To reader of the books: Some changes are here, but the movie also changed a lot. More at the bottom.
Wanted to upload this before my trip to the UK. I'm bringing my laptop, but I'm not sure if I get to do some writing.
Also someone asked about when the lemon comes. I did answer your review but so others know, please be patient. There won't be any lemon in the next 5 chapters, at least I don't expect it with the plan I have. I'm currently doing some research about it too in how to write it, so if you have a suggestion for a good lemon story let me know (I read HTTYD, Hey Arnold and Jimmy Neutron atm).
Thanks for the reviews ^^
Chapter 9 Where it comes together
Astrid was swinging around with her new axe, which felt very different compared to her old one. Not that she would ever part with her old axe, but finally knowing why her aim was off when using another axe made her really want to try out a good axe.
She studied the handy work once more and couldn't help but be amazed. Even without his memories, Hiccup had managed to create such a fine looking axe. Of course Gobber had helped him every now and then to make sure the axe would turn out right, but Astrid really wondered if Hiccup needed the help at all.
"I'm sorry, it's not that great," the boy next to her said, his eyes casted down to his feet as they both made their way back to Astrid's home.
"Not good? Hiccup, you managed to make this thinking it was the first time you ever made a weapon in your life," she argued, but it didn't seem like he was convinced it was amazing.
She let out a sigh, knowing he would probably not accept a compliment anyway, no matter what she was going to say. Instead she focused on her surroundings once more. People were avoiding her, whispering awful things. Some of them didn't even care to whisper, but said exactly what they thought of her, Hiccup and the two dragons that were following them. It hurt to hear people she had known her whole life and was friends with, now turned their back on her. So far for loyalty. Years of protecting them in raids was as though forgotten completely.
"Hey Astrid!" A voice called out, surprising her.
This particular voice, or rather the person it belonged to, had always annoyed her to no end, but today it seemed like a blessing for he was greeting her like he always had. She stopped in her tracks and pinpointed where it came from. Hiccup had stopped beside her and studied the one stopping in front of them.
"Hey Snotlout," she greeted in the most normal way she had ever greeted the boy in her entire life.
A frown covered his face as he looked at the two dragons right behind them. His hand was hovering over the hilt of his sword.
"So it is true," he said, "I heard stories of you having a dragon pet now. How can you be so sure it's not going to attack you?"
Astrid sighed, "they won't attack if you don't attack them, so please take your hand away from your sword."
His eyes traveled away from the dragons, back to her and then to Hiccup, although his hand was somewhat further away from his sword, he still looked ready to attack when needed. The frown still on his face. It made Astrid wonder if he knew it was his cousin. Soon after that thought she wondered if Snotlout saw Hiccup as a threat, after all Hiccup was to be chief. Now that Hiccup was alive, Snotlout's chances for chieftain were dwindling down. Of course Astrid knew there was no way Hiccup would remain here once he has regained his memories, but she was sure Snotlout didn't see things that way. Also with everyone acting the way they did, Hiccup's chances in becoming chief were much lower than Snotlout's actually.
To her surprise, or perhaps it shouldn't be, Snotlout returned his attention to her and noticed the new axe she was carrying.
"You walk around with two dragons tailing you yet you get yourself a new axe," he grinned, "you sure you don't feel a little bit of fear of them killing you when they see a chance for it."
"Me getting a new axe has nothing to do with the dragons," she glared, of course Snotlout would find a way to piss her off, why did she think of his normal approach as a blessing again?
"Tss, ya sure," he rolled his eyes and took the axe from her.
She was about to protest, but saw him do the same thing Hiccup did in the forge. He tossed it from one hand to another and studied it more detailed, looking surprised.
"Gobber improved it seems. Better craftwork than I have seen in a while," he mumbled.
Astrid's anger toward Snotlout complete disappeared and she let out a snort. Confusing both boys standing there. She stretched out her hand to Snotlout as sign she wanted the axe back. Confused he did so.
"I told you, it's good. Even Snotlout can see it," she grinned as she looked to Hiccup.
