Chapter Two: His Answer
The list of things Hiccup couldn't do versus the things he could were certainly unbalanced. It seemed like whenever he found something he was good at, three things he was horrible at popped up out of nowhere.
The new Dragonling Class was underway, which meant all of Berk's young folk gathered in the Academy arena to learn everything about dragons. Hiccup was certainly the most knowledgeable about training dragons. The only thing: Hiccup wasn't a very good babysitter. About a dozen children ran about the arena and Hiccup, Snotlout, and the twins raced about trying to keep them from getting hurt.
"Dragonbreath!" Snotlout yelled at a young boy hanging off Hookfang's horns. "Don't touch that!"
Ruffnut and Tuffnut raced after Barf and Belch, who were under the command of two young girls. "Don't spark, don't spark!" Ruffnut yelled. Of course, the twins weren't entirely adept at training their dragon, so Barf and Belch did the opposite. They set the twins on fire, and they ran about blaming each other and dove into a trough nearby.
Hiccup meanwhile was laying on the ground under a heard of hungry Terrible Terrors, who nipped at his leather flying suit trying to find fish. Most of the kids crowded around him squealing in laughter as he picked himself up and opened a barrel of fish for the Terrors to terrorize. He brushed himself off and ran after the Hideous Zippleback to retrieve the two girls from their necks.
He calmed the dragon and pulled the girls off, sending them to the other children.
Finally, Hiccup managed to gather the last child, ushered them to the group, and put his hands on his hips.
"Dragons," he scolded, "are dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. We're putting the big boys away now."
The children all moaned in disappointment as the dragons sat at the side.
"Now, we will get to those dragons when you are older," Hiccup sighed, "but we are starting with the dragon book."
"But dragons!" Snowdrop pouted. Some other kids agreed. Hiccup put up his hands.
"If you guys promise to remember everything in this book, then we will get you your very own dragons."
That seemed to make the kids happy, even a little.
"Now," he began with the twins limping behind him and Snotlout not paying attention, "who can tell me what a Monstrous Nightmare is?"
The class continued for a time before Astrid caught up with him. Fishlegs was still with Stormfly and Gobber, and they didn't have anything to say to her. They chose to keep Stormfly for the morning and when Astrid finally made it to the arena, the children were at it again.
"Don't touch him there, he won't like that!"
"Don't feed him that!"
"Get it off me!"
"Don't step in that!"
"What did I just say?!"
"Thor, grant me the strength to not kill a child today."
Astrid entered the arena and ducked under flying helmets and dodged squealing children. Then she remembered that dodging children isn't usually a common thing, and she realized they were holding onto Barf and Belch's tail, whirling about laughing and having fun. Hiccup was tied up in the corner and Ruffnut and Tuffnut were lying in opposite corners of the arena. Snotlout was hanging off the chain roof of the arena, calling for help.
"ENOUGH!" Astrid yelled. Everyone froze and the children immediately released the dragon and got into a group. She pointed at Hiccup. "All of you. Go untie Hiccup and get the twins before I make Stormfly eat you."
The children scurried away and Astrid tried her very hardest not to laugh as they shoved Hiccup onto his face to get to the knots they tied. She was proud; she taught them how to do that. And the fact they used it on Hiccup was perfect. Hiccup was freed soon enough and the twins were pulled to their feet. Snotlout meanwhile dropped from the roof onto Hookfang's back.
"Now that's settled," Astrid huffed, "let's get some steam out of our systems in a better way."
The kids loved Astrid. She kicked ass, encouraged them to do the same, and they looked up to her as a dragon rider and teacher. "Berk has been at peace for four years. Since Alvin the Treacherous poisoned our river and raided the village, we ran him out and haven't heard of him since. But that doesn't mean he's not going to try to attack once more; he wants our dragons, and our trainers. We have to make sure he never does that."
The kids nodded. Hiccup was behind all of them, smiling at Astrid, knowing her parents were victims to those separate events, and her strength was admirable. "So if anyone attacks, we fight back. Snotlout and Tuff, go for it. Show the Dragonlings what to do."
When they were younger, in the days of dragon fighting and not riding, Astrid was the only one who seemed to know how to work a shield properly. Since then, since the last Outcast attack, everyone improved with their dragons. It was how Snotlout met his wife and how Ruffnut saved her brother from capture. They had their favourite weapons, their favourite styles, and their own determination. Looking back, they all improved.
