Aren't there huge repercussions for raping or attempted rape in Astrid's case of a free woman? Like it was one of the highest offenses one could commit onto the gods? Will Hackett get away with it? Will Astrid tell anyone on Berk? I can see Astrid go on a katara-style revenge later in her years. I just hope he doesn't get away with it! But I know you like to ground your stories to the real world for the most part and unfortunately that is often the case. I hope he dies, with an axe to his dick.
And here you have the horror of “small village mentality.” Where you protect the people you know, flaws and all, and not the strangers--outsiders, really--squatting on your island. Regardless of what happened in that house, chances are Hackett would have gotten away with it.
To be clear, what Hackett intended likely wasn’t rape. If she hadn’t fought him, if she had been more agreeable and just listened, he wouldn’t have had to get so forceful then and there (if you were to ask him, that is). Ideally, Astrid would have agreed to an “arrangement” with him in exchange for his protection, which would have been less rapey and more coercion. If she cared about Hiccup (which she obviously did, doing all she had to keep him alive) she would have done anything to keep him--and herself--out of the Lout slave mines. And, really, silently enduring his attention would have been nothing in comparison (again, according to Hackett). It might not have even lasted forever; he just had to get her out of his system, scratch that itch, and they could both move on with their lives in time...
Then she pulled a blade on him. Things escalated. He just wanted her to stop struggling and listen. He was sure if he had pitched it right--made her understand--she would have eventually calmed down. Or if he had just showed her how much preferable he was to losing her freedom... Naturally, he didn’t know there was a dragon on the island, so...
I can’t see Astrid telling anyone on Berk (it certainly seems impossible to her at the present time). And in this case, she’s less interested in revenge and more interested in getting the Hel away. She just wants to go home, and be somewhere where she feels like a free woman. She certainly hadn’t there.
Chances are, Hackett’s going to live quite a while. He’ll overcome the next hurdle with his wife, things will settle, etc. etc...
I don't mean to sound insensitive and I'm sorry for the way my question is written but I didn't know how to put it. By the time of httyd2 Astrid would have gotten over the events in Leith, no? I mean that's a period of five years and she seems like a strong gal. I know traumas varies per person but for someone like Astrid, that appears to be enough time. I think she would still regain her vanity in time.
It could be five years. It could be twenty. There are some moments you never forget and it has nothing to do with how strong you are. I’m not saying she’ll be completely traumatized for the rest of her life--of course she’ll “get over it”--nevertheless, it’s a behavior altering experience. Not just the climax of the... situation. All of it.
Bear in mind, canon Astrid has lived a charmed life. Even in the throes of war she’s spent it surrounded by loved ones, praised, welcomed, and, as Hiccup said, had always known who she was. She’s self-assured with nothing to break that.
In this reality, Astrid has experienced being a pariah. She’s been at the mercy of others--strangers who likely bear her ill-will. She’s been held under constant mistrust, disliked, with no voice. She was weak, and couldn’t fight back. What she once thought was her greatest strength failed her and she struggled to find something to back it up. It’s a cruel reminder of how life can hold you to the ground like a boot on your neck. She no longer sees Berk as her world, but as a safe place in her world.
So now--yes, even five years later--every time she fancies her hair, she’ll think about how she’ll be perceived. Not the admiration, as she might have only known before, but the darker thoughts that may pass through someone’s mind; someone who might speak kindly to her but think differently. So now she limits the intricate braids and short skirts and cute skull belts to Berk. Every time she spars it’ll be that much more important that she comes out on top. She knows Berkians might go easy on her--they’re family, all of them--but there are far more savage people in the world who won’t think twice about having the upper-hand. And she’s meeting them; she needs to assume she’s meeting them as she travels around with Hiccup.
It’s those little thoughts, the reminders in the back of her mind, that will cause the slight changes. Not bone-deep trauma; just the scars from it.
OH LOOK I WROTE MORE THINGS. THIS IS THE SHITTY FRENCH EDITION.
