5) He's back
"Who are you?" Astrid said exasperated. She clutched her axe tightly in her right and began moving closer towards Hiccup, meanwhile Hiccup staggered backwards in fear of what Astrid was going to do with her axe. "Start talking! Who are you and why are you in the chief's home?"
"Umm…." Hiccup said, insecure over how the heck he was going to get out of this situation. "Funny story…"
Hiccup thought that if he kept Astrid distracted long enough than maybe he had a shot in escaping Astrid's wrath, but she wasn't so cooperative on the plan. She began swing her axe first to Hiccup's right side then to his left side, only to get dodged in the last second every time by stepping to the opposite side.
"Talk!" Astrid hissed. "Otherwise I'll cut you into tiny pieces and give you to the dragons."
Hiccup snorted by her threat, the idea of him being cut to pieces he might have believed, but he highly doubted that the dragons would eat his flesh. Toothless would never have allowed it for one thing and also because the dragons they would have in the arena would eat fish or animal meat, not humans despite what the Vikings thought.
"Right, I bet they would find me very delicious and they would fight tooth and nails just to get a taste of me," Hiccup mumbled sarcastic. He didn't think Astrid could hear his comment, but his was mistaken when she shrieked in fury and swung her axe again. Hiccup couldn't dodge this attack due to his body leaning behind the wooden kitchen table and Astrid moving quickly to the sides, taking away Hiccup's tactic of escape. He didn't want to use his sword on Astrid, not that he could use it anyway due to the situation, but he certainly didn't want to get chopped to bits. Hiccup used his side vision to see the table while keeping attention to Astrid's whereabouts. The table seemed strong enough to keep his weight, guessing by the fact that it can probably hold one of his dad's punches into the table without splitting it in two. So Hiccup didn't think much about when Astrid swung her blade right at him and he quick and swiftly jumped up on the table. Astrid's blade had gotten stuck in the wood as a consequence of this action and she looked up at him in anger. Hiccup stared at her with eyes filled with insecurity and sadness, looking at her made him feel those small feelings he used to have for her a long time ago. He knew that she didn't and never would feel the same way about him who would, considering he used to be Hiccup the Useless around his peers. Plus the fact that his best friend is a dragon and he has plans to steal one of Berk greatest treasures, that didn't exactly show he was such a great catch as a boyfriend let alone a husband to anyone.
Hiccup began to notice that Astrid's expression was slipping away as she continued to stare him down. He wondered why she would look at him so closely, most Vikings didn't take much time observing people and Astrid was no different. However her blue eyes told him she was both curious and insecure over who was standing above her, looking down on her with such eyes that held so many secrets that even the gods won't know about. Then Hiccup realized something was missing. He wasn't wearing his helmet that covered his face and he became perturbed by the fact that right now Astrid didn't look like she was looking at a stranger, but at someone she clearly knew. Hiccup knew that he had really screwed up this time, especially if she realized how she knew him.
If she ever doubted there was something strange about this guy before, then there was something really strange about him now as his face expressed anxiousness or distressed. Astrid was angry that someone had managed to dodge and make a fool out of her attacks, but when her axe was stuck in the wooden table and he was standing on top of it she began to notice something familiar with him. He was certainly more handsome than most other Vikings, especially if she compared him to Snotlout, Tuffnut and Fishlegs. He was taller than her and the rest of the teens with a leaner and stronger built. His auburn hair was somewhat scraggy and unkempt with two small braids behind his right ear. He also had minor frecles on his cheeks and Astrid could barely notice a small white scar just bellow his bottom lip. However the thing that fascinated her the most were his eyes. Such a beautiful forest green color that was rare to see among Vikings since most of them usually had brown or blue eyes. The only people she knew who had green eyes were the chief and his wayward son, who had disappeared five years prior. Astrid still felt ashamed over how she had chased Hiccup out of Berk because his inability to fight dragons during dragon training, even after everyone told her that there was nothing she should feel guilty over. It had been in the heat of the moment when she stated her anger and annoyance towards Hiccup, who had been distracted by something when they were fighting the Deadly Nadder. Of course she wasn't lying about what she had said, but she should have handled the situation better and kept her temper under control. And when Hiccup disappeared into thin air everyone in the village with the exception of Mildew started to feel slightly guilty for how they had treated him, Astrid felt extremely guilty since he was a good and intelligent person despite his mistakes. Sure, he was different from any other Viking, but it was who he was and he couldn't change that no matter how much trouble and grief he gave the village. Hiccup was the heir of Berk unless the chief said otherwise, which was pretty doubtful considering the next in line was Snotlout, who would probably burn Berk to the ground on the first day as chief. At least the isle would go down with a huge bang, instead of being taken over by enemies or dragons.