Snotlout and Tuffnut readied themselves and looked to Astrid for instruction. "Okay kids, choose their weapons."
Within a few minutes after a bout of laughter, Snotlout ended up with a spoon and Tuffnut had a pair of undies. They looked at the kids absolutely unamused.
So they began to spar. Snotlout threw himself at Tuffnut and knocked him to the ground, but Tuffnut rolled away to avoid getting crushed (Snotlout was still quite broad in the shoulders and Tuffnut hadn't filled out his own) and Tuffnut kicked him away. He threw the undies at Snotlout's face, who flailed around and distracted, Tuffnut shoved him over.
But Snotlout rolled back and the kids cheered as he leapt onto Tuffnut, brandishing his mighty spoon and almost gauging it into the twin's eyeball.
"Well done!" Astrid said. The men untangled themselves and shook hands before Snotlout punched Tuffnut across the face. All for good Viking sport. The kids giggled and Ruffnut held her brother back from fighting again. "Always use what you have around you. Never think it couldn't be a weapon. Give me something."
They gave her a hatchet. Hiccup gave out an annoyed sound. If there was anything Astrid didn't need any improvement on, it was using an axe. And she was staring right at him, hatchet in hand, her eyes narrowed. "Hiccup?"
The dragon rider looked at the kids, who all gawked at him. The famous Hiccup Haddock Horrendous III facing off the famous Astrid Hofferson without their dragons. Even the other adults looked at each other in amusement. They all knew how the couple acted around each other. In her younger days, Astrid had no problem with punching Hiccup and kissing him full on the mouth immediately afterwards. They thought Astrid was doing this to get closer to him. Hiccup knew this was payback for making fun of her for not being able to open her door. He wasn't looking forward to it.
Hiccup looked to the kids and waited for them to give him a weapon. Ruffnut was next to him, grabbing a handful of ball-rope. The kids murmured to each other, their eyes sparkling with mischief. They all pointed to Hiccup's foot.
"A weapon," Hiccup repeated. "I need my foot."
"Astrid said you could use anything as a weapon," Snotlout's son, Swamplout, challenged. Astrid nodded and grinned at Hiccup. Ruffnut readied herself from faraway and began to swing the iron balls around her head.
"Go!"
Astrid swung the hatchet by Hiccup's head, barely grazing his partially braided hair. He wrenched himself out of the way and stumbled back. Ruffnut flung her ball-rope towards Astrid, who arched her back to avoid getting hit. She spun around, crouched low to the stone, and knocked Hiccup's metal leg out from under him.
"Always go for their weakest point!" she instructed as she brought the axe down beside Hiccup's head. He kicked her out of the way, a lot harder than he initially intended, and grabbed his foot. He unbuckled the securing strap and hauled it from his leg, raising it just in time to block Astrid's weapon. They clang together and Hiccup twisted the metal leg to pull the hatchet from Astrid's grip. She held firm and they rolled over and over.
Ruffnut threw another set of ball-rope. It cracked Hiccup on the side of the head and he saw stars for a moment before Astrid rolled him over, twisted his arm back, and raised her hatchet. The fight was won.
The kids bounced up and down in anxious excitement as Astrid let Hiccup go and laughed breathlessly. Hiccup held the side of his head and groaned. He pulled his hand back and found blood on his fingers. Only Astrid saw the tinge of red, the grimace of pain, before Hiccup looked up, smiled, and shook her hand with his other. He looked over to Ruffnut and scoffed. "You were supposed to hit her!"
"I did hit her!" Ruffnut protested.
"No, you hit me!"
"Oh, whoops. You two look alike."
Everyone stared at her for a moment. Tuffnut was the only one who agreed with her, surprisingly enough.
The kids giggled and Astrid looked away. Hiccup had a small trickle of blood drip in front of his ear. He brushed it away, smearing it back into his hair line. Astrid frowned as he refastened his foot back to his leg. She pulled him aside.
"Hiccup?"
Hiccup raised his eyebrows, as if he didn't know he was hurt. He smiled. "Got me again."
"You're bleeding."
"I'm a Viking, aren't I? I'm bound to bleed once in a while."
Astrid pulled him back and frowned at him. "Your head is bleeding."
Hiccup pulled away and looked to the kids. "Hide and seek! You have three minutes to hide anywhere in the arena."
