She was happy to be out of the house, Stoick was off at his nursing classes with fishlegs, he taught all the under fives helping them with their letters and numbers, helping them with colours and most of all helping them understand which dragons are which, using pictures of course. She never though of school for her son when she was pregnant, sure her and Hiccup talked about it but never actually thought about it, it always seemed so far away. But her baby was two now and he was growing fast, soon he will be in the classes of 5-12 which were run by tuff and ruff.
Astrid was already thinking of it, why is Hiccup letting the twins teach kids, but all in all they were really good with kids of that age and where really good teachers. And after that was the classes of 12-16 which was talk by Snotlout, she couldn't imagine Stoick being a moody teenager, he would probably be a right pain in snotlouts arse, she laughed at the though.
And then there were the 16-20, the final class of dragon training, they would take an exam and a fly test to see if they were ready for the field and that would determine whether they were fit to join the dragon riders or whether they had to resit the test next year. Astrid would usually teach those classes, but now she hears the others have been helping out with teaching the younger generation.
But soon that would her job again, and she couldn't wait.
She walked up through the village holding a big basket of fish the fishermen had just brought in, they had been stocking up as the winter months coming in, there was no snow yet but the frost was coming in quick and the last thing they needed was the sea freezing over before they stocked up on food. And since they have housed the Hysterics tribe, food was on demand.
She ran up the stairs towards the great hall, the guys needed this to help feed the guests and the wounded. People were still healing from the injuries and food was a way to help boast up their energy, and well Astrid was just happy to help. It's been a while since Berk has been so full, people running around like headless chicken but she liked this, she liked the atmosphere it kept her busy.
She walked through the large open doors of the great hall, it was more packed than usual and what made it worse was the dragons flying around, knocking things over. She hurried to the far corner lugging the basket with her to where Gobber and Eret were, dishing out grub to those who were hungry.
" oh there she is!" Gobber shouted as he spotted Astrid diving through the crowd towards them. " i've been waiting fur fish fur over an hour now, where were yer?" she brought her basket over to them, and placed it on the bench near the cooking stove.
" I don't control the fish Gobber, they got them as quick as possible" with help from Eret the two started to pull the fish out one by one onto the hot rock, it was heated by grump, and from the sound of the loud vikings behind she could see what Gobber meant, hungry vikings was good for no one.
" Ai, thanks lass anyway, we 'ave been run off our feet here these past few weeks and there is no sign of the chief" Astrid's ears perked up at the sound of her husband, to be fair he wasn't hanging around the house much, he would leave early and then come home late, Astrid would get a few kisses in bed but it was Stoick she felt for, he wasn't seeing much of his farther.
" where is Hiccup anyway?" she said casually as she kept pulling the raw fish out of the basket ready to be cooked.
Gobber perked up, throwing grump some raw fish as he answered the blonde, " err probably in that olde office of 'is" Hiccups office was in a little shack just below, just a walk down the steps after leaving the great hall, and then turning back on yourself and his little shack was their near the cliff side.
" go on lass maybe you can convince him to eat something" with a smile she handed the basket over to Eret, " alright pretty boy you're on the next round at fish collecting, while i'm going to see my man" she held a smug look on her face as he took it.
" great now i've drawn the short straw" he took the basket and headed for the door, Astrid waited a little before leaving.
" hey lass, when yer do go visitin yer husband, think yer can remind 'im that we are all bustin our guts 'ere to 'elp not just the village, but our guests" she nodded.
" yes sir" she shot off, dodging through the crowds and heading straight for the exit.
xx
She stood in the doorway of his office, watching as Hiccup hunched over his desk, pencil in his hand making marks on some map he had out in front of him. She watched him from the door way, rubbing his forehead with one hand and scribbling on the map with the other, she couldn't help but smirk at how cute he looked, even if she only saw half of his face, she could tell he had that adorable thinking face on. Oh how she loved to see him concentrate.
She knew what he was doing, ever since the attack on the hysterics tribe Hiccup has been here day and night trying to track down Drago's ship, the trackers said they followed the ship once it felt the Hysterics Tribe Island and tracked them east but lost them in sea fog. She knew what he was going through, there is no one who wants to find Drago's ship more than her, but marking X's on a map wasn't getting him anywhere, especially when he was locked up in here with out seeing a drop of daylight and not eating properly.
