Chapter 4 - Astrid
After everyone left the cave, Stone decided she might as well try to get a little more sleep. As she began the walk back to her house, she untied her hair band and let her waist-length hair cascade down her. She trudged along when she noticed a figure in the corner of her eye, walking steadily toward her. Deciding to ignore the person until whomever it was caught up to her, Stone sped her trudging up a smidge.
"Hey," a cold and unforgiving voice spoke, slightly behind Stone to her right. Stone froze mid-step and sighed on the inside. It was Astrid.
'This can't be one of those friendly 3 AM chats...' Stone thought in dismay as she turned toward Astrid. Astrid's ice blue eyes looked even colder then normal and she was giving her a glare that might even rival the one Stone had. Astrid stood dominantly; already completely aware that if she decided to attack Stone she could easily beat her, with her hands on her hips and battle axe strapped to her back. Stone felt a surge of regret at leaving her axe in the cave but she doubted that Astrid would actually attack her; she was just trying to scare her. And boy was she doing a good job at it…
"Why are you up so late?" she asked but Stone had a feeling she already knew.
"I have insomnia. I decided to take a walk to help me sleep," Stone answered simply. It was the truth after all, that's what she had originally been doing.
"Don't lie to me!" Astrid snapped. "I know there's something going on between you and Hiccup!" Stone stiffened, paled, and blushed all at the same time. She'd always known Hiccup but they'd never talked much until now, and Stone was starting to take an interest in him. She hadn't intended to, it just sort of…happened. Astrid's eyes widened and she stepped back a step.
"So it's true! You like him!" she practically shrieked and Stone was momentarily afraid that the entire village of Berk could hear them.
"N-no! It's not like that! We're just hanging out, helping each other." Stone had hoped that would help but Astrid snarled at her and stepped right into her face, her nose just inches away from Stone's.
"Helping each other HOW?" she growled.
"H-he's in pain, I'm in pain, we're helping each other find remedies!" Stone's usually strong voice squeaked slightly at the end of her sentence.
"He's not in pain! I'm his girlfriend, I would have noticed!" Stone's eyes were dry from crying earlier but that didn't stop the spark of fire from entering them.
"Well MAYBE you should pay more attention to him and less to Snotlout! Everyone knows you two have been hanging out a lot lately!" Now it was Astrid's turn to blush.
"W-What's going on between me and Snotlout is none of your business!"
"Then what's going on between me and Hiccup is none of your business!" Stone turned on her heel and started to stalk away. "Good Night!" she growled and prayed to Thor that Astrid wouldn't follow her. Her prayer must have been heard because she turned back to see Astrid stomping away. She sighed in relief as she walked the rest of the way home.
(Thistle)
Most parents believe a gruesome name will frighten off gnomes, trolls, and all manner of creatures that choose to make us Vikings into a tasty soup or soufflé. So my name is a little bit of a mystery. But it suits me very well. My mother had a brilliant idea four years before she died. Name her little girl something soft, touchable, sweet, and utterly non-threatening - so when that little girl grew up to be a fearsome Viking warrior, she would be completely underestimated.
After all, who would be afraid of a Thistle?
Four years later, my mother lay in a boat floating out to sea, and my father became a complete stranger. I knew he was grieving - at four, I knew the difference between Death and sleep, as well as the consequences of the former. But I had heard many stories of people coming back from grief. My father - just didn't.
I grew up near Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. We played as kids - very little kids. He always jumped from one topic to the next, changing games and rules as he saw fit, but always making sure it was fair for me too. When we were four, he once tried to take me out to hunt a troll because I told him it had stolen my sock, (the left one, very annoying). But I was too scared. I wasn't as brave as he was, and Hiccup was very brave.
But then when my mother floated out to sea, I saw Hiccup giving me a look I had never seen before - a stare of utter helplessness. I wanted to go to him and ask him why he looked so helpless; it wasn't like there was anything he could do. When I stepped towards him though, that look turned to one of brilliant pain, and he backed away from me. One, two, three steps, and then he turned and ran away. He never spoke to me again.
Until that night in the cave.
