FINALLY! I got to typing on my phone and I now managed to finish this chapter! My other story will be updated soon as well! As I'm typing this, I realized I kinda wrote Astrid like myself. Hopefully I can get the other's characterization down. Also, this story doesn't have much in the way of the other Viking teens, but I'm really just trying to focus on Astrid, Hiccup and Toothless.
…What are you waiting for? READ!
Many weeks passed by, and Hiccup and Astrid because closer than ever. After every day of dragon training, they met back at their usual spot and spent the day hanging out. Hiccup played with Toothless and Astrid just watched. The girl and dragon were now just mutually respectful of each other, promising not to kill the other. Hiccup always rolled his eyes whenever they got into a verbal sparring match. Although considering Toothless didn't speak much Norse, it always baffled Hiccup how they made it work. Nevertheless it was still very entertaining.
The last couple of weeks, instead of playing, the trio were hard at work trying to perfect Hiccup's flying mechanism. Hiccup spent their time apart practically living at the forge. Everyday brought a new modification. Whenever they tested it out, Hiccup rode on Toothless and Astrid took notes on what she saw went right and wrong. Hiccup had tried many times to get Astrid to ride, but both she and the Night Fury were very clear that only Hiccup could ride Toothless. They managed to stay airborne for 10 minutes, but of course it didn't count considering Toothless' saddle was tied to a rope. Astrid stayed behind them to see how the fin was working. It was all fine and well until a strong air current tore the rope and sent Hiccup and Toothless barreling into Astrid, and the three of them slammed into a baby tree. Of course this caused another argument between the Night Fury and Astrid. Between the roars and profanity, Hiccup shrugged off the pine needles and went to sketching.
Though they had their disagreements and small fights, they were still a close trio of friends. Friend was a word that Astrid didn't use lightly, at least when she meant it. Some people were friends, but she could safely say that Hiccup and (she had to admit) Toothless were FRIENDS. This couldn't always be shown outside the lake in the forest.
During dragon training, Hiccup pretended not to acknowledge Astrid any more than he had done previously. She wasn't sure how to respond to this. Obviously if they acted friendly towards each other, somebody would know something was up. But it seemed utterly ridiculous to hide their friendship when Astrid damn well didn't care what anyone thought of it. But if Hiccup wanted to play like that, Astrid was game. Besides, it was hard enough to keep screwing up when they attacked the dragons. They made a deal not to actively try to hurt any of them. Instead, they subdued them with various methods learned from spending time with the local Night Fury.
Apparently there was a certain type of grass that literally drove Toothless insane. One whiff and he began making a disturbing whine while grinning like a madman. They grabbed a few patches of it and lured the dragons into the cages with it. Also, having been almost crushed to death gave Astrid a good idea: If she did her signature battle cry while running towards the dragon and then scratching it into submission, no one would be the wiser. Hiccup however, had his method of terrifying them by hiding an eel in his fur vest. This gained Hiccup a bit more respect, and he wasn't teased as badly as he was before. They considered their methods "functional improvisation."
Today they were facing a Terrible Terror.
"Oy! That lil' creature shouldn't be taken lightly! It's called eh Terrible Terror for eh reason. Make sure ta stay on yer guard!" Of course after imparting those words of wisdom, Gobber had left to do Thor knows what. Fishlegs had a point questioning the man's teaching methods.
"Back off you guys, especially you squirt! And Astrid! This one is mine!" Hiccup merely bowed a bit, which earned him a slap and a giggle from Astrid. "Ha!" Tuffnut swaggered over to the little green dragon. It flicked its tongue out and opened its wings. "This thing isn't so tough, it's almost as big as my-" They never did figure out how big it was, because the Terror tackled Tuffnut's face and chomped down on his nose.
"I am in pain! Ow! I am in PAIN!" He howled like a little girl as he tried to tear the dragon off of his face. Fishlegs followed suit, presumably to get more information on the Terror.
Ruffnut sighed and grabbed a hammer. "Of course I had to have been born with an idiot for a twin brother. Well I have to save him, or mom will kill me." She said this in such perfect deadpan, and Hiccup tried to stifle a laugh. Everyone turned to look at the son of the chieftain because it was very rare that he laughed without it being a nervous or guilty laugh.
Upon hearing this, Ruffnut beamed and winked at Hiccup as she ran to her brother's aid. All the while, Astrid was cutting her down with her glare. Friends did not let friends date Ruffnut. And since Hiccup was her only friend, 'Hiccup,' she decided, 'will not date or be too friendly with her.' Sure it was a bit too possessive, but Vikings were not known for letting what they thought was theirs be unprotected. And Astrid decided that Hiccup needed to be protected, regardless of whether he was something that was hers or not.
"Astrid..." She could hear a seductive, yet desperate voice calling her name. She groaned, she couldn't see the sun through the thickness of the clouds, but already Astrid knew that it was way too early for this.
