Note before the chapter
From here on out, unless specified otherwise, Astrid's hair in in the stlye that she wears it in during the epilogue of HTTYD 3 and the Homecoming short.
Anyways, enjoy!
Chapter 4-Paintings and Boars
Zelda walks into the Great Hall, her eyes widening upon seeing multiple Berkians sprawled out, clearly having not moved since they fell asleep the previous night at the party. Behind her, Link stumbles in, clutching his forehead. Unsurprisingly due to the amount of mead he drank, he's somewhat hungover, and hadn't slept great. Ingrid had been kind enough to give Zelda a bucket for if Link needed to throw up, and it was used before the sun rose. She had slept fine, but slept in due to the late night.
Looking around the hall, she spots Hiccup and Astrid sitting at one of the tables near the cooking station, alongside Valka, Ingrid, and Arvid. Zelda grabs some breakfast for herself and Link, then goes to sit at Hiccup and Astrid's table.
The couple are back in their normal casual attire, but a couple small differences. Astrid's hair is tied up differently, now with only her bangs loose, and the rest tied into two waist length braids. She is also wearing a different headband, this one being simple brown leather, with some golden triangles. Both her and Hiccup are also wearing bearskin cloaks that are attached to their shoulder armor, with Astrid's being white and Hiccup's being brown. Zelda does notice that the pale tan fur that lines the edges of Astrid's shoulder armor makes a pleasant contrast to the white fur of her cloak.
The Hylians nod greetings to the Berkians and then eat their breakfast. Once Zelda finishes, Hiccup coughs, and the princess looks at him.
"I never got a chance to ask yesterday," Hiccup says, "How is your arm doing?"
Zelda's smile fades as she replies, "I've gotten used to the prosthetic, but it's nothing to my original arm. I still get phantom pains from time to time."
Hiccup nods sympathetically, before he perks up, a smile on his face. "How many swappable hands do you have?" he asks.
The door to the Great Hall opens, and Snotlout staggers in, distracting Zelda briefly, before she responds. "Just three. The casual one I'm wearing, the gripping one, and a laser one." Hiccup and Astrid's eyebrows shoot up at the third one, confused looks on their faces. "It's basically a miniature laser cannon that can shoot Guardian lasers," Zelda explains.
She opens the pouch on her belt, and pulls out the laser hand. She then detaches her casual hand, before securing the other hand to the attachment point on her prosthetic arm. Astrid kicks Link under the table to get his attention, while Zelda points her arm at a corner of the Great Hall without people. She presses one of the glowing orange circles on the cannon with her right hand, but nothing happens. Link sees what she's doing and smiles, excited to see the laser cannon hand in use.
Zelda keeps tapping the circle, groaning in frustration. While she is preoccupied trying to activate the laser, she doesn't notice her arm moving away from her original target. After the top orange circle fails, she remembers there is one on the bottom, and moves her hand to find the bottom circle. After a moment, she finds it and with a smile, presses the circle.
With a flash of blue energy, the laser fires, right at the approaching Snotlout, who's eyes widen upon seeing the beam of energy approaching him. The stocky man throws up his plate in defense, which the laser hits and shatters, sending Snotlout flying.
The doors of the Great Hall open again, admitting the Thorston Twins. "¡Buenos días muchachos!" Tuffnut shouts, spreading his arms wide, only for Snotlout to land on him. Caught unaware, Tuffnut falls backwards, taking Ruffnut down with him.
Zelda looks at Hiccup and Astrid, sheepishly smiling, while Link is outright grinning. "Are they going to be okay?" she asks in a hesitant voice.
Surprisingly, Hiccup and Astrid start chuckling. "They'll be fine," Hiccup says, "They've survived worse. At least Gobber doesn't have one of those."
The Hylian princess frowns thoughtfully at the mention of the blacksmith. "How many prosthetic hands does he have? I saw a hammer, a gripping fist, and a drink tankard yesterday," she says in a curious tone.
Grinning, Astrid replies, "Oh, he has a whole rotating rack of arms. He's got an axe, a frying pan, multiple saws, a mace, and a hook to name a few."
Zelda nods, and Hiccup clears his throat. "Zelda, Link," he says, "Would you be willing to get a painting done of the four of us in our attire from last night? We can do it today."
Zelda smiles before she replies, "Of course. That would be amazing. I'd just like to clean Link's Champion's Tunic because he stained it last night." She adds the last part while looking meaningfully at Link, causing Hiccup and Astrid to snicker.
Link holds his hands up in defeat, and Hiccup continues. "Great. Let's meet at me and Astrid's house shortly after midday."
