000
Making her way back to the village, Astrid had some time to reflect upon her afternoon with Hiccup. Now that she wasn't around him, she could admit it was nice to spend her free day off with him. It was a refreshing break from her daily routine of training, lessons and meetings. A whole afternoon of just sitting and talking with a guy who was just starting to grow on her. And someone who wanted to know her for her. That was a more than welcome change of male company. More fun for her since he was just as easy to tease. She wondered if their usual banter would become a common thing. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't hoping for it. The sun was half set by the time she made it back to Berk's outskirts. The cloudless sky left a painting of orange and reddish hues across the sky. The weather made it even more enjoyable. Today had really been a fun day.
She made her way to the Great Hall, joining the pre-evening crowd before most of the good food was taken, and when conversations were still sober. The Hall was filled with the regular scent of bread, yak and mead. She grabbed herself a bowl, filled it up with today's yak stew with potatoes and grabbed a slice of bread with a mug of water, and made her way to a free table. She hadn't seen Fishlegs, Snotlout or the Twins, and figure they'd show up as the night rolled on. They all had their own responsibilities to tend to these days. All having their own contributions to Berk and how it functioned. Even the Twins, believe it or not. She was two spoonful's into her meal when she heard a familiar voice call her name.
"Astrid!" A plate clunked down beside her. She looked up to see Erlend smiling at her. Speak of the God of mischief himself. Now she could ask him tips and pointers about the hunt he did three years ago.
"Hey Erlend." She greeted as he sat down next to her and four of his buddies took the other spaces around the table, all saying their greetings. They were all three years her elders, and were pretty much thick as thieves. You had Erlend; the leader and best fighter of their little group. Einar; the second in command and their very own strategist. Erlend always ran his decisions by him, and if the group had any ideas of what to do, they'd usually run it by Einar first. He had even begun making a name for himself in the recent council meetings, mainly in budget and trade agreements. There was Hallf, the baker's son. Knows his way around sword and their resident cook. There was Sjorn, who worked part-time under Gobber, so their weapons were always in great condition. Then there was Sverre; the idiot of the group, but they loved him for it.
"You've been the talk of the village the last week or two huh?"
"And why is that?" She asked, dipping a piece of bread into her stew.
"Come on! You faced a Jormung! And won!" She internally grimaced at that after learning his actual capabilities, but she'd run with it.
"It was tough, but I had an entire dragon trapping crew behind me too, so I didn't do it alone."
"What was it like? Was it everything the myths said it was?" Hallf asked. Astrid chuckled. Not at their obvious interest in Hiccup, but the fact that Hallf referred to him as an 'it.' Now she could understand why he was quick to his dragon's defense when she called the Night Fury an 'it.'
"He was good. It was tough, more-so since his dragon was watching his back." She had another spoon of stew.
"It was a Night Fury right? How did you even survive. I thought once you heard a Night Fury you're supposed to pray it doesn't find you, right?" Sverre butted in.
Yeah, she thought the same too. It was amazing how said beast could be as docile as a house pet, lounging next to you while you conversed with said Jormung. "Good teamwork between the trappers and I. Timely interventions by the trappers to take the dragon's attention off me while I fought with his rider. And once I had the Jormung pinned, and seeing no way out, he ordered his Night Fury to fly away. And we let him get away, which we paid for later when he came back with help to free his rider."
"I heard about that. What was the second Jormung like?" Erlend asked. In the time she began spending with them, she learned to pick on certain tones and cues. Like with most Vikings, they weren't hard to read. She heard the pre-bravado in his voice.
"Someone you don't ever want to come across." She repeated that same phrase whenever she was asked about the second one.
"Come on now. You took down one Jormung, what's another one to you?"
She cursed Hiccup silently. You 'beat' a Jormung with no fighting capabilities and all of a sudden you're the best warrior in the village. Not that she could deny her 'win' without keying in that she had talked with said Jormung, and has had more than one meeting with him. And it wasn't just his pre-bravado talking. Now that the village believed she had taken down a Jormung, her warrior status was on the same level as Erlend's. And since they were rivals, that didn't really sit well with him.
