Since I don't realy have anything new to upload, aside from some drabbles I still haven't posted here, I've decided to publish this one .
It was a request I got in Tumblr; I was asked for a Romantic Flight kind of scene, but with their 20 year old versions, and... well.
Please don't read unless you've watched HTTYD2. Reviews are much appreciated. :)
Romantic Flight
The Mead Hall echoed with the chants and the talk of men, the clanking of mugs, the sound of fists hitting tables and of feet pounding the stony floor. It was noisy – as with any feast in Berk. But Hiccup's mind wasn't in feasting or singing or dancing. It wasn't in drinking – despite the many people who insisted he drink toast after toast.
He felt captivated by Astrid.
The way she danced and jumped, twisting like a cat, spinning with grace among the tribesmen. Hiccup wanted nothing more than to pull her to his lap and rest his head on her shoulder and... the other things he would like to do to her weren't appropriate in public.
Much less for a young Chief such as himself.
Astrid caught his eye, then, and for a moment they locked gazes. She stopped dancing and pushed through the crowd, all but swaying toward him. "Are you alright?" She asked sweetly, one hand resting upon his shoulder.
He wasn't. "I'm fine. But Toothless needs some fresh air." The Night Fury perked up, then. He nudged Hiccup's hands with his snout, green eyes still blinking away the sleepiness.
Astrid nodded as she stroked Toothless' chin. Hiccup noted the delicate arc of her eyebrows, the delightful swell of her lips. He wanted to grab her by the waist and bite them.
"You can take him out in a flight, you know." She turned her head to watch the people behind her. "I doubt half of them would notice, and the other half's too tanked-up to care." To prove her point, she sat on his lap and flung her arm over his neck, kissing his cheek noisily. Nobody seemed to even bat an eye.
"Oh." Hiccup's eyes swept the Hall in an attempt to register any curious faces. There were none. He could go outside and fly, tonight. Forget about all his responsibilities and problems and feel the wind in his heart. Finally.
Toothless already bounded around the couple. Let's go, let's go, let's go he seemed to say, suddenly vibrant.
"Come with me." Hiccup rested his face against her arm and breathed in her honeyed, familiar scent.
"Are you sure? Wouldn't you rather – "
"I miss you." His word was final. With a nod and a small peck to his cheek, Astrid stood from his lap and casually took his hand, guiding him around the dancing folk. The Great Hall's doorway closed behind the three of them without anyone saying a word.
Hiccup was quick to get on the saddle. "I thought they'd make a fuss about me leaving."
Astrid climbed on immediately after him; her arms gladly took their place around his midriff as she pulled him into a hug from behind. "You're not that big of a deal," she joked, pressing her nose against Hiccup's neck as Toothless hoisted them into the air.
"You're right," Hiccup drawled, amused. "I'm just your Chief. Who cares what I'm up to, anyway?"
Astrid chuckled. "They saw me with you; they know I'm keeping you in line."
"Oh, really? So now I need a babysitter?"
"When have you not needed one? Right, Toothless?" She patted the dragon's shoulder caringly. He warbled and bobbed his head, tongue lolling freely in the wind.
"Ha ha. Very funny, you two." Despite the teasing, Hiccup found great solace on having Astrid's chest rested against his back, just as much as he did in the distance the black wings put between them and the ground beneath.
Soon enough, Toothless carried them over the sea. Its surface shimmered in shades of silver, as if it were a giant lake made of precious metal, deep blue sapphires engraved upon its flowing surface. Light poured generously from the full moon, languidly engulfing the vastness of the ocean with a delicate, almost ethereal atmosphere. It was like being inside an endless mirror.
For a moment, Hiccup almost forgot how to breathe.
He heard something, then. "Astrid. Look," he gasped, turning his neck to glance behind. A cluster of dragons began to gather around Toothless in a flurry of multi-coloured wings and the soothing, collective sound of gentle purring played in their ears. They had never flown under such a bright moon with so many distinct dragons, so late at night.
The quietude was what struck Hiccup the most. There were easily fifty dragons flying with them, following their Alpha. And yet they were nearly silent, save for the soft flutter of soundless wings and the almost imperceptible collective drone.
"It's so beautiful…" Astrid whispered into his ear, her chin fitted between his shoulder and neck. The temperature of her mouth made his hairs stand. It had been too long since they'd managed to find themselves privacy.
Hiccup closed his eyes, basking in her closeness and in the tranquillity that enveloped them. Starlight carried with it the familiarity of heated kisses and stolen caresses under the cover of darkened skies. The demure kiss she planted on his neck was all it took to make the very tips of his fingers prickle.
He set the lever on the stirrup with one swift motion, engaging Toothless' fin tail in the gliding position. The dragon acknowledged this with a low rumble, his wings spread out like an enormous black rug.
"What are you doing?" Astrid asked when Hiccup spun himself on the saddle, his legs flinging over Toothless so he could turn to face her. Their knees touched.
