. I .
Shots of flame lit up the village of Berk, splashes of fire coating and scarfing down the buildings as a mix of frantic screams and battle cries filled the air. At a small shack hidden behind a grove of trees, at the edge of the village, a candle shone dimly from outside a window. It was shut, due to the intoxicating amount of smoke wafting from below, although it showed to have been a struggle to do so; bits of paint was scratched off of the wood, which was wet and rotting - because of all the rainfall recently.
The rain was lucky. If it wasn't here, then the whole place would have shrivelled to a crisp by now.
Despite the window being lodged in place, the bottom was clearly ridged and it left a gap at the bottom of the window frame, making it shudder and wisps of smoke to seep in regardless. It was the thought that counted?
Inside, the low murmurs of voices caught on the breeze, faint and worried. "Another raid.. and they're getting worse!" The first spoke, waving their hands in the air, and, to further prove their point, stomped over to the window and shoved it open. It gave quite easily, with a squeak as it tried to resist but ultimately failed.
The other sidled over to him, loose auburn braid swinging behind them as they touched a hand on their shoulder. "It isn't your fault." Their tone was quiet as they stared outside, at the dragons terrorizing their homes and stealing their food, and although it hurt, they knew that it would pain them more to stare into the tearful green eyes belonging to the one beside them.
They lifted a hand, ruffling their auburn hair, and sighed, before smiling at the other, although it didn't quite reach their eyes. "We should be there, Astra."
"I know." There was no point in even speaking. The words all died on their lips, choking them, and what was the point? They all came to the same bland, useless situation. In a hopeless attempt to lighten the mood, the one with a braid, Astra, added, "You'll be out there soon enough, H. Training to fight dragons." She extended the hand that wasn't on the other's shoulder in a gesture of comfort, and drew the window shut, grimacing at the scraping sound produced. Even as it closed, it bounced against the frame.
"I don't think so." 'H' grumbled, feeling an itching longing to open the window again, to prove to everyone that he was brave enough to at least watch... but he wasn't, that was the crushing reality, and besides, Astra was his friend. His best friend; she wouldn't judge him. "If Stoick has his way, I'll never even pick up a sword." He sighed, lifting his opposite - his left hand - and rested it on her's which was on his shoulder, his fingers curling over Astra's.
She grinned at him, her lips lifting to show her gums, although not quite. It faded quickly though, and she traced her free hand's fingers across the grains of the wood, some of it flaking away in her hand. She groaned, lifting it away and droppíng it to her side again with irritation upon feeling the dampness. "Soon they'll be mould! At least you don't have to worry about that, Hiccup." She complained, and the male beside her rolled his eyes, deep green orbs peering at her with an half-irritated half-amused smirk in their depths.
"Soon I'll have to worry about my swarm of fans!" He insisted, dragging a hand through his messy brown hair, brow creased in concentration. "All I need is to finish this bad-boy-" He flung an arm dramatically at Astra's wobbly desk, - which only had three legs and looked very unimpressive - "and I'll have Astrid's affection too!" Now he was dancing around the small room. The girl made a mocking lovesick face, but he ignored her, and the pissed-off look in her eyes softened when she saw the dreamy hopefulness in his.
He was still young when it came to affection. She wouldn't crush his dreams just yet.. instead, she'd give him tips! She had never been in a relationship herself, or really had a crush, but she was still a better candidate than him; he was probably never going to gain the blonde Viking's love because Astrid did things the most utterly Viking way, and Hiccup? He was the most un-Vikingly you could get. His name meant runt, for Thor's sake!
Although Astra wished the annoying stuck-up of a Viking would suddenly change directions and proclaim her love for her best friend, and for anything less, a certain she's head would be mounted on a pole and one of them would be dancing around the village shouting curses. Astrid with her head on the pole, not Astra. (The girl hated how their names were similar, so insisted that everyone call her by one of her middle names.) Because even if it was stupid, he was still her best friend, and she hated to see him unhappy.
Plus, it wasn't even like he was unattractive! Sure, his scrawny frame was completely runt-ish, but his gangly arms and legs suggested he'd grow into it. His large head also supported her theory, and if genetics had anything to do with it, he'd grow to be like his mountain of a man father, Stoick. And in the process, all the available girls in the village would be swooning. Swooning, over her best friend who they refused to go near! She suppressed a laugh, knowing that in a few year's time she'd have teasing material for Hiccup's girlfriend.
