Reviews
Marcillo. RandomGuy: Yes, that is the gist of it.
DJ Rodriguez: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the quick sparring session.
And I had fun writing the moment of Vhagar sneezing.
Really? I wasn't aware that I was making some reference. If you happen to remember it, tell me.
Yeah, I don't know why Stoick didn't say anything either.
That was so funny for me to write.
I'm glad you caught the reference I had made.
Now, on with the story!
Chapter 8: The Final Test
The Next Day
The Gronckle buzzes around the Ring, searching. "Come out, come out wherever you are, Viking hatchlings." she called.
The only participants in this exercise are Hiccup and Astrid, most of Berk gathered to watch. The former is hiding behind one of the barriers, watching the Gronckle's movements above him before Astrid slides to hide behind the same barrier as he is. He scoots away slightly and offer a friendly smile, but upon noticing him, Astrid shoves his shield down, a scowl on her face.
"Stay out of my way. I'm winning this thing." she growled to him.
Surprised, Hiccup watches her walk away before shrugging. "Good. Please, by all means." he called out sarcastically. It's not like I even wanted to be here in the first place.
Hiccup stands up and spots Stoick sitting in the crowd. He adjusts his helmet and gives a smile up to his father as if to ask on how he looks, but it falls flat almost immediately. He is so done with this yak shit.
He glances over to the Targaryens. Baela and Rheana give him so-so gestures with their hands.
Astrid peeks over a barrier as the Gronckle flies overhead, leaping from shelter to shelter, tracking the dragon.
"If you don't mind, Imma take a nap right here," the Gronckle croons at Hiccup and flops to the ground behind him.
Astrid presses up against one more structure, clutching her ax.
Vikings from the Hofferson Clan call out to cheer for her from the stands. "You got it, Astrid!"
Astrid whispers to herself, "This time. This time, for sure." And the girl breaks into a run, screaming a war cry, weapon raised. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"
But she pauses, shocked, at the scene before her: the Gronckle dozing on the ground before Hiccup, his shield, helmet, and sword discarded. Hiccup seems to realize what he's done at the same time as Astrid, cringing back and waving his arms as though in explanation.
Astrid stares before shouting. "NO! NO!" She presses the handle of her ax against her head. "SON OF HALF-TROLL, RAT-EATING MUNGE BUCKET!
Hiccup looks over at Astrid, swinging her ax in violent anger. Baela and Rheana look at one another in concern.
"Wait, wait!" Stoick called out, holding a hand out to the crowd when Gothi tapped her staff beside him.
"So, later," Hiccup tried to bid farewell, only to get yanked off his feet by Gobber's hook.
"Ah-ah-ah. Not so fast." Gobber said as he looked up at Stoick, Gothi and Daemon and his wife.
"But, I'm-I'm kinda late for, uh-" Hiccup tried to protest before Astrid walked up to him with her ax aimed at his throat.
"What? Late for what exactly?" Astrid asked with a wild look.
"Hey! Leave him alone, Astrid!" Baela and Rheana shouted from where they stood from the stands.
"My own execution that you seem eager to happen," Hiccup replied dryly. He leans forward and pulls out his sword and holds it up at Astrid's neck.
"All right! Quiet down," Stoick ordered the crowd. "The Elder has decided."
Astrid and Hiccup stare at one another before the blonde shield maiden lowers her ax. Hiccup follows with his sword and sheathes it at his hip. They look up at Gothi and Gobber points at Astrid.
Both Daemon and Laena grimace as their daughters discreetly cross their fingers, mentally praying to the Seven that Gothi doesn't pick Hiccup.
Gothi shakes his head and despite what they had all seen, there are some in the crowd that voice their surprise, even Gobber looks surprised by the choice and others voice sympathy for the blond shield maiden. The two-limb blacksmith then points to Hiccup who closes his eyes as if mentally praying for anything to interfere in Gothi's decision.
