Prompt: "You remember that time she was late for her own surprise party because she was setting up a defensive perimeter around Berk?" ~Fishlegs, RTTE Season 2
Rated K Time zone: In between RTTE and HTTYD 2, I know Fishlegs said this before RTTE ended, but for this story I put it after. Also for Hiccstrid being official :)
The Great Hall was packed with feasting Vikings, merrily eating their dinner. Echoes of voices, dish ware, and utensils bounced off the walls and ceiling. The aroma of hot soup and meat filled the room. Lanterns cast yellow light across the hall from the candles that merrily burned inside them.
In a far corner, a group of dragons were also celebrating, drinking huge barrels of mead and gulping down buckets of fish. A sleek black dragon playfully nipped a blue-gold one as she squawked indignantly. They were a confusing mix of colors, tails, and wings.
One table in particular was having a very merry time, their voices causing other tables to glance their way. The small table in the left corner was unofficially reserved for the dragon riders. When the dragon academy opened, they had occupied that particular table and no one had dared sit there since. The twins, and Hiccup sat on one bench, and Snotlout and Fishlegs sat across from them on the other bench. They had just started eating, tired after a hard day of work at their respective jobs.
Snotlout slumped his head on the table. "Ugh." He complained. "Some days being the weapons tester is amazing, but today I hate my job."
Ruffnut snickered. "What, did you fall in a wheelbarrow full of scary weapons again?" She gave Tuffnut a high five.
Snotlout looked as if his bowl of soup was the most interesting thing in the world. "No... Wait, how do you guys know that?" He exclaimed, staring at them accusingly.
Tuffnut gestured wildly around with his spoon. "You see, Loki-ing is an art form best performed under cover."
"Amen to that, bro." Ruffnut crossed her arms.
Snotlout rolled his eyes. "Puh-lease. As if flying on Barf and Belch right out in the open is under cover."
Fishlegs chimed in, a leg of mutton in his hand. "Zipplebacks are actually regarded as the sneakiest type of dragon. It's weird, the Night Fury is sec-"
Snotlout shoved soup into his mouth. "Shut it, Fishface." He mumbled through a mouthful of soup.
Hiccup looked up as Astrid slumped into the seat across from him with a bowl of soup. She put her head in her hands and didn't look at any of them, instead staring at the table.
Fishlegs put down his fork and nudged her. "You okay?"
She shook her head miserably and picked up her spoon. "No. Stoick asked me to help set up security stuff and it took all day to build it because no one else wanted to help." She yawned, evidently tired. "Stormfly and I were chopping and building for hours."
Tuffnut whistled. "Geezuz. What kind of security stuff?"
She half heartedly took a spoonful of soup. "Catapults for offense, and part of a wall on the south side for offense. We got almost half the wall finished today, surprisingly."
Hiccup's eyes widened. "Is this the wall protecting the houses on the lower side of Raven's Point?"
"Yup." She put down her spoon and stared at her bowl. "You know what, I'm going to go back to my house. I don't think I can stay awake a moment longer."
Hiccup set his empty plate down on the table, next to his fork. "Hey, I'll walk you back."
She smiled at him, the relief evident in her eyes. "Thank you." She stood up, and Hiccup mirrored her.
He rolled his eyes as he heard Snotlout wolf-whistle loudly. "Be careful, lovebirds." He shouted after them.
Astrid joined him on the other side of the table and they navigated their way through the Great Hall. They carefully stepped over the many feet and legs sticking out, made sure not to cross the Terrible Terrors scuttling across the floor in search of scraps, and arrived to where their dragons were playing in the corner, along with Meatlug, Barf and Belch, and Hookfang.
Hiccup watched as Toothless poked one of Stormfly's spines, then jumped up and hissed. He laughed, "Toothless! You should know better than to touch Stormfly's spines."
Astrid sharply whistled, and Stormfly bounded across to her when she noticed the shrill sound. "Hey, girl. Having fun?" Stormfly nudged her softly with her head, and Astrid rubbed her. "Don't worry, I'm okay. Just tired, girl."
