Hello, everyone...
I am so, so sorry. No good excuse for this being so late. I'm just terrible at time management. Please leave a review, and be sure to follow this story to receive updates in the future. Thank you.
I don't own How to Train Your Dragon.
Syl following behind warily, Hiccup trudged up the hill towards the Academy.
"This place, too?" She asked suddenly, making him stop and turn. They had managed to avoid any more serious meetings with people since their confrontation with Snotlout, keeping encounters down to curt nods and short greetings with the occasional person in the Village. Syl had been silent since, choosing to observe the Village and landscape. If Astrid had her way, she would've been blindfolded and gagged as soon as they stepped outside, but of course, Hiccup had been a bit more lenient.
"Uh, yeah. Though we'll probably be here for most of the day. The others should be here soon, too… That is, if they actually decide to come for once."
"Others, huh?" She raised an eyebrow, smirking. "They don't like this place? This is your old kill ring and dragon cages, if I'm not mistaken. I think it's kinda fun."
He winced. "Yeah, well… We don't really use it for that anymore. It's the dragon Academy, now, but that might be stretching the term 'Academy' just a bit. We're all supposed to come down here to study each other's dragons and train, and if anyone has any questions, they usually come to us, too, but… It doesn't really work that way."
"Why not?"
He frowned, "Well-"
Before he could answer, the sound of an explosion rocked the top of the hill, and a thick stream of smoke billowed up out of the metal grates that served as the ceiling of the ring.
Hiccup winced. "That's why."
They ran the rest of the way up the hill and into the ring, only to find the twins and their dragon - or dragons, Hiccup still wasn't sure what to call either of them - standing there giggling deliriously at each other, completely covered with soot. Ruffnut smiled when she saw them. "Aw, hey, Astrid! Glad to see you back!"
"Yeah, we were getting worried. Ruffnut's been crying every night." Tuff explained.
"Was not!" Ruff punched him.
"Was, too!" Tuff shoved her.
Hiccup sighed, and leaned over to Syl, whispering "This is, ah-"
"The twins? Yeah, I see what you and Astrid meant. Pretty obvious."
He nodded tiredly, and they waited for a moment, until their fight inevitably ended after they got too tangled up to even properly fight anymore, and resorted to curses instead as they tried to free themselves. Eventually, that stopped too, as they finally caught their breath.
"Yeah," Hiccup said, shaking his head, "We were both gone for a few days. See, the storm got us down-"
"Wait," Tuffnut interrupted, managing to free one of his arms only to stroke his nonexistent beard. "You were gone? Since when?"
He groaned. "Since Astrid was! We got lost together-"
"Oh, a night of romance!" Ruffnut heckled, trying to spit in her brother's face. "How long have you been waiting for that moment, Hiccup? Ten years?"
"That is not what I said! Or what we… Did." Hiccup replied quickly, clenching his teeth and fists. Syl smirked.
"Were you two even at the announcement a few minutes ago?"
"What announce-" Ruff started, before letting out a sharp yelp. "Ow! Stop pulling on my hair!"
"That's my hair!"
"No it's not, idiot! You can't feel my hair!"
"Of course I can! I'm pulling on it!"
They seemed to try to launch into another brawl, before realizing that they were still tangled, and so they went back to cursing each other. Syl shook her head in fascination.
"It's… It's like instinct to them, or something - fighting, that is. It's a miracle they're still alive."
Hiccup snickered. "It's a miracle their dragon is, too. Half the time, I don't think they even realize he - or she, I'm really not sure - is there."
"Really," Syl nodded, eyes widening suddenly. "Oh, that reminds me… If I stay, am I gonna have to… You know… Feed Stormfly, and clean her, and stuff?"
She said it as though the mere concept was the worst thing she could possibly imagine. Hiccup smirked.
"Well, I can show you how the first time. She has kind of a specific diet, from what I've heard, too. But after that…" He shrugged carelessly, still retaining a slight grin.
Syl groaned.
"I don't get it," she sneered. "You're telling me they steal food from us all their lives, fend and kill for themselves, and when you - sorry, we - finally take them in, for the gods know what reason, they suddenly expect us to feed and take care of them, like… Like babies!"
He rolled his eyes. "Well, we wouldn't want them taking the food we've saved up, would we? This is much better than it used to be. You should know that more than anyone."
"I'd disagree…" She muttered, ending the argument.
They watched the two of them fight for few more minutes, until they heard another high-pitched voice come rushing up the hill with a myriad of jumbled words and questions, its host appearing in the gate to the ring just a few moments later. The bibliophilic, overweight, timid dragon trainer slumped over, catching his breath, before continuing his stream of incoherent mumbling.
"Hiccup, Astrid! Are you alright? I knew that you were missing, and…. Looked through all the maps to figure out where you were… Made some suggestions to Stoick before he left, but he didn't-"
"Woah, woah," Hiccup interrupted at Syl's confused glance. "Fishlegs, slow down for a moment. What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" He asked, exasperation dripping from his tone like the sweat on his brow. "What's wrong is that you two were gone for almost three days! Nobody could find you! I checked all the maps, and logs from old explorers, but I couldn't figure it out, either! Your Dad and the others said they'd looked everywhere. Where were you?"
"Uh," Hiccup replied, sending a puzzled glance toward Syl, who seemed equally perplexed. "We had to look for shelter after the storm. But after that… I don't know how you didn't find us." He meant it, too. After seeing all of the Vikings they had sent out to find he and Astrid, even he was a bit shocked that they hadn't. Sure, Hiccup knew that the cove he and Toothless had trained in was probably one of the safest places on the island, but that had been long before anyone was out looking for him - or a Night Fury - in the woods. Except for Astrid, of course. The one person who had actually followed them ended up eventually becoming the beast living there. It was horribly ironic, when he thought about it. Kind of like an old folk tale.
He asked a few more questions, mainly concerning how well Stormfly and Toothless had been able to hold up in the storm, as well as a few things he had added to the Book of Dragons notes they had been working on together.
"That reminds me," Hiccup remembered, "Toothless has been acting sort of… Off, lately. I didn't really think much of it at first - he was just a bit distracted, is all. But then he's started blanking out in mid-flight, and… And…"
He frowned. "I don't know. Just… I think he's sick. Really sick. But he acts fine most of the time. Have… Have you heard of anything like that?"
Fishlegs glanced back at Meatlug, as though having some sort of conversation with her. Upon Syl's request, they had left Toothless and Stormfly outside, and he could understand why. Though he still argued that she needed to get used to dragons, he could understand why she might not want to be locked in a giant metal cage with a few of them after spending only two days in their company. Even HE got nervous in there sometimes - memories of past near-death experiences in training during the war gave him enough nightmares as it was. Teaching a school in the same place with the same dragons? It was crazy, even by his standards.
Fishlegs shook his head. "No… I've found almost nothing on Night Furies at all, but you already knew that. Though this could be a dragon-wide illness... Why do you think he's sick?"
