AN: hello fellow readers and welcome again to another chapter of How to Let It Go. I must say I'm incredibly happy at the attention this fic was been receiving, both in numbers of favorites and followers, as well as in the number of reviews. While I promised that I would update this fic at least within a month (and so far manage to do so) I'll try to update slightly faster. While I couldn't uphold my promise of updating How to Become a Dragon Chief weekly, that fic is nearly finished, meaning that, once finished, I'll be able to focus more on this fic and therefore update it more frequently.
As always reviews and constructive criticism is much appreciated. For those wondering when HTTYD and Frozen will meet, I can tell that it'll be soon. These first few chapter are somewhat a prologue, to which I introduce characters that will appear later in the story
Without further ado:
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He went quickly to the forge to store what he bought. Before he could finish his gear, or the gifts, he needed to speak to his father about the chiefdom. Since he came back, he decided to put this crazy idea in motion; it wasn't like he had anything to lose after all. It would also prevent Astrid from chasing him down if she knew he was leaving, since his father would have her shadowing him in the following days.
She stalked Hiccup, not feeling ready to confront him. She saw him enter the forge, and was about to enter it when she saw him come out. She quickly ducked behind a house and watched as he walked toward the hall. What frightened her was the serious expression he had on his face, one she had never seen on him before. She wondered if all of this change from the clumsy, distracted nuisance came from the dragon, or if Hiccup really was this clever person but no one had given him a chance to show this.
He entered the hall determined, although also nervous. He was more or less ready for the burst of attention he would receive, since this has been happening for a couple of days before they returned from the Nest hunt; and he hoped his father didn't drink enough to render the conversation useless. When he opened the doors everyone stopped to look at him and cheered.
"Look who it is" he still wasn't used to the fact that no longer when someone directed this sentence to him it was with disappointment, but rather with excitement.
"The Dragon Slayer" he flinched, though no one noticed (probably they were drunk already. Vikings never miss a chance to get drunk after all). Had someone told him that before he met Toothless, he would have jumped in ecstasy, but now he was exactly the opposite of a Dragon Slayer - he was a Dragon Rider.
"Berk's prodigy" he chuckled slightly, trying to think of how Astrid would be fuming, since this had been her title until he began 'improving' on Dragon Training. He felt slightly guilty that he illegitimately took her place as Berk's prodigy. There was a time he would have liked the spot, since it would mean she would no longer look at him pitifully or be harsh with him; but now he only wanted that she would have her spot back so all this attention would go away.
To be honest, now that he knew how it was to be on spot, he could say he preferred to be on the shadows. Whereas it felt good that, whenever someone looked at him now, it wasn't with fear that he would blow up something when trying to help or with disappointment because he didn't meet their standards, it also made it harder to carry on his projects or keep something secret.
Before he could roam freely the village and build up contraptions or draw designs without anyone 'interrupting' him. Now he couldn't walk two steps away from his house without someone coming to him and trying to praise him, or learn one of his secrets.
"Our future chief" he cringed when he heard that comment. Whoever said that would be very disappointed if he held a successful conversation with his father today. Not only because of that, but also for the fact that, until now, he never thought he would actually be chief one day, and he guessed that neither did his father.
When he approached Stoick, the man saw him and beamed, like if he had just met Odin himself. "Hiccup, my son, come join us on the celebration!" he boomed, lifting a mug, probably filled with mead.
When he got close to his father, he whispered, loud enough only to Stoick hear. "Dad, can we talk?" he asked a bit shyly, his confidence faltering at the sight of the huge man. It was inevitable that this would happen; years of being scolded by him impregnated on Hiccup that his father would only look at him disappointed. The man looked at him confused, and a little startled at the serious tone, but didn't notice the sad look that briefly washed his son's face.
"Why, of course Hiccup. What you want to talk about?" he gestured so the boy would sit, but Hiccup did not move, nor changed his determined expression. Hearing his father say he was ready to listen to his son built up Hiccup's confidence back and, unlike last time, he would say what he had to say (and hope his father would listen).
