As they part from their kiss, Hiccup and Astrid share an amused look before they both turn to look at Ruffnutt and Fishlegs. The two other teens have their arms full with large bundles of firewood, and both have wrinkled faces as they look about in disgust and confusion.
"What's that stench?" Ruffnutt asks brashly, scowling as she looks around for the source. "It smells like something died!" Glancing over at Meatlug, as she sets down her pile, she asks accusingly, "was it you, Gronkle?" The dragon shrinks down defensively, looking about with a guilty expression.
Suddenly looking affronted, Fishlegs drops his share of the wood and steps between the twin and his best friend. "Hey!" He protests, "it's not her fault she's got a sensitive stomach!" Behind him, the rotund dragon wriggles abashedly as her rider adds, "besides, it can't be her, she hasn't had any exotic rocks today…" Suddenly looking around them, he studies the various loose stones and adds thoughtfully, "unless she found something here…"
Astrid and Hiccup glance at each other, trying to keep a straight face as they watch the other two bicker. Just as Ruffnutt opens her mouth to lay into Fishlegs and Meatlug again, Stoic's son confesses, "yeah, that'd be…me you're smelling, guys. It's not Meatlug."
Blinking in surprise, the two both turn to look at the Hooligan Heir while Astrid glances at him with an amused, knowing smirk. After a few moments of silence, Ruffnutt turns to the other blonde and comments sincerely, "Astrid, I feel so, so sorry for you…"
At her words, the other girl loses it, laughing so hard that she starts wincing at the pain in her ribs again. Fishlegs covers his mouth in disbelief, but has a hard time keeping his giggles down. For his part, the Hiccup gapes in shock, then sputters frantically, "it-it's my medicine that stinks, it's not me! I didn't…I'm not…" To his dismay, everyone just laughs harder, including his girlfriend, who guffaws especially loudly as she watches her lover with sparkling eyes and a bemused smile, even she winces in pain.
"Suuuuure you didn't," Ruffnutt answers in a mocking tone. The boy glares sullenly at the twin, who only smirks at him with a devilish glint in her eyes. Looking again at the other girl, she repeats, "Astrid, you have my sympathy. I only hope I don't fall for a boy that smells like last week's catch…" Hiccup fumes in frustration at the twin, while Astrid looks over at the other girl, who only grins mischievously at them both.
After a few more moments of guffawing and giggling, Astrid looks back over at her boyfriend with an adoring, yet amused expression. When she sees his glower, a new surge of giggles overtake her.
"It's okay, Ruff," she tells her friend, looking into her lover's eyes. Reaching out to sweetly caress his cheek, she says, "I'll take him, stinkiness and all…" She grins all the more at his further discontent, leaning in to give him a quick smooch on the lips. When he sighs, she giggles again, running her fingers into his hair playfully.
Grinning at the other two, Ruffnutt and Fishlegs see to the wood they brought back with them from the edge of the forest and set about making the firepit. Turning their attention back to their friends, the young couple watch as the wood is stacked much like Astid had done the previous night. The two other two teens then gather rocks from around them to ring the pile.
As they watch the two work, Astrid moves closer to sit next to her lover, both of them turning to face the fire. She wraps an arm about his waist, leaning in comfortably against his body. Hiccup slips his arm around her shoulders, hugging her tightly as he likewise leans into her.
Before long, a fire blazes inside of the ring of stones. Fishlegs and Ruffnutt sit around the fire, while Astrid and Hiccup just watch the dancing flames as the sun moves closer to the horizon, the blue of the sky dimming all the more as the colors of sunset just start to form.
Glancing over at her friend, Astrid comments, "Ruff, I just want to thank you again for what you did for us." The twin looks over in surprise and the girl continues, "You took a big chance in helping us, and we really appreciate it."
