Dragons: Secrets of Berk

(Frustrations Galore) Part 3

A few seconds passed, and Snotlout could hear choppy breaths not too far from him.  "Astrid?" he said shakily.
"My arm!" Astrid said, her voice cracking.  "I-I can't move my arm!"
"Where are you?" said Snotlout.  "I can't see anything, keep talking."
"R-right here," said Astrid.  "I think it must've gotten caught under that rock, I felt it snap!  It hurts!  A-a lot!  HO, SOMETHING'S GOT ME!"
"It's okay, it's me," said Snotlout.
"H...  Hey," said Astrid.
"Hey," said Snotlout.  "Hang tight, I know what to do."  He felt his way up the new stone wall blocking them in.  "Hookfang?  You okay, buddy?"  No answer.  "Hooky?!"  Still no answer.
"St...  Stormfly?" said Astrid.  Nothing.  A worried moan came out of Snotlout.  "O-okay...  D-don't panic.  Maybe they got scared and flew out."
"M...  Maybe," said Snotlout.
"Y-yeah...  Th-they probably...  w-went back to town," said Astrid.  She coughed.
"H-hey, try not to talk too much," said Snotlout.  "We're gonna run out of air."
"Yeah, good...  good call," said Astrid.  "Guess we just...  h-have to wait until...  s-someone finds us."
"Yeah.  Guess so," said Snotlout.  He sat down next to her, and for a long time, there was just quiet between them.
After what felt like an hour, there was something on Astrid's mind she just couldn't wait to ask.  "So, uh...  H-hooky?" she said, trying to lean into it.
"Yeah, I, um...  It's, uh...  It's just a little...  H-he likes when I call him that," said Snotlout.
"You never...  call him that around us," said Astrid.  "N-not usually anyway."
"Well, I, uh...  I-it's not...  I mean..." stammered Snotlout.
"Manly?" Astrid said quietly.  There was silence for a few seconds.
"S-something like that," Snotlout said at length.
"A d...  y-your dad's not a...  a big fan?" said Astrid.  More silence.
"Okay, how do you know..." began Snotlout.
"I...  saw you in the woods last night," Astrid admitted.  Even more silence.
"H-how much did you..." stammered Snotlout.
"Enough," said Astrid with a sigh.  Snotlout sucked in his breath.  "H-how long have...  you known?"
"How long have I been annoying?" said Snotlout.
"Oh," said Astrid after taking a second to realize what he meant.
"Yeah," said Snotlout.  A long pause followed, neither really knowing what to say.  Then  Snotlout spoke up.  "I kept thinking...  kinda hoping...  if I pretended it wasn't there long enough  it would go away, but...  A-and then, Heather came back, and...  you have no problem being all..."
"It just made it worse on you," said Astrid.
"Wrll, yeah," said Snotlout.
Astrid sighed.  "You know...  i-if you just said that in the first place," she said, we would've...  I...  would've..."  She was interrupted by a long bout of coughing.
"Astrid?" said Snotlout.
"I-I'm...  fine," Astrid said choked.
"No, you're not," said Snotlout.  "I can feel it, too, we're running out of air.  Okay...  no more talking."
"Okay," Astrid said quickly.
About a minute went by.  Astrid could feel her lungs starting to burn.  Then, she heard a sound like rocks being moved.  "Hey, do...  D-do you hear that?" she said.
"Shhh...  Yeah, it's me," said Snotlout.
"Wh-what are you..." Astrid began, then coughed badly.
"I'm getting you out of here," said Snotlout.  "Now, shhh..."  Astrid went quiet, listening as he continued trying to move the rocks.
A minute passed, then two, and Snotlout was having more and more trouble with his task.  Finally, he had to stop.  "J-just...  taking a breather," he said sinking down.  No answer came from Astrid.  "Astrid?"  Still no answer.  "H...  Hey!"  Nothing.  He gulped, then coughed hard, more than one kind of heavy feeling in his chest.
"Astrid?!" came Hiccup's voice.  "Snotlout?!"
Snotlout pulled himself up on his rocks, clenching his chest.  "H...  H-hiccup?" he said, then coughed.
"Ah, Thor!" said Hiccup.  "How'd you get in there?!"
"L...  Long story," said Snotlout.  "J-just...  g-get us out!  Hurry!"
"Okay, okay," said Hiccup.  "Stand clear!"  Snotlout quickly dropped to the ground, feeling for her and covering Astrid with himself for protection!
A second later, a blast from Toothless sent the wall in front of them crashing down in hundreds of pieces!  He coughed hard and blinked from the dust, then looked up to see a very familiar nightmare and nadder.  "Hookfang!" he said relieved.  His dragon cooed.
"They came back without you guys," said Hiccup.  "Wasn't too hard to figure out that something was wrong.  Uh...  Snotlout?  What are you...  Oh, my gods!"  Snotlout had gotten up, revealing a very still, very white Astrid.  Hiccup jumped off Toothless, and ran over to them!  "Astrid?!  Astrid!  ASTRID!"
