Soooo, due to the negative responses I received from my last two updates, I removed them. I honestly was not a fan myself but felt that everyone wanted the story to be drawn more towards Astrid being pregnant. I honestly did not mean for this story to be so dark. We all make mistakes and do not intend to run stories certain direction before they do...sometimes the directions are good, sometimes they are not. I do like the idea of Valka and Cecil fighting though. I think in my head that the situation is more escalated than I related in the stories. So, let me take another direction and see where this goes. If it goes into the direction everyone seems to dislike YET AGAIN, I will probably hand this one up for a while.
Here we go!
Hiccup stood in between Valka and Cecil at the doorway at as the sun was setting. Her staff was drawn up, ready for a one-on-one combat.
"Hiccup, stand aside," Valka stated.
"No, Mom. Let it go."
"He tried to murder me with his bare hands," she said to Hiccup, not taking her eyes off of Cecil.
"Listen, I get that you are angry," Hiccup said. He placed his hand on the staff, but Valka didn't lower it. "But, can you please putt that aside? It has been 20 years since that happened. People change. You should know that."
"Not this one," Valka said.
"Oh for Thor's sake, Valka!" Gobber yelled. "He's here, he has been 'ere for a month now. Put it down."
Heather sighed behind Cecil, crossing her arms. "Now I see why we hid in the woods the last month."
"And how you both went undetected surprises me!" Valka said.
"Mom, just stop-" This time it was not Hiccup that spoke. It was Astrid. She was standing up in the loft. Her arms were crossed in front of her. Hiccup could tell she was uncomfortable. Anytime those arms crossed in front of herself, hugging herself, she was nervous.
"Let Cecil inside," Astrid said.
Valka turned back to Cecil. The man never drew a weapon, even though it was clear that he carried a knife on his right ankle. Valka could see the outline of it on his pant leg. The only thing Cecil did was lower his hood when he entered the thresh hold of the doorway. A moment went by, and Valka lowered her weapon. She backed up to her seat at the table, but never took her eye off of Cecil as she did so. It was obvious she didn't trust him.
Astrid came down the stairs slowly. Heather approached and gave her a quick hug.
"Everything Hiccup said-it was true?" Astrid whispered.
"It was," Heather said to her. She gave her a quick squeeze. "He isn't dreaming some of this up."
"We will talk later," Astrid said to her quietly. When they let go of their embrace they realized Hiccup and Cecil had taken a seat at the table with Gobber.
...
Once the village lights were put out for the evening, Astrid met Heather in The Great Hall. Only a few people remained there taking part in a late dinner. They sipped on some warm tea with peppermint and talked.
"Hiccup's had these horrible nightmares since he came home," Astrid said to Heather. "About Dagur. About Cecil. The most current one was last night and you were in it. But, up until the night he escaped, he never saw you."
"He didn't. Cecil gave me updates on Hiccup's condition in passing. We formulated a plan of escape. The plan was for me to tie Cecil up, play as though I was the only one who kidnapped him. I was going to hide Windsheer away, but once the opportunity was right Cecil was going to bring Windsheer to me. He wanted it to look like I had taken Hiccup and rescued him, keeping Cecil in Dagur's eyes as a loyal servant for a little while."
Astrid sighed. "But, that didn't happen."
"No. Cecil did all he could to protect Hiccup and make him comfortable. Astrid, you should have seen the worry and concern on his face when he was taking care of him. His worry and wanting to keep Hiccup out of pain is what fumbled our plan of escape. He waited until Dagur grew so impatient that we were caught."
After a moment of silence, Astrid bit the inside of her lip and said, "I need to go apologize to Hiccup. I know he felt alone when Valka and I didn't come after him. I didn't know how to help him, and thought there was nothing I could do to help him at this point. My thoughts were everywhere-"
"I get it, Astrid," Heather said. "I felt bad you and Valka had to find him like that when we got separated."
"He's getting better now," Astrid said. "I think we are officially on the upswing with him." She reached acrossed the table and took Heather's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Thank you for helping Cecil get him back home."
Heather gave her hand a small squeeze in return. "More than welcome."
