To the guest that left a review about Hiccup not asking about the dragons: haha that was actually something that just was so obvious in my head that I didn't think to include it. Thanks for bringing that up, it's now included in this chapter! :)
The journey ahead was long for two persons that had some very bad and stinky air between each other. Even before they were off, Hiccup expected for them to be silent for the most part. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk, he just didn't have anything to say. He didn't want to ask too many questions because it would only mean that Astrid would have the right to ask just as many and he'd have to answer.
The less they knew about each other, the better.
The silence preserved until they were at the edge of the woods. Toothless made sure to stay just above the tips of the trees. He never touched them so nobody below would be paying attention to trees that were moving against the wind, but he was close enough for them to dive back into the safety of the woods if there was anyone they needed to avoid in the sky.
"This is pretty crazy," he heard Astrid's voice state behind him. "I didn't think I would ever end up in a situation like this."
Hiccup didn't answer. He, too, found it unbelievable how his life had led him to the point where he was guiding his archenemy home. He couldn't even begin to comprehend how much unluckiness had been thrown at him in such a short time span. He silently wondered if there was anybody else in this flat world that was in as sticky a situation as he was.
The prince's silence apparently led Astrid to believe that she hadn't spoken loud enough for him to hear her, for the next time she spoke, there was much more volume in her voice; "Are you afraid to go back to Berk after this?"
"No," Hiccup replied but he didn't think it sounded convincing. "Well, as long as nobody figures out that it was me who helped you escape, I should be fine."
Astrid was silent for a while. It frustrated Hiccup that he couldn't see the princess so he couldn't tell for sure what she was doing right now. Was she thinking? Was she about to fall asleep? She could've also been plotting a way to kill Hiccup right there and he wouldn't have the slightest clue about it because he was basically blind.
A voice of reason resonated at the back of Hiccup's mind. She had had plenty of opportunities to kill him by now, some that had been far better than this one. Nevertheless, he might have been unfamiliar with Astrid's brain, but it didn't seem like it was made of wood so the chances that her plan was to end his days on a dragon that swore loyalty to none other than the prince were close to non-existent.
"I am afraid to return to Briral," she admitted, and Hiccup raised his eyebrows in confusion.
What a confession.
"Why?"
"I stole a dragon, I was captured, I've been gone for several days and I am here without my dad's permission. Nobody in Briral knows where I am."
"Wait, you didn't tell anybody?"
"That's correct."
"But why?"
"My father has his ways of getting the information out of anybody, and I didn't want him to find out where I was heading to. He'd have gone after me with an entire army at his heels, which is something we're both trying to avoid here, isn't it?"
It took Hiccup a while to take in what the princess had told him. What she had done was incredibly brave, even the prince had to admit that; anyone else would've surely told at least somebody about their plans so they would be searched in the right place. That was yet another thing that made Astrid Hofferson very different from the other princesses he had ever met. Was there anything about that girl that was ordinary?
"That's…that was unexpected," Hiccup admitted, not even bothering to conceal how impressed he was.
Astrid said something, but the prince couldn't hear her, for the sound of the wind was howling in his ears way too loudly. Another silence fell between them and it gave Hiccup time to think. He had so many questions he would've wanted to ask the princess. Questions that weren't anyhow related to Briral, but Astrid herself. It was obvious that her differing nature made her interesting to him, but he didn't understand why he suddenly wanted to know more about Princess of Briral when just a couple days ago he was fine with not knowing what she even looked like. This bothered him because he didn't want to give voice to his questions. Why would he expect her to answer them when he wasn't willing to share any details about himself?
When he came to think of it, Astrid hadn't asked him any personal questions. Perhaps she was thinking along the same lines and she didn't want to reveal anything about herself either. Admitting to be scared of going back home wasn't personal.
In the end, Hiccup couldn't remain quiet and he decided to ask the princess something he probably should've asked her a long time ago: "Why did Briral take our dragons in their last attack?"
Astrid didn't answer immediately. "I don't know," she said uncertainly.
"You don't know?" Hiccup asked, totally taken aback by the response. "So you mean there was no reason behind it?"
"No, no, there definitely was some plan. But I am the princess, Hiccup, they don't tell me about things like war because I am expected to be uninterested. The only responsibility I have is to look pretty and learn to become a respectable queen, because that's what a woman's role is and will always be in the royal court."
