Chapter 6

A New Home

Hi! I'm sorry for the time it took to update, but don't worry, I certainly didn't forget this story, I'm still working on it a lot. Thanks for the review, it's always nice to read those and know what you think, I tried to improve my proof-reading, tell me if you spot mistakes, I'm always glad to know.

When the boats arrived, people gathered, though the majority of them had Viking-style clothes, Astrid could see there were also very foreign kind of attires. Yet this didn't hold her attention for long. The dragons around did. They weren't wearing armors this time, but they were roaming freely around and the sight of dragons roaming freely among humans struck her once again. She looked at Fishlegs and could see it was the case for him too.

"They are all here to take a glance at you," Eret told her. "The news spread that our chief would be soon married."

"Oh..."

She didn't know what to say, but she didn't like that at all. She had enjoyed attention when she had been able to defeat dragons in the training area of Berk, but here it was different. It felt like they came watching some prize won by their chief, and she didn't like it one bit. Though she was supposed to be the future chieffess, she felt humiliated and undermined. The prize given to avoid a massacre...She then remembered Hiccup, the way he would stand each time he was humiliated in front of the tribe. He would use either silence or snarky and sarcastic remarks with a stern countenance. She took a deep breath yet and followed Eret and Heather on the docks. A blond young woman came to greet them, she smiled at Eret and Heather while people around were silently watching.

"I'm happy to see you," Heather told her with a genuine smile.

"You took long! It seemed like forever," the woman said.

"Oh, please, wasn't an entire town good enough to distract you, Camicazi?" Eret replied merrily.

"I always miss my friends, and I was wondering about what you would bring. I received your letter, Heather."

She then looked at Astrid and with an insolent, skeptical look, she said as if she was examining a second-hand tool:

"So it's her?"

"I'm impressed you managed to understand that by yourself," Astrid replied immediately.

"Not difficult, I just had to pick the one so afraid they stick to their escort so closely."

"Yeah, I'm walking beside them, big deal indeed. I wasn't aware that showing bravery meant carefully walking at a certain distance from people."

"Cami, don't start that," Heather said with a tight and angered voice before Camicazi could answer. "Where is Fury?"

Her sudden tone seemed to surprise Camicazi and she spoke without venom anymore.

"He still has to take care of some things. You have to take his fiancée to his house. And I have to take the dragons to the arena."

"I will. Now if you'll excuse us."

Astrid was of course hating this girl already, and she didn't notice that Heather's cold demeanor truly startled Camicazi. They crossed the harbor and though she was boiling in rage inside, she made the effort to stand stern and unfazed. Odin, how did Hiccup managed to do that all those times with Spitelout?! She took comfort by the fact Fishlegs was still at her side. She could hear people whisper and she tried not to listen. Once they were away from the crowd, Heather who seemed quite upset as well just said:

"Don't pay attention to what she said, Camicazi isn't mean but she often tend to...test people."

"Oh if she wants to test me, she'll have to be well prepared," Astrid said with a trembling voice.

"Was she in love with Fury?" Asked Fishlegs.

"No, they are friends and nothing else. Camicazi is a Bog-Burglar, they tend to be tough."

Astrid knew of the Bog-Bourglar, a tribe led by women only, and who tended to scorn men. She had always admired them, she even met some and got along with them pretty well. Yet right now this admiration was forgotten. She had seen her tribe being put down by another army, she had been sold by a chief she loathed to this very tribe who defeated them, taken away from everything in order to marry a man she hardly knew. She didn't need some arrogant troll to taunt her!

She saw a small group of little girls waking near them, looking at her agape. Two of them were holding Terrible terrors in their arms. This soothed her a little: those kids probably didn't know the implication of what was happening, they were just looking at the chief's bride. Had she felt less down, she would have probably seen the admiration in their eyes. The chief had announced he would marry, revealed the name of his future wife, and a lot had been told about Astrid Hofferson. Her reputation had definitely conquered most of children, though the adults still had doubts because of her insolence against the chief of Berk. Plus, a good warrior didn't necessarily mean a good chief or chieffess.

Heather quickly told them about the city while they were walking, they passed before some taverns, the main market place and the Great Hall. She also showed them the closest training ground. They soon saw burned buildings; an entire street had been ravaged and Heather explained it:

"There was an attack some days ago."

"Your dragons got angry?"

