Work Text:
Astrid remembered well the day when her father, Chief Hofferson, announced her imminent marriage to the new chief Berk.
She remembered every movement of her father, the intonation, how his eyes were almost invisible behind the terrifying shadow of his eyebrows and how tightly his lips were compressed, uttering words with an almost dead tone.
She could remember at what moment her mother's eyes flashed with liquid glass reflecting the flame of the fire and how she threw her long braid behind her back when she didn't want anyone to see her back hunched in annoyance.
For the first time, Astrid didn't rush to comfort her. She clasped her hands under the table, twitching the thumb on her right hand with more force than necessary and ignored the crunch of her own bones.
- "Why?"
Why now, why so suddenly and why was she the last person in the room who was asked about her marriage? They should have a decent reason for this, not to mention that they should have a reason at all.
Looking at other girls who were forcibly married at an even earlier age, Astrid never put herself next to them, even as the daughter of a leader, she had absolute confidence that it would not affect her. Her father had once assured her of this, when she could not even carry two axes and was as tall as a troll. Now, his words seemed alien to her, as if it was the evil Loki who played a joke on her then, as if this day was written in different ink, different from the old ones in the most prominent place of memory.
- "You know, honey, that bastard Bludvist has been grudging our lands for a long time...A week ago I received news from distant islands that one of his ships was spotted in the nearest backwater. Last night, several more ships sailed closer. " Astrid's father said weakly and a tremor in his head went along her body.- "I think we should prepare for the invasion."
I think we should prepare for an invasion.
"Maybe things would have been different if I'd been born boys." Astrid thought, and the sugary voice inside her stirred.
Perhaps you would not have been given in marriage, do not understand to whom and where, as a thoroughbred mare, for the sake of vegetables and people
Astrid twitched. There was a rustle and a sigh. She could see her mom at the far end of the room shaking her head dejectedly, but she wasn't going to do anything about it. The right to anger and anger has not yet been taken away from her.
- "Oh, sorry girl." - the woman dropped the brooch, thinking that she had plunged it too deep and hurried to apologize. - "Quite an old woman became blind that she pricked the young bride."
Astrid said nothing.
She looked at the pearls and amber beads, beautiful fabrics, brooches and tried to find something in herself besides emptiness and slow irritation.
Her mother gently took the brooch, sending the woman behind the belt for the dress and Astrid did not want to see what was hidden behind this gesture. She was not ready to have small talk with a man who took part in the organization of her soon-to-be marriage. A voice in her head reminded her that it was her mother, but she waved it away.
- "You will be respected, dear. Not only as our daughter, but also as the wife of Chief Berk. Your union will bring a lot of honor and benefits both ways..."
- "I know." The voice sounded harsher and more accusatory than she had expected, and Astrid bit herself when she turned around and bumped into her mother's fallen face. "I know that, Mom. That's why I'm standing here and letting them put all these rags on me so that my future husband wouldn't regret marrying me."
With the same effort with which she reminded herself of this, the cutting thought that it was this people and this family that was throwing her into the unknown abyss of marriage grew in her, sneaking under her skin. Astrid wondered if it could be called a betrayal and didn't want to hear the answer, fearing that he would break her heart.
The girl swallowed, swallowing suddenly accumulated saliva.
Her people continued to die, and the cold wind that carried with it a strange and frenzied smell was subtly approaching and Astrid could accept marriage if it could save them. She was ready to make any sacrifice, to surrender to a troll or a beast, to bring down the earth with her blood, just not to see that despair and fear on the faces of her parents again, not to hear the screams and crying of the neighborhood children. Astrid was the daughter of a chief, she was a Hofferson, she was a warrior, which means she should and could do everything for her people.
Instead of continuing to waste energy on anger, Astrid was going to find something to cling to.
"Did you say Chief Berk? Didn't he refuse marriage proposals after his wife's death?"
