Mine or Yours – Pure Evil
He needed air. But he had no time to take some. He held his breath and braced himself for the next clash. Gobber swung and the blades resonated with a strong vibe. His ears ringed at the sound and Hiccup tried to straighten his back again. He led the blade to the side, causing Gobber's blade to slide to the side as well, hitting nothing. He took another deep breath and took a defensive stance.
"You can't defend the whole time Hiccup. You have to attack when the time is right. You just let a great chance slip by," Gobber lectured him as he swung again. Hiccup gritted his teeth as he forced Gobber's sword away by parrying. Hiccup was about to strike for the first time when the door suddenly opened. Forth came a black-haired brawn with too shiny white teeth. Following behind him were another two men and two girls. One of them was even larger than the black-haired one. He had dirty blond hair and a rather round face. Although there were plenty of muscles underneath his tunic. Next to him was a thin man with long blond hair as well. His gaze was… interesting. He looked around and took everything in, as if he found every little thing interesting. A weird guy. Behind the men were the two girls who Hiccup recognized right away. They were the same two girls who had hid themselves in the tree on the previous day. Astrid wore the same things she wore during the introduction. The girl next to her had long blonde hair as well, braided to both sides. They all took a weapon. Astrid was about to grab a sword until Gobber stepped in.
"Nuh-uh. You will not take part in our training. You're the princess, if you haven't forgotten. Your mother will skin me if she finds out about it."
"My mother doesn't need to know," Astrid replied while she rolled her eyes.
"Nope. You won't take part in it. That's final," Gobber instructed as he took her sword away.
"Aw come on! We have done this every time and mother never found out!" she tried to argue as she swung her arms annoyed to the air. Gobber pursed his lips and thought for a moment. His eyes fell down on Hiccup who was still huffing from their training just moments ago. He smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. "Alright, I'll let you in." Her face lit up and she was about to jump from all the joy. "On one condition." She groaned and her arms fell defeated to her sides. At least, she had the chance to take part in it. Might as well listen to his condition.
"Which would be?" she asked annoyed. Gobber pointed with his thumb in Hiccup's direction. "You have to win against him."
"What?!" both exclaimed with a loud voice. Astrid was the first to complain, "Are you serious? He can't even stand straight! He can't even hold a sword without losing his breath!"
"What?!" Hiccup gave her an offended look while Gobber just smirked.
"If that's the case, it should be an easy win for you, right?" he taunted her and great gods, she fell for it. "Of course, I can!" Astrid snapped and took the sword from his grab, stomping towards Hiccup. He however was still a bit out of breath and remained on the grass, catching as much rest as he could.
"Hiccup, if you lose, I'll forbid you from riding Toothless for the next whole week," Gobber said nonchalantly as he watched Hiccup's face turning to several shades of red.
"What?! Do I have any say in this?" he complained and stood up, about to confront his guardian when Astrid stepped in front of him.
"Let's get it over with," she said annoyed and crossed her arms over her chest.
"You can't just-!"
"Hiccup!" Gobber's raised voice pierced through his ears and Hiccup halted. He looked at him with a mix of confusion and anger. After the two men both held a staring contest for a few seconds, Hiccup gave in.
"Excuse me my rudeness, M'Lady. It is a pleasure to be allowed to fight you." The sarcasm that underlined his apology just angered the Princess even more now. He even gave a mocking bow before he drew his sword. He directed that sarcasm to Gobber though. Never did he think about how the Princess might take it. How dare he take her lightly? Who did he think he was? She thought that he might be an interesting fellow since he did not rat on them, but now it was a different story. She shall eat a broom if she did not take him down now. Both stood a few feet away from each other as they collected their thoughts. Astrid had already taken down everyone, including the Jorgenson boy. She would not allow herself to fall to that scrawny jerk.
"Begin."
