Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The trading town was nothing like Astrid had ever seen before. The harbor was huge, containing more ships than she had ever seen in one place. The market was packed with people, buying and selling every manner of trade goods. The houses were squeezed together behind the tall wooden walls tighter than anything Astrid had ever seen. The whole place also smelled like a privy on a ripe summer afternoon, but no place was perfect. She knew that well enough now.

The whole town was nothing like Berk, and she couldn't help but be thankful for it. The last thing she needed was anything that reminded her of her home village. Berk had been the place she was born, the place she grew up, the place where nearly all her happy memories were set. But some things can't be forgiven so easily.

They all knew what she could expect from the Dragon Master. At best she would have been murdered to appease whatever dark gods he got his powers from. At worst... well, she still had nightmares about what the worst entailed.

Except the Dragon Master had refused her. He had turned his back on Berk's sacrifice, as if their attempts to buy his mercy with blood were as laughable as their attempts to buy it with gold. Without once looking back, he climbed on his nightfury and flown off into the night, and the raids continued like they always had.

Her first order of business the next day had been to hunt down Fishlegs and Tuffnut and have them brag up and down about how they had taken her virginity. Well, Tuffnut did most of the bragging, making up as many raunchy and improbably details as he could. Fishlegs could do nothing but flush red and nod in confirmation. They hadn't actually taken her virginity, but that was only a minor detail. As far as she was concerned, Tuffnut could tell the entire archipelago him and Fishlegs had her both at the same time, so long as it meant she was never in that situation again. She never wanted to feel that scared and helpless again.

Things had gone back to what they once had been. Except they hadn't. No matter how she tried, Astrid could never forget that the people around her, her friends, family, and neighbors, had all been prepared to offer her up to the devil himself. Except that the devil had refused.

She couldn't stay. So she had bribed her way onto the next traders ship coming into Berk, and turned her back on everything she had known till then.

Of course all she had at the moment was the clothes on her back, her axe, and the little she had been able to stuff into a travel bag before the ship sailed. But there was always a need for warriors. Someone, one of the traders maybe, would be needing a guard or an extra hand. All she needed to do was ask around.

In fact she was already eying up one trader. A young man who had come into the tavern with a sack full of assorted trinkets and a bag full of black jewels of some kind. He didn't look much like a warrior. He certainly didn't have the stature the other warriors back on Berk had. Perhaps he could use a guard. Those jewels he was trying to trade to the bar-keep looked valuable enough to need guarding.

She was just trying to think of the best way to approach him, when he turned and she got her first good look at his face. Everything suddenly screeched to a halt, and the only thing she could think, was that what she's seeing was impossible.

He was dead. He was devoured by a nightfury. She saw it with her own eyes. There was nothing left. It had been five years. The face had changed. But there's no denying it's him, except that it can't be him. It can't! There's no way the man she is looking at is actually...

---

"Hiccup!?"

Everything in Hiccup freezes. He recognizes that voice. Sure enough, when he turns around there's Astrid Hofferson herself, sitting at one of the tables, looking right at him, gaping like she has just seen the ghost of Baldur.

"She knows." Is the first thought that goes through his panicking brain.

She must know. Why else would she, or anyone from Berk, be here of all places? She knows he's alive. She knows he's the Dragon Master. He must have given himself away somehow. On that night, when she was kneeing in the dirt, dressed as a bride, like some sick parody of a wedding.

He still has nightmares about that night.

She must have recognized him somehow. He doesn't know what or how, but something must have slipped. Something must of given him awaybecause why else would she be here!?

Now, the smart thing to do would have been to stay calm. To look at Astrid blankly and say "I'm sorry. You must haven mistaken me for someone else." Play it calm. Play it cool. He was supposed to be dead after all. Do what anyone would do when a complete stranger mistakes them for someone they know.

Except he doesn't stay calm. He doesn't play it cool.

Instead he panics and bolts for the nearest window.

---

Edna and Ida had seen it all. In eighty years, they had lived through dragon raids, viking raids, two famines, three plagues, five weddings and a tsunami. They had raised over twelve children between the two of them, and trice that many grandchildren. Nothing surprised them anymore.

Therefore they didn't so much a twitch when a young man practically flew out of the open window of the tavern, hit the ground in a cloud of dust, and took off running as if Fenris himself was after him. Nor did they react when a young lady carrying an axe burst out the door, screamed "HICCUP HADDOCK YOU HAVE A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO!" and took off after him.

"Looks like one of them finally caught up to him," Edna remarked, not once looking up from her knitting.

"Looks like it," Ida agreed.

Across the street Hiccup skidded to a stop, looked around frantically, and took off again, Astrid at his heels.

"Don't think I've seen her around before," Edna remarked.

