It's back! I tried not to wait too long before I let out the next chapter after the cliffhanger I left you guys on. A special thank you to the reviewer that corrected my spelling error in writing Stoick's name. I will try to go back and fix a LOT of errors pretty soon, so give me a little more time and I'll get right on it! Until then, please enjoy the next installment of POL!
*side note* I have a question for you readers at the end of the chapter, please read it if you wouldn't mind. Thank you very much!
Astrid was shocked. No, she was much more than that. Sitting in her lap, slightly wrinkled, but a well-drawn picture of the last person she expected to see. So well was the drawing, that it captured that one look that her mother always gave her right before she left to go training with her axe when she was younger. Her brown hair was flowing behind her as she leaned on her axe, the one that she kept under her bed! The intensity of love that illuminated her face was so breathtaking that Astrid just sat and stared at the drawing for a while, forgetting that anyone was in the room for a minute.
Her chest felt heavy and her breath hitched a bit. Unbidden tears started to make themselves known as they stung her eyes and blurred her vision. Stubbornly, she tried to stamp them out with pure willpower, but she was fighting a losing battle. She didn't want to cry in front of Hiccup! Stupid Hiccup! She wanted to punch him for making her feel this weak! But she couldn't do that. He had just given her something so precious, so priceless…
Luckily, her moment of indecision was solved as a knock on her door was swiftly followed by Angnir entering her room. "Sorry, Hiccup. It's getting late. Stoick will be looking for you soon. Best be getting home."
Astrid could have kissed her dad after that. Hiccup nodded awkwardly and said a hasty goodbye in a shaky voice before heading downstairs. Angnir walked out after him, but left her door open. The light behind her illuminated the picture more. Finally, like a dam bursting, her tears swept down her face. She could see clearly now and saw how much detail Hiccup had to have put into the drawing. The look of love that her mother showed, the excitement and joy that she had on her face as she stood up on Stormfly's back, and the detail of every scale across her dragon were all there.
She didn't even know that her father had come back into the room until her bed tilted a bit after he sat on it. She went to look up at him and saw his look almost mirrored her own, with puffy red eyes and short breaths. Only he wasn't crying and he had a smile covering his face. "You should have seen what she looked like when he first tried drawing her!"
A small laugh escaped her before her breath caught and she couldn't see through her tears anymore. "H-How does he DO this?" Astrid managed to rough out before a massive hand moved the picture to the bed and then brought her into a loving embrace.
"He cares about you, lass. That's all it is. He wants to make you happy." Angnir rubbed her back soothingly.
Astrid started punching Angnir in the shoulders. "Every time that I talk to him, I hurt him! I just forced myself to accept that I was marrying him, but I wasn't going to be his little wife that stayed home and cooked for him! Why does he keep doing things like this? I'm a Viking! I don't DO kind and caring! WHY does he have to be so…so… " Astrid lost herself to her feelings and cried a bit harder.
"Compassionate? That lad is a special one. He's going to be a great chief one day." Angnir took the punches and just let her be for a bit.
"If he keeps making me cry, I'll have to kill him! Vikings don't cry!" Astrid was starting to get her emotions under control by now, but didn't want to leave Angnir's arms yet. It was warm and comfortable.
"Let me tell you a little secret, Astrid. Whether Vikings admit it or not, they all cry at some point." Angnir whispered to her.
Astrid pushed herself off of him, wiped her eyes, and then looked at him accusingly. "But you said that Vikings don't cry!"
Angnir nodded his head. "Yes, I did. After all, I had to make sure you didn't cry at all."
"But if every Viking does it, then why stop me from doing it?" Astrid was starting to get a little angry at her father.
"Because I have to kill everything that makes my little girl cry. It's a father's job!" Angnir answered indignantly. "I just have to make an exception this time. I don't think your mother would like me to kill your future husband…"
Astrid laughed a bit more at hearing that then reached around and picked the picture back up. "It really looks like her. He did a really good job." She traced her fingers over her mother's smile, feeling warm and happy thinking about her smiling at her like that.
"Aye. He's talented, though a bit skittish about drawing when you look over his shoulder. Had the hardest time giving him instructions while he tried curling in on himself while I talked to him." Angnir absently recalled.
A smile made its way back to her face as she just imagined Hiccup trying to draw while her giant of a father towered over him, no doubt scaring him witless. Yes, she thought, he did a very good job.
