Hi, guys! I actually started getting some ideas for this chapter last night when I went to sleep, but started hand-writing my beginning during my hour lunch. It really does make lunch more enjoyable! I usually don't do a lot of these as I am always afraid I am going to miss someone, but I want to send some shout-outs to those who have reviewed:
Flopy (guest) - YES! I like to try to get updates out to everyone so they aren't waiting for weeks for an update...or even months! I've had a few I have waited for updates from for over a year now! I get it, sometimes we just lose inspiration on stories (The Stone Crumbles is the one I have lost connection with). I hope you enjoy!
Antox - Oh yes, my noticeable typos! I try to avoid them, but occasionally even though you do review your pieces, they get missed.
AnnieDragonGirl - I hope you think Hiccup is getting better!
harrypanther - I kind of put myself into Hiccup's shoes when it comes to his anxieties, as I have anxiety myself.
Ra-Ra-Crazy - For some reason my mind always goes to a lot of depressing fanfics (maybe because I always love the light at the end of the tunnel type stories).
And on with the show!
...
Astrid was sitting on Hiccup's work stool just outside the back door of the Forge. Her back was hunched, her arms were crossed in front of herself. Hiccup judged by her expression she was still angry - either with the situation concerning Stormfly or at Hiccup for mentioning Drago. Or perhaps both.
He stood inside the Forge over a bucket of clean drinking water on the table. Dipping a clean cloth into it to soak, he then rang it out until most of the water was gone. He sighed, and braced himself for what was about to come next. Heading back out to where Astrid sat, he felt like he was walking on eggshells. Astrid didn't show a lot of emotion most of the time, but when it came down to someone hurting her dragon, she wore her emotions on her sleeve.
Putting a knee down, Hiccup reached his hands up to her face. She wouldn't look at him, and he didn't want to meet her eyes. He used one hand to sway her bangs back, and the other to apply the damp cloth to her cut on her forehead. He held it there for a moment before he spoke.
"Um - do you want to hold it, or I can-" he began. Her eyes finally made eye contact and she was staring at him angrily.
For some reason, it triggered him. He suddenly wasn't in the mood to walk on eggshells with her. He wasn't wanting to deal with her anger.
Suddenly, she growled at him, then gave him a violent shove. It pushed him off balance. His anger began to boil up on his face.
"Fine!" he snapped at her, seeing she was beginning to chew on the inside of her cheek. He threw the rag at her. "Keep in mind, Astrid, I am trying to help. And I wasn't the one who shot her with the machine-"
"YOU were the one who MADE it-"
"And, if I hadn't made the machine we all may not be standing her concerned over her- who knows, if you would of killed her during dragon training, we might be wearing her on our feet instead!"
He really just went there. Feeling at least twenty sets of eyes from other villagers staring, Hiccup gave one last glance at Astrid, who was now on her feet with her mouth gaping at him. He turned away and headed towards the Academy. He decided he was going to go down and check on Stormfly. If Astrid didn't want his help then he would apply himself elsewhere.
The walk down to the Academy he didn't make eye contact with anyone. He continued to ignore the pain in his leg as he walked, just as he had done when he was pushing against Stormfly not long before. He could bet on having to live with the throbbing pain tonight. At that moment, he didn't care.
He felt naked walking down towards the Academy. Toothless had gone with his mother to help her with Stormfly. If anything, he would have been a comfort to her. Astrid had wanted to go, but Valka had asked her to remain at the Forge. Hiccup thought his mother believed she would head down to see Gothi since her cut was so deep.
As Hiccup was walking into the center of the arena, he saw Gobber and Valka clearing the net that Hookfang had carried Stormfly down in. Snotlout was currently feeding Stormfly two extra large chicken legs, her absolute favorite.
"How is she?" Hiccup asked his mother when he approached.
"She should be fine by morning," Valka said to him, leaving Gobber to move the remaining part of the net on his own. Hiccup could see Toothless communicating with Stormfly. They looked happy and content together. Hiccup smiled gently seeing their happines.
Valka crossed her arms in front of her and watched the two dragons. Then, she turned to Hiccup.
"Astrid go see Gothi?" she asked.
