I Own Nothing
All Rights Reserved
Hello everyone! I've decided to change the update rate from 1 week to every 5 days.
I'd also like to thank everyone who has been giving this story such good reviews. Hopefully the coming chapters will please you even further.
So without further ado:
Chapter 8
Hatchlings and Stars
They had been wandering around for several hours when they stopped to rest in a grove of apple trees, which the King plucked some fruit from and handed to Astrid.
"Aren't you going to eat anything?"
"I'm not hungry," he replied as he stretched out on the grass. Astrid sat down beside him. He adjusted his position so that his head was not within her reach.
"So what do you think of all this so far?"
"It's…well, I can hardly believe somebody could create such a place. But just out of curiosity, what do you plan to do with all of this?"
"Integration. I want humans and dragons here to live side by side, working together in peace and friendship for the common good. But until then, the dragons need a safe haven. I'm hoping one day families will send their children here to learn to befriend dragons and care for them. That's what I'm hoping you'll take away from this: dragons are not what you Vikings think they are. As long as you can understand, peaceful co-existance is perfectly possible."
Astrid smiled as a mother might smile at her child's imaginary friend. "I don't know about that. I highly doubt dragons can be domesticated to live with humans. You live among them, yes, but that means you let yourself become domesticated to a dragon's way of life. I doubt it would work the other way around."
"Why not?" She suspected that if his face was visible an eyebrow would be raised right now. "It's been going on in China for centuries."
"Where?"
"China. You've heard of it, haven't you?"
"Only a name, I think…somewhere far off in the east, right?"
He nodded. "I told you on Owl Gut Island about the fight with the Red Death. Well, after I built myself a new leg—" He gestured at his prosthetic, "Toothless and I decided to set off exploring to the south."
He pulled a packet of parchment from a pouch and was about to spread it out, but abruptly put it away. "We went through Southern Europe, Egypt, down the center of Africa, then westward over the Red Sea, through Arabia and India, and finally to China. You wouldn't believe all the things I've seen on those travels. I filled up so many journals with sketches it almost became too heavy for Toothless to carry. I've seen the strangest sights ever. Nearly everything carved on those walls was inspired by something I saw on these travels. The dragon statue was based on Chinese artwork.
"On my travels I found different opinions of dragons. In Europe they're seen much as Vikings see them: evil demons and children of the Devil. It's very different in the Far East, and especially in China. There, dragons are seen as bringers of good fortune and happiness. In China dragons and humans live side by side, rather like how other places live side by side with dogs or horses. Dragons help with farming, controlling livestock, defense, traveling, and so on and so forth. In fact, when I arrived in China, people weren't surprised by the fact that I was riding a dragon. They didn't even look twice at me for that! What caught their attention was the fact that I didn't look anything like a Chinese man! Anyway, it was in the capital city that I first made my mark there. One of the dragons that belonged to the Emperor Shenzong was in a rampage, and his keepers had no idea of how to calm him down, except by killing him. I stopped them, approached the dragon and spoke with him, and I learned that the poor dragon was in pain due to a horrible toothache."
"Wait…how did you speak to the dragon?" Astrid interrupted. She'd been wondering about the King's ability to communicate with dragons for quite some time and now found an ideal moment to bring it up.
"Oh I can speak to any dragon." He spoke casually, but his words made Astrid gape at him. "I live with them, so I had to learn their language. It's been invaluable, I can tell you that."
Astrid smiled. "Impressive. Can anyone learn it?"
"No idea."
"A safe answer. You oughta be careful, you know, with what you're telling me. While I'm flattered you're taking me into your confidence, it was rather foolish of you to tell me about your Night Fury's tail fin, for instance. If I wanted to, I could destroy that fin and you'd be helpless!"
