So, here is the next Chapter. I don't really have much to say except, that i am again surpised by the amount of traction this story is getting. After this Wednesday, I have summer break so there is nothing really stopping me from writing, even though I liked the amount of time I took on this Chapter. Now enjoy.
Chapter 3
The first rays of sun filled Berks landscapes with a warming glow, making it a bit easier to endure the more and more freezing Berk. Although dragon raids would become sparse for the winter and morning was yet to arrive, most people had already started with their occupation.
Stoick the vast stepped out of his house, elevated enough to see nearly the whole village thrive in such early hours of the day. Normally he would have already began his daily assessment through the village. With winter came infertile grounds for farming and food had to be managed well enough so that they could survive until next spring. But considering the latest turn of events and the topic regarding his son -or at least not anymore son- Hiccup, he couldn't bring himself to stand up for at least half an hour every day.
Today would be the hardest day since the shocking revealing. Today would be the public exclamation of what to make of the situation and the two new outlaws. Because unfortunately, it had been two outlaws.
The day after Hiccup left, a meeting was held only with Berk's Council.
Shortly after beginning, Astrid's Father Birger spoke up and told, his daughter was nowhere to be found. Having already had one member of their village leave, most people expected the worst and didn't even think of checking the Isle for her.
Checking the docks, all boats were still anchored, but Gobber posed an important thing. Shortly before fighting the Nightmare, he had seen Astrid converse with Hiccup. Maybe she knew about that Dragon of his and trained one of her one to fly with. Birger, of course not wanting his daughter to have a connection to that dammed traitor or a Dragon, heavily discouraged that thought, but when checking the cages, the Nadder had indeed gone missing.
Having went back to the mead hall a discussion broke open.
"So, she's also a traitor."
"Did that boy do that to her or was it her own will?"
"Dammed dragon emphasizers!"
"Silence." The chief instantly brought any murmurs and thoughts to a halt. "Due to insufficient proof of the opposite, Astrid is declared to have run off with that Nadder and Hiccup."
"Stoic." Birger stepped in front of the crowd "I know my girl. She would have never coerced with Dragons or a traitor out of her own free will. She is one of the most responsible villagers I know." He sincerely wanted to defend his daughter from any allegations. "Most probably she is training in the forest, now that she is the one to kill the Dragon."
The crowd began exchanging looks again. Astrid had often before trained in the forest alone in the morning. But with Hiccup having left just the day before, nobody thought of that possibility before. Not even Birger himself.
"You could be right. I allow you to recruit your own searching party with any volunteers. But if you do not find her, until the next week we will have to give her the name of outlaw just like Hiccup." Stoic felt a little remorse. He had to outlaw his former son.
It was tradition, that after a traitorous act, the chief and council had until the end of the week to discuss the manner and what to make of it. But under these circumstances nothing than giving them the title of outlaw could be done.
After that, not much had to be discussed, so Birger could get back to his Wife. Hearing the news, Astrid's mother sunk in her chair. Hilda stood on the verge of tearing up, but instead stood up and started recruiting and searching. Crying wouldn't bring her daughter back, so until it was decided, she would do anything in her might to find her.
Some people, especially those close to the household, volunteered for the search party and in the end enough people wanted to help, so that they could search the whole forest until Sondag.
The first big step back was the same evening, when Astrid did not come back for dinner. Even when she trained all day. Astrid never missed her meals. Her parents did the only thing they could and hoped it was just her first time, sleeping in the forest and not completely off of Berk.
Those hopes dwindled day by day. Mandag would arrive tomorrow and the sun already disappeared long over the horizon.
"What should we do now?" Asked one of the only three voices, still awake on the Island. Most were already laying in their bed, but the chief as well as the parents of Astrid sat in the house of the Hofferson family.
"I think there is nothing we really can do." Birger answered. Both adults had spent the entire day trying to accept the loss of their daughter. They knew she only left and still roaming Midgard, but knowing with whom and under what circumstances it felt more like permanent loss than just that. Who could survive out there, without any people, surrounded by dragons.
"Why would she do this? What have we done wrong, so that she would abandon us?". Hilda stood on the verge of crying.
