A/N: I'm sorry I'm late. But yeah. Didn't have time to write in these months. Chapters will be out when they're ready. I can't give you any sort of reassurance.
Now. About the story. I've got nothing important to say y'all.
Oh you wished. Lies. In this installment of the story, you'll get to know Astrid's little cousin better as a character. I know she's not present in the httyd universe but I've always wondered how it'd be for Astrid to have a little cousin. You'll grow attached to Ingrid. Eventually.
Please leave some reviews, I'd appreciate hearing what you guys have to say. That's pretty much it.
Enjoy
Xx
Flames. That's what she was seeing. Everything felt hot and she couldn't see well through the big black cloud of smoke that had been created. The houses built in wood were burning before her eyes. She searched for her mom but couldn't find her. Everyone had left and she was completely alone in the big burning village.
She wanted to cry. How would she have ever escaped?
She would have never seen her mother again. Or her father. But actually, not seeing her father again was okay. He was always punching mom,screaming mean things at her, and she didn't like it. She would always cry when things like that happened. Because she loved her mom. She was always sweet with her. She loved the kisses she gave her on the cheeks. She would always call her " her sweet little girl" and she would always laugh softly when she did. But she knew she couldn't change the way her father treated her sweet mommy. And Ingrid knew she didn't deserve it. She may have been little but she wasn't stupid. She understood when bad things happened.
And being completely alone in a burning deserted village was one of them.
She started crying and asking for help. She turned around to see if anyone was coming towards her way but couldn't see anything. Suddenly she couldn't feel the ground underneath her feet anymore and someone's grip intensifying at her waist level as they walked away from the fire.
"How many times have I told you to follow the others when a fire occurs?"
She recognised that voice. It was her cousin's. It was Astrid's.
"I'm sorry."
Astrid was so brave. She had come all the way inside there just to rescue her. When she grew up she wanted to be exactly like her. Fearless, courageous and beautiful. Her being beautiful, she'd always thought that; being short sucked. Her cousin happened to be of the perfect height. She was tall enough to face literally anyone. And she wasn't afraid to do so. That was what she mostly admired about her. She wished she'd have the same height as hers, or the same beauty and courage but happened to have none.
She hated being little. She always had to follow stupid rules she didn't like. On the other hand, Astrid could do whatever she wanted. Her parents let her always out with her friends. She was allowed to roam around whenever she liked, except during nights. She had to ask for that. She wished she had any kind of friend but didn't. The only real friend she had was her mommy because her dad would never let her play with any of her contemporaries back at home.
Fortunately he hated coming here, to Berk. It was always her and mommy going. The three of them lived indeed on a little isle near Berk. Mommy had told her that her village and Berk's were allies. They always came to Berk during summer and festive periods. His father would always say playing was something she shouldn't do because she was supposed to be a warrior. And warriors would never play.
So friends were basically out of the question...
During the last period, Astrid had let her stay with her friends more often. And that was something she really liked, because it was the only moment she was allowed to spend with anyone else aside from her mommy or her uncles.
Snotlout was bossy and stupid, Fishlegs was kind with her. He liked him a lot. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were so cool. They'd always want to blow stuff up and let her see. She liked spending time with Astrid's friends. They were amazing. Exactly like her.
One day she had asked her why Hiccup, that she knew was the son of Stoick, wasn't joining them and was always working in the forge instead of spending some time with her and her friends. She had seen the two of them talking one time, on Johann's ship. She was waiting for Astrid to return at the arena, where she had been told to wait with a few kids she didn't happen to know very well. After a while she got bored and also hungry. It was almost dinner time after all. So she got up and went to search for her cousin. When she found her she had discovered she was talking to him.
From what she had seen they had seemed to get along. But she didn't really know. It could have just been an impression...
She was indeed always ignoring him when she was in group with the others.
When Astrid had finished to talk to him she had come towards her direction and asked her why she hadn't waited for her and her friends at the arena. She had answered that she had been a little bit hungry, so they both headed home.
She could no longer see the fire now. Astrid had brought her out of it. She looked up and saw where she was taking her. The great hall. The only place that hadn't been burnt to the ground.
She noticed as her cousin began to head up the stairs.
From her cousin's shoulder she saw a family climbing up the stairs. A big tall man was trying to calm down and reassure a little crying kid with blond hair in his hands. The woman, who she was assuming being the mother, was crying as well.
Next to her there was a little kid about the same age as the other. He was holding his mother's hand really tight and telling her not to cry. She got a quick glance at the boy because of Astrid proceeding with a not to be underestimated, relevant steady pace on the stairs.
She saw him turning around and she immediately noticed his big brown eyes. She saw him blinking twice at her, before he averted her gaze. Then she tightened up even more to Astrid's hold.
When she lifted her sight again the boy was too far to be distinguished but she could see he had gone back talking to his mother.
She felt Astrid suddenly stopping. She had reached the end of the stairs and was now standing before the big front door. She opened it in one swift manner. Then she felt the loud noise of the door opening and then immediately shutting behind them.
The hall was full of concearned vinkings that were discussing the big fire that had just taken place. Her feet touched the ground and her face was encountered with her cousin's. Her fists were on her waist.
She averted her gaze resentfully.
Before she'd even have a chance to speak up, a voice echoed in the great hall and grabbed everyone's attention. It was a deep, firm voice. She knew it well. It was the chief's.
"Everybody stay calm."
She watched as everybody turned around to hear what he had to say. She had heard him speaking a couple of times in front of the tribe before. His speeches were important. Everybody had to listen to them.
"What is happening Stoick?" a voice asked from the back of the hall.
"Are we under attack?"
Some murmurs were heard after this question. Fortunately the chaos that had been created wasn't as confusing as the previous one.
"FOR ODIN'S SAKE, WOULD YA ALL SHUT UP?"
She saw as everyone went silent after what Gobber had said. She knew him. One time he had asked her if she wanted to join him and Hiccup in the forge. She had hidden herself behind her mommy's skirt after the question. The way he had laughed afterwards in noticing her behaviour had scared her a little. And the fact that he had come near her to vigourusly stroke her head hadn't helped matters.
