As I'm writing this I am wrapping up episode 72 of "Chris Chan: a Comprehensive History" by GenoSamuel. My brain is mush. My faith for humanity is destroyed, and they JUST GOT OUT OF JAIL YESTERDAY, and I think it's my karmic punishment for willingly learning anything about this person.
Summary: the language barrier is broken (and so are a couple ribs)!
I'm ngl I haven't really reread this chapter since August. I skimmed it for errors, but that's about it.
Anyways.
What was originally a fairly simple task of checking grammar for Hiccup and Fishlegs actually turned out to be a lot more insightful than expected.
Despite the fact that he was still rather apprehensive, Hiccup couldn't deny that their earlier conversation hadn't sparked a type of curiosity within him. And, well, since they were already on the topic of technology…
The word 'computer' was quickly filed into his vocabulary, as it seemed to be a very important piece of information for explaining how, well, everything in the 21st century worked.
Well. Almost everything, but it was still a considerable amount. Hiccup still didn't exactly know what a computer was. Phantom tried his best, but his understanding was still a bit lackluster, and Tucker's ensuing explanation, while enthusiastic, came from a place of much higher understanding. Phantom had tried the best he could to translate, but there were some terms that Norse just didn't have a word for.
At some point, much to Fishlegs' particular amusement, Phantom had tried to translate the word 'computer', to which it came out as 'thinking rock', and if it weren't for the fact that the three glass-and-metal things on Tucker's desks were lit up with runes, Hiccup would have found that statement as unbelievable as it was funny.
Still, the hours passed with scribbled notes in both nordic runes and latin scripts, and before they knew it, golden rays began to flood Tucker's room. Hiccup never really had separation anxiety, but with a lull in grammer lessons, his mind began wandering back to the rest of the dragon riders…isolated in the gods-damned 21st century, Thor, what the –
At least Meatlug was rather entertaining. Hiccup snapped his attention to the gronkle as she scampered across the comforter he was laying on, squeaking contently. With a chuckle, he scratched at her ears, feeling a melancholy smile pull at his face.
"You okay?" Phantom asked from where he was floating between the end of the bed and Tucker's desk. Hiccup looked up to him with thin lips. Had he been that obvious?
"Just…not used to being separated." He admitted, brows pinching together as Meatlug nuzzled into his hand. Her nose twitched rapidly before she scampered back to Fishlegs.
"Oh," Phantom said, glancing towards the window, "Right. It's been a little while, hasn't it?"
He pulled the metal ingot – phone – out of his pocket again and cringed at whatever he saw. "Yeesh." The ghost turned to Tucker, who was hunched over the Fenton Phones, and asked something that sounded like a question.
To answer, the other boy held up two fingers and mumbled something before detaching the devices from the cord. He spun on his chair, gingerly stuffing the stray wires back into the Fenton Phone and closing it with a snap. He then pressed something along the bottom and fixed it to his ear with a nervous expression.
"Testing time?" Phantom asked, and Tucker nodded solemnly. The ghost boy gestured with open arms, "go ahead."
With a preemptive sigh, the techie shrugged his shoulders, brow tense, and spoke.
"Testing: one, two, three."
It sounded like something that Hiccup could justifiably call 'automata-ish'. It didn't carry the tone of anything a living person would produce. In fact, it didn't seem to carry any tone at all. It was a completely new version of monotone that was accompanied by a small jumble of noise as it mixed Tucker's native tongue, but it was understandable. It was Norse.
"Great Thor," Hiccup felt an incredulous laugh burble out of his mouth, and he was quickly pushing himself up from his stomach. He looked over to Fishlegs, whose eyes were wide in wonder, "I'm not sure if I actually expected that to work."
Phantom looked like a proud parent, "Do you understand us?" He asked his friend, who was now standing with an excited smile.
Tucker nodded enthusiastically before seeming to remember that he could speak now, "Loud and clear, Danny Phantom!" He spoke before turning to Fishlegs and Hiccup, "Oh, this is better much very."
Phantom cringed at the vernacular, "Well. Nearly."
A snort left Hiccup at that, "That is what we're here for." He resigned.
With a nod, Tucker spoke again, "Very true. I tinkering still have some guess I."
