That last chapter was fun, no? As per the story structure, we'll be checking back in with Hiccup and Toothless in the next chapter. Yes, we're just going to sit on that cliffhanger. For now, I bring you the latest Astrid chapter. Now is when the dual perspective set-up really starts to come in handy (and not just so I can torture you all with cliffhangers…but that's a plus! Haha.) because we can see how life on Berk is going, thanks to Astrid.
Review Replies:
Guest (anonymous): That's what I figured because I didn't think Vikings used the word "homesick" before. At least, it was never really used in the series so I'm just taking some creative license. Anytime, you use that word, remember that Hiccup came up with it! Haha. As for this chapter…it probably won't be as good as the next Hiccup chapter, but we shall see.
Guest (anonymous): All excellent questions! Without giving too much away, I will say that there will be several time-skips in this story. All will take place roughly around every ten chapters. To plan ahead, the first time-skip will be after chapter 12. As for who saves him…I will say that there will be a couple people…and it is going to be quite a surprise for Hiccup to see them! If you'd like to start taking guesses now, feel free! These people will show up around the 30th chapter. I am looking forward to Astrid's worrying too. It'll be beautiful. Thanks for keeping up! Here's the next chapter!
Next chapter starts…now!
Chapter 8: Life Without Hiccup
Following Hiccup's departure, Astrid had returned home to go back to sleep. She had been up most of the night and now the lack of sleep was starting to get to her. The others would understand if they did not have any academy lessons today. In fact, most (except for Fishlegs) would probably be just fine with having a day off. As much as she hated to let Hiccup down, it was one day and she wouldn't be an effective teacher if she was only half awake.
Astrid did not want to sleep all day because she did not want to be awake all night again, so she asked Stormfly to come to her window and wake her in a few hours. With a squawk of acknowledgment, her dragon had left to allow Astrid some alone time. These were just some of the many things Astrid loved about her dragon. Stormfly was very intelligent and they were almost always in sync. The memories they had already created in the short span of time, nearly a year now, since they had bonded together to defeat the massive dragon on Dragon Island brought a smile to Astrid's face and, despite the bright sun that now beamed through her open window, she slipped into a peaceful sleep filled with dreams of Hiccup, dragons, and flying together through the clear blue sky.
True to her word, Stormfly came by the window again all too soon to wake Astrid. Sighing, Astrid stretched her stiff muscles and left her house. According to the position of the sun, there was still a few hours left in the day. "Let's fly to the cove," Astrid suggested to Stormfly. The dragon, sensing her rider's distress, quickly obliged and it was not long before they touched down in the picturesque cove situated near Raven Point. Dismounting quickly, Astrid walked over to a rock near the lake where Stormfly had opted to take a drink before joining her. This is Hiccup's favorite place, Astrid recalled, remembering how she had first met Toothless here and, recently, how it was here, in this very location, where she had accepted Hiccup's offer to be his girlfriend. This cove held many memories, both good and bad; Astrid wouldn't take back any of them. Each and every one of these memories had shaped the person that she was today. Stormfly, finished drinking water from the small lake, came over near the rock and lay down beside Astrid. Absentmindedly, Astrid scratched Stormfly's head behind the Nadder's crown of spikes. Instinctively, Astrid found her gaze constantly turning to the sky. It was useless, she knew. Hiccup's flight would take him at least a month to make it to the island and back and that was not even counting the time it would take him to train the village's dragons and show the villagers there his training methods. I never realized how hard this was going to be. It hasn't even been a full day yet and I already miss Hiccup. How am I ever going to be able to wait for this undetermined amount of time until he returns? Already, she missed the races around the island and the academy lessons he tried to teach. She missed his voice, his messy hair, his crooked smile, her Hiccup. "He wouldn't want me to dwell on his absence, would he, Stormfly?" she asked her dragon. In response, Stormfly looked up slightly at her, but, otherwise, kept silent.
A cold breeze blew through the cove and Astrid shivered. It was only then that she noticed how late it was getting to be. The sun had dipped below the rock wall border, sheltering the cove entirely in shadow. "We should be getting back," Astrid told Stormfly. The dragon kneeled down so that her rider could mount and then they flew the short distance back to the village.
The next morning, Astrid would be taking over teaching responsibilities at the Berk Dragon Academy until Hiccup's return. For that reason, she tried to sleep fairly early that night. However, sleep did not come as easily as she had hoped. Finally, after what felt like hours of tossing and turning and shifting positions, Astrid managed to drift off to sleep.
She opened her eyes to a world that she barely recognized. Flames danced everywhere; she was surrounded and escaping this prison of fire looked to be hopeless. Why was there fire anyway? Had a dragon run rampant? Ever since Hiccup defeated the Red Death, there was a permanent peace between Vikings and dragons. Granted, Hiccup had still been working to teach the more wild dragons of Berk how to properly behave when in and around the village. Maybe that's how the fire started? An out-of-control dragon?
