HEY GUYS! I'm back! I've missed updating this story so much! This past week was my first week back at school from winter break, so thanks for being so patient with me! It was a really busy time for me. So, here's chapter 9! I hope you all love it!

I sat in the pew with Hiccup holding my hand, caressing it gently with his thumb. My face was stoic, my eyes staring into space, not fixated on anything. The priest walked up to the podium next to the coffin, about to start the ceremony. I couldn't help but feel so angry inside.

"I hate church," I said, turning my head slightly toward Hiccup, still staring forward. Hiccup sighed and blew a piece of hair off of his forehead.

"Yeah, never really cared for it much myself." Hiccup turned toward me, making me look at him. He lifted my hand and kissed it lightly, holding my gaze. Despite all of the anger swelling up inside of me, his green eyes always made the butterflies fly.

"Are you sure you're okay? We can always leave if you want to," he said, both of hands clasping around my left. I smiled at him and looked down.

"No, I'm fine. I need to stay."

It was just two days ago that we found out what happened to Edna. After Ruffnut came to my barn and told us, Hiccup and I went straight to the dress shop. Hiccup's father was investigating the area, while the rest of the viking council kept the townspeople at bay from all of the commotion, including Gobber.

Hiccup was still in his tux, but everything was a little askew from the night. I didn't even bother to change out of my nightgown, and Hiccup gave me his tux jacket to keep me warm. I pushed and shoved myself through the crowd, trying to get to Gobber and ask him what happened. Hiccup was right behind me, holding my hand the whole way through it.

"Gobber!" I shouted, waving my arm in the air. Gobber immediately noticed me and grabbed my hand out of the crowd, along with Hiccup. His face was saddened and disheartened.

"Gobber, what happened?" asked Hiccup, out of breath from all of the running and tripping all over himself from his metal leg. Gobber looked at us, without saying a word. He pointed his prosthetic arm toward the shop, where Stoick was standing at the door with his hands behind his back, his face stoic as ever. I looked at Hiccup, his confused face mirroring mine. He took my hand and led me to the door.

"Dad, what's going on?" asked Hiccup, pleading with him. Stock lifted his hand to stop Hiccup from saying anything more. Stoick looked at me and huffed in a breath.

"Astrid, and Astrid alone, needs to come in here. I'm sorry son, but this is her situation, not yours."

Hiccup's shoulders fell from the disheartened remark, but I put my hands on his arm, comforting him.

"He's right," I said, facing him. "I think I need to do this alone." I tried to give him a reassuring smile, but he looked worried as ever. He took my hand and squeezed it slightly, almost as if telling me that he loved me. I nodded my head back in response, letting him know I loved him too. I let go of Hiccup's hand, and then turned toward Stoick. He put a hand on my back and led me through the doorway.

What I saw what the most horrifying thing I've ever laid eyes on in my life.

Edna's body laid lifeless on the ground, marks all around her body to indicate where she had fallen for further investigation. Her short black hair was pointing off of her head, and strands of it were lying around her head, clearing indicating that she had pulled some of it out. Her piercing blue eyes were wide open, lifeless and searing. Her arms laid straight out beside her, her forearms gashed with a long bloody line down to her wrists. A knife gauged in blood was lying at her feet, with her legs sprawled out on the ground. Racks of clothes were lying on the ground, the room looking as is all hell broke loose and a tornado swept in. It was evident that she had a meltdown after I left.

I should feel guilty right now, shouldn't I? I thought to myself, examining the room. As terrifying and gory as the image was, I didn't feel remorse, or sadness... I felt numb.

The walls never came down for Edna.

"Astrid, are you okay?" Stoick said, turning to face me, placing his huge hand on my shoulder. "Ruffnut told me what happened. About how Edna's-"

"Please," I said, interrupting him. I didn't want to hear the word. "I'm fine."

I took one last look around the room, and lastly on Edna's cold, lifeless face. All of the things she's ever done to me flashed before my eyes. The abuse, the heartache, the abandonment...
The truth. I couldn't bare to look at it anymore. I quickly turned around and marched out of the shop, not looking back.

Now here we were, in the church, listening to the stupid priest ramble on and on about how he never knew Edna personally, but that she did this, and she did that... Pure torture. The only thing that made me feel a little better was the fact that Hiccup was right there beside me, comforting me in anyway he could. Plus, from I had observed about the congregation, no one seemed very phased or moved from the funeral, a state that I was a part of too.

