Chapter 5: En Route
*Needed to reupload there was some stuff missing
First off, let me apologize for the long wait for this chapter. Having interviews, exams and getting pink eye in both eyes while having strep is not exactly good for writing. But, I said it before, I wouldn't forget this story. Also, someone pointed out that in an earlier chapter I wrote Hiccup had never participated in a raid, but with Astrid he talked about raiding the trenches, so I'll clear up any confusion real quick. Hiccup has participated in trench raids, but not the large scale raids that we see at Zeebrugge in WWI or Dieppe in WW2, as he's Army and not Navy. Should've mentioned that earlier, sorry. Now, I'll save the rest of the A/N for the end. On with the chapter!
"To introduce the principle of moderation into the theory of war itself would always lead to logical absurdity" – Carl von Clausewitz, On War.
Astrid's POV
Astrid had woken up in stages at her hotel, first groggily opening her eyes and laying in her bed as the memories of the previous night came rushing back to her. The night at the ball, Hiccup going missing, stumbling upon him at the bar, the drinking, the singing, the dancing.
The kiss.
She smiled at that memory, but had to laugh a little bit at how stunned Hiccup appeared to be when they first kissed. It made her feel slightly good about it, considering how nervous she was before that.
She rose from her bed and got dressed, opting to wear her nurse uniform for this 'briefing', remembering to ask the bellhop for directions when she got down to the lobby. She made sure to say its name the same way that Heather had called it the day before. After receiving the directions, she walked towards her destination, a little nervous about it but not letting it show, assuring herself the entire way. You're already working for them, you'll just be receiving assignments, not anything bad. You've prepared for this. This is what you've been waiting for, she told herself.
She'd gone to the meeting at 5, reported to her by a telephone call from the ICRC, and it was short, telling her that the scheduled departure was moved forward: her plane was leaving in three hours from an airfield just outside of Paris. She would need to be rushed there by car, and told to pack up only what she would need to have. Heather had come in early to wait for the meeting, but was already told the details and had gone back to pack already. There were some minor details, like helping load the equipment on another plane and getting situated long before the plane came to allow the Army to leave early if need be. Astrid was also told by the woman that under no circumstances was she permitted to talk with the soldiers on board her flight, as they were on some sort of assignment, and their names would not be given to her nor was she allowed to know the details of the assignment. The lady pointed her to the car outside the window, telling her it would drive her to her room, where she would have thirty minutes to pack up the essentials. She was dismissed, and Astrid sprinted to the car, telling the driver the address before he put it in gear and drove to the hotel.
She packed relatively quickly, somewhat enjoying the adrenaline rush that came from the thoughts of excitement of leaving early. Only a few times did she think about Hiccup, and how she never got a chance to say goodbye to him, or even tell him she was leaving. She decided to write Hiccup once she was all situated in the her new station, planning on making it sincere and telling him she was very sorry about the short notice and sudden absence.
But for now, Astrid Hofferson was in warrior mode, only thinking about what came immediately next and what she would do.
Finished packing, she walked down to the waiting car, and they began the drive to the airfield she was going to have to wait at, helping the trucks bring in the supplies they would need to be loaded onto another plane. She arrived there around 6:00 in the morning, the sun not yet in the sky but the dawn light just starting to show through the clouds. It's shine illuminated the silhouettes of the large guns and machine guns that ringed the airfield, with a dirt path that looked like it stretched on for a mile, and several trucks carrying what was probably petroleum parked under a shed.
The car parked, and when she got out she was huddled over by a truck unloading medicine and bandages. She set her stuff down and walked over, seeing Heather turn the corner of the truck bed carrying a crate of morphine. Astrid saw that Heather looked to be in the same sort of focus as her: business, preparation for war, concentration, no distractions. They nodded at one another and Astrid started grabbing crates off the truck, taking them as a man helped unload them to her. They organized them by crate size and what was inside, so loading would be easier. Once the truck was done, its driver got in and drove off, kicking up a cloud of dirt as it drove away, leaving the two women standing next to the airstrip with only the guards around the perimeter and the aircraft crewman around the fuel trucks. It was now 7:00,
Heather sat down on one of the crates, head looking towards the ground, hands on her knees and tapping her foot. Astrid noticed this and determined that Heather was probably getting into the zone for what would come next, so she should do the same. She sat on a crate of bandages and surgical tools, looking off into the fields around the strip, trying to think of what came next, but there was only one thing on her mind now, something she couldn't get off her mind.
Hiccup.
Hiccup's POV
"Unfortunately, some shells landed on the position of the men that were going to accompany you on your endeavors in South Arabia, taking casualties among all of them." General Hammond spoke with a tone of indifference, as if he didn't care that some young men didn't just lose their lives or become so grievously wounded they would never be able to fully live their lives again.
Hiccup supposed that was because he had been doing this kind of thing for almost a year now, maybe even before in the South African Wars. Casualties were commonplace in war, he noted, so it would be up to him make sure those deaths were not in vein. That's going to be a lot harder, now that I will be the only soldier going. He was not in the mood for bad news, he had been woken up after a rather late night at 4:00 in the morning for this briefing. "Will I be now completing these assignments on my own, sir?"
"No, that is not going to happen. As of right now, your current orders are to be withdrawn and instead you will be used to reinforce the colonial troops at strongpoints through South Arabia, as we cannot afford to leave British interests and alliances to fall in that region. To answer your question, however, we are redirecting a small section of troops for your command." He paused, taking a breath and looking down before continuing, "If you had any doubts about how important your operations are, the section we are pulling for you are coming off service in East Africa, where they operated under similar circumstances, albeit with not as much success. You've worked with a few of them in the past, some of the more experienced ones, but most of the recruits are green, only having seen action chasing down the Lion of East Africa. He's been us the devil recently, but he will not be the focus of the British Army's regulars. Not yet at least."
"So these troops are inexperienced in trench warfare and have not seen much combat, but lots of walking?" Or success either, apparently. Hiccup had to bit his tongue to keep his sarcasm from coming out in front of the general. In his opinion, he was being screwed over. The men they said he worked with previously he would have to guess would be Tom "Speedifist" Jones, Andrew "Thuggory" Mackendale, Charlie "Wartihog" Smith and David "Nobrains" Noris.
Jones was an African-Welsh boxer, born in Cardiff, to a mother from the French Morocco and Welsh father. He was on the shorter side, only 5'8 in height, but he made up for it with his energy and competitiveness. As a child, he always loved to hit things, preferring to start schoolyard fights rather than pay attention in class. He was smart, but never wanted to succeed in school, as he only wanted to learn how to fight. Starting at age ten, he began to hitchhike and hop trains to London, where he would take boxing lessons with money stolen from the pockets of rich men, but he never took more than he needed. Once he got good enough at boxing, he started to tutor smaller kids as a job, using what he made to continue his lessons and help his family out as much as he could. However, when his father died in a train derailment, he had to give up any hopes of having a boxing career and join the army for a steady pay, all of which he sent back to his mother. This isn't to say he didn't belong in this unique, elite unit. He was light on his feet, fast, and deadly in melee combat. He got the moniker Speedifist during the Somme, when he took on wave after wave of German, knocking them with strikes from his fists. The last time Hiccup saw him, he was being deployed to the colonies to defend them from German attacks, most notably from the infamous Der Löwe von Afrika, Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck.
