Hiccup was trapped. He sat in his workshop tinkering with some crystals. The entire order was on high alert. Patrols, guards, everything imaginable that made it impossible to sneak out. He had to clock in and clock out. Every movement was tracked, to make sure that no knight was captured or attacked while the Night Fury was on the loose. Little did they know, that the Nighty Fury was in the order. Stoick even issued a Kill-on-Sight order. Although every encounter with a demon was already Kill-on-Sight. . .
"Beating yourself up over this is going to be the death of you." Toothless said while standing in the corner of the room, nonchalantly leaning against the wall and checking his fingernails.
Hiccup threw down the materials he was tinkering with. "How can I not? This is all my fault."
"To be fair you didn't know this would happen. You even tried to get her not to fight."
Hiccup scoffed, "Yea, like Astrid would surrender. What I can't figure out, is how her weapon broke." At this Toothless chuckled, earning a glare from Hiccup.
"That's simple, your sword is made from demon iron." Toothless stated as if that was the obvious answer. To prove his point Toothless walked over to the weapon rack and inspected the weapons. He found the sturdiest looking one and brought it over to Hiccup. He placed the sword in a vice and backed away from it.
"Ok, Hiccup. Summon your sword and strike this one." Hiccup shrugged and pushed back his chair. He quickly summoned his sword and took a quick practice swing at the other weapon. Much to his surprise, without putting any force into it, his divine sword cleanly sliced through the other one like a hot knife through butter. The metal fragment clanging onto the stone floor. Toothless just hummed in approval.
"See brother, it wasn't your fault. Your sword is just much higher quality." Hiccup was still in shock, looking down at his own sword in amazement.
Hiccup rolled his shoulder, finally standing up straight for the first time today. "I guess you are right Toothless."
Toothless clapped him on the back, "Of course I'm right. I'm always right." This earned an eye roll from Hiccup. "Come on, let's go visit the pretty lady. It's the least you could do." Hiccup flicked his hand causing his sword to disappear, and Toothless followed suit by disappearing as Hiccup opened the door to his workshop heading for the infirmary.
Hiccup shuffled his hands nervously. They were clasped tightly around a vase with a small bouquet of flowers in it. He awkwardly approached the front desk which had a nurse frantically scribbling something on a piece of paper. He cleared his throat to get her attention.
"Oh!" She exclaimed jumping at the sudden noise.. "How can I help you?"
"Hello there. I'm looking for Astrid Hofferson." The nurses eyes widened slightly at the name and quickly typed something in her computer. It beeped and she spun her chair to the side and pulled a sticky note and wrote something on it.
"Are you a family member? Her room is currently only available to members of her family."
"Ah, uh n-n-no I'm not family. I'm uh, uh–" Hiccup was running out of ideas. Friends? Acquaintances? Roommates? He had no idea what they were. But none of those would allow him to see her. He felt horrible for being the cause of all of this. He had to at least visit her. So he mustered up his courage and said something he always dreamed to say.
"Not even her boyfriend? I heard she was attacked by a Night Fury class demon, I'm worried sick about her and I really need to see if she's okay. Please." Truth be told, only the boyfriend part was a lie, everything else was the truth. He surprised himself with his courage.
The nurse at the desk bit her lip, clearly debating with herself. She eventually handed over the sticky note in her hand. "She's in 14B." Hiccup graciously took the sticky note and awkwardly bowed giving his thanks. Soon enough he stood in front of room 14B. He hesitated to open the door. What if she was awake? Then she would know he lied about being her boyfriend. She would kill him. This was a bad idea.
Hiccup turned around to go back to his workshop. He looked down at the plant in his hands. After another moment of thought, he threw his head back and sighed. She was probably still asleep. Just a quick in, drop off the plant, and get out before she wakes up. He slowly opened the door and peeked into the room. The lights were dimmed and he could hear the beeping of her pulse machine. His nose was immediately assaulted by the smell of some sort of cleaning alcohol. He saw Astrid, unconscious, laying on the hospital bed in the middle of the room. He stepped inside and slowly walked over to the side of her bed and placed down the potted plant. He then inspected the sleeping valkyrie.
