chapter five
005. the problem with toke!
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FREYA SOON began to realise that her victory on the first day in Dragon Training was very much soon forgotten in everyone's minds. Just the next morning, she was where she had been the previous, keeping to her promise as she helped her mother around the village to make sure they were all prepared for the upcoming winter. The overnight storm had saved them from cleaning up after a dragon raid, but it didn't help the effort in carrying entire barrels of fish up the docks and to the storehouse. Freya nearly slipped a few too many times as she trudged through mud and wet grass. But some where loving it. She stopped one moment to watch as a group of children were playing▬laughing and cackling as they threw mud at each other, lost within their little games.
She wasn't as excited to join the others later this morning for training than she was yesterday. Freya supposed there was a chance that today would be different. That she might win again▬however shockingly▬and they would stare at her in surprise and with lost breaths of amazement. Some might even wander down to watch and they would see her, too▬maybe Freya's own mother might decide to come. However, she quickly started to feel as if yesterday was her random stroke of luck. She didn't strike the Gronckle, she didn't even try and fight it like Astrid▬if the Hofferson hadn't been distracted and taken out, Freya knew that she wouldn't have achieved what she did. She wasn't going to win Dragon Training by running and stumbling, knocking her nose into people's shields and only just escaping burning fire. She▬a small, feeble thing▬had to raise her axe high and bring it down with a Viking's fury. Freya knew, despite her dreams, that she couldn't do that. She knew she was lying to herself.
But she believed she was still going to try▬because no matter what her rationality told her, her frustration in heaving this barrel of fish clouded it all with an angry stubbornness; as it usually did.
In the end, her mother had to take it for her and Freya slumped with a grumbling embarrassment, red-hot at the cheeks. She puffed her hair out of her eyes and crossed her arms. She had opted for a simple belted tunic over her leggings for this morning, tying her hair out of their two braids and off her face with some leather she had found lying around her room. It didn't help it from still falling out over her eyes, though.
She fiddled with her nose, the distant ache at its bridge still bothering her. Freya followed her mother up the slope, avoiding as many mud puddles as she could.
"I thought this Dragon Training was supposed to make you stronger?" Her mother said as they walked, and by the tone of her voice it told Freya that some part of her was still miffed by this arrangement they had made.
Freya rolled her eyes slightly to herself. "It's been one day," she replied. "I don't get strong overnight, Mum."
"Have you had an apple this morning?"
"Well, no▬"
"Then perhaps there is your problem, dear."
Freya huffed once again, a little exasperated at her mother's superstitions surrounding food▬to her parents, food was the way to fix any problem. And while Freya did love her apples and her stew, she didn't see it giving her muscles suddenly when she wakes up one morning. "But▬Mum▬" she had to skip in her steps to catch up with her mother's large strides, "▬I did win my first day of Dragon Training. I was the last one standing against the Gronckle!"
Her mother hummed, setting the barrel down with the small collection they were continuing to grow from this morning's catch. "That's good, honey."
Freya watched her for a moment, waiting for some other reaction▬or perhaps a question about today ... something that showed even just a slither of interest. Freya pursed her lips and decided to prompt it, "Do you ... do you want to come and see today's training? You know, watch?"
Her mother glanced at her. There seemed to be some hesitation the moment she noticed the pleading glint in her daughter's eyes. She then sighed, "If I get everything done here, then perhaps."
Freya faltered, not expecting the answer, "Wait▬really?"
Her mother shot her a quick look, "Only if I get everything done."
Her daughter started to grin. She quickly hid it, though, nodding and rushing along to continue to help. A new rush of determination flooded Freya Balderofferson▬not to prove something to everyone else, but to do well for her mother. To get her to see▬to be proud of her. Freya knew she was proud of her. That wasn't what she meant▬her mother was very much proud of her, she would never say that she wasn't. But for her to be proud of something Freya had done that she originally didn't want her to do ... she supposed that was what she was determined to do the most.
As the morning progressed, the teens were spread out all across the village before they were to head to Dragon Training. While Freya helped her mother, the Twins and Snotlout were running, cackling away from Silent Sven's farm. While they were doing that, Fishlegs was reading his new botany book he got from a recent trade visit. And as he did so, Hiccup was still slouched over a dying candle flame, alone in his home and staring at the Night Fury page in the Dragon Manual. Astrid, it seemed, was the only one that spent her morning vigorously training, desperate to make up for the hiccup she had at the previous training day.
