Gotcha A Name
Disclaimer: HTTYD doesn't belong to me. 'Nuff said.
..
It was early on – before Astrid was friend and Stormfly was Stormfly did an event involving an axe, long wicked spikes of a tail, and the harsh words from one and squawking from another, that led to a wound that nearly made their fragile partnership into a non-existent one.
Astrid hadn't moved fast enough and suddenly – suddenly she felt the nick of a flesh wound and – and then the excruciating spasm of electricity reverb up her arm and spread throughout her body like molten lava. She gasped, clutching her body.
Breathe.
One breath per thump of her heartbeat.
In.
Thump.
Out.
Opening her eyes, she found herself sitting with her back against the cold, stone granite of the training grounds, one of the Nadder's tail poisonous spikes embedded into the rock behind her.
Her arm bled.
It was minor. The skin had broken and it would have been a wound she would have otherwise ignored.
Except –
The spike had nicked her.
A nick was more than enough.
And – and before Astrid could say a thing, the Nadder shrieked until Astrid felt like her eardrums would bleed, took a step back before flapping away.
…
It's going to rain, Astrid idly noted as dark clouds swirl menacingly overhead. Several fat drops of water landed on and around her. Huddled closer to herself, Astrid shivered – whether it was from the cold or the feeling of numbness creeping slowly but surely throughout her body.
Astrid could no longer feel her arm. The bleeding had dulled to a trickle. The bruise around it was turning from a putrid green color to a deep shade of purple. The deadly toxins from the – no, her – Nadder's tail had already taken effect: immobilizing and killing muscle cells and tissue and traveling into her bloodstream until it reached her nerve endings.
She was trembling. Shock wass settling in and – and – k
She probably deserved this.
Astrid was once the number one prospect amongst her peers for future dragon killer after all.
No wonder her Nadder was so disagreeable with her today.
Failure.
Again.
She sighed. Her last sigh, she promised herself.
Well, enough with the moping. Failure with dragon training was one too many failures in one day. Dying was clearly not on her agenda.
Instead, Astrid shakily stood up, heavily leaning against the boulder behind her to keep her vertical.
Move, Move, MOVE! She mentally bereted herself, forcing her body to take one step –
And don't fall, she mentally thought, just as she felt her knees buckle from underneath her.
…
Of course it would be Hiccup who caught her before she hit the ground.
Odin's ghost, it's not her day.
Instead of feeling that unfathomable amount of anger that she would have normally felt before…Before. Astrid felt shame. Her dragon wasn't with her and – and he must have been thinking she was the worst dragon trainer ever.
Loki must have played out this role reversal for sheer amusement.
Hiccup's quite warm, she mentally notes as he notices his arms around her, clutching her desperately.
She could speak, her mind was muddled – from exhaustion, the poison, shock, she doesn't really care to find out – but she can hear the concern, the words, flowing from Hiccup's mouth.
His words were always funny, ridiculous more times than naught, but she always liked his voice, especially when it wasn't tinged with dry humor and self-deprecation.
Toothless was by her side as well, sniffling at her arm and clearly alarmed.
Again, Astrid was the one who was subject to and clearly jealous of Hiccup as he and Toothless wordlessly communicated to one another.
She did not get the luxury to be surprised when Hiccup bundled her with his fur vest and carried in his arms as if she didn't weight a thing. Toothless was already bowed down onto the ground, his ears pressed against his hind-legs wigging with concern as his eyes are solely locked onto her trembling form.
Instead, she was thankful for that one second of consciousness, before she blacked out to sweet slumber, that someone found her.
And guilty – can't forget that.
…
Hiccup didn't remember how fast they flew but he knew it was even faster than the time with the Red Death. Every second felt like an eternity.
The weather, everything it seemed like, was against them this day.
Just his luck, per tradition, of course.
The rain harshly pelting down on their bodies, the lightning that struck the air like Thor's might, all these things like a deterrent to make it to Berk – but Hiccup gripped Astrid tighter. The only indicator that she was still with them was the slight rise and fall of her chest underneath this furs. He couldn't – he couldn't imagine his life being as fulfilling without his daily punch to the arm and wry smile.
