A/N: Hey guys. Here's another chapter of The Past Defines The Future. Oh yeah, and did you guys see the poster of how Astrid will look in HTTYD 2? She looks INCREDIBLE! Can't wait for the other posters to come out. They really made her mature well. I like a new appearance a lot better than the old one.
Anyway, that's what she looks like in this one and Rider Vs. Conqueror. But I bet you knew that already.
Hiccup's POV - The Next Day
"Come on bud, we have to go" I said, nudging Toothless' paw for him to wake up. The morning rays were just peaking over the hills and I wanted to get an early start to the long day ahead.
"Go away...do you know how long I had to stand guard to make sure people didn't interrupt you and girlfriend's ritual?" he asked, peaking one eye open, before closing it again and turning the other way around.
" (chuckle) I know and believe me bud that I am grateful...really I am. But we need to meet those dragons and get to know them a bit better, because I don't want any incidents to happen when we're training our volunteers"
"Fine, I'm up...but you can kiss goodbye personal guard duty when you're making kissy faces with her" he said, and I couldn't help but laugh at his annoyance. He stretched his limbs and wings, shaking away any bit of soreness and stiffness, ready for a new day.
"Well, hop on then" he said.
"We can't go flying, at least not today. The people aren't used to seeing a dragon flying and landing in their village, so we'll walk there" I said climbing out of the Cove with him following.
"As soon as we're done here...you owe me big time"
The walk to the Training Ring was uneventful...to an extent. The few Vikings who were awake and about stared and made way for me Toothless. I guess they've never seen a Night Fury, and one to be following me was completely abnormal to them. I couldn't help but chuckle when I saw some of their faces. When I reached the Ring I was glad Stoick kept his word...for once.
The dragons were walking about in the Ring, catching the suns rays to warm themselves up for a new day. "Hey guys, how are you all doing?" I yelled upon entering the gates.
"Uh...it's that human" the Monstrous Nightmare replied.
"Be nice, he's the reason we're not in those cages anymore" the Gronckle said.
"Was he the human...I remember him as taller and more good looking" one of the two heads of the Zippleback said.
"No, I remember him having longer hair and a deeper voice, he sounds like a girl" the other head said, to which them and the Monstrous Nightmare laughed.
"Quit it you two knuckle heads" the Nadder responded.
"Well this looks like a fun bunch" Toothless said as we walked up and stood in front of them.
"Well if it isn't the offspring of lightning and death himself...how could you pair up with this human?" the Nightmare asked.
"Well he did shoot me down...and did build me this tail and we've had each other's backs for five years, so I would show him a little respect if I were you" he replied.
"Yeah the thing is...you're not me" he replied with a smug look.
"Yeah, I'm a dragon half your size and still beat you" he said with laugh.
"You want to go again? Right here and now?!" the Nightmare asked, flaming up. Ok this introduction had gone too far.
"Hey! Hey! Calm down. I'm here to help you guys and starting a fight that can be taken outside is not what I had in mind, so cool it!" I yelled to the both of them. That seemed to work as the Nightmare calmed down and Toothless stopped his snarl.
"Now, all of you will be pairing up with volunteers who will ride you. I'm doing this so that I can show that dragons and Vikings can co-exist with each other" I said.
"Why would we want humans to ride us? We're dragons!" the Nadder replied, to which the others nodded.
"You guys will form a bond with the human you see fit to be your rider. So we can show everyone that you can live with each other and not kill each other" Toothless added in.
"So who's coming in?" the Gronckle asked.
"Well that blonde haired girl, the one with the axe" Toothless replied.
"You mean this one's mate?" the Nadder asked. I immediately blushed a deep shade of red, and when I looked over to Toothless, he had his eyes raised in a 'I told you so look'.
"She is not my mate" I said to the others, to which the dragons shook their heads and laughed.
"Why do you deny it human, we saw how you hugged her yesterday. And it is obvious as to how precious she is to you" the Nadder said with a laugh.
"We are close friends, we are not a couple...or mates, or whatever term you dragons use!" I said, my face becoming redder by the second.
"Why haven't they mated?" the Gronckle asked.
"Performance issues most likely" the Nightmare snorted with a laugh.
"Or because he's too scared at how she thinks of his man sword when she sees it" one of the heads of the Zippleback said and they all burst out laughing, including Toothless.
"Will you five stop it! You will not understand the consequences!" I yelled, also trying to suppress a laugh.
"What consequences?" I heard a voice that I've grown to love over the past month behind me. I turned around and saw Astrid walking into the Training Ring. She was dressed in that red shit of hers, her new spike skirt (the one from the poster), her axe hanging on her hip and her cloak hanging from behind her shoulders.