Gothi stood at the entrance to her house, looking at the full moon. The brightness of the night seemed to contradict everything that she had learned the past couple of days. Dark shadows that the moonlight cast upon the ground seemed to move in endless patterns of destruction that she continued to see. The air itself spoke in silent whispers of the coming despair. Gothi's bones even quaked in resonance from the coming storm. She silently worried and thought in despair as her thoughts turned to darker images that she had discovered.
Hiccup ran across the street in a rush to make it home, his clumsy stride causing an unusual squeak and thump that pulled her from her musings. She slowly watched him get to his house and disappear inside. It was funny how that boy seemed to disrupt everything he came into contact with. Even her own thoughts were apparently subject to his tampering. Yes, he would indeed be a force to be reckoned with when he became Chief. Even the elements recognized his comings and goings. The subtle shift in the wind that yearned for his touch, the ground that always seemed ready to meet him (whether by foot or face, it really depended on his clumsiness), and fire responded to his touch as a babe in the forge. It was surprising what signs anyone could read, if they had the eye for it. Unfortunately, that meant an eye for trouble as well.
The initial vision that ended in the bones of the Berk Vikings had been plaguing Gothi's mind with worry. More had been revealed to her and it only added to her discomfort. Now, a keening and deep sound rang out at systematic intervals while dragons fell out of the sky and into a fire below. Unseen hands pushed angry shadow monsters from the sea and chased the small children of Berk with a fiendish delight. The vision finally ended with the sight of a skeletal hand clutching her cloak and pulling her into a chilling grasp. Something was coming to Berk and it frightened Gothi. Usually, she could divine the cause and prevent it as she had done in the past. However, so strong was the warnings that she received, she was certain that it would come to pass…soon.
Hiccup woke to a very disturbing sight of his father gleefully parading around his room yelling at the top of his lungs. "My boy is getting married! My boy is getting married!" Hiccup groaned and went to roll over before he saw toothless smack Stoick on the butt for being too noisy. "Hahaha! Go ahead, dragon! Do your worst! Today is going to be a great day!" and he continued to do a jig and sing while he collected Hiccup's wedding clothes.
A groan worked its way past Hiccup's mouth and he rolled over to go back to sleep. Whatever his dad was yelling about, it wasn't that impor- Hiccup sat up in a rush. HIS wedding! Oh gods, he had forgotten! Cold sweat broke out all over him. His stomach started to do flips and he started shaking. He wasn't ready for this! Luckily, a meaty hand grasped him and pulled him from his fright. "No, Hiccup. No running away from this! Today is going to be a great day! Now come on! It's time for your bath!"
With that, Hiccup was bodily jerked out of bed and held by the scruff of his neck while being carried downstairs to greet the group of men downstairs. Gobber was standing next to a giant bathtub (the same one that he had been put in previously that week) with Spitelout and Snotlout standing beside him. Hiccup cringed at the mere thought of washing anywhere near these people on washday, let alone in front of them on his wedding day. Cold chills swept up his spine at what he knew was coming next.
"It's about time you got out of bed! Thought I'd have to start yelling dragon attack again just to get you moving!" Gobber shifted from foot to peg leg in what Hiccup thought was discomfort. Yep, when he becomes chief, he'd get rid of this stupid tradition.
"Stoick, he already looks like a drowned rat if you carry him like that. At least give him some pride of his own and let him walk down the stairs!" Spitelout grunted at the chief.
"No can do. Wedding jitters about had him out the window and on that blasted dragon this morning. Had to catch him before his feet caught up with his mind." Stoick joked. "Alright son. The boats of the other tribes have been spotted across the sea, so let's get this started. It's going to be a great day!"
Hiccup was finally released and then surrounded by a wall of muscle and grins. He knew that this would happen, but he pushed it to the back of his mind every time it showed up. He really wished he had put more thought into how to avoid this than he had. So, sighing, Hiccup got undressed and entered the tub. Almost as if it was practiced, each man grabbed a cleaning utensil and started to clean him.
"Alright, now listen here son. You have to be gentle with her. I know that you said you have been thinking about your wedding night, but its-" Hiccup couldn't take it anymore and dunked himself underwater. Yep, he was going to drown himself before he listened to that kind of talk.
Luckily for him, Stoick seemed caught up in the explanation and when Hiccup resurfaced, all he heard was "- and that's all you need to know about that." Unfortunately, it seemed that Stoick wasn't the only one to give him advice. As he gasped for air, Snotlout whispered to him "Touch her boobs."