And that was the signal for Astrid. She immediately sprinted towards him and expected him to lose his cool from her sudden attack. However, against her predictions, Hiccup stood still and watched her calmly. To hell with his attitude. She took a large swing and the blade clashed with his. She had not expected him to withhold her with such a firm strength though. Hiccup continued to play defensive. He stayed calm, collected and focused. Astrid had tried to force the sword out of his hands recklessly, which tired her out faster than she would have liked to admit. She realized that she could not attack without a strategy as she did with everyone else. Hiccup had held his sword with both his hands the whole time. It was the first time that he let go with one hand and stood with his side to her, the sword in his right hand. He looked at her, his gaze focused solely on her. He took in her every movement, every indication for another attack. It was now Astrid's turn to take a defensive stance, which surprised Hiccup. Attack. He lifted his sword with one arm, tightening his muscles while he did so. Attack. Her side was wide open. He could close the gap between them with three steps at most and parry her sword, forcing it to the ground and he would be able to attack her. He did not know why, but she guarded her right side more than she did on her left. Attack. He could take her down. He saw so many possibilities playing out in front of him. So many possibilities to win. He was about to take a step forward before he froze.
"You monster!"
"You aren't normal!"
"Stay away from me!"
"I hate you!"
"You could never be one of us!"
Gobber noticed his strange behavior immediately and raised his hand. "Stop!"
But Astrid did not listen. She had seen how he let his guard down and she would be doomed if she did not take the chance. He would try to parry her sword and that would be the point where she would take the advantage to spin his sword and force it out of his hand. "I said stop!" Gobber's voice did not reach the two. That girl did not know what she was up against. She will get hurt if he did not stop the fight. He knew that maybe she would be able to cure Hiccup's traumatic past. However, he totally forgot what risk it bore if his theory indeed proved to be right.
Hiccup saw from the corner of his eyes how Astrid was charging at him and that was when his mind went into a blank state, causing his body to move on autopilot. He could see it. He saw every part of her body that was unguarded. He saw routes he could take to take her down, to knock her out… to kill her. He could kill her! Attack. Don't stop. Attack. Attack her. And then he switched the sword into his left hand and parried her sword with ease. Astrid grinned widely and looked up to see his panicking face. However, she froze when she was confronted with a cold and hungry gaze. She put more force behind her grip and tried to spin his sword out of his hand. Hiccup saw through her and let his sword spin as she wanted, loosening his grip on the hilt for a second before he gripped it tightly again, forcing the spin to continue, her hand to loosen before he could hurt her wrist. He took a step forward, yanking her sword out of her hand as it fell to the ground. Astrid reached out to grab her sword again when she suddenly heard blades clash just above her neck. She froze and did not move. Astrid tilted her head a bit to see what had just happened and met Hiccups gaze. He was staring at her, no… he was staring at her exposed neck, where his sword should have landed. The only reason it did not reach was because Gobber had stopped the attack just at the right time with another sword that he grabbed from the weapons stand. His eyes… they were cold, cruel,… and lonely. She did not even realize that she had just lost the deal until Gobber told her to get up and about while he could still hold Hiccup's attack.
"Hiccup."
The boy did not move his eyes away from Astrid and followed her retreating feature before he felt a sharp pain meeting his cheek. Gobber had slapped him and caused his head to turn away from the blonde girl. Hiccup blinked several times before he realized what he had just done. He had nearly killed… again. He looked at Gobber with widened eyes before his eyes lay on Astrid again. He lowered the sword and took a step back. He bit his lip as he put the sword back to its stand and left. He needed to take a ride. Right now. And just like that, he turned his back to the others and made haste to the stall.
Astrid was still shocked. He beat her without breaking into a sweat. As if it was nothing. Gobber walked towards her and lay a hand on her shoulder. "Is everything alright?"
"He beat me."
"Aye, that he did."
"He didn't go easy on me."
"Yes."
"He tried to kill me."
Gobber pursed his lips and thought about how he could explain it to her without harming Hiccup in any way. "Astrid, listen-"
"Interesting." She smirked and a mischievous glint found its way into her eyes.
"I know, but- wait. What?" Gobber snapped his head in her direction. Had he misheard her?
"The deal's on." She shook Gobber's hand off and put her sword to the stand as well.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait! Astrid, what are you talking about?" Gobber shook his head and arms and everything that could be shaken at the same time.
"You said that I can't take part in your training unless I beat Henry, right?" she asked for confirmation.
"Well, yeah, but-"
"Good. I will so fucking kill him." She grinned wide and went back to the castle, plans and strategies already forming in her mind.
