I had a craving for an arranged marriage AU, with a little twist. I have like three other scenes in mind, but no plot. So here's a blurb for now, maybe more someday IDK
This is specifically for @thereweredragonshere as I was looking at her art while writing this.
Okay thanks I love you bye
---
Quietly, so quietly, Hiccup shut his front door behind him. Then he began to tiptoe to his loft. He had been out with the Nightfury, Toothless as he named him, all day. Longer than intended. A lecture was bound to happen because of it.
“Hiccup,” Stoick stopped him, his voice cutting through the silence and crackling fire.
“Oh! Dad! I uh…I didn’t see you there…” That was a lie. Such a lie.
“Come, sit. I need a word with you.”
Hiccup closed his eyes in defeat and slinked over, sheepishly standing across the fire pit.
“Sit,” Stoick said again, his voice stern in a way that left little room for arguing.
So he obeyed, and sat on the bench, with just enough butt on the chair to be considered sitting, but he was ready to dart away at a moment's notice.
Stoick wasn’t often physically violent with him, just yelling. In the times he was physical, it was just being lifted and rag dolled out of the way like a bad cat.
“So…” Hiccup prompted, at an attempt to be casual.
“I’ve been in communication with the Shivering Shores,” Stoick went on.
Hiccup relaxed a little. This didn’t seem to concern him all that much. Perhaps his dad just wanted to talk about chief stuff.
“Oh, yeah. I saw the courier boat today.”
“We finally reached an agreement.”
“Th-that’s good! Great! An alliance? A treaty?”
“Trade agreement. Fish for supplies. The dragon raids have been harsh this year and we need all the extra supplies we can get.”
“I-I agree! I mean…I know the other night wasn’t helpful…” he gulped.
“Which brings me to the second part of the agreement.” Stoick flicked his eyes over and gazed at his son. “The part that concerns you.”
“Oh…” Hiccup squeaked.
“We’re joining our tribes in marriage. I made an offer for the Chief’s youngest daughter to be your bride. He accepted.”
“Did she?” Hiccup croaked.
“Doesn’t need to.”
Hiccup felt very cold and sank into his chair.
“But,” Stoick continued. “There’s a very specific reason for this arrangement. Chief Hofferson’s daughter, Astrid, has become somewhat famous in the archipelago for her prowess in battle. She is the best warrior on their island, bar none. And she’s your age.”
His eyes went wide.
“I told Chief Axel that I was concerned for your safety, and thought his daughter would not only be a worthy bride, but a protector for you.”
“Oh gods…”
“She said she would be honored to be your protector.”
He swallowed. “And…my wife?”
“She agreed to it.”
That would have to be enough, he supposed. “On paper?”
“All of this was through courier, yes.”
Hiccup nodded, his throat feeling too numb to swallow. It was likely that over in the Shivering Shores, Chief Hofferson was having this very same conversation with his daughter, telling her that he agreed to the marriage and wrote that she was honored to accept.
Hiccup didn’t know what she looked like, but imagined a pretty girl throwing a tantrum and destroying furniture.
Perhaps with a weapon, if the ‘prowess in battle’ was true.
“This is a good thing, son,” Stoick urged. “You’re too weak to swing a sword, you’ve been completely unprotected during dragon raids—”
“I know.”
“No, I don’t think you do.” Stoick became stern. “You are my only son. My heir. The next chief of Berk. And it seems like you’re determined to perish before you get there!”
Hiccup winced, thinking back on that roar that Toothless had unleashed in his face. That might have been his closest and most intimate brush with death. And that was just yesterday.
“Besides the dragons, we have the Outcasts and Berserkers circling us and waiting to pounce. You risking your safety with those Thor’s-damned inventions during a dragon raid is one thing, but a viking raid? They’ll be coming for you, looking for you. And Astrid will be there to protect you. Do you hear what I’m saying?”
“Yes,” he whispered, ashamed. “I’m hearing ‘bride’ but I think you mean ‘babysitter’.”
Stoick didn’t argue with that. Just tightened his mouth into a grim line.
Hiccup just further slouched, crumbling in on himself. How embarrassing! He thought there was a chance he’d have an arranged marriage, given his status, but arranged so that he had a bodyguard?
“When do I meet the lucky lady?” He attempted a quip, but his voice sounded so hollow.
“Tomorrow. And you’re wed at the end of the week.”
He made a loud noise of disgust as he keeled over, nearly falling off the bench. “Geez dad…”
“It's for the best.”
“That’s so fast!” He argued. “Can’t I like…get to know her first? Go on a hike? Have a nice candle lit dinner with mead?”
“You can do that in the week leading up to the wedding. She’ll be practically glued to your side.”
“Oh gods…”
“She won’t know anyone else here, won’t know the village layout, or the way we do things. You will teach her.” Stoick stood and lumbered over. He poked Hiccup in the chest. “And you’ll be pleasant about it.”
Hiccup huffed. “I mean I’ll try my best, but I can’t guarantee I’ll be pleasant if she treats me like the others.”
“You’ll be pleasant. Nothing else.”
Hiccup swallowed at the tone, shrinking in his seat. “Okay fine.”
“Good.” Stoick nodded. “Then off to bed with you. They’ll arrive before dinner. I’ll be off in the morning making preparations for their accommodations. I expect you to be there when the ship arrives, looking your sharpest.”
“Yes sir,” he grumbled, getting to his feet. He shuffled across the room and back to the stairs.
As he got ready for bed, and laid down to sleep, he thought about this ‘Astrid’ girl.
His bride.
A girl had never shown interest in him before, and this was likely to be the same. But he had heard that arranged marriages often worked out well, with the couple learning to love each other. Wouldn’t that be something? A girl that loved him. A girl to come home to. A girl to share his thoughts and ideas with.
A girl to share Toothless with.
No. No, that was crazy. No one, not even his wife could know about what he was planning on doing with that dragon.
But everything else?
Having a companion might be kind of nice, if he could get used to it.
And if she was the best warrior in the Shivering Shores, then she ought to be able to keep Snotlout and the Twins off his back.
Eventually, Hiccup fell asleep, feeling some form of optimism.
—
That feeling didn’t last.
He had woken up early and spent the morning with Toothless in the cove. He poured his guts out to the dragon, lamenting about how his life was completely out of his control.
Toothless had simply listened and gnawed on a stick.
Eventually, he returned to the village sometime after lunch. He couldn’t push it, knowing he was on thin ice as it was. He combed his hair and put on a clean tunic.
Then he spent an hour pacing in the square, listening for the horn that would sound their arrival.
People passed and gave him smiles and knowing looks, but didn’t say anything. That was fine. He didn’t want to talk to anyone anyway. He was too nervous.
All they cared about was the party anyway.
When the horn sounded, he felt his knees buckle. All the anxiety that had been building hit him like a hammer and he tilted sideways.
“You okay, lad? You look pale!” Gobber called. “I’ve been watching you for the last half hour. You’re makin’ me dizzy!”
“She’s here,” Hiccup breathed. “She’s here.”
“Ah, your blushing bride! Better go greet her then, ah?”
Hiccup thought he nodded, but he might have just bobbed his head like a chicken, then wobbled off to go down to the docks.
Stoick smiled when he arrived. “There you are! Right on time!”
“I’m going to be sick.”
Stoick clapped him on the back, making him swallow the bile that was rising. “It’s pretty nerve-wracking, I know, but it’ll be fine. She’s probably just as nervous.”
In a way, that helped. If Astrid was stuttering and blushing through introductions, he could handle it.
The ships came into dock, and Hiccup stood on his tiptoes to try to see over the high sides. There were several people, but he couldn’t quite pick out who Astrid could be.
The ramp fell over the side, and the party disembarked. There were a pair of soldiers out first, followed by a man who could only be Chief Axel the Arduous. He was large; not as large as his father, of course. But he wore the chief’s fur cloak and pendants, just as his father did.
Axel grinned widely. “Greetings my friends!”
“Good tidings!” Stoick grasped his hand in a strong clasp. “You had a pleasant journey?”
“Yes, very good! Good weather! Good head wind! A good omen from the gods, to be sure!”
As the chiefs talked, three women disembarked the ship. One was older, likely the chief’s wife, while the other two were teenagers. They were all blonde and blue-eyed and pretty.
And rather delicate, in Hiccup’s opinion. Not that they weren’t still bigger than him, but he didn’t get the vibe of ‘best warrior’ from any of them. They were all wearing fine dresses and giggling to each other.
“Stoick, this is my wife, Phlegma,” Axel gestured. “And my two eldest daughters, Ingrid and Sigurd.”
The two girls tittered as they looked at Hiccup. He saw one mouth to the other, “look at how tiny he is.”
Not a real ego booster, to be sure.
“I thought your youngest was to be married?” Stoick calmly questioned.
“Astrid will be out in a moment, I’m sure,” Axel sighed, a bit exasperated.
“Poor thing’s a nervous wreck,” Phlegma added. “She’s putting her armor on. She wanted to make a good impression, afterall.”
Hiccup sighed slightly, reassured that he wasn’t the only one completely psyched out of his mind.
However, his world turned upside down as a huge figure leapt from the side of the boat and landed on the dock in front of him. It was a valkyrie if there ever was one. She raised to her full height, towering over him by a foot or more. She was almost the same height as his father!
She was toned, with thick corded muscles in her arms and what was visible of her legs between her spiked skirt and studded boots. She wore studden pauldrons and gauntlets as well. Her body was thick and solid, curvy in all the right places, and no doubt trained to apex danger.
But her face was soft. Delicate cheeks and a softly rounded chin. A cute button nose with a gentle sweeping brow. Beautiful, explosive blue eyes surrounded by thick gold lashes. All of it was haloed by a swath of sunshine gold hair braided over her shoulder.
How a creature could be so scarily tough and the epitome of feminine beauty at the same time, he had no idea.
“What an entrance!” Stoick laughed.
This new warrior had a calm and cool facade as she answered, “I panicked.” Then she bowed slightly, dipping her head with respect. “Chief Stoick, it’s an honor. I’m Astrid Hofferson.”
“A pleasure, my dear!” He held out a hand.
She shook it, and Hiccup could see that her hands were rough, but not big and meaty like his father’s.
“And this is my son, Hiccup.” He placed a hand on his back.
Hiccup could only grin awkwardly, getting lost in those blue eyes. How was this girl the same age as him?
“Hello,” she said softly. Then she glanced back at Stoick, seemingly waiting for something.
Stoick nodded slowly and tried again. “This is my only son, Hiccup…your husband to be.”
She inhaled briefly at that, and let out a soft, “Oh.” Her exhale was slow and she whispered, “I see.”
Hiccup cast his gaze to the ground as he held his arm. This girl was just as disappointed as everyone else was, and he hadn’t even done anything yet.
“Is that how you would greet your betrothed?” Axel asked.
“Oh come on dear, she’s nervous,” Phlegma argued back.
But apparently Axel’s words stirred something in Astrid as she took a quick stride forward and reached out and took Hiccup’s hand. Then she leaned down and pressed a sweet kiss to his cheek.
“D-Duh?” Hiccup blurted, smartly.
She smiled at him, a dusting of pink on her perfect cheeks. “Hello darling.”
“H-h-hi,” he stuttered out. “I’m Hiccup.”
She gave a nod. “Astrid.”
His feet felt like they were made of stone as he stood there, stock still and staring. And Astrid continued to hold her smile, but her eyebrow started to raise.
“Son,” Stoick patted his shoulder. “Why don’t you show Astrid around the village?”
“What? Oh! Yes! Of course! The village! My village! Where I–where we live, where you will live also…ha!” He spoke a bit too loudly, and he could feel his face burning.
Astrid just tilted her head slightly to the side as her eyes widened, but her grin got bigger. Was she annoyed and trying to hide it? She hadn’t let go of his hand yet though. “Okay, lead the way.”
He gulped, and looked over to his father.
“Go on,” Stoick whispered, making a shooing motion.
“Uh…th-this way…” he said, pulling her along by the hand.
Once they were a little ways away, Stoick and Axel resumed their conversation, but they were so loud, Hiccup could hear.
“You weren’t kidding, Stoick! He’s a fishbone of a boy! Astrid’ll take good care of him!”
Hiccup’s shoulders drooped and he turned his face away from his betrothed, ashamed, embarrassed.
Astrid didn’t seem to notice though. “What’s that?”
He glanced up where she was pointing. “Oh, that’s the Kill Ring, where we uh…kill things. Mainly dragons.”
“You’ve killed a dragon?” Her voice was curious, not skeptical, which was refreshing.
“No no, not me personally. I…I couldn’t kill a dragon.”
“Hmm,” she nodded, accepting this answer.
She was calm, cool, and collected. Apparently that’s what nervousness looked like to this hulking goddess.
Still holding her hand, he led her over to the arena, trying to think of something to say, but being too nervous to do so. Thankfully, Astrid just patiently held his hand and looked around, taking everything in. They crossed the bridge and came to stand at the edge of the arena.
Two people were sparring inside. Astrid let go of his hand to grasp at the chains of the dome. “Who are they?”
“That’s Snotlout and Tuffnut. Snotlout’s my cousin, and Tuffnut has a twin sister, Ruffnut.”
“Friends of yours then?”
“...not really, no.”
She smirked. “Good, because their technique is dog shit.”
Hiccup sputtered a laugh, unable to help himself. This drew the attention of the boys in the ring.
“Hey Useless!” Called Snotlout. “Who’s the babe?”
Hiccup flushed in indignation, but Astrid answered instead, cooly. “Astrid Hofferson, though I’ll be Astrid Haddock at the end of the week.”
“No way!” Snotlout laughed. “That’s your bride to be!? I would have thought Stoick would have found someone in your weight class at least!”
Hiccup hunched his shoulders.
Astrid just scoffed at the ring, took his hand, and led him away. “I can see why you aren’t friends with them. He’s kind of an asshole.”
“No ‘kind of’ about it, he is an asshole. Sorry you had to meet him first. The rest of Berk isn’t as terrible as that.”
“It’s fine, Hiccup. There were boys like that on the Shivering Shores too.”
Things were going okay, he thought. Could be better, but Astrid was taking a lot really well. She seemed so mature and cool, it made him extremely guilty.
“I’m sorry,” he blurted.
She merely raised an eyebrow. “For what? You didn’t do anything.”
“Sometimes that’s enough…but uh, f-for getting you into this arranged marriage. It’s probably not what you wanted to do with your life. You could be a great warrior, but…now you have to babysit me because my dad thinks I’m so useless I can’t even breathe on my own. So…sorry.”
To his surprise, she smiled at him and ruffled his hair. “First of all, did you request me as your bride? Did you ask your dad to make the contract?”
“No.”
“Thought so. So nothing to apologize there for. Second, I’m the youngest of my father’s daughters. As a daughter of a chief, it’s almost guaranteed I’ll be in an arranged marriage, so that wasn’t a surprise. But as the youngest, I probably would have been married to a much older man, maybe even a widower. He would have expected me to be barefoot in the kitchen and popping out babies the rest of my life.”
Hiccup stared at her, nodding slowly as her logic made sense. He’d heard of stuff like that happening.
“Because I’m so tall, I decided to pour all my free time into training, with the hope that my future husband would see I was a worthy warrior and I wouldn’t be trapped in the kitchen. It was a long shot, but worth it to me.”
His eyes widened. “So, you kind of got what you wanted. My dad picked you for me because of your skill, and not your status.”
“Exactly! Plus, you’re the same age as me, and you’re the heir! I’ll be chieftess someday! That’s not something I thought would happen to me.”
“Well,” he sheepishly shrugged his shoulders. “I can hope I’ll be chief. Some people in town might think differently.”
“Regardless, I’m happy.”
“Even though I’m so small? I can’t pick you up, Astrid. You’ll have to lean down to kiss me during our wedding. Isn’t that…embarrassing?”
She shrugged. “I’ve been teased about my height my whole life. Boys called me ‘Treetop’ back at home, and said I’d never get a date because men didn’t want a woman taller than them. I always assumed my husband would be shorter than me.”
“...and I kind of figured my wife would be taller.”
She grinned. “So see! We’re on the same page!”
He chuckled. “I guess so.”
“Come on! Show me around! Introduce me to your friends!”
Another sketch of Buffstrid and Twigcup for @p-artsypants but this is a quick little one shot that goes with Buffstrid being mad at Snotlout for nearly getting her and Stormfly killed during a training exercise.
Hotheaded
Trying to hold back his enraged wife was like trying to hold back a tidal wave from colliding with a sea stack, it was futile. Hiccup was very tempted to let Astrid loose on Snotlout, after all, his recent stunt of trying to show off being the best dragon rider resulted in him and Hookfang crashing into both Astrid and Stormfly. And after helping the mess of human and dragons separate, Astrid had murder in her eyes and brandished her axe and was prepared to cut Snotlout down to size.
"That's right, hide from me, you arrogant little—"
"A-Astrid, breathe!" Hiccup pleaded with gritted teeth as he held his large, muscular wife back from murdering a member of the riders.
"No no, let her loose!" Tuffnut grinned.
"Yeah!" Ruffnut laughed. "I wanna see Snotlout run while screaming like a girl."
Glaring at the Twins, Snotlout growled. "Shut up, you muttonheads!" He then looked back at Astrid with a mix of smugness and fear. "You won't kill me."
"No," Astrid seethed. "But I might relieve you of something far more valuable than your life."
Blanching at her meaning, Snotlout turned to Hiccup. "You're gonna let her do that to me?!"
