Chapter 1 – A Very Romantic Proposal


The sun was setting on another day on Berk. A busy day for the Chief, may I add. He sat on top of the cliff, alone, contemplating the day he'd had. He'd started the day stopping three near-death fights in quick succession (one including the twins, of course), then trained several rogue dragons, observed the new students in the Berk Dragon Training Academy, stopped the entire village from burning down, and to top it all off he had to deal with his girlfriend blanking him because she thought he was leaving her for a dragon, which was nonsense. What he had actually been doing, in the little free time he had, was preparing a romantic setting for a very special moment in their relationship. He just hoped she'd forgive him enough to accept.

Then the moment arrived. He heard Stormfly land behind him and Astrid say, "You'd better have a good reason for-" she stopped short as she saw what was on the floor next to him. A rug was laid out on the cliff, and on top of it were two goblets of wine. Hiccup stood to greet his girl, and as she dismounted Stormfly and the Nadder flew away, he kissed her hand and said, "Welcome, milady."

"Hiccup, this...this is amazing. How did you..." for once Astrid was lost for words as they walked to sit on the rug, holding hands.

"Astrid, I'm really sorry you thought I was leaving you for a dragon. This is what I was doing all along."

"Oh my Gods, babe, thank you! What have I done to deserve this?" she said as they sat on the rug opposite each other.

"Being the most beautiful woman in the world helps." Hiccup raised his goblet and Astrid did the same. "Cheers." They said at the same time and sipped the wine.

"Aw, babe, thanks. I'm sorry for blanking you, I was-"

"Look, milady, it doesn't matter now, all that matters is that we have these moments together."

Astrid gazed dreamily at him for a moment then sipped her wine again, it tasted amazing. "Where did you get this wine from? It's like nothing I've ever tasted before!"

"Your sister made it. A while ago, may I add. I kind of stole a bit of it."

Astrid smiled. She didn't even question it. He was the Chief, he could pretty much do what he wanted."So she makes wine now? Is there anything she can't do?"

"I doubt that very much. But I did call you up here for a reason."

"I was just thinking that. Why did you ask me up here?"

"I'll tell you. Just look out into this beautiful sunset for me."

"Why?"

"Just do it; and you'll find out."

"Okay..." Astrid, confused for once, turned around to gaze out into the sunset, indeed, it was beautiful, pink and gold faded into one another across the sky. She badly wanted to turn around, but she didn't. Then she heard something that she'd never forget for the rest of her life.

"I'll swim and sail on savage seas,

With ne'er a fear of drowning,

And gladly ride the waves of life,

If you will marry me..."

It was the sound of Hiccup actually singing the first verse of his parents' song. Their engagement song. His singing voice was amazing; like pure gold. He was perfectly in tune and everything. It really struck a chord with Astrid and she was crying before he'd even said anything. She turned around to see him on one knee, holding a ring between his fingers. "So...will you marry me, Astrid?" he asked.

Astrid was in complete shock. She didn't know what to say. "Babe...this is...I can't even find the words..."

"'Yes' might be a start." Hiccup smiled.

Astrid smiled back. "Your singing voice is amazing, babe." she said when she found her voice. Just to make him look like an idiot a little longer.

"Thank you, milady. It doesn't run in the family, I have no idea where I get it from. Well saying that mum is alright but dad wasn't too great." He then looked up to the sky and said, "Sorry dad, had to be said." Then he looked back at Astrid, who was grinning. "Are you trying to make me look stupid?" he asked her.

"I might be." she said, laughing.

"So are you going to accept or not?"

"Oh babe, what do you think I'm gonna say? Of course I'll marry you!"

"About time!" Hiccup was relieved (his knee was dead!) as he stood up and placed the ring on Astrid's ring finger on her left hand. Then he pulled her to him for a long, sweet kiss. To a person looking up from the village, they would be two silhouettes of a couple against a beautiful sunset. The space there was between them, as small as it was, formed the shape of a pink and gold love heart.

When they broke away finally, they gazed into each others eyes for a few minutes and eventually, Astrid put her left hand in front of her and gazed at the ring. It was the first proper time she'd looked at it. It was gorgeous. Made of silver, it was engraved with symbols and runes, and had a few black jewels embedded in it in a pattern. "Babe, where did you get this ring? It's beautiful." she asked him.

"It is, isn't it? And it was my mother's."

Astrid gasped, "You gave me your mother's ring?" she stared at the ring like she was afraid she might break it.

"Astrid, no need to be surprised," Hiccup's tone of voice was soothing, "it's a family tradition, that when a man of our family line proposes to a girl, he gives her this very ring. This is a family heirloom; it originally belonged to one of my ancestors about a hundred or so years ago."

"So, what you're saying is, your dad gave your mum this exact same ring when he proposed?"

"Yep."

"So what about your mum?"

"What about her?"

"You've just given me this ring, so what's she going to do?"

"Oh don't worry about that, she's having a replica made. That's a tradition too."

Astrid laughed, "What? By Gobber?"

Hiccup laughed back, "Er, no. I'm making it."

"Let me guess, that's a tradition too?"

"Yeah. And I don't trust Gobber with something as delicate as this."

"Fair enough."

"Yeah, so this ring is a hundred or so years old, so don't lose it."

"Oh my Gods, you're trusting me?"

"Yeah. Of course I trust you, I love you."

"What if I lose it?"

"Then I will leave you forever..." Hiccup smiled, seeing Astrid's face when he said it, "Joke! I will get Toothless to use his extreme senses to find it. But it won't come to that."

"You seem so sure..."

"I am sure. Astrid, it's not the end of the world if you lose it. I can have the ring made tighter if you like..."

"No, it's okay. It's tight enough as it is." Astrid was speaking the truth. "Babe, you must really love me to trust me with something like this."

"I do. I love you more than anything in the world. To the ends of the world and back again. No matter what, I will always love you with all my heart."

"Aww, that was beautiful. I love you too."

He smiled, "Oh and one more thing. Can we keep this to ourselves?"

"We can try. Probably won't last long though."

"Why?"

"Hiccup, think about it. We live on an island with my sister."

Hiccup laughed, "Point taken. Oh well, we'll see." And with that they kissed again and later on made their way down to the silent village in the early hours.


I know the singing part may have been a little weird, but I had to put that in, it's so cute! Please review and tell me what you think!