Really, really hating this new update of FFNet. It makes it absolutely impossible to upload chapters properly. Grrr!
Yubel578: Yep, I'm sure most people have figured out who the figure is.
CB73: The stinky skunk is probably about to make more trouble for himself than for anyone else...lol
Wodenfang: As Hiccup said, he's not really ready to ruin their happy moment by throwing the terrible reality of infertility at Astrid. I think anyone would leave that for a later time, rather than right after sex...
Lisa Chew: Thank you so much! :D
DeathBerryHime: You certainly did call it. More than one someone has noticed. Hiccup really did lose control in this one (50 shades of Darkcup anyone? Lol), but Astrid didn't seem to mind :P Still, he really only gave her a taste of the dark side. I feel like she'll be back for more... As for the marks he left on her neck, even the smartest men have a touch of sexual hubris. It may be that he wants a certain someone to see the mark of ownership that he put on her. In his desire to snub Snotlout, he's overlooking the possibility that everyone else will notice it too...
Andria Rainbolt: Indeed it does ;)
OechsnerC: Thanks! It's always nice to see that new readers are discovering and enjoying my story :)
atomicsub927: heehee ;) Thanks!
Guest: Soon. Very, very,very, soon...
Rainnnn: Oh, pretty stupid, I'd say...lol
_
The following morning dawned with a clear blue sky and very little wind. Perfect flying conditions. Astrid leapt out of bed and was hurrying into her clothes when she suddenly paused, remembering something. Moving to the highly polished bronze disk above her desk, she turned to look at her back. Covering the part that she could see was a beautiful and intricate black design of a deadly nadder.
It was in a battle pose. Crested head held high and wings held out to the side. The spines of the crest flowed up the back of her neck and under the base of her hair as the wings fell in line with her own shoulder blades. Its whip-like tail curled around it; the spines standing slightly erect as if about to be launched at the viewer. She smiled happily. It was every bit as elegant as Hiccup and Ilweran's marks. She noticed that it still burned slightly. Idly wondering how long that would last, she pulled her bindings and tunic on and strapped her axe across her back.
Her butt cheek still smarted a bit as she trudged down the stairs, and a wide grin grew on her face as she remembered the wonderful ravaging of the night before. A shudder going through her at the memory of his delicious dominance. Her pleasant fantasies causing her to greet her parents a little too cheerfully as she paused to grab a bowl of cold stew from the kitchen. Her mother eyed her suspiciously, but she simply wolfed down her breakfast and tried to ignore the probing gaze she was receiving.
Before she was able to escape the kitchen however, her mother started on her. Seeming to glare at her collar, before looking back into her face with a stern gaze. "Astrid, we need to talk about your behaviour, as of late. You are betrothed to a future chief and are therefore required to uphold and protect your proper status in this village. Instead of being careful, you have been running off at every available moment. Acquiring something of an unpleasant reputation as well..."
Cutting across her with a loud sigh, Astrid replied, "mom, I know what people are saying, and I don't really care. You know that I have never been concerned with my status in this village, and I have absolutely no intention of marrying Snotlout. Ever. My reputation, earned or not, will not be the thing that stops him from becoming chief some day."
Seeing that both her parents were about to start arguing, she quickly added, "I will talk to you later about it, I promise. Right now I'm late for training, and you guys need to stop worrying so much. I'll be fine. I love you both!" Then she quickly hugged her mother and waved to her father, before rushing out of the house.
Arriving at the arena, she saw Hiccup standing with Ilweran. Toothless, Tintallë, and Stormfly beside them. As she ran over to greet her dragon, she noticed that an awful lot of people were staring at her. Stopping and scratching Stormfly affectionately, she leaned slightly towards Hiccup and whispered, "What's wrong with everyone?" It was Ilweran that answered her in a tone of mock sympathy, after sharing a look with Hiccup.
"Nothing good, I am afraid. It seems that our friend Snotlout has begun to suspect a relationship between you two and he has told as many people as he could find. Apparently he snuck out to the forest last night, where he claims to have heard the distinct sounds of vigorous lovemaking. Fortunately he could not find the entrance to the cove in the darkness. However, he did see you returning from the forest alone afterwards and formed him own conclusions. Being too afraid to confront you directly, he intends to challenge Scáth to a duel for stealing your maidenhead while you and Snotlout are betrothed." Looking quickly to Hiccup, she saw him shrug.
