Author's note
I've gone back and revised the previous chapters, mostly just fixing punctuation around quotes and other minor fixes. I also mentioned that the Zelda timeline in this story is in the Age of Calamity timeline, around 4 years after the events of the game. See chapter 5 for the other details I put about the Zelda timeline in this story.
Also, I've uploaded reference images of Hiccup and Astrid's Sheikah tech items, Hiccup in his green shirt, and a map of Hyrule Castle(will be more useful in later chapters) to my DevianArt page
Link- adar67/gallery/all
Chapter 8-Seeking Wisdom
Hiccup is roused from a nice dream of Zelda and Link training dragons by a flurry of chirps and whistles from Terrako.
Groggily he props himself up on his elbows and turns to Link.
The Hylian Champion is fast asleep and lightly snoring, oblivious to Terrako's alarm. Hiccup straps on his prosthetic and walks over to the snoring knight, lightly kicking him. As Link opens his eyes, Hiccup says to him. "Wake up sleepyhead. You could sleep for a century and still be fast asleep."
Link starts to slowly get up but suddenly a sharp gasp and surprised beeping come from upstairs.
Link immediately jumps up but Hiccup grabs him and holds him back while saying "Don't worry. Zelda is probably just startled by Astrid's morning hair."
Zelda is indeed startled by the complete mess that is Astrid's hair.
The blonde's hair is sticking out in every direction, even the parts contained in her braid. Astrid blushes in embarrassment while nervously chuckling. "I suppose that it was inevitable that you would see my hair like this. I don't know how, but my hair ends up like this every morning."
With the bird's nest in the room resolved, Astrid puts on her vest, skirt, kransen, knee guards, socks, and boots. After getting dressed, she replaces her daggers in their sheaths and heads downstairs so Zelda can change.
Hiccup is putting his forearm bracers on as Astrid comes down to the main floor, fixing her hair into one large braid resting on her left shoulder. He looks at her with a smirk and asks. "Zelda saw your morning hair?" Astrid blushes and sheepishly nods, telling Hiccup everything he needs to know.
Having resolved the matter, Hiccup slides on his sleeveless leather tunic and his leather vest. He then puts on his belts, shoulder pads, and other armor pieces before clipping Inferno back into its holster on his hip. As Link finishes redonning his Champion's Tunic and armor, footsteps from upstairs catch their attention.
Zelda walks slowly down the stairs, but not wearing anything familiar. She is wearing a pure white sleeveless dress, held in place by a golden belt below her chest. Her feet are clad in ornate sandals, elegant gold bracelets in the shape of the royal crest adorn her wrists, and a golden necklace bearing the shape of the bird in the royal crest hangs from her neck.
Astrid's jaw drops as she says "Wow! Zelda, you look great, but are you sure that isn't a wedding dress?"
Zelda chuckles and replies. "No Astrid, it's not a wedding dress. This is the dress that I wear when visiting the sacred springs."
Astrid nods while Hiccup walks over to the door and looks outside. He turns around and says "Dawn is still an hour away, we should get going soon."
Link gets up, straps the Master Sword to his back, and says "I'll go saddle the horses." Hiccup and Astrid turn to the knight, jaws dropping as Astrid unconsciously reaches for the hilt of one of her daggers.
Link raises his hands in a defensive gesture, saying "What? I can talk, I just don't do it very often!"
Hiccup gasps as he passes under the east gate of the Lanayru Promenade and gets an unobstructed look at Mount Lanayru, framed by the brightening sky. Rising high above the gentle aspen valley, the mountain is clad in snow and large pillar-like rock formations.
Zelda dismounts her horse and takes hold of the reins as she leads the white stallion off to the side of the temperate valley, followed by Link leading his horse. As the pair tie their reins to some branches, Hiccup and Astrid slide off of Toothless and Stormfly.
Hiccup turns to the Night Fury, petting the dragon's snout as he gently says "Sorry bud, you can't come with us. Zelda told me that if we want a shot at getting info on how to get home, you have to stay here with Stormfly." Toothless warbles with a hint of hope in his tone. Hiccup chuckles and replies. "Alright, Toothless. If we encounter a serious problem that the four of us can't solve, I'll call for you. In the meantime, why don't you play with Stormfly? Just please don't destroy the area!"
