Chapter Text
Two more weeks passed on Tove’s lonely island. Hiccup was almost completely recovered from the Scourge of Odin, and the arrow wound in his shoulder was healing nicely. Once Astrid managed to stop pulling out the stitches in her knee, it too began to heal. Tove still refused to let Dagur do anything strenuous, as he had suffered from rather serious burns.
But try as she might, Tove could not keep the three from exploring the tiny island they lived on, or from flying short distances on Stormfly and Deathcrasher. She did, however, insist that they stay with her until they were completely well, as all three were accident prone.
She didn’t have to worry have to worry about Hiccup going anywhere, though. As long as Astrid stayed put, he wouldn’t leave her for a second. He subtly (or else not so subtly) made sure that he was with her for every possible moment he could.
He tagged along wherever she went, and Tove quickly noticed that Astrid did not mind Hiccup’s company. They called each other “best friends,” but Tove didn’t need to hear in order to understand it was much deeper than that, whether they would admit to it or not. She was honestly surprised that there was not an obvious romantic level in their relationship, well, more than the ridiculous amounts of flirting that occurred.
It dawned on her that the two of them were probably out there alone (except for the Deadly Nadder who always went with them), and she wondered if they acted any differently when they were alone. There were plenty of caves to hide in on this island…who knew what they were up to! Tove giggled to herself.
Little did she know, they were messing around in a cave, but not how Tove envisioned. Astrid was showing the strange stone to Hiccup, and attempting to convince him of its legitimacy.
“I’m telling you, we heard it!” Astrid repeated stubbornly.
“Come on, Astrid. There’s no such thing as ghosts-”
“You don’t know that.”
“Have you ever seen one?”
“Well, no…”
“Exactly. Whatever you heard must be the wind moving through the rocks or something.” Hiccup was proud of his answer. There was no way she could give a better answer.
“Hiccup, I heard what I heard. You can ask Dagur. We heard moaning, and then something that sounded just like me.”
“No way! You heard an echo in a cave?” Hiccup taunted, slightly enjoying how frustrated it made her.
“Stop it, Hiccup! It wasn’t an echo. It was original.” Astrid crossed her arms and scowled at him, and the whininess in her voice made her sound like an eight year old.
“Yeah, originally from you.” That was too much, and Astrid swiftly punched his shoulder. It hurt, but he laughed anyway. His laughing stopped short as a long, low moan echoed through the cave.
He stared at her, his eyes wide. She shrugged smugly, and muttered: “Told ya.”
Stormfly sniffed the air anxiously and squawked a warning. The three left the cave, and only Astrid remained calm, as she knew from experience that whatever it was wouldn’t make an appearance.
Hiccup finally calmed down enough to admit that she was right, and they sat down to rest. The two sat talking while Stormfly preened herself nearby. They suddenly noticed Honeysuckle foraging around in the woods a good distance away. Astrid called to her, but she never responded to her name.
Sticking her fingers in her mouth, Astrid whistled for her, and Stormfly responded by spiking the closest tree with a couple of spines. She had never forgotten that trick. Honeysuckle, however, came bounding over to them, her stubby tail wagging and her tongue hanging out of her mouth.
They both gave the dragon some affection, scratching her lumpy skin. She felt strangely soft for a Gronkle, and the bumps on her skin were oddly squishy. Neither gave it much thought, as Fishlegs was the Boulder Class enthusiast.
“I hate that Tove won’t give her any attention,” Astrid said suddenly.
Hiccup glanced over at her, scratching behind the dragon’s ears. “Pardon?”
“Tove,” Astrid repeated. “Honeysuckle loves her, but Tove just wants to get rid of her. I hate that.”
“Maybe Tove just doesn’t like dragons much. For all we know, they might scare her. Not everyone loves dragons the way we do.”
Astrid sighed, picking at the bark on the fallen tree she leaned against. “I know. It just seems like she particularly dislikes Honeysuckle. She puts up with Deathcrasher and Stormfly just fine, but whenever Honeysuckle shows up, Tove immediately tries to get rid of her. Especially when we’re around.”
“It seems like she does a lot of things differently when we’re around.” Hiccup muttered softly, adjusting the sling that cradled his left arm.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I don’t know. She just…she does a lot of things that don’t make any sense. I mean, you said she told you that she shipwrecked here six months ago. I find it hard to believe that she built that hut all by herself in six months. And where did she get all those books? And food? Have you ever wondered how she has a fully grown garden in six months? It just doesn’t add up.”
“Hiccup, stop worrying. We can trust her.”