Anyway Astrid noticed something oddly familiar about this guy standing above her, and he only confirmed her suspicion when he started to look upset over her looking at him. Did he know her or better yet did she know him? She wasn't entirely sure, but she wasn't going to stand there and guess the answer. If she wanted to know something then she got to find the answers, even if the answers lied with this weirdo.
"Who are you?" Astrid asked once again, but this time wasn't going to accept his silence. "Do I know you?"
The guy became flustered and nervous to answer her, only mumbling something she couldn't understand. His reaction reminded her of Hiccup whenever he had been around her and tried to talk to her. However there was no way this guy could be Hiccup, he was probably eaten by a dragon and left for dead. Then why would she even think they were similar?
"I-I…." the guy stuttered nervously. "A-A-Astrid, you must b-be mistaking me for s-someone else."
"I don't think so, tell me why you are in the chief's house without his permission," Astrid said determined. "And don't try and lie to me."
He groaned in annoyance and only shook his head refusing her request for answers. Fine, Astrid thought to herself. If he didn't want to make things easier then she wasn't going to make it easy for him either. She used all her strength and pulled her axe out of the table and was about to swing when the guy suddenly jumped from the table. She could only stare by the sudden action as he landed perfectly behind her. He was swift like a bird flying through the sky and he seemed almost graceful in his movements despite him being male. She never thought she would consider a man graceful especially when she didn't even consider herself as such. He stared at her for moment with eyes that held so many secrets that she couldn't even imagine before he sprinted to the back of the room. Realizing that he was trying to escape her, she quickly followed after him knowing that if he ran towards the back of the room it led to a dead end. He wouldn't escape her or trick her to believe he could possibly be Hiccup. No, she was going to get her answers and bring him to the chief so he would be punished for his actions, even if it meant death. However he surprised her when he didn't stop and instead managed to get out of the house through a hidden backdoor. What was even worse was that he had managed to place a bucket a few steps away from the door without her noticing it, which he avoided easily meanwhile she stumbled surprised and her left foot got stuck into the bucket. Astrid was furious over falling for such a simple trick and no matter what she did the bucket didn't come off, and with a bucket attached to her foot her fighting ability was limited.
"I-I'm…s-sorry," the stupid guy said. He was glancing at her with a pitiful and guilty expression on his face, almost like he felt sorry for her. She didn't say anything because her anger was about to explode and she wasn't willing to show him how close she was about to lose her temper. So she turned her head away to see if she could get her foot out of the bucket. However when she looked up again the guy was gone, leaving the backdoor open.
Never had Hiccup been so glad in escaping his father's house than he was right now. He hadn't expected that someone had followed him and waited for him to leave. Then again he had never been able to figure Astrid out, considering that she is a Viking with more layers than one, she was strong and independent enough to stand her ground than rather just following the crowd like the rest. It was probably one of the reasons why he liked her. She had always known who she was and apparently hasn't changed in that area. In contrast with him, he was insecure of himself and still had no clue who he was. Of course he was Stoick the Vast's son and heir as well being the social outcast and troublemaker of the village. However what did it say about him when he was also a dragon trainer and possibly a traitor of Berk. Hiccup's thoughts were confusing and distracting to think about, but he kept on running up the hill behind his dad's house. Soon either Astrid alarm the Vikings or the Vikings would begin notice that he wasn't anticipating in taking out the dragons, and Hiccup wasn't really in the mood to get caught for the second time today.
