Hey! :D So, I know the first chapter seemed a bit rushed, but it's intentional. Like I said, I'm going to be fooling around with a few new styles of writing. Let me know if any of them are particularly horrendous. :)
I'm going to do shout-outs in the NEXT chapter, just so you all know! I missed doing shout-outs in "Of Peace Treaties and Battle Cries", so I'm going to do them in the next one. :) Enjoy chapter 2! :D
"Alright, Astrid," Hiccup said, turning to face her once again as soon as Snotlout's turn was up in which he had knocked down one barrel, "you're up."
Astrid gave him another look over before stepping forward towards Stormfly. She thought that he would tell her when something was bothering him, and she trusted that he would eventually. He always did. Right now, she needed to work on training and pretend she didn't notice something was wrong with Hiccup.
She would learn what was wrong later. He was bound to tell her sometime, and she knew it. As she mounted Stormfly to perform the exercise, she looked back at Hiccup worriedly. She couldn't help checking on him still. She hadn't known him very well for that long, but ever since the Red Death one year ago she hadn't been able to fully let it go when something was wrong with him. She was always worried it was going to turn into something worse.
Besides, Hiccup often liked playing the "I'm not alright but I can make you think that I am" card more often than not, and it bothered her more than she wished to admit. She never really knew when he wasn't alright unless she found out for herself, because he hardly ever told her on his own.
He was strange like that. It was obvious when something was wrong, but he didn't like people worrying about him, so he refrained from telling anyone unless they pried the truth out of him.
"Stormfly, fire!" Astrid shouted. The Nadderhead sucked in a breath, and let loose a blast of fire. The barrels that were remaining were blasted into small splinters and larger pieces of wood as well. Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs gaped at her in amazement, "ooooo"ing and "aaaaah"ing in unison. Astrid smiled in satisfaction.
"Not bad, Astrid!" Hiccup congratulated. "Although we're working on target practice. You blasted all the barrels at once."
"Who said I wasn't aiming for all of them?" Astrid asked as she dismounted and approached Hiccup once again.
Hiccup shrugged. "No one," he said. "Okay, so you guys have got blasting things down...well, of course you do…take an hour break and we'll meet back here then, when the sun's up, alright?"
"You won't get an argument from us," Ruffnut said as she and her brother mounted their Zippleback once again.
"Yeah," Tuffnut said. "No argument from us. No means no." Their dragon spread its wings and flew out of the Academy. Snotlout and Fishlegs did the same, leaving Hiccup, Astrid, Toothless and Stormfly alone in the Academy.
"So," Astrid said, "do you want to tell me what's bothering you?"
"What do you mean?" Hiccup replied, dusting dirt off Toothless' saddle and readjusting it although it was unnecessary. He was looking for a distraction, like he did when he was nervous. Something was up, and she was going to find out what it was.
"You know what I mean," Astrid said in reply. "You can deny it all you want, Hiccup, but something is wrong, and you're going to tell me what. You know I'm going to find out anyway, even if I have to follow you around and watch your every move. Why wait? Just tell me what's bothering you. It really can't be that bad, can it?"
"I told you, Astrid, I'm fine," Hiccup said. Astrid rolled her eyes in exasperation. Why didn't he just tell her what was wrong? He would make things so much easier if he did that.
"You're not fine," Astrid said. "You look like you're going to collapse, and it's not the lighting. If you really were up all night yesterday, then you should probably go home and get some rest."
"Why can't you just believe me when I say that I'm fine?" Hiccup asked almost angrily. "I mean, if something was really wrong, then yes, I would probably tell you...but nothing's 'really wrong' here, Astrid. It's nothing you need to worry about."
Astrid crossed her arms. "Really?" she said in disbelief. "If it's nothing to worry about, then why do you keep refusing to tell me?"
Hiccup opened his mouth to say something else, and then closed it in the end. Astrid nodded, smiling in satisfaction. She had him now, and now he had to tell her. Hiccup sighed.
"Okay, I'll admit it," he said. "I felt pretty rotten earlier, but it's fine now."
"Define 'rotten'?" Astrid offered.
Hiccup shrugged. "A headache, dizzy spells...not really anything too severe. It was more of a nuisance than anything, especially since I was trying to work. It probably came from a lack of sleep, but as you can see now, I'm fine."
"I...really wish I could believe you, Hiccup," Astrid said, "but I don't know if I can. You look terrible. You should go get some rest, like I said a few minutes ago. I think it'll be what's best for you right now-"
"Astrid, I told you, I'm fine," Hiccup said. "Besides, I want to work on that dragon whistle while the idea is still fresh in my mind."
Astrid rolled her eyes. Why did Hiccup have to be so...stubborn? Life would have been so much easier if he would just do what she said. But of course, he didn't, and now she had to deal with that.
"Okay," Astrid said, "as long as you let me come with you." She wasn't fully open to the idea of him going alone, especially not when he looked so...strange. "And also as long as you agree to get some more sleep as soon as you're done."
"Deal," Hiccup said, turning and jumping on Toothless' back. "Although I really don't know what you're worried about. I'm fine, you know. Really, I am."
"Uh huh, yeah, right," Astrid said, mounting her own dragon. "Tell me that later, after you don't look so pale."
Hiccup rolled his eyes, patted Toothless' head, and held on tight as the Night Fury sprang into the sky. Stormfly darted after him.