ᚷᛁᚾᚾᚢᛜᚨᚷᚨᛈ
"The Norns?! Those who weave the threads of destiny, who know the past, the present and the future? The guardians of the Wyrd that have existed since Yggdrasil was born?!
" ... Those who made Hiccup's life a Hel... "
The thought flashed through Astrid's head and a strange, seething anger began to build up inside her. As much as these women controlled fate and were worshiped like the gods of Asgard, she couldn't help but get angry.
"Hiccup,he had been ignored by his father since he was five, seen as a disgrace by the whole village, bullied by most of the other boys, and his only cousin had turned his back to join his persecutors. Actually, I too was no better than those who destroyed his childhood. Instead of doing something to help him, I just ignored him and turned my head away as the groans of pain he let out during the beatings turned into a low moan between sobs" she tought.
For the honor.
But now she wondered what honor was more.
Astrid had always thought that helping Hiccup would have thrown on her family the dishonor and wrath of the gods, since they certainly were not in favor of the boy.
This thought was shared by every inhabitant of the village. He had grown up frail and weak, he was not able to fight at all and for this reason he had always been useless all over Berk. One of the few things Astrid could be proud of, was that she was the only person, apart from Gobber, who recognized that he had talents. He was creating incredibly complicated machines already at the age of eleven and after every disaster he had always tried to make up for his mistakes unlike the Thorston twins. He was kind, intelligent and could draw like no other.
However, I did nothing when they beat him, punished him, turned him away and called him "Useless" the girl tought.
And despite everything he has always admired her; She had seen it in his eyes since they were little. But she also saw that spark that lit up every time he looked at her, fade away, little by little, until it became resignation every time she looked away from him.
With these thoughts, her anger continued to grow, and now it was directed towards herself. She was ashamed of herself, her attitude, her actions and her indifference towards Hiccup.
She jumped when a hand landed on her shoulder. Astrid turned and met his forest green eyes but they weren't as cheerful and playful as ever: a fiery rage flashed in Hiccup's eyes as he turned in the direction of the Norns. At the same time Toothless pulled out his teeth and snarled at the three women.
She sank even further.
"They were turning their anger towards the three women, not towards me who had caused Hiccup a pain perhaps worse than all the others he had suffered. I was not worthy of their friendship."
What she didn't know, however, was that Hiccup had followed her every thought from landing on the islet until then.
"She felt that way. She had let out all the guilt she had accumulated over ten years in a second" tought Hiccup.
He felt infuriated with the Norns who had made his life a Hel on earth but also with her who did not realize how much she had done for him.
True, she was not the most supportive when he needed it, but, although she didn't realize, also in Berk that sense of guilt of hers, made her become closer.
When she asked him to sharpen or fix her ax even in the presence of Gobber, when she stopped to see the notes on his machines (although it was a rather rare event), having overcome the Viking prejudice and having given him confidence by climbing on Toothless, having flown with him and trusting HIM to guide her in the skies, not having abandoned him after the discovery of that huge dragon and having listened to him when he asked her not to tell his father.
These were all things she had subconsciously done to repay Hiccup for her indifferent public attitude towards him.
"And that kiss...No, she did not realize what ray of light she had been in my dark and narrow world. My feeling for her was more than the banal crush that anyone can feel: she was my firm support, she was my rock. I would have done anything to protect her"
"It's your fault my life has been a disaster," Hiccup managed to say to the Norns.
He had no other words to address to these old women.
"ANSWER ME!"
Behind him Toothless growl at the Norns and they just kept on spinning.
"Oh, little mortal. We cannot rule destiny, we can only execute it. Everything has already been written since the birth of the Ginnungagap. Otherwise how would we know about Ragnarok?" Said the woman in the centre with a mocking grin on her face.
The others kept weaving as if HIccup had said nothing.
"Your destiny was already written, these words you said were already predicted that you would speak them, as well as your arrival here and the great future that awaits you."
Hiccup looked at her dazed. Him, a great future? How was this possible?
"I sense your agitation,Nudda við ljóð, but you have to live with being an important wheel of the Wyrd 's wagon. I can make you a concession before you wake up. I will give you a fragment of your destiny five winters from now."