(you’re totally good to post it if you’d like, too!! I’d be honored!! also I’d put in a read more myself but there’s not an option for it in the submit box so GO FOR IT!)
——
Hiccup’s fever started during their third day at sea.
Astrid woke up cold, shivering under the blankets tangled around her arms and legs. Her eyes stung from salt; rubbing them only made them hurt more. She sat up slowly, her whole body stiff and aching, and looked around sleepily at the dark blue waves whipping themselves into frenzied foam around her.
Mara stood at the helm, elbows resting on the wheel as she gazed across the water. Astrid watched her carefully as she pulled the blankets back around her shoulders. She still couldn’t get a solid read on the woman. She was kind and clever, and she clearly wanted to help them, but…there was something about her that didn’t seem to sit right. She was too quiet, too anxious, too lost in her own head.
Astrid felt Hiccup shift restlessly beside her. “Hey,” she rasped, turning towards him and tucking a ragged strand of hair behind her ear. “You awake?”
She froze. Hiccup was pale, his parted lips gray and cracked, his freckles too dark against his white skin. His cheeks were flushed red and drops of sweat dampened the hair at his temple. Astrid tentatively touched his forehead and quickly drew her hand back.
“Mara?” she called.
“Oh, you’re awake?” Mara said, her voice catching in the wind. “Go ahead and get yourself something to eat if you’re hungry. I’m thinking about docking the boat to wait out the storm.”
Astrid gingerly touched the side of Hiccup’s neck, wincing at the heat of his skin. “Something’s wrong,” she said. “With Hiccup. I think he’s sick.”
Mara was beside her in a second, kneeling on the deck and smoothing Hiccup’s hair back from his forehead. “He’s burning up,” she murmured, half to herself. “His leg must be infected.”
Hiccup mumbled something under his breath, his head turning restlessly from side to side. Mara made a gentle shushing noise in the back of her throat, lifted the blankets back from his leg, and tugged his prosthesis away.
Astrid recoiled, her hand covering her mouth in horror. Hiccup’s leg was red and swollen, the still-healing scars white and stretched too tight. His skin was marked with half-formed blisters and sores. Mara sat back, lifting his thin leg to rest on her knees. “Astrid, there’s a chest in the hold,” she said. “A little one, with a brass lock. There’s a leather case inside. Bring it to me, please.”
Astrid nodded dumbly, pushing herself shakily to her feet and staggering across the tilting deck to the hold. This was bad. This was really bad. Infection could kill, and fast. Especially since he still hadn’t fully recovered from the accident in the first place.
She climbed down into the tiny hold, wrinkling her nose at the thick stale smell. Toothless slept in a ball in the corner, his wings over his face. She petted the top of his head gingerly. He was barely moving, barely breathing. Hibernating.
The chest was half-hidden in the corner, next to a well-worn wicker basket that held Mara’s clothes. Astrid hefted it carefully, tucking it under her arm, and made her way back to the deck.
Hiccup’s eyes were open now, but red-rimmed and bleary. Astrid knelt down beside him. “How’re you feeling?” she asked.
“I dunno,” he rasped, staring blankly at the sky behind her head. “I might throw up.”
Mara reached into the neckline of her dress and pulled out a thin leather cord. At the end a few keys clicked against each other; she took a small tarnished one and fitted it to the lock. Astrid frowned. Mixed in amongst the keys was a jewel, not quite the length of her pinky finger, bright red and gleaming in the low light. It was a strange shape, though- almost like a crooked teardrop. Or half a heart.
Mara, without noticing Astrid’s stares, took out a small clay jar and a roll of bandages. She dug out a small lump of a thick pale green paste and rubbed it gently over Hiccup’s leg. “Oh, gods,” he gasped, his head falling to the side, as if he wanted to sit up and fight back but couldn’t summon up the strength.
“I know, it stings,” Mara said. “But it’ll draw the infection out.”