Hiccup stopped when he reached the top of the hill, overlooking the Vikings trying to fight the two dragons meanwhile the dragons weren't even slightly concerned over the situation since they had complete control over it and looked almost amused by the Vikings incompetence. He smirked over his best friend's amusement, knowing perfectly well that Toothless had been missing fighting Vikings for some time now because of they constantly moved around and never really interacted with humans. Of course Toothless never fought Vikings directly if he could help himself, but a dragon's nature was impossible to change and part of their nature was in fact fighting Vikings, even though that didn't mean they necessary would hurt them on purpose.
Hiccup cupped his hands around his mouth and made a roaring sound to get Toothless's attention. He was surprised that the Vikings didn't notice his dragon call, but he brushed it off thinking that they would care unless they actually heard a dragon roar. Toothless turned his head in the direction to where he was standing and made roar to the Nightmare that it was time to flee. The Nightmare nodded and let out a powerful roar, chasing the Vikings at a distance before taking flight. Meanwhile Hiccup saw the Vikings keeping the small distance between them and the Nightmare, but continued to throw wooden sticks at the dragon. Hiccup saw one of them that was attacking the dragon was his dad, however his dad didn't see him because his back was turned towards him. Just like old times before he began trying to help during dragon raids and Hiccup was left standing on the sidelines to watch the glory of his father. Knowing perfectly well that he could never be like his father, and who could blame him? He wasn't like his dad at all. So how could he ever become someone so strong and selfless as his dad was towards his people?
Hiccup was lost in his thought when he heard a voice shout out towards the battlefield.
"CHIEF!" Astrid yelled out loud as she was tumbling down the hill with the bucket still stuck on her foot. His dad turned his attention towards Astrid, surprised by both Astrid's current sticky situation and the fact that she interrupted a raid for unknown reason.
"What is it lass?" Stoick said annoyed, when Astrid finally reached him. "Don't you see that I have more important affairs to tend to than you're girly problems?"
Astrid looked like she was about to throw an insult back at him, but quickly stopped. Probably remembering that it might be a little bad to insult the chief of the village, who had the power to get her killed or even banished from the isle.
"This whole attack is a distraction," Astrid yelled. "There was some guy in your house and he was certainly not there to help out with the dragons."
"WHAT!" Stoick bellowed, making the villagers including Gobber turn their attention to their chief and the young dragon fighter.
Hiccup knew that now was the time to go and saw Toothless flying towards him, lowering his flying so he could grab Hiccup without hurting him. However Toothless's action made the villagers notice him even more clearly than if he had been on fire. The worst thing was that it made both his dad, Gobber and Astrid notice him as well and they all began to run towards him.
"Looks like the party is over guys," Hiccup said as he was lifted from the ground while Toothless was holding him with his legs. "Better head back before they figure out they want to do a round two." Both Toothless and The Nightmare agreed to that statement and quickly flew away from the village and back to the cove.
Everything was just a mess, Stoick thought to himself as he and the rest of the village began cleaning up after the dragon attack. Wrong, this wasn't meant as an attack. This whole mess had been a diversion for someone to enter his house and taken what he or she wanted. Gobber was standing next to him, mumbling something about making a new pair of undies because the Nightmare had burned them all up when Astrid came up to them. This time she didn't have a bucket stuck to her foot and looked slightly calmer and more ashamed than she had been earlier.
"Sorry, chief," Astrid said regretfully. "I should have tried harder to keep him detained and not have fallen for such a stupid trick."
"Just tell me everything that happened," Stoick wasn't in the mood to relieve the girl's guilt. She should have known how to handle the situation since she was the prodigy Viking fighter, which everyone expected her to fulfill. If Stoick had to choose another heir except for Hiccup, he would without a doubt pick Astrid. There was no way he would trust the fate of the village in Snotlout.
"I saw the guy heading up to your house instead of helping out fighting the dragons, so I followed him and when I reached the door he was about to leave. I continued to ask him who he was and why he was there with a little…um…incentive, but he kept avoiding my questions and dodging my attacks and then he ran out the backdoor and managed to trick me into getting my foot into the bucket. Then I tried to follow him, but I lost him and went to tell you what had happened," Astrid explained. Stoick nodded as he listened, but his mind was more on restoring the village than on some thief entering his house. After all everyone knew that no one was allowed to entering his home unless they wanted a painful punishment.
