Again, thanks to everyone for hanging in there with me. I know updates are slow.
I appreciate the reviews, they're always helpful. A sincere thanks to everyone for their input. I appreciate knowing about the story pace, the lack of complexity of the plot, that some found humor in the chapter, and that Dragoneese would have been a good way to bring Toothless into the story. This is all valuable input and will help me become a better writer and a better story plotter.
I was especially grateful to hear from the guest poster that he/she could "feel" what the characters did. That was a real success for me since that was one goal I was working hard on achieving... Thanks for that input. Yeah, so sorry, but I'm not going to let up on Hiccup. He's in for a rough road. :-)
Like I said, it's a learning experience for me, so I need to know how things come across to the reader. It's the only way to improve, so I appreciate the critiques - the good, the bad and the ugly..
I'm pleased that at this point the story isn't hated and all the input given has been really helpful. Many thanks to all who took their time to review.
Yeah, sorry but I'm strong on the self deprecating humor... I don't see that changing. It's just how this dork works :-). Sorry.
Ok, this chapter is another light one. It again just focuses on some simple character dynamics and bonding. It's not very exciting, but I need to develop some bonding so that later chapters have the right impact.
I think my major flaw in plotting is that I'm being too linear between chapters. I've seen some stories which will kind of jump to the future and then use a paragraph or two to sum up what happened that they didn't write about, but needed to be said to move the plot along. I haven't mastered that, but I think I might try doing that a little later on.
Again, my hat off to writers. This is far harder than anything I've ever done.
Last Warning: Buckle up, Buttercup... Weather forecast for this chapter: light and fluffy.
Chapter 7:
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On weak and shaky legs, Hiccup trudged forward at the insistent prodding of his rescuing Valkyrie. A firm but gentle hand landed on the small of his back, causing his achy and abused body to stumble forward, whenever his pace slowed. Her once eagerly sought after touch was now simply a painful reminder at how, once again, he was so useless he couldn't even protect himself.
'This is just brilliant...' the filthy and disheveled teen thought, 'escorted home by a chaperone. How am I ever going to live this down...' A pained look sat upon the boy's usually kind and innocent face as he huffed out a disappointed sigh. His thoughts dripped with self-loathing as he paced onward toward his home, dreading the inevitable conversation he'd be forced to have with his father. The constant pounding of the their booted footsteps down the stony pathway echoed like thunder in his ears, each footfall ringing endlessly into the warm morning air.
As the two figures made their way up the gentle slope toward the Chieftain's house, Hiccup stared absently at his feet, shoulders slumped in humiliation, kicking errant pebbles with his foot in an oddly metered shuffle. His mind's eye pictured his father's shamed and disappointed stare when told he had been rescued by Astrid. Complete and utter dread filled the young boy as he replayed the verbal taunts previously launched against him. His father's look would confirm all they'd said; he was indeed a complete and utter failure, and should have been destroyed as an infant for the good of the tribe.
Astrid stared intensely at the back of the boyish Viking in her charge, her mind still stormy after the encounter with Snotlout and his idiot subordinates. As she stewed silently, her eyes did a physical inventory of the small boy's slumped posture, the slight limp that plagued his steps, and the threadbare and tattered appearance of his bloodied clothes. She noted how his left hand automatically migrated to his right side and chest, clutching onto his pained ribs whenever he slightly stumbled, kicked at pebbles in the road, or increased his pace, his breathing heavy and labored.
She had to admit, the sweet, idiotic twit did show courage earlier when faced with a no-win situation. She liked that he remained strong and didn't break; he faced defeat honorably.
She'd only ever seen him as the incompetent, bumbling son of the chief, but there was something more lurking deep within; a clever mind, a fast tongue, and a quick whit. And something more, something she couldn't quite define. He seemed to compensate for his physical weakness with an internal spark, an unspoken strength of character that genuinely surprised her. Astrid wondered why she'd never noticed this before.
She mused that if he had been properly taught a few fighting skills, the quick-witted, boy genius might have even held his own in the fight. Of course people had tried to teach him fighting skills, and failed miserably, but she felt there was potential for him to be far more than what people imagined. He was just different. But different isn't always bad. Sometimes, in fact, it can be unexpectedly good. A gentle grin creeped across her face.
Watching Hiccup suddenly stumble forward and grab his pained ribs, Astrid's mind immediately flashed forward in time to the fuming and furious face of Stoick the Vast when told of the terrible abuse inflicted upon his only son. She slowly smiled and shook her head. Her only solace for the horrid events of the day would be the terrible punishment Stoick would heap upon Snotlout for his unforgiving cruelty. The smile slowly withered as she stared at the beaten and broken boy before her, limping pathetically toward his home. In her heart, she knew the punishment delivered would never fit the heinous crime. Like a snake in tall grass, Spitelout would protect his beastly brat and allow him slither away, twisting, side-stepping, detouring away from his well deserved comeuppance.