The central old woman got up and walked towards the tree muttering soft words:
"Wyrd Trees, Enkel norðlinganna Ég vil að þú kynnir þér hvað varð um erfingja íssins" (Trees of the Wyrd. I, Enkel of the Norns, ask you to come to know about the fate of the Ice Heir)
At first nothing happened.
Then from the canopy of the tree, shaken by rapid movements, a blinding light was emitted that broke the dark fog of the islet.
As the light faded, a gnarled branch with a fruit at its end descended from the thick canopy of the tree. The woman took it and carried it in front of the three of them.
"Hiccup Haddock III, this is a fragment of your destiny. Once learned, you will be free to share it with your mates. The choice is at your discretion. When you are ready eat the fruit and you will wake up with the awareness of your Wyrd."
Hiccup looked at the fruit, it was the size of a walnut and colored a bright purple with shades of blue where the stalk was.
"This is my fate," thought Hiccup and after a moment's hesitation swallowed the fruit in one bite.
ᛗᛁᛞᚷᚨᚱᛞ
Everything went black and a moment later she woke up in her bed exactly as she had fallen asleep a short time before.
No voice could be heard from downstairs, her parents had probably gone to sleep.
Astrid silently went down the stairs and into the living room, opened the door and left the house.
The stinging cold night air stung my nostrils as she made her way to the bay. The night was still dark although there was a faint and almost imperceptible glow that heralded dawn.
When Astrid reached the bay a faint light filtered through the trees as the rocks cast long shadows on the pond. Sitting next to it was Hiccup, fumbling with his luggage.
"Hey," she said.
"Gee Astrid, you're just starting off on the right foot. "
Toothless saw her and greeted, gurgling happily. He had stopped talking.
"Hey," Hiccup replied
"So ... what did the prophecy say?"
At those words Hiccup winced imperceptibly.
" Hiccup ..."
"No, no. I feel good"
He wasn't well. At all.
" Hiccup ... what did the prophecy say?" The girl asked in a worried tone.
Silence. Only that reigned in the bay.
Then in a voice that was little more than a whisper, Hiccup spoke.
"I'm sorry Astrid, I ... I still don't feel ready to say what I've learned."
Now Astrid was seriously worried. What awaited him was so bad? But she couldn't force him to tell her, it was something that concerned him and him alone.
"Ok... okay." I said, "What will you do then?"
"I... I'm leaving."
Here it is. The stab in the chest.
Without realizing it, tear started to fill up in her eyes .
"Astrid..."
She looked at him, his green eyes met hers.
On impulse Astrid rushed towards him in an embrace full of pain but also of a silent comfort.
She wanted time to stop, that moment to last forever.
She was sure of it now. That unknown feeling was beginning to make sense.
She, Astrid Hofferson, was in love with Hiccup Haddock.
She hugged him so tightly that HIccup lost the air in his lungs. he didn't know how to react but... he did.
Hiccup held her tight to him as he had never hugged anyone in his life.
In that bay, wrapped in Astrid's embrace, in the company of Toothless, for the first time Hiccup really felt at home.
"Astrid, the prophecy... I'm the one who will find a way to defeat the Queen in the Nest."
" It... is fantastic Hiccup "
«I have to leave... I cannot stay here. I'll be back, I promise, but first I have to put an end to all this."
"Oh Hiccup, it's not just you who must carry this burden. We're in it together and I'll go with you. "
It was what he feared most. There was no way he would take Astrid with him. He couldn't take any responsibility towards her. Luckily he had a… backup plan.
"Ah, okay. Go pack your luggage; I'll wait here. Hurry up, I wouldn't want anyone to accidentally find us, me and Toothless "
"Okay, I'll do it as soon as possible"
Having said this, Astrid disappeared into the bush.
Hiccup let out a sigh and turned to the black dragon.
"It's really the only way huh?"
Toothless answered him with a melancholy verse.
"We weren't even able to say goodbye to each other properly"
Having said that, Hiccup took Astrid's ax and started carving the wood of the handle with my knife.
I thought back to my Wyrd, and what I had learned about it:
Fimm vetur líða.
Hinn hræðilegi mun missa mannúð sína þar sem ísinn læðist í augu hans.
