Chapter 4: Summer


Age: 8 years old.


"Now you three be good kids and play by yourselves, but be careful!" The queen instructed as she went inside.

They were at a countryside estate owned by the royal family, where Hiccup had been staying with Astrid's family for his whole visit.

The long summer days were spent exploring the woods surrounding the mansion, playing in the nearby lake, and even camping around a campfire one night (with half a dozen guards around for supervision of course)

Hiccup had especially enjoyed one particular day when he and Astrid had snuck off to the nearby town and spent all evening playing with the local kids before anyone had found them.

He couldn't help but admire Astrid's down to earth nature. She wasn't one to avoid getting her hands dirty and be all snooty and uptight that a girl of her status could easily have been.

He found himself always following her lead, but he didn't mind doing so. He liked her a lot, and simply wanted to go wherever she wanted to go.

Today, he was again exploring the forest with her and her brother. Being in the woods like this reminded him of how he spent most of his time back on Berk.

There were differences still though. The trees were bigger here, and the weather wasn't freezing. One difference trumped all others though.

Here, he wasn't alone.

"Come on!" Evan said as he and Astrid ran along a forest trail, heading in a particular direction. Hiccup followed behind, slightly wary.

They finally arrived at a large oak tree, atop which was a wooden treehouse and a rope ladder hanging down. "Presenting, our forest mansion!" Announced Astrid, as she climbed up followed by her brother.

"Are you sure this is safe?" asked Hiccup as he started climbing the ladder carefully.

"It is, I've pretty much never fallen off" Astrid replied, giving him a toothy grin from up above.

Hiccup gulped. Pretty much?

Entering the wooden structure, Hiccup awed at the surroundings, the leafy branches poking in through the windows, and even some old toys scattered about, presumably from their last trip.

"I'm the queen of the woods!" Shouted Astrid, leaning out of the window.

Meanwhile, Evan and Hiccup were engaged in a sword fight with two sticks, and even though Astrid knew her older brother let Hiccup win, she still cheered loudly for his victory.

Later, Evan wiped the floor with the two younger kids in a card game, then watched with amusement as each of the two adorable doofuses tried to subtly lose on purpose, just to avoid putting the other in last place.

In the end, they muddled the rules among themselves and blushingly agreed on a tie.

A few hours later, Hiccup groggily awoke from a nap to find it getting dark outside. He vaguely recalled closing his eyes after the long day, not expecting to fall asleep.

His gaze landed on Astrid looking down at him with a smirk. "You drool in your sleep"

"I don't!" Hiccup protested. "Where's Evan?"

"He went to the house, I stayed behind to keep you company"

"You did?" Hiccup asked, unable to keep a smile from his face.

"Of course" replied Astrid. "Come on!"

They descended down the ladder and headed along the trail, as a breeze picked up. The light was almost gone now, just enough to see a few trees in front of them.

Hiccup jogged just behind her, but a sudden noise to his right made him stumble in surprise, tripping over a tree root. "Ahh!"

"Hiccup?" Astrid turned around, "Are you oka-"

She was interrupted by a low growl, coming just behind some bushes to their right, a sound that made her freeze, and made Hiccup's eyes widen in terror.

Astrid stood frozen in place, cursing the crunchy leaves beneath her feet. She extended her hand towards Hiccup, trying to help him up.

She figured it must've been a bear, but the alarmed look on Hiccup's face suggested it was something… much worse.

Her instincts were screaming at her to grab Hiccup and make a run for it, but she decided to leave that decision to Hiccup, who probably had some experience with… dragons. More than her at the very least, who'd never even seen one in real life.

The bushes rustled and dark scaly skin came into view, rows and rows of teeth and an involuntary scream died in her throat as Hiccup stepped in front of her without hesitation, facing the beast, shielding her with his own self.

She couldn't see his expression, but did see a bead of sweat on his temple, as he stood absolutely still, wordlessly conveying to her to do the same.

The beast stretched its dark wings, and the few steps it moved felt they took an eternity as it emerged completely onto the path.