Gothi squints her eyes and nods her head, pointing down at Hiccup. The crowd begins to cheer. The Targaryen family remained silent, knowing that this was not what Hiccup wanted.
Hiccup opens his eyes, paling a little bit. He glances over at Astrid nervously. She looks back at him with a murderous glare.
Oh, the gods really hate me was the thought that was going through Hiccup's mind while Gobber is cheering, "Oh you've done it! You've done it, Hiccup! You get to kill the dragon!"
Fishlegs suddenly hoists Hiccup on his shoulder while Snotlout and the Twins are cheering and whooping.
"Ha! That's my boy!" the Chief cheers loudly. Both Daemon and Laena looked at Stoick with narrowed eyes and tilted heads as if saying, 'Oh, really now?'
"Yes! Yes!" Hiccup forces himself to cheer with a fake smile. "I can't wait! I am so-!"
"-Leaving!" Hiccup declared as he walked into the cove with a basket of supplies with Baela, Rheana, Laena and Daemon walking after him, each of them carrying their own supplies.
"Are you sure about this?" Baela asked Hiccup.
"Yep. No doubt about it." Hiccup replied without hesitation. "We're leaving!" Then he looks around for Toothless and the other dragons. "Let's pack up. Looks like you and me are taking a little vacation, Bud . . . Forever."
He and the Targaryen family had packed most of their belongings and came here to the cove, intent to leave Berk and the Barbaric Archipelago altogether with their draconian companions.
Hiccup placed his load down on the ground before opening his basket. His saw the object at the top of his basket. His helmet.
The night before, Stoick had given the helmet to him. For as strained and distant the relationship between father son had been, it was a nice gift. Until now. That and that the helmet was half of his mother's breast plate. Other than that, Hiccup now saw the helmet as a symbol that he was a Dragon Killer and he wasn't. So could he really wear it? No. No, he couldn't.
He picked up the helmet and threw it as hard as he could. Both Baela and Rheana looked at the thrown helmet and back at their best friend. Then their eyes widened as they saw Astrid jump onto the boulder in front of Hiccup and catch his attention by sharpening her ax with a stone.
Hiccup looked up and jumped back in surprise upon seeing Astrid. "Wow! What the-?!" he cried out before composing himself. "What are you doing here?" he asked while looking around for Toothless and the other dragons.
"I want to know what's going on," Astrid replied, nonchalantly inspecting her ax before tossing her stone to the side. She slides down to the ground.
Both Baela and Rheana stepped forward with protective expressions but Hiccup held a hand up to them. He looks at them and shakes his head. The two sisters looked at him before nodding once and stepped back.
"Even if you've been trained by Daemon, no one just suddenly gets as good as you did in Dragon Training under three months," Astrid said as she walked toward Hiccup who stood his ground and they were less than two feet away from one another.
"So, start talking," Astrid stated. "How did you suddenly become that good?"
"Because the other teens didn't put much effort in training?" Hiccup replied, sounding like he was asking a question instead of answering a question. "I mean, Snotlout hasn't stopped to think with what little brain he has, the Twins still act like immature monkeys and Fishlegs has his mind on what's written in books instead of focusing what's happening around him."
"No, no, he's got a point," admitted Baela.
Rheana nodded in agreement. "I mean, you have to see it that it is like that."
"Yeah? Then what's this?" Astrid asked, grabbing onto Hiccup's flight harness. "What is this involved with?"
"Uh, this is a prototype for some," Hiccup replied slowly, making it up as he goes. "Suit! A new suit of dragon proof armor. I just need to find the right material and make the right measurements to fit onto this and-"
A twig was snapped on the other side of the cove and some birds flew away. Astrid snapped her head to the direction of the noise.
"That is just a wolf that lives here in the cove," Laena said stepping in front of Astrid, trying to prevent her from seeing the three small dragons. "He's fine with us being here in the Cove as long as we don't go on his side of the place."
Astrid walks around Laena with narrowed eyes.
