Mine or Yours – The Man In Black
Hiccup's heart beat fast. His senses were working full time as he avoided the greatest doom he ever met. Why did he even agree to that stupid deal? Stupid, stupid him. He let out a sigh and let his guard down for now. He was in his chamber, working on some black leather. Hiccup had purchased it on his journey with Gobber along with a few needles and black wool. Somewhere along the journey, he let a woman work the wool into strings. That is how he ended up here, sewing his own armor. Gobber told him that he could just get the armor from King Alphonse but Hiccup had refused. He did not like standing out and he preferred to match Toothless. He had finished his pants just a while ago and was now working on his breastplate, or rather, what was supposed to be a replacement for a breastplate. It left his arms naked and bare – just as he liked it. That way he could move around better. He sewed for another few hours and worked on his armguards and belt until his back could not take it anymore. He dropped the half-finished armguards on his table and stretched his back. Looking at his progress, he realized that he still lacked material. As he sighed, he stood up and pulled the cloak over his shoulder.
On the way, he passed the same wall again, where the empty space was still waiting for the painting of the Princess. Though, this time he did not stop at his track to look at it. He passed it and moved towards the stable. He did not enter it though. Instead, he put two fingers in between his lips as he let out a melodic whistle. Toothless' eyes snapped open and lifted his head. Hiccup whistled again and Toothless began to shove the door open. Hiccup trusted Toothless with his life and knew that he would not escape if he unlocked the door. He did not like the thought of trapping Toothless anyway. Toothless looked around to search for that particular black leather that only Hiccup possessed. He found it hanging on the wall and knocked it with his head down. He picked it up and went out of the stable, dragging the saddle behind him. Hiccup smirked and went over to lend him a hand. He lifted the saddle while Toothless lay down on the ground to make it easier for him to put the saddle on. Really, what would he do without him?
Hiccup made sure that everything was at its rightful place before he mounted Toothless. "Let's fetch some things, shall we, bud?" Hiccup told him with a smile. The black mustang just looked forward and waited for the kick before they both went off and left the castle. After they turned at the corner, Astrid came out of the stable. She wore a look that held confusion as well as admiration. She never saw a horse do something as… selfless (?), no, rather human, as that black horse had just did. Not to mention that it was probably well trained and to some extent intelligent. How did he do that? Suddenly, overcome with curiosity, she decided to follow him. She went to retrieve Stormfly, her horse, and hopped onto her. She was about to leave the castle when a certain black-haired macho blocked her way.
"Out of my way, Snotlout!" she yelled, not stopping in her tracks.
"No princess goes without her- Woah!" Snotlout ducked as Astrid forced Stormfly to jump over them. Snotlout felt how her hooves barely graced his hair. That girl was insane, absolutely insane. And that was exactly why he followed her everywhere. It all had started out with his father forcing him to become a knight of the royal family. At first, he had just groaned in frustration as the training went on dry and boring. But when they promoted him to an official knight, he was immediately put into Astrid's security unit. The first time he saw her was as you might imagine – she was perfect. Perfect enough to get his interest, and that had to say something, right? And he was perfect too, so they were a perfect match. But he knew how the king always went on about maintaining the royal blood as clean as possible, which meant that Astrid was only to be married to a blonde, blue-eyed prince or noble. Tough luck. He turned around and followed her with a sigh. He did not know how much he could take until he would seriously die out of tiredness.
While Snotlout's eyes were all on Astrid's back, Astrid's eyes were on Hiccup's back… in the far. Gods, how fast was he? She leaned down a bit and muttered, "Come on, girl. I know you can keep up." Astrid kicked her heels and Stormfly took it up a notch, closing in on the black duo slowly but surely. She looked behind for a moment and watched as she left Snotlout behind. A grin formed on her face as she praised herself for bringing down two flies in one go. Her eyes were back to the one surrounded by the darkest hue there was on earth. From behind, he looked like a reaper. The way the cloak floated and how fast he cleared his way was as if he was on his way to guide the souls to heaven. Someone who floated between space and time, reality and fantasy, past and future, life and death. He was quiet one day, and another one he would keep on stuttering apologies to her. She followed him for a long while and noticed that she was really curious about his body. The cloak that surrounded him made it difficult for her to make out his build. She was definitely not checking him out. She was just taking notes as she researched her new rival… or enemy.
