A/N: Soo...some notes before we get started.
I do not own How To Train Your Dragon
I tried writing with a male!Hiccup...it felt uncomfortable so I changed to Fem!Hiccup. Sorry, but kind of not
Hiccstrid will be in this story, but it's definitely not the main aspect of the story. I'm personally not a hardcore H/A shipper, but the ship is alright. There won't be like any kissing scenes with Hiccstrid, just small moments later on and memories of them being a couple.
Takes place one year after the events of hhtyd. Some of the TV show characters might be mentioned.
There will be multiple point of views.
Male!Astrid is Astrin.
...that's about it for now. Enjoy!~
Astrin would never ask it out loud, but a part of him always wondered how Hiccup - scrawny, thin, clumsy Hiccup - could be so resilient.
Every single person in the village had done her wrong growing up. The teens would rather ignore her or throw insults her way every chance they got, her father only looked at her with exasperated eyes, and the village overall would never look her way unless there was a raid, when every viking snapped at her to head back inside. The poor girl grew up with no friends by her side once everyone realized her clumsiness and frail structure. She had never really done anything grand in the eyes of others, even though she had blacksmithing skills that could challenge Gobber's, a knack for inventing, and drawings that no one bothered to look at. She had grown up around those who believed her unimportant, who thought of her as nothing more than an outcast.
Then that girl had saved all of Berk while atop the most feared dragon in viking history.
Many apologized to the girl upfront, while the others just began to treat her as an actual villager and not just some stranger who happened to live under the same roof as the chief. Astrin had prepared himself for Hiccup to be hesitant at the newfound kindness thrown her way, and maybe even continue to hold grudges for a few select few, Astrin included.
But the girl just smiled, accepted all the apologies, and moved on with her life. Not once did she show any hostility to the members of the tribe.
It was obvious that she still had the memories. For about a month, she was skeptical towards the twins and Snotlout whenever they asked her to hang out. The girl still had random moments when she just wanted to be by herself and would venture off to who knows where in the woods (although technically she was never alone, since that Night Fury was always by her side). And she was always tentative about asking others to spend time with her, always waiting until someone asked her first.
But Astrin understood. He was just angry at himself for being one of the reasons for pushing the girl so far.
Nothing got in her way. Not the prosthetic that slowed her down at times and made her trip, not the occasional enemy that showed up, not Snotlout's idiocy, nothing.
Not even the multiple traps set up around the outskirts of an old temple they were nearing.
Everyone else, however, didn't have the same attitude the chief's daughter had.
"Fishlegs, get off!" Tuffnut exclaimed when the large Ingerman boy fell atop him.
"I'm trying, I'm trying!" Fishlegs exclaimed, scrambling to get onto his feet, smiling sheepishly at the Thortson boy once he was upright.
"That really came out of nowhere," Snotlout commented, glancing down at the hole the two teens had fell into, a grin on his face. "Is it comfy down there?"
"Can you punch Snot for me, Astrin?" Tuffnut called out.
Astrin simply extended his arm until he pushed Snotlout, causing him to lose his balance and fall into the hole himself. A scream, crash, and a groan later the blond peaked inside. "That good enough? Now you can punch him yourself."
"Hah, now you're stuck with us," Tuff chortled.
Snotlout glared up at the other teens, especially a certain Hofferson. "I swear, Astrin, when I get back up there, I'm gonna-"
"Hey, hey," Hiccup's voice filled the air, "calm down. We can fight each other after we check out the odd temple, deal? The last thing we need is more injuries from fighting."
The dragon by her side grunted in agreement.
"Deal," Fishlegs chimed before anyone could refute. "Can we just get out of here, please?"
"Got it."
"Uh…" Ruff muttered, loud enough for only Astrin and Hiccup to hear, "how are we going to get them out of there, exactly?"
"A dragon," the chief's daughter stated, as if it were obvious.
...well, it kind of was obvious, now that Astrin thought about it. The hole was far too deep for any of them to reach down and pull the other teens out, and they didn't have rope, or any other tools or objects that could help them for that matter. The only weapons all of them brought were axes, swords, and shields - and their riding gear, if that even counted as weapons - and none of those were sufficient for climbing out of a hole that must have taken someone months for someone to dig.
Hiccup glanced at all the dragons present, eyes filled with calculation and thought, before she pointed at the Thortson twins' Zippleback. "BarfBelch is the only one with long enough necks to reach down and pull them out."
"I honestly don't care if Loki gets me out of here, as long as we get out now," Snotlout replied, followed by a cough, "there is way too much dirt in here."
"Probably because it's a hole in the forest, Dingus," Tuffnut huffed.
Astrin didn't bother to look down; he knew the two were staring at each other, waiting for the other to pounce. He hoped poor Fishlegs wouldn't get attacked in the process.