"Back on the subject, that is all I've been doing here with Baela and Rheana," Hiccup said, walking alongside Astrid. "Making outfits! So there, the truth's out." He grabs Astrid's hand and places it on his harness. "It's time everyone knew. Drag me back to the village, here we go-"
Astrid suddenly twisted Hiccup's wrist. In a life where the Targaryen family haven't moved to Berk and Daemon hadn't trained Hiccup, the action would have hurt him a great deal. In this case, it hurt a little less and Hiccup was more surprised than in serious pain. "Ow! Why would you do that?"
"That's for the lies," Astrid replied before she was shoved back by Baela and Rheana.
"Back off, blondie!" the two sisters said. "Hurting Snotlout and Tuffnut maybe okay, but we're sure as Seven Hells not letting you hurt Hiccup!"
"Hiccup are you alright?" called out a certain Night Fury.
Astrid tensed upon hearing the dragon growl while Hiccup sighed. "Oh man."
The blonde shield maiden sees a black dragon walking towards them with a Skrill and a dragon she wasn't familiar with. She gasps before tackling Hiccup. "Get down!"
"Oof!" Hiccup cried out at the action.
"Intruder!" Toothless screeches before he charges towards Astrid. "Get away from him!"
"Run, run!" Astrid shouts to Hiccup before rising to her feet, ax ready to swing.
"No!" Hiccup quickly got up and tackled Astrid out of the way just as Toothless landed where she once stood. He quickly pulls her ax out of her grip and throws it aside.
"It's okay, it's okay!" Hiccup said, holding a hand out to both Toothless and Astrid. One to calm the Night Fury down and the other to tell Astrid to not move.
"Baela, who is she?" Moondancer asked her Rider as she looked at Astrid.
"She had her weapon to fight," Storm Breaker pointed out with a weary growl to Rheana. "Is she an enemy?"
"No, no," Rheana answered. "Not an enemy."
"She's just a, uh," Baela trailed off and looked to her parents who crossed their arms in response.
"She's a friend," Hiccup said to both dragons calmly.
"She didn't look friendly," Toothless growled as he got down on all fours. He tries to move past Hiccup. "Why was she hurting you?" he bared his teeth as Hiccup tries to hold him back.
"It's okay. You just scared him." Hiccup says to Astrid.
"I scared him?!" Astrid repeats in disbelief before she freezes at what she said and lowers her voice. "Who is 'him?'"
"Uh, Astrid, Toothless." Hiccup said, gesturing to the glaring Night Fury.
"This Moondancer," Baela said, running her hand down the dragon's jaw. Moondancer smiled a little. "Hello."
"And this is Storm Breaker," Rheana gestured to the Titan Wing Skrill. The scarred Strike Class Dragon simply nodded his head.
A high-pitched squealing screech was heard before Astrid saw a massive red dragon three or four times the size of a Monstrous Nightmare crawl down into the Cove. "Feeling lucky, Lass?" the dragon hissed.
"That is Caraxes, the Blood Wyrm." Daemon said as if introducing his older brother. Considering the dragon's age, that would be a correct assumption.
Then Vhagar lifted her head up on the other side of the Cove, some birds flew off her back and she yawns. "Who goes there?" she let out a rumbling growl. Her eyes land on Astrid. "Oh, it's just another teenager." she lays her head back down, clearly disinterested.
"And that is Vhagar." Laena said. "I apologize if her dismissive attitude was a little rude."
Hiccup looks back to Toothless. "Toothless, this is Astrid."
"Get out of here and don't come back." Toothless snarled to Astrid, his teeth bared.
Astrid looked at the Targaryens and Hiccup before slowly shaking her head and then running away.
"Da-da-da," Hiccup mimicked a horn being blown. "We're dead."
"Good riddance," Toothless rumbled, rolling his shoulders and turning around and walking away.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Hiccup turned around to his retreating form. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Back to my nap."