"He just… Fades out," Hiccup replied. "But when he comes back, he… Well, he goes kinda crazy. Last time he started scratching his head, like there was… Something, in there."
Fishlegs rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Head mites are extremely rare in dragons, as they tend to keep themselves rather clean, and well, are giant, fire-breathing reptiles. Even diseases are scared of them. It might always be something else, of course. It's been a little while since they were freed from the Green Death, too, so it could have something to do with that. Anyway, I'll look into it, if I can. I think there's a basic dragon anatomy book lying around the Great Hall somewhere…" He furrowed his eyebrows in deep thought, before blinking and refocusing.
"Ah, well, later on. I'm glad that you're back, Hiccup. Oh, and, uh, you too, Astrid." With that, he and Meatlug ambled into the academy towards the barrels of fish and rocks they kept toward the back, making a wide girth around the twins, who were still just as entangled as they had been before he had walked in, if not more so.
"So…" Syl began a few moments later. "Who else is in this 'Dragon acad-'"
"THE MASTER DRAGON RIDER HAS ARRIVED!" A nasally, cracking voice called from somewhere above the academy. Not a moment later, a large shadow fell over the ring, as a red dragon nearly crashed into the metal, claws scraping it with a sharp screech and sending sparks raining down on top of them before suddenly pulling back up.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Syl yelled, whipping around to face him. "You gave him a Monstrous Nightmare?!"
"We didn't give Hookfang to him. They… Found each other," He replied sheepishly. "Didn't you see the two of them earlier? He was standing right next to him!"
"I thought dragons just followed people around here! How was I supposed to know?" Syl rolled her eyes. "Hookfang. What a stupid-"
Once again, she was cut off by another crash from outside, which he could only assume was their landing. From the sound of it, they hadn't quite been as destructive as usual - he must have really been trying. Hiccup snorted. And they thought he was the Village screw-up…
After another moment of silence, Hiccup groaned, and started running up toward the gate, only to see Snotlout standing at the top, still intact, more or less.
He sauntered down to them confidently, looking at Syl as though he expected her to be proud of him for some reason.
"Snotlout," Syl growled, fists clenched. "I swear to the Gods-"
"No, no," he interrupted, putting his hands up in false sincerity. "I get it, I get it. You need your space, some privacy. All girls are like that, not that you're like all girls, of course. You're, like, a really cool guy… But a girl. Y'know what I mean. You just want some time alone." He leaned over to Hiccup, and whispered loudly enough for her to hear, "that's your cue to leave."
"Listen, Snotlout," she said his name in Astrid's voice with such perfect accuracy that even he forgot who she was for a moment. "We don't have a 'relationship', no matter what you might think. It's not a 'thing', and we're definitely not a 'couple'. So I swear on Odin's own beard if I hear you say a word to anyone else in the Village about how we're 'together', you won't ever be saying anything else at all. Got it?"
"But what about-"
"Shut it!" She snapped. He shrunk back a bit.
"Alright," he complied, "But just know, Astrid, if you're ever lonely… I'll be right here, waiting."
She shivered, and sneered at him as he walked further into the ring, Hookfang following behind him a moment later, huffing at Syl and making her jump.
"So… What now?" Syl asked, glancing warily around the ring.
"Exactly what I told you," Hiccup replied with a smirk, whistling for Toothless and Stormfly to come in, who were still outside. "We train dragons."
Syl's eyes widened. "W-wait… I thought we were all done 'training'. That's what the thing in the woods was, wasn't it? Not that I like them or anything, but they're not exactly attacking us anymore. I mean, you're - we're - riding them, for the gods' sakes. Isn't that enough?"
Hiccup rolled his eyes as he watched Toothless and Stormfly bound happily into the arena. "There's always more we can learn from them. Plus, my Dad's put me in charge of all of this, not that I'm complaining, but…"
She frowned. "But… What about Toothless? If he's sick, shouldn't we be back at your house, trying to take care of him? And what about, y'know, her? I thought the whole point of coming back here and all of this" - she gestured pointedly at herself - "was to bring her back, so you can get me out of here. Shouldn't you be back at the Great Hall, or whatever, looking for something?"
Hiccup sighed, seeing through her false sympathy almost immediately - she just wanted to get out away from that place as quickly as possible. "Toothless seems… Okay. Maybe Gobber was right, and it was just a fluke. It's been a long few days. He was probably just tired, maybe a bit nervous after everything that's been happening. It wouldn't be the first time. Otherwise… I don't know, but I'm going to look into it a bit with Gothi, and Fishlegs is helping us now, too. And as far as Astrid goes, you're right about one thing - I do want to find a way to… To bring her back, as soon as possible. But if I just dive into all the old books in the Great Hall right after I've gotten back with no excuse why, then people might get a bit suspicious. It's gonna be hard enough keeping this whole charade up as it is - you should know that. I don't want too many questions. Besides, I have a feeling I'm gonna need to do a bit more than flip through books in the Great Hall. I might have to ask Johann, or send out some letters… I've already looked through every book we have on dragons."
"I just thought you wanted your girlfriend back," Syl retorted with a coy smile, "Or have you decided I'm a suitable replacement?"
Hiccup's ears went red, and he growled pathetically, "T-that… Is not what I said. I just… Need to keep a low profile. At least for a little while."
She sighed overdramatically, still smirking. "Oh, well, I'm just saying… I am your girlfriend, now, whether you like it or not."
"We…" Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut, grimacing. "We're not… You're not my… Listen, let's just get started. I have a training schedule to keep up here, and these guys… My friends, here... Aren't always the most cooperative. Besides, consider it a good opportunity to catch up. You seemed to enjoy racing Stormfly back here enough."
"Fine," she sneered, "Whatever you say, boyfriend. Let's just get this over with."
Astrid's dexterity had improved tremendously.
Without anything else to do, and eventually needing something to distract herself from the gnawing, aching feeling in her stomach, she had grudgingly took Toothless's advice. At first it was simpler things, just walking back and forth along the beach proved to be a bit of a challenge once she focused on it, though she had become a lot more comfortable with it since she had last given it as much thought. When that bored her, she moved on to trotting, then eventually running, which she soon realized was a much more complicated task, as her legs would have to move two at a time rather than just one, like an animal's. A real animal's. She abandoned the task almost as soon as she made the comparison, moving on to sidestepping and strafing, then walking again.
She only stopped when she was exhausted, because if she ever stopped for too long, she started thinking, something she had come to hate even more than before she had been transformed. Thinking led to anger, and when that brought up nothing, it turned to fear - there was nothing she could hit, here. Nobody she could punch, or kick, if she could even figure out how. Perhaps if Syl had been there she could've taken it out on her, though her fight had made her unsure of whether she could even do that, either. That was one of the few benefits to her worried exercise - at least she was learning how to fight and move again, albeit as a dragon.