"Well, if you weren't always doing stupid stunts like this, I may sympathize with you," Hiccup grunted, finally managing to still his wife before glaring at Snotlout. "Next time you do something like this, I won't hold Astrid back."
"Good," the large blond said, her tone hopeful as she pointed her axe at Snotlout. "I pray you do this again, so I can kick your annoying arse!"
Fishlegs, who was still mounted on top of Meatlug, hid a smile and stifled the laughter bubbling in his throat with his hands. "Careful Snotlout," he began before pointing at his crotch. "I think you've soiled yourself."
Screaming in embarrassment, Snotlout ran to the nearest bush while the rest of the riders soon dissolved into laughter. Astrid, however, caught her breath as she looked down at Hiccup. "Thanks, for holding me back," running a hand through her bangs, she shook her head. "I swear, Snotlout is the most annoying person in all of Midgard."
"Oh, he is. Trust me," Hiccup agreed, having more than his fair share of Snotlout's antics growing up. "But, he's a dragon rider, part of our team, and one of us. Like it or not."
Growling, Astrid nodded before blowing a strand of her hair out of her face. "His insubordination is going to get one of us seriously wounded or killed," she then gave her husband a firm look. "If you can't keep him in line, I'll be more than happy to do it myself."
"Why do I have a feeling that Snotlout won't return to us whole if that happens?" Hiccup quipped.
Smirking, Astrid leaned down and kissed her husband before winking. "Don't tell him that."
For several days, Hiccup thought he might just be dreaming.
As he was on his honeymoon, he was expected to stay in seclusion with Astrid. For the most part, they did so. But it was often out on walks in the woods or exploring the island. Every morning, she went to train, and he went with her, sketchbook in hand.
Hiccup took her through town a few times. Each, using a different route to build a better picture of the layout for her.
She stopped them outside the forge, an intense stare on her face.
“Something wrong?” He asked.
She shook her head. “No. Just picturing defenses.”
“Defenses?”
“If this is where you’ll spend most of your time, then I should make sure this is the most defended building on the island…second to our house.”
“Oh. Well, that’s…sweet?”
“What are you two love birds doing out and about?” Gobber yelled from the forge service window. “Don’t you know you’re supposed to be in bed?”
Hiccup blushed hotly, extremely flustered by his mentor's jest. “W-well, how can I stay cooped up in my house all day, when I have such a beautiful wife to show off?”
“Oh stop!” Astrid giggled.
“Oi! Spoken like a real newlywed! Surely, you’re disgusting! Off with ye!”
Astrid wrapped her arm with his, letting him escort her back to the house.
—-
A few days after the wedding, it was time for Astrid's family to return back to the Shivering Shores.
She saw them off at the docks, hugging everyone goodbye, even Birger.
“Take care of each other,” Phlegma advised. “The next time we see you, you better be deeply in love and happy as can be.”
Astrid laughed. “Next time, give me a challenge, would you?”
Hiccup smiled at her fondly.
“Thanks again for your help with Dagur,” Hiccup told Birger with a hearty handshake.
“It was a pleasure. Any excuse to throw someone off a cliff.”
Hiccup chuckled awkwardly, noting to himself not to get on Birger’s bad side.
“We’ll miss you,” Ingrid cried into Astrid’s shoulder. “We love you so much!”
“I’ll miss you too.”
“Will you miss me?” Sigurd asked, joining the hug.
“Somehow, I think I will.”
Hiccup was showered in hugs as well, as during the short time together, the Hofferson’s came to appreciate him. Or at least let him into the family.
Then they were boarding the ship and in no time, were out to sea.
Astrid stayed there on the dock for a long time, watching them leave.
Hiccup held her hand, but didn’t say a word.
“It’s my first time away from them,” she finally said. “I’ve always had my mom and my sisters around to confide in. It’ll be weird without them.”
Hiccup gave her hand a little squeeze. “We’ll just have to find some women here to fill that role, at least temporarily. And there’s always letters.”
She let go of his hand and wrapped her arm around his shoulder, squeezing him into a hug. “Right, there’s always letters. Husband.”
He blushed. “Right…I don’t know why I keep forgetting that.”
“I don’t,” she smirked. “I’ll get this little voice in my ear that says, ‘hey, you’re a wife,’ and I can’t help but laugh.”
“What’s so funny about that?”
“Have you looked at me?”
He cheekily said, “fairly often, honestly.”
She rolled her eyes.
“But seriously, Astrid.” He met her eyes. “I’m not exactly the ideal image of a husband. We’re a little different from the norm. But that’s okay.” He took her freehand and raised it to his lips and kissed it. “You’re a great wife to me. No jokes.”
She smiled brighter and took hold of his chin. “You’re getting real good at being sweet to me.”
He shrugged. “For some reason, it’s really easy.”
She chuckled a little before giving him a tiny kiss.
—-
By the end of the week, the new house was complete.
“That was fast!” Astrid commented as Stoick told them the news.
“Aye! We’re good at putting up buildings quickly.” He frowned slightly. “But, because of Dagur’s meddling, supplies are limited…” he tapped his fingers on the table. “I would have preferred it to be a bigger house. It’s not the kind of home that suits my heir and his wife.”
“Dad, I’m sure it’s fine,” Hiccup soothed. “We can build on as supplies allow.”
Stoick didn’t seem convinced, but led them over to the little house on the hill, somewhat removed from the village proper.
“Oh…it’s quaint,” Astrid offered, with a polite smile. “Surely fine for the two of us.”
Stoick opened the door, but didn’t go in. “It’s a bit snug for the likes of me. But take a gander.”
It was little more than a hut. One room, with a double bed on the far wall. In the corner next to the door, there was the smallest fire pit Hiccup had ever seen, with a pot suspended over it. A table with two chairs sat a few feet from the bed. There was a dresser, and a chest, and a door in the other corner that led to what was presumably the latrine.
And that was it.
“It’s…cozy!” Hiccup offered.
Stoick sighed. “You two are welcomed at my house at any time.”
Astrid entered the hut, walking around the tiny space. Her head just missed the beams on the ceiling, but she had to duck to miss the lamp.
Hiccup winced.
As an experiment, she stood in the center of the room and reached to one wall with her hand, and the other with her leg.
She could touch both.
Hiccup winced again. “Astrid…”
“It’s fine,” she said shortly. “Look, how much time are we going to spend here, realistically? We sleep here, go to the Great Hall for all our meals, you’re at work during the day, and I’ll be on guard. Then maybe we sit here in the evenings? No big deal.”
“Are you sure?”
“It’s fine for now,” she assured.
“It’s good to hear,” Stoick said, in the doorway. “Because I have more news to share.”
“Dad?”
“I know you have one more day of your honeymoon, but…we’ve decided to make one more search for the nest before the ice sets.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’ll be honest with you two, one more bad raid, and I don’t know how we’ll survive the winter.”
“Isn’t Oswald sending replacements for the food that was ruined?” Astrid asked.
“Aye. But he doesn’t have it to spare. He’ll send what he can, in intervals.”
Hiccup felt a chill go down his spine. While he’d been proven innocent in the incident, the fact that even happened was still his fault.
His existence wasn’t something he could control, but that was enough of a reason to allow his village to die, according to the gods apparently.
“I see that look, Hiccup. This isn’t on you.”
“…I know,” he lied.
“What’s done is done, and all we can do is move forward. You’ll be working the forge alone as Gobber trains the new recruits. Astrid will be in those classes.”
“But chief, don’t you need me with you? Surely I can help—“
“You’d help the most here, learning how to protect my son. That’s why I sought you out, remember?”
“Of course, I just thought—“
“I appreciate the willingness and enthusiasm, but really, I need you here.”
“Are you sure about this, dad?” Hiccup squeaked. “Everytime you guys go—“
“I know,” Stoick cut him off. “So you know what I expect. If I don’t come back, you’ll be in charge. If none of us come back, it might be time to abandon the island.”
“That’s a possibility?!” Astrid squawked.
Stoick nodded his head solemnly. “We’ve been lucky so far—“
“‘Lucky,’” Hiccup scoffed.
“But there may come a day when we aren’t.” He stood up straight. “We're Vikings. It’s an occupational hazard.”
“Right…”
—-
The village was quiet the next day. The bulk of the warriors left at dawn, and the only ones left behind were those with young children, the elderly, and those unable to fight. Maybe 30 people out of 300.
“The whole town looks deserted,” Astrid commented as they came back from training in the woods.
“Yep.” Hiccup breathed. “Hopefully, it doesn’t stay that way.”
Gobber greeted them as they entered the forge for the day. “Morning you two! Ready to get to work?”
“Is there a lot of work?” Astrid asked as Hiccup put on an apron.
“This is the perfect day to catch up on my backlog! No one here to demand a rush order, no one cleaning out their armory and bringing in an armful of rusty bits for ‘a quick polish’. Just us three and a pile of jobs to get through in the next few days.” He started putting the smaller weapons on Hiccup’s side. “Though, I’ll probably get through the bulk today. Tomorrow starts dragon training!”
“So it’ll just be me,” Hiccup said flatly, going to the bellows to bring up the forge.
“Right oh, lad! It won’t be all bad. Get some peace and quiet from me yappin’ at you all day.” Then he pointed his hook at the boy. “But there will be no personal projects. No weapons of mass destruction!”
Hiccup held up his hands in surrender. “I’m off weapons, I swear!”
“See that you are.”
After a beat of silence, Astrid asked, “what can I do? I’d rather not just sit here, watching.”
“You seem to know your way around a whetstone, is that right?”
“That’s right.”
“Then if you want to sharpen and polish, you’re welcomed to it.” He placed the whetstone set and polishing cloth beside her, along with a canister of beeswax. “That barrel over there is all finished weapons that just need sharpening. Go nuts.”
Astrid chuckled. “That’ll keep me occupied.”
“Don’t let him get comfortable bossing you around,” Hiccup warned. “He loves free labor!”
“Quiet you!”
The hours whittled away in the stifling heat of the forge. Hiccup worked diligently through his pile, trying to focus in on the work and show his wife how hard of a worker he was.
He kept checking in on Astrid, watching as she sat on the countertop and meticulously sharpened and polished the weapons. The pile on the table in front of her grew, as she was expertly making her way through the backlog.
She stood up after finishing a battle axe. She leaned back and cracked her back and stretched her arms. “I don’t remember the last time I sat for so long.”
“You can take a break,” Hiccup supplied. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“But what if there’s a raid?”
“Dragons rarely attack in the daytime,” Gobber provided. “They prefer to ambush us in the dark. The lad’s right, you deserve a break.”
“What about you two?”
“We’ll take lunch in an hour or so,” Gobber assured. “Besides, the fish bone needs to work hard to bulk up!”
“Thanks.”
Astrid gave a firm nod. “Alright. I’ll go for a walk.” She pointed at Hiccup. “Stay.”
“Yes ma’am.”
And she trotted off towards the woods, new battle axe in hand.
“I like her,” said Gobber. “Stoick really knew what he was doing when he called on her.”
Hiccup shrugged with a little blush. “She’s nice.”
“‘Nice’ is well and good, but you know he picked a woman that could handle you.”
“Handle me? I’m not that big of a problem.”
“Oh? Do you know what your father said about you at the meeting the other night?”
“I’d rather not know.”
“He called for another search for the nest and asked for volunteers. When no one spoke up, he said, ‘alright, whoever stays behind looks after Hiccup’. Bada-bing, every hand went up.”
“That’s a lie!”
“Not even an exaggeration, lad. You’ve got a reputation!”
Hiccup angrily pounded on the smoldering sword, not responding to Gobber.
“Why do you think everyone was so quick to accept that you were responsible for the blood spill?”
“You know Gobber, I hadn’t really thought of it before,” he said sarcastically. “We’ve only had this conversation a hundred times.”
“And how many more times do I have to have it?”
“None! Zero!” Hiccup barked. “I’ve been on my best behavior since Astrid arrived! I want her to like me! And you know what? If she’s the only one that does, that’s fine!”
“No one hates you,” Gobber protested.
“I beg to differ.”
“The Jorgensons and Mildew don’t count. They hate everyone. Dagur doesn’t count because he’s Deranged.”
“I’m sure there are others that hate me, just silently instead of being outwardly hostile.”
“So? Does it matter?”
Hiccup scoffed. “According to my dad, yes! If I’m going to be chief one day, which I highly doubt is plausible, I have to have unity in the tribe and everyone behind me. If I have people actively rooting for my downfall, we’re doomed.”
“I suppose there’s truth to that.”
“Damned if I do, damned if I don’t.”
“Just give it time, Hiccup. You’ll find your place. You’ll get your respect.”
“Doubt.”
—
Lunchtime rolled around, and Astrid hadn’t returned. Hiccup kept peeking out of the forge to look for her, but there was no sign.
“Relax,” Gobber said. “You two have practically been glued together since you met. Women need their alone time.”
Hiccup decided to ignore the polite way of saying ‘she probably needed a break from you’ and instead leaned further out the window. “I just…worry she may have gotten lost. The village is small, but the woods are huge.”
“Aye, but she’s resourceful. If she gets lost, she’ll pick a direction and beeline until the ocean and then find her way here. She might be late, but she’ll be fine.”
That didn’t completely ease his mind, but he supposed Astrid was uniquely equipped to take care of herself in any situation.
Another hour passed and Hiccup heard hollering over the village. Cheers, it seemed.
Was his father already back?
Hiccup and Gobber hustled out from the forge to see what was going on, only to witness Astrid returning, walking through the square.
The fanfare was due to the large brown bear draped over her shoulders.
“Astrid?!” Hiccup squawked, running to her.
“Sorry I’m late,” she foisted the bear off of her and onto an empty cart. “Found this guy wandering a little close to the sheep fields.”
“And you killed it?!”
“I figured it was better I took care of it before it killed one of our sheep, or whatever is left of our food.”
“Right! I just—all by yourself? With an axe?”
“Oh no, I didn’t want to ruin the pelt. I put it in a headlock and strangled it.”
Hiccup’s jaw dropped. “And you didn’t die?!”
“I’m talking to you right now, aren’t I?”
“B-b-b-b—-“
“The meat may not be good though, depending on what he’s been eating. When they’re eating more meat than berries, they tend to have really gross tasting meat. I suppose beggars can’t be choosers. Is there a butcher or tanner in town?”
Hiccup blinked a few times. “Uh…I think the butcher went with the others…”
“Think he’ll mind if I use his station?”
“Not at all!” Gobber intervened. “Come this way lass, I’ll show you around.”
“Hey cool! Hiccup’s husband killed a bear!” Snotlout shouted.
Hiccup’s face flushed bright red as he slinked out of the way.
“Too cool! I want to kill a bear!” Said Tuffnut.
“Me too,” said Ruffnut. “But a white one. I bet I could pull off a white bear pelt.”
“Um…white bears are extremely deadly, but more importantly, we don’t have them on Berk,” Fishlegs rambled.
“Yeah yeah, so we import them from the mainland! White bear! White bear!”
Hiccup slunk away into the forge and got back to work. He felt conflicted. Very proud of Astrid for killing that bear, no doubt about it! But also…
Jealousy?
Really?
It made him sick.
Astrid hadn’t done anything to deserve any sort of negative emotion from him.
And yet…
“There must be something wrong with me,” he muttered, roughly throwing a blade into the embers.
He watched the flames rise and lick the metal, a hypnotic dance that was soothing, no matter how many times he watched it.
Despite the heat in the forge, he hugged himself, a coldness in his chest.
For a moment, he pretended like he was the one that killed the bear and brought it home. The reception wasn’t like Astrid’s at all. It was full of disgust and skepticism.
“Ew, where’d you find that carcass?” A ghost said in his mind.
“Why’d you bring it here? It’ll lure the dragons!”
Hiccup pulled the blade out of the heat and started wailing on it, taking his frustrations out on the metal.
The shape crumbled under his hammer, and dents formed where they shouldn’t be.
It didn’t matter. He was just so angry! Not at Astrid, but at himself, at the fact he wasn’t able to be content with the way things were. Maybe if he just kept his head down and let Astrid win everyone over, things would improve for him.
Maybe she could be chief.
She stayed busy the rest of the day, coming over to the forge every hour to check and make sure he was still there.
“Just more swords,” he pointed at his pile. “No inventions!”
“Good!”
At the end of the day, Astrid met up with him and together, they went to the Great Hall for dinner.
A dozen people had already started a little party, and when they entered, there was a round of cheers.
“There she is! Astrid Haddock, the Bear Wrangler!”
She was swept up into a drinking circle, plopped onto a chair and handed a pint of mead. The group was all excited and asking questions about how she did it.
Hiccup was left awkwardly standing by the door. After a beat when he wasn’t invited to join, he started towards his usual table.
“Hiccup!” Someone called.
He perked up. Was he being called over?
“Make yourself useful for once and fix your wife a plate of dinner!”
His heart sank as his face flushed. Right, because he was basically the housewife now and Astrid was the head of the household, the warrior, the respected one—
Astrid’s pint of mead splashed in the man’s face. “Don’t you ever speak to my husband like that again!” She snarled. “What’s wrong with you?! That’s your chief’s son!”
“And the chief ain’t here!” Someone else said.
“No one to coddle the little problem.”
“Yeah, and we gotta keep him in line! Who knows what he’ll get up to if we don’t!”
Astrid stood, but Hiccup shouted back. “He’s right!”
Astrid turned and looked at him in shock.
“I was going to fix you up a plate anyways. You did great work today.” He started over to the food table.
The other men nodded, pleased, but Astrid just looked incredulous. “You worked harder than me all day!”
