Hello, all! Again, thank you to all those who have recently followed our adventure and commented on it. I have been having some annoying troubles with the laptop but now that I have a window to breathe, I have another chappie! Enjoy. :)

Chapter Seven: The Fight, The Chase, The Stars

Stoick smiled to himself as he watched Hiccup and Astrid down the hill, but that happiness was soon shattered by a scream behind him.

"What's he doing?!" Barb shrieked. "Who is that girl?!"

"That is my son's betrothed," Stoick replied simply, ushering her back inside. Barb sneered and punched Stoick's chest. She hurt her own hand and did nothing to the chief, but Spitelout and Gobber, Stoick's right hands, seized her and hauled her away.

"She's not from another clan!" Barb screamed. "He broke the rules!"

"The rule was he was allowed to choose, and he did," Stoick replied, raising his hands to quiet the freshly disturbed clansmen. "My son has chosen his bride. That was what my wife wanted, and that is what he shall get."

"It's not fair!" Barb cried, paint running down her face. Her father came up behind her and held onto her, shooting a glare at Stoick. Stoick held his ground. praying this would not fester into something unmanageable. Tension between the clans wasnot what he needed.

"It was a mistake coming here," the brutish girl remarked. "Some marriage contract. I thought this would expand our clans, not keep it isolated to this godforsaken island."

"Watch your tongue, Cauli," her father sneered. "He is still the chief."

"As if," was her retort. "Why did we travel all this way if this was the answer?"

Stoick sighed and pursed his lips. "There will be a wedding, regardless. Stay, feast, and be merry. Either way, this is joyous news and there will still be new treaties signed and arranged, that will not change. New negotiations of the allianced clans have been scribed and are waiting your review, just as it would have been regardless."

That seemed to keep a lot of clansmen at bay. Rose looked out the doors and turned to Stoick with a smile. "I'm glad that's all sorted, then!"

Stoick chuckled as he waved to Hiccup and Astrid far yonder to come back. There was much left to do in the night.

Hiccup pried himself from Astrid's frigid face and looked back. Astrid huddled against him for warmth but didn't find much. She touched her hand to his side and found it spotted minimally with tiny splotches of blood. Toothless bounded towards them and licked Astrid's face as if he already knew the news and the two of them clambered behind him and let him carry them proudly back into the Great Hall.

Clothing soaked and muddy and slightly stained with red, the two were applauded and covered in heavy blankets. The crowd parted so they could walk up the platform to the fire. They shivered and awkwardly looked out to the crowd. Some were smiling. Some were scowling. Hiccup laughed nervously and the whole room vibrated with giggles and chuckles and chortles.

"Back to the ceremony!" Stoick bellowed. "Son, tell the clans your decision."

Hiccup let down his blanket to let a matron check his ribs. He lifted the shirt and the room gasped at once, sucking the air in and suspending it as they saw the ugly cut formed partially into a scar and spilt open at the sides. The matron dabbed at it with a clean cloth as Hiccup looked to Astrid, who couldn't help but smile.

"So, uh…" Hiccup began, "that was not what I expected."

Another communal laugh released the gasp and the matron released his shirt and brought his blanket back over his shoulders.

"The scroll my mother wrote didn't have a single name on it. In fact, there were no names on it at all," he continued. He swallowed. "My mother left us when I was seven. I hardly remember her, but when I read it, I knew they were her words, her wishes. She told me to choose for myself and I'd love to introduce you my betrothed."

Hiccup reached out a hand from under the blankets and gestured to Astrid proudly. "Astrid was that choice for me."

"Slattern!" an angry voice sneered from the back. Hiccup jumped and Stoick had a hand on the hilt of his great sword. Barb elbowed her way through the crowd with her posse ducking nervously. "Slut! Whore!"

Hiccup stepped in front of Astrid, suddenly very protective and livid. Astrid tried to shove by to give Barb a piece of her mind – or a fist to the mouth more likely – but Hiccup held firm. The last thing he wanted was a fight. He stared at Barb who glared at him.

