Chapter 30: Varied Emotions
AN: Another 10 chapters in the books! Really getting somewhere now. Hope you've been enjoying it.
Astrid finally let Arkyn go after realizing everyone else was staring, sheepishly putting her arms by her sides as she rocked back and forth awkwardly on the heels of her boots.
"Told you I could keep a secret!" Ruffnut hollered, a wide grin on her face. "I knew about this whole time and didn't tell a soul. Now how's that for loyalty?"
"Thanks, Ruff." Astrid said quietly, failing to suppress a smile in her gleeful state. She felt better now that it was public. It was as though an emotional weight had been lifted from her conscience.
Arkyn turned around to face everyone as well, tipping the Thorsten a nod of respect. Not even he had known she'd been let in on the secret. Eventually coming back down to earth following the kiss, he finally remembered where they all were and why they were there in the first place.
Hiccup barely registered when the other boy turned to face him. He was too busy blinking to hide the moisture in his eyes.
"Alright, Hiccup. Come on out of that dome." Arkyn called, snapping the Haddock out of his state of shock. "I won't bite…or push." He added sarcastically.
Leading Toothless behind him, Hiccup slowly exited the structure and met Arkyn where he stood. "Congratulations." He choked, a frog caught in his throat.
Arkyn held out a hand. "Look, Hiccup, that was a lot of fun. I was really worried you were going to catch me back there." He took in another breath as they shook. "No hard feelings, huh? That other race…it's already forgotten. There's no reason things can't be fun like this all the time."
Hiccup nodded idly, forcing himself to make eye contact with his opponent. It was hard. Very hard. He hated the thought of even shaking hands with Arkyn. After giving the Viking a home and teaching him how to ride a dragon, what had Arkyn done? Arrogantly beaten Hiccup at his own game and stolen the heart of the one person Hiccup found most important. Even though one of these things had been done unknowingly, Hiccup was still angry. Maybe it was his own fault for not telling Arkyn he had been interested in Astrid in the first place.
Despite all this, Hiccup had an image to maintain. Whether it ended up being a blessing or a curse, he was to be the future Chief. He couldn't go and lose all of his friends through some preventable string of irrational actions. His father would tell him to be strong, that he was still young, that there would be someone else…
But Hiccup didn't want there to be someone else.
There was only one person he could ever imagine being by his side, and right now it felt like she was living on some distant island across the archipelago. It made almost no difference that she was actually only standing about 3 feet to his right. So close yet so far, and still he just couldn't let his hope die. He would have to find another way. He would have to learn to be better than Arkyn. He had to remind Astrid who really gave her the life she now lived: the life of a dragon rider. But not now…all in due time.
"Congratulations you two." Fishlegs piped up, ending the journey Hiccup had been going on in his mind. He was referring to the news of the relationship rather than the end of the race, which seemed like a trivial event at this point. Snotlout was the only one who even looked remotely disappointed in the fact that Astrid was now officially off the market.
"Thanks, Fishlegs." Arkyn replied, smiling. He gestured to Astrid. "We are…obviously very excited, apparently." This wasn't what he'd been expecting when he'd landed, but it wasn't as if he were opposed to it either. "But enough about us. It's been a long ass day. Let's all go get a drink or something."
This suggestion was met with several voices of approval, and so it was off to the Great Hall for the group of teens. A celebratory pint was the perfect thing to tie up the loose ends that the few days of tension in between dragon races had caused.
—
Once a flask of mead had been secured by each of the 7 teenagers, they made their way over to their usual table to share in each other's good nature. Everyone was ready to have a good time except Hiccup, who grumbled as Astrid, Arkyn, and Tuffnut all sat on one side of the table while he somehow found himself all the way on the other end next to his meat headed cousin across from them. Astrid faced her best friend, Ruffnut, while Arkyn faced Fishlegs, leaving the Jörgensen and himself as the last two to sit down. Great. Hiccup thought. Of course I would be the one to end up the furthest away from her. His night was further ruined by the ensuing conversation.
After a brief retelling of what it was like to fly through the Whispering Death tunnel by Arkyn, the topic shifted to that of the new relationship. "So when did you guys…you know…" Fishlegs asked, not really knowing what phrasing to use. Although he'd never really had a thing for Astrid, the Ingerman was quite the romantic, although he'd hid this fact from most of his friends for quite some time for fear they'd bother him for it. This development made him giddy.
Astrid was happy to fill him in. "The night of Arkyn's party." She began to explain, refraining from going into too much detail. Most of what happened that day would remain between herself and Arkyn. They were the only ones that needed to know.
Hiccup threw up in his mouth a little at this line. It explained a scary amount of behavior that had occurred over the last 10 days. It was the reason they'd both disappeared early the night of the party, the reason Astrid had been so pressed to find Arkyn the day the blizzard came, the reason Gobber had told him that according to Riftan, they'd spent the night together that same evening, and finally the reason that Astrid had been in Arkyn's house after the incident at the first dragon races. It also meant that both of his friends had blatantly lied to his face, and he was reminded of the day after the party in the forge when they'd both given him different bullshit excuses as to their absence the previous night. How stupid I was to believe them. He thought, but what else was he supposed to do? Hiccup was still trying his best to look encouraging in light of all this, but even he could feel himself failing. Sooner or later it would no longer be convincing and he feared someone would eventually ask him why he looked so sad, a question for which he did not have a real answer.