He smirked as he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her as near as possible, until her thighs rested upon his. He saw her eyebrows arch and her lips part in surprise right before he pushed his mouth on hers.
She let out a small whimper, before her lips parted and her head tilted sideways. They swayed on the saddle for a little while, somehow balancing each other out, their legs vying to tangle with one another while simultaneously having to secure their position on the dragon's back.
Finding a middle ground between their intense nipping and maintaining balance was nothing short of a challenge.
It was, in a way, a tug of war: the desperation of the kiss, the need to have their arms around the other while having to use one hand to grip the saddle. The sudden little starts where their steadiness seemed to waver thrust his heart into a frantic beat, nearly as much as the sensation of her hips almost straddling his.
By the time he pulled his face away from hers, he could all but feel the heat radiating from her. He wished he could press his own heat against her, but they didn't have much of an angle for it… unless she parted her legs even further and wrapped her thighs well around his waist…
He felt more drunk with desire than he did from the drinks he'd consumed. The idea appealed to him in all the right ways.
"Oh, Gods… Hiccup, I might fall," she pleaded the moment he tried to shimmy her legs closer to him; but her voice lacked determination and her body complied to his hands without a protest. She was as lost as he was. Knowing this only seemed to drive reason farther away from his mind, while spurring added confidence in their acrobatic abilities. They kissed sweetly, their lips never parting as he drove her up to his lap.
He didn't think about how something could go wrong. He didn't think of the possibility of her squirming a little too much, and slipping to the wrong side. He didn't think of any of it, until Toothless smacked him straight on the ribs with his ear flap and grumbled moodily, clearly unamused with their antics.
Hiccup nearly lost his balance, then, and since Astrid was pretty much still attached to him – both her hands gripped his tunic – they shrieked in unison as they grappled for balance.
Hiccup fell straight forward, right on top of Astrid. "Gods, Toothless!" he croaked, struggling to straighten himself. "Thanks for ruining the moment."
Astrid giggled at the Night Fury's casual warble. "Maybe it was for the best." Her bangs swept wildly around her face, her cheeks bright and flustered as she pulled herself up. "We could have fallen off, you know."
Hiccup begrudgingly returned to his riding position, not before placing a quick peck on the blonde's nose. "I'd never let you fall, Milady."
"Hm. Actually, you did. You let me fall for you…"
Hiccup scoffed. "That was really cheesy."
She smacked his arm, but hugged him anyway. "Oh be quiet, you."
They flew through the night in peacefulness, listening to the soft murmurs of the dragons and the steady beats of their own hearts.
They went with Toothless' lead, merely admiring the serenity of the motionless sea and clear sapphire skies, allowing their minds to drift along with the breeze. Eventually, they spotted a disconcertingly familiar place...
Moonlight spilled over the shards of the icy dome of that which had been the kind Alpha's domain. Towering over the shoreline, enclosed in white snow, the corpse of the slain Bewilderbeast had transformed into a colossal statue of blue ice. The gentle giant seemed merely asleep, encased in its natural tomb.
There was a haunting serenity to the scene; an almost spectral beauty. Tragic, but breath-taking.
Perhaps in time, the sea's high tides could finally carry the docile creature to its depths, where it should rest.
Toothless stopped there, hovering over it. All the other dragons seemed to let out a small wail; barely audible whines of sorrow and regret. It was a pause for mourning and remembering.
Astrid hugged Hiccup a little tighter; he felt his heart clench at the sight of the beach where his father… and Toothless…
Hiccup blinked the memory away. He tried to shake off the echoes ringing in his eardrums. The sounds of people and dragons screaming, the ungainly feral growls from his companion, the booming explosion of the plasma blast… the shudder of Stoick the Vast's final breath as he gave his life for his son's.
Hiccup could never forget, but he had long since forgiven. This was a place that needed revisiting, just one last time.
To try and leave the past behind.
"Okay bud... time to head back home. It's late," Hiccup said, patting the Night Fury's head. But Toothless paid him no heed. Instead, he dove toward the entrance to the sanctuary, followed by all the other dragons.
Astrid barely had the opportunity to ask what Toothless was doing; the sudden dip at high speed and the dizzying flight between mouldy rocks threw her off her words. She could only hold on tighter to Hiccup. The Night Fury followed an aerial path to the centre of the dome and spun right through it, sailing across the still air through shimmering moonbeams and solid columns of stone.
And then, well... The sight before Astrid's eyes truly rendered her speechless. The inside of the sanctuary.
She never could have expected the lush vegetation that had nurtured inside the place. Even lit up only by the pale shimmer that filtered through the dome of ice, the vibrant green and the multi coloured flowers almost appeared to be alive, bathed in silvery light. Everything seemed to take in shades of green and blue and silver. It was like being inside a dream.