She was making her way from the forge after getting her axe resharpened to then return to the same set of trees to blunt it all over again only to stop, noticing Toke sitting alone out on the cliffside walkways. His legs hung over the edge and he scathed his knife against a fallen stick, sharpening it to a point. He kept checking it against the wood beside him, scratching words and drawings before scraping his blade against it once more.
Astrid let out a long puff of air, wondering whether she should just leave him be. But soon, she sighed and swivelled around. The Hofferson marched to the edge of the cliff and started down the walkway towards her friend. In fact, perhaps Toke was one of Astrid's only friends▬since they were kids. She hang out around the others. She rolled her eyes at Snotlout and told off the Twins. She let them follow her like sheep because▬she admitted▬she liked the attention. She liked them being scared of her, instead of everyone thinking her family were the scared ones. But truth was, she only ever liked being around Toke. Even if he annoyed her, and frustrated her. Even if they argued and butted heads on many different things, Astrid still sat down beside him anyway.
"You okay?" she decided to ask him gently, hanging her legs over the edge, too.
She had a feeling she knew what was on his mind. They hadn't spoken about what had happened in the arena with the Gronckle▬Astrid knew he didn't want to talk about it. And she wasn't sure what she was supposed to think▬or feel. It was obvious, she knew ... Toke had frozen up; he had stared at that dragon and was unable to move. Just like her Uncle had. Astrid had freaked out. She had seen her Uncle, instead of Toke. And she was so scared herself, that for a moment, she had been that little girl stranded out in the Dreadfall night watching the man she looked up to be frozen with fear▬and couldn't let what happened to him happen to Toke. In that moment, his pride and his life had been far more important to her than winning any round. So, she pushed him out of the way. But she knew▬she knew Toke was afraid of dragons.
And he knew she had figured it out, too, and she supposed that was why he hadn't said anything.
"Yeah," muttered Toke, giving his stick a rough scrape from his knife blade. "Fine."
Astrid pursed her lips and reached a hand down to fiddle with the string wrapped around her mother's axe handle.
Toke took a deep breath and forced a smile on his face. "I have to miss dragon training today▬" he made this face as if this was the worst thing possible to happen. He rolled his eyes and shot her a knowing look▬she knew it was all a lie. "Have to do Dad's chores while he's away▬help out Mum, you know. Shame▬" he sighed it all out, slumping his shoulders and shaking his head. "Was so looking forward to it... But▬" he kissed his teeth, "▬looks like I can't come!"
Astrid frowned at him. She wouldn't let him do that. She refused to let him run away from something. Toke was courageous, and he was promising▬he was going to be a great Viking hero, she knew it. A solider of Thor▬a war general. Astrid couldn't let him throw all of that away because of this fear▬she knew he'd regret it. "No," she told him. "No, you're coming."
Toke frowned at her, too, "What?" he chuckled, incredulous with disbelief at her sudden argument.
"You're coming," she said again, stubborn.
He shook his head, chuckling again. "Did you not hear me?" he joked, gesturing to her with his stick. "I have to do other things▬like fish."
Astrid snatched his stick away and he went to argue, but she cut him off, "I know what you're doing and I won't let you do it."
Toke hesitated for a moment. Then, he quickly shot his brows up, trying to hide it, "You know what I'm doing?" He grinned, nodding. He was trying to annoy her to get her to back off▬she knew him better than he'd admit. "Okay. What am I doing then, 'Strid?"
"You're running away." She shoved him a little to get her point across. He set his jaw and pursed his lips, looking away. "I was there, Toke. If I didn't push you aside, you would have died▬"
He shook his head, growing distant. Astrid grew frustrated and raised her voice to keep him there, "▬You froze up, okay? You froze up and I had to step in▬you're scared of dragons but you can't just let them▬"
"Let them what?" he snapped, his gaze locking hers with a breath of fury. Toke shrugged. "Let them what?" Astrid swallowed harshly. She knew him well, but so did he, her. "Make me a coward like your uncle?" She glowered at the word, biting back the want to say something mean. Toke pointed at her briefly. "See, this is why I didn't want to talk to you. You don't understand, Astrid▬you wouldn't understand."