The kids all scampered off. Ruffnut and Tuffnut and Snotlout pretended to count, really talking to each other about food and women. Hiccup looked down at Astrid, lips pursed.
"You're not going to let this go."
Astrid raised her hand to check it herself. He grabbed her wrist. She flipped her hand around, grabbed his own wrist, twisted his arm back, and spun his body around.
"Ow! Owowowowow! Astrid!" he gasped as she pushed his arm up. She used her other hand to touch his hair. It was wet. Probably looked worse than it actually was, but she couldn't help but worry. Hiccup, with surprising strength, bowed suddenly and made Astrid fly over his body onto her back. She lost her breath but rolled over and growled. The others looked at them with amused grins. They threw punches at each other.
Tuffnut leaned over to Snotlout and laughed. "When's the wedding, you think?" he asked jokingly.
"As if," Ruffnut snorted. "Remember all those years ago, when that fisherman attacked her in the woods? No marriage for her."
"You don't actually believe that, do you?" Tuffnut griped.
Ruffnut nodded and glared. "I do, actually. What's the big deal?"
Tuffnut hit a nerve and he knew it. "Never mind."
"What, so you mean that she was invincible? That it was impossible for it to happen to her?"
"I said never mind, Ruff," Tuffnut growled. "I didn't mean to bring it up."
That didn't stop Ruffnut from picking up a staff and jabbing it into his stomach with all her might. "If it can happen to me, it can happen to her, so shut up."
Tuffnut leapt to his feet and the siblings fought beside Astrid and Hiccup. Snotlout looked to the sky and furrowed his eyebrows. But no one else noticed.
"Guys," he called, not taking his eyes off the sky. "Guys!" he repeated with more demand in his voice. Astrid slammed Hiccup down on the ground and pinned his shoulders back. Ruffnut had Tuffnut in a headlock and she was banging a club into his helmet over and over. "GUYS!" Snotlout screamed.
Lightning crashed across the sky, the clouds dark and sinister. Loud growling echoed from above. Astrid looked up and jumped off Hiccup. "Storm…" she whispered. "Storm!"
Ruffnut and Tuffnut stopped fighting. "I'll get the kids!" they said at the same time.
Hiccup made it to his feet quickly. "That's not a storm… That's a Skrill…"
Everyone took a moment to look at him in horror. A Skrill. That meant deadly trouble. One of the few dragons Hiccup hadn't gotten close enough to train, and that was because it set its skin alight with fatal lightning bolts. And the past few times a possible thunderstorm was on Berk's doorstep, a Skrill would push it to a catastrophe.
Just as he thought that, another bolt of lightning struck into the village. Smoke billowed up and the town bell began to ring.
"Do a head count, get the kids back to the Great Hall!" he yelled. "Astrid, we need to get to the village. If that Skrill lights any of the houses on fire, someone needs to put them out."
"But Snowdrop – "
"We'll deal with her," Snotlout said, pulling kids close to him. "Go."
Toothless bounded up to Hiccup, eyes in scared slits. He jumped onto his back and pulled Astrid behind him. She held onto him as Hiccup went racing out of the arena and into the sky.
When they made it to Berk, just over the fields, a large house was on fire. Astrid tightened her grip on Hiccup; it was her house. Toothless flew down and grabbed a wheelbarrow full of water, and threw it into the smouldering house. The flames almost went out.
Houses getting destroyed was not uncommon in Berk, but that didn't make the realization that her house was on fire any easier for Astrid. So far, it was just the roof.
Rain poured from the sky as if Thor poured a godly bucket down, getting everyone soaked within a few seconds. The wind knocked people off their feet and Toothless had to steady himself.
Hiccup's father was in the main square with his Thunderdrum Thornado whimpering, looking up at the sky. Toothless touched down in front of Stoick the Vast and Hiccup called over the wind.
"There's a Skrill on his way!" he yelled. "We need to get everyone into the Great Hall!"
"Working on it!" Stoick yelled. Already, many villagers were running up the many steps to the Great Hall, and in the distance, Hiccup could see Barf and Belch, and Hookfang carrying the children inside. He calmed a little knowing they were okay.
"Stormfly!" Astrid yelled. She leapt off Toothless and landed on the ground, running for the forge where Gobber was.
