Chapter Two: Baby Talk
When Astrid woke up she was in a mood. She couldn't believe that Midnightfire had the nerve to do this on purpose!
"Astrid, are you alright?" Hiccup asked her while sitting on the staircase, as far as behavior was concerned, Astrid would be a real wildcard. Would she be angry or sad? She looked up at Hiccup with sad eyes… Good, he can deal with a sad dragon easier than an angry one. He got up from his spot slowly and approached her with caution. Being both pregnant and in a dragon form, he wasn't sure if some draconic instincts would kick in as he moved towards her. He paused to open the door to the house in case Astrid felt the need to take off somewhere. Even with only one foot, Astrid could get around just fine as a Stormcutter.
"Astrid…?" Hiccup spoke.
"How could she do this to me?" She asked.
"She didn't want to be held by you is all. It was a defense maneuver. Now, is everything alright with the baby?" Hiccup asked. By now the Night Fury Hatchling took flight to find cover from Astrid again.
At Hiccup's question, Astrid's widened and the claw on one of her four wings met her enlarged belly. She met Hiccup's eyes with fright and replied with panic in her voice: "I-I don't know! I can't feel anything!"
"Astrid, it's okay, calm down; dragons don't normally feel their young while the eggs are still being made." Stormfly told her. Everyone settled down after hearing that.
"Alright, Stormfly, then what is normal for a pregnant dragon to experience before she lays her eggs?" Astrid asked, her voice calmer.
"I'll go see where Midnightfire flew off to." Toothless stated as an excuse to get out of there.
"While the eggs are inside the mother, the mother does feel the weight of the eggs inside her, and the closer they are to being laid, the more often the dragon would feel her eggs quiver inside her. You've said that your baby kicks you; well that is how a dragon egg 'kicks' its mother. Now, unlike what you've displayed, dragons don't get nauseous when they're pregnant, however we do have a ravenous appetite, and you give off a scent that will drive your mate to protect you at all costs. If there is no mate to be found around you, then the next male to come near you without a mate of his own will take his place until the female's mate returns if possible. This only works if the next male is the same breed as the female though; other males won't act as friendly. So, Astrid, in your case, the moment Cloudjumper catches your scent, he would act as your bodyguard until you lay you egg or, most likely, you turn back into a human." Stormfly stated.
"So, when Midnightfire zapped Astrid, she also transformed the baby?" Hiccup questioned.
"Yes, a dragon cannot carry a human baby, even if the mother was born a human herself." Stormfly replied. Noticing the mixed emotions on Hiccup and Astrid's faces, Stormfly told them: "Chances are that your child would have a few draconic characteristics when it is born, but I am not completely certain; and there is no telling as to what draconic characteristics the child would have if they have any at all."
Hiccup went from a standing position, to sitting on the floor, with his back leaning against the wall, and his head was swarming with what possible dragon characteristics their child could have. Now, he would obviously love his son or daughter no matter what, but he would fear about how the villagers would treat a child so… unique! After all, he himself had been picked on for just being small, scrawny, fishbone.
"Should I be flying in this form?" Astrid asked.
"Mothering dragons are encouraged to fly as a form of training for the migration. Flying while carrying eggs inside of you feels very different than flying without them, due to their weight and their occasional quivering. If you feel the urge to fly in this form, then go on and fly, but don't be pulling off any crazy stunts, just stick to the basics unless you are in a dangerous situation." Stormfly replied.
Astrid nodded to Stormfly and then glanced at her husband, and exclaimed: "Hiccup, are you alright?!"
"Yeah, yeah, I-I think I'll turn in for the night, this has been interesting, Stormfly, but it is a lot to process." He replied.
On that morning, Hiccup, basically took the day off. If anybody needed anything, they would have to go to him. After picking at a breakfast of bread and berries, he headed for the Dragon Training Academy where Valka was teaching Berk everything to know about the Scuttleclaw dragons (the babies from the second movie). Hiccup really wasn't all that interested in that particular lecture right now.