It started when she had officially begun taking part in council meetings a couple of years ago with her father. She had heard about Erlend before then. All she knew was that he was a warrior just a level above her in terms of skill, and that he was part of the Borghild clan who had a long history of exceptional warriors, hunters, a few diplomats here and there, but were second-to-none when it came to dragon killing. Erlend's father, Bjarke, was a mountain of a man, and held the current title of General on Berk. Not even the Chief nor her father could beat him in one-on-one fight. Play for a draw, maybe. But not a win. And it was in those meetings where their little rivalry began. They organized sparring matches in the kill ring, which usually half the village turned up to see. And they were a sight to behold. The skill, strategy, determination and guts the two always demonstrated brought on cheers, whistles, betting and praise. The two quickly developed a mutual respect for each other, and so, every once in a while, Erlend offered Astrid to tag along with him and his group, which usually accepted. And of course, this being Berk where literally nothing happened and people couldn't mind their own business, rumors about the two began to circulate. It never really bothered her since she had no romantic inclination towards Erlend in the first place. It was the same with Erlend at first, but with his family pressuring him to find a bride, he had begun to double his efforts on spending more time with her. Such as now.
"I don't know. The second Jormung just felt...different. Like you knew you'd die if you made one wrong step against him. Plus he had the biggest dragon I've ever seen. One that destroyed an entire Berserker fleet, Erlend. We were lucky he was in a giving mood and chose to spare us." She looked at him, trying to gauge his reaction. He was definitely thinking; deciding whether to take her word for it or not.
"Alright, I believe you." He held his hands up, turning to dig into his meal. Astrid rolled her eyes, taking a piece of meat from the soup, placing it on a piece of bread before eating it. "Glad you're alright though. Berk couldn't bear to lose you."
"Come on Erlend." She sighed.
"What? I'm being serious. Berk needs all her capable fighters. Especially you."
"Find a wife yet?"
"I'm looking at a potential one." Well, at least he didn't beat around the bush. "Come on! You got to admit, the two us, we'd be unstoppable. Berk's dynamic duo!" He leaned and waved his arm, staring into some imaginary scene where the two of them were side-by-side, and was hoping she saw the image. She humored him for all of two seconds.
"Nope, don't see it." She resumed her meal, letting Erlend dig into his yak leg with a sulk. "Erlend, I'm just not looking at anyone right now. You have to understand that."
"I know, but don't expect me to stop trying. In fact, I might just ramp up my effort."
"You do that. Not going to make that much of a difference though."
"Hey, I never back down from a challenge." He smirked back at her. She could see why most girls found him attractive. He was definitely handsome, a great fighter, came from an influential family, a born leader, confident and charismatic. She had to at least commend him on his stubbornness at not giving up on chasing her.
"So what did the Jormung look like? Did he have scales and wings like the stories make it out to be?" Sverre asked, through a mouthful of meat and potatoes, sending bits of food his friends around him.
"Probably something similar to what you look like now, Sverre." Hallf laughed, eliciting a few chuckles from the rest of them.
"He was normal, Sverre. Apart from his draconic eyes, he looked like your every day Viking."
"Hm, I know some stories describe them as changing in the middle of battle, hands turning into claws, teeth sharpening to daggers, and even wings sprouting from their back. None of that happened?" Einar asked.
"Nope." She made a mental note to ask Hiccup of a Jormung's abilities the next time she ventured outside to see him.
"Alright, that's enough Jormung talk, boys. I'm pretty sure we're making Astrid tired of repeating everything again and again. Let's switch to something else." Yep, he was definitely trying to score points in her book. At least this one time, she was appreciative of his attention and shot him a silent thank you.
"Actually, I was hoping to ask you about your Hunt experience." She finished her meal, pushing the plate aside and drinking from her mug.
"Oh yeah, your Hunt is coming up, isn't it? In how long?"
"I turn twenty in five months, and I plan to do it a month later. I was hoping you'd give any tips on survival and any information on the beasts there."
"Want to know if there's anything bigger than a Titanwing Monstrous Nightmare, huh? Looking to upstage me already, Astrid?"
"Please, I already did that with the Jormung." At least she could milk this Jormung win for as long as nobody found out about how inept he was at fighting.
Erlend laughed. "Maybe. But no, I think you pretty much know what you're in for. Only advice I can give is to find shelter first. Make sure it's hidden, and that there isn't anything living in it. That happened to me when I first got there."
