Chapter 3
~ Astrid's POV ~

Once Hiccup had left, I turned to the rescued stowaway girl sitting on a bench at my table and smiled. "Hey...I'm Astrid. What's your name?"
"Eva..." She replied quietly.
I perched on the bench beside her and clasped my hands together. "Okay, can I get you anything?"
She shook her head quickly and looked up to me.
I couldn't draw my prying eyes from the scar that owned her beautiful face.
"What's that?" I asked, gesturing to something she had clutched in her hand to distract myself.
At my question she slowly rested it on the table. I gasped and took it quickly. It was a leather band that had a small tooth knotted to it. But this wasn't just any tooth.

This was Night Fury tooth.

I frowned and held it up. "Where did you get this?" I demanded.
The girl rubbed her shoulder gently and sighed. "We all get one...Only Skull Hunters born get one...It's like a birth mark."

"Hey, would you mind if I held onto this for a little while?...I'd like to show this to someone."

"Uh...No...That's okay. But take care of it...It's all I have left of my home..."

"Sure thing. Lucy! Come' on! We're going down to the stables, if you need us, we'll be down there." I grinned, sounding too excited at the prospect.

Odin knows I wasn't excited about the stables!

Eva nodded and I hesitantly stepped out of the door with my daughter jumping in beside me.
"Bye."

The sun was climbing high above us now as we took the path to the dragon stables in search of Stormfly.
"Mummy, when can I have a dragon?" Lucy asked,...again.

"Lucy, you ask this every single day! I've told you, we won't let you have a dragon until you're a little bigger!"

She pouted and folded her arms defensively. I felt another battle coming on. For the past six months she had been begging for a dragon and trying to prove that she was big enough and old enough to care for one of her own.
"But Mummy, I am big enough! 'Strong as an ox' Uncle Gobber says!" she argued, tensing her muscles and clenching her fists to show her...well...Hiccup-like strength.

"I know but...-" I sighed with a laugh and took her hand as we stepped through the arches of the Dragon Stables entrance. "-Wait until you're older. For now, play with the dragons around you."

As if on cue, Stormfly flew down from her perch towards us and nuzzled Lucy gently, drawing a laugh from the child.
"I bet I could ride you better than Mummy can! She just won't let me yet!" she whispered to the dragon with a giggle.

I shook my head slowly and chuckled as Hookfang waddled over, his yellow eyes wide and bright as usual.
"Hey Hook, how you doing, big boy." I said affectionately, scratching his rough chin.
He growled softly back in reply, smoke rising from his wide and noisy snout.
I ran my fingers lower down his neck and must of caught an itch as his eyes glazed over and he set free a small blast of fire into one of the wooden beams. Lucy screamed and ran behind my legs, clinging to me.
"Lucy! He just breathed! Don't be such a scaredy-cat!" I laughed, rubbing her head.
"But I thought he was gonna burn me up!" she complained, grabbing my knees and peeping from between them.
"This is why you can't have a dragon yet! If you're afraid of a little blast, what will you do when he does a big blast?!" I asked, waving my arms for emphasis.

"Okay, I get it...No dragon..." she sighed, her arms dropping solemnly to her sides.
I grabbed Stormfly's saddle and threw it onto her back, her rawking and writhing excitedly.
"Easy girl! You are sparky this morning!" I laughed, trying to tighten the buckle was hard work with her wriggling so much.

"I may have fed her...the wrong meal..." whimpered a voice from behind me.

I had come to love hearing this voice, over-time, after our perilous meeting five years ago.
"Eret! What did you give her?!" I demanded, huffing breathlessly while I tried to control her.

"I may have fed her...one of the Hobblegrunt's meals..." he mumbled, gesturing to stacks of baskets of chicken set out for the new Hobblegrunt babies that had been born last week.
"You mutton head! Do you know what chicken does to Nadders?!" I commanded, stumping my hands to my hips.

"Um...nope..." he muttered, attaching his hands behind his back and guiltily eyeing me up, his face plastered with a naughty smile.
I rolled my eyes and puffed out my chest. "Chicken to Deadly Nadders like yak-parfait to Snotlout the night before Snoggle-tog!"

Eret shivered at the thought of how hyper the viking had gotten after eating yak-parfait last Snoggle Tog with the twins, though it didn't effect the Thorstons the same, they have a strong immunity to sugar highs.

