Did Anybody See That? Chapter 6
"What are you talking about?" Astrid demanded.
"Astrid, listen to me. I've seen things that no Viking has ever seen, I've been places that no Viking has ever been, and I don't mean this cave. I mean seeing things from the air."
"From the air? You mean... you mean... riding on the back of that thing?"
"I've ridden Toothless many times. Does the idea frighten you?"
She glared at him. "The idea of becoming a traitor like you frightens me. Maybe you've made peace with the enemy, but they're still the enemy. And if I go riding on... it... then what does that make me?"
Hiccup shrugged. "Maybe it makes you a kidnap victim, seeing how the dragon is a lot bigger and stronger than you are. Maybe you tried to fight it, but it got the drop on you and carried you away. I can think of lots of ways for you to ride on a dragon's back without becoming a traitor like me." He smiled and looked her in the eye, in a way that unnerved her. "Admit it, Astrid. You're curious."
He was right, but she would never admit it to his face. "So you're going to take me up in the air, and when we're done, you'll just put me down again?"
"And then you'll decide how much silence I've bought from you," he nodded. "A day's worth? Two days? A week? Half an hour? I'll leave it up to you."
She gazed at him, somewhat surprised. "You don't sound like the Hiccup I used to know. Being alone too long has changed you."
He relaxed slightly. "No. Having a real friend has changed me." He turned to the dragon. "Toothless, we're taking her for a ride. Back up and let her out." The dragon scowled, but backed out of the cave mouth. Hiccup sat comfortably on the thing's back; he'd clearly done this many times. "Climb on," he half-suggested, half-ordered. "And leave the axe. We'll be back for it later."
She almost felt naked without her axe, especially now that she was facing an unfamiliar dragon. She hesitantly leaned it against the cave wall. The dragon glared at her as she crept past it. She'd never been this close to a dragon before without trying to kill it. She nervously slid onto the black back, unsure what to do with her hands.
She found out what to do with them a moment later, when the dragon turned and sprang into the air. Dragons don't have handles. The only way she could keep from sliding off him was to hang onto Hiccup's shoulders, much though she hated touching him.
The rest of that day was one that she would never forget. She would love to forget the first few minutes of it, though. The dragon changed from a loyal steed to a bucking, unbroken wild animal, doing everything in its power to get her off its back. She clung to Hiccup for dear life as he tried to persuade the animal to behave, and a scream or two of terror did escape her lips. Perhaps the most frightening thing was realizing that Hiccup didn't have the dragon under his complete control; it had a mind of its own.
And then, just when she was reduced to begging for Hiccup's forgiveness (how humiliating!), the bucking wild animal turned back into a loyal steed with wings. Hiccup's suggestion that she stick her head in the clouds came true, quite literally.
Who knew that clouds were so insubstantial? They looked so solid from the ground. But up close...a bare wisp of cool moisture across her hand, nothing more. Who knew that there was a land where there wasn't any land – all she could see was clouds in every direction? Who knew what her village looked like from the air? Everything looked familiar, and yet so different. Hiccup and his dragon were showing her things that she'd never even imagined and could never have conceived of.
Who knew that being a traitor could feel so... awesome?
They stayed up for hours, and it seemed not long enough. As reluctant as she was to start this ride, she was even more reluctant to end it. "Okay, I admit it. Your kind of treason is pretty cool."
The dragon landed lightly in front of the cave. "So, what was that worth to you, in terms of silence?" Hiccup asked.
For an answer, she slugged him in the shoulder. "That's for kidnapping me!" Then she bent over and kissed his cheek. "That's for... everything else. Have a nice life." She reclaimed her axe, turned away, and walked home without looking back.
Hiccup touched his cheek in wonder. "I guess that means she won't say anything," he said out loud to Toothless. He hoped that's what it meant. The dragon seemed mildly amused.
Astrid got home just before the supper hour. But the chief met her as she entered the Mead Hall. "I need to have a quick word with you, young lady." He was wearing his holding-back-the-anger look. That was never good.
He motioned for her to sit at a table in the corner, where one of the town's warriors was already working on a tankard of ale. He joined them. "Scabfester, here, says he saw something flying around the village this afternoon. Something large and black. Do you know anything about that?"
An icicle pierced her heart. They'd been seen! She couldn't look the chief in the eye and lie to him. But she'd made an implied promise to Hiccup to say nothing. How in the Nine Worlds was she going to get out of this one? She tried to keep her face neutral and said nothing.
"He says he saw two people riding on this big black thing. One of them had blonde hair in a thick braid, and metal shoulder pads." He glanced at the other man, who nodded. "Do you know anyone who looks like that?" His voice stayed level, but his manner was getting more threatening by the moment. She tried to look away without looking like she was looking away.
"This is serious, child! You're our best young warrior! Are you ready to throw that away? Look at me!" She forced herself to look. "Keeping dangerous secrets from your chief is not a clever thing to do. You could lose your right to be a warrior, forever! Would you rather be apprenticed to a seamstress, or one of the cooks? Maybe you'd rather spend the rest of your life on the clean-up crew in the Mead Hall!" She blanched at that. Cleaning up after those drunken celebrations...
The chief gestured at Scabfester, who got up and left for another table. "The young people in this village are not living up to the Viking code for some reason. I thought I sent a strong message with... with the dragon-loving traitor, but the rest of you are not getting the message. I am going to give you one chance to tell me what you know about this. If you make me think you're holding anything back, it is going to cost you everything." He leaned back in his chair, folded his arms, and glared at her.
How in the Nine Worlds was she going to get out of this one?
She took a deep breath, gulped, and began talking. "Just before that big storm... I saw something big and black... flying around Raven Point." When she started, she had no plan for how she meant to end it. She never intended to tell him everything. But his terrible eyes kept boring into her. It didn't help that, the more she said, the angrier he got. Out of sheer terror, she kept talking until there was nothing left to say.
"And...?" he demanded.
"That's all. I walked away and came home, and... and that's all." Still he held her with his powerful gaze. She felt his eyes like two spears, piercing right through her and pinning her to the chair.
At last he looked away. He stroked his beard a few times. Then, in a slightly softer voice, he growled, "You may go now, young warrior. I need to organize a warband." She slowly rose, turned for the door, and ran out into the village, forgetting all about supper.
He had called her "young warrior!" She wasn't going to be punished! She could still complete her dragon training and take an honored place in the village.
But what kind of honor did she have? She had broken her promise to Hiccup.
But she hadn't actually given her word; it was just implied.
He had used the word "warband." They were going to kill the dragon, and probably Hiccup as well.
She'd meant to kill that dragon herself at first. That's what Vikings did with dragons around here. As for Hiccup, didn't a traitor deserve whatever he got? If he'd accepted his original punishment, none of this would have happened.
But did he deserve death for the crime of wanting to stay alive?
The whole situation had been stable until she'd gotten involved. Hiccup was happy, the village was glad to be rid of him, and neither party was bothering the other. Now she'd made an even bigger mess of everything. She had to do something to make it right.
The sun was setting. Finding her way in the forest would be tricky, even dangerous. If the warband found her bootprints in the snow, she'd be caught as Hiccup's co-conspirator. They might even send her to Outcast Island. The outcome of that would be unspeakable for a pretty young girl.
She had to do something to make it right!
She set out along the coast in the waning light, following her own bootprints from this morning. The warband wouldn't take the coastal route to the cove; they'd go the direct way. She'd be safe from them, at least.
She had to warn Hiccup.