She didn't seem too injured, at least on the outside. It looked more like she had a few bumps and bruises, but nothing too major. Thankfully, it seemed that he didn't injure her as badly as he thought. He almost expected a huge open wound or maybe a missing limb. Although this was probably the worst condition she has even been in, she still seemed as beautiful as ever.
"Oh, hello." Said a voice from behind Hiccup, causing him to yelp and nearly fall over onto Astrid, tripping over himself. He quickly spun around and saw another set of blonde hair and blue eyes sitting in a lounging chair in the corner of the room. Considering her room was closed to only family, Hiccup should have expected a family member in her room, but that never seemed to cross his mind.
"Uh, h-hello! Great to see you. Mrs. Hofferson?" He supplied, earning a nod from Astrid's mother. "I was just stopping by to . . . you know I just wanted to . . . was making sure–She–her–" Hiccup just slapped his hand on his face. "I was just checking in on Astrid making sure she is okay."
Mrs. Hofferson smiled, "That's very sweet of you dear. But I thought that I asked the nurse to keep her room closed to only family."
Hiccup's blood ran cold. How was he going to explain this? "Well, you see." Quick! Think of an easy explanation that makes total sense. "I'm Astrid's boyfriend." As soon as the words left his mouth, his mind yelled NO!
But it was too late. She already picked up on what he said. Her brows furrowed looking clearly upset. "Astrid never told me that she had a boyfriend. You think that she would at least tell her mother this."
Somehow he managed to get Astrid in trouble with her mother. "No! It's not Astrid's fault. It's–uh–the truth is I'm not actually Astrid's boyfriend." He was wringing his hands and awkwardly shuffling.
"But you just said–" Hiccup interrupted her.
"I know I lied. I lied to the nurse saying I was Astrid's boyfriend so that I would be able to visit her. I was worried and just wanted to make sure she was alright."
Hiccup expected that he would be kicked out. Maybe attacked on the spot. He imagined Astrid's battle cry and charging with her axe and implanting it directly on his sternum. What he didn't expect, happened. Astrid's mother smiled.
"That is very sweet of you." She stood up and grabbed one of his hands, giving him a sweet smile. Astrid was a spitting image of her mother. The same long blonde hair in a complicated braid, bright blue eyes and tough exterior. So far Astrid's mother seems to be a lot more relaxed than her daughter's usual hardcore.
"W-what?"
"I said that it's very sweet of you to take the blame for Astrid." She turned to look at her daughter and glared. Hiccup was very familiar with this look and realized it must have been hereditary. "She really should have shared this with me."
"I-I'm not taking the blame for Astrid, I really did lie." Hiccup persisted.
"Sure you did." She gave him a knowing wink. "Whatever you say." Hiccup quickly pulled his hand away from her and raced towards the door. "Going so soon?"
Hiccup nodded profusely, "Just came by to check on her. I have a ton of work to get to." He waved to Mrs. Hofferson and bolted out the door before she could respond. Hiccup was alive so that wasn't the worst case scenario, but it was pretty darn close.
"Hiccup, I don't mean to alarm you." Toothless said in Hiccup's head. Causing him to jump and startled a passing nurse. "But your heart rate is at an extreme high. I think you are having a heart attack."
Hiccup chuckled despite his circumstances, "No Toothless, that's normal. That was a horrifying situation."
"Astrid's dam holding your hand is horrifying?" Toothless inquired.
Hiccup flipped around a corner and headed for the exit of the infirmary. "No, Toothless. The fact that I lied to get into her room. I was not supposed to be there. I'm not her boyfriend."
"I don't understand. What is a boyfriend and why are you worrying so much?"
Hiccup realized that he was talking to a demon in his head. Of course he doesn't know what human things are.
"A boyfriend is a male who wishes to. . . mate. With another human." Somehow just saying that made him embarrassed even though Toothless probably had no idea what this even was.
"So you claimed to be her mate, yet you are clearly not her mate. Hiccup! How could you!" Guess not.
"Toothless it was the only way to see Astrid."
Toothless growled, "That's beside the point. You can't go around claiming females as your mate unless they choose you. Even hatchlings know this!"
Hiccup rolled his eyes, "Like I said, it was necessary."