Link walks through the village, marveling at the harmony between the dragons and Berkians. Zelda is cleaning his Champion's Tunic, not trusting him to do it properly in his slightly hungover state. As a result, he is wearing a short sleeved olive green tunic that Hiccup lent him until his usual tunic is clean. He's also taken off his hair tie, leaving his dirty golden-blonde hair hanging down to his shoulders. Arriving at the top of the walkway leading down to the docks, Link looks around before turning around to return to the upper village, when he gets tapped on the shoulder.
Spinning around, Link is startled to see Tuffnut standing behind him, and more startled to see a chicken perched on the male twin's left arm. "Nice try there L," Tuffnut says, while stroking his chicken's feathers with his right hand, "I almost walked right past you. I'm not over you using my helmet as a bow, even though you took out Snotty. I'll get you back." His tone turns ominous with the last sentence, and he grins, before walking away, still lovingly petting his chicken.
Several hours later, Hiccup, Astrid, Link, and Zelda are standing in the living room of the Haddock house, all wearing their attire from the previous night. Link is back in his Champion's Tunic and has his hair back in a ponytail, while Astrid is holding the pot of Silent Princess flowers that Zelda gifted her and Hiccup. Hiccup and Astrid are standing next to each other, with Zelda standing next to Astrid and Link standing next to Hiccup.
Zelda is mildly surprised to see that Bucket is doing the painting. The Viking has a metal bucket on his head, a long blonde beard, red tunic, mail skirt, and a hook for a right hand. However, he is the best painter on Berk, having painted two portraits of Hiccup and Stock five years prior.
After about an hour and a half, Bucket tells the quartet that he's finished. They eagerly crowd around him to see the finished product. Four gasps of amazement as they look at a simplistic yet detailed portrait of the quartet. The likeness is incredible, and all the different pieces of clothing look realistic.
Zelda swaps her casual hand for her gripping hand, secures the Sheikah Slate in the gripping hand, activates the relic, and opens the camera album. She taps on a picture that Ingrid took of Zelda, Link, Hiccup, Astrid, Toothless, Stormfly, and Terrako at the ceremony altar before they arrived at the party. She shows it to the others as a reference to compare to the painting, and they all appreciate the beauty of the painting even more.
"Thank you Bucket," Hiccup says in a happy voice.
Bucket smiles before responding, "Of course, Chief. The pleasure is mine. Enjoy the rest of your day." The one armed Viking then gathers up his supplies, while Link takes the painting off the easel, gently holding the eighteen by twenty four canvas. Bucket nods and leaves, while Link turns to Hiccup.
"Astrid and I are going to go change, then we'll hang it up in our room. Can you hold it for a few minutes, Link?" Hiccup asks. Link nods, and Hiccup walks up the stairs to the second floor loft, followed by Astrid. While they wait, Zelda takes off her jacket and short cape, due to getting warm.
About ten minutes later, Hiccup calls the Hylians up. Link carefully makes his way up the stairs, being careful not to damage the painting, with Zelda following. Astrid holds the door open, allowing access to their room.
Hiccup and Astrid's bedroom occupies the entire second floor. Two of the walls curve upwards to the ceiling, while the other two are straight. A large two person bed rests against one of the curved walls, with small tables on either side and two trunks at the foot of the bed. A large desk is along one of the flat walls, while a smaller one is against the other flat wall. A large dresser is against the other curved wall, specially designed to rest snugly against the curve. The smaller desk has nothing on it, save for the pot with the Silent Princesses, while above it, several weapons hang, including Astrid's battle axes, both metal bladed and Sheikah tech. The larger desk has numerous pieces of paper on it, with various things drawn on the papers, while several other things litter the wooden surface.
Hiccup takes the painting from Link, then sets it down on the larger desk-which Zelda guesses is his-and steps up on the chair. He then picks up the painting and slides the slots on the back of the canvas over the hooks he secured to the wall. Both Link and Zelda smile upon seeing the physical portrait of the picture that the quartet had taken of them back in Hyrule before Calamity Ganon broke free hanging next to the painting that Hiccup just hung up. Zelda feels a tinge of sadness upon seeing her left hand in the portrait, and looks at her prosthetic, closing her eyes.
A hand resting on her shoulder causes her to open her eyes, and she looks to see Link, his blue eyes filled with compassion and wordlessly asking if she is okay. She smiles at him and nods, before looking closer at the drawings on Hiccup's desk. Several of them depict Toothless and other dragons, while some others outline contraptions designed by Hiccup. She also sees a half covered one of Astrid.
Zelda is about to turn away, when something on the desk catches her eye. Next to a small chest presumably containing pencils, she sees a three inch tall metal figure. It depicts a long faced yelling Viking, wielding crossed battle axes. The figure is attached to a circular base that has a braid pattern along the edge. "Hiccup," Zelda says, while pointing at the figure, "What is this for?"
