PART 2: Hiccup
Thump
He grumbled and pulled the warm furs over his head. "Toothless, stop. It's too early to go flying."
Thump
He sighed exasperatedly and threw the covers off. He warily opened his eyes and sat up, "Toothless. You're going to break the roof one of these da-"
A painful sensation knocked the air out of him. Hissing in pain, he glanced down at his throbbing side. Bandages were haphazardly wrapped around his bare torso. He gritted his teeth.
Thump
Momentarily forgetting the pain, Hiccup blinked. He wasn't in his house, he was in a tent. He didn't have a roof. How would Toothless be making those nois-. Oh. Oh Hiccup gasped, eyes widening. His heart dropped to his stomach.
Thump
Breaths turned frantic, ragged. He fisted and clutched the furs-knuckles white-hugging them tightly. Hiccup forcibly shut his eyes. No, no, no, no. This isn't happening. It was all a nightmare.
Thump
There it was again. He kicked off the furs and scrambled up from the bed. Ignoring his stinging wound and shaking knees, he ran out the tent.
Thump
He twisted and dodged tents and half-built huts. Hot tears threatened to spill from his eyes.
Thump
Where are you? Hiccup burst into the tree clearing. A crazed laugh escaped from his lips.
"Toothless!"
"Chief?"
Hiccup skidded to a stop. Pain erupted from his side once again. Warm, sticky blood began to soak into the bandages but he didn't care. Gritting his teeth, he walked forward and slipped through the trees. A large shape moved in front of him. His heart quickened, daring to hope one last time. His vision cleared to see Eret. Hiccup's stomach dropped.
"Eret? What are you doing?"
Eret stopped chopping the wood and looked over. His eyes were bloodshot and dark circles were forming under them. He cleared his throat.
"Oh Chief! I didn't mean to wake you. I just-" he coughed and motioned to the wood with his axe, "just needed to break something."
Hiccup blinked and nodded, not indulging the topic any further. He stared at the pile of wood. One piece of wood. Two pieces of wood. Three. Four. Breath, Hiccup. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. He's not here. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve Thor dammit, he's not here. Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen What's going to happen to me? Sixteen. Seventeen. How am I supposed to even-.. Eighteen. Nineteen. I can't-
"Maybe we can use it?" Eret suddenly asked. Hiccup shook his thoughts away and tilted his head, "I mean, we're staying here, no? We'll be needing logs and wood to begin building houses."
Hiccup stayed quiet. Running a cold, shaking hand down his face, he turned towards the "village". His village. Morning had only begun to spill out from the trees. Everyone was still asleep. Hiccup's eyes skimmed over each tent. If he announced that they could, no, had to stay, would they follow him? When he had willfully decided to leave Berk, no one agreed. Grumbles, yells, and protests erupted in the room: no one was with him. But the idea of staying here felt... necessary. The people were still mostly living out of tents. Those who had built a hut, they purposefully built haphazardly to be easily taken down. They all assumed this was temporary. He assumed it was temporary. What about Berk? Gods, why did he choose to leave? And why had the people agreed to?
"Chief?" Eret's voice interrupted his thoughts. Hiccup's head snapped up. Eret was staring at him, waiting for orders. Hiccup suddenly felt very small and weak. He gulped.
"Um, maybe instead of houses, we can just build a hall?" Hiccup stared at his feet. He kicked away a rock. "You know like a meeting area? Something big enough to meet with the village. At least just until we figure out- " He waved his arms around, gesturing to their surroundings "all this."
Eret was silent, contemplating what Hiccup suggested. Muttering to himself, he turned to face the pile of wood then to the forest around them. Eret grunted. "If that's what you want to do, Chief?"
"Y-yes." No
"I'll need some help though. Depending on how big we are going to build it- which I'm assuming big enough for most everyone to fit in- we will need larger, taller trunks than these." he patted a pine tree close to him,"-to build the walls. We have not been here long enough to know where those types of trees grow. It might takes some time to-"
Hiccup's head immediately perked up. He chuckled, "Oh, that's easy. We'll just get the dragons." He spun around and began yelling, "Toothless, come here! Toothle-" Hiccup stopped himself.
