Hiccup's Bride Alternate Chapter 39

Astrid was very quiet on the long flight home. Hiccup and Thora tried to draw her out into conversation several times, and she only replied, "I'm thinking," or "I need to think." She was still thoughtful when they landed in Berk.

"At least they didn't break any of the rules," Thora said quietly as they watched her walk away.

"Maybe not, but we did," Hiccup replied.

"We did?"

"Teaching people how to get along with their new spouse is something that's supposed to happen during the ceremonial washing on their wedding day," Hiccup reminded her. "By giving those two some pointers on how to be happily married, we're jumping the gun a bit. That might upset a few people."

"Ask me if I care," Thora blurted out. "I want to see my cousin happy, and while I don't know Astrid that well, I'd like to see her happy, too. If the traditions are getting in the way of that, then the traditions can rot."

"Likewise," he nodded. "I just thought you needed to know."

"What did Thuggory say to you while we were talking?" she asked.

"He thinks he needs his own dragon, so he can share the sky with his future wife without riding behind her."

"That sounds like a good thing for a future chief to do," she agreed. "But what if he gets a Gronckle and can't keep up with her?"

"He's not the Gronckle type," Hiccup explained as he opened the front door for her. "Dragons seem to be drawn to people whose personalities are similar to their own. A slow-moving, easy-going Gronckle will gravitate toward someone like Fishlegs, while a hot-tempered, strong-willed Nightmare will prefer somebody like Snotlout."

"So that means Thuggory will probably attract a dragon that's strong and powerful, but not in-your-face about it," Thora thought out loud. "Is there such a creature?"

"I can think of a few," Hiccup said absently; he was obviously considering all the known dragon types and comparing them to Thuggory. "A Boneknapper would be a good fit for him, but a dragon that covers itself in other creatures' bones might not be good for a chief's image. A Stormcutter would be ideal, but those are extremely rare. A Raincutter might be good, or a Rumblehorn, or maybe a laid-back Nightmare, if there is such a thing. I guess we'll take him to Dragon Island in a week or two, and see what happens."

"I hope he doesn't get a Deadly Nadder," Thora said. "That will really make Astrid competitive!" Hiccup could only nod at that.

Time went by. Thora was now certain that she "had a passenger," and happily accepted the congratulations of the town's women. Hiccup was happy, but nervous; he remembered all too clearly how her previous pregnancy had turned out. She had almost no problems with morning sickness, for which she was thankful. But she did have some rather wild mood swings.

Sometimes she got angry, although if Hiccup was honest, he had to admit that she got mad only when provoked. Some of the worst provocations came from Ruffnut, who seemed to view Thora as a threat to the established order of things. She rarely missed a chance to launch a verbal barb in Thora's direction, and she never learned that she always came out second-best in those exchanges.

There was the time when Thora was returning from the docks with her buckets of baitfish for her Terrible Terrors. Her belly was beginning to show, and Ruff thought it might be fun to contrast it with her own flat stomach. "Nice belly, Thora. How does it feel to waddle like a pig?"

"I'll walk like one for a few months, but you'll look like one for life!" Thora shot back, and went on her way without a backwards glance. Tuffnut overheard the exchange and spread it all over town, regardless of how his sister felt about it.

At other times, Thora became uncontrollably weepy. There was the time when she and Hiccup were guessing what their baby would look like. "You're pretty, and I'm not that bad-looking, so I'm sure he'll be a fine-looking boy," Hiccup told her.

"How can you be sure?" she asked nervously.

"Well, you won't have to worry about it," he reassured her. "Edda Hofferson tells me that every mother thinks her own baby is beautiful, no matter what." Thora considered that for a moment, then burst into tears. "Thora, what's wrong? What's the matter?"

She sobbed, "I could have an ugly baby and I'd never know it!"

For the most part, though, this was an uneventful time for Hiccup and his bride. There were no raids to repel, no food shortages to deal with, and no family emergencies. They made another day trip to Meathead Island to prepare Thuggory for what it meant to become a dragon trainer. Hiccup did most of the talking, while Thora listened and learned almost as much as Thuggory did. They found the big youth to be an eager student, perhaps too eager. "Can we skip the theory and go find some dragons?" he asked more than once.

"I just want to be sure that, when we find those dragons, you'll know what to do," Hiccup reassured him. "I can tell that you aren't afraid of them, one-on-one, but when you're dealing with a whole cavern full of them, it can be very intimidating."

It was at that point that Alfdis walked by with a basket full of vegetables and bread loaves from the marketplace. "Hi, Thora! Hi, Hiccup! Is Toothless in his usual place?"

"Yes, and I'm sure he'll be glad to see you," Hiccup answered.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"We're talking to Thuggory about dragons." If he'd been hoping to send her on her way so he could continue his conversation with Thuggory, that was not the right thing to say. She promptly sat down at his feet, anticipating wonderful things.

"Alfdis, we're talking about how to become a dragon trainer. This is kind of –"

"Really?" she asked, the wheels spinning madly in her mind. "How old do you have to be before you can train a dragon?"

Thora answered, "For starters, you need Mom and Dad's permission to even listen in on this stuff." Alfdis was off like a shot. Thuggory had to chuckle.

"She really likes dragons, huh?"

Hiccup thought for a moment. "I give her a fifty-fifty chance that Megadeth will say it's okay for her to sit and listen to us. If she does, she'll probably go with us on our dragon-training expedition. She's not afraid of the beasts, she knows how to make friends with them…" He paused. "Maybe I should ask you, as the future chief of this island, how dragon-friendly you want the Meatheads to be? Do you want dragons to be only for certain people like the chief and his wife, or do you want anyone to be able to train one, like we do on Berk?"

"Hmm." Thuggory contemplated that. "I don't know. I guess it's okay if Alfdis trains one; after all, she's a relative. I'll have to think about that. I may want to ask my father what he thinks."

"What does he think of you riding your own dragon?"

Thuggory looked sly for just a moment, then hid it. "He doesn't exactly know about it yet. He'll find out after it happens, I guess."

That bothered Hiccup. "So your dad might go dragon-slayer on your new friend, and you won't know until it's too late?"

"Oh. I didn't think of that," Thuggory admitted. "Do you think I could hide it from him until the right moment?"

"Hiding dragons is hard. They're kind of big," Hiccup replied.

"Well, there has to be a way!" the bigger youth burst out. "I want to ride next to my wife; I don't want to sit behind her and I don't want her to leave me on the ground."

"Speaking of that," Thora wondered, "what does your father think of Astrid's dragon?"

"Umm… maybe I need to think this thing through some more," Thuggory said. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell him about Stormfly, would you?"

Hiccup nodded. "In theory, yes. Astrid is from my island and so is her dragon. You might want to go with me, though; he'll be less inclined to say 'no' if you're involved. Is he home?"

"He should be," Thuggory nodded as he got to his feet. "Let's go talk to him now, before Alfdis gets back."

o

A/N
Thora's line about ugly babies was actually spoken by a family friend, who was expecting her fourth child at the time.