"He… he made that?" Snotlout uttered and looked from Astrid to Hiccup, his mouth open in astonishment, "are you sure you are my useless cousin?"
There it was. Snotlout knew it was Hiccup. And he just had to add the useless part to it. Once again she was pissed off with the boy. Seriously, she really wondered how he did this. As for Hiccup, he just looked confused and didn't reply to Snotlout's question.
"Hiccup, this idiot here is Snotlout, you know… the guy Fishlegs mentioned yesterday. He's your cousin," Astrid said trying to not let her annoyance get the best of her.
"Oh! He must have talked about my amazing catch," Snotlout grinned proudly and jumped a little when he heard his father shout his name to get his ass over there.
"Coming dad!" he shouted back quickly, "well I have to go. I feel sorry for you being stuck to…" he gestured to Hiccup, "that. Be careful with those dragons. As for you Hiccup, lay off, she's mine got that?"
Without another word he ran off as Astrid resisted the urge to throw her new axe into his skull.
"I can tell from that we were the best buddies ever," Hiccup deadpanned, confusing Astrid, "pretty sure we played a lot, specifically target practice, me being the target."
Astrid couldn't help but snicker at that, but the moment she realized how true those words were, she stopped. It really was no laughing matter.
"So my cousin… are you sure? I don't see how we are related."
"I'm afraid I'm sure about that, Hiccup."
He shrugged as he mumbled "I can't choose family. He's out to kill me though."
Astrid chuckled a little as they continued their way to her home. After bringing the two dragons inside the barn, they entered the house where they were greeted with the smell of supper almost being done. It instantly made Astrid's stomach announce it wanted the food and fast. Her mother looked up from the pot with porridge and seemed wanting to say something, but her eyes landed on Astrid's axe.
"You got a new axe?" she ended up asking confused.
"Ya," Astrid answered and handed it to her mother, "what do you think?"
Ingrid let go of the ladle she was using to stir the porridge and took the axe, studying it with an eye of an expert. She was like Astrid and her husband very well trained on fighting with an axe.
"It looks really good, what am I saying, I haven't seen such a well-crafted axe in a while. I thought Gobber lost his touch."
"It wasn't Gobber who made this," Astrid said and looked over to Hiccup who had sat down at the table.
Ingrid saw her daughter looking over to him and realized what it meant.
"You made this?" she asked Hiccup, who nodded shyly.
"I don't remember anything of doing things like that, but Toothless said I was good in it and even though I don't remember, I somehow still know… if that makes any sense."
Ingrid nodded and handed the axe back to her daughter, "But why a new axe?"
"Ha, now here's a story you're going to like. Before Hiccup made this, I asked him to sharpen my axe as in the old one. He found out it was unbalanced," Astrid said and sat down at the table, smirking because of the stunned expression she had.
"That… really?" she asked and looked over to Hiccup who simply nodded, "right… now I understand why it felt like I had to completely start over when I got myself another axe."
After supper, Astrid helped her mother clean up while Hiccup was listening to her father going on about every little detail about an axe. Hiccup seemed genuinely interested even though he should know quite a lot about the details that were mentioned since he crafted the axe her father was using as example.
"It's a really well-crafted axe, Hiccup," Felman said as he let his fingers glide over the blade.
"That reminds me," Ingrid said as she dried her hands.
She disappeared into a cabinet they had built under the stairs, only to come back with a wooden crate. She placed it on the table and Astrid peered inside to see what it was. Hiccup did the same and both of them recognized the stuff inside the crate. Astrid because she had been watching him when those things were removed from his pockets. Hiccup because he saw them being taken from him, though he hadn't the slightest clue what all of it was.
"This is all yours, maybe some of it will help you remember," Ingrid said.
Hiccup took out some of the items and studied them. Yet the compass, the spyglass nor the pocket knife triggered a memory. The next he took out was a folded piece of paper, which he unfolded and unfolded and before he knew it the entire table was covered with paper. It was obvious it was a map. He searched for the place Toothless had said they were at; Berk. It was Astrid who found it though.
"Here's Berk," she said as she pointed a small island, "it looks so small compared to the rest. Did you go to all those places?"