"Oh it was hilarious. The man gets there and pretty much sets up base in this cave, only to find out later that night that it belonged to one massive cave bear." Sjorn laughed at the story that Erlend told them when he returned.
"Never ran so fast in my life. Luckily I hadn't unpacked everything so I had most of my stuff when I bolted out. Only left behind one water-skin flask."
"Now that is a sight I would have paid to see. Erlend Borghild running in terror." Astrid laughed, as were the rest of them.
"Hey now, I wasn't scared! Just taken by surprise." Erlend tried to defend himself.
"Yeah, you were surprised you ran to the other side of the island!" Einar barked through laughing and breathing, and causing another round of laughter.
"Whose side are you supposed to be on?" Erlend fumed, turning red with embarrassment. "I really could have died! That cave bear was Gunnar!" The laughing quickly stopped, and Astrid looked around, asking the obvious question.
"Who's Gunnar? The bear?"
"Yeah. My dad had warned me before I left to avoid a bear with three claw scars over its left eye."
"What's so dangerous about this Gunnar?" She asked. "You took down Titanwing Monstrous Nightmare, I don't see how a cave bear matches up." Her confusion turned to slight irritation when he chuckled at her question.
"You'll learn when you fight a regular cave bear. And Gunnar is bigger than most ones I've seen. Even though it was dark in the cave, I could tell I stood just below his shoulder. And I'm what, six feet four?" His friends nodded. "I can't imagine what he looks like when he rears up on his hind legs. And there's the matter of his body count."
"Body count?"
"He's been around a while, and as far we, and other villages can tell, he's killed about twenty-five warrior candidates. Five from Berk, and the rest from other villages." Now that really caught Astrid off guard. She knew there were a multitude of beasts on those islands, but a creature that had a body count? She wasn't prepared for that. "Hel, when I shined my torch in that cave and saw those scars, I didn't hesitate to throw the torch at him to distract him and just run. And run I did. Got onto my boat and rowed to another one of the islands. I didn't want to risk my safety being on the same island with that thing."
"Wow." Was all Astrid could say. She didn't know about a man-eater on the Huntfait Isles. "Then why didn't those candidates just avoid the area where the bear lives?" It seemed like the obvious thing to do.
"Because he has multiple homes across the Isles. So he could be on one island one month, and a completely different one the next. I guess that's something you'll have to keep an eye out for when you go there. He's already killed twenty-five people, that we know of, so it's safe to assume that he knows how to fight Vikings."
"How did people know that those candidates died to Gunnar?"
"So, you have two weeks on those islands to find, track and kill your chosen prey. That doesn't count the three days it takes to sail to and from the Isles. So basically, if you don't return after the twentieth day, in Berk's case, we'll send warriors, like me or my dad, to find you, or whatever's left of you. My dad's done it a few times. During their searches, they began noticing that some corpses had similar wounds to that of a bear, all in the same area on the body. And we got similar reports from other villages' warriors who didn't return. So it's only twenty-five that we know of. He may have killed more, we just haven't found the bodies. So yeah, find shelter first, don't run into Gunnar, oh, and avoid wolf packs there. That's pretty much all the advice you need really. The rest is on you."
It wasn't much but it was something. All she had to do there was avoid Gunnar and wolf packs, otherwise she felt pretty comfortable with her challenge in half a year. "Thanks Erlend. Wouldn't have been able to get that information elsewhere."
"No problem. Feel free to drop by my place for anything." As the conversation turned to other topics, Astrid was left to her thoughts. Guess she really didn't have anything to be worried about. Well, all she to do now was prepare for her dragon training class tomorrow-
Shit. She had a dragon training class tomorrow. She'd be training a bunch of fourteen year-olds on how to approach and fight a Deadly Nadder. She'd have to get Gobber to help her set up the maze early tomorrow. Having a free day like today was a Gods-send that she almost forgot her schedule was filled for pretty much every day. Maybe she could save those duties for a later day. But she'd have to go see the Chief for that. But there was an underlying reason for that. One she didn't want to accept yet.
As much as she hated to admit to herself, she did want to see Hiccup again. He was like a breath of fresh air compared to the stale fish breeze blowing through Berk every day. He was different and weird, but a good kind. Being nothing like the monster stories and myths painted him out to be, he was kind, awkward. Dorky even. Plus he had a Night Fury. That in and of itself is pretty cool. And her curiosity of the unknown was really getting the better of her, but she had a good grip of the situation right now. She'd find a way to see him. And she knew he'd be ecstatic to see her either way.