"I'm not-entirely sure," Hiccup said, crossing his own arms in front of himself. He knew his mother was staring at him. He chose to not make eye contact.
"I take it something went sour between you two in the short time we were away?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Hiccup said to her.
Valka sighed. "What is wrong with you?"
"What are you talking about?" he asked her.
"When I met you, you were this happy, excited boy-"
"I'm not a boy, Mom," he said to her a little more softly. "That was six months ago. Have you forgotten I am twenty-one now?"
Valka shook her head. "You were so care-free,,,for the most part."
"Well, I became Chief," Hiccup said to her. "I've inherited a lot of responsibility-"
Valka sighed. "You put more on your shoulders than you really should, my son." She placed her hand onto his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Now, I think you might need to venture down and talk to the twins here shortly. The fishing boat should be coming back any time now."
"True," Hiccup said. Suddenly, he thought of something. He should ask them if they saw the ship out in the distance...
...
"Hiccup, what are you talking about?" Tuffnutt asked him.
Hiccup had made it down to the docks as the sun was setting to ask the twins about hitting Stormfly with the contraption.
"I was told that you guys used this crazy thing to shoot her down," he said to her, motioning both hands towards the invention.
Tuffnutt turned to her brother, showing a frown. "Ruff, did you shoot down Stormfly earlier?"
Ruffnutt cocked his head to the side, then turned around himself to look at the pile of fish that laid on the boat. He scratched his head, and lifted up a handful of the fish. "Stormfly, are you in here?"
Hiccup tilted his head back in annoyance. "Guys, seriously-" He sighed and walked over to his old invention to give it a peak. He looked at it, and realized immediately there wasn't any way they could have hooked that large pole with an arrow that big to it. The only thing it could throw was a large net. Were they even smart enough to re-rid the thing anyways?
"Did you shoot Stormfly down?" Ruffnutt asked his sister, pointing to her. "Or-I bet it was Mulch-"
"After all, Mulch is known for a good fist fight-"
"Since when am I known for that?" Mulch asked, coming up from below deck.
"Since yesterday when you and Silent Sven punched Hiccup-" Ruffnutt began.
"Now, ye kids see here!" Mulch started. "I didn't touch the Chief-"
Hiccup's eyes widened. Just what he needed, yesterday's fiasco to be brought up again. He put his hand up to stop the conversation. "Guys-it's fine." He turned back to the contraption again. He looked over at Toothless, who had remained on the docks. His "ears" were down, his teeth were out, and his eyes were narrowed. It
probably bothered him that Hiccup was so close to the thing. Hiccup put his hands up and backed away from the thing. "Well, at least it catches some nice fish for the village."
"So, Chief," Mulch began, approaching Hiccup hesitantly. "You said Stormfly was shot out of the air earlier. Why were we accused of this?"
Hiccup sighed. "It happened when Stormfly was in range of you guys. When we found out you had-this-" Hiccup gestured to the item again. "-I think it was automatically assumed someone had rigged it up to be some sort of large cross bow."
Mulch scratched his face, thinking.
"You guys didn't happen to see someone else around you today?" Hiccup asked Mulch, hoping for a good answer.
Mulch shook his head, and Hiccup felt his heart sink a little. Was he going mad? Was he seeing things? Why did he keep seeing some strange boat? And, exactly where did the arrow come from?
...
Hiccup arrived home and pushed the door open. His mother looked over from the hearth, giving him a gentle smile. He sighed as he entered, leaving the door open behind himself. He saw his mother's eyes begin to fill with questions as to why her son was suddenly being a slob leaving the door open behind himself. Her question was answered when Toothless came trailing in behind him, about fifteen paces later. The dragon shut the door with his tail and made eye contact with Hiccup again, snorting.
"I have apologized to you about a dozen times already," Hiccup said to him, crossing his arms in front of him. "What more do you want?"
The dragon boggled at him.
"No, you've had enough trout today-"
The dragon snorted again, then bound up the stairs to the loft. A moment later, they heard the door slam shut upstairs. Then, a crash, which Hiccup could assume was a pile of papers and books falling to the floor from his desk.
