This is THE chapter that is getting things started! Muahaha!
Enjoy!
Chapter 4 – First Impressions
Hiccup arrived in Berk a couple of days ago, just in time to get used to the time difference and meet some of the people who worked for his father.
Wanting to keep his arrival and decision a secret until the ball later this evening, Hiccup wasn't allowed to explore anywhere outside of the palace grounds. And even then he had to be accompanied by Eret at all times for fear someone would be hiding in a bush with a camera.
The most interesting people he had met so far were his twin maids, Ruffnut and Tuffnut. They were waiting for him the day he walked into his new room, which he pretty sure was larger than his entire home was back in the states.
And the palace was just that. A palace. Hiccup had been there for four days already and he still hadn't had the time to look at everything it had to offer. He also constantly got lost walking from his room to the main sitting area, which was extremely frustrating for him and for Eret who had to keep coming to find him when he'd end up being late for a meeting or a lesson with his father.
Hiccup was still in bed, half asleep and not really having the energy to get up. He figured it was a mix of dreading today and also the very soft mattress that was just way too comfortable to get out of.
Then his bedroom door burst open and Hiccup sat up quickly, his heart beating fast, "What the -"
Tuffnut stood in the entryway, holding a chicken, "Rise and shine, Prince Henry!"
"First of all, why do you have a chicken in your arms? And secondly, I told you to call me Hiccup," the new prince sighed and rubbed the sleep from his tired eyes.
"Hiccup is such an odd name," Ruffnut commented as she walked in the room.
"And Ruffnut and Tuffnut aren't odd names?" Hiccup asked her, sarcastically.
"We don't think so, no," Ruffnut crossed the room and opened the curtains, letting more light in the room than Hiccup's eyes were ready for.
Tuffnut walked closer to the bed and threw the chicken on top of it, "Chicken, Hiccup. Hiccup, Chicken."
Chicken squawked in response before flying back up into Tuffnut's arms, "Nice to meet you…" Hiccup said, cautiously. He had dealt with chickens all his life on the ranch, but he never thought he would ever actually befriend one.
There was a light knock at the bedroom door and Hiccup looked towards the noise to see Gobber standing there with a clipboard in his hands, "Morning, lad. Your father wants you downstairs for tea in ten minutes."
Meeting his father for tea every morning had been a daily occurrence since they arrived so he wasn't surprised by this news. It was usually silent between the two, which was the way Hiccup preferred it. No lessons. No hard questions. Just the sound of clinking china and slurping of hot tea.
He had a feeling today would be different though.
And he was right.
The second he walked into the tea room, he was hit by both his father and Gobber with his itinerary for the day.
The first item on that list was a fitting with Mala and Throk and he was sent right back up to his room to meet them.
"How're you liking Berk so far, Henry Haddock?" Throk asked him while he stood on a platform with his arms spread out beside him as Mala tucked and pinned places that needed fixing before this evening's activities.
"I haven't got to see much else other than the palace yet, but what I have seen so far is beautiful," Hiccup replied. Berk really was unlike any other place he'd ever seen before. Green lush hills reside throughout the countryside and everywhere you looked you could see a snow covered mountain in the distance. Every angle of this place was a postcard.
"Are you excited for tonight? I know your father is ready for the whole country to finally meet its future king," Mala asked.
Hiccup put his arms back down by his side, but Mala brought them back up into the air. Hiccup groaned as the pain from holding them up too long returned.
"I have no idea what to expect so I don't know how excited I can be for something I feel completely unprepared for," Hiccup replied. He knew how to sit in a chair and stand up, but his father never mentioned what to expect from this evening.
"We can tell you what to expect," the twins said and walked around the corner.
"And how is that?" Throk asked them.
"We went last year," Ruffnut whispered.
"Why are you whispering?" Hiccup asked and looked around to see if anyone else had joined them without him knowing. He didn't see anybody.
"We weren't technically supposed to be there. We were told to stay in the kitchen, but there's no fun in that so we snuck in," Tuffnut confessed.
"But it was a pretty lame party. It's just a bunch of old people in Parliament, some other royal folks from nearby countries, and they play this awful music that'll make your ears bleed," Ruffnut shuddered.
"Yeah, promise us you'll throw cooler parties when you become king," Tuffnut chuckled.
"Right. I'll try and remember that." Hiccup replied.
Hiccup didn't want to think that far ahead yet. He wasn't even officially prince until this evening and being King was a lot further in the future than he wanted to think about at the moment. He had to get through this evening first.
