Alright, moving on into the next chapter all I have to say is thank you for your continued support, you guys really keep me going, and that I will try to maintain all of your expectations as fast as I can. Also, this chapter is a tad bit longer than the others. I don't know if that's a good thing or not yet, so make sure to let me know. So without further ado, please enjoy this installment of POL.
Hiccup woke up with a shiver that ran through his back and ended at his toes. After entering the waking world, two things were made extremely evident to him. One, he was extremely cold and two, he couldn't move anywhere. Opening his eyes, he tried to make sense out of everything going on around him. Everything was a bit bright and fuzzy at first, but after blinking a few times and finally getting his arms out from underneath him, he rubbed his eyes to finally clear his vision.
The first floor of his house greeted him as he looked around. Toothless was asleep by the fire across the family room. Hiccup could hear voices coming from the kitchen area, well one voice. Stoic was trying to be quiet, he knew, but that did not stop his overly robust voice from carrying. "What do you mean he can't get married? He's my heir! The entire clan needs him to marry!" Hiccup was a little disoriented and confused after hearing that. He slipped on whatever surface he was on and slid underneath ice cold water.
He spluttered and flailed about, trying to break the water when two massive hands grabbed him around the arms and lifted him above the freezing pool. Stoic's face was full of worry as he put his son on the ground next to Toothless, who had risen and formed a suitable backrest for him. A wool blanket was thrown around him quickly and he looked around, teeth chattering, trying to figure everything out. Stoic bent down on one knee to look him over and finally addressed him. "Son, are you alright? Are you feeling any better?" Toothless crooned behind him in concern.
Hiccup took account of himself for a moment. He was shivering with cold, he had a pretty bad headache, his stomach felt extremely empty, his nose was stopped up, and he felt a bit nauseous. "What happened? Why do I feel so…wrong?" Doing a quick double take, he noticed that the icy water was in fact a tub full of ice that he had constructed for his dad a long time ago. He tried to wrack his brain to explain why he felt like he did, but continued to come up with nothing.
Stoic finally cleared his throat and it got Hiccup's attention. He started explaining as Gothi came over to poke, prod, and observe his reactions. "Son, you've been sick for the past couple of days. We found you hanging from the chandelier, running from Toothless. Gothi and I have been trying to keep your fever down for a while now, but it just wouldn't break until we threw you into some ice water. Even then, it would come back soon after you got out. Gothi says that you caught a cold and a temperature from staying outside in the rain for too long, but that wasn't the main reason it was so bad. She said that your Viking spirit has weakened." Gothi's head poked up in between Stoic and Hiccup's stares and looked into his eyes. Sagely nodding, she began to leave, but smacked Stoic in the back with her staff as if to say that their conversation was not over. Stoic looked helplessly at Hiccup then back to Gothi. He sighed and gently patted Hiccup on the shoulder. "Hold on, son. I have to talk to Gothi for a bit." And with that, he got up and left.
Toothless took that moment to wrap his tail around Hiccup and warble next to him, questioning his rider. "Yeah, bud. I'm good, I think. Just sick." He got a lick in the face for his troubles and a Toothless trademark smile. Hiccup went to smile back, but sneezed as soon as he opened his mouth. Snot flew across Toothless's face and the poor dragon jumped like he'd been shot and shook his head to and fro as fast as he could, slinging mucus all over the room while Hiccup landed with a thud on the floor after Toothless got up to clean his face off. Hiccup tried to apologize as much as he could, but Toothless was moving across the room, wiping at his head with his forepaw. "Bud, I am so sorry! I didn't mean to-" Another sneeze wracked his body and covered his own hands in slime. "Ugh. That is gross!"
Stoic came rushing in to find Toothless sticking his head into the fire pit and Hiccup covered in dragon spit and snot. "What in Odin's name happened? I leave you alone for two seconds and this happens!" Stoic grabbed another blanket from a chair and threw it at Hiccup while trying to calm down an exasperated Night Fury. After Toothless had sulked off up into Hiccup's room upstairs, Stoic went to the kitchen and grabbed the medicine that Gothi left for Hiccup. When he finally made his way back to the now somewhat clean Hiccup, he kneeled down in front of his son and continued from earlier. "Here, drink this, son. Gothi said that your spirit was what is ailing you right now. Now, no Haddock has ever lost a fight because of some spirit. So, out with it, son. Tell me what is bothering with you." Hiccup drank the absolutely disgusting concoction and almost threw up right there.
