Update 11/22/18: minor edits made, and changed the chapter title since I have always hated it. Also took a chunk off the beginning of Chapter 5 and moved it to the end of this chapter to balance things out a little. I never liked where this one ended and the next chapter left off.


Chapter 4: Lay of the Land

It was clear by the end of the tour that Hiccup had been inhabiting the mountain for a long time. In addition to the bedroom and the kitchen there was a storeroom for things he'd salvaged from wrecked ships or stolen during raids as well as supplies he'd gotten through more legal means; as well as an impressive forge he'd built using pieces filched from a hundred different villages. Near the base of the mountain there was even a little patch of land he'd turned into a garden.

He showed her how to get to the hot springs at the deepest level of the mountain, and then to the stream that was good for washing clothes, and from there, how to get back to his bedroom. There were shorter passageways that connected these areas, tunnels she hadn't noticed and tunnels that bypassed the entrance cavern entirely, and she was surprised at how quickly they got from one area to another. He took the time to scribble her down a map and mentioned putting up signs so she wouldn't get lost, and promised to dig up an old prototype of his flaming sword that she could use as a torch to get around in the dark. He told her she could keep using his bed; that he'd pull out some old furs and continue cuddling up with Toothless. Neither one of them minded; apparently there had been a lot of that in the days when they'd first left Berk, and Hiccup laughingly told her that he would still occasionally be woken up in the middle of the night by the crushing weight of a Night Fury trying to crawl into his bed.

In the bottom of a trunk he managed to find some old clothes of his he thought had a passing chance of fitting her, and told her he had extra fabric and needle and thread so she could make whatever else she might need until he had a chance to sneak into a village to get her some real clothes. She asked if there was any chance of getting some of her own things from Berk, but he told her it was too risky. If her parents decided to go through her things, either to pack them away or just to remember her, they would likely notice the absence.

A raid on Berk usually meant there would be another on other islands in the next few days, and he promised to find her something then.

Toothless's patience was finally exhausted and the spoiled dragon demanded to be taken flying, which would at least give Astrid a guaranteed moment of privacy to change.

She stayed close to the fire as she pulled off her dress. Hiccup had been so casual and so accommodating that she was having a hard time reconciling him with the man who just hours ago had held her down and demanded her to lift up her skirt.

Of course, she was also having such a hard time reconciling this strange tall young man with the small frightened boy of four years ago, as well as having a very difficult time reconciling all of this with the earthshattering fact that he was alive and living with a dragon. In the end she gave up on properly processing everything and decided to just go with it until she could really think it all through.

He had an old green tunic that fit well enough; a bit baggy but it stayed on her shoulders and fell to the middle of her thighs. The pants were another story. They were tight around her hips but loose everywhere else, and she had to roll them up quite a bit. Perhaps she could at least hem them later, but for the time being it was warmer than her mock wedding dress.

Astrid stared at the pale blue dress laid out on the stone floor. She had no intention of wearing it ever again; but she could at least use the fabric. The thin cotton would make due for undergarments at least, and yet…

She didn't want to touch it. She didn't want it touching her. She didn't want any physical reminder of how terrified she had felt, at the fate she thought she'd been facing, of her village's betrayal…of Hiccup holding her down.

She'd find other fabric. She gathered the dress into her arms and chucked it into the fire.

She sat down on the cave floor and watched the fabric blistering and burning. She had no idea what to do with herself now. She had no idea what she was going to do with herself for a long time. She was stuck here, apparently, with no clear chance of leaving any time soon, and she had no idea how she was going to fill the time until she managed to convince Hiccup to let her leave. Or how, exactly, she was going to convince Hiccup to let her leave.

She sighed and got up. She found a comb in one of the desk drawers and pulled her hair loose from the marriage braid it had been twisted into yesterday. It was tangled and matted from the flight and her sleeping on it, and she passed a few minutes mindlessly combing the tangles out before braiding it into its usual style. Hair fixed, she stared around the cave absently.

The boredom was going to kill her.

Astrid sighed and pulled herself to her feet. She opened one of the chests and dug out one of the leatherbound books she'd seen that morning and opened it to a random page. It was a journal, and judging by the dust an older one. There was a little sketch of Toothless in one corner.