Hiccup put a hand to his mouth and called out, "Toothless!"
Much to his annoyance, the dragon didn't respond, instead hopping even farther away from Hiccup. Astrid chuckled behind him. "You can't even get your dragon over here?"
Hiccup deadpanned at her. "Oh, sure. It's all my fault." He tried stepping over to where Toothless had hopped away, and calling again. Thankfully, Toothless heard him this time and padded over to where Hiccup was, pushing his large scaly head into his hand.
Stormfly and Astrid had already headed toward the doors, and Hiccup hurried to follow them. He had just caught up to them when they opened the door and ducked outside.
He closed the humongous door behind them, blocking out the noises of chattering Vikings. He looked back to see Astrid leaning on Stormfly. "Are you okay?"
She pushed up off of Stormfly, nodding her head determinedly. "I'm fine. Just a little tired."
He crossed over to her and gently looped his arm around her shoulders. "Do you see how tired you are? You've been working the whole day." He watched her face uncertainly as she sunk into his arm.
She looked up at him, her hand coming up to stifle a yawn. "I'll be fine. I just need to get some sleep." Stormfly cocked her head questioningly, and looked to Toothless.
They began walking to her house, their footsteps making soft scuffing noises in the absolute silence. Her house was located a few pathways away from the Great Hall. She shared it with her parents, now that it had been rebuilt from the attack from Dagur.
They reached the house with a blue Stormfly carving on the roof, and Hiccup turned her around to face him. "You sure you'll go right to sleep? No more working?"
She nodded, still leaning heavily on him. "You can stop worrying . I'm too worn out to do anything, I swear."
He smiled at her and tugged her in for a kiss. "Oh, I'll never stop worrying." He planted another kiss on her hair, and said, "Good night."
She smiled back at him, opening her door. "Good night, see you tomorrow."
He watched as the door shut, and then turned to Toothless, who was trying to follow Stormfly to her pen behind Astrid's house. "Oh, no you don't. Get back here."
Toothless bounded over, nudging his rider. He scratched his friend behind the ears, looking over to where he knew Raven's Point hid behind rows of houses. "Cmon, bud. We've got something to see."
Toothless and Hiccup silently flew over the houses near Raven's Point, almost invisible in the dark sky. Hiccup leaned over, looking for the south side. "I see it! That way."
Hiccup adjusted his foot to make sure Toothless could turn in the right direction, and steadied himself to adjust to the swinging motion.
Flying was basically multitasking, especially for him. The other riders just had to maintain their balance, and hold on tight. It wasn't as easy as it looked. Wind would buffet your face until your eyes teared and your face dried to feel like paper. Your legs and back could be stuck in the same position for hours at a time. You were flying on a dragon thousands of feet from the surface of the Earth, with sometimes only a saddle to keep you in place. It wasn't like sitting in a flying chair (which after years of practice they had made it look like). It was like sitting on a slippery, flying balloon. You could fall off at any moment.
And if you did fall, or your dragon dipped down or up sharply, a tugging sensation erupted in your gut and your anxiety would increase. You would feel weightless, gas-like, for what seemed like eternity.
It wasn't a secret that flying wasn't for wimps.
Good thing Vikings weren't wimps.
They swept over the south side of Raven's Point, and saw about five finished catapults facing the ocean. Behind them, a wooden wall about six feet tall and a little more than ten feet long stood.
Toothless gurgled questioningly, and Hiccup patted his head in response. "I know. There's no way Astrid and Stormfly did this all by themselves. They have got to have had help." They faced back towards the center of the village.
Toothless swiftly flew over the village, and they came to a stop in front of his house. He saw lights flickering on the windowsill, and knew his father must be inside. He pushed open the door and let Toothless squeeze his way through, then came inside himself.
