The Glass Dragon

Chapter Four:
When I woke up in the morning, I quickly redressed for the day. I made my way down from the loft where I slept and made my way to the mead hall for some breakfast. That was the great thing about living on Berk. There was always food for breakfast and for dinner served for the whole village. Anyone could show up. Once a month though, each woman was required to do a day of food prep. I didn’t mind it. I normally helped with the clean up when my day of the month rolled around. I wasn’t much of a cook.

Reason 437 why I would never make a good wife for someone.

I pulled the worn and threadbare blanket that I used for a shawl in the winter tighter around me to try and hold in some of the heat. We didn’t have a lot, my mom and me, but we managed with what we had. That was the downfall of not having a man around.

Mom made up for it where she could, helping out extra in the mead hall, doing odd jobs, going along with Stoick when he needed more bodies. She was even a midwife a few times during the spring. That’s when a lot of the babies were born in Berk. We always tried to avoid winter births. Most times those infants wouldn’t make it. But even with all of the extra work that Mom did for the island, it was still a struggle to get what we needed. I always admired my mother though, for not shutting down when she lost the love of her life. Most women would have. Not Bertie Hofferson, though. Never her. She plowed on and became stronger because of it.

And me, well, I grew up faster. She wasn’t around to take care of me anymore so I had to learn to do it myself. I learned a basic broth that could be eaten with stale bread and make it taste halfway decent, and that’s what I ate on the nights when my mother couldn’t come home and feed me. That wasn’t enough to raise a family on though.

I remember bringing Stormfly home, telling Mom that I wanted to keep her, and she refused at first. I kept her at the Academy, going to visit her when I could. I would also take her any fish that I managed to catch myself off of the docks, since we really couldn’t afford to buy the baskets that it would take to feed her monstrous appetite. What I truly will never forget though is the day that I went to the Academy, and saw Hiccup, with Toothless, coaxing my sweet girl into taking some of their fish. Stormfly was always a bit like me, a stubborn soul. She didn’t like charity. But I think the hungry belly was what made her cave and she would share with Toothless. They still share if there’s an overhaul of fish, but that’s not as common anymore.

For a while, Toothless, Hiccup, Stormfly, and I would go out with a net, make a catch of a few dozen fish, and then divide them up between us for the week. That way it was fair, and Stormfly would actually eat. Now, though, with Hiccup being all hero-esque and such, there were no more fishing days, so my girl and I would just go out alone. She still insisted on saving a few for Toothless though, and always made sure that they were his favorites. She really was a sweet girl, my dragon.
The path from my small lodge up to the mead hall was slick with snow and ice, but I knew the path well, and which parts tended to freeze over first. It was a quick walk, despite the conditions.
I walked up the steps, careful not to slip, and reached for the handle on the door. When I did though, it got yanked open from under my fingers and Hiccup hurried out. He turned and couldn’t stop, stepping on a patch of ice with his boot. He stumbled forward into me, knocking us both over.
I gasped with a small squeak as I toppled over, my head cracking on the stone ground. Hiccup landed on top of me, his fall padded by me.

“Gods! Astrid!” he said quickly, pushing himself up on his hands and knees to look me over. “Are you okay?”

I blinked slowly at first, clearly dazed from smacking my head on the frozen ground. After blinking a few more times to clear my vision, I reached up felt my head. No blood yet. That was a good sign. I looked into his eyes and had to crack a smile. “Hiccup the Useless strikes again,” I teased him quietly. Gods did my head hurt. It felt like Thor himself had cracked me across the skull with his hammer.
“I can’t be too useless,” the Viking quipped. “You keep falling for me.”

I lightly hit his arm. “Brat,” I said, managing a small, weak laugh.

Hiccup just beamed, and it was like the sun coming out from behind the storm clouds, warming up my icy day. He leaned down some, to kiss me, when we heard snickering from behind us.

We both turned to look, seeing Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut, all staring down at us with amused expressions.

Hiccup rolled his eye some as he heaved a sigh, pushing himself up to sit, then to stand. “I was just helping her up,” he tried to explain.
“With your liiiiips,” ‘Lout taunted before making puckering noises. This only made Ruff and Tuff snicker more.
Hiccup grabbed my hand and hauled me to my feet. When I was sure I was steady on them, I punched Snotlout square in the shoulder.

“OW!” he howled. “Why would you do that?!”

