Hey, I know I said Friday, but time screwed me -_-, and I hope you guys really enjoy what I'm doing so far :) and if you're not, you know where to tell me! Reviews are your friends :D Now I remember a reviewer asking me if all Astrid was going to do is follow Hiccup and just be a recap of the original movie. Well without giving too much away, I would have to say that I will be using the movie as sort of a base, but will change a few things around. Extra Toothless/Hiccup and Hiccup/Astrid interaction, I'll even throw in a bonus chapter or two for fun every once in a while. Now I'm going to see it through till the end of the movie, but how I get there will differentiate. Without further ado, here is chapter 4!
The sun crept through the window of a certain blonde headed Viking. Astrid stirred from her sleep, opening her eyes a bit. The sunlight hit her head on, momentarily blinding her. Attempting to regain some semblance of vision, she stumbled out of bed. She felt absolutely exhausted. Her body seemed to agree, refusing to walk in a straight line, giving anyone who happened to be in her house the impression that she had a little too much to drink.
As Astrid stumbled along, she slipped on an article of clothing. She crashed into the ground, cursing loudly as her body met the floor.
"Son of a- !"
"Astrid!" The girl responded to her mother's voice.
"Yes, Mother!"
"Breakfast is ready!"
"On my way!"
Astrid tied her disheveled hair into a tight braid, leaving a few strands of hair to dangle in front of her face. She slipped into her spike studded skirt, put on her boots and shoulder pads and made sure to grab her axe; she was not forgetting it again. Everything seemed to be in order, so she continued into the kitchen. After an average breakfast of stew, buttermilk and leg of lamb, Astrid thanked her mother and was out the door. Today was a beautiful day, and it would not go to waste.
The island of Berk was as lively as usual. The cobble stoned path was invisible, only boots or prosthesis could be seen. Tough men were heading towards the bars to drink mead and recall their glory days or talk about slaying dragons or even brag about women. The vast majority of women were busy shopping for weapons for their husbands, or keeping house.
After reaching a certain age, the female population was taught to be a good, strong Viking while also being a proper wife. Astrid scoffed at the idea that she would tend to some man's home instead of going out and slaying dragons. She always had, in the back of her mind, had the dream of becoming a Valkyrie. They were the epitome of strength and ruthlessness. This future of the deciding of deaths entranced Astrid. However, it didn't really matter to her as long as she got to stay active during battles. In Berk, the most common future for a female was to bear children and support a family. Vikings were very much in favor of strong, brave and steadfast offspring.
As Astrid lazily breezed through town, she caught up with a familiar face.
"Well nah, is that Astrid I spy?"
Astrid immediately perked up and gave Gobber the Belch a good natured smile. "Hey Gobber," she stopped and leaned against a hut for support, "how are you today?" Astrid was very fond of the man before her. He was a drinking buddy of her father's, also anytime she needed something at the forge he would happily be of assistance.
Gobber adjusted his hook on his left hand. "I'd say pretty well lass!" She scowled as the bearded Viking ruffled her hair playfully. "Are yeh ready for dragon trainin' comin' up? With all the weapons ye keep breakin' an' dullin' I believe you'd be some stiff competition!"
The blonde gave a confident grin. "Those dragons won't know what hit them!"
Unconsciously, Astrid's eyes wandered to the false hand and foot made of metal. Gobber was never ashamed of his battle wounds, typical of any Viking really; scars meant you fought your heart out and lived.
Thinking back, Astrid remembered some of the adults talking about how he had managed to lose his hand and foot. Back where her father had been, a few dragons managed to sneak up on the Hairy Hooligans assigned to slay the nearby dragons. First it was a foot, then not long after they came back for the hand. Gobber claimed it was a giant dragon made solely of bones, but everyone says it's just one of his tall tales.
"Remember lass, it's not all abou' slashing yeh way through it all. Go for-"
"The wings and tail, I got it." Astrid blew a stray air from her face. "I remember: A downed dragon is a dead dragon."
Gobber had a wistful smile on his face. "I hope yeh know..." he put a hand on her shoulder, "yer father would've been extremely proud of how yeh turned out." With that, the older Viking turned and left leaving Astrid staring bewilderedly in his direction. Feeling chills run up and down her spine, she wiped her eyes and gave a small smile. Realizing what she was doing, Astrid put on a stern face and proceeded to knock into a few people while walking forward. Astrid was tough, and she let everyone know. Weakness wasn't something any Viking was willing to show, let alone admit was there; this went double for the prideful blonde.
Astrid, feeling rejuvenated from her walk, decided to go off to train for a bit. Looking for a quick route around the mob of people passing through the village square, she easily evaded everyone and took off to train at the cliff of bregða.