When she was too tired and too bored to continue, she moved on to... Experimenting, as Hiccup might've called it. It was something she had been avoiding since the day she had been transformed, but the sheer concept of settling back into that dreadful abyss known as life contemplation was enough to get her to do it.
She started out with the claws - her claws, as she accepted she would have to refer to them and everything else as until further notice. They were quite sharp, as she already knew, and retracted almost fully down into her paws. Upon some practice, she was able to fully extend and withdraw both quite easily, though they were almost completely unmaneuverable, and couldn't quite be used as fingers in the way she had hoped, unless she could spear whatever she wanted to pick up. They seemed to be great at grip, however - she found it almost impossible to move when she locked them into the earth, never mind if somebody tried to move her.
Next, she moved on to her tail - she had already gotten used to its weight and presence on her rear, especially due to the soreness she felt from the stunt she had pulled a few days before. Still, she hadn't been lifting it up much, except when she was trotting and it slowed her down. She could understand how it might be important if she was trying to move silently, but until then, she was fine with simply letting it drag around in the sand behind her. Timidly, she eventually began expanding and contracting the fan-like fins on the end, as well, though the entire feeling gave her shivers, and she eventually stopped doing that, as well.
She kept doing this for a few hours, until she had explored and studied every part of her body she was comfortable with. This excluded her wings - not only was it something she still wasn't comfortable having, or feeling, but they had somehow remained folded up on her back since she had crashed into the lake a few days before, and if she did figure out how to unfurl them, she wasn't sure she would know how to refold them if she wanted to.
Then she went back to exercise. This only made the aching pit in her stomach worse, but it also served as a distraction for it, if temporary. When walking didn't take her mind off of it, she switched to jumping from rock to rock over the lake, a feat she was surprised to find was very reliant upon her tail as a counterbalance. She soon found that by moving the tail either left or right midair, she could turn in midair, making her land somewhere completely different from what an onlooker or enemy might expect. Upon this discovery, Astrid decided to practice this for a few hours, until her wings began to unfold on her seventh attempt and she nearly flipped over trying to regain balance.
She looked up at the sun, expecting it to be starting its descent over the walls of the ravine, and Hiccup to come gliding down from the clouds on Toothless.
From the look of it, she had been practicing for about an hour.
She groaned. It was going to be a long, long first day.
It was late afternoon when they finally finished training. Syl had never felt more tired in her life.
It had started out quite simply - Hiccup had spent about fifteen minutes trying to get them all organized, then another fifteen answering the Twins' questions, most of which were about how close he came to death when they got lost in the storm, and some that were completely random and not relevant whatsoever. When he finally got a chance to speak, he went on some boring rant about flight control, to which the other fat kid - what was his name, Fishlegs? - constantly interrupted him to add something in, which eventually descended into them just gushing about dragon facts until he finally caught himself. Then he announced it was time to go outside.
The next two hours were the hardest of her life. She was horrified to discover that she was expected to wash and clean Stormfly's saddle, as well as re-adjust her straps and check the metal bearings to make sure they hadn't rusted and weren't pinching her anywhere. She took a lot longer than anyone else, even the twins, and Hiccup sold it off as her being grumpy and wanting to make sure she had gotten everything right, when in truth, she had absolutely no idea what she was doing.
She had never really had to work before - not like this. She had more or less managed to avoid any chores as a kid, sneaking out in the morning before her mother woke up, and not returning until that night, long after she had fallen asleep. She spent most of her days in the woods, just walking around and climbing trees, thinking about random things that would probably never happen. Otherwise, she would be in town, stealing small things from whoever was foolish enough to leave their door unlocked, and doing her best to remain unseen. Not that anyone had anything valuable, of course. Even most family keepsakes - lockets, necklaces, and rings were sold off food or had been long-since destroyed during the raids, and only the useful things remained.
Of course, that was before the raids had ended. Before her mother had time to actually think about what her daughter was doing, and before started catching her before she went out every morning. Even then, there had always seemed to be some errand, some task that Bjarke, her second-in-command whom she now had much more than a burning hatred for, would pop up at all the convenient times to tell her, letting her sneak away just as easily as before. Only this time, her mother started to notice.
And yet here she was, scrubbing the saddle of one of the beasts she had grown up hating with a soapy brush while it cooed happily at her from above. She had to smile a bit when she thought about it - in one day, she was already more of a Berkian citizen than she ever was in the place she grew up in through her entire life. Of course, she wasn't truly herself, either… But that was besides the point.
Eventually, after a few failed attempts at showing her how to do it properly, Hiccup took over for her, grumbling the whole time she waited there as close as she dared to the dragon. His - and now her - friends had long since left, practicing stunts and maneuvers above them that made her jaw drop in disbelief. She inquired about it with Hiccup a few minutes later. "Do… Do you do that stuff, too?"
He glanced over at Toothless, who looked up from licking one of his paws and purred curiously. "Oh, well… Yeah. Though we do it a bit… Faster, too. It's a lot of fun, really."
She shook her head and narrowed her eyes. "Gods… You're crazier than Astrid."
"I'm crazier than you," Hiccup corrected. "By the way, you're the most competitive one of the bunch, so you'd best get practicing."
With that, they took to the air, with Hiccup's only advice being that Stormfly would know what to do, and that she simply hold on tight. That she did, doing her best to suppress her screams in her arm as the dragon proceeded to do a series of aerobatic stunts that she was positive would have absolutely no use in combat whatsoever, regardless of how many times she nearly threw up.
Even so, her 'friends' still asked her why she wasn't performing great, to which she responded uneasily that she was tired and needed something to eat, and leading Hiccup to tell them that that would be it for the day. Though she was still astounded by the ridiculous stunts he pulled mid-air, even she could tell he was holding back to check on her. She felt a twinge of something as the others all touched down around her, snickering as she stumbled off of Stormfly. Anger perhaps, or annoyance, though more directed towards herself than anyone else. Was she… Embarrassed? No, of course not - that made no sense at all.
With a few last notes and a promise that they would see each other again the next day, they dispersed, the twins giggling to themselves about something back at the ring, Fishlegs reading a small book he had pulled seemingly out of thin air, Snotlout practicing waving a club through the air overdramatically, and Syl stomping angrily down the hill into the Village, Hiccup and their dragons following close behind.
"Hey," He replied, catching up to her, "You didn't do that bad up there. Not that you were really doing much, but, uh…" His voice trailed off. She didn't respond, still looking straight ahead.
"You know, there's nothing to be embarrassed about-"
"I'm not embarrassed!" She growled, whirling on him. He flinched - obviously, Astrid's voice paired with her anger had quite the effect on him.
"I'm just," She let out a breath of air slowly, "Tired. Just tired."
Hiccup swallowed hard, nodding. They continued the rest of the walk in silence, Hiccup eventually falling back to apologize to Stormfly on her behalf, for reasons she couldn't understand in the slightest.
