The Forgotten Haddock

Chapter 5

I wake up and get ready for the day. Hiccup isn't home, as predicted. I've just finished breakfast, when I hear a knock. I go open the door and Astrid says,

"Ready to go?" I nod and we loop arms. We get to the arena and Hiccup is the last to arrive. I smell eel on him and ask,

"Why do you smell like eel?"

"I learned this morning that dragons are afraid of them, so it's a last resort."

"Today is about teamwork." Gobber says. We each are given a bucket of water and go inside the arena. I stick with Astrid and Ruff. The smell of Zippleback gas attacks my nose.

"Now, a wet dragon head can't light its fire. The Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky. One head breathes gas, the other head lights it. Your job is to know which is which."

"There!" Snotlout shouts and Ruff and Astrid scream.

"Hey, it's us, idiots!" Ruff says.

"Your butts are getting bigger. We thought you were a dragon."

"Not that there's anything wrong with a dragonesque figure--Ow!" Snotlout's flirting stops when Astrid punches him in the face. Ruff's bucket hits Tuff. Then Tuff starts screaming and Astrid tells us to wait. I feel the vibrations of the dragon next to us. I hear something coming towards us and jump instinctively.

"Oh, I'm hurt! I am very much hurt!" Tuff runs past me screaming.

Fishlegs starts yelling and then he says,

"Oh. heh! Wrong head." Then he runs off screaming after Gobber calls his name. I clearly feel the dragon and hear both heads. I creep up on the side I know sparks the gas.

"Now Hiccup!" Gobber shouts. I throw my bucket at the same time as Hiccup. I then run away and go to Gobber. The dragon roars at Hiccup, but I pray to Odin, the eel will protect him.

"Hiccup!" Gobber yells running forwards. But I feel the Zippleback's vibrations grow farther away. Hiccup starts saying things like, "Back!" or "I'm warning you." I hear the doors close and Hiccup say,

"Ok, so are we done? Cause Nara and I've got some things we need to, uh, yep. We'll see you tomorrow." He then grabs my arm and we run to the smithy. Hiccup explains how he needs to help Toothless fly again. I sit with him as he finishes making saddles for the both of us. Once finished, we go to the cove and present them to our dragons. Hiccup had me practice with a smaller clay dummy, before coming here. I easily get my saddle on, while Toothless decides to play tag. With the help of Vision, I get on the saddle. Once on Vision flies low to the ground, letting me find comfortable seating. While Hiccup experiments on helping Toothless fly, I start learning to ride with Vision.

After a couple of days, I made a routine. Morning is for dragon training. After training, fly with Vision. Then after a few hours, go back to Berk and hang out with Astrid. It was just like old times. We talk about dragon training, our favourite dragons(we both love Nadders, who knew?)and other girl talk. Luckily, no more embarrassing moments happen between us. We talk and I really want to tell her about Vision, but I know I can't. Vision and I have become a single flying machine. We hardly ever crash. 

Once we were flying alongside Hiccup and Toothless and they fell into a field of grass. I hopped down to see if they were alright and Toothless and Vision started rolling in the grass and purring. We called the grass, Dragon Nip and I brought a lot home with me. I covered my blunt arrows with them and plan on using them tomorrow. 

Astrid has made it a ritual to pick me up and escort me to training. I swear I fall more in love with her every single day. During training, we're fighting the Gronckle and I shoot one of my blunts. It bonks the Gronckle on the nose and it immediately falls to the ground, smelling the dragon nip. The other teens crowd around me and once they accidentally trip me, Hiccup pulls me out of their group and we go to the cove. We start petting our dragons and then itching them. We itch and itch and I hit a point behind Visions jaw and he falls down, purring in pure ecstasy. The next day, Hiccup uses this trick to subdue the Nadder. 

We go to the cove and Hiccup plays with the light reflecting off his hammer. The dragons leap after it and when I get back, the villagers swarm me. It appears that we are the new celebrities of the village. I can tell Astrid is angry at us for beating her in dragon training, which makes me sad. 

The next day, Gobber says,

"Meet the Terrible Terror."

"Ha! It's like the size of my--" Tuff gets cut off by the terror attacking him. "Oh get it off!"

"Oh, I'm hurt! I am very much hurt!" Tuff runs past me screaming.

I hear the terror squeaking and I think Hiccup's using the light to direct the terror to it's cage.

"Wow! He's better than you ever were." Tuff says to Astrid.

"Hardly." I scoff. "Astrid could beat him with both eyes closed." I think Astrid smiled at me, but I don't know.

I head to the cove a little later than usual, and Hiccup tells me that Astrid's on to us. I leave while Hiccup starts to make his cheat sheet. The next day, Astrid asks what's up with Hiccup. I pretend to not understand and we continue on talking. 

I spend a lot of time flying on Vision. We've been flying through the forest, climbing and diving. There's a maze of sea stacks we use and it's the hardest test of flight prowess we've ever done.

I get the feeling that Astrid's into me, but I don't know. On the day, dad came back, Astrid and I were laughing about Snotlout's flirting in the arena and our hands touch and The Astrid Hofferson stutters, "S-s-sorry."

"I don't mind." I say and push some hair behind my ear. I move closer to her and lay my head on her shoulder. She stiffens, but slowly the tension eases out. She puts her head on mine and she watches the sun drift down over the sea. Once it's dark, she leads me home and I say,

"Good luck on the test tomorrow."

"You too." Astrid says. She gives me a peck on the cheek and runs away. I stand there for a while, shocked and with a goofy grin on my face, before I sneak inside and go upstairs. I go to bed knowing I plan on flunking tomorrow's exam and that my forbidden crush kissed my cheek.

(A/N: Hey guys. I hope you're all doing well and enjoying my version of HTTYD. I'll see ya next time and I can't wait! Also if you guys have any suggestions on any series or movie you want me to make a fanfic of, I'd be delighted to hear it. I'm currently also making a PJO/HP crossover and a Descendants fanfic, but I'll probably post them after this fanfic is done. I have a list of ideas to use. )