After the fitting, Hiccup was to meet his father downstairs for dancing lessons. He really hoped it wasn't actually going to be his father giving him the lessons. He would like to go his entire life without that uncomfortable encounter.
So, he was relieved to see a woman chatting with his father when he arrived in the room. The furniture had been pushed to the side of the large room, leaving enough space in the middle for dancing.
Stoick spotted his son and his smiled disappeared once he took in his appearance, "Son, what are you wearing?"
Hiccup stopped in front of Stoick and looked down at his jeans and t-shirt, "Clothes?"
The king didn't seem to find that amusing, but Hiccup saw the strawberry blonde woman crack a smile, "I don't have time to send you back up to change so I'll let it slide just this once," his father said.
Hiccup reached his hand out towards the woman, "Hi, I'm Hicc…Henry," he corrected.
The woman took a hold of his hand and shook it firmly, "Atali," she smiled.
"Just so you know, I've never been much of a dancer," Hiccup lightly chuckled and gestured to the area where metal was in the place of where a leg should be.
Atali looked down, she was shocked at first, wondering how the king had forgotten to mention something like that to her when he asked her to teach his son how to dance.
"You'd be surprised, sometimes people with just one good leg are a lot better dancers than the people with two good legs," Atali chuckled along with Hiccup, glad to know the boy had a good sense of humor.
"It's true. Gobber is one of the best dancers on Berk," Stoick spoke up. Hiccup made a mental note to be sure and see that for himself eventually.
Hiccup, per the usual, was the exception to what Atali had said. He was a horrible dancer and stepped on the woman's toes every other step. He apologized every time he felt foot hit foot and saw her wince. She would play it off like it didn't hurt her, but when she offered they take a break, he knew she was lying when he saw her limp off towards the restroom.
Stoick was not too happy about his son being the worst dancer that Berk had probably ever seen, "Son, the way you dance tonight is one of the most important parts of this ball. That and your speech, so I suggest you try harder."
Hiccup didn't even care or hear the comment his father made at the end of his small lecture. He stopped listening after he said the word speech.
"I have to give a speech?" Hiccup asked, his throat already tightening from his fear of public speaking.
"Yes, of course you do…" Stoick trailed off as his witnessed all the color drain from his already pale son's face, "Are you alright? You look like you've just seen a ghost."
"When were you planning on telling me about this speech?"
"It'll be easy, Henry. You just have to announce your decision to be prince and then talk about how you believe you'll make a good leader for our people. They'll want to hear that, especially since they've never met you before in their lives," Stoick patted his son on the back and Hiccup lost his balance. His father had to catch him before he fell face first into the stone floor, "It'll be alright, son."
He was no public speaker. Every time he had to give a speech in school, he'd freeze up the second the other students laid eyes on him. There was one time the class was so large that he had to throw up before and afterward.
He could practice what he would say a thousand times, but the second he would walk up to the front of the room, everything would disappear, including his own name.
"Can't you just give the speech for me?" Hiccup asked his father.
The room filled with booming laughter from his father, "Good one, son. No, I can't do that. This is all on you, but I'll be sure to give you some tips..." Stoick trailed off. Hiccup had turned and began to walk out of the room before he could even walk out of the room.
His father began shouting his name, which made him walk faster and then he eventually found himself running.
He ended up at the stables and just like he used to do back home, he jumped on the back of his horse and took off into the open field.
Toothless had gotten to Berk a day after Hiccup. Gobber had found some company that specializes in flying horses to places around the world, and it was a good thing too because where Hiccup went, Toothless went too.
The cool Berk air hit his face as the horse and rider rode throughout the large field behind the palace. They rode so far they ended up at the edge of the forest.
Not wanting to stay in the open field too much longer, Hiccup saw a trail and directed Toothless to follow it, not even caring about where it may lead.
The boy and his horse rode deeper and deeper into the forest, not sure where they were heading and definitely not paying attention to how far away they were from the palace now. By the time Hiccup's butt was sore from riding his horse without a saddle, the trail had ended and led them into a large clearing.
It was a little cove tucked away in the middle of the forest. There was a pond in the middle of the clearing that was filled with crystal clear water allowing you to see all the way to the bottom. It was surrounded by more trees and large boulders. Hiccup listened to the world around him and for the first time in weeks, he heard nothing but the forest life. It was silent.
He took a deep breath, jumped off Toothless, and stretched out his sore muscles while Toothless made his way to the water for a quick drink.
The one place he hated to leave back home was his and Toothless' spot by the creek. He hoped he'd be able to find a similar spot for them to escape to when they needed it.
Hiccup was pretty sure he just found it.