Hiccup could only shrug and studied the map some more. He noticed many markings with numbers and wondered what they meant. Next to those unexplainable markings, there was plenty that the map told. It had writings in different languages, many details of the rivers, lakes, forests and mountains. Villages and cities were also very noticeable as well as borders.
"This map is incredible. It really makes one wonder where the edge of the world is," Felman grinned amazed.
"There isn't one, the world is like a ball," Hiccup commented as he had his eyes focused on the map.
He quickly noticed their eyes directed at him and then realized he once again seemed to remember a stupid little fact or perhaps idea that he had probably heard during his travels.
"Sorry, just some random thing that entered my mind," he ended up mumbling, "someone told me… I think."
"It's better than not remembering anything," Astrid commented to which he had to agree.
He folded the map back, while Felman took another item from the crate. He looked at it with a frown.
"This sword is way too light," he said studying it, "it would break when even trying to strike… well anything."
Astrid watched the sword, knowing it was the very weapon she had seen Hiccup holding on to when she found him back to the nest. It had been used to shed blood, to kill. While she agreed with her father on the light part, it was a very dangerous weapon.
Hiccup must have caught up on her thoughts, for he turned his head away from it an simply shrugged. He put all the items back into the crate and told Astrid to put it with the other things later on. Her parents didn't understand what he meant, so Astrid explained it to them.
"I don't want to end up hurting anyone," Hiccup said with a weak smile.
Felman and Ingrid seemed to understand and send the two to bed. Hiccup declined Ingrid's suggestion of continuing the bedtime story. After helping Gobber in the forge, his body was tired, so he was rather sure he would fall asleep much easier than last night. As he walked up the stairs after Astrid, he made suddenly came to a stop, making sure he wouldn't hit his head. Astrid let out a silent giggle as he did so and bid him goodnight.
"Where are we going?" Hiccup asked in Dragonese as he followed his black scaled friend, almost falling over a branch. It was around midday and Toothless had suggested to go somewhere in the hopes Hiccup would get his memories back. So now two young Vikings and two dragons were tracking through the woods. It took a while, but when Hiccup was about to ask if they were there yet, Toothless beat him too it with saying they had arrived. The next moment he spread he wings in glided into nothingness it seemed. Hiccup, being quite far behind, quickly ran over and found out it was a cove. He sighed relieved his scaled friend was alright and searched for an easier way in. He wasn't going to jump and risk breaking something. After some walking around the edge he found a passage and slid down the dirt and gravel, almost bumping into a shield that seemed to be stuck. After studying the thing for a moment, he climbed over it, since he wouldn't fit going underneath it. With some athletics skill he didn't know he had he got hold on the shield, it didn't budge at all, and swing his legs over. It was then the shield fell down under his weight and took him with it. With a loud thud he fell down and grunted.
"You okay?" Astrid asked with a smirk covering her face.
"Ya, I totally meant to do that," he scoffed and got to his feet, "what's a shield doing here anyway?"
Astrid shrugged and entered the cove ahead of him. He sighed and followed her, whilst scolding himself for doing something stupid. Of course the shield would not hold his weight. What was he thinking? He just hoped he hadn't made too much of a fool of himself. Carefully he looked over to Astrid and noticed the frown on her face. He almost jumped when she suddenly turned around.
"Why did Toothless bring us here?" she asked.
"Uhm…" Hiccup let out and looked helplessly at Toothless who gave him a worried look back.
The dragon however didn't answer, instead it walked to the water and dove in. Hiccup shrugged when Astrid gave him a questionable look and they both walked to the edge of the small lake. It didn't take long for Toothless to emerge from the water. He shook himself dry once on land, making it rain on Astrid and Hiccup. He then dropped a small item in front of Hiccup, who kneeled down to pick it up.
"A knife? You brought us all the way here for a knife?" was all he could say as he studied the thing. It was a little rusty and the handle had the letter 'H' carved into it three times.
"It is your knife," Toothless said, making Hiccup look up from the object, "it's the one you used to free me from the ropes. I made you throw it away when you came to me with a fish."