"But that's wrong," Hiccup blurted out with a frown even though Astrid couldn't see that.
"You think so?" she asked in a surprised, high-pitched tone. "Do you have it different in Berk?"
"I…don't know. There's never been any women in the royal court during my time. But it shouldn't be that way."
For whatever reason, Astrid didn't respond anything to that. Hiccup assumed she was thinking about his words again. Since the prince didn't have anything to say, he stayed silent, too, and they went on with their journey without uttering another word for a while.
It was known across the country that Hiccup's mother, Valka Haddock, had died giving birth to him. News about the death of a royal always travelled fast and according to Gobber's words, it had only taken a week for their allies to visit Berk and express their condolences after Queen of Berk had deceased. Stoick never talked about Valka and everything the prince knew about his mother was what his father's advisor had told him along the years. It was still a sensitive subject to Stoick; whenever the former queen was brought up in a conversation, the king got very tense and stopped talking until the subject was changed.
"Are there many things you'd like to change when you're King?" Astrid asked, her voice sounding genuinely curious.
"My father wouldn't approve of me changing the rules," Hiccup stated. He didn't want to get too deep into that subject with the princess.
"Do you want to be like your father?" she asked.
"Where's this coming from?"
"Do you?"
"No one can be like my father," Hiccup said with a hint of pride in his voice.
And it was true. Stoick was considered one of the greatest leaders Berk had ever seen, and it could be seen from the amount of respect everyone in the kingdom had for their king. The prince didn't know how he had managed to do that, but at least he knew that he would only dream of achieving such greatness during his time of reign.
"Why do you care so much about whether what you do is up to your father's satisfaction?" Astrid asked, still maintaining that genuinely-interested tone.
Hiccup felt suddenly annoyed by the questions the girl was firing at him, so when he spoke, his voice came out much harsher than he had intended: "Why-why do you care? I'm not going to pour my heart out to you, and it really is none of your business."
"I just want to understand you."
"Why would you want to understand me? We aren't friends, we're not allies. In fact, we hate each other."
"I don't hate you," Astrid said without missing a beat.
"What?" Hiccup said confusedly, and it took him all his willpower to not spin around on the saddle to look at the princess that was sitting behind him.
"How could I? I mean, you already saved my life once, and now you're saving my life for the second time. You helped me with Stormfly in the woods. I certainly don't like you because your attitude is sometimes really frustrating, but I can never go back to hating you."
Hiccup was speechless. What was he supposed to say to that?
He didn't know what he felt, was the thing. He didn't know if he would feel hatred towards the princess if his mind weren't so occupied by all the questions he had for her, or if she were just an ordinary princess that was expected to whine if the silk on her dress got wrinkles. The prince needed some alone time to clear his thoughts, but unfortunately such luxury had not walked past him for a couple of days.
They didn't talk much after Astrid's declaration. Hiccup noticed how the atmosphere had changed though – he could no longer feel the bad air between them. He kept thinking back to her words, especially the part where she had said his attitude was frustrating. What had she been expecting?
Hiccup had been pretty content with what his life was like, what with obeying his father, hating Briral for whatever reason, trying to live up to the expectations. That was just three days ago, and now he was going against everything his life had been about. Did she honestly expect him to not have issues with that?
Hours passed by and the morning was dawning upon them. The first rays of the sun could already be spotted in the horizon and the very few bird species that stuck around for the cold Autumn weathers started chirping cheerfully. It really would've been the perfect morning if Hiccup could've woken up to it on his own bed. Now he was miles and miles from the warmth of his bed and he most certainly didn't get to wake up to this view. He was pretty sure he'd fall asleep on his way back to Berk. He was so sleep deprived that it took him a while to register his surroundings.
"We're getting really close," Astrid said loudly. She didn't sound tired at all. "I think we should find somewhere we can land to avoid you getting caught."
Toothless flew for a short while until they found a small river that was in a valley. Astrid said that it was half a mile from the borders of Briral and nobody ever used it, so they'd be safe there and Toothless could drink some water and catch a few fish from the river. They landed there silently and they got off the Night Fury. Hiccup looked around, his head turning in every direction as he tried to take in the landscape. It really was a beautiful view, and the morning sun made it even prettier.
