Portrayal of Betrayal

Astrid pulled into Hiccup's driveway and honked the horn to let him know that his ride had arrived. She drummed her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel.

"If you keep that up," Ruffnut joked, "you're going to have a trombone instead of a steering wheel." The twins' concussions were over, and Astrid wished that they would return.

Astrid ceased the repetitive motion. "If he doesn't get out soon, we're going to be late for work."

"Late for work. Late for work?!" Ruffnut nearly choked on the words. "You picked me up thirty minutes early! I should sue you for primitive treatment of your fellow man!"

"Twenty-six," Astrid corrected absentmindedly, honking the horn again. "It took you four minutes to get outside. And all you do is watch romances. I saved your brain cells, which I don't normally have the opportunity to do."

"Whatever."

Astrid and Ruffnut didn't get a chance to continue their argument. Hiccup's front door opened and he came out, bag in one hand and crutch in the other. His prosthetic was hidden underneath his jeans and boot.

"Welcome back!" Ruffnut cheered as he opened the back door of the car and tossed his stuff in.

"Thanks. Nice seat cushion, Astrid."

Astrid spared a glance at her handiwork before pulling out of the driveway. She was especially proud of the masterpiece, given the materials she had to work with.

"I thought your peg leg was a solution for the crutch." Ruffnut sounded as disappointed as a toddler who had told that she couldn't have ice cream for a whole year.

"The skin around the area is tender. If I tried putting my full weight on it just yet, it would get inflamed or infected. I keep forgetting to call the therapist like the doctor said to. By the way, did you see the news?" Hiccup asked.

Astrid caught his worried look in the rear view mirror. "No, I went straight to bed. What happened?"

"The ghost...what's her name?" Hiccup thought for a moment. "Excellinor – she set fire to a neighborhood."

"SWEET THUNDER OF THOR!" Ruffnut screamed in glee as the car veered into the next lane, narrowly missing a semi truck.

Astrid quickly jerked the steering wheel over, correcting her mistake. "Did anyone die?"

"No, but several people had to be taken to the hospital." Hiccup sighed. "We need to have a meeting soon to plan a way to hunt her down."

"All right!" Ruffnut cheered. She threw her arms out wide and hit Astrid in the face, nearly causing a second accident.

"How is Fishlegs's aunt?" Hiccup asked when they were safely back in the right lane again.

Astrid bit her bottom lip guiltily. "I haven't talked to him." They pulled into the office parking lot.

"I've got a ton of work to catch up on. I'll text you when to meet at Gobber's." Hiccup headed off to his desk, where a pile of papers taller than his head waited for him.

"This is where we part ways. Thanks for the ride! Toodles!" Ruffnut called over her shoulder, flouncing out.

Astrid made a quick rest stop in the break room to get a coffee refill before sitting down to her work.

"Hey, Astrid!" Camicazi chirped from her desk, nearly scaring Astrid out of her wits. She had quite forgotten about her roommate the past couple of days. Out of sight, out of mind.

"Hello," Astrid greeted her civilly, not really having a reason to hate her at the moment.

"Thanks for letting me borrow your pen."

"I didn't lend you my..." Astrid trailed off as Camicazi held up Astrid's favorite pen in front of her face. Astrid grabbed it from her. "Where did you get this?" The last time she had checked, the writing implement had been in her pocket.

Camicazi grinned and wiggled her fingers at Astrid, who seethed inwardly. How come Camicazi was so infuriating?

…

Astrid couldn't find anyone else besides Snotlout to go the the movie with her that night. Since taking an orangutan was more preferable than taking him, she ended up going alone.

Astrid hadn't read the actual book A Wrinkle in Time. However, she had immensely enjoyed the graphic novel, so she had high expectations for the movie.

After showing her ticket to the person guarding the door to the movie theater, Astrid managed to find a good seat not too close to the screen, but not to far away, either. She settled back with her box of popcorn, crunching kernels and watching boring Mr. Clean Guy commercials. Eventually, the movie started and Astrid dug into her popcorn. It was only when intermission began and the lights came back on in the theater that Astrid noticed them.

Camicazi and Hiccup sat next to each other at the end of the second row in front of her, talking. So she was Hiccup's peculiar "prior engagement" Astrid thought, hurt. Why hadn't he just told her without the cloak and dagger?

Maybe that's because they're talking about you, a voice nagged in the back of her head. Be quiet, she told it back, but it wouldn't go away.

As nonchalantly as possible, Astrid got out of her seat and slid down five seats so she could hear their voices.

"-and I just don't know what to do, Camicazi," Hiccup said, actually using her full name for once. "She gets really mad sometimes."

"Just tell her," Camicazi said matter-of-factly. "I could, if you want me to."

"No!" Hiccup protested vehemently. "She'd kill me if she knew."

You bet I would, Astrid thought. They were talking about her, and right in public!

"So she kills you," Camicazi reasoned.

Astrid wanted to march down and give Camicazi a big piece of her mind. She was shocked and hurt that Hiccup was talking about her as if she wasn't sitting two rows behind him! Not that he knew that.