The sky was pitch black when they returned, the village lit solely by the various braziers and torches carried and placed within it.
They continued on through the Village, marching up to the Great Hall in silence as well, only speaking when the occasional Viking nodded at them kindly or stopped shortly to welcome them back. The majority, however, were walking alongside or parallel to them, trudging up the steps to the Great Hall for the everlasting meat and fire within.
Syl's eyes widened as soon as they stepped inside, pouring over the beams and pillars, and most of all, the great golden dragon suspended above the huge table in the center where his father held his council meetings. The back of the dragon was always supplied with a heavy amount of coal and tinder and was only lit when a meeting was being held, or there was a very large amount of people in the hall. That night, there were.
Despite Syl's stormy temperament, the Vikings of Berk seemed to be in a relatively happy mood that evening. Perhaps it was Stoick's giant, oddly gleeful presence in the room that made it that way. Before the raids had ended, it was a rare sight to see his father smile, and though Hiccup had tried to make him as a kid with his occasional sarcasm and jokes, and he often did if only to please him, he eventually gave up on the attempt he knew had been futile from the beginning - his Dad just wasn't that sort of person, and probably never would be. But then he met Toothless... And everything changed. The war ended, and Berk was completely changed. His father was living proof. Stoick started smiling again, and celebrating with the other Vikings at feasts, rather than staying cooped up in their house, pouring over unfinished maps of Helheim's Gate, searching madly for the island concealed within.
But this did seem to be quite a happy night, and everyone was there for one reason, and one reason only. Syl's eyes widened when she saw it, and her mouth dropped open, a small stream of drool dripping from her lip.
"Food..." she blurted hungrily.
And food it most certainly was - a huge roasted boar was laid out on the table, no doubt a trophy from what Hiccup knew would likely be one of the last large hunts of the season, with a bright red apple lodged heartily in its mouth. A thick layer of syrup coated the it, dripping down the side, leaving some parts bare, but most well covered. Aside from that, all manner of other meats and poultry lay out on the cloth covered table, sweet tarts, cakes and pies scattered around them, many with large chunks already taken out of them, some of which were obviously more grabbed than they were sliced. Creamy and crisp buttered breads and jugs spilling with sweet drinks and liquids On and on it went down the table, plate after plate of chicken, mutton and smaller slices of pork, with exotic spices from far-off lands lightly dusted over many. As many times as he had eaten there, even Hiccup's mouth watered a bit at the sight - his father had truly gone all-out.
He stepped towards the table, about to push past a few Vikings blocking the way before he noticed that Syl was still dead-still behind him. He raised an eyebrow at her. She shook her head slightly before eventually following him.
They approached the table, and Hiccup took a plate. Syl followed with a heavy gulp, her eyes still pouring ravenously over the delicacies, and she stuttered out, "W-what do we do?"
Hiccup shrugged. "Take a plate and… Grab some food, I guess. Why?"
She raised an eyebrow at him skeptically. "That's… It?"
"That's what we usually do."
"You mean…" She glanced back over the table, taking a sniff of the many aromas wafting from both the sweet and savory. "It's like this every day?"
"Well," he snickered, following her gaze, "Not really. It's usually a bit… Less, than this. I wouldn't go so far as to call this a feast, though - I'd be surprised if this alone could even feed my Dad, never mind all of Berk."
Hesitantly, she grabbed a smaller fork on the table and impaled a chicken, looking up at Hiccup as though searching for approval. He raised an eyebrow at her, and poured a jug of mead that was more honey than liquid into his mug. Taking a few slices of ham and a chicken leg, he went to find a seat in the back of the hall, leaving Syl wide-eyed still at the table.
He watched her as she worked her way around the table, taking a slice of everything, then circling around again to take another… Then another. Finally, she came to sit down with him, barely able to see over the food stacked on her plate.
"Uh," Hiccup glanced looked around the food at her doubtfully. "Are you sure you're gonna be able to eat all of that?"
She blinked, hungry eyes looking up from the cooked beef she was on the verge of digging into. "What? Y-yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well," He started, "It's just… It's a LOT of food, and-"
He looked at Syl, who was shoveling her third forkful of smoked salmon into her maw.
"And?" She asked, her mouth full. "Am ah bracking caraker, er somthin?"
"What?" Hiccup glanced around to see if anyone was listening, but everyone else in the hall seemed preoccupied with either themselves or others. The dim glow of the fire barely reached their table, as well - he doubted anybody even knew they were there.
"No, no, not at all. Just don't drink any mead," He snickered. "In fact, Astrid'd probably eat twice what you're hav-"
His eyes widened, and he jumped up, pushing the bench underneath him back slightly.
"We need to go. Now."
"Buh I thot you said we'd go afta' we ate," Syl replied, cheeks bulging with mutton.
He shook his head quickly, and pulled her up by the arm. He started dragging her towards the door before he turned back and gestured at her plate, still overflowing with food. "Bring that."
"All of it?" She asked, swallowing.
He nodded. "Yeah, and grab a few chicken legs on the way out, too. Actually, take the whole bird. Or two."
She raised an eyebrow at him, but did as she was told. He grabbed two loaves of bread, as well, and he was just able to catch a sidelong glance from his father before they were both out the door.
Toothless and Stormfly were resting next to entrance, along with the dragons of some other Vikings enjoying the meal inside. The Night Fury perked up as soon as he smelled the smoked fish, no doubt hungry as well. Hiccup frowned. "No, bud, this isn't for you. You ate earlier. I'll grab you something on the way down, but we need to go see Astrid, now. She hasn't had anything since… Since what happened. You dragons need a lot of food just to stay awake, and I have a feeling that transformation took a lot of energy out of her from the start. She must be half starved, at least…"
He mounted Toothless as Syl struggled to climb onto Stormfly behind her. "Do you remember how to get to the ravine?"
She nodded.
"Meet us there. Need to grab something first."
They both lifted off, Syl gripping on to Stormfly for dear life, while Toothless took Hiccup further down into the Village. They landed, and he ran inside the smith shop he had spent all too many hours in, probably looking like a proper madman as he threw paper and materials aside until he finally found it - his old personal dragon journal. He had stopped using it a few months after the war ended, when his father gave him a newer one, but it still had all of the information he had initially gathered on Night Furies in it, as well as a few empty pages in the back he had never filled out. He had meant to get it earlier, but hadn't wanted to leave Syl alone for too long.
As he rushed back out of the blacksmith, he glimpsed something rather large sagging against the side of a house. Looking a second time, he saw that it was a basket full of several day old fish. Glancing around to make sure nobody was nearby first, he walked over and heaved the basket over his shoulder. Toothless purred happily as he climbed back onto his saddle.
"I'm sure they won't mind if we borrow this for a bit, eh, bud? You can eat when we get there."
Silently, they lifted off into the night sky. The two soared over Berk and the forest beyond, Hiccup urging Toothless on as fast as he dared with the added weight. They nearly ran into Syl and Stormfly before they got there, who seemed to be flying back to meet them.
