úlfheðnar, httyd

vii. Forbidden Friendship

𖣯 ✹ 🌷(úlfheðnar) ꏍ ！┈─❟
╰───►chapter seven; hiccup
❝ forbidden friendship! ❞

    DON'T ask Hiccup how he felt about what Astrid had said to him because he doesn't know what to tell you. He was a chaotic mix of feelings. Right now, he was shifting between━wow, she actually talked to me and gods, what she said really hurt my feelings. But he did go over them; again and again━figure out which side you're on━as if there were sides. (Were there? Was it dragon against Viking? Killed or be killed?). Hiccup has recently been questioning all of that since the most dangerous dragon of all decided to leave him and Yrsa alive. A dragon where the only words spoke on its page in the Dragon Manual was: hide and pray it does not find you.

    So, the answer was: Hiccup didn't know how he felt, because he didn't really know what it all meant. For his entire life, he had been told dragons were blood-thirsty beasts that wouldn't waste a second before burning him alive. He had been scared of them, and his father always promised a world without war. Hiccup had been so sure he had wanted to kill them. But what if everything they knew was wrong? What if Bork the Bold got it all wrong? And if he did, what then? What did that mean?

    He wondered whether this trip was sure to answer those questions. With a salmon in his hand and a shield in his other, he made his way back through the woods of Raven Point towards the cove he had found. Sure, Hiccup had always been different; simoultaneously being shadowed in his family, and yet also standing out like a sore thumb. But he never thought he'd be this different to let one dragon chance his entire mindset about all of them.

    He trudged through the dense forest, so lost in his thoughts he almost didn't see her.

    But in the green of the forest, Yrsa Olofsdotter was easily sighted.

    He could see her dark hair from miles away if he wanted to.

    He had made it back to where they had originally found the dragon and saw her crouched by the claws and scuff marks. Sudden fear hit him━what if she was back to kill it? What was Hiccup supposed to do? He couldn't let that happen. But some part of him knew otherwise. She was without her axe, which was strange. Usually it was always strapped behind her back or in her hand, but this afternoon, it wasn't.

    Hiccup found the courage to say something, "Yrsa?"

    She jumped and looked up. Seeing him, she froze. Her gaze flickered to the fish and shield he held and arched a brow. Here it comes ... he thought to himself. The entire village is going to know my secret and I'll be banished. They'll probably celebrate.

    But he forced himself to swallow those thoughts down and ask, "What━what are you doing here?"

    Yrsa frowned back at him, immediately putting up a defence. She perked her nose up snobbily. "What are you doing here?"

    "I━uh━I━" Hiccup winced at how he flustered up, finding it hard to come up with an explanation on his toes. Especially with the way she watched him, like her eyes could sear right into his head and pick out what he was thinking. It was really intimidating. "Nothing ... just ... out for an afternoon stroll ... basking in the sunlight."

    She didn't believe him. "With a shield and a fish?"

    Hiccup chuckled nervously, holding up the fish. "Heh━can get hungry, you know? That's me! Hungry!"

    He winced again.

    Yrsa pursed her lips. For a second, the snobbish look on her face disappeared. She couldn't meet his eyes. Hiccup's own widened, surprised to see━was that a blush on Yrsa Olofdotter's cheeks? "I came searching for the Night Fury," she mumbled, suddenly very unsure of herself. "Not to kill it ... just ... I don't know. I guess I want answers."