"And here I thought that I was gonna share with you the secret of demon iron." Toothless huffed. "Think again."
Hiccup slid to a stop, "Wait, wait wait. No Toothless! You have to teach me that! It is very important to our research."
"Fine. I'm not happy about this. And only if you apologize to Astrid." Hiccup shivered. Thinking about that gave him dread.
"Sure. I'll apologize to Astrid when she wakes up. In the meantime, teach me."
He could feel Toothless' thoughtful gaze. He couldn't see him at all, but just sensed his emotions.
"Fine, turn right." Without thinking, Hiccup made the next right into a hallway. Now leading away from his workshop.
"Uh, Toothless, I don't mean to question your expertise, but this is not the right direction."
"Trust me brother, this is the right direction."
After walking a bit further, Hiccup realized that this part of the Order was very familiar. He remembered all of the paintings and the staircase with a missing stone that he always tripped on. He wished to never come back to this area after his promotion, but it seemed that Toothless had other ideas. Hiccup walked into the large training room for the E-rank knights. His presence was noticed immediately.
"Well, well, well." Mini-Snotlout started. "Look who finally showed up. I know you slack off quite a bit Useless, but you haven't showen up for weeks!" Lupnut laughed at his jab and just stuck their tongue out at Hiccup.
"Again Gustav, I got promoted and won't be coming back."
"Oh yeah! Then why are you here, genius? Looks like you are back to me." He held his arms out to his sides motioning for the rest of the junior knights to join in. Only Lupnut joined in the taunting. Hiccup opened his mouth to respond, then closed it. He didn't know why he was here.
"Toothless. Why are we here again?" Hiccup thought.
"Obviously, summon the short one." He stated matter of factly.
Hiccup looked around and noticed Lire, the scholar and only knight that doesn't taunt him. Doing her best to slink away and hide in the back. Hiccup lifted his hand and pointed to her. She squeaked then looked around, before realizing he was in fact pointing at her.
"Lire, come with me." She walked on over, earning glares and comments from Gustav and Lupnut. They immediately left the training room.
"W-what can I do for you Hiccup?" His eyes flicked to her before returning to the direction they were walking.
Hiccup started, "Don't worry Lire. I'll tell you everything when we get to my workshop." Truth be told. Hiccup had no idea why he was grabbing Lire. Maybe it needed more hands to make the demon iron? Soon enough, they returned to the workshop. Lire stood in the corner fidgeting awkwardly.
"Okay Hiccup, do exactly as I say and you will make demon iron." Hiccup nodded along to Toothless' commands. Toothless directed him to the materials of his workshop and ordered that he place certain materials in a burlap bag. The recipe was three chunks of limestone and two chunks of sandstone. He placed an iron ingot into the crucible and began heating, before Toothless cut him off. Apparently his forge won't get hot enough to create the demon iron, and it needs another source? Hiccup was writing all of the directions down, but had no idea how to accomplish this.
"Okay, now that most of the materials are in place, we now need to bond the iron and superheat it. My plasma can take care of the heating, but not the bonding. Give the bag to the girl in the corner of your workshop."
Hiccup scratched his head, "Toothless how is this–"
"Just give her the bag Hiccup." He interrupted. Hiccup walked over to Lire and handed her the burlap bag. She accepted it and raised an eyebrow, clearly confused. "Good."
Hiccup and Lire just awkwardly stood there staring at each other. Both were waiting for the other to do something. Still confused Lire peeked into the sack. She pulled out one of the rocks, inspected it then put it back in.
Lire looked up at Hiccup, "You called me down here, to give me a bag of rocks?"
"Not quite, I need your help." He pointed to the crucible. What for, Hiccup still wasn't sure.
Lire walked over to the furnace and saw the iron inside. "Hiccup I don't follow. What exactly do you want me to do with–" She grabbed the rock from the bag and stopped talking. She looked at the forge, then back at the rock in her hand. She quickly returned it to the bag and grabbed a different one, inspecting it closely. She turned slowly to face Hiccup, her eyes dark and angry. "Who told you this recipe?"
Hiccup was shocked by her sudden change in personality. She was always sweet and shy. "No one told me the recipe!" He lied poorly. "Honest."