He saw the massive figure of his father hunched over a desk, with piles of paperwork surrounding him. Hiccup winced, knowing it was one of those nights. Stock would have to stay up late taking care of the village's various problems. And being the tenacious Stoick the Vast, he wouldn't stop for a break. Stoick the Vast probably didn't even know what rest felt like.
He tried to slip quietly up to his room to avoid disturbing his father, but that was easier said than done when you had a dragon in tow. Toothless's tail promptly bashed against the wall and made a crashing noise that made both Stoick and Hiccup jump.
Stock adjusted his helmet and turned to face Hiccup. "Ah. You're back."
He winced again. "Sorry, didn't mean to disturb you."
Stock waved his hand. "It's not a problem. In fact, I was going to ask you to help me with it."
"What?" Help Stoick with his paperwork? It wasn't as if Hiccup had anything to do at the moment, but this had never been asked of him before.
"Come over here."
Hiccup curiously walked over to see Stoick brandishing a piece of paper. More specifically, a list.
"This is my list of things to do. Keeps it organized. Can you go through these and see if there's anything related to them in this pile?" He gestured toward a huge stack of papers.
"Uh, sure." He pulled over a chair, laid the to-do list in front of him and briefly skimmed the paper. The rations in the storehouse needed to be resupplied, the stables expanded, defense fortifications started...
Wait. Defense fortifications?
"Hey, Dad? Are the defense fortifications what Astrid was working on today?"
He nodded, not looking up from his work. "Five catapults, and a defensive wall needed to be finished. She and her team should finish it in two days."
He creased his eyebrows, perplexed. "She has a team?"
"Well, of course." Stoick finally looked up from his work. "I wouldn't expect Astrid and Stormfly to do all that work themselves. I gave her permission to choose four others and their dragons to work with her."
"She said she was working alone because no one else wanted to do it!"
"Really?" Stoick sighed. "Then that delays construction by a few days. I'll-"
"But she finished the catapults and almost all of the wall!"
"What?" Stoick's attention was now fully on Hiccup. "In one day?"
He nodded. "She told us at dinner, and after I walked her home, I went to see for myself."
Stoick rubbed his hand over his face. "Well." He finally stated. "She is..." He breathed. "A fast worker. I don't think Skullcrusher and I could have ever done that much in a day. How was she?"
Hiccup put the list back on his desk. "Completely worn out. Like I said, I had to walk her home."
At this, Stoick gave a small smile, that turned into, "I'm giving her the day off tomorrow, and I'll put others on that job. I want you to talk to her and get it into her mind that she can't wear herself out like that." He chuckled. "That is one hard-working girl."
Stoick stared into the fire a moment before he turned back around to Hiccup. "Oh, the day after tomorrow's her birthday. Ah, I'll just give her those days off. You know, it's refreshing to see a Berkian working so hard without me having to yell-"
"Wait, the day after next is HER BIRTHDAY?" Hiccup gripped the sides of his chair, staring open-mouthed at his dad.
"Well, yes." His dad seemed faintly amused. "Did you forget?"
"I didn't forget! It just... slipped my mind." He finished lamely. "Her birthday is in two days? It's one day by now, isn't it? Oh nooo..."
Stoick laughed, slapping a hand on his knee. "Well, you go and do whatever you need to do for your girl. I'll take care of all this."
Hiccup didn't say another word, just ran up the stairs to his room, where he promptly crashed to his bed.
Astrid's birthday was in one day and he had forgotten.
He heard the heavy thumping of Toothless jumping up the stairs. Toothless softly cooed and nudged Hiccup's side.
"Oh, bud." He whispered to him. "You know anywhere I could get something really amazing for her?"
Toothless didn't have any good ideas.
Either that, or he really wanted Hiccup to give Astrid a bucket of fish.
"Bud, I can't give her fish. It needs to be meaningful but not too sappy. It needs to be something she'll like and actually use." He wrung his hands. "Ugh, what could I get her?"
Toothless insistently pushed a fish toward Hiccup, flicking it onto his lap. The slimy cod slid off, but Toothless still flicked it back on. "What? Why... Oh. Breakfast."