Thistle opened her eyes to a sunny morning in Berk. The sun rained down sheaves of light onto the grey-blue ocean churning below and a light wind pushed the shutters of her window open and pulled at the blanket enveloping her small body. She pushed her black hair out of her eyes - it had come down from its bun in sleep - and slowly rose. She padded quietly to the window and peeked out, eyes widening. For a moment, she almost imagined a colorful sail on the horizon, a new ship come to Berk with new things to see and new people to watch from the sidelines. For a moment, she found herself a little optimistic about the day, a little hopeful. It was more than she had felt upon waking up in a long time, and she searched for the cause as she searched for her clothes in the thin beam of light that shot through her shutters.
It had to be Hiccup and Stone. Their brief interlude in the cave the previous night - however terrifying - had had one positive outcome. It had ended twelve years of silence. It had opened the door to refuel a friendship that had died. And...it had woken Thistle up to the realization that if she gave too much of herself to it, Hiccup could just take it away again. She had never known why he left. She could make him do it again without even realizing what she was doing wrong.
Well then, she would have to do nothing wrong.
Silently resolved, Thistle began descending the stairs into the brighter common room of the hut she and her father shared. Her face slowly squinched as she did so. Even if her emotional state of mind had had a brief patch placed on it, her father's still had not. He lay sprawled on the floor near dimly glowing embers, the remnants of previous dinners scattered about the room. The table lay on its side, the two chairs sitting at it broken and cracked again. And looming on the wall, lit by morning light cast into the wooden room through an open window, shimmered her mother's armor. Seeing it brought tears to Thistle's eyes and she clenched her fists against wanting to punch it. Looking down at her father's hefty body, stinking in last week's armor, Thistle took in a deep breath and set to work. Moving as silently as her name, she crept around picking up mugs and placing them at the sink, then brushing old food into the fire pit where she lit the flames and let them devour the remains. She righted the table and made a silent note to find wood later that could be pounded into new chairs. Lastly, she filled a mug with cold water and set it by her sleeping father's side, then covered him with part of the skin rug that lay on the floor of their hut. It couldn't have been any dirtier than him, and he needed to be a little warmer.
Finally, Thistle opened the door and stepped out into the village.
Berk itself was already bustling with activity. Taking advantage of the good weather, many of the women sat outside sewing and chatting eagerly away. The younger boys and girls ran around playing trolls and Vikings, (while some of the heavier boys acted as dragons to the heroes). Occasionally a dragon flew by overhead, roaring a greeting or snapping up a fish from the large bowls placed helpfully around. The men spoke in loud voices about any topic from organizing training parties to practice hunting on dragons to narrowing down what design to be painted on the next warship's sail, (something Thistle knew Stone would create). She looked around with slightly wider eyes than usual before slowly putting one foot in front of the other, trying to work up enough courage to go to the Great Hall to eat.
Hiccup seemed to appear out of nowhere, his lanky body flashing out of his own house followed closely by the ever-present Toothless. The lovable dragon lifted his nose and sniffed expectantly at the air, then did something odd - he growled. Hiccup instantly stopped to look at his friend, but Toothless wasn't able to do much more than that. Hiccup shrugged, clearly dismissing Toothless' grouchiness for now, and began to walk in the direction of the Great Hall himself. Thistle felt a small thrill at the thought of eating with her new-old friend and though she did not yet smile, she began to move forward a little quicker.
And then suddenly, there she was.
Thistle froze in place as Astrid materialized from another hut, running out towards Hiccup with a welcoming shout. She planted herself firmly in his path and had to incline her head to get his attention, (maybe he was more worried about Toothless than Thistle had earlier thought). Toothless stopped and grunted, tilting his head at the girl. Thistle stopped too, but her ears listened forward.
"Where are you going?" Astrid asked.
Hiccup jumped a mile. Yep, he'd been distracted. "Ah! Oh! Astrid. Hi, Astrid! Uh, I was just going...to go eat breakfast." The tips of his ears reddened and Thistle felt the same pang that had entered her stomach when she'd heard Stone's voice in Hiccup's home. An odd desire to go slap Astrid overcame her, but she dug her nails into her palm and clenched her teeth, still listening.