That prompted a real laugh out of Phantom, "You sound like if Yoda had a stroke."
"I'm choose going to take to as that a compliment." Tucker rolled his eyes before taking off the Fenton Phone.
"Alright, well." Phantom shrugged, still smiling, "That's better news, I guess."
Their shared notebook was shoved into hands by Tucker, and a brief exchange happened in English before he turned back to Hiccup and Fishlegs. "Alright, back to Norse 101."
And so they painstakingly worked their way through the few sentences that Tucker had spoken.
Phantom disappeared with the warm colors of the sunset, leaving the streetlamps to make up for its absence. He babbled something about patrolling his territory and was gone for much longer than usual. With the hardest part of the translator finished, he wasn't much needed, so Hiccup and Fishlegs didn't mind too much.
At some point Tucker produced a handful of thick books about what had been dubbed 'engineering'. There were handwritten notes in the margins of the uniformed print, practically every page was dogeared from constant rereading. A few sections of the words were even outlined in bright yellow ink.
They couldn't, technically, read anything – the runes seemed to be Latin – but the diagrams were very intriguing to look at. Hiccup and Fishlegs managed to come up with a game of guessing what contraption did what. (And then debating whether that was too outlandish for the future).
A break was announced when Tucker threw his head back with enough force to send the wheels of his chair spinning backwards (Hiccup would have to remember that when they got back to the edge). He rubbed his eyes and promptly announced (though it was still a bit garbled) that it was dinner time, asking the vikings what they liked on their pizza.
Of course, neither Hiccup or Fishlegs knew what pizza was, so Tucker simply shrugged and said he was getting 'meat-lovers', with a salad for Meatlug and her new rodent-diet.
Both dragon riders decided to keep their lips sealed about the fact that Meatlug still seemed to be able to eat her weight in rocks, regardless of her glamour. It was the thought that counted.
In the same trend that seemed to follow, the food was strange, but not bad. The cheese wasn't any kind Hiccup was used to – neither was the bread, and the shrug that Tucker gave him when he asked what animal 'pepperoni' came from wasn't all that reassuring, but it was more than edible. If the meals back home tasted like this, Hiccup imagined he'd be able to put on the extra few pounds his dad so desperately wanted him to.
Thankfully, Tucker seemed to relent after dinner – the translators were working pretty well. Both Hiccup and Fishlegs had been given one to test out the reverse setting.
Speaking into the small little thing was strange, but not in the way Hiccup expected. If he didn't think about it, he would almost forget that it was even in his ear.
It seemed the grammatical issues only happened when trying to say a word for which there was no Nordic substitute. It was what Tucker had called a 'bug' that needed working out, but Hiccup didn't care much. The meanings of those jumbled-up sentences were easy to decipher.
And yet, as they made their way through the twilight-speckled streets, the sudden steely concern on Tucker's face as his 'phone' went off didn't need a translation.
"Ghost attack." the translator didn't pick up on the urgency of the message. His glasses reflected the light from his phone eerily in the dark, nearly reminding Hiccup of Phantom's own glowing gaze.
"Ghost attack?!" Fishlegs parroted, pressing Meatlug against his chest protectively. She squeaked indignantly, but made no move to wriggle free.
Tucker swiveled his satchel until he could reach into the larger compartment.
He pulled out two things. One looked like a green sword handle; the other was a small metal device.
The green handle then extended to reveal a club of sorts, and Tucker promptly thrust it at Fishlegs, who gawked at it but held it like a typical swordsman.
Hiccup was presented with the smaller device, which he took mostly to not be rude. His hand was already clutching Inferno, which still rested in the pocket on his thigh. "Don't tell me we're going towards it." he said, and Tucker's grave look suggested just that.
The younger teen gestured to the weapons he'd distributed. "That's the Fenton Creep Club. It's just a bat infused with ectoplasm, so it'll do some extra damage to ghosts."
"Oh...fun." Fishlegs squeaked sarcastically, moving to sheath the weapon into his holster before obviously remembering that he didn't have it.
Hiccup had been given something called a wrist blaster, and he took that to mean some sort of projectile. "We're really doing this?" He asked incredulously.
"Welcome to Amity." Tucker sighed.