Mara’s slender fingers were quick and gentle on his raw skin, but Hiccup covered his face with his hands and groaned into his palms. “That hurts,” he moaned, and Astrid looked away. She couldn’t remember Hiccup ever complaining about pain before. “Stop it.”
“I’m sorry,” Mara murmured. “I’m so sorry.”
She unrolled a strip of linen and wrapped it deftly around Hiccup’s stump. The little knot of keys swung forward from her neck and Astrid found herself watching the soft flicker of light from the ruby. How did a woman like Mara get her hands on something like that?
“Astrid, can you get some fresh water for me, please?”
Astrid shook her head. “Um, yeah,” she said, scrambling to her feet. She grabbed the first full waterskin she saw and brought it over.
Mara picked up a small glass bottle from the chest and pulled out the stopper. “What’s that?” Astrid asked, watching the amber syrup slosh back and forth. She had a sudden, horrible flashback to hushed arguments and belladonna.
“It’ll bring his fever down and help him sleep,” Mara said, sliding an arm under Hiccup’s shoulders. Astrid stood by awkwardly, the waterskin gripped in her fingers, as Mara lifted him enough to set the bottle to his lips.
“No, no, I don’t want any,” Hiccup mumbled, turning away from the bottle and pressing his cheek against Mara’s elbow.
“Just a little bit,” she coaxed. “It’ll help you feel better.”
His chest heaved and he mumbled something into Mara’s arm. “What’s wrong with him?” Astrid asked.
“He’s delirious,” she said. She shifted Hiccup’s head against her shoulder, pinched his nose shut, and tilted the bottle to his lips. He squirmed a little, whining in protest, but the syrup dripped down his throat at last. “The water, please?”
Astrid handed it over. Mara helped him drink and wiped a stray drop away with her thumb. “Poor boy,” she said softly as his eyes fell closed. “We’ll get you back home soon.” She looked up at Astrid. “I’m sure your families must be worried sick about you.”
Astrid shifted her weight. “Yeah,” she said, a lump in her throat. “At this point, yeah. Hiccup’s dad, especially. He’s his only heir.”
Mara was very quiet for a moment, watching Hiccup’s sleeping face. “And his mother must be worried too,” she whispered, her voice cracking.
“His…his mother died when he was a baby,” Astrid said. “I don’t know much about her- nobody really talks about her or what happened. I think a dragon killed her.”
“But…but didn’t his…his father remarry?” Mara asked. “He could have married again. Had more children. He…he didn’t?”
Astrid blinked. “No,” she said, perplexed. “He never did.”
Mara paled, her lips parted and her eyes wide. She looked uncomfortably young. “Oh,” she whispered. “I…oh.”
Astrid sank down beside Mara, tucking her legs under her. “When you got us out of our cell, back on the island, Hiccup said you asked him if he was Stoick’s son,” she said. “Did you know him?”
Mara looked away. “Yes,” she said. “A long, long time ago. When I was a girl.”
“Did you know Hiccup’s mother?”
Mara shook her head quickly. “No,” she said. “No, I…no.”
Hiccup turned restlessly in Mara’s arms, broken little noises crackling in his throat. She shifted him to balance against her shoulder, tore off a strip of linen from the roll of bandages, and dripped water onto it. Hiccup’s eyes opened briefly as she bathed his face.
He mumbled sleepily at her, the words unintelligible, and as he shifted his weight his fingers caught the keys hanging from her neck. The ruby caught the light and he frowned. “Je…je sais ça,” he murmured, and his cheek tucked back against her shoulder.
“What was that?” Astrid said.
“French, I think,” Mara said, untangling Hiccup’s fingers delicately from the ruby. “I don’t speak much of it myself.”
“Where did you get that?” Astrid said before she could stop herself. “I mean…it’s really valuable. And you’re not exactly…you know…I mean-”
“You mean I’m a recluse who goes into town every so often to trade her sewing for supplies?” Mara finished dryly. She sighed. “I know I could, but…it’s sentimental.”
