Whooo. Sorry about that long gap in updating. I well uh, finished the whole thing. It should have 22 chapters in total. This is 8. I will start updating it weekly so please look forward to that and thank you for sticking with me all this time! JMF
The forge was sweltering. Heat emanating from the furnace, much hotter than he is used to, completely filled the small workshop. His clothes were sticking to his body, covered in sweat. But it was all worth it. He was constantly hammering, grinding, polishing, carving, and leatherworking. So far this was his greatest creation. His Magnum Opus.
He placed the divine crystal, filled with Astrid's energy carefully on the mold. He covered it with this demon iron that Toothless taught him to make. The crystal was carefully covered in the tie between the axe heads. He also made a demon iron reinforced handle with a hand crafted hilt. After sharpening and polishing this new axe, he etched in a few runes into the handle. Most were courage, strength and luck. And after two straight days of non-stop hard work. It was finished. Before him was a newly crafted divine double headed battle axe, made just for a certain knight. Hiccup smiled. Now all that was left was to test it out, he was ahead of schedule. He carefully bundled it up into a cloth and with the warmth of the forge, his tired eyelids closed and he promptly fell asleep.
Hiccup felt like he had about five minutes of rest before the door to his forge exploded. He shot up standing on wobbly feet, wiping the large pool of drool that accumulated on the side of his face. His back and neck were extremely stiff.
"Hiccup!" Astrid yelled excitedly. "It's been three days!"
Hiccup stared at her. He rubbed his eyes trying to remove the blurry vision. "Wha – but it's only Thursday?"
"Nope." Astrid said, popping the P. "It's none other than Friday. Exactly three days."
Hiccup looked down at his desk. Observing the evident puddle. He had been asleep for almost 16 hours. Astrid seemed to notice his sluggish and unenthusiastic behavior.
"Hey, Hiccup?" He looked up at her, his eyes red and bags under his eyes. "Did you get any sleep? You never came back to the apartment."
He shook his head and yawned. "I've been up for two days. It just seems my body finally caught up with me."
"Oh." Her enthusiasm died down. "Well if you need more time, I can always come back later."
"No need. I already finished everything." Hearing this Astrid perked up. "I'm just a little out of it, but we need to test if this actually worked." He bent over and grabbed the cloth bundle.
"What are you waiting for, let's go!" Astrid yelled, clearly excited again. Hiccup just chuckled at her antics.
He led her out the back entrance. It was the few areas that did not have a large guard presence and they were able to slip out unseen. They entered the forest that Hiccup and Toothless had been training in and he was leading her towards the cove. Hiccup didn't want anyone prying into what they were doing today. This was a close secret, a shame that the Knight's Order didn't trust him. Eventually they came across a tall rock that had a small opening in the bottom, twisted sideways and slipped through allowing him access into the cove.
Astrid looked around quite surprised by what she saw. There were practice dummies, some covered in a net while others were completely charred.
"What is this place?" She asked while inspecting some of the debris on the ground.
"This is where I come to train." Astrid gave him a confused look. "I'm not a knight, but a support engineer. I'm not allowed to train in the Order."
Astrid pondered on that and eventually frowned. Clearly not liking the idea of what he said. Hiccup led her to the center of the cove and handed her the bundle.
"I'm curious as to what this is." She said while lifting the bundle trying to gauge its weight.
"I'm sure you are, but it's going to solve all of your problems. Open it." Hiccup was trying and failing to hide the smile on his face. The walk out to the forest woke him up completely.
Astrid carefully undid the string and the cloth fell open. When her eyes gazed on what was inside she gasped. She quickly threw off the rest of the cloth covering the weapon and raised it proudly. Her eyes were sparkling as she gave it a few test swings.
"It's absolutely perfect." She gave it a few more swings then raised it above her head and with a yell, threw the axe with perfect accuracy into a nearby practice dummy. She stood there with her jaw hanging. "It's lighter than any axe I have ever lifted, perfectly balanced."
"I'm glad you like it." Hiccup said, his smile only growing wider.