“Yeah, well…I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary.”
She joined him up at the food table. “You know, I can fix my own plate.”
“No no, it’s fine! Go and sit with them, and let them know all about the bear.”
“You don’t know what I like yet. I’ll fix my own plate.”
“Right…yeah, that’s fair.”
He opted to just stay quiet, keep his head down, and follow her. Maybe if he stuck close enough, he’d just fuse to her underarm like a twin absorbed in the womb. Then he’d finally have some mercy around here, and he couldn’t mess anything up.
They sat at the table in the corner, prompted by Astrid. Hiccup expected her to go back where the men were drinking, but it mattered little. They came and joined them, as well as the other teens their age.
Hiccup just sat quietly and picked at his plate while Astrid explained exactly how she’d taken down the bear.
Hiccup’s bitterness faded as the story went on. She wasn’t bragging, but rather explaining it all very matter of factly. The other men listened with rapt attention.
The only other person Hiccup thought could take down a bear like that was his father. It was really incredible, and Astrid should be proud.
As Astrid was distracted, Snotlout swiped Hiccup’s plate out from under him.
“Hey!” Hiccup hissed.
“You had enough. Leave some for the rest of us.”
Hiccup clenched his fist in anger. He was trying really really hard to participate in Astrid’s celebration. He was trying to play the part of a proud husband, being as supportive as possible.
It wasn’t working.
His frustration reached a fever pitch. No one wanted him here, so why was he sticking around?
Without another word, he got up and left.
He didn’t get very far from the Great Hall before Astrid caught up to him. “Hey! Hey! Where are you going?”
He couldn’t tell her the truth, because he was going to see Toothless, the only being that was happy to see him. “I’m…I need some alone time.”
“Are you going home?”
“No.”
“Then where can I find you?”
He sighed. “I’d rather you didn’t look for me.”
She crossed her arms. “You know the rules.”
“Rules? What rules? I know my father’s expectations. I know what he wants of us, but I’m not going to be ordered to stick around a bunch of muttonheads that hate my guts. That’s not fair!”
“Hiccup—“
“I just want some space! I’m not going to touch anything! I’m not trying to invent a new weapon, I’m not trying to ‘improve’ village life. I get the picture. Everyone hates my involvement so much that they hired a babysitter for me!”
“Whoa, where’d all this anger come from? A few dumb comments in the Great Hall?”
“No! Yes! I don’t know! I just—leave me alone!”
She grabbed his arm. “Hiccup, I respect you need space, but please, for my sake, just go home.”
He snapped his arm out of her hold, rather gruffly. “If you want to be my wife, don’t boss me around. Everyone else does it, and I hate it.”
He saw her face turn red, and assumed the worst. No matter if it was anger, or embarrassment, he’d screwed up. Again.
He simply didn’t know how to deal with it, so he booked it into the woods.
“Wait!” Astrid called after.
He didn’t stop. He sprinted into the tree line, and immediately leapt into the brush. He took the path of most resistance, where she’d have to jump over logs and duck under branches.
This is the path he took when Snotlout was chasing him to beat him up.
“Hiccup! Come on! Just—let’s talk!”
He was five seconds away from tears. And he hated that. Vikings didn’t cry, and yet Astrid had already seen him cry a few times now.
But this time was just pathetic, so he’d rather hide.
He leapt behind a boulder and crouched, as he heard her crashing through the woods.
“I swear, if something happens to you, I’m going to be in so much trouble.” She huffed as she passed the boulder.
He stayed hidden, waiting until she passed before he emerged and went back the way he came. The way to Toothless was a way off, and he’d have to keep an ear out for Astrid.
Guilt swirled with bitterness and jealousy, making him nauseous. He didn’t want to feel these things, but he couldn’t help it.
He just hoped that she didn’t get lost, and that she didn’t waste too much time looking for him.
Eventually, he made it to the cove.
Toothless perked up as he entered, and his tail flailed all over the place in his excitement. He bounded over and placed several thorough licks to Hiccup’s face and chest.
“Ah! Ew! Y-yeah! I missed you too, bud.”
Toothless bounded around excitedly, his tongue hanging out.
Seeing so much joy from someone just from his presence made all those bitter, ugly emotions fade away. He settled on the ground while Toothless curled around him.
Hiccup rested against his scaly hide, his fingers running over the bumps and ridges.
Toothless rumbled with a purr like a cat, and vibrated under his touch.
“Thanks bud. I needed this.”
He stayed out there for hours, talking through the conflicted feelings in his head and heart. Having a non-judgmental ear to listen to his woes did wonders. Hiccup was able to just lay it all out and make sense of it.
He wasn’t proud of the conclusion he came to, but he’d own up to it.
Hiccup looked up at the stars through the canopy. It was late now, and Astrid was no doubt worried out of her mind. Another thing he’d have to deal with.
But he’d face it. Because he was a husband now, and that’s what marriage was about. Honesty and problem solving.
Honesty.
He pet Toothless idly as he mulled that over.
Mostly honesty. Good honesty. This…this wasn’t going to help things. Toothless helped him, yes, but telling Astrid would just make a mess.
No, Toothless would just have to remain a secret.
Once he gathered his courage, Hiccup made the long walk of shame back home.
The village was quiet. No frantic search parties, though he wondered if Astrid had tried to instigate one and no one joined.
Still, he headed up the hill and slowly opened the door.
When he was in trouble with his father, sometimes he could sneak up the stairs without being noticed. But with this tiny house, there was nowhere to hide.
Astrid was sitting on the bed when he entered. She was balancing her axe on the blade tip and rocking it back and forth.
She looked up at him sharply, her jaw shifting in thought.
He swallowed hard and clenched his fists, waiting for the eruption.
But she said nothing, just stared at him.
“Well?” He prompted.
“Well what?”
“Aren’t you going to yell at me?”
“Depends. Did you get your alone time?”
The tension in Hiccup’s shoulders started to lessen, as her tone conveyed some sense of mercy. He could tell she was angry, but not like his father.
She was giving him a chance.
He blurted, “I’m sorry.”
She nodded, but said nothing.
“I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m…I’m not—” I’m not usually like that, he wanted to say, but that wasn’t true. He had the tendency to argue and snap at people. As his father always said, his bark was worse than his bite. “It’s a bad habit.”
“So, why did you snap at me?” The anger in her voice was gone, replaced by curiosity and understanding.
It pulled the truth out of him like an abscessed tooth. “I was jealous.”
She nodded again.
“I…I was jealous that you did something brave and heroic and the village loved you for it. I was jealous of the praise you were getting. Then…I was mad at myself for being jealous. I should have just been proud of you, but I wasn’t. And the longer I was in the Great Hall, the more I was reminded that I’ll never get that kind of praise.”
He hated the tears that pricked at his eyes. He’d shed a few with Toothless, when he’d first said this out loud, but it was too painful.
He looked away and crossed his arms. “So now you know I’m a bitter and selfish person. It was something I was trying to hide, but…I can’t. I’m sorry, Astrid.”
She continued to be silent for a while, before she stood and went to the table. He hadn’t noticed before, but there was a pile of brown fur on it. She picked it up and went to him.
She unfurled the furs when she reached him and draped it over his shoulders.
It was a cape, like the one his father wore. It had a chain to keep it closed, but instead of pendants, it had bear claws.
Of course it was made from the bear she’d killed this afternoon.
“W-what?”
“I didn’t know if I was going to finish it today, but I worked on it while I was waiting for you to come home. I’m glad it fits!”
“This–you—this is for me?”
“I’m not great at sewing, but I wanted to make you something to wear. It’s the first thing I thought of when I killed the beast.”
Tears pricked at his eyes again, but for a different reason this time. “Oh I’m an asshole…”
Astrid chuckled. “No you’re not.” She took his hand and led him to the bed. “Hiccup, you told me about not being able to do the Rite of Passage. Of course I understand why you’d be jealous! And it didn’t help that everyone treated you so badly in the Great Hall! They’re the assholes!”
“They can be, yeah…” He scratched the back of his head. “And I’m sorry for ditching you. That was really…not fair.”
“This house isn’t really great for clearing your head.” She shrugged. “I get that you need to escape sometimes. I would too if my tribesmen treated me like that. So, I hope in time, you’ll be comfortable enough to tell me your hideaway spots. When you need to be alone, you tell me, and I won’t bother you unless there’s an emergency.”
It was a good deal. A great deal, really. If he told her the cove was a private place, then hopefully she wouldn’t go looking for him and find Toothless. On the other hand, if there was an emergency, she’d go right there.
“I’ll…think about it.”
“Okay.”
He took his cape off and hung it up by the door, where his father always hung his own. Then he came back to bed and sat beside her. “Thank you, for the cape. It’s awesome. Better than the one I wore for the wedding.”
“You’re welcome.”
“And again, I’m sorry—”
“You’ve already apologized.”
“Right.” He twiddled his thumbs.
“It’s late.”
“Yeah.”
“Would you share a small bed in a cramped house with me?”
He snorted. “Well, when you say it like that, how can I refuse?”
Astrid Hofferson is off on an adventure, to find fame, fortune, and a reason to get her parents off her back. When she finds a lonely tower in the icy northern wastes, she expects to have a place to camp for the night. She's not expecting to find a boy who's been isolated from the world for his fantastic abilities. Sure, he may be sheltered and not understand everything, but at least he's not annoying. He might just be her ticket to fame and fortune too!
And it helps that he's kinda cute.
I came up with this idea after I read a Tangled AU. I liked it a lot, but as I thought about it, I thought Hiccup might be the better ‘Rapunzel’ character. Then I really just started mulling over the idea until it got to the point I really wanted to write it. Now it’s more like a Shrek AU, but I’m hesitating to call it that haha.
Also I started writing this before Flight of the Valkyrie, it's been in my drafts for a few years.
Ao3
“Stupid Snotlout.”
This had been Astrid’s mantra for the last 200 miles or so.
At first, she cursed him because he had convinced her parents to accept his proposal. She still didn’t, but they were taking his side and trying to get her to convert over. But marrying Snotlout was not what she wanted. Vehemently.
Now she was cursing him for a different reason. Because of his persistence, she had no choice but to leave the city and look for home and adventure elsewhere. She’d become rich and famous and then they’d see that they were wrong.
She ended up going north, towards the frozen wastes. Why? Because no one would look for her there.
But she was beginning to regret her decision to do so as it was truly turning out to be a frozen wasteland.
Go figure.
It was cold, wet, and utterly uninhabitable. The snow rushed around her in a flurry, chilling her to the bone as she stomped through the snow.
She thought several times about going back, but hadn’t yet. If she continued north, she’d eventually pass the mountain range and be able to go west and then back down to the warmer weather. This had been the medium length, medium effort route and had seemed like the best option at the time. Compared to the long but easy route south east, that would have doubled her travel time, or the short but difficult route that was straight north through the mountains. That sounded even colder and she didn’t much like climbing.
But as another chill shook her body, she once again cursed Snotlout.
As she walked, she kept her arms crossed and her head down to try to keep warm. On occasion, she’d look up to scan the landscape.
That tower wasn’t there the last time she looked!
An old, tilted, stone tower, looking far abandoned and far neglected.
It would work for now. She could have a warm fire and sleep for the rest of the night and continue in the morning.
So she went to it, circling the base looking for the entrance.
Hmm. No door.
Perhaps the tower had sunk in the sand over time and the door was buried?
She did another lap and saw a window way up top, facing the ocean. That would be her way in.
She checked the stones for handholds, and when she found them sufficient to hold her weight, she started climbing.
The wind and snow made it hard, but Astrid was tough and strong. A lot more so than the average woman.
She reached the window and pushed, amazed to see the shutters opened easily.
As she knelt on the windowsill, she swept her eyes over the interior, extremely surprised to find it habited.
A small boy knelt at a low table, a stick of charcoal in his hand. But he was staring right at her.
“Hi!” She greeted, amicably.
He trembled, scrambled to his feet, and ran to the fire pit in the center of the room, where he took up a frying pan and came running at her with it. It was actually pretty pathetic, as he was obviously putting all of his strength into the attack, but it was a slow and telegraphed arc.
She caught it, so easily. “Hey little guy! No need to be so hostile.”
He pouted at her, then said, “I’m not that little…” with the voice of a man.
“Oh! Sorry, I just…”
“Thought I was a child? I figured. But I can defend myself!”
She glanced at the wrist she held solidly in her grip. “Sure you can.”
“You’re trespassing,” he snapped. “Now leave before this gets ugly…giant woman!”
Astrid smirked. “And to you, I probably look even bigger than usual.”
“What?”
She sighed, but not in exasperation. She supposed he did deserve an explanation, since she was trespassing. But first, she easily disarmed him of the frying pan.
He stared at her in horror.
“I’m a quarter giant,” she explained, ignoring his look and dropping fully into the room. “My grandmother was a giant. Twelve feet tall. I’m only seven feet.”
She saw him gulp as she stood at her full height.
“Look…uh, you got a name?”
He swallowed again. “H-Hiccup.”
She grinned. What an appropriate name! “Look Hiccup, I’m not here to hurt you or anything. I was traveling down the beach and saw your tower. I thought it was abandoned and hoped to find shelter for the night. Sorry if I scared you.”
Hiccup exhaled harshly, resting a hand on his chest. “Oh thank Odin…”
She set the pan on the table, shrugged her bag and axe onto the floor, and held out her hand. “Let’s start again, shall we? I’m Astrid. Could you allow me shelter for a while?”
He stared at her hand in confusion. “What am I supposed to give you?”
“Uh, your hand?”
Awkwardly, he placed his hand in hers, only for her to take hold and shake.
Then she let go. “You never had a handshake before?”
He shook his head, then after a moment, he confessed. “You’re the first girl I’ve ever seen in person.”
Her eyes went wide. “What? Are you serious?” She contemplated the fact she hadn’t seen a door. She doubted those little stick arms could hold his weight on the climb down. “Have you…never left this tower?”
“I have!” He insisted. Then added, “but not much…”
She gave this scrawny boy another once over. He was tiny, yes, but almost malnourished, pale, and sickly. His clothes were tattered and well worn, his hair looked dull and stringy. “How old are you?”
“16. You?”
“Also 16!”
Excitement lit up his eyes, before exasperation. “Really?! Puberty really hates me…”
She chuckled. “Again, I have giant blood. I’m bigger than everyone else our age.”
He looked at her, longing scrawled all over his face. He didn’t guard any expressions, and probably didn’t know how to. Suddenly, he jolted. “You’re wet! And you must be so cold! And you’re my guest!”
“Oh, that’s not necessary…”
He grabbed her hand and pulled her to sit in the chair by the circular fire pit. Then he tugged on her coat, and she let him take it.
Honestly, she felt so much better finally sitting by the fire, it was hard to argue with him.
She watched as he hung up her coat to dry, then went to the little kitchen on the far wall. Now that she had a calm second, she could look around. It was a large circular room, with the fire pit being at the very center. The pit had bellows and anvil nearby, so not just a fire, but a forge.
Hiccup came back and left a tea kettle on a grate over the fire, then scrambled away again.
There was only the one window, where she had come in. The ceiling was tall and slanted, following the roof. Rafters criss-crossed up above and cast dark shadows over the ceiling. Across from the window was the kitchen area, lifted a few steps up from the ground. To her right, there was a large door, though she didn’t imagine it led outside. To her left, there was an arched doorway, the room beyond partially obscured by a curtain. She could see a little bed tucked in there, but the room was barely bigger than a closet.
The rest of the large room was fairly bare. There was a low table, with furs on the floor. The walls only had weapons and little charcoal drawings as decoration. A set of drawers, a wardrobe, a chest. Just enough to hold meager belongings.
A few candles and the hearth were the only sources of light.
A blanket fell on her shoulders, and he even tried to tuck her in. “Here, it might not be the nicest, or softest, but it’s warm.”
It was thick wool, scratchy, and had a sour smell to it, like he had tried to wash it, but in this place, it could never quite get dry quick enough. “It’s great, thanks.”
He smiled at her, with thinly veiled excitement.
The kettle sang, water ready, and he poured them both a mug, and put tea leaves in them. Her mug was silver, his was made of wood.
Then he sat on the floor by the table and stared at her.
It occurred to Astrid that she was sitting in the only chair in the room.
“Huh, are you comfortable down there?”
He sat cross legged, and settled in his seat. “Oh yes, I’m fine. I’m not allowed to sit in the chair anyways.”
This information was disturbing. But she didn’t ask him to elaborate. Instead, she asked, “So…you don’t live here alone?”
“No, sometimes my father comes. But I’m mostly here by myself.”
“And…your father has guests sometimes? Have any other friends?”
He shook his head no.
Her brow furrowed. He must be profoundly lonely.
“You must be hungry!” He popped to his feet. “Let me find you something!”
She wanted to protest that she was fine, but her stomach growled.
He took a large pot and put it over the fire on a hook. Then he took a bucket of water and started filling it, but it looked like a struggle.
“Let me help,” she got up.
“No, no, please,” he eased the bucket over the lip.
“I insist,” she easily took the bucket from him, and finished filling up the kettle. She made it look easy.
So he got to work putting ingredients for stew in the pot. Beef, onions, celery, and carrots.
“It’ll take a while to cook,” he explained, but he went back to the kitchen and took out some bread, meat, and cheese. “This isn’t much, but I hope it’ll tide you over.” And he nearly shoved the plate of food in her hands.
“This is perfect, thank you,” She said gratefully.
She tried not to crinkle her nose at the fact the bread and cheese had mold on them. It was free food, and she didn’t have to tuck into her rations. She would force herself to be grateful.