Her fingers curled around Hiccup’s, the ruby safely tucked between their hands. “It was a gift from my husband,” she confessed. “When we married.”
“Oh,” Astrid said. She tapped her fingertips on her thighs. “Is he-”
“I…lost him, years ago,” Mara said. “And my…my son.”
Astrid looked down at her hands. “I’m sorry,” she said.
“It’s fine, it was years ago,” Mara said, a little too brusquely. She was still holding Hiccup’s hand. “The ruby used to be in one piece, but my husband broke it in two when our baby was born. We each took half, and I…” Her voice trailed off.
Hiccup curled up closer against her, mumbling under his breath. Mara gazed down at him, smoothing a strand of untidy hair behind his ear, and her lips trembled.
“You stay with him,” she said suddenly, shifting Hiccup from her arms to the nest of blankets in the prow. “Keep him warm and give him water as often as he’ll take it. And keep him calm. Getting him agitated will make things worse.”
“But I-”
Mara stood up quickly, brushing her hands on her skirt. “If we keep pressing on, we can get to Berk tomorrow,” she said. “Maybe even tomorrow morning, if we’re lucky.”
She was upset. Astrid scooted closer to Hiccup, draping the cool wet bandage over his hot forehead. “I’m sorry,” she said again. “About your family. And for…for bringing it up.”
Mara didn’t answer. Astrid tucked a quilt snugly around Hiccup. “For what it’s worth, though, I’m sure your husband loved you,” she said. “And I’m sure you were a great mom.”
She looked up just in time to see a tear drip down Mara’s pale cheek. “Thank you,” she said, her voice thick. “But it’s not true, dear.”
Astrid swallowed hard as Mara walked away. She just couldn’t manage to say the right things ever, could she?
MORE AMAZING STUFF, holy cow! You’re such a talented writer!
You know what struck me? Which might strike Astrid later in this AU? That Mara, having known Stoick the Vast, first asked Hiccup if he were Stoick’s son. It makes me think if Astrid ponders on it a bit more... if she might come to wonder at what made Mara make that connection. What makes Hiccup so recognizable as Stoick’s son.
We, the readers, know why “Mara” recognized Hiccup and used that as identification, but from Astrid’s POV she might start to see Hiccup in a different light, actively noting Hiccup’s similarities to Stoick. Her whole life she was shown how different Hiccup was from the chief. Now she’s been given a new perspective in a new environment. And it would be physical, too. After all, from her POV, Mara saw Hiccup and concluded a relation to Stoick. The ears, the cheekbones, the brow, the jaw... XD
Sorry, sometimes when I read things one part jumps out at me and my head runs away.
remember that one time I told you I had Leith AU headcanons? Well, guess what I wrote at one in the morning.
Please enjoy several disjointed scenes and some very shitty Latin.
——
“I thought strangers didn’t come here.”
Irpa glanced over her shoulder in the direction Astrid was staring. “Oh, that’s not a stranger,” she said, turning back to the herbs spread in front of her.
“But I’ve never seen her before,” Astrid objected. “We’ve been here two months now, I’m pretty sure we’ve met everybody. Right?”
Hiccup jerked out of his reverie as she nudged him in the ribs. “Uh, yeah,” he said. He screwed up his face. The stranger was at the stall three down from theirs, draped in a hood and cloak that covered their face. “Not familiar.”
“She doesn’t live here, that’s why,” Irpa said. “She’s a hermit. Comes in to barter her needlework for supplies every few months. Now, are you done prying in other people’s affairs? Help me like you promised.“
Astrid blushed pink, but tossed her ragged braid over her shoulder and went back to sorting through the herbs. Beside her Hiccup rested his cheek in his hand, his lower lip edging dangerously into pouting territory. “What are you so upset about?” she whispered in his ear.
Hiccup fiddled with the linen strips wrapped around the head of his crutch. “Nothing,” he said. “I just…nothing.” He sighed. “It’s nothing.”
