Without Saying

Chapter 20 - Close Encounters (Pt. 1)

Then he left. Astrid wasn't sure if she had more or less questions than when she started. But now she knew for sure that there was more going on here. She needed a way to get answers, and so far asking Hiccup directly wasn't working. But how else could she get information, if Dagur wasn't willing to share anything either?

~~~

The next morning Astrid got to work. If Dagur wasn't going to tell her anything, and Hiccup kept refusing to talk then she would have to figure things out for herself. And that would mean seeing what was in that parcel from earlier. It wasn't much to go on but at least it was something. After all there had to be something important in it if they were trying to be so secretive, right? The question was where was he hiding it? Her first guess was his room at the Haddock's house but that would mean Stoic could easily find it by accident, and Astrid was certain that Hiccup was too smart to do something like that. It was also highly possible that he could have taken it to the forest to hide it. This would no doubt make the parcel impossible for Astrid to find, so she was left with one more option to search before resorting to other methods. The Forge. She remembered Gobber saying Hiccup had once used a back room in the forge as a sort of workshop before he disappeared, and Gobber had left it untouched because most vikings couldn't even fit through the door. It was a perfect hiding place, except for one thing...

"Yank Milk!!"

Astrid muttered. Hiccup himself was currently working in the forge. Now Astrid was an especially early riser. Not even Stoic rose before her on most mornings, which was why Astrid was certain that she would be able to take a peak inside the forge without too much trouble. Why was he up so early? He had stayed out in the woods for a long while the night before too. Did the guy ever sleep?!! Surely he would get tired soon. That would have to be when she made her move.

So Astrid waited, but as time went on, Hiccup didn't leave. Would he ever stop? Astrid fumed, growing impatient as the hours ticked by. It wasn't until the afternoon sun was already on its downward descent that Astrid decided she had waited long enough. Hiccup still hadn't left the forge, and Astrid's patience was wearing thin. If Hiccup didn't leave for dinner either, she would have to sneak her way in and just hope that he didn't catch her. Sure enough, dinner came with the last of the evening sun, and Hiccup still didn't even pause in his work. That's it!!! How could he still be standing in that hot forge after not eating for the entire day?

Disregarding her nervousness, she went to the back door, hoping to slip inside unnoticed, but the door wouldn't open. Something solid pressed against it from the other side. With no way through, she circled around to the main entrance along the front of the building. Peering inside, she immediately spotted Hiccup at the forge, his hammer rising and falling in a relentless rhythm. He moved seamlessly between the glowing coals and the anvil, sweat shining on his forehead and trailing down his bare forearms as his rolled sleeves shifted with each strike. Focus Astrid!!! 

The viking shook her head in an attempt to do so, and only then did she notice the problem—a stack of heavy crates and barrels piled in front of the back door from the inside, blocking it completely. So that's what it was. Meanwhile, Hiccup was completely absorbed in his work. Waiting until he turned back toward the anvil, she pressed herself along the wall and slipped into the back room. The parcel sat there on the desk, exactly where she'd hoped. She reached for it—but the hammering outside stopped. Her time was up. She grabbed it and glanced through the doorway. Hiccup stood at the fire now, hauling hard on the fan to stoke the coals, his back turned to both the her and the exit. This was it. Astrid moved as quickly and quietly as she could toward the exit, but just as she was about to clear the doorway, something snagged her wrist. In an instant she was slammed against the wall, Hiccup's hand pinning her arm above her head, his face only inches from hers. Astrid's breath hitched as firelight flickered across his features, momentarily distracting her from the hard seriousness in his eyes. He stared at Astrid's no doubt startled expression for a while in complete silence. Astrid knew that she should probably give him some sort of excuse to explain why she was there, but the words wouldn't come. He was so close!