Note: This chapter is focusing on Berk; next chapter will focus on Hiccup and the Frozen characters. When I first wrote this in a notebook, I ended up hating it. I changed some things, but this still is one of my least favorite chapters.
Aftermath and Going Undercover
Stoick the Vast was having a good day, it did not start out that way, but it was now. He, and the Vikings that came with him, were now eating with their allies. The Hairy Holigans had arrived in the early morning to assist their allies, when the attackers realized who they were, they immediately surrendered. With Stoick and the rest of the Hairy Holigans overlooking the procedures, the attackers signed a treaty with their allies. After that the defeated Vikings sailed for their own home.
"The faces those Vikings had when you arrived were priceless!" A rather drunk Viking exclaimed. "I thought they soiled themselves!"
The drunk Viking fell off his stool, once he hit the floor; he let out a grunt and fell asleep.
"I wonder how Hiccup is doing." Stoick mused, taking a swig of his beer.
The other Viking Chief heard them.
"Speaking of your boy, I've got a gift for him; consider it a late birthday present." The Chief told Stoick.
The Chief's son left the room, and returned with a crate and a pile of books. The books had plain pages, and Stoick realized that they were for his son to draw in. The crate had ink inside of it, and Stoick's eyes widened when he saw the different colors of ink within.
"Where did you get all this?" Stoick asked.
"From Trader Johan, he heard about it being Hiccup's birthday, and helped us get all of this." The Chief told Stoick.
"Thank you." Stoick replied. "My son will love this."
Stoick could not believe Trader Johan and his allies knew more about his son than he did. He carefully packed up the ink and books. After that, he leaned back in his chair sipping his beer. He could not wait to return to Berk to see his son.
Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut sat in the Dragon Academy ring waiting for Hiccup. They were gathering there, before taking a boat to get their dragons. Their guests had left sometime during the night, but they thought nothing of it. The water the night before had been calm, that morning though, waves struck the rocks on the island. The teens would take a safer route that their tribe took when the waves were bad.
"Hiccup should have been here by now." Fishlegs fretted.
"Maybe he saw how awesome I am, and gave up on being a dragon trainer." Snotlout gloated.
Astrid and Fishlegs gave him a blank look.
"You guys stay here; I'm going to his house to see what is taking him so long." Astrid told them.
She got up, dusted herself off, and left the Dragon Academy. As she made her way to Hiccup's place, she saw Gobber in the Blacksmith, hammering away at a new sword. Other Vikings were going about their business as well. She spotted Erna the Lustful running about her house, but Astrid thought nothing of it, that woman was strange. Mulch and Bucket were taking care of their chickens, when she walked past them. When she reached Hiccup's door she knocked on it.
"Hiccup!" Astrid called. "We are heading out to get the dragons!"
Astrid waited, but she did not hear anything, the silence unnerved her.
"I'm coming in!" Astrid announced, as she threw open the door.
Astrid stood in the main room, which had Stoick's chair in it. Stoick's spare cloak was on the floor next to the chair. Stoick's cloak was always draped over the chair.
"Hiccup!" Astrid called. "This isn't funny! Come out now!"
Silence.
Astrid walked further into the house, and spotted a tipped over chair. Hiccup's chair. She had seen him in it one time when she delivered some food her mother had made for the Chief and his son. Something did not feel right to Astrid, so she cautiously went over to the table. Her boot slid when it hit something on the ground. She felt herself lose her balance, but managed to catch herself at the last minute. She looked down and saw a puddle of blood near Hiccup's chair. She had seen blood before, but the fact that it appeared to be Hiccup's blood, made her blood run cold. She backed away.
"Gobber!" Astrid screamed, as she ran from the house.
Astrid ran to the Blacksmith, her mind reeling over what she just saw.
"What is it Astrid?" Gobber asked. "You look pale…what is on your boot?"
Astrid could not speak right away. Both Gobber and Astrid did not realize that they had drawn a small crowd. Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout joined the crowd when they saw Astrid in the center of it. Everyone wanted to see what had Astrid worked up over.
"It's blood." Astrid finally said.
"I can see that, now let me bandage your foot." Gobber replied.
"It's not my blood!" Astrid shouted; she was getting herself even more worked up. "It's Hiccup's blood!"
Gobber stopped dead in his tracks.
"Show me." He told her.
Astrid ran towards the Chief's house, with Gobber hot on her heels. The crowd of onlookers followed close behind. Someone, or something, had attacked the Chief's son! Astrid led Gobber through the door, and to the spot where the blood was. Gobber kneeled down, and ran his fingers through it.
"Hiccup…" Gobber said.
"What's going on?!" A voice demanded. "Snotlout, why are people gathered around your cousin's house?"
Astrid looked up, and saw Hiccup's uncle Spitelout. Gobber heard him, and went over to the small crowd. His actions revealed the blood behind him. When Fishlegs spotted the blood, he turned green and fled the area. Spitelout swore, and the rest of the crowd gasped.