After he was done lecturing us on the importance of life, he cleared his throat and lifted his head from his piece of paper he was reading from, pushing his glasses back on his skinny lean nose.

"Astrid Hofferson, you may come up now," the old priest said, gesturing toward me. It was a tradition in Berk that if someone died, every single member of their family would come up and talk about them. However, in Berk, she had absolutely no family... Except for me.

Hiccup squeezed my hand, smiling sadly at me. I smiled back, and slowing lifting myself from my seat. I brushed my gown as I stood, feeling insecure from wearing it. It was a black dress that hugged me at the waist and flowed down to my ankles. Hiccup said I looked beautiful in it, but nonetheless, I felt awkward as ever. Especially since I have to give this speech to everyone in it... I brushed my bangs out of my face, and proceeding to walk on.

As I walked down the aisle, everyone turned to look at me. I felt all of their "I'm so sorry" faces and eyes staring right at me. By this time, everyone knew that Edna was my...mother. Rumors travel fast in this town, and me going up to talk about the dead woman who abused me for 15 years just proves it for their gossiping pathetic lives.

The anger inside my swelled even more from their expressions. I held my ground as much as I could. For once, the walls would be an advantage for me in this situation; Keeping my emotions at bay.

I slowly took my place at the podium, looking out at all of the faces who were staring back at me. Ruffnut was sitting in the second to first row, smiling at me for good luck. I smiled back at her, and quickly took out the crumpled up piece of paper out of my pocket.

"These past couple of days have been shocking for me," I read from the paper, trying to keep my voice as monotone as possible, fighting back the anger at the same time. I looked up from the paper into the crowd, everyone looking worried. I could see Hiccup's green eyes staring right at me, sending me all of his love from a dozen feet away. I looked into them, feeling the energy that I was getting from his gaze.

The walls had cracked, and they came crumbling down.

The anger boiled beneath me, and my emotions took over all of my senses. I felt my face boil from the sensation, finally letting the feeling show. I crumpled up the piece of paper again, and threw it to the ground. I look straight out into the crowd, eyeing anyone that I possibly could.

I exploded.

"Do you know what sucks?" I said, fuming, "Having walls. And what I mean by that, is that I have these walls inside of myself that makes me incapable of showing emotion and love for other people, for showing who I really am. Well today, I'm finally going to show you."

Hiccup started to stand up, but I looked at him, forcing him to sit down. I needed to do this for myself. Hiccup got the message and slowly sat back down, his face growing with worry. I looked back out to the crowd, preparing myself to release everything.

"All of my life, I've always wanted a family. A real, loving, nurturing family, who would always tell me that they loved me, and would never leave me no matter what. But you know what? I never got that. Ever since I was little, I've been told that my parents abandoned me as a baby, leaving me by the docks to die. I've been told that Edna took me in because she thought she could use me for something. However, for 15 years of my life, I have abused, mentally put down, and scarred from an alcoholic woman who never showed any affection for me whatsoever."

The priest tried to interrupt me, but I darted my eyes to him, staring him down until he finally backed away in defeat, his face full of worry. I knew that everyone in town knew this story already, but it had to be repeated. I quickly looked back out to the crowd.

"Finally when I was 15, I said enough is enough, and took my life into my own hands. I moved out and started over."

"However, because of this woman," I continued, pointing to the coffin, tears starting to swell in my eyes.

"I have these walls. And because of them, I almost lost my best friend,"

I looked at Ruffnut.

"I almost lost...the love of my life."

I looked at Hiccup.

"But because of them, I didn't almost lose my family. I DID."

I looked at the coffin, examining it. The guilt and grief finally coming over me in a cloud of misery. I looked back out, searching for Hiccup. His face was stoic and understanding, meeting my gaze with passion. His gaze finally pushed my tears out, letting everything go.

"Even though she didn't always treat me right," I said, looking down at the coffin, refusing to look at anyone in the crowd, "She's still my mother. She even got her act together after I left, realizing how horribly she treated me."

I looked back into the crowd, looking at Ruffnut. She began to cry too.

"Edna tried to explain the truth to me," I said, breathing them out between gasps of air from the tears, "But because of my STUPID WALLS," I screamed, slamming my fists on the podium, and then slowing looking toward the coffin again.

"Because of my walls, I wouldn't hear it. And because of me, she's dead."

The whole room was silent. I heard several sniffles, along with my own. Hiccup's green eyes her even brighter from his tears as well. And that's when I remembered...