"Can you describe this thief?" Stoick said, slightly inpatient, as he wanted to get back to work before the night set in. "In case we catch him and give out the proper punishment for his crimes."
Astrid gave him a detailed description of him, but as he listen his pupils dilated with both surprise and shock. Though Stoick wasn't sure whichever it was, but certainly knew whom she was talking about. There was no way it could be anyone other than him, especially with those details. It was Hiccup, his twenty-year-old son that has been missing since he was fifteen years old. It couldn't be anyone else especially with a scar he had gotten from a dragon raid the he lost his wife and Hiccup lost his mother. It had to be the same son, who left behind those letters with no indication that he was going to ever return to Berk, but then why had he been there? Normally Hiccup would jumping on the opportunity to fight during a dragon attack, so why would he instead use it as an opportunity to go into their home and leave without saying anything? Then there was the situation where he managed to get himself kidnapped by the same dragons they had been fighting minutes ago. Did his son hate him and the village that much that he would even associates himself with them or ask for their when he got kidnapped? Nothing seemed to make sense and just as he found out his son had returned; Stoick loses him just like he lost Valka.
"Chief?" Astrid interrupted his thoughts. She looked at him with worry and confusion; the same did Gobber as he too must have realized whom Astrid had been talking about. After all Hiccup and Gobber had a close and special relationship that often made Stoick jealous of whenever he witnessed the interaction between the two of them. Never had he or Hiccup been very close, mostly because they were so different and stubborn to listen to each other, but also because he never knew what to say to him when he did. In many ways he took after Valka, which made things even harder for Stoick to close the bridge between them.
"Yes, lass?" Stoick said absentminded. He looked at her, only to imagine a boy with auburn hair and green eyes instead. "Was that all?"
Those word might seemed heartless towards her, but that didn't matter right now because all he wanted was to be left alone and work instead of thinking about whatever was going to happen to his son in the those beast's clutches.
"Yes, sir," Astrid answered before leaving Stoick and Gobber to help Fishlegs with the repair on one of the house that had been torched. Meanwhile Gobber turned his attention on Stoick, while Stoick tried to avoid the gaze he was feeling on him. Unfortunately this attempt didn't seem to work; at least it never seemed to work on Gobber anyway.
"Stoick, I know that after hearing this you might want to do something stupid by trying to find him and get revenge on those mongrels," Gobber said, keeping a close eye on him. "However if you decide to do something crazy you first think about what is best for the village."
"GOBBER!" Stoick shouted. "He is my son. I can't just let him get killed, not after I barely even got him back!"
"Then I have to come along just to keep you out of trouble," Gobber replied simply.
"I'm fifty years old, I don't need anyone to watch over me," Stoick said sourly. "Besides I'm not going to do something crazy."
"Hah, and you said Hiccup needed constant watching. You might even be worst than him, especially in your old age," Gobber pointed with his prophetic hand that was currently set on as a hammer. Gobber just loved to prove him wrong whenever he got the chance. "However please let's just wait before you do something rash. The village needs to be in good hands before you go up against dragons who could be anywhere."
Stocik sighed in annoyance. Guess there was no other way he could do this right now until everything was in control. Hopefully Hiccup managed to break away and return back to Berk. That was only what a father wanted. To see his son return back to their arms, even more when the father never realized how much he had missed his different and sweet son.
"Are you going to tell everyone that the person Astrid caught in your house was Hiccup?" Gobber asked tentative.
Stoick thought over what they had just talked about. For one thing it would be easier to look for him if there many people who knew, but on the other hand he didn't want to get everyone's hopes up and then let them down if they found nothing.
"No, we'll keep it between you and me for now. However if he enters the village again I want the lass to keep her eyes open. I don't want her to underestimate him again, because both you and I know that Hiccup is certainly a surprising individual."
Astrid wasn't sure if it was the dragons or the twins that made the most damage, but the latter was predictable in most cases. However the sudden dragon attack wasn't and that worried her. After long years of peace with the dragons, why would they suddenly attack and why would a stranger use them as a perfect opportunity? It all seemed too convenient to be a coincident and she suspected it had something to do with the weirdo from the arena. When she was thinking about it, they both were dressed in the same attire. Could it be the same person?
