Twenty Three: Corrupted
Hiccup was running for his life, both from the reptile he was expecting to try to kill him and the human reptile who was hunting him under the nose of Gobber, perched high up in the stands, sipping mead and shouting largely unhelpful advice. The shield was inexpertly strapped to his right arm and he was dodging as Nadder spines whipped past him as the dragon furiously charged through the maze they had constructed. The twins had almost gotten themselves killed by arguing while standing in the dragon's blind spot while trying to hide from it. Snotlout had tried to show off and ended up disarming himself by lobbing his hammer at the Nadder and missing while attempting to persuade Astrid thats he really wanted to visit him in his basement bedroom. Astrid had just sprinted away, avoiding the dragon's attention.
Pulling himself together, Hiccup saw Fishlegs run by, screaming that he really doubted Gobber's methods and Hiccup couldn't really argue with his friend's logic. In any other place, the youths expected to face up against vicious bloodthirsty and lethal monsters would have been extensively trained, drilled and taught until the instructors was certain they stood a good chance of success and a very small chance of death: in Berk, they were sent more or less unprepared to face the dragons and work it out for themselves…or die in the process. Though he suspected Gobber wouldn't let anyone actually get killed. But wounded…well, the words of the others as they had trailed in for the first lesson had indicated that injuries were very commonplace…maybe even expected. He shook himself: he knew Gobber would do everything in his power to protect him and the Berkian system had worked for them for generations. Who was he to criticise?
"HICCUP! Pay attention!" Gobber bellowed from his vantage point and he started, his head snapping round and seeing the dragon charging at him. Gasping, he sprinted away, skidding round a corner and out of view-and seeing Snotlout and Astrid hunkered down behind cover. The Heir waved a fist at him but Astrid pressed her finger to her lips and gestured to cover opposite them. The dragon paused and began to cast around, sniffing and Astrid was immediately up, diving across the gap and sprinting for safety. Snotlout followed her, very agile and strong but as Hiccup made to follow, the stocky boy swung his shield and the edge caught Hiccup across the jaw as he completed the manoeuvre, falling stunned to the ground, in full sight of the Nadder.
"LOOK OUT!" Gobber yelled and began to scramble round the bars towards the stairs to get into the Arena, though he knew he would be too late. Hiccup groaned, his vision blurred as he blinked, seeing the blurred shape approaching.
"Sorry…" he mumbled as his head slumped back again but Astrid snapped round and turned-to find Snotlout blocking her away.
"Leave him!" he commanded.
"He'll be killed!" she hissed. Snotlout gave a smug look.
"Who cares?" he sneered.
"I do!" she spat. "Get out of my way!" The boy took a menacing step forward.
"You should be more careful who you associate with, Princess," he sneered. "I don't like you having anything to do with that thing!"
"Well, it's not your business!" she snapped. "Since I am never marrying you!" Snotlout nodded and the twins grabbed her arms, holding her back.
"You will marry me," he said menacingly. "And we can watch what happens to people who cross me!" Furious, Astrid threw herself round a back somersault, ripping her arms free and using her shield to stun the twins, then running at Snotlout. He squared up to her but she threw herself down and skidded between his legs, making sure she took his legs as she slid by. And then she was up, even as he was hitting the deck and running at the angry Nadder, her shield raised. It hissed, the snikt of raised spines loud in the suddenly silent Arena. Fishlegs was so anxious he was chewing on the edge of his shield and Gobber could be heard panting at the far side of the Arena, his uneven steps echoing as he flung himself down the stairs.
Eyes only on the dragon, Astrid tensed and then ducked as the spiny tail swished low over her and then again as it swiped back. The dragon was furious and scared and through her haze, Astrid thought the blue and gold colouration looked familiar. Staring at the stunned Hiccup and knowing she couldn't leave him, she had one option. She swiftly unstrapped her shield and tossed it aside, tugging his shield off as well. And then she lay over him, feeling the slight rise and fall of his chest, raising her left hand, palm outwards toward the dragon. And then she bowed her head, praying.
"Get out of there!" Her father's voice echoed through the Arena but all Astrid was aware of was the beating of her heart and the faint sound of Hiccup's breaths. There was the leathery creak of the dragon's movements, the scuff as it moved across the floor-and then the warm, leathery sensation of its muzzle pressed into her sweaty palm. She felt her eyes widen and then she cautiously looked up, meeting bright acid-yellow eyes with wide pupils. The dragon's spiny frill was lowered and so were the spines on her tail. With a sigh of relief, she straightened up and rested her other hand on the dragon's face.
"Hello, girl," she sighed. "Thanks for not killing us."
"Get away from that dragon!" her father yelled from the stands. "Or kill it!"