Their relationship as father and son had always been a strained one. Hiccup and Stoic just couldn't talk, even when they wanted to. Stoic was brash, rough, and stubborn. Whereas Hiccup was just as stubborn, he tended to be hesitant, careful, and instantaneous with his thoughts. There was no better example as to how hard it was to connect to one another than now. After Stoic had basically demanded that Hiccup tell him what was wrong with him and basically saying 'get over it' at the same time, Hiccup felt like a terrible terror facing down the queen dragon.
He tried to explain, he really did, but it wound up sounding like "I-uh-well, you know… the thing is…" and he just couldn't get the real reason that he was distressed to voice itself. What did he tell him? 'Hey dad, I don't want to marry Astrid! Well, I do, but not yet. So can we wait a few more years before we actually tie the knot?' Stoic wasn't known for his patience. Or how about 'Well, dad, I'm so glad you asked. Me and Astrid just got into this huge fight and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be killed the next time I see her. So I'm sorry, but the wedding is basically called off. And you might want to find another heir…' Yeah, he could see THAT going over well. So Hiccup chose the easiest thing he could think of. "Err… You see, dad, it's dragon training stuff. I mean, Toothless and the rest of the dragons are getting fatter and I'm concerned about their health." It was a total lie and absolutely unrelated to how he actually felt, so he was sure that his dad would understand.
Stoic broke out into a massive smile. "That's my boy! Already thinking of the village! Don't worry about it so much, I'll teach you a few chiefing tricks and this will all work out fine. Just wait until you're old enough for me to train you properly to be chief! You'll be the best one that ever leads this clan!" Stoic lunged at the already frail boy and enveloped him in one of his massive hugs that might have broken a few ribs. Hiccup groaned in discomfort, but didn't stop his father from hugging him. Affection like this was something new that he had yet to get used to. He wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to be close to his father, even if it was extremely painful. Still, he couldn't stop a small pain of guilt at deceiving his dad.
After the bear hug had ended, Stoic carried Hiccup up to his room and laid him down on the bed. "Get some rest, son. Gothi said it wouldn't take long for the medicine to help you, but it'll make you sleepy. I'll take care of Toothless and make sure he gets his exercise." He took a quick look at the still peeved dragon and then turned back to Hiccup and tried to whisper "You're right, he IS looking a bit plump. I'll make sure that he eats a bit less to help out." Emphasis on tried. Toothless's head rose up and his mouth dropped at what he undoubtedly just heard. Hiccup cringed and then watched his father leave, only to see Toothless looking at him with a look of betrayal on his face.
"Toothless! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! You know how I am with dad! He wouldn't understand the truth if I told him! I had to come up with something! Please, bud. You got to believe me!" Hiccup begged his dragon, but Toothless just curled up and turned his back on him. "Great. Now Astrid AND you are mad at me. My life just keeps getting better!" Hiccup flopped back on his bed and turned to look at his desk. "That's odd. Why is my desk broken?" He tried to think on it more, but drowsiness hit him hard and he barely had time to roll over before sleep took him again.
It seemed that this week was out to kill her. Astrid had been wrenched from all forms of normalcy in her life in a matter of less than four days. The first two were the most trying for her as the information that was given to her struck her completely off guard and continued to bombard her with difficult realities that she wasn't ready to face yet.
However, that wasn't the worst part. No, her whip-like emotions continued to thrash to and fro so fast that it made her feel psychotic. At first, she hated the mere thought of being married and further incensed when she found out that she was being married without her consent and behind her back. There was a slight comfort in knowing that she was being married to Hiccup instead of some dolt that she had never heard or seen before. Yet, her anger did not abate until later that day when she broke down in front of her father, something that she is still ashamed of at the moment. Sadness was the pervading emotion that struck her after that. She had thought only of herself the entire time and did not give a single mite of attention to how Hiccup must feel about all of it. Then to top all of that off, she went and crushed the poor boy and didn't realize it until her personal breakdown. After that, she tried to fix the problem and found out that she had almost driven Hiccup to suicide.
The embarrassment that the chief forced on her after he came to her house left her flinging her axe against trees for hours until she got her blazing ears under control. Unfortunately, it had taken most of the day to fly out there and she had eventually cut down the tree that she was throwing the axe at. When it came time to get back to the village, night had fallen without her realizing it. She finally dragged herself up to her bedroom and fell over her bed.
