Dwagons

Castle Refuge

Astrid shivered as she banged loudly on the doors of a large castle. She was soaked from head to toe, and the now swiftly falling snow was causing her clothing and hair to freeze. She shivered again as she thought back to a day earlier.

She was unhappy with how she was being treated by the men in her village. They were always telling her to marry them, and that she shouldn't be on the village guard protecting the village from dragons and instead be home tending to many children. She had finally had enough and punched one of them, only to be grabbed by another and nearly forced into marriage. She punched the man who grabbed her and fled. As she was sprinting through the woods, she tripped over her long dress, and fell into a shallow river that swept her away. Once she got out, she couldn't find her way back, and had been wandering throughout the night.

She shivered again as she walked away from the doors. She walked over to a nearby tree and sat down, accepting that she would be dead by morning.

Just as she laid down and closed her eyes, Astrid heard the do ors open, and the voice of a young man around her age. She heard footsteps crunching through the snow, and a muffled, "Are you alright, madam?" Astrid opened her eyes and shook her head.

She was surprised when she felt firm hands pick her up. As she was being carried towards the castle, Astrid felt really tired and began drift to sleep.

A few hours later, she woke up in an unfamiliar setting. She sat up and looked around the room. She saw that she had been laid down on a large, four poster bed with dark green and red bedding. In front of her was a stone fireplace with a blazing, crackling fire. She stood up and found that she was now in cream colored night gown. She also found that her hair had been done up into a neat braid. She walked up to the window and saw that it was now day time, and that the world outside had been covered in a soft blanked of snow.

She walked out of the room and found herself in a long hallway with many other rooms. She strolled down the hall, surprised at the lack of staff buzzing around. She finally exited the hallway, and found herself at the head of a long flight of stairs covered in a lush, red carpet. She walked down the stairs and found herself in a grand ballroom. She looked around the grand room and saw two large thrones the exact same size at the opposite end of the room. Astrid saw a doorway behind the two thrones and walked over to it. Once through, she found herself in the great hall. She was surprised to find that there had been a delicious looking breakfast set out for her. 

After Astrid had finished her breakfast, she decided to try to find the person that had taken her in. She walked into the kitchen, but saw nobody there. After searching the entire castle and finding not a single trace of life, Astrid went back the room she had stayed in, and was surprised to find clothing set out on her bed. It was a midnight-blue dress and a black cloak. She put them on and found a pair of riding boots as well. 

Astrid found her way outside, and searched the garden for the kind person. She sighed when she found no one. She decided that she would borrow a horse to ride to the nearest village. Upon arriving at the stables, Astrid was surprised to see a young man climbing off of a sleek black dragon. 

The man was fairly tall, and had messy auburn hair, on top of which sat a gold circlet. He was wearing a light green tunic and a pair of brown pants. He had on one riding boot on his right foot, while a complicated prosthetic leg occupied his lower left leg. Astrid then focused her eyes to the man's face. He was the most handsome man that she had ever seen. He had a strong jawline, and his face was plastered with freckles. On his chin was a faint scar, and he had the greenest eyes that Astrid had ever seen.

"Excuse me?" Astrid piped up. The man turned to Astrid, obviously startled by the voice.

"Yes?"

Astrid looked around uncomfortably. "Are you the one who took me in last night?"

The man nodded. "Indeed. I am Prince Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third, the heir to the Kingdom of Berk." he said as he took Astrid's hand in his and bent down to kiss it, making Astrid turn a bright red.

Once her hand was free, Astrid immediately dipped down into a deep curtsy. "I am humbled to be taken in by you, thank you very much, your highness."

The prince laughed. "No need to be so formal, it's only you and me here." he said as he took Astrid's hand and guided her up. "Now, how about we head inside?"

Astrid nodded and let the prince lead her inside. Once inside, Astrid was led into a large, welcoming room with a crackling fire. The prince sat down on the floor, and gestured for Astrid to sit next to him. "So, tell me, why would a maiden like you be wandering around in these woods in this weather?"

Astrid sighed. "Well, because I ran away from my village. The men there always told me that I should be married and have tons of children already, instead of hunting dragons to protect the village. It kept on going on until a few days ago, I had finally had enough and punched a man, then another tried to force me to marry them, I finally managed to escape, but got swept away by a river,  and ended up at your doorstep.

The prince furrowed his brows in thought. "Well, I think you should have run away a long time ago, and maybe not on the edge of winter. Those men are low-life pigs if they think that they can treat you like that." 

Astrid looked at the prince and smiled weakly. 

"But, I do however agree with one teeny thing they said." Astrid looked ready to kill at any moment. "You shouldn't hunt dragons."

"With all due respect, your highness, dragons are a serious threat to the kingdoms! If we don't kill them, they'll kill us!"

The prince shook his head. "Please, call me Hiccup."  He took a deep breath. "Dragons won't kill you anymore. They used to only kill and raid because a queen told them to, but a few years ago, I found that queen while riding a dragon that I had trained, and killed it. That's how I lost my leg. After that, the dragons stopped raiding, but peopled kept killing. I wanted to stop it, but when I told my father about it all, he pretty much disowned me and left me here alone. I'm still the heir, but my father hates me."

Astrid felt a wave of guilt. She leaned over and hugged Hiccup. "I'm so sorry." she whispered into his ear.

Throughout the next few weeks, Astrid stayed at the castle with Hiccup, and got to know him very well. Soon, they became fast friends, and each secretly liked the other. One day, Hiccup asked Astrid to come fly with him on the back of Toothless, his dragon. 

As they were flying, Astrid scooted closer to the young prince, and wrapped her arms around him tightly. They landed on a tall cliff overlooking Astrid's old village. Hiccup helped Astrid off of Toothless, and led her over to a secluded cove.

Once they had climbed down into the cove, Hiccup pulled a black box from his coat and bent down on his knee, causing Astrid to gasp. "Astrid Hofferson, these past few weeks with you have been magical. And, I want the rest of my life to be like that. Astrid Hofferson, will you give me the honor of being the happiest man in the world, and be my wife, the queen of Berk?"

Astrid beamed and pulled Hiccup up. "Yes! Hiccup, I feel the same way, ever since we sat by the fire together, I knew there was something there, something inside me that wasn't there before, a low burn that slowly turned into a blazing fire, of course I'll marry you, I'll be the queen, even if you weren't the heir, I'd marry you, even if I was princess and you were some their from the streets, I'd marry you. I love you, Hiccup."

The pair shared a passionate kiss, sealing their lives together.