"With…a shield?" Hiccup murmured blearily. "Not to underestimate you, but even you would struggle…"
"Even if I wanted to," she replied, smiling as she stroked the dragon's face. "Are we good, girl?" The dragon gave a cautious caw as Hiccup rocked his head to stare at her.
"Is that…?"
"The dragon you calmed to save my life? I think so," she admitted, still petting the scaly face. "I heard they had netted a couple who were retreating from the raid for the next Dragon Training class…" He sighed.
"What a shame it was her," he murmured. "And what luck it was." She smiled and got up to her knees, petting the dragon one last time.
"Off you go, girl," she murmured. "Back to your cage, okay? You'll be safe there." Giving a sad caw. the Nadder rubbed against her hand one last time and then ambled off back towards her cage as Gobber panted up, staring after the dragon and then back at the teens.
"That was…astonishing," the blacksmith said, his tone flabbergasted. "How could you manage…" He stared after the dragon. "I need a drink," he admitted.
"What was that?" Ivar shouted as he arrived at a run. Astrid rose to her feet and faced him boldly.
"Dragon Training!" she replied and he slapped her across the face.
"That was treason, nothing less!" Ivar spat. "You were consorting with a dragon instead of killing it!"
"Strangely, this class is called Dragon Training, not Dragon Killing-and I trained a dragon to save Hiccup," she replied, earning herself another slap.
"You have been forbidden to be anywhere near him!" he roared. But she glared into his eyes and lifted her chin.
"Not even mentioning that we are in the same class an therefore I must be close to him as part of the lesson, It is dishonourable and cowardly to watch your classmate die, helpless, when you have the means to save him," she reminded him. "And you may be a coward, sir, but I am not!" Hiccup winced at the sound of the slap and Astrid staggered.
"Be silent!" her father ordered her. "You are withdrawn from this class! I will not have you disgrace yourself and your family by your actions, girl. The sooner you are wed, the better…"
"No," she said. "I refuse. I will not leave the class. And I cannot wed the person you are seeking to marry me off to. Snotlout deliberately took Hiccup out and left him to die."
"I did not! It was an accident!" the Heir protested.
"Unlikely, since you attacked him in the last lesson!" Astrid protested hotly. "And I was listening: the only reason why you are here is because Hiccup gave permission for you to be readmitted to the class. Otherwise…" And she glared at him. Snotlout bunched his fists and advanced on her.
"You mind your mouth, bitch, or you'll regret it when you're mine!" he threatened as Astrid snapped round to look at her father.
"You think to marry me to this muttonheaded bully,' she accused him. "I will never agree."
"It's not your choice," Ivar told her.
"I want her out of the class," Snotlout said. "She's in my way."
"It's not your call, boy," Gobber snapped.
"No, it's mine," Ivar replied coolly. "Done. As of now, I have withdrawn my daughter from this class."
"You can't without the permission of the Chief, who has ordered the teens trained," Gobber told him.
"She's my daughter!"
"And she's a Hooligan of Berk and this is the order of the Chief!" Gobber told him sharply. Ivar grabbed her arm and she hissed.
"I will not allow her to attend and the Chief can argue with me when he returns. If he returns," Ivar Hofferson snapped. Gobber opened his mouth but there was a hiss and Ivar stiffened.
"Keep still," Hiccup said as he slowly clambered to his feet, the bruising on his chin continuing to darken. "The Nadder is directly behind you…" Ivar's eyes widened.
"Kill it!" he hissed but the boy shook his head.
"She's agitated because you are hurting Astrid, who she has befriended," he explained. "Let her go right now or the dragon will attack." The man stared at him but there was complete certainty in Hiccup's voice and both adults stared at him in shock. Astrid pulled free and backed away, standing beside Hiccup. The dragon gave a small caw but the boy pointed.
"Go!" he said and the dragon paused-then turned and ran to the gate of the Arena, left open when Ivar had run in to castigate his daughter. There was a loud trill and then she accelerated into the sky.
"Oh, way to go, Hofferson!" Gobber grumbled. "Now we've lost the Nadder!"
"You lost her before-when she was corrupted by this thing and…her!" Ivar Hofferson snapped.
"You know it's impossible to corrupt something that is mindless and bloodthirsty," Hiccup commented. "Only creatures that are intelligent can be corrupted…"
"Shut up, lad," Gobber murmured. "Okay-Snotlout-that was deliberate. You are out of Dragon Training!" The Heir gave a sneering look.
"We'll see how long that lasts, old man," he scorned and stomped away while Astrid backed away from Ivar.
"Come with me, girl!" Ivar snapped. "Your days in this class are done!" She shook her head.
"The Chief ordered us to be trained," she insisted.
"While you are my daughter, then you obey me!" he snarled. She lifted her chin, the scarlet marking on her cheeks from the slaps still livid.
"Then I am no longer your daughter," she announced. Ivar snapped round to face her and grabbed at her arm, but she dodged him.