Hiccup nods, "that's right. We wouldn't have made it without your help." He glances over at Fishlegs, adding, "Both of you, and Tuffnutt and Snotlout. We owe all of you so much…"
Shrugging, Ruffnutt looks sheepishly at them and answers indifferently, "it's no big deal. You would have done the same for us…"
Nodding, Hiccup answers readily, "we would. Just let us know whenever you need help."
"Absolutely," Astrid echoes, looking intently at the twin. Ruffnutt smiles appreciatively at them. A contented silence settles over the group for a few moments, until finally Astrid sighs and speaks up.
"Well," she says, reaching for where she had laid the two carcasses. "I should start cleaning these two rabbits we bagged. We're lucky that it's so cold, but we should get them cooked up as soon as possible…" Hiccup watches with a measure of trepidation when she picks up the small, furry bodies, causing the other two teens to grin at him in amusement. Astrid doesn't seem to notice any of this, however, intent as she is on the work at hand.
"Have you ever dressed a rabbit, Hiccup?" Ruffnutt asks with a twist of mischief to her voice. The young heir looks over at her in alarm, shaking his head and waving his hands in protest, but then stops immediately when Astrid turns her head to look over at him.
"Oh!" she says in honest surprise, asking in a concerned tone, "Hiccup, have you never done this?"
At first, he hesitates, his gaze flicking briefly to the other teens. Ruffnutt and Fishlegs are both watching with wide-eyed amusement, eagerly anticipating his answer.
The boy quickly looks back to his girlfriend as he senses her waiting for his answer, then reluctantly tells her, 'I, uh…no, I…I haven't…."
She lights up at his words, replying enthusiastically, "oh, well this is great! We have two rabbits here, so I can show you how it's done with one, and you can follow along with the other!"
Her boyfriend forces himself to smile and even answers with fake enthusiasm, "oh yea, that is fantastic," but it's obvious to Ruffnutt and Fishlegs that he couldn't be less happy with this turn of events.
Of course, both teens are enjoying the show immensely.
"Here," Astrid tells him while shoving one of the carcasses into his hands, "you take this one, and I'll work on the other. Sound good?" The excitement in her voice and her focus on the task at hand show how oblivious she is to his reaction and to the mirthful audience of their friends.
As he takes the offered rabbit, Hiccup glares at the other two, particularly at Ruffnutt. They only smirk and watch him with silent glee, enjoying his suffering immensely while trying desperately not to laugh out loud.
"Okay, this is easy," Astrid tells him excitedly. Turning his attention to his girlfriend, he forces himself to pay attention. When he sees her draw her dagger, he reluctantly does the same. "First," she explains, "knick the flesh up here, by the neck." Hiccup quietly sighs and does as she does, pulling up at the skin around the neck and making a cut with the blade of his knife.
"Now," she says in a business-like manner, not unlike Gobber used during Dragon Training, "put your fingers under the skin and just pull it down the length of the body." As she speaks, she does exactly as she describes, easily stripping the little body of its skin. Hiccup watches in shock, then glares over at their two friends as he hears one of them stifle a chortle. Both look equally guilty, he decides, but it doesn't matter…he knows he can't do anything about it.
"Hiccup…?" Astrid asks in a concerned tone, drawing his gaze back to her.
"Oh, yeah…sorry," he says hurriedly, feeling awkward and anxious.
She looks at him with concern, asking earnestly, "do you need help…?"
Shaking his head, he quickly answers with a forced smile, "No, no…I can…I can do this…". Looking from her to the dead rabbit in his hand, he hesitates, then draws in a deep breath. Tucking his fingers in under the skin, he grits his teeth and forces himself to pull down, as he had seen her do.
To his utter amazement, the skin peels away, just as it had for her.
"There, see?!" she asks excited, "you can do this, it's easy!"
Sighing in relief, he looks over at her and smiles. "Yeah, I…guess I can…" This wasn't so bad, he reasons.