She realised she was clutching Hiccup's tunic so hard it must've been painful, but he did manage to still give her a shaky yet reassuring nod, as he turned his head to look back at her.

Don't be scared. It will be fine.

She mustered up all her courage and nodded back.

That was when it turned to look straight at them.

All her instincts were telling her to run now, to fight, to do something, but the compulsion to trust in the boy that she admired and liked was even stronger.

The two frightened kids leaned against each other and managed to stand their ground for the longest minute.

Then, a sudden and powerful gust of wind knocked Hiccup right back into her, and they fell to the ground. The huge dragon had taken flight, apparently not interested in the easy meal.

It disappeared above the canopy and everything fell silent again, the only sounds being the laboured breathing of the two kids, and each could feel their own thudding heart.

"You saved me" she muttered quietly.

Hiccup turned to her in surprise, momentarily forgetting she sheer terror he'd been feeling a moment ago. All that had been in his mind was protecting her somehow, anyhow.

"I… um… I just…"

"You saved me" Astrid repeated, louder this time as she threw her arms around him and gave him a grateful hug.

Hiccup raised his arms and rubbed her back soothingly. "We saved each other"


By the time the two kids finally made it back to the house, it was fully dark, and Astrid's parents had been worried sick.

At the first mention of the word 'dragon', the king's eyes widened in alarm and he immediately ordered a couple dozen men to go into the woods and scour every nook and cranny, to make sure there were no others.

A dragon being sighted this far inland was extremely disconcerting, and the queen was just thankful the children were safe, and she hugged them both tight, one in each arm.

"I wasn't that scared you know" Astrid mumbled against her mother's hair. "I knew Hiccup would protect me"

Hiccup blushed at the praise, even though he felt woefully undeserving of the words. Astrid with an axe would probably be the one protecting him, if it ever came down to it.

Still, he decided something then and there. He'd do his best to train hard and become a great Viking that actually would be able to protect her, no matter what they faced in the future.

Too spooked to sleep in their own beds, Hiccup and Astrid stayed up late that night inside their pillow fortress, Astrid interrogating Hiccup about all his knowledge on dragons. Hiccup told her as much as he knew, and promised he'd read up on his dragon manuals and return next time with more information to tell her. He even gave his own copy of one that he'd bought with him.

Astrid seemed satisfied with all she'd learnt, and in an answer to his yawn, gave him a yawn of her own before curling up against his side. "Good night, dragon boy" was all she offered before promptly falling asleep on him.

What was Hiccup to do? Fall asleep himself, of course. It had been a long day after all.

Evan teased them endlessly the next morning after finding them both cuddled up together, but Astrid easily deflected his jabs with "So what? I'm gonna marry him anyways"

Hiccup marvelled at casual way she said it nowadays. For him, he was still a blushing flustered mess anytime such matters came up. The thought that the girl who was his best friend would become his wife someday… his face reddened just thinking about it.

And he thought about it a lot these days, especially whenever he noticed the new betrothal necklace around her neck. He'd put it around her neck on his own this time, and Astrid had giggled adorably the whole time. She'd never taken it off since, not even to sleep.

Seeing her so attached to it warmed his heart immensely. He was old enough by now to realise the significance of the object. It wasn't just a mere piece of string. It was the physical representation of a promise, one that would come to fruition one day, a day that wasn't too far in the future.


The kids were escorted by armed guards everywhere they went outside for the rest of that visit, which was kind of a bummer.

Astrid acted like they didn't even exist, but Hiccup had a hard time getting used to the constant supervision. He supposed it was just another way that their lives were completely different.

He still forgot sometimes that she was actual royalty, but times like these made him realise that he was just a simple kid from a small island, opposed to her, someone from a family that commanded respect and admiration from tens of thousands of people.

Which made him wonder… later as he stood on the ship, on the long journey home…

Could two kids that were from worlds that far apart… ever find a way to be happy together?


A/N: Summer days spent in the woods bring about a lovely feeling of nostalgia. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)

-Gravitybeam