And back into the water he went. Hearing anything at all concerning this was embarrassing enough as it was, but hearing it from his cousin was almost as bad as hearing it from his father. And so the bath continued in this way. Hiccup would surface, Snotlout would whisper "Touch her boobs. With your face. I did and it was awesome!" And another Viking would start in on another particularly important tidbit of information that he needed to know before he went back under again, thus continuing the vicious cycle.
Finally, after nearly drowning himself and breaking a new personal record of just over 2 minutes underwater, Hiccup finally finished with getting every inch of dust and grime scrubbed mercilessly off of him. "So is there anything you didn't understand?" Stoick looked at him in concern.
"Nope, dad. I got it. I don't think I will EVER need to hear it again…ever." Hiccup awkwardly dried himself off and dressed in his finest clothes.
"Well, if that's it, then we need to head out to the place where you'll be getting married. Today is going to be a great day!" Stoic put his hand on Hiccup's shoulder and pulled him along as they left for the open area in front of the great hall where he was going to marry Astrid.
Stoick looked closely at Hiccup and his shaking knees. A small smirk made its way to his face and Hiccup could only guess what he was thinking. "I remember when I was getting married to your mother. Felt exactly the same way. Scared to death, dreading standing in front of everyone, going crazy about forgetting the vows that I had wrote down…. Oh no…" Hiccup saw Stoick freeze in place.
"Dad? You ok?" Hiccup stopped with the chief and saw him go pale.
His shoulders suddenly had two huge hands shaking him to and fro after his father moved. "Tell me that you have that notebook of yours!" Stoick looked like he was pleading with him.
"Yeah, I do. Why?" Hiccup was getting even more nervous seeing his father so flustered.
"Quick, write something romantic on it! Then remember it before the wedding starts! You NEED to remember them!" Stoick let go of him. "I'll go stall for a bit. Gobber, make sure he doesn't run off! It's still going to be a great day!" Stoick seemed to be telling himself that more than the others.
Gobber sighed, then shrugged. "Well, you heard him, Hiccup. Get to writing." He waved his mug at Hiccup, gesturing him to get a move on.
"You mean I have to write my wedding vows right now!? Why did no one tell me to do it earlier? What can I write right now!? There's no way I could-" Hiccup was abruptly stopped with a light tap on the head by Gobber.
"You'll do fine. Now write something. You always come through in a pinch." He seemed not to worry about it so much and it gave Hiccup a bit of confidence. So, taking out his notebook and charcoal, he stared at the empty page.
"I have no idea what to write. Nothing." Hiccup started to panic until, surprisingly, Snotlout came to the rescue.
"Dude, you should totally NOT write about her having a dragon butt. Tuff and me did one time… my awesome jaw turned purple for a week. It was totally awesome." Snotlout rubbed his stomach, then grinned. "Fun times."
Hiccup looked at him like he grew two heads like a zippleback, then his mind began to whirr. He could do this…
Angnir stood at the wedding grounds impatiently. Astrid was still getting ready, fighting tooth and nail saying she would NOT wear a dress. So, he had to go and find her best clothes. Good gods, that was embarrassing. After finally bringing them to the womenfolk, they shut and locked the door in front of him and then the waiting began. Sometime after, the chief appeared and began to bring everyone to order. He looked to be getting everyone settled in and taking their minds off of the upcoming wedding. Angnir was glad that the chief was smart enough to realize that the bride had to have more time, so he stalled for her. He'd be an amazing father in law.
Gothi was standing in front of it, looking like she hadn't slept at all the night before. She looked like she was more ready for a dragon raid than a wedding, but then again, considering who was getting married, it might have been a good idea. Still, he hadn't seen Hiccup either, so he was getting a little worried. He was lucky, though. For a few minutes after Stoick showed up, Hiccup walked up and stood at the altar. He was wearing a green long sleeve tunic with fur along the shoulders and back. His pants looked new as well, but Angnir never cared too much about clothes. He looked presentable enough for his marriage.
He had his nose in his notebook and didn't look at anyone until the door behind Angnir opened up. Some of the village wives started to exit and that's when he saw her. Astrid was dressed in a white shirt and grey skirt. Her sleeves were long and fur lined her collar. Instead of spikes adorning her skirt, they were steel plates in line with the seams. She looked like a fine warrior and a beautiful woman. Not caring anymore, Angnir grabbed her up in a bear hug and it earned him a surprised squeak from Astrid and a muffled "Dad, stop it. Everyone is staring."