"No swearing in my presence! God damn it!" Gobber groaned in frustration and turned back to the knights who were left in the end. "Why in gods name am I surrounded by hotheaded brats?!" It had been a stupid idea. He should have never made that deal. Stopping Hiccup is one thing but stopping Hiccup and Astrid at the same time is a whole lot worse than massaging the stinky feet of his mother. He pinched the bridge of his nose and went back to the remaining youngsters. Hopefully they would not pull crazy stuns too. He did not know how much he could take for the rest of the day.
…
Astrid was thrilled, excited… happy. The competitiveness of her had caused most of the nobles in her age to stay away from her. Or rather, they tried to be as polite as they could be. She was the Princess and everybody knew that there could be consequences if the Princess was displeased. The only people who would not be afraid of a fight with her were Snotlout and Ruffnut. But after a while it got boring to defeat them every single time. Snotlout would either go easy on her, because she was the Princess, or because she was a girl, and Ruffnut would simply charge right into her, leaving too many openings. Anyway, now it was a different story. That new guy who was to stay in the same castle as her looked delicious enough to devour. He had skill and he would probably be able to sate her thirst for battle and fight. She was not someone to complain about peace. Peace was good. Really. But sometimes it was just so boring that she would wish for some adventure to come around the corner and greet her. It seemed as if the gods have answered her prayers. First she had to find him and demand another battle. There was still the possibility that it was all a fluke and he won by chance. She would make sure this time to approach him carefully with each swing. If after that he still manages to beat her, she shall make him her new playmate. She smirked to herself and she walked towards a guard, telling him to bring him to her. The guard had listened to her request attentively, rushing to accomplish his task as fast as possible – partly because he knew her short temper.
Astrid went to her chamber and lay down on her soft bed covers, sinking in a bit as she let out a long sigh. She went over her memory of him again – not much to begin with but still. Her first impression on him was that he was a quiet fellow. He was also kind of relaxed. If he were stiff, he might have just told the guard yesterday that she was hiding in the tree. The next time she saw him was in the throne hall. He was polite and had manners. His back was straighter than most of the guard's in the castle, yet there was an ominous atmosphere surrounding him. As if he were unreachable. As if he was not quite present during the introduction. He had held himself back, for some unknown reason. And then there was this battle. Gods, he gave her a mocking bow! And even dared to ridicule her by telling that sarcastic apology! Her cheeks went red again at the sheer memory. Anger filled her mind as she sat up. She was so going to kill him.
Knock, knock, knock.
She turned to the door and sighed. "Come in." The door opened and revealed the guard she had given the order to look for Hiccup. Her face brightened at the thought that she was about to get the chance to take revenge on him. Her excitement was met with disappointment though when the guard spoke up. "We cannot find Henry, Princess. He might be out in town." Out in town? Now he is making her wait, too? He sure had guts. Her face contorted into an angry grimace as she stood up. She has to do everything herself! She took a cloak and her sword as she passed the guard. "P-Princess! Where are you going?"
"I'm going to find that jerk!" Her voice was filled with annoyance and anger, maybe a tint of frustration. She went to the stall and looked for her horse. At the end of the hall was a white one who already wore light blue armor with golden lines to underline the light colors. "Come on, girl. We're going to find him and make him regret he ever mocked me!" she said as she mounted the horse, riding out of the stall and towards the gate. She was thinking about where to look first until Snotlout dragged her out of her thoughts.
"No Princess leaves the castle without her personal knight!" he said, huffing as he pressed his chest forward with a proud grin on his face. She rolled her eyes and rode even faster. He was the last person she needed now. All her focus was on that tall, scrawny jerk who she was so obsessed on getting revenge from.
…
Hiccup lay in the straw next to Toothless in the stall. He let out a sigh of relief as he settled down, relaxing his shoulders. Actually he wanted to take a ride but found himself too tired to do so, which was why he simply stayed next to Toothless. The black mustang had been a gift from his father for his 15th birthday. He was now 19 years old, meaning, he had Toothless for five years now. In those five years, he and Toothless had gotten attached to each other so much that Hiccup had even refused to have more horses, or emergency horses after Toothless had broken its leg once. He had slept in the stall for over a week, tending to Toothless as much as he could while he provided human warmth. It was a miracle that Toothless could fully recover from that injury since the leg had been twisted in a disgusting way.