But then Astrid looks away from him to her own rabbit, she says casually, "Okay, now we just have to gut the carcass…" Unbeknownst to her, Hiccup turns suddenly to look at her with a measure of horror at her words. From where they sit around the fire, Ruffnutt and Fishlegs are trying desperately not to laugh. Again, Hiccup glances over as he hears their stifled laughter, but then quickly looks back at his girlfriend when she starts talking again.
"First," she tells him, her actions following her words, "take each leg in one of your hands and snap the pelvis open…" Hiccup winces at the sickening crack that he hears. Trying to ignore their friends as they continue to watch with glee, he resigns himself to his fate and mirrors her actions with his own rabbit. Again, he flinches at the sound, which is even worse this time, as he can feel it in his own two hands.
"Good," she says approvingly, watching him before taking up her knife again, an action he then mirrors with a silent sigh. "Now, slit the rabbit from the chest to the belly," she moves with practiced expertise, while Hiccup furrows his brow with trepidation. Taking his knife and the carcass as she had, he tries to mimic her actions yet again, but finds it difficult this time.
Astrid watches him with a critical eye, commenting, "you need to angle the knife a little higher, babe…" Grimacing, he tries to follow her direction. "Move the blade faster, that's why it keeps slipping out," she says, her tone hinting at a measure of frustration at his suddenly poor performance. Hiccup grips the dagger firmly as he tries to finish the job, but finds he needs to keep restarting the incision. Finally, he manages to finish the task. He can't help but feel frustrated when he hears Astrid's sigh.
"Well, it's not a perfect cut, but it'll get the job done, I guess," she tells him with a marked lack of enthusiasm. He looks over at her, disheartened. When she lifts her gaze and sees the defeated look on his face, suddenly she forces herself to smile supportively at him, asking with a measure of enthusiasm, "but hey…practice makes perfect, right?" Hiccup blinks in surprise at her words, furrowing his brow as she smiles and adds enthusiastically, "we'll just have to work on this more, won't we?"
Forcing himself to smile, he nods. "uh, yeah, right…of course…!" he speaks with fake enthusiasm, but his girlfriend doesn't seem to notice.
In the corner of his eye, he can tell that their friends are still enjoying this scene entirely too much.
"Okay, now we scoop out the guts," Astrid tells him, turning her attention to her rabbit. "But it's important to do it right, or you might ruin it for eating…" As she speaks, she stops an looks over at him. "Do you think you can manage it…?" Hiccup hesitates, an expression of deep uncertainty coming over his face as he looks down to the rabbit in his hands.
Frowning slightly, his girlfriend asks hesitantly, "would you…would you rather I did it for you?" He looks over to her at her words and she quickly backpedals, "I mean, only if you want me to do it, I'm not trying to suggest you won't be able to…"
"No, no, it's okay," Hiccup blurts out hurriedly, "I don't mind, really…" Astrid stops talking at his words, furrowing her brow as she watches him. He smiles sheepishly and admits, "I'm…not really feeling confident about it, I…don't want to risk ruining part of our supper…" She opens her mouth hesitantly so he quickly adds with absolute sincerity, "could you please do it for me, Astrid?"
At his words, she smiles warmly and nods. "Okay," she tells him gently. With that, she takes the rabbit from him and sets about gutting both carcasses, moving quickly but carefully. As she does, she tells him, "The trick is to get your fingers under the heart here, and pull straight down." In spite of his aversion, Hiccup forces himself to watch, realizing that she'll be expecting him to do this the next time they hunt rabbit under less dire circumstances.
Inwardly, he imagines his father will be thrilled that Astrid will finally succeed where he has failed for so long, teaching Hiccup how to hunt and clean the kill. Well, at least she's started to teach him in earnest.
It's certainly further than his father was ever able to get with him.
The boy sighs at the prospect of seeing his father's reaction, which will doubtless be excitement at Astrid's achievement. He takes some comfort in the fact that this will likely only serve to endear Astrid to the man all the more.
Maybe he can finally go hunting with his father, he considers.
Maybe the three of them could go together.
He's not sure, but he hesitantly decides he likes the idea.