They were all out in a matter of minutes, Tuff atop of Belch, Snotlout and Fishlegs on Barf.
"Sweet, now get off my dragon," Ruff ordered Snotlout and Fishlegs, who both heaved sighs before getting off.
"Now that we've got that settled," Hiccup grinned, "let's get moving." She began to walk away before anyone could protest, leaving the others with no other choice but follow.
"What kind of treasure do you think there is inside?" Tuff asked outloud, somewhere behind Astrin.
"Probably, like, gold," Ruff said wistfully.
"And diamonds!" Snotlout chimed.
"And magical stuff! Ooh, that'd be so cool!" Fishlegs exclaimed.
"Magical stuff?" Astrin questioned, angling his head back until he saw the four teens trotting behind him. He had caught up with Hiccup and Toothless and walked with them, along with his Nadder. "What makes you think there's magic?"
"Uh, why else would there be so many traps?" Tuff drawled, "There's obviously some magic going on in there."
"Maybe a witch is inside! And she could grant our wishes!" Snotlout shouted.
"Or a sorcerer!"
"Or a wand!'
"Ooh, maybe there's even a-"
Astrin tuned their rambling out, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. The girl by his side chuckled, a smile on her face as she listened to her friends' conversation.
"You doing okay? You know, after hanging upside down?" the girl asked, light, joyful eyes glancing at him.
He almost groaned. The last thing he needed was a reminder of that rope trap that hung him upside down from his ankle. Luckily, he hadn't been in the situation for longer than a minute, but he didn't enjoy the twins poking his sides and Snotlout laughing himself sore.
"You're the one who got caught in a bear trap," he remarked dryly, "how are you doing?"
"My peg-leg got caught in a bear trap, so I'm doing just fine."
"You cut yourself when trying to get out," Astrin gestured to Hiccup's hand, her scar now wrapped up in fabric she had cut off her shirt.
"Eh, 's nothing major," she shrugged.
Toothless sniffed his human's injured hand, as if to see if the wound was alright. She smiled down at her companion, patting his head fondly.
Another thing Astrin admired. All the dragon riders loved their dragons, but he'd never seen a bond stronger than the one Hiccup and Toothless shared. It didn't matter that the Haddock had no idea how to speak the dragon's language, she always understood the Night Fury and what he was saying. If one of them happened to fall into trouble (Hiccup, most of the time), the other would somehow sense and know it before anyone else did. And the two made it top priority to protect each other, even if it hurt themselves in the end. They had a friendship that no one in Berk had ever seen before.
The black dragon crooned, forked tongue gently licking Hiccup's fingers. The girl laughed, flicking the saliva back at the Fury.
Astrin opened his mouth, ready to comment on something or another, since this was Hiccup and he could discuss just about anything with her. But once he saw her look ahead and stop her strides, eyes wide in wonder and delight, he closed his lips and looked at what had her so awestruck.
The temple. They'd reached it with little to no problem after the hole stunt.
A smile broke across the Hofferson's face, taking in the ancient runes engraved on the walls, beige pillars holding the building upright, and the dust and leaves gathering in front of the large, stone doors. The walk towards it was definitely long and difficult - they had even considered turning back - but now that they were only one step away from entering the temple, he felt proud of all the effort they put in.
The magical moment was ruined by none other than Tuffnut.
"Last one in 's dragon dung!" he cried out, pushing everyone out the way before jumping up the steps, chuckles flying past his mouth.
Which, of course, caused everyone else to snicker and follow closely behind him, each helping push the doors until they opened, causing a strident sound to echo beyond the walls.
"Someone needs to put oil on that," Fishlegs commented, still grinning as he rushed inside.
It was...beautiful. Amazing. Glorious. Unlike anything they had ever seen before.
Ruff was the first person to get inside, and upon setting her foot into the building itself, torches on the walls ignited with fires out of seemingly nowhere. Despite the old, almost-crumbling like structure of the exterior, the interior looked just recently built. The glittering white walls, the smooth floor that didn't even show a single footprint, the large, wooden chests tucked into every corner and nook, lined up against the walls, and engravings everywhere the eye could see proved that the whole place was fit for royalty, for someone with wealth beyond imaginable.
Sharp clangs filled Astrin's ears, no doubt the weapons her friends dropped in awe. He didn't flinch or even blink at the sound, too consumed with his surroundings to even muster up the strength to look elsewhere.
They could have been standing there for minutes, drinking in the new, speechless territory they decided to explore after seeing it from the distance. The gang could have ended up standing awestruck for hours, days even, if it wasn't for Hiccup's gentle voice breaking the silent spell.
"What did you say about magic again?"
Her question snapped everyone else out of their stupor.
Cheers and victory cries left everyone's lips, the teens breaking into sprints around the temple, leaving their discarded weapons at the doors.