She afterwards realized that what he had said was meant to be a joke.
Her mommy had told her he was a good man. She wanted to believe it because her mommy was always right. But she just couldn't bring herself to do it.
He appeared a little intimidating to her eyes.
"THE CHIEF HERE IS TALKING, SO LISTEN UP!"
She saw as Stoick nodded his head to thank Gobber and then started to talk again.
"We are not under attack. Everything is fine. And dragons have nothig to do about this. The fire was caused by a thunder as some of you may have heard."
"What about our houses?" A plump worried woman asked from the front row of the crowd.
"I sent a team. They're working on extingushing the fire. Every damaged house will be rebuilt, so do not worry."
"Where will the most of us be sleeping tonight?" The same woman asked with an even more concearned tone.
She saw Stoick scratching his chin through his big furry beard in though, then he spoke.
"Whoever has the need will be sleeping here tonight, meanwhile we'll work on reconstruction."
She heard the crowd speaking loudly again.
Maybe this was the perfect time to escape from her cousin.
She seemed completely absorbed by what the chief was saying and plus everyone was distracted. This would have been, without a doubt, the perfect moment to plan an escape.
She started to backtrack really carefully.
One step backwards, two, three and...
Thump.
Her back hit something. She turned around and saw she had hit a leg. An adult's one. More precisely, her mommy's one. She was looking at her with a disappointed face and crossed arms. Her uncles were standing right beside her.
"Eager to go, are we?"
Her cousin approched her mom, after hearing what she had said. She noticed how Astrid adjusted her skirt and started talking to her mommy.
"I found her alone in the fire and brought her here."
Her mommy looked at her in disbelief.
"Ingrid, is that true? You were supposed to follow us. Where were you?"
She wanted to hide herself in a hole somewhere. Anywhere.
She was so ashamed. She had disappointed not only her mommy but her uncles and Astrid as well.
"I-I'm sorry. I l-couldn't find you anymore..."
Which was true. She was following her mommy to escape the fire but at a certain point she must have gotten lost. She couldn't see anyone in fact. Not even her uncles happened to be there.
Before she knew it she found herself fearing for her life completely alone in a hot burning scenario.
She was crying now. Warm heavy tears were copiously running across her face. She was feeling so ashamed. She only had to do one thing. Follow her mommy and her uncles. And she couldn't do that.
She met Astrid's eyes.
Her cousin's eyes widened in noticing her crying. Then Astrid sighed. She was probably tired of her childish behaviour. One time she had told her she hated when people cried. It was pointless to her.
"Let's go. Come with me. We'll have some food."
Astrid's voice had appeared gentle. She watched her with a confused expression and then wiped her tears away. She looked over her mother's direction in an asking manner.
"Ca-can I go mommy?"
Her mommy furrowed.
"It's okay really." Astrid said.
"She'll be with me the entire time."
She turned around to see Astrid smiling at her. Had she been wrong? Was she actually not mad at her?
"Plus, I trust her not to do any more damage."
She winked at her. This made her smile.
She looked over her mommy that had now kneeled in front of her.
"Ingrid, don't cry. Everyone here loves you. We were just worried, that's all. But seriously, be more careful next time, alright?"
She quickly hugged her mom who gave her a quick peck on the cheek.
"Come on. Go with Astrid. Tomorrow we'll practice with the alphabet if you want, how does that sound?"
She smiled and nodded vigorously.
Her mother smiled back.
"That's my sweet little girl. Go now. We'll see you in a while."
She took her cousin's hand and started to distance herself from the others while jumping joyfully.
She noticed Stoick talking to Gobber and other vikings bringing in the great hall all sorts of things. Mostly things needed for the night, like pillows and sleeping bags. They had to because their house had been damaged by the fire and this made her think.
"Astrid, is our home okay?"
"I think so. But I'm not sure. Other houses near in the village were burning. I don't know if ours has been affected as well. Anyway some men are working on extinguishing the fire right now."
"Oh. I think the village should have like a fire extinguishing team."
She managed to say while struggling to pronounce the word extinguishing.
"You know, like, for fires."
She noticed as Astrid stared at the ground before her.
"Maybe you're right."
"You should be in that team. You'd be like so cool!"
She heard Astrid laughing feebly.
"Yeah, sure."
They headed to bring something to eat. A crowd of vikings were right in front of them trying to take any type of food they could find. Fortunately most of the food had been saved and taken away from the fire.
"Astrid?"
"What?"
"Are you still mad at me?"
Some time passed before she answered.
"A bit."
"What for?"
Her cousin's eyes widened.
"Well, maybe for going away? Not following the others like you were told to do?"
"I got lost!"
She noticed Astrid abserving her in thought.
"Well, the main reason I'm mad at you is because you cried. You know I hate people doing that."
"But why?"
"People pity you when you cry. You've got to be strong. Even when you don't feel like it. You have to convince youself you can make it. Always."
"But what if I really need to?"
She waited a bit before answering.
"You hold tears back."
All she could do then, in seeing her cousin's serious expression, was nodding.
Xx
Well this was boring. She was waiting to have her meal while sitting on a tall wooden table.
Astrid was giving everyone food and although she was hungry, she had to wait before eating hers. The other vikings had to pick theirs first due to their burnt food stockings in their houses.
She watched her feet moving forwards and backwards as she waited. She could have easily fallen from that position but she didn't care. She literally had nothing better to do than doing that movement with her legs.
She lifted up her gaze and saw Astrid handing out food to some people positioned in a long row in front of her.
"Astrid."
She turned around while holding a bowl of stew she had just transferred from a big cauldron.
"Yes?"
"I'm bored."
And she didn't listen. She just turned around and didn't answer her.
She crossed her arms. Why was she ignoring her? It wasn't fair. It wasn't polite. At all.
"Astrid!" She repeated once more using a higher volume to deliver her name.
She turned around once again. She appeared angry this time. Her eyes were squinting at her and her lips were pursed. It was obvious that she was trying with all of her will not to burst.
"What?"
It was a very punctuated word. One that explicitly said stop waisting my time. She was sure it would have been better for her to just stop. But at the same time she didn't care. She was bored. Her cousin should have spent some time with her.