"Shut up! You don't know what you are saying!" he shouted. She swallowed.
"Yes, I do," she said quietly. "No one who was a proper parent would treat me like this. No one who loved his daughter would slap her, beat her, all to force her to marry some honourless pig just for money! Let alone suggest I soil myself with him before I am wed! I have worked every day of my life to make you proud, to become the warrior you and Uncle Finn wanted me to be and restore the honour of House Hofferson. I have exhausted myself, taken so many injuries and wounds as I trained and I am the best I can be. I am the best warrior of my generation-and I will not give up that to be sold like a heifer! And if you cannot respect me and Berk tradition, then I will no longer be your daughter."
"Lass-ye don't mean that…" Gobber began but she shook her head.
"Yes, I do!" she announced proudly, though Hiccup could hear her voice trembling.
"You see? Associating with this slave has corrupted my daughter!" Ivar shouted.
"I think the only one corrupted is you, Ivar," Gobber told him grimly. "Forcing the lass when until a few weeks ago, all ye wanted was her to become the top warrior of the generation-that is madness. But it's your madness, not hers or anyone else's. Why?"
"Spitelout made a better offer-to stop her beating his muttonheaded spoilt son at Dragon Training," Hiccup muttered as every eye turned to him. "They were talking about it while I was in their home."
"And don't you know it's wrong…" Ivar began but Hiccup looked up and sighed.
"When people talk around you like you don't even exist, it's not my fault for hearing what they're saying!" he protested. "Maybe you should go and shout at them for being so careless…" Astrid turned to look at him, her eyes shining.
"They really said that?" she asked and he nodded.
"Sorry," he mumbled. "I-I didn't want to say anything because it wasn't my business and I thought you could take care of yourself…but this is wrong! Being forced into a marriage you don't want, being obliged to have sex with someone you don't want to because they have effectively bought you…that's as wrong as what was done to me!" Astrid stared at him and then back at her father.
"I-I don't want to disown myself, Dad," she murmured. "Because I love you and Mom and Eva…but I can't marry Snot. He's horrible. He's a bully, he's completely amoral and cruel. He will hurt anyone if it suits his needs. And he will only ever love himself. He just wants me as a prize, so no one else can have me. And selling me for money makes you as much of a slaver as the people who captured Hiccup."
Ivar glared at her-and then at the skinny boy at her side…the boy that Snotlout had clearly attacked. Even Ivar had seen it-and the first time, a callous, cowardly attack against a weaker, unarmed teen who had still managed to fend off the assault. And he had heard the boy threaten Astrid and demand she be pulled from the class…because Snotlout knew he wasn't good enough to win on his own merits. And she was-she had just proven it, no matter how much Ivar disapproved of her methods. There was so much of his dead brother in her, the sass and feistiness and general Fearlessness coupled with competence and determination. She was a leader, a role model and a respectful young woman. But she was stubborn, brave and had her own dreams…and she never wanted to lose her choice in who she spoke to, who she befriended and who-if anyone-she chose to spend her life with.
Her eyes were shimmering, unshed tears gleaming in the beautiful azure gaze that echoed his dead brother. Astrid had idolised Finn and Ivar knew his brother would be ashamed that his favourite niece was being pressurised into marriage with a young man she despised. And Ivar knew his brother had not been afraid-Astrid's account which was disregarded because she had only been a child of five, told him that some trick or poison of the dragon had frozen him, not terror. She deserved her chance and if he wanted to allow it, to break the promise Spitelout had extorted from him, he would have to bend his neck and endure the taunts and derision of everyone else of Berk until his daughter could triumph. His cold blue gaze slid over to the skinny boy who she had risked her life to save, his bruised face concerned and his emerald green eyes wary. And he was a sorry specimen, a skinny undergrown boy-but he was clearly someone his reserved daughter trusted and she had retreated to his side when she had to make the ultimate decision about her future.
He was a slave. He had been a slave. Was he still a slave? Ivar wasn't sure, though the Chief had been adamant that he had freed the lad. And there was no doubt that the boy had suffered unspeakable harm-the Jorgensens had made sure everyone in the village was informed of his shame. And Ivar wondered why, when they had been asked to care for the boy by the Chief. What did they fear? And Ivar looked at the boy again. There was a vague familiarity in his face, though the boy had never been to Berk before and Ivar sighed. He was here now and the Chief obviously cared for the boy. No one had treated him well-and yet he worked hard in the forge, he had saved both of Ivar's daughters and had won the first class of Dragon Training. And Astrid liked him. As he watched, the boy leaned towards his daughter, gently touching her arm.
"Please think about what you're doing," the boy murmured. "You have a family, parents, a sister, kin. I would give pretty much everything to have my aunt and uncle back-or better, to have my parents and a real family. But I know that will never happen. And I can tell you-it is lonely and cold and scary without anyone else on your side. And even though you will still be on Berk, what you are doing is a terribly hard thing. Don't do it, Astrid. Please. Don't endure what I have had to." She looked at him and sighed.