Dóttir Jörmungandr liggur undir eldfjallinu.
Berg og eldur mun kljúfa fjallið.
Hornin munu mistakast gegn Jörmungandr's skala.
Svarta eldingin verður hjóluð af Winter þegar þeir hreyfa baráttuna við Græna dauðann.
Þá mun örlagahjólið velja meistara sinn.
(Five winters will pass.
The horrendous will lose his humanity as the ice will creep into its eyes.
Jörmungandr's daughter lies beneath the mountain of fire.
Rock and fire will split the mountain.
The horns will fail against the Jörmungandr'scale .
The Black Lightning will be ridden by Winter as they move the fight against the Green Death.
Then the wheel of fate will choose its champion)
ᛗᛁᛞᚷᚨᚱᛞ
Perfect, she had got everything.
A spare tunic, some fish, a whetstone for her ax and laundry day necessities.
Astrid doesn't know why she made such an important choice as to abandon, perhaps forever, what had been her family home for generations without thinking too much about it. Maybe she wanted to leave behind the place that reminded her every moment of the horrible person she was and how bad the villagers were. What they had always done to Hiccup was unforgivable, she knew that.
"Also the more I stayed away from Snotlut the better" Astrid thought giggling
And then the prospect of setting off with Hiccup aboard a Night Fury into the unknown to defeat an almost invincible enemy was as exciting as she could wish for.
And finally there was that other reason. What she admitted to herself a few minutes ago at the bay.
She loved him and wherever Astrid was with him she would be happy to call home.
For the second time, Astrid secretly left the house. She went into the forest, impatient to reach that little natural paradise that was the bay. But although she was getting closer, no sound could be heard.
Not a strap fastened or a load placed on anything. Astrid entered the bay and found it deserted.
"You should have known that "said a little voice in her head.
"You should have seen the signs."
After all, she expected that he would not reciprocate what I felt.
"You had a deal."
Yes, he said he would wait for her, but she couldn't blame him if he didn't trust her, she had never given him a chance to trust her in the past.
Suddenly a memory instantly came to her mind: "She was my rock. I would have done anything to protect her. "
Hiccup's thoughts in the dream. She had heard them.
"His thoughts could not lie. He was doing what he thought was necessary to protect me."
Astrid was angry. She had been belittled, because that very kind Viking had lied to her and because he had the presumption that he had to do everything himself.
Anger gave way to raw sadness. There was no doubt: he had abandoned her.
ᛗᛁᛞᚷᚨᚱᛞ
Back home, Her mother was waiting for her in front of a now cold breakfast.
"Where have you been now?"she asked as soon as she saw her.
"To train."
It was the sign that meant "I don't want to talk about it" and that her mother respected.
Especially seeing her puffy and red post-cry eyes. And Astrid never cried.
She climbed the stairs and opened the door of her room, where she longed to take refuge. She wanted to find the warmth of my everyday things but on her bed she found something that did not belong to her: a sack.
She opened it and inside there was her ax.
" Right... I left it at the ba...- "
Hiccup had been there.
When she removed the ax, she noticed that there was also a small piece of rolled up parchment in the sack.
She unfolded it and tears that had been held too long welled up from her eyes.
I leave to you my heart
I entrust it to you until I get
back
H.H.H.
What now ran down my face were tears of joy.
She was happy.
Now she knew he would be back.
"And he loves me too "
She looked at the ax and noticed that a word was engraved on the wooden handle:
Ast (love) (ᚨᛊᛏ)
Smiling, Astrid lay down on the bed, where she fell asleep, tired from the long night, but happy, holding the letter in one hand and the ax in the other.
She dreamed of a boy and his dragon friend flying towards the south smiling, illuminated by the light of dawn.
ᛗᛁᛞᚷᚨᚱᛞ
"Hiccup, today is the big day. The day you become a true Viking and have to take over the responsibilities of a leader and- "
Stoik realized that he was talking to nothing.
Hiccup's room was empty. The sheets with the drawings of his devilry on them had disappeared, leaving room for a note.
He took it and almost flinched at what he was reading.
Dad, there has never been a healthy relationship between us and probably there will never be.
