And here we go for another one shot! A big thank you to my friend JoyOfBerK who did the correction and noura-fanart who did this amazing cover! Thank you so much guys! 3
Anyway, I hope you'll like this OS! It follows "Hiccstrid or not Hiccstrid". So please enjoy your reading and tell me what you think ;)
The heat in the forge was intense. Breathe. Blow. Sweat. Wipe his forehead. Breathe again, then return to the task he had begun. It's very warm, thought the young boy who finally brought himself to remove his top, ending up shirtless. He could allow himself to do so; after all, he was alone.
Hiccup wasn't used to working here anymore. He had abandoned metallurgy and creating inventions, to lead the war against Viggo. But now, he was out, the young Viking had decided to have his fun by letting sprout in his mind all the craziest ideas that could improve his life and the lives of his people on Berk. He was actually working on a new leg that he could use to control Toothless' tail.
"Hey," a voice pronounced in his back.
Startled, he turned around and discovered that it was Astrid. He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. The blond slightly blushed at the view of his torso.
"Sorry Hiccup, I didn't want to bother you. If you want me to leave..."
"No! Astrid, wait. Stay," he whispered, taking her hands, smiling.
She smiled back in putting her head on his shoulder, surrounding him with her arms.
"So… what are you doin'?" she asked, kissing his shoulder-blade.
The young boy suddenly got excited with the idea of presenting his invention.
"Aha, you'll love it!"
He took the item in question and he demonstrated.
"It's a new leg. I'll use it to control Toothless' tail. And look, it's retractable! With that, I can go back to a suitable leg for walking. Handy, uh?"
"That's amazing!"
"And I thought we could go try it on an island nearby. We should also use this time to work on our dragons' relationship, what do you think?" he smiled.
She put a kiss on his cheek before holding him tighter.
"I think it's a very good idea, Hiccup."
"Okay, let's do that. But first... I should go find something to wear."
"Oh yeah! Go ahead. I'll wait for you with Stormfly outside," Astrid responded, a little confused.
So, she walked away, her face turning red, to find her dragon.
It was the first time Astrid saw her boyfriend shirtless, and it gave her a strange feeling. She felt kind of silly for reacting like that. After all, it was just a half-naked body. It's not like he was… The young girl shook her head to shake this thought away.
"I'm ready! We can go now," Hiccup announced, coming from nowhere.
Surprised by his sudden arrival, Astrid jumped. She almost fell, but bounced back just in time, ashamed.
"Astrid! You sure you're okay?" the brown-haired boy asked.
"Aha yeah, I'm fine! Let's go try this leg!"
"Okay..."
It was his turn to consider his girlfriend as strange. She was truly acting odd, but anyway, he was too enthusiastic to take care of it right now. So, they left and went to this nearby island. As for Astrid, Hiccup was a little too confident. He dismounted from his dragon, all excited, and started to smile like a little kid. The girl shook her head, disapprovingly. He raised her head.
"What? What is it?"
The blond-haired girl held back a laugh.
"Nothing."
The young man squinted, half-smiling, knowing full well that Astrid was making fun of him. However, he didn't care. He knew he had just invented something brilliant. She would congratulate him when the proper time came. Until then, he would try to prove her he was right.
"Ok... so," Hiccup said, squatting.
He grabbed his new leg after removing the old one.
"Let's start there... I put it like this and... Yeah that's it. And tada! What do you say?"
"Well, we'll see if it works first..."
Hiccup whispered before positioning himself on Toothless' back, well determined to prove she was wrong. He asked his dragon to take off.
"Come on Toothless, it's time to show them what you got!" the young boy exclaimed.
He made Toothless gain speed before making him turn left brutally under the worried gaze of his girlfriend. Thankfully, he managed to enable the mechanism of his dragon's artificial limb, just in time. He had made it.
"You did it Hiccup! You did it!" Astrid shouted with glee, thrusting her fist into the air before turning herself towards her dragon. "They did it Stormfly! They did it!"
The young girl was more than proud. From afar, Astrid's hero was looking at her amorously, grinning from ear to ear. It was the first time in his life that he succeeded in making her proud of one of his inventions. And that made him quite happy.
So, on his track, Hiccup pursued his crazy test above an angry sea. Indeed, the sky began to grow darker and the wind was blowing briskly. But this sudden change of weather didn't intimidate the young boy. On the contrary, it increased his motivation to greater heights. The blond-haired girl raised her head to the duo while reassuring her friend with blue scales.
"See girl, everything is going well for them," she smiled.
But at the very moment when she achieved her sentence, the thunder rumbled. A few seconds later, a huge lightening flared, taking control of the sky. Unsettled, Hiccup lost control of his leg, since it didn't want to retract correctly anymore.
"Toothless!" Hiccup screamed.
The dragon uttered a plaintive growl, helpless.
"Come on bud! Just a little further! We've got to get to the edge of the island!"
Flying above the ocean, what a brilliant idea Hiccup! he thought, seeing that he was moving dangerously closer to the water.
