The Outcast boat was bigger than the boats that came from Berk, Astrid observed from where she was being kept under guard, spears criss-crossed in front of her. Many of the vikings were big brutes, hairier than the average Hairy Hooligan if it could even be believed. Most of them had grim looks on their faces, nervously looking towards their chief's son before they became flustered and returned their attention to sailing to the dragon island.

Hiccup the Horrendous, in the meantime, was looking at her as though he was searching for something, barely paying attention to his crew. Inquisitive, curious green eyes stared at her, almost as though he wasn't sure what to make of her, trying to guess her game. He sat on a barrel under the mast, sharpening his axe with a type of stone Astrid herself was familiar with, one leg crossed over the other.

For a moment, Astrid could swear she saw her chief sitting there instead, doing his morning wood work. The stance was almost the same, with a bit of Outcast thrown in. Her brow furrowed in confusion, lips pursing together. It didn't make any sense. Hiccup was the universal viking name for a runt, an accident. It shouldn't have surprised her that the Outcasts would use it too. He met her gaze, green locking on blue, and he laughed, tucking the sharpening stone into a pocket on his person and setting his axe down on the floor of the boat, blade first.

"What's so funny?" she spat out, only to have the guards at her sides cross their spears in a more threatening way. Astrid took a couple of steps back, pressing herself against the hull of the ship in alarm. If she was killed here, her plan wouldn't work, and she closed her eyes, steadying herself before she exhaled, opening her gaze again to look at him as he stood from his seat on the upturned barrel, voice taking on a quieter charm her mother had taught her. "I-I mean, what's so funny, your most hideousness?"

"You're a brave lass," he started, closing the distance between them as he swung his weapon lazily at his side. Hiccup came to stop in front of her, and Astrid realized they were the same height, if not he had a few more inches on her. He placed his hand on his hip, leaning forward as he used the wood of his axe to tilt her chin up, a motion that made her stand stock still in fright of nicking her neck. "Staring at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you've seen me before but can't place where." He turned her head to the side, observing her facial features before he stood back, tilting his own head but nonetheless holding his axe at her. "Curiouser and curiouser, isn't it? The Norns[1] work in mysterious ways." She must have looked at him like he was raving mad, because he laughed again, though this time it was far more sinister than before, not so light hearted. Hiccup turned away from her, axe going over his shoulder.

"I...well, yes, it is strange. You're Alvin's son, yet I could swear you look more like Chief Stoick than..."

She yelped as he swung his axe at her, cutting through the spears holding her from escaping with alarmed calls from his crew and all of a sudden he was up in her face, eyes wide and wild as he snarled, and Astrid could almost swear that he looked like Stormfly had when she had her pinned against the rock.

Only Stormfly had let her go. She was almost certain that he wasn't going to.

"Don't you ever mention that name in my presence!" he growled out, pinning her to the hull of his boa with the blade inches away from her neck. Astrid scrambled back away to escape but he reached out, snagging her by the arm in a grip that must have crushed rocks. She remembered the way he'd spat out Stoick's name on the rocks, remembered the look on his face. It looked like that was a trigger for him to go absolutely berserk, and somehow or other she managed to squeak out a 'yes, sir' before he let her go. He must have thought her too valuable to loose, because the next minute there was a dead Outcast on the floor of the boat and Hiccup's axe was dripping with blood. He let out a small sigh like an appeased dragon, glancing at one of the other crew members. "You, put his body in salt water downstairs until we can get back home. Looks like we won't have to worry about dinner tonight."

He chuckled and the other Outcasts laughed, watching the selected viking drag his dead comrade down into the lower decks of the ship. Astrid felt like she was going to throw up, her face turning pale. "How barbaric," she whispered. Even though she knew Outcasts ate captured tribe chiefs and their heirs, she never expected them to eat their own kind, much less for such an act to be demonstrated in front of her, to an extent.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at her, lips quirking. "And yet you eat yak and sheep. I hardly see how eating my fellow clansmen is different, especially when you're so willing to toss yours away."

"I have never tossed my clansmen away!" she hissed, eyes narrowing at him. What did he know about life on Berk anyway? He eyed her in disbelief before she sneered at him. "Never."

