DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from the HTTYD series or any of the ideas to the plots. My ideas are inspired by a collective of stories that I have come across. But I am always open for any ideas that could help with the story. I might also mess up with some details but I will try my best for the story. Without a further ado I will let you get on with the reading, enjoy!
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Gobber smiled to himself as he walked to the Hofferson's house with Hiccup's letter tucked in his coat. There wasn't much movement around the village, and he expected that, but he didn't like it either. As he approached the door pulled his coat tighter and then steadied himself. He brought up his hand and then knocked on the door. He heard a few noises behind the door and a few seconds later it opened to reveal Ingrid standing behind it.
"Gobber, how are you," Ingrid greeted with a smile, "Happy Snoggletog as well."
"Happy Snoggletog," Gobber said with a half nod, "I'm doing good, thank you. How's your family doing?" He saw Ingrid pause slightly and her face seem to darken slightly but it quickly cleared and returned back to normal.
"We're doing good," she said, but Gobber could tell she was just trying to cover up how everything was really going. "What brought you over here anyways," she asked.
"I think it would be better if we discussed this inside," Gobber said quietly as he looked over his shoulders. Ingrid had a confused expression on her face but nodded as she slowly stepped back from the door. Gobber stepped inside and then shut the door behind him as he looked around the house. It seemed the same as it always was, although it lacked the life of the holidays. Only a few candles and decorations were brought in an attempt to brighten up the mood, but in the end it seemed to make it worse.
"Honey, Gobber's hear," Ingrid called out to her husband and a few moments later Arthur walked into the room.
"Good to see you Gobber," Arthur greeted, "How've you been."
"I can't complain," Gobber said with a nod of his head and then he looked up as he heard loud steps above him. A few seconds later the noise came from the steps and he looked over to see Bella running towards him. "My, my have you grown," Gobber said as Bella ran up to him. He went to pick her up with her good hand and she lightly hugged him.
"What brings you by Gobber," Arthur asked and Gobber sighed as he set Bella down.
"I have a letter for you," Gobber told them as he reached into his pocket and withdrew the envelope.
"From who," Arthur asked with a skeptical tone as he took the letter and Gobber paused as he debated telling them the truth.
"The Dragon Master," Gobber finally said and he saw a look of confusion on Arthur's face and then it turned into a look of anger.
"I don't want anything to do with that bastard," Arthur said as he threw the letter down and started to storm out of the room.
"It's about Astrid," Gobber quickly said and that comment made Arthur stop in his tracks.
"What about Astrid," Ingrid asked quietly and Gobber looked over at her with a sad look on her face.
"You can read it for yourself," Gobber told them as he picked up the letter from the ground and handed it to Ingrid. She slowly took the letter and carefully tore up the envelope and with shaking hands took out the parchment. As she unfolded the letter Arthur moved to stand next to her and read it over her shoulder.
"She's ok," Ingrid said in a voice barely above a whisper as tears started to fill her eyes.
"Did he say anything else," Arthur asked cautiously as he looked up at Gobber.
"Nothing more than he said there," Gobber told the two as he pointed to the letter.
"How soon will she be home," Ingrid asked and Gobber shrugged his shoulders as he moved to sit down in the open chair.
"I don't know," Gobber told them, "He told me to pass that along to you, Astrid looked fine when I saw her."
"You saw her," Arthur asked quickly, his eyes widening slightly, "How did she seem, was she hurt at all."
"She's fine," Gobber said slowly as he held up his hands and reassured the two. "The Dragon Master may be a bastard but he is not a liar it seems." Arthur just nodded as he looked down at Ingrid who seemed to still be in shock.
"Will you excuse us for a moment," Arthur said in a polite manner and he slowly led Ingrid up the steps to discuss something privately. Gobber sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck and looked around the room. He paused as he saw Bella watching him with a small smile on her face.
"You saw Astrid last night too," Bella asked quietly and Gobber slowly smiled and nodded. "Do you know how the Dragon Master is?"
"I've had an idea of who he was for a while," Gobber admitted, "Still caught me by surprise when I saw him."