Hiccup didn't even realize how little trees there were in Amity Park until the group entered the park in the center of it – The taller-than-Helheim buildings seemed to substitute for the plants he was used to in his subconscious. But when he saw the trees, Hiccup nearly teared up.
It was so stupid. They'd only been in Sam's manor for three days, and yet he already missed them. They reminded him of home, even if they were different and the grass was more orderly. It was a familiar sight, and he didn't even know he'd been craving it until now. The air smelled less of smoke and the leaves filtered the blinding lights from the buildings enough that Hiccup could almost convince himself that it was moonlight. Crickets chirped lazily in the distance, and for the first time in a long time Hiccup felt like he could relax.
Well, for about ten minutes, anyway.
Dodging an ectoblast was, alas, not the best way to end a calming stroll.
Especially with the absolutely hideous burn it left in the tree bark. It looked like a glowing version of Changewing acid.
A booming, echoing laugh that shook the treetops encircled the group of three a second after that, followed immediately by a "look out!" from somewhere behind Hiccup's left shoulder.
All three of them dropped to the floor just in time for a flying form to crash with a ground-shuddering force in their midst.
Hiccup, having pulled Inferno out to provide a light source (much to the amazement of Tucker, whom he'd promised to explain it to afterwards), pointed it directly at them. Phantom turned to look at it in something that appeared to be anticipation – it disappeared in what could have been a literal flash of his neon eyes upon realizing the source.
"What are you doing here?!" He shot out of the near human-shaped ditch in the ground as though he'd simply been pushed over. He whirled on Tucker with more worry than anger, but Hiccup took a wary step back anyway.
"We were in the neighborhood." Tucker reported with half-lidded eyes, "what do you need us to do?"
Phantom spared a glance at Hiccup and Fishlegs, eyes stalling particularly longer on their weapons. "I need you to get out of here." His voice dropped in volume, though the urgency in his tone did not.
Tucker seemed to not have been expecting that answer, because his eyebrows shot up for a moment. "What do you – Danny, I can handle myself. We've been doing this for –"
"I don't need you getting hurt," Phantom emphasized, "this is my job, not yours –!"
Phantom lunged to the side as another ectoblast fell right where his torso had been a millisecond earlier, and whatever he'd been saying left his train of thought as his eyes burned a furious hole in the treetops. Something akin to fog was billowing from his mouth, reminding Hiccup very much of a dragon.
"Skulker?" Tucker asked, and Phantom nodded.
"You know I can one-shot that guy, right?" Tucker responded again, holding up his – no, that wasn't a phone, it was different – not-phone in emphasis.
This time, the ghost boy sent him a look that was reminiscent of a parent scolding their child. He opened his mouth, but Fishlegs spoke before him.
"Skulker?" he echoed the name with a squeak, holding the club like an experienced swordsman, knees bent and prepared for battle.
It drew Phantom's attention away from Tucker, his face was like stone.
"Ghost huntsman…" he explained, voice monotone as he tracked something Hiccup couldn't see. "I take it you got the translators up and running, then…" He muttered, mostly to Tucker.
Hiccup shifted his grip on Inferno, the fire flickering comfortingly in his peripheral as he, too, examined the treeline.
"Come out here, Whelp!" A voice boomed through the translator, much louder and more imposing than Phantom's or Dora's. It sent chills down Hiccup's spine, goosebumps breaking out on his arms.
He had the urge to rush and get Toothless — they could use all the backup they could get if this Skulker stayed airborne like Phantom was suggesting...
And yet Hiccup looked over to see Meatlug cowering in Fishlegs' hoodie, and was suddenly reminded of their predicament. He shook his head as his eyes narrowed in anticipation.
His hair stood on end, and the trees didn't even have time to part before a monster dove through, tearing leaves and branches down along with it.
Its metal gleamed endlessly under its own glow and green flames flickered like an exotic dragon's fire: it looked human and yet, not at all. Not like Dora and her subjects, who, beyond their ghastly skin colors and pointed features, could pass for a normal person on the street. But it was still too humanoid to compare it to the behemoth. This was like some bastardization of a man – a wet dream from Tyr's battlefield that hulked with every move: Somehow bigger than Hiccup's dad himself, yet just as fast as a dragon.
And Phantom sent all but sent it flying backwards when he pelted into its torso.