Toothless sat down looking at the knife for a moment before looking around and Hiccup followed his gaze.
"This is where we became friends. Where you showed me you wouldn't hurt me, where you gave me the fake tailfin so I could fly again. Where you taught me what a smile was or drawing."
Astrid watched patiently as Toothless talked. She heard Hiccup switch to Dragonese as well. It was the same yet different compared to the last time the three of them were here. It had the same calm atmosphere between Hiccup and Toothless, yet she was not tied up this time or fearing for her life. At some point the boy looked over to her and looked as if he suddenly realized she was there as well. He opened his mouth, but Astrid shook her head.
"I don't need to know. It's you that needs to remember, not me."
He looked a little troubled by it, yet nodded. Astrid could guess why he was troubled by not translating everything, she simply stood there doing nothing after all.
"I'll let you two talk, I'll be up there, practicing with my new axe," she smiled at him and gestured to the path they had used to enter. Without giving him an moment to protest, she walked away. Once out the cove, she walked a little further and found a tree that would function as her victim. She got the new axe from her back and studied it for a moment, reminding herself that this axe was perfectly balanced whereas her old one was not. With that in mind she stood at the usual distance from the victim tree, threw it and… missed. Her aim had been completely off, the axe did land in a tree, just one to the right tree she aiming at. Sighing she got her axe and shortened the distance. Every time she missed the tree she would step closer to her target in the hopes that she would hit it. After about ten minutes she let out a frustrated growl and walked towards a tree further away where her axe had landed in the bark.
"It's like I'm back to square one completely," she muttered to herself and placed her hand on the handle of her axe as some images of her past self entered her mind.
It had been very frustrating to… suddenly her eyes widened as she stared at the axe. Remembering exactly what had happened back then.
Frustrated she glared at the axe that had dropped right in front of her, well almost that is. She had tried to throw it at the target uncle Fin had made for her to practice. Instead, it had landed only an arm's length away from her and her arms really weren't that long, she was just five after all.
A whole week she had been trying, her uncle had helped her by telling her how she had to stand. Her mother had told her how to throw and how she had to figure out herself what the best time was to let go of it. Her father had explained how to hold the axe and where. None of it had helped so far, it would still land right in front of her feet. So close at points that she felt lucky she still had her toes.
"Stupid axe," she mumbled and grabbed the handle.
Not willing to lift it at all, she dragged it along as she went inside, where she dropped the weapon in the corner. Her father and uncle looked at her a little surprised, before they had to call her inside.
"What's wrong, Astrid?" her father asked.
"The stupid axe. I want a sword!" she demanded as she glared at her father, who simply chuckled.
"Gave up already?" uncle Fin asked with a smile.
Astrid simply looked away stubbornly.
"None of us learned how to wield an axe overnight, Astrid. You just need to practice some more. Do you want me to help you out?" her uncle continued.
"No! I don't want a stupid axe!" she shouted back frustrated and kicked the castle of blocks she had built and had been really proud of. So proud she had made a fuss over it when her mother had told her to put her toys away. Now it were simply blocks scattered across the floor again.
A week went by in which she had been trying to convince her parents to get her a sword. Her begging, pleading, screaming and terrible temper had brought her no-where, except for a hit on her bottom when her mother got really mad at her attitude.
She gave up trying and went outside to look for some kids to play with or better yet, have a stick fight with. Stick are pretty much like swords after all, just less dangerous. She found a group if three boys and wanted to run over to them, but came to a stop when two of them were laughing and the other one frowning. However, she was close enough to follow their conversation.
"Are you sure he's your cousin?" one laughed.
"I think he's adopted," the second one smirked.
The third one didn't really seem to know what to do exactly.
"I will lift it," he eventually said.
It was then Astrid saw he was holding an axe, quite a big one too. He was desperately trying to lift, only to gain a red face and the other two boys laughing louder. When a big man approached the three, the two quickly stopped their laughter and instead looked a little afraid. Astrid had seen the man often, he was the chief after all.
"You shouldn't play with that son, it's dangerous."