She should have wanted to.
"I am bored."
Astrid sighed.
"Can't you see I'm busy?" Try to help someone out. It'll be a lot better than staying here and not do anything at all."
And with that last sentence she turned around one last time and handed some stew to an old man waiting in line.
How upsetting. Astrid would always play with her. Why was she behaving like that? She didn't want to spend time with her? Message received.
She jumped down from the table she was sitting on. She then adjusted her boots by pulling the edges upwards and distancing herself from her cousin. Her hands were closed in tight fists. She could feel her nails scraping her palms. How could she do that? Sending her off like that? She knew she was her only friend. And yet, Astrid didn't seem to care.
What was she supposed to do now?
She kept walking but not really knowing where she was heading.
Suddenly something happened and she started to scream. She felt an arm around her waist grabbing her and lifting her from the ground. She soon found herself sitting on what she recognised being Snotlout's shoulders.
She stopped emitting frightened screams and looked around. She saw Tuffnut and Ruffnut standing nearby while devilishly smiling. Fishlegs was standing there as well.
She blinked in confusion.
"Someone looks angry today." Snotlout said looking up at her.
"Yeah, you look upset Ing." She heard Tuffnut adding.
"Ing?" Ruffnut asked.
Tuffnut facepalmed at her sister's question
"Yes Ruffnut, it's a nickname. Usually used when you don't want to call someone by their full name but you want to use an abbreviation instead."
"I know stupid. The thing is it just doesn't suit her." she answered.
"I think it does."
"Would you two stop? I bet she's fed up of your behaviour. Where's your cuz by the way?" Snotlout asked, shutting the twins up.
She pointed over the visibly reduced line the vikings were in. In the meantime the amount of people waiting had diminished.
The great hall was in fact fuller of a lot more vikings enjoying their hot dinner now that she noticed.
"She's over there handing food to people."
She sensed Snotlout lifting his gaze up. He smirked when he saw her cousin.
"We should go to say hi to her."
She looked over her cousin. Her gaze was slightly covered by her bangs.
"You think?"
"Yep. I'm gonna run. So hold on tight."
So she gripped onto Snotlout's neck and held on tight.
"Ahem, Snotlout, I don't think that's a good idea." Fishlegs said clearly worried by what was about to happen.
"Ready? And go!" And then Snotlout started running really fast with her on his shoulders.
Because of his speed some of her golden locks ended up on her face. She tried to take them out of the way with her hands while laughing. They stopped right in front of Astrid.
She was still laughing when Snotlout stopped.
Then she noticed Astrid's expression. It wasn't a happy one.
"Hey Astrid." Snotlout said while moving his eyebrows in a suggestive manner.
She saw Astrid blinking twice.
"What are you doing?"
She was put down by Snotlout. Then he saw him appraching Astrid and putting an elbow on the edge of the table Astrid was resting on.
"Just letting little Ingrid here have some fun."
"Yeah, well, that was not fun. At all." Astrid answered coldly.
Snotlout snorted while still leaning against the table. "Seemed fun to her."
She saw Astrid face turning around and her questioning gaze.
In seeing her cousin's expression she didn't even bother answering. She just raised her shoulders in a distracted manner.
"Oh Astrid." Snotlout said while putting his elbow on top of her shoulder pad in a teaseful yet flirty manner.
"You should stop worrying so much about everything. Be more like your cuz here. She's awesome!"
This made her smile. She was awesome! To one of Astrid's friends. The feeling didn't last long though.
She saw as Astrid hardly hit him in the guts with her elbow in an annoyed manner. Snotlout immediately bent forward while feeling pain.
"Ingrid! First you go around on your own only to be found in the middle of a huge fire and second you end up on this muttonhead's back running and playing, knowing exactly well that you could have fallen and that you should be helping instead of minding your own buissness."
She saw Astrid sighing again.
"Why can't you just behave?"
The tone she had used to deliver that question had been higher than usual.
Astrid probably didn't notice but she did.
She could feel vikings' curious eyes all over her. They were eagerly staring at the two of them discussing. She could also feel the twins and Fishlegs approaching because of what Astrid had said.
She had tears in her eyes. They were about to run down her cheeks.
She was close to exploding. She looked at Astrid's eyes one last time. Her gaze appeared worried. That was the last thing she saw before averting it and running all the way through the great hall. She exited the big room exploiting the opened front door a man was keeping open while talking to another. She hoped her mommy didn't witness the scene. It would have been embarassing.
She ran. All she could feel while running was embarassment. Someone probably called for her in the distance behind her but she didn't care to find out who it was.
What she cared about right now was running and going away from Astrid. Not being seen by her as she cried. Was she not meant to be seen while crying? Fine. She would not be seen. She was a mess. She tried. She really did. But in one way or another she always eventually managed to do everything the wrong way.
She couldn't breathe anymore as she stopped and hid herself between two buildings that fortunately hadn't been burnt to the ground, unlike other ones.
She panted heavily. She was bent forward in front of a wall and her right hand was resting on it. Her little chest raising up and down. All of a sudden she felt tears running down her puffy cheeks.
She tried to stop it but couldn't make it. It was just happening even though she really wished for it to cease.
She lifted her gaze upwards while still leaning on the wall. Most of the buildings to her left were pitch black due to the complete absence of light during the night.
Some of them, the ones burnt, mostly on the right, appeared to be even darker. That scared her a little.
"Ingrid." Someone was calling for her.
She quickly left but in doing so, she noticed the door of the forge had been left askew.
She heard her name being called from afar again. She looked around once more and noticed that everything around her was dark. She had no other choice. She needed hiding, so she took the chance at hand.
She entered the forge and closed the door in a frantic move behind her. She let her head rest against the door and exhaled a long sigh of relief, knowing that now she was finally out of sight.
She looked around and saw the room partially lighted. She adjusted her two braids at the sides of her head and stood upright. She had entered the back of the forge, where Gobber kept all of his working tools. Several big screwdrivers, each one different in size, were hanging onto the wall.