She knew he'd eventually get a girl; he didn't seem to be the type to do life solo. Astra might, but only if they were really... No, probably not. She bit her lip, unable to imagine herself with anybody. But she'd have to eventually; she didn't even have parents to do their bit of the mortgage for the wedding and sell her off like an old yak, so she'd either be lumped as the healer's apprentice or engaged to anyone. And Astra was not remembering anything during the plant identification and healing lessons with Gramma, so she would probably be engaged to a brain-less nobody. Didn't her future seem bright?
Although, the bride's family did have to pay for the wedding partly, so how would Stoick deal with that? He'd manage it somehow; Astra wasn't boasting, but she did have a few -brainless- suitors who might be interested in her. She shuddered - leave it to Astrid to have the admirers, this one wanted to be alone and proud!
"Dream on!" Astra snorted, drawn out of her thoughts by another flash of orange-yellow light behind her, likely flames, and she resulted with backing against the window, trying to block Hiccup's view of the likely slaughter outside and stop tears. Not that she thought he wasn't strong enough, but family relationship stable or not, he really cared about his father.
Stoick had un-officially tasked her with keeping him busy, and she liked spending time with Hiccup, preventing his death and serving her village. And right now the best thing to do was this: keep the heir alive, don't die herself and protect her best friend from everything and anything.
"Well, we'll have to finish it first." Astra added to her sentence with a thoughtful frown, "What have you done so far?" She thought it might distract him from the dragons outside, and it did. His whole face lit up as he paused his dancing, rushing to the desk and rifling through stacks of paper balanced. Astra wandered over, curiosity eventually winning over her protective instinct and the itching, icy uneasiness that dragons might find her home.
She leaned her elbows on the desk, smirking as it lurched sideways and Hiccup glared at her, frantically reaching out for a paper fluttering down to the ground after her leaning over; only for her to whisk it out of the air calmly and handed it to him, her face a picture of evil pleasure- innocence.
He made a face -very immature of him, Astra thought, before sticking her nose in the air and huffing haughtily, which for a reason which she absolutely couldn't decode had the brunette beside her, still gripping a bit of paper protectively, to chortle- before sticking his quill into a pot of ink, and Astra removed her elbows, hovering above him, deciding not to risk spilling the precious stuff. Johann didn't come regularly, and she knew how religiously Hiccup held his drawing and inventions (which were amazing). And she also knew the stress and hyperactivity of a Hiccup unable to create (which wasn't great).
Astra watched, cloudy blue eyes wide with fascination as she watched him carefully go over a line of a sketch already created by various lines of charcoal previously. And she watched, as the wax candle reached the end of its wick as he continued. Life seemed to sprout from the page as he drew, tongue slightly sticking out of his mouth in concentration.
He was talented, sure. But it was the most un-Astrid skill she'd ever seen. That girl liked the run-up-punch-things-and-think-later approach, while Hiccup seemed to prefer the think-think-think way of things. They were complete opposites, how would a relationship even work? Even Astra was temperamental, but her best friend seemed zen (and bitterly determined. Did she add kind? That was a big no-no, no mercy allowed when you're a Viking apparently) all the time.
"Here," Hiccup had finished, laying the paper on a tower of books beside Astra's desk. So that the wet ink could dry, she assumed. "This is going to be the part that you pull back," He grabbed a stick, usually used for tending the fire (which had gone out), and poked at a part of the drawing, although he was careful to hover it in midair, so it wouldn't smear the ink.
"Isn't that used for the fire?" Astra pointed out. "It's gone, and I'm freezing!" She leaned forwards on the desk more, making it wobble -although it didn't affect Hiccup, who was crouched on the floor- and made a desperate grab for the stick, but Hiccup whisked it away, used to her behaviour. She pouted mockingly, but reluctantly retreated a few inches, to her bed and slouched upon it. She crossed her ankles delicately, before hugging them to her chest and resting her head on them.
"What is it with you, desks, wobbling and grabbing?" Hiccup commented sarcastically, pointing at another section as he made a face, but it was obviously all in good fun.
"Hey-" Astra sneered, her cloudy blue eyes twinkling with mischief before she cut herself off. "What's that?" She pointed at a section near the bottom with complicated ropes and gears, her eyebrows creasing upwards as she stared at it, bemused.
Hiccup sighed dramatically, "Wow, how stupid are you?!" At Astra's irritated -but still clueless- huff, he rolled his eyes and poked the stick at a long rope connected to the largest gear. All the other gears were connected to that gear, in some way or another, the girl noted. "I can't believe you don't know." He added, milking it for all it's worth.