Toothless lay next to him, his head on Hiccup's lap as he dozed off. Hiccup smiled to himself as the scene reminded him of a big, spoiled cat. His mind went back to the moment when an angry blonde girl had cursed right next to him as she took a horse outside. Great, it was his first day in the castle and he already managed to piss of one of the royal family. Just great. He did not even intend to piss her off. He was polite the whole time, was he not? The only time he shifted from polite to rude was when he addressed Gobber in the middle of his sentence. Anyway, that girl really had to work on her temper.
Then again, he did nearly kill her. He made a note to himself to confront Gobber the next time concerning that matter. He of all people should know about his opinion, yet he still forced him to go up against the Princess. What did he think he could achieve by doing so! One wrong move and Hiccup could have gotten Gobber and himself banned from the country. Worse, they could have been sentenced to death! Hiccup let out a groan as he lay his arm over his eyes. He needed to indulge in this temporary darkness to hide away from everything. His head hurt and his hand still trembled. That was exactly the reason why he was so against training. Gobber had forced him every single time to confront himself with the problem. He was afraid… of himself. He hated violence. He hated it, yet everytime people forced him to use it, he found pleasure in doing so. It was so contradicting. He loved to overpower someone with his swordsmanship. It was proof of his hard work and his father's patience in teaching him. His father had told him that he should never use violence to overthrow someone or something, but to protect and to defend. But how was he supposed to protect and defend people from enemies if he cannot even defend people from himself.
He should apologize to her. It was the least he could do. She is royal in the end, and he was known as some farmer's son, probably. He sighed again and lay a hand on Toothless head, stroking him while he relaxed more. He needed to apologize. But… the apology could wait a bit. He really felt like sleeping right now and that is exactly what he was going to do. The warmth that Toothless shared was enough to soothe his body and after a few seconds, Hiccup fell asleep. Far away from worry and hurt into a dream about his home and father.
…
Astrid stomped furiously through the halls and snapped at everyone who dared to stop her. Snotlout was trudging behind her with a bandage around his face. He was the first one to fall to her anger and it certainly looked as painful as it felt. Astrid was at her limits and stopped in her tracks, making Snotlout halt just as sudden as he nearly lost his balance.
"God damn it, leave me alone!" she yelled and closed the door to her chamber with a loud bang when she arrived. Snotlout, now totally worn out and tired from the chase, gave up for the day and returned to his room. She was lucky that she was so beautiful to capture his interest. She should be honored! Yet all she does is ignoring him and bad-mouthing him. He sighed. What a girl.
Astrid threw the cloak on the ground and changed her sword with her axe that hung on the wall. She needed to let out some steam. All this anger and fury is making her light-headed and would keep her awake the whole night. She opened the door and stomped through the halls again, her axe on her shoulders, which kept every guard and maid away. They knew what it meant when she held her axe like that. And her face was proof enough that their assumption was right.
Hiccup yawned and rubbed his eyes. It was a bad idea to sleep in the stall. The moment he woke up, it had been in the middle of the night and it was cold. He sneezed and rubbed his arms together. He should have taken his coat with him. She turned around the corner and looked to the wall again. There that empty space was again. He stopped in his tracks and looked and it. A cold shiver ran down his spine at the memory of the furious Princess. Gods, he really needed to avoid her. He did not know her for long, but he was sure she would beat him to a pulp if she found him. He walked faster and followed the hall. His eyes were on his feet as he tried to come up with a good apology. What he did not realize was that footsteps were drawing nearer as he tried to form an appropriate apology that could sound sincere and honest. Then he felt a shadow hovering over him and he lifted his head. A small yet strong fist met his abdomen with all the force that the swing brought with it. Hiccup gasped and crouched down, falling to his knees. He coughed and tried to inhale as much air as he could to replace the hole in his chest where the air got knocked out.
"Why would you do that?" He fell to the side and his eyes met those sky blue eyes again. Oh gods, saying that she was furious would be an understatement. He was sure that she was the devil personally now as her face turned into an unhealthy shade of red.