"I have to say, the vigorous lovemaking part has got to be what finally pushed him too far. How does your ass feel this morning, by the way," he added as both men gave a soft chuckle. She just stared at them, and Hiccup cleared his throat gruffly as he raised one hand to rub at the back of his neck. "I willingly admit that it is not really the way that I wanted to do this. I was hoping for a quiet meeting with your parents to avoid public knowledge of the whole affair."
"Unfortunately, if he challenges me in front of the academy or village, I will not be able to refuse. Not if it is a dispute over your honour. Not that I care about my reputation, but I will not have your's sullied by my actions. It would look terrible for both of us, even if we could manage to convince the people that he is mistaken." Here he paused briefly and lowered his hand, before shrugging again. "That possibility seems unlikely, since I may have left a sizeable love bite on you that is showing above your tunic."
"What?" Astrid gasped and quickly glanced down. Yep, there it was. Plain as day on the crest of her collarbone. That's probably what her mother had been scowling at this morning. Leading to the whole talk about reputations and responsibility. Well, there went all hope of lying about it once anyone saw that. Sighing, she looked at the two men standing before her. "So what can we do? You know Snotlout. He will make sure that everyone is watching when he challenges you."
"Then we will let him state his challenge. There is no way I would let Scáth back out of this," Ilweran said with a wicked grin. "I happen to be looking forward to this greatly. That little shit has been getting on my nerves and it is a shame that we cannot both beat the snot out of him. Maybe we can challenge him to a double duel and he can partner up with Stormheart. Then we could be rid of them both." Hiccup laughed his agreement as the two men bumped fists.
Astrid stared at them in shock for a moment, before blurting out, "no... Scáth!" Mindless of the people listening, she only barely remembered to check her words. "You are absolutely NOT allowed to kill Snotlout! Oh my gods, everything would be chaos! And your father! What would he think? No! I don't like him either, but not so much that I want him dead! You promise me Scáth! Promise you won't kill him, or I'm going to Gothi!"
"Relax mi'lady. I promise that I will not kill Snotlout. We have put too many hours of training into him to kill him now. Although, would we really be that worse off with one less rider?.." She could hear the grin in his voice as he trailed off.
Ilweran laughed and said, "not if that missing rider is Snotlout. Might be better off, actually." Both men laughed again as Hiccup reached over to high-five his friend.
Fixing them with her sternest glare, she repeated stiffly, and much more quietly so that no one else would hear her, "promise me Hiccup. It would make me unhappy if you were to kill him. You know that. I know he's an idiot, but that's not really enough to justify death. You know that he doesn't stand a chance against you, anyways." Both men sobered at once as they caught the distinct motherly tone of danger in her voice.
Hiccup sighed as he met her gaze. "The fact that he thinks he can touch you displeases me greatly, and that is frankly enough to justify his death in my mind. However, he is still alive today because I knew that it would have made you unhappy. Despite the fact that he is indeed an idiot, I did not want to face your wrath after I ended him." Then he chuckled and shrugged at her.
"Though perhaps it would be less painful for me if I had simply killed him months ago and suffered your anger." At her look of surprise, he added, "it appears that he plans to set terms for the duel that will 'reveal' my identity to the tribe somewhat sooner than I had hoped." She heard Ilweran snort loudly as Hiccup put a strange emphasis on reveal.
"That is one way to put it..." he said, trailing off with a laugh. She looked at Ilweran, confused at what could possibly still be funny about this.
"Let us just say that he has an interesting idea to win your heart my dear. He plans to claim that he does not trust Scáth to not cheat, but really I think he just hopes to display his stunning Viking physique in order to sway your loins." Here they both started snorting again.
Taking pity on her, Hiccup added, "he plans to make it so that the duel has to be carried out in only trousers so that I will be unable to cheat with my many concealed blades. I am a draugr after all; we ravage pretty maidens and we do not fight fair." Here he winked at her from under his hood.