This was one of the few places in Berk that could be called beautiful. The grass looked like a sea of green, all melding together seamlessly. It looked almost untouched compared to the rest of the island. While many areas had scorch marks of past battles, broken trees, sword slashes, or destroyed rocks, this was extremely breathtaking. The field cuts off before the cliffs of the island which overlooks a particularly fierce part of the sea. It wasn't unusual to hear the loud roar of the ocean waves as the smashed into the base of this particular cliff.
'First I must become one with the spirits of my fallen comrades.'
The grassy plain got its name from the battle that occurred here. Before the Hairy Hooligans resided on this isolated land, an entire squadron was sent to check the area out. Promptly upon arrival, the brave explorers were attacked by the natives of the land. It wasn't any human tribes, but dragons. They fought back as best as they could, but most of the Vikings were slaughtered. The few survivors managed to return back to their homeland and tell the Elders of their tale. They described the terrible beasts and the blood washing into the water and painting the earth a crimson red. It was then decided that vengeance must be sought. The entire trible got on their ships and immigrated to this particular island. Vikings were hot headed and passionate by nature; they couldn't leave this lying down. As soon as they arrived, they made the cliff where the battle had taken place sacred grounds. The name of bregða meant bravery, in order to give the valiant Vikings a proper send off.
Astrid, like many others, came here in order to get a bit of understanding from their fallen comrades. Many Viking warriors hoped to find some sense of understanding, or to feel the essence of their fallen comrades; anything to find a way to improve their skills or to better themselves as Vikings. Normally, there are a few villagers paying respects, or children playing in the grass. However, today the field was completely empty, something that rarely happened.
Astrid, deciding to enjoy the rare sunshine, allowed the silence to envelop her. Placing her axe down in front of her, she took her hands, knelt down and closed her eyes as she muttered a thank you. After she was done, she leaned back and stared at the clouds slowly floating by.
"Unusually calm for this time of year…" She mused.
Astrid breathed contentedly and let her braid get tangled in the thickness of the grass. She stretched her legs out and relaxed her body. Slowly she began to close her eyes, when a small snap broke the silence.
"Damn, another one."
Sitting beside a lone rock near the edge of the cliff, Astrid saw a familiar back turned away from her.
'Hiccup?'
The boy seemed to be sketching something in a book, when his writing instrument broke. He grumbled and pulled another one out of his belt. Wistfully looking out at the water below, he began again. Astrid made her way towards him, making sure her boots didn't give her away her position. He must have arrived without her noticing. She held her breath and slowly moved along the patches of grass. She felt a sense of familiarity with this scene.
'I feel like I'm stalking the guy…but still, I need answers, and Hiccup has them.'
She managed to get close enough to see what Hiccup was doing. His hand glided gracefully as he made lines in his book. Inside the book, there were incredible sketches of the scenery below. The rocks and waves below looked almost identical.
"Nice picture." She commented, momentarily forgetting her previous secrecy.
Hiccup nearly jumped out of his skin. "Who the-"
Upon seeing her, Hiccup promptly shut his mouth and turned an unusual shade of red. The boy fumbled with the papers in a sad attempt to hide them from Astrid. "I- uh, they're not done…"
Astrid was paying no mind to the stuttering boy and was instead focusing all her attention to the lines on the paper. Without realizing, she had inched her way closer to Hiccup. By the time she had realized how close she was, her face was inches away from his. Green eyes met blue as the two teenagers realized how close in proximity they were.
Astrid was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Her heart was beating quicker and her face felt warm. 'I knew warm weather in Berk was no blessing. I'm already starting to develop heat stroke."
She pushed Hiccup away, making him fall on his back. "What do you think you're doing, being so close?" Astrid stood up and tried to mat down her skirt, it rose up a bit when she was leaning down to watch Hiccup work. Immediately, it was a bad idea. Spikes may be fashionable, but not very fun to stab your hands on. "I'm leaving!" she announced. Before Hiccup could get in a word edgewise, she was gone.
"And just when I thought I was going to have a good day…" Astrid touched her face to see if she was ill; her skin was still very warm. She muttered darkly, "I don't even know why I went over there…"
Deciding it better to just go home instead of train, Astrid walked home. She was getting more and more strange around the chieftain's son, and Astrid didn't like it; she didn't like it one bit.
Alright, there it is! Ha! Astrid is so slow, she thinks it was heatstroke ^^ This chapter is probably a bit filler, but I really intended for more! I just got sidetracked along the way... But don't worry, cause next chapter is gonna be better! Two words: Dragon Training. :D Please R&R and I'll try to update soon, kay?