"Uh..As-Astrid...hey Astrid...hey Astrid" I stuttered while keeping one hand behind my back and the other one rubbing the back of my neck. Yeah that was really awkward. She giggled at the position I was in, and the fact that I had stuttered. I never stuttered in a long time. Thank the Gods she didn't understand Dragonese...yet.
"I know you were talking with your dragons, what consequences were you talking about and for what?" she asked, just a few feet from me now.
"H-how long were you here?" I asked. I really hope she didn't hear 'She is not my mate'.
"I heard you from 'you will not understand the consequences'. What were you talking with them about?" she asked again, hand on her hip, and shook her head to get one of her bangs out of her left eye. Gods did she look hot doing that.
"Uhh" I looked over to the dragons who were just trying to hold in their laughter. Toothless was trying to not roll on the ground laughing.
"The consequences of...dropping you into the ocean?...yeah that's it...consequences of dropping you into the ocean" I said more confidently, but she didn't buy it from the look she was giving me.
"I'll go with that for now...but if they do, you're gonna need a new head" she said walking past him, while tapping me on the shoulder when she said that. "So...how do I start?" she asked turning back to me with the dragons behind her.
"Well" I started, turning around and facing her, "...you have to pick your dragon first, simple as that" I said walking to her side as she turned around and faced the four dragons in front of her.
"But how will I know which one is right for me?"
"That's easy. You look and see which one most resembles you. Each dragon has a quality that matches with their rider...or qualities. Let's start off easy, which dragon or dragons out of the four do you not like?"
"Well...I never really liked the Gronckle...no offense" she said quickly to the Gronckle. "The Zippleback has two heads and that might be tricky"
"Ok so that leaves the Deadly Nadder and the Monstrous Nightmare"
"She's obviously going to pick me" the Nightmare boasted. The Nadder just shook her head and so did the other dragons.
I watched her look carefully between the two dragons before her, who were also looking back at her, the Nadder preening her wings now and then. That's when Astrid started to make her way to the Nadder. She didn't see the Monstrous Nightmare's jaw fall open in shock to which and the other dragons laughed. The Nadder in the meantime, stopped its preening and focused her attention onto Astrid who was moving slowly to her, and that's when I joined her side.
"So you've made your choice?" and she nodded.
"Well then, I think you know what to do" I said as I stepped back for her to take over. That's when she looked back at me as if I was crazy.
"What?! You're not going to help me with this? What...what if she bites my arm off..or" she started panicking. That's when I walked up to her and placed both my hands on her shoulders, effectively calming her down.
"Astrid, I know you're new at this but you're not a beginner either. You already know how this works. You made a bond with a wild dragon and flew on her to find me. You did that by yourself. I'll be here Astrid...don't you worry, I will speak to you if I feel you need my help. But I doubt it. Now go on and meet your new partner" I said, gesturing to the Nadder. She gave me a small smile before turning around and walking slowly to the Nadder.
The Nadder seemed to study her every move, analyzing if she was a threat or not, because this was the girl who was trained to kill dragons and she did, and these dragons knew it.
"It's ok girl...I'm not going to hurt you, not anymore" she said as she raised out her hand and opened her palm. The Nadder still looked suspicious of her, but soon Astrid closed her eyes and turned her head away, leaving it up to the dragon to decide what she was going to do. I saw the Nadder have a trace of a smile as she saw Astrid cast away all her other senses and only waited for that touch.
And soon the Nadder rested her head against her palm. Astrid did flinch a bit at first but when she opened her eyes, she met the eyes of the Nadder, and it looked like she had made a new friend. "See you're a natural" I said, as she started to rub her dragon's head and neck.
"This is...unbelievable" she said, while the Nadder continued to nudge her for attention.
"How does it really feel?" There is the feeling in the moment, but I want to know what she might expect from this transformation.
"I...I really can't describe it" she said as she rubbed the Nadder's chin. "It's like...I've opened a door to a whole new world, a whole new experience. I am nervous, a bit, but I also want to find out more" she said as she turned back to me and I saw the excitement in her eyes.
"I said that you didn't need to worry about it...and it looks like she accepts as you as well" I said walking up to her and also rubbing the Nadder's chin. "Well now that you've bonded with her, what are you going to call her?"
"Hmm...how about Stormfly?" she suggested.
"Stormfly, I like it" the dragon replied.
"Well she likes it, now that's left is to take her for a ride" and Astrid actually looked excited to try that.
"Oh dibs on her axe if she dies!" we heard someone yell behind us and when we turned around, we saw Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the Twins walking into the Ring.
"Dibs on her dragon and room if she gets eaten!" Ruff challenged her brother.
"Pff...you're letting a girl ride a dragon, there's so much that can go wrong with that" Snotlout boasted. I looked back at Astrid to see she was fuming at her friends' lack of confidence, but I think mostly at Snotlout.
"Are you sure that's a good idea Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked.
