A/N: Alright guys, here's another chapter. I really like how Heir To The Dark Brotherhood is going. I want to thank the readers who are reading this and that as well for giving that new story a chance. I hope I can make it live up to your expectations.
Anyway, enjoy the chapter.
And furthermore, I'd like to wish everyone A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope you all have a successful and safe new year ahead of you and one of my resolutions is to finish these three How To Train Your Dragon stories, and I hope you're all there till the end for them.
Astrid's POV
Hiccup and I watched the Outcasts run to the docks to escape on their ships. The dragons, excluding Toothless, all went after them, making sure they did leave and never come back if they know what's good for them.
I suddenly felt two arms embrace me and soon found myself being pressed against Hiccup. I smiled, even though he couldn't see it and returned the hug.
"I was so worried when he had you" he spoke as I felt him stroked my hair. I guess he was still recovering from the shock he received when Alvin showed me to him, tied up and gagged...never a situation I want to be in again.
"You don't need to worry about me...I'm Astrid Hofferson, remember?" I asked as he released his arms and I saw him smirk at me.
"Not to point out the obvious...but we're still trapped here!" We turned our heads to see everyone else staring at us, both shocked at how the dragons just helped them and I bet how different Hiccup looked. "We should probably let them out" I told him and we were soon freeing them from the cages. It only took about fifteen minutes, since ten of those were spent searching for the key.
"Thank you Astrid for bringing him back" the chief said placing his club-like hand on my shoulder. He looked at Hiccup who was almost done freeing everyone. When they walked past him they refused to make eye-contact and I could tell that some even wanted to yell traitor at him...one of those people being Snotlout. When everyone was free, they gathered in the centre of the Ring while Hiccup and I stood in front of the crowd.
"You all sent Astrid to find me and bring me here...may I ask what for?" he asked. I guess he wanted to hear the reason coming from their mouths since I already told him why I want him to come back. For about a minute, no one spoke, they just stood their, unmoving, as if they had seen a ghost. Then Stoick took a step forward and started speaking...
"We need your help Hiccup" he said. I could tell he took up some courage asking his son for help...the son he had banished and disowned.
"Really now? Last time I remembered, you wanted me gone and not to come back, and five years later, you come to me for help. What's wrong? Big strong Vikings can't handle dragons anymore?" he mocked them. I stood by him still, just making sure to correct him when things got really out of control. I could see Stoick curl his hands into a fist, obviously getting angry at the disrespect Hiccup was giving him...but right now, to me it was payback.
"Astrid told me about how the dragons are increasing their raids and the ferocity of their attacks. She even told me of how many Vikings had died in the past five years because of the attacks. Now just imagine if you had listened to me before running me out of the village...just imagine the life you could have led with dragons living at our sides" he said.
"Really, the only place dragons deserve to be are their heads hanging above our fireplace" Snotlout spoke, and there was a loud agreement with him from the other Vikings.
"And the only place you deserve to be is...wait, no place I know of would want you" Hiccup snapped at him. I tried to suppress a laugh, and I just smiled at the joke instead.
"Snotlout enough!" Stoick bellowed at him, and then turned his attention back on Hiccup.
"Like I said Hiccup, we need your help...we need to stop these dragons from raiding us" he said.
"I told Astrid I'd help the village, but I'm doing it for the dragons...not for any of you" he said turning around and walking to Toothless. All of a sudden there were yells and screams, and Vikings grabbing whatever weapons they could from the weapons wrack. We turned to the entrance and saw the four dragons that had helped to run the Outcasts off had returned and had got into an attacking position...most likely from the weapons the villagers were holding.
I felt a blow of wind rush past me and I soon realized that Hiccup had gotten off Toothless and put himself between the dragons and the scared villagers.
"Put those weapons down!" he yelled at the villagers.
"Not a chance Hiccup...we're not going to die because of your dumb decisions" Snotlout yelled as he made a false charge to try and intimidate the dragons. That's when the Deadly Nadder unsheathed its poisonous spines and prepared to strike the villagers. That's when I made the decision that I should also do something about this. I'm the only other person on this island who knows the truth about dragons. I ran to join Hiccup in the middle.
"Astrid, what are you doing!?" I heard the voice of my mother yell at me. I saw that she was with my father and they were both at the front of the group holding swords and shields, prepared to attack the dragons.
"Mama, they won't hurt us" I said, trying to calm them down.
"What has that boy done to you Astrid, you would have jumped at the chance to slay another dragon" my father said. He was one of the most respected men in the village, close friends to Stoick and part of the Village Council, and one of the best dragon killers in our village. You could guess where I got most of my skills from.