"Our dragons helped us against it. It was something else, but I can't tell you the details, we just have…Some enemies."

No other words were said about it. The city was still a wonder to see, Astrid and Fishlegs had visited other tribes and had seen things different from Berk, but this island was a kind they never saw before. It was a mix of several cultures, some buildings were made in a way that was foreign to them, some people wore clothes and had their hair braid in ways they never saw. There were also infrastructures that were indeed made for dragons, most of them had saddles, some were adorned with body paint, and they were just around, minding their own business. In spite of his fear, Fishlegs forgot for a moment all their misery, this was just so fascinating! Astrid was pretty entranced too. She had always been adventurous and loved exploring and discovering new things. She would be served! It hit her once more: she would be the chieffess of this island...

They passed before a building from which a sweet smell was escaping, both Fishlegs and Astrid smelt it, and Heather smiled while explaining:

"This is where we treat honey and make hydromel as well."

"Honey? You produce honey on this island?!"

"Yes, that's what allowed us to make quite a bit of gold."

Due to the cold climate, bees and honey weren't easy to find in the archipelago, therefore hydromel wasn't easy to produce and it was a precious drink.

"People generally focus on the dragons, but some of our clients also call Endris the 'honey island'. I must say it's quite poetic. Here we are."

They reached the chief's house, it was quite big and it looked like a traditional Viking home. Heather smiled and opened the door, then Astrid immediately noticed something unusual: the doors. Vikings rooms were generally built around one room, with sometimes a second floor, and private space would be made through panels. Here however, there were doors to make different rooms, so though the outside looked like a Viking house, the inside wasn't entirely traditional. Heather explained some things about the house:

"This wasn't always his house only. We used to share it when we got on this island, we couldn't be called a tribe back then. One of us was coming from a land afar and he explained us how they built their house. We thought it was better for intimacy. However, it's mostly furnished like a Viking House."

"It's pretty fascinating," Fishlegs said while starting to open the doors to look at the other rooms.

"Hum, yes...Other homes are built like that, no need to inspect that one," Heather said with a smile.

The boy blushed and Astrid smiled for the first time since she got here. She looked around and had to admit that indeed those modifications could be a good thing. Heather showed her to her room, and Astrid had to admit it was nice to have her own closed space especially in such circumstances. She had a table with a mirror of polished copper and a big bowl of water, a bed, two chests for her stuff, and candles and torches. There was no decoration, but Heather explained that they preferred to let her decide what she would put in her room.

"Wow, that's wonderful of him to allow me that!"

Heather lowered her eyes and Astrid felt a bit guilty: it was useless to unleash her tongue on her, she wasn't responsible.

"Well, I still have work to do and I have to show you where you'll live, Fishlegs."

"O...Okay. But maybe I could stay with Astrid?"

"It's alright Fishlegs, I will have to unpack anyway. I'll be fine."

They agreed to meet tomorrow morning in the training grounds Heather showed them. Heather and Fishlegs eventually left the house and Astrid felt scared suddenly, scared to be alone in here, with a man extremely strange who she didn't know at all. Soon enough, she straightened herself: Vikings weren't supposed to know fear, she wouldn't humiliate herself by acting like a fragile little thing!

She started to unpack and looked at the stuff here more closely. The bed grabbed her attention, it was quite special, instead of the bare wooden structure, there was a soft mattress on it and she had to admit it was comfortable. The other furniture were plainly adorned, but still finely made. She eventually exited her room and looked around. The first room with the fireplace was the biggest, there was a bathroom with a wooden tub, something Astrid never had, she would either bath in the river or in the public bath of Berk. Upstairs, there was another empty bedroom, a room she couldn't open because it was locked, and a kitchen.

She remained in the living room a little, she saw maps, books, drawings of dragons, other animals and of strange designs for devices she had never seen once in her life. The fire was already burning, she decided to warm her hands, when she heard footsteps outside. She went back into her room immediately, not closing the door totally but pushing it enough to see what was happening. She saw her supposedly husband-to-be entering the room followed by his monstrous lizard and she tensed. The dragon didn't have any armor this time, however his rider still had his mask on. Astrid suddenly noticed something she missed the first time: Fury had a metal leg. His left foot was totally absent, and replaced by a strange metal device. How was it she never noticed that? Maybe she was just too focused on the mask, the dragon, or even the flaming sword to look at his legs.