Shocked, the boy holding the axe dropped it and looked around.
"Dad! I was…"
"Come on, the Meatheads and Bog Burglars are here. I want you to meet their children."
Astrid saw the chief gently push the boy towards the great hall. Once they were out of sight the two boys who had been laughing dragged the axe along.
"They can't even lift it themselves, that was really unfair of them," she whispered to herself.
It was the next day she met the boy who had been trying to lift the axe again. Well met… more like saw him from a distance. Her mother had brought her along to do some shopping, they needed fish, bread and some cloth and wool to make new clothes. Astrid had seen him with two kids. One boy, who was bigger and probably older, and one girl who was around the same size as the boy she had seen trying to lift the axe the day before. In fact, The three of them were dragging an axe along.
"How are we supposed to lift this, it weighs ten thousand tons," the taller one of the two boys said.
"How about we try to lift it together?" the girl proposed and the other two nodded agreeing.
Astrid quickly looked over to her mother to make sure she was still busy with the guy selling her fish and discussing the price. Then she looked over to the three again, who now had their hands on the axe and were counting down. At the announcement of one, they lifted the axe with all their might and surprisingly managed to do so. Problem was, it surprised them just as much that by the time it was above their heads, they got in each other's way with their arms and let go. The axe however had enough momentum, flew through the air and landed on a pile of logs, which then started rolling down to the harbor, knocking people out of the way. Astrid saw fish fly through the air and heard people screaming. The three kids looked stunned.
"Uh-oh," the shorter boy said.
"Run," the larger one almost shouted and quickly the three ran off.
Astrid acted as if she had seen nothing.
Weeks went by before she saw the boy again. She and Ruffnut, a girl around her age who had rather crazy ideas making things all the more fun, had been playing in the woods. Well actually they had been scaring Ruffnut's twin brother Tuffnut. It was getting late so they said their goodbyes and Astrid dashed through the bushes. That was until she crashed into the boy, making them both fall down.
"Are you both alright?" someone asked.
Astrid looked around dazed, laying half over the one she crashed into. She recognizing him quickly, though this had been the first time she had seen him this close. She looked up to find the location the voice had come from and found an older man looking worried down at them. It took her a moment to realize who he was, the chief's father, Old Wrinkly.
"Ya, I'm fine," Astrid answered and got off the boy, to her feet.
She helped the boy to his feet as well, giving him an apology to which he nodded. It was then she noticed a big axe the boy must have dropped when she ran into him. She couldn't believe he was still trying to lift it. He was reaching for it, but his grandfather stopped him.
"That's enough of this nonsense. This is an axe for an adult. Ask your father for one your size."
"But he says it's dangerous," the boy mumbled.
The old man sighed, picked up the axe and pushed the boy into the direction of the town.
"First he lets Gobber make the smallest axe ever, for a baby to hold and now he won't let you get one fit for your size. Sometimes I really don't understand him."
She saw the boy glance over to the axe with a frown as if he were thinking 'once he places that thing down, I will try again'.
The next day she was attempting to build another castle with the blocks, but her mind drifted back to yesterday. And, as her mind drifted, so did her gaze. She caught herself staring at her axe which she hadn't touched in weeks. Quickly she turned to look at her castle again, but it merely seemed like a pile of blocks. She got to her feet, grabbed the axe and went outside to the target that was still there behind their house.
"I thought you gave up," a familiar voice said after a while of frustrated trying to hit the target.
Astrid looked around and found her uncle smiling at her.
"I didn't, I took a break," she said back as she looked back to the target and threw the axe.
Unfortunately it had the same outcome as before. It stayed that way for another three days and frustrated she dropped down glaring at the axe and then at the target. Behind her she heard her father and uncle, doing whatever it was they were doing. It sounded like they were fixing the leak in the roof. Astrid kept on sitting and glaring at the axe until her uncle once again approached her.
"Astrid," he started, but was cut short when she stated a very loud 'no'.
The man ignored her stubborn and childish behavior, she was a five year old Viking after all, and continued what he wanted to say.
"Your father wants you inside, it's time for supper."