The twins bolted to the first chest they saw, their eyes alight with something like bliss when they lifted the lid. Ruff squealed with delight, Tuff thanking some god or another right next to his sister. Fishlegs ran his fingers over the markings on the floor, walls, everywhere, muttering something to himself as he pulled his journal out of his coat and jotted down whatever he could. Snotlout bounced from chest to chest, pulling out all the gold pieces he could and shoving it anywhere in his clothes that could hold them. Asterin hopped on Stormfly and took to the high ceiling, drinking the scenery in from above.
And Hiccup, with a smile on her features, just walked around, eyes jumping from object to object, laughing at the sheer luck they had.
At first, of course, they had come to the island to find a dragon a few vikings said they saw heading to this area. But when they had landed, and Ruffnut suddenly had the tip of her left braid cut off by a flying dagger and they saw the temple, they had to go check it out.
They had already agreed to tell no one on Berk: this would be their little secret. Something they could always look forward to come back to. Besides, nothing in here was something the village really needed.
Maybe they'd tell the village if some major crisis happened. But for now…
Toothless warbled excitedly, sniffing the floor, leading his nose lead the way. Hiccup followed her companion, knowing that if anyone could find something better than the gold and gems stashed away, it was the Night Fury.
"Find something, bud?" she questioned, an eyebrow raised.
He nodded in response, letting out a small grunt. He continued to walk, faster this time.
"Let's hope it's something good," she mused, seeing what could have possibly piqued her friend's attention. Several untouched chests were still laying out, but Toothless made no move to near any of them. And besides those and the runes covering every single section of the building, there was nothing else.
Maybe the dragon was just leading them to a chest far in the back. It would make sense to hide something more valuable farther away from the entrance, right?
But they made it to the back, where the last row of the wooden boxes sat, and the Fury pushed his nose in between two of them, scooting them out of the way.
"Toothless, what in Thor's name are you…" she trailed off when the dragon stepped back, revealing a square carved into the wall, behind where the chests previously were.
Well, carved wasn't really the right word. They weren't like the swirls and no doubt ancient languages on the walls; it was like someone had cut a chunk of the stone out of the wall, then stuck it back in.
"Huh, that's… strange," she murmured, rubbing her companion's neck as a sign of thanks. "You think something's hiding in there?"
Toothless huffed, head slightly bobbing in a nod.
"Well, let's go check it out, then."
Turns out that removing the stone was far from easy.
The stone weighed far too much for her to simply pull out, and there was hardly enough space in the thin gap surrounding it to stick her fingers in. She tugged at the cut-out until her arms were heavy and sore from the exertion and fingers limp and frail - and after she tripped on her metal leg a number of times.
Hiccup groaned, glaring daggers at the wall. "Of course I can't open it." She sat on the floor, slouched over, a frown on her face, silently wishing that the gods had given her her father's strength. Twig arms never proved to be useful for her. She'd gotten better at holding swords and axes, since she was a blacksmith's apprentice who worked with those weapons daily, but the weight would do her no good during a fight. Which was why she stuck with her dagger - small, but it could get the job done.
She gasped, eyes widening as she scrambled to her feet - er, foot and fake foot. Her dagger!
Pulling the said object out of her belt, she prayed that her plan would work as she shoved the sharp tip into the wall and angled it inward.
It still took work, her hand would no doubt have a bruise from the dagger's pommel, and her knuckles were drained of all color, almost completely numb. She positioned her good foot on the wall next to the carving, pushing against the wall as she tugged as hard as she could on the slab.
And it budged. And budged some more.
A giggle left her lips, a giddy feeling surging her bones when she holstered the dagger back into her belt. She reached her hand inside once again, the gap much wider than before, and pulled the stone out until it clunked to the floor.
The young heir sighed out in relief, dropping her shoulders and wiping sweat off her forehead. "We did it bud," she breathed, chest still heaving. Toothless cooed, pushing his snout against her side.
Tearing her eyes away from her best friend, she peered inside the indention. After all the work she put in, whatever laid in side better be worth it. She might just lose it if there was nothing worthwhile inside.
She knelt down, crossing her fingers and holding her breath as she finally took a look of what laid inside.
A gold ring, embellished with gems of all colors smaller than ants that glittered in the light of the surrounding torches.
"A ring?" the Haddock questioned, sharing a glance with her companion, who was crouched down and examining the nook next to her. She reached her hand out. "I don't know, I was expecting something a little more-"
Thin, pale fingers brushed the chilled metal, and with a burst of wind, Hiccup's vision went black before a sound could even escape past her parted lips.
A/N: So well, magic is in here. Hope you don't mind!
Hiccup is just passed out, don't worry! There's still a small amount of before she disappears...
I hope you enjoyed! Please review!
-Chris