Astrid ran through the forest, briefly glancing back to the direction she had came from before looking ahead. She climbs over a log before she hears the sound of wings flapping and then a large reptilian paw grabbed onto her arm before she could touch the ground after jumping off the log.
The blonde Viking teen cried in surprise as she was carried further and further from the ground. "OH GREAT ODIN'S GHOST! OH, THIS IS IT!" Astrid reached to grab the paw that held her paw while screaming in fear.
Toothless carried the screaming shield maiden back to the cove and dropped abruptly to one of the top limbs of a tree that stood over the Cove before perching on top, making the top of the tree bend.
"Don't worry, Astrid." Laena called from her saddle on Vhagar. "If you fall, we'll catch you."
"Yeah, in my mouth!" Caraxes screeched as he crawled towards the tree Astrid was dangling from.
"Caraxes," Daemon scolded in High Valerian. "We're not harming her."
"I didn't say that!" Caraxes protested. "I just said I'll catch her."
Astrid glares up to Hiccup in a mixture of fear and anger. "Hiccup, get me down from here!"
"You have to give me a chance to explain," Hiccup pleaded.
"I am not listening to anything you have to say," Astrid replied as she moved over to the tree trunk.
"Then I won't speak," Hiccup promised, holding his hands up. "Just let me show you. Please, Astrid."
She glanced down to the cove below for a moment before she pulled herself up and moved towards the duo with Toothless watching her out of the corner of his eye.
Hiccup held a helping hand to her but she slapped it away. She reached out to the dragon hesitantly who hissed at her. "Stop wasting time and hurry up."
She climbed onto the saddle behind Hiccup. "Now get me down," she demanded somewhat looking down uncertainly and fearfully.
"Toothless, down. Gently," Hiccup said, somewhat playful. Toothless spread his wings and began to let the tree rise slowly.
"See? Nothing to be afraid of," Hiccup said to Astrid, unaware of Toothless' expression looking grim and vengeful. "Oh, there is a lot of things for her to be afraid of."
Baela and Rheana noticed the Night Fury's expression. "Uh, Hiccup. . . " Baela said hesitantly.
"What?" Hiccup turned to Baela in confusion.
Without warning, Toothless took off like a bullet into the sky. "WHAAAAHH!" Hiccup shouted while a screaming Astrid almost fell off the saddle behind him.
The Targaryen family watched the trio shoot up into the sky. ". . . That." Rheana said after a moment of silence.
"Toothless, what is wrong with you?! Bad dragon!" Hiccup exclaimed when Toothless stopped climbing and straightened out. Astrid clung to Hiccup, hugging tightly with her arms and legs, blue eyes wide in fear.
Toothless shook his head with a snort. "You haven't seen anything yet."
Hiccup chuckled nervously and turned to Astrid. "Uh, he's not usually like this." Then he saw Toothless tuck his wings in. "Oh no," he muttered before Toothless dived to the side towards the sea and Astrid began screaming again.
Toothless caught himself briefly before diving into the water. He surfaced again only to dive back in. "Toothless, what are you doing? We need her to like us!" Oscar exclaimed in between the splashes.
"No, we need her to apologize!" Toothless shook his head before flying back into the sky and began barrel rolling as he climbed. "She needs to know that hurting you is not okay."
"And now the spinning," Hiccup said dryly as Toothless began barrel rolling while flying high into the sky while Astrid began screaming again.
"Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile," He said sarcastically as Toothless began free falling back down.
Eventually, Astrid couldn't take it anymore. "Okay, I'm sorry!" she shouted, burying her face into Hiccup's shoulder. "I'm sorry! Just get me off of this thing."
"Oh really? Is that so? Well, in that case," Toothless' expression changed as he glanced back at the girl upon hearing that. He straightened out and spread his wings before they hit the water.
Astrid cried out in fear but Toothless flew upward calmly this time. Surprised at the change, Hiccup shifted his feet back into position while Astrid still had her face buried in his shoulder. Toothless then soared upwards to the clouds above.