Astrid shook that idea away just as fast as it occurred. One of them had a peg leg meanwhile the other one wore a ordinary booth, and unless the crippled guy grew a new leg over night it wasn't possible that they were the same person. Still the fact that the chief and Gobber reacted the way the did when she described the intruder bothered her. They knew who it is and they weren't sharing it with her or anyone else in the village, which angered her over not being trusted and get lied to.
She continued hammering another piece of wood on one of the damaged houses before she continued to look at her fellow Viking friends. Tuffnut and Ruffnut was fighting for the same saw that was used to cut the wood into pieces, neither of them seemed like they were ready to let go of the ownership leaving the rest of them waiting for parts that wasn't coming. Fishlegs was taking a closer look at the damage to calculate dragons' firepower; meanwhile Snotlout used this as an opportunity to flirt with her. Not that his attempts ever worked, more made her feel more disgusted over the fact that he felt attractive to her and thought he had a shot at her despite her rejections.
"So, babe," Snotlout said smoothly with overconfidence and arrogance. "Do you want us to meet up? You know just the two of us."
Astrid gave him the stink-eye and clearly wasn't interested in the suggestion, knowing that he was hoping for some smooching and possibly something more, which she wasn't very keen on doing neither. Was it too much to ask for a girl to find a guy who wasn't arrogant, stupid or way too talkative? Apparently it was when her choices for a husband lied between her three guy friends or some stranger from another tribe. Even though the chief wasn't willing to give her up to another tribe, didn't mean that she was off the hook to find her mate. Not when she was already past the ordinary ages of marriage and was reaching towards twenty years in a few months. Soon none of the adults would be patient with her and the rest of the teens and it would end up getting our marriages arranged. Astrid was more willing to stay single than marrying Snotlout, even death seemed more welcoming as long as she didn't have to hear his flirting.
"Astrid!" Gobber yelled from the ground. "Can you come down to check how much of the inventory was damaged?"
"Coming down right now, Gobber."
Hallelujah, Astrid thought to herself as she climbed down the roof. Anything was better than fixing roofs with disgusting Snotlout and the annoying twins. When she got down on the ground and began to take check on inventory, she thought about Hiccup again. Then she thought about the handsome stranger, who hadn't done anything to harm her or tried to explain himself to save his skin. Weird, there wasn't many guys like that anymore and even though she hoped he would appear again in the village, there was a small part of her that hoped that he did and she got to see him again. She shook her head in annoyance and continued doing the work.
"Bud, it's going to be fine, " Hiccup attempted to reassure his overprotective dragon, only to fail miserably when Toothless smacked his tail at the back of Hiccup's head. "Toothless, I promise that nothing is going to happen to me…again."
Toothless had been furious over the fact that Hiccup had gotten into trouble again and that he was unable to help him. He felt useless if he couldn't even protect his human from those horrible villagers, even more after he had heard what had happened during the attack. But when the same said human suggested he should enter the village again despite almost getting caught twice in two days that gave even more fuel to his anger. There were absolutely no way he was going to let Hiccup enter the village without him by his side.
Toothless growled over what Hiccup was saying and refused to back down on this argument, not this time. Hiccup groaned in annoyance and Toothless was feeling confident that his friend would soon give up and just agree with him.
"How do you suggest we enter the village then? Because it's not everyday a dragon just walks into the village like a stray dog either," Hiccup looked at him sarcastically. "Unless we do during the night when everyone is asleep."
Toothless nodded and Hiccup sighed over being outnumbered, but he should have known by now that when you're facing a Night Fury you are always outnumbered in both battle of strength and wills.
"Alright Mr. Bossy, we'll go back in the village when everyone is asleep in order to get on with the plan," Hiccup said annoyed, but it didn't take long before a smile appeared on his face. Toothless purred in joy and began licking Hiccup's face. Big chunk of slime covered his entire face and Hiccup became irritated.
"Ugh!" Hiccup complained as he tried drying away the slime. "You Know that doesn't wash out!" Toothless made weird sounds that sounded like he was tauntingly laughing at him.