Sledgehammers were resting indisturbed on a big table. And then, in a hidden corner of the room, there was a pile of arms. They were the ones that needed repairs.
She knew all of this because Gobber had showed her one time, when she had happened to be there with her mommy. It had been so cool seeing all this. Of course, at the beginning she was a little hesitant and uneasy. Gobber sure was intimidating to her but this little particular didn't stop her from being curious.
She saw someone moving through the open door that tied the back of the forge and the main one together. She paid attention not to flinch because she didn't want to be heard.
But unfortunately whomever moved in the other room must have seen her because that person was now standing in front of the opened door, covering the light.
"Ingrid, is that you?"
She didn't have to move. Maybe if she remained completely still she'd just disappear and won't need to explain her presence to anyone. Not even to the chief's son. To Hiccup.
She remained still, completely unsure on what to do.
"What are you doing here?"
She looked up clearly uneasy with the whole situation. She knew she wasn't supposed to be there. But she needed a place to hide from whoever was calling for her and the forge happened to be the only available place.
"I-I..."
She tried to answer his question while backtracking a little but ended up falling on top of the broken weapons that neededrepairs. that had hurt a little, especially when she positioned her hand on a weapons' irony point to get up.
She swiftly remove her hand and massage it with the other.
"Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah..."
She saw him approaching her and carefully taking her wrist to examine her hand.
"Oh gods, Ingrid you're bleeding!"
She observerd her palm. It was slightly covered in dirt. And a big horizontal scratch was visible in the centre.
"Come with me."
She followed him in the front part of the forge, where she had seen him silently work that time she had been showed around by Gobber.
She hesitantly followed him and stopped right next to a big table while still holding her right wrist with her left hand.
He took a chair and moved it for her so that it was facing her.
"Take a seat."
She sat on the wooden chair and saw as he took some things from a table against a wall: some brownish bandages and a bottle filled up with transparent liquid. He put the bandage on the opening of the bottle and turend it over so that the bandage would soak the liquid up.
While he was doing that he suddenly turned around and got a quick glimpse out of her.
She immediately averted his gaze feeling embarassed. She heard him laughing.
"You know, for a moment I almost thought it was the twins."
That caught her attention. Twins? Why would they ever come to the forge? She arched an eyebrow.
"You mean Ruffnut and Tuffnut?"
"No. I mean the little Thorgard twins. Harold and Finn." He said turning around a second time while still holding the bandage underneath the bottle.
This time she stared at him and didn't look away. Her expression was still a little bit confused.
"Well, I don't know who they are."
"Well you must have seen them somewhere. Although they're twins they do not look alike at all, believe me. Harold's got brown hair and Finn has got blond hair. And they're pretty different in height as well..."
She saw as he flipped over the bottle once again and closed the lid.
"When they're here, they're always up to no good. Sometimes I pretend not to notice them while they roam around, but only when the way's safe. I wouldn't wish for them to end up like you ended up today."
She looked at her wound. It appeared to be pretty deep.
"It's actually pretty strange. They're your age. I-I thought you guys were friends."
She waited a little before answering. She thoroughly thought about what to respond in that brief span of time. After a little thinking she decided she found the perfect answer even if a little mean.
"Astrid's your age. You two do not look like friends."
There was a pause. Maybe she shouldn't have said that, but she was too sensitive on that topic. Too self concious about not having any friends so she concluded she really didn't regret what she had said to him.
"Well, it is...complicated. But yeah, I guess you're right."
He opened up a little drawer, put back the bottle and the rolled-up bandages. Then he closed it and turned around.
"Here." He said while showing her the bandage.
She slowly extended her arm while still holding her wrist with her left hand.
He gently placed the wet bandage on her wound but she flinched and immediately removed her hand.
He looked at her in a confused manner.
"It burns."
Then he understood. He almost completely forgot the thing he used for healing wounds could seriously burn. He was so used to it by now. He kept it in the forge for whenever he would need it, which was most of the times. The forge was not a safe place. And wounds during work weren't exactly an uncommon thing.
"I'm sorry. I know it does, but we have to heal your wound. If we don't it's just gonna burn even more."
She knew he was right but she was still afraid.
"Please?"
In seeing his pleading expression she decided to extend her arm a second time and wait for him to wrap her hand.
She felt it stinging a little. Then she felt the thing slowly wrapping her hand. She clenched her teeth tight and closed her eyes.
"It's all finished. You can open your eyes now."
She did. She noticed her covered palm and flipped her hand over only to see that the dorso of her hand was wrapped up as well.
The wound was still hurting a little but if the burning was any indication, the bandages did seem to do the work.
She moved her gaze to Hiccup's.
He was smiling at her.
"Does it still hurt?"
"A bit."
"Don't worry, the stinging should only last for a couple of hours. You should be fine."
She newly looked at her palm.
"Thanks."
She saw him nodding without looking at her and then getting up in one swift move.
"So, care to explain what you're doing here?"
Her whole body stiffened and her eyes went wide. She couldn't tell him she was being chased. He would have brought her back to her mom, her uncles and Astrid. And that was the least thing she wanted right now.
She had already been scolded once. She couldn't bear being scolded twice.
"I, uhm..."
She needed to tell him something. Anything.
But before she could get a chance at speaking, her thoughts were suddenly interrupted.
"Of course!" She heard him saying.
"You're here for Astrid's axe!"
She furrowed. What? Why would she be here for that?
"She gave it to me for some adjustments. I guess she told you to come and pick it up, right?"
She lifted up her gaze. His face was transpiring doubt. He was probably questioning himself if that was the truth.
But then realisation hit. She decided that was definitely what she was going with. That was gonna be her truth.
"Yes." She said a little higher than she meant for it to be.
A few seconds passed after she had asked and during all of those wrenching and consuming seconds she prayed every god that she knew that she had sounded convincing.
He didn't respond. He just turned around and headed for the back of the forge.
After a while he returned while holding in his hands Astrid's axe.
He examined it for a little while and touched the very edge with his thumb.
"It could use one last sharpening. I'll hand it to you in a minute."
She nodded.