All he could remember was Astrid in his arms, her slim body nestled in his arms – and – he could not remember a time she had felt more fragile.
Toothless hadn't even fully landed before Hiccup – Astrid bundled in his arms – leapt forward onto the Elder's doorstep.
Later, his father would shove a hammer into his hands. Apparently, he knocked the door off its hinges in order to get the Elder's attention.
(Toothless helped a little too).
…
The Elder didn't save Astrid.
She tried, she really did, but the poison had sunken in and it was potent.
Instead, another individual burst into the Elder's home and she was not apologetic in the least. In the Nadder's beak is what looked like a small fruit tree, roots and all, sopping wet and dripping muddy water and leaves on the clean floor of the Elder's home. Her eyes were wide and dilated, wild but with a task in mind, swerving her head back and forth as she attempted to sniff out the origin of Astrid's scent.
Aha.
She drops the tree right beside Astrid's beside. Toothless was behind her, attempting to stop the Nadder from disturbing the Elder and more importantly, harming Astrid but the Nadder swung her tail like a weapon, reminiscent of one unconscious female Viking. She squawked, the sound resounding through the home and reverberating throughout the village like a clap of thunder before Toothless settled down, his eyes narrowed and still wary of the blue dragon.
A beak that could break large chunks of stone delicately picked up one of the little orange colored fruits and carefully placed it beside Astrid's head. Carefully, the Nadder nudged its beak against Astrid's arm, squawking – albeit softer – as if to wake up the sleeping girl.
"Hey there…" Hiccup began, taking a slow step closer only for the Nadder to turn her head in his direction, its tail lashed into the air like an angered cat.
Toothless was pressed against Hiccup's side.
This – this situation will clearly not end well if it continues this way.
"Those are for Astrid, right?" Hiccup questioned calmly, although he was everything else but.
The Nadder chirped, her head facing the wall on the other side of the room. One eye directed toward Astrid's unconscious form and other critically staring at Hiccup and Toothless. The Elder's attention was focused on the little tree beside Astrid, her fingers itching to get to them.
Hiccup slowly edged forward, he could feel the sweat dripping from his back as the Nadder's tail slowly moved back and forth in an almost hypnotic manner as the bird-like dragon sandwiched herself between her perceived enemies and Astrid.
Hiccup raised his hands, his palms upward and arms away from his body – completely defenseless (minus one agitated Night Fury to his right) to the Nadder's gaze.
"We just wanna help Astrid. We – we," Hiccup flushed, "I really want to help Astrid too. I know you didn't mean to hurt her, but she won't get better unless we all help her."
The Nadder cocked its head to the side for a moment, an unblinking eye staring directly at Hiccup's for several micro-seconds before she slumped slightly, almost in defeat, her tail lowered downward, similar to a dog tucking its tail between its legs.
She chirped, using one foot to nudge the tree closer to Astrid.
"Elder…"
"I already got it," Elder Gothi replied, in her arms was a mortar and pestle in her hands as she quickly mashed the orange fruit, along with various herbs. Apparently, during the confrontation, she had snuck behind the Nadder to grab one of the little fruits. She was the Elder for not solely the reason of being the oldest in the village after all.
She muttered softly, almost to herself but the other occupants could still hear her nonetheless. "Hopefully this dragon made it in time…."
…
Hiccup didn't think he was selfish.
Except – maybe he was. Or becoming. He was sitting by Astrid bedside, like she was nearly every day during his coma. His hands were on her bedspread, his fingers centimeters from her still ones. He was watching her as she breathed in and out…in…and…out.
She was alive.
He needed the confirmation for himself until she opened his eyes and called out his name.
He…he already had the best friend a person could ever have. To think that he could plead more for the gods to save this one girl – this strong, beautiful, brilliant, the list went on –from the goddess of death, Hela's, clutches was selfish but…but Hiccup was sure, with Toothless' and Astrid's Nadder's help, that they would give the goddess a good fight for Astrid.
Astrid's father, a master carpenter currently away on trade, had already been contacted and currently flying back on Nightmare.
He was still a two days flight away.
Stoic literally (literally) had to pick up Toothless and Hiccup, one on each of his broad shoulders, ignoring their protests and Toothless' claws, and carried them off to eat lest they whither away to nothing. They were adamant with staying that Toothless even refused to budge for a fly around Berk in order to stretch his wings.