Stormfly didn't wait for someone to ask her; Astrid leaped onto her back and they soared quickly to catch up to Toothless and his rider. She managed to catch him right in a slump by literally jumping on him to take him back to the sand. However, in her stunt, she didn't really care about the two dragon riders, to the extent that, in her fall, she caused Hiccup to fall off his dragon and find himself in the frigid water.
As for Astrid, she had been thrown forward onto the beach by her deadly nadder's improvised rescue. She bounced back, running towards the dragons, her eyes seeking Hiccup, but he was not with them.
"Oh no... Hiccup!" she exclaimed when she realized that he had surely fallen into the water driven furious by the storm.
Astrid ran to the sea and dived into the cold water to get back the young unconscious Viking. She swam to him before bringing him to the surface. She caught her breath and dragged him to the beach, where she laid him down and then shook him to make him come around.
"Hiccup!" she cried.
He finally spat the water he had imbibed by coughing. Astrid took him in her arms, breathed a sigh of relief, and hugged him with all her might. Hiccup whispered something barely audible before letting his head fall on her shoulder.
"I was so scared..." Astrid murmured in a quivering voice.
The auburn-haired boy caressed her hair before whispering "I know" to her ear. So, Astrid took his head in her hands to look him straight in the eyes.
"Don't you ever do that to me again," she articulated with more than a serious voice.
They had nearly lost each other too many times before. Now that the dragon hunters were history, Astrid didn't want it to repeat, and Hiccup had understood that very well. They didn't need to talk; they just had to look at each other to understand themselves.
"Okay; now, let's go back," the blond-haired girl suggested.
So, they turned in the direction of their dragons, approaching them to reassure the dragons before taking off. Astrid helped Hiccup, just enough for him to walk over to his dragon, and then she hurried towards Stormfly. However, Hiccup winced when he saw Toothless' condition.
"Hey, Astrid... I think we're about to have a little problem..."
She didn't have the time to take care of her dragon, since she was already turning her head towards her boyfriend's.
"What is it?"
He showed her that his night fury's tail was completely destroyed.
"His tail is broken, we can't fly with that..."
"It doesn't matter, Stormfly will take Toothless between her talons and us on her back. She's strong enough for that, don't worry Hiccup."
Nevertheless, the teenager made a face that didn't seem to agree with the pretty blond-haired girl.
"Actually, I don't think it will be possible Astrid..."
She turned towards her deadly nadder who was licking her right wing with difficulty, seeming to be in great pain. The young female Viking ran to her before caressing her gently.
"What is it girl? Does your wing hurt?"
"I think she had surely broken it by trying to catch us, Toothless and me, earlier."
"Great! What do we do now?"
At the very moment when she pronounced these words, a cloudburst began to pour down upon their already wet heads.
"We could maybe start with handling that?" Hiccup indicated by pointing to the rainstorm.
Astrid smiled before following him in the search of a place to take shelter. He took her hand and they ran at full speed through the raindrops. He stopped himself nevertheless before turning towards his girlfriend. The dragons, as to them, pursued their course in the direction of a cave hidden in the island's vegetation. Hiccup watched them dash away, meanwhile the young Viking wondered what he was waiting for, since he didn't follow them.
"Okay Hiccup, I don't get it, we're in the middle of a thunderstorm, and you want to stop and feel the rain?"
So, he grasped the young girl by her side, pulling her, and planted an affirmed kiss on her lips. Surprised by this unexpected act, she didn't respond immediately to the kiss. But, as the brown-haired boy was becoming insistent, she abandoned herself to this passionate embrace. When their lips split up, he took her in his arms, approached his head to her ear and placed his hand on her blond hair.
"I think you didn't hear me properly earlier, but I wanted to thank you... Thank you for saving me," he said sincerely.
He held her tight against him, she smiled. He grabbed her hand and she went into a graceful spin, with pouring rain accompanying them, every step of the way. The two teenagers were laughing out loud, dancing in the rain, soaked to the skin but they didn't care. They were turning, turning, turning until they became disoriented and so wobbly that they couldn't stand up. They had fallen onto the damp sand of the beach, giggling and looking at themselves without being able to see each other properly, since they were dizzied to the point that their environment seemed to move around them. Hiccup approached his nose to Astrid's, rubbing it sweetly against it. He closed his eyes and they exchanged a wet kiss. They finally bounced back, slightly numb, but stable nevertheless. These two dragon riders arrived at the cave soaked, but they didn't regret this little grain of folly. On the contrary, since they were a couple, Hiccup and Astrid were trying to spend as much time together as possible. They wanted to live every moment as if it was their last, to live life to the fullest. In fact, they were following a Latin proverb that they couldn't have known anything about...
Carpe diem.
In other words, Pluck the day, trusting as little as possible in the future. What a great expression. And Hiccup and Astrid embodied it to perfection. After all that they had been through together, they could also understand each other's view on life. They knew very well that every moment they had spent fighting Viggo and the dragon hunters, they had risked everything. It was the reason why, now that all this was behind them, they wanted to enjoy themselves.