...
Astrid returned home alone. Heather had made arrangements to stay the evening with Gothi. Cecil, on the other hand, was over at Gobber's. Valka wanted a sharp eye kept on him, and not inside her home.
She took in a breath before she opened the door to the bedroom. To her surprise, a few candles were lit, and Hiccup was working at his desk. It appeared as though he had gotten a hold of some paperwork that Valka or Gobber had been helping to handle while Hiccup wasn't in any shape to deal with them. The stack was large, but she could see he had cut it up into sections to work on.
He acknowledged her a moment later after he made a note on a piece of parchment. He gave her a small smile. A moment later, he moved the parchment aside and proceeded towards where she sat on the edge of their bed. She looked up at him as he did. She held back a fear tears. He reached for her hand, pulled her to her feet, and held her close to him.
Gently, he wrapped one arm around her waste, and moved a hand into his own. He kissed her cheek gently, and began to hum slowly a favorite song that he held near and dear to his heart over the last two years. Gently, he moved with her.
"I'll swim and sale on savage seas
With never a fear of drowning
And gladly ride the waves of life
If you would marry me
No scorching sun nor freezing cold
Will stop me on my journey
If you will promise me in your heart
And love
and love me for eternity
My dearest one, my darling dear
Your might words astound me
But I've no need for your mighty deeds
When I feel your arms around me
But I would bring you rings of gold
I'd even sing you poetry
and I would keep you from all harm
If you would stay beside me
I have no use for rings of gold
I care not for your poetry
I only want your hand to hold
I only want you near me
To love and kiss to sweetly hold
For the dancing and the dreaming
Through all life's sorrows
And delights
I'll keep your laugh inside me
I'll swim and sail a savage seas
With never a fear of drowning
I'd gladly ride the waves so white
And you will marry me
(****I do not own this song. This song was in How to Train your Dragon 2. It is owned by it's original writer and/or Dreamworks. They receive all credit.)
Astrid sniffed slightly and laid her head against Hiccup's shoulder.
"I'm sorry," she said to him quietly.
"No reason to be, milady," he said gently to her. "Honestly, Astrid, I don't know if I would have believe myself in your feet."
"I pushed you away this morning," she said to him. "I cannot tell you how sorry I am. The loneliness you must have felt-or still feel!"
"Shhhhh," Hiccup said, pulled her head back to his shoulder. He held her closer. "I love you, Astrid. I was angry, but I am not anymore. I promise I am not angry at all."
"You have every right to be-"
He led her to their bed and sat her down. Once again, he held her close. "If that is true, I am not. I'm still a little confused. I still do not have all the answers. What I do know, is we are both here, everyone we hold dear to our hearts is alive and well. And-we know I wasn't completely losing my mind." He chucked to himself slightly. He wiped a few of her tears away with his thumb, and kissed her cheek. "No, milady, how about we get some much needed shut eye. We are going to need some rest if we plan on taking over patrol tomorrow."
"Promise me you won't over do it?" she asked him. He avoided eye contact at this point. She knew he had a lot of ideas running through his head. "Hiccup, the last thing we need is for your to overdo it and get hurt again."
"Astrid, you can't shelter me forever, he said to her. Eventually, I need to break free and get back out there. I promise, though, if I start feeling overwhelmed I will come back home. I'm sure you will be right beside me."
She gave him a smile. "Of course."
"Good," he replied. "Now, lets get some sleep."
Without leaving their bed, they curled up together, holding each other close. While they settled, Toothless gently breathed on the candles to put them out, bringing darkness back into the room for the evening. He then warmed up his slab of rock, curled up and went to sleep himself.
...
When Cecil woke up the next morning, Gobber was already sitting at his kitchen table with a bowl of pour-age. Gobber had also made another bowl just for Cecil and had set it down acrossed the table.
"Morning," Cecil said to Gobber. He felt his movements being studied carefully as he took a seat. Gobber didn't bother to say hello to him. "Thank you for breakfast."
"Well, it's common rule to feed our guests in the morning-whether we want to or not."