"What are you smiling about?" Erlend snapped her out of her thoughts.
"Oh nothing."
000
Hiccup had spent the entire night going through the book Astrid had lent him. After returning from a night flight with Toothless, he immediately retreated into his tent after bidding Toothless goodnight, lit a candle, got comfortable on his little bed, and dug into Berk's history. It had been really interesting reading about another villages' history; their settlement, conquers, failures, and getting an in-depth perspective on the different Chiefs that have led this village. He even found their retelling of dragon profiles amusing. Almost every species they had on here had incorrect descriptions of their behavior. The stats on their fighting capabilities were pretty accurate though. He was completely engrossed in the book that he had even fallen asleep reading at some point long into the night; the book splayed out on his chest on the most recent pages he finished. And it was during the early morning rays that Toothless poked his head into the tent checking on his friend and blowing hot air onto him as a wake up call. "What do you want now?" He moaned, grabbing onto the book as he raised himself, and squinting his eyes at the little sunshine entering the tent.
"Breakfast. We were going to go fishing for salmon today. And you know how much I love my salmon!" He huffed, pulling his head back after Hiccup swung his legs over the edge of his bed.
"You couldn't have gone by yourself? It's not like you need me to come with you." He grabbed his shirt off the chair and swung it over his head, walking out into the nice, crisp, cold morning as he filled it out.
"It's not like you were doing anything. What do you have planned for today?"
"I actually don't know." Hiccup pondered. There really wasn't a time he could remember in the last year where he could just do what he wanted. Well he could explore the island further, making sure he wasn't seen. But that didn't really give him a lot of options. What more was there to see on this island? There trees, mountains, cliff faces and...that was pretty much it. Oh, Astrid did mention in some conversation that might have gotten lost yesterday that she'd be holding a dragon training class today. He could just watch that, and see how the Berkians trained their dragons. "We could go watch Astrid and her class."
"You really have nothing else on your mind apart from the girl, huh?"
Hiccup rolled his eyes. "She's holding a dragon training session today." He began fixing his flight gear.
"You do remember it's training to kill a dragon, right?" Toothless watched Hiccup fasten the final leather straps of his chest piece before grabbing the saddle.
"I do. But still." He reasoned, placing the saddle on Toothless' back and doing up the fasteners and straps. "We'll watch from a distance. Survey how they treat their dragons and bring it to her attention the next time she comes and visits." Once the saddle was tightly secured, Hiccup went to retrieve his fish basket. "You might also see a few dragons you'd like to meet too. Plus it'll let me see her in action when fighting dragons, and what kind of teacher she is."
"Is this really not because you're getting attached to her? Which is happening faster than I thought."
"I'm not getting attached to her."
"You get excited every time you see her, you talk about her when she's not here, and now you're going out of your-our way to go see her train the next generation on how to properly kill a dragon."
"I just like her okay? Not like, 'like' her. She's fun to be around. Even you've accepted her presence here."
"Not completely. It's clear as day she isn't completely comfortable in my presence."
"She's been trained to kill dragons her whole life, Toothless. And given the raids this village gets, it's understandable for her to take time to learn what it's truly like to be around dragons. And that's why you're just as key as I am in this mission to show her that."
"You're giving her too much credit, Hiccup."
"Maybe, but you have to admit, this is progress. If I can changer her perspective on dragons, truly change it and change her, then the rest of Berk will be sure to follow."
"Let's keep it just her for now. I really hate it when your mind is running too fast for your own good. And that's if she's willing to let you show her that we dragons are really gentle giants. I'm a special case you know. And she knows that. What are you going to do about it?"
Hiccup stopped before him, setting the basket down and crossing his arms, scrunching his eyebrows, and looking at the ground, clearly in thought. "Why not use the dragons they keep in their kill ring here? She's trained with them for years. Albeit they may not be on good terms, but it's a start."
"You really expect those dragons to just make friends with the Vikings that had them imprisoned and trained on for years?"
"It's going to take time, Toothless. And I have to start somewhere. I'll just drop in when no one's around, talk to them, and see where it goes from there."
"Is that why you're so keen to go watch them train today?"
