You guys are so lucky! You get THREE chapters today! This story's moving so fast...
Anyways, I hope you like chapter 5! Just so you know, there will be Hiccstrid in some of these chapters and more chapters to come, just to late you all know. :) Yeah. My internet's terrible right now, so I'm going to finish this up and hopefully post it before it goes out again. XD Enjoy chapter 5! :D
"So let me get this straight…" Stoick said once Hiccup had finished explaining from start to finish. "Gothi hypnotized Astrid, and now, Astrid's afraid of everything?"
Hiccup nodded. "I know, it sounds crazy," he said, "but hypnosis is very powerful, and when used in the wrong ways, well...bad things happen, I suppose."
Stoick nodded.
"We really need to get Astrid back," Hiccup said, lowering his gaze. "She and Stormfly play a crucial part in our arsenal. If Astrid can't help us fight the next time we go against Dagur...I'm just not so sure what's going to happen."
"I'm sure it'll work out fine, son," Stoick said.
Hiccup sighed. "I wish I could be that sure," he muttered.
"Hey, Hiccup!" Snotlout called. Hiccup lifted his head, watching as his cousin ran through the plaza and towards them. "Astrid's at the armory. Gobber's going to try and find her something she can fight with that she doesn't end up being afraid of."
"I'm sure that's going great," Hiccup rolled his eyes.
"Actually, it's not going bad yet!" Snotlout said. "She hasn't turned and bolted, so I can assume it's going...well, as well as can be expected."
Snotlout turned and ran in the direction of the armory, and after a moment, Hiccup followed, leaving his father behind. Hiccup really, really hoped they could get the real Astrid back soon.
Sure, Astrid played an important part when it came to the riders' attacks against Dagur, but in honesty, Hiccup could have cared less about what happened with their formations. Berk's fleet, and the dragon riders could take on Dagur.
He was really worried about her. She was his friend, after all. Girlfriend, if Hiccup would dare use that term (which, at the moment, he didn't). He was worried about her safety.
Gobber was standing in front of Astrid at the armory when Hiccup arrived. Fishlegs, the twins, and Snotlout were all behind Astrid, watching Gobber with fascination.
"How about this?" Gobber asked, taking a sword off the shelf and handing it to Astrid. "It's not as big as your axe."
Astrid took a step backwards. "No," she shook her head. "It's...it's still too big. You could put an eye out with that thing."
"Really!?" the twins shouted in unison. "We want it!"
"Not a chance!" Gobber pulled the sword back. Sighing in Astrid's direction, disappointment clear on his face, Gobber set the sword aside and grabbed a dagger the length of Astrid's forearm. "How about this, then?" he offered. "It's not quite as big, but it's still got a good, sharp blade."
"Sharp?" Astrid said shakily. "N-no thanks. You could hurt someone with that."
Ruffnut and Tuffnut looked up. "We can!?" they shouted.
"No, no, don't even think about it," Hiccup said. "You aren't getting the dagger."
"Aww!" they cried.
Gobber set the dagger to the side before the twins decided to take it by force. "Well, lass," he said, "there's only one more thing I can think, and that's, this." He spun around, and turned back to face the riders, a small knife held in his grip. "This is it, lass," he said. "This should work well for ya."
Astrid took one look at the knife and nodded uneasily. "Yeah," she said. "That's great...if you want to get yourself killed!" She shook her head violently. "N-no thanks," she said for the second time since Gobber began introducing his weapons. "I'm actually good. In fact, I don't think I need a weapon after all. Everything you've shown me so far is much too dangerous, and that knife is way too sharp."
The twins opened their mouths, excited.
"No, you can't have the knife," Hiccup said flatly.
The twins shut their mouths and pouted.
"Astrid, the blade isn't even sharp!" Gobber said, running his finger along the edge of the knife as if to prove his point. "This is the safest weapon I've got that you can defend yourself with. If you don't take this, there isn't anything left for me to do."
"Then I guess I just won't be able to defend myself," Astrid said. "I'll hide instead of fighting. No one will find me if I hide."
"Look, Astrid, it's not that bad!" Snotlout said, striding towards Gobber. He yanked the knife away from Gobber and swung it forward. Astrid yelped and recoiled. Hiccup wanted to yell at his cousin for being so thoughtless, but at the same time, he knew Snotlout was just trying to help.
He knew Snotlout felt guilty for what he did, and he knew that the Jorgenson boy was trying to fix things, although really, he was making it worse instead.
"I'm good!" Astrid said, shaking her head and her hands back and forth for extra emphasis. "Really, I'm good! I don't need a weapon! I don't need to fight, I should be able to defend myself just fine, you know, by...hiding and not defending myself."
"Astrid, if Dagur attacks," Fishlegs said, "we need every rider we can get."
"Right!" Hiccup agreed. "At least hang onto the knife, Astrid, just in case something happens that you need it."
Astrid still looked terrified, but instead of protesting, she simply nodded. "Fine," she said, "but only because you insist." She took the knife from Snotlout timidly, holding it as though it would explode if she held it too tightly. Slowly, she slipped the knife onto her belt and stared at it as if it would attack.
"Okay then," Hiccup said. "We're good now. Come on, Astrid."
Astrid didn't look up at him. She only continued staring at the knife, her eyes wide. Hiccup sighed and stepped towards her. "Come on, Astrid," he repeated. When she still didn't move, he took her arm and pulled her in the opposite direction, away from the armory.
"Hang on," Astrid pulled away from Hiccup abruptly. "I'm going to go find a sheath for this thing. I don't want to cut myself, or one of you guys by mistake, right?"
Hiccup was about to protest and tell her that the knife Gobber gave her probably couldn't even cut bread, but before he could, she turned and bolted in the opposite direction.
Hiccup sighed heavily. He really didn't know what to think of this "new Astrid". She was very clingy, very shy, and very, very terrified of everything. Hiccup didn't know what to think of her, except that he wanted the Astrid that replaced the Astrid he knew gone.
He was also worried about hypnosis...if Astrid went too long without being re-hypnotized, would she be forever scared and terrified?
"Alright, that's it," Hiccup said. "We have to get Astrid back to Gothi and hypnotized again, before we lose the real Astrid forever."
"I totally agree," Gobber said, stepping forward, coming to stand directly beside his apprentice. "Just one question…"
He looked around, as did Hiccup beside him; no sign of Astrid, wherever they looked.
"Where'd she go?" Gobber finished.