"He's shown me what dragons really are Papa...we need to give them a chance, to avoid any more death for us" I said. By now Hiccup had managed to calm the dragons down by speaking to them and I manage to get the teens, my parents and the rest of the villagers to calm down a bit, but not enough for them to drop their weapons.
"Nice work" Hiccup complement me, while rubbing the snout of the Nadder. "I guess I know who my first student's going to be" he said. This took me by surprise.
"Student?" I asked if I heard him right.
"Yes, to help all of you solve this dragon problem, I need a few volunteers to teach about how to handle dragons" he explained. We heard murmurs across the crowd of Vikings, until finally my father spoke up.
"What makes you think Astrid would want you to teach her how to handle dragons" he asked.
"I know Astrid is more than capable of handling herself...you all don't know, but she had to ride a dragon to find me" he said with a smile while looking at me. I managed to suppress a blush that was starting to make itself present, but I smiled, and we heard gasps and 'awws' in among the crowd. "She is the first one out of all of you to understand who and what dragons really are, and rest assured Mr. Hofferson, she will be an excellent student...I'm sure of it" he finished.
"That's all well and good Hiccup, but how will we find out how to stop the raids?" Stoick asked.
"One step at a time Stoick...how often do these raids occur?" he asked.
"Every two days or so, sometimes every other day" Fishlegs answered.
"Alright...it's been a long day and I'd like to rest for the night...these dragons..." he said gesturing behind him, "...are not to be harmed. They will stay in the Ring and there will be no guards overlooking them. They told me that I have their word" he said. That's when we heard laughing starting to arise from the crowd.
"Wait...the dragons told you that they'd stay?" Snotlout asked, holding his stomach.
"Yes...as a matter of fact they did. They also told me how you cried like a baby when you backed into a corner by the Nadder" he said with a laugh. Snotlout's face almost became as red as a Monstrous Nightmare's hide and looked like he wanted to strike Hiccup.
"I'm in no mood to fight or hear you at all Snotlout, all I want to is to rest and prepare for training tomorrow...now if you'll excuse me" he said walking past the villagers and onto Toothless. I quickly ran up to him and caught his arm before he left.
"What do you mean training?" I asked him. I wanted to know what he was getting me into.
"I'll be letting you choose your own dragon and to start training it. You've already bonded and ridden a dragon, so you're not new at it" he said.
"But I'm not a pro at it either!" I said.
"Don't worry, you'll do fine Astrid, I'll be there to make sure nothing goes wrong...and don't worry, the dragons said they trust you the most out of the whole village after what they've just seen" he said. At least he told me he'll be there to make sure nothing goes wrong...and I could think of 50 possible ways of how they could. I let go of his arm and watched him and Toothless fly off into the forest of Berk.
I let out a sigh and turned around to see the whole village staring at me, "What?" They just shook their heads.
"You two have seemed to become close" Ruff pointed out.
"They're probably dating" Tuff said with a snicker but soon regretted it when I threw a rock at his head.
"Astrid Hofferson" my mother said in a tone I never liked.
"May we speak with you?" my father said, and soon I was being led out of the Ring to my house to discuss about this whole issue.
Meanwhile... (Hiccup's POV)
"Well bud, it feels nice to be back here right?" I asked. We were back in the cove that I had first met him and where we had bonded.
"Would be better if it wasn't on this island" he said as he drank from the pond. Couldn't agree with him more on that one. I would try and find out why the dragon raids were occurring frequently while training any volunteers on how to handle dragons with care. I would do all of that as quickly as possible and be on my way back to my cottage in the mountains...or Sharkslane...either one.
I had unpacked my sleeping bag that I had Toothless carry, which he didn't mind, and set it up next to a readily made fire. I caught a few fish from the pond and soon had a nice cod cooking on a spit over the fire. I watched the night sky and heard the slight rustle the trees made when the winds blew against them. The stars look different seeing them here than from my house back in the mountains...they actually looked more breathtaking, and I had to admit, the sunsets were just as I remembered them.
"Are you really going to help them be friends with dragons?" he asked, breaking the silence.
"I have no other choice Toothless. When Astrid asked me for help, after telling me the situation, I knew I had to solve this problem for the benefit of the dragons" I said.
"It's just that we already know what the problem is...how are we going to stop it?" he asked.