She ate silently, occasionally sipping her tea, while he not so subtly watched her.
“Can I get you anything else? Are you comfortable?”
She smiled at him. “You’ve done more than enough, Hiccup. All I wanted was to get out of the wind.”
He nodded, then forced himself to sit on the floor again, despite being antsy. “What were you doing out there?”
She chuckled. “You know, I don’t really know.”
He furrowed his brows and tilted his head. “You don’t…?”
She took a bite and talked with food in her mouth. “So, my parents are trying to get me to marry this boy named Snotlout. And he’s…well, he’s an oaf. He’s my friend, but I don’t like him in any romantic way. I really don’t see myself as the marriage type. I’m more the adventuring type! So I figure, I’d go out and find adventure, strike it rich, and mom and dad would realize that I don’t need a man…at least not now. Maybe in a few years I’ll find someone I like on my own.”
He considered all of this, but looked rather lost. “Umm…what’s marriage?”
She nearly spat out her tea. “You don’t know?”
He shook his head. “My father doesn’t tell me everything about the outside world. He just tells me what he thinks I need to know. And I have a few books, I guess.”
Astrid considered this. “Marriage is when a man and a woman vow to spend their lives together. Usually they love each other, but sometimes it’s arranged.”
“Oh!” He snapped his fingers. “Happily ever after, right?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“So…you didn’t want that?”
She rolled her eyes. “If you’re getting it from story books, it’s not accurate. Marriage is…well, a woman keeping her house clean and nice, does all the chores, cooks the meals, takes care of the children, all that stuff, while the man goes out and works, and then hangs out with his friends.”
“Oh. I understand,” he said darkly.
“Yeah, so that’s why I didn’t want it.”
“So, you just…left? You weren’t afraid of your parents catching you? Weren’t afraid of the outside world?”
“Yep, just ran away. And yeah, I’m sure if my mom or dad found me, they’d be pretty pissed off, but whatever. I had to prove I was serious about not marrying Snotlout. Besides, what’s there to be afraid of?”
He seemed to be stuck on the first point. “You just left? You can do that?”
She shrugged. “I did.”
He looked down to the table he sat at. “I couldn’t.” Then he looked up at her. “Could you tell me more? Where are you from? What’s it like? Do you have a mom? Is she nice?”
“Whoa whoa!” She chuckled. “Let’s start from the beginning. I’m from Berk, you know, the capital city.”
His face paled. “Oh…yeah?”
“Yep! Born and raised! It’s really not much of a city, but it’s bigger than the other villages and settlements. It’s got a lot of long houses, and the Jarl’s home is up on the hill, a big wooden castle.”
Amused, she saw him resting his head in his hands, completely enthralled despite her poor descriptions.
“The city is up on cliffs that look out over the ocean. There’s a forest to our East.”
“Are there pets there? Like cats and dogs and yaks?”
“Yep, and we have goats and chickens…and dragons.” She smirked, amused by the way he said it.
He sat up, confused, but intrigued. “You like dragons?”
“Yep! I have my very own Nadder named Stormfly. I didn’t get to finish training with her, so I didn’t get to take her with me,” she said sadly. “But I’m going to return soon with my fame and fortune and then I can finish my training.”
“I was under the impression that Berk hated dragons.”
“Who said that?”
“My father.”
Right. The only other person he’s talked to. “Well, he’s wrong. We love dragons. The Jarl has a Rumblehorn, and his wife has a Stormcutter.”
Hiccup shuddered. “What about Night Furies? Do they like Night Furies?”
“Probably, though no one has ever seen them. Are you afraid of dragons?”
He shook his head, but didn’t look like he was being honest.
“You know, you can come with me. We’ll find our fame and fortune together, and then we can go to Berk and you can start dragon training!”
He shook his head. “I can’t leave. My father would kill me.”
“You don’t seem to be enjoying your life here.”
He shrugged. “It’s not about happiness, it’s about safety. It’s not safe for me out there.”
She scoffed. “Are you not looking at me? I can easily fend off anything that threatens us.”
“Then what am I supposed to do? I wouldn’t be able to help you…although, I’m pretty handy with this forge!” He gestured to the weapons on the walls.
She looked around, appreciatively. “This is pretty good work. But honestly, I wouldn’t mind just having some company on my adventure. You don’t seem annoying, so I wouldn’t mind if you tagged along.”
“Thank you, Astrid…but I can’t. I really shouldn’t be talking to you now. If my father ever finds out you were here…” he gulped.
She crossed her arms. “He’s rather protective of you, hmm?”
“Oh yeah! You have no idea.”
She watched him, studying the way he nervously fidgeted. He had a slight tremble, and his eyes kept shifting between her and outside.
This kid was as high strung as they came. Though she supposed she’d be pretty tense if she was that size and had a father that seemed to give Thor a run for his money in the Wrath department.
“What do you do for fun around here?” She asked, trying to get him to relax.
“Oh, um…fun? I guess…” he got up as he trailed off. From a side table, he brought a book over. “I like to draw.” He knelt at her side, holding it open for her. “I don’t really have a lot of stuff to draw, so most of it is copied from the books I own.”
He had plants and flowers, buildings, armored Vikings, ships. The sketchbook held a wide but odd variety of subjects.
“These are schematics for weapons,” he explained. “I can’t wield a sword and I can barely hold a shield. So I’ve been working on weapons that I can use.”
“Have you made any of these?” She asked, looking around the weapon laden walls. All she saw were standard, familiar arms.
“I made this one,” he flipped to a page labeled ‘the mutilator’. “It worked too! It shot a bola, kind of like a crossbow.”
“So where is it?”
“…my father destroyed it.”
“Why?”
“Said I didn’t need it.”
She frowned. “He’s so protective of you, but when you make a way to protect yourself, he doesn’t like it? That’s…weird.”
“I often don’t understand him.”
“What’s he like?” She asked.
He gazed at the ground, his countenance full of fear. “He’s serious.”
Astrid gnawed on her cheek. Something nagged at her. She definitely didn’t feel right leaving this boy here when all was said and done.
“Have you ever touched grass before?” She blurted.
He frowned again, eyebrows pinching. “What’s grass? Some kind of fabric?”
Astrid closed her eyes in defeat. He absolutely wasn’t staying here.
“What about your parents?” He asked, eagerly. “What are they like?”
“Usually pretty kind and reasonable. This is…kind of the first time I’ve disagreed with them.”
“And you decided to run away!?” He barked. “One disagreement, and you left!?”
“Now hold on,” she protested.
“I never get along with my father! I never agree with him! And yet I’m still here! I haven’t left! You get in one argument with people that actually love and care for you, and you give it all up?! Why would you waste that?!” His eyes were flashing with passion and unshed tears.
“Okay, first of all, shut up,” she scolded, not unkindly.
He shrank back.
“You’re partly right. Running away probably wasn’t the most rational thing to do. But I’m not throwing them away. Just getting away for a little while, proving my independence. I’m going to go back.”
He pursed his lips. “And they’ll take you back?”
“Why wouldn’t they?”
He hunched his shoulders and swept his gaze over to the window. His reply went unspoken, but it didn’t need to be said.
She decided to bring his attention back to his sketchbook. They went through the pages, and he explained what each was.
“And they’re beneficial too, allegedly. I don’t think they even grow in our country but I’d love to see one someday!” He cringed. “Sorry, I really didn’t mean to ramble!” He chuckled awkwardly.
“I don’t mind. I asked you what it was.” She gestured to the drawing.
“Right well…I have the tendency to ramble about my work, but father always gets mad and wants the short version.”
“Well, I don’t.” She shrugged. “I want the Hiccup version.”
He smiled and they continued to go through the book. Once they had gone through it, they sat and chatted until the stew was ready.
Astrid gratefully took the stew, but found it tasteless. It was apparent he didn’t have any spices, or even salt. Again, it was free food, so she ate it without complaint.
As they talked, she noticed this strange dichotomy in Hiccup. With the things he knew, he was extremely smart. But she found herself stumped by how much he didn’t know. Simple things, things she wouldn’t even think of because they were so commonplace. He didn’t know about wells. Apparently, the water in the tower was snow from the roof, melted into a basin. He had never heard of dessert either; apparently, the cookbook he had didn’t have a section on desserts. He had never heard of ‘games’ and couldn’t fathom the concept as she tried to explain it.
Eventually, Astrid found herself blinking slowly and nodding off.
“Astrid? Are you tired?”
“A little,” she smiled sheepishly. “I left early this morning, and I was walking all day.”
“You walked from Berk to here in a day? I didn’t know it was that close!”
“No no,” she chuckled. “Definitely not. A dragon might be able to fly it in a day or two, but not on foot. I left Berk about a week ago. I left the tavern at the last village this morning.”
“Oh. Right. That makes sense…” Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh, why don’t you sleep in my bed up there? It’s kind of small, so I hope it’s okay…I’ll sleep in here on the floor, alright?”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely! You’re my very first guest, and I want to make sure you enjoy your stay.”
She stood, cracking her back. “Well, that’s sweet.” She followed him up to the little room, noting he had way more drawings up here than in the main room. The interior wall only went up a couple feet, and the ceiling above was the same as the main room. She could even see the fire light on the rafters. Though she supposed this probably kept the room warmer.
She laid down on the bed, her feet hanging off the end.
He winced. “I was afraid of that…”
She only chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. Reminds me of my own childhood bed when I got my growth spurt. We didn’t have the gold right away for a new one, so I had to have my feet hanging off for a few months.” She settled down on top of the made sheets, just covering up with the wool blanket he had lent her.
“Are you warm enough?”
“I’ll be fine. It’s just a little cat nap.”
He gnawed on his lip, and then proceeded to tuck her in, as well as he could.
She gave him a confused but amused smile.
“I wasn’t supposed to do that, was I?”
“First for me, but I don’t mind.”
He sighed in relief. “Dream of victory, Astrid.” And he closed the curtain behind him.
What luck! She had not been looking forward to sleeping on the cold floor of an abandoned tower all by herself. But to find Hiccup had been a real boon from the gods. He had provided food, warmth, a bed, and good conversation.
Not to mention, her first mission as an adventurer! She had to rescue him from this tower!
She slept for several hours, the tower being the quietest room she’d ever slept in. Then sometime early morning, before dawn, the entire tower rumbled, and she heard the roar of a giant dragon.
Her eyes shot open.
“Astrid!” Hiccup hissed, throwing the curtain back. “It’s my father! He’s returned early! You have to hide!” He scurried back into the main room and stowed her belongings in the chest in the corner.
“Wait!” He jolted. “Stay in there! He rarely goes in, just…just be silent!” He threw the curtain back into place, haphazardly covering the doorway.
Astrid got up, quiet to not make any sound, and gently peaked through the curtain to try to catch a glimpse of this so-called ‘father’.
The shutters opened, and a large white point entered the room. It looked kind of like a giant tooth.
A huge man with black dreads and dark skin climbed down the white spike and dropped into the room. He held a barbed staff in his hand, and had a cloak made of dragonhide over his shoulders. His face was covered in scars and his eyes were dark and held deep bags under them.
Something about him rang a bell in Astrid’s mind, but she couldn’t place it.
“Hello father, you’re home earlier than expected,” Hiccup greeted, wringing his hands nervously.
“And that doesn’t fill you with joy? That your father returns early?”
“No no, it does! I just—I’m surprised is all!”
“I’m not staying for long.” The man walked across the room, his steps heavy and purposeful.
“Oh…just a check in, then?”
“Better than that.” There was a smile in his voice, though she couldn’t see his face. Then he paused, and Astrid saw where his gaze was directed.
Her used dishes sitting by the chair. The chair he wasn’t allowed to sit in.
“Why have you used my fine dishes?” He said darkly. “You know you aren’t supposed to. I thought you were better than that.”
“O-Oh! I just—well, I couldn’t—”
Then the man spotted Hiccup’s mug on the low table, and frowned harder.
“Who’s here, Hiccup?” He asked darkly.
“W-What?”
“Who is in my tower!?” The father yelled, violently.
Astrid took the distraction and noise to quietly climb up the bookcase and peer over the short wall.
The man was on the other side of the tower, looking in the other room. She now could see it was a bedroom, and it was a lot more finely furnished than the rest of the tower.
“Someone here?! Y-you’re kidding! Crazy! I would never–no one would ever–!”
Astrid leapt from the wall up to the rafters, and hid in the shadows.
The man grabbed Hiccup by the collar and lifted him off his feet with no effort. “You do not lie to me, creature. You are an open book, and I know you’re hiding something!”
“N-no! Me? Nothing! There’s no one here!”
The man dropped him and stormed over to his room.
“W-wait!”
The Father drew back the curtain, scanned the room, and then riveted his gaze back to Hiccup.
Even from up here, Astrid could see Hiccup swallow with immense effort. “I…was pretending.”
The father turned fully, and started towards Hiccup with slow, deliberate steps. “You were pretending?”
“Yes. I was pretending to…have a guest over. I wanted her to have the nice place setting.”
“What, like an imaginary friend?”
Hiccup nodded.
“And a girl at that?”
Again, a nod.
The man started chuckling. “Oh that’s sad. That’s very very sad.”
Hiccup stared at his shoes.
“What does she look like?”
“What?”
“Your imaginary woman. What does she look like?”
Hiccup seemed to weigh the options before saying, “blonde.”
The man chuckled. “I thought you’d like blondes. What else? Buxom?”
Hiccup nodded.
“A frail thing? Frailer than you? Someone you could actually overpower?”
“N-no! No, she’s big and strong and tough!” He blurted.
The man cackled. “You want a big strong woman? That’s what gets your rocks off?”
“I don’t…understand.”
“Oh of course you do, boy. You’re 16. That age when you start having urges. Pleasuring yourself with your hand. That sort of thing.”
Astrid gaped in shock at the way this man’s mind worked. And the way he mocked his son over such a delicate subject.
“What does that have to do with pretending to have a girl here?”
But his father just laughed at him. “You have no idea, do you?!”
Astrid was appalled. This man had messed his son up, and was gleefully laughing at his ignorance. She gripped the beam under her fingers to keep from jumping down and killing him.
“Even in your imagination…” the man chuckled. “Have you ever had an imaginary friend that was smaller than you? Or is being so weak and frail so normal for you, you can’t imagine any different?”
Hiccup’s face was flushed with embarrassment, but he doubled down. “But I’m not all that weak or frail, am I?”
The man laughed again, but in a different way, a darker way. “No, my boy, you certainly are not.” He wiped a tear from his eye before going to the table. “Which brings me to the real reason for my visit.” He dropped a scroll on the table. “The plans are complete.”
Hiccup knelt and smoothed the paper out. From up here, Astrid couldn’t tell what was on it.
“This one is you,” the man pointed. “You are the key to making this all work. In five days, I will return for you, and then we will launch our attack on Berk.”
The words made everything click. This man, Hiccup’s cruel father, was Drago Bludvist, feared enemy of Berk. The man who had waged war against them. The man that enslaved dragons and forced them to fight to the death.
“Me?”
“Yes, you can finally make yourself useful to me.”
“B-But—”
“Five days, Hiccup. You will study these plans, memorize them. I want you to see them in your dreams. Practice.”
“You’re putting a lot of trust in me…”
“I am,” He confirmed. “Once we take Berk, you’ll have a new home. It’ll be nice and safe, and I’ll even find you a big blonde broad to play with. Won’t that be nice?”
Hiccup didn’t respond.
“That was a question, creature.”
“Oh! Yes! I’m uh…I’m looking forward to it.”
“Good, because if you fail…this tower will become a lot less comfortable, do I make myself clear?”
“…Crystal.”
“Glad we have an understanding.” He patted Hiccup’s face, none too fondly. “I better go. Finish your imaginary date, and then get to work. Do not fail me as usual.” He walked with purpose back towards the window, where that white spike still poked in. He climbed up on it, and disappeared.
Hiccup continued to stare at the scroll on the table, becoming more and more distressed as the seconds went on.
When Astrid figured it was safe, she dropped onto the floor, startling him.
He jumped, and whipped his head up to look at her. Then he looked up at the ceiling and smiled. “So that’s where you hid.”
“People rarely look up,” she explained. Then she walked over to look at the scroll Drago had left. “Your father is Drago Bludvist.”
“Yeah…”
“He’s Berk’s greatest enemy.”
He jerked away from the table and scrambled towards the window. “Look, whatever you’re thinking, I’m not a threat, okay? I don’t want to be an enemy to Berk. I don’t want to hurt you…and I don’t want you to hurt me!” He trembled.
“I wasn’t planning on hurting you,” she soothed. “In fact, I’ve been trying to figure out a way to convince you to come with me.”
He gnawed in his lip.
Astrid glanced over the plans Drago left, studying the arrows and diagram.
Drago had him listed as delivering the killing blow to Jarl Stoick, the main threat and an unfair trauma. How was that a good idea? How could he do that to his own little son?
“This plan is going to get you killed,” she stated, bluntly. “But, if we take these to Jarl Stoick, both of us will be heroes. I guarantee you’ll be rewarded with enough gold, you could start a new life.”
He seemed hesitant, and unsure.
“And I’ll be with you, ready to help you with that step. You could even stay with me and my family. With your forge skills, I’m sure Gobber would love to have you work for him.”
“Gobber?”
“The city blacksmith. He’s great!”
He nodded in understanding, but still looked conflicted. He wrung his hands anxiously.
“What’s got you stuck?” She asked, approaching him carefully. Standing next to him, she realized he only came up to her chest. Such a tiny thing!