Astrid just stared at them for a moment. Then she promptly started laughing too. "No way! Are you seriously telling me that you are going to get almost naked and fight with Snotlout in front of most of the allied archipelago, plus your father, just to defend my honour?" It was completely ridiculous. Very Snotlout.
"Yes" Hiccup chuckled. "That about sums it up. I have a few ideas to deal with the whole honour issue, but the terrible terror is still going to be out of the bag." Astrid chuckled too, but then paused.
"Wait! How do you two know all of this. Has Snotlout been here already?" She scanned the academy quickly to confirm that he wasn't. Studiously ignoring all of the eyes boring into her as she stood with the two riders.
"Not yet," replied Hiccup. "A Rider can tap into the thoughts of those around them. The prospective duel is all that anyone here is thinking about. Though admittedly most do not know about all of his terms. They are excited to see if I am as scary as I look and if I am even really a man under this cloak instead of a draugr in disguise, as they have come to suspect. Well, that and they are all dying to know whether or not Snotlout is right about us being lovers. They have had their suspicions for a while now, after all." At Astrid's look of surprise, Hiccup said, "it is one of the many things that you will learn now that you are a bonded Rider."
She had just opened her mouth to comment when Snotlout suddenly strode into the academy. Oh boy, here we go, she thought as she turned with everyone else to stare at the young man in the centre of the arena. Puffing his chest out confidently, he looked straight towards their small group. She had to give him credit, if only grudgingly. He was staring down the massive Riders as if he was their equal. Completely ignoring the fact that both men looked more intimidating and powerful than he ever could. Never mind the fact that they were at least a foot and a half taller than him. He simply pointed his finger dramatically and proclaimed his challenge in a carrying voice that was sure to alert the whole village.
"Scáth Rothaí! Draugr from Hel! I am calling you out for defiling my future wife. I challenge you to a single combat duel for the maiden's honour with terms of my choosing. Do you accept?"
Ilweran snorted again beside Hiccup as Astrid groaned and put a hand over her face. Squaring his shoulders to face Snotlout head on, Hiccup calmly said, "name your time and place."
*
After Snotlout's great announcement, Hiccup and Ilweran had decided it was best to just call off the training for the day. Everyone was far too distracted to actually fly their dragons anyways. Astrid had decided to remain in the ring with the two men after the rest of the riders had left. She didn't feel like facing her parents after they heard the news.
Hiccup even had his mask off in the village for once, since he had pushed it up to the top of his head in order to kiss her quiet. She had started panicking about the fight the moment after everyone left and Hiccup had said that he just couldn't take it anymore. Despite the comforting tingle of his wonderful lips, she didn't feel any calmer. It didn't matter how amusing the two Riders thought this whole thing was. It was stressing her out to the point of screaming. Gods, Snotlout was such an idiot! She was still trying to rant about it as Minden and Borealis strolled into the arena.
"I can't believe you're actually going to do this" she said by way of greeting. Astrid smiled at her and she offered a smile back. "You know, I feel like all of us women should really be thanking you right now Astrid." Seeing Astrid's confused look, she added, "I know quite a few maidens that would give their left foot to watch Scáth fight in the buff to defend their honour. I have personally been trying to get him naked for years, but he adamantly refused. Now he's planning to strip in front of an entire village for you, you lucky bitch."
"Or should I say, us lucky bitches," she added with a wink. "The worst part is that we have to let him put his clothes back on when the fight is over. Don't beat Snot too quick please. Us women would like a good long while to appreciate the goods," she smirked as she poked him in the chest before trailing her finger down towards his belt. Astrid barely noticed the gesture. Her brain was already too full of worries, and Hiccup had warned her about Minden's tendency to flirt. He had been adamant that despite it, he and Minden were not, and had never been, intimate.
"What's this I hear about naked duelling? Please don't tell me that you signed the three of us up to put on a strip show for the ladies! I don't care if Ruffnut talked you into it. I'm not doing it," Eret called out, walking in and catching the end of Minden's statement. Then he saw Minden's finger making its way towards Hiccup's abdomen. "Hey! Since when are you allowed to have two of the most beautiful women in Midgard?"
Hiccup grabbed her hand and held it away from his chest as he said, "this one is not mine. She is simply a wicked seductress and demon child that cannot be trusted around men-folk. I blame Ilweran for her behaviour."