"C-could we speak in private if possible. I want to talk about the chiefdom." Stoick was completely caught off. While before he would have used this moment to suggest Hiccup would not be chief after him, now he felt Hiccup would be an ever better chief than himself. Still, even before or now, he was surprised since the boy never showed an interest in chiefdom and now suddenly wanted to talk about it.
To be honest since he began to think about talking to Hiccup about the chiefdom he was a bit afraid of how his son would react. Even if he is faring well in Dragon Training they still never spoke about this subject. Stoick's father had first addressed him about this the day he completed 12 and earned his Viking helmet (who was later exchanged for a helmet made of Valka's breastplate) and Hiccup was almost 15 and they still didn't talk about it. To hear from his son that he wanted to talk about it made Stoick light up with pride.
"Alright." He nodded to the boy before addressing the Hall. "Hiccup wishes to speak with me in private. Celebrate for us for now, we'll rejoin it later" and the people cheered, more than happy to celebrate for the chief and his son. It was clear to him that most of the Hall had already a good dose of the mead. He was fortunate to get his father before the man also had his good share of drinking the liquid. Or maybe his father already had, but because of his large build, he wasn't drunk yet.
Both men walked side-by-side, leaving the Hall and toward the chief's house. Astrid was hidden behind a pillar, eyes very wide and with fear, as she saw they leave the Hall. She quietly left her hideout, praising the Gods that the teens didn't find her. It would be hard to keep focused at the task ahead with them on her tail. She suspected they were on the Great Hall, celebrating as well. It was customary of a Viking to being drinking during his teen's years, but neither Hiccup nor Astrid enjoyed a lot the mead.
Hiccup didn't fancy the drinking since, as an outcast, he didn't have many people to drink with. With the exception of Gobber, there was no one else to share a mug of mead, thus discouraging him about creating a drinking habit. For Astrid, instead, she saw drinking as a distraction; something that would hinder both her focus on dragon killing and her training. Therefore, just like with everything else that could mess with her training, she pushed the drinking habit aside. While she would drink a mug of mead, she, unlike the rest of the gang, would never get drunk
She waited until both of them entered the house to eavesdrop. Since everyone was celebrating while the chief was away, she wasn't afraid of being found out eavesdropping in a private conversation between the chief and his son. Instead she was afraid of what she would hear, mainly from the boy. She briefly thought on barraging in and exposing Hiccup, but she wanted to see how far he had this thing planned.
Stoick sat on his chair while Hiccup grabbed one to place in front of his father. To say Stoick was a bit uneasy was little. The man was both anxious and happy that Hiccup decided to finally talk to him seriously, given his unchanging expression. Stoick even felt a bit small when Hiccup met his eyes fiercely, he couldn't remember the boy ever doing that. Then again, he didn't remember having a conversation with the boy, besides the usual scowling after he destroyed a house or two with his inventions…
"Well son, you said you wanted to talk about the chiefdom. What do you wanted to say about it?" he asked, curious to hear whatever was on the boy's mind. He was never one to beat around the bush with any matter, so it was only natural that Stoick would suck up his anxiety and go straight to the point with Hiccup.
"I want you to make Astrid the heir to the tribe" he spoke seriously, though inside he was boiling in fear at how his father would react. Even to him, the idea of changing the lineage of the tribe's chief was as crazy as facing a Night Fury unarmed. If not crazier, considering his father could scare him more than the offspring of lighting and death itself.
"WHAT?" Stoick yelled in astonishment. Hiccup couldn't help but flinch, since it was the sound he used every time he screwed up. Old habits die hard. Outside, Astrid had fallen flat on her butt, completely taken off and startled at the shout. She didn't hear what Hiccup said, but after hearing Stoick's signature voice, she could easily assume what the boy had just spoken.
