Alright people, here's chapter three.
Good news.
I think I may have figured this paragraph glitch out.
Trouble is, I won't know unless I get some feedback, as it doesn't show up when I view the writing.
So please, at least take the time to inform me whether or not it's working now or not. If it turns out that this has indeed worked, then I'll replace the earlier chapters.
But for now, enjoy.
Chapter Three: A Time for Thought
Astrid Hofferson sat alone in her room, deep in thought.
Having long since returned to the Viking village of Berk, she had gone straight home and locked herself in her room; she needed time to think.
It was now drawing towards evening, and the sky was littered with fiery streaks of red-gold clouds, illuminated and picked out by the still-strong rays of the setting sun.
Astrid had watched from her window as Hiccup had returned from the forest just half an hour earlier, sopping wet, completely exhausted, and yet with a strange look of joy and contentment on his freckly features; Astrid had never before seen him as happy as he looked now.
The Viking girl was perched on the end of her bed, having just finished contemplating the potential ramifications of Hiccup's actions.
Hardly the sort of person to let such a matter lie, Astrid had been trying to reach a conclusion on what to do about the current situation.
Hiccup's sudden, newfound friendship with one of the Viking's arch enemies would hardly come off lightly if the other villagers found out – on the contrary, he would most likely become even more of a social outcast than he was at present.
But then it occurred to her; he had nothing to lose.
Astrid had practically ignored Hiccup until now.
It wasn't like she refused to acknowledge his existence, she had simply not bothered to pay him any attention whatsoever – she didn't even decidedly dislike the boy.
He had always been the village nuisance, little Hiccup the Useless, forever getting into trouble and mucking things up, and at the worst of times too.
Shunned by most and ignored by the rest, it seemed that even his own father saw him as a failure.
Berk seemed to hold no future for this un-Viking.
He certainly wasn't going to inherit the title of chieftain from his father – Stoick the Vast to Hiccup the Useless?
No, the village would never accept it.
Snotlout Jorgenson would most likely be next in line...which was just as scary a though, given that he was everything Hiccup was not – including stupid.
It made perfect sense.
Hiccup knew all this, and decided that he would ignore the consequences of anything he might do.
After all, even if he was discovered and caught, what could the villagers do to him that they had not already done?
Exile could be no worse than what the boy must presently be enduring...Astrid had a very logical, if sometimes slightly rash mind, and was very good at calculating the risks and potential rewards of any situation.
She could, however, not begin to fathom the emotional ramifications that continual and obsessive thought about such a circumstance would inevitably bring.
And, given the situation that she was now confronted with, this made the decision on what course of action to take even more difficult to make.
If she told Stoick about his son's secret, the chief would only laugh at her.
No-one would believe that little Hiccup would have the guts to go anywhere near an injured dragon, and she might not believe it herself, had Astrid not seen it with her own eyes.
She could tell the rest of the gang, Fishlegs and the others that was, but knew that a similar response would be awarded her there as well.
The best course of action, the only course of action in fact, seemed to be to confront Hiccup, preferably somewhere private and out of the way.
Astrid wasn't exactly sure why she didn't want any of the adult Vikings to know about Hiccup's not-so-little secret; after all, she didn't care a smidgeon about that little cheat, did she.
Hiccup had suddenly become the best recruit at dragon training, even better than Astrid herself, and was all the more popular because of it.
At dinner, the villagers flocked to the boy's table for hints and tips on fighting dragons, or simply to hear about his stories and experiences with the beasts.
And while the chief's son was hardly talkative on the subject, no-one was even remotely put off, and every little word he spoke was taken seriously.
Astrid was hardly afraid of the boy, but was nonetheless somewhat daunted by the thought of confronting him about the dragon.
Sighing with indecision, Astrid slowly stood up and began to make her way downstairs.
Afternoon now drew into evening, with the last faint rays of the sun just catching the tips of the nearby mountains, causing their snow-capped peaks to gleam brightly, completely at odds with the darkness which now began to press in from all around.
But it was nothing compared with the darkness which now blinded Astrid's thoughts and feelings.
Regardless of any issues still existing with the formatting, I hope you're all enjoying the story so far.
More in a week!
Lumpyness.