“You’re certain that Berk doesn’t hate dragons?”
This again? “I already told you they didn’t. Why would I lie about it?”
His lips wobbled as he looked wholly and truly scared.
“Okay, so besides what I said, you know, how I’ve been training a Nadder and the Jarl and his wife have dragons? If you can’t believe any of that, there’s this old story that’s been around for years.” After a beat, she said, “Actually, it’s pretty topical. In a week, it’s going to be the Lost Heir Festival.”
He frowned. “Lost Heir…Festival?”
“That’s what it’s slowly been called over the years. It’s the anniversary of when the Jarl’s son went missing. The old story is that the son was born so early, he was so weak and frail, he would have died without any intervention. Gothi, our medicine woman, and something of a mage, replaced the baby’s heart with the heart of an ancient dragon. It allowed him to live, but the rumor is that it allowed him to shift between the form of a man and that of a dragon at will.”
Hiccup went very, very pale.
“It’s kinda fantastical. No one outside of the castle could ever confirm if it was true or not, but the baby was kidnapped and no one ever knew what happened to him. The festival is a way to draw attention to his absence and renew the search for him…although it’s been, what? 16 years since he went missing? I think that’s right. Anyway, if the lost son is part dragon, would the Jarl really hate them?”
He still stood there, his expression tight.
“I don’t know why I thought that would convince you. It’s just a story. The Jarl never confirmed it.” She rolled her eyes.
“Did he ever deny it?” He asked, softly.
“Mm, I don’t think so. But I don’t know if the story just keeps the son in thought or—”
“I’ll go with you,” he whispered, staring wide-eyed and trembling.
“Alright!” She pumped her fist. “I promise you won’t regret this, Hiccup! Fame and fortune, here we come!”
With a new sense of determination she hadn’t seen from him, Hiccup went around and collected his few meager belongings in a potato sack. Mostly sketchbooks and trinkets he had made in the forge. He rolled up the scroll, and many others like it, and put them in his bag as well. As he worked, she could hear him muttering to himself.
“Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I should have known. It was so obvious!”
“Hey uh, Hiccup?” She tried to placate him. “Are you okay?”
He whirled on her, face red with anger and eyes wild. He looked seconds away from bursting into tears. “Oh I’m just fine!” He snapped. “I just found out my entire life is a lie, but I’m doing just swell!”
“Well, maybe Drago didn’t realize we were at peace with dragons? Maybe he genuinely thought we hated them and didn’t mean to lie to you?” She didn’t know why she was defending the man, but she wanted to ease Hiccup’s pain. “I’m sure he had your safety in mind.”
“No, no he’s a liar. He’s the enemy and we have to tell Berk. We have to tell the Jarl—the Jarl! I can’t talk to him!”
“Sure you can! He’s a kind man.”
He shook his head frantically.
“Well, how about I do the talking? I’ll just tell him that the son of Drago defected to our side and we’ve brought a copy of Drago’s plans!”
“Don’t call me that,” he bit. “That man is not my father. You will tell the Jarl that I was a prisoner to Drago.”
“Uh…did I miss something? You seemed to have changed your mind pretty quickly on that. I know it must be hard, but you don’t have to denounce him.”
“No,” he said sternly. “Drago is not my father. I understand that now, and you’ll understand in a minute. We need to go.”
“O…Kay…?” She drawled, completely lost. “Is there a door? I suppose I could climb down with you on my back…do you have any rope?”
“No.” He went to the window that was still open from Drago’s departure. “I’ll get us down.”
“You?”
“Yes. Can you hold my bag?”
She scoffed as she came up beside him. “Honey, I don’t know if you could climb down there yourself, let alone with me.”
“Who said anything about climbing?” He smirked.
How else was he expecting to get down? Yes, the ocean was right there, but it was still too shallow of a jump from this height.
He knelt on the windowsill. “Sit on my back.”
“Uh no, that’s crazy talk.”
He looked at her, his eyes steeled and focused. “Trust me, Astrid.”
She considered an escape plan. Grab his waist with her legs and grab the windowsill as he jumped. Yeah, that would work.
Doubtful, she straddled his back, and even when kneeling, didn’t quite sit on him.
“Which way are we going once we’re out?”
“Why does that matter? Just get us down.”
“I know I sound crazy, but trust me. Which way?”
She sighed. “Oh fine. We’re going South, so you’ll go to the left down the beach.”
“Got it. You might want to hang on.”
“Hang on to wha—?” Her words died in her throat as he began changing under her fingertips. The worn tunic turned to scales, and his body rapidly grew underneath her, lifting her off the windowsill. His hair turned from auburn, to black, to scaly nubs. It all happened so fast, she barely comprehended it.
“No way…” she breathed. “It’s you…you’re the lost heir…”
The boy turned dragon underneath her flexed and stretched his wings, then tensed as he started to lean forward.
He warbled something incoherent, but she somehow still understood the sentiment.
“I’m ready,” she said, patting his side.
He dove, a sharp whistling sound breaking through the icy wind, before unfurling his wings and catching the up draft.
Astrid whooped in delight at the sensations. Flying on Stormfly was fun, but this was different. Unrestrained, uncontrolled, and he was flying free.
Finally free of the lies, free of the oppression, free of his tiny little cage.
He banked to the left, as she had instructed, and took off like a shot, racing the wind.
She hooked her legs under his wings and leaned forward to hold around his neck. Their bags were sandwiched between them, staying secure.
“Okay,” she said in his ear. “I’m hanging on tight. Why don’t you show me what you’ve got?”
He roared, the sound reverberating through his body and into hers. He pulled up, flying straight up into the air, his wings pumping hard and taking them higher and higher. Then, he rolled upside down and allowed them to fall backwards, an excited scream being ripped from Astrid’s lungs.
He spun around, catching them in the current, before righting and moving into his next death defying stunt.
He did several maneuvers, each one crazier than the last. Spins, twists, dives, anything and everything.
“You’re amazing!” She sang, adrenaline pumping through her like an electric current.
Eventually, he calmed down and flew straight and lazy, heading South.
“Tired yourself out?”
He groaned at her.
“I get it. You probably haven’t flown this much in a while. Just take it easy and set us down when you need a break, okay?”
He would eventually, but for now, he just wanted to get as far away from that damn tower as possible.
I’m working on the Buffstrid and Twigcup Arranged Marriage AU, don’t you worry. A new chapter will come soon. Just needed something to doodle during church this morning.
I’m also trying to draw more dynamic poses.
Read ‘Flight of the Valkyrie’ on Ao3!
Because of Hiccup's constant screw ups and inability to defend himself, Stoick arranges a marriage for him to the archipelago's greatest warrior. Astrid Hofferson has become famous for her battle prowess and great stature for a 16 year old girl. Who better to protect Hiccup from dragons, hostile vikings, and Hiccup himself?
Hiccup rose when the rooster crowed. Early rising was not his cup of tea, but he would today. And as many days as it took.
He dressed and hurried down the steps, running into his father who was leaving.
“You’re up early.”
Hiccup stood up tall. “I’m going to find Astrid.”
Stoick clapped a heavy hand on his back. “Good on ya, lad! You’re taking your marriage seriously! Glad to see you getting your priorities straight!”
Hiccup tried not to let the offense show, and just nodded along. He’d given up the dragon hunt, not that he’d told anyone.
Astrid was beginning to be a new, welcomed project.
“I’ll see you tonight,” Stoick assured. “Lots of prep work to do. Gobber will be busy in the forge. He’ll need your help later when Astrid has to get involved with her own wedding preparations. You behave yourself, okay?”
“Yes sir.”
“Good, have fun.” And Stoick left, a smile on his face.
No doubt he was thinking, ‘she’ll keep him busy’.
Hiccup had some toast for breakfast, and then went down towards the bunker to try to catch Astrid.
Luckily, she was heading his way, an axe on her back. She gave him a warm, friendly smile. “Morning!”
“Morning!” He chirped.
“I thought you’d still be in bed. It’s pretty early.”
“Ahh, yeah, but you said you like to train early, so I thought I’d show you a good spot to do so.”
Her eyebrows raised. “You remembered that?”
“Mmhmm.” He nodded eagerly, maybe a little too eagerly. He held his hand out. “There’s a place in the woods I like to go to think. It’s secluded and has lots of trees.”
She took his hand. “Lead on, my good sir.”
Hiccup was potentially taking a risk. This spot was one of his places he went to get away from the town and those that would ridicule him. This was a safe place. Sharing it with her would be one less place to go if—when she changed her mind about him.
But perhaps it was worth the investment. If he could build a strong bond with her now, it might be strong enough to overlook his mistakes later.
That was wishful thinking.
“Is that your sketchbook?” She gestured to the book under his other arm.
“Oh, yeah. This place is where I go to start my day. The walk wakes me up, and drawing a little gets my brain working.” He tapped his head.
“I get it,” she nodded. “Kind of like a warm up.”
“Exactly!” He smiled. “And then I come back and get breakfast, and go to work. Only in the warm months though. During the winter, I draw at home by the fire.”
“Couldn’t be me,” she grinned. “Ice, snow, nothing’s gonna stop me from training.”
“That’s admirable.”
She smiled back, a proud, wide smile that showed all her pretty teeth.
Hiccup led her into the woods, and then off the beaten trail to a smaller, more inconspicuous path. She didn’t comment on the narrow route, but followed behind quietly, likely trying to memorize the trail.
Then they came to a small clearing. There was almost a perfect ring of trees around a patch of grass. Sunlight broke through the canopy in streaks of golden light. A rock sat at the far side, under the shade and flat at the top. Perfect for laying on, or leaning against.
“Ta-da,” Hiccup gestured with his free hand. “Will this work?”
Astrid didn’t respond with words. Like a lightning bolt, with imperceptible movements, she flung her axe from where it rested on her back, across the grass, and into a tree. It sank halfway down the blade and wobbled a little.
Hiccup yelped and flinched away from her with a flourish of limbs.
“Yeah, I think this is perfect.” She rested her hands on her waist with a satisfied smile.
“Um…a heads up in the future would be appreciated.”
She chuckled as she waltzed over to get her blade. “I’ll try to keep that in mind.” She took hold of the handle with one hand and yanked it out of the tree. “But I’ve gotten very used to the element of surprise.”
“Good to know…” he muttered, plopping down on the rock.
“You wanna try?” She held up the axe.
He blushed. “Ah, no no, sorry. Uh…no thanks.”
“No really, I want to see what I’m working with.”
He cringed. “I’ll either hurt myself or embarrass myself.”
“I won’t let you get hurt, and I’m not going to judge. I promise.”
He frowned hard, but figured arguing would get them nowhere. Begrudgingly, he left his sketchbook on the rock and went over to her. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”
“Let’s see some enthusiasm!”
He forced a smile, though it looked more like a cringe.
It made her laugh. “Alright, good enough.” She held the handle out towards him and he took hold with both hands. She let go before he was stable and the blade dropped into the dirt between her feet.
“Ah! Sorry!”
“That’s my bad. I should have made sure you had a hold of it.” She stepped around the axe and came to stand slightly behind him.
Hiccup exhaled loudly before lifting the axe from the ground with a grunt. He could lift it, but he had to use his elbow to hold up the head. “Are you sure I should be throwing this? It won’t end well.”
“Don’t worry.” She reached her arms around him to help him get the axe up. “Wait, are you left handed?”
He blushed. “…yeah,” he squeaked.
“Ah, okay. Makes sense then. I wondered why you were cradling it like that.” She came around to his other side and adjusted her stance to help.
Again, Astrid’s cool and calm demeanor threw him for a loop. Berk tended to be superstitious, and being left-handed was considered bad luck. His father and Gobber were the only ones that knew and had been working on keeping it that way.
Either Astrid’s home didn’t share that opinion or maybe she just wasn’t superstitious.
“Okay, so you’re going to do a two handed throw. What you’re going to want to do is get a nice firm grip with both hands, and then you’re going to lock your wrist. You’re throwing with your body, not your arms.”
She placed his hands on the handle, and then helped him bring it up over his head.
“Oh don’t let go!” He whined.
“I won’t. I won’t let you get hurt. Now, have you chopped wood before?”
“Of course.”
“That’s the motion you’re going to do with your hips. Instead of bringing the axe down, you’re going to swing it forward and let your hands go wide right at face level. That should give you a nice rotation or two. Ready?”
“Ehhhhh….”
“I’m going to let go on the count of three.”
Hiccup gripped the handle with all his strength.
“One…two…three!”
“Neeggh!” As soon as she let go, he flung his hips back and his arms forward, just as she instructed. However, the axe head just went straight into the dirt with a thump. “Aww…”
Astrid snorted once, but collected herself quickly. “That was good! You just held on too long. Let’s try one more time. This time, when you see the bottom of the handle, let go.”
“Oh, this is going to be a disaster…”
“No it’s not.” She yanked the axe from where it was buried and helped him heft it over his head again.
“You got this, Hiccup. I’m right here with you. Now, on the count of three. One…two…three!”
“Gah!” He flung his hands forward, giving it his all. He let go once it cleared his head and watched with awe as it rotated once and embedded into the ground.
It only travelled about a yard, but that was farther than he’d ever done.
“Hey! That wasn’t too bad!” He grinned.
“Sure wasn’t!” She patted his back. “Just some more practice and some strength training, and you’ll be a pro in no time!”
Hiccup shared a wide, proud smile with her. Many men and women on the island had taken it upon themselves to train Hiccup in fighting techniques. So many of them believed in instincts instead of step by step instruction. So many of them came at him with weapons and were disappointed when his instinct was to crouch into a ball and cover his head. Then there would be yelling and a barrage of insults before they gave up. Berkians weren’t the patient type.
“That’s all for now.” Astrid ruffled his hair. “I kind of twisted your arm to do that with me anyway.” She walked over and yanked her axe free. A strangled gasp burst from her throat.
“What?! What’s wrong!?” Hiccup hustled over.
Astrid held up her axe, which had a long crack going through the head up to the handle.
“Gah!” Hiccup tugged at his hair. “I knew this would happen! I shouldn’t have even touched it! Astrid, I’m so so sorry! I can fix it! I know I can! Just–just give me the chance! I know the forge has axes you can borrow in the meantime, just—!”
Just don’t hate me already.
She sighed, turning the axe side to side. “It must have hit a rock. Honestly, I’m surprised it hasn’t cracked already.” She took one of her arm wraps off and wrapped the axe head instead, criss-crossing the cloth to saddle the crack. “That’ll hold it for now. But I’ll take you up on the loan.”
“You’re…not mad at me? I broke your axe!”
“Hiccup, this was a freak accident. I was the one that had you throw it. If you had taken it from me and were goofing around with it, yeah, I’d be mad, but this was an act of Odin.” She ran her finger over the crack. “And this axe is super old. It was my uncle’s and he gave it to me when he got a new one. It’s not completely balanced either. Don’t beat yourself up about it.”
With a relieved sigh, he collapsed onto the rock. “Thank Thor…”
Astrid then threw the axe with one hand into a tree, where it stuck with lightning precision. She removed it and inspected the crack. “Yeah, this’ll hold for today. Is it okay if I stay for a little while?”
“O-oh! Yeah!” He was certain she would want to go back after her axe broke, but he supposed it was a testament to her dedication to training. “Yeah, I’ll uh, I’ll just be here.”
They fell into comfortable, companionable silence. The light scritching of the charcoal in Hiccup’s sketchbook was only interrupted by an occasional thwack from Astrid’s axe splitting the trunk of a tree.
It was nice. Peaceful. A moment where they were technically together, but there was no forced conversation or expectations.
Each of them were just themselves, and that’s all.
Astrid plopped down on the rock beside him, wiping her forehead with her wrist. “Whatcha drawing?”
Hiccup had been so engrossed in what he was doing, he hadn’t even noticed her moving to his side. “Oh! Uhh…nothing.” He hugged the book to his chest. He was a terrible liar, especially when caught off guard.
“Was it me?” She asked, a grin on her lips.
He sighed. “Yeah, kinda.” Begrudgingly, he revealed the page filled with lines and circles. “Just rough shapes.”
“Oh!” She pointed to one. “I see! That’s me throwing, and this one is the wind up.”
“Exactly.”
There was one in the middle of the page that had a little more detail as Hiccup had found a pose he liked and started to fill it in more. This figure even had a braid and a rough skirt shape.
“You drew my boobs too big.”
“What?!” He balked. “I didn’t—I just—It wasn’t on purpose!”
She just laughed, a joyful belly laugh that warmed his face. “I’m just messing with you, Hiccup.”
Still red, he said, “I’m not trying to study you…you just had an interesting pose and—“
She leaned against him, shutting him up. “You don’t need to explain. I’m flattered that you drew me. Can I look through your sketchbook?”
Hiccup wanted to protest, wanted to decline, wanted to throw the book into the woods where no one could find it, but she easily took it out of his stiff fingers and turned to the beginning.
“Oh uh uh—that’s not, it’s not—“
The beginning wasn’t the problem. In fact, the majority of the pages weren’t a problem, just a few scant pages in the middle.
His studies of Toothless.
“These are really good!” She praised, pointing at some sketches of his father. “It looks just like him!”
“Ah, thanks?” He squeaked.
“I always wished I could draw,” she said as she flipped through the pages. “I think I draw better than I cook. But if I can’t make it look like how it does in my head, I get really frustrated. You know?”
“Mmhmm.” He hummed, gnawing on his lip.
She reached the pages, and he held his breath.
Astrid turned the sketchbook around every which way, her brow scrunched. “What kind of dragon is this?”
