Hello, friends! Chapter 4 is rolling downhill and into place! Hopefully you guys like this chapter...I know I did. In honesty, it's kinda fun writing a freaked-out Astrid...yeah.
A lot of you have assumptions on what will happen in this story, and I guess it's sort of obvious what's going to happen, but if you could please not say anything that might spoil the story, that would be amazing. :) I love how you clever readers know me and my schemes too well, I really do, and I think you are all truly amazing, but if you might dim down the assumptions just a bit, I would really appreciate it. :) Thank you all!
I love you guys! I really do! Dragonites unite! Enjoy chapter 4! :D
Astrid spun, trying to wrench the axe off her back, but to no avail. Hiccup raced towards her, trying to help in any way he thought was possible, but Astrid didn't seem very open to helpers at the moment, because she kept running and screaming and clawing madly at her back.
"GET IT OFF ME!" she yelled.
"Hold still!" Hiccup said, trying to grab her arms to hold her steady. "Just - just let me - OW!" He yanked his arm back and stared down at his hand. Red, spaced marks peppered his wrist. "Did you just bite me!?"
Astrid finally managed to yank her axe off her back, and as soon as she did, she hurled it in the opposite direction. Gobber ducked, and the axe sailed over his head. The weapon bounced back against a shield, and landed, blade first, right on top of Gothi's staff.
Gothi's staff snapped in two, and Astrid's axe embedded into the wooden floorboards as if they were made of butter. Astrid stood standing, panting, although the gasps sounded oddly higher than usual.
"Astrid," Hiccup said, trying to be calm, although in reality, he was freaking out. "Astrid, are you okay?"
Astrid looked at him, her eyes wide and full of terror. She nodded shakily. "I...I think so," she said. "Sorry. That was scary."
"Whoa," Ruffnut said, backing away slowly. "What just happened?"
"Yeah," Tuffnut agreed. "Did Astrid just admit she was scared of something? I don't like it. Whatever she's selling, I'm not buying."
"Yeah," Ruffnut nodded. She lifted her head towards Astrid. "We don't want your cookies!" she shouted.
Astrid blinked in confusion. "I...I don't remember making cookies," she said, "but...I mean...I suppose I can, if you guys really want me to…"
Tuffnut looked horrified. "Okay, freaky," he said. "I don't like it! Gothi, change her back. Change her back! Please!"
Gothi shook her head, gestured to her staff (which was lying on the ground, broken in half), and crossed her arms.
"She can't change Astrid back without her staff," Gobber said, translating the elder's angry and frustrated gestures.
"Oh, well that's good," Hiccup said, rubbing the back of his neck. "What...what am I supposed to do now?" He looked over at Astrid worriedly.
"Are you sure you guys don't want cookies?" she was asking Ruffnut and Tuffnut, who were slowly backing away, staring at Astrid as if she had three heads and giant teeth.
"Back away, slooowlllyy," Tuffnut said. "I've heard they can sense fear. If you move slowly, she won't see you moving. No sudden moves."
Hiccup put his head in his hands. This, was going to be a long day.
…
Astrid and Hiccup walked side by side through the village plaza. Astrid jumped every time she saw a weapon, and Hiccup had to grab her to keep her from running more than once. She wasn't afraid of the dragons, which Hiccup was relieved for, and Astrid still remembered everything that ever happened to her and the other riders. She remembered her friends, her family...everything.
Except, now, she was scared of everything, and a lot nicer than she'd ever been before. She nodded to villagers, said good morning to them, and even offered to help pull someone's cart once or twice.
Snotlout walked alongside Hiccup. "Can't Gothi just change her back?" he asked. "I mean, we tricked Astrid into thinking she was this. Couldn't we reverse it?"
Fishlegs stepped beside Astrid and shook his head. "No, not without her staff, remember?" he said. "Which, of course, was snapped in half during Astrid's freak show."
Astrid looked down guiltily. "I'm sorry about that," she said. "I truly am. I didn't mean to get violent."
Villagers stopped to stare. One nudged another. "Is that Astrid?" he asked.
"I don't know," the villager mumbled back in a hushed tone just barely loud enough for Hiccup to hear.
Oh, Hiccup sure had a lot of explaining to do when the time came to it. He just hoped Gothi and Gobber fixed the staff before Astrid's fear of everything got out of hand.
"So, Astrid," Snotlout said. "You're afraid of everything, aren't you?" Before Astrid could answer, and before Hiccup could tell Snotlout that whatever he was planning on doing was a bad idea, Snotlout jumped in front of Astrid, his sword drawn. Astrid yelped and sprang backwards, hiding behind Hiccup helplessly like a five-year-old.
