Seeing Stormfly Again
"I missed you so much," Astrid said, as she hugged Stormfly's thick neck her finger sliding over the horse's slick coat.
Hiccup threw the saddle on the blue roan's back the leather creaking like old stairs as he tightened the girth.
He slipped the bridal onto the horse's head, asking, "Do you want another moment to get re-acquainted?"
"She remembers me, I can tell." Astrid said softly.
Hiccup buckled the chin and throat straps, then let go of Stormfly's head. Once released, the horse nuzzled her shoulder.
"Let's head out." Hiccup walked out into the stable isle, where Toothless stood saddled.
They put on their riding helmets before Hiccup helped Astrid mount up, then adjusted her stirrups, checking to make sure the iron reached to her ankle accordingly.
Astrid felt fashionable wearing Heather's grey breaches and slick black boots, which fit perfectly and probably looked rich paired with her fresh hunter green Berk Counselor's polo. Not to mention how classy she felt sitting back on top of this beautiful Arabian cross breed. Beside her, Hiccup wore his own black breaches and shiny boots along with the same green polo, which matched his eyes. Astrid figured the pair of them probably looked more like models in some pretentious magazine and less like folks going out to mend fences.
"It's been a while – do you remember everything?" Hiccup looked up at her.
"I've got a great instructor with me if I don't." She winked.
Hiccup hoped on Toothless and they urged their steeds out of barn. As they left, Hiccup pointed out other horses.
"You remember Snotlout's thoroughbred – Hookfang. He's a real joker – he still moves a foot over every time Snotlout tries to mount up and sometimes bucks him off. Only does it to Snotlout though, no one else, so I use him for my classes. He's also the laziest thoroughbred I've ever known – usually they are high strung, but he never takes a step more than he needs to or goes faster than asked."
"Then Barf and Belch are still around," Hiccup gestured to the pair of matching dun mustangs, "The Thorston twins still own those guys, but loan them to us over the summers. The student's love them, but the pairs can be a pain."
"The horses or the twins?"
Hiccup thought about it. "Both really, but as for the horses - I had to put a special latch on their stalls because they kept breaking out. Originally, they escaped to raid the feed room, but when I put a better latch on their stalls, they still escaped, then changed it up and started to release the other horses. I'm pretty sure it was revenge. Also, they have a strange love hate relationship where they won't separate, but bite at each other when they are close. Even stranger, they seem to like being bitten.
"We have about 30 of our own horses, mostly picked by my mother and then this year about 30 have come for the summer with their campers. Of those I was able to negotiate about 20 rented to the riding program."
"That's a lot to coordinate."
"Yeah, well I've also managed to gather a good staff of instructors and stable hands this summer. And with the campers doing most of the horse care – I'll just need to make sure everyone knows their roles and responsibilities. Our work together years ago actually gave me the idea to have a beginner or intermediate rider paired with a more advanced one for each horse. They will both be responsible for that animal and the advanced rider can teach the beginners. Like a mentoring program"
"It's impressive Hiccup, you went from being this scrawny awkward 15-year-old to running this whole program."
"Well I had to step up because my dad has been trying to close the camp – says it's a money pit and the horses are too much of a liability. He'd have closed it three years ago if it wasn't mom's pet project and it gives Gobber a purpose in life. But, I worry about what'll happen if he retires…"
"Couldn't you take over for a while?"
"Ha! No, dad wants me to take over Haddock Energy the moment I'm out of college." Hiccup sighed and looked out at the mountains in the distance as their horses started walking parallel to the white wooden fence that traced the far-reaching fields of Camp Berk.
"Hiccup, that's such an honor," Astrid and everyone who came to Camp Berk could guess at Hiccup's future as CEO of Haddock Energy. The company was started by his father and Grandfather after the oil industry started to grow in Norway. The pair formed the company, which became one of the top oil producers in Norway and the whole of Europe. They moved into the US market by starting a refinery on the outskirts of Berk a port town in the United States. While they weren't as large as some of the US companies, Stoick Haddock, a savvy business man had expanded the company into other energy markets and created a cutting-edge facility for alternative energy R&D.