Before she could prod him further the stranger walked over to them, her plain brown cloak brushing the dust at her feet. “Irpa, I don’t suppose you were able to get the…what I was looking for,” she said. Her voice was low and husky, as if rusty from disuse, and Astrid tried to look at her out of the corner of her eye.
“Oh, I got it,” Irpa said. “But it’s at home.” She looked the stranger up and down. “It’s been quite a while- what, seven months this time?”
The woman shrugged. “I don’t keep much track of time,” she said.
Irpa snorted. “Don’t I know it,” she said. She paused. “You don’t happen to remember something going on about two or three months ago, do you? An incident with Danger Brutes. Somewhere around Murdano.”
An icy chill shot down Astrid’s spine. She glanced over at Hiccup; he met her gaze with wide eyes and his lips pressed together into a thin line.
“Why do you ask?”
Irpa gestured towards the two teenagers. “These kids washed up here a while back and they’ve been freeloading ever since,” she said. “The boy says they were taken captive by Danger Brutes.”
“We work for our keep,” Astrid grumbled under her breath.
The woman lifted back the hood of her cloak. She wasn’t beautiful- not exactly. Her features were too sharp and her cheeks were windburned and her nose was a bit too upturned, but there was something arresting about her eyes, bright and pale like seaglass and fringed with thick lashes. “I don’t recall seeing any Danger Brutes lately, I’m afraid,” she said. “I’m sorry I can’t help.”
Irpa shrugged. “No matter,” she said. “We’re probably stuck with these two now.” She rolled her eyes. “I guess I have to make introductions. Mara, this is Astrid and Hiccup. Kids, Mara.”
“Pleasure,” Astrid said politely.
Mara nodded absently, but she cast a sideways glance at Hiccup, who was absorbed in poking through the herbs spread out in front of him. Astrid nudged him again and he looked up. “Huh?” he said, lifting his chin. “Oh. Hello.”
All the color drained from Mara’s face. “I…I have to go,” she said abruptly, and she pulled her hood back
——
Astrid wrapped her arms around her shins and rested her chin on her knees. “How are we going to get out of this?” she whispered.
“I don’t know,” Hiccup said, running his fingers up and down the wooden slats of their prison in a frantic crisscrossed pattern.
She raised her head. “You should sit,” she said. “You’ve been putting too much weight on your leg.”
“‘m fine,” he said, even though he had to brace himself against the wall and she could see him wavering on his good leg. “We just…we have to think of a plan.”
“There is no plan,” she snapped. “They’ve got us cornered. If we’re lucky they’ll just keep us prisoners instead of killing us outright.”
Hiccup hit his forehead against the rough wooden slats. “There’s got to be some way to get out,” he said. “And to get Toothless. I can’t just leave him.”
“Well, too bad,” Astrid mumbled into her knees. “We’re going to rot and die in here. Your pet dragon is the least of our worries.”
Hiccup whipped around to glare at her, opening his mouth to argue, but they heard the heavy creak of the door opening and quick footsteps on the stairs leading to the cellar. Astrid scrambled to her feet; all the color drained from Hiccup’s face. She could feel her heart beating in her mouth.
It wasn’t Hackett, though, or another warrior, or even Ylva. It was the stranger Irpa had introduced to them in the market yesterday, the hermit woman. Astrid took a step back.
Mara pushed back the hood of her cloak. “Are you all right?” she asked, her soft rough voice almost too loud in the thick quiet of the cell.
“We’re fine,” Hiccup said through his teeth. “They didn’t hurt us. Much. We’re just going to die in here, that’s all.”
“Hiccup!” Astrid hissed.
Mara didn’t seem to be bothered by his outburst. She seemed agitated, her slim fingers clenching and unclenching as she looked at them. “I heard what happened,” she said. “And I know…you don’t know who I am, but I-”
Heavy footsteps echoed above their heads and Mara flinched. She held out her hand towards Hiccup, hesitated, and then cupped his chin through the bars of their prison. Astrid froze, waiting for Hiccup to pull from her grip, but….for some reason he didn’t. He stayed very still, his short thick lashes flicking in surprise as he looked up at her.