But she didn't know how to help him, she felt helpless in this, and if anyone knew her she didn't like feeling helpless. She was a chiefs wife, she had to be good for something, and what she couldn't stand was standing around helpless.
The last time she felt this helpless was about 2 years ago, when the ship made dock for the second time and they were all taken off the ship and was brought to the shores of the southen markets, the southen markets were seen where the cheap vikings go to get their cheap shit from. But that was just a cover, the southen markets are a place where the dirty, disgusting filth lived.
( 2 years ago )
They were putting them in chains again, one long chain that connected them all together, the last time they were chained up like this was when they were brought to Bone island, but if Astrid remembered rightly they weren't in the right part of the archipelago to be at Bone island. So where were they?
The chain was yanked forward, a few of them tumbled on the ground, each getting hauled up by the pirates surrounded them, " move it savages" the chain was pulled again but not as hard this time, but it was enough for them to get the hint to start moving out of the room of cells and down the dark hall. Astrid was stuck between Valka and snotlout, behind him was ruffnut, she hasn't seen Kari since this morning, they took her out of Astrids cell this morning, she was a 5 year old girl and alone, and Astrid felt some responsibility towards the little girl.
She saw a light at the end of the hall, a staircase leading upwards to where the light shined down. Astrid was yet again consumed by sun light, she felt she hadn't seen enough of it for weeks and walking out on the deck of this magnificent ship, she could smell the salty air around her, feel the sun on her face. It was freezing out and she barley had clothes on, the rips and gashes in her clothes were giving it easy access to the wind to her skin, she could feel the goose bumps flowing through her body.
They walked along the wooden deck, looking up at the tall buildings and towers that made up the ship, she had to admit even though she hated it, this ship was magnificent and mysterious, it held secrets in its walls and misery in its decks. They were coming to the opening in the deck, she could see hundreds of slaves and prisoners that must have been in the rest of the ship, they were being pulled out and off the ship just like they were. And on top of that right at the end stood the beast himself, Drago, and Grimbeard and Kari?
" Bring the Chief's wife to me" Drago announced to the pirates, the next thing she felt was her chains being un hooked, and dragged towards the smug two.
" my blonde deity" Grimbeard was first to greet her, walking forward and taking her jaw with his full hand, roughly he brought her in for a kiss, she resisted as much as she could trying her best to pull away, but she was no match for his strength and all she could smell was his rotten breath.
" Grimbeard i would like to talk to Hiccups wife and I can't do that with your mouth around hers" Grimbeard pulled away leaving Astrid trying to rub off anything that was left on her mouth and Grimbeard turned to Drago.
" you said she could be my play thing" he grabbed her chain and pulled it forward, leaving her tumbling before Drago and sweet little Kari on the deck.
" she may be your play thing but she is my property" he came over to her leaving Kari behind on the deck, he lay a hand out in front of her, offering her it, if she wasn't so battered a bruised she would have found the energy to slap it away but she didn't have any energy, so she didn't. But that didn't mean she had to except it, and when Drago released that she wasn't going to except it, so he grabbed her hair instead and pulled her up.
" ah ah ah, ow" she now stood on two feet again, under the mercy of her captor.
" should have took my hand, it would have been much more nicer" she looked over his shoulder to where Kari stood, she was safe, only a few scratches but her eyes were red and puffy she had beed crying.
" what did you do to her?" she nodded over to the little girl, Drago only glanced a little bit and smirked at her.
" she's just a tad bit upset cause we had her mother and grandfather beheaded" it felt like her heart just dropped, " while she watched" and then suddenly just crushed.
" how? how could you?" she started to hit his chest with her chained hands with ass the force she had, but it wasn't much, " how? you monster, you vile filthy savage" she threw a punch here and there but Drago didn't move an inch. It was only when Drago's men pulled her off him, holding her by both arms.
" This is MY ship, MY rules, and i decide what happens" his voice sent piercing shivers down her spine, she watched from her restrained position him walk over to Kari and pick her up by the arm.