"Someone, no, those men from Arendelle must have done this." Gobber said. "No one was with Hiccup the last time we saw him, except for that man Hans."
Spitelout's face turned red with rage.
"I'm going to kill him!" The irate uncle growled. "He killed my nephew, so it's going to be an eye for an eye!"
"Hiccup is not dead!" Astrid shouted.
"Look around you, my nephew could not lose that much blood without dying!" Spitelout snapped at her.
"There's no body!" Astrid pointed out.
"I agree with Astrid, we cannot assume he is dead without a body." Gobber said.
Spitelout glared at Gobber.
"Then what do you propose we do?" Spitelout demanded.
Gobber did not respond right away.
"Since there is no corpse, we will assume he was kidnapped for the time being. We will wait for Stoick, and decide our course of action from there." Gobber told him. "In the meantime, we will clean up the blood. Stoick doesn't need to deal with this on top of everything else."
Astrid and the rest of the dragon trainers left the area to retrieve their dragons.
It was nearing nightfall when Stoick saw Berk again. He smiled when he saw the familiar form of Astrid riding her dragon Stormfly. The young Viking saw his ship, and flew back to Berk. Stoick frowned when he did not see Toothless, or his son. A strange keening noise, which sounded like crying, reached his ears. It was coming from the island. The sound caused Stoick to urge his men to row faster; he needed to see what was making that noise. When the ship docked, he ran up the platforms to his house.
What's making that noise? Stoick thought. Hiccup, please be safe!
Stoick reached his house, and saw that it was Toothless making the keening noises, which caused his blood to run cold.
"Hiccup!" He bellowed.
He ran past the dragon and into his house, he saw no sign of his son.
"You're back." Gobber stated, as he entered the house.
Stoick whirled around, and slammed Gobber against the wall.
"You were supposed to look after him!" Stoick yelled.
Stoick felt tears flow from the corners of his eyes, but he did not bother to wipe them away.
"Stoick, you need to calm down." Gobber told him. "The sooner you do, the sooner we can help Hiccup."
Stoick let Gobber go.
"What happened? Where is my son!?" Stoick demanded.
Gobber did not respond right away, and Stoick fell silent as he waited for an answer, Toothless' keening filled the silence.
"We believe that the men from Arendelle kidnapped Hiccup…after injuring him." Gobber began.
"What!" Stoick exclaimed.
I did this! Stoick thought. I invited them into my home!
"The likely suspect is Hans, he was the last one seen with Hiccup. Erna the Lustful confirmed it earlier today." Gobber told him.
"What was that woman doing near my son?" Stoick demanded with a growl.
"She was just delivering clean clothes, and if it wasn't for her confirming some things…" Gobber began, but trailed off.
"Other things?" Stoick demanded. "What other things?"
Gobber sighed.
"You need to sit down." Gobber told him.
Stoick did not like where this was going, and slowly sat down in his chair.
"Well, other things, like the plans for kidnapping Hiccup, and where the kidnappers came from." Gobber said. "You see Erna the Lustful caught the interest of a couple of Arendelle men. After she took them to her house to have intimate relations with, and after she got them drunk, they began to brag about their plans."
Stoick gripped the armrests of the chair tightly, until he heard them crack under his grip.
This was planned from the beginning? He thought with a scowl.
"First they bragged about their kingdom, and how much better it was compared to our village. They even pointed out the general area Arendelle is from here. Then they went on about their plans to kidnap a Viking Prince to start a war." Gobber said.
"Why didn't that bitch tell anyone about it until now?!" Stoick roared.
He got to his feet, and stormed over to his door, he threw the door open.
"Wait!" Gobber shouted after him.
"Why should I?!" Stoick demanded.
"When the men told her, it must have been after the time Hiccup was actually kidnapped, they were left behind by their men. Erna the Lustful captured them right after they told her." Gobber said.
"So, we have prisoners ourselves?" Stoick asked.
"Yes."
"Bring me to them." Stoick told him.
Gobber led Stoick to the dungeons, Toothless followed after them. When Stoick entered the dungeon, he saw to young men covered in bruises. They looked like they were about eighteen, Stoick frowned, and they were fairly young. Both young men had brown hair, but one man had blue eyes, and the other one had green eyes. They both stared at him in horror.
These men knew about the plan to kidnap Hiccup. Stoick thought with a scowl.
He kneeled down, and stared both young men in the eye.
"You will tell me everything." Stoick told them.
He pointed to the green-eyed man.
"Starting with you."
Gobber pulled the green eyed man out of the cell, and dragged him over to Stoick. They dragged the green eyed man to the Great Hall, where they interrogated him for over an hour. After they were done with them, they threw him back into the cell, and pulled the blue eyed man out of the cell. They interrogated the blue eyed boy for over two hours. After they got what they wanted, they threw him back into the cell as well. Both men had the same story, either they discussed their story over with each other to reduce the blame, or they were so low ranking that they only got the story fed to them from someone from a higher position.