"I don't know. I swear it was that boy. If not convincing her he probably kidnapped her, for his own self gain."
"No." Stoick boomed in. When coming to their house, Stoick wanted to discuss the manner of Astrid also having to be stated as outlaw. Since entering, he stayed silent, knowing how hard it was, to have your Child run off with your life-long enemy. "My son would never go as low as kidnapping. I would not want to disgrace your daughter. But if she went with him, it was out of her own free will." Even though Hiccup has left on the back of a Night Fury, Stoick felt the need to defend him. Fortunately for him, nobody noticed the slipup.
"Let's just end this. Why did you seek us out Stoick?" Hilda asked.
"Right. I came to you, to address the topic of your daughter. Because she is nowhere to be found, I have to announce her outlaw together with Hiccup. It is non debatable, but I thought, I should tell you for your own sake."
A silence filled the room. All three parents had known it would come to this, but none were eager to acknowledge it.
Hilda nodded as a sign she understood and wanted to comprehend everything with her Husband. Stoick understood and left the house.
Once he left, Hilda fell to her and started sobbing. Although Stoick knew the pain very well, she didn't want to show this side of hers to anyone but her own family.
This day, the whole village would assemble to participate in the public exclamation.
A few hours later, everyone waited in the great hall Infront of a provisional stage. Murmurs and mumbles emerged from the crowd. At the side of the crowd stood the group of teens, who had been hanging out with Hiccup before his disappearance.
"Silence". Stoick loud voice made everyone obey to his command. "We have gathered us here today because of Hiccup Horrendous the third. Seeing as he has betrayed the traditions of our village and left on the back of a dragon, we have decided to cast him out and declare him as an outlaw. As for the question of the future heir, it is only reasonable to have the son of my brother take that place."
Cheers erupted and people standing near Snotlout clapped him on the back for his new position.
"Finally, a Viking as an heir."
"You will do ten times better than him."
"That's a dream come true boy."
"Hopefully you will honor the family name."
That last comment came from his father. Snotlout still stood there not comprehending the situation completely. The first part about his cousin had been clear for the past few days, but him becoming the new heir. That took him by surprise. Luckily for him, Stoick continued his speech and put the concentration on the chief instead of future chief.
"Secondly, considering the vanishing of Astrid Hofferson and the Arena Nadder. We suppose, she knew of Hiccup's Secret and after he left, she stole the Nadder and flown away with it to find him."
All the teens fell slack. Astrid had always been the best one in training, except when Hiccup used those skills he probably got from the Dragon, and never even hung out with him. Okay respectfully speaking, the last time they saw her was the evening after Hiccup left and even then, she acted a bit awkward. Speaking of it, they also didn't fight the Nadder since that day.
"So, because she too has defied our traditions and trust, Astrid Hofferson will also be stated as an outlaw to this village."
Following this message came not nearly as much appreciation as the last one. Stoick left the stage and slowly most people also attended to their normal jobs. Since the original meeting days ago, the rumors about Astrid had spread, leaving only the teens clueless.
At dinner time Snotlout entered the great hall, coming from a long talk with his dad about the announcement of his new title.
"Hey guys." He announced when nearing the table.
"Hey 'Lout." Came a synchronized greeting from the others.
"What took you so long?" Ruffnut asked.
Snotlout took some chicken and sat himself at the table. "My dad lectured me for hours. That whole 'you have a great chance' and 'I am expecting only the best of you' charade." He made the best Spitelout impression in the world to emphasize the point.
"So, are we not going to talk about the yak in the room?" Fishlegs chimed in. "Astrid apparently has flown on a dragon and left together with Hiccup."
"I know. Even we aren't stupid enough to jump on a dragon back." Tuffnut said.
"But imagine what cool tricks we could do if we had one." Ruffnut countered. Leave it to the twins to somehow always find a way using everything and everything for pranks.
The twins rambled on about what Dragon would be best for pranks and what you could do with it. Nobody acknowledged their discussion. They talked about so much stuff, which would get them exiled, but never went through with it so most people started to ignore their thoughts.