"I understand," Astrid crossed her arms. "I understand that you're choosing to let them win▬you're running away from it all. You're scared of them, now, but if you just keep going you won't be scared▬"
"▬Because being scared of them is something so horrible?" Toke arched a brow at her. "Is that what you mean? Because you can't stand that fact? You don't think I'm good enough anymore? You think I'm a coward? You think you'll become a coward in association▬is that it?"
Astrid blinked, taken aback. "No, that's not it." He scoffed and rubbed at his eyes. Astrid realised he was resisting the urge to cry. "That's not what I meant. Don't put words in my mouth, okay? I am trying to help you▬because you're my friend, Toke! You don't want to leave dragon training because you came in the first place to prove something▬to prove that you're not scared. That's not being a coward, okay?"
Toke met her gaze again. He chuckled▬but the sound was heavy, now; bitter. "No, Astrid, you are trying to prove that you're not scared. You don't want to end up like your Uncle. I already have, and you'll hate me for it. So, just ... just don't even try to pretend otherwise, please. I'm gonna be a failure to my dad when he comes back ... I just don't want to face the fact that I'll be a failure to you, too."
Astrid's anger fell away. She felt this pang of hurt in her chest▬and she wasn't sure whether it was because Toke seemed to see right through her and speak truth, or whether it was because he believed she'd immediately think so lowly of him ... that he thought that lowly of her. She swallowed the growing lump in her throat and took a sharp breath through her nose. Leaving it there, she stood up and grabbed her axe. "Just come, okay? It's only the second round, don't give up yet."
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"HEY, YOU KNOW, I just happened to notice the book had nothing on Night Furies. Is there▬like▬another book, or▬or a sequel? Maybe a little Night Fury pamphlet▬?"
Hiccup yelped the moment the fire struck the blade of his axe. He watched in horror as the furious magnesium blade melted the iron right off his hilt. He stammered. The low, guttural squawk drew his attention▬he glanced over and gasped, hitching up his shield in the face of the vicious Deadly Nadder.
"Focus, Hiccup!" shouted Gobber. "You're not even trying!"
Today, the Dragon Arena had been transformed into a winding, wooden maze. They had quickly lost themselves amongst the twists and turns that had been built up overnight. The grey skies dawned down through the interlocked iron roof onto the group of teens that held their breaths▬silently treading or very much face the chance of losing their lives.
A Deadly Nadder might like its reflection a little bit too much, but that didn't stop its incredible ability to find things it wanted. For a dragon with a spiked tail and crown▬it should make the most amount of sound, but the Deadly Nadder was almost silent in its step. These dragons could find chickens hiding, trembling, underneath wooden floors▬find Vikings, trembling as they hid in narrow maze pathways.
This Deadly Nadder was a blossom in colour▬her scales were mixed in with a bright dusty summer sunrise and the deep burgundy of a winter sunset. Her teeth were sharp, but her poisonous spikes that dragged from her tail were even sharper. Freya eyed them and she hitched her breath, staying deadly silent as she glanced around the edge, watching the dragon run past straight for Hiccup.
The Chief's son let out a short scream and stumbled to his right, scrambling away with his axe hilt still melting in his hand.
"Today it's all about attack!" shouted Gobber over the squabbles of their screams and the Deadly Nadder's roar. The dragon had leapt up onto of the wooden maze walls. Freya gasped and rushed to her feet, getting out of its way before it would catch sight of her. "Nadders are quick and light on their feet. Your job is to be quicker and lighter!"
Freya heard Fishlegs's scream. It ricocheted up into the dreary morning like a high-pitch squeal from a baby. She found Toke quickly and crouched in beside him, back to holding her breath. He had not moved from this hiding place once, holding very tight onto his shield. They both gasped when spiked edges impaled themselves right through from the other side inches from their heads.
"I hate dragons!" whispered Toke and Freya pushed him to move. The both of them darted onwards and around into the next corridor.
"I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!" cried Fishlegs as he sprinted out of the line of poisonous spiked fire.
Gobber didn't seem as if he could care less. He watched them run from the viewing stands above, leaning his thick arms through the caged gaps. He picked at his teeth and scratched at his nose▬he sniffed a strange smell from above. Freya hoped that wasn't one of her friends burning. "Look for its blind spot!" he said. "Every dragon has one. Find it, hide in it▬and strike!"