A smile crosses Toothless's face and he bounds over to Stormfly. Zelda laughs as the two dragons start bobbing their heads at each other and engaging in their own conversation.
Link walks over, holding four vials containing an orange fluid. He passes two to Zelda, who in turn offers them to Hiccup and Astrid.
Zelda says "Here, these are Spicy Elixirs. They will help protect you from the low temperatures on Mount Lanayru." Hiccup and Astrid take the elixirs and look at them. Deciding to be the test subject, Hiccup pops the cork off the vial and tastes the drink. A warm spicy flavor immediately fills his taste buds, but he swallows the entire elixir. Suddenly, a tingly feeling floods through Hiccup's body, warming him up.
Seeing the positive reaction, Astrid drinks her elixir and also feels the drink warming her body up. Link and Zelda down their drinks before Link pulls out two torches and lights them, handing one to Hiccup while retaining the other one.
With the preparations complete, the horses grazing, and the dragons currently playing tug-of-war with an aspen, Zelda turns to the group and says "Shall we be off?" The others nod and they set off, entering the lower snowy pine forest above the aspen valley.
As they climb through the snowy pine forest, Link leading, Zelda-accompanied by Terrako-in the middle, and Hiccup with Astrid sweeping, Hiccup looks at the pillar-like rocks and notices that in the brightening dawn light, they look less like rock and more like ice. He points this out to Astrid who replies worriedly. "No, it can't be. It's not green enough."
Hiccup keeps the observation to himself as they exit the forest and swing north as the path climbs at a steeper angle.
The rising sun briefly shines its warm rays over the group before a storm descends on the mountain. However, the brief sunshine illuminated the icy rock pillars enough for Hiccup to see that they are almost certainly ice.
Now slightly concerned, he walks up to Zelda and asks her "Zelda, there doesn't happen to be a Bewilderbeast that lives or lived here, is there?"
Zelda looks at him, curiosity and nervousness appearing in her eyes as she responds. "I'm not sure. What is a Bewilderbeast and what do they look like?"
Hiccup gathers his thoughts before replying. "Bewilderbeasts are massive sea dragons that have the nickname "King of Dragons" due to their natural alpha status. They have two massive tusks, an impressive crest of spines, large wings designed for swimming, and a long sleek body meant for living in aquatic environments rather than the sky."
Wonder fills Zelda's eyes as she absorbs the description before saying "I don't think anything like what you've described has been seen in Hyrule. Considering how large you say these Bewilderbeasts are, surely they can't be abundant?"
The worry on Hiccup's face is replaced with a look of sorrow as he replies. "I'm afraid you're right. I've only seen three Bewilderbeasts, saved by an unseen fourth, and heard of a fifth. The first one I saw was an unhatched egg, the second one was a benevolent alpha who was killed right in front of my eyes, and the third was one that was tormented by humans for his entire life, but me and Toothless gave him a second chance. That third one happened to be the individual who killed the other adult Bewilderbeast and also was partially responsible for killing my father."
Zelda's eyes immediately fill with compassion as she places a hand on Hiccup's shoulder while gently saying "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up something that clearly is painful for you."
Hiccup smiles and looks at the princess. "Thank you," he says. "It's unfortunate for me that I don't have the best memories when thinking of the Bewilderbeasts. They really are beautiful creatures, particularly the white one that my mom lived with and who was sadly killed." Hiccup closes his eyes and looks away, grimacing at the memory of the White Bewilderbeast being stabbed in the chest by Drago's Bewilderbeast.
Astrid, having noticed Hiccup's sadness walks up to him and takes his left hand in hers, gripping it tightly to reassure the young chief.
Zelda notices the gesture and smiles, compassion still filling her eyes, before walking ahead to give the couple a little space.
Hiccup turns to look at Astrid, tears clearly forming in his eyes from the memories of that painful day a year ago. "Thanks Astrid," he says. "Please don't get upset at Zelda, she was just curious about the Bewilderbeasts. It's not her fault that I have bad memories associated with them."
