Chapter Twelve: The Kill Ring

"Well, I can show my face in public again!" Stoick chuckled in front of a roaring crowd. "You know, if someone had told me that in just a few short weeks, my son's fiancée would go from being... well, ah... Astrid to beating my own son to first place in Dragon Training, well I would have tied him to a mast and shipped him off to sea for fear he'd gone mad! And you know it!" He paused. "But there is no one more surprised... or more proud than I am. Her parents would share my pride – this I am certain of." Astrid waited outside the ring, clasping her Nadder-scale armlet. Not for those reasons, she thought. It was great to hear praise from Stoick, but she knew that what she had done to gain it was not what he thought it was. "Today, Astrid becomes a Viking. Today, she brings back honour to the Hofferson clan! Today, she becomes one of us!"

Hiccup walked up behind his...girlfriend? It was a start, he supposed, if a little awkward. He wanted to give her words of encouragement but for once, he couldn't think of anything to say. Well, words weren't his strong point – he stayed pretty quiet unless he was angry.

"Be careful with that dragon," he settled with. Astrid grimaced.

"It's not the dragon that I'm worried about," she replied, watching Stoick take his seat in the stands.

"What are you going to do?"

"Put an end to this," she said. "I have to try. Hiccup, if something goes wrong, make sure they don't find Toothless." Hiccup nodded. Astrid was placing her best friend into his trust.

"I will," he replied. "Just, promise me it won't go wrong," he added nervously with a smirk. Astrid made to say something but Gobber walked in.

"It's time, Astrid," he grinned. "Knock 'em dead." With that, Astrid turned away from Hiccup and entered the ring, slipping her armlet onto her wrist. She heard cheers from the crowd as she walked over to the weapons stand. She picked up the bare essential – a shield – and then just opted for the smallest dagger she could see.

"I would have gone for the hammer," Stoick commented. Astrid braced herself and stared at the cage.

"I'm ready," she announced. Gobber started the mechanism to open the cage and seconds later, a flaming Monstrous Nightmare burst out, trying to find a way to escape. Judging by its sheer ferocity, Astrid guessed this one to be a male and gulped. Males were extremely territorial when it came to most species and the Monstrous Nightmare was no exception. The dragon soon spotted her and advanced slowly. Gently, Astrid backed off and dropped her dagger and her shield, receiving gasps of surprise. "It's okay! It's okay," she soothed as the Nightmare snorted. It indicated her armlet and she removed it from her arm. Muttering a short apology to her late mother, she stared at the dragon dead in the eye before saying the most absurd thing any Viking had ever said.

"I'm not one of them."

Gasps of shock horror went around the ring as Astrid threw the armlet to the ground. Hiccup gritted his teeth and bit his lip.

"Come on, Astrid," he muttered. "You can do this..."

"Stop the fight!" Stoick ordered.

"No!" Astrid called, holding her hand out to the Monstrous Nightmare. "I need you all to see this. They're not what we think they are – we don't have to kill them..." Astrid's confidence gradually grew as the Monstrous Nightmare remained calm and drew closer. Her hand was almost resting on its snout. It was working!

"I said STOP THE FIGHT!" Stoick roared, slamming his hammer against the iron cage covering the ring. The noise startled the dragon and it made a bite for Astrid. Damn you, Stoick! she cussed, screaming and running for her life.

"ASTRID!" Hiccup yelled, lodging the gate open with a nearby axe and racing in to help his friend. Astrid ran for another shield but the Nightmare crushed the weapons rack and the girl was forced to take another direction. Thinking fast, Hiccup grabbed a mace and threw it at the dragon's head with startling precision, bringing the Monstrous Nightmare's attention to him instead. Stoick opened the gate at the other side of the ring and called for the teens. Hiccup and Astrid raced for the chief. Hiccup got out but just as Astrid neared the gate, a blast of sticky flame forced her again to take another direction and she found herself trapped under the Nightmare's claws. Judging by the hatred in the dragon's eyes, she knew she wasn't getting out of this one alive. The Nightmare wasn't as forgiving as...

SCREECH!

Oh, speak of the devil...

BANG!

A blast of blue flame broke the cage after a ballistic noise filled the area. The arena filled with smoke and someone yelled for someone to get help. As the smoke cleared, Gobber spotted a black dragon wrestling with the Monstrous Nightmare. Although he'd never seen one, he knew what it was.