Freya found Hiccup standing▬aimlessly▬in the middle of the maze hallway. He stammered, trying to grab Gobber's attention and she ran straight to him▬she grabbed his arm and tugged him with them, "Stop being so obsessed with Night Furies and try and not die!"
"I▬ah▬" Hiccup stumbled at the sudden change of direction. But he followed anyway: "O▬okay▬"
When they reached the end, she skidded to a stop▬and nearly piled over when Hiccup ran into her from behind. They scuffled to regain their balance until Toke managed to grab both their shoulders to steady them.
"What is it?" he then whispered.
Freya glanced around the side, her eyes wide and breath still hitched. At first she didn't answer, just watching the Twins struggle right under the Deadly Nadder's eye. Somehow, they had managed to fall right in the exact position within its blind spot▬quickly recognising it, they darted left and right to stay concealed in the shadow of its long, hooked, horned snout.
She managed a light chuckle under her breath and replied to Toke, "The Twins."
Her friend frowned and leaned over Hiccup's head to see as well. When he saw the dragon, he quickly darted back and hit the wall. They glanced at him, incredulous. Freya frowned, too, startled by his reaction. "What?" she muttered.
Toke took a deep breath. He wouldn't meet her gaze. "Nothing," he told her▬and his tone said that there was no room for her to ask anymore questions. It took Freya off-guard, because usually there was no secrets between them▬nothing that Toke ever felt the need to hide, or she felt the need to hide. And she could tell, right now, that he was choosing to hide something from her.
"Urgh! Do you ever bathe?"
Around the corner, Ruffnut shoved her brother forwards in disgust. He skidded just inches before his head would fall straight into the dragon's maw. Tuffnut rushed back to step, hard, onto his sister's foot. "If you don't like it, then just get your own blind spot!"
She smacked him with her shield. The two went back and forth. The Deadly Nadder reared her head back, titling it to stare down at them, momentarily frozen▬almost disbelieving at the way they fought in front of her.
Ruffnut shoved her shield right up underneath her brother's nose, leaning in close, "How about I give you one?!"
The Deadly Nadder had had enough. Freya heard the Twins' screams▬they barrelled past the group of them, the ends of their hair smoking. It took her a moment to rush after them, quickly realising the dragon wasn't that far behind.
Gobber sighed from above. "Blind spot, yes," he said. "Deaf spot? Eh▬not so much..." he chuckled and Freya wanted to throw her shield up at him.
The Twins were out. Slumped and defeated, they stomped to the side of the arena where Fishlegs was sitting▬safe and away from all the chaos within the maze. They joined him, not once stopping shoving and pushing each other, arguing loudly in the back.
Those remaining joined up with each other in the side corridors. Freya breathed heavily, her hair falling into her face and her arms starting to hurt from holding up her axe and shield for so long. Snotlout and Astrid sped past her and she huffed, annoyed▬she pushed her legs to run faster.
Behind them, Hiccup slowed back down. He found where Gobber stood and seemed to forget all about the dragon roaming nearby to ask: "Hey▬hey, uh▬so▬How would one sneak up on a Night Fury?"
Gobber's chuckles dropped and he pinched the bridge of his nose, growing annoyed at the Chief's son. "No one's ever met one and lived to tell the tale, Hiccup▬Now get in there!"
He jumped and shuffled onwards slightly, "I▬I know, I know▬but, hypothetically▬"
"Hiccup!" Freya whisper-shouted, waving her shield at him. Dubious, she shrugged and gestured around them when he met her gaze.
Ideally, she would think that she should not care. Stopping and checking on Hiccup▬trying to make sure he did not stop was an easy grab for her friends to make fun of. More so, Freya was hurting her own chances at making it through this round in a favourable position. If she wanted to prove anything, she needed to keep a winning streak.
But still, she stopped the moment she realised he did. Maybe it was the deal she made with her mother, maybe it was the knowledge that there was some responsibility they held with each other just because of something they had no choice in▬or maybe it was their conversation just last night, over the dim candlelight where Freya▬perhaps even for the very first time▬actually felt as if someone listened to her.