A few seconds went by, undoubtedly the longest of Snotlout's life.  Then, Astrid coughed and opened her eyes as the color started to return to her face.  It was only now that Snotlout realized he'd been holding his breath.  "H...  H-hey, Hiccup," she said coughing.
"Ho!  Thank Thor!" said Hiccup.  Both boys helped her to her feet.
Stormfly gave a loud squawk, and Astrid staggered over to her.  "Stormfly!" she said.  "You're okay!"  She tried to put out her arms to hug her, but then shrieked in pain!
Snotlout was next to her in a second.  "What happened?" asked Hiccup.
"The big rock fell on her arm," said Snotlout.  "It's probably broken, we've gotta get her to Gothi!"  Before Hiccup could even get back on Toothless, he was gently helping her onto her own dragon.  "Just hang on, okay?"  The next moment, he was on Hookfang, helping her stay balanced as they took off, leaving Hiccup confused, and then shocked by what he'd just seen.  Since when was Snotlout...  gentle?!
The next day, just as Snotlout had suspected, Astrid was struck at home with a broken arm.  With one less pair of hands, the others had to really pick up the pace to try and make up for the past few days, which was made surprisingly easier by Snotlout helping wherever he could!  "Uh...  Snotlout, is there something you want?" Hiccup asked him as they were cleaning up the mess from the night before.
"No, not really," said Snotlout.  "Why?"
"Nothing, it's just...  I'm...  not used to you being this...  Well...  helpful!" said Hiccup.  "Believe me, I like it.  It's just...  different!"
"I know.  It's weird," said Snotlout.  "It's...  kinda a long story.  I don't...  really wanna get into it right now, but..."
"Hey, that's fine," said Hiccup.  "Just make sure you..."  Suddenly, Toothless gave a sniff, and ran into the room behind them!  Both boys looked in after him.  "Toothless?"
"What's he doing?" asked Snotlout.
"I'm...  not sure," said Hiccup.  They stood up and followed.
"Hookfang," said Snotlout, "can you give us some light, buddy?"  His dragon smiled, then lit himself on fire.
"Okay, asking him nicely to do something?" said Hiccup.  "Now, I'm getting curious."
"What?" said Snotlout.  "He responds better to it."  Hiccup just shrugged, then walked over to Toothless.
Looking down, he could see something like a long trench in the ground.  "What the..." said Hiccup bending down.
"Wo!" said Snotlout looking at the wall above them.  "Hiccup!  Look up!"
Hiccup raised his eyes to find himself staring at a large, colorful painting on the wall of a young man riding a nightfury!  "Oh, my...  What the Thor?!" he said aghast.
"Yeah!  A-and over there!  And there!" said Snotlout, pointing to the other walls.  Hiccup and Toothless looked around, depictions of the man and dragon all over the room!
Then, Hiccup looked back down to the trench.  "This...  This must've been a...  a food trouf or something!" he said.
"This...  was a dragon stable before," said Snotlout amazed.
"Yeah!" said Hiccup.  "You were right, Snotlout!"
Toothless sniffed around the room, then curled up in the far corner.  "Well...  guess he's claimed his stall!" said Snotlout.
"Yeah," said Hiccup.  "If he could fly on his own."
That evening, Snotlout showed up at the Hofferson house with a hot dinner for Astrid and her parents, much to the surprise of all.  "Did you cook this yourself?" asked Astrid as she sat eating in bed.
"Yeah," said Snotlout.  "Is it okay?"
"Snotlout, it's amazing!" said Astrid.  "I didn't know you could cook!"  She looked down.  "Your dad, uh...  Um..."
"Oh, yeah...  He gave me a lot of grief about it," said Snotlout.
"I'm sorry," said Astrid.
"It's...  fine," said Snotlout.  "I-I don't really mind."  Astrid could tell that he did mind, but she gave it little help half smile, then leaned sideways, and hugged him with her good arm.  Snotlout looked at her startled for a moment, then smiled warmly, and hugged her back.
"So, Hiccup said you found something pretty big in that cave?" said Astrid.
"Oh, yeah!" said Snotlout, and he started telling her about their discovery.

Finding out what makes a dragon tick is half the battle of training it sometimes.  With vikings, it can be even harder, because sometimes, they can be actually trying to hide it.  But letting others see it can be just what they need.  I have a pretty good feeling things are gonna be different between Astrid and Snotlout from now on, and believe me, I could get used to it.  And hey, maybe the stable will be done before I'm chief...  maybe.