the true extent of his injuries; the loss of part of his left leg had brought forward the most insignificant memory it could.
"It's only fun if you get a scar out of it."
How stupid could she be? Those word cut through her, they were the words of a stupid inconsiderate child who talked big but knew nothing of true pain.
The rest of the villagers showed Stoick their sympathy and some tried to lighten things up by saying that Hiccup would get used to it; after all he was never an athlete from the start how she wanted to chop of their own legs and see how they dealt with it. Even so it wouldn't be the same Hiccup's leg had been torn off by Toothless, his best friend, in order to save his life how could they understand the bond of friendship and love those two had.
So she held his hand and wiped his face with a moist towel and listened as he mumbled his nightmares of pain and fire with her conscience tearing her up inside for she too had understood too late to stop the consequences.
You reap what you sow, yet why the only one paying the price of their ignorance was Hiccup?
Soon she learned that even tough Vikings were not above gossip, and with the war against dragons over they really had too much time on their hands. So when she was confronted by bewildered villagers, a furious Tuffnut and a very water-eyed Snotlout about the rumor the she was in a relationship with Hiccup, for she was spending the days at his house taking care of his injured unconscious form she quickly put their minds at rest…
And kissed Hiccup fully on the mouth in front of the entire village as soon as he had returned to the land of the living.
Now actions had consequences, in her case a firm private talk with her Mother about the inappropriateness of her behavior, along with a more embarrassing one about her intentions with the Chief's son, but since now Hiccup was the hero of Berk there was no real opposition from her parents.
Now the only problem was that Hiccup was the hero of Berk.
A storm of giggles made her clench her teeth.
You reap what you sow, and with fame came glory, respect and fan girls.
She walked into the direction of the forge, blue eyes sparkling with deadly intent fixed on the group of teenage girls clustered at front of the window of the forge, all of them holding axes or saddles to be examined or fixed. Right now Hiccup was in his morning flight with Toothless but very soon it would be time for him go to work and those giggling perfumed brats were just waiting for it.
She stopped just a step away from the mass of girls and put her best fake smile and said with a dangerously sweet voice.
"Hi. What are you all doing here?"
One of the girls either the bravest or the stupidest, Astrid couldn't tell, stepped forward an axe in her perfectly smooth clean hands and a cleavage Astrid was sure her own Mother would never allow.
"We're clients Astrid. My battle axe needs to be sharpened and everyone knows Hiccup is the best so we're waiting for him."
The other girls stepped back at the chill in Astrid's eyes but that one stood firm looking back with defiance.
"Oh your axe needs to be sharpened now doesn't it?"
A flicker of fear flicked into the girl's eyes.
"Y…Yes."
With a cool that would chill an iceberg Astrid walked until she was merely inches away from the girl, calmly she grabbed the axe from the girls hand and calmly she threw the axe until it sank deeply into a placed target standing six meters away. And it was with all the calm in the world that she looked back into the frighten girl.
"Looks fine to me."
Astrid watched in joy as the brats disappeared as fast as they could, leaving the forge blissfully empty.
"You know this is why Gobber hates when you come here. You scare away half the customers."
There it was, the man himself, face still flushed from his flight, and Astrid suspected free falling again.
"I was merely making a point; if you stopped wearing those scarves we wouldn't have this sort of problem."
She yanked away the offending piece of clothing the reveal the several purple marks, often accompanied by teeth marks that adorned the thin boy's neck.
"Showing off your mark huh?" He said with his lopsided grin.
"Damned straight! And don't you dare feel sorry for them; they know what they're getting into."
"So their just reaping what they sowed?"
"And don't you forget it."
She pulled him to her until their bodies were flushed against each other and fused their lips together.
Let the squealing fan girls come after all any price she had to pay to be the first in Hiccup's heart was worth it.
The End
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