Run and Hide

Chapter 23: Defenceless

Chapter 23: Defenceless

Astrid

It's true. I want it to be him. I want it so badly to be him but I guess it's like the others say...there is just no way that it could be him. So why does my gut tell me differently? Why is it I am so convinced that the boy in front of me is the boy that I lost all those years ago? I know I must accept the truth, but how can I deny what's right in front of me. All the pieces which blended together so nicely it just made sense to me that it could be him. I know people believe the evidence which gets put in front of them, I just can't do that I always have a feeling that there is more to the puzzle and it needs to be solved. Every day, whenever I would look at him I could see the sorrow deep within his eyes but the shadows always tried blocking them away only to be replaced by the light. I loved looking at that part of him but it just hurt me as much as it hurt him through the amount of pain he has gone through just to get this happy moment in his life. He's brave and strong totally contrasts to his figure. Sure he scars and bruises covering his whole body but he doesn't let this take over, instead he owns them and uses that to make him stronger to make him who he is. Yes, he isn't in a great build, sure he shows no muscle, sure he shows no weight but who cares he doesn't let that define who he is. And that's what I love about him, just through everything he's gone through he still stays optimistic through everything that he does which is what most people should be like.

Lately, he spends most of his time with Toothless who isn't that bad for a Night Fury. You would think that the holy offspring of lightening and death itself would be terrifying but, Toothless he's more cute and innocent and has a very playful side to him. He made friends with the other dragons easily and they all bonded nicely with each other. Other times Hiccup spends his time with Fishlegs and they discuss most interesting facts about dragons which the others gag out most of the time. I've noticed that he stays away from the training arena at the bottom centre of the Edge but from time to time when I'm training in there, I swear I could see his shadow lurking from somewhere in the distance, but he never comes in to train with me. In some way, I feel that he may be afraid to defend himself, or maybe it isn't that. Maybe it floods in bad memories of the past and he can't stand to think about it. This crushes me harder because I know that deep down through the tough core he tries to be strong, behind the facade he still cares and everything that was done still hurts him and he can't be strong always. Thinking about it, I believe this would be a great way to help him. If he took it a step at a time he would be able to break down the wall he has built and come free into the light and be stronger and confident than he is already trying to be.

I tracked my way round the Edge trying to find him. I thought that I might as well help him now better than ever, besides it will also let me spend some time with him it will get him away from books for the meantime. That was my best hint so far; I made my way over to Fishlegs hut to see if they were there. As I made my way over I couldn't hear any voices coming from inside and my answer was made clear once I noticed that no one was inside. Next I checked the clubhouse, but he was no one where to be seen there either, so I wandered down to his hut to see if he was in there, but nothing as well. Where could this boy be? As I kept trekking around the Edge trying to find him, the closer I started to reach the bottom of the Edge I began to hear these small footsteps down in the arena followed by the sounds of a whisper as metal would clash against the ground and against each other. But the sudden amount of clashing of metal hitting each other almost created an echo throughout the Edge and it got my feet running in its direction. I ran straight into the arena to see all the weapons laid across the floor in multiple patterns, crowded on top of each other just you imagine. As my eyes wandered from one weapon to another they finally looked up to see Hiccup standing there with Toothless at his side with them both looking rigid and trying to act innocent.

"He did it," Hiccup pointed directly at Toothless without breaking eye contact with me; all you could hear after was a slight growl come from Toothless as if he were saying "Excuse me". I couldn't help but laugh at the both of them; I went down and started picking up the weapons one by one "It's okay, you didn't cause any harm. Besides they're just weapons so I think your safe," he shared a smile with me as our eyes made contact with each other once my head looked away from the weaponry and onto him. I collected at least three weapons in arms just as he knelt down to help me pick them all up. As we both started to rise I suddenly felt a pang of pain in my head followed by my body falling backwards onto the ground with the weapons escaping my grasp. I looked up to see Hiccup in the same position which obviously indicated that we bumped heads with each other. With our eyes clashing with each other I felt them lock and create a smile which felt unbreakable. My mouth let out a little laugh as I picked up the blades once again and neatly put them back into place just as he did the same.

"So what were you both doing in here anyway?" I asked as I peeked my head round over my shoulder to look over at him. He shrugged his shoulders at me looking for an answer which would make a perfect excuse for the real answer he was trying to hide from me. With the indication of his feet scraping the ground lightly back and forth, and his eyes glancing towards me ever so slightly every now and again I knew that he didn't want to tell me the truth. "Hiccup, you can tell me the truth. You don't have to hide your reason from me." He stopped every gesture that he was pulling and stood there to be face to face with me after I turned my body round to look at him directly. "It sounds stupid." I scoffed at his reply once words finally escaped his lips; I stood up straighter and crossed my arms at him and stared at him seriously waiting still. "Okay fine, I find it interesting how you all know how to defend yourself and well...it got me thinking. If Viggo and Ryker ever attack again, I don't want to be defenceless and look completely week and useless."

I shook my head as my feet took the courage and walked over to him. Though as I did this, it crossed my mind to how I wanted to teach him how to defend himself without even asking him and it just showed that he had the same agenda on his mind just as I did. I placed my hands on his shoulders as I eventually stood in front of him letting our eyes lock with each other once again. The piercing emerald clashed brightly with the sapphire I was mesmerised when I stared at him. "Listen to me Hiccup; you aren't useless and not at all defenceless. You have Toothless, and I'm pretty sure he won't and doesn't want anything to happen to you." Again he just shook his head at me "That's not the point Astrid." He walked away from me and started to pick up the other pieces of weaponry in the area and carried on "What if Toothless can't always help me? What if there are things that I have to do myself and I can't defend myself?"

Without a single hesitation I picked up one of the swords that lay on the ground next to my feet. "That's why I'm gonna teach you myself." He stopped what he was doing and looked at me with the sword in my hand. He scanned my positioning carefully before letting more words escape his mouth "You're gonna teach me?" I nodded at his question and led my eyes back to the sword which he just put back into place; he followed my lead effectively and held the sword in his hands "Alright then, shall we get started?"

Hey! I know I haven't updated this story in a while. I've been completely busy lately with deadlines which needed to be completed and then performances for an entire week including rehearsals. Though, I've also been updating my latest story The Dark which I'd love if you guys considered reading. It's a story I've made up by myself with my own characters so it't not fan-fiction so please give it a go :) I'm going to try and be active more on this story from now on and thank you for being patient with me.