Raeya hardly expected for this to happen. She couldn't believe that they were doing this.
"Does stuff like this always happen?", Raeya asked Barf and Belch.
"Usually. I mean we can't stop them", Barf replied.
"And it's amusing", Belch chuckled.
Currently, the Twins and Kassandra were slicking the porches of houses with fish oil. Kassandra was suppose to be restocking the feeding trays with the twins but they all finished early. So what better way to spend their time than to watch the misery of others?
"Do we do this every time we finish restocking the feeding trays?", Kassandra questioned.
"No. We like to keep things fresh", Tuffnut replied.
"If we do the same pranks over and over again, then it wouldn't be fun. We try to have a diverse array of tricks!", Ruffnut smirked evilly.
She stared at the two with disbelief before shrugging in defeat. It's not like she had nothing else better to do. But she really didn't want to get kicked off this island. Then again, if they didn't get caught, nothing bad would happen to her.
"Okay that's the last of it!", Tuffnut whispered roughly as he ducked behind a feeding trough where Ruffnut and Raeya were patiently waiting.
Their lucky victim today was silent Sven. Well, he wasn't so silent anymore but it's not like they cared.
The Twins waited in excitement while Kassandra waited in curiosity.
"What now?"
"Now we wait and watch our riders get humiliated", Barf responded.
They waited for about 2 minutes before the door swung open. Silent Sven, in his not-so-silent glory, was planning to take his dull axe to Gobber to get it sharpened.
Like any typical Viking that the Twins pranked, he was unaware. He took a step onto his porch and immediately yelled in surprise as he lost his footing.
The Twins turned with their backs against the trough, laughing to their heart's content while Kassandra reluctantly smiled. She had to admit, it was fun doing these jokes. I mean, sure they were bad, but she never had this type of freedom back home. She couldn't get enough of it.
However, while they were occupied with their amusement they didn't notice the axe slipping out of Sven's hand, flying all the way to a stack of barrels. The axe severed the rope binding the barrels all together, which caused them to cascade down the hill and toward the feeding trough.
A few moments later the barrels slammed into the trough, spilling the sloppy food all over them. To make matters worse, the barrels continued to careen over them, meaning they had to deal with the barrels trampling over their heads, neck, and back.
After a the last barrel ran over them, the trio could do nothing but groan in pain. The dragons on the other hand roared in pain, finding their riders' misfortune amusing.
Kassandra glanced up as she felt a slight throbbing pain in her head. She saw the dragons chortling, rumbling deeply while the Twins were still recovering.
She huffed, when suddenly a dark idea consumed her mind.
Raeya and Barf & Belch were too busy laughing when all of a sudden they were smack in the face with something horrid.
They growled in disgust as they shook their heads vigorously, trying their best to get rid of the muck. They only succeeded in getting it out of their eyes and what they saw shocked them.
It was Raeya with the grime from the trough in her hands. She had an evil grin on her face as she started cackling.
"Not so funny now is it dragons?", Kassandra said in between chuckles.
Her laughter died off awkwardly as the sound of low growling grew loudly. She stopped and regarded the dragons with a mixture of fear and concern.
"Oh you done it now", Tuffnut mumbled.
"What?"
"It's like one of the rules of dragon training: never piss off a dragon", Ruffnut squeaked.
One moment there was nothing but absolute silence. The next was filled with the screams of the 3 humans as they were being chased down by their dragons.
Hiccup slowly made his way into his house, groaning after dealing with several disputes between Viking and dragon.
He opened his door to the smell of cooked fish. He looked around and saw Astrid cooking.
Astrid cooking...
"Astrid..." Hiccup stated cautiously, unsure what to make of this.
"Oh, hey Hiccup", Astrid called out.
Hiccup approached his wife warily and gazed down at the fish. He noticed it was slightly burnt.
"What are you doing?", Hiccup questioned.
"I'm cooking, what does it look like I'm doing."
"Where's Hagen?"
"Asleep in his crib. Usually he is fussing at this hour but I managed to get him to go to sleep", Astrid replied.
"Why are you cooking?"
"What do you mean 'why'?"
"Well, we usually eat at the Mead Hall, since we both aren't the best cooks", Hiccup answered.
"Well you're a man. It's not your place to cook", Astrid said with a hint of anger.
"Not my place?"
"Yes Hiccup. I'm the wife, and it is my job as a wife to take care of the house and it's got job to take care of everything else", Astrid stated, starting to cry.
"Hey hey hey! What's the matter!"
"Nothing's the matter!", Astrid snapped, forgetting about the fish.
Hiccup was taken aback. He had never seen this side of Astrid before. Sure, maybe when she was pregnant, but he was positive she wasn't. He would know; they hadn't done that in awhile.
"Astrid, tell me what's wrong!"
"You wouldn't understand", Astrid sobbed.
"What wouldn't I understand?"
"Just forget about it Hiccup. This is my fault."
"Astrid, are you telling me the talking fishbone who defeated the Red Death, and stopped Drago from his reign of terror wouldn't understand?"
"Don't talk about yourself like that. You aren't a talking fishbone anymore." Astrid mumbled.
"Then you stop talking about how it's your fault. Astrid, why don't you tell me what's going on?", Hiccup asked.
"Me! I'm what's wrong!"
When Hiccup didn't respond, Astrid continued.
