V for Viking

Author's Note: Okay, so I was out of town and didn't upload another chapter-per-day. That's rare for me anyways, so don't expect super speedy updates. But I have stumbled across ideas that I like for this story that should extend it a little more. I'll just say that they surround Hiccup's motivation and methods; one of them, turning the village against itself, has already been spoken of. Now it's time to put it into action, and meanwhile Astrid will desperately try to understand Hiccup's motives.

Chapter 4 – Astrid's POV

It took them ten minutes to realize that they were not going to be able to calm Stoic down, and instead directed him to the forest. More than likely, there would be enough lumber to replace the wall that Stoic broke when he threw Snotlout.

I am amazed that Snotlout somehow survived his injuries, and even more amazed that he clung onto life for the ten minutes that Stoic refused to allow anyone to help him. If I had to guess, I would say that he will never move his legs again, and that's being optimistic.

But I have more important things to do right now then guess about Snotlout's health. Hiccup tried to disappear into the forest, but I made sure to catch him by the ear before he could get out of reach.

"Oh no, you're not going anywhere…" I proclaimed loudly, thankful that the crowds had all left to accompany either Stoic or Snotlout.

"Ow ow ow" Hiccup cried out as I yanked on his ear.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Didn't any of that hurt to watch?!"

Hiccup refused to answer until I released his ear, and I eventually gave in.

"Hurt to watch? That was glorious! I'd watch it again if I could!" Hiccup retorted with a sickening amount of glee.

"What's wrong with you?! You came back to a hero's welcome and you still want revenge?"

Hiccup took a deep breath in while looking around almost frantically, then zeroed in on me as he exhaled.

"A hero's welcome? For me? Sorry, I thought that they were praising Thor that I wasn't the same screw-up that disappeared!"

"How can you even say that? Those people were eating out of your hand! Wasn't that what you wanted in the first place?!"

For a second, Hiccup's hands balled into fists and even jerked at me, but Hiccup fought to keep control of himself.

"To be accepted for something I'm not? That's the whole damn reason I left! Do you think for a second that Stoic wouldn't have any reservations if he knew what I've done?"

"That's not a fair argument, because you've been actively KILLING people you grew up with! Of course Stoic would want you back if you weren't trying to sabotage the village!"

"That's where you're wrong. You don't know that; you CAN'T. You don't even know the things I've done. You don't know anything about me. Trust me, there's no possible way that I could have become one of…one of them!"

"All you've done since I found you is convince me that you would have been a greater Viking than anyone could ask for! I can't understand why you're so abrasive to the idea that you are JUST LIKE US!"

Whereas before, Hiccup was able to keep his anger until control, now it spilled out like nothing I had seen before. Not even when he stabbed me did Hiccup look this unhinged. The speed and power with which his fist launched into my stomach knocked out any last trace of air I had in my lungs. Half a minute later, when I regained my senses, I realized I had fallen to my knees then lost balance and rolled onto my side.

When I finally lifted my head, Hiccup was gone. All in all, it took me four minutes to get back on my feet. I looked around for any trace of where Hiccup may have gone, but there wasn't as much as a trodden leaf around me.

"Way to go, Astrid. Really did a good job that time…" I berated myself aloud, before setting off into the village to see what has happened in my short absence.

Apparently, not much had happened. Stoic was in the forest, probably clearing out a location for a new village by now. Those Vikings who weren't completely hammered helped take Snotlout to Goethi's and hung around the door in a not-so-subtle attempt at guarding Snotlout from the Chief.

Most people had gone home to get some sleep (and prepare for a hectic day with a hangover) and I decided to do the same. If Hiccup didn't want me to find him, then I wouldn't, and there wasn't anything else I could do now.

The next morning, it didn't take long to realize that the day would be interesting. Just…not in a good way. Despite the fact that most of the village had huge hangovers, Stoic insisted on waking up everyone extremely early. I've never heard so many people cuss a storm at the same time like when Stoic beat on everyone's door to wake them up.

I decided that I was going to let Stoic's interactions play out, and instead headed to the forest to investigate what Stoic had done the night before. I took off in the general direction he did, and it didn't take me long before I found where he had been. There were several trees that had been chopped down, but they weren't neat piles of wood. There were numerous random cuts of varying depth all along the base of each fallen tree; no tree had been cut cleanly, either. If a tree had fallen over, it's because its base had been messily hacked away. What I saw weren't the markings of an angry man trying to vent: it was the evidence of a furious man losing himself in his rage.

"Odd… Hiccup hasn't lost control like this. At least not yet…" I mused aloud. Surely, Stoic and Hiccup must have some similarities, so why wouldn't they get angry the same way? Stoic's been angry at the world for years—well, at least at the dragons—and he's soured much like Hiccup seems to be. Maybe, if I figure out how Stoic gets angry, it will help me handle Hiccup.