It was plain to see Gobber was only having Cecil stay with him out of Hiccup's request. He knew he would not be welcomed with open arms on the island. This came as no surprise.
"I'm sorry if I am an inconvenience to you," Cecil said gently. He made eye contact with Gobber. "I don't mind staying in the Cove."
"I wouldn' 'ear the end of it from the chief," Gobber said. "Besides, I need to keep my eye on you. Thor knows you won't go venturing out alone-not here."
"I'm sure Spitelout would have my head," Cecil said to him. He took a small bite of his hot pour-age. "I have already told Hiccup this myself."
"Hiccup has been-how would you say-protected when the subject comes t'you," Gobber said to him.
"However he has knowledge that I "nearly murdered his mother with my bare hands-'"
"The only reason tha' information was shared to 'im is because he couldn' understand the hatred his mother has for you."
"Yet, he still remains trustworthy to me," said Cecil. He took another bite of his pour-age. "Gobber, humor me for a moment. But, Eret lives here and is accepted on this island despite his past. He and I crossed paths when we were both in the dragon hunting business-in fact, I started Eret's training before I left them. He's accepted here-Astrid ran to him when Hiccup was stranded in the storm. Clearly he has proven people change. What is so wrong about you putting matters aside and accepting me?"
"Eret earned our trust," Gobber said. "Tha' is something you need to earn as well."
"I saved the boy-"
"You saved our chief," Gobber corrected him. "So Hiccup claims."
"Heather trusts me. And she is a close friend to Hiccup."
Gobber sighed. He was getting testy. "Tha' may be the case, Cecil. But, there are mult'ple other accounts you've done to villagers on this island. In fact, I still recall the day ye' nearly cut m' only remaining arm off-"
"That was years ago-"
"You attacked Stoick's father-"
"The man threatened to remove me from the island without anything to help me survive-"
"He threatened you because you were stealing the only trading gold the island had piece by piece-"
Cecil put both hands into the air. He let out a breath. "Gobber, there is no use for me to defend myself. I haven't set a toe on this island in nearly twenty-five years. I was an angry man, who lost his parents as a boy in a dragon raid. I was on a bad path in life. Over the years, I have made mistakes. Ones I regret, and ones I do not. Please do not make me regret saving Hiccup-Because I do not."
"Cecil, all I can say is tha' you need to prove yourself a true Hooligan again befo' anyone here will accept you back."
"I do not want to stay here forever," Cecil said to him. "I want to make sure Dagur is finished, and make sure Hiccup lives through it. After that, I ask to be on my way."
Gobber chuckled. "If any villager realizes you are here, ye' know they would 'ave your head."
Cecil rubbed his face in frustration. He took in a deep breath and sighed.
"I won't continue arguing with you, Gobber. I know I almost took your arm-" Cecil was counting off his treacherous acts on his fingers. "-I know I attacked Stoick's father-I know I stole metal from you before I fled the island-I know I ruined Spitelout's wedding-I set fire to the woods as a boy on purpose, and we nearly starved in the winter because of it-And I know I nearly killed Valka twenty years ago-WITH MY BARE HANDS-" Cecil sighed. "I know I have done wrong, Gobber. For once, I wanted to do something right."
Gobber was taken aback suddenly. Cecil sighed. He pulled his hood up over his head, and reached to the bread bowl and cut himself off a slice. "Thank you for breakfast." He bowed his head for a moment. "Forgive me, but the sun is close to rising, and I would feel better if I could remain at the Cove. Please let Hiccup Haddock for me that is where I will be staying."
With that, Cecil departed through Gobber's door and headed for the Cove, leaving Gobber in a small state of shock. Had he really changed?
I admit, earlier today I was at a church event and I had read some of the reviews. I was upset that I had disappointed my readers with my two updates yesterday. So, instead of completely giving up, despite a 13 hour day of work and a church function I was helping with, I came home and wrote this. All I want to say is Thank You for driving me to try to improve. I am very happy with how this chapter turned out. And now instead of hitting a road block, I have another chapter idea in mind. But before I start that, I WANT to hear what you all think!