Despite this I have always looked for a way to make you proud of me without unfortunately ever succeeding. I showed you my drawings but you didn't look at them, I tried to help in the raids as much as I could but you never paid attention to my actions.
Last time I told you I had hit a Night Fury and, well, it was true. I found it in the woods but I found more than just a silly trophy to make you proud. I found a friend, a shoulder to cry on and, in part, a family I didn't have in Berk. I learned as much as I could about dragons and they're not the mindless monsters we expect them to be.
I found the dragon's nest and what it hides. There is a dragon down there who forces others to raid for food. I can't explain the details but it is my duty to defeat him.
I don't want this to be "goodbye" but a "see ya".
As bad as you may be, you still remain my father
Wait five winters. If I'm not back by then I'll probably be dead.
Please father, if I don't come back, leave Berk, as the Raids won't stop as long as the Queen stays.
I love you.
H.H.H.
For the first time since Valka's death, Stoik allowed himself to cry. He was angry and confused at the same time. Hiccup had dared to go against his village and had sympathized with one of those... devils.
But he was right. Even now He was thinking as a Chief and not as a father; not with that part of him that was exploding in his chest at that moment; that part of him that was proud of its son's courage and that was continuing to grow.
He couldn't get discouraged. He would have faced the problem at the appropriate time. Now Stoik had to find the Nest. He could not allow Hiccup to face this fearful enemy with great danger to his own life. He was too weak and puny. Also in Berk they were all dragon slayers, they couldn't lose, no matter how strong the enemy was.
Stoik left the house and joined Gobber in his forge to give him the news, after which he would leave again in search of the Nest.
He had to do it for Hiccup.
Stoik was sad, it is true, but he could not allow the village to be involved in his personal problems.
At that moment Stoik could afford to be a father. There, in that forge, with his best friend, He would cry one more time.
ᛗᛁᛞᚷᚨᚱᛞ
Gobber just felt drained. Hiccup was gone. He had said it a couple of times while working in the forge but the blacksmith never thought he would. Gee if Gobber missed it! He could easily have considered him his son for all the time they spent together.
His every mistake in the forge, his every success and his every project were a constant reminder of the happy times Gobber had spent with that little fishbone.
Now it was all gone, he had left only his diary with his projects and his memories, as well as a message for the blacksmith:
Gobber, I don't really have much to tell you other than maybe you will be the only person who cares about my departure. I will miss all the time we spent together in the forge and I will miss you. You have been for ten years of my life more friend, mentor and father than anyone else and I will never stop thanking you for the time you have spent with me, teaching me everything you know. Between us, I really think I've surpassed you. I'm not going to tell you about the reasons that made me leave Berk, partly because my hand hurts, partly because you already know part of it. When Stoik knocks on your door, give him my diary to read, maybe he will understand how I felt for ten years of my life, even if I wouldn't really count on it.
I love you.
H.H.H.
As if called into the forge, Stoik burst in with a stern look on his face. He closed the door and sat down opposite Gobber. Then he began to sob, as if taken with such pain from tearing his chest.
Gobber let go of the brakes and indulged myself in sadness with big tears running down his cheeks. There was no need for words in that silent conversation.
oOo
Ginnungagap (ᚷᛁᚾᚾᚢᛜᚨᚷᚨᛈ): The cosmic abyss that existed before creation.
Ragnarok (ᚱᚨᚷᚾᚨᚱᛟᚲ): The final battle between the powers of light and order and those of darkness and chaos, as a result of which the entire world will be destroyed and thus regenerated.
Wyrd (ᚹᛃᚱᛞ): Destiny for the Nordic peoples
Jörmungandr or Miðgarðsormur (ᛃᛖᚱᛗᚢᛜᚨᚾᛞᚱ / ᛗᛁᛞᚷᚨᚱᛞᛊᛟᚱᛗᚢᚱ): Son of Loki and Angrboða. It is shaped like a snake so long that it wraps around the world and bites its own tail.
I only made the central Norn speak as it represents the present. The past is now known so there is nothing to say while the knowledge of the future must not touch mortals.
I imagined that the first dragons are Jörmungandr scales or titanic dragons like the Green Death or the Bewilderbeast, and that the other dragons were born from them.