The Nadder was curled up beside Astrid's beside, refusing to budge. Unlike Toothless, she didn't have her trainer to appease her or Stoic would have hefted the dragon onto his shoulder for food as well. Toothless even brought her fish but she would barely look at him before curling back within herself, her eye steady on Astrid's prone form.
It was day three when the Naddar finally stood up from her place on the floor, nearly knocking Elder Gothi the ground in her rush.
"W-What?" Hiccup blinked sleepily, his prosthetic leg slipping on the rug and nearly sending him tumbling except for the quick extended wing of Toothless that kept him grounded.
"Where am I?" Astrid croaked out loud. She was a Viking at heart and ignored the dizziness and weariness due to the poison still lingering in her system and attempted to sit up only to fail several times before the Naddar assisted her by nudging her upward.
"Oh hey," Astrid whispered, her hand reaching out slowly to touch the Naddar only to have the dragon pull away, mournfully looking at her.
If a large, reptilian-like animal could droop like a flower from little light, then droop did the Nadder did, conveying her remorse over the incident.
"Hey now," Astrid murmured, extending her hand until her fingertips scraped against the Nadder's warm horn. "It's fine, thanks for coming back."
The Nadder grumbled, almost like a purr, as she bumped her head against Astrid's palm.
"I got a name for you," the corners of Astrid's lips quirked upward. "It's about time, right?"
The Nadder hummed, tilting her head to the side as if listening intently.
Astrid leaned closer, as if telling a well-kept secret, "Stormfly." She blushed, "Since…since you came back with…" her eyes averted to the tree that was carefully planted to her left, "That. You flew to get this for me. How about it?"
The Nadder now deemed Stormfly crooned, soft melodic tones like the little, sturdy migratory birds that lived in the islands south of Berk.
"Yeah," Astrid leaned back, relieved. "That name suits you."
A movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention and she saw Hiccup staring at her. She smiled wryly, "You look like Ragnarok is upon us, Hiccup."
Hiccup coughed, furiously scrubbing the sides of his eyes, "Well, um…I – I'm glad that you're okay…I have to tell the others, they were worried about you as well."
Astrid and Stormfly shared A Look. "You're just glad I'm okay?"
Toothless snorted, pushing Hiccup closer with his snout and causing Hiccup to somewhat awkwardly coordinate his flail/fall just shy of Astrid's bed onto the rug. He looked up sheepishly as Toothless settled himself by Astrid's beside (Stormfly watching them both like Skadi, the goddess of righteous anger, herself). He smiled a gummy smile and Astrid giggled, raising her hand to give him a good scratch for undoubtedly doing a good job helping her.
Slowly, she trailed her fingers down her blanked until it reached the edge. Hiccup blinked, staring at her slip fingers with a knitted brown. Astrid flitted her eyes down at her hands, at him, her pale cheeks touched with a slight blush before she turned her head back toward their dragons.
Hiccup was smart. Obviously. And selfish, as he was coming to realize. Slowly, he moved his own hand moved upward, delicately touching her fingertips with his own. He frowned with concern, her fingers were still cold from her convalescence. Slowly, she intertwined her fingers with his, holding it firmly.
"Thank you," she murmured, looking around at the two dragons and holding the hand of one blacksmith's apprentice. "For staying with me."
Stormfly warbled happily, curling herself by Astrid's bedside once more. She was determined to keep an eye on Astrid until – until forever if possible.
Toothless and Hiccup continued to set up camp by her side as well.
Although Stoic still had to carry them out to eat via Gothi's orders.
That, and they were starting to stink up her home.
Astrid and Stormfly, watching the two struggled in Stoic's mighty arms, turned to one another and laughed.
Their partnership was slowly and new, but progress was in the small moments shared by trainer and dragon.
.
A/N: Clearly inspiration for fanfiction writing is greater than feminist epistemology papers. Yup. Anyway, tell me what you thought about this quickly written fic (in review format) because I'm weak in the way of a review. Spelling/grammar errors, inconsistent verb usage, character out of characterizations? Tell me, I'm totally down for criticism (sort of).