"Yes, and that's a problem we've always had to watch out for. But you'd have to catch us first!" He felt he had little reason to fear on that score. He doubted Astrid could mess up the tail fin without Toothless realizing it or being spotted by other dragons. She did not know it but they were not going around unobserved. Nor could she tamper with the other fins because she did not know where he kept them. He also did not mention he had plenty of other tricks up his sleave. Still, it would be wise to check over the fin whenever they went flying this week. And while others would now find out about the defect, as he had said, they would still have to catch them, and only one person in existance had ever shot down a Night Fury before.
"All right, then, how about what you told us about Betas controlling other dragons? So if I controlled a Beta, I'd control every dragon the Beta controlled."
"Good luck finding a dragon for that purpose." He sounded amused.
"And there's an Alpha, you said?"
"You'll get scant information from me on that. I only know there's one Alpha in existence and nothing else. I've never seen him or her, nor has anybody else to my knowledge."
"That's strange. You'd think the Alpha would be in control of everything. A Chief that hides is not much of a Chief."
"I have no idea what the explanation is."
"All right, then what about that Dragon Nip or the eels?"
"What about them? Dragon Nip only works at very close range." He also doubted she could identify it when you get back to Berk. He had already hidden the grasses he had showed her that morning. "And what are you going to do, make every Viking wear eels from now on? I'm sure that fashion would bring out the color of your eyes very nicely, but that's an awful lot of eels, and they'd stink." He 'forgot' to mention there were also a few dragons that actually liked eels, "So while I am deeply touched by your concern, do you think we haven't already thought of these problems and figured out ways to counter them? But thank you for reminding me to watch my words from now on."
Astrid mentally kicked herself. She just made the same mistake she had been warning him about!
He had in fact become aware he was saying too much…again. He was glad to have Astrid around and actually listening to him, so much that he let slip things he ought not to. While he knew such information could be dangerous around his enemies, he had hopes that Astrid and most of Berk were soon not going to be considered enemies. Still, He nudged Toothless and said "Keep an eye on my words, Bud. Let me know if I'm saying too much. Hit me if you need to."
Toothless sniggered and obliged him. The Dragon King aimed a kick at him. The Night Fury laughed and his friend lightly smacked him on the head. Astrid did not understand what was going on, but she laughed at the sight.
"So where was I? Oh yes, it was in China that I began to envision a peaceful co-existence between humans and dragons out here with the Vikings."
"So you came here."
"Well, I had to leave the court anyway," he chuckled, "my life was in danger by that point. I knew too much. And as you have observed, I sometimes have trouble keeping my mouth shut around people." Especially attractive girls it seems, he added mentally. "I realized it was only a matter of time before I was arrested or murdered, or both, so I said my goodbyes and quit while I was ahead."
"Well, living with dragons is all very well for China, but I still don't believe anybody will be accepting dragons here. Certainly not on Berk after what happened to the Chief's son."
"Stoick's son? You mean that kid…um…let's see, what was his name again?"
"Hiccup." Astrid said softly.
"Yeah, him…the kid you all think Toothless carried off."
"Technically speaking…" Toothless said slyly,
Astrid looked uncomfortable. "Look, I don't want to accuse anybody here, but have you considered that your dragon might have taken Hiccup before you met him?"
"He didn't kill Stoick's son." The King said flatly. "I swear it on anything you like. And from what I've heard about him, why does anybody really care if a dragon did take him? I mean…from what I've heard…he wasn't that popular to begin with, and he and the Chief had family…issues."
"Oh, he was a nuisance, I can tell you that. He was always building things that never worked, a rabbit was a better fighter, he never listened or followed the simplest order…and yet he was a nice guy, he never treated me like some prize, he didn't intentionally cause trouble, and he wasn't a self absorbed brat like his cousin. And while we certainly weren't close, I never wanted him to dead. When we discovered what had happened to him, I was…" She caught herself. "Well, it doesn't matter anymore. He's gone and nothing can change that."
"How did the Chief take it?"
"How would any parent take it if their only child was killed by a dragon? He broke down whenever he thought nobody was looking during that first year."
"I'm…sorry to hear that, but I thought he and his son weren't very close?"