"Why don't you seem happier? I know you'd rather be out riding horses, but-"
"It's not that – I mean I probably understand the science stuff better than my dad, but I'm not so great with running things - a whole multi-billion-dollar company?"
Astrid winced at the thought of all that money and power. And all of it going to be inherited by someone like Hiccup, who had no ego about it or greedy ambition.
"You're doing great here."
"The summer just started. I haven't screwed it up yet."
"Don't be silly – you'll do fine."
He smiled and pulled his horse closer to her's, "Thanks. That means a lot coming from you."
000
Survey
Song: "This Beautiful Life" by Colony House
"There is no way we'll get to the whole camp today. Not even with horses." They stopped by a stream to let their mounts drink as Hiccup examined the map. He did some quick calculations using the time they took to get there and the distance they covered on the map. He marked a few places where fence boards needed to be replaced. For the most part, they just added a few nails and shifted healthy bottom boards to the top as a temporary fix.
"Good work with the hammer and nails. Not everyone knows how to do minor fence repair," Hiccup said.
"Who doesn't know that important life skill?"
"Well, I didn't invite Eret along. And I sent Heather and Fishlegs to do checklists." He looked up from his map.
"My dad taught me…he made sure I could do basic repair stuff -plumbing, cars, house repair."
For a moment Astrid though about how she missed her dad. She missed how he helped her with homework, took her for hikes and taught her about nature, taught her all he knew about martial arts, and taking care of herself. Even as a little girl he tried to teach her about being an adult. Adults never relied on anyone, not a partner, not the system, not charity, not repair companies, on themselves. He believed self-reliance made people strong and the world better. Of course, if he had taken better care of himself, then maybe things would be better for his family.
She looked over at Hiccup, who seemed like he expected her to say more, maybe he had heard and expected her to talk about it. She thought it odd he hadn't brought up her letter or why he never called. Maybe he just moved on. Or maybe he hadn't and just thought she meant to say more. In any case, his silence on the subject put her at ease.
She looked out to the river, where rapid current pulled long reed that grew near the shoreline, making them look like tresses of mermaid hair, while the ripples caught the sun making the surface sparkle like drowning stars.
"Let's take the horses into the water to cool them off before going forward," Hiccup suggested as he folded the map.
He pulled the saddles off before they mounted back up and urged the horses into the water toward the center of the river. Hiccup let Toothless wade in till the water reached the stallion's chest.
"It drops off a little more if we go further. You remember how to swim?"
"Haven't forgotten in the past four years. I actually had the opportunity to get life guard certification when I worked at the rec center."
"That's good, I might need to you fill in at the pool if- "
Toothless interrupted his thought by suddenly deciding to lay down in the river and roll over. His rider responded by emergency dismounting at the last second and pushing away from the submerged horse.
"What the Hel, bud! You almost took me under with you!"
Astrid laughed.
"Oh, that's hilarious," Hiccup floated away from his horse's chaotic splashing. "I could have lost my leg there."
"It's still intact."
"Come here, you –" he said as he swum over and yanked her off Stormfly's back.
She screamed, trying to stay atop the mare, but Hiccup's nimbleness out maneuvered her rusty riding skills. He succeeded in pulling her into the cool water. The impact of going from hot to cool shocking the air from her lungs.
Stormfly sidestepped the chaos of their human companions by deciding to follow Toothless in his river frolicking.
"You are so dead! If you start to drown, I am not saving you."
"I don't know it's pretty hot out, I might have save us from heat stroke. You should thank me."
"Heather's going to be so annoyed I got her clothes dirty."
Hiccup rolled his eyes, "Her mother buys her new clothes all the time. She probably expects you to keep those."
"I couldn't do that…" Astrid felt guilty. Heather could have a thousand riding outfits, but Astrid didn't want to take advantage of her and use her things. She took care of herself and never impose on others. She regretted borrowing the outfit.
"Oh, Astrid, everything will dry in the heat, by the time we get back, we'll forget this happened."
"I won't," she dove at him, crashing him into the river. He retaliated by pulling her down with him. They played in the water for a few minutes, splashing, dunking, wrestling.
"It's like old times," he said.
"It's not like that – we're older now." Her feet slid a few times before finding lose traction at the bottom of the river and she stood up, everything above her shoulders rising above the surface. The current gently pushed her, like a lover nudging in the night.