After a moment, Astrid slowly began to open her eyes and hesitantly looked around. Her fearfully expression changed to wonder and awe as she looked around as they flew. She glanced up to the cloud that was just in arm's reach. She reached her hand to the cloud and her fingers felt the coolness of gasified water, instead of something fluffy or solid. She then reached with both hands and touched the clouds with a blissful smile as they flew.
Toothless flipped backwards before flying through the cloud above them. The sky turned from day to night and was illuminated by the Northern Lights above.
Then Daemon and Laena appeared next to them, looking like two people walking on the clouds before they and their dragons, Caraxes and Vhagar rose above the clouds. Both teens looked up in awe at the sight.
"Enjoying the ride?" asked Baela as she and Rheana flew out of the clouds with Moondancer and Storm Breaker.
"It's real breath taking, isn't it?" Rheana chuckled at Astrid's awe struck expression.
Hiccup glanced down when he felt Astrid's hand on his side but looked ahead. The six dragon riders flew over the clouds and saw the village of Berk below.
Astrid's jaw dropped in wonder at the sight before glancing at Toothless who smiled back in response. Astrid smiled and rested her head on Hiccup's shoulder. He blinked in surprise and stiffened but kept silent as they flew over the village and out to sea.
". . . Alright, I admit it. This is pretty cool," Ruby said onscreen after looking around for a moment. "It's amazing. . . He's amazing," she added she reached down and patted Toothless on his neck, the dragon crooned in response. "Thanks. I appreciate the compliment."
"So what now?" she asked in a serious tone. Oscar frowned and sighed in response. "Oscar, your final exam is tomorrow. You know you're going to have to kill-" she paused and whispered in his ear. "Kill a dragon."
"Don't remind me," Oscar said , there was a humming growl. Toothless' eyes became slit before he and the other dragons abruptly dived into the fog below. Hiccup and Astrid cried out in surprise. "Toothless, what's happening?" he asked.
"Caraxes?" Daemon asked, grabbing onto the handles of his saddle.
"Vhagar?" Laena reached down to place her hand on the scales of Vhagar.
"Moondancer?" Baela looked to her dragon in confusion.
"Storm Breaker, what's going on?" Rheana asked nervously before a Monstrous Nightmare appeared next to them.
"Get down!" whispered Hiccup as he and Astrid ducked down, pressing themselves against Toothless' back. Baela and Rheana followed their lead as did Daemon and his wife.
Then a Deadly Nadder appeared on the left. Soon more and more Dragons of different species appeared in the fog.
"What's going on?" Astrid asked.
Hiccup shook his head. "I don't know. Toothless, you have to get us out of here, Bud." he whispered but the dragon shook his head and snarled. "Be quiet."
He recoiled slightly. The Night Fury had never snarled after they established a friendship. He looked back and saw the other dragons were flying with their own pupils now narrow slits. He looked around and saw one thing in common. "It looks like they're hauling in their kill." Hiccup observed.
"What does that make us?" Astrid asked nervously. Hiccup thought before the sarcastic part of his mind answered. "The uninvited dinner guest. Hopefully."
He saw a Zippleback with a missing front leg glaring at him and a Gronckle the color of sandstone. Then, the Dragons all dived down in unison, stopping when they were just a few meters above the water.
"Hang on!" Daemon called to the others from Caraxes' back.
Astrid and Hiccup made noises of surprise at the increased speed.
"Whoa!" cried both Baela and Rheana. Laena saw a rock bridge between two sea stacks up ahead. "Duck!" she shouted as the dragons flew very close to the rock bridge.
They all moved in sync. Right then left and under a rocky formation before Hiccup saw a large island with a glowing red mountain. The dragons then entered a cave. Soon they entered a large cavern with red fog at the bottom and hundreds of dragons.
The Dragons' Nest.