She rolled her eyes, "Hiccup you are a brilliant support engineer. But this is too complex even for you. So don't lie and tell me who the rat is."
Hiccup was about to respond when he felt. . . strange. His body slowly felt numb and he started to lose focus. He wobbled trying to keep his balance. Before he realized it, he had no control of his body. He tried to command his body to move, but it acted as if it had a mind of its own. Hiccup immediately started to panic. Then, without his permission, his body spoke.
"Meatlug! Did you just call me a rat! When I tell you to eat rocks and make demon iron, you eat the damn rocks!" Hiccup? Yelled.
Lire proceeded to drop the bag of rocks onto the ground and fell onto all fours giving a deep bow. "My Prince! I never meant disrespect, I was just questioning the human for–"
Hiccup's body raised its hand, shutting her up. "I don't want you questioning Hiccup ever again. He is my bonded. Anything Hiccup orders you to do has my blessing and will be carried out in haste."
Lire, Meatlug. Whoever. Looked up in fear, mouth hanging open. Gaping.
"That means now!" He yelled, causing the girl to jump up, swiftly grab the bag off the ground and shoveling the rocks into her mouth. If Hiccup was confused before, he was most definitely lost now. The girl ate five large rocks in a surprisingly short amount of time. She sat there for a brief moment before placing her hand on her stomach looking as if she had a bad stomach ache. Which, she promptly vomited. Except instead of the usual bile, it was a bright orange lava directly into the crucible.
Meatlug stood up straight and gave a salute. Hiccup, whoever was controlling him, bent down and held out his hand. Hiccup felt an energy breeze through his body. He was quite familiar with this energy and knew it was Toothless'. A small purple orb formed in his hand, then it slowly drifted towards the forge. Once it made contact with the crucible, it exploded in a bright violet flash. Hiccup stood up, inspected the molten metal then gave Meatlug a nod. Meatlug then hopped, turned about-face and ran out of the workshop. The numb feeling slowly subsided and Hiccup regained control of his body.
"Sorry about that Hiccup, Meatlug was frustrating me and I had to take over." Toothless apologized.
"What do you mean take over? Can you just possess me at any time?"
Toothless hummed in affirmation. "Yes, although it drains quite a lot from me. Only dire circumstances."
Hiccup chuckled, "So a little girl not following your commands?"
Toothless appeared next to Hiccup then playfully smacked him. "She called me a rat!"
Hiccup just smiled, "Whatever you say Toothless." Hiccup expected a response, but realized that Toothless had disappeared and fallen asleep. It seems that possession really did take a toll on him. Although it was scary at first, Hiccup knew that he trusted Toothless. He trusted Toothless more than he trusted anyone else for that matter. If it was a dire circumstance as he had claimed, then he would be willing to give him permission to take over his body. When the demon finally awoke, he needs to have a conversation about Lire apparently being a demon named Meatlug. For now, he'll trust Toothless.
Hiccup looked down at the molten metal. Thankfully, due to his years of experience he knew that he could handle it from here. He also surmised that Toothless also thought the same. Hiccup placed his foot on the bellow and began pumping air into the forge. He needed to keep this as hot as possible to allow everything to mix properly. This was already the hottest metal he has ever seen and it was making him nervous. The constant supply of oxygen and some divine energy kept the inferno blazing.
Hiccup had a habit of getting deeply engrossed into his work for hours. That was good for getting complicated tasks done in a timely manner, even if that meant starving for a day or two. But it also had his downsides. He would be so focused that his surroundings would just blend away into nothingness. Which is not good if you wanted to notice other people. For example the person standing directly behind Hiccup.
"Hey, Boyfriend." For the third time that day, Hiccup screamed. What was it and people scaring him today. When he fell over, he almost knocked into the crucible and burned himself. He looked up and noticed Astrid glaring down at him.
"Astrid!"
"That's my name." She said, leaning back and crossing her arms.
"W-w-w-w-what are you doing here?"
"Visiting my boyfriend." Her glare deepened.
"How. . .who. . .why–"
"My mother lectured me on not telling her about my secret boyfriend. I asked who this mystery man was, and she described a tall, lanky boy with green eyes and freckles. I only know one of those."