"There are some things people don't outgrow." Water dripped from his locks of hair and trailed down his skin like hundreds of tears. The wetness of his hair made it look darker. Wilder. Paired with his bright green eyes he seemed like a forest creature spawned by river itself. He started to move toward her, slowly, looking at her as he had before, somehow casting that spell again.
He stood inches from her, downstream, and she felt the current pushing her toward him, like a magnetic force.
"Don't do that?" she warned.
"Do what? Stand in a river?"
"I know that look."
"It's been four years. Are you sure you 'know' it?"
"Yes."
"You want to remember." He touched her chin, but she pulled back.
He sighed, "Oh, Astrid, where did you go? I emailed. I called a phone that rang endlessly over and over. You must have moved because my letters came back. You abandon the only online profile I found. And now you want me to back off with no explanation. And you claim to be with someone you're not compatible with."
"Oh, Hiccup, it was a few summers. And did you really call? Or send letters? Because I never heard from you. But, my grandmother's house didn't have internet, so did stop checking email."
"Grandmother's house? Why were you with her?"
"Don't you remember in my letter? My dad went into the hospital and I had to stay with my grandmother. And well, he died and it became permanent."
"What letter?"
"I gave Gobber a letter to give to you. The day I left. It had my contact information. Did you not read it?"
"Read it? I never got it!"
She found it hard to interpret the look on his face – his mind must be replaying all the possible scenarios of the past. Like she was at that moment. And she wondered if it would have mattered? Probably not. Things would have just ended sooner for him. He would have moved on years ago instead of trying to revive something dead here and now.
"What did it say?" He asked, his Adam's apple bobbing with when swallowed.
She told him a part of the truth, "It said that I had to leave because my dad was ill. And that I would be with my grandmother. It had her address and phone number, in case you wanted to stay in touch." And then she lied, "And it said I wanted to just be friends and I probably would not come back because I wanted to move forward."
"Astrid, don't lie and say you didn't feel this, then. And now."
"I moved on. Even if I found something temporary, and everything else after that was temporary. I still moved forward. Accept that."
"I can't steal you from someone else, but I can get you to see he's not right for you, so you'll let him go, and come to me. You owe me that. You owe you that. Why waste any of your beautiful life with the wrong person?" His will was stronger than the oaks that stood for hundreds of years. However, her will cracked like saplings in a storm long before they returned.
She shook her head, "If you don't stop, I'll spend this summer avoiding you."
"Alright…" He took a step back. "Still friends?"
He held out his hand.
"You expect me to shake your hand."
"I just tried for more and got shot down."
"No, I mean you might try this –" she grabbed his hand a pulled him forward into the water. He rose back up, laughing, with eyes still glimmering with that enchanted look.
Oh, poor boy she thought he really is still head over heels.
Fairy Tales & The Deep Dark Woods
Song: "Young and Beautiful" by Lana Del Rey
"So, if we aren't Hansel and Gretel, which fairy tale characters do you think we are?"
The pair had moved to the shore and laid on a mossy bank under a willow tree to dry off. Certain the horses would return to him, Hiccup had removed their bridals and let them run free in the field nearby.
Hiccup laughed, "Does it have to be a fairy tale character? Can I be anyone in literature?"
"No," she playfully pushed his shoulder, "Fairy tale."
"You know the Three Billy Goat's Gruff?"
She nodded.
"Stormfly, and Toothless are the first two Billy Goats, I'm the third Billy Goat, and you're the princess that gets save from the bridge troll by the third Billy goat."
Astrid laughed and laced her fingers behind her head, "That's funny? First – There is no princess in that story. Second – I'm pretty sure no princess wants to marry a Billy Goat. Third – who is this troll you speak of?"
Hiccup rolled on his side to face her, "First, I'm Norwegian, my people invented that story, so if I say there is a princess in my people's story – there is one there- darn it! Second, you'd be princess in any story and in this one the princess doesn't have to be with the Billy Goat – he saved her because they are friends and out of the goodness of his heart."