"I'm not going inside until I managed to throw my axe further than the length of my arms."
"With glaring at it, it won't go anywhere," he uncle chuckled.
"I'm thinking!"
"Oh?"
Uncle Fin kneeled down next to her, "What are you thinking about then?"
"What I am doing wrong," she mumbled.
He nodded understanding, "That is good, but you can do that while eating supper."
"No, I'm not moving!"
Her uncle disagreed and picked her up, much to her annoyance. She tried to wiggle her way out of his arms, but instead got placed on her seat at the dining table. She glared at her uncle when he locked the door with the lock that was too high for her to reach. Not admitting defeat she threw a tantrum and refused to eat at all. Something she regretted later when she was sent to bad without food, while she actually was hungry.
Astrid gaped at the axe. She had done it! She threw it further than before, in fact it was almost halfway. Sure she still had a long way to go, but she started to get the hang of this. Still baffled about her achievement she tried to remember what she did that it got this far and then realized that she had let it go a bit earlier than before. Quickly she got her axe again and tested her thoughts which were proven true. Although it was still far from the target, it was an improvement. Now she just needed to practice in how much strength to put into it.
Her uncle smiled at her when he passed by with a basket of fish. He placed it down and watched her for a while.
"That's quite an improvement, Astrid," he said.
Astrid could only smile at that and got her axe.
"I'm glad you didn't give up. Though I am curious what made you so determined so suddenly?"
He gave her a questioning look.
"Some boy… he was trying to lift a very big axe, but even when he was told it was for an adult, he looked like he still wanted to lift it," Astrid explained and got back in position.
With her tongue sticking out and both hand on her axe she gave it a swing with all the force she could muster. It landed a little bit further than the last time.
"A boy? What's his name?"
"I don't know, but the chief called him son," she answered and went to get her axe.
"Oh, you mean Hiccup."
Astrid looked at him. So that was the boy's name. She gave her uncle a nod.
She really hated her axe. She really REALLY hated it. Whenever she threw it, it would always land way more to the left then she had aimed. She was certain she aimed it well. Really certain, so why was it going so far to the left?!
Growling a little she collect the weapon and tried again. She got this close, there was no way she was going to give up now.
Weeks of trying turned into months, and eventually she got the hang of it. Her distance to the target was still relatively short, but that was her new practice material. To get a further aim. By now she was six years old and she was very confident with her abilities. Perhaps a little too confident when she ran after her uncle when the flightmare attacked. He sent her back of course and her mother quickly pushed her inside.
"This is no fight for a child, Astrid," her mother said when she looked a little disappointed, "don't worry, one day you will fight dragons too."
Astrid nodded with a sad sigh. It wasn't until the next morning when she didn't see her uncle in his usual spot at the table for breakfast, for he would always come over to eat with them, she discovered a feeling she had never felt before, something to really be sad about. Her father had pulled her close with tears in his eyes and told her what had happened to his brother, her uncle. He was gone and would never return.
Death wasn't new to Astrid, Berk was constantly attacked by dragons, of course there were casualties, but it had never been close to her. In the days after, when going outside with her father, she couldn't believe how people made fun of her uncle. How they called him fearful instead of fearless. It frustrated her to no end. She would avenge him she thought as her hold on her axe tightened.
"Astrid?"
Astrid looked around surprised and saw Hiccup looking a little worried. Behind him was Toothless.
"Are you alright? You were just standing there," he asked.
She looked back at the axe. The one he made. It was probably around the same size as the one he had tried to throw, but instead had dragged when he was a kid. She yanked it out of the tree. All this time it was because of him she was wielding an axe.
"Ya, I'm fine. Just remembered something, that's all. Got any of your memories back?"
He got a forlorn look and shook his head, "I'm afraid not."
She let out a soft sigh, disappointed that he still could not remember who he was. She had hoped where he had met Toothless would trigger at least something. All of a sudden he looked distressed and looked around.
"Where's that voice coming from?" he asked.
Astrid frowned, she hadn't heard anything. Had she missed it? She remained quiet, attempting to pick up any voice.
"There it is again," Hiccup said slightly panicked.