"I'm coming with you. We can go flying after." One thing about Astrid, she had no qualms about making a party. Except there was something in her voice - a thin ribbon of panic that Thistle had never heard before. It lifted her eyebrows. Over by Hiccup, Toothless narrowed his eyes and sniffed the air again. He tried to nudge Hiccup, but the boy was too focused now on Astrid.
"It's going to be quick, Astrid. I don't really have time this morning."
"Oh? And what's so important that you decide not to go flying with me for the fourth morning in a row?"
It wasn't Hiccup's response that stunned Thistle, but the sudden potent venom in his voice. "What's so important that you're suddenly speaking to me now? A week ago, you wouldn't even look at me."
Well, okay - his response stunned her a little bit too. Irony, Hiccup?
"You don't ever look at me either, Hiccup. All you see is your pet."
No, this was serious. Without realizing it, Thistle started walking forward as some other Vikings began to take notice of the fight starting in the middle of the path. Toothless, picking up on the additional tension, cast Hiccup a worried look. Hiccup, for his part, looked absolutely livid. Thistle didn't think she'd ever seen him quite that angry. He opened his mouth to speak, then shut it, rethinking his words.
"What's happened to you?" Astrid pressed. "You're the big hero. We get that. But the evil dragon's dead, Hiccup, and we need you to help us figure out what to do next. Except you're never around. You're off flying or...whatever."
"I'm helping a friend." Hiccup's voice had gone dangerously quiet. "No, I'm helping two friends. Two friends that this village has forgotten. You're smart enough to figure out how to bond with your dragons. It's not my job to tell you what to do. But no one is helping the two I'm helping. No one even knows they're alive. So Toothless and I are giving a care."
Thistle sucked in a small breath as she realized who Hiccup was talking about. And then she flushed with pleasure. So he really did consider her a friend again.
"A friend," and now there was venom in Astrid's voice too. "I'm sure Stone's a perfect little friend for you."
Hiccup's mouth dropped open, as did Thistle's. "What are you talking about?" the boy asked, anger and confusion swirling his voice into a slur.
"You know," Astrid murmured, her own face reddening. "You know, and that's the whole problem."
"No, I really don't!" Hiccup snapped back.
At this point, Thistle had moved close enough that Toothless had jerked his head towards her, casting her a look that clearly said HELP him! Thistle shook her head slightly. She didn't have the ability to go up against Astrid. Not that she needed to. Astrid had noticed the gathering crowd. And worse, she'd noticed Thistle. She nodded once, very slowly. "It makes sense," she said softly. "You're the hero, so they'd all come to you. And you would forget all about the ones who helped you do it."
"Who's they?" Hiccup pressured.
"Those who are too weak to help themselves. Those that never speak to any of us. Those that follow you around for years like a weak-brained Gronckle!" Astrid's voice rose with each sentence until she screamed the last directly at Thistle.
Now Hiccup turned to see Thistle standing there, a look of shock and horror and growing mortification on her face. He looked visibly stunned to see her there. Next to him, Toothless moaned in worry. And worst of all, every villager watching the fight turned to look at Thistle too, wondering about the object of Astrid's poisonous jealousy.
Panic overwhelmed Thistle. She had no idea where the attack had come from, or why it had even come. She'd never approached Hiccup in such a way as to make Astrid jealous. She'd always felt protective of him whenever she saw him with someone else, but she chalked that up to the fact that he'd been her friend first before...he left. And anyway, it wasn't like he cared for her in that manner. He hadn't even remembered her name before last night!
Unfortunately, facing down a fire-breathing Astrid had completely scattered her thoughts. She couldn't say anything. She couldn't do anything but turn bright red and run, as hard as she could, for the opening in the crowd, right between the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut, completely ignoring Hiccup's cry of: "Thistle!"
As she passed through them, she felt something snatch at her arm. She pulled it away with a panicked grunt, but as she put the crowd behind her, she heard Tuffnut say: "I don't think you're a weak-minded Gronckle,"
She ran for Stone's house. It was one of the only places she felt safe.
(Stone)
Stone awoke the next morning to a knocking at her door. She quickly got dressed in a short-sleeved brown shirt and brown shorts since it looked sunny outside. She also didn't take the time to tie her hair up. Yawning, she ran down her stairs to the door. When she opened the door she found a teary-eyed Thistle. Stone ushered her in and let her calm down over a bowl of warm soup.