Promising tests with the tail rig today. I'm starting to get the hang of the different positions. I think we might be able to try an actual test flight within a few days.

What followed was a lot of technical gibberish that went over Astrid's head so she flipped backwards. How early was this, if he was writing about testing out Toothless's false tail? Something caught her eye and she stopped, pulling back a page to see a light charcoal sketch of herself. She was younger, as she'd been before Hiccup left, one hand pushing back her bangs as she waited at what looked like the forge window. Astrid sat down and smoothed the dust from the page.

Astrid came into the shop today for her axe sharpened and Gobber, in what I can only assume was an attempt at matchmaking, abandoned me to deal with it myself. Which would have been alright if his parting words hadn't been so innuendo-laden. "My apprentice here can service all of your needs!" Yeah, thanks Gobber, that helps. As does you leaving and blabbering about going to get that thing you need that you're out of. Smooth. Very smooth. And not at all obvious. I mean I guess I can't hold it against him too much. I got to talk to her. There was an actual conversation. As in, words were exchanged with Astrid. I said things and she said things in response to the things I said. I think she was pretty bored by everything I said but I spoke to her so that's at least progress.

I don't know why I bother, to be honest. I don't stand a chance with her. She's never been mean to me like the others have but she's never acknowledged my existence either. And why should she? She's Astrid Hofferson. She's beautiful and she's strong and she broke Snotlout's wrist one time and it had me picturing our wedding day and future children. I mean, I'd marry her for the other stuff too, but breaking Snot's wrist was definitely a point in her favor.

She's so pretty. And her aim with that axe? Wow. I was watching her on fire patrol one night and in the firelight she looked so fierce and beautiful that I ruined the sword I was supposed to be sharpening for Hoark.

"Wow, Haddock," Astrid muttered, "You had it bad for me."

Which brings me back to my earlier point: why should Astrid notice me? I screw everything up, I'm a failure as a Viking, and I've got no chance of killing a dragon if everyone keeps shoving me out of the way during raids. (You know it's actually part of protocol now? Grab the weapons, prime the catapults, light the torches, grab Hiccup and stick him in the nearest building.) Realistically I should probably just give up hope on her. I just can't, though. Whenever I see her my brain goes all fuzzy and my heart starts beating really fast. Is it possible to be in love with someone you've hardly had a full conversation with?

Gods, I sound pathetic don't I?

Astrid sniggered. "That you do, kid."

There was a rustling overhead and she looked up to see Toothless lowering into the cavern through a far-off hole in the ceiling. She snapped the journal shut and threw it back into the chest along with the other items she had pulled out. She closed it and scrambled back to sit by the bed before Toothless and Hiccup had winged their way through the cavern to her.

They landed on the other side of the fire and Hiccup removed his helmet and ran a hand through his hair before sliding off the saddle.

"I'm bored," she said as soon as his feet hit the ground.

"And there go all those good post-flying feelings," Hiccup sighed. She watched as he began unbuckling Toothless's saddle.

"You're the one who refuses to let me leave. What am I even supposed to do around here?"

Hiccup shrugged. "I don't know. What do you normally do all day?"

Astrid picked absently at her braid. "I dunno, chores, helping my sister with things, training, teaching the new recruits in dragon training. What do you do all day?"

Toothless wiggled from his nose to his tail when he was finally free of the saddle, which Hiccup hung from hooks on the wall next to the stone slab that made the dragon's bed. "Whatever needs doing, I guess. We go flying, I wash things, I tend the garden, I work on things in the forge." He shrugged again. "I get drunk sometimes, that's always a fun way to pass a few hours. Everything's more entertaining when you're drunk."

"Is that it?"

He glanced at her over his shoulder, still hanging tail proponents on the wall. Toothless padded around the fire and sniffed at her, and Astrid scrambled backwards away from him. "He's not gonna hurt you, Astrid, he's just curious. It's probably because of my clothes. He's trying to figure out why you smell like me."

Astrid's back hit the wall as the large black head and sniffling nose drew closer to her. "Well call him off!" She tensed when Toothless nudged his head against her stomach, then pushed under her arm.

