Chapter 18: In which Astrid's suspicions come to light

It was difficult to find comfort when you were constantly on alert for dragon raids or enemy attacks. Astrid learned at a tender age that this was how life as a Viking played out, and she adapted as only one with a fighting spirit could.

She couldn't fathom that true comfort could be ultimately achieved. But there she was, cuddled up next to Hiccup, feeling the most comfortable she'd ever felt in her life. Like the treacherous world around them was only a faded notion.

When she stirred the next morning, Astrid was disappointed to discover Hiccup was already out of bed. She climbed down the stairs, rubbing sleep from her eyes and donning her nightgown, to find no sign of her husband. She frowned trying to ignore the sharp twinge in her chest.

Waiting for her on the kitchen table was a note beside a plate of cakes from the bakery, still warm and savory-smelling. Astrid picked up the note scrolled on the back of a discarded sketch:

Sorry I had to leave early. More catching up to do at the forge. See you at training!

Astrid sighed. At least he was trying to be responsible again, but why did it have to be at the cost of spending the morning together after such an intimate breakthrough the night before? She picked up a cake and stuffed it in her mouth.

The Zippleback was proving to be a difficult dragon to handle, but honestly, all the dragons so far had been a challenge for this bunch. Astrid's fingers clinched around the axe handle, prepared to jump in and save Hiccup once again. What happened next shocked her.

Hiccup had driven the Zippleback into its cage with no weapon, shut the door, and casually turned around as if he'd just let a pet out to go potty. She'd been too stunned to speak up at first, but after he hurried off to Thor-knows-where, she took off to catch up with him.

Oh, he wasn't getting away that easy! Hiccup could run off and fool everyone else, but Astrid wasn't buying it. She dashed after her twig of a husband, ready to do whatever it took to get answers.

She caught a flash of him running toward the forge and hastened through an alley of huts to cut him off. She jumped out from between two huts, dragging Hiccup into the alley and slamming his back against a wall.

"Ahh!" Hiccup cried out, eyes screwed shut and teeth clinched. He opened his eyes, surprised. "What are you doing, Astrid?"

"Spill," Astrid commanded. She stepped back and crossed arms over her chest.

Hiccup rubbed the back of his head, where it most likely collided with the wooden wall. "Spill what?"

"You can fool the others with your ridiculous excuse, but I want to know the truth. How did you get that dragon back in its cage?"

"I did what Gobber said to do."

Astrid planted a hand on either side of on the wall, caging Hiccup in. In another situation, this would have been a nice position to steal a kiss. But kissing was the last thing on her mind.

"Waving your arms at it scared it back into the cage?"

Hiccup's eyes shifted to the side for a brief second. "Yeah…" he dragged out.

The longer he sustained the lie, the more ire boiled in Astrid's blood. She was about to yell at him when a whiff of a strange smell alerted her senses. She leaned down, sniffing his vest. She scrunched her nose as she straightened up.

Usually Hiccup smelled of smoke and ash, but not this- "Why do you smell like eel?"

Hiccup's mouth open. "Uh…"

"I know you don't like eel, so why do you smell like one?" When he didn't answer, Astrid pushed a palm into his chest. "Well?"

"Okay, okay. I've been studying dragons a lot more lately and found out that they're afraid of eels. Are you going to tell Gobber?"

Astrid narrowed her eyes at Hiccup's pleading face. She could tell Gobber about the cheating in training, but everyone had been so impressed by her small husband's achievement. She didn't want to take that from him. Not after a lifetime of criticism. "No, I won't." She sighed, pondering the irony of the situation. "All that weapons training I've taught you and you use an eel to fight a dragon."

"You know me—"

"The sad part is, it doesn't seem strange for you to pull something like this."

Hiccup grinned. "See?"

Astrid clinched her fists and growled. "It's a good thing I like you." She eyed him, wondering how this unconventional boy could break down the hardcore approach of how a Viking should act. That cute little gap-tooth grin of his may have played a part in it.

The next couple of weeks brought a few more suspicious incidents. Hiccup lulled a Deadly Nadder to sleep, coaxed a Terrible Terror back into its cage, and reduced a Gronckle into a scaly puddle of contentment – all without any force. The rest of the recruits were blindly impressed by his tricks, and even Gobber proclaimed Hiccup had a "way with the beasts."

Astrid knew better. Every time Hiccup managed to pacify a dragon in training, she'd approach him in privacy and weed out the truth. Hiccup claimed all these tricks were from his research.