"Night Fury!"

Astrid cursed. Toothless had come to save her – now he was the one in trouble. Although he was considerably smaller than the Monstrous Nightmare, he was faster and more agile and eventually fought him off. Vikings began pouring into the arena.

"Okay, Toothless, you have to get out of here!" Astrid pleaded, trying to push Toothless away from the ring but the dragon wouldn't budge. Stoick began to charge. "Stoick! No! He won't hurt you!" Astrid yelled but Toothless charged back, pinning the chief to the ground and prepared to blast his face off. "Toothless! Stop! No... NO!"

With that cry of desperation, Toothless paused. This allowed the Vikings to pin him down. Astrid tried to reach him but Hiccup held her back.

"No! Please – just don't hurt him!" she begged, close to tears. Hiccup tried to console her but it was pointless. Stoick looked at the dragon and then at Astrid.

"Put it with the others!" he growled.

/\

"I should have seen this coming!" Stoick shook later in the Meade Hall. Astrid knew she was in trouble. "I should have seen the signs."

"Stoick..." Astrid began.

"We had a deal!" Stoick interrupted.

"I know! But that was before... oh, this is so messed up," Astrid moaned, clutching her head.

"So everything in the ring... a trick?" Stoick snapped. Astrid sagged.

"I screwed up," she admitted. "Blame this on me. Take it out on me, but please just don't hurt Toothless!" she pleaded.

"The dragon? That's what you're worried about?" Stoick roared. "Not the people you almost killed?"

"He was just protecting me!" Astrid cried. "He's not dangerous!"

"You know what," Stoick began, not even listening to the blonde girl in front of him. "I've had it! You're family have been nothing but trouble ever since your uncle tried to take on that Flightmare! First he ruins his family's name by freezing in fear and now you perform the biggest act of betrayal possible?! Consider yourself no longer a part of my family!" Astrid took a step back. That would mean that... her thoughts were interrupted as Hiccup walked in.

"Dad, wha...what's going on?" he asked, frowning.

"You'll be pleased to know the engagement's off," Stoick sighed. Hiccup's face was the most surprising Astrid had even seen it. It was look of pure shock and disbelief. "We'll find you another fiancée. I hear the heir to the Bog Burglar tribe is..."

"What?" Hiccup started. "No! I don't want that!" Stoick was taken aback.

"You mean you're with her?" he shook. "You hate her! Always have – you said so yourself." Before Astrid could feel even more terrible, Hiccup bit back.

"Everything changed!" he snapped. "She showed me what they're really like! She's telling the truth, Dad!" Astrid turned to Stoick before the boy got into any more trouble.

"Please, Stoick! They raid us because they have to!" she explained. "If they don't bring enough food back they'll be eaten themselves. There's this thing on their island that..."

"Their island?" Stoick repeated. "So you've been to the nest?" Hiccup facepalmed and Astrid knew she'd gone too far.

"Did I say nest?" she asked, worriedly.

"How did you find it?" Stoick demanded.

"I didn't!" Astrid trembled. "Toothless... only a dragon can..." Hiccup saw the look on his father's face.

"No! Dad, don't! You don't know what you're up against! It's like nothing you've ever seen!" he cried. Stoick didn't listen and began heading outside. "Dad! I promise you can't win this one!"

"Stoick!" Astrid yelled in desperation. "FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE, WOULD YOU PLEASE JUST LISTEN TO ME?!" she screamed, throwing herself at her chief but he threw her back, causing her to knock Hiccup over.

"You've both thrown your lot in with them," he thundered. "You're not Vikings." He shifted his gaze to Hiccup. The boy heard the things he'd hoped never to hear. "You're not my son." He left the two teens, shouting for the ships to get ready. Hiccup was frozen in shock and Astrid burst into tears. Hiccup had been disowned and it was all her fault.


AN: AAHHH! WHY?! Sorry it's been a while, guys...school's being a pain in the backside right now.

FirebloodKit: Thanks so much for the review! The encouragement you guys give me is amazing - it's one of the reasons why I try so hard to make my writing the best I can.

Thanks for the continued support, guys. To those who have read my Adventures of Valkyra Horrendous Haddock II series thus far, I'm going to let you know that once this story is finished I will start posting the final part of that trilogy. When that will be, I'm not entirely sure but I promise you that it will be as soon as I can!