Heart of a Dragon (A Hiccup x Astrid HTTYD AU Fanfic)

Chapter 11: The Brave, Fearless, and Beautiful

Narration:

Hiccup and Astrid continued with their game and they were trading basket after basket. The score was currently 5 - 5 then Astrid was able to make back to back shots, 7 - 5.

Hiccup was able to block a shot by Astrid gaining back the possession, making a jumper in the middle, 7 - 6. 

Hiccup's possession again, he attacked hard towards the perimeter then pulls back for a three, rims out, Astrid gets the rebound and as soon as she checked the ball he attacked back in the perimeter, catching Hiccup off-guard but he was able to get back on defense quickly and Astrid jumped for a lay-up and hiccup followed but he didn't thought that Astrid would hang in the air and make a reverse lay-up, 8 - 6.

It was Astrid's possession and she started making a move again, dribbling hard towards the right and pulling back and she was about 25 feet from the rim and she took a shot, barely missing it.

It bounced off the back of the rim and Hiccup was going for the rebound and out of nowhere, Astrid suddenly jumped in and battled Hiccup for the ball.

Since Hiccup has a much bigger body frame and heavier compared to her, when they collided in the air, Astrid bounced off him and landed on the floor hard.

Hiccup's POV

Astrid just took a long three and luckily, it hit the back of the hoop and I was going for the rebound when at the corner of my eye, I saw her coming in hard and fast.

All I can think of at this moment was, "Still fearless as ever." I felt the impact from us colliding in the air. It didn't do much to me but she bounced off and all I heard was a loud 'THUD!'.

I  heard her groan so I immediately  checked on her, I knelt down and asked her if she was okay.

Astrid slowly sat up and smiled, "Y-yeah! Don't worry.", "Let's... Let's just continue the game next time. I don't want to be the reason you get injured." I told her as I sat down beside her.

"Are you sure you're okay? You landed a bit too hard." I asked again, "I'm okay. This is nothing." she answered, "Do you want some water? I'll get you some." I stood up, "I have a bottle of water in my bag." she told me so I went to get her bag and brought it to her, "I'm sorry.", "It's okay, it's not your fault.", "I'm sorry about that too but what I'm really sorry for was the fiasco a couple of days ago.", "Can I ask what were you actually doing there last time?" she asked, my body stiffed upon hearing her question.

"Last time? Oh that!" I tried finding a way out of the question but I decide to tell the truth, "I just played a game in 'THE PIT' and I realized that I left my notebook back at my desk in my classroom so I came to get it then I just got the urge to walked around a bit that night so I did and suddenly I heard bouncing noises in the gym so I got curious so I peeked inside and I saw you playing. When I decided to leave as I was going down, I lost my balance and fell. I was afraid that if you see me you'll get angry and report me to the principal's office so I ran quickly as I could out of there and I didn't realized that I left my notebook." I finished telling her what happened and she was just nodding while drinking her water.

"You know, when I found the notebook and read your name, I wasn't sure if it was really you. I heard from my mom that you were back  but I wasn't sure if that Hiccup was you." Astrid said.

"I didn't recognize you earlier, who would have thought that you're taller than me now." she teased, "I could say the same. I would never thought that the war freak I knew would change so much." I replied, "Hey! What do you mean 'war freak?!" she punched me on the shoulder, "See?" I rubbed my arm and she started laughing and I joined in, our laughs echoed inside the empty gym.

"Can I ask you something, Astrid?" I looked at her, "Sure. Hit me.", "Why did you ask me to play with you?", "I... really don't know. I wanted to confront you about the notebook but seeing a familiar face once again after so many years, I couldn't get mad at you. Plus my mom said that you were back and that you want to play basketball with me." she explained and I felt my cheeks heat up once again upon remembering what me and her parents talked about that day, "Did your mom tell you anything else?" I asked, "No. Nothing more. Why? Do I need to know something?" she looked at me, "No. It's nothing." I showed her a toothy grin. 

I don't know why but I felt at ease with her company just like when we were kids, I was feeling warm inside and I can't take my eyes off of her.

Astrid pulled out her phone, "It's already 8 pm." she showed me the time and it really was, I stood up and ran to get my things and went back to her.

I helped her in standing up, "I'm really okay, you know." she said, "I just feel really bad so let me help you." I offered my hand for support which she took.

I helped her walk outside, "Wait. We need to turn the lights off." she tried walking back inside, "No. No. Let me. Where can I find the switches?" I suggested, Astrid told me where the switches were so I ran back inside and turned off the lights.

I got back out, "Ready to go?" I asked her and she nodded in agreement, she was walking by my side and I can't stop checking up on her, "Dude, I'm really alright. Stop worrying. It's normal when it comes to basketball." she assured and I sighed, "Alright. I'll stop worrying." I replied.

"So how will you get home?" I asked her, "My dad is probably already waiting for me by the exit. I usually end my training at around 7:30 pm." as we approached the exit, I saw a car waiting outside, "You're right." I said, "Thanks Hiccup." she walked towards the car and I just smiled.

I saw her dad got out of the car, "Hiccup?" he asked, "Uh... Hello Uncle Agnar." I greeted, "Are you going home? Why don't you come with us? You're house is in our direction anyway." he offered, I felt bad declining so I accepted the offer. 

I got in the back, "Hey... It's me again." I greeted Astrid and I heard her snicker, "So what were you two doing?" her dad asked, "Nothing. We were just playing basketball." Astrid replied, I saw Uncle Agnar smiling at me thru the rearview mirror. 

We arrived at my house, "Thanks Uncle Agnar." I said, "Nice seeing you again, Astrid." I told her before exiting their car. 

I waited for their car to leave before going inside the house when I saw the window at the passenger side opening, "Train more! You're still getting your ass whooped by me." she shouted and I just laughed and she continued to wave goodbye which I did as well.

"I'm home!" I greeted my dad when I walked inside, "Hey son. Who were you talking to?" he asked while he was chilling on the couch watching a movie, "Astrid." I replied, i saw him pause the movie and turned around, "The Hoffersons' lass? So?" he asked, "So what?" I raised my eyebrow, "What do you think of her?" my dad smiled, I realized what he was talking about, "Dad!" I exclaimed and he just laughed at me, "I was just curious. You really like Astrid when you were young." he teased before resuming the movie, he was watching.

I ran upstairs and checked on Toothless, I added water in his bowl and some cat food before washing up and changing into fresh clothes. 

I was resting on my bed and using on my phone as Toothless was busy walking on me, I just thought of her and how good she was so I searched the name 'Astrid Hofferson' and to my astonishment, she was really famous.

"The number 1 ranked female middle school player in the nation. Astrid 'Chieftess' Hofferson." I read one article,  "The only female middle schooler in history to lead in scoring, assists, rebounds, and steals. Fishlegs was right, she's already considered the top female player by a famous sports website." I read another, "This can't be real." I thought, "Woah! She even has her own Wikipedia page." I kept reading the articles and started understanding how amazing she really is.

I tried searching 'Hiccup Haddock III' but I got humbled so bad because the first thing that popped up was '10 ways to cure hiccups.' so I just went back to watching Astrid's basketball videos.

I started watching videos of her games; highlights, mixtapes, and interviews. She was awesome and it was hard to believe it was the same person I used to wrestle in the mud with.

I spent the rest of the night scrolling down the internet, reading articles about her, and watching videos of her playing. I didn't have even a wink of sleep, I got hooked on her videos and I even watched some of her interviews.