"So, what's the plan?" Astrid asked.
"Huh?" Hiccup said stupidly and turned to look at Astrid. His brain wasn't working properly.
"How am I getting my dragon back?" she cleared and put her hand on her hips. "I was thinking that the only way to do it is to meet somewhere in the middle, but the problem is that I'm not very familiar with the lands as I'm never allowed to venture outside of Briral's borders."
Hiccup thought for a moment before agreeing: "Yeah, I suppose that's the only way to do it." He turned his attention to Toothless who was eagerly gulping the water from the river. Hiccup felt bad for making his dragon do such a long journey without a warning. He then looked back at Astrid who was now staring at the ground in thought. "Are you sure you can get yourself a dragon for the journey?"
She raised her head to meet Hiccup's eyes. She nodded determinedly. "I will do whatever it takes to get Stormfly back, so I'm not afraid of stealing a dragon from my father."
"You're planning to take your father's dragon?" He asked in disbelief.
"All the dragons in Briral are his," she explained. "Except for Stormfly."
The prince nodded slowly. That was another thing where their kingdoms differed. In Berk, noblemen were given a dragon of their own because the Dragon Trainers had said that the bond between the rider and the dragon was very important and would help them in their war against Briral.
"About that place where we'll meet," Hiccup began and looked at the horizon as if the answer lied there. "On the way I saw this huge cliff by the sea. Do you know the place where the sea is very close to the route we took?"
Astrid closed her eyes and her expression hardened as she tried to recall the route. That was when Hiccup realised that this was the first time he saw Astrid in daylight. Sure, he had seen her in the Throne Room, but that wasn't the moment to take a proper look at her.
Her hair was blonde and sun-kissed, which probably meant that she spent a lot of time outside. It was neatly braided – though now it was rather messy from her time in the dungeons and the journey they took – and it rested on her shoulder. She wasn't tall but she wasn't short either, Hiccup assumed she was a few inches shorter than him.
Her outfit was really nothing like the prince had ever seen. There were skulls on her belt, her hood was completely made of fur and some leather and the clothing wrapped around her arms seemed to be of the same materials. She was wearing a red shirt and a brown skirt that also had some fur on it.
The prince had noticed that what Astrid was wearing was unusual, but now that he actually could see her in daylight, he was surprised beyond words.
She was pretty, there was no question about that. Hiccup didn't need to like her to admit it.
"It was like two hours after we passed the woods?" Astrid asked thoughtfully.
Hiccup darted his eyes up from her outfit and nodded. "That's the one. Do you think you know how to get there?"
"I think so," she replied slowly, still in thought. "If not, I'll just follow the coastline."
"Let's meet there after a week's time."
"A week?" Astrid repeated questioningly. "Why not earlier?"
"Once I'm back in Berk, my father won't let me go anywhere for days. I'll be glued to his side. That is if he's not already on his way to Briral when I get there."
Astrid made grimaced at that. "I see. Of course he'd be using the first opportunity he can to attack my kingdom."
"Your father would've done the same if he had any clue where you've been," Hiccup responded bluntly.
The princess just shrugged. They agreed on meeting on that cliff in a week, and after letting Toothless finish the fish he had caught, Hiccup made his way towards the dragon so that he could begin his journey back to Berk. The Night Fury was getting too little rest, but at least they were on the same sinking boat now.
"Hey, one more thing," Astrid called after him as he was getting on Toothless.
Hiccup looked over his shoulder, his prosthetic leg on the stirrup specifically designed for it and his other foot on the ground.
"I just wanted to say thank you," she continued. "For risking so much for me. I know it must be difficult for you to help your enemy, but I promise we will never have to see each other after I get my dragon back."
The prince wasn't sure how to respond, so he just said: "See you in a week," and with that he hopped on Toothless and they were off.
He would have to see her one more time and then he could forget about this strange adventure. Hiccup really was looking forward to getting back to the way his life was before these past couple of days.
But the problem was that he didn't think he could fully return to that. This forbidden mission had changed something about the way he felt about Briral. He wasn't sure what had changed, but he supposed he would figure that out. Eventually.
I have finalised the outline for this story, and I am happy to announce that 31 pages of outline later, I've come to the conclusion that this fic will be 26 chapters long + epilogue! Eeeee exciting :D