"Hey now! You know that I have no control over her either," came Ilweran's disgruntled retort.
Hiccup chuckled at him before continuing. "As for the duel, unfortunately for the ladies, it will only be Snotlout and I getting naked, my friend. Although you two are welcome to strip in solidarity, if you want." Then he smirked at the willowy blonde, and he was suddenly holding her other hand by the wrist. He had somehow caught it as she was making an invisibly quick lunge for his belt. Minden was so fast that Astrid hadn't even seen her hand move, but Hiccup had.
"Nice try princess, but you know what they say. Fool me twice and all that. I would be careful, if I were you. Astrid already looks ready to kill you just for touching me. Try to take my clothes off again, and I will set her on you; and I doubt I will be able to stop her before she maims you." The whole group laughed out loud, even the dragons, as Astrid looked down in shock to realize she was holding her axe in her hands. She must have unconsciously grabbed it without even noticing she was doing it.
Giving herself a mental shake, she grinned at Minden and raised the axe threateningly. Minden held her hands up in mock surrender as she said, "I was just going to help you get ready for tomorrow, but if you'd rather take your own clothes off for the duel, that's fine. That is, unless Astrid plans to help you instead," she added coyly with another wink at Astrid.
"If I help him, he'll be wearing nothing at all," Astrid tossed back at her as she re-holstered the axe. Minden's wicked mind and easy sense of humour were positively contagious, and Astrid reached out to return her high-five as they both smirked widely. The playful banter helping to take the edge off of her nerves, as Eret and Ilweran barked a laugh while Hiccup clutched at his belt and pretended to fend them off.
Astrid remembered feeling extremely jealous when she had first met the other girl. Minden was willowy and exotic with silvery blonde hair, tanned skin, and her father's strange amber eyes. That, and the way she was able to throw herself at Hiccup as if they were lovers. While Astrid just had to stand by and pretend that they were student and teacher at best. The way his arms caught her so easily.
After learning that Minden was Ilweran's daughter instead of Hiccup's other woman, she had allowed herself to talk to the girl. Quickly realizing that despite their friendly greeting, Hiccup had no sexual interest in Minden at all. It made her want him even more, as she watched the other men ogle the beautiful stranger while Hiccup still only had eyes for her. This, more than anything, had gotten her to open up to Minden. Discovering, to her surprise, that she actually really liked her. Especially right now.
"Just don't hurt him too badly, alright? After watching him with that nightmare yesterday, I think the idiots starting to grow on me." Minden sighed wistfully and rolled her eyes. "Just put him in his place so that we can all go back to focusing on not dying on Dragon Island. I really hope that you didn't completely heal any marks she left on you. It'll make it much more exciting for everyone when you strip down tomorrow. Let the ladies see what it's like to ride a real dragon." Then, cackling at the rising blush on Astrid's face, she turned and sauntered back out of the ring.
Yep, Minden was awesome!
*
"I can't believe you!" Ruffnut shouted at Snotlout. They had all come back to Fish and Ruff's house after they were excused from training for the day. Ruffnut had taken this as an opportunity to try and shame Snotlout out of this ridiculous idea by yelling at him until after nightfall. "You seriously think that calling her out in front of the entire archipelago is going to make Astrid want you? You're actually insane, you know that!"
Ruffnut had been in a towering rage ever since Snot had announced his intentions to the group the night before. He had come straight to their house after witnessing Astrid coming out of the woods unaccompanied. The whole thing was insane anyways. If Ruffnut was right, Astrid's maidenhead had already been given away years ago. Not that Snotlout knew this.
Of course, he and Ruff had also already formed their own opinions about the relationship between their friend and the dark rider. The fact that Snotlout had now apparently seen the dark rider's face and confirmed that he was just as beautiful as the white rider seemed to lend credence to their suspicions. Ruff had seriously doubted that Astrid would give herself willingly to a disfigured man or a monster. They both loved Astrid dearly, but they couldn't deny that she had a tendency to be a rather shallow creature when it came to which men she desired. Except for Hiccup of course, but lust and love were not the same thing.