Astrid snorted. "The bottom of the sea was closer to the sky compared to the distance between them, but that doesn't mean the chief didn't love Hiccup. Hiccup was…a handful, and very hard to talk to. Or he'd never shut up, which amounted to the same thing. I mean, the Chief tried everything he could but the kid was too different for him. Any parent would have had trouble with him."
"I wonder…"
"Wonder what?"
"Oh, just wondering how things might have been different," he said quickly. He stared at the ground deep in thought.
"How'd the rest of the village take his death?" he asked eventually.
"Oh, some cried, some threw parties claiming they were in his honor when they were really to celebrate his absence. Snotlout and Mildew hosted some of them—in secret of course. Stoick was too depressed then to pay much attention to them. He had a drinking problem for a while, but his brother and our Blacksmith pulled him out of it."
"Mildew. Sounds like an unpleasant kind of person."
"Oh he's very unpleasant. I hate the way he looks down on women. He says a woman can never be Chief."
"That's just stupid. Just look at the Bog Burglars for crying out loud! And Cleopatra ruled Egypt for nearly twenty years! That was quite a feat at that time period. Most of her predecessors were luckly to last for five!"
"I know, right? But Mildew is so narrowminded and stubborn. Maybe it's his age. The guy must be older than some of the trees I've thrown axes into!"
"Do the Twins still drop giant snowballs onto his house on Snoggletog?" He was chuckling now.
"Yes!" Astrid laughed, "And last summer they kidnapped his sheep Fungus and painted a bull's-eye on its rear end! Wait—how do you know about them dropping snowballs on Mildew's house?"
"Oh…I have my sources,"
"I know you've got ways to…"keep informed," as you put it, but I wouldn't have thought some madcap prank the Twins play on Berk's most unpopular person would interest to you."
He shrugged. "If someone sees it, they report it. I can't exactly control everything they see."
"You don't have them spy on us when we're—?"
"I promise you they respect people's privacy," Unless there was good reason to be suspicious about it, he thought.
"Are you so knowledgeable about the other tribes too?"
He looked at her fixedly. "We mostly focus on the islands that have the worst reputation for killing dragons." Astrid turned away so he couldn't see her face. She had mixed feelings about this information.
On the one hand she knew she should be proud of it. She'd been raised from birth to believe that dragons were dangerous, a threat to Berk that had to be eliminated, and she had embraced this belief and thrown herself wholeheartedly into fighting dragons. By Viking standards, to have such a high dragon kill count was inspiring and heroic; a sign of a great warrior. Yet at the same time, after what she had seen this day which so greatly contradicted her upbringing, she couldn't help but feel a bit ashamed of such a high kill count, and found difficulty in defending it.
The King could not see her face, but he knew why she had turned away, and he rejoiced at it. He had been hoping that remark would bring out that reaction.
Their thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the cry of a Nadder. The King jumped to his feet.
"That's Stormfly! Her eggs are about to hatch!" He grabbed Astrid and dragged her away. "Now this is something you've gotta see!"
He quickly led her down a winding path to a cave. Several Nadders were blocking the entrance, but quickly stepped aside when they noticed him.
"Good, we're just in time!" He said excitedly, "Come here, Astrid! Take a look!"
The cave was featureless beyond a pile of straw the Nadder named Stormfly was lying on. Besides her and partly buried in the straw were several large eggs that were wobbling.
"Come here!" The King said again. He sounded like a child who had just discovered where the snoggletog gifts were hidden. "Over here, we don't want to get too close." He pulled her to a corner. "Now watch this!"
Astrid watched as the eggs began to wobble more and more. Cracks began to appear in them, which made the dragons watching warble excitedly. Then there was a loud cracking noise and eggs in one accord burst apart. Four baby Nadders flopped onto the straw and began to look around.
She had to admit, they were pretty cute. They're eyes were large and they looked at everything with great fascination. They looked like a miniature version of an adult Nadder, only there were no wings or spines. Two were blue and yellow like their mother, the other two were a mixture of red and green. Very quickly they spotted Stormfly and at once clambered over to her and hid behind her tail, which curled around them protectively. The King then slowly took a step forward with one hand outstretched.