Toothless glared at him reproachingly. The cod he had placed in his lap was left over from yesterday's dinner. Toothless now slurped it up, licking his teeth happily then nudging Hiccup toward the stairs. "Okay, okay! Your breakfast is coming soon!"
He trotted down the stairs just in time to see the door swing shut. He saw the massive figure of his father and shouted, "Bye, Dad!"
He heard a rumbling, "Bye, son!" in response, then pulled a barrel out of a corner. He lifted the lid and turned his nose up at the fishy odor. He spilled the contents out and watched as Toothless greedily pawed through the contents.
Wiping his hands on his pants, he opened a cabinet and extracted a loaf of bread and after rummaging through a few shelves, found a jar of lingonberry jam. He cut himself few slices of bread and spread them with the jam. He bit into one while he watched Toothless finish a particularly large cod.
What could he give Astrid? He had spent part of the night futilely trying to come up with gift ideas for her. He had eventually fallen asleep, only to wake up once again and spend part of the morning brainstorming.
He wanted it to be special. Astrid was turning 20, like he had a few months ago. This year's gift needed to be memorable, more so than the other years.
Every idea he dismissed. A necklace? She had once told him she didn't like to wear jewelry as it frequently got caught. The only piece of jewelry she would often wear was her betrothal necklace.
Maybe a... He was stuck. What did she need? He knew she needed fishing string, new soles for her boots, but he couldn't give her something like that for her birthday.
What did she use on a daily basis?
Then the answer came to him. It was so obvious, he didn't see how he didn't think of it before.
Leaving the last piece of bread hanging between his teeth, he ran back up the stairs and grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper. He hurriedly sketched out the rough draft of his idea, grinning with satisfaction when it was done.
Oh yeah. He had this birthday thing in the bag.
He tried to walk in there casually.
He really did try.
But no, Astrid had to walk in as soon as he had taken his first breath.
"Hey, Hiccup!" She greeted him. Then she watched as he jumped up and nearly hit his head on the forge ceiling.
He stumbled back to look at her. "Oh, hey, uh, hey, Astrid! How's it going?!"
She crossed her arms. "It's going like you are acting very strangely today."
He tried to calm his nerves and failed the next second. "Oh! Uh, no... I'm not."
She laughed. "No, you definitely are. Hey, Stoick gave me the day off. Wanna race?"
He laughed nervously. Wow, he was failing. "Actually, Gobber has me doing-" He gestured wildly toward the iron stoves, the mess of weapons, and Toothless's saddle. "Yeah. That."
She raised her eyebrow and he felt his pulse quicken. "Ohhhkay. Well, I'll leave you alone to whatever important thing you're doing. Snotlout and the twins want to race anyway. See you later!"
She turned, and he feebly called back, "Yeah, la-later!"
He saw her turn the corner, shaking her head and hearing her laughter. He heard a gurgling sound from the window where Toothless's head peeked in. "Oh, stop laughing, you."
He pulled the folded sketch from his pocket, then smoothed it down on his desk. He hopped around, collecting various supplies and lighting the forge. He had almost collected all the items needed when the door opened. He jumped and almost cracked his head on the ceiling again.
"What is it? You're jumpier than a burrow of rabbits today!"
He awkwardly turned back toward Gobber. "Sorry. I thought you were... someone else."
Gobber clomped in, heavily lopsided as usual. "What do you have the forge lighted up for? I didn't think you needed it."
"No one else is here, right?"
"No. Get on with it."
He sighed and waved a hand toward the supplies, and the sketch. "I'm making Astrid's birthday present."
"Ahh, that's right. Her birthday's tomorrow." He took a long glance at the sketch. "Ooh, she's going to like it. Need any help?"
"Sure. The forge needs more heat and-"
Gobber pulled a hunk of metal out of a barrel. "You're going to need a lot more metal than that. And more wood. And exactly two hammers. One sledge, one claw."