The young chief turns around and followed by Astrid, walks closer to look at the metal figure. A look of sorrow appears on his face as he speaks, "That's the Accomplice, an important piece from the game Maces and Talons. That specific piece was given to me by Viggo Grimborn right before he sacrificed himself."
Zelda and Link look at Hiccup, silently asking for more context, but Astrid speaks instead. "Viggo Grimborn was the leader of the Dragon Hunters. In terms of intelligence, he's the most dangerous foe we've ever faced, and he outsmarted us numerous times. But in the process, we learned a lot from him," she says.
"In the end though, he was betrayed by Krogan and Johann during the hunt for the King of Dragons. A wild dragon saved him, and he met me alone, admitting that I'd taught him to respect dragons. He even managed to easily tame a Skrill, an aggressive species that can fire blasts of lightning. And even though he threatened me and Astrid numerous times, he always respected me, and his sacrifice definitely impacted the whole team," Hiccup adds, smiling sadly, "In fact, the retractable blade and Zippleback gas features of Inferno actually were inspired by identical features on a flaming sword that Viggo made after being inspired by my old version of Inferno, which had a non collapsible longsword blade."
Zelda and Link's eyes widen at the info shared about the late Dragon Hunter, but nod solemnly, seeing the truth in Hiccup's statement. Zelda opens her mouth to speak again, but notices that Hiccup's gaze is distracted, his mind wandering in the past, back to the year long conflict with the Dragon Hunters. Observing that he needs a moment, Zelda nods to Astrid before walking back downstairs to the main floor of the Haddock house, followed by Link.
Later that afternoon, Link is walking through the upper part of the middle village. He's redonned his leather chest and left shoulder guard, and has the ever present Master Sword on his back. Humming Zelda's Lullaby and enjoying the view, he barely notices that he's walking past a large pit with a closed off side area attached to it.
Suddenly, something forcefully pushes him to the side. Caught off guard, Link falls, hearing a tearing sound, before he lands on his belly, on hard dirt. Looking up, he realizes he is in the pit that he was walking by. Laughing catches his attention, and he jumps to his feet before springing around. At the top of the pit, along the path, Tuffnut is standing, his chicken perched on his left arm, and to Link's shock, holding the scabbard for the Master Sword-with the blade in it-in his right hand. Realizing that he must have grabbed the scabbard and pulled while pushing the Hylian Champion, Link glares at the male twin and rushes forward to retrieve his sword.
"Careful, I'd stay on alert, L," Tuffnut says, dropping the Master Sword and pointing at Link. "You're about to have a lot of fun, amigo," he says, before looking across the pit. "Sister Nut, release them!" he calls, before starting to stroke Chicken's feathers with his right hand, a grin on his face.
Link turns around and sees Ruffnut next to a lever near the doors to the side area of the pit. With a smirk, she pulls the lever, and the doors swing open. Link adopts a ready stance, standing lightly on his feet, hands curled into fists. His eyebrows shoot up as a group of wild boars charge out of the side area, squealing in anger.
"You must face the Thorston Boar Pit," Tuffnut exclaims, "LOKI'D!"
Link glares in the male twins direction, while Ruffnut echoes "Loki'd!"
Ignoring the Twins, Link observes his surroundings. The pit is around thirty feet in diameter, and the walls are about ten feet high. Despite being the best swordsman in Hyrule, and extremely competent with other weapons, Link is well aware that his hand to hand combat skills are not the best. Seeing the first boar nearing him, Link tightens the straps of his forearm bracers and leaps to the side. The boar misses him, and Link whirls around, before kicking it. The animal is shoved back, while two more charge Link.
He leaps to the side and reaches out, managing to grab both boars by the scruffs of their necks, and pulls back. Both of the mammals skid to a stop, feeling the strength of Link's arm muscles. Warming to the activity, Link sidesteps another charging boar and sticks out his boot, tripping the boar.
From their spots on the rim of the pit, the Twins watch the events unfolding.
"He's doing better than I expected," Ruffnut comments.
Tuffnut nods and replies, "Indeed sister, muy picante." Both Twins grin upon seeing a boat go flying, courtesy of a hard kick from Link.
The Hylian Champion grabs a boar running by him by the legs, and uses the muscles in his back and arms to swing the boar around like a mace. Caught by surprise, numerous boars are swatted aside by their weaponized comrade. Ruffnut and Tuffnut's grins widen at the move, enjoying the chaos. With a yell, Link lets go of the boar, sending it hurling into more of the squealing animals. The final boar charges the knight, and he leaps to the side, while sticking his leg out, dodging and tripping the boar in one move.
The Twins clap as the last boar slumps down, defeated.
"Well done L," Tuffnut says, "But now you must face the champion boar. We call him Dark Beast Boaron." Ruffnut pulls on a second lever above the side pit, and a second door opens. From it, charges a boar somewhat larger than the others. While the other boars have gray fur, this one has black fur.