And already, Freya knew she had done the exact thing she had told herself she would never do▬knew would happen if she ever sat down with Hiccup Haddock with the purpose of getting to know him: she had started to actually like him.
"Hey!" another whisper▬more angry and more demanding▬snapped from over Freya's shoulder. She spun back around and every rationality she had in her that would want to listen immediately disappeared the moment she realised the words came from Astrid's mouth. Just like that, the scowl returned to Freya Balderofferson's face and the Hofferson matched it, understanding her reaction perfectly.
The blonde gestured for them to join she, Snotlout and Toke▬all three of them were crouched by the nearest intersection, keeping themselves hidden from the Deadly Nadder that▬now Freya listened▬was only just a corridor away. "Get down, both of you!"
Just because Astrid said it, Freya wanted to stubbornly stand in the centre of the maze▬but that would do nobody any good. So, reluctantly and with a begrudging clench of her jaw, Freya crouched down behind Toke. She felt Hiccup join them not long after.
Momentarily, she glanced upwards▬and she felt something in her chest fall to see her mother had still not come by to watch.
Astrid was stiff and tense as she slowly glanced around the corner once more; she gently blew her hair out of her eyes, keeping herself calm. The others watched her intently, awaiting her reaction to give them their answers▬she jolted back into the shadow of the maze wall, startled. The look she gave them told Freya that the Deadly Nadder was closer. Astrid made a swift hand movement▬it was at the next intersection. Hiccup frowned, mouthing back to her: What?
She just rolled her eyes. She held up three fingers▬she glanced back around again. One second▬two fingers. Two seconds▬one finger. Three▬
Astrid placed her shield on the ground and ducked quickly across the intersection in a well-placed somersault▬dashing past the dragon within its blind spot before it could even blink. She glanced back and gestured for the rest of them to follow.
Snotlout was quick to please. Freya sighed a little to herself, not surprised at how eager he was to get across, flashing Astrid a grin the moment he succeeded. She threw her gaze up to the heavens▬she muttered a prayer underneath her breath; one that Freya presumed was supposed to give her strength to not smack Snotlout in the nose with her shield.
"Go," Freya whispered to Toke who was next. She gave him a light shove when he didn't move.
He still stayed where he was. Her frown returned and she put a little more effort into her next shove▬but trying to push her best friend was like trying to push a stubborn yak ... or anything that had more weight than her: impossible. "Toke!" she muttered, growing frustrated.
She hasn't seen him like this▬ever. Freya didn't know what was going on with him, but no matter her encouragements, he refused to cross the intersection to the other side. She knew he wasn't scared▬he wouldn't be scared. Toke was one of the▬if not the▬bravest Viking of their age that Freya knew. He was their greatest potential. He helped her train and he believed in her and he was at her side▬he gave her the courage she was so determined to have.
It didn't make sense to her to see him so frozen.
Astrid noticed. They locked gazes across the aisle and something passed between them that Freya wasn't privy to▬that she didn't know. And some part of her felt hurt by it.
The Hofferson seemed to clench her jaw. She seemed to take a furious breath through her nose but she said nothing▬she could not say a word. Instead, she turned to Freya and gestured▬furiously▬for her to go across.
Freya didn't understand. She pointed to the Toke▬Astrid only got more angry. She made a wilder gesture▬not a demand, but an order for Freya to move.
She clenched her jaw, too, getting angry.
They were wasting time. Freya hated to listen to Astrid▬she hated how she automatically could command a room; could throw out orders and have others listen to them. Freya hated how she couldn't do the same.
She gritted her teeth and rolled across the intersection, leaving Toke behind. Once she reached the other side, she glanced back with a breath of confusion. Her best friend did not meet her gaze.
Hiccup was the last to cross. It seemed like all those who would follow would make it without startling the dragon skulking around nearby. But then Hiccup's shield weighed him back before he could stand up▬he hit the ground with a loud, echoing clang.
The Deadly Nadder noticed him with a high-pitched squawk. Hiccup yelped and scrambled to his feet, dragging his shield back off the ground just in time. He yelled, missing the slamming clamp of the dragon's jaw by just inches. It spat out the fur of his coat.
They scattered. Hiccup and Toke went one way, Freya, Astrid and Snotlout sprinted the other. The Deadly Nadder leapt up on top of the maze walls, stepping along them with long, clawed talons like an oversized bird▬picking and choosing who to target next.