"Like it?" She ran over and yanked it out of the dummy. "I. Love. It." She practically caressed the axe, feeling all its curves and ridges. Closely inspecting the runes on the handles and the point of its sharp edge.
"I told you the answer to your problem is just to get another axe."
"So this is a divine weapon?" Hiccup nodded. "I can't believe you found a divine weapon in only three days. That's amazing." Her shoulder slumped. "How much does it cost?"
"Oh, well it doesn't cost anything. Not for you." Hiccup's smile was wiped off his face when he noticed her glare. He had been on the receiving end too many times.
"Hiccup, I make a ton more money than you do. And I still cannot afford a divine weapon. Especially one like this, that was crafted by a master blacksmith or something. Please let me pay you back somehow."
Hiccup blushed at her compliment, although it wasn't directly meant for him. "Well, Astrid the axe was free. So you don't have to pay me back at all." What Hiccup couldn't tell her was that this was an apology for accidentally destroying her first axe.
She placed her hands on her hips, and her glare deepened. "Hiccup, I seriously doubt that a divine weapon like this would be free."
Hiccup just rolled his shoulders and shrugged. "Well it was free. Just a lot of work."
"What do you mean?"
"Well I, sorta, kinda," He stammered. "Made this axe." Her eyes widened and just stared at him. She looked at him, then at the axe, then back at him. She opened her mouth and tried to say something but nothing came out. She stood there for a few more minutes just looking back and forth between Hiccup and the axe.
"You made this?" After all that time thinking, that was all she managed to say.
"Yea, Astrid. I made that axe." Things were starting to get awkward now that she was silent. He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.
"And it's a divine weapon?" She said, blinking in disbelief, eyes still wide.
"Yes."
"You made a divine weapon." She repeated.
"Indeed."
"You made a divine weapon. Something no one has ever done before."
"I guess? Someone must have made the ones we currently use."
"You made a divine weapon. For me."
"Yes Astrid, I made a divine weapon, something that apparently no other support engineer knows how to do. And I made this axe for you." She just stared at him in complete disbelief.
"Like I said Astrid. Something crazy."
"Oh, this is definitely beyond just crazy!" She exclaimed.
"Okay, insane then."
She nodded profusely. "That's right. You are insane! Absolutely Insane. Look at this." She walked over to Hiccup and started pointing to things on the axe. Hiccup humored her and played along. She would point to the runes, open her mouth to say something then just throw her hand up in frustration. She repeated this a few more times.
"I think you are having trouble believing that this is actually a divine weapon." He said, chuckling. "Why don't you try summoning some divine energy to test it out before you thank me."
Her eyes widened at his remark. She thought carefully for a second then assumed a fighting stance, about to summon divine energy.
Toothless' voice popped up in his head. "Hiccup, I wouldn't recommend that. You remember what happened the first time you summoned divine energy?"
Hiccup was about to respond when a bolt of lightning shot by his head. Astrid has finished summoning her divine energy and the excess energy exploded outwards in a blast of electricity. She was staring gobsmacked at her axe that was now crackling with energy and bolts of electricity.
Toothless was chuckling in his head. "Nevermind, I see that she is not a weakling like you were."
Astrid began swinging her axe and with every swing it would launch a column of lightning in the path of her swing. She heaved her axe and threw it at a practice dummy which promptly exploded in a blast of electricity when it made contact, further charring the target. She waved her hand and the axe dissipated from the dummy's chest. She snapped her fingers and it immediately appeared in her right hand. She stood there breathing heavily, just staring at the power she was wielding in her hands.
She swiveled around to face Hiccup. "What on Midgard did you do!?"
"I didn't do anything."
"Right, and trolls stole my socks. Hiccup this is not normal, or even close to a normal divine weapon."
He shook his head, "I didn't do anything, I just made this axe specifically for you. I used your divine energy to craft it, so it's more attuned to you. It can easily access your divine energy because it is your divine energy."
"How much do I owe you?"
Hiccup sighed. "Astrid you don't owe me –" She put her hand up to silence him, glaring.
"I don't want an excuse. I want to pay you back, even if it's not money."
Hiccup thought back to her conversation, "Well you did say you would do anything right?"