"What Dad wouldn't give to find this," Hiccup said to himself, knowing that Stoick had spent many years of his life searching for the Dragons' Nest.
Toothless, Storm Breaker, Caraxes, Vhagar and Moondancer flew around and landed on a ledge that had a small rock wall to hide behind. The riders looked around and watched as the wild dragons were dropping their kill into the red fog below.
"Well, it's satisfying to know that all our food is dumped down a hole," Hiccup remarked sarcastically but was confused.
"This makes no sense. Why fight the Vikings tooth and claw to steal their food only to dump it all into a big hole?" Daemon asked in thought.
"They're not eating any of it," Astrid noticed in confusion.
"Or even offering it to the hatchlings." pointed out Laena as she saw some young dragons but the older dragons seemed to not give them food.
Baela and Rheana looked to each other. "Storage?" the younger one asked. Her sister shook her head. "With the way they're doing it? It's not a good way to store food."
Hiccup looks up and sees the sandstone Gronckle from earlier flying over the pit. It hovered and regurgitated a small fish into the pit. As it dropped, the Gronckle scratched at its ear like a dog before a growl was heard. The Gronckle looked down and tried to fly away with a fearful expression.
And suddenly a massive dragon's head rose out of the fog and ate it as if it was a fly.
Hiccup's eyes widened as he leaned back and heard the other dragons whimpering and hiding in fear as the massive dragon's head lowered back down into the fog. "What. Is. That?" Astrid asked in fear.
". . . By the Seven, that's bigger than Vhagar," Laena whispered. The mentioned elder dragon leaned back with Caraxes with wide eyes. That was indeed bigger than herself. At least three or four times bigger.
"That's a huge bitch." Caraxes remarked to Toothless and Storm Breaker.
Moondancer let out a few whimpers in fear and she tried to make herself small. Baela leaned down and patted her on the neck. "Be calm, Moondancer. Be calm." she whispered in High Valerian.
Hiccup's heart rate quickened when it rose back up, just barely and began to sniff the air. Then it clicked. He was human and humans smell different than Dragons. As if to drive the point across, the massive dragon's growl was translated in his ears and he knew it was happening to the other riders since they understood Dragonese as well.
"What's this scent? . . . A smell. . . A smelly smell. . . A smelly smell that smells. . . smelly."
Daemon and his wife look at one another with furrowed brows. "What?" Laena mouthed to her husband.
Daemon raised his arm to his face and smelled his arm. His eyes widened in fear. "Humans!" the Red Death roared. "I haven't tasted human flesh in many years. Perhaps this will satisfy my hunger!"
Eyes widening in fear, Hiccup leaned down to Toothless' head. "Okay, Bud. We have to get out of here." he whispered urgently. "Now!"
Toothless shook his head and took off just as the Red Death snapped her jaws where they just were. The action caused the other dragons to fly up towards the exit in the mountain's ceiling. Hiccup looked back and saw that it was crawling up after them. Then he saw its jaws open wide as it got close to him and the kids.
Laena saw this as well. "Dracarys!" she shouted. Vhagar turned around and blasted the massive dragon in the face with a massive stream of fire. This made the Red Death roar in pain. She was surprised to see a dragon of Vhagar's size but that was replaced by the fury of this dragon attacking her.
"You dare burn your Queen?!" the massive dragon roared, enraged. "Deny me my meal? You shall pay with your blood!" She lunged up towards them with open jaws.
However, they closed down on the three legged Zippleback Hiccup saw earlier. The Red Death did not seem to care and lowered back down but not before glaring at Hiccup and the other Dragon Riders with its eyes.
"No, it totally makes sense," Astrid said as Toothless and the other dragons flew far from the Nest and landed back in or around the Cove back on the Isle of Berk. "It's like a giant beehive. They're the workers and that's their queen."
"More like some slave driver," Daemon said in slight anger as he replayed what he saw from a different perspective. "That cave was filled with fear, fear of that cannibal and becoming her next meal. They steal food from humans because they're threatened to be eaten themselves."
