So I got bored and this happened. I got the idea on Thanksgiving while my cousins and I were singing songs for my family. I started to write it thinking I would never publish it, but then I had second thoughts. So...here it is. The song Chasing Cars was the song we were singing when I got the idea, and it just fit.
I don't know how accurate the audition process is... I hace never really watched America's Got Talent (except for the audition clips on YouTube), but I wrote it as best as I could. Besides, it can be different in the HtTYD world.
Disclaimer: I do not own How to Train Your Dragon or any of its characters. I also do not own the song Chasing Cars.
Astrid slowly breathed out and wiped her sweaty palms on her dress. Snotlout looked over and caught her eye. He grinned, which made Astrid feel uncomfortable.
The performers went out onto the stage one by one and came out either in tears or overly-happy moods. The ones in tears were led off with teams of stylists trying to wipe their stained cheeks free of mascara for the cameras, and the ones that were happy and screaming their throats raw were being hugged by every single person backstage, making their way to the swarms of media that would congratulate them further. No matter what, the cameras would snap pictures of her face. Lovely.
Astrid didn't even want to audition for Our Archipelago's Got Talent. She had won some award or another for her "outstanding performance" in the national state championships. Last spring, Astrid and her duet partner said farewell to their tiny school in Berk and traveled to their state capital to perform in the state's talent show. Astrid was mortified when she forgot her performance clothes and had to sing in battered jeans instead of a long, prom-styled dress. But Hiccup, her duet partner had also changed style, making Astrid feel better.
Oh gods. Hiccup.
The most awkward, stumbling klutz in the entire school.
Yet he was the only person in the entire school who could play a violin that actually sounded decent.
So she'd sung her songs with the number one loser in the school. Even more embarrassing, they'd won and had a huge celebration with celebrities and then with the entire school.
Then came the whole "is the duet team from Berk going to audition for Our Archipelago's Got Talent?" fiasco. They were not anything special; Astrid didn't even think they were that good. Certainly not good enough to audition for the show.
But, here they were.
Coming along for the ride were a bunch of friends. Snotlout was Astrid's number one fan and liked to consider himself "her boyfriend". But that was not ever happening. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were twins and absolutely loved to tag along for this kind of thing. Hiccup had to bring along his one and only friend, Fishlegs, who was an animal geek. He would probably save the polar bears before he was 20.
Astrid fiddled with the number tag pinned to the front of her dress. The dress was a light blue and stopped at her ankles. It had one sleeve on her right shoulder that had a shimmery ribbon falling down the back of her arm. It was slim, tight at the waist (but just loose enough for her to take deep breaths as she sang), and had an assortment of jewels sprinkled on the bodice. Astrid felt like she was wearing icicles, the way the dress shimmered and shined when it caught the light.
She looked to her right were Hiccup was sitting. He had his violin sitting on his lap and he was plucking the strings, making sure they were in tune. They had practiced for hours beforehand, making sure everything was perfect before coming, but Hiccup was still tuning his instrument. A nervous habit, probably.
He was dressed in a button-down forest green dress shirt and dark brown pants. His hair was messy like it always was (apparently he didn't ever comb it, even for occasions like this), and he had on no tie. Interesting. He wore black dress shoes and had pinned his number tag on his sleeve. They would be the most mismatched group in this whole disaster.
He finished tuning his violin and ran the bow over each of the strings. They sounded fine to Astrid, but again Hiccup deemed them out of tune and began plucking at them.
Astrid hummed the song they would perform to herself and grabbed a fistful of the silky fabric of her dress in her hand. Nothing could calm her down! She sang a few vocal warm ups softly to keep her voice ready, but it wasn't helping.
After a long time spent watching the other performers on the screens do their acts, a professional-looking man walked over to the duo. "Hello, are you numbers 186 and 187?"
Hiccup nodded. "Yes, that's us."
"Come this way please," the gentleman instructed. Astrid stood up and nearly tripped on her tiny heeled shoes. Snap.
Snotlout, the twins and Fishlegs followed Hiccup and Astrid into the backstage area. Astrid's stomach did a flip. She could see onto the stage. There was a young man showing off his (admittedly) incredible dancing skills to a lively piece of music. The audience appeared to be having a great time, clapping with the beat and whistling. All of a sudden Astrid wasn't sure that their slow, almost sleepy song would please the judges. It might put them to sleep.
Hiccup was putting the final touches on his tuning job. He ran the violin bow over the strings one last time, then gave Astrid a thumbs up.
The performer finished his act, which sent the audience into a shattering applause. The judges were obviously impressed, giving him a unanimous 'yes'.