"If you're so clever, why don't you tell me?" She patted her braid into place on her shoulder, crossing her ankles neatly, smiling sweetly at him. The boy paused, mulling over his words before he spoke again:
"That rope, you see there?" He circled it with his stick -still hovering so it wouldn't smudge- "It's going to connect to that," A connection of rods he would use to pull back, as stated previously, "and that'll get the gears turning, which will jerk this into action-" His voice was rising in excitement, and Astra felt her blood pumping too. "and twang! A bola launches way further than any Viking could throw and traps the dragon! Village's respect gained!"
His chest was heaving as he spoke, the stick still clutched loosely in his fingers as he waved his hands around.
"That's all very nice," Astra frowned, from her position by his shoulder (during all the explanations she had gotten excited and jumped up). "But shouldn't you test it with a target first? No, not me or Stoick," She added hurriedly, "and how are you getting these materials? You know how everyone feels about your inventions!"
"After this, they won't." Hiccup protested weakly, but the other cut him off, now on a rampage.
"And how likely is that? Astrid's going to leap into your arms and you'll live happily ever after? Stoick will apologise for him neglecting you and praise you every hour at least twice, Snotlout will be your lead supporter?! How likely is this?" After she'd spoken, she immediately regretted it.
"I know." The voice that came out of his mouth was thin and hopeless. "I just wished.."
"Hiccup." Astra stared him in the eyes, feeling guilty and wanting to atone. "Who's to say those things won't happen? I just don't think it'll happen overnight. This project might be the start of it.." She was sure her voice was limp and unconvincing, but he seemed to buy it.
She almost felt hurt that he hadn't noticed her faking, but pushed it away. It wasn't his fault, and he couldn't even think when he thought of Astrid.
"Let's go to the forge now, then!" He announced brightly, Astra shaking her head a million times in the expanse of one second.
"Hiccup, no! There's a raid, remember?!" But he had already flung open the door.. and Astra couldn't stop him. He gaped as he saw his burning village, stumbling downhill. "No!" Astra cried again, mounting the creaking stairs which shifted under her weight and then ran out of the house after him.
Hiccup was a fast runner, already forty or so metres ahead, and desperation drove him on. But it gave her the opposite effect; her feet felt heavy, and when she finally pushed away the weight on her chest and began to run, she had lost him in the smoke.
But she still ploughed on, her eyes darting to every corner as she slipped past fighting dragons and Vikings, keeping to the edge. She narrowly skirted a blast of Nadder fire, the hottest fire in the archipelago, thanks to a Viking roaring and facing it head-on, the liquid fire separating and flowing straight off the edge of their shield; although it was ebbing away the wood.
Astra tried to call out a warning, but all too soon a leering, toothy face appeared out of the shadows, curling horns only completing the fearsome look. Astra froze. And ran.
Her feet thudded against the grass, black and charred or burnt away completely as she was chased by the red beast. Splatters of a deeper, metallic red covered its muzzle, and Astra was sure that it contained the blood of some of her fellow tribe-mates. And perhaps some livestock, and although they'd grow hungry she was certain that they weren't as important as a human loss.
Maybe they'd even have less mutton stew?
She could feel it's hot breath on her back, and she sped up, despite the fact her heart was banging against her ribs and her legs were giving way. Astra knew it was toying with her: by now, it could have swallowed her in one fearsome, slobbery gulp.
Well, let it play. That meant she could live longer and hopefully encounter some experienced fighter. She was pretty sure screaming would just hinder her running, as the air inside her wasn't plentiful.
Astra saw a silhouette of a person nearby, and changed direction towards them, breathing a sigh of relief. But then horror overtook it. This person was crouching beside a wheeled contraption, their eye pressed to the scope. Their frame was scrawny; a frame that brought relief and joy, and then quickly faded into horror.
"HICCUP!" Astra screamed, feeling all the breath drain from her body. At her scream, Hiccup spun around, sending the bola spinning into the air unguided.
"Astra? Why, you-!" He was about to swear at her making him miss his target, but then he trailed off. A huge, flaming red Monstrous Nightmare was trying to snatch his best friend off of a pole. She had climbed it and was shivering, leaning as far away from the dragon as she could. "Astra!" He screamed, peeling off a bola from where it hung on a hook, and throwing it at the dragon.
He had no level of expertise, however, and all it did was hit the dragon's leg and bounce off. The dragon turned his head towards Hiccup for a moment, and Astra used to second to slide down the side of the pole, and try and go around the huge beast; but it turned, letting out a ferocious roar as it snapped it's teeth at Astra's face.
His best friend's face. And suddenly Hiccup was sprinting, discarding the contraption (now merely splinters on the rocks below) and shoving himself in front of Astra.
He expected pain. Excrutiating pain.
But it never came.
And when he peeled open his eyes, he saw the least expected thing in his life. They were both shielded by another dragon.. who was challenging the Monstrous Nightmare.