"So, next time, you can try it," Astird comments as she finishes removing the second rabbit's head, oblivious to Hiccup's reverie. Snapping out of his introspection, he quickly smiles and nods at her as she lifts her gaze to his, looking into his eyes.
"Sounds good," he forces himself to say, though with more sincerity and a bigger smile than he had expected of himself. He blames the heartfelt look of enthusiasm he sees in her eyes.
"Awesome," she tells him excitedly. "Okay, now I'll get these two rabbits on a spit and we'll start cooking them," she says with a wide smile.
Hiccup can only grin as he nods, watching his girlfriend get up and move to the pile of wood in search of a couple of proper spits, after first taking a moment to wash the guts off of her hands with some water from a skin she pulls from her pack. Hiccup does the same when she brings the water over for him.
As much as he loves and adores his girlfriend, he honestly had never expected this aspect of their relationship. He wonders when the next time will be that he has to sit through something he doesn't want it do, solely for the purpose of making her happy.
Then he remembers the training she promised him.
He sighs heavily as he watches Astrid come back over while talking excitedly of the next time they can go hunting together, and how she'll next teach him to go after other game than rabbit, how they'll practice his bowmanship together. As she rambles on in her enthusiasm, he quickly realizes that he'll very gladly suffer through whatever she asks, if it means seeing her this happy.
She continues to chatter, now explaining the tricks of hunting and cleaning deer. While she talks, she spears each rabbit onto its own spit and his smile becomes quite genuine. He sighs happily as he watches her work with Ruffnutt to set the spits on a couple of make-shift mounts so they can start cooking the food over the fire.
In spite of all their troubles, Hiccup feels at peace. He feels happy.
He looks into Astrid's eyes while she talks excitedly about hunting with him next time and he smiles from ear to ear.
He feels at home.
Thuggory and his men emerge from the forest and make their way into the village of Berk as quickly as they can. Without any hesitation, they split up per the instruction he gave them long before they reached the tree line. The Heir's wounded men, along with an escort to help them, go directly to their ship. The rest that accompany him follow him to the Great Hall.
It doesn't take long after entering the large building to find his father's herald, sitting at a table with the couple of men left behind.
Upon his approach, Rangvaldr sets his drink aside and stands, watching his chief's son intently.
"How did your hunt go?" he asks quietly.
"The matter is not yet concluded," the Heir answers tightly. At the young man's tone, the herald decides to simply nod and leave well enough alone, at least for now.
"What of you?" Thuggory asks without hesitation. "Did Stoic give you an answer to my father's proposal?"
Rangvaldr nods, answering plainly, "he did."
"Well?" The heir asks, furrowing his brow.
Rangvaldr pauses, summons up his courage, and tells him the tale.
The four teens sit around the campfire. Fishlegs minds the rabbits as they cook, while Ruffnutt sits opposite him on the other side of the fire. Hiccup and Astrid have just settled in together, sitting next to each other on the bedding and blanket that he brought, which Astrid rolled out after she and Ruffnutt set up the food to cook. The young couple lean into each other as they sit with their friends, with his arm around her shoulders and hers about his waist. The four friends look into the crackling fire together, watching in comfortable silence as the flames dance and their food cooks, each of them enjoying the chance to rest after all the excitement that has lead them to this moment. The sun is starting to slip below the horizon now, bathing the westerly sky in brilliant hues of orange and red as the light starts to fade from the other side of the sky. Up above, the crescent of the moon is already climbing into the sky.
"Hey Astrid," Ruffnutt finally breaks the silence, her voice sounding a bit uncertain. She hesitates when all eyes turn to her, but then looks into the other girl's gaze anxiously while ignoring the two boys, "I'm sorry that Hiccup and I…weren't able to keep your secret…"
"It's okay, Ruff, really," Astrid quickly interrupts with heartfelt sincerity, shaking her head. Smiling warmly at her friend, she explains, "I already told Hiccup, I'm not going to…" she hesitates, choosing her words carefully as she flicks a fleeting glance over at Fishlegs, "do what I said I'd do…" Hiccup smiles slightly, squeezing Astrid to him. She glances over at her boyfriend, smiling warmly as she hugs him about his waist, then looks back to her best friend. "I know my…secret…will be safe with our friends. It's…it's okay."
