"Pssst!"
"Huh?"
"Over here!"
"I don't see you?!"
"Ew! I can smell you though"
"Shut up Tuff"
"Shhh! You guys will ruin it!", I harshly whisper.
"Ruin what?"
Suddenly the loud shriek of, what Fishlegs calls, a Prickleboggle is heard with a loud echo.
"Guys!", Hiccup angrily jumps on Toothless and tries to fly after it.
"Hiccup! Don't chase him, or he won't come back", I jump on Stormfly and shout.
"Ugh. I know... you're right. We were so close...", he slouches in defeat.
"Come on", I say whipping back around and landing on a patch of green that was about a 100 feet away from the rest of the crew.
"Astrid.. why in Thor's name did we bring them along on these scouting missions?", Hiccup asks me and I giggle.
"I'm afraid you made that call a few months ago, Chief", I say scratching my good girl's chin.
"Ah yes. A wise choice from worst Viking Berk has ever seen"
I immediately punch him in the arm.
"Ow! I was just kidding", he chuckles and holds his skinny arm in pain.
"Good. Just making sure.", I roll my eyes.
"Why?"
"Oh Hiccup... you know why", I say walking towards the group of odd teenagers I now call "friends".
"Way to go H. This.. species discovering is going fantastic", Tuffnut sarcastically remarks.
"It was your guy's' fault!", I spit, axe in hand as I march over.
"Was not!", Ruffnut steps in front of her twin.
"Was too!", I challenge her.
"Astrid! Easy", Hiccup says. He grabs my arm and looks at me in the eye.
His eyes revealed little, to no emotion.
I huff and retreat to where Stormfly was standing.
I can't believe he pulled them into this, it was so much simpler and easier when it was just he and I a couple months back.
Then again, why do I care about that? He completely disregarded the moment we had and the fact that I defended him.
"Okay... gang. Everyone calm down. We just need to work on our stealth with the dragons", he says and everyone nods.
The snow heavily covered the grass now and I was starting to shiver as the short-lived sunshine of winter was beginning to fall.
I'm ready to just go home and crawl in bed.
"I think that's enough for today. Get back to Berk", he instructs and the group takes off.
Hiccup gives me a disappointed look as he climbs on his night fury.
Why in Thor's name did he just do that?
I loudly exhale and take to the brisk sky that seemed to help the steam coming out of my head.
I speed ahead of everyone in an abrupt fashion and I didn't care really.
"Astrid!", I hear the boy scream from far back.
I ignore him.
"Astrid wait!", he calls again.
"Come on girl", I pat Stormfly's neck to get her to go faster.
I spin and twirl to throw the chase off, but of course he has the fastest dragon of all of us and catches up right on Stormfly's tail.
He's soon right next to me as our dragons fly wing and wing.
"Astrid! What is going on with you?"
Going on with me?!
He was the one throwing sour expressions to me when I did absolutely nothing.
I grunt as I pull my saddle handle over and Stormfly rolls away from the two pals.
We dip to a much lower altitude and glide just above the choppy sea.
I almost want to call myself foolish, but my stubbornness becomes me.
"Astrid! Please! Tell Stormfly to slow down!", I hear again upon the screeching of Toothless.
"Why should I?!", I don't look at him.
"Talk to me! What's wrong?", he asks.
"Nothing Haddock", I roll my eyes.
Unbelievable. Now he decides to ignore everything HE just said.
"Look I'm sorry for forcefully pulling you away!", he shouts.
I begin clenching my teeth, apologizing over flying is how he handles things?! I think not!
I throw my head into my hands.
What am I doing?! Am I preventing anybody from coming near me again?
Why do I do this?
All I know is that I take my criticism and turn it into rage for my next fight.
"Astrid lookout!", Hiccup screams, but it's too late.
Stormfly spins to avoid a seastack that quickly appeared in the winter harbor-fog, but I fall into the icy waters below.