"It'll let me get a layout of the ring, see how many people come and go, any places for me to hide when I get there. Seeing Astrid is just a bonus for me."
"At least you admit she's a reason for all this."
"Oh stop." He flicked his dragon's ear, which didn't do anything to quell Toothless' dragon laughter. No wonder he could banter with Astrid so easily. He'd been doing it with Toothless since his early ears. And it bothered him how his best friend could read him so easily. Yes she was a big part of it. He wanted to get closer to her. He found her company enjoyable. Really enjoyable. And he found her to be a challenge. To see whether he could change her perception of dragons. She was one of Berk's elite warriors, judging from his secret spying sessions when she was training the younger kids, or holding sparring matches with her peers in the kill ring. Plus, he had a feeling that she wanted to learn about dragons and the Jormung too. She was just good at suppressing her emotions that had anything to do with him. He wondered if that'd change the more time they spent together. But first he'd have to find a way to spend more time with her. A way that wouldn't arouse any suspicion from the villagers.
He climbed onto his friend's back, holding the basket securely under one arm as Toothless propelled into the morning sky, away from the village and away from any frequented fishing spots. "If you really want to know, yes I'd like to see her. Yesterday's conversations were nice. It's been so long since I've been able to talk with another person so casually."
"I'm just saying don't let her be the death of you."
"She won't bud. And I know you'll get me the heck out of here if you see things going south."
"Someone has to be the voice of reason in that head of yours." Toothless smirked as they closed in on a reasonable spot. "I see a few schools of fish down there. Ready?"
"Let's go!" Hiccup prompted and the two dove right in.
000
It was almost noon when the last of her students trudged along into the ring, all of them on time though. She'd be training a six students today; four boys and two girls. "Nice to see you all so chipper this afternoon." She started as they all stood at attention in a line. Shoulders stiff as boards as she paced in front of them. Even though this was a dragon combat session, she always looked them over to see if they took care of themselves; whether they were getting good sleep, if they were eating well, and looking for any emotional distress on their faces.
"We're just excited for today's lesson Miss Astrid!" Magnus said.
"Don't get too excited Mags. All of you will be going up against the Deadly Nadder today. You'll be judged on your tactics to engage it, your execution and your resourcefulness in combat today." She instructed as she went to the mobile weapons rack and pulled it front of them. "Choose the weapon you're most comfortable with." She watched them march forward and immediately grab their favorite weapons. Magnus and Dag both went for swords. Barwyn, a stockier lad, went for a shield and Seager went for the spear. The two girls, Eaven and Elaine both went for axes. Astrid had made an impression on them back when she was their age, and both girls vowed to be as badass of a warrior that she was. It did fill her with a sense of pride that she was making strides and connecting with the younger ones.
"So when do we start?" Elaine asked.
"You'll have five minutes to come up with a plan when I close the main gate behind me. I'll warn you when time's up and open the Deadly Nadder's cage. From then, you're on your own. And if you lose your weapon, or the Nadder disarms you of it, you will be out. So then make your way back to this gate." She said as she crossed the gate's threshold and began to lower it. "Your time starts now."
"Wait, what if it looks like one of us are about to eaten?" Dag asked.
"Don't worry. If I see that you are in danger, and no help is close by, I'll jump in myself." She said as the gate closed completely and she walked up the stairs to the overlook, and made her way to the Nadder's pen. After her own time in dragon training, she understood the fear and anxiety that came with being left alone in an enclosed ring with no escape, and with a ten ton fire-breathing dragon inside. But, she thankfully survived Gobber's lessons which were usually all improvisation and half-assing. She made sure to spend close attention to her lesson planning and the overall well-being of her students. And as a result of her due diligence and commitment, almost all parents on Berk wanted their kids to learn under her.
She walked to the other end of the ring where the Nadder's pen was and waited by the level that would unlock the doors. She'd watch them from this side of the arena, considering it was another, rare sunny day and the shade was a Gods-send. She had a good view of them at the other end, and they were all huddled together, discussing their battle plan. She looked on, pleased that they were taking this seriously.
"Wow, they look really into it." She heard a voice say behind her.
"Well they have to be. They're about to face-" She opened her eyes in realization. He wasn't stupide enough to... She turned around to see Hiccup a few feet behind her, covered in a hood and waving back at her from the shadows of the tower right behind them.
Oh yes. He really was stupid enough.