"Just great," Hiccup said. "Someone is throwing a tantrum today-course, what's new?" He collapsed into what was his father's large chair in the far corner of the first floor of the home. The chair was so large, Hiccup could lean against the arm and put his legs up and still have room to stretch.
"Last couple of hours must have been a little rough, I take it," Valka said to him, grabbing the kettle and pouring herself some hot water for some tea.
"You don't know the half of it," Hiccup sighed.
Valka sighed. "So, what progress did you make?"
Hiccup swallowed. He leaned against the back of the chair for support, and folded his arms over each other. "Well-" he began quietly. "This is what I do know-Toothless is made at me for lying to him, Astrid is upset at me for-well, I think she's just upset in general, and-the twins didn't shoot Stormfly down."
Valka narrowed her eye brows at Hiccup. "But, Astrid was sure-"
"Mom, I looked that thing over three times. I built it. I hadn't really taken a good, hard look at it in years-but I can assure you a giant arrow couldn't have been hooked to it to bring Stormfly out of the sky like that."
"Then, what was it?" she asked him.
He shrugged. "No one wants to believe my theory on the matter-"
"About Drago?" she asked Hiccup.
He nodded. "I mentioned it to Astrid earlier-and she became infuriated I had."
"Hiccup, you have to admit, if you had been in her shoes, you might have been acting irrational as well."
He sighed. "Maybe-"
"So, you believe someone is still within our boarders?" Valka asked.
He wanted to tell her about the boat he saw in the distance by the sea stack earlier, but he decided against it. She would probably just wave the comment away. Instead, he just shrugged his shoulders. He leaned forward and decided he was most likely inside for the evening. His leg was beginning to throb. Taking in a deep breath, he started the process of taking off his prosthetic. Slowly taking it off, he felt the pressure on his nub lift. He sighed, feeling the relief.
"Better?" Valka asked him.
He nodded.
Valka went to the hearth again and poured some more hot water into a mug, then added a mixture of herbs to it. Sitting it on the table to cool a little, she scooped out a heaping bowl of yak noodle soup and sat it on the table for Hiccup.
"I don't believe you've eaten a lot today if I had to guess?" It was more of a question than a statement.
Sighing, Hiccup stood up from the chair and hopped his way over to the bench to take a seat. He looked at it, and took in the aroma. "You made this?" He was almost afraid to ask considering his mother, much like Astrid, could barely cook.
Valka crossed her arms in front of herself, raising an eyebrow. "Actually, it came from the Great Hall. I just stole a cauldron-full for us tonight."
Hiccup sighed. Why was he constantly shoving his foot into his mouth today? Lifting up the bowl, he took a long swallow of the broth.
"It's Gobber's recipe."
"It never disappoints," Hiccup said, taking in another gulp.
A knock came at the door, and before Valka could walk over and answer it, the door swung open. Inside walked Astrid.
The atmosphere in the room immediately changed. It was already kind of dull, but when she walked in, Hiccup felt his anger grow again. For some reason he thought he'd shaken that off, but he hadn't. Then again, he really didn't know the reason why he was angry at her.
"I'll leave you two alone," Valka said. Before she retired to her bedroom, she pushed the mug of herbs towards Hiccup. "For a good night's rest-and then some." Hiccup already knew what it was for. It was a mixture of his draft he made for his phantom pains plus the sleeping draft that his mother had prepared for him the night before. "Evening to you both." With that, Valka had retired to her bedroom.
Astrid slowly walked over to where Valka usually sat at the table, and took a seat there. She seemed to be moving particularly slower than usual. Hiccup didn't dare meet her eyes, but he noticed how rigid she seemed as she took a seat.
Silence filled the room for a moment before Astrid spoke.
"Did you talk to the twins?" she asked quietly.
Hiccup almost looked at her, but he stopped himself. Biting the inside of his lip, he nodded.
"Well?" she asked. Her tone was set.
"They didn't shoot Stormfly," Hiccup said gently. He let out a breath. He needed to push this anger aside. Honestly, was he just upset with her for pushing his thought of Drago watching the island aside? Or was he upset with her for yelling at him, embarrassing him in front of many members of the village. Maybe both.
