Chapter 2

Hiccup

When Hiccup woke the next morning, he was quite disoriented. His bed and furs somehow felt cold and abrasive, and not at all comfortable. With a writhe and a shove, he tossed the covers away and leapt from his bed. The room seemed chilled and lonely as he stumbled toward the stair, making his way down to the main room of the house. He set a light in the hearth and left it to begin blazing as he stepped out through the back door to where he'd filled the large wooden tub that served as a place to wash. After stripping down, Hiccup held his breath and plunged into the icy water. After some brisk scrubbing and a great deal of shivering he leapt out of the tub and dashed back inside, grabbing a large towel from beside the door and hurrying his way over to the hearth soaking up the heat from the now merry blaze.

XXX

This was such an annoyance. At the very least, Stoic still hadn't returned. He didn't think the dragons could have killed him; nothing could kill that mountain of a man. Most likely, the Chief was on his way back now.

The Gronckle Hiccup was supposed to be fighting was circling the ring, looking for him and Astrid. He could see Astrid crouching behind cover a good deal closer to the dragon than was healthy behind the flimsy pieces of cover they'd been provided with, waiting for an opportunity to leap when it's attention was elsewhere.

Why had he let his father throw him into this? He watched as the blond leapt out and made a swing at the Boulder-class dragon, only to have the reptile dodge and fire a melted bolt back at her which was narrowly avoided with a raised shield and a leap. She was, however, blown backward by the force of the explosion.

The dragon rushed in to neutralize the threat. Hiccup groaned when he saw that Astrid was actually going to get herself killed. With a grunt he whipped his helmet off his head and hurled was a soft thunk as it bounced off the side of the armored skull.

"Damn it." The Gronkle now focussed on him and charged, its tiny wings beating frantically. Hiccup turned and began to run in the opposite direction, hoping to make it to another of the wooden barricades to hide behind. The oncoming buzz of the Gronkle's wings however was far faster than he could run. He planted his feet and leapt perpendicular to his path.

He could feel the rush of air as the Gronkle very narrowly missed his trailing leg. Upon hitting the stone, he rolled and was treated to a view of an enormous black maw hovering over him with the glow of molten stone building in the back of its throat.

Acting entirely on instinct, Hiccup pushed himself up on one arm reaching with the other beneath the dragon's chin to the place where the hardened scale of its jaw met the much softer, malleable plates at it's throat. With a brush of his fingernails and a small pressure, the Gronkle relaxed entirely and fell at Hiccup's side. As it fell away, Hiccup caught sight of Astrid on the other side, axe raised and ready for a strike, eyes wide and staring.

As the dragon let out a content huff on the ground, Astrid turned away and started to yell and curse, her victory snatched from directly beneath her nose. Hiccup stood and dusted himself off. With any luck he could write the victory off as Astrid's.

"Great job Astrid! He almost had me there. If you don't mind, I'll just be going..."

Before he could make it very far Gobber's hook caught his shirt from behind.

Damn.

The Elder of Berk was standing at the edge of the pit, leaning on her twisted and gnarled staff. Gobber gestured to Astrid with his hook - the Elder shook her wizened, old head.

Double damn.

Hiccup knew full well what was coming next. Gobber's hook shifted slowly, to hover above the diminutive boy's head. With a short and deliberate nod, the Elder condemned him to face off against an enemy that was not truly an enemy. Mutters of disbelief swept the onlookers around the ring's edge.

Great.

"Are we done?" Hiccup felt a little of his annoyance color his tone. Astrid turned to him, breathing heavily as her nostrils flared and her fists clenched.

"What, exactly, is it that is SO important that it would overshadow your victory over me?!" Astrid's singed hair framed her face, and her widening eyes offered her a slightly deranged look as she brandished her ax.

"My victory over you? It's not exactly by my choice that I'm here, Astrid. If it were up to me, YOU would be fighting a dragon tomorrow!" With that, Hiccup turned and strode from the ring, ignoring the hanging jaws of the Vikings behind him.

XXX

He was almost back; the lip where the ground fell away into the cove was visible through the trees, and Hiccup swiftly pushed aside the branches of thick undergrowth that covered the crevice that descended into the crater. Just as he was about to leap down to the first ledge, there was an audible snapping sound behind him; a dried branch breaking beneath someone's foot.

Hiccup whipped around, catching the smallest glimpse of blond hair disappearing behind a large tree. "Astrid what are you doing?"

The teenage Viking stepped from behind a large tree. She looked angry, unsurprisingly. "I want to know what you do out here! You're always sneaking off into the forest. Why?" She crossed her arms now and set her jaw, intent on an answer.

Hiccup thanked the gods that he had stopped by his house to pick up his sketchbook. With a snort of aggravation, he brandished the small journal and charcoal stylus. "You of course wouldn't know, but I happen to be an artist by hobby. Now please leave me in peace!"

He watched as Astrid's face morphed from determined anger into off balance confusion. She had certainly not been expecting a confident, sensible answer. After a brief silence Astrid gave a snort of disgust and turned to sprint off back toward the village. Hiccup sighed, turned, and descended into the cove.