Astrid was sitting in the great hall picking at her food while the other teens sat at the same table chatting (mainly Snotlout and the twins as Fishlegs had his face buried in a book). She typically didn't listen to them but for some reason, her ears pricked up at one name.
"...Hiccup..."
"What?" She asked. She was best friends with Hiccup in younger years, but they drifted apart when her father forbade her to see him as he was a runt and a "bad influence" apparently. Though ever since they were fifteen in dragon training, he was... gone.
Another victim of the accursed dragons.
"I'm just saying that even if a dragon didn't take hiccup, Stoick would've realized how useless his son was and made me the heir sooner or later." Astrid tightened her grip on her axe as she glared daggers at a clueless Snotlout.
"What?" She asked, more threateningly. Without picking up on her tone, Snotlout continued gloating.
"I mean, I've faced plenty of dragons in raids since then and there's not a scratch on me!" He answered, puffing out his chest arrogantly. Astrid's knuckles whitened.
"Say's the guy that was screaming I'm dying over a bruise he got, that I'm fairly sure was caused by a dragon." Ruffnut snickered.
"That's not a scratch! That doesn't count!" Snotlout defended.
"I'm dying! I'm dying! I need Gothi! Tell Astrid I love her!" Tuffnut mimicked the girlishly distressed screams the beefy boy had made on the night, while Snotlout pouted.
"Come on! At least I still did better than Useless Hiccup who got himself killed." He muttered immaturely.
Astrid snapped.
For four seconds, all she saw was red. In that time; she had lunged over the table; Viciously punched Snotlout in the nose (probably breaking it); Tackled him to the ground; Effectively pinned him to the floor; Holding her axe to his throat.
Astrid looked Snotlout dead in the eye as he hardly dared breathe. A void of silence filled the crowded hall. No one dared move, all eyes were on them.
"Never. Say. That. Again."
Astrid's snarling voice was crisp and quiet, the fires flickering orange-red light over her angered features.
Needless to say: Snotlout - everyone - was petrified.
Without another word, Astrid stood up and left. Every Viking staring after her in starstruck awe.
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Not long after, she found herself sitting against a rock near a cliff staring at the sunset. She was struggling to contemplate her feelings.
"Y-you really loved Hiccup, didn't you?" She twisted around to find Fishlegs, hesitant and fearful as if she was an enraged dragon. She opened her mouth to deny it but, she didn't know how to respond. She just turned back and continued watching the sunset, gesturing for him to sit down. Fishlegs sat cross-legged a respectable distance from her and watched the sunset with her. "The villagers all seem to think you hate people speaking ill of the dead."
"They're not wrong," she replied dismissively.
"I know, but... it's more than that isn't it?"
"Why are you asking me this?"
"Well, Hiccup was my friend too, we always compared notes on plants and dragons we saw. I may not have been a great friend to him when we were older but... it seems the rest of the village besides Chief and Gobber have moved on... I guess, why I asked is because... Well, he once told me he had a crush on you, too." He rambled sadly. Astrid gave him a pitying look and nodded.
"I guess I kinda had a crush on him before he... I didn't realize how much I'd miss him until he was gone." She answered, rubbing her eyes one at a time to fight off tears, she could pass it off as dust or dirt from the hall's floor that had gotten in her eye if anyone asked. Then she glared at Fishlegs who started cowering from her. "If anyone hears about this then I will find you!"
"NO! No, I won't say a word. It's all under lock and key. I won't tell!" He spluttered. Astrid nodded and returned to staring at the sunset. The sun was almost gone now and they'd have to head back soon.
"I think I need some time away from the village, I already asked Stoick if I could practice my survival skills in the forest. Can you do me a favour?"
"Um, sure? Though I'd like to know what it is first."
"Can you cover me if Snotlout asks? Try to make sure he doesn't know where I am."
"Um, I'm hopeless at lying and I doubt Snotlout would listen to anything I'd say." Was his timid reply as he tapped his fingertips together. She glanced at him as she stood up. "Yeah, I'll do my best." He stated, lowering his head. She smirked since she knew this was just how Fishlegs worked, calculating how badly the task asked of him would go before continuing to go do it anyway.
"Thankyou Fishlegs. I'll see you in a day or two... want me to bring back any healing herbs for you or Gothi?"
"Well, we could use a little more Willow Bark if you pass one." He answered, following after her as he started to ramble on about the plant's painkilling properties. Astrid laughed when a thought came to her.
"No wonder you want to stock up with the twins beloved Loki Day coming up." Astrid joked, but the blush on his face didn't go unnoticed. "Wait, wait, do you like Ruff?"
"W-What!? Pff, n-nooo..." He denied unconvincingly.
"Oh, my gods you do!"
"Don't tell her please?"
"Sure, as long as you tell no one about what I told you." She told him as they reentered the village.
"Deal!" He agreed, a bit too quickly.
They said their goodbyes and went home. Astrid started packing for the day ahead before going to bed for an early night.
Her dreams, plagued by thoughts of Hiccup.
YOU ARE READING
Trapped (HTTYD)
Fanfiction"This is Berk. We have fishing, hunting, and charming views of sunsets. The only real problems we have are our enemies; Dragons. They plague the Archipelago like the Scourge of Odin. They took away many of our fellow Viking, including my childhood f...