"You like this spot, bud?" Hiccup asked. Toothless looked up from the water and trotted over to his rider and nuzzled him. The two stayed like that for a few moments, head to head, until Hiccup patted him on his side, "Yeah, I like it too."
"He runs away from everything," Stoick spoke angrily to both his assistant and head of security, "You have no idea where he went?" he asked Eret directly.
Eret shook his head, "On the camera we have him leaving the stables, but I have no idea where he went after that. That horse is very fast."
Around the men, workers were carrying decorations needed for the evening's event. Gobber was trying to pay attention to both them and his very distraught king, "He'll come back, Stoick…" then the assistant ran off to yell at someone for placing the bouquet flowers in the wrong spot.
"The guests will be here in two hours and that's how long you have to find him," the king ordered.
Eret didn't like the look on his king's face, which is why he alerted the rest of the security team to find the king's son as soon as possible or else they'd probably all be unemployed by this time tomorrow.
"It's one thing to stand up there and say, 'Hello. I'm Henry Haddock, your new prince,' but he wants me to tell them all why I would not only make a good prince but a good leader for this entire country. I don't know anything about this country, I didn't even finish those books," Hiccup complained to Toothless while pacing back and forth in the grass.
The sun was setting now, but Hiccup was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't realize the sky was growing dark. And he was so far from the palace now that he didn't hear all the guests beginning to arrive.
Two hours had come and gone so quickly that Eret didn't realize they were over until he was called back to the palace to get ready for the guests who were about to arrive.
Now they were all piled into the ballroom, dining on finger foods, schmoozing with other royals, and waiting for the king and their new prince to arrive.
Eret was standing at the double doors, waiting for Stoick to make his way down and trying to come up with how the hell he was going to tell the king that he still hadn't found his son.
"Here comes the King," he heard Gobber announce over his radio. Not even two seconds later, Stoick, wearing his formal attire, walked around the corner.
The second he laid on eyes on Eret he knew his son hadn't been found, "You didn't find him," it wasn't a question, but Eret still shook his head.
"I'm sorry, sir. We combed every inch of this place."
"Look, we can't keep the people in there waiting any longer," Gobber spoke, "Schmooze with the press and everyone else for as long as you can. If he isn't here in thirty minutes then you'll just have to come up with something to tell them."
"There are people in there expecting him to be here. If he doesn't show up, that makes him and me look bad. He has to make an appearance," the king spoke and took a deep breath, "Open the doors."
The large double doors opened and the King of Berk was announced to the people inside. They all clapped as he walked through the crowds. Stoick put on his best poker face and prayed to all the gods above that his son would show up in time.
A raindrop landed on Hiccup's forehead. It was a large one and trailed all the way down his face. As a natural reaction, Hiccup looked up at the sky but couldn't see any rain clouds because of the night sky.
"Oh, shit! It's already dark?" Hiccup called Toothless over and the two hopped back onto the path and into the forest. The forest was blocking the moonlight and it was already hard to see, so the pouring rain that was coming down now made it impossible to see anything more than two feet in front of them.
Toothless could no longer run for fear of falling into a hole or running into a tree so he had to just slowly walk through the forest. It took them a lot longer to reach the clearing than it should have.
Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief when they finally got out of the forest and he could see the palace lights in the distance.
Thirty minutes passed and many people were starting to get anxious and bored. It was time, but there will still no sign of Hiccup.
Stoick walked up to the stage, coming up with many different things to say to the people who were whispering among themselves, all eager to finally see their new ruler.
He walked up to the podium and took a look at the coronet he would place upon his son's head, the same one he wore when he was that age. It was golden and lined with sapphires, Berk's national stone and color. He dreamt of this day, getting to place it upon his own son's head, and the king frowned now unsure if was going to happen.
"People of Berk, I'm up here to annou-" the king started but was distracted by the opening of the doors.
Hiccup ran into the palace, slipping through the large hallway that led to the ballroom. He was covered in mud and dripping from head to toe.
"I'm here!" he yelled at the guard who was standing by the doors. He quickly opened them and Hiccup ran into the grand ballroom.
He wasn't expecting so many people so his run was cut short when he felt himself collide with another person.
"Oh my God! Look where you're going you idiot," the girl spun around and glared at the cause of whoever knocked her drink out of her hand and all over her new dress in the process.
The second the blonde girl faced him, Hiccup's heart stopped because he didn't think he had ever seen someone so beautiful. The angry blue eyes staring at him were the color of the sky on a bright clear day and he forgot how to speak for a moment before realizing that she was covered in champagne at the cause of his clumsiness.
