Heir and Pride

Chapter Five

Astrid had seen Hiccup wander achingly through the woods and had noted his eyes were swollen and face streaked with tears. She hefted her axe and launched it accurately into a tree. Practice, practice, practice...her father had drummed that into her from the moment he handed her the magnificent axe for her tenth birthday. She had been so delighted and had been amazed he could afford such a magnificent weapon for her. She knew they were poor: he must have saved for ages to get her axe. She was determined not to disappoint him.

But as she wrenched the axe from the tree, she glanced in the direction Hiccup had trudged. It was a defeated walk, the walk of someone who had no hope and that made her uncomfortable. She had heard Snotlout and the twins accost him at the end of training and she had walked away, not wanting to take part in the bullying but not helping the boy either. And why would she? Hiccup was the village screw-up, a boy so utterly hopeless he had been stripped of his status as Heir to the Chief, a disgrace unheard-of in Berk's three hundred year history. He was clumsy, disobedient, an utter disaster...

She stared at her axe. He had serviced it and the weapon had never been better. The edge was really keen, the balance perfect and the shine he had managed was exceptional. He wasn't useless and she had begun to cringe whenever she heard him called the epithet. It clearly hurt him badly but he just accepted the abuse with a pained shrug. And, come to think of it, all he did was try to fight dragons and protect his village. His incompetence could perhaps have been corrected if anyone took the time-but she could see that all anyone considered he was worth was shouting at, humiliating and now, beating.

She threw the axe again with a scream, hitting the target dead centre. She shouldn't be wasting time concentrating on Hiccup when she had to ensure she was top at dragon training and keep Snotlout in his place-which was preferably three islands away from her. But she felt bad that he was suffering so much: she could still recall the kind, funny and curious boy who had been her friend when they were little-before he fell behind in size and morphed into the clumsy runt everyone despised. Under it all, he had to be the same person who had been her friend and she wondered if he had understood why she had ditched him. Popularity was universal, right? Even Hiccup knew no one would want to associate with the pariah he had become.

Angry at herself, she threw the axe again. There were still a few hours of daylight and there was training to do.

oOo

It was raining when Hiccup reached the edge of the forest and he sighed as the rain came down harder. He was getting soaked but it suited his mood. He was in pain and feeling horribly alone and guilty. There really was nothing he could do that was right. But he had to head for the Great Hall: even if Gobber hadn't mumbled something about the class eating together for a debriefing of the day's action, there wasn't a scrap of food in the house. He guessed he should have collected some today instead of hiding in the forest but ultimately, he was the one who would suffer and he had needed the time alone.

When he walked in, he was dripping and only there were only a handful of people in the hall. Of course, most of the warriors were off, in the quest for the nest, but the dragon training class were occupying a big table and discussing their performance. Hiccup wearily trudged up to the table to collect the plate of food they had collected for him. The others had finished long before and he paused. Snotlout deliberately moved across to leave no space for him at the table and with a sigh, he just walked to the next table and picked his food. They didn't want to sit with him: hey, he could appreciate that. Sometimes, he didn't want to sit with himself.

"I was sloppy and that threw my backflip off," Astrid finished, her self-critique precise and honest. Snotlout just gushed over her.

"No, it was brilliant-so Astrid!" he told her. she pulled a face. Gobber saw their final class-member sitting alone and stared at the others.