"You're completely insane," Astrid laughed when they reached the cave.
They started to laugh behind their dragons who, decidedly, didn't understand the issue. But Hiccup was suddenly overcome by a cough that he couldn't stop. At the beginning, Astrid thought it was because they were laughing this whole time, but she realized soon enough that it was not that.
"Hiccup?"
She took him in her arms and tried to help him stop his uncontrollable cough. He calmed himself a little bit, but he continued to cough for a few more minutes before becoming roughly tranquil again. He shuddered. The blond-haired girl touched his forehead and, feeling the warmth of it, she hugged him more to warm him up.
"You'll be fine Hiccup; I'm going to take care of you, okay?"
But then again, he was so cold that nothing came out of his mouth. He shook his head instead.
The young girl remembered all the moments when she had found herself in his place. She recalled the time she had almost drowned and Hiccup had come just in time to save her. She was lucky that day, very lucky. She also remembered her recent, yet temporary, loss of sight, and how she had been so afraid. Thankfully, Hiccup had been there to support her, even after she had finally recovered. Then, she recalled the scourge of Odin. The young boy had really well taken care of her during those two long months. She almost didn't make it. If he hadn't been there, she surely wouldn't have been here thinking about it... Hiccup was truly a caring boyfriend. She was lucky to have him.
Astrid leaned over the sleeping boy to kiss him on his forehead.
"It's my turn to take care of you", she whispered.
…
"I'm fine," the young girl smiled before coughing violently.
Hiccup was supporting her the best that he could, but her cough did not cease. He finally got the others out of the hut before laying Astrid on her bed.
"Don't worry about me, I told you I'm fine," the blond-haired girl protested by sitting up.
So he put his hands on her shoulders.
"No Astrid, that's not fine."
She looked down, shameful.
"I mean, Astrid... Why wouldn't you tell me?"
Hesitant, she finally raised her head to face him.
"I didn't want you to worry," she replied sincerely.
He helped her to lay down once more since she had almost no strength left. He lowered the blanket on her with care.
"If you had told me, we could have more time to search for this Buffalord!"
She was starting to doze off, but she murmured before falling asleep:
"It's too late for me Hiccup, you'll have to accept that..."
So he took her hand, tears in his eyes.
"I forbid you to say that Astrid! Do you hear me?"
But she was already asleep. The scourge was gaining ground. Hiccup dried his tears with a wave of his hand before letting Astrid rest.
So, that was truly the reason of her silence?
Even if it was what she believed, he wouldn't let that happen; he would never abandon her. He would save her at all costs.
…
The sun was barely visible when Astrid was awakened by screams that came from outside. She raised her head, realizing that she had fallen asleep in recalling all these memories, with Hiccup still huddled comfortably in her arms.
"Hiccup! Astrid! Are you there?"
It was Stoick's voice.
"We're here!" Astrid shouted, a little embarrassed to be found like that with the chief's son in her arms.
The Viking with the red beard came into the cave, followed by Gobber who, obviously, appeared relieved to see them again. Then, the young shield maiden told the two Viking men how they had found themselves in this situation with incredible luck. She started with Hiccup's messed up test and finished with his sudden fever. So, they had seen fit to repatriate the young boy to Berk and to send for Gothi immediately. Astrid stayed with him all the way back to Berk and accompanied him to his home. She was very worried about him.
The old woman arrived shortly thereafter. She had examined the young boy carefully and had diagnosed him with a bad flu and that he would get over it soon enough with the medications she had given him. The blond-haired girl was instantly relieved.
"That's what happens when you play in the rain..."
…
Days passed, and Astrid came each day to take care of Hiccup and check that he took his medications well… but, also to see him. With all he had done for her, the young woman felt indebted.
One evening, while Astrid was about to fall asleep, after having talked all day long with her boyfriend, who was already asleep himself, Stoick went up to Hiccup's room.
"Astrid, are you still there?"
The blond-haired girl suddenly came out of her half-sleeping state.
"Hum? Yeah! Yeah, I'm still there."
The chief of Berk approached the young patient's bed and put a hand on the shoulder of the caring warrior who was sitting on a chair next to it.
"Thanks for looking out for him Astrid. But you've done enough already. Go, go home and get some sleep. See you tomorrow."
She smiled to Stoick before wishing him a good night. He walked her to the door and when he got back to his son's bedside, Hiccup had awoken.
"Astrid left?" he whispered.
"Yes son, she left; she'll be back tomorrow", said Stoick reassuringly.
Hiccup looked disappointed. Stoick moved closer to his son.
"You know, you're lucky to have someone who takes care of you like that?"
"Yeah... I know," Hiccup sighed, with a small grin.
"Well, I'll let you got some rest. Good night Son."
"Good night Dad."
And as Hiccup fell asleep, he thought about the girl who will always stay by his side, no matter what.