Mara gazed at him for a moment, her lips parting like she wanted to say something but couldn’t form the words, then tilted Hiccup’s chin up and leaned close to whisper in his ear.
Hiccup nodded briefly, his eyes wide. Astrid held her breath as Mara pressed her mouth together and closed her eyes for a split second, then tugged him a little closer to whisper something else.
He nodded again, a little more eagerly, and Mara dropped her hand, her thumb brushing briefly over the tiny white scar on his chin. “I’ll be back,” she said, drawing her hood back over her head and in a second she was gone.
Astrid waited, drumming her fingers on her shins. “Well?” she said impatiently.
“Well what?” Hiccup repeated, blinking slowly like he’d just been awoken from a dream.
“What was that about?” she said.
Hiccup wrapped his fingers around the slats. “She…she asked if I was the son of Stoick the Vast,” he said, staring blankly at the stairs where the woman had disappeared.
“And you said-”
“Well, yeah.”
Astrid unfolded her long legs and rolled to her feet. “Why did you do that?” she said. “It’s bad enough they know we’re from Berk now, you had to tell her you were the son of the chief?”
“But she said…she said she’d get us out of here,” Hiccup said. “She’s coming back to help us. And besides, it’s not like we have anything to lose now.”
Astrid took a step back. “Why would you believe her?” she said. “Maybe she won’t help us. Maybe it’s all a trick.”
“Maybe it’s not,” Hiccup said. He looked at her over his shoulder. “I think…I think she’s on our side, Astrid.”
He wavered then, his knees buckling, and Astrid wrapped an arm around his waist. “You need to lie down,” she said.
“I’m fine,” he mumbled, but she dragged him over to the heap of straw that served as a bed and forcibly helped him sit down.
“You haven’t slept since they threw us down here,” she said, picking up the one ratty blanket they’d been given. “You sleep. I’ll keep watch.”
“I can keep watch,” he said stubbornly. “I’m okay, I don’t need to sleep.”
“Fine, then,” she said. “Just sit. You can compromise on that, right?”
He rolled his eyes and leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. “I guess,” he grumbled. Astrid took his abandoned place at the front of their cell, pacing back and forth.
She heard the first snore within five minutes. She turned around to find him slumped forward, one arm draped clumsily against his side and his chin tipped to his chest. Astrid sighed and shifted him gingerly until he was lying on his back and covered him with the tattered blanket. He felt a little warm, his skin a little clammy. She patted his chest lightly, reassuring herself that his heart was still beating steadily.
She settled back to her pacing, counting her steps and occasionally pausing to glance back at Hiccup. He slept quietly, his limbs occasionally twitching, and sometimes his face screwed up as if he was in pain. She tried not to watch him too closely.
She wasn’t sure how much time passed- an hour, maybe two, maybe more- but when she heard the door above open again she stepped back quickly, sinking down beside Hiccup on the straw. Her hand hovered above his shoulder, ready to protect him or shake him awake, whichever came first.
“You two awake?”
Astrid scrunched up her face. “Irpa?” she said.
Irpa pulled a key out of her belt. “Don’t act so surprised,” she said, pushing the key into the lock and twisting until it popped open. “Come on. We don’t have much time.”
Bewildered, Astrid leaned over Hiccup and shook him gently. “Get up,” she whispered. “Time to go.”
Hiccup opened one eye. “Go where?” he asked faintly.
Mara leaned around Astrid and helped Hiccup into a sitting position, her arm behind his back. He was still drowsy; he leaned heavily against Mara’s shoulder. “Can you walk?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said, rubbing his cheek with the heel of his palm. “Gimme a second…”
“You don’t have a second,” Irpa said. She pulled Astrid up and threw a cloak over her shoulders. “We have to get you out of here.”
“But what…why are you helping us?” Astrid stammered as Irpa fastened the cloak at her neck like she was a child going out to play in the snow.