" take this little brat with the rest of them" he shoved her over to one of the pirates as he dragged her off the ship too much of Astrid's dismay.
" Kari! Kari!"
"Astrid"
She was gone out of her sight, probably with the others, god knows where, she didn't know this island and from the look of it, it needed a bit of TLC. The sand was a dirty brown yellow colour and the grass on the hills looked dried and scorched, and if Drago was stopping on this island cause he wanted something, then she hated it without even stepping foot on it.
" Do you know where we are mrs Haddock?" he stood next to her, his men still held a tight grip as she shook her head.
" this is mainly known as the southern markets, they disguised this place for vikings who are looking for cheap shit, but really the wealthiest lords and kings, chiefs and counts come here to buy something that can't really be bought anywhere else." he paused for a moment, looking into her eyes, she knew he could see the fear in her eyes.
" slaves, sex slaves, a warm body to stay in their beds" he smiled over to her, and she suddenly felt lower than shit on a shoe.
" and i am the main supplier, i give the buyers what they want, women, men, girls and boys whatever they want." her eyes shot up when he said girls, her mind went straight to Kari, he wouldn't go that far, he wouldn't.
Would he?
The next thing she saw was black.
xx
She woke up with ringing ears, she could hear banging like in the far corner, it was like the sound of metal banging on metal. she could hear something else in the distance, from the banging, came roars of voices, shouting and screaming, yelling like a savage crowd, and then her name over and over, it was a strange voice, one she didn't recognise.
As her vision came to adjust to her surrounds she released that she was no longer on the ship, but in a wooden shack. It was just a small rusty cell that was dark and dirty, not like the cell on the boat, and definitely not like the cell on bone island, but that was a story for another day.
Her eyes were regaining their vision, but looking around the small cell she saw one one she knew, she didn't know where her friends where. Valka? Snotlout? Ruffnut? Kari?
Her eyes shot to the other far corner to where something moved, a lady, fifties? Maybe younger. She wasn't as tall as Valka but she was taller than Astrid just by looking at her she could tell she was taller. She had dark black hair with a few streaks of grey, all tied back in a low bun, and her skin was an olive colour, by the look of her clothes she was a slave, maybe a servant.
When she noticed Astrid was fully awake the lady headed towards her, a slight limp in her left leg, dragging it slightly as she walked over to her, " you must be Astrid" her voice sounded broken, whether it was just the broken cords of her voice or her emotional broken frame of mind she didn't know, but working in a place like this, she couldn't blame her.
" How do you know my name?" Astrid shifted up properly, sitting up as the lady walked over to the side of her, grabbing a cloth and plunging it in a bucket of water beside her. As she fully sat she could feel the blood rushing to her head, it hurt like it had been bashed in with a rock or something.
" your friend told me, nice lady, similar age to me, tall, with long brown hair," she tried to describe her friend, showing the length of her hair using her hands.
" Valka?"
"Yes! That's her name, lovely lady" she plunged the cloth back into the water as she continued," she was caring for you while you slept, she asked me to care for you when she left." Astrid's ears shot open.
" Left? Where? How long have i been here? Where is everyone else? Who are you? And what the hell is that noise?" the noise had started again, it was like cheers and laughter of men, she could hear it all around her, the sound giving her a constant headache.
The lady stopped what she was doing and looked at her in the eye, she the looked up towards the ceiling before she spoke, " that sound you speak off is the buyers, they come here and they auction off the slaves"
The slaves, meaning her and her friends. " You have been out for three days," the lady continued. " Your friends where brought in here, one by one they were taken out, going up for auction, you are the last one left. And i'm Luna by the way." Luna pulled the cloth out of bucket and slapped it on her skin.
" What do you think you are doing?" she shot up, feeling quite offended by the act.
" the masters want you cleaned, before the auction, if you are not clean by night fall i will get a thrashing" Astrid felt somewhat sorry for the lady, she was just as a prisoner as she was, and she wouldn't stand by and watch an innocent lady get a thrashing over her own actions.
Nodded slowly, she came back over and sat back down, letting Luna do what she was told to do.
" there was a girl with me, a young girl, aged five, caramel brown hair and green eyes, do you know where she is?" Luna stopped in mid wash, looking down as Astrid, sorrow in her eyes.