Camicazi abruptly changed the subject. "How's the head?" That was an odd question to ask. Astrid hadn't recalled Hiccup getting injured in the head.

"It's not as bad as it used to be, but the nightm-"

Whatever Hiccup had been about to say got cut off. A group of loud teenagers with candy and soda in hand came to reclaim their seats in the row in between them. Soon, the theater was filled, and Astrid had to content herself with glaring at the backs of Hiccup's and Camicazi's heads.

You're jealous, the little voice in her mind chanted.

You lie! Astrid quoted from A Wrinkle in Time back. She never did notice the ghostly figure that hurriedly left the theater.

…

Camicazi's arrival was announced by a thunderous door slam that awoke Astrid from her slumber. She had come straight home from the movie and promptly fallen asleep on her bed without getting undressed.

Astrid could hear Camicazi messing with the television's DVD device in the living room, and then the sounds of the main menu of a movie seeped through the door.

Astrid groaned and thwacked her pillow to get the fluff back into it. Who watched a two-hour movie and then came home to immediately watch another one? Did Camicazi not only have to steal her best friend, but she had to steal her sleep, too?

The theme music for Lord of the Rings started up. Astrid suddenly hated J. R. R. Tolkien, although it wasn't even the dead man's fault.

From her nightstand, Astrid's phone went off, alerting her that she had a text message. She ignored her mobile until it started ringing. An earthquake better have happened, because Astrid was not in the mood to deal with any of Ruffnut and Tuffnut's stupid antics.

Astrid answered the call without looking at the ID. "If you've blown up another building, I promise you that I will personally call Stoick and have you fired."

"I've only blown up one building in my life." Hiccup snarked back.

"What do you want?" she growled harshly, his recent betrayal stuck in her memory.

"My house got ransacked."

Hilarious, Astrid thought. He can tell I'm mad and came up with a flimsy excuse to get me over to his house.

"So get Camzi to come and help you. I'm busy. Some people need their sleep instead of catering to your joking schemes."

There was silence on the line for a second. "Is something wrong?"

"Why would you think that!?"

"I don't know. Maybe because you sound mad. But seriously, my house is ransacked. And I can tell without even going inside. Do you want me to send you pictures as proof?"

That got Astrid's attention, if only a little bit. "You haven't gone into the house, have you?"

"I'm just about to see if the culprit is still inside. Unless you want to come."

Hiccup had played the trump card. Was she mad enough at him to let him walk into potential danger?

After debating over the dilemma, Astrid sighed. "Whatever you do, don't go inside." She hung up and opened her bedroom door, which amplified the sounds of the television. Did Camicazi do nothing but watch movies? Astrid made a mental note to limit her screen intake from that moment on.

"Hiccup's house has been ransacked," Astrid shouted at Camicazi over the clamor of a battle. "I'm going over there before he does something stupid."

Camicazi paused the movie. "Hiccup's pretty smart – for a boy, of course. You can trust him to take care of himself. Unless it's a medical procedure. Don't trust him with that. I wouldn't trust anyone who doesn't have a medical degree to operate on me. Would you?"

"Are you coming or not?"

Five minutes later, Astrid's car and Camicazi's motorcycle pulled into Hiccup's driveway. Hiccup was nowhere to be seen.

"I told him to wait!" Astrid fumed. Hiccup was an idiot, she decided. An idiot with a capital "I".

Camicazi followed her up to Hiccup's front door, which was slightly ajar. "He's not a little kid, Astrid. Why are you trying to baby him?"

"I'm not!"

"Then why did you rush over to his house at this hour?"

"He's the one who called me! Why are you trying to steal him from me?"

Camicazi stared at Astrid for a second and then burst out laughing as if she had said the funniest thing in the world. "Me? Steal him... from you?" Camicazi finally managed to choke out. "What in Midgard are you talking about?"

Astrid, thoroughly steamed at this point, turned away from the miniature hysterical fit of laughter Camicazi exhibited and pushed open the door. The first thing she noticed was the blood.

…

She loathes him. The hate is a burning column of fire in her chest that aches constantly with the desire to get out.

How can he sit there like nothing is wrong in the world? She seethes to herself. She notices the shadows under his eyes. She knows he's fighting the beating of a dragon's heart, the call to give in, lose all reason, and become wild.

She wants to give in herself. She will, too, once she gets her revenge. When she hurts him so far, there will be no return.

Snatches of his conversation with the wretched thief reach her ear, and she can't help but smile to herself.

He will regret EVERYTHING. The hot iron of anger builds up to a crescendo before exploding inside of her. She wants it out.

She needs to let it out.

Quickly, she gets up and hurries out of the place, not noticing the blood that starts to slide down her nose. She knows exactly what her actions will be. The small attacks she has been doing were only the warm ups for the finale. Now, she will give a warning before the ending strike.

Before the ultimate revenge that will fulfill her thirst to see him pay.

A/N: Well, the last quote was from Percy Jackson (The Lightning Thief), but no one got it, and I don't think there's a quote in this chapter. Thanks for your reviews!