After what Hiccup perceived as hours of mindless trudging, Astrid stepped from behind the maltreated boy to position herself at his side. Breaking the silence, she asked, "Hiccup, tell me... how did you get trapped by Snotlout?" her voice soft and curious, lacking it's usual emotionless tone, as if worry lurked behind her words. Hiccup raised his head timidly and looked at her as she spoke, his eyes wide.
"He isn't exactly 'Mr. Stealth', you know." her voice playful. "His ego usually arrives at the scene about ten minutes before his skill." Her tone changed to one of amusement, and her eyes danced with mirth as she derided his meat-headed cousin. Hiccup couldn't help but smile at the uncharacteristic teasing displayed by the tough girl.
Hiccup laughed and then blushed with embarrassment, instantly feeling self-conscious after her question finally sunk into his brain. Running his hand into his bloody and muddy hair, he lowered his head, guiltily shooting a sideways glance toward the fair maiden, fearing to look into those piercing, mesmerizing blue eyes, convinced they somehow acted like a narcotic, producing a feeling of euphoria in his heart which often was followed by nausea, shallow breathing, clammy hands, and a brain that couldn't think straight.
Moving almost mechanically, his mind whirling desperately for what seemed like an eternity before finally squeaking out a response to her very simple and innocuous question. "Well..." Hiccup hesitated, his voice trailing off softly as guilt from his lusty daydream flooded his body, "Um... my mind was... um... well... um... p-preoccupied." His slight stutter triggered his nerves, causing a dirty hand to shoot up and rub the back of his neck, refusing to look at his companion fearing her stare would cause him to blather out the truth.
After a short silence, Hiccup peeked up at Astrid through the dirty hair that had fallen into his eyes. "I was going to, um, you know, take Snotlout and his merry band of misfits out..." he paused, smiling sheepishly, "... you know, with my awesome and fearsome fists of fury, but, um, I thought I maybe shouldn't hurt them too badly?" He said, his voice filled with clumsy humor and raised slightly in tone, making the sentence somewhat of a question. Balling his hands into fists he started throwing the most pathetic air punches Astrid could ever recall seeing before finally tripping over his own shuffling feet and stumbling forward. The absurdity of the faux fight, and the charming awkwardness of the air-boxing boy made Astrid crack a half-smile and huff out a small amused grunt. 'Okay', she thought, 'maybe I was wrong about him learning to fight.'
Becoming encouraged by her smile, Hiccup continued in a joking voice, "You know, I've been, um, working on becoming more..." he paused, after emphasizing the word 'more', exhaling exaggeratedly and mimicking a macho persona as he spoke, ".. you know, muscular, ripped, and... um... bulked up." His sentence accentuated by the flexing of one of his non-existent biceps, and a wry smile at the absurdity. Astrid smirked as she looked at the skinny appendage.
"Well, ah, maybe just muscular..." he continued, rubbing the back of his neck, a light blush flooding his fair, freckled cheeks. He then added, "...well ...you know, in the future."
Astrid giggled and smiled broadly, "Yeah, the very distant future." Her voice emphasizing the word 'distant' as she cast a sideways glance toward her companion, eyes dancing with amusement and playfulness.
Hiccup's heart soared, a wide smile spread across his face as his body flooded with excitement. He made Astrid Hofferson giggle. She actually giggled at something he said that was intentionally meant to be funny. The rush of feelings that ripped through his body was like nothing the young boy had ever felt. For the first time in his life, he didn't feel like a loser. Whether it was her look, or her demeanor, he couldn't be sure, but something seemed to whisper to his heart that he was good enough just the way he was.
As the teens continued to amble toward the Chieftain's home, Hiccup's mind wandered to a question that had been drifting in and out of his consciousness since he first woke from his beating. Gathering his courage, the young boy spoke softly, his voice trembling slightly, his arms locked at his sides, shoulders rising as tension flooded his body; a posture he had assumed many times prior to being physically hit.
"Astrid, since we're, um, asking questions, can I ask you something?"
"Of course." she responded quickly and politely.
Relaxing slightly, he posed his question. "Ah, well, I don't quite understand how you knew..." He paused momentarily, a puzzled look crossing his face before re-phrasing his question, "... well, um, why you were there." He shot the girl another quick glance hoping to gather some information from her body language.
"Oh," she said coolly. "Well, I saw Snotlout and his group of friends follow after you when you left the square."
Hiccup's brow furrowed in bewilderment. "Well, okay." Hiccup said, "But that really doesn't answer my question. I mean, how did you just happen to show up?" His voice questioning but gentle, his wide innocent eyes kindly searched her face.