Freya gasped and skidded to a stop when it landed right in front of her. The dragon flared its wings and tilted its head so it could stare at her with one, big, yellow eye. She tried to avoid it, knowing a dragon's eye could very well make a Viking turn into a daze with fear. It followed her movement, hunching low to make sure it would lose sight of her. Freya frowned, tilting her head back at it▬startled for a moment to see its head movement follow almost to the exact: and there was a breath of curiosity in that single, wide reptile gaze. Enough curiosity to copy her for a moment instead of try to kill her▬maybe confused, maybe intrigued, maybe playful; so intelligent that it toyed with its food before it finally ate it.
Or maybe something else.
She was smaller than most Nadder's Freya has seen. The average Deadly Nadder stood as tall as one and a half good-sized Vikings with a wingspan of just over fifty-three feet. This one would barely reach over the height of the average Viking▬eye-balling it, Freya would guess she was just nine feet tall, two feet shorter than the common Deadly Nadder.
But she was vicious. She was energetic▬she snarled and she scraped her talons on the stone; her tail was alight with sharp spikes, ready to throw at short notice▬but she did not strike the young girl who was smaller than all the other Vikings in this maze, as well.
Freya took a deep breath and held up her axe in a grip that all of the sudden, trembled. Her small, pathetic axe▬but she did not throw it.
The dragon eyed it, and then it went back to eyeing her▬she snarled lowly; a strange, guttural squawk. Freya finally locked its gaze▬fully▬and for some reason, without realising, she found herself faltering. Her grip fell, it slipped▬she started to lower her aim just to frown, perplexed by the swirl of the Deadly Nadder's eye.
She couldn't quite explain it. Years after, even as she writes these memoirs, Freya Balderofferson could never quite explain what this moment was like, truly. It was something that a person needed to experience themselves to really understand what passed between her and this Deadly Nadder right now. At this age, right in this moment, it scared her. It made her hitch her breath and her heart race, terrified because she knew that it was something she wasn't supposed to feel▬that it was different.
For how could she look into this deadly creature and ... and be met with the mirror reflection of a passing stream▬of the sky to the ocean: a looking glass that matched the person Freya was as well as the person she was begging to become▬that she'd do anything to be.
How could that even be possible?
"Freya!"
Her gaze snapped▬the feeling was ripped away from her and she stumbled to be separated from it so quickly. She couldn't even blink as Astrid raced to her, hefting up her axe in a breathless horror to see her stand, unarmed, against a dragon that could very well kill her.
She went to throw it, and for a moment, Freya nearly cried out for her to stop▬
Until Snotlout decided to but in▬he shoved them both aside and declared, "Watch out, babe▬it's okay, I'll take care of this▬" he kissed the hilt of his mace and flung it out towards the Deadly Nadder.
His confidence dropped▬as did his face▬when his mace took a wide arc and hit the wall, and not the dragon he aimed it at. The Deadly Nadder watched it go, the crowns on the back of her head folding back. Then, she turned back and ... was that sound a laugh?
Astrid glowered at Snotlout. He flushed. "The▬" he quickly stumbled out an excuse, "▬the sun was in my eyes, Astrid." She scoffed and took off at another run. Freya followed, ducking to avoid the magnesium blast that showered overhead. Snotlout was still rambling as they did. "What do you want me to do? Block out the sun? I▬I mean, I can do that but I don't have the time right now▬"
Freya took a sharp left, quickly ducking out of the Nadder's view line. Snout had a similar idea, rushing right. Astrid wasn't so lucky▬the dragon narrowed its gaze down onto her and she gasped, pushing her legs to run faster as it followed her through the maze. It matched her speed and the both of them crashed into the wall as they took the next turn; it toppled over nearby an oblivious Hiccup who didn't even blink as a Viking and a rage-full dragon sprinted past.
"I mean▬" he was saying to Gobber above, "▬they probably take the daytime off, right? Like a cat..."
All around them, the maze fell apart. Freya, Toke and Snotlout had to race to the front to avoid being crushed by collapsing wooden fences three times their size. The Twins and Fishlegs joined them▬the latter screaming at the top of his lungs.