There was a loud, distant crash as the two ghosts resumed battle, and Hiccup's instincts screamed at him to move. To pray, even, though he'd never been very big on that.
Yet, barely even phased at the sight, Tucker moved with nothing other than mild annoyance on his face.
"Well, come on."
The goosebumps on his arms were telling him to run, while at the same time screaming that he could never outrun the thing that Phantom was battling.
Hiccup moved despite this and tried to shake those nerves. After all, he had only been a year or so younger than Phantom when he battled the Red Death which, he supposed, was a bit more intimidating.
But he and Toothless hardly came out unscathed.
The dragon whisperer tried to comfort himself with the fact that Phantom was already dead – the boy may be reckless because he didn't need to be careful in the first place. Another oddly comforting thought he could file away from his time here.
Another blast of ghost energy just barely missed Hiccup, and he bit back a scream as the eerie heat crawled across his skin.
"The park has a 'no hunting' rule, Skulker! I figured you'd've known that by now!" Phantom quipped in English from beyond the brush. Hiccup's translator blinked as it picked up the words.
Hiccup caught a view through the trees just long enough to watch the ghost boy drop his arms to his side and fall a few feet to avoid an attack from Skulker. He whirled around like there was a physical ground beneath him, hands sparking to life with the similar, eerie glow of ectoplasm to fire a few shots at the other ghost's back.
Hiccup didn't see them land – the trees blocked his view again, but the sound that erupted from Skulker didn't leave much to the imagination on whether or not Phantom missed.
Fire still blazing from Inferno, Hiccup nudged aside a few bushes and found himself in a clearing – a pathway ran no further than twenty feet from his left.
He spotted Fishlegs and Tucker a few paces away from him, taking slight cover in the brush the way he was, and they made fleeting eye contact as the battle raged above them.
Hiccup had a million questions on his tongue. No, he had more than that. How was this Skulker going to be defeated? What was he? And, what was probably the most important, what did Tucker expect the two vikings to do about it?
As if he had read his mind, the techie yelled, "You won't be doing most of the fighting, that's Phantom's job. We're just gonna be there to make sure he doesn't get into trouble. Provide some ground cover."
…That, apparently.
Maybe Hiccup was wrong. Maybe these kids had no idea what they were actually doing, because there were no tips provided, nothing about how ghosts tended to attack, or their weaknesses. And call Hiccup superstitious, but he highly doubted that fighting a dragon was remotely close to fighting a ghost with a punch strong enough to send another ghost through the ground.
But then again, just standing in place and thinking about that wasn't doing Phantom any good.
"Aim for his back! That's where most of his firepower comes from." Tucker called.
Against his better wishes, Hiccup sheathed Inferno again.
The two ghosts appeared through the treetops again, and then immediately plummeted to the ground courtesy of Phantom who had, once again, pelted himself into the stomach of Skulker. The pathway crumpled beneath them like sand with an ear-screeching clang.
Taking partial cover behind a tree, Hiccup took the chance to point the wrist blaster at Skulker, who was in the middle of throwing Danny like a ragdoll towards Tucker. The roar it let out sounded like lightning and screeching metal and a battle cry all in one, Hiccup had to resist the urge to plaster his hands against his ears.
He fired, and something that was very similar to ectoplasm flew from the device, landing right on Skulker's shoulder. Hiccup quickly ducked behind the tree, feeling almost too slow as the shiver of anticipation shot his way up his spine. He could feel the deranged stare of the ghost as it dragged over his area of cover and against his will, Hiccup sucked in a breath and held it.
"...you have more than just your little tech pet here, don't you, Whelp?" The thing growled, voice so low that it crackled like sparks against rock, and Hiccup's chest heaved as he refused it another breath.
"Well," Phantom's voice boomed, sounding pained in the way someone would at a crick in the neck, "I figured if you were going to break some rules, I might as well even the match."
"The only laws I follow are that of Walker's." Skulker growled quite literally, Hiccup peeked his head out from behind the tree to see the metal hunk's head tilt down narrowly, fiery hair flaring wildly as he creaked to his feet.