"She's ridden a dragon before. She'll do fine" I said with the utmost confidence in my voice.
"A Nadder's not even a real dragon. She should have chosen the Monstrous Nightmare" Snotlout continued.
"At least this one has sense to pick me" the Nightmare spoke.
"From what I've seen, he barely has any sense at all and only tries to impress this girl and does extremely poorly...so good luck with that" Stormly shot back.
"Actually Snotlout, the Deadly Nadder has the hottest flame among dragons, breathes pure magnesium and..."
"Blah blah blah, nobody asked you Fishlegs" he interrupted.
"Snotlout, when you choose a dragon, that's the dragon you're bonded to life to and you'll have to choose carefully. I was expecting Astrid to choose the Nadder, partly because that's the only dragon she's had experience with plus their qualities are almost replicas of each other" I explained.
"How so? That they're ugly and temperamental" Tuff asked, to which he received a stone to the head by Astrid.
"Nadder's are extremely loyal and won't back down from a fight. Astrid doesn't either. They are champions among their own groups, and so is Astrid, they are competitive as is Astrid and Nadder's always make sure they're presentable in front of others, very vain of themselves" and when I looked at Astrid, she had her arms crossed over chest and one eyebrow raised.
"I-I...I'm not saying that you need to look presentable...you're really pretty either way..and..I'm going to shutup now" I said turning away to hide my blush, and I swear out of the corner of my eye, I saw her smiling.
"Looks like Useless has a crush here!" Snotlout yelled and the Twins started laughing with him.
"Hiccup and Astrid sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I...Oof!" Snotlout yelled as he was shot back onto the wall of the Ring and was being held up by spines. When we looked around we saw Stormfly retracting her spines on her tail.
"No one insults my rider" she said.
"Good girl" Astrid said, truly impressed with what her dragon did without even asking her to. "Although, I would have preferred you doing some minor bodily harm" she said with a smile while scratching Stormfly's neck.
"Will someone get me down!?" Snotlout yelled from the wall.
"Let me get back to you on that tomorrow" I said before turning back to Astrid. "So you're ready for your first flight. I'll come with you to make sure nothing goes wrong" I said climbing onto Toothless while she hopped on Stormfly.
"Oh so you think I can't handle it?" she asked in a challenging tone, but with a smile.
"I never said that"
"But you implied it"
"Well then, show me what you got and prove me wrong" I said, gesturing to the open gates for her to fly out of.
"Come on girl...let's show him what we're made of" she said as she lowered her body onto the dragon and they took off with a great deal of speed, with me following suit.
"Hey, you're just going to leave us down here with these dragons!?" I heard Fishlegs yell behind us.
I didn't worry about the dragons harming them...it was more of the other way around.
Sea Stacks
"Astrid, don't go too fast. There are strong, sudden gusts of wind in areas like these that could throw you off balance" I yelled as we flew between the tall rocks rising out of the sea. She was doing well, but she was starting to get cocky about it and even issued a race back to the village through these stacks. I had no problem with it but she was still a beginner.
"Oh come on Hiccup, scared I'm going to beat you?" she yelled back. She was ahead of me now but I only left it like that so I could keep an eye on her.
"Astrid I'm serious! You need to slow down" I yelled back, but she laughed and sped up. She didn't see what was coming up, and neither did I.
All of a sudden there was a sudden gust of wind that blew Stormfly, from the side, and it was so strong that it pushed her out of her flight path and right into a Sea Stack. Stormfly took the brunt of the hit, but that didn't prevent Astrid from falling off her.
"Astrid!" I yelled as I put Toothless into a dive.
Astrid's POV
Everything seemed to move in slow motion when I fell off Stormfly. I was so confident that I was going to win that I ignored Hiccup's warnings and here I am falling to me death. I couldn't help but scream (yell) as I fell down, knowing that I couldn't do anything, and Stormfly wouldn't be able to catch me because she wasn't fast enough. I closed my eyes, waiting for the imminent feel of crashing into water, when I felt a sudden gust of wind and two hands catch me.
When I opened my eyes I found myself staring into Hiccup's chest and noticed then that he had caught me, his left hand supporting my back, and his right hand under my knees, carrying me in a bridal style.
"I told you to be careful" he said, and I looked up to see him staring at me, worry in his eyes and voice.
"Sorry, I just got carried away I guess" wrapping my arms around his neck for better support.
"Astrid, I know you're excited to learn this and you're the first among Vikings to try this but just like being a Viking is an occupational hazard, being a Dragon Rider, those hazards are doubled" he said, not breaking eye contact. "You were lucky that I came with you otherwise you'd be dead" he said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"I know, I know...and thanks for...saving me" I said the last part quietly while turning my head away. I knew he was smiling because I heard him smirk. He made Toothless land on a Sea Stack that was big enough to hold two dragons. Stormfly landed not too long after us.