Andrew was the son of Mogadon, which brought Hiccup closer to the leadership of the British Army. He was the same height as Hiccup, but a more muscular and built than Hiccup. Coming from Oxford, he had the makings of being a commanding officer, possibly a captain, but he lived for the adventure and the action of special assignments. It was said that once the new intelligence agency got started up, he was going to be selected for it, as he was fluent in German, Russian, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, and French, as well as highly educated in scientific matters, namely chemistry and engineering. These education backgrounds were honed by his service in the military, as he had an in depth knowledge of chemical weapons and conventional weapons. He was, in Hiccup's opinion, something that could be the perfect agent for the new military intelligence agency. If it ever got up and running, as at this point it seemed to be plagued by bureaucratic delays, unwillingness among the Army and Navy to send their best men to this new department and even disagreement among its own ranks to how it should function. Regardless, Hiccup did not want to be part of this new organization, at least now right now. Hiccup didn't know how Thuggory got his moniker, although he had to guess it was because of his physical appearance as a meathead.
Then there was Charlie, a former criminal from Ireland who volunteered to get away from some people he owed enormous sums of money. He had flaming red hair, but the memorable features were not in hair or accent, it was his face. He got the nickname "Wartihog" because his face was covered in warts and scarring from the acne, but "Wartihog" didn't seem to mind as long as he didn't have a nickname like "Hiccup". He was a loudmouth, but generally funny, often telling jokes and getting drunk on whatever he could find when they were off the line and disobeying almost every order. It was Charlie's personal belief that Ireland should be independent, so he went about disobeying every order that wasn't combat related that came from a British commanding officer, no matter the rank. He assumed Charlie tolerated him as the corporal, since Hiccup was Scottish, and the only reason he wasn't kicked out of the army was because he was because he was exceptionally skilled at coordinating artillery barrages, able to memorize the entire layouts of German trenches from the raids Hiccup organized and tell the artillerymen where exactly to fire to hit inside larger sections of the trenches. He left later, being called to the northernmost sections of France where fighting was intensifying, although he might have been called to East Africa because of his ability to memorize maps to help get troops through the mountains quickly.
David was a character. Average size and build, with short, black hair, he was from the East End of London, and like Charlie, had a past as a criminal, part of a small-time gang that engaged mostly in which set him apart from the group of Englanders and with Hiccup, and came into their section with the name "Nobrains" from training, with his countless screwups when it came to handling explosives. Nevertheless, he was extremely skilled in hand to hand combat, second to none when it came to weapons, and only bested by Speedifist with his fists, although David had worked hard to close that gap. He was good friends with Wartihog and Speedifist, both of them sharing there lower class upbringings and their criminal escapades, although usually here Speedifist was quiet. "Nobrains", however, was not quiet about this, and would brag about the times he and his friends robbed a store in a rival area, hooting and hollering so that everyone in the vicinity could hear that lower East End accent.
These four were the only four that Hiccup could think that were alive at the time they left, everyone else Hiccup would have worked closely with in the British Army had been killed in action. As for the new recruits that would be joining him, Hiccup guessed there would have to be two that were the machine gun crew, and the rest would be rifleman. They would be very green, as most of the campaigns in East Africa were marching with the occasional fighting, he guaranteed they would not be used to trench warfare, mountain warfare, maybe desert warfare, or urban warfare. They would have seen combat at some point, and were special enough to be sent to him, since Hiccup now only worked with soldiers of exceptional capabilities.
"These new troops have been in Africa for almost a year now, so they will be experienced in combat, but I leave it up to you and the regulars to teach them the basics of the how to fight in the trenches and fight the army in close quarters. You will be under the command of another force will in country, so you will have superiors to report to," Hiccup didn't try to hide his groan of annoyance this time, "so you will have to conduct yourself respectfully. Follow their orders, despite what you think of them unless it puts you and your section in too much danger. At that point, assume autonomous control of your section and extricate yourself from that situation."
"Yes, sir. Will these new recruits and old dogs be meeting me at the airfield, sir?"
"No, they are already in South Arabia, and are marching with a colonial force en route to Lahij. I do not need to remind you, the Aden Protectorate is vital, as Aden is one of the most important cities in Arabia as a way station for the Suez Canal. Without it, our forces in the region will be severely depleted of men and resources. The only thing more important that this is the Suez Canal itself, but our estimates suggest the Ottomans will attack there yet, as we have a considerable force there."
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Now that that's taken care of, we have had to bump up the schedule of your departure, a few hours, as this situation has taken a turn for the worst. The Ottomans are gathering their strength in the Cheikh Saïd peninsula, and just recently attempted to land forces off the coast of Perim, so we guess they are building up their forces for an assault on the Aden Directorate very soon. You will be landing at a makeshift airfield in the Sultanate of Lahij, making your way to Lahij. You will be attached the Aden Column, however, you will be in essence the advance guard as you will already be in Lahij. If reinforcements are needed elsewhere, you will either be ordered to stay in position to protect the sultan or to move out with the rest of the column. This will be left to the discretion of the commanding general of the Aden Column." They went over a few more details before going over the maps and the intelligence brought to General Hammond by the Army reports, as Hiccup's mind went through all of the possible scenarios. One hour later, around 6:30, he was dismissed, and left to quickly pack his things. He got back thirty minutes later, quickly packing everything up in 5 minutes and ushering Toothless out the door to the waiting taxi cab. He had to make a stop before he shipped out.
He put his stuff in the back, opening the door for Toothless to get into the cab before telling the driver the address. It was a small shop in the merchant district popular for soldiers, and he knew just the man there to get him what he needed.
He slept on the short drive over, paid the cabbie and gave him a really decent tip, Hiccup didn't wake up a single time. He grabbed his two bags, one containing his two rifles, the other containing his clothing. He wasn't here to buy ammunition, he could get that no problem on the line, but what he needed were some special products. He walked around the marketplace, glancing at all of the products and occasionally interacting with the sellers, sometimes buying some fruit to snack on, but he couldn't find the man he was looking for until he spotted the merchant in the bright blue garbs with the tan hat. He walked up behind him…
"JOHANN!" He grabbed the man's shoulders, giving him a slight shake as he did so.
"AHHHH! Master Hiccup, I remember discussing with you earlier how I find it quite unpleasant when you do that."
"Ah, come on, Johann, I'm just having a little bit of fun." Johann waved it off and smiled, gladly shaking Hiccup's hand, ready to begin business.
Johann was a merchant of sorts, as he sold all of the usual products and goods that a merchant or businessman would. However, being that Johann came from the poorer region of a country he never named, or even talked about, he had adapted his business model in a few ways. Specifically, he ran a small but fairly competent business of selling goods to crowds one would not consider normal, others probably would call them revolutionaries. He was adept in getting his hands on weapons, ammunition, small arms and big guns alike, although he typically only procured the larger calibers for special costumers. Some would call him an arms dealer, a mercenary, an antagonist.
To Hiccup? He was a childhood friend who always came through their town's small port on the sea, bringing some much needed food and other supplies when it really counted, sometimes making such a difference that all of Berk could be in his debt if Johann didn't wave it off by just saying it was "business". While to some people Johann engaged in a business that lead to the deaths of hundreds, as he was a financier of terrorists, revolutionaries and even a few state governments and countless soldiers, he was considered a good friend of Hiccups.
As long as he never sells the Germans anything that he won't sell the Allies, Hiccup thought.
"So, Master Hiccup, how can I be of service to you today?"
"Well, Johann, I ship out in a couple of hours to return to the front, and I was wondering if you had my order that I placed a few months ago. The special one."
"Ah yes, I do now have that. I got it not long after you went back to the lines, so I've been saving it for you, as I felt somewhat guilty that I didn't have it at the time." They began to walk to Johann's setup, where he had most of his merchandise set out for the public, but some of the reserved items, such as weapons, ammunition, scopes, special military items and such were stored in dugout beneath his shop. "OH! Have I told you the story of my time spent in Sarajevo leading right up to the Archduke's assassination:? I was sitting outside, minding my own business, enjoying a nice morning breakfast near this old stone church…"
"Honestly, Johann, I don't really have time for this right now, I'm kind of in a hurry, so we should move fast."