The man standing next to her was holding a handful of napkins. He took them and without thinking first he began to try and wipe the liquid off her dress, "I'm sorry….I'm sorry, let me just -"
His stammering apologies were cut short when she swiped his hands away and took a step back, "Get your hands off me!" she yanked the napkins out his hands and began dabbing at her blue dress herself.
The blonde girl finally took in the boy's wet and casual appearance, "Who even are you?"
Hiccup was about to reply when he heard his father say, "Henry!"
The King pointed to the boy at the back of the crowd and everyone turned to look at him. Hiccup's face turned a thousand different shades of red in that moment. He awkwardly ran his fingers through his wet hair before sheepishly waving at the people around him.
The girl had forgotten all about her alcohol stained dress in that moment. Her blue eyes that were once angry were now huge and her mouth was hung open in surprise.
Hiccup slowly walked in between the whispering people who moved out of the way and made room for him to walk up to the stage where he could join his father at the podium. The second he stood on the stage, there was an array of camera flashes that blinded the prince for a moment.
Stoick was appalled by his son's drenched appearance, but instead of making a scene in front of hundreds of other eyes and ears, he stepped away from the podium and let his son take his spot. Once he was to the side, he quietly ordered Gobber to get his suit as soon as possible. He disappeared seconds after that.
He cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and tried to ignore the uncomfortable twists and turns of his nervous stomach, "So, it's raining," he gestured to the state of his clothes, trying to make a joke. No one laughed.
"Right…" he nervously chuckled before continuing, "Sorry I'm late, by the way. I lost track of time thinking about what I was going to stand up here and say to y'all tonight. I figured I could come up here and say something phenomenal that'll just make you trust me right on the spot. But standing up here and looking at all of you all right now, I know that won't work."
Hiccup turned his head and looked at his father, who nodded for him to continue.
He turned back towards the people of Berk, "Which is why I know I'll have to work hard to earn your trust and that is exactly what I'm going to do." Hiccup looked around and saw some of the people smile, but some still looked unconvinced, including the blonde girl in the back.
His father began to clap and the rest of the room followed their King in giving a round of applause for the young boy at the podium.
Stoick picked up the small crown sitting on the pedestal next to him and as his father announced him as Henry Haddock, Prince of Berk, Hiccup made a silent promise to work as hard as he possibly could to be a good prince. The group of people all currently watching him be crowned deserved it.
Seeing all their different faces made them so much more real than Hiccup could have ever imagined. For one whole month, the only bit of Berk that Hiccup knew was his father and a couple of the people who worked for him.
Seeing the other people of the small country look up at him made the young man realize these people were counting on him, and he didn't want to let them down.
The king escorted his son off the stage and to the side where no one could see them. Gobber was holding his suit, "That was a good speech, lad."
Stoick didn't give his son a chance to reply, "Where the hell were you?"
Hiccup looked up at his father, his very angry father, whose green eyes were staring him down and it almost scared the new prince. Almost.
"I went riding on Toothless and lost track of time. I would've been here sooner, but it started raining and took longer to get here because of it," Hiccup explained.
"Don't do it again," Stoick said firmly, "And change. Quickly," the king walked off and back into the ballroom.
Gobber walked with Hiccup towards the nearest restroom, "Don't worry too much. He's upset because there are people in that room who could vote to take the throne away from you."
"What?" Hiccup asked from behind the stall door.
"The men in Parliament were already hesitant about you taking the title and your father is worried that one small screw up will take the Haddock's out and put the Hofferson's in."
"Who are the Hofferson's?" Hiccup asked while buttoning up his shirt.
"The family next in line for the throne if your family was to ever lose their rightful place as the rulers of Berk."
Hiccup walked out of the stall then and handed Gobber his still dripping clothes. The assistant helped Hiccup into his blazer, "They can still take the title away from me even if I've already agreed to be their Prince?"
Gobber nodded, "If the members of Parliament don't believe you are fit to be the next King of Berk, they can rule you out and you won't be able to do anything about it."
Hiccup didn't know this. And even if he wasn't always keen on the idea of being prince or king one day, just the thought of someone taking the title away from him made him angry. He wasn't even sure why he cared enough to be angry, but he was.
Once Hiccup was back in the ballroom, his father immediately started introducing him to people whose names he forgot the second they walked away from them. Luckily, his father did most of the talking and Hiccup mostly just had to stand there smiling and nodding.
That was until he walked up to an older man and young woman who looked to be around his age. She had black hair and green eyes that were really similar to his own.
"Henry, this is Heather and her father Oswald," Stoick introduced and they each took turns shaking the prince's hand.