"Astrid!" Hiccup. He pulled Toothless around and they began to run after her, the wind too strong to fly. "It's too dangerous!"
And as he said it, the Skrill flew from the clouds and swooped over his head, screaming a terrifying scream that made Stoick duck under Thornado's wing. Astrid kept running and Stormfly ran from around the house. The Skrill saw the wounded Nadder and screamed again, more lightning shooting down. A bolt landed on the forge, and Astrid flew back.
"Astrid!" Hiccup yelled.
He caught up to her fallen body; the Skrill disappeared into the clouds. She was already back on her feet, her face bleeding and her body shaken. Stormfly let her climb up and the two of them ran their dragons for the Great Hall. They were the last ones to finally enter before Stoick and Gobber shoved the doors shut. Stormfly croaked and cooed and Astrid jumped down. Hiccup was beside her and he grabbed onto her.
Her face had been cut, a small cut to the forehead and the neck, and they bled a lot more than he thought they would. He pressed a hand to her neck and she held a hand to her head as the two of them made their way to the back of the hall, where Gothi and the children were supposed to be. The village made way for the pair of them.
Snotlout was counting the kids again as Gothi waddled up to Astrid. She knelt in front of the healer and she pressed a bandage to her neck to stop the bleeding. She would be fine, she knew that, but Astrid wasn't worried about that. She looked at all the children and Hiccup did the same. But Hiccup did not notice what Astrid did.
"Snowdrop," she said harshly, looking at Snotlout. "Where is Snowdrop?"
"I had her with me at the arena," Snotlout began to say. Astrid tore away from Gothi and violently put her hands on Snotlout's collar.
"Where is my sister?!" she shrieked. Hiccup grabbed her and ripped her away from Snotlout. Ruffnut and Tuffnut met with them.
"I can't find her, either," Tuffnut said.
Astrid put her hand to her neck again, grimacing. "She's still hiding. Hide and seek, oh for the love of Odin, I need to get her!"
Stoick had overheard her and rested a hand on her back. "The doors are shut. No one goes out in this weather. Not with a Skrill on the loose. You know the rules."
"But it's my sister!" Astrid screamed. "She's going to die unless I get to her!"
"Dad, Snowdrop is all alone in a metal-encased arena. And in this rain, she'll freeze," Hiccup desperately tried to explain.
"I know, son," Stoick said painfully, yet officially. "But I can't send anyone out. Not now. I can't risk the lives of anyone else."
"I will go, I will get her!" Astrid tried to say.
"You will do no such thing!" Stoick ordered. "You are hurt, and to go out there is suicide. The answer is no."
"That may be your answer," Hiccup said, "but it's not mine."
He turned and ran through the crowd back to the doors before Stoick could grab him. He wrenched open the door and ran out, Toothless hot on his heels.
The first thing he felt was the freezing rain. It had gotten even colder, each drop like a small arrow of ice. Toothless groaned and winced against the cold. The sea in the distance crashed against the cliffs and pillars like fists of water. The roar of the Skrill sounded again.
"Let's go, bud!" Hiccup yelled, jumping onto the Night Fury and the pair lurching forward. Toothless' job was to find the right position in the wind to fly properly while Hiccup met that demand with steering his tail. Toothless opened his wings and scooped them upwards into the wind. Hiccup resisted to urge to choke in the cold as Toothless wildly flew for the arena, the dragon intelligent to know something was still there.
The chains of the arena attracted the Skrill with a delicious curiosity. It hovered over the arena. It swooped down and threatened to make its lightning dance along the metal before Hiccup cried out. "Now!"
Toothless fired his plasma shot at the Skrill, hitting it in the face and deflecting his shot. The Skrill couldn't see through the rain and thank the gods Toothless was tiny enough to slip into the arena without the huge dragon seeing. Hiccup landed, his thin body thrashed around by the roaring wind and knocking him to a knee. He glared through the water that dripped into his eyes and Toothless growled at the sky.
"Snowdrop!" Hiccup yelled. He could barely see two feet in front of him. Toothless fanned out a wing to shield his rider from the bitter iciness raining from above. The stone ground beneath them vibrated when Toothless rumbled angrily at the sky. They only had a moment to find Snowdrop.
Hiccup raised his arms over his eyes. He struggled to the other end of the arena, his boot sloshing and his metal leg slipping around. He made it to the other side and was relieved beyond reason to hear Snowdrop wailing behind the weapons cart. He shoved it aside and found her cold and wet, clutching onto a Terrible Terror, who was equally as scared.
