Four years later
ASTRID SIGHED IN utter contentment.
The serenity of that current beautiful summer afternoon was one of the only things maintaining her relatively sane mental state, what with all the whirlwind planning and festivities that had befallen the tribe; the usual gloominess wasn't quite as present as always. One could say a lighter note had settled in the tragic symphonie that was Berk nowadays.
She giggled at the hand playing with hers; it tugged and bent and entangled. Their fingers were tightly entwined, both rough and scarred from all the years of being warriors. They lied on the ground; the grass was soft and moist, the atmosphere rarely warm and humid. It was a scene out of the most beautiful of fairy tales: a wonderful meadow with two people side by side, enjoying the day and each other's presence.
Cain sighed and moved towards her; he dug his head into her shoulder, inhaling her scent and smiled, pressing a soft kiss on her arm, and then she asked in a soft happy tone, that was so innocent and sweet, it seemed too unlike herself, "What's got you in such a good mood?" He shrugged and flipped, so he was on his stomach, leaning over her; a hand trailed down her face and she felt her heart beat irregularly. "I was just thinking about how lucky I am," he said with such fierce truthfulness in his words, she felt her breath shudder, "And how much I love you." Her heart burst at the words. "Aren't you a little flirt?" she recovered and teased, and he just chuckled in return, tutting and leaning down, giving her a mystifying kiss. "I've missed this," she admitted to him as they pulled away breathless, and he smiled against her lips. "Oh, you have no idea how much I've missed this," he told her, lips running across her features lightly, "Everyone's fussing about, and it's nice to escape."
"If it isn't the two lovebirds," a voice interrupted the rendezvous, making the two pull away and sit up. "Good thing you guys are allowed to do this; Gods know other people would get Helheim under different circumstances." Astrid sighed and rolled her eyes at Ruffnut. The girl might have grown into a beauty one would say, but she still had an annoying trait of boyish bluntness to her. "What do you want, Ruff? We're kind of busy here." The girl in question just smirked and replied, "Gotta tell you some news. Apparently some hotshot guy is coming to Berk and everyone's freaking out."
"Hotshot?" Cain asked trying to get her to clarify. Astrid silently laughed at his annoyed demeanor; seems he's missed her as much as she him.
"The Bog Burglars just arrived, and they told us some kind of chief, leader, whatever, is coming and apparently he's a big deal."
"How come?"
"Well there are many rumors about this guy; some say he's the descendant of a dragon, which is all shades of creepy, I mean a dragon and a human gettin' it on?" Ruffnut rambled, face forming into a disgusted frown - Gods, Astrid hoped she wasn't trying to picture that - , "Eww, I mean how would that even work-"
"Ruff!" Cain exclaimed for her to get on.
"Oh yeah," she nodded and got back on topic, "anyways, he has dragons."
"Dragons?" Cain asked unsettled at the casual way she had just said that. Dragon raids had mysteriously been decreasing; they hadn't sighted a dragon for months, which was frankly more troubling than the raids themselves.
Astrid barely heard the two young adults discussing this mysterious figure and paid them zero to no attention. This man had dragons? Unvoluntarily a picture of green eyes, a huge tunic and black scales came to mind and she almost visibly jumped in surprise; she hadn't thought of that night in a long, long time.
"Astrid?" She raised her head and blinked. She felt someone shaking her shoulders and saw a waving hand in front of her face. She snapped out of her trance and saw a worried Cain looking down at her; his blue eyes were comforting and she relished at the sight of them. "Are you okay?" She felt her cheeks flame up in embarassment, "Y- Yeah. I just got carried away in thoughts, I guess." She shot him a reassuring smile, which he returned, but she could see that the worry still lingered; he always was the worrying type. She smiled at him and nodded, "I'm fine. I promise." He looked at her unsure, but let it be.
"You guys are so sappy," Ruffnut groaned in distaste, interrupting their moment, and turned to leave. "Oh, and meeting in the Great Hall," she added over her shoulder as she stalked off.
The two lovers scrambled upwards and made their way back; Astrid couldn't help but sigh at another afternoon taken from them. Was it too much to ask for a reprieve?
The Great Hall was one of the things that always remained the same on Berk. Houses were rebuilt numerous times a week - or at least they used to be, before the dragon raids had almost completely ceased. Still, it remained, and it's grand stature was calming and familiar and for Astrid it was something to identify her home with.
When the couple entered hand-in-hand, it was crowded and loud; the warmth and sticky odor greeted them at once, the chatter of the masses loud and overwhelming. Astrid could identify many rough voices shouting about, each viking trying to show they were the best. Hubris was a common trait in vikings; Hel who would they be without it?
In the middle end of the room she spotted the other young adults as well as the older ones.
"Stoick," Cain adressed the chief with a nod. "Cain, Astrid," he said in recognition and then motioned with a grim face to a huge woman beside him. "This is Bertha, she's come by to warn us."
"Warn?" Astrid repeated.
"Yes, warn, young lady. This man, he's extremely dangerous and not t'be trifled with," the woman - Bertha - answered in a gruff tone with a rough, deep voice. She seemed like Stoick's counterpart.
"Any idea why he's decided to come to us?" the big blacksmith Gobber questioned the equally big lady. Astrid watched in concern how the older man seemed to fidget and hide in his own skin; this wasn't the Gobber she had known and come to love. He caught her gaze and sent her a small smile.
Astrid tore her gaze from the viking and dedicated it to the chieftess of the Bog Burglars, who shook her head and frowned, "All I heard was he was comin' to the Archipelago looking for Berk. I mean, I got a theory, but it's just a wild guess."
Stoick signaled with a motion of the hand for her to continue. She sighed and gave in to his request, saying, "Apparently he has a dragon army. And since he's got one, it means he'll want more beasts and my guess is, he might be coming for them ones here."
Astrid's mind raced; this situation reminded her all to much of a certain boy she wished she could shake from her mind. Why would it be him?
"What do we know about this man?" Spitelout queried. Big Bertha shrugged, "He's comin' from far away. Some say he's the devil; he pirates, murders, without second thought. Seems like he's learned a thing or two from those beasts." Her face scrunched up in disgust and resentment.
"He's a pirate?" Tuffnut asked, joining the conversation and face lighting up in mischief. The young man certainly hadn't changed internally or externally. One would still catch him causing trouble and terrorizing the people of Berk. Stoick sighed and ran a hand down his face. "Ruffnut Thorston, you shall not endanger this tribe or so the Gods may assist me..."
Tuffnut frowned.
You'd think he'd finally grow up, Astrid internally thought.
"So when's this supposedly feared pirate guy coming?" Snotlout intervened with a voice that said, 'Who's this guy next to me?'
Snotlout was the same as always, just with a bigger ego. He thought he ruled all of Berk with his appointment of the heir. The only thing that had significantly changed, was, after realizing that Astrid and was not available, he laid off her. Or at least, as well as he could with his limited self-control; the only thing really keeping him at bay, was his instinct for self-preservation: Cain was a factor, but the equation was mainly made up of Astrid.
"Soon. I didn't get a more specific time," Big Bertha grunted.
"So, we wait?" Stoick asked in a defeated tone. Astrid had rarely ever seen a different expression on the man's face since-
Astrid swallowed and just watched as the Chieftess nodded.
Disclaimer: I do not own the HTTYD franchise
So the first chapter guys! Did you like it? Any remarks? Friendly reminder: reviews motivate me! (damn I sound commercial)
-flaminia