When her voice returned to her, all Astrid could say was a hushed "Whoah."
Hiccup seemed just as entranced as she was. He had seen what the place looked like during the day but... at night, everything seemed to glimmer and glower, as if the northern lights themselves danced beneath the frozen ceiling.
"So this is where your mother stayed all these years... it's so beautiful."
Some Dragons still lived within. Mothers with their young, still unable to fly. Injured dragons, incapable of making their way elsewhere. But nothing like the fluttering swarm of winged beasts Hiccup had seen when he'd been here. Even the dragons that had accompanied them in their night-time flight couldn't have done justice to that first time Hiccup stepped into the place.
Something big was missing. An enormous part of this refuge had perished just outside of it, never to return. A sense of sadness clung to the atmosphere, to each shard of ice and to every drop of dew upon the leaves. Even the cascades seemed to flow heavy with grief, as if singing a song of farewell to that which once had been a kind ruler to all under his care.
Hiccup felt it in the air. He felt it in his bones. He remembered watching with awe as the kindly goliath slept in the lake within the sanctuary. Its absence seemed to haunt ever pebble, every flower around them.
It was such a different environment from that of the nest of the Red Death, where there had only been horror and pain and fear and not a plant could bloom in its sulphurous confinement.
This was a lesson Hiccup now took note of: the facets of a leader are reflected in all that lays under his rule.
Toothless gently landed near the entrance of the cave where Valka had lived. He looked at Hiccup and cooed softly, as if seeking reassurance. Hiccup rubbed the dragon's neck tenderly. "It's not your fault, bud... I know that. It's not your fault." There was an exchange of nuzzling between them; a gesture of comfort from one to the other.
Hiccup then disconnected his prosthetic from the stirrup and hopped to the ground. Astrid climbed down from the saddle and took his outstretched hand, filled with curiosity. "Where are we going?"
"You'll see... look, here." He brought her to the inside a homely cave. He stopped to stare at every detail; as if he'd found a window to the past. "We were all here... together."
His hand squeezed hers tightly. Astrid looked around. In every corner there seemed to be proof that someone had once lived in this place - a wicker basket, discarded clothing, handmade tools, a clay pot, charred wood from an extinguished fire, empty platters and bowls.
They had been cooking there, before Drago came...
Astrid felt a lump in her throat just by looking at Hiccup's creased brow, at his rapidly heaving chest. Some memory must be playing in the eye of his mind - bittersweet, from the look he wore.
"I wish..." he started, but his voice faltered. He breathed in, steadied himself. His fingers entwined with hers. "Sometimes you just wish you could stop time. Or go back somehow. I was... We were together. Just for a little while… My family."
She could see the mist gathering in his eyes. The small tremble of his lower lip. "You should have seen them, Astrid. My mom and dad, together. You should have seen what I could have had," he closed his eyes and bit the insides of his cheeks. His hand brought hers to his drumming heart.
Astrid laced one arm around his shoulders and pulled him to her. He immediately buried his head in her hair; he was trying so hard not to shake.
So hard.
His free hand fisted at the cloth between her shoulder blades. Hiccup seemed to lean his weight against her, as if he needed the support. Astrid stood strong against him, though tears threatened to spill down her cheeks.
His voice was raw and hoarse. "It's not fair, Astrid. It's not fair."
She hushed him sweetly, leaving light kisses on his heated cheek.
"I want it back. Astrid, I want what I had then... I want what they had." His lips sought hers. She could taste the salty wetness on his mouth and feel his uneven breath on her face – this was a kiss shaken by emotion, driven by need. He pulled her tighter to him, resting his forehead against hers. He opened his eyes, a hue of redness in them. "I want what they had. With you."
In that moment, everything around them seemed to stand still. Even the water that trickled from between the rocks fell silent. He gathered his breath.
"I can't remember all the words. I can't..." he sighed and kissed her forehead. "Even if I did, I can't sing. And I'm a terrible dancer."
He chuckled. Astrid stared at him, confused as to what he meant.
Then he kneeled, never taking his eyes off her.
She felt a cold in her belly that had nothing to do with the ice above them, and a heat in her chest that could rekindle the ashen hearth. With baited breath she waited for him to speak.
But he didn't. He just… stared at her.
Astrid frowned, feeling a little jittery with expectation and a little awkward under his gaze. "Well?"
Hiccup cleared his throat and shrugged. "Sorry, I was trying to think of something special to say, but uh... Yeah, I guess I... I don't have the words."
Astrid laughed and shook her head. "And you said I was the one being cheesy! You big dork."
"Wait, are you calling your Chief a cheesy dork?"
"Of course not. I'd never call my Chief a cheesy dork." Astrid got down on her knees, too, and embraced him tightly. "I'm calling my future husband a cheesy dork."
"Oh be quiet, you..."
END
Hope you liked it! I wonder if anyone caught the Defenders of Berk reference line...?