Chapter Text
'How ignorant are you Hiccup?' She said his name like its a slur. It fell from those lips like its Changewing acid, the teenage boy in him says he likes it that way.
'You want me to withhold the location of the dragon nest...the place your very own father has dedicated a life's worth of travels to. You shrimp skinned coward...do you think I'm just some mindless girl you can take on a romantic sunset flight on and somehow magically change my entire world view?!? How dare you. How dare you! How dare you assume I'll betray my tribe, my 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 just to protect some selfish dream of yours?'
'You-uh, you thought the flight was romantic?' Ah Hel, He shouldn't have said that.
She made an angry grunting sound that reminded him scarily of a stampeding wild yak.
'THAT is what you focus on? Come on Hiccup. Y'know for a split second... I thought you were different. you intrigued me, someone new and wild in this dull little village. I guess you were too wild for me. Cya, dragon-boy.'
Those words cut deep. Hiccup really was a failure. He just hurt Astrid Hofferson. The girl with Hofferson bravery that cussed like a Thorston but fought like a Jorgenson. Maybe hes childish, but for a couple long moments on that flight, when she wrapped her arms around hi and pulled him close, letting out that soft sigh, he thought they could work.
A stubborn, viking part of him wished that those moments could be him future, if he fought hard enough of course. So he reached outward, hoping those wispy golden locks would pull him in and hold him close once again.
'Astrid, 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵.'
Her hair danced away from him the wind betraying him in a way its never done before. She sighed, he watched that plume of warm air escape her mouth and blend in with the breeze. How he wishes he could fall into her breath, let it guide him like a dragon.
'I'm not gonna tell anyone about your dragon, or the nest. Just-'
________
'-Just leave me alone.'
Those words repeated in his head, over and over. It was realistically the best case scenario, but Thor, he wishes she'd said something else. That girl sure knows how to stay in your head.
Currently I'm hundreds of metres in the air, resting on top of Toothless, staring down at the blue void below me. Rippling water welcomes my tired brain. The swirling blue looks like an awfully nice place to take a nap. Toothless seems to be struggling too, the hours of flying through the night boring him rather than tiring him. It was boresome for the two of them but they could mutually appreciate being together up in the air.
Bundles of supplies weighed them down, Nets, spears, rope, knives, food, a cauldron but most importantly...
Books. It was cliche of course but they were plenty useful. A botany book his mother had written, a book filled with plans he'd prepared to create traps for small animals and other novels of that nature. He had made sure to grab countless empty and personal notebooks, as well as a author's lifetime worth of ink. Hiccup was as prepared as he could be.
More hours passed, he mourned a time where some semblance of the sun still lived in the sky. The earliest morning breeze filled his lungs and he grinned watching the island peek over the horizon.
Hiccup lurched forward, excitedly pointing towards the land in the distance. All of his body weight dropped forward, he beamed.
'Toothless look! That place is gonna be our home bud.'
He gets a warble in response. '𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞.' Toothless chirps. It was one of the few words in Dragonese Hiccup could understand.
'𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞.' Hiccup chirped back in what he knew was broken dragonese.
Home.
They landed on the rocky shore of the island, neither could communicate over the crashing of waves. Toothless peered hungrily at the sleek bodies of seals resting in the rocky chaos. Hiccup willed the dragon away from the shore, the two flying up to circle the island. Hiccup stared down at each cave and crevice, trying to find something suitable but secluded. That's when he noticed it, a waterfall that seemed to be covering something else. Toothless flew closer, landing softly on a cliff side.
'See that buddy? That's 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞.'
Tucked behind the waterfall was a light cave. It wasn't particularly deep, but the location was hidden and difficult to get to without a flying friend. Hiccup wasn't particularly expecting visitors on this tiny island, but it didn't hurt to be careful.
'Lets get these bags off you bud.' Hiccup smiled at the relieved warble he got in response.
He didn't unpack much, choosing to use the weaved barrels he used for transportation as storage containers. Hiccup laid down a nest of rugs and rags down on the floor, the pile seemingly more comfortable than his bed at Berk. He didn't miss that wooden coffin, not yet.
Later that morning, (Hiccup has a lot of sleeping to catch up on.) he and Toothless grab a seal for the dragon. Hiccup eats fish and cabbage. By the look of the food he brought, he's going to have to start planting crops and scavenging for herbs very soon. But that can wait, the boy is not going to procrastinate on sleeping any longer. It's time to rest his head.