She gave him a concerned look, "Yes, but what did you have in mind."
Hiccup smirked. "First, if you want this axe. You can't tell anyone about how it was made."
Astrid started protesting, "But this would completely change the Order, we could kill more demons than ever before. We could win this war!"
"That's the other thing. You can't kill any demons with it."
"WHAT!"
"You hear me. You said you would do anything. This whole thing stays between us and no killing any demons."
She threw her arms out, "What do you mean I can't kill any demons! That's the whole point of a weapon!"
Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose, "Do you not hear how bloodthirsty you sound? Just kill, kill, kill. I want you to help me capture the demons. To study them."
"Hiccup, a demon. A Night Fury. Caused this whole thing to happen. I want to get revenge on the son of a mulch eating rat bucket that did this."
Toothless piped up. "If the demon can talk. She may kill it."
Hiccup gasped, "What? Kill demons if they can talk?"
"Yes, that means that they are following the queen's orders of their own volition. I'll kill them myself if I get to them first. They are the true enemy."
Hiccup had never heard him speak so dark. Something bad must have happened between Toothless and another demon. He still had many other questions. But those would have to wait. Hiccup focused on the blonde who was currently pouting in front of him.
"Fine. Concession. You may kill the demon if they can speak. You may have your revenge, but must help me capture the ones that cannot speak."
Astrid smiled brightly and fist pumped. "Yes! I can do that! Seriously, Hiccup. This axe is amazing. Much better than the garbage I had before."
"Wasn't that a family heirloom?" He asked curiously.
"Yea," she waved it off. "But compared to what you made. It felt like garbage. You're amazing Hiccup."
Hiccup blushed, "Thanks that really mean–" She interrupted him by pressing her lips against his. It was a quick, smash and grab. Kiss the dork and retreat. He just stood there eyes wide and in shock.
She sat back on her heels and pursed her lips, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "That was to say thanks. I realized that I never did thank you for all the work you did." She gave him a warm smile that nearly melted him.
"Lot." That was all that he got out. She definitely fried his brain.
She chuckled. "Sorry, I'm just making things awkward." She crossed one of her arms and grabbed her other elbow. She looked uncomfortable, it seemed unnatural for Astrid.
"No, No. Not at all. I'm the awkward one." He just fumbled with his hands, not quite sure what to do. "Great way to pay me back. No complaints here. No siree."
Astrid smirked. "Men are all the same."
"Hey! It was your idea." Hiccup huffed.
"No idea what you are talking about." She quickly turned on her heels and started to run off. "I've uh - gotta go." She gave a quick wave and ran back to the order. Leaving Hiccup behind to just stare blankly.
Toothless appeared next to Hiccup. "She seems like a good ally for our cause, she was incredibly strong for a human. But what was all that stuff about at the end?"
Hiccup just rubbed his ears trying to escape the embarrassing situation he just had. "If I knew what that was about I would tell you."
"You are acting weird." Toothless said simply.
"Of course I'm acting weird!" Hiccup was yelling at the trees at this point. "Astrid, the Astrid Hofferson, just gave me a thank you kiss. I don't know what that means, does she want a relationship? Does she thank all her friends like that? No, wait this is Astrid we are talking about, she doesn't touch anyone. Ugh, I feel like I'm sixteen."
"I'm not following."
"I can't tell if she wants to be my girlfriend or not, you useless demon."
"Well clearly she wouldn't want someone like you to be her mate." Toothless said pointing to Hiccup.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, hurt.
Toothless threw his hands in the air. "Why would she? You never even attempted to court her. If you want to mate with her, where was your dance!? How are you going to find a mate, if you don't dance for them!"
Hiccup wasn't sure how to respond. There was clearly a difference in how humans and demons mated. Even that word left a sour taste in his mouth. But something Toothless said did strike a chord. I never even attempted to court her. Astrid's not the type to just kiss anyone. But then again it was just because she was grateful for what I did. I was only able to do this because I had a demon working alongside me. If she ever found out she would kill me. In fact she already does, I'm the Night Fury demon that broke her axe. Crap. Why do women have to be so complicated?