It was the next day that she absolutely hated with a passion. Rain poured down from above in droves, but that didn't seem to stop everyone from coming outside to look at her. It seemed that everyone continued to give her these knowing looks. Like they understood exactly what her and the chief talked about. No matter where she walked in the village, she couldn't escape their stares of happiness and contentment that permeated from their smug little faces. She was quite proud of herself for not laying a single one of them out…that was until Snotlout had the nerve to walk up to her, call her babe, and then wink at her in broad daylight. She lost it. The next thing she knew, red suffused her eyesight and Snotlout was the only clear thing in front of her. She slammed her fist into his face and then kicked him into the nearest wall, which just so happened to be the forge. After a lot of clanging and clattering, with a few choice curses from Gobber, Snotlout stood up and tried to run away, but she tackled him to the ground before he could make good his escape. She was in the middle of crashing Snotlout's face into the cobblestone when Gobber picked her up with his tongs and carried her away from the now unconscious boy. Thrashing back and forth, she tried to escape, but was suddenly weightless before she crashed down into a tub of cold water. Her vision returned and she was shocked out of her rage by a voice that simply said, "Calm yourself, Astrid. Sit in there for a bit and cool off."
Finally realizing what she had just done, she slumped underwater and tried to hide her shame. She had attacked a fellow Viking in broad daylight and beat him within an inch of his life. The only thing that kept her from truly regretting her actions was that it was Snotlout and out of all the people she could have attacked, he probably deserved it the most. After coming up for air, she saw Gobber sitting down on the bench close to the smithy, giving her the 'explain yourself' look. She tried her level best to act normal about it and simply replied, "He called me babe. I'm nobody's 'babe'."
Gobber nodded his head sagely and then got up to enter his forge like it was nothing. It probably was nothing, after all. She beat up Snotlout all the time, she thought. She dragged herself out of the tub of water and tried to make it back to her house. It didn't matter that she was already soaked from the rain outside or the sudden bath.
On her way back, she met the twins who smiled at her and she swore gave her leering glances. So of course she had to jump them and put them in their places. After walking away, dusting her hands from all the imaginary dirt that had gathered there, she walked not two houses down and was met by the thoroughly engrossed Fishlegs carrying two large baskets of fish. He must have seen her, she had thought, because he stopped in the middle of the pathway and turned to run away from her. He obviously had done something wrong to her and was running away like a coward because of his guilt. So she decided to cure him of his cowardice and make him face her instead. She ran after him and grabbed the back of his tunic before throwing him on the ground and turning to look at the overly frightened boy. The only thing that stopped her fist was because he cringed a lot like Hiccup did right before she usually hit him. In that split second, she felt her anger leave her and she turned to go back to her house, leaving a mortified but thankful Fishlegs laying in a puddle of suspiciously yellow color.
Astrid had ran up to her room to change first, then moved to the cellar to feed Stormfly. She had to butter the dragon up a little before she could convince her to fly her discreetly over to Hiccup's house to check on him, her original intention when she left earlier this morning. Finally convincing her preening partner to take her over there, she gathered her woolen cloak and took off into the air, flying as stealthily as she could. Surprisingly, it seemed that everyone had only come out earlier in the day to see her, because hardly anyone was outside when she made her flight. When she got to the roof of Hiccup's house, she landed softly next to the dragon door and crept inside. She was met with the happy gaze of Toothless as soon as she closed the door behind her. His gummy smile made her want to smile back at him, but worry gnawed at her stomach now that she was so close to finally seeing the root of all her current troubles. The floor felt slippery as she dropped down to it and noticed that Toothless seemed a little wet. It was sort of odd, seeing as she was sure he hadn't been outside today, she would have noticed him. She put her hand to his snout and almost pulled back in shock, he was freezing cold! Dragons are normally exceptionally warm, or in Hookfang's case, extremely hot. So she now shifted her concern to the shivering reptile in front of her. Looking around, she saw that Hiccup was not in his bed, so she hurried over to it and took the covers off of it and wrapped Toothless as best she could in it.
"What is wrong with you, Toothless? Use your fire to warm yourself! Hiccup would go crazy if he saw you like this." After drying the dragon off, she went to move him over to his own rock, but he pushed her towards the stairs instead and whined at her. Taking her cue, she started down the stairs with the freezing night fury behind her. When she adjusted to the brightness of the room, she noticed that Hiccup was asleep inside some sort of metal bowl. Did he fall out doing laundry? She made her way over to him and saw that, no, he was in fact mostly submerged in a large mass of ice water. He was shivering, but his face was a bright red. Astrid lifted her hand to his head and found out that he was burning with fever. But to resort to this drastic of a measure, it must have been bad.