"Just hear me out, at least once in your life" he tried to soothe his father, though he already regretted the poor choice of words. He never meant to hurt his father, therefore never saying that, but he risked coming back to the village to settle this, so his fear was overcome by determination on not wasting more time than he already did. He knew he had accidentally hurt his father by seeing the vast man flinch.
Stoick was about to ask what kind of rock hit Hiccup's head when the boy said that. He flinched a little, seeing the truth behind those words. Only now he could see that in fact he never heard his son before. And since Hiccup kept his end of the deal, he might as well start listening to the boy. He also only remembered at this moment that he had to give to Hiccup his first Viking helmet. He made a mental note to do so before Hiccup faced the Nightmare.
He calmed himself and evened his breath to hear him. "Ok, I hope you'll explain why you want that" he said in a normal tone, but also demanding an explication. After all, Hiccup was basically asking to forfeit his duties as heir, something that some tribes would consider an act of treason, and therefore, punished by either death or banishment. The Meatheads tribe was an example, since Thuggory's grandfather banished his son before naming Thuggory's father was elated. His father was finally hearing him. He felt a pang of guilt that he would be leaving shortly after, even if he just achieved what he spent 10 years trying to. But alas his fate was already sealed the moment he won Dragon Training. He would need to come up with an explanation later to why he left, or even forge his own death. Maybe the former, since his father would probably be devastated if 'he died', even though the later would be easier to do.
"Well dad…" he began rather sheepishly. Even if Stoick was listening to him, his appearance alone was enough to intimidate Hiccup. "I-I can't stop but to think the whole Dragon Training is a burst of luck the Gods gave me." And he held a hand up before Stoick could protest. He sighed before closing his mouth and pinched the bridge of his nose. After a moment of silence (Where Hiccup was almost thinking his father gave up on listening to him) Stoick vaguely gestured for him to continue explaining, much to Hiccup's surprise.
"I'm also more qualified as a blacksmith. If anything happens to Gobber, I would be the only one capable of running the forge. I also don't think he'll take another apprentice any time soon. And I still feel people wouldn't take me seriously as a chief," he said, finally his serious expression turning into a sad one as he averted his gaze from his father. It was no mystery to either man that Hiccup was referring about how the village and even Stoick looked at him every time he tried to help on a raid.
Stoick felt a bit sad hearing this. He wanted to protest, but also saw the truth in those words. Still, as he was stubborn (Vikings do have, after all, stubbornness issues) he protested. "But Hiccup. You're excelling at Dragon Training. You'll kill your first dragon tomorrow. Why wouldn't people take you seriously?" although he had a hunch of what would Hiccup say. The way his son averted his eyes from him was more than enough to answer that question.
"Dad… You know very well that leading a tribe well is not measured by someone's fighting abilities. Snotlout, for instance, is a great warrior" - he laughed mentally at the idea, even the Twins were better than his cousin. They had to be, otherwise how could they cause so much destruction on the village and headache to his father? - "But we both know he wouldn't be fit to lead the tribe" his expression was serious again.
Stoick chuckled; his boy was speaking the truth. His nephew might be a good warrior, but the lack of brains would bring the downfall of the village. "True. While he is strong, the boy seriously has a lack of brains to lead the village. Even Spitelout knows this and he's his father for Odin's sake." he said, agreeing with Hiccup while laughing at this. He barely held himself from saying that they were afraid of Snotlout leading the tribe because they thought Hiccup wasn't fit, given his… hiccups.
Hiccup laughed with his father. 'I wasn't the only one to notice this' he noted proudly, before another pang of guilt came to him. He couldn't remember the last time he shared a laugh with his father, or even if they ever shared one at all. But he knew he should do what he planned, he knew that these moments were counted, and his luck was running out. He already had the maps, and already told his father about this idea. Hiccup only needed to convince the vast man and then nothing would be between him and his departure with Toothless.
"Still Hiccup, you're my only heir. We can't just change from all of a sudden the lineage on our village. And why would you want to give her the heirloom?" Stoick protested, dying to know why. He understood Hiccup was right, that some people might not take him seriously, but, unlike what most would think, he didn't believe this was the only reason behind this odd request.