"That explains why the wild dragons don't fight to kill, or attack Vikings offensively," Rheana said. "Gobber and the other Viking warriors say that they'll always go for the kill, but the dragons rarely go for the actual kill when they're not fighting with their fire."
"That doesn't explain why Caraxes, Vhagar or Moondancer didn't fall under that dragon's influence," Laena pointed out. "Our three dragons have been living in the Archipelago for almost eight winters. They've never went to hunt for that dragon."
Baela turned to Moondancer while she was scratching the young dragon's jaw. "Right, Moondancer?" she asked in High Valerian. "That slave driver didn't try to force you to gather food for her did she?"
Moondancer shook her head. "No, she hasn't. Up until tonight, I didn't know she existed."
"She's probably thinking the same," Caraxes pointed out. "She didn't know we existed until now."
Hiccup sat down panting. "Oh man, that was intense." he muttered fearfully.
Things just got complicated. And on the night he planned to leave the Barbaric Archipelago.
Astrid looked at everyone before turning to Hiccup. "Hiccup, let's find your dad." she turned and began to jog to the Cove's entrance.
"No! No!" Hiccup jogged after her and grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks. "No, not yet. They'll kill Toothless, Moondancer and Storm Breaker." he said, gesturing to the mentioned dragons. "And people will die from provoking Caraxes and Vhagar. Astrid, we need to think this through, very carefully."
He walks away and Astrid looks at him in confusion. She looks to the others who seem to support Hiccup's decision.
"We need to weigh our options and plan the best course of action," Laena said.
"One that doesn't endanger anyone," Daemon added. "Vikings or dragons."
"But we discovered the Dragons' Nest," Astrid exclaimed. "The thing we've been after since Vikings first sailed into this Archipelago. And you guys want to keep it a secret?" she asked before scoffing and speaking incredulously. "To protect your pet dragons? Are you serious?"
"These dragons are not pets," Baela declared sternly to Astrid. She walked over to Moondancer and pet her snout with one hand while running the other hand along her jaw. "They are family."
"So yes," Hiccup replied, giving Astrid a determined glare. "Yes, we are."
Astrid softens her expression and looks at Hiccup, moved by his resolve. ". . . Okay, so what do we do?" she asked after a moment of awkward silence.
"Just. . . give us until tomorrow," Hiccup replied after a moment.
Astrid nodded her head once. "Okay." Then she punched Hiccup in the arm. He looked at her in surprise and she made an impassive expression. "That's for kidnapping me."
Hiccup rubs his arm in surprise and glances at Toothless who was drinking from the pond. He gestures to Astrid in confusion who just licked his nose and shook his head. "She's your mate, you deal with her."
Understanding what the Night Fury had said, both Daemon and Laena snorted behind their fists.
Astrid brushed her bangs back before grabbing Hiccup by the sleeve and kissing him briefly on the cheek. ". . . That's for everything else." she said, once again sounding rarely nervous and sheepish. She turned away and began to jog after glancing to Hiccup briefly.
Hiccup looked at her retreating form in surprise before smiling slightly.
Toothless walked up to stand next to Hiccup. "So, is that some Viking courting ritual?" he asked the Viking teen. "Punching the male and then affectionately licking their cheek?"
Baela and Rheana snickered. "Yeah, that's just the Hofferson Shield Maiden mating ritual," Rheana said.
"Curious, very curious." Storm Breaker rumbled, nodding his head. Vikings have fascinating customs.
Hiccup blushed before seeing how the Targaryen sisters were giving him teasing smiles. "Wh-What are you looking at?"
"Nothing~," both Baela and Rheana said in sly tones.
Sighing, Hiccup dragged his hands down his face.
In case it wasn't obvious, I made a reference to Spongebob Squarepants "Help Wanted" with the Red Death's dialog.
Next chapter, things will diverge from cannon.