Toothless shirked off the bedcovers and jumped into the ice water, curling around his rider, crooning in worry. That was why he was freezing. He was keeping Hiccup from turning into a block of ice. Astrid pulled up a chair and pulled Hiccup by his tunic over to the side of the tub. She took his freezing hair and moved it out of the way of his eyes. They were still closed, but he was muttering something repeatedly under his breath, like a mantra in a dream or something. She leaned down closer to hear, but was only able to understand some of his ramblings. "..strid…sorry ..strid..sorry..astrid…sorry…" was as much as she could pick up. Her chest hurt a little like she had been kicked there by her father during a sparring match. Like earlier today, she seemed to lose control of herself and pulled Hiccup's head into a hug.
"Idiot." Was the only thing that left her mouth as she continued to hold him a few minutes longer. She would have stayed with him for as long as possible, if she hadn't heard thumping footsteps coming from somewhere else in the house. Releasing Hiccup, she gently set his head down on the edge of the tub and made to get up. However, a quick flash of inspiration struck her and she acted on it before she could chicken out. She craned her head over his and kissed him on the forehead before she whispered "For health." And then quietly ran up the stairs and out of the dragon door to her waiting Nadder. Her flush of embarrassment had returned, but she didn't plan on getting rid of it this time. It was a badge of her courage and she planned on wearing it until it faded away.
A few minutes of stealth flying back home and she had finally gotten back to her room in one piece and no one even knew that she was gone. Dang she was good! That is, until she went downstairs and saw her father giving her the same blasted look that the entire populace of Berk seemed to sport today. "Evening, Astrid. What have you been up to today?" She strolled down the stairs like she always did and shrugged her shoulders like it was like every other day. "Oh. So you didn't go flying off to see that Hiccup boy?" He looked at her with a knowing smile. Oh how she hated him right now.
She whirled on him in anger, but before she could get a word out, he held up both of his hands as if to say he was sorry. "It's fine. You two will be wed after the storm passes. It should let up soon, if Gothi's predictions are right. I just wanted to spend the day with you while I had the chance. After you are off and married, you will have to live in the Haddock hall and I won't get to see you as much. So what do you say we eat together as a family and then go out back to spar a little?" That man knew exactly how to weasel his way out of a fight, that's for sure.
Astrid nodded her head yes, but then realized what he had just said. She was getting married soon. Like really soon! She had no more time to think of ways to get out of it. Yes, she felt a bit better about it than she did before, but she was not ready for something as permanent as marriage. Everyone expected her to just be alright with this? She cast another hate filled stare at her father and sat down to shovel their dinner into her mouth as quick as possible. Oh, he was going to get the crap beat out of him today.
Angnir settled himself to eat at a reasonable pace and tried to make some conversation. "I got to see Hiccup today. Gothi was there and told me that we shouldn't worry too much. He looks worse than he is. But I have to wonder, do you think he got sick on purpose?" He stopped to bite down on his mutton before looking at Astrid pointedly.
Astrid tore into her meat with a vengeance, but replied anyway. "What do you think? We don't exactly have a choice about getting married, so of course we are going to try to stop it. So in a way, this is all your fault that he's sick, isn't it?" She was trying to make him feel bad about everything. It was all his fault that this was all happening. He should feel as bad as she did, no, worse than she did!
A pained look crossed his face before he looked at her. "Astrid, it is the Viking way. I had to do this and you know it. Both of you are of marrying age and I thought that it would be best to set your future as bright as possible. When he becomes chief, you'll never want for anything."
"No, what I WANT is not to get married! I don't want to be sold off to the chief for a future that you decided for me!" Anger was starting to build behind her words and she did her best to save it for the inevitable match afterwards.
"Do you think that I wanted to marry your mother at first?" The question gave her pause. She never thought about her own parent's arranged marriage. "I was just as opposed to it as you are to yours right now. Every Viking usually is. But you saw how much I loved her. I would not change a single thing about our marriage even to this day. I learned to love her AFTER I married her. You and Hiccup at least are starting to learn this before your own." Astrid was silent for a couple of moments before she saw the look her father gave her. The pillar of strength that her father had always been seemed to crack slightly as unshed tears welled up in his beady eyes. "I loved your mother so very much, Astrid. I want so very much for her to be here to see you married. But she can't be. I know I'm not the best parent that you could have, but I'm doing everything I can to take care of you. When the other tribes come in this season, they might demand that Hiccup marry someone else. I'm not blind, I see how you two act around each other. Would you rather see him married to a woman he doesn't like? Or would you rather go and live on a different island and marry another family over there, never to see him again? Tell me what you want, Astrid." He didn't cry, but his words cracked a little here and there.