Hiccup stiffened as he noticed his father wasn't buying the whole 'they won't believe on me' excuse. He was starting to think that he should tell his father he planned on travelling; this way the vast man wouldn't go out looking for him after he went missing. "I…" he began and Stoick leaned forward to carefully listen to him, "I thought she would be the most qualified of the six of us. And… it would help her restore the honor to her hall…" he said a bit quietly the last part.
Stoick felt his heart beat faster, and a pang of pain stab through it as if someone just hit him with a dagger. He couldn't believe Hiccup would forfeit the heirloom so the Hofferson lass could restore the tainted honor the Hoffersons have since the Flightmare incident. Still, he couldn't bring himself to admit that he was afraid of losing his son to Gobber if he complied. He had never been good at showing emotions to his son unfortunately.
"I'm not trading you for Gobber if that's what you're thinking" Hiccup spoke, almost if he read Stoick's mind, "but my mind is already set. Besides, Astrid is both a fierce and a smart warrior. People look at her with respect. The teens look at her as a sort of leader when they are putting out the fires during the raids. Her life was always about protecting the village, and no one would doubt her position as chief. And Gobber would be more than happy to have me help him. His prosthesis can be somewhat cumbersome every now and them." he explained.
"People would still remember my past screw ups, even if I'm excelling at Dragon Training." He reminded, and Stoick sadly nodded; he was one of those people. "Gobber also needs my help every time we have a raid. I have thought a lot about that, believe me. I also know woman have already led this tribe before, so it wouldn't be a foreign concept to the tribe accept a female leader." Hiccup panted a little, he spoke nonstop and ran out of breath. He had to, before his confidence faltered again.
"Besides, I think I'd be more helpful as a blacksmith. Maybe I could even build some muscles if I keep working there." he spoke sarcastically, unbeknown to the fact that it had been exactly for this that Stoick put him into blacksmith apprenticeship a decade ago. The man felt his heart twist at seeing how he accidentally damaged Hiccup's confidence all those years ago.
Stoick, meanwhile, was also trying to analyze every word his son spoke, to find a flaw, to argue that his son was wrong and that he should be a leader and stay. But he found none. He also felt pride in himself seeing how his son was thinking about the tribe, putting the other's needs before his, that he wanted to grow past this scrawny Viking that he was and had obviously thought carefully about the matter. To the vast man, it was a far cry to when Hiccup was recklessly testing his inventions, causing a lot of collateral damage in the village.
"I see… Well, to give you credit, your actions just reflect the ones of a true leader. How you thought carefully and seriously about the matter, and are putting their needs before yours. Not only that but I'm proud of how you want to be like one of us." He spoke with pride, smiling when he saw Hiccup a bit shy. Unfortunately he misunderstood Hiccup's shyness, just like he misunderstand his son as a whole
Hiccup smiled, but his eyes didn't meet his father's. He felt a bit uncomfortable with the compliments, and couldn't bring himself to argue with his father since it would only hinder his arguments. He wanted to leave exactly because he really didn't want to be one of them; he knew well he could never be. The forge was just an excuse for Astrid to be heir. He would later leave a note his father wouldn't be heartbroken with the abrupt departure. "Well, thanks dad. If it eases your mind, I could always be second-in-command, like Uncle Spitelout is with you." He suggested, although more lightly than before.
Stoick chuckled, even though the boy had been serious and was a champion, he was still shy. He hoped that, in the future, he would have more conversations like this. He felt warmth he didn't feel for a long time, not since he lost Valka 14 years ago. "Or maybe I could marry you to Astrid. That way she could act like a chief and you would continue our lineage. She could train you and you wouldn't need to be a full time blacksmith." Stoick suggested, though it sounded more like a teasing. He wouldn't voice out that it was the last idea he had to keep Hiccup from ruining Stoick's dream of seeing his son ascend as chief.