He smirked and dramatically placed his right hand over the place where his heart hid. "Like all good Norwegians, that's what my people do. Third, I think Eret is the Troll – he's been here a day in already a thorn in my side. Plus, did you see how he was hitting on you earlier? Very shady and troll like. But don't worry. I'll protect you, because that's what good Billy Goat friends do."
Astrid threw a chunk of moss at him and it landed in his hair, which he shook out before falling onto his back. The air around them burned hot, but there was relief in the tendrils of the weeping willow and the gentle breeze that tousled the leaves of the woods created a shuffling sound like the skirts of angels skittering across the sky.
"OK, m'lady, which fairy tale characters do you think we are?"
Astrid moved a hand to her flat stomach and tapped her fingers against it creating a quiet drumming as she thought, "Which fairy tales have dragons? I always thought that a dragon is my spirit animal – you know like I was on in a past life."
Hiccup rolled to his side again to face her, "Like you have the soul of a dragon?"
"Yeah, maybe." Her eyes stung as she looked up at the canopy of lazy blue sky and glassy emerald leaves that refracted sun light off their glossy surfaces. "My dad always said I had a fiery spirit and a fierce bite And I wish I could fly, if I was a fairy tale creature that is what I'd want to be."
Hiccup sat up. "Now, I just think you're trying to torment me." Hiccup started to peel off his damp shirt.
"Wait, no we just agreed-"
"Don't worry, I'm not going full Tuffnut on you," he said as the shirt came off.
He turned around to her to reveal a medium tattoo of a black dragon that went across his shoulders and down his back.
"When did you get that?"
"Last spring, I lost a Thorston challenge bet with Tuffnut. Honestly, sort of always thought about it, but ended up having to do it. Snotlout and Tuffnut got them too because mine turned out so well. Except their dragons are not as cool. This is what Toothless would look like as a dragon – don't you think?"
Astrid traced the intricate design of the black dragon with her fingers, his skin felt smooth and firm as the curves of the dragon synced with the curves of his muscles and the tail traced down his spine. "I love it – the details are amazing. It does have a Toothless quality. Did you design it?"
He nodded. "And I showed the artist who drew it on exactly where to put it so the dragon matched up with the shape of my back. I figure it will motivate me to stay fit.
"Don't tell my parents. Stoick would flip." Hiccup laid on his belly next to her, folded his arms, and laid his head on them. Summer freckles had started to dust his light skin and natural highlights began to streak his auburn hair. The lids over his ever-green eyes looked heavy as he let them fall. Astrid watched as his breathing became deeper and more rhythmic. In that moment, it became hard to imagine anything else. Or him as anything else. Hard to see him as a boy wearing jeans and a t-shirt sitting in a classroom or a competitive rider on a horse in full uniform. The rest of the world seemed to be imaginary and only this was real. She longed to touch him, to just run her fingers through is hair and place her body next to his own even skin, knowing he would feel smooth and curve the way only human skin over coiled muscles could feel. Her fingers twitched to move, drawn to him like the heart to home. Her hand rose without being told, taking on a rouge quest, it almost brushed its back along his side.
Like a sleeping dragon he awoke with a growl, his eyes opening to reveal emerald irises shrinking round black pupils. He lifted his head, then put his finger to his lips.
His eyes searched their surroundings and he tilted his head to listen. He looked across the river like a deer listening for a predator. Astrid followed the movement of his eyes across the water. The ominous forest on the other side looked darker than they area from where they sat, with rotting foliage and black felled trees that must have gone down during the last storm.
"Do you hear that?" He whispered.
"What's over there?" She looked back at him. "Why does that part of the forest look that way?"
"Floodplain – that's where the water spills over."
She looked closer and could see mud and remnants for an overflowing river stuck high in the skeleton of the damaged trees. She noticed trees in the further down the hill and buried in the tree line trembling.
Astrid put her hand behind her ears to intensify the sounds. She picked up a slight buzzing, something mechanical.
Their eyes met and Hiccup's brow furrowed with concern. "We are not alone."
000
A/N Thank you all for the beautiful reviews, faves, and follows. I've had some down time this week and realized how much I miss this story (and my other stories, which I also want to get back to and will try to get back to).
Just so we are clear, I do like Eret, I just wanted to take him in another direction, which is OOC, but should be fun