"Why would she run off with Hiccup?" Snotlout asked Fishlegs. "I mean. What does he have, that I don't? I am the embodiment of a Viking and that fishbone has nothing. Now he doesn't even have the status of heritage anymore. Why would she want to be a traitor just for him?" Of course, he instantly went to insulting the runt, as he always had and boasting about himself, as he always had.
"Maybe a dragon as pet." Fishlegs countered.
Snotlout spun around and looked at the large Viking. "Oh please. As if Useless had any control over the dragon. It probably used him as a spy and now that he is exiled, that Night Fury will have eaten him already."
Fishlegs started zoning out. Yeah, Astrid had left for a Nobody. But why? She always sticked to rules and traditions, so what made her go against it? It couldn't have just been because of Hiccup, she barely even knew him a week ago and speaking about him, what was that with the Night Fury. It had jumped in the Arena surrounded by its enemies just to fight off a Nightmare, one of its own kind, to protect him. Did Hiccup really speak the truth, could Dragons and Humans coerce for the good of everyone.
Fishlegs quickly shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking these things. As weird as it sounded, Snotlout was right. Hiccup was a traitor and so was Astrid.
…
Far above the ocean, two Dragons flew at a steady pace with their Riders.
"Hiccup. We have flown for nearly an entire week without any stops, except sleeping. You know we cannot fly forever." Astrid said. Even though they were storming through clouds, communication weirdly never became a problem.
Hiccup stayed silent. He didn't once bring up the topic of settling. What options did they have?
"Hiccup. We have to try. Even if we have to live on a deserted Island. It is better than constantly running away." She furthered her Argument.
As if hearing her words, over the horizon appeared exactly that. Not close enough to examine the Island fully, they could only see the basic outline. And from what it seemed, that Island was gorgeous. The sheer size nearly thwarted everything they had ever seen before, maybe even the Dragon queen herself.
"Okay. What if we just stay there for a few days and decide on what to do." Astrid nodded. Again it was a mere displacement of the problem, but this time maybe something could be achieved.
Coming closer to the Island, Hiccup and Astrid could feel a heat radiating of it. Although they have traveled some distance, they didn't experience this kind of sudden warmth anywhere and they couldn't be so far south. Most parts of the Island were filled with trees, as most they had encountered were, but here the forests were occasionally filled up with fields of flowers and meadows.
Flying a few circles around in the air, the Island seemed empty from any Vikings or Dragons. Deciding it was safe enough, both teens landed on the nearest field and Hiccup began unsaddling Toothless, while Astrid took out their stuff.
"Let's explore the forest a bit." She proposed. Since they ran out of food, after finding an Island to sleep for the night, both would go hunting in the forests.
This hunt was just like most. They came across some wild boars either the Dragons or Astrid killed them and nothing else really happened.
After a few hours, they stumbled across a large flower field between the thick logs. Both teens sat down, to rest a bit from all the walking, they had endured. Living on a Dragons back half the day, really isn't good for anybody's legs.
The flowers were mere specks of color from the sky, but down here they seemed so full of life and beaty.
Quickly after settling on top the soft flowers, a conversation erose between the teens. Although having a chat with Hiccup would always be appreciated by Astrid, the topic from their flight constantly erose in her mind.
"Hiccup." Astrid said. Her tone shifting to serious. "You know we can't always run away from everything. We have to settle somewhere and I think this would be just the place for it. I mean just look at it. Clear fields, a lot of forest and these beautiful flowers." She picked one up and lost herself in it for a second.
"Yeah I know, but what do we do then? Living here as two people will probably get boring real quick and with who else could we live? Nobody in this archipelago, heck nobody in Midgard would ever want to hear us out." Hiccup threw his hands in the air. He tried to avoid any mention of this topic, because honestly speaking, he didn't know what to do with it.
"Maybe, but running won't change that and we could at least try to live with each other before turning down that possibility."
"And where do you suppose we sleep? On the ground doesn't really sound that exciting if you ask me.". At least he was back to his usual self with all the sass that came with it.
"We are Vikings Hiccup." Said man stiffed at mention at the mention of his past. Maybe Astrid could be considered one, but he would never. "Sorry, but you know what I mean. We have stubbornness Issues and held our village for generations against Dragons." She corrected herself at seeing him taking it not very well.