Quickly, she pushed the thoughts from her mind. It really didn't matter how the fire started. What did matter was that she had to find a way out before she was burned to a crisp, a fate that sounded quite unpleasant. Not to mention that if she did not escape from the rising flames soon, she would no longer be able to breathe. Already, it was getting harder as the smoke from the flames seemed to devour everything nearby.
Before she could further formulate a plan, she felt claws on her shoulders, lifting her to safety. Stormfly! Looking up, though, she did not see the blue hue of her dragon's fireproof skin. Instead, she saw…nothing. She was flipped and swiftly landed on the dragon's back. The first thing she noticed was the saddle. There's only one person I know who could craft something like this for a dragon! Next, she noticed the back of the exact person that she was thinking about and had been thinking of all day. "Hiccup!"
He turned back and gave Astrid that goofy crooked smile that she loved so much. "That was a bit of a close call, huh, Astrid?"
Does he know what started this fire? "Hiccup, what is going on? Why is Berk going up in flames?"
"Honestly, I don't know, but we can't stay here. We have to find something to put out the fires."
They continued their flight out to the waters when Astrid heard a different sound, one not associated with the fires. It was the sound of rain. The rain started slow, but picked up quickly, so quickly that it hindered Hiccup's ability to smoothly fly Toothless. As she looked backed at the village, Astrid saw a welcoming sight. "Hiccup, the rain is putting out the fires! We can go back now!"
Hiccup went to make the necessary adjustment to the positioning of the pedal to control the tailfin. Before he could successfully accomplish this, a quick flash of lightning connected with the metal rods. "The lightning just broke the connecting rod. I can't move Toothless's tailfin," he frantically informed Astrid. "I guess I should be lucky that it didn't strike my leg." He glanced down at his still-connected prosthetic.
The wind was too strong for Toothless and Astrid, who was not lucky enough to be connected to the saddle, was flung off. She could see the dark, churning waters rapidly approaching, but she was stopped before she hit them. Looking upwards, she saw that Stormfly had taken ahold of her during the freefall. "Stormfly! Thank Thor! Wait, where's Hiccup and Toothless?"
Looking up, she saw them. Hiccup was having trouble staying on the saddle as the wind was growing stronger. Toothless was not faring much better than his rider. To Astrid's horror, she watched the wind grab hold of the rope connecting Hiccup to Toothless's saddle. Toothless, sensing his rider's sudden absence, tried to dive and save him, but, with the strong gusts of wind, the chances of the dragon reaching the falling boy were steadily decreasing. "Stormfly, we have to save him!"
Stormfly flew at her top speed, but it was no use as Hiccup and Toothless hit the water, sinking almost immediately. The Nadder and her dangling rider hovered near the spot where the other two had sunk and waited but neither boy nor dragon resurfaced. Sensing danger, Stormfly, despite Astrid's pleas, refused to drop any closer to the unsettled waters. Astrid was forced to face the harsh truth. Her boyfriend and his dragon were… "Hiccup? NO!"
"NO!" Her scream continued as she bolted upright. What? Where am I? Hiccup! Her last thought was quickly erased as she remembered that Hiccup was fine. He had not just fallen into the cruel and unforgiving waters.Hiccup is away on his mission. He's okay. Outside her window, Astrid could hear the tapping of the rain falling to the ground, a sound that had replicated itself in her nightmare.
"Astrid, is everything okay?" her mother asked, knocking lightly on her daughter's closed bedroom door.
"Everything's fine. It was just a nightmare. I'm going back to sleep now."
Her mother left without another word and Astrid smiled slightly at the concern. She lay back down on the bed, but sleep did not come easily, even with the soft pattering of the rain outside. Astrid couldn't stop thinking about the nightmare she'd just experienced. Parts of it had felt so real. She could still feel Stormfly's talons digging lightly into her shoulders. She could still hear the soft splash that had followed when Hiccup and Toothless had hit the water. It's probably nothing. Shutting her eyes, Astrid tried to relax and return to sleep. Somewhere in the back of her mind, though, the nightmare lingered and left her with an ounce of uncertainty and fear.
When I said that this chapter wouldn't be all that good…I lied. This turned into a very fun chapter to write, so I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Originally, that nightmare was not in the plans, but as I was writing, it sounded kinda fun and the idea formed from there.
We check back in with Hiccup and Toothless in the next chapter. You don't want to miss it! Speaking of the next chapter…
Next chapter: I'm going to plan on posting the next chapter on Thursday after 10 PM US East Coast time. We'll test the accuracy of that prediction (as always!).
As always, thank you all for reading and supporting Wheel in the Sky!
Posted: February 9, 2014
