Hello again!
I realize this is a long author's note...
This idea came to me last week.
Everyone has done the Romantic Flight. It's been done to death. But, I figured I'd take my own spin on it. I like doing things my own way. Now before you close the tab or push the back button, let me explain.
I noticed that there aren't many (if any) of such story from Hiccup's point of view. Granted, Astrid is the one who had the character change, but Hiccup is important too, right?
Also, as I cannot send him present because he lives on the other side of the world, I will officially declare this a happy birthday present for Marty the Martian. Of course, everyone else can enjoy it too.
I DO NOT OWN HTTYD.
The Best Flight of my Life
That was it. I couldn't do it. There was no way I could possibly kill that dragon. Not when I knew how magnificent and peaceful they could be.
My father would probably disown me. Not much of a shocker there. For as long as I can remember I've been a disappointment to him. It's not my fault the gods decided to curse him. Half of my genes came from him anyway.
So now I am leaving. Hopefully, I will never have to return to this Thor-forsaken island. Once Toothless and I leave, we are never coming back. Ever.
I arrived at the cove and threw down the basket I was carrying.
"We're leaving!" I called out to the night fury. "Let's pack up. Looks like you and me are taking a little vacation. Forever."
I bent over the basket to adjust one of the straps. I couldn't wait to get out of there.
I stood up and was about to call out to Toothless again, when I heard the sound of a rock scraping across the blade of an axe.
I yelped and spun around to find none other than Astrid Hofferson sitting atop a rock, glaring at me.
"Uh, wh-what are you doing here?" I asked slowly, heart still racing from the near heart attack.
"I wanna know what's going on," she told me as she jumped off the rock. "No one just gets as good as you do. Especially you."
As she spoke, she spun her axe in her hands and approached, I backed up in fear. An angry Astrid can cause a lot of pain.
"Start talking." she growled. "Are you training with someone? It better not involve this." Astrid grabbed my flight vest, and I struggled to find words.
"I-I know. This looks really bad, but you see, this is uh-"
Astrid cut me off by throwing me to the ground. She seemed alert.
I couldn't let her find Toothless, so I made up a quick lie.
"You're right. You're right. I'm through with the lies," I told her. "I-I've been making outfits. You've got me. It's time everyone knew." I grabbed her hand. "Drag me back, go ahead, here we go- Ow! Why would you do that?!"
She had twisted my wrist back at a painful angle and once again, threw me on the ground.
"Why would you do that?" I asked, still in pain.
In response, she kicked me down. "That's for the lies." She said.
Then she dropped her axe on my stomach.
"And that's, for everything else." she told me, as I groaned in pain.
Suddenly, we heard a growl come from within the woods.
"Oh man," I muttered. Toothless had just revealed his presence. No way could we get out of this one.
I stood up to see what was going on, still clutching my stomach. Before I could look however, Astrid tackled me back to the ground.
"Get down!"
Toothless charged.
Astrid readied her axe as the dragon pounced. Gathering all my strength and ignoring by bruised midriff, I leapt at Astrid and shoved the axe out of her hand.
Without missing a beat, I spun and put myself between the Viking and the dragon.
"No, no bud. It's okay. She's a friend."
The night fury calmed a bit, but still seemed uneasy about the girl.
I turned around to check on Astrid.
"You just scared him." I told her.
"I scared him?!" She shouted at me. "Who is him?"
"Uh, Astrid, Toothless. Toothless, Astrid." I introduced them. Toothless growled at her.
Astrid looked at me in disbelief, and then took off running, no doubt to tell the entire village about what she discovered.
"Da da da, we're dead." I said.
Toothless growled then stalked off into the woods.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where do you think you're going?"
He shot me a look as if to say she's gone, isn't she?
"Come on bud. We can't let her tell the whole village!"
He looked at me, not seeing the problem.
"She'll tell the village and either we get caught, or she is seen as insane because we'd be gone," I explained. "I can't do that to Astrid!"