"That was for making me search you the whole day! And this-" She let her axe fall with the hilt on his abdomen again, making him groan in pain again. "Is for everything else!" Hiccup was sure that he would not survive the night if he did not escape immediately. He coughed and covered his abdomen from another possible attack. However, she just let out a row of curses under her breath as she stepped over him, leaving him behind as she went down the hall. Urgh, at least he needed to apologize. He forced himself to stand up and tried to reach out to her. Each movement brought pain to the spot she hit him. Gods, where did that girl get so much strength?
"I-I'm sorry!" he managed loud enough to make her stop and turn around. Her face turned into a grimace before she frowned.
"Sorry?"
"Y-Yeah. I'm sorry that I nearly killed you… M'Lady."
"Urgh! Don't call me that! Are you mocking me again?!" She was now stomping towards him again and had already raised her fist.
"No no no! I'm serious! I'm sorry I nearly killed you… I didn't mean to. A-And it's only appropriate to call you like that. You are the Princess," he tried to reason. Her fist stopped mid-air as she tried to make sense out of him. She lowered her fist but held it ready nonetheless.
"Oh, and let me guess. It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to apologize to me!" she mimicked him as she spat those words into his face.
"Excuse me?" Now he was lost for words. What was she talking about?
"Don't Excuse-me me! You know exactly what I'm talking about!" No. No, actually, he does not.
He thought about the way she used his words and rephrased it several times until it clicked. Oh, she thought he had directed his sarcasm towards her! Gods be with him, why did everyone misunderstand him.
"Oh."
"Oh! Is that all you have to say?!" She was now yelling at him, about to raise her axe instead of her fist.
"Stop stop stop! You've misunderstood!" She stopped again and waited for him to continue. "It- Well- I-" Smooth, Hiccup. Smooth.
"Get to the point!" Her patience was running out with every passing second and she needed to vent off somewhere on something… or someone.
"I didn't mean to mock you! I-It was meant for G- Sir Gobber! I would never ridicule you on purpose!" he tried to convince her of his innocence. Astrid raised an eyebrow and glared at him. "Are you making fun of me?"
Hiccup lifted his arms in surrender immediately, shaking his head so fast that the vision in front of him blurred for a moment. "No! No making fun of you. I'm serious! Dead serious! Absolutely serious! So serious I might bite my fingers off!"
Astrid watched him, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. Suddenly all her anger flew away and left an amusing sight in front of her. He was… fun. Teasing him was fun, that is. Still, she was not dumb enough to give him the sense of security that he so dearly sought from her face. No, let him agitate a little bit more. His hands trembled and she bit on her lip to stop the giggle that threatened to come out.
"Okay. Apology accepted," she said, lowering her axe as she still stared at him with a frown. Hiccup sighed out, relieved that he managed to escape a painful and probably disgraceful death. "But." Oh yeah, he forgot that it was Princess Astrid, he was talking about – the daughter of the devil.
"You have to fight me again." Yes. Pure evil.
"I think that isn't a good idea," he said with raised finger, emphasizing his point by trying to warn her from him himself.
"If it's a good idea or bad idea is my problem. Do you accept or not?" She was now standing with her hands on her hips as she glared him down. Hiccup winced and sighed, "Yes, M'Lady."
"Good. I'll see you tomorrow." He expected her to turn away and go back to her way, but was disappointed as he felt another sharp pain spread from his arm to his mind.
"Ow! Why? What was that for?!"
"That. Was for- …nothing. I just felt like doing it," she smirked and went on her way to her chamber. Hiccup sat on the ground as he watched her retreating form. Really, what was up with the people in this country? They were all so… weird. He scratched the back of his head and stood up. He looked back to the empty space again. Urgh, devil. He turned his gaze away and resumed his walk to his chamber. As his legs worked for him, his mind went over the many possibilities how the Princess could be painted. Maybe some horns here and a bat tail there and it would be perfect. He snorted at himself and shook his head. Really, he had a very, very, very long stay to look forward to. May god stand beside him and guide him through this hell on earth.
Date of Update: 17th February 2016
~ KeGzZ