"And just where are you researching all of this from?"

"The Book of Dragons," was Hiccup's reply, looking her directly in the eyes.

Astrid could tell there was something off about his demeanor. His behavior was weirder than usual. Along with the suspicious activity from dragon training, Hiccup disappeared a lot. He was gone most mornings, leaving breakfast for her on the kitchen table or simmering in a pot above the firepit. He barely ate lunch with her anymore.

His excuse every time was he had to catch up on work at the forge.

Astrid asked Gobber if they'd been swamped lately, but he said the workload was low since the latest expedition had left a week ago. Three ships had sailed out that early morning in another attempt to locate the Dragons Nest. Stoick had stopped by to bid his son and daughter-in-law a farewell before shipping out. He was pleased that maybe for the next campaign they'd both be at his side. Hiccup had seemed shook by the idea, but Astrid found it a great honor to fight alongside her Chief one day.

Besides the explanations for dragon training and ducking out on meals with her, there were other things that rose Astrid's suspicion. Like the fishy smell on his clothes. She found herself sniffing his tunic one evening after he'd changed into his nightshirt. He'd never smelled of fish before, but his green tunic held a lingering fishy odor, along with another smell that she wasn't quite sure what it was. It was almost like the smell of seafoam and moisture.

After Hiccup managed to make the Zippleback chase its tail during training (which everyone had a good laugh over), Astrid was convinced that these tricks could not possibly be in the Book of Dragons.

The next morning, alone since Hiccup left early once again, she read through the Book, taking in every detail on every page until her eyes stung and the cake pile was crumbs.

Her heart thumped in anger as she slammed the book closed. Not one page in the entire book mentioned the tricks Hiccup had been using. Not one page! She slammed her clinched fists on the tabletop, rattling the plate nearby. He'd lied to her and now she was going to get the truth. Even if it meant forcing it out of him.

Astrid stormed over to the forge, ready to extract the truth from her husband, but when she arrived, there was no sign of Hiccup.

"Where is he?" she asked Gobber as he held a sword over hot coals.

"Gone. Around this time every day for the last two weeks."

Indignation burned in her chest and lit up her cheeks. He was not only missing lunch with her, but skipping out on work in the afternoons too?

"Where has he been going?"

"To Hel if I know, lass." Gobber shrugged before setting the sword on the anvil to hammer out. He raised his voice over the twangy beating on the metal. "I'm not his wife! You are!"

Astrid crossed her arms, seething. There was only one excuse that came to mind for all the lies and sneaking off and lack of time spent with her…

Hiccup had to be training with someone else in secret! But who was training him?

Astrid knew just about everyone on Berk, and no one had ever confronted dragons the way that Hiccup was doing in the arena.

That evening, she couldn't look at him without anger roiling up. She'd decided to follow him the next day and confront him when the truth was finally revealed. She retired to bed early, but sleep evaded her, especially after the mattress sunk with Hiccup's weight.

Her back was to him and her eyes stared forward in the dark as she felt him shift to face her. His hand reached out, hovering over her waist just like it used to in the first few weeks of their marriage. He was unsure whether he had permission to touch her after she'd made her mood clear that evening. He didn't ask what was wrong and that made her seethe inwardly even more.

For some reason, even with her ire hanging like a heavy mantle on her shoulders, she couldn't help the sharp ache that reverberated through her when he dropped his hand and turned his back to her.

It was ridiculous to spy on her husband, but she had to know what he was up to. There were too many lies. Too many excuses. Too many secrets.

Hiccup bid Gobber goodbye and rushed off toward the forest. Astrid tried her best to be stealthy without losing sight of him, but it seemed Hiccup knew his way through the trees better than she did. She lost him at a tree that had been broken in half, its splintered form poking into the air like long spikes.

Astrid had no time to investigate the scene. Her footsteps picked up speed as she tried to catch up to Hiccup, but it was no use. He'd disappeared into the thick of the brush.

She growled in frustration and stomped her boot. How did that little weasel elude her so easily? Did he know she was following him?

She trekked a little further, finding no sign of Hiccup. She was about to return to the village and try again another day when a black object streaked through the sky above her.

Astrid ducked, her breath catching in her throat and heart taking speed. She squinted not believing what she saw. The silhouette matched the Night Fury drawing in Hiccup's sketchbook. As it tilted just slightly, she swore she spied a head full of auburn hair atop the black dragon. She blinked thinking she was seeing things.