"So what happened?" Stone finally asked once Thistle had calmed down.
"Well…Hiccup and Astrid were fighting and…Astrid got defensive about him helping us and…told everyone that I'd kept an eye on Hiccup all these years…and called me a weak-minded Gronckle!" Thistle started to sob again and Stone wrapped her arms around her, comforting her as Thistle had done for her last night.
"Thor give us strength," Stone mumbled as she drew little circles on Thistle's back with her finger. Once Thistle calmed down enough that Stone could talk to her, Stone faced her and said, "You're not a weak-minded Gronckle. You are Thistle, the wonderful, young Viking that I am proud to call my best friend. Astrid makes her problems into other people's. It's the only way she survives, by feeding off other people's misery and shame. But you know what? No one pushes my best friend around. Stay here, I have a feeling Hiccup is looking for you."
Stone grabbed her axe and ran out her door, leaving Thistle behind, and began to hunt Astrid down. She was where Stone had suspected she'd be, at the Training Arena. Stone stomped up to her, paying no mind to the fact that Astrid was angrily swinging axes at targets and never missing a bull's eye.
"Hey!" she said loudly, shoving her axe underneath Astrid's chin. Astrid didn't look scared but she didn't move either.
"Why do you feel the need to kick people back down when they're finally happy?" Stone demanded.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Astrid breezed, acting as though she didn't know nor care what Stone was talking about.
"You know fairly well that Thistle isn't happy! Well she was happy for once today. But you couldn't have a weak person happy now could you! You think people like me and her don't deserve to exist don't you! Well, just because we can't blow off emotional or physical pain like some battle-hungry-troll like you, doesn't mean we didn't earn the space we occupy!" Stone shouted at her.
"No, you don't deserve it!" Astrid shouted back at Stone, shoving one of her own axes under Stone's chin.
"And why not? We've both hunted for ourselves and others! We both have friends, we've both been trained in the way of killing a dragon, even if we don't show it off by wearing those stupid pointy hats you all are so proud off!" Stone jabbed her axe closer to Astrid's skin.
"Because when you're weak, and should be eaten! The dragon that killed your parents should've killed you along with them! I doubt you would have made it to Valhalla though, you're too weak!" She laughed in cruel humor. That was the final straw for Stone. She'd been pushed to her limit last night and now it had been pushed again. All Stone saw was red and the cruel monster in front of her. In her mind, Astrid wasn't there alone, now there was the Ferocious Nightmare that had murdered her parents standing behind her. She drew back her axe and brought it down but only found air. Astrid had dodged at the last second.
"Are you crazy?" Astrid screamed at Stone as she swung her axe at Astrid once again clipping her arm slightly, barely causing it to bleed. Stone didn't answer, and just continued to attack. It wasn't long before the twins showed up, but in that time Stone had clipped Astrid a few more times and Astrid had given her a shallow cut across her cheek. At first they found amusement at Stone trying to decapitate Astrid but then they realized she was actually trying to seriously cut her head off. They came up behind Stone and managed to wrestle the axe away from her. After the axe was away, they bonded Stone's arms in each of their grips, holding her away from Astrid who was panting and covered in dirt.
"Let me go!" Stone screamed, trying desperately to pull from their grips.
"I'll kill her! Even if it's not now I'll KILL HER!" Stone shouted almost sounding like a lunatic as they dragged her away from Astrid who was sitting on the ground completely exhausted and confused.
"She's not right in the head," Stone distantly heard Ruffnut say as they dragged her off to wherever it was they were going.
"I think she's blinded by anger. But that's not surprising; after all, Astrid was fighting with her best friend this morning," Tuffnut stated and Stone was slightly shocked that he knew that she and Thistle were best friends, but was still too angry to care.
"So what should we do with her now?"
"I say we dunk her head in some water. That might wake her up," Tuffnut suggested with a smirk. Stone again tried to get away but to no avail. They were simply stronger then she was.
After a few minutes they found what they were looking for: a large bucket of water. Each twin released one hand from her arms and took hold of the bucket. In one, swift motion, they had the bucket tipped over her head and Stone's entire body soaked. Since she hadn't tied her hair up into a ponytail this morning, her hair also got completely soaked through and stuck to her face and back.