He positioned himself in front of a wheel of stone surrounded by a wooden structure that he had begun to spin. It had a big stud in the centre. The wooden structure around it touched the ground and supported its entire weight. He put the axe on top of the spinning wheel and some sparkles exited from it.
Five minutes passed, then she saw as he moved it away from the wheel and examined it. He made it spun in his hands stuggling a little bit to hold it in his hands due to its weight. It was so shiny now.
"All new."
He came near her and handed it.
"Uhm, you sure you can carry this?"
It was because of her wound. It would have been difficult for her but not impossible. She still had her left hand intact after all. She could have used that.
"Yes." She answered assuringly.
He positioned Astrid's axe near the leg of the chair she was sitting on and then took another to sit in front of her. She saw as he wiped his forehead with a cloth.
"Why aren't you at the great hall?" she asked.
It was strange of him being here and not with the rest of the village. And he had basically asked her the same thing earlier. Kind of. It was only fair she too could know what he was doing here.
He hesited and put the cloth away in his pocket.
"Well I needed to check if the forge was safe, you know? If not me, who else?"
He concluded with a nervous laugh.
"Right."
Snotlout had told her he was strange sometimes. That he always did the opposite of what one person would expect him to do.
She was slowly starting to realize that.
" Listen. I was wondering...Is Astrid's axe the only reason why you're here?"
Oh no. He was starting to become suspicious. And he was clearly starting not to buy this anymore.
"Yes, why?"
"Oh you know. I just found it kind of strange you'd come here all by yourself, in the middle of the night and especially after a fire."
She had to admit it was kind of strange.
"Does your mom know you're here?"
She nodded.
He looked at her in disbelief.
"You sure? Because I could ask her just fine the next time I see her."
Her breathing stopped.
"NO!" She said abruptly. She didn't even mean to let it out. It just sort of did without her consent.
He was looking at her with arms crossed now.
"I-I mean... Please don't." She sighed.
"Ingrid, why are you here?"
She lifted her gaze. His expression was serious.
"For real this time."
She sighed a second time. She had to talk now, whether she liked it or not.
"Okay. I sort of got away from Astrid and her friends. She was being mean to me. Then she followed me with the others and I hid here. Please don't tell my mom. She doesn't know yet. And I've already got scolded tonight."
She saw his expresssion softening.
"Wait. Astrid was being mean to you?"
"Yeah."
"How come?"
"I don't know. She just sort of doesn't want me around with her friends. I wish she did. But she doesn't."
She must have been silent for too long after her statement because she immediately heard him speaking next.
"I'm sure she does."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because she cares about you. She's just not used to seeing you in her group of friends. She doesn't know how to handle the situation properly."
She looked down.
"I want to have friends."
She really did. She didn't care if they were Astrid's as well. She just wanted to have a good time with people that accepted her. Those people possibly being others apart from her family members.
She wanted it so badly her chest ached sometimes. But she never told anyone. It sounded stupid said out loud, at least to her.
She felt his hand resting on hers, the one not wounded that was resting on her left thigh.
"Hey, I know it's tough but don't be sad."
She lifted her gaze upwards and felt him wiping a tear off her face with his right thumb.
"I could be your friend."
She gave him a weak smile. Maybe he wasn't as bad as Snotlout said he was.
"R-really? " she asked hopefully.
"Of course! Who wouldn't want to be?"
He was being so nice to her although having entered the forge without anyone's permission in the middle of the night, having hidden herself from him behind some messed up weapons that needed repairs and havind told him some vicious things. He had even wrapped up her wound.
She got up from the chair and hugged him.
"Thank you."
She felt him stiffening because of the sudden gesture but then she sensed him relax.
"Y-you're welcome." he answered.
When she let go she saw him smiling at her.
"Go now. Don't make your mom go crazy once again because of you tonight."
He said with uneccessary accentuated playful hand gestures.
"Don't worry. I won't tell her you have come here."
She nodded, still smiling.
She turned around and bent over so she could pick Astrid's axe and bring it to her. But she stopped because of her new friend talking to her.
"Hey, you don't have to. Your hand is injured and that thing is pretty heavy."
She furrowed. Hadn't they already had this concersation? She could still carry it with her other hand. She took it in her hands and dragged it on the floor for him to see but she couldn't even try to explain to him because she got interrupted once again.
"Considering what you've told me I don't think you were here for Astrid's axe despite having told me otherwise."
She looked down ashamed. He had understood that was just an excuse.
"Don't worry, I'm not mad. Just leave it here. I don't want you to hurt yourself even more. I'll give it to her next time she comes to the forge."
She looked at the shiny object behind her that she was keeping in her left hand.
"No." She answered firmily.
As crazy as it may have sounded she wanted to personally deliver Astrid her axe.
She saw Hiccup's confused expression and continued in further explanation.
"I want to bring it to her."
"But why? Your hand is not alright. You shouldn't stress it."
"W-well, I want to because if I give this to her maybe she won't say anything to mommy. I mean, about me leaving. And besides, I've already told you I can carry this with my left hand." She concluded with an hesitant smile.
"Ingrid, you shouldn't-"
"Please?"
He looked at her unsure. Then he rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Fine."
She smiled and turned around, picked the axe from the ground near the leg of the chair and headed for the back of the forge.
She couldn't lift the axe fully. It was far too heavy. In fact she had to drag it from the handle. The blade was touching the ground and making a little bit of noise but so far so good.
She felt Hiccup following her and opening the door of the back of the forge so that she could exit.
"Don't make me regret this. Go to find Astrid, give her the axe and then straight up to your mom."
She nodded.
She started to make her way out dragging the axe on the ground but then she stopped for a moment and turned around to face him.
"I'm sure Astrid would be happy to have you as a friend. I'm sure I am."
She saw him smiling and looking at her in a tender way. To her this moment felt like the very first thing she had done right that night.
"I am too. Goodnight Ingrid."
"Goodnight."
And then she saw him as he gently closed the door of the forge behind her.
Xx
She was trying to speed up her pace. It was so late. She was never allowed out this late during the night. Hopefully her mommy hadn't yet noticed she had completely disappeared.