The twin smiles cautiously at the other girl's words, but still looks troubled. "Thanks…I'm glad to hear that," she says earnestly, adding, "I just…I wish we could have kept it secret for you…"
Clearing his throat, Hiccup speaks up, "Ruff, you did the best you could to help, but, I mean…really, all you could do was try and cover for my mistake." Astrid furrows her brow as she looks at him, clearly upset by his words. "I'm the one who screwed up and…" He falls silent when Astrid abruptly covers his mouth with her free hand.
"Stop it," she says firmly. "Both of you," she adds, looking back at the twin intently, catching her gaze. "It's done. Dwelling on what happened doesn't help any, it only makes things worse." She stares at her friend until the other girl reluctantly nods, looking down. Astrid looks back at her boyfriend, warning with an edge of anger in her voice, "I don't want to hear this kind of crap again."
For the space of a breath, he stares back into her eyes, then sighs and nods, lowering his gaze. When he does, his girlfriend frowns slightly, leans in, and lowers her head so she can look up into his downcast eyes. Glancing at her as she comes into his field of view, he lifts his brows slightly. She smiles at him, slides her fingers from his lips to his cheek, then leans in and presses her lips to his, kissing him sweetly.
The quiet, contented sigh she hears as much as feels from him makes her smile. As she tries to pull away, he reaches up and cups her face in his hand, leaning in to keep kissing her. After a moment's hesitation, she relents, lingering. She's surprised as the caress of his lips draws a soft moan from her throat. Their tongues entwine sweetly, and she finds herself getting lost in his loving caress, her hand sliding around his head to run her fingers through his hair.
Finally remembering their friends around the fire, she abruptly ends the kiss, meeting his gaze awkwardly as she sits up. The boy can't help but grin knowingly at her, his eyes twinkling in mischief. The girl clears her throat and smiles sheepishly at him before she glances back over at Ruffnutt. When she sees the wry look her friend is giving her, Astrid can't help but blush. She glances over at Fishlegs, who is studiously looking at the rabbits he's cooking, being very careful not to look in the direction of the couple.
Clearing her throat again, the blonde absentmindedly brushes her hair from out of her eyes to tuck it behind her ear, though half of it immediately falls back in place again. She looks into the fire, blushing all the more.
After a couple of moments, she says awkwardly, "So, uh…I was thinking…" All eyes turn towards her, the three others watching her with curiosity. She looks from the fire to each of them in turn as she speaks. "After all this nonsense is done and Hiccup and I get betrothed this Sunday," her boyfriend blinks in surprise at her sudden burst of optimism, but she continues without noticing, "we should really have that new kind of dragon race that you had thought up. You know, the one where we compete against each other to catch the sheep that get thrown into the air while we all fly laps?"
At her words, Ruffnutt and Fishlegs smile eagerly, while Hiccup smirks in tired amusement. "So they told you about that one, huh?" he asks with a weary voice, looking with mild irritation at their friends before turning his gaze back to his girlfriend. The blonde only smiles devilishly at him, clearly quite pleased with herself that she was able to divert everyone's attention from a source of her embarrassment to one of his.
"Why wouldn't we tell her?" Ruffnutt asks in mild disbelief, "it's an awesome idea!"
"Yeah, Hiccup!" Fishlegs enthusiastically agrees, "I wish we could have started that weeks ago, when you first came up with it!"
"It would have been lots of fun," Astrid agrees, grinning at her boyfriend, who lifts an eyebrow at her.
"Well, first off, it wasn't just my idea," Hiccup points out, "I just started the ball rolling, but everybody contributed something to the rules."
