Escaping to You -Book I of the Journey Series

Chapter 11

===Heather===

A week had passed since we built the salmon ladder. And so far, the gang hasn't pranked us since. I guess Hiccup scaring them with Windshear shook all the foolishness out of them.

Wake up. Eat. Run to the cove. Practice with Windshear's Spines. Run back to the village. Eat. Run to the Arena. Salmon ladder. Practice with Toothless and Windshear. Take a bath. Fly back. Eat. Sleep. Repeat. The routine that me and Hiccup foolow seems to be very effective. Even though he isn't there yet, he's been showing signs of improvement. Which is good.

Right now, its already after lunch and I'm with Hiccup at the academy. He's now on his second round on the salmon ladder. And I'm constantly restraining myself from staring at his chest that was trickling with sweat. Toothless and Windshear are playing outside of the arena. Seeing the two of them, playing like little children is one of the most adorable things I have ever seen.

I heard footsteps approaching behind me. I thrned around and I saw the riders enter the arena. "What are you guys doing here?" I asked them.

"Well, we heard loud, metal clanging from the academy so we decided to check it out." Astrid said."But, we didn't expect to find the sound was coming from...that." Snotlout continued as he pointed to Hiccup, who was now about to repel down from the top of the ladder.

"What is he doing anyway?" Ruffnut asked. "It is actually an exercise invented by my village that quickly improves ones upper body strength." I answered her. "Where did you guys get it?" Astrid asked. "We built it." I replied. "How does it work?" Fishlegs asked. "How about you just watch Hiccup." I told him as I gestured to Hiccup, who is now on his third round.

He did a pull up, amd climbed up to the next level. The sound pf the metal clanging against each other made the riders jump, causing a fit of giggles to erupt from my chest.

Before he could reach the top of the ladder, Snotlout asked, "How is he gonna get down when he is that high up.?" "Just watch him Snotlout." I said to him as Hiccup jumped and landed on the lower step. The gang stared at him in awe as he repelled down the lader until he reached the bottom. He dropped to the ground and walked towards me. I hamded him a towel and a canteen filled with water. "Thank you." He breathed out as he emptied the contents of the canteen and wiped away the sweat from his face and torso.

As he set the canteen down and slung the cloth over his shoulder, he noticed the riders looking at him, shocked. "What?" He asked them. "Nothing. Its just that you don't look like the scrawny, talking fishbone anymore." Snotlout said. "Yeah, you really look, well...... Hot!" Astrid added. I couldn't stiffle the gag I felt as my stomach churned in disgust.

And what surprised me is that Hiccup also gagged at Astrid's comment. Which is weird since I know thet he likes Astrid. What's worse? Ruffnut is practically drooling all over Hiccup. I could feel the bile rising up my throat as I notice Hiccup inching away from the riders. I swallowed th vomit back to my stomach and handed Hiccup his clothes.

"Look guys, I'm going to have to talk to you some other time. Just not right now. Heather and I still have a lot of training to do with Toothless and Windshear." Hiccup said as he's strapping his body armor over his tunic.

"Wait, why is Heather training you?" Astrid asked. I could sense the anger in her tone. She looked like as if she were cheated. "Gobber practically gave her the position as my trainor. So, its not against the rules since she isn't competing. And besides, Dad even agreed to appointing her." Hiccup explained as he fastened the last of his body armor. I can tell Astrid is defeated.

She just sighed amd gave Hiccup a hug. "We'll see you later at the Great Hall." She said as she pulled away, her arms wraooed around his neck. I could feel anger bubbling inside my chest as I saw how closely she's standing next to him. My fist started clenching, but I didn't show it.