"Gobber, get Astrid." Stoick told him.
Gobber left to retrieve Astrid. Stoick only had to wait for a few minutes for Gobber to return with Astrid. The young teenager looked angry, but not at being summoned by the Chief.
"Where are those men?" Astrid demanded.
"Back in their cell in the dungeons, Spitelout is guarding them." Stoick told her.
Astrid frowned, she wanted to hurt them.
"I summoned you for a reason." Stoick told her. "I need you to find the exact location of Arendelle, find out if Hiccup is there, and report back to me. We will decide our course of action from there. Also, we asked Erna the Lustful if she had anything of use. Apparently she did, the men gave her a dress as a gift when they were with her. The dress is too small for her, but luckily it looks like it could fit you. You will wear it to better fit in with the Arendelle population."
"Yes sir." Astrid replied. "I will do anything you ask of me to get Hiccup back."
Stoick handed her the folded up dress.
"What the men told us is that the women in Arendelle wear makeup and wear their hair differently from our women." Stoick said.
Astrid paled, but did not complain, she left to do the task Stoick had given her.
Astrid took the dress, and went back to her own house.
I am doing this for Hiccup. She thought with a grimace.
Astrid sat down, and looked into the shield that would serve as her mirror. She took off her headband, and started to undo her braid. When her hair was loose, she brushed all the tangles out. She brushed her bangs out of her face, and mixed them in with her hair. She brought her hair over her shoulder, and she was reminded of Heather's hairstyle, but her hair came down much longer than the other girl's did. She began to braid her hair, and after she was done, she wrapped her hairband around the end of it to hold it in place.
I can't believe I am doing this. Astrid thought.
She looked at the dress next, and saw that it had layers. She gathered the dress, and headed into her room. She took off her clothes, until she was only in her undergarments. She pulled the black leggings over her legs, and after that was done, she pulled on the white shirt. The dress was made up of two parts, a skirt and a vest. She pulled the skirt over her leggings, and pulled the vest over her shirt. Both the skirt and the vest were blue, with green stitching in it. She tied a black belt around her waist, which pinned the bottom of the vest down.
I really hate this. Astrid thought, as she pulled fancy green boots over the leggings.
Astrid left the room to look at her mirror-shield again.
"Looks like it is time for some makeup." Astrid told herself.
She pulled out her mom's makeup. Her mother rarely wore makeup, but liked having some around. Trader Johan had convinced her mother to try it. Now the said makeup sat before her.
"Well, here goes nothing."
She took a brush, and dipped it in a jar filled with red liquid. After a few tries, and accidently smearing her face, which caused her to have to wipe her face, she finally succeeded on putting on the lipstick. After that she out pink powder on her cheeks, this made her sneeze. She put eyeliner on her eyelashes, and finally applied light blue eye shadow.
UGH! I look so prissy! Astrid thought.
She did not like the feel of the makeup, or too soft clothes. With a sigh, she stood up, and left her house. Vikings stopped what they were doing to gape at her. That did not make her comfortable at all; she tried to hide her face. Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout rushed over when they saw her.
"Wow Astrid, you look pretty." Fishlegs stated.
"Why can't you look like that?" Tuffnut asked his sister.
Ruffnut punched him in the face.
"Maybe you should forget Hiccup." Snotlout said. "And wear that all the time for me."
Astrid punched him in the nose, causing him to bleed.
"Astrid, we've got a small boat for you, and we got Stormfly ready for you." Gobber told her.
Gobber led her to the docks, where she saw Stormfly harnessed to a row boat. In the boat were provisions, such as water and other things. She saw a rolled up map tucked away with a satchel, and she also saw a large fur vest.
"Thank you for doing this." Stoick told her.
"Don't worry, I'll find him." Astrid said.
And kill all those that have hurt Hiccup! Astrid vowed in her thoughts.
Stoick helped her climb into the boat, where she wrapped the vest around herself.
"Come on girl, we've got a long voyage ahead of us." Astrid told Stormfly.
She tossed Stormfly a piece of chicken, and the dragon ate it. Astrid gave Stormfly a signal, and the dragon took off, with the boat in tow.
"Hang on Hiccup, we're coming." Astrid said to no one.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Note: Astrid will have her own POV in another chapter, and Toothless will appear much more in the story and get his own POV as well. Astrid's dress is loosely based on the Norwegian traditional dress, and a bit on Elsa and Anna's outfits. Her hair is based on Elsa's hairstyle as well, but the braid is on the opposite shoulder of Elsa's braid. Before you ask, Astrid will have to redo her makeup, considering she is among the elements. Thank you for reading, and I will see you in the next chapter, which is going to focus on the Frozen cast and Hiccup.