“Uh…it’s a Nightfury,” He whispered.
“So you have seen one.”
“I shot him down.” Hiccup could not believe those words just came out of his mouth! Was he crazy? Something about Astrid just made him spill his guts, apparently.
She looked at him, surprised. “This is the dragon you shot down?”
He nodded, throat paralyzed.
“And you let it go?!”
Again, a nod. His eyes watered.
She looked back down at the sketchbook, tapping her chin in thought. Finally, she said, “I know no one believes you, and if anyone else found out you didn’t kill it they’d be mad but gods Hiccup, you might be the bravest Viking I’ve ever met.”
That was beyond baffling. “B-but I didn’t kill it!”
“Have you ever hunted before?”
He shook his head, no.
“I go hunting a lot. When you have a wild animal in a trap, it’s easy to kill. It can’t run. And most of all, it can’t hurt you. I trapped a bear one time that was still too young to take home, but still plenty big to maim and kill. I had to turn it loose. I had never been so afraid, Hiccup. I got right up to it and cut that net and had to hope it was afraid and would run away. It did…but that was just a juvenile bear. This was a dragon? A Nightfury nonetheless? No way. No way in helheim would I get anywhere close to that unless I had to. What did it do? Just run away?”
“Oh, no no,” he awkwardly chuckled. “Uh, he was not happy and he pinned me to a rock and could have definitely killed me…but he just roared in my face and then ran away.”
She tapped her chin again. “So it was smart enough to acknowledge that you could have killed it and didn’t…and then returned the favor.”
“Seems like it.”
“Fascinating!” She stared back at the sketchbook. “I guess if it’s gone unseen this whole time, it must be somewhat intelligent.”
“Yeah…” Hiccup felt his shoulders begin to relax. Having someone come from an island where killing dragons wasn’t everything was starting to be a breath of fresh air. Maybe there was a chance that he could actually tell her about Toothless!
“It’ll be quite the foe! The hunt could be fun!”
Or not…
She looked over the few pages of Toothless, not saying anything. Surely, she had questions though. Some of the drawings portrayed Toothless as cute and harmless, something a dragon-killer would never imagine.
“It kind of looks like a cat in this one,” she noted. “Not very ‘apex predator’ to me.”
“Yeah well…I had this daydream. Like, what if he was grateful I let him go, and then hung around and we became friends? Wouldn’t it be cool to have a-a-a pet dragon?”
Astrid looked at him then, her brows furrowed into harsh lines and gallons of pity pouring forth from her face.
Oh what a slip that was. Now Astrid thought he was so pathetically lonely and desperate for companionship, he was settling for the enemy.
But isn’t that exactly what he was doing? Toothless was the best friend he’d ever had, and they’d only known each other a few days.
Astrid closed the sketchbook and set it on the rock behind him. Then she let out a long suffering sigh. “Ugh, I’m not ready to go back to the village. I’m going to be busy with all this dress stuff and whatever other little wedding things my sisters will try to cram in. No thanks.”
“You’re uh…not so big on the wedding thing, huh?”
She rested a hand on his leg. “Listen, I’m cool with getting married. Especially to you.”
Oh, he’d ride that high for the next few weeks.
“I’m cool with having a ceremony and having a party afterwards. But I can’t stand these stupid little details that no one will care about and I’ll be second guessed over. I think I want to wear my hair down, because I always wear it in a braid. Sigurd will suggest putting it up halfway, and I’ll say sure, and then she’ll say ‘oh, but you don’t really have to’ and then I’ll say ‘okay, I’ll keep it down’ and then Ingrid will say, ‘oh but what about a little bit up like this?’ And it will be a conversation that lasts an hour, only to end up right back at the beginning.”
“That sounds exhausting.”
“It is. I love my sisters, but I hate that quality about them.”
“Sounds like they’re excited for you, though.” He pulled his leg up to lean on it. “That’s gotta be nice. If they were grieving, I think you’d miss the circular arguing.”
“You have a very good point. What about you? What do you have to do today?”
He shrugged. “Not sure. Maybe some fittings, but I have a nice set of ceremonial clothes I’ll probably wear. I’ll actually probably be working on memorizing all the stuff I have to say.” He hung his head. “Odin, I wish I had more time to practice.”
“Practice what? Most of the ceremony is call and response.”
“Most, but not all…and I need to practice walking down the aisle—”
“Walking?”
“I tend to trip when I’m nervous. And I need to practice not fidgeting when I’m standing up there, and—” His eyes went wide as he stood and started pacing. “Oh this is bad, this is very bad!”
“What?”
“I’m going to embarrass my dad in front of everyone! Worse, I’ll embarrass you! Would your dad cancel the contract if I mess this up? Is that a possibility?”
“Hiccup, what are you talking about? You literally just have to stand there!”
“Yeah sure! But then after, I have to stick the sword in the post, and let’s be honest, that’s not happening. And then I have to bless you with the hammer! What if I drop it on you!?”
“Then you drop it on me, and I’ll laugh and we’ll try again. As for the post, I have it covered.”
He blinked. “You do?”
“Yep! Last night, after we parted, I snuck into the Great Hall and figured out which post they’d be using and impaled it myself. All you have to do is find my niche and insert the sword.”
His jaw dropped. “You–? That’s crafty.”
She stood, tossing her braid over her shoulder with an exaggerated flourish. “What can I say, I’m a strategist.”
He smiled back, but continued to fidget restlessly.
“What else are you nervous about?” She tilted her head. “Let me help you out.”
“I…I don’t know. It’s dumb, and…I don’t want to hurt your feelings.” He twiddled his thumbs and avoided eye contact.
“Ah,” she nodded, stepping up in front of him. “The kiss, right?”
He felt his face warm as he nodded slightly.
“You don’t need to worry. It’s just a kiss. Have you ever kissed anyone before?”
He shook his head. “Have…have you?”
With a sigh, Astrid dropped back down to the rock. “Yeah, I have.”
He hadn’t really expected her to say that. He’d been under the impression she’d be molded to be a bride, and that anything like romance outside her intended was not an option.
But, she was human. She was capable of getting caught up in feelings.
He shuffled his feet. “Um…with who?”
She glanced at him.
“N-not that I’m judging! You’re allowed to kiss–er, I guess, you were allowed to kiss whoever you wanted to. I just—I didn’t—” He swallowed harshly. “I didn’t ruin anything for you, did I?”
He recalled something about a ‘Thuggory’ that Astrid and her sisters were talking about in the baths. But he wasn’t supposed to know about that.
Astrid leaned back on her arms, crossing her legs in front of her. “No, it wasn’t anything serious.” She shook her head, a frown pulling at her rose colored lips. “I had a crush on a boy named Thuggory. He was…probably my best friend. We hung out all the time and we trained together. I knew the time was coming when my marriage would be arranged. I wanted my first kiss to be with someone I had feelings with, and not a stranger. So I told him I liked him and what I wanted. He very generously gave me my first kiss.”
Though the event would have made anyone else giddy, a profound sadness wrapped itself around Astrid as she wiggled her foot.
“Th-that’s nice! I’m glad you got that special—”
“No, I should have waited.”
“Astrid, it doesn’t make you a bad person for wanting—”
“He broke my heart,” she said softly. “He kissed me, and I was so happy. I told him I wished I could marry him, and then…” she clenched her eyes shut. “He told me he was in love with Sigurd.”
“Your sister?”
She nodded. “He said—” her sentence was cut off with a grunt as she slammed her fist into the rock.
“You don’t have to elaborate.”
Through clenched teeth, she managed, “he said being with me would be like being with a man. He said my arms were repulsive and he wanted to go home to someone who could actually cook!”
“Oh Thor Astrid, he said that to you?”
She sneered. “We always made digs at each other. That’s been our friendship. I know he thought he was just ribbing me like always but…” she hugged herself. “It made me cry.”
“Astrid…” he knelt beside her, touching her hand softly. “I’m so sorry. This seems to still be a sore spot…how long ago did this happen?”
“I found out we were getting married the day after this happened.”
He sputtered. “The next day!? Oh Astrid, this is fresh!”
“Yeah.”
“O-oh no…this is bad. Really really bad!”
She rolled her eyes. “What now?”
“Isn’t there something called a rebound romance? Shouldn’t we wait until you…feel better?”
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
“But–!”
“Hiccup, if you were the spitting image of Thuggory, then maybe we could worry, but as it stands, you’re kind of the exact opposite.”
“Small and twiggy?”
“––And nice, and sweet, and humble, and gentle and capable of giving an actual compliment.”
He quirked his mouth to the side, still unsure.
“Look,” she wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Thuggory was a crush. I was never in a relationship with him. All that came of that was a very immediate cut of anything making me hesitate in fulfilling my destiny. If I hadn’t found out how he really felt about me, I might still be asking ‘what if?’ and hung up on possibilities. But I’m not. I’m marrying you, Hiccup.” She placed her hand over his heart. “And I’m going into this marriage with gusto and excitement.”
He rested his hand over hers. “I’m sorry he broke your heart.”
She hummed. “I think I always knew he didn’t like me romantically. He always treated me like one of the guys. It just…really hurt to know how ‘one of the guys’ I was to him.”
“I don’t think you’re manish,” Hiccup insisted. “I think you’re really pretty. Maybe even the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
She smiled slightly. Then she glanced back at his sketchbook. “Yeah, let's take another look at that drawing you did where you made my boobs bigger than my head.”
“It was a gesture drawing!”
Her laughter rang as the sweetest sound he’d ever heard. Peels of delighted and genuine laughter shook her frame, as one single tear ran down her cheek.
For a moment, Hiccup felt a lot of pride that he could make her feel better, even if just a little while.
As she caught her breath, she wiped her eye and turned to him with a smile. “Alright, back to business.”
“Business?”
“You’re worried about the kiss. So let’s kiss so you can see it’s no big deal.”
Hiccup scrambled away from her and stood, his face turning a bright red. “Right now!?”
Her smile faded. “Unless you don’t want to.”
“I do! I mean–that’s not–I was just—OH Thor I wish I could talk!” He shouted.
She steeled her face into a neutral expression. “I won’t speak. Just get it out.”
“O-okay,” he breathed, before starting to pace again. It was always easier to think while moving. “I’m not opposed to kissing you, let’s just get that straight first. It’s just—sudden. You can’t spring that sort of thing on me!”
Astrid leaned forward to rest her elbows on her knees. She had an amused grin on her face that he ignored.
“Yes, I’m nervous because I’ve never kissed anyone before and I’d rather not do it with everyone watching because then I definitely will mess up and like—kiss your chin or crack your nose with my giant forehead.” He took a deep breath, and continued. “But what I’m, like, really worried about is the how. You’re so much taller than me and I’ll probably have to go on tippy toes and you’ll have to bend down and while I don’t actually care as long as I do get to kiss you,” oops, maybe too honest, “I’m terrified about people laughing at us! You heard them laugh during the handsal! I don’t want that on your wedding day!”
“That’s very considerate of you, Hiccup.”
“And the teasing after! Ohhh I know it will happen, too! These muttonheads love to joke about these things for years! If I can find a way to avoid it…”
“Avoid kissing me?”
“What? No no! Gah! I knew I shouldn’t have said anything!” He flailed his arms.
Astrid stood once again, coming to stand in front of him. “Alright, so let’s see how bad this is.” She took his hands and rested them on her shoulders before resting hers on his waist. She definitely would have to duck down to kiss him. Not just a little either.
His lips wobbled.
She smirked and leaned down, bringing him closer with a tug on his belt.
Hiccup slammed his eyes shut and puckered his lips like a fish.
“No,” she giggled slightly. With gentle touches, she used her thumb to relax his face. “Just relax.”
“Not my strong suit,” he mumbled.
“Let’s see if we can fix that,” she murmured in a sultry tone.
That made his eyes fly open and a gasp spill from his lips. Astrid chose that moment to duck those last few inches and press her perfect, divine lips against his trembling, chapped ones.
Oh sweet Freya, Frigg, and all the others. This was the greatest feeling he’d ever experienced in his young life. It spread an astounding warmth through his veins and quickened his pulse.
In that moment, he knew a connection had formed. A silent promise. ‘I’m here with you, for you, however you want me’.
A few days ago, Toothless had pressed his nose to Hiccup’s palm. A very similar connection had formed then. A bond of unwavering trust, of brotherhood, of the strongest friendship.
For the second time in a week, Hiccup felt another soul brush against his own.
Astrid pulled away, the kiss only lasting a few seconds. Not nearly long enough, but Hiccup wasn’t able to articulate that, or anything.
He just stood there, eyes shut (when did that happen?) and mouth agape in shock.
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“Nuh uh,” he squeaked, fluttering his eyes open.
Astrid had this very fond smile on her lips, looking absolutely pleased.
He managed to blink a few more times, gathering his wits as he cooly responded, “I could get used to it.”
She snorted. “Smooth.” She removed her hands from his waist, opting instead to rest one on his shoulder, while the other played with his hair, pretending to fix it. “So, what’s the plan?”
“I thought you were the strategist?”
“I can be…but I saw your schematics in that sketchbook. And Gobber said you’re a thinker.”
“Damn Gobber.”
“So what do you want to do? Have a step stool on standby?”
He scoffed. “Oh no, that’ll make it worse!” He drummed his fingers on her shoulders, feeling the need to fidget, but not wanting to pull away from her just yet. “If I could dip you…”
She snorted again.
“I said if.”
“Sorry, that was rude. Why don’t you try?” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “I’ll try to keep my weight on my legs.”
“This will be a disaster…”
“Oh the grass looks soft! Don’t be such a nervous nelly! Do I have to kiss you again?”
“Yes.”
She fixed him with a glare, but her smile ruined the effect.
“Okay, I’m going to dip you. I’m just…going to hold you around the waist…” he wrapped his arms around her, and dug his fingers into her back. “And then, I just…” he swung her to the side, and took a step forward, bracing them with his leg.
To his credit, he didn’t drop her immediately. His arms shook, and he had the chance to stare down at her with wide, surprised eyes, before his grip gave way. However, Astrid’s did not, and so they fell together onto the ground.
Hiccup landed face first into her cleavage, making Astrid wheeze out a “oof!”
“See?” He spoke, muffled. “Disaster.” He pushed up on his arms and looked down at her. “Though, as far as my disasters go, that certainly could have been worse.”
Astrid had this wide grin on her face as she slightly bit her lip. A giggle escaped her.
Hiccup just returned the smile with an awkward one of his own.
This made her giggle more as her hands reached up and dug into his hair and around his neck.
Next thing he knew, she was pulling him into another kiss. This one just as brief as the last, but also just as sweet and wonderful. When she was done, she hugged his head to her chest as she continued to giggle.
“Astrid? You didn’t bump your head on the way down, did you?”
“You are too stinkin’ cute.”
“Is that supposed to flatter me?”
“When it's coming from your wife, yes.”
He didn’t fight her. He couldn’t quite wrap his head around the way she perceived him, just that it was slightly emasculating.
But he’d take it over revulsion.
He’d been close. Astrid hadn’t actually been that heavy, and with the way he’d used his leg and how she’d kept her weight on her back leg too, they could almost pull it off.
He just needed a little help. But how?
“You wanna just keep laying here, or are you going to let me get up?”
Hiccup was up like a shot, his mortification catapulting him off of her. “Sorry! Sorry!”
She just laughed. “I guess it’s my fault. I pulled you down.”
“I have an idea,” he proclaimed. “A way that we might be able to pull off that dip.”
“Yeah?”
“Yep! Wanna meet again tomorrow morning?”
“Sure,” she smiled. “We should probably get back anyway. My mom’s certainly looking for me already.”
“Yeah, don’t want to keep them waiting…” Still, he hesitated, scuffling his boot. “Hey uh…thanks. For understanding. And for kissing me. Twice.”
“Of course I understand, Hiccup.” She smiled. “And we can kiss whenever you want. Perks of being betrothed, and married.”
“Are you sure?”
She scoffed. “Hiccup, we’re going to be having sex in two days. I really don’t mind the warm up.”
“Uh…r-right. Makes sense.”
Oh Thor Oh Thor Oh Thor! Why was he so stupid?! Why was he so dumb!? Of course! The consummation! They were supposed to–! They couldn’t just wait! Oh no Oh no Oh nooooo!
How in Midgard was he supposed to explain that he didn’t know how sex worked!?
“Ready to go?”
He faked a casual smile despite the raging blush on his cheeks. “After you, My Lady.”
Astrid flashed a big grin, took his hand, and started back towards the village.
Hiccup wouldn’t admit that he was glad to get away from Astrid. She was really lovely, and pretty, and a great kisser!
But his heart was going to explode if he spent more time with her. He needed to calm down. He needed to decompress and let his anxieties flutter away.
Which is why he was heading back into the woods with a basket of fish. Toothless was just the friend he needed.
The Nightfury was sunning himself on the sandy shore of the cove’s pond.
“Hey bud!” Hiccup greeted, warmly.
Toothless perked up, and patted over eagerly for scratches.
“I know, you must be starving! For food and for attention!”
But Toothless didn’t pry into the basket yet, opting to get love from Hiccup first.
And Hiccup was eager to give it, frantically scratching over the scales on his side. “Who’s a good dragon? Who’s a powerhouse of destruction? Who can blow up a catapult with a single blast? It’s you!”
“Wurrrrp!”
“Yes! It’s you!” Hiccup chuckled.
Toothless nuzzled into his stomach, and then went for the basket of fish.