"What do you want Snotlout?" His eyes lit up at the sound of his name and quickly wrapped an arm around her. 'I will not kill him.' He wrapped his arm even tighter. 'I will only maim him, battle scars were all the rage nowadays right?' It suddenly occurred to her what a violent person she was. Oh well.
"Listen, I know you want to be all 'Grr Viking Tough Girl' and so that's why you won't go out with me-"
"Gee, however did you guess?" The scowl on her face was evidence that she wasn't being serious but Snotlout seemed oblivious.
"A man knows baby, a man knows." All of the images that appeared in her head only confirmed that Astrid was indeed a very violent person and could probably do unspeakable things with a hammer, an axe and a leaf. It was the leaf that was the most graphic.
As Astrid craned her neck away from the boy in disgust, she saw Hiccup's glum expression as he watched them. She quickly elbowed Snotlout in the chest and walked away as quick as she could. But as she walked, she passed by Hiccup and let her hand brush his. She watched in amusement and delight as his face turned a bright red. 'I think I'm forgiven.' she thought as Hiccup's goofy grin came into full view.
Now that there were no more distractions, Astrid took a deep breath. "LET'S SLAY US A DRAGON!" All of the teens cheered loudly in response. Hiccup rolled his eyes and smiled. Of course the two wouldn't try to actually hurt the dragon, but damn it all if she wasn't gonna have fun pretending she was.
The Terrible Terror was now far away from the group, stretching and looking particularly bored. Tuffnut was screaming in agony over his "horrible wounds." Quite an exaggeration for a few light scratches and a tiny puncture wound. He picked up a rock and aimed it at the dragon. Astrid winced as the predictable outcome became reality. The rock hit the Terror's tail, and sent it into a rage. Tuffnut began to run away as Ruffnut chased after it with an axe. Tuffnut stopped to catch a breath, and not paying attention, his sister crashed into him. They quickly began wrestling and hurling insults at each other. So much for them.
Snotlout was playing an interesting game of whack-a-dragon. Only the hammer made no contact and only served to aggravate the burly Viking boy. "You know what? This dragon isn't even worth my time and my expertise." Snotlout went over and flicked Hiccup on the forehead. "S'all yours cuz. Try not to die; I don't want to clean you up off the ground." Hiccup rubbed the spot in annoyance. Astrid never had a brother, but if they were like Snotlout and Hiccup, and Tuff and Ruff she'd thank Odin later for making her an only child.
Fishlegs was just standing idly playing with a sword. Hiccup went up to him, "Why aren't you trying to, y'know...destroy that uh beast?" Hiccup's non Vikingness really shined through when he tried to tough talk.
Fishlegs shrugged, "I'm not really that interested in it. I just like figuring out information on the dragons."
"Oh?" Both the boys turned their heads and saw Astrid walking towards them. She leaned on her trusty axe and looked Fishlegs straight in the eyes. "That's not very Viking-like. You look like the type to enjoy a good brawl with blood."
Fishlegs' motor functions weren't working properly seeing as his mouth hung open and his eyes unblinking. "Y-you're talking to me? You never talk to me." He looked at Hiccup. "Does she ever talk to me?" Astrid frowned. Was she really that stuck up?
'Well I was usually preoccupied with slaying dragons and toughening up, going to the woods alone and practicing alone.' She smiled, she was turning a new leaf sort of, she might as well extend it past a Night Fury and the awkward Hiccup.
"Yeah, I guess I am."
Fishlegs blinked and spoke with a hint of apprehension in his voice. "Well, my parents usually keep notes of everything on the island. The books there back at the main hall are full of things that they researched." Astrid nodded her head and continued to smile. She had absolutely no clue that there were books in there. Hiccup had the same expression on his face, so hopefully he was thinking the same thing.
"Anyways, their love of research kinda rubbed off on me. I even helped with a few entries of the dragon manual. Now I only did the descriptions of the dragons, but my parents did the section on How to Slay a Dragon."
Hiccup nodded, "My dad used to tell me all the time about reconnaissance missions. They'd send in people to go behind the scenes and collect information."
"Oh yeah, my fa-" Astrid's voice cracked a bit. "My father used to go on them. He said there were tons of people that always left Berk."
Fishlegs bitterly laughed, "Yeah, but they never did much. They'd go to please the Chief, but no one wanted to waste time book learning when they could just charge in at whoever and whatever needed a beat down."
He sighed deeply and had a sorrowful expression. "My mom and dad are the reason that so many people can survive fighting dragons, but no one realizes that...Well except Hiccup and a few other higher ups. They're the ones who strategize and so they confer with us."
Astrid was taken aback. She never read the manual in detail, but there were certain facts that were common knowledge. She had always heard from her mother that they know what they know from brave Vikings giving their lives to fight dragons and collect evidence. She never specified any names, and that seemed extremely unfair. It was a great dishonor for one not to be credited with the important things they had done. No one really gave much credit to the resource of knowledge they had because reading wasn't a Viking's strong suit. Astrid knew she was guilty of this as well.