Anyways she had to find Astrid first. If her mommy saw her with that thing in her hands she would have understood she had gone to the forge completely by herself. And that was the least thing she wanted.
But then again, if by chance she didn't happen to find Astrid, she would have eventually needed to reach for her mommy first. Oh she was in so much trouble...
What was she gonna say to her?
Okay maybe it wasn't that big of a deal and it was possible that she was just overreacting. If this happened she would have told her mother that her and Astrid went together to the forge and that was why she now had the axe. And the reason why Astrid was not there was because she had told her to reach the great hall by herself and had given her the axe while she hanged out with Snoutlout and the others. That way she wouldn't have been in trouble.
But then again, Astrid would have never left her wandering by herself. Let alone with her axe!
She was running out of excuses lately. And apparently, at least following Hiccup's reasonments, her excuses weren't very good either. They were very much trasparent and see through.
She was becoming anxious by the second. She was still struggling at moving the heavy object around. She was so close to giving up when all of a sudden she heard her name being called. She smiled and followed the sound. She found her cousin giving her back to her. That meant she couldn't see her.
"Ingrid!" Astrid shouted.
She checked at the axe behind her one last time to see if it was still intact. Then she straightened up and prepared to face Astrid. Hopefully she'd be nice to her. If she'd explain first of course.
She abandoned her hiding spot to be in full sight but as she did that she noticed Snotlout at Astrid's side looking around.
She panicked and hid again. She couldn't be seen carrying an axe by him. Not until she'd be able to explain the situation to Astrid and convince her not to tell mommy.
Why was Snotlout even here? Well, actually she knew why he was there. It was to help Astrid with her research. But why did he have to be there? Couldn't he be looking for her somewhere else? Afar from Astrid? So that she'd have a possibility of approaching her first?
She heard her name being called again by Astrid. Then she heard her grunting.
"Ugh, where is she?"
" Oh come on, quit your shouting. She's nowhere to be found." Snotlout said.
From her hiding spot she could see he had leant against a building that was still intact.
"Couldn't you just pretend to be concearned?" Astrid asked while crossing her arms.
"I'm sorry but I'm just being realistic. If she wanted to be found, she'd have already shown herself by now."
Well now she did want to be found. By Astrid only though.
"This does not help Snoutlout."
She saw him getting away from the wall and approaching to her. The moon light was lighting their heads.
" Oh come on! Don't act like all this wasn't your fault!"
Astrid's eyes widened.
"Excuse me? How is this my fault?"
"You always tend to blow things out of proportion. She wouldn't have left if you hadn't shouted in the first place."
She snorted. "That's ridiculous..."
"No it's not!"
How brave of him. He was defending her although Astrid being stubborn. Then she heard him speaking again.
"Listen. Do you think I enjoy having her around whatever we do and wherever we go?"
She froze. That was not what she was expecting.
"I hate kids. They're loud, sweaty, always moving and never successfully still in one place. I'm not good with them. The only reason I bare Ingrid is because she's your cousin."
She was unable to move. Whatever she was expecting from him this was not it. At all.
She felt her eyes watering. Then she felt shivers running down her back though she was not sure it was because of the cold.
"And I'll admit. Selfishly enough I kind of wanted to impress you. But that's clearly not working."
Astrid was looking at him with a blank expression on her face. Then she snorted.
"You can say that."
"Oh don't you even dare to look at me like that! " She could see him screaming while pointing an accusatory finger at her.
"You told me the exact same thing the other day. You don't like that she's always hanging out with us too. Don't even try to deny that!"
Was this true? No, it couldn't be. Astrid had told her that she enjoyed spending time with her friends when she was around.
She was waiting for her to disprove of his previous statement but she never did.
"Snotlout that's enough."
She then concluded she did say she didn't enjoy her being around. She must have had. A silent tear fell down from her eye and her breathing increased.
" Admit it Astrid! It's strange that she doesn't have any friends. It's strange that she's always hanging out with us and won't even try to approach a kid in the first place!"
She was a complete mess right now. Her cheeks were completely wet. She couldn't hear this any further. She left the axe on the ground and ran away.
She was crying but she didn't care about Astrid and what she would think about it. Astrid hated her. Snotlout hated her. And probably also the rest of her friends did.
She had to get back to mommy. But she couldn't. She'd be scolded. Actually, now that she had understood how Astrid and her friends saw her she realized she really didn't have anyone to go to.
She stopped right in front of a bench, positioned behind a big house. Some of the houses in the village had benches and chairs built around them to relax outside when the weather was nice enough to allow it.
She sat down and continued to cry.
Only the moon would have seen her.
In that moment the silent moon that was watching her from afar really felt like the only friend she had left.
Or maybe just the first one she's really had in a long time.
Xx
"Admit it Astrid! It's strange that she doesn't have any friends. It's strange that she's always hanging out with us and won't even try to approach a kid in the first place!"
Astrid couldn't believe what she was hearing. He was really going there, was he?
"THAT'S BECAUSE OF HER FATHER!"
Here. She had said it. She looked over Snotlout's confused face.
"What does her father have to do with this?"
She knew she should have stopped there, but she didn't.
"Her father is abusive! He's always beating up her mom back at home and they're both afraid of him. My aunt told me he doesn't want Ingrid to have any friends, otherwise he gets violent!"
Her eyes were full of rage. She couldn't believe she had snapped like this. That Snotlout had made her snap like this.
Her voice had cracked a little during her brief speech. Ingrid really should have deserved a better father.
She watched as Snotlout looked at her with sorrow.
"A-Astrid I had no idea, I'm-"
"Save it. And if you really want to know yes. I don't like that she's always spending time with my friends instead of having ones that are her own age. I would love her to. But she's way too scared for that, even when her father is out of the picture. It bothers me but I have to accept it. Now please, let's end it here and help me find her."
She received a nod as an answer.
Then they parted. As Snotlout went away to inspect another area she remained there to look around.
"Where are you?"
She said out loud looking up in the sky mostly to herself, wishing that her little Ingrind could hear that as well.
She had messed everything up. She should have known she'd run away. She was just angry at her. Snotlout was right. She had begun to hate the way she was always with her friends. She just wanted to be with them and feel as a part of something.