Astrid looked uncomfortable under his watchful gaze as she continued determinedly to stare forward, as if pondering some complex mathematical problem. After a few moments of silence, she shot a quick glance toward the shy boy and stated curtly, "I followed." Her face as expressionless as her voice. Suddenly the Viking girl increased her pace as if trying to escape the conversation, leaving Hiccup to fall behind.
Running forward, Hiccup grimaced as his sore and bruised legs protested the sudden change in motion. The boy reached his traveling companion and shot her another sideways glance. "Ah... yeah... obviously... but... well... why?" he pressed, pausing after each word.
Astrid raised her eyebrow and looked at the boy aside her and quipped, "Do you ever speak in anything other than single word sentences?"
"What!?" Hiccup shot back surprised, a strong blush saturating his cheeks. "Ah... Funny... Sorry." he chuckled, again pausing after each word, not realizing the irony.
His response gained a quick smirk from Astrid. Suppressing the urge to laugh, she turned to the slightly shorter boy and spoke drily, "You're doing it again."
"Ah... Yeah... Right." he responded, his voice again stilted, but carrying a serious undertone of puzzled confusion as his thoughts appeared focused elsewhere.
Single minded in his desire to understand why he now shared the road with the most desired girl in all the village, Hiccup again asked, "Um, Astrid?"
"Yes, Hiccup, what is it now." her voice slightly irked.
"I was wondering... why ... you were there?" He let his sentence open ended as a question, hoping to encourage the young girl to tell him why she followed. There had to have been a compelling reason but he was at a loss to find one.
"I already told you. I followed." Her voice now filled with greater annoyance.
Hiccup didn't press further although his inquisitive mind couldn't reason out why Astrid Hofferson, the most fierce and beautiful female Viking in the village, would have followed him out of the square. Surely it couldn't have been because she was concerned about him; that was just ludicrous and beyond comprehension. His shoulders slumped as he concluded the only logical explanation was that she had wanted to meet up with Snotlout and his friends.
Still, that didn't quite answer the question of why she had intervened. Perhaps... Hiccup's thoughts were abruptly interrupted as Astrid spoke, "So, why were you out so early in the morning?" Her voice devoid of all it's previous annoyance.
"Oh, ah, I was working at the forge last night trying to come up with a gift for the festival. I-I lost track of time and didn't get out until dawn." He sweetly responded, conveniently omitting the part about the forge fire.
"Did you come up with something?" she asked hopefully.
Hiccup's mind seemed to have already wandered back to his previous 'Astrid to the rescue' conundrum, her question failing to register properly. "Something for what?" he responding innocently.
Astrid exhaled with annoyance and rolled her eyes. "Something for the festival. I have mine."
"Oh, yeah, right! Of course that's what you meant. Sorry, I'm such an idiot sometimes." He laughed nervously, quickly lowering his head to the ground, his face contorting into an embarrassed grimace.
The small boy's head jerked up suddenly, his eyes wide, as he remembered Astrid's older brother, Arni, had his neck broken several years prior in a fierce dragon raid. This meant that she too would be presenting a gift at the festival.
Hiccup's last memory of the high-spirited, blonde male teen with the bright blue mischievous eyes, was when he was seven years old, and Arni ruffled his hair saying, "Stay outta trouble, kiddo. Follow Astrid's lead. I'll be back before you know it," before running off into battle; his very last one. When Hiccup used to spend Winterfyllith at the Hofferson's, Arni used to treat him as part of the family; almost like a little brother. He was the only other adult Viking, besides Gobber, who was truly kind to him.
Feeling really awkward, Hiccup grasped his hands together and started twiddling his fingers nervously. Keeping his head bowed, he spoke quietly, "Well, I just figured out a gift this morning while I was walking home. Gobber told me a story about my folks and how they met. It seems my Dad gave my Mom the Dragon Flower and she decided she liked him. So... So, I'm going to bring that flower to present at the ceremony."
"Hmmm..." Astrid hummed, trying hard to picture Stoick the Vast as sentimental or romantic. His rough and calloused treatment of his small son certainly didn't lend itself to the impression that he was anything other than self-centered and uncaring. An almost imperceptible frown crossed her lips.
Seeing the small frown, Hiccup was sure she disapproved of his gift. Quickly he sputtered out, "I figured later today I'd set out for the mountain. That should give me enough time to get the flower and get back in time for the festival." His eyes opened wide, and he grinned, seeking a positive response as he searched her face.
"Alone? You're going alone? The journey is dangerous. Only adult Vikings make that trip." Astrid shot back, her voice raised in volume, taking on a confrontational tone to mask her fright.