"What's wrong?" He yelled across worriedly.
"It's Astrid, she's-" she started yelling back. Hiccup didn't let her finish as they dove down into the ravine past her.
And there, on the beach, between two rocks, was Astrid, flipped on her back, flailing every limb she had anywhere she could and screeching loud enough for the gods to hear.
So maybe she had gotten a little carried away.
She had spent most of the day running through that cycle endlessly - running across the beach, experimenting with her claws, and ears, and jumping around from place to place. The more she ran and studied, the more it served as a distraction from her hunger, but the more it served as a distraction, the hungrier she became. Eventually, even that began to inevitably take its toll on her body, as she began to trip and fall more and more often, and couldn't seem to stay focused as easily anymore. At some point, she thought she remembered falling asleep, though she had been trying to avoid it, for some reason.
Finally, it had been too much. On one of her jumps between the two rocks farther back from the lake, she had lost her concentration, and let one of her wings out just a bit too much, sending her spiraling down towards the ground, snout first, and landing on her back. She couldn't remember exactly how long she had been there, but it must have been a while, as she watched the sun fall upside down on her back below the rim of the ravine. All she could truly remember was how futile her attempts at getting back up seemed, and how tired and desperately hungry she really was. And finally, to make matters even better, Hiccup, Toothless, Syl and Stormfly chose that exact moment to show up.
She closed her eyes as they both landed, not wanting to meet either of their accusing or humored stares. They would laugh at her, she knew, and she deserved it. They would laugh and cry until she was able to convince them to help her, and how was she supposed to do that? She certainly couldn't write anything from that position, and the only one she could talk to was the dragon.
Her eyes squeezed shut, she let her body go limp, no longer flailing or screeching for help in the only language she could speak, which, according to Toothless, wasn't even a language at all. She waited and waited for the inevitable snort or obnoxious giggle. Then… Nothing.
She opened her left eye just a sliver.
They weren't laughing.
Hiccup walked up to her slowly, making a wide girth around her wings, which were still stretched out to their full extent on the ground.
"Uh, hey, Astrid," he bit his lip. "Glad to see that you're still… Okay."
Great. Mockery. Classic Hiccup.
"Uh," He looked her and the ravine over, no doubt noticing the both deep and light footmarks in the sand and dirt, as well as the claw marks on the two rocks she had fallen between. "What… What happened? How exactly did this…?"
She growled, trying to tell him to flip her over before realizing how stupid it was. She sighed, and tried to rock back and forth a bit, hoping he would get the message.
"Oh! Right," He glanced over towards Toothless, who was watching her from afar. "Could you help her out a bit here, bud?"
The Night Fury padded over softly, walking around her in careful observation. Then he stopped, stepped back, and sat down.
"No."
She widened her eyes at him, and growled back, "What?! Toothless, I've been here for hours! What..." She glared at him. "Is this it? Is this your 'revenge' for me wanting to kill you the first day we met? I thought you'd do better than that."
She thought she saw him smirk. "No, it isn't. I have something much better in mind for that. I just want to see you learn, Astrid."
She snarled at him and started flailing her limbs even more violently than before, likely scaring Hiccup and Syl. She didn't care.
The dragon remained indifferent.
Whipping her head around, she looked up at her own dragon hopefully, cooing as softly as she could. She considered sending her a mind-message, as well, but remembered what had happened when she had tried that earlier and decided it was probably for the better that she didn't. Still, Stormfly refused to help, as well, going to stand beside Toothless and watch with a quiet curiosity.
Astrid decided that she hated them both.
Hiccup, seeming to understand what had happened, groaned, and muttered, "useless reptile," before going around to her side, motioning for Syl to come help.
"No," she heard her say. "I am not going near her. That has not ended well for me once yet, and I doubt it's going to start now."
He sighed, shoving all of his weight against Astrid's side, to no avail. "Come on, you spent two hours just trying to wash Stormfly today. Are you really that scared of an immobile dragon?"
Astrid almost growled at her, before deciding that probably wouldn't help their cause, either.
"Fine," she agreed, "but only so she doesn't tackle me as soon as we get her back up."
They both shoved against her with all of their might, but they couldn't budge her in the slightest. She considered trying to wriggle around again to help for a moment, before remembering how easily one of her wings or legs could crush them.
Once they had stepped away, she went back to flailing again, until she became too tired to care and let her body go limp again. Suddenly, she recognized something in the air - a taste, no, a scent of fresh meat and lamb, of soft cakes and tarts made by Berk's best of cooks. She dropped the thought immediately - she was just too hungry, and her senses were beginning to tempt her. Or perhaps she was able to smell the food all the way from the Village. Gods, what a tease that would be each night.
But turning her head to the side as much as she could, she saw a plate piled high with food sitting next to Stormfly, who looked as though she was dying to snap up a chicken leg resting on top, but was holding herself back for some reason. Then she realized; it was for her. Hiccup must have realized that she was hungry, and came as soon as possible to bring her some. And there it was, just out of reach, only a few feet away from her parched throat and empty maw. She sighed. Her day really couldn't get any better, could it?
For a moment, she considered asking Hiccup to put some of it into her mouth but dismissed the thought immediately. Not only would it be incredibly humiliating, but to ask him to do that would be to accept her position, and that was something she most definitely was not going to do. Toothless followed her starved gaze towards the plate and smirked. She decided it would be worth a minute of her time to decide how she was going to tear the dragon to little Toothless shreds when she got out of this. First, of course, she would start with his-
"Fold your wings."
The command was so sudden and abrupt that Astrid nearly jumped. He had said it in such a casual way, not even looking at her.
"What?"
"You heard me," he continued, "fold your wings. They're holding you back. If you try to use them to pick yourself up, you'll only succeed in breaking them, and even that won't flip you back over. You'll need to use your tail, as well."
"You're a lot of help," She snarled back at him. "Why don't you just flip me back over yourself?"
"I can't."
"Very funny," she replied with a snort. "I heard you carried me all the way to that cave on the other side of the island. Don't pretend you're so weak."
"First of all, Stormfly helped me, and secondly, we really can't. There's no way to flip you back over right now. Not without breaking one of your wings."
She mustered the most rebellious look she could while flipped on her back. "I don't care about breaking a wing. Hiccup's trying to change me back, anyway, so they won't even be there."
"You will later on. Broken wings never heal, and from what I've heard, that'll hurt like nothing you've ever felt before. My tailfin alone still aches oftentimes, and it's been years since… That."
She frowned. "Well… I don't know how."
"Yes, you do," he corrected. "You just don't want to."
She didn't respond, trying to look away from him as much as she could, which probably appeared pretty ridiculous.
"It's just like your tail, or anything else. Another limb. I know you can feel it, Astrid, and you can control them, too. I'm not asking you to fly. Just pull them in towards your body."