The first times it was cool, she'd just be with them and it was fun for everyone.
As the time went on she started to become annoying. She'd make a comment about her or her friends every now and then.
It was really starting to stress everyone.
It was like a simple age gap could really make a difference. A huge one in fact.
She knew it wasn't her fault. She was just being her age and overall silly.
But now she couldn't help but feeling disgusted at her own behaviour.
She had been everything but mature. And the moment she had realized that, it was was too late.
She sighed and allowed herself to go on with the searching. She started walking but all of a sudden her foot hit something.
She looked down and what she saw thoghroughly surprised her.
It was her axe. Lying on the ground.
What was her axe doing here? The last time she had seen it was in the forge. She had told Hiccup it needed repairs.
She picked it up from the ground and examined it attentively. It seemed to have a certain shine to it. She ran a finger on the blade and noticed it was sharper than usual.
She didn't know why but she was getting a feeling Ingrid really wasn't that much distant after all.
But she still didn't know if it was supposed to be a good thing or a bad one.
Xx
"Hey."
She turned her head shifting her sight from the big white moon towards the direction of the voice.
As she turned she saw a little boy staring directly at her. He seemed her age.
He was wearing a light brown tunic that covered his entire torso and dark brown pants. His hair was brown and his eyes were brown as well, light brown. They contained a shade lighter inside though.
It was similar to the colour that honey had.
"Who are you?"
She wiped her tears away and stood up immediately. She tried to answer him but nothing came out. Then she heard shouting.
"Yahhhh!"
She jumped in surprise, feeling a little bit scared. Another boy had exited his hiding spot behind the corner of the house, where the other boy that had questioned her who she was had been hiding as well.
This boy was holding in his hands a wooden sword and looked ready to hit her with that.
"Oh, it's just a girl. I told you there was nothing to worry about."
He told as he put the sword back in his belt.
He had blond hair, not as light as hers but still blond. And his eyes were exactly like his brother's, a little darker maybe.
He was not as tall as the other boy. He was a little bit shorter but could easily reach his height by staying on his toes.
"Is she crying?" the blond boy asked to his brother.
"Quit it Finn."
The other boy gave to who she now knew being a boy named Finn a nudge for being too indiscreet.
Ingrid looked down, brought her hands behind her back, made them join and pushed her chest forward feeling embarassed. It was something she often did when she was nervous.
She pursed her lips and decided not to talk, like she always did when meeting new people.
"Hi, I'm Harold. What's your name?"
She gave him no response.
Were they Harold and Finn? The two twins Hiccup was talking about in the forge?
"Do you talk?" Finn asked her.
"Finn, can you shut up?"
"She doesn't talk!"
"How do you expect her to talk if you're doing it?"
"I'm not!"
"Yes, you are!"
She didn't know why but as she saw the two of them fighting, their behaviours reminded her a lot of hers and Astrid's when they argued.
Thinking about Astrid, she remembered how not so long ago she brought her away from the fire and she saw that miserable family on the stairs to the great hall. Now that she thought about it those two looked familiar. Then she recalled the conversation she had with Hiccup in the forge.
"A-Are you the Thorgard twins?"
She asked above a whisper. Then they both turned around to look at her.
"Oh well, she does talk." Finn said.
"Yes we're the Thorgard twins, and you are?" Harold said replying to her.
"I-Ingrid."
"Wait. Ingrid? Ingrid Ivar?" Finn asked promptly.
"Yes, why?"
"Do you mean you're Ingrid Ivar and your cousin is the one and only Astrid Hofferson?
"Yes, I'm Ingrid Ivar and Astrid Hofferson is my cousin. What's wrong with that?"
"Oh man! She's so cool! We always see her at the arena. She's the best." She furrowed and looked at Finn with a questioning gaze written all over her face.
Then she sensed Harold approaching her and cupping a hand upon her ear.
"He has a crush on her."
She looked at Hatold in surprise.
"Ugh. What? She's a lot older than him!"
"Shut up! Love knows no bounds." Finn answered feeling irritated.
"Anyways, what are you doing behind our house?"
She turned around to look at the slightly burnt house.
"This is your house?"
"Yep. We came with our parents to take some covers. At least if they've survived the fire. Then we head back to the great hall. Everyone's staying there for tonight." Harold said
"I know." She answered.
"You should come with us!"
She looked incredulous.
"Really?" She asked hopeful.
"Yeah, really?" Finn said, responding to his twin.
"Really." Harold said.
He took her hand and brought her to the front of the house. Finn silently followed them. On the front there where two vikings that were exiting with some covers in their hands.
"Hey you two. Would you mind helping mommy and me carrying something?" a big man with a brown beard asked the two twins.
Mom, dad, this is Ingrid. She's our new friend."
She gasped.
"Friend?"
She saw Harold turning around, smiling at her and nodding.
"Hi Ingrid. We're happy to meet you, I'm Ashild. And this is my husband Ingvar. "
The mother of her two new friends said to her.
"She's Astrid Hofferson's cousin, isn't she?"
Ingvar asked.
"Yep." Harold answered.
"Your mom was looking for you kid. She seemed worried."
She froze. Her mommy. She had completely forgot about her. She had noticed about her absence after all...
"Was she?"
"Yes, it's a good thing we found you. We'll bring you back to her."
"Th-thanks."
As she stood there she feared whatever her mommy would say to her when she'd finally see her again. Whatever she'd say, she hoped she wouldn't be mad at her.
So they all made their way back to the great hall.
Xx
She was about to enter the great hall followed by Harold and Finn's parents. She was a little bit hesitant in fact she stopped.
But Harold noticed.
"Aren't you gonna enter?"
"My mom is gonna be mad at me."
He furrowed.
"What for?"
"For leaving her without permission."
He looked sadly over her.
"Aren't you allowed to leave?"
"Not without permission. And I'm always with someone when I do. Usually it's Astrid or one of her friends. Why? Are you allowed?"
"Yes. I mean, we still have to ask our parents but then we're free to go."
Her eyes widened.