“Because Mara told me I should, and I trust her,” Irpa said. She threw a knapsack forcibly into Astrid’s arm. “Even if I don’t trust you.”
Hiccup staggered to his feet, wobbling with most of his weight on his right leg. He was wrapped in a cloak now too and the fabric bunched around his crutch. “We need to get out of here,” Mara said, drawing her hood over her head. “Come on.”
Astrid started to follow them, but Irpa caught her by the wrist. “One last thing, girl,” she whispered. “Listen to Mara. Don’t ask too many questions. And don’t ever come back here again. Ever. Understand?” Astrid nodded numbly. Irpa turned her towards the open door of the cell and gave her a push. “Now run.”
Astrid ran up the stairs, her heart thudding in her chest, and the first thing she was was the night sky stretching on and on high above her. The freezing air caught in her lungs, making her cough, and she pressed her forearm over her mouth to stifle it.
Mara and Hiccup were only a few steps ahead of her; he limped heavily at her side as his crutch skidded on the sparse frozen grass.
——
Astrid’s heart thudded in her chest. “Danger Brutes,” Hiccup mumbled under his breath. “Of course we’d run into Danger Brutes.”
The ship plunged through the icy water towards their small boat, still far away but close enough for them to see their crest. “Do you think they’ll leave us alone?” Astrid asked.
“Not likely,” Mara said, her eyes fixed on the ship. “We’ll have to…” Her voice trailed off. “Do you trust me?”
“Not like we have much of a choice,” Hiccup said under his breath.
The ship was moving faster and faster towards them. Mara turned from the prow of the ship and faced them. “Astrid, put this on and stay close to Hiccup,” she said, handing her her cloak. “Draw it over your face…no, no, like this.” Astrid winced as Mara tugged the hood at a crooked angle. “Don’t let them see your scars, or your hair.”
“Why?” Astrid asked.
Mara guided Astrid’s shoulders until she was sitting in the prow of the boat, her hip pressed against Hiccup’s. “Whatever you do, don’t speak,” Mara whispered, tucking a blanket around both of them. “Don’t try to fight back. Don’t even act like you can speak Norse. Just pretend to be frightened little children. Understand?”
“No,” Astrid said, her voice rising, but she could hear the shouting of the Danger Brutes, the clunk and rasp of a ladder unfurling towards them.
“We got it,” Hiccup whispered. Mara squeezed their shoulders, a reassuring gesture, but her fingers were trembling. Briefly she touched Hiccup’s cheek, her fingertips tracing the tiny white scar on his chin, and then she straightened up.
Astrid caught one look at the captain of the Danger Brutes as he jumped from the bottom rung of the ladder onto their boat and quickly ducked her head against Hiccup’s bony shoulder. It was easy to play frightened. Her heart caught in her throat, cutting off her air supply. It would be different if she was armed, or even on dry land. It would be different if Toothless was well enough to be let loose from the tiny hold below the deck. It would be different if she had the support of Berk warriors behind her. But no. She had to rely on the crazy lady.
“You’re in our territory, woman,” the captain said, his thick scarred fingers gripping the hilt of his cutlass. “What tribe d’ye hail from?”
“None,” Mara said, her hands clasped behind her back, her eyes downcast.
“None?” the captain repeated.
“I’ve spent the past ten years at the hands of the Romans,” Mara said. “My children and I were taken, sir, as slaves.”
“Were you, now?” the captain said slowly, eyeing the two of them huddled together in the prow. Astrid’s fingers sought Hiccup’s under the blanket; he squeezed back but his hand felt too thin, too hot. “That the same story they’ll tell?”
Mara sidestepped in front of them. “All they’ve known is the Romans, they don’t speak a word of Norse,” she said. “You can ask them anything you like, but they won’t understand you. I swear.”
The captain loomed over Mara’s shoulder and eyed them. Astrid pressed her cheek against Hiccup’s shoulder, trying to tamp down her gut instinct to fight back. “How’d you escape, then?” the captain asked. “The Romans aren’t ones to let their slaves go without a fight.”