"Right, Master Hiccup." They took off running, Toothless keeping pace with the two of them as they ran through the crowded market. When they arrived at his station, Johann peeked behind his shop, looking for the special items he set aside for his special costumer. The longer he spent looking, the more anxious Hiccup got. He tapped his foot, looking around impatiently, waiting for when Johann would just hand him what he needed. It was really important to have when he was on the line, and if he could find it…
"Ah, here we go, Master Hiccup!" He pulled out a parcel, about the size of a plate, rectangular in shape, wrapped with brown paper and tied off with a string. He handed it to Hiccup, who opened his wallet but before he could pull out any bills, Johann pushed his wallet towards his pocket, saying, "This one will not cost you this time, Master Hiccup, as an apology for not having it on time the first time you ordered it. I am dreadfully sorry about that."
"Oh, no, Johann, you don't have to do that, I can pa-"
"Master Hiccup, I insist. Allow me to do this for you this one time."
"Johann, I really don't have time for this-"
"Master Hiccup, please. I insist."
"Oh, alright, Johann. But just…just this one time, ok? I have to go now, but I will be paying you for the next one!" He gave Johann's hand a quick shake, both of them smiling at the transaction that was made, and Hiccup ran off to the street to find another cab, still hauling his two bags. Much to his surprise, there was a military vehicle already waiting there for him. He checked his watch and saw it was 7:30. Shit. I only have an hour until the flight. He walked towards the car, opting not to look into the eyes of the soldiers escorting him, lest he saw disapproval in their eyes. Moreover, how did they know he was here?
They all got into the car and it drove off towards the airfield, arriving at 7:45, and the plane was already at the airfield refueling and the equipment being loaded. He was hustled out of the car and walked over to the plane, shaking the hands of the pilot, navigator, and the gunners. They would be the determining factor of whether or not he survived the flight over, something he could control, so he figured he might as well wish them luck. He turned around, ready to toss his bags into the passenger compartment for the plane, but was halted when he spotted the wide, awe-stricken, maybe even scared eyes of a person he did not expect to have to explain these things too and certainly not after the events of last night.
Astrid.
Astrid's POV
When the plane landed, Astrid had little time to marvel in it's size and sophistication. She had seen aircraft occasionally, those small wooden monoplanes with open cockpits, barely enough room for one man, but this was something else entirely. The cockpit was enclosed, surrounded by four massive engines and the front filled with glass panes. The second it landed, the ground crews went to work refueling it and checking the engines, the pilots and gunners disembarking to stretch their legs and such. It had British markings on it, but from the language the pilots were speaking, Astrid figured this must not have been something that the British made. She couldn't tell which language it was, but it didn't matter. The sergeant had gestured to her and Heather to load their supplies quickly, telling them that the soldiers would be arriving soon and that they needed to lift off as soon as possible. They were in the middle of loading the plane when a car pulled up, all black and with the top pulled up. She looked over towards Heather, and knew they were thinking the same thing: wouldn't they transport all of their troops in a truck instead? However, this was shattered when she saw a soldier with a head of shaggy, auburn hair step out, and walk over towards the pilots, shadowed by a large, black dog.
It was Hiccup. HICCUP.
Astrid had not expected to see Hiccup here. Well, she knew she was going to see him in Arabia, maybe, they were both going there, but she didn't know they would be riding in this aircraft together. He must be one of the special soldiers they warned me not to talk to. This was going to be harder than she thought. Heather must have noticed that she recognized him, as she threw her box of medicine into the plane a little too hard and walked over. "So, that's Hiccup, huh?"
"Um, um, y-yeah. I guess he's coming with us."
"You never mentioned he was special enough to be sent from front to front."
"I-I, um- I didn't know. I swear. I thought-" she trailed off, not really knowing what to say next. How much of what he's told me was classified then? How much of what he's told me was the truth? How much has he not told me? Astrid kept her stare at Hiccup's back, but when he suddenly turned around, her eyes were already staring at his, and he was visually startled. She assumed he would know that she was here, right? He began walking toward her, and Astrid realized that she looked pretty dumb right now, standing there staring at her boyfriend so she picked up to crates of bandages to load into the plane.
I have to talk to him, don't I? She dreaded the point where they would have to speak, as she assumed this long of a journey would mean they would converse at some point. But, fortunately, or unfortunately, it was Astrid that broke the silence at the airfield.
It was Heather.
"Hi, my name is Heather, I'm a nurse for the ICRC, I assume you'll be our company today on the flight?"
"Yeah that's what it looks like. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to divulge my name to you or to anyone on this flight. Apologies, but its for security."
"Oh, that's ok. I think someone here knows you anyway." Damn it, Heather! "Are you acquainted with my friend Astrid Hofferson? I think the two of you know each other!" Astrid could practically hear Hiccup blush.
"Oh, umm-I-I-I-I- I umm, yeah, y-y-yeah, I know her." Ok, now I need to turn around and clear this out of the air before we all get court martialed. She turned around, blonde hair whipping from one side to the other, and put her best, not-embarrassed smile on her face as she could.
"Hey, Hiccup." She gave him a small wave, which he smiled and returned.
"Hey, Astrid." They stood smiling, and for a moment, Astrid thought everything was going to be ok, until Heather piped up like a child.
"Are you two courting one another?" Astrid turned to see Heather with a devilish smile on her face. Oh, she's going to get it later. Hiccup, on the other hand, was stammering and turning more red than his hair, worse than a tomato. It made it even worse that when Astrid saw him turning red, she began to turn red. The two stood there, stammering a response, before they gave up and finished packing the plane, boarding it with the help of the sergeant who was probably angry that their gossip put him two minutes behind schedule. There were no seats in the plane, not of the normal kind, just some cushions that had belts attached to the fuselage behind them. Of course, Hiccup sat towards the rear of the plane, Astrid and Heather towards the front. Heather was still suppressing her laugh as the pilots and navigator did their final checks of the controls and the directions they would have to go. Then, the topside gunner shut the door to their passenger/cargo area, and the large engines on either side of the plane were spun by two men each, fumes sputtering out and whining until the props started to pick up speed, the droning sounds of the propellers getting louder and louder until she almost couldn't hear her own thoughts. There was only one thought on her mind though. Why couldn't she and Hiccup say they were dating one another?
Then, the whole thing started to move. Astrid didn't know how scared she was of all of this until the plane moved, but now she realized that at any moment this thing could fall apart or something could explode, and this didn't look like something that years of thought and effort were put into. The seats were on the floor for Thor's sake. The writing on the warnings on the door were in a language that she had never seen before. All of this combined did not make for a good impression to Astrid Hofferson.
The plane had lined up on the runway, and Astrid saw the pilot push a lever forward, the plane picking up speed as it went, everything shaking and rattling so loud it sounded like all of the nuts and screws were about to fall it. Then, she felt it leave the ground, and she decided right then and there maybe she should start praying to Freya again. She closed her eyes, her stomach taking over for her, as she felt the plane getting higher and higher, her ears about to pop from all of the pressure. She covered her ears, hoping that might do something to help them, but to no avail. Her stomach clenched at the feeling of being pushed into the floor, and just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore, the plane leveled out. Her ears didn't feel like they were going to pop, although she noticed they still felt clogged, almost. She removed her hands from her ears and opened her eyes, first looking to Heather right next to her, and she saw her friend had not fared much better. Heather was curled into a ball, shivering from what was either fear or the cold, as it felt significantly colder up here in the clouds.
The clouds.