Hiccup laughed. "He just wants you to pet him. Give him a scratch under the chin, he likes that."

Astrid pulled her arm back as those huge green eyes watched her curiously. "I will do no such thing." The dragon warbled sadly at her, his eyes widening in a way that made him look like a heartbroken kitten.

"Aw, you're hurting his feelings," Hiccup teased, pulling off his own armor and coming to sit on the corner of the mass of furs, drawing Toothless's attention away from her. He pulled the dragon's head close and scratched the underside of his chin, which made Toothless cackle happily before pulling back to lick the side of Hiccup's face. "Ugh, Toothless, no!" Hiccup yelped as the slimy pink tongue left the hair on the side of his head wet and sticking up at odd angles. Astrid giggled in spite of herself. Hiccup pushed the dragon away and looked at her with a half-smile. "Was that a laugh?"

Astrid quickly pulled her mouth back into a frown. "No."

"That was a laugh."

"No it wasn't. I was…clearing my throat."

"You laughed."

"I did not!"

"Oh come on, give him a chance, Astrid," Hiccup said, smiling as he used one of the blankets to wipe dragon slobber from his face and hair while Toothless curled up by his side. He looked happier and more relaxed than she had seen him thus far; he seemed more like the boy she remembered.

Astrid crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't see why I should. He's a dragon. Just because you're fine with being a traitor I don't see why I should be."

Hiccup's smile fell. He looked down at Toothless and started running a hand slowly along the top of his head. "Because they aren't what you think they are. Dragons aren't mindless killing machines. I told you, I think their queen is the one who makes them attack the villages. The way they behave during raids…it's not like they are normally. Normally most breeds are docile." He grinned and shifted to recline on his side, his head resting on top of Toothless's. The dragon purred. "They're big ol' softies, mostly. There are a few species who are lot harder to tame, but few of them are outright hostile. As long as they don't feel threatened they're as harmless as any housepet."

Astrid narrowed her eyes at him. "They don't seem particularly harmless when they're burning down houses and carrying off our livestock."

Hiccup frowned. "They're different during the raids. Whatever their queen does to make them steal food…it makes them, well not really hostile necessarily, but it's harder to get through to them. And really the raids wouldn't be half as destructive as they are if the villages weren't so violent in their response. The dragons are just defending themselves. They don't start burning things down until you start shooting rocks at them. If you didn't fight back, they would just take what they need and leave."

Astrid glared at him. "So what, the solution is to just let them carry off all our livestock so we starve?"

Hiccup was quiet for a moment. "I don't know what the solution is," he said finally. "But things can't carry on this way forever. I'd put a stop to it if I knew how but I don't. In the meantime all I can do is try to keep casualties on both sides at a minimum."

He looked up at her, and she could see a determination in his eyes she hadn't seen since that day in the cove when he'd told her to run. "You may see me as traitor, but I don't see how I've betrayed anyone. When the dragons attack, I try to protect the village, same as you or my dad or anyone else on Berk. The only difference is I try to protect the dragons too. If that makes me a traitor, then fine. But I'd rather be a traitor than an ignorant savage mindlessly killing something I don't even understand." The corners of his mouth fell and there was something open and pleading about his gaze. "They aren't anything like what you think they are, Astrid," he said quietly. "I've spent four years among them, and in that time I've seen that dragons are amazing, protective, compassionate creatures."

Toothless lifted his head and nuzzled close to Hiccup's face. "Toothless is a Night Fury; he's supposed to be the most deadly dragon out there." Hiccup grinned and scratched at Toothless's jaw; one of the dragon's legs began tapping the floor happily. "But he's the best friend I've ever had, and I know he'd never, ever hurt me." He looked at her. "He had the chance to once. I had shot him down and he could have killed me for that. He had me pinned; point blank range, and every reason to kill me. But he didn't. Because dragons aren't killers. Not unless they have to be."

Astrid didn't answer. She could see the obvious affection Toothless had for his master, but this was one dragon. One dragon and one boy against the hundreds of dragons she'd seen and fought over the years. She stood and stepped off the piles of furs and wandered to the opposite side of the room.

"You still haven't told me what I'm supposed to do around here all day," she said, not looking at him. "I haven't even been here a full day and I'm already bored out of my mind."