“We were traveling with a legion and the children fell ill,” Mara lied smoothly. “Too ill to travel. They left us behind. We were dead weight.”
The captain nudged Mara aside. “How can I be sure you’re not spies?” he said. “You could be Vikings after all. You could be sent to our seas to scout for your tribe.”
“I haven’t seen my tribe since I was a girl,” Mara said quietly. “How can I convince you?”
The captain sneered at her, but Hiccup suddenly lurched forward, the blanket falling from his shoulders. “Mama, non intellego,” he said. “Necio quid dicas.”
Astrid’s bit her lip before the shock could be written all over her face. She saw Mara’s eyes flick over to Hiccup, widening in surprise for a split second, and then she knelt beside him, smoothing his hair back from his forehead. “Conquiesco, mellitus,” she said, her husky voice so soft and gentle that Astrid almost could believe she was his mother. “Noli timere.”
“What’s he saying?” the captain barked, pointing his cutlass towards Hiccup.
“I told you, he only speaks Latin,” Mara shot back.
The captain kicked Hiccup’s blanket-covered left knee and he let out a yelp of pain, the color draining rapidly from his face. Astrid squeezed his hand tightly, digging her broken nails into his palm. “Pedicabo te,” he gasped, grabbing onto Mara’s arm. “Noli me tangere.”
“How can I be sure you’re telling the truth about all this?” the captain said warily. “Maybe I should just kill the lot of you now while I have the chance.”
“I just want to take care of the children,” Mara said. “We have nothing of value. Not even our boat is worth anything. We mean you no harm.”
Hiccup’s lips had gone gray. “Non valeo,” he mumbled, his cheek falling against Mara’s shoulder. He looked like he might black out at any second.
She whispered something in the same tongue in Hiccup’s ear, so soft Astrid couldn’t make out the words, then looked up at the captain. “Please,” she said. “My son is already ill. We’re of no threat to you. Please…let us go.”
Astrid watched out of the corner of her eye, holding her breath. Hiccup certainly looked the part of a terrified child- skin and bones, his eyes too large in his pale face, his head resting in the curve of Mara’s shoulder like a little boy still waking up from a bad dream.
Is it enough? she thought.
The captain took a step back. “If you cross our waters again, I’ll kill you myself,” he said, and he stalked back to his ladder to board his own ship.
The three of them sat in uneasy silence until the Danger Brutes ship was a good distance away. They huddled together against the bite of the salt air, Astrid shaking despite the cloak and the blanket. Hiccup, to her surprise, stayed in Mara’s arms even though there was no need to continue the ruse without the captain blustering at them. His face was still too white, his eyes closed tightly. Mara absently smoothed his hair as she kept her gaze trained on the ship.
“I think they’re gone,” she said at last. “Gods, I have to get the two of you back to Berk fast. Before they come back.”
The tension finally broken, Astrid whipped around to glare at Hiccup. “What was that?” she demanded.
Mara straightened in surprise. “Latin,” he said, his eyes still shut tight. “My French is better, though.”
“You’re clever,” Mara said. She let go of him and backed away quickly, as if she had just realized how close she was to him.
“Eh, I figured it out. Plus I’m a pretty decent liar,” Hiccup said, He leaned back heavily against the side of the boat without Mara to brace him. “I wasn’t lying about feeling sick, though. When he kicked me I think he popped a blister. I thought I was going to puke or pass out for a while there.”
I put it under a read more for the length but OH MY GOD it is so crazy there’s actual fanfiction of my fanfic. This is beautiful writing. I love that you’re so taken by the situation you’ve created your own!
You should know that Hiccup and sleep is something that comes up next chapter XD Also, by two months Astrid’s hair had been cut so I spent a moment after reading that like... waitaminute. Man, I gotta make a timeline so I don’t screw anything up. I’m already getting background characters names mixed. XD