"That was unnecessary," Stoick barked to Barb's family and clan. "Show some grace."

"She never did!" Barb seethed. "I've sniffed about, I've heard about this yak! They say she was taken already, taken and impure and whorified and spoiled!"

Astrid shook with anger and disgust at that. Hiccup shuddered down his spine at the thought of that scenario.

"You can't marry someone who is unspoiled, my dad says so!" Barb shrieked.

"I'm no more spoiled than you are!" Astrid yelled back. The crowd gasped loudly and Barb's father stepped forward in offense. "I wish I meant that in the worst possible way, but I have never been touched!"

"Oh yeah?!" Barb screamed. "I heard some of your matrons muttering about and saying they were as confused as I am because they had to fix you up, put everything back together!"

Astrid fumed and looked at Hiccup. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath and asked Hiccup to step aside as politely as possible. She faced Barb from the top of the platform. Hiccup had the memory of her shuddering in the cove, blood on the ground, her face twisted in a pain that was consentual and possibly regretted. He shook his head of the image.

"When I was fifteen," Astrid announced to the hall, "my parents told me I was to be married off. No love, no knowledge. And I didn't want to be sold off like livestock off a boat simply to better my family's finances and to breed some children. I wanted freedom. So I took a knife and freed myself. Because I wanted to fly dragons and fight armies and run wild rather than primp and preen and pray that some random boy would have my name on a piece of parchment."

Barb almost responded but then clamped her mouth shut. She glared. "So you did it to yourself? Because you didn't want to get married?"

"It may not make sense to anyone, but yes. I didn't want to marry anyone. So I made sure no one would want me."

"But he does!" Barb cried, thrusting a fat finger at Hiccup.

"I knew Astrid did this to herself," Hiccup said strongly. Stoick looked over and the matrons all sucked back and tittered to each other as if everything suddenly made sense. "I'm sorry I didn't pick you, Barb, but in all honesty, you deserve someone who knows your interests."

Barb's chin quivered before she spun away, huffing and shoving past her father to get to the sheep meat roasting over another fire. Astrid understood that feeling – when in humiliated sadness, eat a lot of meat. Astrid looked over to Hiccup and gave him a small smile before Cauli, the huge girl with the temper, stepped forward.

"I don't like this," she said harshly, "that we take the word from a dead woman over some good ol' tradition!"

Stoick stepped forward with his hand on his hilt. "Watch it, Cauli. That dead woman happens to be my wife!"

"I don't see any wife standing up there making the calls!"

Hiccup raised his hands in defense but Astrid placed a hand on his shoulder. She pulled him back sternly and threw the blanket off her damp body, revealing her dirty dress and a trembling posture. The anger, the rage bubbling up inside her breast, Astrid defended Hiccup's mother as fiercly as her own. The casualities of Berk were sacred, and to tramp upon them was disgusting. She looked down at Cauli.

"What would make our honoured guests content?" Astrid asked threateningly. Hiccup knew whenever Astrid used formal language, she was readying herself for a fight. He sunk into his shoulders.

Cauli smiled, showing her crooked teeth. "I want to see you earn your place next to him."

"None of that!" Hiccup growled. "My betrothal needs no more proving than my choice!"

Astrid looked at him with a look that clearly said 'shut the hell up before I shove my fist so far down your throat, you won't be hungry for a moon cycle'. She looked back to Cauli, who had a wide berth around her. Even Stoick was reluctant to reject her reasonable request for a Viking-like preposition. "A fight? Would that make you happy?"

"Depends on the terms," Cauli snorted. She spat on the ground and pulled her great sword forward. "First, if I beat you, I get his hand, his titles, and his land."

Hiccup groaned and Astrid thought for a moment. "Is that all? When you say 'first', I assume there's more."

Cauli smiled. "And your dragon."

Astrid immediately straightened her back and clenched her fists. There was a roar from Berk's Vikings; a bond between a dragon and their rider was sacred, spiritual and individual. Among the noise was Hiccup, looking to his father to call off the challenge.