Astrid felt like dirt. Her own father had finally made her understand why he had chosen Hiccup for her to marry AND why it had to be so soon. She let the words sink in and rose from the table slowly before moving over to her father. She punched him extremely hard in the arm "That's for not talking to me about it before you went and signed the contract." Angnir winced at her punch and went to speak, but was engulfed in a hug from his daughter. "And this is for everything else."
He hugged her back with a tender softness that he reserved just for her. "Careful, girl. All this hugging might make me think you're going soft."
She snickered and let go of him before grabbing her axe that had suspiciously made its way onto the wall next to the stairway. "Let me show you just how soft I've gotten. That is, if you think you have the guts to try and take me on." Then she walked towards the backdoor, not waiting on Angnir to finish his meal.
Hiccup woke up the next morning and felt a whole lot better. Whatever Gothi had given him, it had truly worked wonders. He was never a morning person, but he felt like he had a ton of energy as he sat up in his bed and started to buckle on his prosthetic. The sound of silence assaulted his ears after he was finished and he wondered why. Toothless was gone, but he expected as much. After all, his best friend was probably going to sulk for a while longer before he could apologize to him. Still, it confused Hiccup. Usually when it rained, Toothless liked to stay inside. Listening intently, he didn't hear the sound of rain and came to the conclusion that it must have stopped.
He shrugged and made his way down to the kitchen to grab something to carry with him today. Since flying was out of the question today, he thought he would work a little at the forge and then head out into the forest to clear his head a bit. After all, with all this marriage business, his mind could barely stay focused enough as it was. Good thing he had until the storm sto- "Oh gods. It stopped raining." He paled instantly and brought his hands up to his head in fear. It was over. All that time, wasted. Why did his pathetically weak body have to take so long to heal? Everything he could have done to postpone it or stop it before it got to this point was now a moot point. Panic settled into the pit of his stomach and he felt the need to vomit. Unfortunately, he had nothing to expunge, so it was just painful dry heaves that wracked his body.
After a while, the pain subsided and Hiccup sat down at the table, holding his head in his hands. "Calm down. Calm down. Nothing you can do about it now. Just calm down." He did his best to regain control over his rapidly beating heart and heaving breaths. Shortly after, he had regained a modicum of normality and took deep calming breaths to relax himself. "Alright, so what can I do now?" Hiccup started to think of anything and everything he could do to help, but was interrupted by footsteps falling heavily behind him.
Stoic walked into the kitchen and appraised Hiccup. Relief flooded across his face and Hiccup thought that he saw a glimmer of happiness streak across his eyes as well. "Morning, son! Your beast put up a little bit of a fight, but he eventually listened to me and only ate half of the barrel of fish that I put out for him. But he's in a foul mood now, so I'd steer clear of him for a bit."
Hiccup could easily imagine the grief he'd be getting for this later from his best bud, but shut it out of his mind. Maybe it was his desperation or maybe it was him finally growing a backbone, but he mustered the courage he needed and asked his father an important favor. "Dad, listen, I was hoping you would do me a favor. You see, I don't think it's such a good idea to have a wedding this soon after the storm. You know, mud and all that. Besides, I think the storm is a message from the gods saying that I probably shouldn't get married at all just yet. So, how about we postpone the wedding, say a couple years or so?" Hiccup knew it was a long shot, but he had to try.
Stoic looked pensive for a moment and then brightened quickly. "Good idea, Hiccup! Don't want your bride's dress to get all muddied, right? The wedding of the future chief should be an important event. So we have to prepare properly for it! I'll get the whole village to help decorate the great hall and we'll start with our end of the preparations immediately! I just have to ask Angnir what he thinks this morning and then we'll postpone it until everything is ready! Good thinking son! I'm sure Astrid will be even happier with you now. Not that she isn't happy enough now, eh son?" Stoic wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, but Hiccup just sat there in confusion.
"What are you talking about, dad? Preparations? What preparations? I haven't even prepared my mind for something like this! You think I can prepare anything else?" Hiccup was losing ground fast. "And what do you mean, talk it over with Mr. Hofferson? I thought you had chiefing duties today." Hiccup was trying to buy time to think of something else.