"May I?" He asked tentatively. Stormfly simply looked down at her tail. One by one four little heads popped up from behind it, each one looking at the human curiously.
"It's all right, little guys," the King whispered in dragonese, "it's alright, it's alright…welcome to the world!"
One of the red hatchlings was a bit bolder than the others and came forward rapidly but with caution. Hesitantly it sniffed the man's opened palm, which was large enough to encompass the creature's neck. Abruptly it abandoned all caution and jumped onto the King. Its siblings followed suit and the King suddenly had four little dragons clinging to him playfully, to the delight of the other dragons present.
Stormfly was looking proud, perhaps glad to see that her monarch was approved of by her children. Astrid meantime was dumbfounded. She keep trying to persuade herself that, cute as the babies were, they were like wolf cubs, beginning life cute and cuddly but soon growing into full fledged monsters, but it would take a heart of stone to not feel a bit of affection for the little ones. Seeing them playing on the King only added to their charm, and she couldn't help but smile.
Just as suddenly as they had jumped onto the King, they got off, except for one. That one remained on the King's shoulder and seemed content to stay there forever, until the King gently picked him up. Then, to Astrid's complete astonishment, he held the baby dragon out to her.
"Do you…want me to touch her?"
"Don't worry, she's very friendly."
"I…"
"Come on, Astrid, the Gods aren't going to destroy you for touching a newborn dragon."
Reluctantly Astrid held out her hand and touched the baby Nadder. She'd never really touched a dragon before. Yes, she'd made physical contact plenty of times when fighting them, but it was not the same as what she was doing now. Now she could actually take the time to run her hand along the smooth scales, feel life pulsing beneath them, sense the already growing strength of the dragon's muscles. It was unlike anything she'd ever felt before that she couldn't resist a smile and a weak laugh. Suddenly a growl sound was made.
"What did I do?" She asked at once.
"Nothing," The King laughed, "this girl's hungry!" He carefully returned the baby to her mother. "They're beautiful, Stormfly," he gently patted her on the head, "congratulations…he'd be very proud…" this last was said so softly that Astrid wasn't even aware he'd said anything.
Toothless, who up to this point had been silently standing behind them like a shadow, now darted forward.
"All right, everyone, that's enough! Let's give Stormfly some privacy, she's gotta feed the kids!" As the dragons departed the King led Astrid out of the cave with them, the Night Fury right behind.
"Pretty cool, huh?"
"Yes I—I've never touched a baby dragon before."
"It's one of my favorite parts of living with dragons. I make a point of being there for every hatching, if I can." That was a large part of what this island was mostly for: a place for dragons to nest and raise their children away from danger and predators. He looked at his own dragon sadly, "I sometimes wonder if I'll ever see your children hatch, bud." Toothless just shrugged.
"So where's the father?" Astrid asked, "Stormfly's mate, I mean? Is he out getting food or was he watching behind us?"
"No." The King hung his head. "Shortly after the eggs were laid he was caught and killed by Outcasts." Astrid couldn't help but feel she'd just crossed a line.
"Oh…" It was all she could say.
"Well," the King said with a heavy sigh, "it happens. Nobody likes it, but all we can do is keep going. But it's a shame those kids will grow up without a father…it's not easy to do, you know? Growing up fatherless…"
"Did you?"
He ignored her and Astrid decided not to pursue the subject.
"So what would happen if both of their parents were dead? Sorry, that came out wrong. What I'm asking is, if something happened to Stormfly, what would happen to her children?"
"It's nice to see you showing concern for them. With most dragons, the loss of both parents at such a young age is a death sentence for all but the strongest. Nadders, however, are very social and have strong maternal instincts. If something happened to Stormfly, another Nadder would step in and take the children as her own. They'll be stepping in to help out anyway, whenever Stormfly's absent. But on this island, if any hatchling ever became an orphan and no other dragon is willing to take it in, which has never happened yet, I would take care of it myself." He paused. "And if you think of using that information against me, keep in mind that I mentioned Nadders had strong maternal instincts. Take their hatchlings and you'll never know a safe moment afterwards."