"Snotlout!" Hiccup shouted angrily. "Cut it out!" He held his hand out expectantly, and Snotlout handed the sword to his cousin reluctantly. Hiccup turned and tossed it at Fishlegs, who caught it and tossed it to the twins, who caught it and ran off, shouting, "POINTY OBJECT! WE WIN!" over and over again as if it were a great achievement.
"Okay, no swords," Snotlout shrugged. "But what about fire?"
Hiccup didn't know where Snotlout got it from, but the next moment, Snotlout was holding a torch out to Astrid, dangerously close to her skin. Astrid yelped and jumped backwards again.
"SNOTLOUT!" Hiccup yelled again. "STOP IT."
"Okay, okay, fine!" Snotlout said. He threw the torch to the side. "No fire, either."
Hiccup was about to thank Snotlout (although it would have been done in sarcasm and snarkiness), when a shout made him freeze. "MY HOUSE IS ON FIRE!" the voice of a woman shouted. "SOMEONE THREW A TORCH IN IT!"
Hiccup looked, and sure enough, the house was burning, flames crawling up the walls and burning from the inside out.
Hiccup was officially done with Snotlout.
"Oh, no!" Astrid cried. "The house is burning! Someone do something!" Normally, Astrid would be the one shouting, "Dragons, everyone!" if Hiccup didn't beat her to it, but now, she was crying out in despair, begging people to do something to help.
Hiccup really did not like this new side of Astrid, but he knew that it was something they would have to fix later. Right now, they had to put out the fire in the burning building.
"Snotlout, Fishlegs!" Hiccup shouted. "Get to your dragons! Get buckets, and bring water from the well! We need to put out this fire before it gets worse!" He ran forward, Toothless hot on his heels, towards the door of the house.
He knew he had to find out if there were survivors in there.
"Hiccup, no!" Astrid shouted desperately. She reached out to him, her fingers enclosing around his wrist to keep him from racing forward. "Hiccup, no!" she repeated. "You'll get hurt! It's dangerous!"
Hiccup knew it was dangerous, but he also knew that there were most likely people (or animals) in the house who had to be saved.
"I'm sorry, Astrid," he said. "I have to do this, alright? Stay out here. Stay safe, and do not come near the fire!" The last part, he called over his shoulder as he jerked away from her, and charged into the house.
It was hard to breathe; really, that was the first thing Hiccup noticed when he and Toothless jumped through the door of the house. Smoke rose from burning wood, and the fire only continued to grow.
"Okay, Toothless," Hiccup said. He coughed, trying not to breathe any more than he had to. Breathing in smoke wasn't good, and he knew that. "Let's find 'em."
It took a remarkably short amount of time for Hiccup and Toothless to complete their task. They found two sheep (hiding underneath the bed, bleating in terror), and the owner of the house; a middle-aged woman, trying to reach upstairs to break out of the window.
"Go, go, go!" Hiccup shouted as soon as he and Toothless found what they were looking for. The woman was the first to go, followed by the sheep. As soon as they were out, Hiccup, coughing as he went, followed them, Toothless bringing up the rear.
The clear air had never been more inviting. He breathed it in, almost greedily; smoke was not fun to breathe. He looked up at the sky: Fishlegs and Snotlout were coming back in, their dragons holding troughs of water.
"NOW!" Hiccup shouted, and the riders obeyed, dumping the water over the burning building. Within moments, the flames were extinguished. Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief.
A moment later, he heard a high pitched, feminine voice shout, "Hiccup!", followed by Astrid slamming against him in a hug. Hiccup stumbled backwards, just slightly before he patted her head awkwardly.
"Don't do that again!" Astrid said pleadingly. "Please don't do that again! You almost got hurt!"
Hiccup didn't respond. He didn't know how to. He coughed and sighed. This new side of Astrid was very, very hard to deal with.
Hiccup was about to congratulate Snotlout and Fishlegs and tell them what a great job they did, when another shout kept him from speaking. "HICCUP!" the voice of his father shouted.
The Chief of Berk stepped forward, the crowds parting to make way for him. Stoick looked at Astrid, the burning building, and then Hiccup. "What happened!?" Stoick demanded.
Hiccup winced. Stoick probably thought it was a lot worse than it was. Astrid was never clingy, and when she was, it was only because Hiccup was hurt, or because he'd almost died.
Neither of which had actually happened.
Hiccup sighed, finally managing to pull away from Astrid. He was going to have to tell his father about Gothi's hypnosis, and what went wrong during the hypnosis, too. "Well," he said, clapping his hands together, "I guess I have some explaining to do."