Astrid inwardly smiles at the comment. Making sure that everyone else is okay before himself is such a Hiccup thing to do. Five years ago she would have gone after Zelda with her axe.
"I don't hold anything against Zelda," Astrid says. "I just want to help you. Remember, if you need to talk, I'll always listen." She grabs both of Hiccup's shoulders and looks him in the eyes before continuing. "Remember that."
Astrid then gives Hiccup a quick kiss on the cheek before patting his back and continuing to climb. "Come on, let's go see if we can get that wisdom," she calls back. Hiccup smiles and brushes the spot where Astrid kissed him before following her.
An hour later, the group finally trudges around the final right turn of the path and sees the Spring of Wisdom a hundred yards away from them. Standing on a decently sized shelf below the summit cone of Mount Lanayru, the Spring of Wisdom consists of a pond, several ruined pillars, a stone platform, and a large Goddess statue at the back. Several of the stone ice pillars frame the end of the path leading to the spring, while many more adorn the summit cone of Mount Lanayru.
Zelda signals for the others to stop and turns to them. "Here is the part where I continue alone. The three of you can not step foot in the water for fear of robbing us of the wisdom we seek."
Link, Hiccup, and Astrid nod in acknowledgement as Zelda continues up to the spring. Link pulls some wood out of his pouch and arranges into a campfire shape before lighting it with his torch. Astrid sits down next to the fire and pulls out her waterskin to take a drink. Hiccup pulls out his journal and starts sketching something while Link dozes.
Sometime later, Zelda walks back down to the campfire, her white dress wet from the water in the spring.
Link pulls a Spicy Elixir out of his pocket and gives it to Zelda who drinks it. Link gives two more to Hiccup and Astrid as well, and they both down theirs. Zelda looks at the group with a weary smile and speaks. "Well, I have good news, but let us discuss it back in Kakariko Village. I'm weary and I'm sure you guys are getting tired as well."
Hiccup puts a final line on his drawing and moves to put his journal away but Zelda notices. "Can I see what you drew, Hiccup, if you don't mind?" Hiccup smiles and motions for her to come have a look. On the page, Mount Lanayru is drawn but with a Bewilderbeast resting on the mountain, the colossal dragon's head near where the Spring of Wisdom is located.
Zelda gasps and smiles at Hiccup. "Wow, you are talented. I'm guessing that creature is a Bewilderbeast?" Hiccup smiles at the princess and replies. "Yeah, that's what they look like." He closes the journal and puts it away, before getting up. Link leads the way, as the others follow him down the mountain.
A big smile crosses Astrid's face as the group arrives back at the aspen valley.
Stormfly and Toothless are sprawled out, half on top of each other, sound asleep. Several aspen trunks containing varying levels of bite marks surround the snoring dragons, while the horses are a little ways away, peacefully grazing.
Upon seeing the dragons, Hiccup face palms and turns to Zelda as he speaks. "Sorry, I told them not to destroy the valley. Looks like they only half listened." Zelda chuckles and replies. "No worries. They did only rip up three trees before getting bored."
Toothless's nose twitches before the Night Fury suddenly wakes and bolts over to Hiccup, toppling the auburn haired man before barraging him with licks.
Stormfly, having been woken by Toothless, notices Astrid and walks over to the blonde warrior. Astrid scratches Stormfly's chin as the Nadder preens Astrid's braid. Zelda laughs as the show of affection by the dragons and even Link can't help but smile at the sight.
A loud yell from Hiccup alerts the group to Toothless having finished his licking of Hiccup.
The young man is thoroughly covered in Night Fury saliva as he gets to his feet while scowling at the dragon. "Bud, you know that doesn't wash out!" Toothless gives Hiccup a side eye and looks away. Taking advantage of the situation, Hiccup flings some of the saliva at the Night Fury who responds with a scowl. Toothless then flings the saliva that Hiccup threw at him onto Terrako, who immediately lets out a flurry of beeps in protest.