Now Fish was sure that Astrid had, in fact, taken up a physical relationship with Scáth. After watching Ilweran hug and kiss her yesterday, he could not longer find any way to deny it. Eret and the riders were all too friendly with her for it to be purely coincidence. She was intimately close with at least one of them. Still, the fact that he and Ruff were nearly certain of this, didn't mean that they were blabbing it to the whole village and challenging people to duels. Snotlout, on the other hand, was partaking in copious amounts of mead and arguing with Ruff as if he could simply force them all to agree with him on this plan.
"I don't know why you're so upset! I'm trying to protect Astrid's reputation here. At least if everyone thinks that he forced her to do it, then she won't be shamed as a whore. She's just lucky that I'm willing to overlook this little hiccup and take her as my wife anyways, despite her loose morals and lack of decency. Well, as long as she promises to behave herself from now on, that is." At his words, Ruff nearly launched herself at him. Seeing the danger in advance, Fish grabbed her fists and held her gently, but firmly in her seat.
Completely oblivious to the danger, Snotlout grumbled, "I don't even know what she sees in him! She has denied every single one of my advances for years. Treating me and every other man like a leper. Then along come these foreigners, with their fancy clothes, their dragons, and their 'aura of mystery' as my mom calls it, and now she's throwing herself at them. Especially the one in the black." Here he paused to spit towards the fire as a snarl grew on his face.
"Hiding behind that mask and hood. Covering up his handsome face so we'll let him get close to the womenfolk. Then he tricks them into bed with his charm and sex appeal. Using their inherent feminine weakness to get what he wants. The sleeze! I bet he's fucked half the village wives already. You should probably be checking under your bed for him too Fish, the way Ruff acts around them..."
Stepping in before Ruff actually started attacking Snotlout, Fish chose to ignore his ravings for the moment. Attempting to reason with him instead. "What happens if you can't beat him Snot? You don't even know who he is and you've never seen him fight. He probably isn't even human! I know you think that you saw his face, but I'm just not sure. Anyways, no matter how you look at it, this is a bad idea." Clearly he had forgotten who he was talking to. Logic and reason were not things that Snotlout understood. Getting to his feet, Snot swigged back the last of his mead and stretched his back.
"I did see his face! How many times do I have to tell you? He leered at me while fondling my woman! Of course I'm going to beat that prick, Fish! With all of the training we've received from those two, he has turned me into the best warrior ever. It's going to be no contest. Besides, his pretty boy face looked human enough to be broken by my hammer, and let's not forget that he's just a string bean, while I'm a Viking." Here he paused to flex his biceps proudly.
"Ah, ya, except that he's not," Tuffnut chimed in. "He's a gigantic monster with blades galore. He's gonna cut you to pieces before you can get close enough to touch him. Then he's going to crush those pieces into a tiny loaf of dumbass and feed it to his dragon. Which is kinda what I'm rooting for. A good maiming to really get the day going." He cackled evilly at the thought.
"Stop worrying about me guys. I'm going to put that asshole back in his place! Knock him down a few notches. Him and his stupid dragon, and his stupid armour, and his stupid good looks. Stealing MY woman before I even get to touch her, when he's clearly already got one of his own! How many blonde babes does one man really need? Well, I'd take them both gladly, but still, he's gonna be sorry he messed with me. I've got a plan all worked out to make sure that it's an even fight. Or, more like an uneven fight. In my favour." Snot was ranting in his drunken anger. Trying to soothe them, and not succeeding in the slightest.
"You're an idiot! Since when has Astrid ever been wooed by fancy clothes and a handsome face? It's ridiculous! Speaking of ridiculous things, I don't suppose you're going to tell us what this brilliant plan is, are you?" Ruff asked, knowing the answer.
"No way. You're just going to tell me it's stupid." Snotlout walked to the door and pulled it open.
Just before he made it outside, Ruff yelled after him. "It probably IS stupid!"
Snot stuck his tongue out and shut the door.
"He's so going to die tomorrow," Tuffnut offered gleefully.
"Oh, very probably, and I'm not even going to be sad about it. Feminine weakness... I'll show him who's weak," Ruff growled in disgust. Then she looked back at her brother with a shrug. "I doubt Astrid will let him live for long anyways, even if Scáth doesn't happen to kill him," she said darkly.
