The Lost Boy V - Short stories

Bad Choices 3 - Another life

Hiccup was so confused and assaulted by questions he had not tried to guess where he was. He only wondered who found and rescued him, how and why, why someone cut his leg, and how in Hel he had ended up in the same room as three dragons which, for some odd reason, had not killed and eaten him on spot.

He climbed down the stairs and reached the door without paying attention to the hutt. However, once he was outside, he froze as new questions slapped him. The other houses he could see were incredibly familiar, just like the landscape itself. Wooden hutt with greenish roofs and sculptures of dragons depicting each family's emblem. A land made of rocky slopes and grass, cornered by a vast ocean and stone pillars all around the island.

He couldn't believe it. It couldn't be real. He couldn't be back to Berk. He had been banished, he wasn't allowed to come back, on any circumstances, unless he wanted to be killed on spot. So why would someone bring him back ? His thoughts got replaced by fear as he spotted vikings passing by merely a few steps from him. Much to his surprise, they smiled and waved at him. He swore he even heard a faint 'Morning' coming from them.

Looking closely at the landscape, Hiccup noticed the village was different from his memories. The houses looked less new, as if they had hold on longer without needing repair. The torches used to light up the sky during dragon raid were nowhere to be found. There also was more houses, they were more colorful, and the architecture was crazier.

Lifting his head, he got shocked as he saw what looked like three hutts piled up on one another, but the real shock was the Gronckles entering the upper hutt !

Hiccup saw other vikings in the streets, strolling or carrying things, talking to each other, while dragons were going around freely and carelessly ! And noone seemed surprised by that. Unlike his memories from Berk, vikings and dragons were not fighting to death but living in harmony. How was it possible ? How come these dragons were that peaceful and docile ? Were they tamed ? How ?

While the young viking was staring at the unlikely sight of four children playing with a Gronckle, he didn't noticed someone coming to him.

''Looks like someone fell from his bed.''

Hiccup jumped at the feminine voice teasing him, then finally noticed this young woman.

She looked around the same age as his, in her early twenties. Her frame was graceful, her waist was thin and her hips generous, while her shoulders were strong and her arms were showing off her training. She was wearing a skirt made of fur and pikes, a blue sleeveless tunic, a red vest on top of it and fured metal shoulder pads. Her golden blond hair was falling on her back, a leather band on her forehead looked almost like a crown.

She walked casually to him, a teasing smile on her face and her ocean blue eyes glittering with some more teasing. Hiccup was puzzled for a moment. It took him a bit of time, then he finally remembered her. The band on her forehead and the piked fur skirt were better clues because this young woman seemed softer and friendlier than the typical bad girl he used to know... and for whom he had a crush when he was a pre-teen.

She was Astrid.

''You okay ?'' She asked. ''And here I was happy to see you up, looks like you're not really better.''

The young viking blinked with surprise. No introduction, no welcome speech, no explanation concerning his rescue... What a funny welcoming. He wanted to ask her a lot of question, though confusion blurred his words.

''I... H-How... ?''

Astrid frowned and, with a disbelieving familiarity, she put a hand on his forehead as if checking his temperature.