"That's weird," Phantom's voice raised with something dangerous, and the temperature in the immediate area dropped like a blizzard was on the horizon. Chills shot up Hiccup's spine as he turned to the ghost boy, who's countenance had twisted to something feral.
Phantom snarled – actually snarled – flashing his fangs as he jumped back into the air, "because didn't Walker tell you that this was my haunt? And I know Plasmius didn't send you, because while he's here, I'm in charge."
Hiccup knew that they were guests in his territory, and yet at that moment he wanted nothing other than to be out of it.
Phantom didn't wait for Skulker to explain himself, instead flipping out the cylindrical device on his hip and pointing it at his opponent with lightning speed.
If it was possible for something that terrifying to be scared, Skulker was, because the ghost immediately dodged the vortex of light that came from Phantom's device with a small yell.
Hiccup jumped out of the way as Skulker rammed into the tree next to him, spinning in his desperation to keep facing the ghost. His breath caught in his throat as Phantom plunged into his opponent again, much to Skulker's obvious rage.
Another screeching roar sent the leaves on the trees trembling before the metal ghost reared back, and suddenly a multitude of arrows were being fired from hidden compartments in his back.
"Oh, shoot." was all Phantom had time to say before he had to jump to the side. Two of the arrows hit the ground behind him with explosions that sent the ground shaking, and the rest began a short-lived pursuit of Phantom.
The ghost boy seemed to fade into some sort of mist as he weaved, his legs quite literally disappearing as he put on the speed. Hiccup realized too late that he'd been heading his way, and when Phantom took a sharp turn to the left, he was nearly nailed by one of the metal arrows that couldn't make that same turn.
Fishlegs was suddenly at his side, and with a yell, he swung his club, hitting the projectile and sending it careening off into the nearby brush, where it exploded once again. Hiccup watched the fire dissipate as he heaved for air.
"...thanks." He cracked as his friend crouched next to him.
"Don't mention it." Fishlegs swallowed thickly.
Their attention was quickly brought back to Phantom as one remaining arrow nailed him right in the chest. The force of the ensuing explosion sent him flying back into another tree with yet another sickening crack, and gravity finally seemed to grab ahold of the ghost boy, because he fell with an unceremonious 'oof' to the grass.
"Great Thor," Fishlegs cringed before turning to Hiccup, "I hope that ghosts don't have bones."
Hiccup hoped so, too. He swiveled back to Skulker, who had righted himself in the last minute or so and was now flying towards Phantom with a devilish smirk. "Is this why you've brought backup today, Whelp? Are you off your game?"
With a weak groan, the teenage ghost lifted a stiff neck, eyes absolutely blazing in the dark as he glared up to Skulker. The hand clutching the impact mark on his chest clenched in anger, "Is that what this is?"
Skulker knelt with a creak of metal, Hiccup couldn't see much of his face from where they were crouched, "That's what this has always been, has it not?"
A glowing sword materialized out of the metal ghosts' arm with a sudden click and deep, chest rattling hum. "And to think, not only would I get your head on my wall, but I'd get your title, all in one go."
Phantom grunted as Skulker's other hand flew to his throat, and slowly he was lifted from the ground, the sound of bark scraping off the trunk of the tree was grating in Hiccup's ears, he could hear Tucker yelling obscenities from a little ways off to his right.
Without thinking, Hiccup leveled the blaster on his wrist and fired it again. The blast landed right on the back of Skulker's head, causing the hulking ghost to stumble forward.
With an efforted grunt, Phantom delivered a kick to Skulker's gut and sent him stumbling back. Hiccup made to take a step into the clearing to help, but stopped short as the ghost boy's eyes turned from a toxic green to a freezing blue in the blink of an eye.
With a grunt, he raked his fist – glowing with an equal icy presence – in an upward motion, and glowing ice cracked up from the ground in a similar manner, freezing around Skulker's leg and sending him careening to the ground.
Hiccup and Fishlegs jumped from the treeline as more ice ripped its way out of the grass, encasing Skulker's sworded-arm all the way up to the shoulder. The ghost let out an enraged roar and wrenched as Phantom floated back to his feet, but it couldn't move.
His free hand flew to the back of his metal head, and when he pulled it away it held an array of sparking wires and bolts.