He was petting his dragon, and she wondered what she should do. She repeated herself she was a warrior, not a scared little thing, she wasn't going to hide like that, wasn't she?! On the other hand, she didn't know what she should expect from that guy and from that dragon. She saw him put a big piece of meat on the fire, and she realized she was hungry. Taking a deep breath, she entered the room and both masked man and dragon turned toward her. None of them seemed surprised by her presence, the man bowed his head slightly, and gestured the table to her.

"Good evening...I...I apologize for not being there when you arrived. Please, sit."

He spoke in a gentle and even hesitant way, yet she didn't sit, she didn't want to appear obedient, if he was expecting some submissive little wife, he would have a big surprise!

"I'd rather stand, I'm not one to sit around idly while a dragon or a madman is near."

"You have nothing to fear of Toothless…And I like to think I'm not a madman."

She raised her eyebrows: Toothless? That was probably the last name she would have chosen for a dragon. It seemed he was saying the truth: the dragon was watching her but without making any move toward her. She looked at the man (even though she was still not entirely sure he was a man) and decided that she really didn't like his mask. It was creepy and it made her feel uncomfortable.

"Not even taking off your mask? Shame, I was so impatient to finally know something of my husband-to-be," she said with venom in her voice.

"I'm afraid I can't give you that," he declared on a soft tone. "Not for now at least."

"You should rather say: 'I'm afraid to give you that", it would be more honest, wouldn't it?"

He lowered his eyes and she knew she was right. Was he that horrific? Hiccup would have smiled if the circumstance weren't so dire, Astrid always had always been quick at repartee and he had appreciated that when they were young. She rolled his eyes and went on:

"Now that you're here and finally speaking to me, there is something I want to know: what do you expect from me, exactly?"

This question froze him a little, he wasn't sure what she meant. Still, he took a deep breath and simply stated:

"You know it already: I want you to be my wife."

He could have said that he wanted to preserve peace, but that would have been cruel, it would have lowered her to a simple tool.

"What kind of wife?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Are you just expecting me to be something you'll drag around as a pretty trophy and put in your bed at night?"

She could see he was frowning, simply by the way his eyes narrowed under his mask. Hiccup was expecting her to be angry yet it didn't mean it wasn't hurting him. He had to choose his words carefully.

"Of course not. I'm expecting you to be my chieffess ruling along with me, and...Well, my wife. You'll live here with me, but you'll have your own room as long as we aren't married."

"I must admit I wasn't expecting that from a man who take a spouse in such a way."

"I never forced you, you did volunteer…"

"You didn't force me! One of us would have been taken whether she wanted or not anyway! I have a younger sister and I couldn't take the risk to see her leave! You knew we were all compelled to meet you, that I was compelled! Had I been truly free, you would have tried to convince me, you would have spoken to me! Instead you simply took a stare at me before leaving like I was nothing but a mere merchandise and came to term with the chief, once again, without addressing a single word to me!"

He was rigid, cursing himself mentally, why did he try to justify himself by telling her she volunteered? Of course she didn't do it because wanted it, she had done that to protect the other girls. Astrid still felt angry, but at least it felt good to say out loud the things she had in mind since this whole mess began. She had thought about it over and over on the boat. She heard a growl and jumped in surprise as she saw the dragon barring its teeth at her. His master stepped between the two.

"Toothless! Stop."

The dragon laid on the ground, on a spot which was obviously his. The man turned to her and looked at right into the eyes again.

"I didn't mean to hurt you in any way. I don't consider you as a thing to put in my bed…But an agreement had to be done, marriage was the last solution before raiding Berk and conquering everyone."

"Are you trying to act as if you forced yourself? You were free to do as you wished. And if you really didn't mean to hurt me, acting civil when we met would have been a good start!"

He knew she was right. He had been perfectly aware that no girl would go to Fury on their own wish, that only the will to spare the others would make one step up. As a warrior, Astrid had been imposed to choose between protecting herself and protecting the others...He didn't know what to say, just to break the tension a little, he walked away from her, and went to the fire to check on the meat roasting here. It just infuriated Astrid, how dared he to ignore her like that? She went to him again and grabbed his shoulder, stopping him in the process of what he was doing. She looked at this mask again and wished to pull it away from his face and plunge his head in the fire. It dawned on her then.

"You know, it's funny, you say you want more than just a bed warmer, but not only you didn't show me your face yet, I also don't even know your true name!"