Hiccup shrugged and let his mentor guide him. "All right then. Two hammers coming up."
They worked for a while, each giving instructions to each other and sometimes bickering for ten minutes at a time. When the project was halfway done, Gobber remarked, "Ay, it's going along beautifully. You know what else you're going to do for Astrid tomorrow?"
He shook his head, though he knew Gobber couldn't see it as he was on the other side of the forge. "Nope. I'm going to try and plan something, though. She has the day off tomorrow and today."
"Well-" And Hiccup almost shrieked because Gobber's voice was right behind him.
He clutched his heart. "What is it with people sneaking up on me today?"
Gobber shrugged, still smoothing the wood that Hiccup had given to him. "It's not us, it's you. Anyway, you should plan a party, at least. It's her twentieth. Should be a big one."
"That's what I was thinking, but I don't have time to plan a party and get this finished by tomorrow."
"Don't worry about it! I'll do all the planning, decorations, all that stuff."
Scenarios of what could go wrong flushed through his head, and it was safe to say there were more than five. No, ten. "Could you get Fishlegs to plan it with you? And remember, you can't let Astrid know about it."
"Well, how is she going to know about it? Doesn't the person we're throwing the party for have to know about it to be there?"
"Not unless it's a surprise party. It should be a surprise party!" This would make it memorable, he thought. Everyone in the Great Hall, and he would usher her in as everyone leapt from hiding places and screamed, "SURPRISE!" And she would be so pleased.
"Good idea. That would make it memorable. How about when I finish smoothing and carving this, I'll go talk to Fishlegs about it."
"Sounds like a plan." Why had he been so worried? This wouldn't be a problem. Everything would go according to plan.
Right?
The wind blew freely in her hair, blasting her face as she flew on Stormfly around the island. She hadn't had a day off like this in a while. She relaxed her arms and legs, glad to be rid of some tension from earlier that morning.
She had been all ready to go to work on the rest of the wall when Stoick asked to speak with her. He had briefly informed her of her two-day vacation, caused by the fact that she had worked so hard on the defensive perimeters.
I mean, I guess I might've overworked myself, she thought. Maybe coming back dizzy and barely able to walk was a bad thing. But she had gotten all catapults and most of the wall up. She was proud of that.
Stormfly went into a sudden dive, and Astrid clutched her saddle as she slid forward and her stomach dropped. When Stormfly slowed, she exclaimed, "Whoa! What is it?"
She saw that Stormfly had spotted Raven's Point and had dove down toward it, under the assumption they had to work again. "Oh, no, girl, Stoick gave us the day off. We don't have to work today."
Stormfly shook herself insistently, pointing her tail down towards Raven's Point. "What?" Astrid took a closer look.
There wasn't anyone working on it! She was sure that Stoick had said there would be a team working on it today, but there wasn't a soul in sight. She groaned, then rubbed Stormfly apologetically. "I'm sorry, girl. We need to go look for the team before we can do anything else. Come on."
Stormfly swept over the forest as Astrid scanned the trees for any sign of the worker. It was a good thing the trees in this area were skinny and far apart, or else she would have never found anyone.
But even in the sparse forest she found no one. She circled around the area multiple times, but to no avail. No sign of anyone.
When they had circled around for the fifth time, Astrid admitted defeat. "They're not here. But where could they be? Or is there actually a team on it at all?"
Stormfly cocked her head inquisitively toward the wall. "What, do you really want to work? We have this day off!"
Stormfly started off toward the wall persistently. Sighing, Astrid took a closer look at the wall. It didn't need that much more, did it? Surely this could only take a few hours? And she didn't really need a vacation, did she?
"Well, it's a good thing I brought an axe with me today. Even if it is Hoark's spare. Let's get to work!"
With a cheer, she and Stormfly swept toward the wall.
The next part of this Two-Shot will be coming soon! See if you can guess what Astrid's gift will be. There's a hint in this story and the last episode of RTTE. Thanks for reading, y'all! ~ScribeOfTheLegends