Skulker scowled, when his gaze raised to the two vikings, Hiccup's heart skipped a beat. The ghost first looked to the wrist blaster, and then trailed up his arm to Hiccup's face, where the scowl there quickly darkened to an enraged snarl.
"YOU," the ghost lunged, and Phantom's ice cracked from the force. Hiccup gasped and brought his hands up to shield his face, tightening his gut in preparation for a hit –
But it never came.
Instead, the vortex of light from earlier reappeared and wind started whipping around Hiccup as it began to pull.
The metal ghost screeched, clawing at the ground as he was stretched, pulled, compressed, and then eventually gone behind a metal cap. The wind came to a halt, and suddenly the silence was deafening.
Phantom dropped the hand holding the device in exhaustion. His shoulders slumped as he leaned forward to clutch at his chest, where bubbling green, glowing blood was staining his white glove.
"Holy Thor," Fishlegs breathed as Tucker rushed to the ghost boy, looking upon the remaining ice crystals littering the grass, "that's new."
"I'd totally explain," Phantom grunted as he teetered and fell against Tucker for a few moments, "but, you know…"
Hiccup grimaced at the sight, feeling awkward to just be standing there. "Are you okay?"
Green blood splattered onto the grass as Phantom spit forcefully. He looked up amidst gravity-defying bangs to give them a bloodied smile. Tucker pulled out a roll of gauze from his bag.
"It's better than it looks." the ghost boy grunted in Norse as Tucker forced him to sit.
"It's a good thing I don't listen to you, huh?" He snarked, unraveling the gauze.
Phantom bit the inside of his cheek, he did not respond to that.
The goosebumps that had just been beginning to subside started back up as Phantom's hand began to glow an ice-blue again. He placed it gingerly against his chest and sighed in relief.
Hiccup shivered, crossing his arms over his chest.
The trees no longer felt like home. Instead, they felt like eyes raking up the back of his spine.
Astrid knew that Hiccup and Fishlegs were back only because Stormfly had squawked, prompting Toothless to all but bolt to the hallway. She shared a sparing glance with Sam before following the night fury hastily.
She rounded the corner just in time to see Hiccup pull away from Toothless with a "hey, Bud."
But his smile was tired, and his eyes were wide. His hand was gripping on his upper arm nervously, and Astrid felt her brow pull together in concern.
As Toothless and Stormfly crouched to greet Meatlug, whose head was poking out of Fishlegs' pocket, Astrid closed the distance between her and Hiccup.
"Are you okay?" She asked, pulling him into a hug. He swallowed as he returned it, his grip was a bit tighter than usual and that was answer enough for her.
She pulled back, cupping his cheek with her hand, "What happened?"
Hiccup looked to Fishlegs and Toothless with a slightly shaking sigh, "oh, you know…territory dispute, I guess."
Astrid's nose wrinkled. "With Phantom?" She gave him a once-over, looking for any injuries.
"And another ghost." Hiccup confirmed as Toothless turned his attention back to his rider. His head cocked to the side worriedly as Stormfly left his shoulder to settle back onto Astrid's.
"I'm fine," Hiccup shook his head earnestly as he glanced between the night fury and Astrid, "Phantom fought it off, it's just…"
A shiver wracked his frame as he crossed his arms over his chest, rubbing them restlessly.
"It was a lot." Fishlegs agreed, "that thing…it wasn't human or animal." He held Meatlug close to his chest and she squeaked, nuzzling his collarbone.
Astrid felt shivers threatening along her spine. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Hiccup and Fishlegs shared a long but fleeting look, but didn't say anything further. Instead, the former rather suddenly changed the subject. "How's everyone else?"
Astrid gave him a concerned once over before she answered, "just had dinner."
A sigh that was equal parts exhausted and relieved left Hiccup as he looked to Toothless. "I hope you didn't cause too much trouble with that." He pointed, and the night fury tactfully avoided his gaze.
"We had fish, anyway." Astrid came to Toothless' defense with a roll of her eyes, "would you guys like any?"
Both Hiccup and Fishlegs shook their heads earnestly, almost looking apprehensive at the idea. Astrid pursed her lips in concern, prompting the former to say, "We ate with Tucker."
His voice was much too quiet for that to be the only reason. Still, she tilted her head dismissively as they re-entered the lounging room.
