Astrid stood at the balcony of her Godfather’s house, watching the maids meticulously hang Snoggletog decorations all over the foyer. The grandiose house was resplendent in all its luxuries. A manor fit for royalty.
And yet, Astrid couldn’t enjoy any of it. Orphaned and alone in the world (except for her brat little brother) Astrid had just moved into her Godfather’s house. She hadn’t even met the man before the incident, as her family had moved away from his home in Berk when she was a child.
Stoick the Vast was kind, and he generously opened his home to her and her brother. He even had a son her age (though she hadn’t met him, he was off studying). She had nothing to complain about, but being at peace and enjoying the holidays was not something she could do.
It appeared the opposite for her brother, Finn, who was already picking at the hors d'oeuvres.
The doorbell rang, and the first group of guests arrived.
Stoick greeted them all with big smiles and pleasantries. They entered with arms ladened with presents and food to share. Some of the guests even looked to be her age, though she didn’t really find it in her to go and say hello.
“Astrid, my dear, won’t you join the festivities?” Stoick called up to her.
Astrid cringed and rather wished she’d stayed in her room.
But not one to offend her gracious host, she timidly descended the stairs. She stood at the base, hands twisting a handkerchief in anxiety.
There were four teenagers that milled around awkwardly. They glanced at her, but said nothing.
Apparently no one was excited about this interaction.
“Hi,” Astrid finally said. “I’m Astrid.”
“Yeah, heard about you,” said a short, stocky, dark haired boy. “You know where the twerp is?”
“My beanpole cousin. He’s supposed to be here for Christmas.”
“I…I don’t know anyone that’s supposed to be here.”
“Lame,” said the other girl in the group. She appeared to be a twin, and her brother looked just as bored as she.
“You said it,” the stocky boy said.
Without further ado, the teens moved into one of the drawing rooms, not inviting Astrid with them. Though one of them, a tall, blond, large boy, gave her a few curious glances.
She decided to follow, not knowing what else to do. Maybe if she hung around long enough, conversation would become easier.
She sat on the ornate floral couch in the drawing room, or was it the sitting room? Parlor? The house was too big. She sat with her hands in her lap, withdrawn and quiet as the party went on around her.
Finn was already engaged and playing with the other teens. It wasn’t surprising, he’d always been more fun-loving and outgoing. But she just felt awkward. Maybe, if she was really quiet, she could sneak back upstairs without anyone noticing.
But then, a new guest arrived, entering with a boisterous greeting.
Astrid whirled around in excitement, as she recognized the voice. Finally, some she knew!
He was really in deep this time too. How could he have known the guy had a magic scepter? All of Hiccup's plans and efforts to stop that tyrant had gone up in smoke. With Toothless's whereabouts unknown and his own life considerably altered, all he could do was hope a way out would present itself.
It seemed the spell had affected his senses, blocking everything out for a time but slowly things started to clear up. Images were fuzzy at first. He could see a giant had picked him up...wait. No, that wasn't a giant, Hiccup was just... really small now.
Just when his senses were almost back to normal, though he must have been paralyzed temporarily from the spell, as he couldn't move, he was placed into a box lined with cotton. A lid covered it, any bit of light immediately snuffed out.
No! Hiccup wanted to bang on the lid, try to gain freedom, but he felt trapped within his own body. All he could do was lay there in darkness as the one who took him carried him off...somewhere.
"Astrid!" Gobber's arms opened wide to greet the teen, a big smile on his face. "Good to see you, lass! Have ye settled in well?"
"Now don't get too excited, but I brought you and your brother a little something," from his satchel, he procured two boxes. "I know things are unfamiliar to you around here, but I thought this little trinket might help with that." Handing a box to Astrid, he added, "You haven't met Hiccup yet, but this had such an uncanny resemblance to him, I knew it belonged here. And who better to look after it than you?"
He turned to Finn. "And you. Don't think I haven't heard of how you've been a bit of a troublemaker!" He gave a teasing look before handing Finn the other box, "This should help put that destructive energy into something useful for a change." Inside were some assorted tools and materials to build a model ship.
In his little box, Hiccup could hear muffled voices, some were surprisingly familiar. Despite that, he had no idea what would happen when that lid lifted. It seemed these people thought him to be an inanimate object...so he'll play the part until he had an opportunity to escape.
It wouldn't be too hard, his arms and legs felt like logs at the moment.
His heart pounded as the lid was dislodged, and for a moment, he felt pure fear. What was going to happen to him? The light was blinding after being in pitch black for so long, but Hiccup stayed as still as possible as a pair of blue eyes looked down at him.
He really hoped his expression seemed somewhat neutral.