"Not to your memory at least," was his cryptic reply as he wiped the blood from the blade of his axe. At the look on her face, he turned away from her. "A long time ago, your chief and his wife had a baby." Her brow furrowed in confusion, wondering why the story of Valhallarama's miscarriage was being told to her. "When he was born, he wasn't very big for a viking baby, a runt more or less."

"But he wasn't born," she said, careful of her words of choice. He seemed to be going somewhere with this, however far fetched it was that he actually ihad/i been born. "Hiccups like that don't..." Her eyes widened as everything clicked into place - why she'd seen the chief when he'd been sharpening his axe instead of him, why he flew into a rage at Stoick's name. "...don't survive the birthing process."

"Let alone the ship out to sea, right?" He looked over his shoulder at her before he turned in her direction again, leaning forward onto his axe. Hiccup tilted his head, lips quirking into a smirk. "A hiccup like that wouldn't survive the Wrath of Thor, couldn't possibly have washed up on Outcast Island after days at sea."

Astrid felt her breath catch in her throat, knowing where she'd seen his eyes before now. She had vague memories of Valhallarama before her passing, of brilliant green eyes laughing with life and a sense of adventure. Here they were, staring back at her, mirthless and deadly. She felt dread pile up in her stomach as he grinned, the motion stretching his mouth across his face. She had to get back to Berk, had to warn Stoick that Alvin had adopted and corrupted his son who should have died a long time ago. He opened his mouth to respond to her before he was interrupted by one of his crewmen screaming out 'LAND HO'.

"Here's your moment of truth, dragon conqueror," he purred, walking away from her as he started shouting orders for them to anchor just off shore. Astrid wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing one hand along her arm as she fought down the shiver that threatened to rise along her spine, hoping that her plan would work.

She was shuffled into the water and made to wade towards the shore, water hitting the hem of her skirt as she walked between two Outcasts, Hiccup just off to the side and axe drawn, she assumed in case of a dragon attack or more likely treason. She felt a large hand push her forward and she nearly fell forward into the shallow water, catching herself just in time but not enough to avoid being laughed at.

Her eyes widened when she saw Stormfly hop up onto the rocks near where they'd said their goodbyes, but she straightened her expression when she noticed Hiccup looking at her out the corner of her eye. Astrid turned, holding her hands up as her Nadder took a couple of steps down to the beach. "Whoa, hold up! You don't just rush at a Deadly Nadder! Y-you never know when they could fire their spikes."

"By all means." Hiccup's tone was condescending at best, but she rolled her eyes and started walking over to Stormfly, her confidence creeping back as she met her dragon's gaze. Stormfly sqwaked indignantly, wings fluttering at her sides before she bowed down like she did when she was playing.

"Back! Back, you beast! Don't you know who I am?"

Hiccup watched the dance between dragon and rider, completely unknowing of the latter title as he moved, studying it curiously. It certainly didn't seem like the actions of a proper viking, not like he was used to. If it had been him, the Nadder would be dead before he would have been able to take a step forward, but he respected the woman's wishes and kept back, though his hand tightened around his axe. Something wasn't right.

His eyes narrowed and he hissed when he saw her sling something onto the Nadder's back, turning it around to face them with a smug smirk on her lips. "By the way, it's not dragon conqueror. It's dragon trainer."

"Get them!"

Astrid let out a laugh as Stormfly took to the air with her on her back, tail flipping to knock spears out of the sky with her spikes and pinning a few Outcasts to the beach. She dug her knees in, gripping the saddle with a white-knuckled grasp. "Let's go home, girl! Hyah!" Almost as though taking that as a signal they could return home, her friends' dragons rose up with her, taking to the skies. Something whizzed through the air between Astrid and Stormfly's heads - an axe. She watched it fall to the ground before she looked down to see Hiccup fuming up at her, his gaze promising pain next time they met.

She had to get back to Berk and warn Stoick.

[1] the Norns were the goddesses who ruled the destiny of gods and men, comparable to the Fates in Greek mythology. They were powerful giantesses whose arrival ended the golden age of gods, named Urðr (Wyrd), Verðandi and Skuld respectively.

Author's notes: and here is where our story truly starts. I was expecting this to end here but it unexpectedly spawned ten more chapters and perhaps four or five more remaining to be written. Thank you for reading so far :)