Boy from Berk

4 • Astrid Punches Me (Big Surprise!)

I walked outside to see the sun was right above me. I was about to turn and head into the forest when I heard my name.

"Hiccup!" Astrid called. I sighed in exasperation but walked over to her with a smile.

"Hey, Astrid." I waved a little. She didn't reply, she just... stared.

I didn't have my mask on anymore so this was the first time she saw my face.

"Oh" She must've realized she had been staring cause she apologized and looked at the ground instead.

"Is everything alright?" She managed to say after a minute.

"What do you mean?" I asked, sitting down in the grass. She sat down next to me, and we stared at the ocean.

"I heard some vikings talking about fighting a, and I quote, 'strange skinny dragon-man.'" She said before punching me lightly.

"Ow!" I laughed.

"Strange skinny dragon-man." I repeated, looking at Astrid.

She held her hands up. "Their words, not mine."

We both laughed. She looked at me again and asked, "What made you decide to take your mask off?"

We both looked at my flight mask, which was sitting in the grass next to us.

"That Stoick guy." I replied. "He never actually told me too, but sometimes you can just tell." I ran my hand through my hair even though the wind was blowing it around.

"Oh." She said. "He can be pretty stubborn." She looked up at the sky and paused. "We all can, actually." She smiled.

"I learned that the hard way." I laughed and she looked at me, smiling.

"Especially when it comes to fighting dragons." She added.

My heart skipped a beat.

Dragons.

Toothless.

Astrid was still talking but I wasn't listening.

"Hiccup?" She put her hand on my shoulder. "Is everything alright?"

"Uhhhh...." I didn't know what to tell her. She frowned and punched my shoulder lightly.

How could I have forgotten?

"Hiccup, I'm serious." Astrid said. I grabbed my mask and stood up. She followed.

Astrid brushed the dirt off her clothes, but I didn't mind.

"I have to go. Thanks for the talk!" I shouted as I ran off into the woods.

I hadn't expected her to follow me.

***

I carefully made my way through the forest, looking for my dragon. He could be anywhere!

I made a clicking noise with my tongue and stopped to listen. No reply.

I kept searching, stepping over logs and jumping over a creek.

I continued making the sound, not getting a reply.

Ugh, you should've left to find him earlier.

I continued to scold myself in my head while keeping my eyes peeled for a Night Fury.

Then, I heard footsteps behind me. They weren't heavy enough to be a dragon, so I knew it was a person was following me.

I pretended not to hear, so I could catch them by surprise.

I looked around for about a minute more, then whipped around to see... Astrid?!

"Uhhh... Hi." She smiled and waved.

I frowned. "Why are you following me?" I asked. It had gotten pretty dark outside, I had assumed she went home.

I walked over to her and helped her over a fallen tree.

"Because you're a weirdo!" She said, punching me yet again. "I don't leave weirdos to walk around my island, in the dark, with no supervision."

I rolled my eyes and continued through the forest.

"What was all that clicking about?" She asked a moment later.

"I'll explain later." I replied. "Maybe."

We found an entrance to a cove hidden in the forest. It was a very steep drop, with no way of telling where you were going.

"You're not seriously thinking of going down there, are you?" Astrid asked, leaning forward to look down the cracked rock.

"You're not seriously thinking of stopping me, are you?" I replied mockingly with a smile.

"Oh hoho," she laughed, "you think you're so smug." She said before realizing I had already jumped down.

I landed on my feet— Well, foot— And slid downhill. After a second I heard my name.

"Hiccup? Are you still down there?" Astrid called.

I smiled. "Yep, no where else for me to go."

I walked back over to the entrance. "Coming?" I called.

No reply.

"Jump and I'll catch you." I shouted.

I heard a scoff followed by, "No way on Odin's green earth am I going to jump down a dark hole and trust you to catch me!"

I laughed and shook my head.

Then I looked up to see she had started to try climbing down instead.

Wait for it... I thought.

I heard a shriek and I stepped up to catch Astrid, holding her princess-style.

I smiled and she punched my chest.

"Ow!" I yelped. "What's that for?!" I started to carry her down to more stable ground.

"Put me down!" She yelled, hitting me.

I sighed before dropping her and she landed on her behind with a yelp.

"Why'd you do that?!" She said angrily, getting up.

"You told me to put you down!" I said, trying to contain my laugh.

She lifted her fist to punch me again when I heard a low growl.

"Astrid, wait." I said quietly.

"You really think-" She started to talk but I shushed her quickly.

"Don't move." I whispered.

Then I heard the growl again, and it was obvious she did too.

We were trapped with a dragon.

Guess who! 😂
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