Sunlight shone through the canopy of trees hanging around the cove, heralding the arrival of morning. Birds chirped and chittered from their positions on the branches before they flew off, soaring high into the sky with a flutter of wings. A growl of frustration left the Night Fury as he watched, tail swishing behind him as he leaned up on his forepaws against the stony cliff face and let out a roar that shook the forest surrounding him. The pain in his tail had long since dulled to a throb and he turned his head to look mournfully at it, remaining tail fin expanding before it drew back in.
He thumped his forepaws back onto the ground with a dull thud, kneading the soft earth beneath them before he took off into a bound across the small canyon, wings opening at a particularly high leap before he came crashing down into the pond of rain water at the center, water flipping up and along his scales.
Hiccup watched the dragon shake himself down from his vantage point on the rocks overlooking the dip in the earth, watching him try again and again to get off the ground but to no avail. He leaned his head against his hand, smirking slightly as he drew a knee up, resting his elbow on it. Waiting for the dragon to wear itself out let him study its movements, watching the way it called out in distress but failed to succumb to its fate. Honestly he felt a little satisfied watching it suffer.
It had been four days now since the Outcast 'invasion'. Rescuing their dragon princess and helping to rebuild parts of the community that had been destroyed during the attack had garnered him at least some acceptance among the villagers of Berk. Many of the adults still eyed him suspiciously, those who had known Alvin long enough most likely. He heard the phrase 'like father like son' tossed around a bit, and he knew that they weren't referring to Stoick. The twins were weirdly fascinated with him, nagging him at any time they could to get him to cause some kind of destruction with them. The large boy - Fishlegs, he'd learned - seemed skittish around him, like he was nervous but didn't want to show it. Unfortunately for the poor boy it showed. Snotlout still saw him as a challenger for the title of chief despite his insistence that he wasn't after the title.
Astrid didn't seem to be any closer to trusting him as she was two days ago. Hiccup gave a small sigh of annoyance as he slid from his rock, running a hand through shaggy hair. He needed to gain her trust before his three week time limit was up, and he hardly saw how he was going to achieve anything when she insisted on being stubborn as a mule. Tucking away a small notebook into the vest that he'd bartered for, he started to head back towards the village, lips pursed together in thought and a scowl on his face as he trudged through the thick underbrush, the Night Fury's cries of frustration matching what he felt inside.
If only things were as easy as writing 'this is a trap, please fall for it' in big letters on the doors of the great hall.
Astrid brushed a hand through the hair at the back of her neck, using the blade of her axe to determine if the length was good enough. Short hair felt weird, the lack of the heavy braid against her back even weirder. She looked out the corner of her eye as Ruffnut finished braiding the long piece of hair that hung to the left side of her face, the girl pulling the band from her mouth and using it to tie the loose bit at the end before she batted it with a grin.
"How does it look?"
"You look weird with short hair," Ruffnut replied after a hum, tilting her head as she circled her fellow viking. She leaned down, placing her hands on her knees and leaning in close to look at it, causing Astrid to lean away. The other girl grinned, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest. "I like it." Her grin spread. "I'm sure Hiccup will like it too."
Astrid gave a small splutter at the notion, her face turning red before she slipped her axe back into the holster around her belt, ducking her face away. "Y-yeah? Well who cares what that jerk thinks."
"You think he likes short-haired girls? Because I was thinking about getting my hair cut too..." Ruffnut reached up to pull some of her long hair over her shoulder, running her fingers through it.
"You look better with long hair, Ruff," Astrid replied as she stood from her seat, fingering the new smaller braid before tucking it behind her ear. "Besides, you should cut your hair when you want to, not for a stupid boy."
Ruffnut tilted her head in thought before giving a shrug, pushing her hair back over her shoulder. "Mmm...I guess you're right. I think Tuffnut would have an aneurism thingie anyway." She grinned as though she had a bright idea before Astrid hit her in the arm, making her wince and rub it. "iOwwww/i! I thought that was yours and Hiccup's thing. I hope this doesn't mean you like me. But I could totally get into that if you did."
"Oh Odin, Ruffnut, just shut up." The dragon conqueror buried her face into her hands, giving a groan of frustration before her friend gave a laugh. It was downtimes like this that reminded Astrid that they were still girls, still two teenage girls rather than vikings or warriors. In a few years they'd be ready for marriage, ready to settle down in all the traditional ways. She felt a hand on her shoulder and raised her head slightly to see Ruffnut looking at her with a bit of concern.