The dragon glided out of sight. When she felt it was safely far enough away, she dashed off in the direction of the village. She had to tell the Chief about the most deadliest dragon casually flying about their island. She had to save her village from the destruction that was bound to come.

She leapt onto a fallen log and was about to jump off the other side, but her feet never hit the ground. Her yelp ripped through the trees as the forest floor drew farther away from her. Her heart pounded as loudly as her screams, and her insides were free falling even though she was rising in the air.

Astrid looked up to find a black claw wrapped firmly around her forearm. That claw was attached to a dragon she'd never seen before. It glanced down at her, its large green eyes observing her.

"Freya, Frig, this isn't - AHHHHHH!" she rambled frantically as the ground sped by from a frightening height.

The supposed Night Fury was most likely taking her to its nest to make her into a magnificent feast. She'd fight with all her might to the bitter end, even if it meant jabbing relentlessly at the inside of the dragon's belly after it swallowed her.

For a split second, the crazy notion that breaking free and falling hundreds of feet would be less painful. But the beast had a tight grip on her and wasn't about to let go.

It suddenly descended into a cove surrounded by rocky cliffs and a crystal-clear lake set in the middle. The dragon dropped her from several feet before landing. Astrid fell to the soft grass with one final scream of horror. She jumped to her feet, swaying from the turbulence of being whisked through the air. She unsheathed her axe and let out a warrior's cry, prepared to do as much damage as possible.

"Astrid, STOP!"

At the unexpected sound of Hiccup's voice, Astrid halted in mid-attack stance. Her body was practically vibrating from shock and adrenaline, and she stared at Hiccup for a good five seconds to register if he were even real.

Hiccup stood between her and the black dragon, both hands held up as if keeping her and the dragon at bay. He was surprisingly succeeding on both ends.

Her wide eyes flicked from Hiccup to the dragon. It bared its teeth at her, its ears flattened to its head, and a low hiss emitted from its open mouth. She gripped her axe tighter. Her breath shuttered. The dragon was ready to attack at any second, and the only thing keeping it from that intent was her skinny, little husband.

"Its okay," Hiccup addressed the dragon before directing back to her, "Astrid, put down the axe. You're spooking him."

"I'm spooking him?" Astrid looked at Hiccup like he'd lost his mind. "Who is him?"

He gestured to her then the dragon. "Astrid, Toothless. Toothless, Astrid."

The dragon hissed louder, the sound sending a cold shiver up Astrid's spine.

"This is my mate," Hiccup told the dragon. He motioned at her then to himself before lacing his fingers together, "My together forever."

At those words, the dragon's eyes widened, his mouth full of sharp teeth closed, and he sat back on his haunches, watching her curiously.

"There we go, bud." Hiccup patted the dragon's head affectionately as if they were friends. They probably were, judging from this whole insane situation. "Astrid, you can put the axe down. Toothless won't hurt you."

"I'd rather not, Hiccup," she replied with a sense of apprehension in her voice.

The dragon let out a low rumble as its eyes narrowed at her once more. Hiccup quietly reassured the dragon everything was all right.

He stepped slowly up to her, keeping his calming gaze on her face the entire time. He grasped the axe handle and lightly pulled. When Astrid didn't let go, Hiccup said softly, "It's okay, Astrid."

Astrid felt as if she were watching herself from a distance as her grip on the axe loosened and Hiccup took it gently from her. She didn't take her eyes off the dragon watching them.

A smiling Hiccup popped his head into her peripheral vision. "See? We can all be friends."

All the anger and frustration she'd been storing inside her the past two weeks suddenly exploded in a mass of jabs. "Hiccup, what in Thor's name are you thinking?!" she yelled, smacking her husband's thin frame with balled fists. "This was your secret the whole time! You weren't training with someone else or getting tips from the Book of Dragons! You have a pet dragon!"

The dragon snarled, moving back into a defensive position.

"It's okay, bud!" Hiccup hunched over from her blows. "She's not hurting me. OW! Why would you do that?!"

Astrid had snatched his hand, bending it backwards at the wrist. "That's for all the lies!"

"Astrid," Hiccup said through gritted teeth as he recovered from her thrashing. "Please, give me a chance to explain."

Astrid kept her fists balled at her sides, turning up her chin in defiance. "I'm not listening to anything you have to say!"

"Then I won't speak," Hiccup hopped onto the dragon and offered his hand, his stupid face sincere and hopeful, "just let me show you."