"What? Why?" Was Tuff's reply.
"Because whether he's right or not about the lovers bit, I believe that Astrid has other motives for spending time with the rider. Astrid is still in love with Hiccup Haddock and I think Scáth knows where to find him. I'm sure he's the one that helped Hiccup make that axe for her." Fishlegs sighed softly as he gazed into the fire. This had all gotten way out of hand.
"Guys, maybe Scáth IS Hiccup..." Tuff offered slowly. All three of them looked at each other for a long moment, then they all burst out laughing. Picturing the scrawny little runt of a kid that had disappeared from Berk ten years ago. The idea that the tiny talking fishbone could grow into a seven foot tall, dragon riding beast was hilariously absurd!
*
The next afternoon, every single Viking currently on Berk showed up to watch the duel. Most didn't really care about the outcome. They just wanted to see Scáth fight. Snotlout showed up first and strutted confidently into the centre of the arena where Stoick, Gobber, and Gothi were waiting. Pumping his fists in the air and flexing his arms at the gathered spectators as he carried an atgeir* in one hand. The young men in the crowd yelled and fist bumped.
Then the giant black dragon landed outside of the arena and Hiccup dismounted. The noise falling to an awkward hush as everyone seemed to hold their breath. Watching as he slowly approached the group in the middle. Astrid, sitting in the stands with her friends, was a mess of nerves. Eret and Ilweran kept shooting her reassuring smiles, but it wasn't helping. As the dark rider came to a stop in front of the chief, the whole arena fell dead silent. Looking once around at the expectant crowd, Stoick then addressed the two men in front of him.
"Snotlout Jorgenson. You have accused this... man, of stealing the honour of your betrothed by use of force. Is this correct?" She noticed he had faltered, as if even Stoick wasn't certain the rider was human.
"Yes, sir." Snotlout replied quickly.
"WHAT?!" Astrid couldn't seem to contain her enraged shout at the very idea. What was he trying to do? Defend her honour by making her out to be a rape victim? What an idiot! Stoick simply shot her a look and continued.
"What say you to this claim, Scáth Rothaí?"
"Not guilty, sir. I have not stolen the honour of this man's betrothed by force or otherwise." Hiccup stated. What? Was he going to try and deny it after all? Astrid wondered in disbelief.
"Are you calling me a liar?" Snotlout fired up immediately.
"Certainly not. I am merely stating that she was never your betrothed in the first place. She was already promised to another when her parents made that contract. You challenged me to a duel for the lady's honour, not the lady herself. I have already accepted the challenge. Now state your terms."
Everyone sucked in a collective breath as they looked from Astrid to the men and back again. This was a whole new twist on things. Astrid herself was slightly surprised for a moment. He's right! She realized with relief as she remembered those perfect nights in the cove five years ago. A grin lighting her face as she felt the warmth radiating off of the pendant under her tunic. Her axe feeling comforting and solid where it rested over her back.
Snotlout somehow found humour in this statement. Guffawing once at the dark rider before saying, "nice try demon, but she has been promised to me for two years. My terms are that we will duel with one weapon of the combatants choosing, no shields. Also, because I do not trust you, all clothing not required for modesty must be removed to prevent any cheating with additional concealed blades. This includes footwear. If I win, you will accept the punishment for the wrong you have committed upon my poor betrothed. That punishment would be public execution, in case you didn't know. Do you accept?"
Astrid assumed that from the spluttering noises coming from her friends, they had not known of Snotlout's nearly-nude battle strategy. Well, except for Ilweran and Eret, who's laughter could be heard echoing across the arena. Looking down, she saw Stoick's face frozen somewhere between shock and humour. All eyes were on the group at the centre as Stoick opened his mouth to say something. Hiccup cut him off by holding a hand up in a gesture of pause.
"I will accept your terms, but I have a few of my own first. Look to the lady's axe. Is it not a betrothal gift to top all others? Tell me that she has not carried it for five years now. I made her that axe and she willingly accepted it."