Astrid looked out the window behind her, and what she saw amazed her. Clouds, looking almost as comfortable as pillows, yet wispy and airy, making way for their plane as it came barreling through like a bull in a parade. She saw the sun just beginning to make its way over the horizon, the golden-orange rays of light streaking through the clouds like a some sort of streak of brilliance. It was absolutely mesmerizing, and as she took more and more breaths to help take this in, a smile spread across her face. This is absolutely amazing. "You know, it's a lot more fun when you aren't enclosed and reach out and feel the clouds." Astrid turned to the source of the voice, and found Hiccup, standing up, smiling and chuckling at her reaction to flying. It was so loud, she had to yell her response.
"Yeah, well, if the plane next time doesn't feel like it's going to fall apart, that'd also be good!" She turned to Heather. "Heather, you ok?!" She got a grunt in response, and Hiccup grabbed a nearby bucket and put it in front of her.
"She's got air sickness, it happens to some people on their first flight, nothing to be ashamed of!" That last part was directed more at Heather, she guessed, but it also made her less embarrassed at how she first reacted. "Now, wanna walk around the cabin a little?"
"Wait, what!? Hiccup, are you crazy?! What if the plane goes down?"
"Well, being strapped down to the floor isn't going to help much either. If you're going to die in a horrific plane crash, why not standing up?" He smiled and held out his hand, as if he was trying to comfort her with that statement, but it was not comforting in the least. Then again, he did have a point. She thought about it, before unbuckling her belt, grabbing his hand and allowing him to pull her up. He lifted her up, and right away she noticed that the plane was moving a lot. She had trouble standing up straight, and refused Hiccup's help. I got this. I don't need his help, I can do this on my own. And she did. For a few steps. Then the plane suddenly jerked to the right, and she stumbled into the side of the interior. Toothless looked up at her, and even she could see that he didn't enjoy the flying. He laid his head back down on some special cushion and closed his eyes, probably intending to sleep for most of the flight. Astrid turned back to Hiccup as he walked towards her at the back of the plane, not faltering a single step along the way. He sat down at his seat on the end, inviting her to sit next to him, to which she obliged. She noticed it was not as noisy in the back of the plane, as they were near the door to the rear gunner's position. Hiccup seemed to notice this.
"So the rear gunner won't be coming back here at all. He'll be at his position the entire time we are in the air, but he's allowed to sit down and stuff. Same with the top and forward gunners." He explained.
"Oh, ok." She wasn't sure what to ask next. "Is this plane British?"
"Classified."
"Oh, ok, ummm-"
"I'm just kidding. I trust you, and I honestly don't think telling you where this came from is a matter of national safety. That being said, let's just not tell anyone I told you these things, ok?"
"Oh, ummm…ok. I promise." Astrid got a little giddy at the notion of being told secret information. She had to remind herself that she wasn't a kid anymore, this kind of thing was something to be taken seriously. Very. Seriously.
"This plane is Russian. We bought them from the Tsar." Was all he said.
"Oh. That's it?"
"Yup. The Russians have been using them since last year, so I don't think it's really a secret that they make them and use them. They're called the Sikorsky Ilya Muromets, and they used to be civilian airliners, some of the first with functioning cabins like on zeppelins. Now, the Russians use them as heavy bombers, but we got a few before they were converted, and are testing them for use as transport. "
"Oh. Ok. Cool." She really wasn't sure how to actually respond to that.
Silence pervaded the plane cabin for the next couple of minutes, but Astrid decided to break that with a question she knew she probably wasn't going to get an answer to. "What are you, Hiccup? Like, can you tell me what you do exactly?"
"Oh. I should have seen this one coming." He took a breath. "So, I'm not allowed to tell you exactly what I do, but considering we…umm…" He paused, face contorting into a variety of expressions, looking like he was trying to find the perfect words for what he said next, "considering the events of last night, I'd say you and I are dating, like just starting to date, right?" Astrid nodded her head, although still confused as to where this was going. "Ok, so considering our new relationship," for some reason when he said the word "relationship" her heart skipped a beat and began to quicken, "I think it is not exactly horrible that I share with you a few minor details about what it is that I do. Only with you though." He looked back towards Heather, seeing she was still sleeping/dealing with the new feelings of flight.
"Ok, but Hiccup, if you don't want to tell me that's fine."
"No, no, I want to tell you, I can tell you, I just don't want anyone else to know. I can tell you a little about it, since you and I, well, are dating." He blushed immediately after saying it, and Astrid had to admit she thought it was kind of pleasant and funny. She smiled to reassure him, putting her hand on top of his in an effort to comfort him, although even she wasn't sure about whether or not it was the right move.
"Hiccup, it's ok. You can tell me, only if you want to. I understand the secrecy stuff."
"Alright, thanks. I'll tell you some small stuff." He took a breath before continuing, "so, when I first enlisted, I passed their tests set for marksmen by the British and took a short stint with some other men in a mountaineering training course in Italy before I was deployed. Basically, from the start, I was marked as a candidate for special soldiers, like Lovat's scouts." Astrid remembered the stories of the legendary marksmen from South African wars, formed to combat the Boers kommandos. "I was never put into one of their units, since I was still considered 'green'. My unit was the Scots Guards, 1st Battalion, where I fought alongside them at the Battles of Mons, the First Battle of the Marne, the First Battle of Aisne and Ypres. For those battle I was spread out between the my unit and a French unit I was helping with marksman training, remember Gabriel?" She nodded. "He was another guy that was helping this unit. I did some stuff here and there at their lines, our lines, saved a lot of people, killed a lot of people, and got some medals. After that, they noticed I was an exceptional soldier, and promoted me to sergeant with plans to take other soldiers that were considered 'deadly' and 'exceptional' in combat to form a battalion of them. This didn't work out, so only I was left with a small group of other men. First place they sent us was Gallipoli in February of 1915. The landings took place in April, but we were sent in February to the beaches to scout out possible places for the landings, and a few times got engaged in firefights with the occupying Ottomans. They pulled us out before the landings, though, having sent us to the Alps in Italy in March to help the Italians with a studying the Austro-Hungarian lines. Killed a few people there. Around early April, I was sent back to the Western Front, where I was going to be an advisor for the Canadian troops, teaching them how to make proper use of their marksmen, but the Second Battle of Ypres started. I still remember how the chlorine gas cloud rolled over the French lines, but the Canadians stood firm. We stood firm. We counterattacked at a place called Kitchener's woods on April 22nd, and after that was over, I got some medals there for my kills. As a further gift to my lethal abilities, they sent me back to my old unit, the Scots Guards, along with the guys I was in Gallipoli with. We were supposed to act like normal trench soldiers there, so no scouting, no recon, no raids or anything. By the time of Auber's Ridge on May 9th, we were wholly unprepared. It was the most gargantuan display of military idiocy and stupidity in the history of war." In an uncharacteristic display of anger, he punched the wall of the plane, catching the attention of the pilots and the navigator, "We had almost no ammunition. The artillery didn't even have enough shells that worked, let alone actual shells they could fire. It's like the harvest of apples was bad, so you get a few apples, but an even smaller number of those apples are not rotten, so you have use the rotten apples too. We couldn't move our wounded, we couldn't get reinforcements, and the Germans occupied a position on the ridge that they fortified with machine gun nests, barbed wire and other obstacles. We lost thousands of men, and gained nothing." He paused, tears threatening to well in his eyes. "I was demoted from sergeant to corporal, since all of the commanding officers immediately above me had been killed, and I lost all but four of the original men I worked with at Gallipoli. I thought I was to blame, and the only people I had telling me otherwise were a few men in High Command that had a little bit of sense and the men that were still under my command. They took them away from me though, they sent those last four guys to Africa to hunt for a German general there. Without respite, they moved us from Auber's Ridge back to Ypres Salient within the day, so by the 10th we were defending the line with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Regiment, defending the line at the Battle of Frezenburg. We were put with them because it was vital the Germans not break through the lines, and the Canadians there were reduced to 150 ready to fight. They began with 800. We were hammered with artillery and mortar fire almost endlessly, beating back the Germans and counterattacking, until May 13th, when we were pulled off that line and sent to the north, holding out against random attacks and shellings until May 23rd, when we were sent to the area around Bellewaarde for the battle there. When we got into the line, we were reinforcing more troops that were fighting without relief or rest, undergoing more shelling, more gas attacks, and more German advances. We held our own, but eventually we were forced to withdraw." He paused, looking at Astrid, unsure if he wanted to continue.