" I'm sorry lass, she was taken out of the first day, sold to the biggest bidder. She's gone." She continued to clean her, but Astrid wasn't really paying attention.
Gone, she was gone.
xx
The next few hours were a blur, she was cleaned up and dragged out of her previous cell into a larger room, there she was changed into cleaner clothes and hair was placed in a single plait. She was given a tag around her neck by Luna, she didn't ask questions, though she should have, because all she knew was the number she was given: 1229.
She was chained up in a single chain, brought out by some guards through these big broad doors, the sound of cheers and dirty laughter was now getting louder as she was brought to the front, dragged by two guardsmen roughly, she now noticed Luna was no longer with her, she must have gone in the middle of her getting chained up, but her thought on Luna was soon washed away as she was consumed by the sunlight, exiting the building and being brought out to some kind of dome where men sat around in some sort of semi circle and she was stood in the middle.
The next thing she felt was the tugging on the chains she wore, looking downwards she saw one large viking, locking her up to a bolt on the floor, " Hey!" she went to run over to him, however not getting far as he held a pointed spear up towards up at her, and she backed off walking back to the middle of the dome.
She suddenly discovered what this was, and auction arena, and she was the item getting sold.
...
" sold for 350 gold pieces!" the owner shouted, over the large crowd, she felt like meat, cattle, a pig for sale. she was dragged once again, this time being brought back into the building she was once in before, her eyes immediately fell on Drago who smugly stood there as she came in, he was excepting payment, probably from all the slaves he had provided.
" thought you needed me?" she said abruptly walking over to him, not paying attention to the other viking men that tried to pull her back.
" and why did you think that mrs Haddock?" he placed his payment in his pocket pouch.
" because you want my husband, and my husband will only follow where I go, if you sell me to another person, you won't get Hiccup" he started to laugh, and that only made her feel so much worse, and confused.
" i'm not selling you to another person to be their slave, i'm selling a chiefs wife to be a bed warmer for the highest bidder to night" she wanted to throw up, the thought of anther man, again.
" my friends?"
" don't worry about your friends, they got sold for a few labour tasks and by tonight they will be back on my boat, as for you," he brought his thick fat finger close to her face, brushing hair around her ear even as she tried to back away. " you will be coming back tomorrow morning after making my payed customer feel very satisfied."
xx
" where is she?" valka was sat in her original cell in between ruff and snotlout's, and Astrid's cell, looking into an empty where her daughter in-law should be, it was early morning and she hadn't seen her since yesterday and knowing their captors, this wasn't good news.
She didn't get any answers from her fellow prisoners, they all sat in silence, if it was from exhaustion or just not knowing what the hell was going on. Valka couldn't help but wonder what could have happened, and what she would have to say to her son if he ever found them that his wife was sold as a sex slave, or worse, was dead.
The big door that was the entrance to their cells opened once more and a very bruised and wounded Astrid was brought it by two guards, she didn't say anything, neither did the guards, it was silent, the only thing that was heard was the sound of her cell doors opening and Astrid body getting thrown in, you could hear her ribs crack as she landed on the hard floor.
None of them moved, not yet, if they moved too fast they could get the guard to react with force, against anyone of them. Once the guards were out and the large door was fully closed as locked, Valka sprung to action, running to the bars where hers and Astrid's cell were connected, " Astrid, Astrid? Are you okay?" while Val stayed pressed against the bars, Astrid got off the floor and crawled painfully towards the far corner of her cell.
" Astrid?"
She felt dirty.
" Astrid?"
She felt lost.
" Astrid?"
She felt broken.
" i want to go home" she whimpered.
As the tears fell down her face all she could feel was, Hopeless.
xx
She finally snapped out of her gaze when she watched him bang the table in anger, throwing the map forward so it fell to the floor in front of him, he rested his hand on the top of his eyebrow, rubbing it slightly as he stressed. Finally releasing that he wouldn't get anywhere by just sitting there with his map on the floor, he got up and walked around his desk, Astrid still stood in the open door way of his office, watching as he slowly climbed out of his chair, sighing deeply, probably from exhaustion and lack of food. He limped over, dragging his left leg, she made a mental note to rub cream on it later that night even if he would protest.