My body is flung into the needle-like sensation as I gasp for air. With each moment I try to reach the surface, my chest becomes more restricted.
Finally, claws find my arms and pull me from the freezing water. I barely have enough energy to cough out the remaining liquid in my lungs.
I am dropped on to sand after a minute or two and a panicked Hiccup is by my side.
My vision is blurry and dusk isn't helping me see his freckled face.
He takes off his fur vest and tries to wrap me in it. He struggles due to the uncontrollable shaking of my body.
"Oh gods. I did this. I'm so sorry Astrid...", he cradles me in his arms.
"N...no. It's my fau...", I say through shivers.
"Shhh. Don't talk just breathe", he rubs my arms.
Good Thor... why do I act out in these ways?
If I had just listened, he may have had an explanation.
Now he's at "fault" again and he honestly has no reason to be.
"It's getting dark. Maybe we should get back", I say with as much force as possible.
"No, I'll find us a cave or something. You can't fly while you're drenched, you'll freeze to death", he says lifting me up.
But... he can't. His weak arms struggle to lift my frail body that has dense muscles.
"Uh, little help here bud", he awkwardly helps me lay on the dragon's back.
We go over into the trees and sure enough, in the side of a cliff, there is a cave.
Hiccup quickly puts together a teepee of wood and orders Toothless to fire at it.
Within seconds a roaring flame is formed and I crawl towards its warmth.
As soon as the heat hits my face, I begin to feel a little better.
Hiccup sits by me, but his anxious and dorky face has illuminated.
I look at my soaking wet boots in shame as I hug my knees.
I feel his hands brush my arms as he wraps the vest tighter around me, he must have heard my teeth chattering.
An awkward silence falls as Toothless lays across from us by the fire.
Wait, "W...where's Stormfly?!", I begin to panic, not helping my already trembling chest.
"It's okay Astrid, she probably followed the others to Berk", he holds me, but immediately let's go.
"Ugh, I'm sorry Astrid..."
"No, I'm sorry... I just..."
"What is it? Why did you storm off like that?", he asks rather kindly, but was desperate for an answer.
"Why did you look at me like that?"
"Like what?"
"I don't know.. I had just encouraged you and then you came over and forced me away when I defended you", I say pouting like a five-year-old.
Dear Odin, I sound like one.
Being winey about a look I was given is NOT me.
"Astrid, you're beyond all of them. You may not know, but I hold you to a higher standard in my eyes", he replies and I'm taken aback. Honoring, but slightly unfair.
"I appreciate that.. but", he puts a finger on my lips.
"But, I also realized that I was dealing with Astrid Hofferson as soon as you took off", he says with guilt in his face.
"What do you mean?", I ask him.
"It means that... you're one I trust the most in this group, however, you are a fighter and a warrior. It's in your veins to want to fight for justice in any possible way. Even if it's defending my dragon scouting", he chuckles.
My heart seems to be radiating some kind of heat, because I feel a warmth inside of me that I've never felt before.
I almost want to sob I am so touched by his intentional description of who I am.
I look up at him with a sweet smile.
"That's.. erm... one of the main things I... like about you", he clears his throat.
Oh my gods he said it.
Even Toothless gives a curious purr from across the dancing flames.
"That's one of the things I like about you, you Knucklehead", I say knowing he'd be offended by the nickname.
"You're mad. But what is that?"
"I like how sensitive you are", I say and he groans.
"...and intuitive! Hiccup, no one has ever come close to understanding me like you have", I look up at him.
"I didn't think anyone would ever care to", I add.
His arms then comfortably wrap around me.
"I want to know more. I want to know why you're so passionate about certain things, I want to know what you dream about, and I want to know why you're so stubborn when it comes to actually opening up about these kinds of things", he sasses me with that last one.
I nudge him roughly, but he ignores it.
Everything about my past may frighten him. But the look he's giving me now, on this island in the middle of no where, gives me every confidence that he means every word.