He made a move to grab onto her, but the metal chains snapped off the roof and flew into nothingness. The Skrill landed on the wall and roared into the arena. Snowdrop shrieked and Toothless flailed back, wings unfurled and teeth gleaming with every flash of lightning. A claw came down and swiped at Hiccup, who used his body to shield Snowdrop as much as he could. He felt the leather of his suit slice open like butter but felt no pain, thank the gods. Toothless fired at the Skrill again and again, the two dragons facing off with lightning as much as they could.
Hiccup scooped Astrid's sister up and held her close. She was still screaming. He didn't know if she had been hurt, but so long as she made sound, it meant she was alive. But she wouldn't last long in this cold. Neither would Hiccup. Snowdrop clutched onto his soaked leather riding suit. He pried her from him and planted her in Toothless' saddle.
"Go, Toothless!" Hiccup cried. "Get her out of here!"
Toothless looked at him and shook his head. He wouldn't leave Hiccup. The Skrill roared again and Hiccup's hair stood on end. Time slowed down and lightning danced across the sky, arced down onto the Skrill's trembling body, and flickered along the metal frame of the arena. Light blinded Hiccup and a surge of pain and power shot up from his leg into his heart. He almost fainted, but Toothless was next to him. He fell against him and found the will to climb up and into the saddle behind Snowdrop. Toothless bounded out of the arena and flew with the wind away from the Skrill, who flew back into the sky.
His heart hurt. His body tingled and he couldn't feel his leg. He could barely work the tail and they almost crashed into the Great Hall. Toothless opened the door with his teeth and slipped inside to the people of Berk.
Hiccup slid off Toothless first among the yelling townsfolk, trying to grit his teeth. He weakly pulled Snowdrop down and limped through them. Many people gave him a wide berth, eyes wide. He saw Astrid at the end of the hall elbowing through her fellow Vikings.
"Snowdrop!" she sobbed. Snowdrop pulled from Hiccup and ran into Astrid's arms. Hiccup never saw Astrid cry so hard as when that tiny body smashed into her, shivering and blubbering. She looked her up and down and pulled off her furs to wrap around her sibling, picking her up and cradling her. The crowd cheered and praised Hiccup for his bravery.
Stoick had his fist on his hips. He gave him a terse nod as if to say he wasn't happy, but he was proud all at once. Hiccup smiled and found a pillar to lean on, his head throbbing too hard to focus anymore. Gothi took Snowdrop from her with the help of her matrons while Astrid ran over to Hiccup and grabbed him, sobbing against his chilled skin.
"Thank you, thank you so much," she cried. She pulled back and kissed Hiccup on the mouth.
In any other circumstance, Hiccup would have reacted, even kissed her back. Instead he fell against her, groaning and eyes rolling back. He couldn't breathe and he pressed a hand to his side. Toothless roared.
"Hiccup!" Astrid gasped. She helped him to the floor and lifted his chin to see his face losing colour morbidly fast. "No, no no no, look at me!"
He tried to smile, to let her know he was fine. Toothless was behind Hiccup and pulled his body against him. Astrid immediately saw the blood on his flying suit along with a horrific gash that wrapped around his ribs down to his stomach. She frantically unbuckled and untied the suit, wrenching it free. Stoick shoved through the crowd and Gobber yelled for the healers. Astrid pulled the leather away and blood spurted forth onto her furs. She cried out and slammed her hands to it, desperate to stanch the flow. Toothless whined.
And along his chest, webbing up like tiny lightning bolts were furious red markings. An elder gasped into her hand. "He has been blessed by Thor."
Hiccup grimaced in pain and began to shiver. He pressed his hand over Astrid's and looked up at her. "Is Snowdrop okay?" he asked feebly. Astrid didn't seem to want to talk about it, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Astrid? Is… Is she okay?"
"She's fine," Astrid choked. "Keep your eyes on me."
"That's n-not v-very hard t-to do," he breathed. He coughed and Astrid pressed harder against his ribs. He choked and Toothless seemed to coo and chirp beneath him. Everything went quiet to Hiccup and he kept his hand on Astrid's while the healers brought a red hot iron over. Hiccup took one look at the tool and praised the gods that he fainted before he found out what they'd use it for.