Hiccup took a massive sigh and felt his body relax. All the tension in his shoulders disappeared and he felt at peace. As Toothless settled in to eat brunch, Hiccup took up a seat at his side. “Wow, you’ll never believe what happened since I saw you yesterday.”
“Werr?”
“I met my bride, Astrid. Gods above, I’ve never met a girl so pretty and cool and smooth. I guess she has to be all those things, given that she’s built like a mountain.”
“Werr?”
“Yeah, she’s super tall and her arms are like—“ he held his hand out over his bicep to show how much bigger she was. “You know, there’s plenty of women in town that are big and muscly, which comes with the Viking lifestyle after all. I never thought I’d find it attractive but wow…she’s beautiful. This is the luckiest break I’ve ever had. I must have pleased one of the gods recently.” He glanced at Toothless. “Probably Thor or Hel, showing pity on me for taking care of you.”
“Merp!”
“Do you think that’s just a gimmicky thing? Like someone thought it sounded cool, so they slapped the label on you?”
“Rrreeeerrrr.”
“Yeah, I wondered about that. I definitely get the ‘death’ part, but the lightning? You’re no Skrill.”
“Rrggggrrrr.”
“I’m not saying you’re not impressive! No need to get all defensive.”
“Merr.”
“Anyway. I met Astrid. I think…she might actually like me! For now at least. It’s only been one day…”
Toothless rumbled, the vibrations further helping Hiccup relax.
“We kissed. Twice! How crazy is that? I never thought a girl would ever kiss me. I suppose in another lifetime when we weren’t getting married, she might not have.”
Hiccup spent about an hour in the Cove with Toothless, though he could have stayed there all day. He told him everything that had happened in the last day. And retelling it helped him center himself and see the situation in a new light.
Whether or not Astrid liked him for who he was, she liked that he wasn’t a dirty old man, and that he apparently didn’t mind that she was as buff as she was. Maybe he could continue to stay on her good side if he reiterated that he found her perfectly womanly.
Eventually, he had to return to the village. People would be keeping an eye out for him because of the wedding, and Gobber had probably set some work up for him.
Not to mention the idea he had to make dipping Astrid possible. The sooner he completed his daily duties, the sooner he could get to work on that!
“Morning lad,” Gobber greeted. “You’re here early.”
He yawned. “I was up at dawn. I showed Astrid to a place where she could practice her axe throwing in the woods.”
“Well isn’t that precious? You’re really taking this wedding seriously! Didn’t think you had it in you.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“I don’t have any work for you today. I’m getting materials made for your house. Nails, hinges, that sort of thing.”
“Oh, nice!”
“So you have plenty of time to work on the morning gift.”
Hiccup halted as he had taken three steps towards his workroom. “Pardon?”
“The morning gift? The ‘thank you for your virginity’ gift?”
“That’s a thing?!”
“Odin above, Hiccup! How did you not know?!”
“In case you missed it, I found out I was getting married a few days ago, and dad has been a little busy. I thought we already gave a gift?”
Gobber shook his head in exasperation. “Your father gave the Bride Price, compensation to Chief Axel for taking Astrid away from their tribe. During the wedding, Chief Axel will give you the dowry, which is to help you and Astrid start your married life. Then in the morning after, you will give Astrid the morning gift, something she can keep in case something happens to you.”
“Like what?”
“Anything, really. Jewelry, art, weaponry—“
“A weapon! Of course! That’s perfect, Gobber.”
“Glad to hear it, lad.”
Hiccup’s mind began working, a series of methods and designs flashing in his mind’s eye. “Oh! Can you do me a favor?”
Gobber didn’t respond with words, just looked at him with narrow eyes. Apparently, he didn’t want to commit to anything, but would hear him out.
“While you’re working on materials, could you make four iron rings, about two inches in diameter? 3/8ths gauge?”
“Aye. For what?”
“Wedding related.”
Gobber frowned further. “That’s too big for a finger…” his eyes widened slightly. “Hiccup!”
“What?”
“Surely you don’t need to introduce aids so early! And out of iron!?”
“What are you talking about? I’m making a harness to help me dip Astrid during the wedding.” He rubbed the back of his head as he blushed. “I just thought it would be less embarrassing than having her lean down.”
“A harness? Oh!” Gobber burst a laugh. “That makes a lot more sense! You had me there for a minute lad!”
“…what did you think I was talking about?”
“Nothing, nothing. Ahhh you’ll figure it out later and laugh. But aye, I’ll make your rings. Speaking of, you’ll need a pair of wedding bands too. Do you know how to make those?”
“Yes sir.”
“Alright, I’ll leave you to it then.”
Hiccup got to work in his back room, sketching out schematics and measuring leather. Only an hour later, he ran into his first hiccup (hehe).
“I’ll be back, Gobber, I need to get some measurements from Astrid.”
“Aye! Don’t forget to get her finger, too!”
“Yeah yeah…”
Hiccup made his way down to the bunker, greeting several passersby that seemed chipper to see him.
No doubt, they were thankful to him that there was going to be a party, one of a Viking’s favorite things.
At the bunker, he knocked on the women’s side and waited. Phlegma Hofferson answered, with a big smile. She greeted with a booming voice, “why Hiccup! Didn’t think we’d see you until later, what with all the wedding planning! Can I help you with something?”
He blushed, her voice no doubt calling attention to everyone in a 200 foot radius.
“Uh…is Astrid available for a minute? I’m um…making something for her, and I need to measure.”
“Of course! Come on in!” She held open the door and swept him inside.
It felt very strange to be on this side of the bunker. He’d been around a few times to drop off materials while they were building it, and he’d been shoved into the men’s side a few times during raids. But this was a first on this side.
Astrid sat in a chair by the fire pit, looking miserable as her sisters sat on either side. Ingrid was stitching white fabric, no doubt her wedding dress, while Sigurd was weaving a bridal crown.
“Look who popped in!” Phlegma called.
Hiccup watched with joy as Astrid raised her gaze to him, and her face lit up with happiness. “Hey!” She greeted.
“Hi!” He squeaked, still embarrassed. “Uh, I need some measurements for something.” He held out his tape.
“Oh!” Said Sigurd, setting the crown aside. “I’ll help!” She snatched the tape from his hands and fluttered her hands at Astrid, wordlessly asking her to stand. “What are we measuring?” She wiggled her eyebrows.
This would have been a lot easier one on one, he thought, but now he’d have to explain where he wanted her to wrap the tape.
Not to be deterred, Hiccup opened his sketchbook to the schematics. “The uh…around her ribcage, like…right under her uh…” He gestured with his fingers around his sternum.
Sigurd thankfully didn’t tease him, and dutifully measured.
He asked for a couple more measurements that crossed over her chest and back, marking them all down in his notebook.
“And lastly, I need to measure her ring finger.”
“Are you making our rings yourself?” Astrid asked.
He nodded.
“Wow, I didn’t know you knew how to do that too.”
“I often get stuck making things Gobber doesn’t want to. Rings are one of them.” He took out the strip of leather he brought just for the occasion and wrapped it around her finger himself. He marked the overlap, and then pocketed it. “I guess that’s all. Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome.” She smiled at him, raising an eyebrow. She looked like she was waiting for something.
“Oh!” And he puckered his lips and clenched his eyes shut.
Astrid giggled. “You’re going to need some more practice.” But she kissed him anyway, just a small peck on the lips.
The giggles and ‘aw’s from the other women were not lost on him.
“I’ll see you at dinner?”
“Sure, hope you have more fun than I’m having.”
“Doubt it!” He chuckled, before absolutely booking it out of the room. The Hofferson women were really nice and sweet, but he simply could not handle their teasing. All these emotions he was feeling, especially towards Astrid, were very new and very strange. Wonderful, exciting, but weird and kind of terrifying. Being teased about it didn’t help.
As he made his way back to the forge, he paid careful attention to the way his heart was pounding, the fluttering in his chest, the quickening of his pulse. These were the storybook signs of love, weren’t they? At least the beginning of it.
That didn’t take long at all!
But while he kind of enjoyed the warm fuzzy feelings buzzing through his tiny body, he feared what this would look like on the other side, when Astrid’s open reception turned to dutiful tolerance, and she only let him come as close as she had to. When he’d return home to her at night, only to receive a cold shoulder and a sneer.
How long would that take? What would be the tipping point? Because it was coming, sure as winter in a few months, so too was reality coming for Astrid.
She was marrying Hiccup. The village hazard.
He returned to work, now even more motivated to make everything perfect. He had to invest in the second chance.
Hours passed in that back room. Hiccup measured and cut and stitched his idea. The part that he would wear fit perfectly, and now all he had to do was make sure Astrid’s fit as well.
That could wait until morning. For now, it was onto the morning gift and the wedding bands. Odin he was in for a long night.
—
At dinner time, Hiccup forced himself to take a break. Astrid was expecting him, and a little food and fresh eyes would help his projects.
He entered the Great Hall, hearing laughter and merriment from all around. There was more wedding decor up. New, fresh garland and flowers. It was all coming together nicely.
Of course, this was the wedding of the Chief’s son, so it better be good!
Hiccup could see Astrid sitting with her sisters in the back corner, the same table they sat at the night before. Astrid had her head in her hand as she listened to Ingrid and Sigurd talking.
Anxious but eager, Hiccup made up a plate from the shared food in the center of the hall. Some bread, some fish, and a spoonful of mashed turnips and peas. Not his favorite, but he was kind of hungry for once. He also got a cup of ale to drink. He came back around the main table and started walking towards Astrid’s table.
He didn’t even notice he walked past Snotlout and the other teens.
A foot kicked out right in front of him, tripping him and catching his foot for a second so he couldn’t even catch himself. He sprawled across the floor, smearing peas and turnips and fish and ale all over himself and the floor.
He hadn’t even gotten to his feet before the hall was filled with echoing laughter.
Shame and humiliation filled him as he awkwardly picked his empty cup and plate off the floor, accompanied by the sadistic laughter of his peers.
“Look at the mess you’ve made!” His aunt Hulga Jorgenson yelled at him, getting in his face. “After all the work we did to clean this hall up for you! And you go and disrespect us like this!”
Hiccup flinched, recoiling in fear.
Hulga grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him to the side of the room while Snotlout outright cackled.
She took his dishes away and shoved a rag into his hands. “You better clean that up! And no dinner! We’re not wasting food on the likes of you!”
Heart in his throat, Hiccup went back to the mess and awkwardly swept up the smear of his meal into his hand, while Snotlout and the twins flicked more food at him.
Then things went silent, and he figured his father had entered.
Instead, a pair of studded boots appeared in front of him. “Hiccup?” Astrid asked, her voice full of pity.
He peered up at her, and paled at the blush on her cheeks.
She was embarrassed. He had embarrassed her! Of course he had! All of his actions reflected on her! Now she and her family had seen first hand how the rest of the village regarded him.
He scooped up what he could and darted away and outside, not able to say a word or anything.
He couldn’t bear to be there anymore, and was too afraid to listen to whatever it was she was going to say next.
Instead, he ran back to his house, changed out of his dirty clothes, and escaped out the back door to slip away into the woods. At least for a few hours, Hiccup would hide with Toothless. At least for a few hours, he could be something else. At least for a few hours, Hiccup could be safe.
When night fell, he’d return, and dutifully get back to work. By then, no one would remember, and no one would bother him. It was better that way.
—
The next morning, bright eyed and bushy tailed (sarcasm) Hiccup rose to meet with his bride.
“Hiccup!” Stoick called, stopping him in the square before he could move on.
“Hi dad…” Hiccup hunched his shoulders. He didn’t think he’d done anything wrong recently (unless Stoick found out about Toothless somehow), but he had learned to never assume anything. Maybe he’d heard about his spill in the Great Hall and would lecture him about that? He usually didn’t bother with the small things.
“Gobber tells me you didn’t know about the morning gift. I thought you knew?”
“Uh, no, I uh…I didn’t. But Gobber told me about it, and I made it last night, along with the wedding bands. So it’s all good!” He swallowed. “It's back at the forge. I was going to meet with Astrid, but if you want to see it…”
Stoick furrowed his eyebrows, seemingly contemplating. “I’ve got time. Show me.”
Hiccup nodded and dutifully led his father back to the forge. It had been a long time since Stoick asked to see his work. Especially as he had gotten ‘too creative’ in the past few years.
In fact, he’s pretty sure he could remember when his father last checked his work. It was the day that Gobber declared his training complete, and he could move onto the next step of his apprenticeship, which was more training, but mostly under the guise of being an assistant.
Hiccup had to make a weapon from scratch, with no help from Gobber. He decided to make a sword for his dad. He’d worked all day on it, and then revealed it to his father and Gobber for judging. Gobber had proudly claimed his training complete, while Stoick scrutinized it carefully.
“Sharp blade, well balanced, good weight…pleasant grip.”
Hiccup gnawed his lip in anticipation.
“Aye son, you’ve done well. Excellent work. Too small of course, but perfect besides!”
While he passed, the comment about the sword being too small crushed him. It had been extremely hard to make, and he was sore from all the heavy lifting. The fact that it was still too small? Then would he ever make something his father would be proud of?
That was two years ago, and Hiccup’s voice had changed in the meantime. It was hard to tell, but maybe he got a little bigger, a little hairier.
Stoick greeted Gobber warmly, before the smith was off gushing about Hiccup’s newest creation.
“You’ll be jealous, old man. Just wait until you see what the lad’s made!”
Stoick smiled. “I’m eager!” He clapped his hands together and rubbed them.
Terrified and nervous, Hiccup first brought out a satin cloth and handed it to Stoick. “S-so first, these are the wedding bands. M-mine is just electrum. For Astrid, I took the electrum and added iron to it…the iron makes it stronger, so it won’t get scratched when she um…punches something.”
Stoick uncovered the little cloth and held the rings in his hand. He held each one up in the light, pinching them between his fingers. In comparison with his fingers, the rings look like they were made for children.
“Excellent work,” he murmured, holding them up to the light and letting them glint. “What’s this design you’ve done here? A wee fish?”
“Ah yeah…” Hiccup rubbed the back of his head. It had been on a whim, when the rings were still molten, he’d taken his finest pin and etched a fish into the top of both of them for flare. The lines were so small, it was almost invisible for anyone to notice, but his father always had a very keen eye. “It’s uh…it’s a Haddock?”
Stoick’s eyes widened and then he burst out laughing. “Oh that’s cute, son. Real cute.”
Cute. That damn word again!
He supposed that seeing his dad laugh and smile was at least better than seeing a disappointed shake of the head.
Stoick carefully wrapped the rings back up and handed them back. “These are lovely, son. Anyone else in the village would be jealous to have them.”
That was more like it!
Feeling at least a little more confident, Hiccup went to the back room and brought out the morning gift. It was a new axe, to replace the one that he broke.
Sorry, the one that the ground broke.
Honestly, it was his best work. Even better than the catapult he used to…make Toothless’ acquaintance.
A mahogany handle, a grip made up of an iron sheathe wrapped in leather, and a wide, razor sharp blade that was etched with knotwork. It took Hiccup a great deal of effort to carry it out, as he had made it just slightly bigger than the one that was broken (which Astrid had conveniently left at the forge for repairs). There was also another reason it was heavier.
“Aye, now that’s an axe!” Stoick cheered boisterously. He easily took the weapon from Hiccup’s grasp. “Well balanced, pleasant grip…sturdy blade. Pretty too! She’ll be very pleased with this—oh!” He drew it closer. “Oh lad, there’s a split down the handle…and the blade! Now that’s just going to break after a few Nadder necks!”
Hiccup knew exactly what he was talking about. Right down the center of the weapon was a thin seam, but it was intentional.
“Normally, yes, it would break.” He held his hands out, asking for the weapon back. “But…you know me. Can’t leave well enough alone…”
Stoick frowned, but handed the weapon back over.
Hiccup staggered slightly as it was dropped in his arms, but he recovered enough to transfer the weight to one arm as he twisted the grip a few times. He flipped the axe over, and it came apart, one half swiveling down and clicking once fully extended. He twisted the grip again and locked it all into place. Now, the weapon had transformed into a two headed pole axe. “Ta-da?”
Hiccup glanced up to gauge his father’s reaction, no doubt about to be greeted with exasperation. ‘Why mess with tradition?’ ‘Can’t you leave well enough alone?’
But instead, Stoick’s jaw had dropped as he stared wide-eyed.
“Bad?....G-good?”
Stoick silently took the pole axe from him, while Gobber let out a whistle. He headed outside, and Hiccup followed quickly, terrified his father was about to throw it over the cliffs.
But instead, Stoick was testing it, spinning it around his arms and shoulders; he even figured out how to twist the grip in the middle of a swing. The axe folded as he tossed it from one hand to the other, and clicked back into being a war axe.
Stoick twisted the grip to lock it again and looked it over, appreciatively. “That’ll do.”
“So…good?” Hiccup squeaked.
Stoick ruffled his hair. “Extremely good, son. I expect one for myself for Snoggletog.”
Hiccup stood up straighter, a warmth growing in his chest. Was that pride?
“Oh boy,” Gobber lamented. “Once Stoick gets a new toy, everyone else is going to want one too. You got blueprints, boy?”
“Yes! Yes of course Gobber!”
“Now, I’ve kept you from your bride long enough. Why don’t you scoot?” Stoick patted his shoulder.
“Right! Well I—” he trailed off, suddenly remembering what he had wanted to talk to his dad about the next time he saw him. Even in front of Gobber, he needed guidance. “Um…first I wanted to…can I ask–?” He fiddled his fingers. “How do I—?”