Hiccup turned redder than a Nightmare at the idea. While it was obvious it was his dream to marry the blond warrior, it also made him fear for his life the simple idea of marrying Astrid. Mostly because it was likely that he would not survive their first night together. "I-I don't think that's a good idea" he weakly answered, "I'd feel safer passing a night with the Nightmare in the ring than with a married Astrid. We're not exactly buddies by now." He sarcastically commented.
Stoick sighed, rubbing his forehead. He had to agree with his son's point, as he had seen how Astrid was seething for not winning dragon training. Besides, he had decided to hear Hiccup after the boy spoke those words, and he seemed very fixed on this idea. His son's stubbornness almost reminded him of his wife…"All right son, if that's how you feel… You convinced me." He conceded in defeat. He had thought that his success in Dragon Training would make him be a good chief. It was saddening that Hiccup didn't want to follow his steps.
"I'll talk to Gobber later about you running the forge alone as a test. But I also want you shadowing me awhile to learn some of the duties of a chief before doing so. And if he says you're not capable of safely doing so then I'll be restoring your position as heir, so you'll need to know a bit about chiefdom, just to be sure." he added, not fully letting Hiccup go away from chiefdom.
Hiccup nodded, although he knew that would never happen. It was also getting dark, so he suggested: "Why don't you go announce that while everyone is celebrating? I need to finish a gift I was doing to Gobber at the forge, and I wanted to finish it today. I don't think there will be time for that in the following days." The boy suggested. Now that his father, unexpectedly, accepted the idea he could leave, and would do as fast as possible. He only needed to finish Gobber's gift and have his father away.
Stoick looked at him. He felt a bit disappointed the boy didn't want to go with him announce his decision. "I can also give Astrid a heads up so she won't be taken by surprise. I believe you'll want her shadowing you to learn the duties of a chief soon enough. It'll be a huge responsibility we're giving her after all." He added, trying to convince his father to let him go to the forge.
Stoick eventually complied. It would be quite a responsibility for the lass, so Hiccup, since he was the one that had the idea; he was the one that should talk to her beforehand. "All right, you find her and talk to her. I'll, meanwhile, go to the Hall announce your decision, though I'd be happy if you were at my side. I'll see later to speak with the lass' mother about this." he commented.
"I'll do my best" and with that Hiccup left the hut, missing the blond that had a completely shocked face for eavesdropping on their conversation. He ran toward the forge and, even though she wondered if he would tell her about that afterwards, she followed him, knowing what he was going to do. If she would confront him then she would have to do now; Hiccup had nothing left holding him back on Berk, and she wouldn't dare to expose him to Stoick, not after really hearing him practically name her heir of Berk.
He entered the forge and resumed his work. His leather jacket was finished; pockets in his arms to store paper to update his maps and a shelf to hold his dagger. He also had some pockets around the jacket to store some gold, herbs, and other things he could find during the trip. He also decided to make a hold for a short sword, almost the same size of Cami's twin swords. Since he would be out in the wild, he would need some sort of protection, as the idea of relying solely on Toothless to be safe did not bode well. He had an idea for a retractable sword, but it would need to wait.
He figured he would need to learn how to use it. He could use read some of those books about fighting techniques and pay people to train him while travelling or Toothless could also help him, so he made a covering case for the sword so he could non-lethally fight the dragon. Hiccup didn't want both of them to be entirely under Toothless' protection alone for a reason. If something (hopefully not) happened to the Night Fury, both of them would be defenseless, and he wouldn't exactly be able to bring Toothless to a village if he visited one.
He was almost finished with Astrid's axe when he heard someone enter the forge. Quickly covering the axe with cloth, he was more than grateful that he took his time to store each item he made inside his room. Last thing he wanted was to someone see anything that could hint he planned to leave. Besides, if the person was who he feared it would be then it was even better that he hid any indications of his intentions.