Beside her, Ruffnut gasped out a shocked, "no!" and covered her mouth with her hands as Fishlegs made a small choking noise. They both looked quickly around at Astrid, who nodded once and pulled her pendant from beneath her tunic. Holding it out towards them before turning back to the arena. Ruff leaned in close to inspect the necklace, then gasped again as she recognized the miniature symbol in the centre of the flower. It was the same curled night fury that the dark rider wore, emblazoned into his armour. Letting the necklace drop back to Astrid's tunic, Ruff smiled at her. Tears of joy glistening in her eyes as she looked back towards the men in the ring.
"Oh ya, and what did she give you?" Snotlout was sneering at Hiccup, still completely oblivious to who he really was.
"Something infinitely more valuable. Now, my terms are that if I win you will cast away any false sense of claim that you have on her, allow her family to return her bride price without argument, and publicly apologize to her for defiling her good name."
"I accept!" Snotlout shouted, his face turning steadily redder in his fury. Looking as if all he wanted to do was skip formality and start pummelling the man in front of him right now. Stoick, on the other hand, was giving the rider a hard, searching look. Astrid could practically see the cogs of speculation turning in the chief's head. She wondered if perhaps he had recognized his son's hand in her axe after all.
When Hiccup did not return his look, he simply sighed and said, "very well then. Please present your chosen weapons to our elder so that she may judge them worthy."
Snotlout offered up the long staff with a blade on one end that he had only learned to use recently. Scáth himself had suggested it, as it had the added advantage of increasing the shorter man's reach. Placing it on the ground, he stepped away, smirking at the rider. Without a word, Hiccup reached down and removed a strange short cylinder from a loop on his belt and placed it at Gothi's feet as well.
He made to draw away, but Gothi caught him with her staff and dragged him back down to kneel on a level with her. She pushed back his hood slightly and gazed at his eyes for a long moment. He nodded at her, apparently answering some unspoken question. Then, to everyone's shock, she nodded back and smiled as she reached out and pulled him into a hug. Without any hesitation, he returned it. Gobber's eyes crinkling in a happy smile as he watched the two embrace.
*
Down in the ring, Stoick was thunderstruck. His mind sent reeling under the onslaught. What on Midgard was going on here? This is the stranger that sent Astrid the axe all those years ago, and Gothi knows him? I was so sure that my son had made that axe for the girl. Only problem is, this man is nothing at all like my son. It just doesn't make any sense!
Then remembering that he still had a job to do, he reigned in his confusion, cleared his throat, and spoke one of the strangest pronouncements he could ever remember.
"Men, discard all other weapons from your person and remove all unnecessary clothing." There were a few titters from women in the crowd and the Bogs cheered loudly. He couldn't help a small smile at that. This would be a duel to go down in the histories at least.
He watched as both men stepped away from the centre of the arena and began removing the required items. Snotlout dropped his war hammer on the ground before ripping off his boots and tunic with almost comical enthusiasm. Turning to face the crowd, he began to preen and flex, drawing cheers and laughs.
Scáth, on the other hand, was methodically laying down his twin swords in their sheaths. As well as drawing countless elegant throwing and punching blades from almost every article of clothing he wore. Maybe Snotlout's idea wasn't so crazy after all, Stoick thought wryly. First he slipped off his leather bracers and boots, followed by his black cloak. Now that the hood was gone the people could see an unruly mop of auburn hair, but not much more as the man kept his head down to hide his face.
Next he drew off his armoured tunic in one slow motion. There was a chorus of wolf whistles as people caught sight of the well defined muscles of his broad torso and strong arms. The tanned skin of the man's back was decorated with a huge and beautifully intricate tattoo of a night fury, with blatantly obvious scratches marring its surface. There was no denying Snot's claims now, Stoick thought with a sigh. Anyone would recognize those marks as the remnants of passionate lovemaking.
Oh Astrid, what have you done? Giving up your whole life just for a taste of pleasure with an enticing stranger... Stoick couldn't help a small surge of anger at this mystery man who had taken advantage of the girl. Luring her in with false promises of marriage, apparently. At least now they would finally see who this demon was. Just as curious as everyone else, he watched the rider reach up to slowly pull his mask off. Then, turning to face the crowd with his chin up and a wicked gleam in his impossibly green eyes, the man looked straight at Stoick.
"Hello, Father."
_
An atgeir* was the Viking version of a pole staff :)