A/N: So, at this point I have been trying desperately hard not to fall back on my old habits as of late when it comes to my writing; which is more or less when I end up writing several other fics just to avoid my writer's block. Unfortunately, that's how I end up juggling at least three or more stories at once. -.- Ouch. Okeday! So without any further ado or blabbering on my part~
Last Chapter: Hiccup has been having disturbingly realistic nightmares and is getting hardly any sleep. After he finally (albeit with some reluctance) decides to leave his hut once again, he is almost immediately surrounded by Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut. After a somewhat disturbing conversation, Hiccup finally meets with Astrid and reluctantly tells her his plan...
"I'm going to team up with Dagur and convince him to let me...spy on the Dragon...Hunters?" he finished with it being more of a question than a plan. He actually had a really good plan that had been well thought out, but telling Astrid about it made it seem so...pathetic.
"YOU'RE GOING TO WHAT?!"
Hiccup winced again and glanced over at Toothless help with his predicament. Unfortunately, Toothless had seemed to be anticipating the loud volume and was heading towards Stormfly. Hiccup inwardly rolled his eyes at his friend, wishing he could do the same thing. He wasn't stupid enough to bother even thinking about that particular option. Bringing his thoughts back to the problem at hand, he did his best not to start backpedaling at the sight of her glare. He gulped when he noticed that she didn't fail to bring her axe along for this particular conversation. 'Great.'
"Well I, um-" he stuttered, cursing himself for not even being able to defend his own ideas. She crossed her arms, continuing to glare at him. Clearing his throat he tried again with a more determination in his voice. Sure, he was seriously afraid of getting maimed by an axe that he regularly sharpened, but he'd had a decent life. However, she might end up marrying Snotlout if she DID kill him. Taking a deep breath, he tried to hide his laughter at the was pretty sure he was going off the deep end if he was laughing at random thoughts like this.
"Hiccup?" Astrid asked, trying to hide her concern at his silence. Sure, she wanted answers to his ridiculous plan, but he wasn't making any sense. She sighed and looked at him thoroughly. He seemed...off in a way. She knew that all of this had affected him pretty deeply and it was obvious that he hadn't been sleeping as of late. She knew that he wouldn't tell her about it even if she asked every hour on the hour all day. That didn't explain this weird plan, though. Sure, he was known for his...out of the box way of thinking and strategies, but this was toeing the line of insanity. He was looking at her uncertainly, as if he wasn't really sure if he wanted to tell her about it or not.
"My plan is quite...unusual."
'I knew it. He just can't help himself, can he?' Astrid thought to herself as she nodded in silent agreement. She was pretty sure she knew where this one was going.
"I think that you're right about telling everyone about my...family." Hiccup went on, looking at the ground uncertainly. This was a big part of his plan, but he didn't like it regardless. Astrid paled slightly, realizing what this part of his plan would entail.
"Hiccup, are you sure that you want to do this?" she asked, practically whispering. No one was around or even eavesdropping, but for some reason she could barely force the words out of her mouth. "You do know how they would see you if you chose this path?"
"I do, but it's necessary. I was actually kind of hoping for your support on this, but I didn't want to burden you in any way."
Astrid blinked, processing the last part of his sentence as if he was speaking a foreign language before grabbing his collar and yanking him inches from her.
"HICCUP HORRENDOUS HADDOCK III!" she yelled, making him wince at the use of his full name and at the volume. Toothless and Stormfly glanced over at the pair, hardly seeming concerned. They knew Hiccup had done something to receive her wrath and they weren't about to get involved. Besides, it's not like her axe was out and about. "I know that you were just mistaking me for someone else, so I'll let it pass. You say something like that again, and I'm getting my axe!"
Hiccup paled considerably at the implication at struggled out of her hold. With a wicked grin that he was sure meant nothing good, he finally found himself on the ground. Somehow, he barely avoided his head bouncing on the sand as his prosthetic slipped on the sand. Shaking his head, he suddenly found Astrid mere inches above him with an intense glare that promised further violence if he didn't listen. The only possible bit of relief he had was that Stormfly still had her axe. Giving her the most pathetic and almost pouting sort of look, he silently just begged for mercy. If he had to die, he was just hoping for it to be somewhat painless. Astrid rolled her eyes and sat down beside him.
"I hate it when you look at me like that, Hiccup." she muttered, wondering if she should get her axe just in case.
""Yeah, but it's helped me survive so far." Hiccup said softly, smiling a bit.
"You're not avoiding this conversation, so keep going Haddock or I'm getting my axe." she told him, giving him a slight glare.
Hiccup nodded and started drawing in the sand distractedly. Just when Astrid was about to prod him to get started; he muttered to himself, as if he was planning the conversation ahead of time.
"Well, I guess I just didn't want to get involved, but I'll admit it was probably wishful thinking." Hiccup said quietly, as if he was talking two himself. "I know what they'll see and I'm... prepared for that."
"Are you sure about that?" Astrid asked, just as quietly. "How can you possibly be prepared for the possibility of them thinking you're the enemy? How is this going to even work?"
Hiccup sighed and shook his head a bit. He was obviously still working that part out.
"I don't know what I should say, really. How do I tell them something like this? I, uh..."
"What?"
"Well, I hate to ask, but you know how bad I am with things like this and so I was kind of thinking that maybe-"
Astrid sighed, resisting the urge to whack him upside the head.
"You want my help telling them, don't you?" she finished for him, with an uncharacteristically gentle voice. Hiccup nodded, ashamed for needing help in the first place. Upon seeing this, Astrid grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. "Listen to me, okay? Everyone has things they're not particularly good at. So, speeches aren't exactly your thing. To tell you the truth, you've gotten a lot better than you used to be. You just need practice and you'll get even better; just maybe not this particular speech."
Unsurprisingly, Hiccup just stared back at her for a while trying to take it all in. She could tell that he was still processing it all, but they still had things to go over. As much as she wanted to just let him soak it all in, she couldn't. Loathe as she was to admit it, they didn't have the luxury of time on their hands. If Dagur's information was to be believed, then they were running out of time and had to make all sorts of changes and strategies. The one thing that wouldn't leave her alone was the Dragon Eye. Where would it go? Would it stay here at The Edge or go with Hiccup?
"There's something I just thought of, and you're not going to like it." he said, interrupting her thoughts.
'Hopefully it's nothing worse than what I'm thinking about, but with all of the problems we already have-'
"After this meeting with everyone, we need to...stage a fight so I'll have a reason to leave. You know how bad my acting is, so-"
"A...fight?" Astrid said, thinking about what he could possibly mean by all of this. "You mean, like an argument over something?"
Hiccup nodded slowly, thinking about what this would mean. He'd be pitting himself against his friends, which was the last thing he ever wanted. There was really no way around this, though and he knew that. If there was, then he would have taken that path without a second thought.
"Don't worry, I have it handled." Hiccup said, with a distant and sorrowful gaze. "All you need to do is handle the speech for me and I'll do the rest."
A/N: Alright, I realize that this one is particularly short, but I'll probably finish it within a day or two. In reality, I just felt guilty about not updating lately so I figured that I should at least give you something, but I'll put pt III of this part really soon. ;)