Her eyes narrowed when he entered a large crowd of people. Shit, how was she supposed to find him there? She slowed down and was immediately greeted by the citizen. Children smiled and pointed with a finger in her direction, calling out her name as they jumped joyfully. The parents would keep them away from her as to not disturb the Princess and Astrid was grateful for that. If there was one thing she could not handle, or did not know how to handle, it was kids. Sure, her father expected her to have some in the future and she too wanted to have her own child, and she loved children, but that was very far in the future. She wanted to enjoy her life a little bit more, independent from all the expectations that burdened her. Adrian was heir anyway, so why were they so eager to marry her off? She was lucky there was no noble out there, who was blond, had blue eyes and was on good terms with her father. She thanked the gods that there was no prince with that appearance out there. All the blind dates that her father had set her up with were, to put it in one word, catastrophic. They were all jerks, arrogant, and so sure of themselves that they might be the chosen one just because they matched her father's description. Either they would creep her out or she would make sure to scare them away. And every time her axe had helped her out more than enough. Her axe. Did she mention that she loved her axe? She loved it. If her axe were a human, she would marry it right away. If there was one trait she now detested more than anything, it was boys with blond hair and blue eyes, except Adrian of course. Luckily, Fishlegs and Tuffnut did not possess blue eyes. They were unique in their own way, but they were a nice company.
She stayed on top of Stormfly as she looked over the heads of her people, searching for that particular black cloak. Really, how often do you see someone dressed in only black? Right, never. So why could she not find that scrawny guy that still owed her a rematch? She hopped down and sighed. She had lost sight of him. Sometimes she thought that she was caught in a game of hide-and-seek, while she is stuck with the role of searching him. Moreover, she never found him until she really gave up on it. And Astrid Hofferson never gave up.
"You're so mean, Princess , leaving me behind like that." She snapped her head around to find Snotlout looking at her with these… desiring eyes. Ew, thank the gods he had no blond hair. He was the last person she would like to end up with.
"I told you to leave me alone," she reminded him with a cold voice as she led Stormfly through the crowd, her eyes focused on everything that may fit the description of black, tall and scrawny.
"But that's my job!" he said full of pride as he followed her, Hookfang close behind him. Astrid groaned and let her hand slide over her face. Nothing would get through that thick skull of his. Just blend out the background noise and search. Keep your calm. You're better than that. Astrid just continued her search while Snotlout talked like a waterfall, not stopping at the compliments to himself and to her, mostly to himself. One day she would probably kill him, but not today. She still had to search for a particular someone.
…
Hiccup hummed as he went with his fingers over the cloth. It was really soft and thin enough as to not hinder him in his movements. Yep, he would take it. "Excuse me. How much do you have of this, Ma'am?" he asked as he pointed to the black, soft silk. He had searched everywhere for black cloth and nearly every store did not have it, saying that it was an unpopular color and too expensive. After a long search, he had finally found a small stand in a small alley. The woman turned away from another customer and looked at him and where he pointed at. "Ah! I have enough of that in store."
"How much?"
"Hm. Probably a chest full of it. Doesn't sell good, y'know?" she said before she turned back to the customer, thanking her for her purchase. She put the silver coins away and came up to Hiccup who rubbed his chin. While he went over the sizes and amount of what he still needed, the lady looked at him. He wore a black shirt that looked extremely good on him. Normally people did not like black since they connected it with death and darkness. However, this young man who was standing before her made the color glow in some sort of way. Maybe it was her lucky day and he would purchase the whole chest of black silk that she so desperately tried to sell these last few weeks.
"Alright," Hiccup said as he took the pouch that hung on his waist. He took out five gold coins and handed it to the woman who looked up at him with disbelief. Hiccup caught her expression and worried for a moment. Back in Berk he had to pay seven gold coins for a chest full of silk. It was hard to get his hands on it since Trader Johann always went on about what a pain it was to search for black silk all over his journey.
"I'm sorry," he said ashamed and took out another gold coin, adding it to the five on his other hand and held it out to her. "Are six enough?" She was still looking at him with her mouth agape and Hiccup was about to add another one when she spoke up.
"Of course! That is more than enough, young man. Just give me a minute, I'll go get the chest," she said and nearly stumbled over her feet as she went off to fetch him the chest. Actually, she had paid only one gold coin for the whole chest since the one who sold it was really desperate to get it away from his store. Normally people had to pay three gold coins for a chest and suddenly there was a young man who was ready to pay twice as much. She would be a fool as to not accept that offer. She dragged the chest from behind her to the young man and put it down. She opened it and revealed the black silk that lay inside. She watched as Hiccup's eyes widened in joy and disbelief.
Hiccup did not expect there to be so much black silk. Silk! Try finding black silk on Berk. Black. Silk. Right. No chance in hell would you find it anywhere on Berk. Yep, it was definitely worth the money.
"I don't need the chest. Can I have a bag instead?" he asked and the woman nodded instantly, as she brought him a large bag. While she did, he took out a reel of the silk and let it unroll downwards. It was large, large enough to make another cloak. Yep, definitely worth. He rolled it together again and stuffed all the silk in the bag. After that, he gave the woman the six gold coins. She looked at it and then back to Hiccup, who smiled at her. Guilt. She sighed and smiled back, albeit not as enthusiastically.
