X. The calm before the storm
I stayed here for a while, motionless, staring at the night sky, in which I had just seen Hiccup and his dragon disappear. The stars were shining, like a bunch of little holes pierced through a huge navy blue canvas hiding the sun. A cloud was partly shading the moon, but the milky-white light of it still glistened in the lake. I stared at the reflection of the sky in the pond. I was fascinated by its flat and smooth surface; I almost felt like I could walk on it. But its motionlessness was soon perturbed by little waves creasing it. I followed with my eyes the rings in the water, to find their origin. I then saw the Nadder leaning over the lake, drinking its water. The brightness of its scales' colors was softened by the dim light, but the dragon still looked majestic.
Deadly Nadders had always impressed me, in a way, more than the other dragons. And this had been positively emphasized since I wasn't considering those animals as dangerous enemies.
I was looking at the Nadder's body, observing the curve of its back, his tail and its retracted spines, and finally, its wings. He was quietly drinking, bowing his head from time to time.
Relaxed and confident, I slowly came closer. My first contact with it – a few hours ago, in the training ring with Hiccup – had made me feel a bit weird, both attracted and fascinated. However, I still wasn't used to that sudden interest I was taking in animals I thought to be destined to kill my whole life. But little by little, I was starting to understand better the relationship between Hiccup and his dragon, and I was even envying it.
I was now right beside the Nadder, close enough to see his abdomen moving with him breathing. He had finished drinking, and turned his head, certainly feeling my presence. He stared at me, motionless. Since he seemed quite calm, I dared to carefully hold out my hand. He let me touch him without hesitating. I liked to feel his scales under my fingers. Both hard and soft. His cold skin, his warm breath. I touched his neck. He purred, and rubbed his head against me. I smiled.
"I can't believe we've missed all… this, during all those years…" I whispered for myself.
I sighed and sat on the ground. The Nadder lay down beside me, and I began to mechanically stroke him. He closed his eyes. I turned mine towards the sky.
I liked night. Everything was more quiet, more beautiful. It was calming me down.
I suddenly saw a little dark shadow going past the moon. I smiled for myself. Hiccup and Toothless.
I was happy for them. But also worried. This was all very good, but now they were back together, problems would start again. The "death" of the Night Fury had kind of made time pause, as if Hiccup had stopped living at the same time as he thought his dragon had. I couldn't be mad at him for that, but now, he would have to face his father. His village. His destiny. As if he didn't deserve a bit of peace after what he had lived through. And also, he… we knew something, something we had discovered a few days ago, something that we couldn't ignore anymore.
The dragon island. And that kind of huge monster forcing them to attack us to bring him food.
Life was so unfair sometimes. Dragons were incredible creatures; they didn't deserve to be hated. Yet Vikings had only had one goal for seven generations: kill them. Therefore, their nest was what they coveted the most. We couldn't ignore this. It had to be ended, in any way. But for the moment, I didn't want to break the happiness Hiccup had just found back. Even if I knew he was probably also starting to worry, I couldn't decide to remind him of this. I didn't like to see his gaze cloud over. I didn't like to feel him worried or preoccupied. I didn't like what was making him unhappy.
I dreamily stared at the reflection of the moon in the water of the lake. Next to me, the Deadly Nadder was quietly dozing. Tiredness was starting to be felt, and my eyelids were getting heavy. Hiccup would probably come back soon, he had been gone with Toothless for a while.
I yawned. And toppled backward. Someone had just violently pulled me on my shoulders, and pinned me to the ground. Lying down, I saw a body leaning over me.
And I felt lips coming and finding mine.
I smiled inside, kissing Hiccup back. He stood up after a way too short time. I sat up and hit him on the shoulder.
"You scared me, you idiot." I said, smiling.
"That was the intention." He answered mockingly.
He sat next to me. We kept silent for a few minutes, looking at the quiet water of the pond. Toothless stretched out near his friend, who was gently touching his head. The Nadder seemed to be asleep, and his warm breath was regularly tickling my thigh. I didn't want to wake him up. Yet I knew we were supposed to go back to the village. And I knew Hiccup knew it too. But none of us wanted to face whatever would happen next. We were fine, the four of us, dragons and Vikings, sitting here and looking at the night. No one dared to say that it would have been more reasonable to go back home.