She sighed. "It's… Different though. Other things don't just… Fold up, all properly like that, and nothing else. They're too… Limited."
Toothless snorted. "If you ever really take to the air, you might not think they're quite so 'limited' anymore."
There was another moment of silence. She saw Hiccup observing the two of them patiently near Stormfly. Syl looked around the ravine, probably trying to act as though she wasn't paying attention, even though she would glance back at them skeptically every few seconds.
"Or," the dragon continued slyly, "We could just leave you here. You could spend many moons just lying here, withering away. How does that sound to you? An eternity to just sit here and THINK. No more running, or jumping, or climbing. You could just sit here for months, weeks, growing lazy and WEAK. Time to think about your life, how you could spend the rest of it down here, doing nothing but lying on your back as Hiccup dangles chicken above your m-"
"Fine!" She snapped. "I'm gonna kill you as soon as I get back up, though."
Grudgingly, she opened up her senses, finally giving in somewhat to the weight of the wings on her back.
Just a limb. Like hands, she tried to convince herself, like really, really big hands.
And so, she… Felt, them. It was similar to her tail, though she could easily tell how right she was about their flexibility - they only really went two ways, no matter what Toothless said. Still, to have two more limbs… It was strange, to say the least.
So she let herself relax a bit, before tensing up almost immediately. They just kept going! At least with her tail, she felt its end as soon as she expected to, but these were just huge. Link after link of skeletal joints all woven to create two perfect extensions of her body, as wide as she was long. But more than anything, powerful, flexible. Not as weapons - no, these served a different purpose, though they could be just as deadly nonetheless…
She blinked. She didn't have time to think about these things. Of course, that was a blatant lie, as she knew that she would probably spend hours after they left just sitting there, feeling them, thinking about what she could do with them if she… If she…
No. She was drifting off again - she'd been spending too much time around Hiccup, and unfortunately begun to pick up his habit of random, blanked-out daydreaming. Maybe some time away from him would do her some good…
Slowly, she started with the tips, finding that each space between the veins and limbs in each wing could be retracted and expanded, greatly changing the space they covered. So she folded in the tips… Then the membrane beyond those… Then the next segment…. Then the next… And so on until she realized they had all contracted as much as she could possibly make them. Still, they jutted out annoyingly from underneath her and onto the ground beside her. The small protrusions she would have to fold against her side from there would have to wait, as they were still being crushed under the weight of her entire upper half on the ground, and didn't seem to have the strength to lift her entire body up.
"Good," Toothless coached, "but a bit slow. It might be fine for right now. But if you ever see some real action and get flipped over, you'd be long since dead by now."
Gobber's old favorite saying returned to her suddenly, and she grimaced. A downed dragon is a dead dragon. And that was all she was, at the moment - a downed dragon in the woods. It was the sad truth…
No. That wasn't true - Hiccup had proven it to both her and the rest of Berk. But she doubted he could make anything for her to wear that would just flip her over. But perhaps she could ask him later… It would probably look ridiculous, anyway.
Besides that, there was another reason she didn't care all that much.
"I'm never going into real combat in this… Body," she reminded him.
"You just did yesterday, remember?" he shot back.
"That was… Different. Not real bloodshed, just blunt hits and tackles."
He frowned. "That may be so, but I had hoped it would prove to you just how much your style will have to change. From what you told us, you never even heard her coming. If even your senses are off… Maybe that's something else you should be practicing."
He padded around her, observing her situation as she looked for a way to get up. "I have to say, though, you've made quite a lot of progress. Many hatchlings will spend weeks with their mother, barely doing much more than crawling. Yet you've nearly mastered walking, and you're already jumping just a few days after becoming one of us."
"I haven't become one of… You." She snapped back quickly. "And I don't need your petty compliments. I've only been 'practicing' because there's nothing else to do down here. Don't you dare think I'm actually curious. Now… What do I do next?"
Toothless sighed. "Use your tail to propel yourself back over. You should try rocking back and forth, too. I think you'll find it's a lot easier now that your wings are folded in."
Reluctantly, she did as he instructed, finding that it was much easier to rock herself back and forth than it was before. Angling her tail to the side, she pushed down with as much force as she possibly could in time with rocking herself in the same direction. With a slight yelp that she was barely able to suppress, she was on her side, and she quickly continued the motion, afraid she would fall back again and landed upright on her feet. She heard a small, dainty gasp from behind her as she grunted. She couldn't tell if it was Hiccup or Syl for the life of her.
"Well, that was… Weird," Hiccup announced after a pause. Obviously looking to change the subject, he quickly blurted, "I brought dinner!"
He blushed when Astrid glanced over at him. "Well, I… It's not really… Mine, ah… I mean to say that I didn't really bring it, but… I did bring some for Toothless, uh…"
He glanced back at an old, wet basket sagging heavily to the side on the ground where they had landed, then at Syl's plate of food, which she had placed carefully in a quickly-made sand mold on the beach to keep it from falling over. The girl's mouth dropped open in disbelief when she realized what he was implying.
"What?! You asked me to bring my food just for her to eat? I barely took a bite out of that! Is this some kind of sick joke?"
Hiccup winced. "Well… She hasn't eaten in days…"
"Neither have I!" Syl retorted.
"You just ate a few minutes ago! It's probably a good thing I stopped you, really. Not sure your frame could support all of that… Anyway, we can get some more when we go back. I'm sure there'll be something left there. And Astrid's… Well, she needs more food now, alright?"
Syl glared at him in response. He sighed. "Astrid?"
THANKS HICCUP
"You're welcome," he replied with a weary smile. Syl rolled her eyes behind him.
After another short argument with Syl, Hiccup managed to convince her that she was far hungrier and more tired than she was, leaving her to simply glare at him. Despite all his flaws, Hiccup's persuasion skills were something that would always continue to surprise Astrid. He was the first Viking she knew who could truly make someone change their mind without any brute force or intimidation needed - it was remarkable. Of course, having a giant, black, fire-spitting dragon of legend around during his squabbles probably didn't hurt, either.
He carefully placed the plate of food on the ground in front of her, then tipped over Toothless's basket with his foot a few feet away, the fish each landing on the ground with a moist SLOOSH.
Astrid looked down at the food, still somehow warm even then, and then back up at him. He blushed. "I… I know you probably have a… A bigger appetite, now, but I thought that at least some food-"
"My food," Syl grumbled.
"-Syl's food would do for now."
Astrid looked the girl in the eyes.
THANK YOU
Syl seemed surprised for a moment but quickly recovered, narrowing her eyes.
"Is that sarcasm? 'Cause you're gonna have to be a bit clearer."
She shook her head.
SACRIFICING YOUR FOOD MEANS A LOT ON BERK
BOTH FOR DRAGONS AND HUMANS
YOU'RE KEEPING ME ALIVE WITH THIS TOO,
DRAGON OR NOT.
"Yeah, well, it wasn't exactly willingly," she mumbled, "But you're welcome."