I glared at him, hands on my hips. “Why do you open your big moth?” I hissed.

Before ‘Lout was given a chance to rebuttal, Fishlegs cut in, trying to keep the peace between us and to keep Snotlout alive. “We were on our way to get the dragons, to take them out snow sliding before they head back to the Island. Want to bring Stormfly? There’s a 35% chance that its going to snow while we’re out there, and-“ Tuff hit him to shut him up before his ranting started in full swing.
I cast a longing look into the mead hall, my stomach rumbling with hunger. My head swam a bit and I had to close my eyes and swallow to stay standing. Fish stew didn’t stick well.

I finally heaved a sigh, seeing my breath escape in a small burst of fog. “Yeah, sure. Where are we meeting?”

“Thor’s Peak,” ‘Lout muttered, still rubbing where I’d hit him. I smirked to myself in satisfaction.

I nodded once and picked up my blanket (bending over made me want to vomit), and headed for Stormfly’s barn. The other teens headed off for the Academy to get their saddles.

I walked slowly through the snow, partially so I didn’t slip, partially because I could feel my heart hammering inside my head and my ears. I finally just closed my eyes lightly, letting my feet carry me down the familiar path to the barn by themselves.

I heard crunching footsteps in the snow coming up behind me, and a small hum, then a hand taking mine inside my blanket and pressing something warm into my palm.

I opened my eyes, seeing Hiccup’s bright green orbs swimming into focus in front of me. He wore a soft, gentle smile. “Eat,” he urged softly.

I looked down to see what he’d pressed into my hand and saw a roll that had been partially cut open and had a bit of mutton stuffed inside. I smiled up at the boy, thankful for the food and ate it as quickly as I dared, warmed by the meager meal settling into my stomach.

“How’s your head?” he asked as we walked.

I swallowed the last bite and gave a half shrug. “Hurts, but I’ll live.” I smiled again. “Thanks for breakfast.”

He chuckled and nodded. “I figured you’d be the last to show up and you wouldn’t get to eat. You never pass up snow sliding with the dragons.”

I had to grin as I looked up at him. “You know me so well…” It was true. Saving all of Vikingdom together did that to you.

“Did I have a choice?” he laughed, teasing me.

My smile slowly faded and I cast my gaze downwards, my steps slowing even more.
“What? What’d I say?” he asked, and I could hear the frown he wore in his voice.
I shook my head slowly. He needed to drop it now.

“Oh no,” he said, stepping in front of me to block my path. I had to stop, my gaze down on the ground, looking at his feet. Foot. He had his winter prosthetic on, finally, not that it kept his good leg from being clumsy. “Astrid, don’t shut me out. What’s wrong.”

“You do have choices,” I muttered, and I knew how he was looking at me. Confused, adorable, concerned. It would make my heart melt if I looked at him. “Sure, you liked me, back when we first got the dragons. But now… Now you’re this hero, this amazing, popular guy. Everyone loves you, you could have any girl on this island-“

“But why in Freya’s name would I want to?” he said softly, his hands on either side of me, holding my arms. “They are not you. They’re not the girl who helped me save my best friend; they’re not the girl I accidentally kidnapped…” I slowly looked up at him and he was smiling. “They’re not the girl who stole my toy when I was five and then punched me for it.” I had to laugh some. Would everyone always remember that? “None of them are the girl I’ve fallen in love with. No girl will ever be you, Astrid. They’ll just always be some girl trying too hard. You’re my girl, and I love you…”

Somehow, my throat tightened and I had to blink away tears. I would not cry in front of him. It was stupid to cry, especially in front of Hiccup. But he said it. He actually admitted to it out loud, something I wouldn’t ever be able to do, and it made me choke up a bit. I had no idea how to respond, even if I would have been able to say those words back. Thor almighty on high did I want to though…

He pulled me into a hug, resting his head on top of mine. “I know I haven’t had a lot of time lately.” I snorted some as I wrapped my arms around him and he chuckled. “Alright, and I mean by lately over the last year or so. But I promise to do better. If you’ll still give me a chance to prove to you how much you mean to me.”

I smiled, his scent filling my nose and my brain. I could hardly think over how loudly he smelled.

Wow. Even my brain was going fuzzy.

Oh.

That’s not… his words. Are your ears supposed to ring like that?

What was that thick feeling running down my neck?

The whole world seemed to pitch, and I was tossed forwards, tumbling into blackness.