The pair closed their eyes. For both of them, the hustle and bustle of the dragons and the general commotion was relaxing. It meant the world wasn't standing still, people weren't silently waiting for an answer from them.
Hiccup hadn't quite gotten to sleep when he heard his name being called. He tried to ignore it but it just got louder and on the third time was followed by a kick to his foot. The person calling for him started to call for him again but he interrupted them.
"I heard you the first time." He kept his eyes closed.
"Well then say something if you're awake then." The voice huffed.
"Yeah I was kinda hoping you'd leave me alone if I didn't say anything." He opened his eyes and looked at Astrid. "And you know, kicking me would be considered provoking a dragon. Something I asked you not to do."
"Hardly." She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.
"Sure." He sat up. "So what's up? What do you need?"
"What are we even supposed to be doing here?"
"You're supposed to go befriend a dragon. Or at least learning that they aren't monsters that attack villages randomly. Ideally both."
"You just expect us to do that?"
"I mean… yeah. You never made a friend before or something?" Hiccup wondered. Toothless hit Hiccup in the back with his leg.
"Quit being an ass." The dragon mumbled. Hiccup sighed and shook his head to clear his mind.
"Astrid look. I brought humans here in an attempt to show both sides that what they think has been wrong. We're not natural enemies. We were made to be enemies for, I don't what reason. But I do know that if we become friends or at least allies that the world would be a better place."
"And you know that for certain?" She challenged.
"I suppose I don't. But I do know that there would be a lot less hostility between our people. We could even live and work together."
"Until something happens and suddenly we want to kill each other again."
"Well that's something we have to work on. Both sides are going to have to understand that they've been hurt. So to make this work we both have to be willing to forgive and move on." Hiccup explained.
"You really expect me to forgive you for what you did?"
"Astrid, I wasn't even talking about that."
"Well I am." She yelled. A number of humans and dragons stopped to look at who yelled.
"If you want to talk about this then let's go somewhere where not so many people will hear, cause I'm about to talk about this right here."
"Why? Are you afraid your precious dragons will learn you've killed a human?" She put her hands on her hips as though she made a point. Hiccup looked at her confused before standing up.
"Uh, okay." He wiped his face. "Okay so firstly while I'm not human anymore, I'm not the only human here who's killed another human. Like if you think I'm a monster, you shouldn't turn around. Cause the people behind you have killed more humans than you can count. Secondly this group used to attack villages for food. Killing a lot of people. So I'm definitely not the only dragon who's killed humans. I'm not the only dragon on this platform right now that's killed humans, and I'm not even talking about Toothless.
"That doesn't change what you did, Hiccup."
"Alright, hold on." He held up his hands. "Let's go to the roof and talk about this there. A lot less eyes watching." He walked past her. "Follow me." Hiccup continued to walk, climb and crawl out to the roof where a handful of dragons were sunbathing. He called out to them and asked them to leave the roof for a while. The dragons complied and Hiccup was left alone with Astrid. "So, you have something to say?"
"You know what I'm going to say, Hiccup, don't play dumb." Astrid threatened.
"Then say it Astrid." He looked her in the eye.
"It should have been you." She said flatly. Hiccup wanted to snap back but luckily caught himself before saying something before thinking.
"Yeah, maybe. But… But it wasn't. When I met Toothless, I had to grow up real fast. I suddenly had someone else's life in my hands."
"A dragon's life." She interjected.
"Right, but that doesn't change anything. I may not have known at the time that these guys weren't like other animals but that doesn't change that I had a life in my hands. One that I could have ended, or had others end for me. But I chose to instead save it. A decision that I'll never regret. One that has, and will continue to change lives."
"And that lets you decide who lives and who dies?"
"It did that day. I wasn't going to let you guys attack and kill me without defending myself. Had you just let me go nothing would have happened. But you lot couldn't do that."
"You're a traitor Hiccup. You allied yourself with our biggest enemy and expected everyone to be okay with it."
"That's not true at all Astrid. I knew that if Toothless was ever found I'd have to run. And I was naive enough to believe I could trust a friend."
"What did you expect me to do? Not say anything? You were hiding a Night Fury."
"Well I hoped you'd at least let me explain the situation. There was a lot you didn't know, and it probably wouldn't have made a difference but at least you would have been better informed.
Astrid I befriended a dragon. Shouldn't that have tipped you off that something wasn't normal. We rode on his back together. Dragons don't just let you do that."
"That didn't matter Hiccup. You sided with a dragon. Anyone else would have done the same thing."
"I know. It just would have been nice to leave on my own terms, and not get hunted down like an animal."
"You know your father wasn't going to just let you leave." Astrid shook her head.
"You're right and Snotlout ended up paying with his life for it."
"We didn't know that was going to happen. And you didn't have to kill him. You could have just hurt him or something."
"That's a nice thought Astrid but we both know he wouldn't have afforded me the same courtesy."
"He didn't have to." She blurted. She took a breath and centered herself. "You're a damned Haddock, Hiccup. We both know that you were better with a sword than he ever would have been."
"That doesn't matter. Who cares what my name is or who was better with a sword? I surely wasn't thinking about it and I doubt any of you were either. You were there to kill me. He was just the unlucky bastard who stepped up at a time where the situation was either live or die. There was no 'oh just hurt him so he could have gone home with the rest of us'. It was kill or be killed and I wasn't going to choose to be killed."
"But, I, we coulda…" She sighed and sat down. She laid down on her back and held her hand in the air. "He really wasn't that bad, you know. An idiot, an ego bigger than this mountain, and loud to all hel, but he was also willing to put himself in front of others." She looked over at Hiccup who sat down next to her.
"You were all bad to me. And he died because of that trait."
"Yeah. We were. You're not giving us a whole lot to work with now you know. Doesn't help that you're naked all the time."
"I literally wore my clothes until they were shreds. But my scales just destroy fabric. Even stuff like leather I'll eventually rub through. It's just not worth the effort. Plus I've gotten used to it, especially around my dragons. But I do understand that it can be hard to, uh, not make direct eye contact with, it. One of the only things I didn't get when I changed was a sheath. Guess I don't get to hide my shame like a dragon." He laughed.
"People are going to have a hard time coming to terms with that but I guess we'll just have to deal with it. Speaking of that. What's up with your body? Why are you like that?"
"It's a whole thing." Hiccup shared to explain.