"I have tried so hard to be your wife, and I have failed every time. I can't cook or clean to save my life. I've talked to all the wives of Berk and I've tried all the advice they'd given me. I tried so hard to cook, to clean. I can barely take care of Hagen..." Tears were flowing down Astrid's cheeks at this point.
"I can fight and defend this village. I can tame dragons. I ride a dragon. I have done basically the impossible, yet I can't do the simplest of things", Astrid asserted as she sat down in a nearby bench. "What's wrong with me?"
Astrid was forced to look up when Hiccup grasped one of her hands and lifted her chin with the other.
"There is nothing wrong with your Astrid", Hiccup stated.
"Yes there is. I can be many things, so many things, but be a good wife", Astrid said glumly.
"Astrid, all you have ever done is been a good wife with me."
"How? How have I been a good wife?"
"Well for starters you put up with me", Hiccup started as he moved to sit down next to her. "You actually listen to me when I talk and spew my crazy ideas about how to improve the lives of both Viking and dragon."
"You also did something you've never were really comfortable with: become a housewife. You hate cooking, cleaning, and anything like that. Yet, you did it for my our benefit. Well, you tried to do it. If I asked that Astrid 5 years ago to do that, she would've heaved an axe at me."
"And I wouldn't have missed", Astrid smiled sadly.
"And perhaps the most important to me: you gave birth to Hagen. You became a mother. When Hagen was born, you've made me the most happiest man in the Archipelago. Never in a thousand years would I have thought Astrid the shieldmaiden would become a mother", Hiccup said calmly with a hint of affection.
"I never would've. Not for anybody else. Only you."
"And why only me?"
Astrid was shocked at Hiccup's question. "Because you're my husband and I love you. Your happiness means a lot to me."
"And your happiness means a lot to me. And if you're unhappy with things, nothing is stopping us from changing that."
"What does that mean?"
"Well, we can't change you being Astrid the mother like I can't change being Hiccup the chief. But what we can do is find a balance. You can still be Astrid the shieldmaiden. You just have to find a balance between the two. Just like I'm trying to balance out Hiccup the dragon rider with Hiccup the chief."
"So..."
"I'm saying that I can take care of Hagen, Astrid. It will help ease the stress", Hiccup declared.
"What?! No, you're a chief and you have enough problems as it is-"
"A chief does what is good for his people, and I've done more than enough for this village. Ever since you gave birth to our beautiful son, I've become Hiccup the father, and I can't thank you enough for that. So they shouldn't have a problem with me taking a little time off here and there to be with my son. It's not like I saved their lives, twice", Hiccup explained, adding the last part with sarcasm.
"Besides, I'll have to make more time if we have more little ones on the way", Hiccup smirked.
Astrid looked at Hiccup fondly. Hiccup returned it with just as much affection and leaned in to kiss her.
He didn't expect for pain to shoot up his right shoulder.
"Ow! What was that for?!"
"That's for hinting at something that may not happen!" Astrid then grabbed Hiccup by his shirt and kissed him passionately on the lips.
Hiccup could do nothing as he was flooded with Astrid's love.
"And that's for everything else", Astrid stated when she pulled back.
Hiccup could only nod and huff, still recovering from the kiss. Astrid then pulled him in for a hug.
"You're the best. You know that?"
"I hope I am", Hiccup whispered under his breathe.
Before Astrid could respond, a loud roar echoed in the distance. They both sighed as they pulled away from each other.
"Duty calls", Hiccup sighed as he gave Astrid a sweet kiss before walking out the door.
Toothless climbed wearily onto the roof of Hiccup's house. As much as he loved flying, he liked being perched atop of his rider's house, which overlooked the entire village except for Gothi's hut.
He was honestly tired. He didn't know being an alpha was so exhausting. Not to mention that he also had to help out Hiccup and his problems.
He realized that Vikings and dragons are really similar in a lot of ways: they are stubborn, hungry, and almost always shout when they speak. Speaking of dragons...
He looked around until his eyes zoned in on Raeya. He watched her chatting with Barf & Belch. He sighed happily, thinking of Raeya.
His eyes widened as he realized he was thinking of Raeya. The way her sleek scales glistened under the moonlight. The way her smooth voice sang melodies to his ears. The way she had a shy, calm demeanor, unlike every other dragon he has met. And her eyes. Oh how they were unique as her.
Toothless shook his head vigorously.
"I just met her."
"So? She's a female, you're a male. Does anything else have to be explained?", another side of him countered.
"I can't just go up to her and say 'Oh hey Raeya. We both need to do what's best for our species, so let's be mates! You wouldn't want the Night Fury population to die out now, would you?'."
"Well, just bring her a fish and show her that you are a strong male. That's more than enough to convey to her that you are a capable male."
"It's not the simple anymore. It's not like in the earlier ages of dragonkind where all you had to was bring a female a fish, fight off any other suitors, and boom you have a mate", he explained.
"Some dragons still do that. We both know that. We also know that no female would ever mate with a weak male. It's a given", the other side shot back.
"I am weak. I'm crippled. I can't go anywhere without Hiccup"
"Then perhaps it's time you make a choice."
"What in Draco's name are you saying?", the first side growled.
"You know exactly what I'm saying. You are going to have to prove your strength, one way or another."
Toothless snarled and shook his head in negation.
"It will never come to that", Toothless promised himself.
However, with the events soon to unfold, it looks like Toothless may have to break that promise.