Fishlegs took a detour to grab his journal, and some charades between Hiccup and Sam ensued as he asked for paper and charcoal. Thankfully the goth caught on pretty quickly and came back with something even better: a blank journal.
He took it with a gentle smile and a thank you, Sam returned it with a small nod before leaving the room for the night. Hiccup sighed as she left, fingers thrumming the journal nervously. He looked to Astrid as she neared him, eyes widening in faux-nonchalance.
"What's that for?" She asked, looping her arm under his.
Hiccup shrugged bashfully. "Ah, left my sketchbook at home."
She hummed in understanding, setting her chin on his shoulder, "Get hit with sudden inspiration?" She smirked as he watched Toothless shield Hookfang from a particularly irate Snotlout by shoving him into his sleeve.
Brow pulling together, Hiccup hummed. "Actually, I…think I'm gonna turn in early tonight?" He turned his head to Astrid, but his gaze swiveled above her head and over to the exit of the room.
Lifting her chin from his shoulder, the shieldmaiden dropped her voice in slight confusion, "Okay?" She stepped away to give him some room. "You need anything?"
With a sigh, Hiccup kissed her forehead, and Astrid felt her shoulders slump just slightly. "Just some shut-eye. Thanks, Milady."
Astrid tried to push down the concern in her gut. "Yeah, of course." She caught Toothless' gaze, who promptly shook Hookfang out of his tunic. As Hiccup turned, she sent a glance between him and the night fury. She knew she didn't need to ask Toothless to watch his rider, but it made her feel better to do so anyway.
A curt nod left the night fury. He carefully passed Stormfly over to Astrid's shoulder before making off after Hiccup. Astrid hummed fondly, bringing a curled finger up to stroke at her dragon's feathers.
Stormfly nuzzled her temple and she sighed. "Yeah, maybe I am overthinking things." It was getting a little late, after all. She could feel sleep pulling at the corners of her eyes as well.
Still, as midnight neared and Astrid found herself also retiring to her room, the sight of light leaking out from below Hiccup's bedroom door drew her to a stop.
She paused with her hand on the doorknob, staring at the yellow-ish light illuminating the hall floor for a long while. Stormfly squawked quietly, and with a swallow Astrid entered her room and eased her dragon onto the bed with a kiss to her beak.
She waited until Stormfly settled into the blankets before quietly latching the door and taking a few steps to the side. Her hand wavered for only a moment before giving a quiet knock on the door.
When no answer met her, she called out, "Hiccup?" She paused, tilting her ear to the side.
Astrid almost figured he'd fallen asleep with the lamp on, but instead she heard a quiet, "It's unlocked," come from the other side.
Creaking open the door revealed Hiccup to be curled near the headrest of his bed, journal in hand and nose buried between the pages. He sent a fleeting glance to her before scribbling onto the page.
"Heading to bed?" He asked, nodding his head towards Toothless' sleeping form in the bed next to him.
Shrugging, Astrid closed the door and padded over to Hiccup. "Getting there." She said, sinking onto the edge of his bed. She leaned in towards him to try and catch a glimpse of the journal's contents. "I thought you already were."
Hiccup pressed his lips together guiltily and went back to sketching. Astrid swallowed as she took in the drawing. It was a man-ish thing with flaming hair, frozen in a menacing snarl. There were sketches of Phantom, too, poking out from the other pages, and Astrid found her gaze darting to Hiccup's face as he hunched forwards to work on an arm.
"Okay," She resolved, kicking off her boots and hopping fully onto the bed, "What's on your mind?"
When he did nothing but shrug, she set a hand on the journal, blocking Hiccup's current path. "Babe."
He was frozen for a long while, save for his finger, which tapped restlessly on the tip of the pencil. Eventually, though, he sighed and gingerly shut the journal.
"It's probably nothing," he shook his head, but Astrid tilted her chin downwards skeptically.
"You don't get like this after most battles." She pointed out. They were vikings, for Thor's sake. Blood was almost as common as mead to them.
The look he sent her was not a thankful one. "Yeah, well. Back home I know what I'm dealing with." Hiccup's voice cracked into a whisper at the last part.
Astrid clenched her jaw, hoping to coax more words out of him, but when nothing came from him she asked, "What happened?"
