24. Right? Part 2
Astrid left before Eret did. After all, she had a family who would be wondering where she was. Like the others, her head didn't want to be silent. Her thoughts weren't focused on the fight like many would believe. Well she did think about it a little, a bit in fear, but more so amazement. She had heard Eret's stories, but after seeing the people behind the helmets she couldn't believe that everything was true. Until today, that is.
The 'Dragon demons' had this dynamic that made them seem just like everyone else. Take away their armor and they would not seem threatening, they would be just two siblings traveling the world, they would seem defenseless.
Astrid would never admit it, but she was ready to jump to Hookfang's defense, she would have been too late to stop the punch, but she would have plummeted Snotlout to the ground. She didn't need to do that, because the 'demons' stopped him faster and better than she ever could and she thought that that was amazing. She now knew that Eret's stories were true.
But that was not what was keeping her awake. Those eyes. Those forest green eyes were the bane of her existence. When Eret and the female 'demon' left she spent the time just looking at Dragon boy, who was vigilantly answering all of Fishlegs' questions. Those same eyes that made her dizzy with thoughts and memories. The determination she saw in them, after he told Snotlout that he will have to beg for forgiveness, was the same determination she once saw in… Hiccup.
No, no… she would not go down that thought path. Hiccup left, he didn't return and believing he was dead was better than knowing that he just didn't want to come back to her – no, not her - to Berk. He left and so had the dragons. The world she believed was once possible was disappearing right before her eyes. After years of nothing, her hope had disappeared too.
But the dragons came back. After the twins told them that the ones in the clearing were, in fact, the ones that left, the hope she hadn't felt in so long came back too. If the dragons came back, maybe Hiccup could come back.
She would be the first one to admit that she had hoped that Hiccup was a part of the 'Dragon demons'. The role was practically build for him! Living with dragons, helping them, fighting the injustice against them, just like he had fought the Red death.
'At least there's no nest to ruin the moment.' The words bounced around in her head. Why did Dragon boy say that? How could he have known about the nest and her flight with Hiccup? Unless, the 'Dragon demons' had met Hiccup and he told them about Berk. Or maybe Dragon boy was Hiccup. What a thought! She must be more tired than she thought if she had these kinds of thoughts… Wait.
'Brother, he's my brother.' Dragon boy's sister had once corrected her. Hiccup had no sister. And why would Hiccup come back to Berk and not tell anyone? Dragon boy couldn't be Hiccup.
'She's amazing, you're amazing.'
There was no way Hiccup was already back. Right?
Eret was the last to leave the table. He had been given one abandoned hut in the village and he was not in a hurry to go back to that lonely place. Nothing was tying him to Berk, well almost nothing. The others and he had become somewhat friends. They still looked at him in distrust sometimes and he had the position of an unwanted guest. He had to work for everything in his spare time, firewood, food, other necessities were his payment. He had some money with him, but he was saving it, because when everything will be over, he would be leaving Berk. Because he wanted to leave Berk. At least that was what he told himself.
He had nothing out there, but he had nothing in Berk too. But at the moment he had someone in Berk. Someone who believed in him, believed that he could be a great friend even after everything he had done. When she looked at him, he never saw distrust in her eyes. Even when she had dragged him back to Berk and away from a fresh start, her eyes were never clouded in distrust or hatred.
The fight, well more accurately beating, the 'demons' gave Snotlout proved one thing: if she had wanted to, she could've hurt him at any point during his first flight, dump him in the ocean and say he fell off. He knew that the pair were formidable enemies. One step ahead, and when it came to dragons, prepared to do anything to save them.
She didn't think he was an enemy anymore. Maybe if he asked they would let him follow them, becoming a part of the 'Dragon demons' was starting to sound like something he would enjoy. She believed in him and he believed in her, even when they were fighting on every turn. He still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that she was ready to forget everything they put each other through.
'Every interaction we had before Berk was marked by a battle, how is that not being enemies?' he had said.
'Not every interaction.' She had shot back. As far as he remembered, even when the two of them weren't fighting, there was always a battle. Always. His entire dragon trapper career was marked by battle after battle, fight after fight. The only time of peace he remembered was before he chose to follow Drago. And there was no way they knew each other from that time of his life. Right?
Come tomorrow, no one from the table will be rested. Their thoughts and emotions too jumbled up to get decent rest. Too many questions, so little trust for those who have the answers. For now the answer for all of the questions was time that was the one truth everyone understood.
