Tangled Vows

Chapter 3

Stepping off the bus, Astrid finally took in the view of Berk after three years. Not much had changed, and everything still looked relatively the same as when she had left. She remembered the bus stop well, noting that it was one of the only things to have changed over the past three years, only having had the advert changed since she had left. Everything else about it was much the same as it had always been.

Unfortunately, the bus stop was on the outskirts of town, unwilling to actually head into the town and leaving Astrid to walk the rest of the way. It wasn't a large town by any stretch of the definition, but it was definitely home to a bustling high street that many visitors from out of town liked to frequent.

It was how many people from the town earned their keep. Owning a store on the high street and earning money from those who perused the wares. It was a simple life and not one that Astrid had ever envisaged for herself, despite her parents owning a rather large and successful store, to the point of not needing to actually be there to run it themselves.

But it still wasn't what Astrid wanted, and one of the reasons she had been so keen to escape.

Berk was a small, idyllic town, situated by the ocean, with a lovely promenade and dock lining a part of the beach that bordered the town. The constant hum of the dead as it crashed upon the shore often serenaded the town, and soundtracked Astrid's return to the town. The cobblestone streets were still very much the same as she had left them, making the journey uncomfortable as she navigated her way along, trying not to twist her ankle along the way. It was something that she had forgotten about having lived with such clean, flat pavements beneath her feet for so long.

Now that she was back in Berk, the many memories she had there began to flood back to her.

She remembered this walk back into town, having to make it every day with her friends as their school was out of town and they needed to take the bus there. They would take the long way home, walking along the promenade and along the beach in order to get home. It was fun. Listening to the sea as they trundled along the sand with their shoes in hand, and mucking about in the sea whenever it was hot, which it rarely was in Berk.

There were so many memories about this place, many that she hadn't thought about in years. Now that she was back, she couldn't even fathom why she had wanted to leave. 

But as she made her way onto the high street, a single row of shops that stood looking out onto the sea, Astrid remembered why she had left. Her eyes landed upon the sign for a distinct hardware store, something that Astrid had sworn she would never step foot inside of again.

Yet, here she was, heading straight for it, and determined to speak to the man inside.

The swirl of anxiety she had been painfully ignoring started up again and was too intense to ignore this time. But with a strong will and confidence, Astrid strode up to the door and opened it.

A small bell sounded her arrival as she stepped into the store. Looking around nervously, she searched for that familiar head of auburn hair and devilish pair of emerald eyes.

"Well, look who came crawling back." Unfortunately, it didn't take her long to locate him.

There he was, leaning against the counter at the front of the store to her right. He had a smirk on his face a mile wide, and a mean twinkle in his eye that told Astrid that she shouldn't have bothered. He was looking at her with such loathing and resentment that it made her feel as though she had stepped into hell rather than a hardware store.

"It's been a long time, how have you been?" Astrid was surprised by the strange friendliness he was exhibiting and stepped closer to the counter.

"Better without you," she couldn't help but fire back. But Hiccup held up a hand to stop any further words from falling out of her mouth.