"And I thought you were insisting dragons are safe creatures."
"Anything is dangerous if mistreated. Dogs are dangerous when angered, yet people still keep them around. Heck, you are dangerous when you're angry, yet you're soon to be the Chief of Berk."
Several hours had passed by. Astrid had spent the late afternoon wandering around her room and thinking about all that she had seen, but after eating some vension she decided to take a closer look around the underground passages, still thinking of the same things she'd been thinking of before without reaching any real conclusions.
She felt her Viking upbringing was being ripped away and torn to shreds. Everything she'd been taught since she was taught anything had more or less been refuted by the Dragon King and her own eyes. Astrid had never entirely thought, as some like Mildew and Spitelout did, that dragons were simply mindless killing machines. She'd seen enough in their raids to recognize that they had some degree of intelligence, but what she'd seen today had been beyond anything she could have imagined. She just couldn't believe she'd seen evidence of dragons building, caring for their young, planting, living in harmony with each other, and tolerating the human who lived with them. Why, they were practically humans themselves, baring obvious physical differences. She'd even touched a baby Nadder! How many Vikings could make that claim? Granted, most wouldn't care, but even so, she had found it amazing. If the King was trying to get her to take his side concerning dragons, she felt his plan was already starting to succeed, and she'd only been here for one day.
But then she thought about what she would do on Berk now. She'd barely given thought to being Chief all day, but now she remembered that she had a good chance of succeeding Stoick. She had to start thinking of where she would stand on issues and this was a major one. Would her shifting views affect her chances of being chief? She remembered what Stoick often said: 'a chief looks after his people.' Or hers, she mentally added. But how could she decide on what was best for her people when she was not entirely certain of what was best for herself? She was still not sold on the idea of dragons and humans could live together peacefully, and there was little reason to believe anyone else on Berk would approve of it, certainly not a majority.
That her views were changing there was no question. The question was what she going to do about it, and for that she had no clear cut answer.
"What would Dad do?" she wondered to herself. "What would Uncle Finn do? That's easy. They'd do the honorable thing. But just what is the 'honorable thing' in this case?
She'd been wandering through the halls for a while now, and she began to hear the echo of a peculiar sound. It sounded like the buzz of a hive of bees mixed with the plucking of deep strings, and she could hear someone singing faintly to it. Rounding a corner she came into the Main Hall and saw the King sitting on the floor strumming what appeared to be a human sized wooden spoon with strings running down the front and an odd kind of vase attached to the smaller end.
"It's a veena," he said when he'd finally noticed her. "A saraswati veena, to be precise. They're popular instruments in India."
Astrid sat down next to him. "You built that yourself?"
"Yeah. I sometimes do this to clear my head. That or go flying on Toothless, but he's sleeping right now." Astrid turned and spotted the Night Fury hanging upside down from an unlit torch. "He says the music helps him fall asleep. Not sure if that's meant to be an insult or a compliment."
"Insult,"
"Hey! You're supposed to be sleeping!"
"You people are too noisy." Toothless groaned as he closed his eyes even tighter.
Astrid looked confused so he told her what had just been said. She smiled. "Well, here we are. Play something,"
"Well…um…" he glanced at the Night Fury, who nodded, still keeping his eyes closed. "All right." He plucked a string and softly sang:
"On the other side of the horizon
Is a place where troubles wash away
Like chalk drawings on a rainy day
On the other side of the horizon
No one complains about what you do
There's no fighting and there's no need to
The deepest dreams you have
Have a chance of becoming real
There are lots of loved ones
Who all care about how you feel
Wait for me, I'm coming
Stop the vessel, I want to get on
I'll leave this life behind
And then all my worries will be gone
On the other side of the horizon
I'll find the place I was meant to be
Where everybody cares for me
On the other side of the horizon
Is the happy place I'll find one day
And once I'm there that is where I'll stay
And I'll soar like the swan
And run as freely as the gazelle
I'll show that I matter
And that all others matter as well
And I'll shine like the sun
And I'll glow like the radiant moon
I will get there someday
One day… I just hope it will be soon"
He let the music fade away slowly.