"Better?" the Twins giggled together.
"Oh yeah, just peachy," Stone responded sarcastically as her head cleared up.
"Still going to kill Astrid?" Ruffnut asked, giggling like an idiot.
"Yup, but not now. I need to get back to my house. I've got something important happening later. Thanks for your 'help'." With that, Stone turned on her heel and ran back to her house. The Twins must have dragged her farther then she'd thought because it wasn't long before she was at her door. She walked in, still dripping all over the place to see Hiccup sitting at the table, looking confusedly at the stairs.
"What'd I miss? Where's Thistle?" Stone asked, though she didn't really need to.
"Up there. I came in, she ran. I don't understand her, Stone."
"She's terrified of you," Stone replied. "You left her when she needed you most, and she had no one else to turn to. She's afraid of losing you again."
A small thump at the top of the stairs revealed Thistle coming out, looking at Stone with wide, shocked eyes. Stone cocked her head at her best friend. "Thistle, come downstairs. No one is going to bite you. Face your fears head-on, that's how you overcome them." While Stone did care deeply for her best friend, sometimes she wanted Thistle to at least start growing a spine. She was beautiful and intelligent - and completely lacking in self-confidence.
Stone turned away without waiting for a response, and only then did Hiccup say: "Wait a moment...you're soaked!"
"Way to recognize," Stone sniped at him, adding a half-smile for humor.
"And you have a cut on you cheek!" Thistle stated, shocked and slowly coming down the stairs.
Stone put a hand up to her cheek. "Oh, do I? I didn't notice." When she extracted her hand she noticed there was a little blood on it. "Oh look I'm even bleeding! Well good for her, landing a blow on me."
"W-who's her?" Thistle asked hesitantly. Stone just answered by giving Thistle and Hiccup a look that said it's not that hard to guess.
"You attacked Astrid?" Thistle and Hiccup shouted together. Stone flushed slightly but pretended to be wringing out her hair and turned her head away.
"Well, yeah. Actually got her a few times too. She insulted Thistle and I and said that I should've been killed along with my parents. I wasn't going to take that lying down, even if I could control myself."
"Is she alright?" Hiccup begged. He may not be her boyfriend anymore but he definitely still cared.
"Yeah," Stone grumbled. "Tuff and Ruff came and stopped me before I could do any real damage. And they 'woke me up' by dumping water on me, hence me being soaked through."
Stone glanced down at herself and noticed for the first time that her clothes were also sticking to her, showing off her figure. Her flushed face was over taken by a blush and she was glad that Thistle and Hiccup didn't seem to notice that her true figure was showing. Stone always wore loose fitting clothes specifically so no one could see her skinny figure, but it was wide out in the open right now. "Got to change. Don't follow me," she mumbled as she walked as quickly as should could without breaking into a run across the room and up the stairs.
As soon as she reached the stairs, Hiccup bolted out the door. Neither Thistle nor Stone bothered to follow him since she heard him talking outside to the Night Fury. "Today has been nuts, eh buddy?" Stone heard him say. With a shiver, she proceeded up the stairs to her room.
Stone changed quickly into an old short-sleeved yellow shirt, since she had been wearing brown far too often lately, and a pair of red shorts. She tied her damp hair back in her usual low ponytail as she walked back down the stairs. When she reached the bottom of the stairs she looked up to be nearly nose to nose with the Night Fury. Her eyes widened as she stared into the dragon's eyes, her entire body stiff. Toothless' eyes were telling her to trust him. That he wouldn't hurt her. Stone didn't respond in anyway but she believed him. You know, kind of.
Slowly and carefully, the Night Fury wound itself around her entire body. Stone noted mentally that the sensation was both terrifying, and…familiar? Had the dragon done this before without her being aware? It didn't matter to Stone for the moment, all she cared was that it was comfortable, and hesitantly loosened up, melting into the dragon's embrace.
Unnoticed by Stone, Thistle and Hiccup watched her with amazement and success coloring their faces. They'd won the stubborn girl over. Stone had, for now, put aside her fear and just relaxed.
"Well," Hiccup murmured after a moment, "why don't we head for the hill now before someone else shows up to pick a fight?"
Thistle nodded.