"You okay?"
"Yes...no...for Thor's sake I don't know." Ruffnut gave her a look that told her to go on and Astrid pulled her axe from her holster, feeling the comfortable weight in her hand before she swung it into the air, giving a couple of practice swings. "I don't know what to make of him. I don't know when he's being sincere or whether he's lying or if...ianything/i! He calls me princess because it annoys me and I catch him ilooking/i at me like...like he's studying me or something..." She ran a hand through her hair before she turned to her friend. "He makes me want to scream up at Valhalla in frustration. How do you and Tuffnut trust him so easily?"
She gave a shrug, crossing her arms behind her head as she raised one foot into the air, swinging it before she stepped forward, balancing on her other. "We just don't really care much, that's all." At Astrid's questioning look, she turned around to face her, holding a finger up. "Think of it like...giving him a second chance. We don't know if he will betray us but at the very least we can give him the benefit of a doubt up until that time. Who knows? We might change his mind." Ruffnut shrugged. "All I know is, treating him like a villain isn't going to make it any better."
Astrid frowned at that, watching Ruffnut turn on her heel and begin walking back to the village. She was right, she guessed. She was still wary of him but even that seemed to be counterproductive. He wouldn't lead her to where he had the Night Fury down, no matter how she asked him. "Think of it this way." Ruffnut turned around from where she had walked away a bit, looking back at her friend. Astrid raised an eyebrow, watching her. "Think of Hiccup like...a dragon. Now, he's been through some things in the last few days that might make him wary of trusting us just as much as we're wary of trusting him. He's only going to return that trust if we start trusting him and let him in instead of treating him like an outcast."
She noticed the way Ruffnut didn't say that last word like he was the heir to the Outcast tribe anymore, and she realized she was right. Hiccup iwas/i like a dragon in that way. He had some trust issues they needed to work around before they could work together. She nodded, tilting her head. "That...strangely makes sense. You're weirdly worldly today, Ruff."
Ruffnut tilted her head from where she was doing a handstand, looking at Astrid through a thin veil of hair. "Hey, no problem. Just be glad you didn't go to Tuffnut for romantic advice. He screws his face up and makes this sound like he's going to throw up."
Her response was punctuated by a boot connecting to the middle of her back, causing her to fall as Astrid stormed off. Ruffnut shook her head as she picked herself up onto her knees, grinning from ear to ear before she cupped her hands around her mouth to yell out "Well he does!"
"Just the man I wanted to see."
Mildew looked up from where he was raking the ground to get it ready for a new crop of cabbages, squinting against the sunlight to see Hiccup standing at the edge of the field. Fungus let out a bleating noise, eyeing the Outcast with a beady gaze almost the same as the one his owner was giving him. Glancing down at his sheep, the old man leaned against his rake. "Oh, look at this, Fungus, we have a visitor."
Hiccup raised his eyebrow slightly before he shrugged it off. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest, taking a couple of steps closer. He was gambling quite a bit with this roll of the dice, but if things played to his hand, he could quite possibly gain an ally. "I see you've rested well enough since I took care of your little Night Fury problem."
Mildew shrugged, inclining his head in a way that said maybe he did or maybe he didn't. "If you're here for payment of some sort, I'm afraid I don't have any. I'm just an old man, you see."
"An old man with a grudge against dragons." Hiccup watched the way Mildew's stance changed, from standoffish to even more so. He tilted his head, remembering Tuffnut telling him about the fake Zippleback feet and Nightmare claw. He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, shaking his head. "I'm not here to threaten anything from you, nor am I here on behalf of the little dragon princess. Rather, I see we have a bit of an...ah...kindred spirit in each other."
"How'dyou figure that?"
"You want to drive the dragons away from Berk." Hiccup tucked his arms behind his back as he drew closer, starting to circle around the old viking and his sheep. "You want them gone, be they exterminated or otherwise." He came to stop in front of Mildew, squaring his shoulders as he examined the look on his wrinkled old face. "I want the same thing, but for an entirely different reason."
Mildew pursed his lips together and ground down on his teeth before the boy's intentions dawned on him, his eyes widening slightly and bushy grey eyebrows drawing up. "You're still working under Alvin, aren't you, boy?"
"Give the man a medal, he has more brains than the whole of Berk combined," the Outcast heir drawled, leaning back onto his left foot. His upper lip curled into a small sneer before he smirked. "I wouldn't go tattling to anybody. I believe you're already known in the village as a delusional old man."
