Hey you guys! I'm back, and I's sorry about the little cliffhanger there, but I hope you forgive me because there story is really moving forward now;) Enjoy and don't forget to review please!
Hiccup stared at her and Toothless made a sound of alarm when he finally found his voice he choked out," Your father?"
She nodded shakily and he exclaimed incredulously in disbelief," So you knew about this?"
She looked at him in shock and shook her head furiously," No! Of course not!"
"How could you not know about any of this?!" he exclaimed hysterically while Toothless crooned questioningly," He's your father!"
"I stay at home most of the time!" she cried and tried to explain," He doesn't let me go outside much, if at all!"
He stopped and looked at her for a moment and asked confused,"Why not?"
She looked down and shrugged" I don't know...my place is at home...learning to be a wife. I have no place outside."
"Then why is it that everytime I come here," he asked suspiciously," you're outside?"
"Father is away right now," she said trailing off," He left a few days ago, and the staff has encouraged me to go outside for a change... "
He frowned,"For a change?"
"I already said I don't go outside," she said with a tired expression before it softened and she trailed off," I stay at home and cook, clean, and sew mostly..."
He was silent probably trying to process everything that was going on. He then dared to ask," If he's your father...why would he do that to you?"
"He means well," she said defensively, but then caught herself most likely knowing that defending him was probably not a good idea right now.
"I'm sure," he remarked dryly.
"He does!" she exclaimed defensively," He's a wonderful father, and he's done what he had to for the good of-"
"For the good of who?" he exclaimed incredulously,"He raised you isolated from everything and anything that didn't agree with what he wanted for himself. He's not a good person...bad people can do good things with bad intentions, and right now he's the person I have a village to protect from."
"Then why are you here?" she said glaring at him," Go back to your stupid village and do whatever you want!"
"I tried to stay there, but I'm here because I had to do something to stop your...father...and reason with him!" he exclaimed," Do you know how hard it was to sneak away from my parents undetected long enough to get here?!"
"No I don't know," she retorted bitterly," because I've never been able to do anything in my life."
He softened and ran a hand through his hair," I'm...I'm sorry...You had nothing to do with this, but do you think if I tried to reason with him he would listen?"
She hesitated before shaking her head," If what you're saying is true... Father isn't the type to negotiate. It's take it or leave it, and once you leave it that's it. There's no going back , and you will pay the consequences..." She shuddered," Take it from someone who speaks from experience..."
He frowned," What did he do?"
He didn't know that as she shook her head she was trying to erase the bad memories from her childhood of isolation, slaps, kicks, and bitingly scaring insults that would forever be engrained in her memory," It's not important, but I'm fine now, and you should go home and do your best with what you have."
"That's what everyone's been telling me," he muttered," But why wouldn't he understand? The dragons are good and they are on our side, why would he use them like that? What does he want?"
Astrid was thinking back to everytime Father had gotten a new shipment of dragons, or had to hire new trappers because the old ones had either failed or betrayed him, and every single time he had regarded her with a cold and dark glint in his eyes as he delivered the news. She didn't know what he wanted, but the fear she had always regarded since childhood as foolish, suddenly didn't seem so anymore," I don't know, but go home, and take Sneaky with you."
He was about to protest when he raised a questioning eyebrow," Sneaky?"
The little terror who had been annoying Toothless was at Astrid's side in a flash at the mention of his name, and Astrid blushed obviously embarrassed," Yeah, I thought the name suited him..."
Even in such a serious and dark moment Hiccup was surprised he would still laugh," Yeah, I guess it does... How did you even get him to do that? He was only supposed to keep an eye out for you, not bond with you!"
"Bond?" she asked confused and Hiccup was taken aback," You mean you didn't even know?"
She shook her head, and he laughed once more," Well, I'll be... That's...that's incredible..."
She blushed once more and tried to change the subject," So are you leaving?"
He nodded taking pity on her and allowed her to change it. He was about to turn to leave when he turned around with a mysterious gleam in his eye and asked," You said you'd never been anywhere...right?"
She nodded not knowing where he was going with this, and he continued ," How would you like to do something crazy?"
"You mean stupid!" she exclaimed obviously horrified at his outstretched arm.
He shook his head good naturedly," No, I'm pretty sure I already did that..."
She glared at him and he couldn't help but notice how lovely she looked in a fierce almost warrior like way," If I get caught-"
"You won't," he reassured her," Come on!"
She hesitated and regarded Toothless warily before taking a deep breath and steeling herself. This could be the very first and last time she did anything," Okay."
He beamed and helped her up," Great, let's go!"
No sooner had she been placed on the saddle that the sheer terror hit her, and she couldn't help but cling to Hiccup as they flew higher and higher at lightning speed. Hiccup winced slightly, but said nothing and she shut her eyes and hoped it ended soon, already regretting her decision.
She wasn't used to the speed or the air or the rush flying caused, and she didn't know if she was terrified or excited. She clung tighter the higher they went until their speed slowed down until finally, at long last, they reached a steady pace where her stomach wasn't churning.
She refused to open her eyes to check what was going on, until Hiccup chuckled gently and said," Open your eyes, Astrid."