Hiccup waited until the area cleared out before going inside the academy himself while Valka fed the dragons as a job well done.
"Hiccup, what are you still doing here?" She asked.
"It's Astrid." He replied hesitantly.
"Is she alright? Is the baby alright?" Valka asked.
"As far as health is concerned, yes, she is, and so is the baby. Can we talk at your house?"
"Of course." Valka replied.
The pair made it to the house without any interruptions, which made Hiccup thank the gods as he crossed the threshold to his parents' house. Cloudjumper and Shadowrath greeted him before meeting up with his father; and to his dismay, his egotistic Uncle Spitelout, and his obnoxious, nine-fingered, scar-faced, butt-scarred Cousin Snotlout were at the house too. Ah, what the heck, they were still his family, and they had a right to hear what Hiccup had to say.
"Mornin' Son, how's the family doing?" Stoick asked.
"Astrid and our dragons are fine, but um, things could be a bit different for Astrid." Hiccup replied. Stoick wasn't expecting that answer.
"So what's going on with the wife?" Spitelout asked. Hiccup wished that it wasn't him who asked that question, but nevertheless, he answered: "You all know that Astrid's pregnancy has made her, for lack of a better term, crazy around Midnightfire?"
"Is she still treating your 'niece' as if she was her own baby?" Valka asked.
"Yes, and last night Midnightfire finally snapped when Astrid tried to grab her again… And she used her Dragonstone gauntlet to turn Astrid into a Stormcutter again." Hiccup replied.
"Is the baby alright?" Stoick asked.
"Apparently the baby will be fine… but it was affected when Astrid changed." Hiccup admitted, forcing the words out of his mouth and turning red slightly. As he feared, Snotlout started laughing.
"That is going to be one messed-up kid!" He exclaimed through his chuckles. That angered Hiccup, and he removed the panel that concealed the Dragonstone in his shoulder armor. The sight of the beautiful, glowing gem silenced Snotlout. The mere sight of the Dragonstone reminded Snotlout of the time Hiccup and Toothless had gotten curious and wanted to walk in each other's shoes, and they swapped roles for three days. Hiccup as a Night Fury, and Toothless as a human. During this time, Snotlout and Hookfang challenged them to a one-on-one race, and the pair humiliated him. Hiccup made a better dragon and Toothless made a better rider than Snotlout had imagined. The sight also made him recall the story as to how it saved Hiccup's life, and he later clawed the nose off of Drago Bludvist.
"Ok, ok, I'm sorry! No need to become a literal Dragon Chief!" Snotlout exclaimed, holding up his hands in surrender.
"So, Hiccup, are you saying that it is likely that your baby is going to have some dragon characteristics?" Spitelout asked.
"That's what Stormfly… Hold on, where's Cloudjumper?" Hiccup said. The family, including Shadowrath, looked around the house, and Cloudjumper was nowhere to be found. So they ran over to Hiccup's home, and about halfway there, they found six dragons leaving the house and taking flight. There were supposed to be five.
Cloudjumper was chasing four of the dragons around, while a lilac Stormcutter headed towards Hiccup and his family.
"Cloudjumper found me and caught my scent! I couldn't get him to calm down when he started chasing the other dragons out of the house." Astrid told Hiccup.
"You didn't do anything wrong, but Cloudjumper needs to be brought under control. Mom, do you think that you can calm him down, or should we have Aric take care of him?" He replied.
"A Bewilderbeast isn't necessary for this. Cloudjumper is acting on instinct, so he's not doing anything wrong. Astrid, try calling him, maybe he'll leave your dragons alone." Valka stated. Astrid took a deep breath and roared Cloudjumper's name at the top of her lungs. It caught his attention, and as he descended towards his family, he snatched a fish from the dragon buffet for Astrid.
Astrid accepted his gift and then he chased off the humans.