Still beeping, the little Guardian walks up to Toothless and starts pointing at him with a claw, causing Hiccup, Astrid, Zelda, Link and even Stormfly to laugh. Toothless glares at them, clearly not happy at being the laughing stock of the group and being yelled at by a tiny Guardian.
Back in Kakariko Village and fresh out of a bath, Astrid walks down to the main floor of Impa's house. As she walks, she fixes her hair back into its normal style of one central braid with the rest flowing free.
Due to the casual nature of the upcoming discussion, she is just wearing her sleeveless blue tunic, her skirt but without the spiked straps or skull belt, leggings, and socks.
The others are already present, sitting on the floor and also recently bathed. Hiccup is wearing his dark green shirt, sleeveless leather tunic, trousers, prosthetic leg, and a sock on his right foot. Link is simply wearing his Champion's Tunic without any belts or armor pieces, white undershirt, trousers, and socks. Zelda is just wearing a navy blue Hylian Tunic with her dark brown trousers and socks. More noticeably, Toothless and Stormfly are present as well, sitting down behind their riders.
Zelda clears her throat to get the attention of the others. "Alright, let's discuss what wisdom I received."
Hiccup and Astrid lean in closer, eager to hear the information. Zelda continues, a small smile appearing on her face. "In summary, you can return home." Returning smiles appear on Hiccup and Astrid's faces as they open their mouths.
However, Zelda raises a hand and continues. "But, you need to wait several weeks." The Berkians' smiles fade but don't disappear.
Zelda continues to speak. "I saw several things in my vision. The first was a figure with golden hair, clad in a white dress and wielding a sword. This figure was fighting another figure in a black tunic and jacket with a green cape. They had golden armor on their shoulders, biceps, forearms, and on each side of the chest. He bore a golden staff, but the most notable feature was his helmet. It was golden, but had two long horns, each reaching up from above each eye. These two figures were fighting fiercely, with the black clad one initially having the edge, but the white clad figure eventually gained the upper hand. I think the white clad figure was the Goddess Hylia, but I have no idea as to the identity of the second." Hiccup briefly ponders the mysterious horned figure but dismisses it, gesturing for Zelda to continue.
She takes a breath and begins speaking again. "After seeing the battle, a spectre of Hylia appeared in front of me and spoke. She said 'the beings out of time will return to their time. However, the princess must allow her power to rebuild. After a moon cycle, the power will return. Then the princess and the plucky protector will send the riders home.' That is what was told to me." Zelda finishes while Hiccup and Astrid digest the information.
Hiccup speaks up, curiosity in his voice. "Outside of the assurance that we will be able to return to Berk, what else did you get from that?"
Zelda thinks for a second before replying. "I believe that the 'plucky protector' is Terrako. The message also implies that my powers somehow aided in you coming here and will do so for you to return. Unfortunately, they need time to recharge. I think it was around the full moon when you arrived, so we have to wait until the next full moon, which is several weeks away. Think you can survive here for a little while longer?"
Hiccup smiles and looks at Astrid who gives a small smile, before turning to Zelda. "I suppose we'll make the most of it," he says.
"Wow, Astrid, this is really beautiful." Hiccup says as he looks around.
The couple are on Ridgeland Tower, about a mile west of Hyrule Castle. The late day sun beautifully frames Hebra Peak, Lindor's Brow, and the distinctive pinnacle of Rito Village with Vah Medoh circling around it. Below and west of the tower, the unique mushroom shaped trees of the area dot the wetlands around Thundra Plateau.
They had spent the previous night in Kakariko Village before returning to Hyrule Castle in the morning. Zelda had reported to her father while Hiccup had taken Toothless on a long flight.
Left to their own devices, Link and Astrid had another sparring match, Astrid using her halberd while Link used a newly developed weapon called a Guardian Flail. The weapon was basically two Guardian legs on handles that can join together to make a Guardian leg staff. The duel was very challenging and Astrid had barely won.
King Rhoam had requested that Zelda join him for dinner, so Hiccup and Astrid decided to have a sunset dinner on Ridgeland Tower. Hiccup pulls a loaf of fresh bread out of Toothless's saddle bag while Astrid grabs the fish pie from Stormfly's bag. Both dishes are carefully wrapped by the castle cook to survive the short flight from the castle to the tower. Astrid also pulls some raw fish out of Stormfly's saddle bag to give to the dragons.