There was dead silence. Neither men spoke. Behind, Eret's breath shook. The quiet was surreal. Dread began creeping back into Hiccup's mind. Body threatening to collapse, his hand shot out and grabbed a tree for support. His knees threatened to give out.
"It's good, chief. I'm sure I can find some able men to help out." Eret interjected
Hiccup swallowed. His throat suddenly felt very raw and dry."Ye-yeah. That s-sounds." He cleared his throat and forced himself to stand taller, "That sounds good."
"Chief?'
"Yeah?"
"You're bleeding."
Hiccup pressed his hand on the wound. It must have opened up. Blood had soaked through the bandage fabric and stained his hand. He winced as brought up his blood-covered hand to eye level.
"Yeah. I got hurt yesterday and uh-" he thought for a second. What had happened? Flashes of last night began to seep into his mind. Walking back to the village, falling, bed, wound, Astrid- Hiccup's eyes widened, "Where's Astrid?"
Eret was taken aback from the sudden question. He eyed Hiccup's wound. Shaking his head, he began to suggest, "Maybe you should get that looked at-"
"Where is she?"
Eret sighed exasperatedly. He waved his hand to the right, gesturing to the forest. "When I came out here, I thought I saw her run through there. I'm not sure it was her though, her hair looked diff-" Hiccup immediately pushed past him. "I'll just get started on cutting the trees then!"
Eret's voice faded behind Hiccup. With each step, his side stung more. More blood seeped out. Clenching his jaw, Hiccup kept looking. He swatted away bushes and plants, looked around boulders. Panicked, he began to run deeper into the unknown forest. A faint shimmering of a blade caught his eye. A dagger was lodged high into a tree leaning on a boulder. He scrambled up the boulder. "Astrid! Astrid, where are you?!" The dagger loosened and fell on the boulder. Gingerly picking it up, he recognized it as his own. He opened his mouth to yell again when another dagger came flying past him and embedded itself into a tree behind. Hiccup fearfully peeked his eye open. Cautiously, he peered over the boulder. Astrid was in a crouching position. Her arm was still out, having just thrown the dagger. Her chest was moving up and down with heavy breaths. Her eyes stormed with anger and sadness. Dark circles under her eyes clashed with her pale skin. Hiccup's eyes widened. Her long beautiful golden hair had been chopped unevenly.. Some small strands went past her shoulder while others barely reached the end of her ear. Two wispy braids were messily done on the top of her. Both with barely enough hair to interweave three times, they threatened to fall apart.
"Hey." Astrid stood up and wiped the dirt from her skirt. She stared up at Hiccup, "What are you doing here?"
"You're hair."
"You're bandages." she remarked, disregarding his comment. "You should be in bed."
Hiccup peeled his eyes away from her hair and spun around, stumbling just out of her line of view. Her hair. He reached out and grasped the daggers embedded in the tree for support. His lungs suddenly struggled to breath in. Astrid's hair.
"Hiccup?" Astrid called out. "Are you okay?"
Hiccup ran a cold, clammy hand down his face. Astrid. Gods, why? His gaze landed on the daggers logged in the tree. His hand shakily wrapped around the handle and he tugged. It didn't budge. He tugged harder. Shifting his weight, he pulled with more force. Astrid. Grunts of frustration and pain escaped from his lips as he pulled, and pulled, tugged, and tugged. He couldn't do it. Anger bubbled in his chest.
"Hiccup." Astrid called. Sneering, Hiccup's eyes narrowed and wrapped tighter around the knife. Astrid. The dagger clattered onto the rock. Hands clenched into bloody fists, Hiccup's chest heaved and his whole body shook. He stared at his raw hands. Vision clearing, the sight of his bloodied palms made his stomach lurch. He quickly wiped his palms on his bandages, ignoring the stinging pain and the growing scarlet stain. Gulping down the thick anger in his throat, Hiccup glanced over the rock again. He frowned and looked away, not wanting to indulge the idea any further. He glanced down to the daggers. He rose an eyebrow. These were his. Why would Astrid... It was common knowledge that Astrid favored an axe. Of course, she was skilled in everything she did.
