Httyd: The Runaway

Chapter 16.

Heavy breathing surrounded the  dungeon. You could hear the loud snores of the vikings echoing around the stone walls. Astrid tossed and turned on her blanket that a villager brought her the night before. The cold hard ground was not the most favourable sleeping spot.

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.

Her ear twitched as soft stomps were heard from inside the dungeon. Astrid shot up and looked around the crowded cell. Snotlout was snoring loudly, a string of drool flowing down the side of his mouth. Ew. Astrid crinkled her nose. Her attention turned to the twins. They were sleeping on top of each other. Ruffnut was sprawled over her brother while Tuffnut's foot was in her face.

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.

Astrid's head spun around to face the stone staircase that was lit by two small, flickering torches. Her heartbeat sped up as a large silhouette was seen in the firelight. "Who are you?" she asked warily.

The silhouette turned out to be the man in the dragon armour that had trapped Astrid and her friends on the island.

"You!" exclaimed the blonde female. "Get us out of here! We want nothing to do with you people!"

The armoured  man walked over to the cell. "I'm afraid I can't do that," replied the armoured man. "You know our location. Unless you can align with us and swear on your life to never let anyone know our location, you're stuck."

"Then we'll-"

"You can't align with us."

Astrid narrowed her eyes. Why this guy making this so difficult? First, he said that they could make an alliance, and now they can't?

"You're wondering why I refused your attempt to make an alliance," stated the man.

Astrid's eyebrows shot up. Could this guy read her mind? "Can-"

"No, I can't read minds," said the man. "You viking are so predictable."

"'You vikings'? Are you not a viking?" asked Astrid.

"Exactly. I'm not a viking. I don't kill for fun."

"We don't kill for fun!" sputtered Astrid, defensively.

"Sure," said the man in armour, nonchalantly.

"We don't!"

"But still. You kill dragons. There's no way there's gonna be an alliance."

"You- you don't kill dragons?" asked Astrid

"No. We don't. My best friend and brother is a dragon," answered the man.

"But why? Those creatures are vile and horrid! They are the ones who kill for sport. Do you know how many great warriors Berk has lost because of those creatures?"

"You are talking about Fearless Finn Hofferson."

Astrid face was covered in shock. "You-you know who I am? You know my uncle?"

"Yes. Your uncle, Fearless Finn died because of the flightmare that came to Berk when you were just a young child."

Astrid eyed the mysterious man. Who was he, under his dragon armour? How did he know this? Yes, people knew that her uncle died, but only Berkians knew exactly how he died. So how did this guy know? He's wasn't a Berkian? ...Right? "Who are you, really?" asked Astrid, suspiciously.

"Do you really think that I would tell you? I can't trust you. I once trusted a Berkian..." The man's voice shifted to a whisper. "I was betrayed." The man cleared his throat. "I can't trust a Berkian."

Astrid's hard features softened. "You can trust me. I wouldn't betray you. I give you my promise."

The man turned around and retreated. He left with just one sentence. "Your sentence is only full of empty words."

- - - -

Flashback:

"Hi Hiccup!" said an energetic little girl. Her two braid bobbed up and down as she ran over to her brown-haired friend.

"Hi Astrid! What are you doing?" The little boy was at Gobber's workshop, looking at the different tools that were messily arranged.

"I was bored, so I came looking for you." Astrid smiled. "Do you wanna go to the beach?"

"Sure!"

The two friends left the building and ran down to the beach. They laughed and played together for hours, until the sun had started to set. The two children were sitting on the beach, watching the warm-coloured clouds float past the orange sky.

"Hey Astrid?" started the green-eyed boy, nervously.

"Yeah?" replied Astrid, turning her head to face her friend.

"Can you promise me something?"

"What?"

"Can we be friends? Always?"

Astrid giggled. "Of course silly! We'll always be friends. I promise."

"Pinky promise?" Hiccup stuck out his pinky.

"Pinky promise." Astrid linked their pinky fingers together. "I give you my word."

- - - -

"Hey Astrid," said Hiccup, jogging towards the young Berkian.

Astrid raised her head and ignored the boy.

"As... Astrid?"

"What do you want, runt?" asked Astrid harshly.

Taken aback by her rude words, Hiccup stumbled back. "R-runt?"

"Yeah. You heard what I said. You're not deaf, are you?"

"Are you okay? Are we... still friends?"

"Friends? Pfft, yeah right. You're just a weak little kid." Astrid turned around and walked away from her ex-friend.

- - - -

Astrid covered her face with her hands. She tried to bury those horrible memories deep, deep down. She didn't want to remember the day when she turned her back on her closest friend. Hiccup. But that was why she needed to find him. The first thing she had to do was apologize. But that would take a huge blow to her pride.

- - - -

Hiccup sighed as he took off his armour. He remembered the day when he lost his one and only human friend. After she betrayed him, he felt lost. And upset. And betrayed. He trusted her, she promised him. Then, she was gone. walking away from him, dragging the axe that he made along with her. Of course she didn't know that he made it, everyone thought Gobber made the weapons, while Hiccup just restored them to their previous glory. To be honest, Hiccup probably made half of the weapons on Berk. Nobody needed him. They thought he was useless, stupid, disposable. He helped Berk, and they turned their backs on him when he needed someone. And that was why he could never, ever trust a Berkian. Ever again.

Or maybe he could.

- - - -
So, I hope this chapter was a little longer because I just realized hOw ShOrT mY cHaPtErS aRe. Shorter chapter aren't my favourite, but chapters that are too long are a bit of a nuisance. So if you are like me and is picky with a lot of things, then I hope this chapter was good enough.

Stay safe from COVID, God bless you all.

Thx for reading!
＝^。人。^=