He turned only to be shocked to find Astrid inside the forge and have his fear skyrocket. He was more shocked that she didn't have her axe with her, or that rage-filled look she had earlier in the arena. In fact, her expression seemed unreadable to him, which was quite unusual when regarding the blond. He had to cough a bit so he could speak proper words. "Oh. Hi Astrid, hi Astrid, hi Astrid" he stammered nervously.
She smiled. She hadn't seen anything of the boy she knew today, so his shy attitude was almost a relief to her. That is until reality crashed on her again. "Hi Hiccup" she spoke softly, and had to hold a laugh at his dumb folded look. Unfortunately the urge to laugh quickly died down as she remembered why she came to the forge looking for him.
He quickly readjusted the cloth behind him so nothing of the axe would be visible. "So… is there anything you want?" he spoke, while finding the ground more interesting than her icy blue eyes (even though it was a complete lie that). He just couldn't face her without the possibility of ending up rambling away something he wanted to keep hidden (namely her newly forged axe, or anything regarding his planned trip).
"Yes, I wanted to speak with you" she spoke softly. She would try to be gentle so he wouldn't go away, before turning out to violence. Since it was violence that torn them apart and him apart from the tribe, she figured a different strategy was in need. Besides, she didn't have her axe at the moment, so she couldn't just go threatening him. She could beat him up in the blink of an eye, since she was stronger than Snotlout, but them it would not help her in convincing him to stay.
"Oh… you did?" he asked, taken aback that Fearless Astrid Hofferson, his long lost friend and currently seeking his head was talking softly to him, and wanted to have a conversation, unarmed. He thought she would just being to ask questions, to corner him and eye him like a vicious predator would eye a wounded prey trapped in a hunter's trap.
Still, when he settled himself with what was happening, he remembered what he told his father. "G-good. I also wanted to talk to you…" he spoke a bit nervous, still uneasy that Astrid wasn't lashing him out or looking at him with a deathly glare. "But go on, ladies first" he suggested. He decided to hear her first, even though last time he did this with someone he ended begrudgingly on Dragon Training and almost being crisped on the first day.
She smiled mentally; there was still some of the Hiccup she knew. She hoped she could get him to stay so she could amend her mistakes. "No, you go first. I assume it's important what you want to say." She spoke softly, though doing that was almost foreign to her, and was already taking quite the effort to do so. She grew herself up to be the cold, fierce Astrid Hofferson. To speak like her mother did when she was a toddler was…weird for Astrid at the very least.
He finally met her eyes. He noticed she was hiding something, as if she knew something, and that they weren't the common deathly glare she had. She didn't eye him for much long and, while she was fierce, she was by no way an actress. He made a mental note to be cautious with her. Even though she seemed soft now, she was still Astrid, who could beat him with little effort. And he didn't forget the murderous look she had when he won the right to kill the Nightmare. For that to suddenly change means that she saw something she shouldn't have seen…
"Well. I spoke to dad and I told him to name you heir" he blurted out so quickly that for a moment he was afraid she didn't understand him, but the shocked expression said otherwise. Hiccup found it a little odd it, as if she was faking being shocked; he didn't entirely buy it. 'Was she eavesdropping on us? Or stalking me? Did she also stalk me when I visited Toothless? But if she did, wouldn't she have told my father, or confronted me about it?' he asked himself, trying to calm the rising panic burbling inside him.
"Why did you do that Hiccup?"
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AN: well, i quite didn't expect for this scene to be so big that it would need to be split into two chapters. I guess a lot of people wondered how would Hiccup leave Berk since Astrid knew about Toothless. I thought about having him being banished, but that would have hindered the long-time ideas i have planned for this fic, and therefore requiring me to build up a convincing scenary of how he would leave. I wanted to explore a different way of how Hiccup left, and then i decided that Stoick's conversation with Hiccup after he arrived would never happen.
ANII since the next chapter is pretty much already written, it'll be posted quicker than the usual. Since my country has ellections tomorrow, i think that i'll have it by Monday or Tuesday published. Let me know what you all thought about this change about how he leaves!
Until next time