“It’s not a matter of trust. It’s a matter of whether she’s hiding something.” Hiccup looked at her, the seriousness of what he was saying showing in his eyes.
“Hiccup, I think it’s time you stop worrying about her inner motives and start thinking about the fact that she saved our lives.” Astrid was just as serious. “We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for her. I would have died on the beach, you would have died in the mud, and no one would ever know what happened to us. Even if her back-story is a little shady or she doesn’t like dragons, we owe her our lives, and we need to remember that.”
Hiccup nodded, smiling as Honeysuckle wriggled into his lap. “Okay, big girl!” he chuckled, “I’ll pet you some more!” The dragon made a somewhat purring noise as he stroked her. “It’s amazing how trusting she is of humans, you know?”
Astrid nodded, swatting a fly in front of her face. “She was that was when I first trained her. Exceptionally trusting and friendly. She almost didn’t even need to be trained.”
“You’re a big sweat-heart, aren’t you?” Hiccup crooned scratching under her chin.
Honeysuckle whistled in agreement. She actually whistled, just the way Astrid had done so minutes before.
“No way,” Astrid murmured under her breath. “You heard that right?”
Hiccup nodded, confusion written plainly on his face. He gave a few quick short whistles, and Honeysuckle cocked her head, sitting up, watching him intently. Hiccup repeated himself, and the dragon imitated him exactly.
“That isn’t you, right?” he asked Astrid, in denial of the fact that the Gronkle sounded just like him.
“Nope.” Astrid tried her own whistling pattern, and Honeysuckle repeated perfectly, as if she thought it were some kind of game.
They went back and forth for some time, attempting to come up with a series of whistles that would stump the dragon, but every time she delivered an exact replica of the sound.
“I never would have believed it,” Hiccup chuckled in amazement. “A Gronkle that can whistle. Fishlegs would love to see this.”
“Ow.”
Astrid’s eyes bugged out as far as they could go and she clapped a hand over her mouth. Hiccup glanced at her, surprised, as he had been told the “Ow” story plenty of times.
Honeysuckle proceeded to imitate Stormfly, the creaking of a door, thunder, birds chirping, and a crackling fire, the two Dragon Riders watching in utter amazement. The dragon started to sniff the air, her eyes suddenly narrowing and she took off.
Hiccup and Astrid were two dumbfounded to think twice about the abrupt exit, and hurriedly tried to find Dagur. They jogged, as best they could, to the hut near the beach, but the sight that greeted them was far from finding Dagur. In fact, they had not found anyone.
Someone had found them.
Just barely visible in the distance was a pack of dragon, flying steadily toward them, a Rumblehorn in the lead. Both stared, watching the approaching pack with great concentration. They could make out a two-headed Zippleback, a Monstrous Nightmare, two Gronkles, and…and a Razorwhip! It was them!It had to be them!
The two started shouting and waving with delight, trying to get the attention of their friends. It didn’t take much, as Skullcrusher had picked up a trail and they were already expecting to find Hiccup.
But when Heather realized that it was Astrid who was next to him, she and Windshear raced ahead landing on the beach.
“Astrid!” Heather squealed, running to her friend. “You’re alive!”
Astrid limped a few running steps and met Heather with a hug. “Of course I am! I can’t let you have all the fun!”
The reunion was a happy one, and by the time the others’ landed, Astrid was already bragging about her newest scar.Everyone excitedly greeted Astrid and Hiccup, except for Stoick, that is.
He too was happy to see Astrid alive and well, but the stern glance he gave Hiccup showed a lecture was on its way. He approached the young man, his eyes flashing.
“Good to see you, son,” he boomed, an agitation in his voice, but he remained calm.
“Hey, dad.” Hiccup fidgeted uncomfortably. He wondered how his dad would go about killing him.
“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!!!?” Stoick shouted, having lost all patience.
Hiccup winced. His dad was never reasonable when he was upset. “Well, I got a message from someone who I thought was Astrid, so I went to find her. It ended up a trap and I got an arrow in the shoulder, hence the sling, and Tove found me and brought me here. So…yeah.”
“And who might this ‘Tove’ be?” Stoick’s eyes narrowed.
“A friend,” Astrid put in firmly. “Sir, Hiccup and I would both be dead if it weren’t for her.”
“I appreciate your opinion, Astrid.” Stoick’s commanding tone warned her not to jump in again. “But I asked Hiccup.”
“Why don’t you asked her yourself,” Hiccup replied, gesturing to the girl, who had been down out of the hut at the edge of the beach.
“Well I might just,” Stoick grumbled.
Astrid waved for Tove to come down to them, and she nervously did so. She clearly didn’t like the look of so many people on the island.