________
When the son crawled back into the sky, Berk began the usual its usual routine. Farmers had long since awoken, tending to crops and livestock. Bucket was trying to remember if chickens laid eggs or not. The twins were tipoeing outside Fishlegs's house, waiting for him to step outside so they could Loki him. Gothi was staring out into the water knowingly. Everything was normal.
Astrid was not normal. She was training, throwing axes at a disheveled piece of wood that she doubted could be called a target anymore. More like...a pile of splinters. She couldn't get that stupid frog faced boy out of her head. Hiccup, you douche-bag. She angrily yanked the axe out of the kindling. Astrid can't believe shes protecting him, especially after he took the opportunity to kill a monstrous nightmare from her.
She growled to herself, picking up the nearest weapon, a bow and arrow and firing it for what felt like seconds before she ran out arrows. Once her quiver was depleted she picked up the next nearest weapon, continuing the cycle.
By the time someone interrupted her she was drowning in sweat and tears, bent over herself and crying from exhaustion with each breath. The son shone from the centre of the sky.
'Hey Astrid?' Tuffnut called out.
'Jeez you look like you just wrestled a hungry gronkle...' Ruffnut sneered.
Astrid stared at the two, still hunched over while waiting for their reason to disrupt her. A few long moments passed before Tuffnut spoke.
'The chiefs wondering if you've seen Hiccup. He's supposed to duel the MONSTROUS NIGHTMARE this evening!' He wiggled his fingers at her.
'Why would you ask me? Why would- why would I know? Or care?! He's probably got himself eaten by a NIGHTFURY. Stupid Hiccup- he's not my friend so why would I now where HE is?! I don't care! Shut up, go away!'
Ruffnut laughed, Tuffnut gasped. 'Who possessed our dear Hofferson?! It's the underwear goblins Gobber was talking about, I told you!' Tuffnut gripped his waistband protectively. 'Come on sister! Before they get you too...' The twins retreated.
Astrid ran her fingers through her sweaty hair, tucking the strands behind her ears as opposed to their previous home on her forehead. Astrid then decided the best order of distance is to trek to a far away river, take off her clothes and live in the fresh water for a while.
She came home when it was time to watch how Hiccup will deal with the dragon. He won't kill it, she knows that, but how is he going to survive this? She expected many things to happen.
What she didn't expect was to found the crowd, usually chanting for dragon (or viking) blood, to be standing in a panicked frenzy.
'Hes not here, no one has seen him all day..'
'What if he got lost while out practicing dragon mastery?'
'Hes out all day every day, no way he doesn't know every tree on this island, how could he get lost?'
'He couldn't have ran away? No way, not when his life on berk issuddenly celebrated.'
'I say a dragon swallowed him whole.'
'What if a beast took him like they took Valka...?'
'SILENCE!' A voice louder then anyone else's boomed, Stoick. 'My son hasn't been seen since yesterday. I'm going to send out search parties across the island. Hiccup will be alright, he is not missing, he is not dead. Until he has returned we shall postpone the fight. Volunteers can me-...in...th......gre...hall..wi...the---...n...hour.'
Hiccup is gone.
He wouldn't have- no. Hiccup wouldn't leave Berk.
I don't wait to be organised into a search party. I know where he is, so I run.
When I get to the cove I expect him to be there with his dragon, sleeping in the sun or drawing plans for his next failed invention. There was nothing.
'Astrid!' A nasally, far away voice, accompanied by the crashes of trees and sticks.
What?
'Astrid! Why did you run all the way over here? Do you think hes...'
Snotlout, of course that creep would follow me. I rev up my arm, prepared to punch his lights out, prepared for his eyes to be peering at me like I'm a prize to be won. But, surprisingly, the boy isn't looking at me, but passed me. He runs down the cove, tripping down a dirt hill and landing on his face.The annoyingly stubborn viking, gets straight back up and runs toward a spot in the ground.
'HUMAN AND DRAGON TRACKS! GET STOICK!' oh.
_________
Later that night Hiccup is pronounced missing in action. The tracks obviously showed him getting taken by a dragon, the species unknown. Fishlegs said it was likely a strike or stoker class based on the claw prints. I knew what it was already. There were no boats stolen, no other ways he could've gotten off the island. Few believe hes alive, I know he is.
A small part of me is happy for Hiccup. He got out, I never could.