"Did you make that up yourself?"
"Yeah," he mumbled, "just something I made up some time ago. About the only thing I actually know how to play. I normally just ad-lib and forget it."
"I liked it."
"Well that's a first—I mean…really?"
"Really,"
He cocked his head to one side. She suddenly felt a strong urge to take off his mask and see his expression.
"Astrid?"
"Yes?"
"Would you like to see a planet?"
He took her up to the highest point on the entire island, which allowed a huge encompassing view in all directions. It was late now, so Astrid could barely see anything besides the sky. The King himself was hard to make out due to his dark armor. The sky, on the other hand, was filled with stars, shining like millions of diamonds. But Astrid had seen plenty of starry nights before and was not very impressed or interested. What interested her more was the strange looking tube the King was holding.
"You know, of course, that glass lenses, when made convex or concave, will cause an image to appear larger or smaller, respectively. For centuries people have been using this knowledge for magnification purposes, though more for curiosity than for practicality. I took it a few steps further and devised this thing here. Take a look." He offered her the tube. Astrid took it.
"So I just look through it?"
"Yes, and look upwards."
She pointed it at the brightest star in the sky. What she saw was a large glowing white sphere, vividly and sharply contrasting with the blackness of the night. She could make out two parallel reddish bands streaking across the sphere at an angle, and to the right and left were four seemingly randomly placed spots of light.
"Are those four lights stars?" She asked, interested, but only slightly impressed by what she saw.
"What are you looking at? Oh, Jupiter. That's what the Romans named it anyway. I've had that question too, but when I've observed them, they seem to be orbiting around Jupiter, kind of like how the moon revolves around us."
"Are you saying they're moons, then?"
"Possibly. It would make sense. I mean, if we can have objects orbiting around us, why can't other worlds have them?"
"Do you think—"Jupiter" is a world like ours?" She put down the telescope and stared at him wide eyed; her curiosity now piqued. "Do you think there could be other civilizations out there? Other humans? Inventions and ways of life we've never even dreamed of? Or do you think the Gods live up there? Maybe this Jupiter is Thor's home! Maybe…I'm looking at Valhalla…" her voice trailed off as she realized what she might have just looked at. The possibilities of what it could be awed her far more than the actual observing had. "Am I the first person to see the homes of the Gods?"
"Um…I hate to burst your bubble, but if that's what they are, you'd be second, actually,"
"Oh, right…" she wasn't really listening. She was looking up at the sky with renewed interest and a dreamlike expression. "It's a beautiful night, you know that?"
"Divine," the King said dryly, "care to see more? That star over there is called Saturn by the Romans."
She eagerly took a second look and saw a yellowish shape that seemed both a perfect circle and stretched out at the same time. It was as though a flattened oval had been inserted into the planet somehow.
"What's with the shape?"
"I don't know, actually. It almost looks like the planet has ears or something. Perhaps there are really 3 planets, or maybe it's being pulled apart or merging with other objects."
"Maybe Ragnarök is happening there? What if the Gods have started with that world, and then they'll move on to the next one until they reach Earth?" Astrid asked nervously.
"Maybe. Personally, I doubt it. I've learned that there are a lot of things that we can't explain, and we should not just use a deity as an excuse for why we can't. It's very bad science to say 'we can't discover this because the God's will not allow it.' Did you know that in some parts of the world people believe colds are caused when tiny invisible elves shoot arrows into their ankles?" He snorted, "It might entertain children, but it doesn't explain a thing to a scientist."
"How would you explain it then?"