Leaving the dragons bickering over and eating their fish on the eastern side of the tower, Hiccup and Astrid walk over to the western side of the tower and sit down.
Producing a pair of wooden plates, Hiccup unwraps the fish pie and cuts it in half, placing one half on Astrid's plate and the other on his plate. Hiccup takes a bite of the pie and is impressed. The crunchy crust blends perfectly with the soft flesh of the seasoned fish inside. Astrid tries her portion and is similarly impressed. They finish their fish pie in silence while savoring it.
After finishing the pie and having some water, Astrid notices that Hiccup is just silently staring out towards where Vah Medoh is. Having seen this behavior before, she nudges him and asks. "Hey, what's bothering you?" Hiccup simply replies. "Nothing." Astrid knows he is lying and closes her left hand into a fist.
This gets Hiccup's attention and he looks at her with mild alarm in his eyes. "Okay, okay, you win!"
Astrid smiles as Hiccup speaks. "Look, I'm just a little jealous of how King Rhoam lets Zelda do all the things she asks him for permission for. She's the Crown Princess, but isn't stuck in princess/queen school. After we returned from the Edge, all my dad was doing was forcing me into chiefing lessons and was never happy when I flew off on Toothless for a break. It makes me a little sad that the King is fine with Zelda balancing her casual activities and royal duties while my dad heavily forced me to do chiefing duties and to not do casual activities, if you can understand that."
Astrid is taken back at Hiccup's honesty, openly admitting to be mildly jealous of their new friend.
"Hiccup…," she says. "I can understand that feeling, but understand, Zelda's situation is somewhat different than yours. She told me that after her mother died and that Calamity Ganon's revival was foretold, the King heavily pressured her to only focus on awakening her powers. His acceptance of Zelda wanting to do non princess activities only really started after the end of the Calamity."
Hiccup looks at her with some surprise in his eyes as Astrid continues. "Here's another thing I think is bugging you. I think you see that Zelda's life is somewhat similar to yours. Is that true?"
Hiccup's eyebrows shoot up as he speaks. "Woah, woah, woah! How did you assume that? I mean come on! Zelda is the heir to a kingdom with an army of giant laser shooting machines and she has the power to seal ancient demons! I know I'm am/was heir too, but I'm just the heir to a village of extremely stubborn warriors that are friends with giant fire breathing reptiles! How is there any similarity there?!"
Astrid glares at him as he finishes.
Hiccup wilts under her gaze before weakly speaking. "Alright. I…, I guess I do see some of my life in Zelda's."
Astrid smiles as she speaks. "See, I knew you did. Maybe try talking to her about the similarities in your lives. That might help erase that jealous feeling."
Hiccup opens his mouth to reply but Astrid cuts him off. "But if you try to make any move on her, I will cut your other leg off! Remember, we're betrothed!"
Hiccup nervously chuckles as he speaks. "Astrid, you know I love you. Zelda is nice and all, but you are my soulmate, Astrid. We will always be together." Astrid smiles and leans in to kiss Hiccup on the lips. He eagerly responds as they hold their lips together for a moment before separating.
Putting an arm on each other's shoulder, they lean against each other and watch the setting sun.
Notes for the chapter
During the portion on Mount Lanayru, Astrid has her hair in the braid that she wears in httyd 2. In the later scenes, her hair is back in the style she has in Hidden World.
The Guardian Flail that Link is mentioned to have used in a spar with Astrid is the same Guardian Flail from the Age of Calamity dlc.
There will be a chapter where Hiccup and Princess Zelda do chat about how similar their lives are. I plan to have this happen in a couple chapters, after a trip to the Gerudo Desert involving crossdressing, sparring, and a Molduga.
Any guesses on the identity of the mysterious figure that Zelda mentioned to have seen fighting Hylia in her vision? Ultimately, the figure has no real impact on the story, but does have an identity.
Thank you to those following this story and to those that have favorited this story.