"Are you ok, Hiccup?" She could tell he felt uneasy about something, and she was afraid he was going to possibly break down, which would lead to her receiving the blame for not completing whatever assignment came next. She didn't want him to break down, and she certainly did not need the added trouble of being accused of treason to go along with it.
"I…I just…I…" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "the reason I was pulled off the line during the Ypres Offensive was because of my behavior towards the end of the battle. I, uh…"
"Hiccup, you don't have to tell me this."
"No, I want to. I…I have to tell someone, someone who wasn't there. It'll make me feel better, talking about it." He took a breath, and Astrid readied herself, "Towards the end of the battle, I started to lose it a little bit. I, uh, became more mentally unstable. At one point, after a German advance made it into our lines and retreated, I chased them down. Astrid, I was so fed up and frustrated with their shelling, their gas, it just…they never let us sleep. They murdered sleep. At night they send sporadic mortar and howitzer fire just to keep us awake. I was fighting almost an entire month without any significant rest, my schedule consisted of eating, killing, getting shelled, and then eating some more. I was just so…furious at the Germans, they were the reason we were in Europe, dying by the thousands, and for what? Some noble in Sarajevo was shot by a teenager. I just had had enough at that point, and decided I was going to take matters into my own hands. I charged their trenches, following the Germans as they retreated, and evidently enough of the other soldiers in our trenches, mine included, thought we were counterattacking and followed me. I got into German lines and my men and I started to clear it, but I went too far. I had tossed aside my rifle and was using a sword and a knife, and then my own hands when those two broke." He stopped, staring silently ahead at the floor, eyes glazed over like his soul had just died. Astrid couldn't bear it.
"Hiccup, you were just tired. You just needed some rest. We learned about that at training, its just exhaustion there's nothing wrong with you." He didn't respond. "I promise, Hiccup, there's nothing wrong with you."
There was a long pause before Hiccup took a breath and, without breaking his staring contest with the floor, said, "They had to pull me off a German I was trying to kill with my bare hands, Astrid. They said there were bodies of dead and wounded men everywhere around me, and my commanding officer later told me 'if you killed any more Germans in that trench, they'll charge you with genocide'. They had to sedate me because I kept yelling towards the German lines how I was coming for them, how I was going to kill of them." He turned to Astrid. "That's when they sent me to Paris, to get some rest, but it looks like they cut that short, too. I was a monster, Astrid-"
"Hey, enough of that talk. Everyone does things that they wish they didn't. I know you feel bad about killing those Germans in anger, but who's to say they weren't going to attack you again if you didn't just counterattack like you did? What if you lost your positions in the trench because they attacked a fourth time, but you stopped it? Hiccup, you have to look at it like you're saving lives. You can't dwell on what happened, they signed up to die for their country just like you did."
"They're humans, Astrid. They're men with families, wives, children, girlfriends, mothers, fathers, friends. And I tore apart so many families that day!" He was on the verge of crying now. "I am the reason 17 German boys won't be returning home to their parents, to their families, I am the one who broke apart 17 families that day in that German trench alone. Who knows how many other families I have torn apart? Or how many more I'm going to kill before this war ends, if it ever ends?" He was starting to shake slightly, and Astrid surmised it wasn't from the cold, so she grabbed Hiccup's shoulders and spun him towards her.
"Hiccup, listen to me," she said in the most soothing, calm voice she could muster, "what you did was not normal, yes, but they were not innocent people. You didn't kill any civilians, only men who signed up to kill you. They may have originally signed up to serve their country, but those men by that time had seen battle. They were there to kill you and your friends, and march further into France. You stopped that. You saved lives, Hiccup. You may have killed Germans, but you saved British, French and Belgian lives. You saved the lives of women and children who were going to be killed by the shelling of cities and towns further in. You saved the lives of soldiers who weren't deployed because you ended that battle and forced the Germans to route from their own positions. You need to think of what you're saving, Hiccup, not of what you're ending." Not knowing what else to do, Astrid hugged Hiccup, his head pressed into her shoulder, and she could feel the small gasps of breath and the shaky breathing. He was crying.
And it broke her heart.
Hiccup's POV
He hadn't planned to break down like he did, certainly not in front of Astrid, but after talking about all of what he had done and the memories that came flooding back to him, it just…happened. He couldn't control it. He'd heard what she told him, about how it wasn't his fault, and yet, his mind told him it was.
And so, here he was, locked in the embrace of Astrid Hofferson, crying. Crying because he still felt responsible for so many deaths, like his first sergeant at Mons, or those Belgian soldiers during the Battles of the Marne and the Frontiers, the young Italian soldier in the Alps that only wanted to be a painter, his men in Auber's Ridge, or the ANZAC forces in Gallipoli because he didn't do a good enough job scouting for them. He told himself to not feel responsible, but yet, here was, his mind connecting the dots, finding all of the ways he could've reduced bloodshed, how he could've saved their lives.
I'm a shattered, broken mirror, and here Astrid is trying to put me back together again. I just hope she doesn't cut herself.
"I'm sorry," was all he could say. His voice was squeaky, high-pitched, pinched from the crying and it embarrassed him. He chastised himself for breaking down in front of someone else, much less Astrid. Pull yourself together, Haddock, you stupid idiot. Quit crying like a little child, and be a man! "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," the words spilled out like an endless waterfall, same with his tears. The more he chastised himself, the worse it got, and before long he was on the verge of full-on wailing, no matter what he did, seemingly broken after all that he'd done for his country. He couldn't stop crying, he didn't want to show his hideous, wailing face to Astrid, and he wasn't sure how to stop crying when his gut was telling him It's all your fault.
Finally, when the tear ducts ran dry and he was reduced to only breathing shakily, eyes red and swollen, did Astrid speak again. "Shhhhhh, it's ok. You're ok. It's ok, Hiccup, I got you." He felt her hand run down his upper back and neck, her touch soothing him, and felt her other hand rubbing his scalp. He hadn't had this before, not since his mom left after his father went to war, at least. "Shhhhhh, you're ok. I'm here for you, Hiccup." They stayed like for this for another ten minutes, when Hiccup's breathing returned to normal. When Astrid moved her hands to his shoulders, he looked up to meet her eyes.
What he saw when he looked up moved him more than anything in the war ever could. It was one of the most influential moments in Hiccup's life, and profoundly changed his view on the world and the people he knew. What he saw made Hiccup realize there were people out there that cared for him, other than his friends in the army. But most importantly, it made Hiccup realize what he meant to Astrid, her feelings towards him that may not be fully realized by her, and lifted a weight off of Hiccup's shoulders he didn't know he had. He blinked to make sure what he was seeing was actually happening.
Astrid. Hofferson. Was. Crying.
He repeated the words in his head over and over, as worn, red, swollen green eyes met worried, teary blue eyes. He could see the tears streaming down her face, though she was trying not to let her facial expression show it. But, it was there. Astrid was crying.
And almost five seconds later Hiccup felt guilty. "Astrid, are you ok?"