Hiccup leaned back until his head came to a rest against the wall with a thump. His eyes followed the blade of the ceiling fan as it spun. It was a long while before he answered, "Phantom…got hurt."
"He did?" She inquired, feeling something akin to concern spark in her chest. Hiccup nodded.
"I didn't think ghosts could get hurt." He admitted and ran a hand over his mouth, "I mean – what makes the afterlife any better if you have to worry about things like that?"
Nodding slowly, Astrid asked, "was it bad?"
"Well, he didn't pass out, I guess." Hiccup threw his hands out in front of him, seeing something that Astrid could not.
"You think he can pass out?"
Hiccup finally turned to look at her, eyes half-lidded and lips all but as thick as a piece of twine, "Like I said. Back home, I know what I'm dealing with."
He scratched at his eyebrow as he studied the quilt. "I dunno, I just – with the Behemoth…it just seemed annoyed at our attacks. I kind of wish…" he trailed off.
Astrid took his hand in hers and squeezed. He sighed and leaned over, resting his head on top of hers. "Makes me wonder what Valhalla's like." He muttered.
His other hand thrummed against the cover of the journal nervously, the noise was almost reminiscent of rain on the rooftop.
Astrid closed her eyes briefly. She could feel the perpetual cold of anxiety she'd been forcing down creep back into her gut, and when she sucked in a breath it spread to her lungs.
"I've been thinking about that too, you know?" She admitted, relishing in Hiccup's warmth. Astrid squeezed her eyes shut as more words formed on her tongue. She didn't want to give Hiccup any more worries than he already had, but they almost tasted like bile in her mouth, so she spoke after a little hesitation.
"I mean…what if everything we were ever taught about...spirits and souls," She stroked her thumb over his, "...what if it's all wrong?"
She didn't know if she expected Hiccup to have an answer for her – in fact, even as the words left her mouth she regretted them. But it still felt comforting to know that she was being heard.
A sigh that was big enough to shift even Astrid rattled out of Hiccup's chest, he unclasped their hands to swing his arm around her shoulders. "I don't know." He admitted.
"Would it be so bad?"
His head lifted off hers, and she could feel his stare. "What?"
She shrugged, almost feeling silly. "I mean…you know. Phantom seems to still be pretty human. You know, despite the fangs. Maybe being a ghost wouldn't be so bad."
Huffing, Hiccup shook his head, "What, you think I'd look good with fangs now, do you?"
"Oh, yeah, and pointy ears…" She giggled, reaching a hand around to pick at the tips of his.
Hiccup chuckled, "Oh, shut it, you." He muttered, settling his head back onto hers.
They were quiet for quite a few moments. When he eventually spoke up again, it was almost like a rumble in Astrid's head.
"I guess…it would make sense that they could be injured. Ragnarok and all." He offered by way of explanation and repositioned his head, rubbing a cheek against her hair.
Astrid hummed. "I guess that's not for a while longer, huh?" She joked, and Hiccup laughed silently.
"I suppose not."
His head tilted until he was looking to Toothless, and Astrid's gaze followed. She felt him suck in a breath, like he wanted to say something else, but he bit his tongue instead.
"It's late." She observed, even if the streetlamps outside did nothing to suggest that.
Hiccup hummed in agreement. "We should probably go to bed."
That time, Astrid was the one who hummed, but it was definitely a more apprehensive one. She wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed firmly. "Mmm. Just a few more minutes," She mumbled, even as her eyes were already fluttering shut.
Fun fact: the fight with Skulker was the last scene I wrote in the original draft for this! Everything from here on out is completely new content, not that yall would know the difference, lol.
I really wanted to emphasize like,,,the creepiness of ghosts here? Cuz the Behemoth is animalistic enough for the literal dragon-riding vikings to just go "huh okay", and Dora and Danny are human enough that they could pass as humans if they squint. Skulker, though? Not only is he humanoid, he's...a mechanic, ghostly, uncanny-valley humanoid (at least his suit is, lmfao). I think he's a great choice to really drive home the creepiness of ghosts to Hiccup and the gang. So.
Anyways, next time I update this I'll be 22. that's fucking wacky to think about.
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Until next time, my lovelies
~Local Dragon Haunt