"What do ye want?"
"Well, to thank you for starters." Hiccup shrugged, turning so he was side on to Mildew as he drew his axe from his back, fingers running over the blade. At the confusion on the other's face, he let his smirk grow. "If it hadn't been for your little Night Fury problem, I wouldn't have been able to infiltrate Berk as well as I have." He turned his axe over in his hand, watching the sunlight catch on the blade. "And to make a proposition."
Mildew shared a look with Fungus, the sheep looking up at him and bleating before he glanced back at the boy. "I'm listenin'."
"I want you to order this flower from Trader Johann." Hiccup pulled a piece of paper from the inside of his vest, handing it over and watching Mildew unfold it to reveal a purple flower. At the questioning eyebrow, he continued, replacing his axe on his back. "It's a flower that causes reptiles to become deathly ill." He smirked, watching the way Mildew's eyes lit up. "I shouldn't have to spell it out for you that dragons are reptiles. Planting bushels of these around the village should spread the infection within a few hours." Handing off the slip of paper to Mildew he raised his axe, watching the old man stumble back a bit in shock. "Now, I'm usually very easy to get along with, Mildew. You scratch my back, I scratch yours. You spread the infection and I make it look like this was your idea. I earn their trust. But if you ever so much as squeal a word of this to iStoick/i, I will make you watch as I kill your little Fungus here and roast him and then I will slit your throat and leave you to bleed like the pig you are." He tilted his head and gave a pleasant smile. "Do we have an accord?"
"Yes," the old man muttered, clenching his fist around the piece of paper in his hand.
Hiccup let his smirk widen, sheathing his axe against his back as he placed his free hand on his hip, tilting his head. "Good. Remember - you breathe a word of this to anyone and your precious sheep will be the one to pay the price." With that, he turned and walked away, leaving Mildew to look down at Fungus before he pulled the crumpled piece of paper straight, bringing it up to his eyes to squint at the messy handwriting.
Blue Oleander.
"Looks like we better get the old eagle mail ready, eh, Fungus?"
Things around Berk were bustling with the news that Trader Johann was coming in a few days time, with Berkians discussing what they were going to trade. Astrid wandered into the village square, Stormfly next to her. She'd left Ruffnut to roughhouse with her brother once the boys had found their way to them, not entirely comfortable with having them see her doing girly things. It wasn't that Astrid wasn't fond of girly things, not at all, she just preferred the tough image she projected.
"Why do I feel so weird around him, Stormfly?" she asked her Nadder in a voice low enough between the two of them. "It's like one minute I want to kill him and the next I'm...I'm all flushed up like a damsel in distress or something."
"Hey there, princess." She very nearly jumped and shrieked at the sound of Hiccup's voice, whirling around to look at him with an angry expression on her face at being snuck up on. He was standing behind her with a rather amused look, arms crossed over his chest and his head tilted curiously, Fenrir behind him. "What's got you so jumpy?"
"Don't do that!" she snapped, her cheeks flaring pink before he reached out to pick up the end of the braid hanging off the side of her face. He pinched it between his forefinger and thumb, raising an eyebrow at it before he dropped it again, only to receive a punch to the shoulder.
"Ow! Now what was that for?" He didn't even do anything this time.
Astrid huffed, tucking the small braid back behind her ear. Stormfly nudged at her a bit, causing her to take a couple of steps forward towards him and she shot her dragon a look over her shoulder only to receive a snorting laugh in return. "So how's the Night Fury doing?"
Hiccup shrugged. "He's just about worn himself out trying to get out of the cove. An angry dragon hardly seems like the most brilliant thing to try and tame."
She let a small smile curl across her mouth, nodding the accuracy of his assessment. "Now you're thinking like a trainer. A placid dragon is easier to approach, especially if you have food on hand. Dragons like fish, so next time you go to the cove take a piece of cod. No eel though."
He inclines his head before he reached out to lift the small braid again. "You changed your hair."
Astrid rubbed the back of her neck in a bit of embarrassment, smaking his hand away with her other one. "I think it was due for a change. Besides, Alvin did most of the damage." She looked out the corner of her eye at him.
Hiccup raised an eyebrow, leaning forward and twisting the recently brushed ends around in his fingers before he tilted his head to whisper in her ear. "I like it. Makes you look cuter."
She stood still for a moment, her heart racing before she thumped him on the arm again, earning herself another low whine of 'Ow!'. "Go get some fish for that Night Fury already, jerk."