"You can't do that, Cauli! A dragon isn't something you can trade!" Hiccup yelled. Cauli shrugged and stared at Astrid.

"If you win, I will pledge my allegiance to Berk, to serve and fight with my armies if you need it, to renew our treaties with Berk to silidify them until the end of time. Consider it a wedding gift."

There was a tense silence as Astrid glared, furious at the intrusive taunts of Cauli's snarky mouth.

"Seems fair," Astrid mumbled, unamused. There was a murmur among the Vikings, and Cauli's father even receded to pure intrigue. Hiccup bit his lip and watched Astrid's shivering body tower over Cauli's from the platform.

"I'll make it even fairer," she said with a harsh laugh. "You can have someone fight with you."

Astrid sucked in a breath as Cauli reached out and grabbed Rose by the collar and thrust her forward. She cried out and Hiccup gasped. The room vibrated with retorts as Rose skittered to halt before Astrid. Astrid looked down at her with a sickened expression.

"She's a child!" Astrid growled.

"Don't care. Use her. She's annoyingly quiet."

Rose looked up at Astrid, eyes wide. Astrid looked from her to Cauli and back again before stepping down the platform, standing in front of Rose, and tilted her chin up strongly. Gods, she was beautiful.

"Please tell me you're not as innocent as you look," Astrid muttered to Rose's pretty face. Rose blinked, but to Astrid's surprise, Rose straightened her shoulders and gave a nod. Suddenly, Cauli hurled herself for the pair of them, sword raised. Astrid shoved Rose back and ducked as the blade soared over her head. Hiccup cried out along with hundreds of others. Astrid rolled to her feet.

"What about weapons?" she yelled.

"Guess you don't have any!" Cauli cackled. She charged again and Astrid jumped out of the way. Stoick grabbed onto Hiccup and pulled him back.

"Let them fight," Stoick growled to his struggling son.

"I need to stop this!" Hiccup sneered.

"To do so risks war. And Cauli's people have the soldiers."

Suddenly, Cauli turned to Rose, who was pulling herself off the ground. Her rosy cheek had been scraped on the stone, her green eyes wide with observant fear. Her dark hair fell in front of her face as she scrambled to her feet. Astrid ran to Cauli, but she was ready and elbowed Astrid out of the way, knocking her into a beam with a loud crack. Astrid hit the floor hard as Cauli ran for Rose. But instead of running, Rose grabbed her belt that cinched her skirts and tore the buckle free. Hiccup struggled against his father as Cauli raised her blade.

Rose pulled the belt free and attached to it were her skirts, leaving behind a pair of leather pants. She billowed her skirts forward and threw them over Cauli, using the belt to secure it around Cauli's arms. Blinded, Cauli flung herself around as Rose ran to a beam, kicked off it, and landed on Cauli. She dug her fingers into her enemy's face and crossed her legs so Cauli wouldn't throw her off. Astrid leapt to her feet. She cringed and she couldn't stand up straight. Broken ribs? She wasn't sure. But she knew that she had one weapon, and that was Rose.

Astrid ran to Cauli and avoided her swinging sword. Rose screamed as her body was wrenched back and forth, but amazingly enough, she stayed on. She pulled back on Cauli's head and the huge woman lost her footing, helped by Astrid kicking her feet from under her. Rose wriggled out of the way and rolled over the ground, landing on her feet briskly. Astrid threw herself to Cauli's hand and stomped on her wrist until her sword came free. She grabbed the sword and thrust it under her throat. Cauli sneered and glared at Astrid.

"I win," Astrid panted. "So sod off."

Cauli's frown transformed into hearty laughter. "Finally. That was entertaining. I adhere to my terms. Now get off me."

Astrid stumbled back and Rose jumped off limberly. She skittered to her skirts and buckled them around her waist again, trying to be unnoticed. But of course, many eyes were on the girl that seemed so quiet and innocent. Astrid gave her a nod as she stumbled up the ramp. Hiccup grabbed her and noticed her grimace.