"I have to-because Dad won't change his mind," she sighed. "And I know it will hurt, losing Mom and Eva and Dad and the Aunts and Uncles and cousins…but I cannot be trapped in a marriage to that pig, Snotlout! It would destroy everything about me…that makes me Astrid." She gave a wan smile. "Besides, I won't be alone. I'll have you, won't I?" And slowly, he nodded as Ivar felt his heart break. Was this what he had done? Driven his precious daughter, that bonny and screaming firstborn child he had held in his arms fifteen years ago, his heart bursting with pride, to disown herself from the family? And though he was promised respect, he knew that no one would think any more of the Hoffersons for the match. They would be despised and scorned and Astrid would be broken to satisfy Snotlout's vanity and lust.
And he loved Astrid. Somehow, he had forgotten that. Staring at the beautiful young woman, her cheeks marked with shameful slaps he had given her, he felt a surge of love and pride at her. She was strong and proud and defiant: she was a Fearless Hofferson. She was what he should be, standing up to the Jorgensens and doing what was right for her, not just for them. He walked forward and cleared his throat.
"You don't need to disown yourself, daughter," he sighed and slowly dropped to a knee. "You should disown me, because I do not deserve you. I have been the worst kind of fool, the kind that bows to peer pressure, who imagines because enough people say something, that it is right." And he sighed. "But it isn't. Our family is shamed but you are our hope. And handing you over to the Jorgensens because they want the competition gone is foolish. You are my daughter and you are right: I should do what you want, what is in your best interest and is your choice, rather than chasing gold to try to replace our lost honour. We all know that a marriage to the Jorgensens won't regain our honour: all it will do is make us the butt of their jokes and we will have given them our greatest treasure." He bowed his head. "So forgive me, daughter. I have been the worst kind of fool: one who feared the shame of what happened and the taunts of the people who would never respect us. I should've trusted in you. I am sorry."
She stared at him in surprise and she blinked.
"Dad?" she murmured.
"I am sorry," he repeated. "No matter what Jorgensen offers, the marriage is off. We will do what you choose." And he glanced at the skinny shape of Hiccup, breathing hard. "And you can be friends with who you choose. No matter what Alva Jorgensen or Spitelout or Mildew or anyone else says."
"What about Mom?" Astrid asked and Ivar sighed.
"She…may be harder to convince…about some things, though she won't be unhappy you aren't marrying the Jorgensen boy," he admitted. "And I know Eva will be happy not to lose her big sister. And so will I." Suddenly, Astrid lunged forward and hugged her father, sighing as his arms closed around her slender body.
"Love you, Dad," she murmured.
"I love you too, Astrid," he murmured as he slowly clambered to his feet and then looked over at Gobber and Hiccup. "I apologise, Gobber. Of course Astrid must stay in class. I believe she won today?" The blacksmith gave a wry smile.
"That she did-though I am not sure how she figured that out from what I told her," he admitted. Ivar looked over at Hiccup.
"And you…" he began as the boy's shoulders slumped.
"It's okay," he sighed but Ivar walked forward.
"I owe you an apology as well," he said quietly. "My daughter trusts you. She believes you are worth her friendship. As does the Chief. So I will honour their judgement, Hiccup."
"And not the Jorgsensens'?" Hiccup checked. "I mean some of what they say is almost true…" Ivar glanced over to his daughter, seeing her eyes filled with determination. Astrid looked up into his face.
"And none of it was his fault," she reminded her father. Ivar nodded.
"So this is your fresh start," he said evenly and took a deep breath. Then he offered his hand and forced himself to stare into the wary emerald gaze. "Ivar Hofferson. I believe you know my daughter. And I want to thank you for fighting those bullies off Eva and saving Astrid's life in the raid." Eyes widening in shock, Hiccup hesitantly took his hand and shook it.
"Um…you're welcome," he said as Gobber chuckled.
"Well, at this rate, you'll only be about sixty before most of the village accepts you," he said. Astrid walked forward and smiled.
"Not if I have anything to do with it," she said determinedly. "It's going to be a lot sooner." But Ivar sighed.
"It may not be so easy to change their hearts and minds," he admitted.
"But that is not reason not to try," Astrid said with a smile.
Behind the barriers, the twins shared a look.
"Well this is a turn-around," Tuff commented. "No wedding horns. Oh, my fabulous designs for the dress will be wasted." More practical, Ruff swatted his head and she shoved him towards the exit.
"We need to let Snotty know," she said. "At the end of the day, he's going to be the next Chief-and no matter how weaselly and treacherous he is, we need to keep him onside." Tuff giggled.
"I wonder how he'll react?" he laughed.