Some more chatter regarding the new beginnings had occurred during Hiccup's thinking, but when he finally rejoined the conversation, Arkyn had luckily just changed the subject. "So Fishlegs, I've been meaning to ask you, have you read that notebook on the Screaming Death yet?"
The larger Viking looked embarrassed. "Haha, not even close. You wouldn't believe the stack of books I have at home to get through first. I've barely laid a finger on it since that day on Johann's ship."
An almost imperceptible twitch of relief crossed Arkyn's face at this news, but no one picked up on it. "Well if it's going to be a while, would you mind if I borrowed it from you until then? I've been getting curious about some things and want to know more."
"Of course you can! Why don't you follow me home after we're done here and I can get it for you. I'd rather someone else read it as long as I have a backlog."
Arkyn voiced his appreciation in return before going back to his drink. It was then Astrid leaned into his ear from the left and gave him a whisper. "I know it's late, but after you're done getting that book from Fishlegs, would you mind flying up to that cliff that overlooks the village with me? Just for a little while?" She accompanied this by squeezing one of his gloves under the table, trying to look inconspicuous in front of the group. Ruff must have figured out what Astrid was trying to do because she gave a silent smirk from across the table, letting the other girl know she wasn't that slick.
Arkyn smiled warmly at the wholesomeness of her request and whispered back. "Wouldn't miss it." He said, bringing his focus back to the group soon after. His eyes eventually landed on Hiccup, who looked on with a blank expression that carried a hint of jealousy. He was too happy to care, however, and finished his drink without bothering the other boy. The poor Haddock had certainly been through enough that day, but he'd get over it. Arkyn was looking forward to being friends again.
A brief amount of time passed following this before most of the dragon riders got up to leave, heading in their separate ways. This would end the day for a majority of the group, but just as he'd planned, Arkyn retrieved Ishman's journal from Fishlegs and promptly dropped it off at his home before boarding Stinger once again and flying up to the cliffs, finding Astrid already there waiting for him.
"Hey there, Hoff." Arkyn greeted her playfully as he dismounted and met Astrid by the ledge, sitting down next to the girl and letting his feet dangle over the side. Stormfly and Stinger began to grapple in the background, each trying to pin the other down first.
"Glad you came." Astrid said quietly, eyes twinkling as she looked out over the town below.
"Were you worried I wasn't going to? You made it sound as though I'd choose sleep over you back in the Great Hall." Arkyn was only joking, of course. "So what are we doing here anyway?"
"I just wanted to get away from it all." The girl admitted, holding his hand once again. "I knew they would start asking questions when they found out, but at some point you get tired of answering."
"I still can't believe you just kissed me in front of all of them. But hey, I suppose they're used to it by now." He gave her hand a squeeze and winked to let her know he was just teasing, but this didn't save him from getting a swift elbow to the ribs.
"Shut up, Arkyn." Astrid laughed with half amusement and half embarrassment. "I just…couldn't wait anymore."
Arkyn let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders instead. "You know I'm not mad." He said reassuringly. "It feels real now. The secrets were nice before, but I'm glad people know. And what a helluva way to tell them, too."
"I needed to make sure that certain people got the message." Astrid replied, decisiveness in her voice. She was no doubt referring to Hiccup and Snotlout, but they needn't be mentioned out loud. There was a pause before the girl spoke again. "I'm really proud of you, you know. I should have said it before."
"It was only a race, Astrid. It wasn't meant to change anything. Hiccup and I would have made up either way."
"That doesn't mean it wasn't impressive. The speed at which you've picked up dragon riding…it's incredible. You've got a real talent."
Arkyn wasn't in the mood to argue over something so menial so he simply said nothing, enjoying the peace of the nature that surrounded them while accepting her compliment. "This sure is a nice spot…" He finally remarked, to which Astrid nodded.
"You and I have seen a lot from up here." Astrid breathed.
"And it won't be our last visit." The boy replied, sounding confident in his statement.
Several more minutes passed before any attempt to move was finally made. It was Astrid who broke the silence. "My parents will be expecting me home soon." She said with a sigh, frustrated that they always had to end their nights so early.
"Naturally…" Arkyn trailed off, releasing her from his hold and standing up before offering her a hand to do the same. "Until tomorrow?" He asked.
"Until tomorrow." Astrid confirmed, whistling to her dragon before quickly clambering on.
Arkyn was just doing the same before he turned towards the woods and noticed something strange through the trees at the bottom of the hill, hastily catching Astrid's attention before she left. "Astrid, wait a minute."
"Huh? What is it?"
"Do you see that? Through the forest?"
"See what exactly…?" Astrid was looking ever so slightly in the wrong direction, so Arkyn stretched out a hand and let her gaze follow his extended finger.
"The river…" he trailed off again. "Why the hell is it glowing?"