"Astrid, I didn't mean to – I wasn't trying to –" Astrid just started laughing and Hiccup was now gaping at her like a fish.
"Relax Hiccup, I'm just teasing you. The nurse explained everything and considering we aren't dating, I'm assuming you lied to visit me." She looked away and tucked a strand of hair behind her right ear. "You were the only one to visit, other than Mom. Thanks for the flowers. By the way."
"Of-of course." Astrid helped him up. "I just needed to make sure you were okay."
"As you can see, I am just fine." Her face darkened. "But the same cannot be said for this."
Astrid held out something wrapped in a bundle of cloth. Hiccup took it gingerly and inspected it. Inside the cloth was the shattered remnants of Astrid's beloved divine weapon; her signature dual-headed battle axe. Hiccup was curious as to the cause of the explosion when they traded blows, but now it all made sense. To his trained eye, he was able to spot the problem immediately.
"I already took this to my support engineers. They all said the same thing: irreparable. None of them know how to fully repair a divine weapon." She shuffled nervously. "I was hoping to get a second opinion and better news."
Hiccup sighed and put down the weapon. "Unfortunately Astrid, we still don't know how to repair divine weapons. Maintaining is possible, but repair is out of the question. Look here." Hiccup picked small shards out of the cloth and gave them to Astrid. It was the destroyed fragments of a grey divine crystal.
"What is this?" She asked.
"That is the core of the weapon. Basically that's what makes it the divine weapon. With that destroyed, even if we repaired the head or handle, without the core it would just be an ordinary axe." Hiccup explained.
Astrid looked at him and completely deflated. "So, this means I'll never fight again."
Hiccup shook his head. "You can just get another divine weapon a better one."
"Right." She scoffed. "They are extremely rare, where can I find or even afford another divine weapon. It's impossible."
She threw a punch at the concrete wall, drawing blood but not showing any pain. Hiccup sat there pondering. He had been wondering about this possibility. If this works, he could apologize to Astrid and help with this situation. He was the cause of it, so it was his job to fix it. Although the Order already has scars from his previous attempts to fix the demon problem. Hiccup scrambled and rummaged through one of his drawers until he found the divine crystal he was looking for. It was the best purity, size and density of any crystal he has made thus far.
Astrid peered over his shoulder, "What are you doing?"
"Something crazy." His smile broadened and he flipped around to face her. "Something insane even. I can solve all of your problems, if this works."
She stood taller, suddenly very interested in what he was proposing. "How?"
"Do you trust me?" He asked, looking hopeful.
The truth was no. Astrid did not trust Hiccup at all. He always seemed shady, like he was hiding something. Any time he tried to help it was always screwed up and destroyed more than he helped. That's why he was shunned by most of the Order and never given the time of day. To most it seemed like we would be better off if Hiccup finally just quit. But he never did quit.
He works harder than any knight she knows. He slaves away, to make sure that everything they do is safer and more effective. He might not be right all the time, but when he is. It's impressive. She thought back to his evaluation. His promotion to the next rank as a support engineer. Hiccup was always treated poorly by the Order and even herself. But she didn't even recognize him when he approached her. He has changed, grown up and matured. He is nothing like the old Hiccup the Useless she knew. For years he's been the hardest working, most stubborn and dedicated person in the Order. Just like his father. Why was she even mean to him in the past? It all felt childish now. This hard work paid off, he was able to instantly determine the problem with her weapon that no other higher ranking support engineer did. If anyone could pull this off, it was Hiccup.
"To be honest. No, not really." A small smile played at her lips, until it fell back into her usual stoic manner. "But, I'll do anything to fight again."
"Anything?" He raised a brow.
"Anything." She affirmed with determination.
After a simple nod of his head, he placed the crystal in her hand and instructed that she summon her divine energy into the crystal much like how she summons her weapon. Much to her surprise, the summoning of the energy was much easier than before. To a trained warrior like Astrid, this was trivial. Hiccup gleefully took the crystal from her and inspected it thoroughly. It began glowing with an electric feeling. It has shades of gold and a faint blue matching her golden braid and azure eyes. It was an energy that just felt . . . Astrid. Every part of his plan was falling into place.
He beamed, "Give me three days."