Bond of Two Lands

17. Viking To Lass

A whole day went by without any more information. Fergus spoke to Hiccup and Astrid at supper in the same manner as earlier, but didn't mention either the spare troops or the letter from Berk. The adolescents were basically terrified.

"They're gonna make you do it!" Astrid said, pacing back and forth in Hiccup's room. "That's why their muting us out. You... you'll be forced to stay and Thor knows what they'll make out of me."
Hiccup went up to her after letting her lighten her worried heart to him. "Astrid, no. We've been over this - neither Merida nor I want this to happen, and Fergus listens to his daughter. Do you remember the story about the three clans that tried to win her hand in marriage?"
"I guess..."
"You know. Look, why don't you go out and exercise your axe-throwing for a while? Let off some steam?"

~~~~~

"Stupid. Viking. Moron. People." For each word, Merida made one arrow fly off and hit the trees beneath the waterfall. Several dozens were already stuck by the time sunset colored the water golden. "Marry. That. Scrawny. Heir? No. Way. On. Earth..."
The shooting got interrupted by someone entering the glade which continued out into the gorge. The princess turned around, ready to face any dragon with arrows and fury.
"Oh... hi." Astrid said. "Sorry, I didn't... I'll go..."
"No!" Merida exclaimed. "I mean, please stay. I'd like a talk."
"Okay..."
"Can we sit? That is, if ya're able to climb this wall..." She pointed at the stonewall's uneven surface.
Astrid snorted and placed her axe in one of Merida's trees. "Are you kidding? This is child's play to me."

The two began their journey upwards, side by side. Both were silently impressed by the other's ability as they were followed by the last beams of light. Both also threw themselves towards the water as soon as they came onto flat stone.
"Delicious", Astrid panted.
"I know." The red-head wiped some drops from her cheeks. "They say only the greatest leaders make it up here, ya know."
Suddenly the Viking became very distracted with the ground below. "Really?"
"According to legend."
"Well, I'm sure you'll make a great queen."
"I hope so. If not... if I'm not married off before then." Their eyes inevitably met. "I don't want it any more than Hiccup does, believe me. I'm all on yer side, and I will fight it as long as I possibly can. But either way this goes... can we still be friends?"
Astrid smiled at the sun. "An odd kind of friends."
"Who's the judge of that? I call it a great kind of friends. And Astrid..." Merida sighed. "This isn't how it's supposed to be, I just know it. Fate has other plans for ya."
"What plans would that be? Leading the riders when Hiccup becomes Chief?" She was so hung up in keeping every trace of bitterness out of her voice that she didn't even recognize her mishap.
"Riders?" Merida repeated.
"Oh... yak-riding. It's kind of a big thing on Berk."
"Alright... but that isn't it either." The princess looked at her again, most serious this time. "Ya'll be Hiccup's wife. Ya, not me. And ya'll help him lead yer people as every great leader that've ever set foot here. I just know it."
Astrid could barely keep her heart from pounding loudly enough to hear. "Hiccup doesn't... he isn't..."
"Yes, he is", Merida assured.
"I..." The words ran off.
"Ya have mi word. And I'll try to fix the troops for ya once this mess is sorted out. It shouldn't be too hard."
A flock of Terrible Terrors flew by in the distance. They appeared to be nothing more than dark, moving spots in front of the colorful clouds, but Astrid's trained eye spotted them immediately. Their presence calmed her somehow.
"I hate them", Merida muttered.
Astrid hoped she'd misheard. "What?"
"The dragons. Plagues, is a better name, because they're certainly a plague upon us all." She sat down. "Ya know they took Hiccup's mother, right?"
"I do. Many years ago."
"Years doesn't matter. They never go away. Ya know, I can almost remember aunt Valka's touch? Our families used to see each other all the time before. Before, that is." Merida sighed. "Do ya know why Berk ended the covenant?"
"No..." Astrid despised lying to the girl, who she already felt quite close to. At least closer than she was to Ruffnut.
"Neither do we! It was like a Night Fury's blast out of nowhere! Not that I'd seen much of ya the last decade anyway, but it really hurt mi father."
"I'm sorry, Merida, I really am. But one thing I do know is, that Stoik had an incredibly good reason to do as he did. I mean, that's what we were told."
Minutes passed. The sun went to rest alongside the many dragons that could be spotted above the dim clouds. It astonished Astrid to notice that the creatures were in fact bigger in number here than around Berk. Yet she tried to imagine Merida's way of living, always in fear of being attacked or stolen from, always with one hand on the weapon. She remembered that all to well from the first fifteen years of her own life. She remembered the time when she'd seen dragons as her worst enemies rather than her dearest allies.
"Astrid?"
"Yes?"
"Could I visit yer outpost sometime?"
The image froze. The Viking lost her words once again, unusually enough for the second time in a quarter. She made an effort to do what Hiccup would've done, but without all his stammering. "Sure, as soon as we've gotten everything under control. We'll send you an Ai... a ship."
They could always say that the island had gone lost, Astrid thought. Seek help elsewhere, and help which accepted the dragon's presence. That way no dragons would have to be moved in the first place.