Hey guys. This is the first fanfiction that I've ever written, so I'd be much obliged if you tell me how I'm doing (formatting counts).
Enjoy.
CHAPTER 1: A DISTURBANCE IN THE NIGHT
The moonlight gleamed down upon the last remnants of the small campfire that had burned out an hour before. Toothless lay wrapped around the warm coals; Hiccup cocooned in his wings and Astrid curled in her sleeping roll nearby. They had decided to camp in the small clearing for the night, taking a much need rest from their pursuit of a possibly hostile dragon and its den.
The couple - and Toothless - had left Berk with the rest of the riders, but had eventually decided that it would be best if they scouted out the surrounding territory. The possibility of there being more dragons that were hostile to Vikings was bad enough. Walking right into one without realising it would be much, much worse.
A twig snapped in the distance, causing Astrid to wake with a start. She slithered out of her sleeping roll trying to make as little noise as possible, so as not to wake Hiccup... She did so unsuccessfully.
"What's wrong?" he asked, somewhat exasperated that he had been woken so suddenly.
"I'm not sure. I'm probably just hearing things."
"Probably," he said, rolling back under Toothless's wing.
Astrid shot a glance at him and pulled him up, making sure not to be careful. She walked towards the woods. Another twig broke, closer this time. They froze; Astrid's hand grasped for Hiccup's instinctively. The bushes rustled violently after a short time, a figure trying awkwardly to get free from its entangling branches. Toothless, having followed them after being woken by the commotion, now growled menacingly at the shaking bush.
"Finally!" exclaimed a vaguely familiar voice as the large figure freed itself from the bush. The figure took one step forward and suddenly stumbled into the moonlight.
"Fishlegs?!" Hiccup and Astrid declared, utterly confused, simultaneously.
"Uh... Hi guys," Fishlegs said cheerily.
"Wh-what are you doing here?!" Astrid interrogated, staring at him with bewilderment.
"Oh nothing. I just followed you here so I could help out if it was a dragon we've never seen before." he said casually. "Look! I even brought Meatlug" gesturing to the lazy gronckle that was now flying in ever so slowly. "Oh... and uh... is it alright if I camp with you guys now?"
"You don't really have a choice now, do you?" Hiccup said in his rhetorical manner.
"Why'd you followus anyways?!" Astrid questioned him.
"Oh... well I... uhh..." he started before blurting out, "I just wanted to make sure that you'd be all right by yourselves, what with the dragons and everything."
"Fishlegs," Astrid began, somewhat annoyed by him now, "we can handle ourselves perfectly well."
"So I can camp with you then?" Fishlegs asked cheerily.
"Yes!" both Hiccup and Astrid yelled simultaneously, laughing lightly at doing so.
With this the three settled in for the rest of the night. Hiccup curled up under Toothless's wing, Astrid returned to her sleeping roll, and Fishlegs slept on a soft patch of grass, resting his head on Meatlug.
Long after the rest of them had fallen asleep, Astrid found herself not being able to. She was not restless, but she felt like she was 'missing' something. She slithered out of her sleeping roll and crept towards Toothless, trying desperately not to wake him. Hiccup's head was poking out from under the wing.
"Hiccup," she whispered. "Hiccup!"
He opened his eyes sleepily, "Astrid? What's wrong?"
"I can't sleep."
Toothless stirred slightly, but slept on.
"Obviously." Hiccup began to sit up, now leaning on his elbows, "Why not?"
"I'm cold," she lied, not knowing what else to say or even what was actually wrong.
"Here," he said, throwing her a blanket from the nearby pack.
Astrid let the blanket fall beside her. "Not that kind of cold."
"What other kind of cold is there?!" Hiccup asked, utterly confused now.
"Can I...?" she asked, gesturing underneath Toothless's wing and realizing what she wanted - what she needed.
"Uhhh... sure?" thinking she might need something from the pack.
Toothless rolled away from his spot as Astrid approached, having been uncomfortable with Hiccup digging his elbows into him.
Astrid giggled as she grabbed the blanket from the ground. She threw it on Hiccup and then, much to Hiccup's surprise, she laid down next to him and crawled underneath the blanket.
"What are y-," he started, interrupted by Astrid
"I'm still cold."
Hiccup started to reach for the pack.
"No."
Hiccup, finally realizing what she meant, laid back down and wrapped his arms around her. At this, a nearly inaudible sound of pleasure escaped Astrid.
"Hiccup?"
"Hmh?" He breathed, almost asleep.
"I love you." Astrid closed her eyes. Drifting off to sleep.
"I... love you too." He said ethereally, but somewhat awkwardly.
Astrid giggled, and that was her last memory of the night.
Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I affiliated with, How to Train Your Dragon or DreamWorks Animation SKG®
Please review, I need it.
I'll post the next chapter as soon as I have time to sit down and type it. (I prefer to handwrite stuff before I edit it.)
The next chapters will be longer, I promise... this was supposed to be a prologue, but I changed my mind after I got about halfway through, and that's when I added Fishlegs. This was originally supposed to be just the night sequence after Fishlegs came around.