"I think it was nice of him to bring Astrid by," Bella said softly as she fiddled with her hands.
"Yes it was," Gobber told her as she slowly walked over to him and he pulled a chair up for her to sit in.
"Why do people think he is so mean," Bella asked and Gobber chuckled at the question.
"Well to be honest, he does a lot of things that are different from what people consider to be normal," Gobber told her.
"What's wrong with being different," Bella asked with a curious look, "Astrid always tells me to be different because it makes you stand out."
"Well he stands out that's for sure," Gobber said to himself as he chuckled. "Let's just say people don't appreciate how different he is." Bella just nodded as she seemed to think about what Gobber had said. The blacksmith chuckled softly as he looked at the face of concentration on the young girl's face, which reminded him a lot like Astrid. Gobber hoped that Astrid would return soon, for the sake of her family because he knew they were being held together by threads at this point.
Hiccup smiled to himself softly as he opened his eyes and felt the morning sun on his face. He slowly sat up in his bed and stretched out his arms, a satisfying crack coming from his back. He then slipped his shirt on and stepped out from the guest room. All was quiet in the side room and the pub as well. He looked around the room and spotted a bowl of fruit sitting out on top of the bar. He picked through the bowl and finally decided to grab an apple out from it as he moved over to an open table. He ate in silence as he looked out the window and towards the city's port. He heard a noise behind him and looked back to see Astrid and Ashley walking out from the side room.
"Where are you two going," he asked as he saw they were both dressed and had packs over their shoulders.
"We're just going to walk around town," Ashley told him as she walked over to the bowl and grabbed an apple for herself.
"Ashley said she would show me some of the sights around here," Astrid added as she walked towards Hiccup. "We shouldn't be out long," told him and then she kissed him lightly on the cheek. Hiccup just paused for a moment and then he looked up to see Ashley smiling as she watched the two.
"Take your time," Hiccup told them, "We're not in a rush to leave." With one final nod the two walked towards the door and then left the pub to walk around town. He smiled to himself as he watched them pass by the window. He heard a noise behind him and looked over to see Mary watching him with a wide smile on her face.
"I was wondering when you two would become something," she said as she walked over towards the table and Hiccup smiled as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I would ask about when you think you would settle down but even I know it's too soon to think about that. Plus with all the things you do with those dragons it must be a handful for you already." Hiccup felt his blood run cold after that comment and he saw a smirk on Mary's face.
"You know," Hiccup asked slowly and the smirk on Mary's face grew.
"I may be an old woman but I can still put two and two together," she told him.
"How," was all Hiccup managed to get out as he still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that Mary knew.
"News carries with the ships, you know that," Mary told him, "And this tale about a man riding a dragon always seemed to be talked about. I didn't think it was you until you came back to visit after you left the first time."
"What gave it away," Hiccup asked cautiously.
"Mainly all of those scars you have," Mary pointed out as she nodded towards his arms. Hiccup looked down and saw a few scars just below the sleeve's of his shirt. "Maybe you got a few of those from blacksmithing but there are some questionable ones."
"What do you think about it then," Hiccup asked her, "Me being the Dragon Master then." Mary paused and then folded her hands as she thought of her answer.
"At first I was against it," Mary admitted, "Especially with you coming back and being so connected with Ashley and Miles. But after some time I realized you were just being who you are."
"And that is," Hiccup asked with a raised eyebrow.
"A kind and caring person," Mary told him with a soft smile, "That's who you are and what you'll always be. You want to help anyone you can Hiccup, people or dragons." Hiccup just nodded as he remained silent and thought about what Mary said. "That's why you couldn't abandon Berk," she added.
"Funny how people always see why I can't leave Berk when I don't," Hiccup pointed out with a chuckle.
"You have a good heart Hiccup," Mary told him as she lightly took one of his hands and squeezed it.
"It's a shame that not all people agree with you," Hiccup said as he thought to all the people that wanted him dead.
"You'll find peace soon enough," Mary reassured him, "People like you always will, it just might take some time."
"Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later," Hiccup muttered as he looked back out towards the window.
"If you don't mind me asking," Mary started, "What do you plan for Astrid?"
"What do you mean," Hiccup asked as he turned back to the older woman.
"Are you two going to keep living a life like this," Mary asked.
"I don't know," Hiccup admitted as he ran a hand through his hair, "It's not fair to her to live a life she was forced into." Mary didn't say anything as she just watched Hiccup, a kind smile still on her face.
"Well whatever you decide to do, make sure it makes you happy," Mary told him as she squeezed his hand again. "Now do mind helping me make breakfast," she asked as she stood up.
"I'd be happy to help," Hiccup said as he stood up and followed her into the side room where their makeshift kitchen was. The two managed to make a decent meal without any trouble, Mary giving Hiccup some trouble here and there for being out of practice with a cooking knife. Eventually Ashley and Astrid came back from their walk around town and helped the two with whatever they had left. As they were wrapping up Aaron and Miles came in and they all enjoyed the freshly made breakfast.
"I'm going to run into the forge real quick," Hiccup told everyone else after they finished eating. He walked over to the forge and as he entered the room he heard a series of banging coming from the back room. Hiccup pushed open the gate and walked into the forge to see Magnus working on something. "Need any help," he asked as Magnus stopped to wipe the sweat from his brow.
"If you don't mind," Magnus said, "There's a list over there of what needs to get done." Hiccup nodded and looked at the list before getting started on it. He looked over to his old work station and saw this was left untouched for him. They worked in silence besides the sounds of metal hitting metal. Hiccup stopped as he went to remove his shirt as it was drenched in sweat. He looked up to see Astrid standing in the doorway, a smile on her face as she watched him.
"So this is how you went from being a fishbone to having some muscle," she pointed out as she walked over to him.
"It helps," Hiccup admitted as Astrid walked over to his desk and looked down at it. She moved around the papers on the desk and started to look through his drawings.
"These are amazing," she mumbled as she picked up a drawing of the port with several ships in the background. Hiccup smiled as he set his tools down and walked over to Astrid and stood next to her as she continued to look through the sketches. She paused again as she looked down at a drawing that Hiccup drew of her. "When did you do this," she asked as she held it up to him.
"A while ago," Hiccup told her as he looked at the drawing, "I just left it here with everything else." She nodded as she smiled as she looked back at the paper. It was a simple drawing but it held a lot of detail. In the drawing she was reading a book but Hiccup found her face of concentration amusing so he decided to sketch it.
"Hiccup," Astrid said and he looked up at her to see that she wanted to ask him something. "What are we," she slowly asked and Hiccup paused as he didn't know what to say.
"Well what do you want to be," Hiccup asked and he saw a conflicted look on her face. He then reached out and took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She smiled softly but he could tell there was a lot on her mind. "Listen we don't have to worry about details, unless you really want to, let's just live day by day."
"I like that idea," Astrid said softly before she brought her arms around his neck and then kissed him. Again, it was nothing big, but Hiccup still felt like his heart was going to leap out of his chest. "I'll see you back at the pub," she told him with a soft smile as brought her arms back down. Hiccup just nodded as he watched her go and then he looked over to see Magnus smiling at him. Hiccup just gave him a look but the blacksmith just chuckled to himself. Hiccup sighed as he turned back to the bench and stared down at the drawing of Astrid. He smiled to himself because for the first time in a while he felt truly happy.
Ayo, it's me, hopefully everyone enjoyed the chapter even though it was a shorter one, I was just struggling to add things to the chapter. I was also pushing for an update so people didn't think I abandoned the story or was dead, well not physically, finals week is making me dead inside but we will deal with that later. I've said it a million times before and I will say it a million times more but thank you for the follows and favorites. It's to the point where I don't want to count individual accounts so I will just go with a simple thank you. I don't necessarily have an idea for the next update but it might not be a bit so I can have a mental cleanse after finals. As always if you have any thoughts, comments, and/or reviews please leave them as they are always helpful and piece out!