"But because of Hiccup," I said, looking at him straight in the eye, "I know how to let my walls down now." I quickly saw Peggy Pearlington in the fifth row, looking back at Hiccup, who wouldn't return her gaze. She huffed out an angry breath and stared me down. I quickly disregarded her face, and looked back out to the crowd.

"And because of him, and because of Edna, I want to make things right," I said, smiling softly, my voice coming back to an inside voice level. The emotional build was slowly being drained, and I could finally see the light once more. I breathed in, and slowly said,

"I want to find my father, and rebuild my family."

The whole crowd murmured to each other, causing a commotion of different emotions from every corner. Ruffnut quickly stood up and clapped, hooting and yelling my name. Hiccup, Snotlout, Tuffut, and eventually everyone else stood up and joined her, cheering me on. Hiccup was smiling happily at me, his teeth brightening the room. I didn't feel like I deserved this applause, but I accepted graciously.

The priest finally dismissed me, and he took the podium to continue the ceremony. I walked to the coffin before going back down the aisle, and touched the oak material. I closed my eyes, praying to the Gods for mercy.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I love you, mother."

I slowly turned around and walked back down the aisle. This time, everyone was smiling at me, as if to say 'I'm proud of you.' This is a pretty small village, and I pretty much know everyone in this room, and for people to see me break down like that is probably the first time they've ever seen me be vulnerable in a situation such as this. I finally started to feel better about things.

I sat back down next to Hiccup, immediately hugging me and whispering "I love you" in my ear. I felt a relief from my pain instantly, and I could finally breathe from the guilt building up inside, which was replacing my walls. At least the walls were gone, and I could feel now.

When the ceremony ended, we all went outside and everyone came up to me, one by one, giving me their condolences, and said that they were proud of me. Hiccup stood by me the whole time, holding my hand. Despite all of the reassurances of my speech and my love standing beside me, I still felt the guilt eating away at my stomach.

Finally, the last person to come up to me to say something was a man that I have never seen before in my life, which was strange. He wore an eyepatch, had dark brown eyes, and long blond hair that laid at his shoulders. He wore the typical viking man outfit, boots and all. He was an older man, but built and looked good for his age. His one eye examined me thoroughly, face expressionless. I looked at Hiccup, giving him a confused look. From what I saw on Hiccup's expression, he didn't know the man either. I looked back at the man curiously. He began to open his mouth and say something.

"Hi Astrid," he said, his voice low and scruffy, "My name is Fergus."

Right when he said the name, the picture came together. I finally recognized him from everyone dragon tale book I've read, every history lesson I've learned...

"King Fergus?" I asked, raising my eyebrows in disbelief, "King Fergus of Cawdor?"

He nodded his head in response, his face still expressionless.

Everyone in the land of Scotland knew about King Fergus. He was the first viking from his clan to sail across the great ocean and reach the unknown lands, and discovering that their weren't any dragons there. Because of his discovery, all of Scotland would have moved all across the sea to get away from the dragons, but because of Hiccup's training program, we were able to stay. King Fergus was also the first viking to kill ten dragons at once with one sword, putting each of their heads on a stick and carried them back to the village, showing the end of their dragon war. Of course, before Hiccup, this man was my hero. However, things in the viking world were different, and times have changed. I was over it by now.

Hiccup's jaw dropped in amazement.

"Oh my Gods!" Hiccup shouted, "You're THE King Fergus! I've read all about your dragon fighting and wars and battles, sir... You're a viking legend!"

I nudged him in response, calming him down. Despite this being a serious time in Berk, Hiccup was still Hiccup, and it still made me smile. I looked back at the King, and curtsied for him. Hiccup followed my lead and bowed as well. Fergus held out a hand.

"Please," he said, lowering his arm as we came back up, "No need. I'm here on visiting purposes only."

"To visit my father?" asked Hiccup, his voice cracking from shock.

"No, actually..." He said, looking down at his feet. "I'm here to visit an old friend." He looked up and met my gaze. "And to meet a new one."

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. What would King Fergus, King of Cawdor want to do with me?

The King took a step toward me, looking me straight in the eye.

"Remember when you said you were looking for you father?" I eyed him suspiciously.

"...Yes, I remember..."

He took a step back and raised his arms, gesturing to himself.

"Well, here I am."

And that's chapter 9! I hope you liked it. I know, not very Hiccstrid-like as the last one, but I needed to get this part of the story in. Trust me, there's more Hiccstrid stuff to come. If you want to find out what happens next, follow/favorite my story and you'll be the first to know! Also, leave a review if you'd like! It would be most appreciative. :) Have an awesome day, guys!