As he didn't answer, I tapped Eret's shoulder with a wry smile. "Yes...That bad, dragon rider!"
He took a deep and guilty breath as Lucy skipped up to him and stood at his feet. "Mummy says your brain is under siege like Daddy's!"

Eret raised an eyebrow and smirked, folding his arms. "Is that so, squirt?" He asked, still watching me.

I just smiled, still trying to control Stormfly's wriggling.

"So as so can be." Lucy replied, imitating him by folding her arms.
Eret lifted her up from behind, making her squeal, and dropped her on his shoulders.
"Should we help Mummy hold the dragon down?"

"Uh.....Nah."

"Okay."

They stood and watched me struggle for a moment before I stopped, now red-faced and frustrated, and turned to them. "Eret...Help me get her under control would you?! Don't just stand there!" I shouted in anger.

He pointed blissfully to my daughter and grinned cheekily. "Sorry ma'am, but my orders come from Lady Haddock. And she said...'nah.'"

I sighed deeply and glared at my little girl who proceeded to giggle and grab Eret's head for balance, covering his eyes.
"Well, would Lady Haddock kindly order her servant to help me control a dragon that is as high as a kite?!" I asked, as eloquently as Toothless' asks for an eel.
"Yes. Mr. Eret son of Mr. Eret, would you help Mummy control Stormfly." Ordered Lucy with another giggle.

Eret nodded and the three of us finished saddling her up. Eret's strength managed to hold her steady while I boarded before she thrust herself out of the wooden stables and into the summer air.
The wind gushed over my face and through my hair while my crazy dragon flung herself aimlessly through the air.

"Whoa! Stormfly! Calm down!" I gasped as she flew faster, getting more and more worked up and excited as the seconds flew by slower than us.
She ignored me and continued to glide faster and now perform our dangerous tricks, though, without my control.
She tail-flipped and nearly stabbed me with a wave of spines, then she twirled and nearly killed us both with the impact into the water, then as she glided toward the cliffs where we had been practising a new trick, she gained speed.
"Stormfly! Slow down! We're coming in too hot!" I begged with a cry.

It was as though she was under the mind control of the Bewilderbeast again!

Stormfly finally seemed to see what was going on as we were moments from impact and she panicked.
"Agh! Stormfly! Up, up, up, up, up, up, up!" I ordered, as though saying it more would make her do it easier.

My dragon roared, but continued flailing through the air towards the cliff as she was unable to stop now.

It was too late.

Stormfly would probably survive the impact, but if I hit first, I wouldn't stand a chance beneath her weight, so I jumped.
I leapt from my dragon and soared through the air toward the water.
As I prepared for the slap of the water to hit me, something grabbed me.
My heart was thumping so hard I was struggling to breathe, and I couldn't open my eyes to see my saviour until I heard his voice.
"Afternoon, milady! You shouldn't ride a dragon that is high on dragon nip!" he laughed.
I gasped and finally looked up knowing I was safe. "I know, Hiccup, dragon 1-0-1! But I thought it would wear off, it's not dragon nip, it's a chicken overdose!" I laughed.

"Aye, I can see that. Let's go and see if she's okay." he laughed back, giving me a hand up onto Toothless.

"Hey, I thought you were over by Mildew's house?!"

"No, I came over to get more wood from the shed, but then I saw you flying Stormfly and knew something was wrong because of the speed you were flying."

I wrapped my arms around his waist and clutched the ribs of the scaly beast with my knees for extra balance. "Gotcha."

Hiccup glided down to the beach where Stormfly had landed awkwardly. "Stormfly!" I shouted in worry as we landed. The dragon stood as we ran over to her. She seemed fine besides taking a bump to the head.
"And you survived another near-death experience, how many is that now?" Hiccup smirked jokingly.

"I lost count when we were kids, you oaf!" I chuckled, giving him a gentle shove.
He grabbed my hand and we started walking back through the forest to the plaza.

We strolled through the thickly crowded pine trees that towered above all on our island hand-in-hand silently.
"Where's Lucy?" Hiccup asked finally, breaking the quietness.

"With Mr. Eret."

"Why does she call him that? I asked her but she didn't explain, she just started ranting about how funny he was." Hiccup explained with confusion.

