Symphony of Shadows

47. Soul

A/N: More hiccstrid because I love them and I know you do too<3  Next chapter will be out Sunday at 8pm ET!

A loud clang echoed as sword met sword, and Hiccup fought to gain the upper hand. However, Astrid was a fierce opponent and pushed him off with a spin. 

Impressive. 

He struck again, but she parried; neither of them showed any signs of giving up. Their faces were so close that he could see the dark blue rim around her pupil and he fought to stay focused.

"Ready to surrender?"

He smirked as he pressed a quick kiss on her surprised face before dodging her sword, swinging straight for him. Astrid's eyes lit up at the challenge and she flashed him a wicked smile. 

"Ready to lose your other leg?"

Hiccup chuckled but narrowly missed her next assault. He had to give it her—she was a warrior. Just keeping up with her was a feat in itself. 

He sidestepped at the last second as she charged forward. Her bangs stuck to her damp forehead near her kransen and several more hairs came loose from her braid. She was wearing a tighter, sleeveless tunic with a pair of wool leggings. The picture of a warrior queen. 

He snapped out of his trance and pushed forward, sword swinging and meeting hers blow for blow. Her brows furrowed in concentration, her chest contracting as she caught her breath. Hiccup didn't want to push her too hard—they were just training, so he pulled back. It was also an excuse to give himself a little break. Her attacks were swift and brutal.

Without warning, she tackled him to the ground and knocked his sword out of his grip. He was completely vulnerable as she straddled him and pressed the edge of her blade to his throat. Her smile was infectious as she leaned down to where she had him pressed to the ground.

"I win."

He wanted to respond with a witty remark, but he was out of breath and all he could focus on was the fact that Astrid was on top of him. And that her eyes kept looking down at his lips. And his bare chest. It was a hot summer day, after all. A bead of sweat traveled down her neck to her chest and he couldn't help himself.

"Without a doubt."

He raised himself up a bit and slanted his lips over hers, taking advantage of her closeness. Astrid let out a small surprised sound before kissing him back and he loved the fact that he could kiss her whenever. He'd never take her for granted again.

They'd fallen into a simple rhythm of training and lazy afternoon kisses. Now, Hiccup rarely left the island except when Toothless needed time to stretch his wings and get something fresh to eat. The flock didn't seem to mind as they satisfied themselves with hunting the schools of fish nearby. 

Since Astrid didn't feel too comfortable flying by herself just yet, he didn't want to leave her behind on the island. But he had a work in progress to help her with that. The only problem was that when he tried to work on it, it was far too easy to get distracted by a certain mischievous blond.

Hiccup was almost finished with his project—it just needed some final touches. 

He threaded his fingers through her hair and gently tugged her braid loose. Her golden waves came cascading down and he chuckled as she frowned and blew a stray hair out of her face.

"Hiccup."

She sighed in mock annoyance. He shrugged and responded with a smirk. 

"But I like your hair down."

Astrid shook her head as if chastising him and put her hair back up in a ponytail before resuming their kiss. Deciding to switch things up, Hiccup used the element of surprise to roll them both over and pinned her hands above her head.