Hi! I'm New to putting my stories out there for others to read so feel free to tell me what you think!
Standard I don't own How to Train Your Dragon or it's characters.
Astrid threw her axe at another tree, running up and pulling it out seconds after it made it's mark. Anger boiled through her after losing the right to kill a dragon. It was bad enough she lost, but to lose to Hiccup! She turned to throw her axe towards another tree when she saw that auburn haired runt in the distance carrying a bag filled to the brim. She wasn't surprised to see him, this wasn't the first time she's seen him out in the woods.
"It's all his fault. He's cheating somehow." Astrid mumbled to herself. "Nobody just gets as good as he does. Especially him."
Astrid toyed with the idea of following him. See where he's always going, she might even find out how he cheated. She had tried to follow him before but he somehow managed to lose her last time. After only taking a couple steps forward she shook her head and went back to mauling trees. Astrid knew she had an anger problem. If she followed him now and found out how he cheated she may end up killing him right then and there. Wouldn't be too good for her, killing the heir and all, no matter how wimpy he is.
After more tree smashing Astrid finally felt the ache in her body surpass her burning anger. She took a brake under one of the splintered trees. She breathed in the smell of pine, the trees always smelled stronger after she ripped them to shreds. Settling down she heard running and murmuring. Then Hiccup ran by again, unaware he ran by her for the second time. She heard a quick snippet about 'forgetting something' and 'grabbing it and running back'.
"So, he's going back to where ever he hides at." Astrid smirked.
This could be the perfect chance. She knew up to a certain point where he goes. Last time he lost her by some rocks, she could make her way to those rocks and wait for him to come back and follow him the rest of the way to his hide out. Not wasting another moment, Astrid got up and ran to the rocks. It wasn't hard to find, Astrid grew up playing in the woods around the village. Though, she never went as far as Hiccup seemed to. The rocks were just on the edge of her comfort zone. She wasn't as familiar with the deeper parts of the woods, but if Hiccup was constantly coming and going it must be safe.
Astrid scouted for the best place to hide. Close enough to the rocks to see, but far enough away that Hiccup wouldn't see her. Right as she saw a good spot she heard someone running towards her. She just made it behind a tree when Hiccup came bolting out from the bushes. For a moment Astrid was surprised at how quickly Hiccup navigated down the rocky hill side. With all the tree roots sticking up she was sure he would fall flat on his face but he made it down rather gracefully.
Once Hiccup was far enough ahead Astrid made her way down the hill, following as close to his trail as she could without being in plain sight. They went on for a while, luckily there were no sudden turns and Hiccup didn't realize he was being followed. Astrid did have some trouble though. With his green tunic, brown vest and hair, Hiccup did a pretty good job of disappearing into the forest. There were a couple of moments where she almost lost sight of him.
Then she did lose sight of him.
He got just out of eye sight and then she couldn't find him again. She struggled to see any movement nearby, and with how fast Hiccup was going he would be long gone. Astrid felt her anger build again. She started punching the air, whispering curses under her breath. Then she heard it. A roar, and not just any roar but a dragon roar.
Astrid quickly hide behind a tree, shielding herself while still keeping her guard up, cursing herself for not bringing her axe. Then something shot into the air just in front of her. A black, weird shaped dragon. She didn't recognize it so it must not be a species from around here. Then it speed off, going in the opposite way of the village. Once it was out of sight Astrid stalked forward, wondering where it came from. It had jumped out of somewhere just a couple feet ahead of her. She passed the last few trees blocking her view and saw a cove.
"I had no idea this was out here!" Astrid said, looking down at the pond.
Something shinny caught her eye. It was right at the edge of the water. She looked over the cove one more time, and not seeing anything dangerous, climbed down the side. Keeping an eye out, Astrid made her way to the edge of the pond. Every now and then she came across marks in the dirt, like something was dragged around. She could see claw marks on the wall and burned spots in different areas. That dragon was living here! That thought alone almost made her turn and leave. That's when she saw it. Blood. A small pool of blood! Someone had been injured! It was then that she remembered she had followed Hiccup out here!
Immediately she feared the worst. Hiccup went after a dragon and got killed! Astrid looked around for something, any sign to whether Hiccup was alive or dead.
"That blood could've been from anything!" Astrid told herself, "a boar, or a bear, or…"
Her muttering stopped as she got to the edge of the pond. She barley took two steps into the water when she found the thing that had caught her eye at the top of the cove. A dagger. And not just any dagger, a dagger with the Hooligan crest; something only an Heir would have.
Astrid ran back to the tribe for help. Went straight to the chief and told him what she found, and what she didn't find. Stoic sent others to search the woods while Astrid led him to the cove, along with Spitlout and Gobber. There weren't any signs of a struggle, but depending on what dragon was living there Hiccup didn't have a chance. Spitlout and Gobber came to the same conclusion she did, Hiccup tried to get the jump on a dragon, got disarmed and carried off. Gobber had already started crying but Stoic wouldn't believe it. He claimed Hiccup was out in the woods somewhere, hunting or fishing or just walking around. He quickly left to search for his son. The search party came back that night with no sign of Hiccup.
It took a month for Stoic to come to terms with Hiccups death. Gobber often said it would have been easier if there had been bodies left behind, so Stoic could give both his wife and son a funeral. Astrid couldn't help but agree, every time there was a loud bang she would look for the scrawny viking. His death didn't feel real, not to her or anyone else on Berk. Every now and then someone would slip and say how quiet Hiccup was being before they remembered. Stoic seemed fine, till you actually looked at him. He didn't have the passion for his job anymore, he was still a great chief but the energy and fight he had had dwindled. He had less to do now that Hiccup wasn't causing trouble.
Gobber no longer sang, when he worked or when he was drunk. He spent most of his time in the forge, alone and working twice as hard. He sectioned off Hiccup's work bench and wouldn't let anyone go near it. Snoutlout cried often and loudly, Astrid wasn't sure if it was sincere or for show. The twins would try to steal Hiccups inventions from the forge, they claimed Hiccup wouldn't want his destructive plans to go to waste. They seemed to think they were honoring him in some way. Fishlegs felt the same as her. Sadness mixed with guilt. For him, it was guilt about their friendship, a friendship Fishlegs broke to be with the cool kids back when they were little. A mistake he always regretted, but never had the guts to fix.
Two weeks after Hiccup's death Astrid got her wish. She was given the honor of killing the dragon in Hiccup's place. Normally the chief would preside over the killing, Astrid understood when he didn't show up. It was harder than she thought but she killed the Monstrous Nightmare, and she did it in honor of Hiccup. It was the least she could do, as she's the one who failed to save him. For her, the guilt was worse than the sadness. She had wanted this. Wanted him out of the way, out of her way! She was never nice to him, no one was, but he didn't deserve death. She should have been nicer to him. Should have done more for him. His death was her fault, she knew that. If she had been faster, if she didn't lose sight of him, if she had been more nosey he would have lived. Astrid swore no one would die on her watch again.