"Aye, I do. But the Hoffersons will be joining us this morning for breakfast in the great hal! We had originally planned on marrying you two off this evening and wanted to exchange the gifts this morning." Stoic finished happily.
Hiccup sat there, fingers digging into the tabletop and felt all of his blood fade from his face. He was going to die today. No reconciliation with Toothless, no making things better with Astrid. She was going to behead him today, end of story. "Err… dad. That might not be a good idea. Maybe I should, I don't know, leave for a different island first? And what gifts? I didn't get any gifts!"
Stoic belly laughed. "Aye, you didn't. I took care of that for you. I already paid the bride price while you were sleeping with fever. Cost me five yaks, three shields, two hammers, and a promise that you would help Angnir pick out a dragon of his very own as soon as possible. Think you could do that today?"
Hiccup felt like hitting his head on the table…extremely hard. His father was obviously trying to help his son, but in reality, only made things much worse. What could he say to get out of this? What could he do to make this all go away? For the first time in his life, he was drawing a blank. He had no ideas, no clever rouse or tactic that he could implement. He felt exactly like his old namesake, useless. He groaned and let his head hit the table with a thud.
There was a knock at the door and Stoic got up to answer it. Hiccup was too lost in his world to even register who it was at the moment. His world was ending. His best friend was mad at him, the girl he liked probably hated his guts right now, and he couldn't do a thing about either one. It was only when his back erupted in pain that he noticed that said guest was patting him on the back. He stood up from his seat, both to stop the patting and to see who had come to visit this early in the morning. Angnir Hofferson stood right beside him with a sheepish grin on his face. "Good morning, Hiccup!" He was jovial, but looked a little bit stressed himself. He had bruises over his arms, a swollen eye, and a few scratches here and there all over him.
"Good morning, Mr. Hofferson." Hiccup would normally be extremely pleased with himself for not stuttering, but his mood kept him from thinking such thoughts and instead, seemed resigned to accept whatever fate had in store for him.
"I was just talking to your father and I am very happy that you chose to try and do all the traditional preparations for the wedding! Trying to keep the mud off of my girl's wedding dress and going the extra mile to make it extra special! My boy, you are a truly a great man!" And with that, Hiccup was engulfed in another bone crushing hug, albeit slightly less encompassing as his father's. He tried his best to breathe, but found that both men had exceptionally strong grips. After Angnir put him down, he chuckled nervously. "But I'm afraid I have a bit of bad news. I can't seem to find Astrid anywhere. She took her dragon and ran off somewhere. She'll come back, I know, but she's probably going to be gone for the rest of the day. She was sort of under the impression that she was marrying you today and I think she got cold feet. No worries, though! After I tell her what you want to do, she'll come running back!"
Stoic listened with interest before deciding to butt in a little. "You know, Angnir, since the wedding is being postponed for a little while, why don't you have Hiccup help you pick out a dragon today? To finish out the bride price."
Angnir looked thoughtful, but nodded shortly after. "Sounds good. I was hoping to spend some time with my future son-in-law!" Angnir patted Hiccup on the shoulder, which almost sent him to the ground, and then turned to Hiccup. "That is, if you're up for it. I know that you are still on the mend."
Hiccup wanted so bad to say that he was still sick and couldn't go. Spending the day with Astrid's father was going to be all kinds of dangerous, but before he could open his mouth to decline, his father had to open his mouth. "He's feeling much better! Healthy as a yak! He's been cooped up in his room for two days now, he needs the fresh air. Isn't that right, son?" Hiccup never thought about hating his father. It had simply never crossed his mind. After all the years of trying to earn his acceptance and approval, he wanted the exact opposite of hatred to be what he felt for his father. However, at that exact moment, he dearly hated his father and didn't feel sorry about it at all.
"Y-Yeah, dad. That sounds good to me." Hiccup was gritting his teeth and trying to sound excited, but sarcasm had always found a way to leak out of his voice and it didn't stop now.
"Great! Let's go eat and then we'll head out together!" Angnir sounded excited. He put his hand on Hiccup's back and walked him out of the house in a hurry. "We better get there before everyone else does. They still think that the wedding is happening today, so there won't be much leftovers." Hiccup sighed and walked like he was a man condemned to die.