I resolved to keep a keen eye on Stoic, and headed back towards the village. When I got there, the place was seemingly empty, but I could hear voices from the Great Hall.

Once I got inside, I found everyone huddled around a center. I couldn't see what was in that center, but I figured that with an event like this I'd never be able to push my way through. While everyone was distracted, I climbed up one of the support posts until I could perch myself in the rafters.

In the middle of the crowd was a wide gap, where only Stoic, Gobber, Spitelout, Goethi, and Snotlout stood. Well, Snotlout was laying on a makeshift stretcher, and Goethi was sitting, but the rest were standing.

"Alright, that looks like everyone. We can start…" Gobber announced as the crowd hushed eerily quickly. "Now, typically a Blood Feud like this would be judged by the Chief, but seeing as he's involved he can't do that. Typically, the Second-In-Command would take his spot. Spitelout, however, is the opposing side. So I get to oversee this thing!" Gobber announced to lay a foundation for the arguments about to begin.

"OW!" Gobber yelped as Goethi smacked him with her staff. "Oh, right: Goethi is going to help me—OW!—right, Goethi is co-judge. Stoic, would you like to go first?"

The whole crowd waited without even breathing. It was so quiet that you could hear chainmail clinking…that is, if anyone was moving.

"Everyone saw my son hand Snotlout his arse in that ring! He absolutely humiliated Snotlout and reclaimed his proud heritage! It's OBVIOUS that Snotlout was a poor loser about something yet again and murdered Hiccup in his sleep, all for revenge!"

"And what proof do you have that my son could have done this?" Spitelout challenged.

"Proof? What PROOF do I have? How about Snotlout's broken sword impaling Hiccup's body? A complete lack of an alibi?! The fact that your son has shown himself graceless when he loses for YEARS!?" Stoic's tone had begun to escalate, but he seemed to be keeping it in check.

Phase One: Angry and Sour, but Managing. Well, Stoic has that part down, but to be fair he's probably been there for years. Hiccup has also been in this phase since he returned to the island.

"That would sound almost kinda convincing, if it wasn't for the fact that Snotlout wasn't bitter!" Spitelout retorted, catching the crowd's interest.

"That's yak-shit! We all know that he doesn't handle being humiliated like a man should!"

"Well…" Spitelout interjected. "Why don't we ask him?"

Everyone's focus shifted to Snotlout, who had been propped up enough to see what was going on. He didn't seem to be able to move his arms or legs, and I haven't yet seen him move his head on his own.

"Well, Snotlout, what have ye to say?" Gobber asked.

Everyone went silent, and Snotlout hesitated before speaking. His words were labored and he struggled to breath at times, but otherwise sounded pretty good for a man who should be dead.

"I didn't hurt Hiccup. There was no reason for me to." Snotlout paused here to catch his breath, before resuming. "After our fight, sure. I kinda hated him. But he whispered to me something…"

Snotlout coughed here, and everyone waited with baited breath for him to continue.

"…He said…for me not to worry. He told me he…he didn't like it here on Berk, and that he was leaving again soon…permanently. He wanted to meet in the woods behind Stoic's hall to talk, but…he never showed."

"THAT'S ABSOLUTE BLASPHEMY!" Stoic hollered with the same rage that he had last night. Several people in the audience flinched, even. Almost everyone seemed to agree with Stoic, and the crowd started rumbling a little.

Before the crowd—or Stoic—could take any action, Goethi rapped her staff on the table, catching everyone's attention. She then wrote something on the ground, then looked to Gobber for translation.

"She says 'the boy's name is Ruth.' Well, that's weird—OUCH!—sorry, it says 'the boy's telling the truth.' Well, that's even weirder." Gobber flinched, expecting another smack from Goethi, but she simply nodded to confirm that is what she wrote.

"THERE IS NO WAY THAT THAT THOR-DAMNED MURDERER IS TELLING THE TRUTH! THAT BOY IS A LYING!" Stoic yelled while bringing his fist down on a table, breaking the wood in two.

The crowd was not all on his side, however. Goethi's words only served to tear the crowd down the middle, with half of the people stunned that Snotlout is innocent and another half convinced that Goethi must be wrong.

And in the background to the chatter the crowd was now making amongst itself was Stoic hollering more death threats then I even thought was possible.

Phase Two: Escalation. Furious Yelling, with the Chance of a Violent Outburst. I identified what appeared to be the second phase of Stoic's fury, and so far I've seen Hiccup go through both. At least twice he's yelled and struck me, and this also marks the second time I've seen Stoic like this. I would bet that Stoic's rampage in the woods last night could be his third phase, but I can't be sure yet.

