Bond Between

Chapter 2

It soon became a daily thing for Hiccup and Nina to sit and talk in the woods, sometimes coming up with adventures to go on or just climbing the low trees in the clearing. Other times, when one or the other had had a rough day, they'd lay in the glade parallel to each other, watching the clouds roll lazily by. 

Stoick noticed his son seeming to be leaving the village sadly with Nina and coming back much happier. Soon gossip began flowing around town, rumors of the pair becoming a couple. Never were these words spoken aloud to either parental figures. Only the children knew of it, and then only because they were unusually quiet when they were eavesdropping.

One day, Stoick decided to ask his son what was going on. "Hiccup," he said while they were eating. Hiccup had come in giggling over something that had happened that day. 

"Yeah?" he said looking up nervously.

"What's going on with you and Nina?"

"Nothing, we're just friends. She's really nice to me when everyone else is super mean," he said. He returned his eyes to his food. "Sometimes I think she's the only person who isn't mean to me."

A twinge of guilt plucked at Stoick's heart. He did feel a bit bad for not being a little easier on his son. He felt like a failure as a father. He didn't look at his son for the rest of the meal. When Hiccup was done, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it!" Hiccup said, bolting from the table. He opened the door. "Hi, Nina!"

"Hey, Hiccup. Wanna go practice our swordplay?" she asked. "My dad made a couple wooden ones for us to play with. He said to just be careful not to hit each other hard because it'll really hurt."

He stepped back and turned to look at his dad. "Can I go, Dad? Can I?"

Stoick sighed. "Only if I can watch you two," he said at length.

Hiccup glanced at Nina, who seemed a bit unnerved at the sudden change of plans. "Okay" Hiccup said while Nina said, "I guess so."

So the three headed off. Stoick sat on a rock to watch the two kids have their fun. He was surprised when they squared up, both in matching stances. They stood facing each other, not moving.

"Good luck, twiggy," Nina said quietly, a teasing tone in her voice. Hiccup smiled.

"Same to you, landlegs," he returned in a similar tone. They snickered, but remained immobile. 

It wasn't until a tree branch fell behind Nina that anyone moved. She yelped and looked away, stepping slightly closer.  Hiccup took the opportunity and lunged at her. She brought the sword up by instinct and they clashed together noisily, wobbling erratically. They grappled with each other, shoving with all their might, evenly matched until her footing gave out and she went over backwards. She went down hard and he stumbled over her into the tree beyond her. He rolled over and sat down as she hooted with laughter. He stared at her then began laughing.

"How does that even happen?!" they guffawed in unison. "Whoohahaha!" Hiccup's head pointed skyward then slowly came down till his chin touched his knees. He opened his eyes and caught sight of his father's boots.

He tried to smother his laughter when he saw his father's head down. His nerves threatened to overwhelm him while Nina continued to cackle. 

Stoick's shoulders were shaking. Hiccup was certain that he'd disappointed his father again. "Dad?" Hiccup said uneasily. "Are you-You aren't...mad at me, are you?"

Stoick suddenly threw back his head and let out a brayed laugh. He rocked back and fell off the rock laughing even harder. He sat up and somehow got to his feet. "That was probably the best fight I've seen in a while with wooden swords," whooped the Chief. "The smack-talk could use some work, but otherwise that was funny. You both need to do that in the arena sometime. The village would love it."

"Oh, uh..."  Hiccup said, exchanging nervous glances with Nina. "We never gave any thought to playfighting in the arena."

"I-I'm not good in front of a crowd," she said shyly. "I prefer small gatherings to big feasts."

"Well, we'll figure something out. Is this what you two do all the time?" Stoick said, his merriment beginning to die down a little, though the laughter didn't fade from his eyes. 

"Pretty much," Nina said. "The others are way too mean. You can't learn to run if someone's constantly pushing you down when you try to get up. You can only learn if you have someone helping you along the way."

Hiccup smiled. "I guess that's true," Stoick consented. "Well, we should all be getting back to the village. It's getting late." The crickets had begun to chirp their lullaby, so they agreed, getting to their feet and heading back home. They went their separate ways and bid each other good night.