He bent down and picked up his map, straightening it out before turning to go back to his chair, and thats when he saw her, leaning against the wooden door frame with her sexy Astrid smile.
" my sexy what smile?"
His green eyes nearly shot from his eye sockets, as he placed his map slowly on the desk in front of his chair, but not yet taking a seat. "err err err" his hand immediately found the back of his neck and he rubbed it nervously. Next her heard a giggle come from her lips as she took steps towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck bringing his head down towards her and nuzzling her nose to his.
" your sexy Astrid smile" he hummed as he breathed in her scent.
He earned yet another giggle, " I didn't know i had a sexy Astrid smile" she questioned his compliment as she always does, and waits for his sarcastic or extra cheesy comeback.
" well, it's a smile dedicated to my wife, a smile so sexy only she could pull it off" he went with cheesy, but it still made her heart skip that final beat. She couldn't help herself when she brought his lips to crash into hers, gliding their lips together as her fingers scraped his scalp. He recently released she always goes for his hair, however when her nails scraped his scalp and a groan escaped from his mouth, he got his answer. Her legs jumped up and was around his waist, his lanky yet strong arms came under her, holding her up by under her arse.
He took two steps and she was placed on his desk, her legs stayed loosely wrapped around him as his hands now traveled up her body to her face, cupping it slightly.
" hmm wait-" she pushed back and he moaned in annoyance, practically sulking. " Have you even eaten today, or slept properly" she went to caress his face but he took her hand in his before she reached his face.
" seriously, you stopped us to ask me about my health, to ask me if i have eaten?" she shrugged only to get her hand tapped out of the way and his lips back on hers, more needy this time.
He pulled back, " if i eat you out will that be classed as eating" his cockiness caught her off guard, so when he went to kiss her again she covered his lips with one of her hands and pushed him back at arms length.
" Hiccup?"
" sorry, did i take it too far?" he once cocky smirk soon disappeared. It was very rare Astrid would see a confident, cocky smile from Hiccup, especially when it came to her and their relationship/marriage.
" no," she said without hesitation, " i'm just not that ready yet" he nodded at her humbly, wanting to take a step back but she grabbed a strap on his suit and pulled him in closer.
" but i want to be, i miss my husband as much as you miss your wife" she felt his breath on her face as he pressed his nose on hers, his arms wrapped around her thin waist, drawing her in close. He could feel her leg drag along his slowly, as her hands pulled down on his auburn hair.
" i do miss my wife, i miss her soft moans when i place my hands here," he drew her closer to him, bringing her to the edge of his desk so that his hand could ride up the back of her thigh near the bottom of her butt. She let a moan escape from her lips as her toned thighs were squeezed slightly.
" i miss how soft her neck feels when i kiss it," he placed soft light kisses over her creamy skin on her neck, " i miss her sweaty body pressed against mine" she giggled this time as he reached the end of hr neck.
" i miss waking up naked next to her after spending hours the night before making love, and running a finger up her inner thigh and making her shudder under my finger tips when it reaches its destination. " she shivered as he squeezed her thighs again.
" i miss us" his lips brushed hers as their noses slightly touched, her hands ran up his shoulders and gripped the bottom of his auburn locks at the top of the back of his neck.
" i miss us too" with her eyes closed she leaned up and his lips were attracted to hers lips magnets, gripping onto each other with passion, like they had been separated for over 20 years, cause thats what it felt like. She went to move back further on his desk, placing one of her hands down to balance out her weight, but when she placed it down, it wasn't wood she felt on the palms of her hand, it was paper, and she nearly slipped on it.
" wait, wait- let me move this" Hiccup groaned as she pulled away from their heated embrace, her legs still loosely wrapped around his waist, she leaned back to move the map, reaching over, she felt the need to look deeper into the this map that hand hundreds of black X's dotted around the archipelago.
" what's this?" she asked gesturing to the X's.
"oh, i've been trying to track where Drago might be getting his supply from, money, shipment, the lot of it. The places that are marked with an X are dead ends, ones that didn't give me leads or anything." she traced her finger over a few of them, and then her eyes landed on something that didn't add up.
" Hiccup? What's this?" her finger landed on one large X.
