Hey guys! Chapter 7, here we go! A lil' more comic relief for you!

Enjoy!

Chapter 7: A Little Hero with a Big Name

Once they got back to Berk, Astrid landed and could do nothing but stare in horror. She had been gone for no more than an hour, and the entire village had erupted into complete chaos. There's a fine line between chaos and all the hullabaloo normal to Vikings, and the village as a whole had just crossed it. The Hairy Hooligans were known for their ready sense of violence and disorder, but this was too much. You couldn't tell that 50 minutes earlier it had been at least somewhat liveable.

With Valka off talking to the MIA chief and herself flown away for a while, there was no one in charge, unless you counted Gobber, but Astrid didn't since his forge had just burned to the ground. He was a little occupied at the moment. There had been nobody to hold the people accountable and oversee what was being done. And now they were all going to pay for it.

Hiccup had known there was chaos equal to an erupting volcano outside, but he didn't care, nor did he make any moves to stop it. His life was a crummy mess, why shouldn't the village be the same? His father had always said that "his village was a reflection of the chief," he reasoned. So it truly was. Besides, he was busy remembering all the good times he had had with Astrid. Like the time when they were 5, and they were playing doctor. Astrid and Hiccup had been volunteered to go get an imaginary ingredient to save a dying Fishleg's life, and along the way, Astrid had been swinging her wooden sword (fighting an imaginary forest monster deep in the heart of the Unexplored Wood) and had hit him. She was convinced that she had hurt him and demanded to give him a (pretend) professional's opinion. In an intimate place. He had bluntly refused, of course.

Hiccup shook his head. He didn't want to think about that.

Ah. Here was a better one. One time when they were 3, there had been a story that had marked the beginning of his liking Astrid.

It was a normal day on Berk. Windy, patchy sun. Cold. Nothing really special about it. On this very normal day, something not so normal was going to happen.

Just like any little kid, Hiccup was fascinated with things and was very curious. He was a charming little kid, and anyone who met him thought he was adorable. One of the many things that made him different was the fact that he was highly intelligent for his age. He was born early and barely made it, but when he did, his father was astonished by how much he knew. He was talking when he was 6 months old, reading when he was 1, and learning some of the basic subjects from his dad by 2 ½. Also, like young children, he had a want to please those in authority. He did everything he could to make his dad happy and proud of him.

So, one day, he saw a frog and decided that he would kill it and bring its heart to his father to show him how big and Viking-like he was getting. That decided, he started running after the frog. Unfortunately, having only been in school for 5 months, he hadn't yet learned that nine times out of ten, the frog will hop away. Put simply, it did. This didn't bother the young heir. He was going to chase it. He was Hiccup Horrodeos Haddock, future chief of the mighty Hairy Hooligans, how dare something as simple and small as a frog run away from him? It couldn't hide from the wrath of one small boy with the big heart of a chief. Oh yes, he would catch it….

He ran for what seemed like miles.

Keep going….

Pant, pant.

Keep going!

Ok, what harm would one small, teensy weensy little break do? Surely no harm. After all, if he wanted to catch that frog, he couldn't be panting, and he couldn't be sweating when he brought the froggie's heart to his father, could he? No. That's not how heroes made their entrance. Much the opposite. He leaned against a big rock, realizing with a start that the frog had led him farther than he had wanted. He was in the forest. The big, dark, *gulp* scary forest. And, he didn't know how to get home.

"H-hello? Anyone around?" He weakly called, trying to sound cool, but to no avail. The scared little hero started to cry. "Daddy? Where am I?" No answer. He started sobbing. He was all alone, Daddy was too busy to come looking for him, and they eventually would find his cold, dead body, and all cry for the sake of poor little Hiccup, the one they all laughed at because sometimes his feet didn't keep up with the rest of him. Then, he heard rustling. The hairs on his arms prickled and stood on end, showing his obvious fear that he was determined to hide. Was it a dragon? A bear? A wild yak? What fate would come to him this time? Then, from in the midst of the bushes, came a girl. A mean girl. Her name was Astrid. She always beat him up for no apparent reason.

"Oh, um, hi Astrid. I'll leave now."

"Are you crying?" Oh great, an interrogation. Hiccup resisted the urge to roll his eyes and answer with sarcasm. That would earn him a thorough beating.

"Um…"

"Why are you crying?" Well, at least she had eyes…..

"I…. I'm lost. I didn't mean to get lost! I was just trying to catch a fwoggy and it got away! I just wanted to bring it to my dad so he would be proud of me, and maybe- OW!" Astrid had punched him in the shoulder. Nothing new there.

"What was that for?" Hiccup questioned. She had hit him on the shoulder right in the middle of the socket, and he had a bruise there from falling earlier that day. He had no reason to be hit, and she had no right to hit him. But no one, not anyone, stood up to fearless Astrid Hofferson, or any of the Hoffersons for that matter.

"Stop whining. Stop crying. Come on." Astrid grabbed his hand so fast he had no time to react. And by the time he tried to pull away, there was no use. They were already moving. Oh well, maybe she knew the way back home. They had nothing to lose. Well, except their lives….

She dragged him around for a long time. Tree after tree after tree. It all looked the same. Hiccup gave up trying to remember where they were turning. He just went with it. He stubbed his toes a lot since he wasn't watching, but he was more than used to that. He did it all the time. Then, they came up to a circle of trees that had a lot of slashes in them. Dragon marks? Ax marks? What were they? Hiccup almost spoke up and asked to stop to figure out what they were (and his lungs were KILLING him so he would love the break), but then he stopped himself. He knew better. He looked at Astrid. She seemed to have brightened up, a hint of a smile on her face. He never noticed he had dimples and her freckles! They were so darn cute! They were faint, barely there, but in this light, the green light that filtered through the leaves, they stood out. And her blue eyes? Bluer than the bluest sky, purer than the purest ocean, and more beautiful than the place where the bluest sky and the purest ocean meet. He could get lost in them. The tan undertones from her father, the gold specks around the edges… oh, Thor. He always liked to think of himself as observant, but this was a step too far. Still… his heart was fluttering. He pushed that feeling down. He was three, for goodness sake! He shook himself solemn, and then noticed that he saw… Berk! They were home!

"There, see? Nothing to worry about." That was an understatement. Focus! Oh gosh. His newfound fascination with her was making it hard to concentrate.

"Th-thank you! I really didn't realize how far the fwoggy had taken me." He really didn't. He was too busy being a hero.

"No problem. But next time, I'm leaving you for dead. Got it?" Ooh, ferocious! Yet, compassionate. She hid that part really well though. At first glance, she was "miss warrior girl, cross my path and you'll die." But not underneath.

"Yeah! Thanks!" Oh, that smile in the corners of her mouth!

"I got places to be. Bye." Astrid spun on her heel and walked away, leaving him staring at her in fascination. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was a little boy with a very big name. But now, he was a little boy with a big name but an even bigger crush, and he vowed that someday, he would go and marry that girl.

Hope you guys enjoyed that! :)

On a different note, I have had a few people ask me about Agnus' story. Now. That will be revealed... later! For now, it's a surprise. But, you can guess if you want. Any guesses as to what the story is? Leave a review below- it doesn't matter if they're outrageous! In fact, the more outrageous, the better! :)