It was a game of cat and mouse. Astrid ducked left and right▬the Nadder followed; smaller and therefore much swifter than the rest of its kind. She could take sharp turns and could leap upwards in a moments notice, catching up to Astrid in split-seconds.
The Hofferson cried out, running up a falling wall and leapt onto the next▬she ran a pathway onto of the collapsing maze, very much like a Deadly Nadder herself.
Hiccup was the only one yet to run for his life to safety. "H▬has anyone ever seen one napping?" he asked Gobber.
The blacksmith looked onwards and his eyes widened, "Hiccup▬!"
He finally glanced backwards and his shoulders hunched up in horror to see the walls start to crash down right towards him▬with Astrid in their wake.
She leapt onto the next one▬there were no more left. She jumped and gasped, realising too late as the only thing there to cushion her fall was...
"HICCUP▬!"
He stood no chance.
Astrid landed right on top of Hiccup▬they became a mess of interlocked limbs and frustrated breaths. Her axe had lodged right into his shield.
Hiccup froze. He did not move. He just stared up at her, shocked to silence. The Nadder stumbled past them▬she crashed into a pile of fallen wood from the maze.
As the dust lifted away, Astrid struggled▬she gritted her teeth and cried out, frustrated as she tried to force herself away only to trip back down closer; she kneed Hiccup's calf and he mumbled out a small breath of pain. He couldn't get a word in to help her▬too afraid of the sharp axe that was stuck in his shield next to his head.
The Twins peered over nearby rubble the rest of them had decided to hide in. They chuckled at the sight.
"Ooooh! Love on the battlefield."
"She could do better."
"Hey!" Fishlegs said, looking offended. He pointed to Freya. "Don't say that. Hiccup and Freya are betrothed▬"
Freya groaned loudly in protest and threw her head into her hands as the Twins' laughter only grew. "Fishlegs, seriously?! Shut up!"
Astrid finally managed to free herself. She pushed herself to stand, kicking Hiccup in the process. "OW!" he exclaimed.
The crash to their left told them that the Deadly Nadder had shaken off the wooden maze walls. She roared and flared her wings, throwing her head▬Astrid hitched a breath. Terrified, she grasped her axe hilt and tugged. It did not move. She tugged and she tugged and she tugged▬Hiccup did little to help. He only hunched up and let out a muffled complaint when her foot planted itself on his cheek.
The dragon reared her head and charged.
Astrid pulled one final, mighty tug.
Hiccup managed to let go of his shield and she rushed forwards▬she spun, shield, axe and all▬
Just as the Deadly Nadder opened her jaw, Astrid slammed her weapon across its head with so much force, the shield shattered.
The dragon cowered▬she hid her head under her wing and limped away. Defeated and in pain, the Deadly Nadder cowered all the way back to her cage.
Astrid stayed there a moment longer to watch it go. She pursed her lips and clenched her eyes shut, trying to calm her racing heart. She took a few deep breaths, Gobber's words of: "Well done, Astrid▬" far away, in the back of her mind.
Instead, as she scanned the rubble around them▬seeing Toke, and Freya, and then finally Hiccup, she was filled with a surge of furious, livid anger.
She spun to the Chief's son hunched and curled up still on the ground. She pointed her axe at him, "Is this some kind of a joke to you?!" Astrid seethed, glancing up and meeting Freya and Toke's gaze briefly▬Freya hung her head, realising that she was speaking to her, too. "Our parents' war is about to become ours! Figure out which side you're on!"
Freya glanced up again, and her blood ran cold when she noticed her mother. She thought she would be happy to see her▬relieved, excited ... but instead, all she felt was this breath of shame; of defeat. It channeled into embarrassment, that soon turned into anger▬Freya was on her feet and stormed out of the arena, realising that her mother did not see who she could be, but the one person she wanted to be, but could never.
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a/n: still behind on the toke design sorryyyyyyy.
I'm sick :( so httyd cos comfort
I've done so may fics for httyd at this stage I deserve to be able to swap stormfly with freya's deadly nadder in this chapter.
that's gonna be my reason for everything lol. this book is like purely fun and comfort for me, I'm writing what I want - channelling my own anger and issues into freya's-
I mean .. what?
lol anyway it's been a little while since I've updated - swamped with uni plus going thru other hyperfixations, but here's a new chapter <33333
also her dragon is so cute just wait-