The Wonderful Lizard of Laws Chapter 1
A/N
Astrid is carried off to a faraway land where her friends are acting strange and her enemies are even nastier than usual. She seeks help from an unknown dragon, but the price tag could be higher than she can pay. Rated K-plus just to be safe.
Please note that I am breaking my own rule by posting this story. It is incomplete and will probably never be finished; I've simply run out of ideas for where it should go. Enjoy the chapters (there are five of them) for what they're worth.
o
"Oh, for Thor's sake, Hiccup! Please tell me you did that on purpose!" Astrid was getting very frustrated. This boy had no aptitude for anything Viking-like at all!
She was trying to teach him to use a weapon - any kind of weapon would do - in case he got caught in a bad situation where neither she nor Toothless was around to help defend him. He seemed to show the most aptitude with the sword, which meant that was the weapon he was least likely to kill himself with. It helped when she stopped trying to force him to wield it right-handed.
Finding a sword small enough for his frail arm to handle was an adventure in itself, but they finally found something long enough to be useful, but light enough that he could lift it and swing it. A saber, Gobber called it. He'd gotten it as part of a trade for some more manly weapons, and hung it on the wall of the forge; it looked nice, but he never imagined that a Viking would choose such a flimsy-looking blade. It turned out to be a perfect fit for Hiccup.
Astrid was learning that "perfect" can be a relative term. She was no expert with the sword, but she could barely turn around without disarming him or knocking him down. He had no strength for parrying, he was always fooled by the most obvious feints, and his footwork... she was beginning to think that his metal leg was the better of the two.
But this... this was the last straw. She'd come at him with a simple slash/thrust combo, and not only did he fail to parry the slash, he'd tripped over his own scabbard and fallen flat on the Academy floor. She glared down at him, disgusted at his sheepish I'm-doing-my-best expression. "Come on, Hiccup! You're not even trying!"
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Figure out which side I'm on," he muttered, discouraged.
For a moment, his words stabbed at her; she remembered the last time she'd glared down at him like that in this very location. But this was too important to let him distract her. "Hiccup, I know you're not afraid of fighting. You've fought dragons! Why is this so difficult?"
"Fighting dragons isn't the same thing at all! I tried rubbing you under your chin last time, and you hit me for it," he protested as he got to his feet. "Face it, Astrid. I'll never be the Viking you expect me to be."
That got to her. Was she putting impossible expectations on him, just like his father used to do? Would that lead to another fractured relationship, and more hurt heaped on a boy who had already endured far more than his share? Or was he just being thick about this? She didn't want to guess wrong.
Argh! She needed to think! "That's all for today," she snapped, sheathed her sword, and set it aside. Where was Stormfly? They both needed to go flying.
The big blue Nadder was always eager for a flying session, of course. As they headed out to sea, Astrid could see some storm clouds forming up. They'd try to stay clear of those; she didn't want her dragon to earn her name literally. But she needed time away from the trials and confusion that surrounded her every time she tried to work with Hiccup. Up in the sky with her dragon, with no one talking at her or making demands on her, she could think clearly.
Why couldn't Hiccup see the need to be able to take care of himself? Hadn't he read any of those fanfics where Alvin or Dagur kidnapped him? Surely he must know that Toothless and Astrid couldn't always be there for him! He certainly wasn't stupid, so what was the big issue here?
Before she came to any conclusions, she noticed that the wind was picking up. Maybe it was time to head home before this storm made flight difficult. She directed Stormfly to turn right and head home.
As she came around, she nearly froze in fear of what she saw. A waterspout was forming! They were rare in the Northland, but everyone who lived near the coast knew how dangerous they could be. Stormfly needed no urging to keep her distance. They'd go around it and get home fast to warn the village.
Somehow, the column of water moved to block them. Three times they changed course, and three times the waterspout wound up in front of them again. Was this thing being guided by some malevolent god?
"Let's fly straight away from it, Stormfly. Once we've got some distance, we can choose our own course." The Nadder turned away from it, flapping hard against the wind. Astrid realized with horror that it wasn't working – the waterspout was pulling them in! Her dragon wasn't strong enough to fight those winds. Just before they entered it, Stormfly screamed in terror. Astrid had heard that sound only once before, when they were on the verge of being inhaled by the Red Death. Now they were being pulled in by something even stronger.
Then they were inside it, and were whipped in ever-tighter circles, nearly blinded by spray flying through the air at over a hundred miles per hour. In moments, she was too dizzy to know which way was up; she had to close her eyes to protect them. She clung to Stormfly's saddle for dear life, wishing she had riding straps with clips like Hiccup and Toothless used.
Just before she blacked out, she had the bizarre sensation of being carried a very great distance away from everything she'd ever known...