She hadn't missed it, because she wasn't hearing anything.
"What voice? I don't hear anything," she said, only adding to his troubled state.
She heard Toothless grumble as he was shaking his head and then rubbing it with his paws. Whatever it was the dragon had said, Hiccup paled instantly. Alerted to this, Astrid asked Hiccup what Toothless had said.
"Th-the queen is giving commands in her s-sleep," he uttered softly.
The sheer terror was written all over his face and it worsened when it seemed like the queen was speaking again. How could she not hear anything at all? Not even a soft roar far in the distance. No there was nothing at all. Was it just in Hiccup's head?
His terror disappeared all of a sudden and was replaced with something that was a mix between confusion and annoyance. He looked around and his eyes landed on her. This quick change of behavior startled Astrid and put her on high alert. Especially when a smirk appeared on his face.
"It's seems your sting tail friend isn't here to protect you this time."
For a moment Astrid didn't dare to breathe as her biggest fear, Hiccup becoming the queen's slave once more, had come true. Her luck was that he was unarmed, unlike her, though with her current aim with this axe it wasn't going to help her much. Next to that she didn't want to hurt him. She threw her axe in some random direction away from them, being useless anyway at the moment and she really didn't want Hiccup to get his hands on it. Hiccup eyed the weapon with interest, but Astrid launched herself on him, causing them both to fall. They ended up in a struggle in which Hiccup once again proved to be the stronger one, much to her frustration. Forgetting about not hurting him, she landed a well-aimed kick in his stomach to get him off her. He rolled off with a grunt, but got up just as quickly as her, though holding his stomach still in pain.
"You'll regret that," he growled lowly.
Astrid managed to catch his fist when he tried to punch her, but the next one she could only block. It was sure to leave a bruise the next day. The third one was stopped in a way she hadn't expected and she wasn't sure if it was meant to stop the punch when a plasma blast landed between the two of them. They both jumped back in time. For a ten good seconds she thought Toothless was going to blast her to pieces or rip her apart, but instead the dragon stood in front of her, defending her.
The human skinned stared at his partner in disbelieve.
"How dare you," he snarled at him, "defending that human?! Why?"
"This isn't who you are Hiccup, stop it!" the shadow of the night growled lowly at him.
"You too?"
He couldn't believe this. Why was his partner giving him this name now too? No matter, he had to find a way to get back to the queen and inform her about the shadow of the night's betrayal.
"You are Hiccup! She's showing you who you are! You are not a dragon, Hiccup, you are human!"
The human skinned blinked at this.
"Who I am? A human?" he started chuckling for it sounded ridiculous.
It made the human frown at him.
"What's next? You telling me about my destiny or something?" he spat and for the fun of it he decided to make the human understand this as well so he spoke her language, "stop fooling around. Are you going to betray the queen?"
The shadow of the night growled at him, too soft to understand what he was saying, but the human skinned had enough of the nonsense. He ran off in the direction of the axe. Unfortunately his partner didn't agree with that and blasted so he had to change his course quite often. Then the woman jumped onto his back, making him tumble forward. Letting out a grunt he looked around to find the axe, which was close but not close enough. Just like on the boat she was holding him in a tight position… wait, why weren't they on a boat but on land? How did he get here?
He quickly shook the questions from his mind, having no time to think about the answer. With his foot he push against a tree, making her loose balance and took that opportunity to gain the upper hand in this weird battle.
Astrid tried very hard to keep a calm mind as he was using the environment to his advantage. He was now half hovering over her with his hands tight around her wrists, pushing her down. With her leg she tackled him, making him land half on top of her. There had to be some way of getting him out of this state of mind, but what? She had to do something reckless, something he would never expect. Something that would stop him thinking of anything at all.
An image of her parents came to her mind and she shuddered. As if that would work, she thought and saw him get to his feet and go in the direction of the axe again. Quickly she rolled over, got hold of his ankle and pulled him down once more. He landed with a loud thud and tried to reach the axe, but she was just in time to pull him closer to her. He rolled over and tried kicking her, but she ducked in time, though did let go of him. Just when he tried reaching the axe again, it was Toothless that came to her rescue once more. He fired near Hiccup's hand, who quickly pulled back. The dragon then picked up the axe with his mouth, giving Hiccup a low growl.