"Don't think I've seen her either," Ida nodded. "Must be from another village."

"Must be," Edna agreed. They watched as Hiccup came into view again, scaled a stack of barrels, and scrambled desperately onto the roof of a nearby house. Astrid followed after him, seizing the eaves with both hands and hauled herself up after him.

"Probably told her he was going to marry her," Ida remarked.

"Probably," Edna concurred. "She's probably been chasing him all over the isles."

"Probably already got a babe in her belly too," Ida added.

They watched Hiccup leap from roof to roof, even doing an impressive flip onto a protruding beam on a house on the other side on the street. Astrid kept right on his tail.

"No more charming fisherman's daughters for that lad," Edna stated, a smile ghosting on her lips.

"Nope." Ida agreed, an identical smile crossing her face.

Hiccup zoomed past them at ground level, running full-tilt directly towards the marketplace. Astrid was right behind him, her axe raised high.

The two woman glanced at each other, and started to climb slowly to their feet.

"Don't want to miss the ending now do we?" Edna proclaimed.

---

A rather large crowd had gathered to watch the spectacle by the time Edna and Ida had made it the market square. But, as respected elders of the community, they had no problems pushing their way through and finding a bench at the front of the crowd.

It was quiet the sight. Years of dragon riding had endowed Hiccup with a rather strong sense of balance, not mention that some of the stupider stunts he had pulled had turned him into quiet the acrobat. Therefore the crowd was getting quiet the eyeful as he ducked and dodged around Astrid's deadly axe swings.

"Astrid, I know this looks really bad," Hiccup gabbered out, ducking out of the way of a particularly vicious swing that would have otherwise decapitated him.

"I thought you were dead!" Astrid shrieked, bringing her axe down in a chop that would have otherwise castrated Hiccup had he not managed to roll out of the way. "You went up against a nightfury! There was nothing left of you!"

"Well to be fair," Hiccup continued, vaulting over a barrel and reflecting off a wall. "You didn't actually see me get eaten."

Astrid's axe slammed into the wall, inched from his head. The crowd burst into applause.

"I mourned you!" Astrid snarled. "We all did!"

"Mourned me!?" There was bitterness in Hiccup's voice as he ducked behind a statue of a local hero. "The only thing they mourned was that I died before I stopped being Hiccup the Screwup!"

"That's what you think!?" Astrid hissed, rounding the statue just in time to see Hiccup dart to the other side. "What about your dad!? I spent years thinking you'd died horribly to save me. Instead I find you've spent those years hiding in this town like a coward."

"You think all I've been doing is hiding!?" Hiccup moved to dart around the statue again.

Astrid's knee hit him right in the groin.

Pain exploded throughout his body, and his entire digestive system lurched towards his mouth. He hit the ground like a gronckle shot out of the sky.

"That," Astrid hissed, "was for the lies. This," The butt of her axe struck him in the stomach. "Was for everything else."

The crowd burst into loud applause and cheering. Astrid and Hiccup froze as copper coins rained down on the ground in front of them, suddenly aware of the massive crowd of spectators for the first time. With the show apparently over, the mass of people went back to business, exchanging quips about how that had been the best street show they'd seen all year.

Hiccup let out groan of pain and shakily started pushing himself to his feet. He was helped by Astrid seizing the front of his tunic and hauling him up to eye level.

"You owe me some explanations Hiccup."

Chapter Text

"All right Hiccup. Talk."

"What about?" Hiccup laughed weakly. His eyes darted around the tavern room like a corned animal looking for an escape. It was an apt metaphor. Astrid was not planning on letting him go until she squeezed the answers out of him, one way or the other.

"I want to know what's going on. You went up against a nightfury! How are you still alive? What are you doing here? Why haven't you gone back to Berk?"

"I could ask you the same things," Hiccup shot back.

"Excuse me?" Astrid hissed, stepping closer to glare at him.

"What are you doing here? Why haven't you gone back to Berk?"

"That is none your business," she snapped back.

"Then why are my reasons any of yours?" Hiccup retorted.

"I'm not the one who faked their own death, and ran away, leaving everyone to mourn them!" Astrid had drawn her axe now, and was now holding it to his throat. "Tell me what happened now."

"O-okay." Hiccup stammered out, his wide eyes focused on the axe. "I'll tell you... LOOKOUT! BEHIND YOU!"

It's a cheap trick, a dirty trick, and it works. Astrid's brief moment of distraction is enough opportunity for him to dive out the window.

---

Edna and Ida were sitting outside with their knitting, when Astrid returned to the inn. Hiccup was thrown over her shoulders like a sack of flour.

"Looks like she's not letting him get away now is she," Edna remarked.

"Nope."