"Nice to meet you both," Hiccup smiled.
"They rule the small island off the coast of Berk and have always been one of our greatest allies," Stoick smiled at Oswald, who didn't seem to completely agree with what his king was saying, but nodded anyway.
Stoick bent down to whisper in his son's ear, "Why don't you ask his daughter to dance?"
Hiccup tried to hide the horror on his face and failed miserably. The king gently nudged his son closer to the young lady, "Would you like to...uh...dance?"
Heather smiled at him gently and nodded, "Sure."
The two made their way to the middle of the dance floor where other couples had begun to dance to the music. Hiccup paused in front of Heather, trying to remember where the right place to put his hands were.
The princess noticed his uncertainty and grabbed his hand, placing it on the small of her back and then grabbed his other hand and intertwined their fingers. The two began to sway to the music, Hiccup looking down at his foot and trying his best not to step on her toes.
"I don't dance much," Hiccup apologized and looked up at her.
"You're doing fine. It just takes practice," she replied and smiled gently at the prince.
Hiccup was now wishing he had stayed and finished that dancing lesson with Atali earlier.
Stoick was still standing by Oswald and rubbing his fingers through his beard, something he always did when he was thinking. He had a pleased smirk across his face and Hiccup turned around before he could notice him elbow Heather's father in the ribs.
The two danced like that for a couple more moments, making small talk about where they were from, what they did in their spare time, and Heather was talking about her beloved horse, Windshear, when he saw her.
The blonde girl was standing alone, looking bored out of her mind, and eating a pink macaroon. Her dress now had a huge dried up stain where the drink had spilled.
Hiccup didn't even look at Heather before he said, "Can you excuse me?"
The two stopped dancing, "Of course," she responded. Confused, she looked at where he was walking to before going back to the spot next to her father.
She saw him walking towards her and began to wander in the other direction before he could get any closer, "Wait!" Hiccup called out.
The young woman stopped and turned back around to face the prince, "Come back to spill another drink on me?"
"No, no...I just wanted to apologize again," he told her. She finished her macaroon.
The two stood there in an awkward silence, and she crossed her arms, "I'm still waiting on the apology."
"Oh! Right. I'm sorry for running into you earlier...and all the events that happened after it," Hiccup placed his hand on the back of his neck, sheepishly. He tried to look away from her and at something else, but his eyes somehow always made their way back to hers.
"What's done is done," she replied and turned away from him.
Hiccup suddenly panicked, he didn't want her to leave and he wasn't sure why, "Hang on!" she turned and he froze.
"Yes?"
"How...how about a dance…?" he asked nervously.
The girl laughed at him like he was joking, but once she saw his outstretched hand, she knew he was serious. She sighed, "Why not..."
She placed her small hand in his and Hiccup led her to the clearing in the middle. He stood in front of her and quickly tried to remember where exactly his hands were placed while dancing with Heather only two minutes ago.
He slowly wrapped his arm around her tiny waist and rested his hand on the small of her back. He interlaced their fingers together and the moment she placed her hand on his back, the two naturally grew closer to one another. Hiccup's heart suddenly began to race when he felt her warm breath hit his neck, and if it wasn't for the music, he would've been worried that she could hear it pounding in his chest.
As soon as the two began to sway back and forth, Hiccup stepped on her foot. She winced the second his foot landed on top of her exposed toes, "I'm sorry. I'm really not the best dancer."
"Yeah, no kidding," the blonde girl rolled her eyes and took a small step away from him. Their arms were now at awkward lengths from one another and Hiccup frowned.
He noticed that she was trying to look everywhere but at his face. She was determined to avoid eye contact with the boy. Hiccup figured it was because she didn't like him, which was one of the reasons, but Hiccup would have never guessed the main reason was because the girl thought the prince was attractive.
The fact that she wanted to look at him pissed her off, so she just decided to avoid eye contact altogether.
The two swayed back and forth for the remainder of the song, Hiccup apologizing every time he felt soft feet underneath his shoe instead of hard floor.
To the side, Stoick was watching the two with a clenched jaw. He saw the way his son was looking at the girl in front of him. He knew that look and if it was with any other girl but that one, he'd be happy about it. However, he wanted to knock the look of adoration right off his son's face and if wasn't for Gobber shaking his head at him, he would've done it the second Hiccup's arm wrapped itself around the girl.
The song ended and the girl removed the young man's hand from her back. Before she could walk away from him, Hiccup spoke, "I just realized I never got your name."
She smiled mischievously, "Astrid Hofferson," she replied and walked away from the boy, laughing at the shock that immediately spread across his face.