"Are you alright?" Hiccup breathed. But Astrid wrapped her arms around Hiccup's neck and kissed him deeply, breathing in his scent and getting a huge response from the crowd. Hiccup reminded himself to breathe. Astrid very rarely started a romantic action – sometimes a kiss after a punch that was quick and to the point – but this was far from that. She pulled away and turned to the crowd once more.

"Let that be proof in itself. I want no more games, no more challenges. I want a wedding."

And a wedding we shall have!" Stoick boomed. He clasped Hiccup and Astrid and smiled to the Great Hall. The next thing they knew, they were being surrounded by everyone, the platform creaking under the weight of hundreds of Vikings.

"I told you it was about time!" Tuffnut sneered, elbowing Ruffnut out of the way. Fishlegs laughed and shook Hiccup's arm, threatening to break it with his massive strength. But it was Toothless who jumped through everyone, barreling into Hiccup and licking his face, leaping off, and crashing into Astrid. Rose jumped out of the way, dabbing at her face, smiling thoughtfully at how Toothless licked Hiccup over and over. She cocked a head to the side before Toothless wrenched his massive head around and cantered over to Rose herself, sniffing at her skirts and looking at her curiously. Rose giggled and patted his nose gently.

Toothless dove in to smell her more, sniffing about the floor and chortling deep in his throat. She was pressed against a pillar. Astrid stared and felt her gut clench, but before she could alert Hiccup to the oddity, Toothless was finished exploring and jumped through the crowd to an open barrel of smelly, delectable fish. Astrid glared at Rose before Hiccup grabbed her hand.

"I know it's customary," Hiccup yelled over the loud voices, "that the bride be taken in by the elders to prepare her for what I'm sure will be a wonderful wedding – at least, I certainly hope so; it's my wedding – but I have one thing to say before that happens!"

Hiccup looked to Stoick proudly and entwined his long fingers into Astrid's calloused hand. He looked at her and gave her hand a hard squeeze.

"Before you take her from me, before we begin the purity period, I'd like to say… RUN!"

Hiccup leapt off the platform with Astrid in tow and barreled out the door. Ruffnut and Tuffnut, Snotlout and Fishlegs, all caught on and shoved Vikings out of the way so they could smash through the door. The other Vikings – the men who would care for Hiccup and the women who would care for Astrid – all yelled in happy protest and pursued them. It was a fairly new tradition for the bride and groom to run off and be chased by the villagers and guests.

Astrid felt the cold air fly through her as the two of them slipped and stumbled their way down the hill from the Great Hall into the village. It was no longer raining, thankfully. If there was one thing the two were equally good at, it was running. So they ran, giddy and cold and excited, breathless and overwhelmed by the night. They heard people behind them and Hiccup ran through the smithy, over the anvil and to Astrid's house. They ran in and Hiccup shut the door. Astrid shivered as he shoved a cupboard in front of it. He spun around to see her, soaked and pale and with a huge smile on her face.

"They're going to look here, you troll," Astrid chattered.

"Don't talk, just get into something dry," Hiccup begged happily. Astrid paled further and looked at her dress.

"You mean… just take it off?" She looked up at him shyly, colour returning to her face.

Hiccup paled harsher than her and gulped. "Oh. Oh, no. I didn't mean that."

Astrid cracked into a small smile. "You're freaking out."

"I don't want to freak you out," Hiccup stammered. "I didn't want you to take off your clothing in front of me, I mean, I just want you to be comfortable."

"Would you be comfortable if I took off my dress?" Astrid asked innocently with a hint of mischief.

Hiccup swayed and rubbed his forehead. "I'm… uh… no… not that you're not… well… I just… everything sort of happened all at once and while I can't believe it worked out the way it did… I… I'm still not…"

Astrid nodded slowly. "It's something to get used to… the whole… idea."

"Yeah," Hiccup replied. "I mean… we sort of have expectations now. To, you know…"

Astrid widened her eyes and straightened her posture. "Oh. Right. That."