"That my friend...I have no clue, we'll think of something, we always do" I said, checking the fish to see if it was properly cooked. That's when I heard rustling in the bushes that were above the rock face that bordered the Cove. I couldn't help but let a chuckle escape my lips. "You know you won't be able to surprise potential victims if you keep making noise like that right?" I joked as turned around and saw Astrid at the top of the rocks. She let a small giggle escape her while she was making her way into the Cove. She was carrying what looked like a bed cover, most likely for me since the bed roll wouldn't be enough to shield me from the cold.
"Maybe I wanted you to hear me" she defended, placing the cover on the bed roll and taking a seat beside me. We sat in uncomfortable silence for about a minute. I thought she was taking in the scenic beauty around her, but when I looked to her, I saw she was looking at her hands that were placed neatly on her lap, and she had a frown on her face, and her eyes seemed to hide regret and sadness.
"Are you okay?" I asked, turning my body towards her, so it was easy for me to face her.
"(chuckle) You know...when I turned you in, the villagers celebrated your departure and said it was all thanks to me that 'Hiccup the Useless' was gone, that we no longer had to be responsible for you and...for a while I was like them...I was glad you were gone and I despised you for being a traitor...but now...all I feel is regret, sadness and anger for running to tell your dad instead of staying and listening to you" she said.
"Astrid, it's alright" I said placing my arm around her shoulder and bringing her in close. "I forgave you...it's in the past" I tried to convince her.
"But I haven't forgiven myself Hiccup" she said looking at me. That's when I saw that her eyes were brimming with tears. I brought her into a hug, and I could feel her sob a little while I stroked her hair to comfort her.
"You know...if you hadn't done that, I wouldn't be the young man I am today" I said, pulling her back and looking her in the eyes. She looked at me and I continued. "In a weird way, I should be thanking you...because if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be this strong, handsome, dragon riding Viking" I said pulling back and trying to look all heroic. I looked back at her and saw smile while she wiped away a few tears.
"And..." I said, sitting back down and holding both of her hands in mine, "...I wouldn't have won the heart of the girl I had a crush on ever since the moment I laid eyes on her" I said, not breaking eye-contact with her. She suddenly puller her hands back.
"But I made fun of you, made you seem below everyone in the village, and even joined in humiliating you Hiccup...how could you even like me after I did that" she said turning away and not looking at me. I moved closer to her and grabbed her by the waist and turned her around. "What the..." but I silenced her when I planted my lips on hers. She was tense at first and even tried to pull away, but after about ten seconds she settled into the kiss and brought her hands around my neck. We stayed in that position for about a minute or so, before pulling away for air.
"Yes you were part of that Astrid...but you actually apologized for your actions. You broke down crying, and don't worry I won't tell anyone about that" I said with a laugh while she made a pretend angry face. "I did try and bury my love for you, but after you found me, after how you acknowledged your actions and felt truly sorry for them, then I saw the girl...the potential I saw in the child Astrid...and my love was rekindled for you ever since..." I pulled her onto my lap and she smiled while she had her arms around my neck and I had mine around her waist, "...and I intend to keep it that way" I finished, looking into her ice blue eyes.
"I never thought I could be carried off my feet by any Viking" she said.
"Well, that's because I'm not a Viking" I said with a smile, and she smiled a toothy grin at me before giving me another kiss.
"Yeah, you're my non-Viking" she said with a laugh. "That reminds, my parents talked to me about this whole thing" she said.
"They should know that you're more than capable of taking care of yourself in the Ring" I said.
"It's not that...they're well aware of that, it's...this" she said, gesturing to the position we were in, and that's when I realized that it was about us. "They want you to keep your distance from me" she said.
"Well I'm not doing a good job of that am I?" I joked.
"Hiccup, this is serious...if they find out that I'm with you, like this...they'll do everything in their power to keep you away from me" she said.
"Didn't you come to me just now?" I asked, but she punched me in the shoulder.
"That's besides the point. Hiccup, we can't show we have feelings towards each other, at least not in public, or at least when my parents aren't there" she said.
"But aren't you worried you'll be shamed if anyone finds out about us?" I asked. I knew about that whole "shame" law that she would be under if she was seen being intimate with me in any way, including kisses, hugs (long hugs), flirting and other actions.
"I know, that's why we should try and control ourselves when we're around others...just keep up the act that you're here to help with the dragons" she said.
"And how about when they're not there?" I asked, moving my hand along her leg, trying to feel her soft skin beneath it, and I could feel her breath quicken when I did that. That's when she tightened her grip around my neck and brought me centimetres from her face.
"Well then, that's for us to decide" she said with a seductive smile as our lips clashed together once more.
I moved my hand along her calf, and my other one up and down her back, which I knew she loved.
"I'll leave you two lovebirds and keep watch" Toothless said with a laugh, as he climbed out of the Cove.