"Haha...yes. Ask your mother, she has a love of manners. But Lucy adores Eret and I trust him." I decided, swinging my axe in my clutched fingers.

"There are few people you trust. He's a lucky man." Hiccup smirked, raising an eyebrow.

I glared at him and punched his shoulder.

"Ow!" Hiccup yelped, chuckling.

"You're a lucky man. Lucky you're not dead." I assured him.

Hiccup threw his head back and laughed aloud before his green eyes fell upon me again. "When should we let her ride dragons?" Hiccup asked.

He pestered almost as much as she did.
I swung my axe into a tree and huffed angrily. "Hiccup...I thought we talked about this. She is four years old! You were fifteen when you found Toothless!"

Hiccup started carving into a tree with his penknife while I went off an axe attack.
"But I didn't have the two best dragon riders for parents!" Hiccup argued. "In fact, I only had a father who took no pride in me whatsoever. I had no friends, I had no choice and I had no future. Dragons fixed that for me! I want her to learn as soon as possible!"

I grabbed his shoulders and stared into the face I fell in love with that night he showed me that dragons weren't who we thought they were.

"Hiccup. You are not putting my baby girl on a fire-breathing lizard without an adult until she's twelve."
"Seriously!" he groaned, throwing his arms in the air.

"Yup."

"She's my daughter too."

"You did not carry her, give birth to her and feed her from your own body. She is my daughter, unless it's the middle of the night or she's carrying an axe. She carries an axe like you."

Hiccup glared at me this time and it was my turn to smirk.
"And how do I carry an axe?" He asked, tentatively as though he didn't want to know the answer.

"Like you're not proud of it."

"I'm not a proud person, Astrid..." he said softly, looking to his feet for comfort.

I stepped up to him and placed a hand on either side of his face, lifting it up so he was looking at me.
"But you should take pride in who you are, Hiccup."

"I take pride in you. And in my baby girl. And of course, my dragon." He sighed.

I kissed him gently, drawing a smile to his tired face. "First you need to take pride in who you are. You are my husband and my daughter's father, and I love you.
I didn't fall in love with the dragon-training chief who changed the world, I fell in love with the boy who tried so hard to be who he wasn't, that he found who he was."

We walked in silence for a few minutes as we came to the clearing that lead to the plaza.
We were greeted by the squeals of our daughter.
"Mummy, Daddy!" Lucy screamed as she ran towards us and threw herself at Hiccup.
He caught her and lifted her up, a big smile coming to his quiet face.
"Hey there, my little Night Fury! What are you doing here?!" he asked, resting her on the floor but admiring the red paint spread in lines across her round, flushed cheeks.

"You just crossed into Outcast territory, Daddy! Mr. Eret is-" She was cut off as Eret flew out of the bushes and took Hiccup out.
He groaned under the weight of a man twice his size, but Eret just laughed.
"Hiccup! Soil my britches! What are you doing on Outcast Island?! I am expecting an ambush from Berk at any moment!" he laughed, standing up and wiping the sweat from his forehead but only succeeding in smudging the blue paint splattered on his face.

I presumed Lucy had done his face paint.

"Err...Hey there Eret...I wasn't expecting to be ambushed by Outcast Island either! I must save the women and the children!" Hiccup laughed, sweeping Lucy up into his arms and running over the white line that had been painted across the bridge into the wild.
I jumped over and Eret tried to follow but I stumped a hand on his chest.
"Uh uh! My traitor friend! You have thrown your lot in with the outcasts and betrayed our trust! You are banished from Berk!" I decided, winking at him.
"What?!" Eret gasped, grabbing my hand.

"No! Be gone, Eret Son of Eret! You're not a Berkian, you're not my friend!"

"Astrid...the tyke will take it seriously!" he whispered, jerking his head toward Lucy.

I grinned all the more. "Do not cross this line!"

"Astrid...Astrid!" He called desperately as I strolled away and laced my hand with Hiccup's.

"Goodbye Eret!"

"Astrid!"

~*~*~*~

So, what did you think of this chapter? XD We saw a new side to Hiccup's feelings when he opened up to Astrid! What did you think of that? Or what about Eret's close relationship with Lucy, he seems to have nothing better to do :'D Yeah so, I would your feedback again, good or bad! Thank you for reading!
~ Httyd_2014 <3