"You mean you and Finn? Alone?"
"Yes."
She really wasn't as lucky as she thought.
"Wow. Must be nice."
"Let's get inside. You'll have to face her one way or another."
She sighed. She knew she had.
"I know."
As she was about to open the front door she was stopped by Harold that had touched her shoulder to have her attention.
"Wait, I have an idea!"
"What is it about?"
He quickly told her.
Xx
She entered the great hall followed by Harold. His parents and his twin Finn had already gone inside. He left her and went to talk to Ingvar.
She was hopefully looking at him taking his dad aside and explaining to him what he had previously explained to her.
At the end of the great hall she saw Astrid talking to her friends with her axe in her hands. The one she had left behind. She must have gotten tired to search for her, she thought.
She made eye contact with her but she immediately averted it. She quickly searched for her mom inside that crowd of vikings and hoped that Astrid wouldn't reach to her first.
"Ingrid!" She heard her mommy saying
Before she knew it she was in her mommy's hold. She was hugging her.
"Where were you? Astrid was searching for you but she couldn't find you. You stayed away for so long, what happened?"
Before she could answer, Harold's dad started to come with the little boy towards their direction.
"Don't worry Frida. She was with my boy Harold here. No need to worry. He told me she and Finn wanted to walk around for a while so I let them, right Ingrid?"
He winked at her. Thanks gods their plan had worked.
"Ingrid, is Ingvar telling the truth?"
She looked over Harold that was nodding at her. Then she looked over her mom.
"Yes." She told her.
Her mom hugged her again.
"Oh well. Thank gods you weren't alone. You know I don't want you roaming around on your own. You should have still asked for permission though."
"But she was with us the entire time!"
Harold interrupted.
Her mommy looked over Harold curiously.
"Oh well Ingrid, I see you've made a new friend here. It's nice of you Harold. But that's not the point. She should have asked before leaving. Would you like being left alone without being told?
Harold didn't answer. He remained silent.
"Frida's right son. I'm sorry. This is partially my fault. I should have brought her back immediately."
"It's okay Ingvar. What matters now is that my sweet little girl is safe."
She smiled at her, then she saw as Finn got closer to Harold. Her mommy looked at him.
"This should be Harold's brother. What's your name, lad?"
"F-Finn ma'am."
"Finn." Her mommy repeated.
"What a beautiful name. Would you like playing with Harold and Finn Ingrid?"
She looked over the two of them.
She nodded. Her mommy smiled.
She was about to leave to play with her new friends when suddenly she heard Astrid's voice.
"Oh, there you are. I couldn't find you. Where were you?"
She gulped. Well, she may just ruin everything.
"Oh I was scared as well my dear. Fortunately she was with Ingvar and the Thorgards twins. Everything's fine now."
She heard her mommy replying.
"Fine." Astrid said.
She turned around and saw Astrid's expression. She wasn't gonna let this go.
She knew Astrid too well. She knew something was wrong.
She may have seen her with her axe. Or leaving alone. If she talked now, her mommy would have killed her in a matter of seconds.
Then Astrid sighed.
"Fine. I guess it really is."
Out of all the shocks tonight this had definitely been the biggest one. Was Astrid really not gonna mess this up? This must have been a dream...
" She has also made new friends, you see?"
She watched as Astrid turned her head towards the twins and furrowed.
"She has made new friends? Wow. Who would have thought."
She noticed Finn flushing.
"Heyyy"He said to Astrid dreamingly.
She and Harold started laughing knowingly.
Astrid raised an eyebrow incredulously.
"Hey." Astrid answered coldly to Finn.
"Well, I see all's good here. I'm gonna go with my friends now."
"Okay Astrid." Ingrid responded.
She saw her going away. She knew she was still incredulous on how she even got friends in the first place. But maybe it was a good thing. She wouldn't have bothered anymore.
"Go now." Her mommy said to her.
"Try not to disappear again tonight, alright?"
She nodded and left with Harold and Finn.
Finn sat in front of a table ready to eat. They really deserved to eat something after tonight.
Before they'd join Finn she took Harold aside to talk to him.
"Hey thanks for you know..."
"No worries. This is what friends do right?"
She smiled fondly.
"Hey are you two coming or what? I swear I'll finish your meals if you don't."
"Well who knows, maybe there still might be a chance of eating them if Astrid comes around and you get stuck by her beauty once again." Harold said.
Ingrid laughed.
"Oh, shut up!"
Xx
That night the whole village slept in the great hall, under the same roof.
Only this time three newly found friends did the exact same thing and joined the village in its deep and soothing sleeping.
Xx
END A/N: finally. I swear these things are massive to write. Hope you guys enjoyed.
Also. The next chapter will be about Ingrid and the twins once again, then I promise we start with the spicy stuff about Hiccstrid once again. I'm sorry if you're bored. But I need these chapters for plot development.
Also. Answer time. Again! Aren't you excited? I swear I feel like I'm the only one who's feeling like that lmao.
DeathBerryHime Can I ask you one thing? How much do you regret calling Ingrid a little shit on a scale from one to a million? lol. Thank you as always for reviewing. You have no idea how much it means to me. I love that you're always trying to figure out the plot. And wrong. Again. I like the effort though ;) Don't worry about it too much. I've got it all well figured out in my head. Can't tell you to whom the sketchbook is gonna go next. Sorry. All I can tell is that spicy things will go down. Hope you enjoyed chapter four. I'd love hearing what you thought about it in a review. Next chapter will be just as good, I you again for sticking around ;)
Anonymous Noob The 2nd How's it going pal? Thank you for reviewing and also thank you for letting me discover a new verb! To ignite. Never heard about that. Maybe I'll use it somewhere in the story lol. Next chapter will ignite a lot of stuff. I you enjoyed reading this installment. Thank you for sticking around ;)
Oh and art? No you didn't. *Flushes*
I'm sorry but I literally didn't have time to write. Went to Galway with school for two weeks to study last month. It was fun lol.
IcyForest Thanks for reading, as , and I guess you owe Ingrid some excuses. Exactlly like DeathBerryHime, isn't that right? lol.
Till next time.