"I *sniffle*, uhhh…" She blinked a few times, trying to get the tears out of her eyes but more seemed to come. "I just…Hiccup…" was all she could get out before she buried her face into Hiccup's chest, turning her head as if to either bury her head deeper inside the desert, khaki shirt or denying something. Either way, Hiccup was worried now. He had no idea how to comfort Astrid, only soldiers who were losing it on the line. Big difference.
"Hey, no no no no, you can't cry, that's my thing. I just did that" he tried to cheer her up, but the shaky breathing and the tears kept coming.
"Astrid, it's not your fault, you didn't do any of this-" Her head whipped up, and Hiccup saw the tears still streaming from now swollen blue eyes, along with a red face, shaky breathing, and an expression Hiccup had never seen on Astrid before.
Regret.
"Yes! Yes it is my fault, Hiccup! D-d-d-don't you see?" She sniffled a little, more tears coming out as her tough demeanor began to crumble like an old wall being knocked down, revealing a side of Astrid Hiccup had never seen before.
"I…uhh…what?"
"I was horrible to you as a kid! I knew you liked me, but I never wanted to talk to you because you were different! I ignored you, avoided you, and I let you Snotlout and the twins bully you! You left because things were so bad back in Berk, and it's my fault! All you wanted to do was be my friend, and I destroyed that! I was a bitch because I didn't want to be friends with someone who put brains over brawn, and if you had a friend it would've been better for you! I could've stopped Snotlout's bullying, the twins' bullying, helped you get stronger and make your dad happy, I could've helped Hiccup! But I didn't, all because you were different, and I'm the reason you left, the reason you went to war and why you feel this way! I DID THIS!" Her voice cracked more and more as the sentence went on, and just as she finished, she crumbled into a heap of sadness, regret, embarrassment and tears.
It shocked Hiccup to the core, especially because he didn't know she felt so guilty about his childhood, something that was now so foreign to him it might have well been another life or a book he read. He stuttered on what to say, and only could hold Astrid's head in his lap as her wails echoed around the back of the plane. He looked up front. The pilots and navigators were too busy flying the plane, it was also probably too loud up there, and it looked like Heather fell asleep with her head against the wall. He looked to Toothless, who just looked more annoyed than anything that this crying session was interrupting his sleep and reminding him he was in the sky, something that dog never liked.
Returning his attention to Astrid, he picked her up by her shoulders and set her next to him, facing him, yet she refused to look at him. He guessed out of embarrassment or shame, one of the two. He put his hand underneath her chin, the index finger and thumb gripping the chin, and he slowly turned her face towards him. "Hey," he coaxed. Reluctantly, she faced him, face in a defeated expression of regret and sorrow, eyes still red and welling with tears. He gave her a soft smile to try to reassure her, before saying, "It was my choice to leave. Nothing could've changed that. Astrid, you shouldn't feel guilty about not being my friend, you don't have to be everyone's friend, ok?"
"But I should've-"
"You didn't have to, ok? Besides, what's past is past. You can't dwell on it, right? We both have a problem with that, so let's not dwell on the past anymore, ok?"
"Hiccup, that doesn't matter, I was a-"
"Shhhhh, Astrid, it's ok," he needed to pull out the big guns, and the only one that came to his mind might be a bad option, with a worse result that the current situation, but it was the only one he came up with so, "If none of this had happened, you would have never met me in Paris, and we wouldn't be what we are now. We wouldn't be dating if we started off as friends in Berk, right? Like, we wouldn't have decided that we liked each other on Berk and decided to date one another after singing in a bar, right" None of anything you just said makes any sense or is any help, Hiccup. "Ummm, listen, Astrid, what I'm trying to say is that we wouldn't have…well…all of the events of last night wouldn't have happened, we wouldn't have sang Dancing and the Dreaming, we wouldn't have gone to the ball, we wouldn't have kissed. You probably wouldn't be my girlfriend right now." He honestly thought he wouldn't be able to make that assumption for sure, but he guessed if they were childhood friends he wouldn't be able to date her. She stared into him, and for the first time he could not tell what she was thinking, not even remotely, her expression of wide eyes and slightly agape mouth could be good or bad. He'd have to take a chance.
"Astrid, I really, really, really like you. I care about you. More than you know, and I want to help you. I want you to know that I don't care about stuff about that stuff when we were kids, that's over now. I like you, now, as you are, and I don't for a second think about what you did back on Berk, or any of that. Ok?" He waited for a response, staring into her eyes, waiting for any change of expression in her face. His hands still held tight on her shoulders, and every second that passed Hiccup got more and more worried he misinterpreted her crying for him, worried that he made a mistake. What if she was only crying because of the situation? What if I just made things really awkward for both of us? What if I-
His thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of her lips against his, and he closed his eyes to take in the sensation of it. Maybe he didn't screw it up. Maybe everything was going to be ok in the end.
Her lips departed, and she looked into his eyes, a smile creeping across her face, ever so slowly reaching from 'coast to coast' as the Americans said, and the happiness radiated from all of her features. "Thank you, Hiccup." She hugged him, so tight that he might've let out a little grunt or squeak, but he returned the gesture as best he could. When she released him, she brushed her bangs out of her face before saying, "Look, so I know things have been a little confusing right now, mostly because of the situation of us being in the war."
"Yeah…yeah, yeah I hadn't noticed but yeah, ok." Maybe acting cool was not the way to go right now, Hiccup. He sounded like an idiot to himself, but waited for Astrid to continue, hoping she chose to ignore what he just said.
"It's just…I have feelings for you, you evidently have feelings for me, but I just…it's not a good time to have them. I mean, we are at war, and you're going to be off gods know where, and I don't want to be worried about you dying all of the time. It would drive me mad, Hiccup."
"Oh". His heart was currently sinking faster than the Titanic. So she doesn't want a relationship with me. Ok. This is fine. I definitely didn't just pour my heart out to her and made things really awkward. "It's fine. We don't have to, you know, tell anyone about the kiss or anything, we can just, you know, pretend it never happened." He tried to patch the obvious hole that was just put in their current relationship as best he could, but wasn't sure if he could fix it. Maybe it can't be fixed, Hiccup. He sighed and looked away, dropping his hands from Astrid's shoulders and staring down at the aluminum body of the plane.
"No, no no no I didn't mean it that way. I just…What I meant was this is not a good time to have these feelings, it's not that I don't like the fact that I like you, Hiccup."
"Oh?" He was confused now, and there was only one thing he could ask, "so what do you want?"
She paused.
"I…I…I want…I want to be in a relationship with you."
Astrid's POV
"I…I…I want…I want to be in a relationship with you." The words that Astrid had been wanting to say so badly, especially after she stupidly said that 'it was a bad time to have feelings for you' and nearly ruined it, were out in the air, as free and floating as the clouds outside their cabin, but not as tangible. She couldn't take them back, but she hoped she wouldn't have to. "I know last night I accepted your proposal to be your girlfriend, but, I really, really like you Hiccup. I…I want this to be serious. I want to be with you."
The toothy smile on Hiccup's face was the only answer she needed. "I want to be with you, too." He smiled, and surprisingly, pulled her in for a kiss. She'll never forget how her heart absolutely soared at that moment, flying higher than they were in the clouds, and she'll never forget the look on Hiccup's face after they pulled apart. Pure happiness.
"Ok, so…what now?" He asked.
"Ummm, I don't know." She knew what she wanted to ask, but hesitated to follow through. "So why are you being called to Arabia?"
"Oh. Yeah. That. Ummm…" he twirled his hair a little, and it gave Astrid an idea as to what to do next. "So, I'm technically supposed to tell you this, but basically I'm regrouping with the last four guys from my section and some new soldiers to help defend an area from an Ottoman attack, in an area where we don't have many troops to spare for the defense. This area is strategically important to the Empire because it's a stop for ships on the way to the Suez Canal. Without it, lots of ships won't have enough fuel or supplies to make it to the canal."