Hiccup stopped touching his dragon – he was also dozing now – and moved slightly on his right to come closer to me. Our thighs were almost touching, and this closeness triggered little tingles in my whole body. But I was starting to get used to this. I brushed his arm with my hand, going from his shoulder to his wrist, and interlaced my fingers to his. I looked at him. He was smiling, his gaze still facing the lake. He started to caress my hand with his thumb.
"Hiccup…" I whispered.
"Astrid?"
I liked it when he was saying my name. I still hadn't turned his head toward me. I approach my face from his, leaning toward his ear.
"I…" I started.
I breathed.
And kissed him on the cheek. But when I was about to come off, he firmly caught my neck, preventing me from going away. My heart missed a beat. He turned his head. I closed my eyes. He began to slowly move his lips. My body wasn't responding anymore. He caressed my neck. I couldn't manage to move. He let go of my hand and put his on my thigh. I felt like an electric shock had freed my strained muscles, and I could finally react. Kissing him back, I put my hand on his waist, drawing him to me. He gently pushed me, making me lie on the ground, and leaned over to come above me. My heart was breaking speed records. I pushed him back, reversing our positions. Our rolls had brought us next to the Nadder, still asleep. Delicately coming off of Hiccup, I placed my hands on each side of his head. I was now sitting astride on him. He looked at me. I lost myself in his eyes. His pupils were dilated because of the darkness. He passed his hand on my face, pulling away a lock of my hair.
"Astrid." He said simply.
"Hiccup." I answered.
We both smiled. Then he put his hands on my hips. He first caressed them gently, before stopping for a few seconds. I didn't react, waiting for him to continue. A mischievous smile lit up his face, and he began to tickle me. I tried to control myself, contracting my stomach, but I couldn't resist very long. I let it go and started to laugh playfully. He answered by tickling me even more. I was moving all over the place, totally helpless. Hiccup took advantage of my temporary weakness, and made me roll. I was lying on the ground again. He hadn't stopped tickling me. It was really getting unbearable, but I managed to pull myself together and get revenge. I thought for a second he was insensitive to it, but his defeated smile finally betrayed him. He joined my bursts of laughter, still tickling me despite my response.
This continued for several minutes, both laughing so hard our stomachs were hurting, and each of us was trying to take the upper hand on the other, in vain. The two dragons, woken up by all the noise we were making, had sat up and were staring at us, puzzled.
The situation was ridiculous, but it felt so good.
After a while, Hiccup gave up first and limply let himself fall on the ground. I stopped too, and lay beside him. He took my hand. The sky was beautiful. The moon too. I felt like I could hold it in my hands.
"What now?" I asked after a few quiet minutes.
"You think my dad lied?" he questioned instead of answering.
"I don't know."
"He could."
"He wouldn't do such a thing to his son."
"Astrid, I don't want to go back to the village."
He sighed, and carried on, "But I guess we'll have to anyway…"
"What are you going to do?"
"I don't know. I will… keep pretending Toothless is… isn't… here anymore."
The dragon groaned and moved closer to Hiccup, who gently stroked his head. The Night Fury lay down next to the boy.
"To protect him. I will never let them touch him again." he finished.
"And then?"
"Then?" he repeated.
"The dragon island." I simply said.
"This… I have to say I haven't thought about it yet. Since… the events with Toothless, I didn't worry about that. But I know we have to do something. We will do something. For the dragons, and for us. I only have to find when and how. Astrid, it's so complicated…"
"I know. But I'm here. Hiccup, you're not alone, I'll help you. We will go through it."
He pressed my hand. I carried on.
"We will make the village listen what you have to say. We have responsibilities, and we will assume them. Together."
He didn't answer. But I knew he agreed.
The last minutes we spent there were silent. Hand in hand, our gazes lost in the middle of the stars. Then, slowly, without a word, we stood up. Hiccup stroked his dragon one last time, and left him to sit on the Nadder's back. I sat behind him.
And, as we were flying up in the air, I could see the Night Fury getting smaller and smaller down there, until he became only an invisible dark patch swallowed by the night.