Astrid tsks. "So modest, Hiccup!" she chides playfully, withdrawing her arm from around his waist to elbow him in the ribs. "Take some credit!"
Hiccup only shrugs, grinning at her. "Hey, I just tell it the way it happened," he protests, to which she shakes her head and rolls her eyes.
"Whatever, doesn't matter," Ruffnutt says, drawing everyone's attention to her, "when we do race, Tuff and I are gonna win it. No contest. Barf and Belch will leave your dragons in the dust." Astrid smirks wickedly at her friend, shaking her head.
"It'll never happen, Ruff," she tells her with a glint in her eye. "Stormfly and I are going to take it so fast, you'll be dizzy, wondering what happened…"
"Hey, Meatlug and I have a good shot at it," Fishlegs protests as he tends to the rabbits, "don't assume you won't have some good competition…!"
"It'll never happen," Ruff tells both of them. "My brother and I have been working on our moves with our dragon. The four of us are like a finely tuned machine, the rest of you don't stand a chance!"
Snorting in amusement, Astrid shakes her head. "You wish you were that good," she says. "Just promise me you won't cry when I win and you lose," she tells her friend with a devilish smirk.
Barking a laugh, Ruffnutt answers, "Astrid, it's a good thing you've got a boyfriend now, because you'll need his shoulder when the race is over. The only one crying will be you!"
As his girlfriend and friends banter over who will win, Hiccup watches silently, grinning in amusement at the display. As the twin mentions him, Astrid turns in her seat to meet his gaze. "Speaking of my boyfriend," she says with an amused voice and a wry smirk as he looks at her with a surprised, confused gaze, "you're awfully quiet there, mister. Don't you have something to say about how you think you and Toothless are going to do?"
The scrawny teen's smile lilts all the more as he looks into his girlfriend's eyes, shaking his head. "Nah," he tells her dismissively, "I don't need to brag." Astrid glares slightly at his choice of wording, which makes him grin all the more. With a shrug, he says blithely, "come the day of the race, we'll see quite clearly who the winner is." Astrid narrows her gaze at him, smirking at his apparent devil-may-care attitude.
"Why Hiccup," she says with amusement, "if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you're feeling rather confident about your chances…" Her lover lifts an eyebrow as he listens to her, "could it be that you think you're going to win…?"
He smiles widely at her question, shrugging disinterestedly again. "I think I have a pretty good shot," he says with barely contained eagerness. His girlfriend snorts at his response, briefly sharing a glance with Ruffnutt and Fishlegs, who have been looking on with interested amusement.
"So what makes you so confident?" Astrid asks when she looks back at him.
Smiling widely at her, Hiccup says simply, "Nightfury…"
Freja sits by the fire, stirring the stew that she has been working on. The last day and a half since Astrid had run away were not what she had expected. She had only seen her husband once for the entire time, this morning when he was sleeping off his hangover.
Of course, she had no idea when he would show up again, so she dutifully went about her daily chores, including the preparing of meals and cleaning their home for him. However, she finds herself wondering whether he will in fact return home tonight. Or, at least, whether he will return home anywhere close to sober before the night is half over.
While normally she would look at his absence as a boon, using it to spend the time with her daughter or even just enjoying being alone, now she can only feel troubled.
The woman cannot shake the feeling that his disappearance has everything to do with their daughter.
Unfortunately, she knows there is next to nothing that she can do about it.
With a sigh, she puts the finishing touches on the stew and stirs it a few times before at last taking it off of the fire, lest it burn. Standing up, she gets a bowl, walks back to the soup, and starts to ladle herself some dinner when she hears the door open behind her.
"Thorsten," she calls without looking, "I was wondering if you would be back by dinner…"
When her words are met with with silence, a chill runs down her spine.
Sensing movement behind her, she looks over her shoulder. She screams, dropping her bowl into the fire as she turns to run. The pottery cracks into a dozen pieces as it lands, spilling the stew all over the burning embers of the fire.