"Oh. Wow. That…that sounds important." Astrid felt some pressure now, because if they were going to the same area, that meant she was responsible for making sure the casualties were low on their side, she needed to be ready to save lives, as the defense of the town depended on it.
In her mind at least. "Do you know the new members?"
"No, but apparently they have only been deployed in Africa, so that is going to be hard." He must have noticed Astrid's confusion at that statement, because he continued, "the way the war is fought in Africa is much different than the way it is fought in Arabia, the Middle East, and especially in the Italian front, the Eastern Front and most importantly, the Western front. If they are only use to fighting in Africa, they will need to adjust to how we fight on the Western, Italian and Middle Eastern fronts. This is not something I wanted to happen with their first deployment with me on assignment coming up soon."
"Oh. Ok. I see." He was still twirling his hair, so she decided to do what she wanted to earlier. "Hey, can you do me a favor?"
"Yeah, um, sure. What is it?"
"Can you sit in front of me and turn around real quick?"
"Umm, why?"
"You'll see." She felt the smile spreading across her lips, glad he didn't catch on when he got up and sat down in front of her, facing towards the windows on the opposite side. She put her fingers in his hair, and he immediately retracted away from her.
"Woah, woah woah woah, what are you doing?"
"Don't worry about it, Hiccup, it's not going to hurt you…"
"Why can't you just tell me what you're going to do-"
"Hiccup, what if I tell you after I've done it? Please? It'll only take ten seconds!" She had never begged before, but right now, it would make her feel a lot better if he just let her do it.
"Alright, fine" he surrendered, turning back around to let Astrid go to work. And sure enough, ten seconds later, there was a braid in his hair. First of many, she thought to herself, smiling at her accomplishment and her first win in her relationship with Hiccup. He ran his fingers through his hair, and when he came to the braid, he let out a groan. His hands moved to remove the braid, but Astrid's hands shot out to stop him. "Don't!" He immediately ceased all movement, and slowly turned his head around, eyes wide and looking a little concerned. "It's…it's an old Viking tradition my mom told me about. The wives of the Vikings would put a braid in their hair before they sailed off on raids or to battles, as a reminder to come back to them once it was over. My mother did it for my father when he left to fight the Boers, and…I…" she struggled now, as the whole thing seemed dumb and overprotective, until she felt Hiccup's hand on top of hers.
"I'll keep it. If it makes you feel better, if it means you get some comfort from having a braid in my hair so I can come back to you, I'll leave it. I'm more than happy to have it then."
"Ok. Thank you." She kissed him on the cheek, giving him a smile.
"I can't guarantee I'll come back in one piece, but I'll make my way back to you." She slugged him on the shoulder. Hard.
As much as he laughed, she didn't find it funny. Not one bit.
Hiccup's POV (36 hours later) Evening of July 3rd
The rest of the flight was, in Hiccup's opinion, tremendously boring. The refueled at an airfield in Rome, then Greece, crossed the Mediterranean to Egypt, and were now on the final flight to Aden. He expected the flight to take much longer, but he guessed the engines might have been tweaked and extra weight lost in lots of extras.
Like seats. Or, what he noticed later in the flight, guns and ammo. The gunners were not actually manning guns, just holding carbine rifles, not machine guns. As long as we don't get engaged over out here, we should be fine.
Astrid and Heather were both asleep, Heather only having woken up for their time in Greece and Egypt. Astrid just fell asleep not long after Egypt. They three had talked a little, but Hiccup assumed Heather was not in the mood for talking while flying, and Astrid and him had already talked about enough on the way to Rome. He wasn't ready to talk about much else his life consisted of, not at this point. But now, they were flying over enemy territory, at a higher altitude than the guns would reach them. He slept only going from France to Rome after he and Astrid agreed to be…courting. After that, he stayed awake for the flight near the 'Powderkeg of Europe" near Athens, and especially alert during the flight over the Mediterranean. Astrid had told him to get some rest, but Hiccup had subjected himself to only taking short naps on intervals synced with his watch. He was out of the civilian mindset entirely now.
He was on war footing now.
He was in the process of disassembling his rifles, both the rifleman's Lee Enfield and the marksman, cleaning them, and reassembling them. He checked the sights, making sure they were all lined up the way he would need them to be. He sharpened his bayonet, making sure it was sharp enough to prick his finger without putting much pressure on it. He cleaned his sidearm, a Colt pistol, and tucked it in his holster. Usually only officers would be issued the pistol, but because of Hiccup's special soldier status, it went by unnoticed by most. He started putting on his gear, his shovel strapped to the side of his hip, his holster on the other side, next to his canteen, his government-issued belt holding it all on. He put on his harness for ammo pouches, making sure they were all filled with the clips he would need. It was good both rifles took the same ammunition, although he was not going to carry both of them on the field, that'd just be idiotic. He sheathed his bayonet, and tucked the rifle duffel bag into the other one, making sure to conserve space when on the line. While pulling his hand out, Johann's brown parcel came tumbling out, and Hiccup realized he had completely forgot about it in there and on the flight.
"Might as well open it now, so you can use it later," he told himself. He unwrapped the brown parcel, and inside found exactly what he had been needing.
A few new pencils and a new leather-bound, yellow paper sketchbook.
What not many people knew about the war was that when you are not engaging the enemy and you are on the line, it gets boring. Extremely boring. So, the way Hiccup chose to pass that time was sketching, anything from people to locations or scenes from memory. He began it when he was younger, but now it had matured, he was able to sketch more. Most often nowadays, it was the scarred and disfigured landscapes the war produced, the men who fought the war, and the life in the trenches. He had been needing a new sketchbook since his previous one got filled up, the same one he still carried in his back pocket. He would need it to comfort him, to ease his mind when everything was going to hell around him.
The Russian pilots turned around and gave him five fingers twice, meaning they only had 10 minutes left in their flight. This is going fast. He looked over to Astrid's sleeping form, debating whether or not he should wake her, or let her sleep. He sat down next to her, putting his hand on her shoulder, deciding to let her sleep until they were a few minutes out. He almost envied how peacefully she slept, uninterrupted, innocent from the horrors that he had seen in war. Then again, he was fighting to keep other people from having to see the same things, to help bring a speedy end to the war. Or, at least, bring about the end of the war in their favor.
He sat next to her for a few more minutes, hand on her shoulder, rubbing her back, until the pilot gestured they were five minutes away. How the pilot knew this only from the map? Hiccup will never know, his knowledge of maps was confined to knowing how to read them on the ground when you had landmarks, not up in the sky when everything looked the same. He shook Astrid a little to wake her up. "Mmmmm, what is it?"
"We are almost there, Astrid. Time to get ready." He hadn't meant to, but his voice sounded deeper, more serious than he intended to. But, it fulfilled its purpose. Astrid shot up and got up quickly than he expected. She woke up Heather, and the two began the last minute preparations for unloading. It was at this point that Hiccup got those oh-so-common butterflies before the flight, he could feel the nervousness building up in anticipation for going back into war. Not so much a fear of dying, but an excitement, similar to what one gets before big tests or the big game. At least, that's what it was for Hiccup, since he had done this so many times before he was no longer afraid of dying. He'd learned that if one went in, always afraid of death, always making decisions to avoid their own death, then that's how one died. He learned to get over that fear, to not let it control him, yet not have complete control over it. It's what led to a balance between the two, allowing him to make risky decisions and throw himself into open combat, but not act stupidly or immaturely. He knew there was the chance he would die in combat, but often he put those thoughts at the back of his mind. He needed to concentrate on what he was doing, now, in the present, to survive.