"I won't take off my mask."

"I'm supposed to live with you without ever seeing your face or know your name? Take it off now!"

He straightened his stance and she could see some nervousness as well as anger in his eyes.

"I'm not taking it off before I decide it, and don't even try to take it by force."

"I refuse to live with someone who won't even show me his face!"

"Too bad," he said in a determined tone.

She didn't need a mirror to know she was pale from rage. Who the hell did he think he was?! She was about to yell even more when she heard a growl from the dragon again. She remembered that sadly, she couldn't fight, not so much because of that blasted monster, but because any harm caused on that chief could mean war. But she didn't have to be submissive. She stormed away toward her room, she really had enough of that bullshit, of that idiotic chief and his stupid monster of his…

Astrid was stopped before she could reach the door by two hands gently grasping her shoulders from behind. She tensed and growled:

"You have three seconds to let me go."

"Wait…"

"Go away!"

She got free, urned around to hit him but he seized her wrist with surprising swiftness and her next move was stopped when she heard:

"Please, Astrid..."

She suddenly stopped, because that voice rang suddenly a bell: Hiccup had the same kind of voice. Could it be?! No...The Hiccup she knew was dead, and she knew that man's story, it was different. Plus, her childhood friend would never have done such a thing as force a woman into marriage, especially her! No, Hiccup just had a nasally voice too, that was all. Yet it didn't stop her from feeling strange to hear this man speak with a way which sounded like her friend's one.

Once again, she wished Hiccup was here, with his everlasting pride, his way to stand against humiliation with nothing to fight back but this sass and hardened stare…He would have given to that Fury a good piece of his mind. Astrid pushed him away from her.

"I'm..."

"It's funny, your voice sounds like my friend's one," she said while interrupting him. "But it's the only thing you two have in common, he was nothing like you."

"What's his name?"

"His name was Hiccup, and he is now dead. He was someone good, unlike you. Don't bother for me, I'm not hungry, you took away my appetite."

She slammed the door of her room and kicked some stuff in frustration. Then she fell into bed, not even undressing and she started to cry, for herself, for her friend Hiccup, for her family and for her home she wouldn't see again. She smothered her cries in the pillow, not wanting him to hear her. Eventually, weariness overtook her.

The next day when she was awake, she had a slight moment when she wondered where she was and then she remembered. That damn chief! She put on some fresh clothes and took her axe in order to train with Heather and Fishlegs.

She exited the room, only to see Fury sitting at the table, some fruits prepared for breakfast, and though she had no wish to share his company, she went to sit silently. She first thought of leaving and eat outside, but she wasn't some dog who would just leave the house because she feared her 'master'. He was still wearing his mask, it wasn't going to put her in a good mood.

"Astrid?"

She didn't answer him, she didn't even look at him. He took a deep breath, hoping she would listen to him right now.

"There is something I want to propose you: let's strike a deal."

Now she eyed him with curiosity. He searched for his words carefully, he was feeling incredibly lost because of all that was happening. As he expected, she was angry, but when she told him that he only considered her as some kind of prized object! He needed to tell her it wasn't the case, but she wouldn't trust him because she never saw his face, learned his name or his intentions...When she had told him about 'Hiccup her friend', he had been more touched than he dared to show: she didn't forget him…Yet he was sure she complimented little Hiccup only to make the chief of Endris feel bad.

When she had left the room yesterday, he had taken off his mask and put his forehead against the door, listening to her while her cries seemed to pierce his ears. For a moment, he had wanted to come in, talk to her, show her his face, but he couldn't because he was way too scared. Now he hoped she would be curious enough to listen to him.

"I don't want to show you my face. But you're right, it's not fair. So, I propose you one thing: I will keep my mask on, but we won't marry until you decide it."

"...What will this mean for Berk?"

"It won't change a thing. The treaty we signed is still valid. All I ask for you is not to wait for too long before accepting."

She hesitated, it wasn't a bad deal, she wanted to see his face but it wasn't the most important.

"Fine. I won't wait too long to choose a date. But once we are married, you take that mask off."

"I will."

She didn't say anything else, she wanted to get away as soon as possible, she was suddenly feeling uneasy and she didn't even know why. She was quick to leave, and though Hiccup knew he hardly made progresses, this was still much better than nothing. He would have to do better tonight.

It could have been worse…I guess. Tell me what you think!