Astrid Hofferson x Male Reader

Chapter 2

Berk - Great Hall

(A noisy din of protesting voices leads to... Stoick, glowering in the firelight. Surrounded by his men)

Stoick: Either we finish them or they'll finish us! It's the only way we'll be rid of them! If we find the nest and destroy it, the dragons will leave. They'll find another home.

(He sinks his blade into a... large nautical map, spread outon the table... the blade pierces the middle of an uncharted corner, swirling with painted sea monsters and dragons)

Stoick: One more search. Before the ice sets in.

Viking: Those ships never come back.

Stoick: We're Vikings. It's an occupational hazard. Now who's with me?

(Stoick throws up his fist. No one follows. The crowds shifts in restless silence. Head scratches. Eyes averted)

Stoick: Alright. Those who stay will look after Hiccup.

(Hands jut into theair, volunteers galore. Enthusiastic murmurs of prep and packing fill the room)

Viking: To the ships!

Spitelout: I'm with you Stoick!

Stoick: That's more like it.

(The Vikings rush for the door, leaving Gobber and Stoick alone. Gobber gulps back the contents of his tankard attachment and scrapes back the bench)

Gobber: I'll pack my undies.

Stoick: No, I need you to stay and train some new recruits with Y/n and Astrid.

Gobber: Oh, perfect. And while we're busy, Hiccup can cover the stall. Molten steel, razor sharp blades, lots of time to himself... what could possibly go wrong?

(Stoick sinks onto the bench beside Gobber, his brow burdened)

Stoick: What am I going to do with him Gobber?

Gobber: Put him in training with the others.

Stoick: No, I'm serious.

Gobber: So am I.

(Stoick turns to him, glaring)

Stoick: He'd be killed before you let the first dragon out of its cage.

Gobber: Oh, you don't know that.

Stoick: I do know that, actually.

Gobber: No, you don't.

Stoick: No, actually I do.

Gobber: No you don't!

Stoick: Listen! You know what he's like. From the time he could crawl he's been... different. He doesn't listen. Not like Y/n. He has the attention span of asparrow. I take him and Y/n fishing and he goes hunting for... for trolls.

Gobber: Trolls exist! They steal your socks... But only the left ones. What's with that?

Stoick: When I was a boy...

(Gobber grumbles)

Gobber: Oh here we go.

Stoick: My father told me to bang my head against a rock and I did it. I thought it was crazy, but I didn't question him. And you know what happened?

Gobber: You got a headache.

Stoick: That rock split in two. It taught me what a Viking could do, Gobber. He could crush mountains, level forests, tame seas! Even as a boy, I knew what I was, what I had to become. Hiccup is not that boy, Y/n yes. But not Hiccup.