"I'm not talking about Stoic the Vast, but about his son, honey." - Astrid barely turned her head and looked at her mother out of the corner of her eye to let her know that she had no idea who she was talking about. - "About Hiccup. Gods, what kind of bride is this that she doesn't even know her fiance's name."
- "Happy?" - she suggested and came across a disapproving look from her mother.
"Your fiance is obviously fond of you, Astrid, so try not to say that in front of him."
"What do you mean?"
- "In fact, your father and I have been considering candidates for your marriage for some time...but unfortunately or fortunately, we always received refusals." her mother paused for a moment, as if ashamed to speak further. - "No one wanted to associate themselves with a drowning family, and when we were already on the verge of despair, suddenly Stoick's son himself made us proposals, asking for your hand. The Great One has decided to have mercy on us, my dear."
All the next time, the girl did not move, even when she really felt the pain from the wedding crown.
Astrid could tell exactly how much time she had spent on the road.
Her parents could not accompany her, they could not leave the island at such a time and she did not show how much she was hurt by this. Instead, she kissed her mother on both cheeks, snuggled up to her younger sister for a second longer than expected and hugged her father goodbye, assuring that everything would be fine. Everything will be fine with them, with her people, with her and this marriage.
She will not allow herself to let her family down, ruining probably their only chance for salvation. Astrid always lost her sense of duty, her own dignity. It was a part of herself that sometimes the girl hated extremely. But Astrid Hofferson was not a coward, which means that such a thing as marriage should not break her.
She kept thinking about it all the time while she watched the rocks of her native island disappear behind a wall of fog, and the sea surface fills the entire visible space.
After long days and nights, when the moon has almost risen into the sky, Astrid notices a barely noticeable light in the distance and hears an animal scream. The blood runs cold in her veins when she realizes that such a terrible and frightening growl belongs to only one living being on this earth. Dragon. Here, next to their ship, sailing alone on the icy sea and being halfway to Berk Island.
What could be more beautiful than this?
The hand involuntarily gropes for the axe and Astrid pushes with her foot Heather, her friend, who was allowed to accompany her. The girl sits down irritably, their eyes meet before another scream is heard somewhere in the air, closer and louder than last time and Heather pulls out a sword. The two of them go up to the deck, where they meet other Vikings with weapons in their hands and ready to fight for the daughter of their leader to the last drop of blood. This gives Astrid confidence for a split second, and she tightens her grip on the handle of the weapon in her hands. Whoever is out there in the clouds, it's not so easy to eat them.
The rapid and impetuous movement next to their ship causes it to sway and Astrid only has time to notice a huge and black figure that looks like a gloomy shadow. And then another one. And another one. And yet, until at least a dozen dragons gather around them.
Is this really how it's going to end?
- "It's them!" - the sound is coming from above and Astrid is too focused and scared to understand it. The air freezes inside her lungs and her eyes begin to ache from straining her vision so much in the twilight, trying to figure out how the dragon could speak.
The solution itself appears before her, in the person of several Vikings who descended on their ship from above. Astrid swallows and looks at the amazing strangers, allows herself to lower the axe an inch.
Their clothes are unlike the clothes of her tribe, they are made of leather with some ornaments, they all wear helmets that cover most of their faces, but among them all the black figure of a man stands out. He doesn't look frighteningly huge, his slender figure resembles her piece of hardened steel, but his broad shoulders are clothed in black leather with scales shimmering in the light, and his height allows you to look at a good half of the men on the deck from top to bottom. She glances at his weapon and raises the axe again, assumes a threatening look.
- "Who are you?" - she is proud of herself because her voice does not tremble. - "What do you need?"
Strangers look at each other and make way for this person. The man does not answer for a long time. No one can see his eyes because of the shadow of the mask, but Astrid feels like she is watching her. She wonders if it's time for her to attack, but her breath catches when the man suddenly removes the sword from his belt and puts it in front of her.
He speaks, and Astrid hardly understands the meaning of his words.
- "Hiccup the Terrible Haddock III, greetings to you, Astrid Hofferson."