He snorted again, but let me climb aboard, albeit reluctantly.
"Let's go, bud." I said. "We've got a Viking to catch."
We flew low through the trees, searching for Astrid. Eventually we found her, and man was she fast. She had made it a good distance from the cove, but she had yet to make it to the village, which was good for me.
As she jumped over a log, Toothless grabbed her and flew up to the top of the trees. I don't think I have ever heard Astrid scream in fear before.
I heard her say something about Odin's ghost, but ignored it as Toothless dropped her on a tree branch.
I knew she would kill me later, but this way I could explain everything and she couldn't run away.
"Hiccup," she growled, "Get me down from here."
"You have to give me a chance to explain." I pleaded.
"I am not listening to anything you have to say."
"Then I won't speak," I told her. "Just, let me show you. Please, Astrid."
She heaved herself up onto the branch she was dangling from and cautiously approached. I offered her my hand to help, but being the stubborn Viking she is, she slapped it out of the way.
Toothless growled at her as she climbed up.
"Now get me down from here." She said.
"Toothless, down." I told the night fury. "Gently"
He spread his wings and we rose slightly as they caught the air.
"See," I told Astrid. "Nothing to be afraid of."
Of course Toothless just had to prove me wrong.
He shot off into the sky at speeds only a night fury can reach. Behind me I could hear Astrid screaming
"Toothless, what is wrong with you?" I asked him. "Bad Dragon!"
My hopes of changing Astrid's mind were going down the drain fast. She clutched at my back to avoid falling to her death.
"He's not usually like this," I assured her.
Before she could reply (if she had even heard me), Toothless decided we should take a free fall from unspeakable heights.
We crashed into the ocean below, and Toothless decided to pretend he was some kind of show-offish fish by jumping in and out of the water, while maintaining his speed.
"Toothless what are you doing?" I was beginning to panic a bit myself. He never acted out like this.
"We need her to like us!"
In response, he flew straight up and commenced barrel-rolling.
"And now the spinning," I narrated. Astrid was so going to kill me when (and if) Toothless ever put us back on the ground.
"Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile."
Toothless ignored my comment and continued with a downwards spiral.
I think I heard Astrid say something, but I couldn't fully understand her due to the buffeting winds around me. I think it was something like "I'm sorry," but I'm not sure.
Toothless must have accepted her apology, because he immediately leveled out and decreased his speed.
I looked back to check on Astrid. She looked...scared.
I didn't like seeing her scared. I was used to the warrior Astrid. The fearless Astrid. And knowing that it was my best friend and I that made her scared, I felt extremely guilty.
In an attempt to make it up to her, and to try again to change her mind about dragons, I turned Toothless up to the clouds.
I heard her breathing begin to steady, and felt her sit up straighter. I watched as she tentatively reached a hand up to a cloud. She wore a look of awe as her hand passed through. I smiled as she lifted the second arm and did the same.
I had never been on Toothless at his hour, and I must say the view was amazing. I had almost forgotten about the blonde seated behind me, and then she wrapped her arms around my chest and rested he head on my shoulder.
I couldn't help but smile. I have had a crush on Astrid for years. I no longer cared if she was going to kill me when we landed. I was already in Valhalla.
We soared over Berk, admiring the view of the lit torches.
"Alright, I admit it: This is pretty cool," Astrid said. "It's amazing. He's amazing." Astrid reached down and patted Toothless' neck. The dragon warbled happily in response.
At that moment, everything was right with my world. I had Toothless as a best friend, and the girl of my dreams was seated behind me, overlooking the view of a lifetime. Things couldn't get better.
Of course, that just means things would get worse.
And they did, but that's another story.
Grammar check is driving me insane. I am well aware there are sentence fragments...
I mostly tried to stick to the script here.
I hope everyone enjoyed. Please leave a review.
I am a little stuck on the other stories I'm writing currently, but I'll keep at it so I can get you more stuff to waste your time reading.