Taken aback by the sudden outburst of anger, Hiccup's grin vanished and he stopped walking. Speaking cautiously to the back of his companion, "Well... I figured, I'd just be ... really... careful," drawing out the word 'really' for emphasis. "I mean, my Dad was twenty when he went, and I'm almost that old now." Hiccup's posture straightened as if desperately trying to measure up to his father's expectations, proving he was every bit the Viking his Dad was.
Astrid stopped and rounded on Hiccup before correcting harshly, "You just turned thirteen. That's a big difference in years!"
"Well, it's not that... Wait." Hiccup sputtered dumbfounded, "You know when my birthday is? Um, you know how old I am?" The realization that his Viking dream girl actually knew something personal about him slapped him in the face like a splash of ice-cold water. A wide hopeful smile blossomed on his face as he looked at the teen girl.
"Yes." She responded coolly. "It's wise and useful to know certain things about the ruling family." She turned away and began walking again toward the chief's house, her pace quickening.
"Oh..." he sighed, looking down, the smile withering as his hopes and dreams were dashed with one simple sentence. Following Astrid's lead, Hiccup began slowly walking toward home.
Astrid shot a quick glance over her shoulder at the trailing boy. She hoped the teen bought her story and didn't actually ask her about Stoick's birthday or age; two things she knew absolutely nothing about.
Walking in silence, the two teens finally reached the base of the carved stone stairs which wound it's way up the steep hillside to the Berkian Chief's home. Pausing and scanning the the steep slope, traveled many times by the young boy, Hiccup finally found it almost impossible to finish the last leg of their journey. The thought of entering his home with Astrid in tow, explaining what happened earlier that day, made his heart drop and his body flush with humiliation.
Hoping to delay the inevitable, Hiccup turned to the strong Viking girl and said, "Um, thanks, by the way." He stopped and carefully thought about his next sentence, his eyes darting to the ground before lifting to her face. "You know, for being there and, um, helping and everything. Sorry I didn't say that sooner." He smiled shily, his green eyes locked on hers.
"Don't mention it," she shot back emotionlessly, her head giving a quick nod.
Hiccup wasn't quite sure if she meant that as a polite expression indicating that a 'thanks' wasn't necessary, or as a threat to keep his silence about her assistance in the situation. "Um, okay," he nervously responded.
With a firm hand, Astrid grasped Hiccup by the upper arm and started dragging him up the stairs. After ascending only a few steps, Astrid suddenly stopped and turned toward Hiccup, and released his upper arm. Staring down at the boy a few steps below her, she asked with a nervous undertone in her voice, "Have you asked anyone to the festival dance?"
Taken aback, Hiccup stuttered quickly, "M-me?" his left open palm landing on this chest with an audible thud, his voice and face full of surprise and disbelief.
"N-no," he continued quietly, his hand dropping to his side. Not knowing how to respond, he simply bounced her question back to her, "Have you been asked?"
"Of course." Astrid responded drily. "By a couple people. I turned them down." Looking confused Hiccup asked, "Why?"
Staring icily into his eyes, she took a deep breath and sighed it out through her nose before responding, "The person I'm interested in hasn't asked yet". She took a step toward him, her eyes never breaking contact with his.
Hiccup's eyes widened and his mouth fell open, moving wordlessly before any sound was finally emitted, "I-I'm sure he will ask soon," he stuttered out. Feeling suddenly very hot and like all the air around him was suddenly sucked away, leaving him breathless in a airless vacuum, he took a step back to put some distance between himself and the staring girl.
As Hiccup stepped back, his foot slipped off the step. With windmilling arms he desperately tried to regain his footing before a strong hand landed squarely on his chest, fisted his tunic, and pulled him upward and forward to a halt only inches from her face.
"Be more careful..." the maiden reprimanded, her eyes never breaking contact with his. Her sweet soft breath ghosting across his lips before she slowly released his tunic.
"Ah... Yeah... Right...Sorry..." Hiccup responded, noticing the blonde's icy stare focused on his face. "That's the second time you've mentioned that..."
"You should get home," Astrid urged. "I still have work to do for the festival, so I need to be going."
The thin blonde passed Hiccup on her way down the stairs and started back along the road they'd just traversed before Hiccup called out, "Um, Astrid?"
The girl stopped and turned, the sun dancing off her armor as she stood tall and proud, rays of sunshine falling on her face enchanting the boys heart again, looking every bit the Valkyrie of legends.
"Thanks for not letting me fall..."
Astrid grinned, squinted her eyes and gave a quick nod of acknowledgment, clearly saying, 'You're welcome.'
Hiccup's eyes followed the young woman as she dashed up the road back toward the village. As she slowly vanished in the distance he whispered to himself, "I sure wish I was the one you wanted to ask."