"Are you going to leave me alone at all for the next couple of days?" Astrid asked him. Cloudjumper shook his head; in order for him to leave Astrid alone he would be fighting his instincts.
Hiccup went about his day, just checking in on how things were doing with people; but today, there wasn't a lot to be done for him. They didn't even have to plan for another dragon race for a while.
Eventually, he ran into Princess Claudette, fiancé to Fishlegs now, and walking alongside the Princess was a Skrill by the name of Whoshadow. Ever since Claudette's parents approved of Fishlegs as her suitor, and her wishes to live with the Vikings, she had decided to make a warrior out of herself to fit in more. She was talented with a bow and a sword, like Hiccup, but since her frame was still delicate, she couldn't wield an axe or a hammer, and she could just barely throw a bola effectively. However, when she's got a hold of a bow or a sword, it would be a wise idea for the Vikings to retreat, as she not only learned the Viking's fighting techniques, but she also studied the techniques of her kingdom.
Claudette had also decided to use ink to dye her hair from the prim-and-proper-princess gold to a warrior-princess black, which looked beautiful and made her green eyes look wild and somewhat crazed when she was training. She also typically wore a red tunic with blue sleeves, the colors of her kingdom, and black trousers.
As for her relationship with Whoshadow, well after finding out that she was the dragon that finished off Drago, Claudette took an interest in the beast. After all, Drago had put her under his control. So she started bringing Whoshadow legs of mutton, and after Whoshadow saw that she was becoming a capable warrior, she decided that Claudette was worth bonding with.
"Good morning, Claudette and Whoshadow." Hiccup greeted.
"Good morning, Chief Hiccup." Claudette replied. She then reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a small wool blanket, knitted with a blue background and the Berk crest knitted in red. It was the perfect size to swaddle a baby, and to cover a toddler.
"Here, I knitted this for your child. I dyed the wool and knitted it myself." Claudette told Hiccup.
"Thank you, this is very generous." He replied.
"Well, it's the least I can do for you."
"Claudette, Astrid knows it wasn't your fault when you cut off her foot, and Whoshadow already took care of the man whose fault it was."
"It doesn't remove the guilt… but my growing friendship with Astrid does." She replied.
"Hold on, the two of you are friends?" Hiccup questioned. He knew that the two women were getting along, but he wasn't too sure that they've gone as far as to making a friendship.
"Yeah, not long after I bonded with Whoshadow, she offered to teach me a few tricks with Stormfly. I'll admit that Whoshadow was quicker to make friends with Stormfly than I was with Astrid, but after giving her chocolate, and satisfying her cravings for it later on, we've been getting closer." Claudette replied.
"Well, it's nice that the two of you are getting along, and how're things between you and Fishlegs?"
"We've set a date, but my parents want the ceremony in my kingdom."
"Well that's great! I'll be sure that we'll have a good ship ready for you when you need it." Hiccup stated.
"You're going to need more than one. The whole tribe is invited!" Claudette replied. Now that was a lot to take in.
"I think we can handle that. Aric seems to be pretty happy being the island's line of defense." Hiccup told her. Yeah, the Vikings trust the dragons enough to protect the village without destroying it. Hiccup then smiled at the princess and asked her: "Out of curiosity, what would your parents say when they find out that you've become a warrior?"
"My father would have a conniption fit. While my mother would pass out." She replied. Then she told Hiccup: "Now, please excuse me, Chief Hiccup, but I would like to take Whoshadow out for her flight." The princess hopped on her saddle, and Whoshadow took to the skies with speeds that could compare to a Night Fury's.
Hiccup watched Whoshadow fly around for a while until Fishlegs and Meatlug joined them. With nothing better to do, he took Toothless out for a flight.
Ok, now it's time to tell you all that I'm taking votes for the gender of Hiccup and Astrid's baby, and I'm taking name suggestions as well as suggestions to possible draconic characteristics for this child.