" a dead end, there was nothing that linked to Drago" she lifted the map in between them and he soon realised they were not going to continue what that had started not a few moments ago.
" that's impossible" her finger still lingered over the X.
" Astrid i've been there my self nearly two years ago and there was no connection to Drago" she shook her head, and looked up at him.
" Hiccup i was there two years ago, and i'm telling you, the southern markets may not look like much but it is not what it seems" Hiccup moved the map to one side and focused on what his wife was trying to tell him.
" Explain?"
" I know what they say about the southern markets, that its just some cheap shit of an excuse to go shopping, but it's not, its where lords and Kings, chiefs and emperors go to bid on slaves, and Drago he's a big part of the supply shipment, he sells his captives and get money from it, whether he sells them for a few nights with big clients or whether he sells them off as slaves permanently it doesn't matter, thats where he gets his money from, chests and chests of gold. And that's how he is paying for his army." her voice was shaken, like she remembered that experience like it was yesterday.
" right, are you sure" she nodded, she was certain, she didn't believe it herself when it happened, but she hadn't seen Kari since that night and she knew he sold her, she knew he had been sell slaves over the past two years to build his army, and she knew he was probably selling slaves all those years ago before the attack on Berk.
" okay, we'll take a team and go check it out"
Her eyes shot up, " We?"
" yeah we" he nodded as the two smiled at each other. They were a team again.
xx
" So since last time how do you feel you guys have progressed, in your marriage I mean?" Phlegma sat on her bench opposite to the bench Hiccup and Astrid were sat on in the main room. Phlegma's hut was beautiful, quite small but big enough for her alone, her husband died long ago before dragons were peaceful and lived on Berk. Her three boys were all grown up and one of them was expecting a child in the spring, so a small, quiet, hut on the other side of the mountain was perfect for Phlegma.
Her house was her house, however as the islands physiatrist she had this one room to the right of the front door which was just for her clients, where she wrote down their thoughts and feelings so she could back track to help he clients in the best way possible.
Astrid at first hated the thought of discussing her personal and private life of her marriage to a stranger, she's not saying she likes it now, but she does hate it, anymore.
" i think we have improved, alot," Hiccup started, " we talk more, discuss more about our problems" he had a huge smile on his face, he had been smile a lot recently.
This whole marriage council made him happy, to talk about their feelings and how they would like to progress in the future, it made him happy and thats why she was here.
" we haven't got back to being an ... intimate married couple, but that doesn't matter, i know she isn't mentally ready for that, its not because she doesn't love me anymore" he gave her hand that he held a little squeeze as he spoke, and when he finished he got a quick peck on the cheek.
" i never stopped loving you Hiccup" he looked back at her.
" i know that," he nodded, " at least now I do"
" well that good," Phlegma broke the silence, writing a few things in her note book. " i like seeing results from my clients, what i would like to see from you guys by the next session is a written copy by the both of you of things you haven't yet discussed with each other, cause then i am going to speak to each of you personally without the other, talk about them, and then if you feel like discussing it with each other thats great, but you don't have to thats the point. You guys okay with that?" the two looked at each other and knew by staring at each others eyes they were both on the same page.
She nodded as well as him.
" good, I'll see you guys next week then" the two looked at each other then backed at her.
" that's it, no more questions?" Astrid asked nervously, Phlegma looked up from her book and gave a small smile towards them.
" i think you guys have progressed a lot faster than i thought you would, and that's great, but there are a things i wish to discuss to you guys individually about inner problems, but we can discuss that next session. " she went back to her book only for a second, but then looked up at her chief and his wife.
" you guys can discuss anything else that is, if you want" the two shook their heads nervously. " well with that said, you can leave if you want." the two wasted no time, waving their good byes they headed out the door, Hiccup took Astrid's hand in his as they walked down the steps that lead towards the rest of the village.
And even though the act itself was not as intimate as what the two have done in the past, as his finger tips brushed her hand softly she had that feeling in her stomach that she hadn't felt since before her marriage. That feeling of when she was first attracted to Hiccup.
She had butterflies, flying around her stomach and sending goosebumps down her arms, through her hands and straight in her finger tips where Hiccup held her hand.