She looked back down at the food and blinked. A thought that hadn't occurred to her popped into her mind.
How was she supposed to eat it?
Her claws, she realized, were filthy from running around the ravine all day. Not that she cared about her nails, but she would normally at least make sure they weren't too grimy before she ate. Yet here, it would appear as though they would have to serve as her fingers, claws, fork and knife all at once. Unless, of course… No, that was the last resort.
She glanced up at Hiccup for help. He sighed, seeming to understand. "I don't know… I could always just… Spoon feed it to you, I guess. Just put it in your mouth, or…"
She shook her head quickly. That would be far too embarrassing, and she almost hated him for just bringing up the concept, though she knew it was probably one of the most valid options she had. She looked back down at the plate and groaned.
"Just eat it." Toothless sighed, padding over to his own feast.
"It's not that simple."
"Yes, it is," he replied. "Your instincts know what to do. You're shaking from hunger, Astrid. Did you notice that? If you don't try soon then your instincts WILL take over for you, and your head will be half deep in that before you know it. Do you really want them to see you like that?"
She frowned. She had a feeling he was bluffing. After all, she had been near starving before without her body taking over when she saw food, yet it could always have been some weird dragon thing…
She shook her head at him and laid down. "I hate you."
"I'm trying to be nice, here," he replied, slurping down a whole salmon, "you could always come over here and try some of this. It's a lot easier to swallow, and the taste…" He purred as the small lump of raw fish traveled down his throat.
She shivered, turning back to her plate. As delicately as a dragon could, she released her talons, attempting to pick up a piece of sliced pork. Though the attempt was successful at first, she dropped it a few inches before it reached her mouth, and she realized another major flaw of the plan. Her arms - no, legs - weren't made to bend up toward her head. She could still bend them back somewhat, but it was clumsy and awkward, and they wouldn't reach her mouth, anyway.
Grumbling, she looked back at her claw and tried to wipe it on a small stone lying nearby, with little success. Still, she pierced the slice of ham, once again attempting to bring it up to her mouth, but still falling short.
She sighed and glanced up at Syl and Hiccup. They appeared to be talking to one another about something, annoying Astrid but still saving her the embarrassment of failing at supper, of all things.
Checking one last time to make sure nobody was watching, she leaned down, and slowly, tenderly, licked the top of the slice of ham.
It tasted… Bland. Rather disappointing, really, especially considering the incredible scent she had been tortured with since they landed. Regardless, she dipped her head back down to the plate - it was food, and that was what mattered. She picked it up with her mouth, and swallowed, then moved on to the next, then the next, finding that she didn't even have to chew most of the time, but being careful nonetheless. Still, she began to go faster, and faster, slurping and biting up food quietly at first, then savagely as she searched for something, anything to sate her taste buds, yet the more she ate, the hungrier she became, until… Yes, yes! That was something! She couldn't quite tell what the flavor was, but something was there! Perhaps a sweet tart, or some chicken… She didn't care. She closed her eyes, savoring it, and then dove into it. It tasted amazing! She felt as though she could sit there and eat whatever it was forever, yet... Something was off. Perhaps it was the fact that she had been able to dive into it, or how the ravine had grown eerily quiet was what set her off. After a moment, still savoring the taste of that excellent something in her mouth, she bothered to open her eyes.
She looked around. Syl and Hiccup were both staring at her, slack-jawed. Turning her head, she saw that Toothless was deadly still, as well, standing right next to her. When had that happened?
"Astrid…" He said with concern. Underneath, however, she could almost detect a hint of smugness, for some reason.
She looked down.
She was buried snout-deep in Toothless's pile of fish.
The silence was deathly as she realized what had happened.
"I tried to warn y-"
"SHUT UP!" She screeched.
She spat in horrified disgust, feeling the sticky goop that covered the fish coating her entire mouth and throat. Desperately, she whirled her tongue around her mouth, trying to get the stickiness off as much as she could. But it didn't really feel bad… And it tasted quite good…
She shook her head. No, this was a mistake. She did not like raw fish. Raw, rotten fish, she remembered, thinking back to the muck that had spilled out of the old basket Hiccup had brought. The muck that was in her mouth at that moment!
She darted to the lake, dunking her entire head in and letting it fill with water. Keeping it there until she grew afraid she might run out of air, she pulled it back up, and spat again, then again, then again. Still growling, she walked back over to the four of them, who were still frozen in place.
"Are…" Syl started, breaking the silence, "are you sure she's your girlfriend? And not just some dragon you found in the woods that's pretending to be your girlfriend?"
"Y-yes," Hiccup replied, though she heard the slightest bit of trepidation and a whole lot of fear in his voice.
"Are you sure she didn't eat your girlfriend?" Syl retorted, taking a step back.
"Yes, I'm sure!" He replied confidently, before frowning. "Uh, right, Astrid?"
She rolled her eyes. He glanced toward Toothless, who looked at him, then Astrid, then back at him, and nodded quickly.
Syl sighed. "Because I'm really starting to think-"
I AM ASTRID!
Astrid wrote as furiously as she possibly could.
Syl frowned. "That sounds like something a dragon who's not Astrid would say."
She groaned, as did Hiccup.
"I think Astrid's just a bit tired, Syl. She still needs some rest. Especially since she just… Uh… Ate… Bad choice of words."
Astrid grumbled in agreement.
"Listen, Syl, could you just leave us alone for a while?" He asked.
She raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? What if she tries to eat you, too-"
I JUST ATE A FISH OR TWO
IT WAS A MISTAKE
AND ALL THE MORE REASON
FOR YOU TO LEAVE.
NOTHING IS WRONG WITH ME
AND YOU'RE BLOWING THIS
OUT OF PROPORTION.
Hiccup nodded. "This is ridiculous. Syl, just meet me back in the Great Hall, alright? Tell them I forgot to feed Toothless or something, and that we went out for a flight, if they ask. Get some food for yourself."
"Really?" Syl asked, eyes brightening slightly. "I'll see you two weirdos later, then. Don't eat him, alright, 'Astrid'? He's my main source of food right now, and yours too. Though in a different way."
With that, she quickly hopped on Stormfly, and they were off into the night sky, towards the village, leaving the three of them alone in the dark ravine. It was a while before Hiccup spoke out.
"So, uh… That was a bit… Um…"
IT NEVER HAPPENED
"Right, right," he replied swiftly. "But, I mean, you seemed to be enjoying yourself… At least a little. Do… Do you want me to bring you fish from now on? It might have something to do with their diet… It's definitely not you, I know that. Well, not that you don't like, uh, rotten fish, but... " His voice trailed off.
She began to shake her head, before taking a moment to think. It wouldn't be so bad. Maybe Hiccup was right about their diet. She had never seen Toothless eat anything but fish, come to think of it. Maybe anything else would make them sick… Which meant she could only eat those sweet, slippery…
No. Just before she nodded, she restrained herself. This was crazy! If the Astrid from a week before had seen her even contemplating this now, even as a dragon, she would've called her feral and mad. She shook her head.