"What? No thank you present for saving your life?" he asked as I prepared to get out of his hold.
I rolled my eyes, "Fine" and gave him a hard punch on the shoulder.
"Ow! Really? What was that mhm.." I cut him off when I sealed his lips with mine. A few seconds later I let go and saw his goofy smile. "Thank you" I repeated and got out of his hold and walked to Stormfly.
"By the way, you never mentioned what those consequences were" I said, as I hopped onto Stormfly.
"Uhh...do we really have to look back on the past?" he moaned.
"What's so bad about what you were talking about with the dragons?"
"It's not bad...it's complicated" he said after a pause.
"Well we went through a lot back in Sharkslane and your house in the mountains, it can't be complicated as those"
"You wouldn't believe if I told you"
"Then tell me!" I pushed on.
"The dragons...well...they were talking about...us...you and me" he said, and I swore I could see Toothless snort in amusement, thinking here it comes.
"And what were they talking about?" I pushed on.
"They...were...talking about how close...we seem to be and why we haven't..." he mumbled the last part which I couldn't hear.
"Why we haven't what?" I asked, suspecting what his answer was.
"Why we haven't...mated" he said and when he looked at me his face was blushing an unusual shade of crimson, and mine was too by the heat I felt in my cheeks.
"Oh" I stated simply, avoiding eye contact, and rubbing the back of my neck.
"Yeah" he said. "How about we pretend this whole conversation never happened?" he suggested quickly.
"Agreed" I said, and we took off for Berk, hoping to never revisit this conversation in the days to come, but could laugh about it later in life.
Dragon Training Ring - Hiccup's POV
I was expecting the others to have left by the time the two of us returned. I was surprised to see them still there...and messing around with the dragons, well three of them were anyway.
"Hey this is so cool" Tuff said as one of the heads had him in its mouth.
"You're telling me, I'm loving this" Ruff said, as she sat and watched her brother be tossed in its mouth.
"Why won't you fly? For Thor's sake fire it up!" Snotlout yelled, which he regretted a few seconds later as the Monstrous Nightmare lit its whole body on fire, causing Snotlout to jump off and head for the nearest water trough. I even saw Fishlegs by the Gronckle's side...hugging it?
"Ok, what's going on here?" I asked as I got off Toothless.
"We are bonding with our dragons" Fishlegs answered, releasing the Gronckle and walking over to us.
"How did you guys even do that?" Astrid asked, getting off Stormfly.
"And I thought you guys didn't want to form bonds" Toothless said to the dragons.
"Well we had nothing better to do so we fooled around with the dragons, and they actually seem nice" Fishlegs replied.
"Well it's nice to see that you guys have enrolled yourselves into my training school" I smiled.
"Wait a minute...who said anything about us enrolling and into a school lead by you?" Snotlout asked getting out of the trough.
"I don't know Snotlout, since he's the only one out of us who knows everything about dragons?" Astrid said, standing beside me.
"Well knows how to train them...I know all the facts about them" Fishlegs added in.
"Anyway, you all will learn about dragons since you've already established some connection with them. Let's start off with flying lessons" I said with a smile, to which all their faces paled.
I looked over to Astrid and we both smiled at each other. This was going to be lots of fun.
Normal POV - Berserker Village
"So nice to see you again Alvin" Dagur greeted the Outcast chief on the docks of his village.
"Cut the diplomacies and let's get down to business Dagur" Alvin replied walking past the young chief. "Ye' know why 'im 'ere" he spoke.
"Indeed I do, you're here to work with me on capturing Hiccup, since we both want to exploit his knowledge on taming and flying dragons...and I want his NIght Fury's head plastered on my wall" he said with a smile. "But we also know even though he's predictable he's smart so we can't attack straight on, this has to be planned out, which I hate" he said with a scowl.
"Maybe I can be of assistance cousin" they both heard and turned around to see a man, about the same height as Dagur and build walk up to them. He had dark blonde hair, a sword at his belt and a dagger on the other side. His overall appearance is what a Viking would call the perfect Viking...strong, handsome, tough, and deadly.
"And how is that? Unless you can prove some other weakness of his, 'Im not interested" Alvin said.
"Well, based on your last attack, what was his weakness?" he asked.
"He's fallen for this blonde haired girl...a real beauty if I say so myself" Alvin replied.
"Get to your idea Cutthroat" Dagur told his cousin.
"I so happened to date said beauty when I went there for a training mission" he said. "Well, date is a strong word, but we grew close" he said.
"I like where this is going" Dagur said.
"Oh I know you do cousin, I'll first go back to Berk, make Hiccup jealous, and kidnap her so he'll come to her rescue and give himself up in exchange for her" Cutthroat said.
"'iccup won't know what cut right through his heart" Alvin said.