"Wow, I never knew. That's really cool Fishlegs."
Fishlegs blushed, "Thanks."
The three Viking teens stood in a slightly awkward silence. Hiccup cleared his throat and grabbed a writing utensil or "scrawler" as he called it. (Around the village it was more commonly known as "that line maker thing") "The Terror is asleep, do you guys just want to ditch?"
Indeed the tiny green dragon had happily been snoozing all this time. Fishlegs shrugged noncommittally and turned to leave. "See ya guys." He disappeared behind the towering gates.
"Well," Hiccup stretched his arms and yawned. "…quite a day huh? I'm beat."
Astrid punched him in the shoulder and laughed. "You never even did anything!" Hiccup muttered something and grinned sheepishly. "Ah, details."
"We got lucky this time, we didn't have to try and pretend to hurt that dragon."
"Yeah, I know."
"Hiccup, we need a plan." She blew the hair out of her eyes. "We can't keep stumbling in the dark trying to keep 'this' " Astrid pointed to both of them, "a secret." Immediately after finishing that sentence, she turned a bright red. "I m-mean not like an US us, but you know what I mean!"
Hiccup's eyes went wide and quickly sputtered something much too quickly for Astrid to understand. "Fine, but what do you want to do?"
"What do you suggest, you're the braniac here."
"Well, we can't act super friendly, that's for sure. Someone will guess something is up. I mean already you have Fishlegs thinking he drank too much mead from you acting non-Astrid like." She had to admit he ad a good point.. "I think we should at least keep acting civil to each other. I think that's good to start."
"Yeah I guess, but something's gotta change." Hiccup looked at her quizzically. "You gotta learn to fight."
"...What? We agreed we weren't going to fight dragons!"
Astrid shook her head. "Who said I meant dragons?" She squeezed his arm, which didn't ave much in terms of muscle. "Now I'm not saying you have to be exactly like Snotlout, but a little self-defense never hurt anyone. You get pushed around too much, Hiccup."
"I don't really like fighting, not my style. But I of course don't need to with...all...this..." Astrid raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, maybe I need a little help defending myself."
"And who better to teach you than THE Astrid Hofferson?" Her smile was a little too malevolent for Hiccup's taste.
"Why do I get the feeling I'm going to regret this?"
The slightly cat-like smile became a full blown evil grin. "Aw don't worry, broken bones can always be healed!" She tried her hardest not to crack up at the sight of Hiccup's horrified face.
"Tomorrow, we start training! That clear?" She took his whimper as a yes. "Good! Right after the next test flight, we'll work on everything: speed, muscle and stamina."
"Great..."
Astrid felt her confidence rise as she planned the day out. Hiccup was already good at drawing, speed, and dragon whispering and she felt useless. Now it was her turn to contribute.
When they arrived at their spot, Toothless was comforting the very sullen boy. When the dragon nudged Hiccup to get his attention, the boy had managed to get a glimpse of a very happy Astrid sitting across from him, which drove him into further depression. Toothless turned to look at Astrid, who was whistling innocently. Toothless cocked his head, and warbled something before nuzzling into Hiccup's chest. To him, humans were incomprehensible.
Meanwhile back at the arena, a slightly tipsy Gobber ran over to the arena, only to see a sleeping dragon and no one around.
" 'ello? Did yeh all leave?" He grumbled as he walked down to the base of the arena. "They coulda ah leas' locked up..."
After Astrid had said goodbye to Hiccup and Toothless, she headed home where she went straight to bed. She plopped down on her blankets and stared at the ceiling. She smiled, and a comforting face entered her mind. His face was covered in a thick blonde beard and had twinkling blue eyes.
'Dad, I don't know if you approve but I'm finally finding something I care about. I know dragons were our enemies but maybe this can change it. With Hiccup and Toothless...oh yeah you haven't met Toothless. Well he's a dragon, in the loosest term. He's pretty much a marshmallow who rolls over for some smelly grass.' Her lips curved up into a small smile at the memory. 'I hope you understand that I don't hate dragons as much as you did. Not that I'm going soft, but I'm tired of making enemies that I don't need to have. You taught me to think first and then fight, that we had enough brainless brawlers and needed more intelligent fighters. Well here I am, and I'm smart enough to know not to fight.' Astrid sighed. 'I know this isn't what you thought would happen, but I couldn't help it. If it helps, I can still kick anyone's ass on the island! In fact tomorrow I'm teaching Hiccup how to fight. Wish me luck….'
Astrid could feel her eyelids drooping down. She yawned and buried herself in her blankets.
'Good night dad, I miss you.'
Of course now that I have this typed up, FF decides not to load -_- Now I'm kinda hoping that I haven't messed up any continuity I've made or that I've gotten suckish in my break. I have my other fic typed but only on my phone. It refuses to send to my email and its annoying. WELL…! Tell me what you think and I'll try to update soon as I can!