She hesitated before taking a deep breath and doing so. The minute she did she couldn't help gasping in utter wonder at the scene around her. They were way above the clouds which seemed to go on for miles and of the softest cotton. She couldn't help reaching up to touch them, and was surprised to feel the slight chill cloud left behind along with a bit of moisture.
She let herself fall back into it and a happy smile appeared on her face as she let herself relax. The initial terror went away and was replaced by a content calm, and as they emerged from the clouds and flew over the sea she couldn't help. She already knew that Hiccup was right about everything, and while she may not have known much about either Hiccup and Toothless even she had to admit that everything around her seemed to go against everything she'd been raised on, but for some reason it wasn't a bad thing. She sighed and said," Alright, I'll admit it, this is pretty cool... It's...amazing...he's amazing..."
She reached out and pet Toothless softly who crooned happily and Hiccup laughed," Yeah, it is pretty amazing. I love it up here, and there are days when I don't want to ever go back down."
"I could see that," she agreed but then frowned," but what happens now?"
His happy demeanor vanished instantly and he didn't say anything and she pressed," Hiccup, whatever my father's doing...what happens to you and Toothless? What are you going to do?"
"I don't know..." he said tiredly.
She bit her lip and frowned," You're no match for him...he's relentless and if he really does have a dragon army..."
"Don't remind me, Astrid," he said frowning.
She was about to say more when Toothless suddenly turned and Hiccup lost control. He flew over the sea until they neared a bunch of icebergs and at least 50 ships.
Toothless was acting very odd and Hiccup tried to get away from the ship, but he couldn't. Toothless seemed to be drawn to the sight in an almost hypnotized state and they could only hope there wouldn't be any trouble.
Astrid couldn't push the feeling of cold dread and fear away, and she hoped this wasn't what she thought it was. She leaned forward and said," Hiccup, we need to get out of here...now. I don't feel too good about this."
He nodded and looked at her," I'm trying but-"
Suddenly a net shot towards them and threatened to send them crashing down, but Toothless seemed to have snapped out of it long enough to dodge. That wasn't the end of it because arrows and more nets were shot, and Hiccup tried his best to dodge.
A young man on one of the boats gave orders,"Get 'em, lads! Don't think Drago has one of those!"
Astrid gasped and Hiccup steeled himself and addressed Toothless," Come on, bud, we have to get out of here. Now!"
Toothless seemed to be fighting against something but listened to Hiccup and tried to fly as fast as he could out of there and he succeeded, but not before the commotion alerted everyone below them. Namely one person in particular and Astrid couldn't help the shiver of terror that ran down her spine at the murderous glare she received that foretold nothing good was going to come when she reached home.
They flew and flew until they were far enough away and then they landed. Hiccup got off and checked to see if Toothless was hurt. He noticed that Astrid hadn't moved an inch and he reached out in concern," Hey, Astrid, what's wrong?"
He became very concerned when he saw that the color was completely drained from her face, and she was shaking," Astrid?!"
"I'm a dead," she murmured," I'm so dead...He's going to kill me!"
"Who is?" he asked startled.
She gave him a terrified expression," Father..."
"Why?" he demanded," Why would he do anything?"
"He saw me!" she snapped," He was there, and he saw me! What am I going to do?!"
He reached out and helped her down," Hey, come on, I'm sure he won't do anything. He can't. You're his daughter and you-"
"You don't understand," she murmured almost helplessly,"I'm not his real daughter, he warned me and I didn't listen and now he won't hold back and he-"
"What do you mean?" he asked confused," What are you talking about? You said he was your father-"
"He took me in when my parents gave me up," she exclaimed tiredly," they didn't want me, and yet he was kind enough to raise me as his own. I should have been grateful to him, and instead I disobeyed him by not staying home and doing my chores, I befriended you, I befriend dragons, and I betrayed him! When he comes back, he won't be lenient, and I don't know what he'll do to me... He'll-"
"He won't do anything to you, Astrid," he reassured her cutting her off," I won't let him."
"What can you do?" she demanded nearly hysterical," He already saw me, and the minute I go home, it'll only be a matter of time before he finds me and he-"
"You're coming with us," he said cutting her off firmly.
"What?" she blinked," With you...but-"
"You can't go back there, and it was my fault you got into this mess in the first place," he said apologetically," If I had listened to you-"
This time she cut him off," Don't... I don't think I can go back with you..."
"Why not?" he asked and Toothless nudged her.
She pet his head and said dejectedly," What'll happen to your village when Father finds out I'm there? You can't risk your people for some girl you barely know, especially right now."
"I can't leave you, Astrid," he said fiercely," You can come back with me and Toothless, and you won't have to ever go back to Drago. You'll be free to do as you please and we'll deal with him when we come to it. Okay?"
She didn't look convinced but closed her eyes and sighed," Okay..."
And with that they climbed on Toothless and made their way to Berk while elsewhere Drago was fuming enraged that everything he'd planned was slowing falling to pieces right before his eyes all because he wouldn't control one measly girl.
So...I hope you enjoyed it, and don't forget to review!