The villagers all seemed to have made their way to the great hall and the village seemed empty. When they arrived, Hiccup followed his father to a table and waited. Breakfast seemed to go over without a hitch. Everyone seemed a little disappointed that there wasn't going to be a wedding, but rejoiced soon after when Stoic told them that Hiccup wanted to have a proper wedding and was asking everyone to pitch in to make it a grand event. Hiccup himself went completely red from embarrassment and refused to look up from his fish after that. Angnir smiled and patted him on the back regardless, though.
The man frightened Hiccup. He was smart AND strong. In Berk, you didn't see many people with those traits. Still, he wasn't as afraid of him as he was Astrid. A slight shiver went down his spine at the thought of her. He would be lying if he said that he didn't have mixed emotions about her right now. He desperately wanted to see her, but at the same time wanted to avoid her at all costs. It is confusing how she made him feel all the time. His thoughts were ripped away from him by Angnir standing up and offering Hiccup a hand up as well. "Well, lad. Think we should get going?"
Hiccup nodded and stood on wobbly legs. "Yes, sir." He was going to be as polite and cordial as possible to this man. Hopefully that would be enough to keep him out of trouble until Astrid killed him. They both started to move towards the dragon training ring when Angnir took his shoulder and pointed towards the forest.
"Actually, Hiccup. I was hoping we could go to the forest to find one. I don't think I get along too well with any of them down there. Too many bad memories of my own training are down there, if you know what I mean." Hiccup looked at Angnir and slowly nodded. He remembered his own time down there and how he was expected to kill one at the end. He guessed it didn't end as peacefully in Angnir's generation that it did in his.
After they made it a ways into the forest, Angnir again tapped Hiccup on the shoulder and pointed to a dead tree on the ground. "Let's rest a bit over there. One of my old injuries is acting up." He didn't really wait for a response and lumbered over to the tree. Hiccup followed him and thought he heard a Nadder, but put it out of his head. They'd find another one soon. Angnir needed to be rested enough to try and tame a wild dragon before they attempted to catch one.
As Hiccup went to sit down, Angnir turned to him. "Hiccup, you are a very bright lad and I know that you understand certain things better than most. That being said, I want to have a talk with you. I think I'd like to get to know the person that Astrid will be married to rather than the name everyone keeps telling me." Hiccup sort of tripped a little over his feet as he was descending and missed his intended target, instead landing on the ground in front of the downed tree.
"Uhh… Ok, sir. Whatever you say." Hiccup answered wearily. Great. This was a conversation he was not looking forward to. This past week just had it out for him, apparently. Still, Hiccup wouldn't shake something as important as this off. He intended to follow through with whatever Angnir asked him. It was his only option now.
"Alright, now that's the first thing. None of that 'sir' business. Call me Angnir or dad. After all, that's what I'll be to you after you marry my daughter. Now, I know that having this conversation isn't exactly something you're probably looking forward to. When I first sat down and talked to my father-in-law, it was with fists instead of words. And he was a big man. However, I need you to take this seriously and answer truthfully. I promise to do the same. Shake on it?" Angnir held out his hand and Hiccup gulped before taking it in his own, shaking once in affirmation. "Good. So here's how it's going to go, I ask you a question, you ask me. When we're done, we'll get up and head back." Angnir smirked a little before he settled down a bit to get more comfortable.
"Get back? Wasn't I supposed to help you get yourself a dragon?" Hiccup was a little confused for a moment. Until he realized what Angnir had done. He'd wasted his first question. Drats, this man was smart.
"When I get a dragon, it will be with the help of my entire family. My daughter AND my son. I can wait until then. The bride price will still be paid. Now, my first question. Do you love my daughter?" Angnir looked intently at Hiccup.
Hiccup squirmed a bit under his scrutiny. He wasn't used to this. His father gruffly demanded a certain answer and usually supplied him with the proper response. Angnir seemed to genuinely want to know what he thought. The truth had been promised to Angnir and Hiccup couldn't lie, but he felt slightly odd that he could talk better with a man who was much more likely to kill him than his father. With a calming sigh, Hiccup looked up at Angnir and held his eye before he answered with just as much certainty as he could muster. "Yes. Why did you agree to have me and Astrid married?"
Angnir looked satisfied with his answer and sat back a little. "In truth, the main reason I chose to accept your father's proposal was because I saw between you two a chance for something much greater than a strong child to come of your union. Happiness and love are two things that most Vikings give up on when it comes to marriage. I was lucky enough to have that with my wife while she was still alive. I want Astrid to have the same thing I did. When you two are married, will you allow Astrid to continue to fight as she does now?" Angnir looked menacingly at Hiccup, as if to intimidate him into answering the question. However, the swollen eye and bruised arms reduced its effect…slightly.