"You think that's funny, well try this on." Hiccup threw his arms around the dragon's neck and began playing with Toothless, which he complied and took down Hiccup to the ground. They continued to play around the entire afternoon, but when nightfall was beginning to appear on the sky. They decided that it was time to go. Hiccup decided that the Nightmare was staying behind since it probably was tired after a long day and also because it might bring more attention than they already had.
The plan was simple, just enter the village and into the forge. Then make a copy of the Ancient Sword of Berk and then switch it out with the original and give it to a deranged chief without getting killed by lunatics or Berkian Vikings. Very simple, Hiccup thought. However the plan hadn't included sneaking into the village with a Night Fury, but there was no other way since Toothless wasn't going to let him go in there alone. So when they entered the village, walking quietly past the many houses that showed they were either in their beds or at the Great Hall for the drinking party. Berk always liked to drink mead after rough events, which normally meant it was a drunken party. They were lucky that the forge wasn't close to the Great Hall, making it easier to past through without raising any unwanted questions. When they reached the forge Hiccup took a quick look around to see if Gobber was there, even though there was no light inside, but he didn't want to take any chances where he could not give any reasonable explanation to why he was there and why there was a dragon following along.
"Things looks clear bud," Hiccup whispered as he went inside and lit some light into the room. Just like his house everything in the forge was exactly as he had left it, but the forge was a lot messier with Gobber's tools and prosthetics lying around. Hiccup smiled by the thought of his former master and friend. Gobber was almost like a second father to him or maybe a close uncle, but like the rest of Berk they didn't understand him.
Hiccup signalized Toothless to enter the forge, but he had been determined that the dragon would remain hidden in the dark corners while he worked in case anyone got curious over why there was light in the forge. Not that Vikings was normally that curious, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Toothless didn't seem to mind as he had gotten used to watching Hiccup work with the metal and actually enjoyed seeing his friend showing off his skills.
"Better get started then," Hiccup said and began firing up the fireplace. He pulled out his sketchbook and opened the page where the drawing of the sword. Thus starting the process of forging a beautiful copy of a treasured sword. For hours he spent molding and hammering the metal and slowly turning the piece of metal into a sword. Toothless crooned in curiosity for while, but in the end got tired watching Hiccup work and began taking a nap instead. Hiccup didn't mind it as he was far too focused to see his friend sleeping, but in the end it had paid off as he managed to finish the sword by the time the sun had began to rise the next day.
He was actually every proud of his work as he began to swing the sword around to test it out. The sword was light and easy to handle in his hands, and would probably be even easier for a more experienced fighter. Now the only thing that was missing to complete the sword was the gold rune inscriptions on the blade. He had managed to carve the runes, but the gold was a whole other problem since Hiccup had yet to find an answer to how to find golden paint or ink to replace the gold. Of course he could melt gold coins and spill it on the engravings, but he didn't have gold coins and he was sure that he wasn't going to steal some from his dad or any of the villagers. It was already bad enough that he had to steal one of Berk's treasures in order to keep himself and his dragon alive, there was no way that he was going to push his luck any further by stealing anything else from Berk. But what else could he do? Hiccup thought as he tried to come up with other options to solve the problem. However Hiccup was distracted by his pondering thoughts that he didn't see or hear someone walking into the forge and was surprised by his sudden appearance, but he heard someone gasping he turned around to see a meathead with a changeable left hand that he had once called his friend and mentor.
"HICCUP?!"
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Here's the new chapter and it is the longest chapter I have ever written yet. So I hope you guys like it and know that this story is going fast-paced than what I usually would have written it. I tried to write in a little starting romance between Astrid and Hiccup, but I'm not really good at writing romance between characters so I hope this worked somewhat.
A little warning for the future, due to recent change in my education I will not be able to update as often every month as I have till now. The only time I can make to write it during the weekends, so don't expect any chapters sometime soon. Also I will work on another chapter for another story now before I update this one, so I will switch between them so I keep myself motivated and not get bored writing one story.
Thank you for the reviews, favorites and followings and I appreciate you guys to continue so and hopefully I will get a chapter out as soon as possible.
xXrebelgirl07Xx