Link sighs and dodges the boar before kicking at it. The mammal squeals, but doesn't fall over. The boar whirls around and charges Link again. Suddenly having a new idea, Link stands in the path of the charging boar, hands outstretched. Right before he is hit, he leaps forward and grabs the boar's tusks, while digging his heels into the ground. The boar's momentum shoves Link back several yards, but he eventually manages to overpower the mammal, flinging it onto its side. The boar squeals, then falls asleep.
Link wipes the dust from his hands, then runs to the edge of the pit, climbing up the wall. He walks towards the Master Sword, still lying where Tuffnut dropped it. The male twin nervously looks at Link as the knight picks up his sacred sword. Link sees that the strap that wraps around the scabbard and connects to Link's belt is snapped, explaining how the scabbard fell off Link's back. He glares at the Twins, then continues on his walk.
Zelda, Hiccup, and Astrid all raise their eyebrows as Link enters the Haddock house, holding the sheathed Master Sword in his left hand, while his boots and trousers are dirtier than normal.
Seeing the looks, Link sighs. "I got 'Loki'd' by the Twins, whatever that means. They shoved me into their boar pit and unleashed the boars on me," he explains, throwing his arms up in exasperation. "I handled them and didn't get hurt.'
Both Hiccup and Astrid start chuckling at Link's story, while Zelda looks at them with a confused look. "What does 'Loki'd' mean and what in the name of Hylia is a boar pit?" she asks.
Still chuckling, Astrid replies "Boar pits are a popular entertainment with the Thorston family, and there's even one on Wingmaiden island. The least bad thing that goes on in one is wrestling boars." Both Link and Zelda's eyes widen, but Astrid says no more.
"Loki'd is what the Twins shout whenever their pranks are successful," Hiccup adds, "Loki is the Viking God of Mischief, and the Twins unsurprisingly worship him."
Zelda laughs before responding, "Oh, yeah, I remember you telling us about some of the stunts that they pulled off." All four smile, recalling the memory of the nice dinner at Hyrule Castle where they talked about the Twins antics.
For the next few days, Zelda and Link spend time around the village, getting to know Hiccup and Astrid's friends, while Hiccup and Astrid settle into married life. The two Hylians do have a long chat with Valka, Gobber, Ingrid, and Arvid about Hiccup and Astrid's time in Hyrule. Zelda admits to being the reason that the couple ended up in Hyrule, but assures them that it was an accident, and to her surprise, none of the parents are angry.
Zelda also spends some time with Fishlegs, telling the large Viking about the flora and fauna of Hyrule, while he shares about the flora and fauna of Berk. She and Link both stay wary of the Twins, while also ignoring Snotlout's attempts to woo Zelda.
Four days after the wedding, Zelda-wearing her casual research attire-and Astrid are walking through the upper plaza near the blacksmith shop, chatting. Suddenly they hear a squawk, and a Deadly Nadder lands in front of them. This individual is a little smaller than Stormfly, and just as beautiful. The scales are a deep royal blue, while the tail spikes are the same gold as Stormfly's. The wings of the Nadder are identical to Stormfly in coloration, but like the main body, the blue is royal blue rather than sky blue. The beautiful dragon walks up to the two young women and squawks a greeting.
"Ah, I remember you," Astrid says with a smile on her face, "She's one of Stormfly's hatchlings from four years ago."
Zelda smiles at the Nadder. "Hello, you're beautiful, just like your mother," she says in a gentle tone. The dragon chirps at Zelda and looks at her closer. Zelda takes a breath and reaches her arm outwards, extending her hand. Closing her eyes, she waits and after a moment, feels warm scales against her fingers. She opens her eyes, and sees the Nadder's snout resting against her hand. Smiling, she gently removes her hand, and moves to scratch the Nadder's chin. The dragon chirps in pleasure, closing her eyes in happiness.
"Well, you just made a new friend," Astrid says.
Zelda smiles at Astrid, then looks back at the dragon. "I think I'll call you Wildstorm," the Hylian princess says to the dragon. The Nadder squawks her approval and Zelda scratches her on the chin again.
"Let me know when you're ready to give flying a shot," Astrid says with a smirk.
Zelda looks at her and smirks back. "It might be sooner than you expect, Astrid," she responds.
Couple notes for the chapter
When Link's hair is down, his hair looks like how it looks in Tears of the Kingdom without any headgear equipped.
Dark beast Boaron is meant to be a play on Dark Beast Ganon for those wondering.
While Zelda does bond with a dragon, she is not going to bring Wildstorm back to Hyrule. I do plan to have Link befriend a dragon, but can't decide what species, though the Night Fury is out of consideration. If you have suggestions for what species Link should befriend, I'd be happy to hear them.
Next chapter should be a longer one.
Hope you enjoyed and see you in the next chapter :)