Angnir just shook his head. "I don't care. This is the last time that I get to have you as solely mine." Then he whispered so only she could hear. "Your mother would be- no, she IS so proud of you and I know she's just as happy as I am." Then in a slightly louder voice. "Now get going. If you stand around too long, you'll scare him off!" Angnir let her go and then looked around to see every Viking respectfully looking away. He loved his village.
Astrid looked at him funny, then scoffed. "I tried that, it didn't work." Then made her way to the front. After standing in front of an openly surprised Hiccup, Gothi began the ceremony. Stoick handed the aforementioned bride price over to Angnir and he in turn gave Stoick the dowry that Astrid's mother left her. Then after financial aspects were settled, the ritual began.
A barrel of mead was brought out and opened. Its contents filled a wooden bowl that was consecrated by Gothi and then set on the altar in front of Astrid and Hiccup. Spitelout kept eyeing it with envy, but a quick jab from Stoick stopped him from whatever he was planning.
Then, a bundle of fig twigs were dipped into it and flicked at all in attendance, conferring the blessings of the gods upon them. Satisfied, Gothi motioned for Hiccup to continue. Hiccup took a deep breath, then held out his hand and Toothless walked over with Hrothgar's sword attached to the saddle. With a little effort, Hiccup finally pulled it out of its bindings and, although almost beheading the elder, handed it over to Astrid. After receiving it, Astrid held out her hand and Angnir drew his sword and gave it to her. She gracefully reciprocated Hiccup's movements, minus the clumsiness, and gave it over to him.
Angnir watched in awe as silence settled over everyone. This was the important part. The exchanging of the rings and vows that cemented the ceremony and drew it to a close. Every Viking was silent so that they could hear the words that the soon to be officially wedded couple would say to one another. Angnir thought he was doing quite well. He was letting go of the only thing that he had protected ever since his wife died. Their last remaining gift to the world was being given away to another man, but he was happy about it. Hiccup would take care of her, he was certain. And the grandchildren would keep him busy while they settled into running the village together.
So when Hiccup pulled out a ring from his vest and put it on Astrid's hand, he felt at peace with everything. (Quite the feat for a Berserker, mind you) That is, until a distant call sounded across the quiet village.
From down by the docks, a lone voice cried with all its might, "Attack! Berk is under attack! Berserker tribe coming from the west! To arms! To arms!"
Angnir turned to look out towards the docks like Stoick and the rest when he saw it, an armada of wooden ships that seemed to fly over the water at unbelievable speeds. What they had thought were the other tribe's boats now carried weapons and brawny berserkers. Angnir felt his blood run cold as he realized that this was the worst time that an attack could happen. They had the dragons now, but the berserkers always had strange weapons that they attacked with.
Each and every Viking jumped into action, each entering their homes and running about to get their weapons. Angnir turned and walked over to Astrid and Hiccup, both staring at the boats in disbelief. "Astrid, Hiccup! Go to the forge! Get away from here and-" Angnir felt like he was punched in the chest. His body felt numb and he looked down in confusion. There, protruding out from his shoulder, was a giant bolt from a bastilla. He heard a scream and saw Astrid lunge for him in a panic before a sudden jerk tore him away from her and he was sailing backwards across berk towards the Berserker ships in the harbor. The last thing he saw was Hiccup grab Astrid in his arms and pull her back. Then as his vision faded, he heard Astrid's voice scream "DAAAAaaaaad" before the world faded into numbness and black void…
Sorry guys. I hate having to end the chapter here and I know that you didn't exactly like that last paragraph, but I'm finally getting into the meat of the story now. For those of you that think that I skimped a bit on the wedding, well you are right. At first, I did it from Astrid's point of view, but then after realizing that I wanted to end this chapter the way that I did, I switched to Angnir's perspective. For those of you that loved Angnir, my apologies. My little brother is beating me up at the moment due to the fact of the direction the story took that blindsided him. I'll try to get the next chapter out within the week as I hate leaving you guys like this. Plus side, I'll be revisiting this day from another person's perspective next chapter so it might help explain a few things better for you. Thanks for your continued support and suggestions! You guys are amazing!
Question: I've been toying around with the idea of writing a few oneshots/twoshots. Some in the same universe and others AU. The question is, would you guys be interested in reading some? Or do I just need to stick to this and never write again? Let me know! Thanks!