Hiccup carefully dropped the daggers down to her. "Why are you using my daggers? I thought you preferred an axe?" His voice carried no anger or exasperation, now only concern. She skillfully caught them both by the handles, slightly stumbling from the weight.
"I left it on the cliff." Astrid responded quietly and traced the wedges and scrapes on the worn, metal handle. She began spinning the knife in between her long, slender fingers.
"Oh." Oh
"..."
"..."
"How are you feeling?"
"Emotionally or physically?"
"Hiccup."
"I'm doing okay, I guess. I haven't processed it fully. I'm not sure I want to."
"Oh."
"..."
"..."
"I heard Eret chopping wood."
"Yeah. I ran into him when I thought Tooth-when I was looking for you."
"..."
"You weren't there when I woke up."
"Couldn't sleep."
"Oh."
"..."
"..."
Hiccup cleared his throat and wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. " I uh, I told him to start cutting down trees to build a hall." Unbeknownst to him, the dagger in Astrid's hand stopped spinning. "I think these trees will be strong enough to build at least something temporary. I mean, I don't have any plans drawn up but, I don't know, maybe I can-"
"What do you mean 'Eret's cutting down trees to build a hall'?"
Hiccup raised his eyebrow and laughed nervously, "Exactly that."
Astrid's eyes narrowed and she scoffed, "You mean, we're staying here?"
Taken aback by her tone of voice, Hiccup's eyes widened.
"Yes." He felt his body instinctively shift its weight and moved into a defensive position, "Yes, we are staying here."
Astrid inhaled sharply and crossed her arms. "You're not seriou-"
"CHIEF!"
Both Astrid and Hiccup quickly turned towards the urgent yell. Eret burst through the trees and sprinted towards them, eyes wide. Hiccup felt his heart quicken with fear. He slid down the boulder and ran towards the panicked man. Astrid followed suit. Eret gasped for breath
"Eret, what's wrong?" Astrid began cautiously. At the sight of Eret's face, Hiccup's stomach began to fill with dread. Something was wrong.
"They-they're here." Eret ran a shaking hand down his face. His chest heaved with large, staggered breaths. "They-what do we do, i-i mean wh-what can we do? They're h-here, Hiccup!"
His face was frantic, amber eyes filled with worry. Hiccup and Astrid glanced at each other worryingly. As Astrid attempted to coax Eret out of his panicked state, Hiccup's thoughts raced. This should not be happening. Hiccup's gaze landed on Astrid, then at the outline of the village, and finally on Eret. Harsh reality came crashing down on his shoulders. His patience wore thin- a burst of panic and frustration burned through him.
"Eret, who is here!?" He grabbed Eret's shoulders and roughly shook them,"Eret, tell me!"
Eret's eyes bore into Hiccup's and he exhaled shakingly, "Dragons."
A/N: I am not going to lie; this chapter took me longer than expected. I kept rewriting and rewriting it until I just swallowed my pride and went with it.
If my description of Astrid's new hair did absolutely nothing to create a visual, sorry I cannot for the life of me describe hairstyles. If you want like the "idea" of what i was going for, search up "Piper McLean hair" (if you know, you know) and you should get the idea: very choppy and uneven, sticks out, haphazardly cut, covering the eyes, small braids(but for astrid: two really small ones on top of her head), all that stuff. That's all imma say cause then I'll reveal a ton of things and plot points. But tell me what you think of the appearance change!
Also, if you haven't already, go check out my other story "Yet To Be Determined"!
Oh and just a heads up, my updating schedule will not be as fast anymore. I'm a senior in high school and up till this point, we've been doing distance learning but now they're going to make us start going back to in-person classes(ugh). So in other words, the wait for a new chapter will be longer for both of my stories. I will still update them whenever I can but expect a period of no updates for neither story. (4/3 A/N- i am now posting like tiny updates at the end of my bio for each story so if you want to be kept in the loop of what/when im working on, check there)