"Normally, three gold coins would have been enough," she said slowly, her hands trembling. She was really tempted to just keep the gold coins. She was also sure that the young man would probably take three gold coins back now, after she told him. Stupid, stupid honesty. However, against her predictions, Hiccup just smiled even wider and answered, "Don't worry. I have been looking everywhere for it. And it's also in a good condition. In my opinion, they are definitely worth six gold coins."
The woman let out a relieved sigh and Hiccup smirked. Then the woman laughed and let out another relieved sigh. "You are by far the best customer I've ever met."
"Thank you." he answered before he whistled a melody - pretty loudly - and for a moment the woman wondered what that was supposed to mean until a black horse turned around the corner and stopped next to Hiccup. The sight she was greeted with was probably a first. In her whole life she had never seen a black horse. And never had she seen a black horse and a man dressed in black fit together so good as the two that stood before her. Hiccup swung the bag over his shoulder and then on Toothless.
"What is your name, young man?" she asked, curiosity getting ahead of her. Hiccup pulled the cloak from the saddle and pulled it over. Then he mounted Toothless and looked to the woman with a polite smile. "Henry."
"Henry, huh. My name is Linda. If you ever need silk again, I'll be at your service." Linda gave him a wide smile which he returned too before he was on his way again. The woman looked at his retreating back and when he was out of her sight, she went back behind her stand and waited as she always did – for customers to find her in that small alley.
Hiccup looked into the bag and thought about what he needed next. He still had enough strings to sew and his needles were still sharp. He hummed and looked around, hoping that his surrounding would help him. He already had pants and boots. His breastplate was nearly finished. He only had to cover the insides with silk and sew them together. He would make his gloves out of the silk as well. Then it struck him, his armguards. Sure, leather was all nice and good, but it would not protect him if a blade were to accidently land on his arm. He rolled his eyes at his thought. Sure, of course people would go for his arm when his neck was exposed so much.
Anyway, he needed to find a forge. He should go back and ask Gobber about it. If there was a person who should know, it had to be Gobber. He worked in the forge whenever he was off duty in Berk. Then again, he did not want to meet the Princess, so might as well take a look around the village he was going to stay at for a while. Hiccup noticed how peaceful it was. Probably as peaceful as Berk was until the attack. Peace seemed to foreign now. His heart was a wreck and his mind shattered into a thousand thoughts and strings that linked them together. Children that laughed, people who struggled and people who lived. They lived. How about him? Did he live? Sure, his body was alive, but what about his heart and mind? He had felt empty and cold for a while now and it bothered him. He was not supposed to feel all these negative emotions. He had never experienced them and it was the first time that life had taken a turn against him. He thought that it was god's punishment to burden him with all the future responsibilities. But that was before everything went down, before Berk went down.
Hiccup shook his head and tried to distract him with something else. He should not think like that. That is not how his father had raised him. He took a deep breath and calmed down slowly. Really, it was so easy to get worked up lately. He was not used to it and he did not like it – not one bit. He sighed and was about to head back to the castle when his eyes found a suspicious man whispering to another one. Their eyes were narrowed and dark and focused on someone who was at the center of a crowd. He looked to the crowd and searched for somebody who might stand out and at that very moment, he thought that god probably really hated him.
There was this familiar blonde hair and that overly familiar voice that he heard just the night before. In the end, he walked straight towards the person he did not want to see the most. There was someone in a silver armor standing next to her while he tried to keep the crowd back. His eyes focused back on the girl again. Astrid was laughing and smiling while she held a little girl in her arms. She seemed nervous but also happy and relieved. Her laughter echoed in his ear and time slowed again. People passed him and wanted to share a moment with their Princess he watched her face. She was laughing and smiling, something he had not seen yet. He blended out every noise that was not her laughter while he slowly approached her. It was as if she had cast magic on everyone and suddenly people were attracted towards her like a spell.
The knight that seemed to accompany her had his back turned to her while he tried to keep the crowd at bay. Hiccup smirked at himself as the knight in shining armor lost control over the situation bit by bit. He still wondered who had made up the silent rule that a Princess would fall for a knight in shining armor? Like, really? As if a normal armor could make a person. Then again, his father had explained to him one day that it did not mean that a knight in shining armor had to be a knight. It was just a way to call someone who would save the Princess one day from whatever problem there was out there. And the Princess did not have to be a Princess. A Princess could be a farmer's girl as well. That time, when his father had explained it to him, he did not fully understand him, but now he did – to some extent. He still did not know the real meaning behind it and he did not care. Not yet.