Nope. He couldn’t do it. Too embarrassing. Too embarrassing to admit he lied before, and he still didn’t know at 16.
“Nevermind, it’s not important. I’ll see you later, dad. Thanks!”
—
Hiccup missed walking to the training area with Astrid. She didn’t wait for him, opting to head there by herself.
When he arrived, she was perched on the rock, sharpening an axe. A different axe. A weirdly familiar axe. “Morning,” she greeted, not looking up.
“Good morning!” He chirped. “Sorry, I was on my way to find you, and then dad wanted to see what I had made in the forge–”
“You don’t need to apologize. We never said where we were meeting.”
“O-oh, right. I just thought it was the gentlemanly thing to do…”
“Where did you go last night?”
“Huh?”
“After that Snotface kid tripped you, where did you go? You weren’t at your home or the forge. I looked for you.”
His face warmed considerably. “Y-you looked for me? Why?”
She frowned further. “You didn’t get any dinner. I saved you some.”
“O-oh Astrid…” he scuffed his boot on the grass. “You didn’t–you don’t–I don’t expect you to—”
“It was the nice thing to do, the right thing to do.” She jutted out her jaw. “I might not be able to cook, but I should still feed you.”
He rubbed the back of his head. “Um…s-sorry.” He really didn’t know what else to say.
“So where did you go?”
“I have a few dozen places around the island I go to get away,” he said vaguely. “I just…I knew I embarrassed you in front of your family and now they all know what a bozo I am and—”
“Stop.” She stood, leaving the axe behind. “Sigurd and Ingrid don’t think you’re a bozo. You didn’t embarrass me. Someone tripped you and you were humiliated. We all wanted to make sure you were okay.”
He was okay now. He hadn’t been, but then he play-wrestled with Toothless for a while and that made everything better. Talking about the incident made it all hurt again, and he didn’t want that. Didn’t want her to see that vulnerable side that was like a scab over a gangrenous wound. A little picking, and he’d fall apart.
“Where’d you get that axe?” He asked, desperate to change the subject.
She rolled her eyes at the obvious topic change, but indulged him. “Hmm? Oh that? I borrowed it from someone.”
“Who?”
“Well, you showed me around the village, and I remembered where the ‘Lout family lived.”
“Spitelout and Snotlout?”
“Yep. The boy that tripped you.”
Now all the pieces fit together and his eyes blew wide. “And he let you borrow their family’s ceremonial axe!?”
“It took a little persuading, but yes.”
“H-how?”
She punched her hand.
Hiccup’s jaw dropped.
“They’re letting me borrow it until I get a new one made, or the old one repaired. I always take good care of my weapons, so no worries.”
“I have some worries.”
She ruffled his hair. “I know, Anxious Andy.”
“Anx–!?”
Then Astrid draped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him to her side, hugging him gently. “Hey. I get it. I respect that you want to be able to escape and have time to yourself. But your dad made this contract so I would protect you. Just…let me know where I can find you in an emergency and I’ll leave you alone.”
That was sweet, and really wonderful to hear, but it wasn’t the issue. Because if he told her where Toothless was and she did seek him out for some reason…
“Thanks Astrid,” he breathed, before closing the distance and fully hugging her.
He probably should have been embarrassed that his face got smooshed against her boobs in the process, but it's not like he did it on purpose.
Wow she was soft!
Astrid squeezed him a bit and then pulled back. “So, did you figure out how to dip me?”
“Ehhhh I think so? I hope so…” he trailed off as he went to the bag he brought with him. From inside, he pulled out two harnesses. “Here, on Friggsday, this will go under your clothes.” It was a strap that went around her bust, and then two straps that crossed over her chest and back. At the center of each cross was a ring.
Astrid awkwardly put it on, and Hiccup watched calculatingly to make sure it fit like intended. Thankfully, it looked like it did. “Like this?”
“Perfect!” He unraveled his harness, which was a lot more complicated and had a section that went over his legs and arms. As he put it on, he explained. “So, I have a hook by my hand that will attach to the ring on your back. In theory, the harness will redistribute your weight across my back and legs instead of my weak little stick arms. I should be able to hold you up fine.”
“Oh! That makes sense! You should always lift with your legs.”
“That’s the idea at least.”
“Well, I’m ready and willing to try.”
“Great! Let me just—” he adjusted and fiddled with the straps, tightening the last two on his wrists. “Okay. So…”
Astrid walked towards him, hands folded in front of her as she took a little marching step, like she was walking down the aisle.
The sight made the sleeping butterflies in his tummy wake up.
Then she was in front of him, holding his hands like they would at the altar.
“You may now kiss the bride,” Astrid said, her voice deep with a mock accent.
Hiccup started giggling then, unexpecting that from her. “W-what was that?!”
“Your dad’s going to perform the ceremony, right?”
“That was supposed to be my dad?!”
“Oh, and how would you do his voice?”
Hiccup cleared his throat, and performed his greatest role as Stoick the Vast, “Vikings, Dragons, Yaks, and Chickens—”
Astrid snorted.
“We are gathered here today to wed my wee talking fishbone of a son and the finest flaxen, mountainous maiden in the archipelago!”
Encouraged by her wide, pretty smile, he continued. “Though wars may be started because I have removed the only being on this earth with bigger breasts than myself—”
“Hiccup!”
“And many a man would be jealous that my dragon-toothpick son gets to sleep beside Freya herself—”
She clicked her tongue.
“It is a burden I must bear, for the good of my tribe. And if any you lot have a problem with it, you can tell it to the underside of my boot!”
That made Astrid double over with laughter, clutching her stomach as she damn near screamed. Her laughter was so lovely. It made him smile too.
Once she caught her breath, she wiped a tear from her eye. “Whoo I was not expecting that.”
“I’m full of surprises.”
“Apparently!” She chuckled. “Okay okay, you do it then.”
“What? Oh!” He cleared his throat. “You may kiss the bride!”
Astrid waited a beat and smiled harder. “Yeah, and then kiss me.”
“Right! Duh! Hahah!” He laughed a bit hysterically.
“Breathe, Hiccup, it’s okay.” She pet his hair back. “It’s just me.”
“Yeah well, you’re a big deal.”
“If you’re uncomfortable kissing me in private, it’s going to be ten times worse in front of everyone.”
“Don’t remind me!”
“Okay, how about we work on the dipping part, and then we add the kiss in after.”
He nodded.
She draped her arms around his shoulders, standing almost chest to face chest with him. Hiccup raised his hands and reached up to catch the hook on the ring, which took a second.
“Might have to practice this part too.”
“Agreed.”
Once hooked, Hiccup took hold of her, and pivoted on his foot to dip her. Astrid slid her leg back to stay in place.
It worked! By the gods, it worked! Hiccup could feel the harness tugging across his back and legs, but his arms weren’t straining.
“Look at you!” Astrid beamed. “My big, strong husband!”
He pouted. “Are you patronizing me?”
She giggled, “sorry, that sounded like I was making fun of you…truth is, it's very fun to have a husband who figured out how to dip me. Most boys our age couldn’t.”
“Could Thuggory?” Well that was a dumb thing to say! Sure! Bring up her old flame! Make her compare you to the guy she actually liked!
“Mmm, maybe,” she answered honestly. “He was kind of built like Snotmouth—“
“Snotlout.”
“—but taller. Not as tall as me though. I think if I made it a challenge he’d try, but again, I don’t know if he could.” She rolled her eyes. “He wouldn’t have done it well, he’s not particularly romantic.”
It occurred to Hiccup that he was still holding her, still had her reclined in his arms. While the harness helped a lot, he was starting to feel it. “Let’s try again?”
“Until it’s smooth.”
He righted her and unhooked her, that action a little clumsy as well. Then he started again.
Over and over, he hooked, dipped, straightened, and unhooked, looking for the sweet spots to make all the actions seamless.
Eventually, he needed a break. He stretched his arms. “I think we’re close! Won’t everyone be surprised?”
“Only if you nail the kiss too.”
“I’ll do a great job with the kiss! I’ll kiss the Valhalla outta you!” He proclaimed with a blush.
“Yeah? You’re not just going to clench up like a fish?” She mimicked the face he made the day before when he came to the bunker.
“No! That was a one time fluke!”
“Good, because I’m expecting something like this.” She swung her leg around, hooking his knee and pulling him off balance. Then she dipped him, making sure to place her hands in the same places he had.
Hiccup was embarrassed for a moment, surprised and unprepared, but she gave him this smug smile and he decided he didn’t mind. Not at all, actually.
Astrid leaned in and kissed him, making sure to initiate before he could pucker up tight. She caught his bottom lip between hers and nipped at him.
He whimpered, overwhelmed by the sensations he felt. This was the longest kiss they’d had, and he wondered if it would ever end.
Not that he wanted it to!
She pulled away briefly to glare at him. “You aren’t kissing me back.”
“S-sorry…starstruck.”
She laughed. Not at him, probably, but a warm, delighted giggle. “Because of me?”
“Yuh,” he nodded.
She stood him up, carefully straightening his clothes. “Now it’s your turn. Dip me again, and kiss me. Kiss me like…like you thought I was dead but we’ve reunited somehow.”
He sputtered. “That’s a bit intense, don’t you think?”
“Intense! That’s the word I was looking for. Don’t be shy!”
“Ha…don’t be shy. Right…” He adjusted his stance, said the line, and methodically hooked her into the harness and dipped her. He clenched his eyes shut, leaned in…
And awkwardly smashed their mouths together. He recovered it a bit at the end, but when he pulled back and stood her up, he couldn’t maintain eye contact.
“I think there’s something wrong with me.” He mumbled.
“There’s nothing wrong with you, Hiccup.” She took his hand. “You just have no experience, and I’m still pretty much a stranger to you.”
“Hopefully not for long,” he looked up to her. “I like you. I don’t think I’ll mind getting to know you.”
“The feeling is very mutual.”
—
Hiccup returned to the village with Astrid, hand in hand. He was exhausted, having stayed up all night working on the items for the wedding. Hopefully, his father wasn’t home and he could just take a nice long nap.
He bid Astrid adieu and made his way up the hill towards his house.
Before he could enter, the back of his vest was snagged and yanked, throwing him off balance.
He fell flat on his back in the grass, and looked up in horror at a very pissed off Snotlout, who was sporting a beautiful black eye.
He stepped on his chest and leaned down to glare at him. “Get that bitch of yours under control.”
Then he got off of Hiccup’s chest and strolled off, thankfully not causing any more pain.
Hiccup laid there for a moment, rightfully winded. But almost giddy? Had Astrid given him that black eye? Because of what happened yesterday?
She was supposed to protect him, yes, but he didn’t know it extended to family, or this soon!
What a great perk!
Eventually, Hiccup picked himself up and dusted himself off. His bed was calling, after all. But the thought tickled in the back of his head. Snotlout’s black eye, Astrid’s borrowed axe…
Mostly out of curiosity, and apparently no self-preservation, Hiccup went down to the Jorgenson family home. If there was a way to keep this from coming back to bite him in the butt, he might as well try. But of course, there was the chance he made it all worse. He hemmed and hawed all the way there, and only came to a resolute decision once he stood in front of the door.
He knocked, and held his breath.
Spitelout answered the door, looking all crusty and bastardly. He scowled.
“What you want, boy-o?”
Hiccup wrung his hands, ticking Spitelout off more, apparently.
“J-just wanted to pop over and say uh…thank you for loaning my betrothed that axe. She’s very eager to keep up with her training.”
Then he tensed, waiting to see if he had opened a barrel of worms.
To his utter shock and awe, Spitelout wrapped an arm around his shoulders and squeezed. “Oh don’t mention it, lad! Quite the fierce warrior she is! And a negotiator! We’re lucky to have her! The bonnie lass came over this morning and knocked and told me what me boy did to you. Then she explained her axe broke and she’d forget all of it if I loaned her an axe and she was allowed a swing at me boy!”
“And you just agreed?”
“Naturally! Hiccup lad, she threw me across the room! You think I’m going to argue with that? No! So I gave her the bridal axe, fitting as it is!”
Hiccup was absolutely dumbfounded. The natural laws of Vikinghood made sense only sometimes. Mainly, if you pick a fight with someone and it’s a draw or you lose, you get in trouble. But if you win, you get respect.
Such as it was, Hiccup picked no fights.
“Well uh, glad that worked out then. Thanks again!”
Spitelout squeezed him once more and then released him. “No trouble at all! Hey, Astrid might finally make you worth something!” He cackled. “Tell your old man there better be some of that spiced wine at the ceremony, or I’m not coming.”
“Yeah, I’ll uh…I’ll pass that along.
Hiccup left then, without a farewell. He stewed on Spitelout’s words, ruminating on them.
Astrid might finally make you worth something.
What did he mean by that? That Astrid might have the ability to train with him and make him a proper Viking? Or that her presence on the island, because of him, would give him value?
Training with Astrid could be lucrative. She had much more patience than the rest of the tribe.
But what if he never gained any more height? Or muscles? Astrid could train him all she wanted, but as long as he stayed a Hiccup, it wouldn’t do much.
He finished the trek to his house, and was surprised to see his dad home. He was at the table, looking over some papers.
He glanced up when the door opened. “Oh, morning son.”
“I didn’t think you’d be home still…”
“Didn’t think so either, but a courier came with some wedding RSVPs. I have to figure out if we have enough room in the bunkers.”
“Anyone interesting coming?” Hiccup shuffled forward. He wasn’t sure which was better, strangers to him, or people his dad wanted to impress.
“Hamish and his three sons from Blood Briar, a representative of the Gauls who’s apparently married into the Hofferson clan.”
“Astrid’s older sister.”
“Ah. That makes sense then. We’re not allied with the Gaul’s anymore, not after…well, relationships sour when they can’t be reciprocated.”
“…because of the dragons?” Hiccup squeaked.
“Aye. We’re always in need of aid, and rarely can give any back. But, if a Gaul is coming—more over, in the family…”
Hiccup sighed. Stoick was looking at the positives of the marriage again, not that he could blame him. But the political advantages seemed to keep rolling in!
Again, Hiccup was divided. On one hand, knowing that the village would get help from the outside because of him was great. But on the other hand…he wished it was because of his actions. He wished he could have done something to help instead of just being born as the son of a chief.
“Oh!” Stoick called as Hiccup started to slink up the stairs. “Oswald’s coming.”
Hiccup paused, a cold chill going down his back. “Oswald the Agreeable? Of the Berserkers?”
“That’s the one!”
“Just Oswald?”
“Let’s see…” he dug through the papers. “‘Dear Stoick the Vast, it is with great joy to hear about the upcoming union of your son Hiccup and Astrid Hofferson of the Shivering Shores. I and my son, Dagur, will be there with bells on our toes. Dagur is especially excited and expresses a great pride for ‘his little buddy’. We will see you soon.’ So Oswald and Dagur, it seems.”
“Oh gods. Dad, Dagur is not my friend and if anything goes wrong with the ceremony, I want you to know I’m doing everything in my power to make sure it’s perfect but Snotlout could try to ruin it, and I have a feeling Dagur definitely will try—!”
As he was panicking, Stoick stood and came over to him, resting two heavy hands on his shoulders. The contact made Hiccup clam up tight.
“We all have people in our lives that want to see us fail. I know Snotlout’s behavior, and I can guess Dagur’s. Don’t do anything drastic. Don’t try to make any big statements. Just follow the script, say I Do and kiss your bride. Everything else that happens is inconsequential.”
“Promise?”
Stoick frowned. “Well…it won’t be your fault, so don’t worry.”
“I think you underestimate my ability to worry about everything.”
Stoick rubbed his head. “Your mother was a worrywort too. It might be uncomfortable, but her thoughtfulness kept me from forgetting a great deal of things. It can be a good quality if you know how to harness it.”
Hiccup smiled slightly, straightening his hair. That was the first time in a long time that his father had a conversation about a good quality instead of lecturing him about the things out of his control.
“Thanks dad.” He yawned. “Sorry, I stayed up late working on Astrid’s gifts. I was hoping to get a nap in.”
“That’s fine, lad. You did a fine job with those gifts. Tomorrow night is the rehearsal, and during the day, you’ll be expected to greet our guests. Until then…just stay out of trouble?”
“Yes sir.”
“Good talk.”
Hiccup hmphed, escaping up the stairs.
He made a startling discovery as he entered his room. The little twin-sized bed he’d slept in his entire life was gone. Instead, a large king size bed was in its place. It took up most of the space in the room.
“Hey uh, dad? Why—where—bed?”
“I knew I was forgetting something!” He called. The stairs creaked as Stoick came to stand behind him. “It looks like there was a delay in building your new house. So you and Astrid will stay here for the first week of your marriage.”
“Oh! I suppose that works…what about you? Are you going to be downstairs still?”
He laughed. “You couldn’t pay me to sleep in the same house as newlyweds! No lad, Gobber and I will be camping in the woods, like old times.”
“Are you sure?”
“Sure I’m sure! I was just going to stay at Gobber’s house, then we got talking about it and decided to make it into a camping trip. I’ll be on vacation, you’ll be on your honeymoon, Spitelout will keep the village going. As long as there’s no dragon raids,” he knocked on the wall. “We’ll be fine.”
“If you say so…” Hiccup swallowed thickly as he stared at the big bed in front of him. The big bed he’d share with Astrid.
The big bed he was supposed to—
“Hey dad?” Hiccup squeaked. But it was too late. During his daydreaming, Stoick had already slipped away and back to work outside.
Hiccup sighed. Maybe he should just focus on the wedding, and then at the consummation he could just…faint.