"Hiccup, I saw them shooting that thing off moments before Stormfly was hit-"
Hiccup looked up and made eye contact with her, but he felt himself go a little soft when he saw the physical state Astrid was actually in. Her eyes were puffy, surprisingly. He hadn't seen her cry in well over a year, if not more. But, this was about Stormfly. It made sense. That dragon was her partner in crime, her beloved side kick. Hiccup knew that if Toothless were the one who'd been shot and injured, he'd probably have gone mad already.
He reached his hand across the table, and hesitantly, Astrid set her hand into his. He clasped her hand into both of his, and gave it a squeeze.
"I won't say what I think it was," he said. "Mom thinks I'm crazy as it is-"
"Hiccup-"
"But, I can assure you, it wasn't the twins-or anyone on that boat." He took in a deep breath. His nub suddenly began to throb. Panic caught in his chest. Astrid really didn't know much about his phantom pains. Occasionally, she had caught him on the verge of one, but he'd always managed to hide it from her. He'd managed to conceal it from her, and he wanted to keep it that way, at least for tonight. She didn't want her worrying over him and Stormfly both.
He thought about taking his draft before it started getting too bad, but he knew in a few moments he'd be asleep. He didn't want Astrid to see him that way either. Putting his head down for a second, he said a silent prayer, and continued.
"That-thing-heck I don't even know what to call it now...I gave it a good look over. The only thing that the twins were doing with it was launching it into the water to catch fish. There was no way they could alter it. I don't know who hit Stormfly, Astrid. But, if I can, I will find out-I promise."
Giving her hand a gentle squeeze, she put her head down. He could see a silent tear roll down her cheek.
"I'm sorry-" she said.
"For-"
"For yelling at you, and causing a scene."
He gave her hand another gentle squeeze. "It's okay. Promise."
Before he could catch himself, a low wince escaped his lips. This caught Astrid off guard.
"It's okay," he said to her. He reached for the mug. Deciding to take a sip of the herbs, maybe a little bit could dull the oncoming pain just enough until she left. He swallowed the nasty taste as best as he could, then decided to chase it with some broth from his bowl. "Sorry." he said to her.
She sighed.
Suddenly, he remembered. "How's your head?"
"It's fine," Astrid said. "Nothing a few days time won't fix."
He leaned up towards her over the table, and pushed her bangs out of her face to take a look at it. It appeared as though it may bruise a little bit, but now the cut was already developing a scab. He rubbed her cheek gently with his thumb for a second, then sat back on the bench.
The pain in his leg was beginning to grow. He sighed, and put his head down. He needed to tell her. Just in case he couldn't control the upcoming urge to cry out again.
"Astrid-my leg is bothering me tonight," he said. He reached for the mug. "You don't need to go, but after I swallow the last of this, I cannot promise I will be up much afterwards. I may just cuddle up in Dad's chair and get some sleep."
Before Astrid could speak, Hiccup downed the herbs in two gulps. His eyes burned from the taste, and he choked a little bit. Again, taking a sip of the broth to chase the taste away.
"Crawl up there," she said to him. He stood up and hobbled over without a peg leg. Astrid went to the chest and fetched a few blankets. Balling a few of them up, she shoved them behind Hiccup's head against an arm of the chair. He was becoming very sleepy already. He laid his head back, and felt his eyes flutter.
"Astrid-"
"Get some rest, Hiccup," Astrid said to him, covering him up. She leaned down and kissed is cheek quickly. "I'll catch up with you tomorrow."
Hiccup grabbed her hand before she showed herself out the door. Turning back to him, she gave him a weak smile.
"Promise me we won't fight like that again," Hiccup said to her. "And, I am sorry for treating you that way."
Giving Hiccup's hand a reassuring squeeze, she headed out the door. The Chief was asleep in the chair before her feet hit the path to her home.
...
This one was a little boring in my opinion but I FINALLY was able to write the twins into a story! I little success of mine since I rarely seem to be able to fit them into anything I write. Their humor I struggle with quite honestly.
Thanks for viewing. I hope I cane get you all another update this weekend, but I cannot promise that! Between an evening with friends, meeting the in-laws, and a baby shower this weekend (plus I need to finish a baby blanket that is only halfway done) it's going to be a busy one!
Take care!