That's all war was about. Not determining victors and losers, but determining the survivors. And on what end of the line they survive on.
The plane circled the airfield around Aden, so low he could see the activity on the ground, the soldiers preparing to mount up and move out to Lahij on a moment's notice. The sight of an army always made Hiccup realize he was part of something much bigger than himself, that at the end of the day, he was just another soldier in the army of one of the greatest powers the world has ever seen, now locked into war with some of the most militaristic and ruthlessly efficient armies in the world. While the Ottomans were no Prussians, they were still deadly, having survived in one of the world's most hostile environments for centuries. Then again, the empire he was defending the empire whose flag the sun never set on. And this little bit gave him pride as a Scotsman, part of the mainland of this empire.
The plane finally touched down, and Hiccup was first out the door, followed by Astrid and Heather, and finally Toothless, who were instead ushered to follow Hiccup while other men tended to offloading their supplies. Hiccup walked around, looking for the officer he was meant to report to, until he found him, standing off near a horse wagon, going through a checklist of some kind. "Captain Smith, Corporal Haddock, reporting."
"Ah, yes, Corporal Haddock. I've heard much about you. Come, this way." The captain looked behind Hiccup at Astrid and Heather, unsure whether or not to follow, but the captain saw their Red Cross armbands and ushered them to follow. "Now, thank the Lord you were early on your flight. There's been a slight change in the original plans, as you will be heading to your destination immediately with the advance column. The Camel Troops have discovered a large Ottoman force making their way to Lahij, accompanied by several thousand Arab tribesman. You are to reinforce the garrison immediately."
"Wait, these nurses, they need their equipment-"
"The Aden Column will take care of that, right now we have horses set up on the outskirts of the city, not far from here, to take you and these nurses to the frontline. This is urgent, and your section is waiting for you there. They will move out once you reach their position and mount up." He took Hiccup's bag of personal items and gave it to an aide, "put this inside the barracks set aside for Corporal's Haddock's section." The aide responded affirmatively, and hustled off. It was at this point Hiccup realized how urgent this matter was. They began to quicken their pace, Hiccup slinging his infantry rifle over his shoulder alongside the other one, before deciding to hand the marksman rifle to the next aide, "put this in the barracks with Corporal Haddock's equipment." The aide ran off, and Hiccup looked back at the captain. "How soon can we expect reinforcements if we fall under attack?"
"Right now, if you were attacked, I don't think the column would make it. The heat makes the horses unable to work as much as normal, the sand slows down everything from machines to men, and we don't even have an organized force here yet to march out with. Most of the British officers here are new and don't know how to lead effectively."
"Alright, thanks Captain. Where is the rendezvous?"
"Three blocks from here, go straight until the third block and then go right until you get to the outskirts. Your unit will be waiting near the checkpoint."
"Alright thank you. God's speed with you," Hiccup found this greeting usually encouraged other men if they were Christian.
"God's speed, and give 'em hell, lad!" the captain walked off, leaving Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid and Heather to make their way to the rendezvous alone. Hiccup turned to them.
"Alright, stay by me, and whatever you do, don't get separated, we need to get there fast, the Ottomans were spotted just outside Lahij, so we need to get there before they do. More importantly, we need to at least make half of the journey before sunset. We'll ride horses, any of you guys ridden before?" Heather raised her hand, but Astrid didn't looking almost a little sheepish at the mention of zero riding experience. "It's ok, it's not that hard, I'll teach you as we go. Alright let's move, we gotta go now!"
They began to run at a slow jogging pace through the crowd, Hiccup made sure to yell "Make way," whenever there was a large crowd, it always seemed to work. The town was abuzz of not just normal, townspeople activity, but also of people preparing for the possibility of an invasion. The Indian soldiers send to defend the region were everywhere, running around in the street carrying supplies, running to their posts, preparing the Aden Column to move out, or positioned on the rooftops watching over everyone below. Hiccup caught a quick glance at Astrid and Heather once they were in an open part of the city, and noticed both of their faces were pale, their bodies showing all of the tell-tale signs of nerves, although Heather more so than Astrid. "Hey, you guys," they both looked at him, "don't worry about this. You'll be off the front lines, you won't be in that much danger."
"What about the shelling?" Heather asked that question, and it was a valid one.
"You can hear it coming before it lands, just duck when you hear it. You'll know the sound once you hear it, I don't need to describe it."
"Ok." They both responded to this one.
Just then, they heard two cracks of rifle fire, the sharp snaps of the firing echoing around the buildings encircling them. Everyone in the street ducked at once, and suddenly the civilians hurried to get out of the way. Hiccup pushed Astrid and Heather to the side, unslinging his rifle and chambering a round, keeping an eye out for where the fire came from. Toothless took a defensive posture, sniffing and growling at anyone who came too close by. The soldiers were scrambling through the streets, yelling in English and foreign languages for them to move, the soldiers on the rooftops crouching and scanning the crowd, shouting commands to the soldiers below. Everything is beginning to descend into chaos. We have to move. NOW. "Ok, come on guys, lets move! Let's really move!" Rifle still drawn Hiccup led Astrid and Heather through the now scared crowds of civilians to their horses. He looked behind at Astrid, and was somewhat gladdened to see that on her face was an expression of determination, not fear. Seriousness, preparation. Her father and the Hofferson traditions raised her well. Hiccup turned back around, now running at a full on sprint, nearing their final destination.
Feet stamped all over the ground, making a sound like thunder in the streets of Aden. Dust was kicked up by the running of soldiers and civilians alike. British officers shouted orders to their Indian subordinates, setting up barricades and moving weapons like mortars, heavy machine guns and rifles. The flurry of activity, combined with the overwhelming sense of panic, was enough to overwhelm some people. Not Hiccup. He had grown used to this. This was his element. He was prepared. And when they finally arrived at the rendezvous, Hiccup was prepared to move out quickly as well. He was also ecstatic at first.
Instantly he recognized the first four men he saw as Tom "Speedifist" Jones, Andrew "Thuggory" Mackendale, Charlie "Wartihog" Smith and David "Nobrains" Noris, and it made him ecstatic that he was going to be going to battle with them again. But there was something else.
He also recognized the other four, new members to his section, people he had not expected to see for a long time, not expected to see at all during the war, and especially not here of all places. Astrid spoke in his silence with the exact, sarcastic thought that he couldn't say through the paralysis of his mouth.
"Well, the gang's all back together, I guess."
So, yes this is the new chapter. It's taken longer than I previously thought, but again, exams were hard and I got very sick recently. However, I hope this is as good as what you guys were hoping for out of this chapter. I will commence writing on the sixth chapter immediately after this one is submitted, and I'm thinking that the chapter after the next might take us to back to Berk for a little bit, maybe. Now, a little background: What the Army is doing with Hiccup is entirely fictional, such small groups of troops were not moved around like that during WW1, but all of the battles he's seen are real. All of the battles he will participate in are either completely real of real but with small fictional events within them. The German general mentioned in East Africa was actually a genius, basically undefeated in the field, who's goal was to tie down as many British forces as he could, which is why the generals thought moving Hiccup's men to East Africa would help. This chapter also answers a DM sent me, regarding the other characters. Lol
I want to thank everyone who's reviewed and followed/favorited this story, it really means a lot to me, and I'm really hoping these chapters that are written recently aren't letting you guys down in any way. I might go back and make some edits over the summer, but we'll see. Also, I began this chapter when I was sick and finished it very late at night, after taking some stuff fromv an earlier draft and cutting it, so if something doesn't make sense let me know so I can change it to make it correct! But I promise, I will never forget this story. Until next time, guy, peace out! Like/fav/follow and review! Thanks!