"How is stubbornness and defense against Dragons, which we live with now, supposed to help us with the problem?"
"Because they attacked us so often, we all know how to rebuild our homes or even build completely new ones."
"You guys know." Hiccup looked down at the flower field and stared at one without really looking at it. "My dad always said I wasn't strong enough to lift the wood or that I would manage to destroy another one while rebuilding it."
Astrid punched his shoulder "Hiccup. Stop putting yourself down. You built a machine that took down a Night Fury and then managed to build him an artificial tailfin. Both of which feats that nobody before ever managed to achieve." She said in a matter-of-fact voice.
"Okay. You got me, but how are supposed to build a full house on our own. In Berk at least neighbors helped and we always had planks ready for exactly that reason."
"Just look around you mutton-head."
Hiccup did and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Except maybe a Night Fury and a Nadder playing tag closer to humans than ever before.
"We have wood all around and I suppose Toothless and Stormfly could help with heavy lifting and cutting." Astrid explained her statement. Both Dragons turned to their riders at the mention of their names, but returned to their activity when realizing, nothing was needed of them.
Over the Horizon, rays of light disappeared bit by bit as Night would overcome them.
Astrid stood up to get their stuff from where they landed and search for a good spot to sleep. Although it was settled, they would be residing on this Island, a house wouldn't appear overnight, so they still had only the comfort of the ground and Dragons to enjoy until then.
When she came back, Hiccup laid down on the ground and clearly had something on his mind. He was so out of it, Astrid spooked him from behind when approaching.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to." She lied.
"Astrid. Can I ask you something?". Hiccups posture revealed, he had been thinking about this topic some time.
Wanting to relief him of any complications Astrid agreed with a nod.
"Back in the Cove. The day after we left." The mere mention of that day surprised her. Both didn't know what to do of it, so it had been ignored since. "Were you serious?" He finished.
"What do you mean?" Astrid asked.
"You said, I was more important to you than everyone else in the village. That I made you feel something. Was it true?" He lost himself in her eyes while talking. How he would wish it to be true, but how could it be. "I mean I am 'Hiccup the Useless'."
"Hiccup!" Astrid snapped. "Do not use that Name to me."
Hiccup was surprised by her reaction. He had rarely seen her that angry. The last time was probably when Snotlout had proposed to marry her and that he would 'please her better than any other man'. "What? Hiccup?" I am pretty sure that is my actual name so."
"You are not Useless and you know it. So stop putting yourself down with that nickname."
"Astrid. I couldn't kill a Dragon when he would be lying down in front of me helpless." His eyes went to Toothless, which he saved in exactly that scenario.
"And you don't have to." Astrid straightened his head, so that their eyes could meet again. "Hiccup all I said back then was true. The only thing I could dislike about you, is how you don't acknowledge your own achievements. Even though everybody discouraged everything you did, you went on. Every time you were shamed by everyone, you just kept going with determination."
"Astrid stop. I don't deserve this." Hiccup wanted to look away, but Astrid held his head straight.
"Yes you do. The day I discovered Toothless, you showed me what Dragons truly are and I can't thank you enough for that. That day you showed me the true Hiccup, the one who stands up for what he beliefs to be right. Hiccup, you showed me a world outside of that endless slaughter, where I am not led by expectations."
Hiccup lost himself in her glare. The same way he looked at her all those years, full of admiration and unconditional love. He had never seen an Hofferson this full of emotions other than pride.
"So regardless of what you think of yourself, I Love you Hiccup." She finished her monologue
"Thank you Astrid. You don't know how much that means to me. Every time I saw you, I saw myself, fighting with all the determination just for the sake of the village, but not really fulfilled by it." Hiccup responded. This had been one of his lifelong dreams and now that it came true, he didn't know what to do, except express his feelings. "So with every ounce of my heart. I love you too."
Done with Chapter 3. Really got some Berk expositon, but I think I will not write about it a long time now. Just imagine a bit. Again, if you see any mistakes or have some Ideas you think would work in this Story, please notice me about it.