An audible gulp was the first thing that Hiccup let Angnir hear, then thought for a moment. "I don't think I could stop her if I tried. Astrid is Astrid. She will do what she wants, when she wants. I can't take that from her. It's bad enough that she has to marry me, I won't take her freedom from her. Besides, she is a much better fighter than myself. Is there any way I can convince you to postpone the wedding a few years?" Hiccup was an open book, he didn't care how desperate he sounded. He had to try and keep his word with Astrid.
Angnir looked at Hiccup strangely, then took a deep breath. "I wanted to postpone the wedding a while longer, but I can't anymore. You have to understand, Hiccup. When the delegations from the other tribes get here, they won't care if you have a betrothed or not. They will threaten war or dissolution of important trade routes to marry one of their women off to the next chief of Berk. If we postpone this wedding, you'll be married to someone other than Astrid. When you talk about yourself and being together with Astrid, you sound like you discredit yourself. Why is that?"
All the negative emotions that fed Hiccup all week began to bubble to the surface. He knew he had to answer truthfully, but where to start? There were so many things that he had to say. Taking a deep breath, he started with the most obvious. "There are so many reasons why I don't deserve to be with her that I couldn't begin to name them all. The most prominent, I guess, is that I'm not really Viking enough for her. I can't give her what she wants. Look at me! I can't lift an axe, swing a mace, be a sparring partner, hunt by myself, and I don't even have all my limbs! What kind of self-respecting Viking am I?" Too late, Hiccup realized that he had unleashed all his frustrations out on Angnir and asked a question as well.
The older man sat on the log and let everything that Hiccup said sink in. Then, he stood up and moved over to Hiccup. "Hiccup, look at me. Never think that you are not a truly amazing Viking. You asked me what kind of Viking you were, well the truth is, you're one of a kind. Name one Viking hero who was exactly like every other Viking around him. What you see as weaknesses are instead your strengths. You don't have to lift an axe or swing a mace. I've seen you fight before, lad. You don't fight with these." Angnir lifted his hands and grabbed Hiccup's arms gently. "You fight with this." He lifted his left hand and touched Hiccup's head. "And this" His right hand came to rest over Hiccup's heart. "And if you care about my daughter half as passionately as you fight, then I have no worries leaving her in your care. Great things have happened because of you and they will continue to happen in years to come. Now, I have one last question before I let you go back to the village. Do you want to learn how to fight?" Angnir smiled at the end, standing close to Hiccup with both his hands on his hips.
That last question caught Hiccup off guard. When Angnir answered his rushed and not thought out question, he was amazed at what Angnir thought of him. He was still trying to process everything that was said to him by the man when a totally unexpected question came out of the blue and snapped him from his reverie. "Learn how to fight? I can't! Dad tried to teach me, but he said I have no talent for it and that I should stick to Smithing." Hiccup felt a little uneasy unearthing all these truths right in front of Astrid's dad, but for some reason, the man was able to drag this stuff out of him.
"Maybe you just didn't have the right teacher. Astrid was horrible when I first started teaching her, but now look how good she is." He pointed to his face. " I can't have my future son-in-law be totally defenseless, can I? So what do you say? Are you willing to let me knock you around a bit until you can defend yourself?" Angnir smiled menacingly and Hiccup thought for a moment how Astrid gets her intimidating tendencies from her father.
"Uh.. well.. If you think it'll help… I guess I could try. When do we start?" Hiccup felt apprehensive, but also a little excited. He didn't relish the idea of hurting someone, but he didn't exactly shy away from the idea of defending himself.
"It won't be any time soon. You're going to have your plate full for the next week or so." Angnir chuckled a little. "But that's the end of our conversation, go on back to the village, lad. I have to go hunting for supper anyways. I'm sure I'll see you soon." And with that, Hiccup was dismissed.
It was all so surreal for Hiccup, something that he honestly didn't think he'd be doing at all. Getting torn limb from limb by an overprotective father that is worried about his daughter marrying him, yes. But approval? He'd never really had a lot of it growing up and it was something he wasn't used to accepting just yet. So he walked back home in a daze, listing left and right as he tried to make sense of everything that happened so far.
I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! If you did, please review! I love seeing the little emails in my inbox saying that you have reviewed my story! Everyone has an opinion and I desperately want to hear yours. So please voice it! Thanks again for everything! See you in the next installment of POL!