---

Astrid dumped Hiccup on the floor of the tavern room without any ceremony. Hiccup did nothing but roll into a ball, his hands over his abdomen.

"Why?" he groaned.

"That was for running," Astrid snapped, walking over to the window and sealing the shutters. "Now are you going to talk, or do I have to knee you again?"

"NO!" Hiccup gasped, "No! I'll talk. Just... just give me a minute." He took a few deep breaths and then slowly began to climb to his feet.

Astrid grabbed the chair from the small table in the room and sat down, her axe. "Let's start at the beginning," She hissed. "How did you escape from the night fury?"

"I didn't," Hiccup answered, finally managing to straighten up. "It let me go."

---

At least half the town heard Astrid's scream of "WHAT!?"

"Looks like she's found out about them other girls," Ida remarked.

"Yup."

---

"What do you mean, "it let you go?"" Astrid was glaring at him in suspicion.

"Well..." Hiccup winced, and looked away. "More like I slipped out of it's grasp and fell into the sea. I was able to swim to shore, and make my way to town here."

Astrid stared at him sceptically. "And it didn't try to get you back?"

Hiccup let out a weak laugh. "Guess it thought a talking fishbone like me wasn't worth the effort."

"So why didn't you try to get back to Berk? It shouldn't have been that hard to find a trader to take you."

Hiccup took in a deep breath, again refusing to meet her eye. "You know how well I was doing at dragon training before, well, everything?"

"Yeah..."

"Well... That's because I cheated. You know those eels we sometimes catch? The ones with the black and yellow bands? Well, turns out dragons are afraid of them. Won't go near them. I had one hidden under my vest when we faced the zippleback for the first time."

"An eel? That was your secret! A Thor-damned eel!" Astrid looked a mix between incredulous and insulted.

Hiccup let out a long sigh. "I figured that if I went back, it was only a matter of time until someone figured it out. And my dad... well... I figured it was better he have the son who died a hero, rather than than the disappointment who could only keep up in dragon training by cheating. So, here I am."

Astrid let out a bitter snort. "So here you are. The chief's dead son trading trinkets in town. Who would have thought."

"Well, you know me. I can always be counted on to disappoint." Hiccup took another deep breath and seemed to consider something. "So... What are doing here?"

"What!?" Astrid jerked, as if he had just pulled a knife on her.

"I mean," Hiccup backpedaled hastily. "No one from Berk comes this far out. You're the first one I've actually seen at all. I just thought there might be story behind that, and since I've told you mine I thought... I mean you don't have to if you don't want to..."

"It's..." It was Astrid's turn to take a shaky breath. "A lot has happened on Berk since you got carried off. About three years ago, a man appeared on Berk and started leading the dragon raids. We just called him the Dragon Master, I don't know what he's actually called. But some people thought that because he was a man, it might be possible to bargain with him. So we started making him offerings. First we tried food, than steel, than gold and silver. He didn't so much as glance at them. Well, the raids kept getting worse and worse and someone suggested we offer him a virgin next. I think they were trying to be funny, but... well, at that point everyone was desperate enough to think it worth a try. I... I drew the short straw."

Hiccup was staring at her with a look of stupefied horror on his face. "You're telling me they tried offer you up as a virgin sacrifice, to this Dragon Master!?"

"You know what the best part is," Astrid continued. There was an hysterical edge to her voice. "He didn't even want me. He just walked away like the whole thing was an insult. That's... that's the only reason I'm still here. Gods Hiccup, they were all willing to hand me over to him. Let him do whatever he wanted to me. Everyone! My mom, my dad, the whole village!" Her grip on her axe-handle was knuckle-white. "If he hadn't... I don't even want to think about it." The grip on her axe-handle suddenly loosened, and she took a long, deep breath. "I couldn't stay. Not after that. I had to leave."

---

Astrid finished the last of her stew and pushed the bowl away. Hiccup was gone, he had left several hours ago, saying only something about having a friend waiting on him. Not however, before promising to return in a couple of days, and paying for a week of her room and board.

She was still unsure if she wanted to punch him, or thank him for that.

There was also the matter of his story. Something about it was bothering her. Why would the nightfury carry away Hiccup just to drop him in the sea outside a trading town? It didn't make sense. But then again, it should have devoured him on the spot. Yet the fact that he was here, alive, was proof otherwise.

But, it was nice in a way, to know that he was here and alive. That there was at least someone in the world who was both familiar, yet absent from the events of that night.

The door to the tavern opened, and two elderly ladies, whom Astrid vaguely recalled seeing before, made a beeline for her table.

"Here you go," Edna said, placing a folded piece of knitting on the table in front of Astrid.

Confused, Astrid picked it up. It was a blanket, a small one, made of soft green wool.

"It's for you," Ida explained. "For when the baby comes."