"Your turn," the gentleman who escorted them over said. Astrid started; she was thinking too hard about the performer.
"Go for it!" Snotlout whispered quite loudly. Another person, this time a woman, came over and handed Astrid a microphone. Then she ran out with another microphone and stood it up on a stand for Hiccup. She ran back in and ushered them out onto the stage while their entourage cheered them on.
As soon as she was out of the blackness backstage, Astrid was blinded by the lights. She blinked twice and let her eyes adjust while she walked up to center stage. The audience burst into cheers, and Hiccup waved with one hand, the one that didn't have a white-knuckled grip on his violin. Sweat began pooling in Astrid's hands as she gripped her microphone in a death grip. She put on her most dazzling simile and brushed her bangs out of her eyes, the parts that hadn't made it into her braid that ran down her back.
"Hello!" One of the four judges, a gorgeous Barbie doll blonde named Anja called out in a happy voice.
"Hello," Astrid and Hiccup said simultaneously.
"What are your names?" Anja asked.
"I'm Astrid," Astrid said, trying to push the nerves out of her voice.
"And I'm Hiccup," Hiccup said after her.
Another judge, a burly man named Hart, asked, "So what are you performing today?"
Luckily Hiccup answered. "We are doing a duet of the song Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol."
The audience cheered, and the judges grinned wider. "Alright then, let's get started!" Anja shouted.
The audience quieted. Hiccup put his violin to his neck and looked at his partner. Astrid supposed she looked positively awful. Too stiff and awkward. She closed her eyes and tried to pretend everyone was in their underwear, a tactic she learned a long time ago.
Hiccup played the first few notes of the intro. The music was so familiar, yet so...strange.
"We'll do it all. Everything. On our own."
The audience went into wild applause as Astrid sang the first line.
"We don't need. Anything. Or anyone."
Hiccup's violin was the only sound that reached Astrid's ears after that. It was only the music and her voice.
By the time the refrain rolled around, Astrid felt the music moving her feet. She realized her eyes were open now. She could see the mass amount of people before her. She could see the judges. One was wiping her eyes. What was her name - Erica?
Astrid swayed on her feet, letting the softness of Hiccup's violin music carry her along. The song fell from her lips so easily, like a river falling down a cliff. The words were amplified by the microphone, but they felt larger than they really were.
All of a sudden, the last word flew off her lips. That's when everything re-focused.
The lights hit her with full force. The thundering roar from the audience was deafening. Maybe by the end of this, I'll be both blind and deaf, Astrid thought.
The other man judge, Gunnar, clasped his hands and spoke first once the cheering died down. "That was... I don't even have the words. Incredible."
The crowd roared.
"I agree with Gunnar to the fullest extent," Anja said in her movie star voice. "You were so amazing, I just want you to keep singing."
Astrid's whole heart felt lighter, and her face broke into a huge grin. Hiccup's did too. He answered with a tight, "thank you".
Erica spoke next. She still had tears in her eyes. "That song, the way you sang it, it's just so...different. You know, I really can't say I've met anyone as talented a musician as you two both are."
Hiccup looked over at Astrid with the biggest grin Astrid had ever seen plastered on his face. The crowd cheered more.
Last was Hart. "I'm in agreement with the other three judges, my mind was COMPLETELY BLOWN. I couldn't think or move, I was so caught up in your performance."
"Thank you," Astrid said in a lighter voice than it had been.
"Now all we have to do is vote."
Hart's statement made Astris go rigid. She didn't realize Hiccup was clutching her hand tightly until Gunnar shouted "YES!" for the whole world to hear. Anja said yes in a dainty way, while Erica's yes was more of a whisper. Hart didn't speak for a few seconds, which made Astrid's heart clench.
"Yes!" Hart screamed out. The audience went wild, stomping and cheering while Astrid screamed and threw her arms around Hiccup. She didn't care if people saw her. The words rang in her head, yes yes yes.
They parted and waved to the crowd, walking off stage as they did so. The last ray of one of the spotlights hit Astrid's dress as she felt herself crushed by two of her friends. The twins were yelling in her ear and their hands clawed her dress. Snotlout was behind them, clapping Hiccup on the back and nearly sending him sprawling in the floor from the force of it. Fishlegs looked like he was in shock, standing there with his mouth open and not moving. There were a couple cameras catching the whole thing on camera, but Astrid didn't really mind anymore. She'd done it. She made Our Archipelago's Got Talent. A high schooler.
Hands down. Best. Moment. Ever.
Strangely, the first thing she said was, "I think the dress is too tight."
Please review! I love to hear feedback. Thank you!
Special thanks to ForeverMe for helping me with this!
Have a wonderful day everybody!