"I can't. But I believe one day someone will. Overtime our knowledge will be added to and we will discover the explanations for everything. All I can do is learn what I can and record my work so the people of the future will have something to follow. It's like building one of those pyramids in Egypt. I'm going to lay my layer of stone down, and people will place their own layers on top of mine, until we've reached the very top." He looked at the sky wistfully.
"You're a strange man," Astrid commented.
"Because I see things in ways you don't?"
"Yes."
"It's who I am, Astrid," he said, a little sadly, "It's always been my luck and curse to see things differently from everyone else."
She went back to stargazing when they heard the roar of a Nightmare somewhere off in the distance. That reminded her of something.
"Say—a few weeks after Hiccup disappeared all of the dragons in our arena escaped. Was that you're doing?"
"All of the—oh right, that. Yeah, that was me." His very first caper actually but there was no need to tell her that.
"You sure left us with quite a mystery."
"Happy to be of service, milady. It's quite a lovely night, isn't it?"
Astrid caught the bantering tone. "Very lovely, my good sir, now, if you would care to tell me, what's that star over there?"
"That? That's Mars, another planet."
She took another look. "All I can see is a gray shape."
"That's what I usually get. Sometimes it appears reddish. I need to develope a stronger lense,"
Astrid pointed the instrument at him. "Now what's this I see? It looks there's life on Mars. Quite a strange looking creature too!"
"Oh, very funny, here, let me see that," he took the instrument from her and took a look over the sea. "Huh. I can see Mildew, gripping about something, maybe the Twins blew up his house, and there's Snotlout, trying to draw up a marriage contract for you and wondering how much he's worth…and while I'm sure there are a host of other things I could say, I think I might want to shut up before someone punches my—" He was going to say 'my lights out,' but he didn't get that far before she practically did.
"Way to ruin a fine night by bringing up those muttonheads!"
He was clutching his head. "Why is it always violence with you?"
"I prefer to think of it as 'communication.'"
"I think I got the message." He groaned.
"Good," she said smugly, "now, what shall we look at next?"
The King began collapsing the telescope. "I believe we've seen enough for one night, and I seriously need some ice."
"Did I hit you that hard? I didn't think it was that much…"
"I'm wearing a metal helmet, remember?"
"Right…ooh, sorry." She meant it. She had only intended to hit him playfully. "I guess I don't know my own strength."
"You don't say. Toothless, could you lead her back please?"
Astrid jumped. She hadn't realized the Night Fury had snuck up behind her.
"What happened?" the Night Fury demanded. "I heard you yelping and groaning. What's going on?"
"Nothing Bud, she just like's to give people headaches." He gestured for Astrid to follow the dragon.
"So…until tomorrow then?" she asked.
"Until tomorrow then," he replied.
She nodded and turned to leave, but hesitated.
"I really sorry—I didn't mean to hit you so hard."
"Don't worry about it. I'm sorry I gave you a reason to do so."
She came closer to him. A bit too close for his comfort. "So, we're good, right?" She asked.
"Sure we're…um, good, yes very good and…I honestly don't know what to say right now." To his surprise she smiled. He felt very glad that she couldn't see his own expression, because he could feel himself blushing.
"What's so funny?" He asked, hoping he sounded casual.
"Nothing, it's just…" She was suddenly reminded of Hiccup. He'd stammer too when he was nervous. Sometimes it was annoying, but other times she had found it cute. "So, um…where were we?"
"Um…oh right, I was asking if we were good?"
"Right, sure, we are…so, see you tomorrow?"
"I don't know who else you'd be expecting to see, so yes?" He replied dryly. She looked at him strangely, until Toothless gave an impatient huff.
"Well that was awkward," the King mumbled in Dragonese, so Astrid wouldn't understand what he was saying. "Gotta stay focused, gotta stay focused. Yes, she's even more beautiful than I remember, but I can't act on impulse much or else everything's going to fall apart." He looked up at the stars again.
'The deepest dreams you have,
Have a chance of becoming real'
Should I hope so?"