Suddenly he felt a cold shiver running down his spine and he searched for the source. Where? Where was it? His eyes were roaming the crowd and the uneasiness grew. He blinked when something blinded him for a moment and he held his breath – a sword. Toothless could not move because of the people that blocked his way and it annoyed him. Hiccup jumped down immediately and pushed himself through the crowd. Yes, the Princess was evil and yes, he was so going to hear it later. But the way she laughed and smiled was something he wanted to protect at any cost. Even if she was some crazy, violent tomboy. Even if she nearly broke his ribs. That smile was radiating and definitely worth protecting. He rushed through the gaps got a few complaints as he pushed his way through. He looked to the side and watched as the man drew the sword. He had totally forgotten that the royal family was not always loved. It was the same back on Berk. How could he even forget? And then he was at the front of the crowd that surrounded Astrid. There was only a few feet keeping the people away from her and she was such an easy target. She really should be more conscious of herself. Her eyes fell on him and her smile dropped. She was about to scold him again until she saw him draw his sword. He can't be serious! She was holding a little girl in her arms, how dare he raise a sword against her when she was as good as defenseless. He swung and all she could do was tighten her embrace around the girl as she held the girl's head in her hand. She closed her eyes and felt the air hiss at his speed. And then-
Clang.
She was waiting desperately for the pain that should have now already coursed through her body. But she felt nothing, no pain at all. Astrid could hear how the crowd gasped, which caused her to open her eyes. Slowly, her eyes adjusted and the sight that greeted her surprised her for a moment before she realized what had happened. All she could see was Hiccup standing right in front of her as he gritted his teeth with a desperate gaze. His sword seemed to be somewhere behind her so she turned around to look and nearly dropped the girl she held in her arms. Nobody of the crowd dare to make a move forward, rather, they took several steps back. No one wanted to risk the Princess' life as well as the young girl's. Snotlout, just realizing it now that someone tried to assault the Princess he was to protect, moved in an instant to pull Astrid and the girl away from the two men that were now all by themselves. Some women had already taken their children and pulled them as far away from the scene as possible as to not risk their children's lives. And soon the crowd consisted mostly of men. Some women stayed. But only those who had no child to take care of, or nothing better to do.
Hiccup's blood boiled with excitement and hunger. It had been a while since he had the chance to kill someone with just. At the realization of what he had just thought, he shook his head and focused on the man in front of him again. He was not allowed to kill. He would not kill. Knock him out, that was the solution. The man, impatient as he was, pulled his sword back before he swung again. His task was to hurt the Princess, not to kill her. But then this man in black came forth ruining his plan! He would have run immediately if he had not seen these green eyes. For some reason, he felt safer fighting against him than running away. An instinct told him that the young man would have killed him instantly if he even made the slightest move to flee.
Hiccup saw the routes, the spots and all the possibilities forming in front of him again. The spots changed as the man moved. The man was swinging wildly at him, as if he were attacking out of desperation instead of bloodlust. He was… afraid. Of who? Hiccup met his eyes and the man twitched before he pulled his sword down again. Hiccup parried it and was confused. Why was he afraid? He could just pull away and surrender himself, talk and confess. Something stung his heart at the thought and Hiccup focused on the man. If he did that… it would be boring. And disappointing. Really disappointing. Hiccup got fed up with his pitiful attempt to attack and decided to end it. He waited for a wide swing and when the man indeed pulled back wider than normally, Hiccup ducked and rushed forward in an instant. The man panicked and turned around hastily and his eyes were about to focus on the boy again before everything became a blur and suddenly black. Hiccup let out a breath he did not realize he had held in and watched the man fall down to the ground. He relaxed his arms and calmed down a bit. He had spun so quickly that it was mere luck he actually hit the man at the temple. If just another inch to the right or to the left, the man might have gone blind or deaf. Or nearly blind and deaf. At least, everything ended well.
Hiccup turned to Astrid who still held the girl protectively in her arms. She relaxed and all she wanted to do was to find something to nag at him, but in the end, he had saved her. And the girl. He was mysterious. One day he helps her, the other day he nearly kills her. Then he apologizes and afterwards he saves her. What the hell was up with that guy anyway? Was there at least anything that was normal about him? She thought for a moment before she came to the conclusion that there was absolutely nothing normal about that guy. If he were not an acquaintance of Gobber, she might have mistaken him for a criminal.
Hiccup looked at the crowd and wondered why nobody moved. He had just saved the Princess, so why was everyone silent? He looked at the man that lay at his feet and kicked him lightly to reveal his face once more. He seemed to be somewhere between 30 and 40 years old. Why would someone like him attack the Princess? He sighed as his mind did not want to work for the moment and gave up on putting the puzzle together. Then a girl cried and kicked his leg as she went down to the man and protected him with her arms spread out. "Don't hurt daddy!" Hiccup raised his eyebrow and wanted to reassure the girl that he would not hurt him. He could not move anyway. He approached the girl slowly and watched as the girl flinched. Just when he was about to crouch down, Astrid called out to him. "Henry!"
And then he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head before he blacked out.
Date of Update: 19th February 2016
~ KeGzZ