He snarled something at him in frustration and got to his feet. Then he spun around, looking at her with a furious look. Quickly she jumped to her feet and barely managed to dodge his fist. She quickly changed her mind on the most ridiculous idea that had crossed her mind moments earlier. With a quick movement she gabbed Hiccup's tunic with both her hands and pushed him against the tree that was two steps next to him. Not giving him a moment to even think of where to hit her next, she pressed her lips against his. The effect was instant, he stiffened in surprise and then completely relaxed. What he didn't do was pushing her away. Instead he kissed her back. It startled her, but she didn't back away. She felt his hand on hers, caressing it, which made her loose her grip on his tunic as her heart skipped a beat. His other hand gently touched her cheek, sending shivers throughout her body. Good shivers, ones she had never felt before. Her body acted out of its own as her hands traveled form his chest to behind his neck.
It was by the time she needed air, Astrid realized what she had been doing and quickly stepped away from him. He blinked a few times, looking confused, but he was clearly blushing as well.
"How… did we get here?" he asked as he looked around and then studied her and himself.
They both were covered in leafs and dirt.
Okay what in Thor's name was that?! She hadn't heard his question, her mind too focused on what just had happened. Just thinking about it made her face heat up. That hadn't gone as expected at all. Not that she had expected anything, well aside from being pushed away, but that hadn't even happened. What happened was… was… oh Thor she had been making out with Hiccup! Okay, calm down girl, she told herself, it was not as bad as what your parents do. Still what the heck had she been thinking kissing him sounded like a good option. Though… it had the desired outcome, he was back to his senses… and he was pretty good with kissing, so much that she hadn't backed away, but kept on kissing him. Okay, no stop! The only comparison you have is that idiot Snotlout that managed to kiss you for a split second last year.
She jumped when two hands were on her cheeks and suddenly looked straight at Hiccup. It made her heart race.
"How did we get here?" he asked her.
She got hold on his hands to lower them as she drifted her look away from. She didn't want to scare him even more than he had already been, but he had to know.
"The queen managed to get control over you," she muttered and actually heard him stop breathing for a moment.
Because she was still holding his hands, she felt him step away from her, which made her look up.
"Y-you should t-turn me," he stuttered sounding scared.
Astrid shook her head, "No, if I do that, then Toothless and Stormfly will be killed and the both of us will be banished. Calm down, we managed to get you back."
Astrid's words didn't calm him down. She pinched in his hands, telling him it was going to be fine. Of course Hiccup didn't want Toothless or Stormfly to pay for his failure, nor did he want Astrid to be banished, but he felt like a danger to everyone on this island.
"Next time try to ignore the voice, also tell me so we can prepare a little," she continued, "you didn't have any weapons so all we have is some bruises from kicking and hitting each other."
"Kicking… is that why my stomach hurts?" he asked.
She nodded as answer and let go of his hands so to brush of the dirt and leafs. Hiccup looked over to Toothless, who dropped Astrid's axe near the girl and then smirked at him.
"Wh-what?" he asked the dragon in Dragonese.
"Nope, not telling. Let's move to the next place to attempt to get your memories back."
With that Toothless walked off. Astrid soon followed him.
"Where are we going?" Hiccup asked as he dashed over to the two.
"To the hill with what you call dragon nip."
"You just want to roll around in it, don't you," Hiccup asked deadpanned.
The dragon didn't reply, just smirked.
So as I said at the top, I made some changes. In the series Old Wrinkly is Valka's father. Stoick's father was well... ruthless. For the purpose of the story I went with Old Wrinkly being Stoick's father and Valka's father... not mentioned. He plays no role.
As for 5 year old Astrid, my inspiration comes from my 5 year old (half) brother who's a little brat that throws tantrums when he's not getting what he wants. I love though, just glad I live on my own so I don't have to deal with him all the time. I'm at fault too, I spoil him too much.