"But not right now!" Hiccup stammered. But Astrid couldn't help but think about it. The way his longish hair began to poke up as it dried, the way his green eyes looked so concerned, how she could see his skin through his soaked shirt and how lanky and lean he was from dragon riding, how his prosthetic leg broke the silence with a tiny squeak, how kissing him made her feel, the idea of letting him take off her dress and kissing her neck –

Suddenly, a loud bang knocked Astrid out of her warm reverie. She whirled around and snatched a fur cloak from her chair and grabbed Hiccup's hand. They bounded up the steps to Astrid's room where the dragon door was. Stormfly reared her massive head and Astrid called to her.

She climbed onto Stormfly's back and hauled Hiccup up behind her. Stormfly jumped out of the door and onto the roof. The house was surrounded and the Nadder shot into the sky. Stormfly ran off the roof and sliced into the sky, Astrid and Hiccup holding onto her as she raced away from the village.

"It will take them some time to get their dragons up," Astrid called over the wind. "Where to?"

"The sea stacks. I don't want to fly Stormfly too much. I want her to be okay with her wing."

They flew in silence, piercing the sky only with the sound of Stormfly's beating wings and purring. They circled around the island in the cover of the thick clouds and eventually touched gently on the mossy top of a great sea stack, scarred from hundreds of years of dragon claws begin sharpened on the rocky surface, smooth from the harsh weather. Hiccup slid down and helped Astrid. She grunted quietly and held her side for a moment.

"She was a dirty fighter," she muttered simply, but she relaxed when she felt that her ribs were intact. Hiccup held her hand and led her to the edge of the sea stack. He sat down and stared at the clouds parting, showing off the huge moon. They sat for what seemed like an eternity, but they enjoyed every minute of it. It was quiet up here, it was calm. Hiccup reached over and grabbed Astrid's hand. He pulled her close and they kept looking at the sky, wrapped in her one fur cloak, wet and stiff but content.

Soon, they could see stars. Tiny spatters of twinkling jewels came out in the velvet sky and Astrid curled up close. "What are you thinking about?" she murmured as gentle as a feather brush. Hiccup breathed deeply and held onto her.

"My mum," he said quietly. Astrid nodded against his cheek and traced her gaze over the constellations.

"Do you think they'd be happy?" Astrid asked. "With us?"

Hiccup took a moment. "They were great friends, I'm told," he replied.

"Do you think they're watching us?"

Hiccup nuzzled Astrid and breathed in her scent. "I hope so… but… it's weird."

"Hmm?"

"I feel like…" Hiccup hesitated and swallowed. "I feel like… she's out there. She's somewhere out there looking for me."

His body gave a harsh shake and Astrid felt her cheek get wet. She looked up and saw Hiccup crying, expressionless and silent, as he ran his fingers through her drying hair. She sat up and cupped his face and forced him to look at her.

"Hey…"

Hiccup blinked and looked at her fondly. He smiled, making another tear fall down his raised cheek. "Yes?"

She smiled in the moonlight and didn't let herself think. "She is out there, Hiccup. She up there in the clouds, in the sky. She's the air under our dragons and the warm breeze that makes us shiver. She's out there and so is mine. They're together, our parents, and they're going to watch us marry and when it rains, it'll be because they're crying of happiness."

Hiccup sniffed and squeezed her. "Are you upset that it's me?"

Astrid blinked and squinted in confusion. "What?"

"Do you want to do this? With me, as I am, with all my flaws?"

She gave his face a squeeze and smirked. "I'm the only one who can tolerate you, I think. I think it's a perfect arrangement. And if I change my mind, I can just beat you until I am satisfied."

Hiccup chuckled and kissed her forehead gently. "Deal."

"You know…" Astrid said sleepily, "…I'm happy. I'm really happy. I'm the happiest I've been in so long and it's not because I had to fight someone. It's because someone chose me instead."

"I aim to impress," Hiccup replied. Astrid grinned and kissed him softly on his cold lips. He pressed into her with caution, kissing her and enjoying the feeling of her lips and nose on his cold skin. And they kept kissing quietly and gently until the others found them and separated them in preparation for their big day.