Black & White

Chapter Seven: Woah, Woah, Woah, What?!

Astrid's POV
I closed my eyes and leaned back slightly, the rising sun warming my face. My legs dangled over the side of the dock. I go here all the time. I remember myself saying to Haven last night, explaining that no one will find us by the lake.

"It's the third day." He says softly, looking over at me. I return his look.

"I know. So far the world hasn't imploded." By the look on his face he didn't find that funny. "It'll be okay. So far it has been."

"You don't understand what their capable of. You haven't seen it." His face clouded over as he looked directly in front of him. I breathed in and stood. I poked at his shoulder; he followed.

I wrapped my arms tightly around him. "Everything will be okay." His body tensed, wiggling in my grip till he seemed comfortable, spreading his closed fists into a relaxed hold around my waist. "I promise."

He looked down at me, eyebrows furrowed.

"What?"

"On Berk, my uh, my girlfriend," he started slowly. When I just stared back at him he continued. "It was arranged."

"Huh?"

"Both of our families, my father being the chief, and her father the chieftain of another tribe, we were put into the same training school at a young age. Trained to be the best leaders on that side of the Archipelago. We grew up together, and, it was only logical for us to wed. The-uh, they attacked the night of the arrangement."

"Oh Haven," I rubbed my hand on his shoulder.

"That's in the past." But by the look in his eye, that night was still a burning hole in his heart. "Just a little hiccup in my plan. No big deal."

I cocked my head to the side. "Hiccup.." For some reason, it just sounded right.

He froze. "What?"

"Hiccup." I smiled. "Your new code name. So people around us won't understand who we're talking about. In case there's spies." My grin turned into a toothy smile. "We'll call you Hiccup."

"Absolutely not." He scoffed.

"I've already got the idea in my head, no taking it back."

"Taking it back? What? I never-"

"It's settled. Okay Hiccup, what now?"

"But-never mind. I guess we could go to Johnny's. See if he's awake."
I looked out onto the lake. "Or we could stay here."

"But what about-you know, yes, yeah we're going to stay right here."

I smiled at him. He put his hands softly around my waist and pulled me closer into a hug.

"Hav-er Hiccup, what are you doing?"

He looked at me, and shrugged. I snickered and gave him a light shove, plopping back down on the end of the dock.

"So, uh, what was she like?"

"My girlfriend?" He asked, setting himself down. I nodded. "Well, she was powerful. Had to be, a girl being the heir? She had this blonde hair that was about shoulder length, always pulled out of her face. And she had these big, bright eyes." I saw his face lighten, a youthful glaze spread across his face as he spoke. "Tabatha, she, she,.." he drawled off. "I'm sorry you don't need to hear all of this."

"It's fine Hiccup!" I laugh awkwardly. "Keep talking."

"She knew what she wanted." He smiled at me.

"Too bad she couldn't live long enough to follow through with that." A voice heckled from behind us. We turned abruptly, locking eyes with a man. He stood towering over us, black hair slicked back against his scalp, spilling down on a brown cape. Green eyes stared back at us, a malicious smirk plaster on his face. "Hello Hiccup." He mocked. We both jumped up, and Hiccup pushed me behind him. "Aw, how sweet, look at the chief defending his princess."