"That's not my problem."

She whipped her head around to look at him. "If I'm bored I'm gonna nag you until it is your problem. You're holding me here against my will, what am I supposed to do? Sit around until you decide you can trust me?"

Hiccup's smile faded and she watched that familiar irritated scowl work its way back onto his face. "Look, if you want to be useful you could go work in the garden. The potatoes need weeding. Other than that, well, I'm fresh out of axes for you to throw at things."

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Fine. Better than nothing I guess." She started stomping towards the dark entrance of the tunnel before she stopped. "Uh," she glanced over her shoulder. "And, uh, how do I get to the garden again?"

Hiccup's exasperated sigh was fast becoming a very familiar sound to her ears. "I'll show you."

They stopped by his forge where, as promised, he dug out an old prototype of his sword. It was shorter, only about dagger length, and non-retractable, but its purpose had been to test the possibility of a blade sustaining the flame and so he hadn't needed all the functions of his current model. It was simple enough to use and allowed her the light she needed. He pointed her in the direction of the path to the garden and returned to his forge, muttering about work to do.

The sunlight was warm on her skin as she stepped out onto the outcropping where the little garden lay, slung over her back the wicker basket of tools she'd found sitting near the exit. She could do gardening. It wasn't her favorite thing in the world, but one of her aunts was a healer and she'd used to help her with the herbs in her garden when she was little. The little plot of land was well tended enough, but it was clear Hiccup was not nearly as diligent about weeds as her aunt had been, and his knowledge of farming left a lot to be desired. His spacing was all wrong; too cramped in some places and too wide in others, and she wasn't sure the garden was being properly watered. It seemed in a good place as far as sunshine went, and the soil was rich and dark, so it wasn't a complete failure. With a little rearranging she could turn this garden into a much more successful source of food than it seemed to be now.

Astrid let herself smile. She had a project. A way to occupy her time. It was far from a plan off this island, but it was something.

It was sanity, if nothing else.

Xx

Astrid stood and wiped her hands on the knees of her borrowed trousers. It was getting dark; the light finally fading behind the western horizon. She surveyed the small garden with satisfaction. It was completely devoid of weeds, freshly watered, and she'd managed to do something about the nightmare that was Hiccup's spacing of the cabbage plants. Tomorrow she could get started on rearranging the rest of the garden. The herb bed could really use some work.

It was starting to get dark, and she was hungry, dirty, and exhausted but feeling the closest she had to optimistic since she couldn't even remember when. She gathered up the tools and was about to make her way back into the mountain when something caught her eye.

Out across the horizon she could see a series of small black shapes winging their way across the sky. Dragons. A lot of them, she'd guess, heading south. She stared at them before a huge black shape shot upwards much, much closer to her. She took a step back, stumbling a little at the sudden appearance of Hiccup and Toothless. She saw Hiccup look over his shoulder and pulled Toothless back around, and they came to hover in front of the cliff side.

"There's going to be a raid tonight," he said, and she noticed his eyes sweep over the neatly weeded rows of his garden, his brow furrowing in what might be surprised admiration, before he turned his head to look out at the small black cloud of dragons in the distance. "Judging from the direction and given that they raided Berk last night I'm betting they're headed for the Bog Isles." He looked back at her. "Which is good news for you, because it'll be easiest for me to steal you some clothes."

Astrid sighed; real clothes, made to fit an actual woman. She didn't know something so simple could sound so wonderful. "How long will you be gone?" she asked.

"No telling. Depends on what happens when I get there. How long the fighting goes on, and if the dragons are headed to multiple islands." He looked at her. "I'll be back by morning though. There's a fire in my room and a ham still cooking over the fire in the kitchen. If you hurry you might get to it before it burns."

She nodded. She felt like she should add something, so she tacked on, "Just try not to die, okay? If you do I'm stuck here."

He gave her what could have been a genuine smile. "I'll do my best." He pulled his helmet out of a saddle bag and put it on, then shifted Toothless's tailfin and they turned into a dive. She watched, amazed, at the speed at which they shot off, Toothless's wings beating furiously. They were nothing but a tiny black speck in the distance in a matter of seconds.

Xx