"Alright, alright…" Gobber tried to calm the crowd down, but without any success whatsoever. It wasn't until beating a hammer against a metal shield on the wall that everyone shifted their focus to him. "Tha's better. NOW, we are going to have to take a vote on this matter, so we'll get the boxes out and let you vote secretly…"

"No." Stoic countered calmly. Way too calmly for someone who was just yelling loud enough for Odin to hear.

"Now, Stoic, you aren't in charge of this…" Gobber started, obviously trying to keep Stoic calm.

"No, I am in charge of this village, if not this trial. And I still have the power to decide how we vote: everyone's vote is going to be recorded…" Stoic said somewhat quietly, but with murder in his voice. As the words sunk in, their meaning started to chill the bones of those that were watching: if Stoic lost the vote, then he would know the name of everyone who betrayed him.

Gobber tried to figure out a way around it, but Stoic had won. Gobber went to get some parchment, and drew a line down the middle. On one side, he wrote "guilty." On the other, "innocent."

"Alright, who's going to vote first?" Gobber asked the crowd. Immediately, about twenty people jumped at the opportunity of being the first to vote in Stoic's favor. After Gobber was able to get their names down, the votes started to come in more slowly as the villagers weighed their options. Once Stoic had a 40-0 vote advantage, someone else decided to step foot into the ring.

"Well, well, two very interesting choices. I can vote not to piss off our rampaging leader, or I can vote to show my respect to the village elder. And a boy's life hangs in the balance all the while…" Mildew called out, with his normal smirk growing larger the whole time. "It seems to me that the village is scared to vote what they think. I think that people these days just don't respect traditions like their supposed to. It used to be that heirs didn't spend six years away from home, Chiefs didn't abandon principle, and suspects didn't have their neck rung until after they were proved guilty. My, what deterioration has happened to our great tribe… Gobber, mark me down in the 'innocent' category!" Mildew almost reveled in the look that hijacked Stoic's face as he spoke. To make matters worse, Mildew had given the villagers the courage to vote how they wanted to, and a flood of votes started to pour into the 'innocent' category. More votes for innocence inspired other villagers to vote 'guilty,' and pretty soon everyone was chomping at the bit to vote. A few minor arguments and even scuffles started to erupt among close friends and family members. Even the twins, Ruff and Tuff, voted differently.

Once the voting died down, Gobber counted up the names.

"Loki's droopy balls… it's a dead-even tie. IS THERE ANYONE WHO HASN'T VOTED?" Gobber yelled over the crowd. For a moment, no one replied as everyone was shocked over the vote count.

"Do you have Hacknee on there? I haven't seen him yet!" Someone called out.

"Eh…no, he hasn't voted. Someone go fetch him!" Gobber called out. Some random Viking at the back sprinted out the door, and everyone was left to realize the situation we are left with. Hacknee was one of the people last night who instantly took Stoic side, and was even calling for Snotlout's head as he was being carted to Goethi's. Everyone knew that when given the choice, Hacknee was going to vote 'guilty.'

"Heh, that ol' bachelor probably just decided to sleep right through this! I bet he's going to be pissed at all this noise!" Gobber joked, earning a few laughs from the men at the front of the crowd who could hear him.

"Yea, they are really not going to like what they find…" Someone whispered from behind me, and I almost fell out of my perch from surprise. I turned around to find Hiccup sitting on a rafter right behind me.

"What?! How did you get up here? What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, I've been waiting in here all night. There's no way I was going to sneak in the door this morning. And let's just say I bumped into Hacknee right after leaving you last night…"

My eyes went wide before I decided to slide back down the support beam I used to get up here. I stayed on the far side to avoid being detected, and I ran out the door after announcing that I would help with the search.

When I got to Hacknee's house, I was horrified. I found the man that came to find Hacknee impaled through the heart with a sword, just outside the doorway. Blood had pooled on the ground, and I didn't even think of stopping to check his pulse. Hiccup had made sure that he wouldn't continue breathing after this; I just don't know if he has an accomplice, or if one of his dragons can use a sword (as crazy as it sounds, it wouldn't be the weirdest thing yet).

Once I got inside, I became so sick to my stomach that I nearly threw up. There was blood EVERYWHERE: splattered on the walls, pooled in random spots on the floor, even on the ceiling. But worse than blood everywhere were the body parts everywhere: here a foot, there an elbow, intestines hung like drapes, and two eyeballs skewered on a stick. Someone had absolutely slaughtered Hacknee into bits and pieces.

Phase Three: Vehement Rage. Mindless Urge to Slaughter. Almost Uncontrollable, but Only Lasts a Short Time.

It turns out that Hiccup and Stoic do get angry the same way. However, where Stoic attacked a man during Phase 2 and slaughtered some trees, Hiccup attack me during Phase 2 and then slaughtered a man.