"Well, then, there is something else… Toothless?" The dragon's ears perked up at his name. "Do you, uh, want to tell us something, bud? Or tell Astrid something?" Hiccup frowned, probably thinking about how he never thought he would have to ask that question.
The dragon shrugged innocently.
"Pretty sure he means the whole 'going completely blank mid-flight' thing there, Toothless," She prompted.
His eyes widened in mock remembrance. "Oh, that. It was nothing. I was really tired. It was just…" He smiled, "a little Hiccup."
She frowned and turned to Hiccup, shaking her head. He sighed and walked over to her, leaning his face down into her ear.
"He did it again when we were heading back this morning, but it was… Different," he whispered, "We had landed, and he seemed to blank out again. Syl was off in the woods, and so I went to get her, but when I came back he was… In pain. Something wrong with his head, it looked like, but I couldn't tell what happened."
She looked back over at the Night Fury, who was trying to avert his gaze as calmly as he could.
"Toothless, he said you looked like you were in pain. Is that ri-"
"I told you I was tired!" He snapped back with a growl, recoiling a bit at her surprised expression. "And I had an… Itch."
"An… Itch?"
"Yes," he replied, "An itch. It was on my head, and I just... couldn't quite reach it."
She frowned again. He had spoken - or thought - confidently, though she could still sense a hint of uneasiness underneath his sound resilience. Still, she decided not to press him any further for the moment - it probably wasn't a great idea to press an angry Night Fury, anyway - and turned to Hiccup.
HE SAID HE HAD AN ITCH
Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "An-"
AN ITCH
She wrote, giving him a look that told him that it was definitely not an itch, but that he shouldn't go any further. Sighing, he pulled his notebook from one of his pockets and jotted something down quickly.
"Moving on, then," he continued after an awkward silence. "I know you don't remember much of what happened, and Toothless was bound up in that bola Syl set, but… I was wondering if there was anything else you might be able to tell me about the transformation? We haven't had too many free moments yet, and I thought it might be a good time…"
IT BURNED
"Burned?" He asked. "Like… Fire?"
She nodded slowly.
IT BURNED
BUT IT BURNED FROM THE INSIDE
IT FELT MORE LIKE
SOMETHING WAS COMING OUT OF MY SKIN
THAN IT WAS OUTSIDE.
THAT'S WHEN THE SCALES STARTED POPPING OUT
He nodded, anxiously scribbling in his notebook.
THEN WHEN THE SCALES WERE DONE
MY BODY STARTED TO CHANGE
I HEARD TOOTHLESS SCREAMING
AND THUNDER AND LIGHTNING
LIKE ONLY THOR HIMSELF
MUST HAVE SUMMONED.
I THINK THERE WAS A PUDDLE
OR A POND, OR SOMETHING
BUT I REMEMBER LOOKING IN
AND SEEING MY FACE
THEN I PASSED OUT.
He nodded, eyes still glued to his notes. "Do you remember what happened around when the acid was dropped on you? I haven't gotten a chance to ask Syl about it much yet, but she told me earlier that it wasn't anything that special. Not special enough to turn anybody into a dragon, anyway. But she could always be lying."
Astrid nodded. There was no way in hell she would ever trust that girl. The only reason she hadn't killed her already was because she had seen the lengths Hiccup had gone through to impress his father, and even he hadn't been willing to kill anybody, well, anybody but a dragon. That also raised the question, if Hiccup had been there to pick up the shield and have the acid dumped on his head instead, would he have turned into a Night Fury? What if it had killed him, or worse? If that was the case, she would've put herself in his place in a heartbeat.
THERE WAS THE SHIELD
THAT I PICKED UP
THE ACID POURED DOWN ON ME
MOST OF IT MISSED MY HEAD
BUT IT WAS BURNING THROUGH
MY ARMOR QUICKLY
I FELT IT ON MY SKIN FOR A MOMENT
AND THEN IT JUST
CHANGED.
He nodded slowly. "Does Toothless remember anything?"
The dragon frowned.
"That girl made it so that I would watch you - or Hiccup - burn, I know it. Still, I was trying to get out of that cursed thing most of the time, so I wasn't paying too much attention. I could tell something was happening to you, though. I just didn't want you to die. I heard some screeching, and when I finally got out, I just saw one of the blood lying there. I thought you were dead or eaten. We… We don't eat humans, not purposefully, no matter what that girl says. But sometimes in a bad spot, we can bite, and snap, and… It has been known to happen. I thought that maybe that dragon had… I saw your furs and metals torn up..."
He frowned, and his eyes grew still in deep thought. Astrid recited what he had said to Hiccup.
"I'm…" Hiccup began after a pause, "I'm sorry you had to go through that. Both of you, I… It was my fault. We work better as a team, and if I hadn't told you to leave, maybe…"
Toothless purred in understanding, walked up to him and started licking his face. After a moment of trepidation, she said "screw it" and started licking him, too. It was kind of funny - not quite as personal as kissing, but still warm and sympathetic. Hiccup giggled and pushed them both away after a moment.
"Alright, alright! I'm just glad you're both okay." He leaned in, and spread his skinny arms around both of their necks, pulling them both in towards him. They all stayed there like that for a moment, enjoying those few seconds of peace and happiness, none of them really wanting to pull away. It was Hiccup who finally did.
"Well, I guess we should probably head back, now. Sleep tight, Astrid. I'll… I'll see you in the morning."
He said it with enthusiasm, but they all knew the darker meaning behind it - if Syl left in the morning, that was it. They would have to reveal their plan and what Astrid had become. They could only pray that wouldn't be the case.
A few more goodbyes from Hiccup, as well as a few questions, and Hiccup climbed on Toothless to leave. Just before they did, however, Astrid yelled out "Wait!"
Toothless turned around to see her dash away into the woods. She returned a moment later with a few twigs in her mouth. She let them fall to the ground in front of him. She had been careful to carry them with her teeth, so as not to wet them with her tongue.
Toothless breathed a small stream of fire at it through his tongue, making one of the twigs burst into flame, and soon lighting the others.
"Thank you," she replied.
He only nodded in response.
"Toothless," She said as he turned back toward the village, "take care of yourself, alright?"
"I…" He started, obviously, a bit surprised, "I will."
They took off, and Astrid was alone with her small fire.
The way Hiccup had talked about Toothless… The dragon had been sick before, and he had worried and worried and did everything he could until he was well again. Sometimes he would even make himself sick in the process, not eat or sleep for days as he stayed by his side. Toothless rarely left his, either, when he got a cold. Yet this time… He sounded truly desperate.
She stared into the flames until something shiny beyond them caught her eye. Lifting her head up, she saw that a small pile of fish still lay beyond the pile of twigs.
She frowned.
Maybe it wouldn't hurt…