“Exactly why did you keep my son on this island for so long?” Stoick asked her.
Tove didn’t respond. She glanced between him and Astrid, asking for a translation.
“Answer me!”
“She can’t hear, dad,” Hiccup put in, noticing how intimidated Tove seemed. She clearly understood he was angry, but couldn’t understand why. “She can read lips though.”
“Would’ve been nice of you to mention that,” Stoick growled as Astrid translated for Tove. “And if she can read lips, why are we wasting time with this translating?”
“She can’t see your lips,” Hiccup replied smartly.
“Tove says she kept him here because he wasn’t well enough to travel,” Astrid jumped in, attempting to stop the fighting. “It was for his own good. She needs to go take care of her cooking…oh.” Astrid paused her translation, smiling a little. Tove walked back up the beach. “Her food was going to burn.”
“Well, let’s go. Saddle up.” Stoick walked back to Skullcrusher.
“What?”
“We’re leaving,” he turned to his son. “Now.”
“Dad, what are you so upset about? It’s not like I tried to get into this mess.”
“I am not upset about the mess, Hiccup. I am upset about the fact that you have been missing for an entire month! I am upset that you didn’t tell anyone where you were going! I am upset that you spent that month being held captive on an island by some little-” Stoick stopped short, glancing behind him to make sure Tove was safely gone. He finished his sentence with a rather vulgar spiel of words, making it obvious where Hiccup got his occasional foul language from.
A sudden battle cry spilt the calm sea air, and everyone turned just in time to see Tove, of all people, knock Stoick to the ground. She slammed her knife against his throat, keeping a foot on his chest, and through gritted teeth snarled, “If you EVER call me that again, I swear I will cut you into so many pieces not the even the gods will be able to put you back together!”
No one moved. Not even Stoick. No one could have ever expected, sweet, innocent Tove to turn into this…person. Not to mention the fact that Tove was supposed to be deaf! This whole time she had been lying to them! She had heard every word they had spoken and pretended not to understand.
Tove stood back, her eyes flashing with anger. “The first person to move, dies.” Her accent was strange and foreign, she was obviously not of Viking decent, but she spoke the language well. “You had to bring people here!” She shouted at Hiccup and Astrid, her voice growing tight and shrill. “How could you repay me like this?!”
Both were speechless. Literally speechless. Even if they knew how to answer her question, their complete and utter shock would never have allowed the words to leave their mouths.
“Now you decide to keep quiet,” Tove growled. “Fine. We can play this way.” With that she grabbed Astrid and jammed the edge of the knife blade into her throat. Astrid’s eyes were wide with fear, but what truly caused her distress was the realization that Tove was not who she thought.
Hiccup didn’t dare move. Tove was serious. Even his father remained on the ground, watching Tove with a vicious glare. Hiccup knew that if he did anything sudden, all Tove had to do was slide her dagger a little to the left, and Astrid would drop dead at her feet.
“Tove, listen, we don’t want to hurt you,” Hiccup began tactfully.
Tove pushed the blade further into Astrid’s neck, causing her to suck in a quick breath. “Say what you must, but if I don’t like what you have to say, I will kill her.”
“What are you doing this for?” Astrid almost whimpered. “You saved our lives!”
Tove’s stone expression grew darker, her eyes flaming in furious anger. “My first mistake.”
Little did anyone know, but Dagur had been watching the entire ordeal, safely hidden in the woods. He had been hoping to catch a glimpse of his sister, but didn’t want to cause any trouble, so he stayed out of sight. But when he realized Tove was threatening one of his friends, he decided whatever trouble Heather would give him was worth it.
He jumped out of his hiding spot and sprinted toward them. “Let her go, Tove!” he shouted, preparing himself for whatever fight she would give him. Several gasps sounded from the onlookers, they must have thought he was dead.
Tove glared at him but said nothing. Instead she whistled, a faint smile tugging at her lips. Honeysuckle came barreling out of the woods and cut Dagur off, snarling like a wild Gronkle. Shocked at the affectionate dragon’s behavior, Dagur stayed put.
“Honeysuckle is your dragon?!” Hiccup nearly shouted, shocked, but not surprised. It made sense now, why Honeysuckle had been so sweet. She was trained.
“Of course she’s my dragon! And her name is Shifty, if you don’t mind.”
Stoick had managed to get up amidst all the commotion, and finally asked the obvious. “What do you want, exactly?”
At this, Tove did smile. It was a cold, heartless one, but all the same a smile. Her piercing gaze settled on Hiccup. “I want the Night Fury.”