Dragon Paint

Chapter 6: The Young Chief's First Dance

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The month went by really fast. There was no more trouble with Skullcrusher, and Toothless taught me all the things Night Furies could do. I got to see more of Hiccup and Astrid's romance than I could ever see just by watching the movies. They were never awkward around each other any more, and they completed each other perfectly. They spent a lot of time together, talked, hung out, and sometimes Hiccup would treat Astrid to something special, as any good boyfriend should. For instance, Valka showed Hiccup an old dance in private. It was a dance that was energetic and reminded me of some Irish jig. It started out slow, with both partners moving smoothly and gently in a figure-eight with their arms locked. Then it got faster, and I can't remember how those moves went.

"Now just surprise her with it," Valka had said as Hiccup walked out the door. "We'll be there with the music."

Turns out, there was a big party at the Great Hall for some reason, and there was dancing involved. Dragons were welcome. So, Toothless, Cloudjumper, and I sat against one of the pillars. Hiccup leaned against a different one and waited nervously. The music was slow and I started feeling sleepy. Then Astrid walked in with Stormfly. We saw Hiccup start to tense up, and even from where we were we could see he was beginning to turn red. Astrid walked up to Hiccup, and they started talking. Stormfly flapped over to us.

"Hiccup seems awfully nervous," she noted. "I wonder why?"

Me and Toothless exchanged knowing glances that said, "Don't tell her, let her see for herself." Cloudjumper didn't say anything; he was too busy trying to get the attention of a beautiful Hobblegrunt who had a smooth crest folding over her neck and was probably ten years younger than the Stormcutter. Cloudjumper was crooning over her and making her scales shift from pale pink to flirtatious red.

Then the music changed. A lively tune that soon had me tapping my foot. Toothless leaned over to me.

"This is it. This is the one."

We watched Hiccup eagerly. As the music started, he held out his hand to Astrid.

"Hiccup-," Astrid started. Hiccup shushed her by placing a finger on her lips. He looked ready now.

"Just follow my lead." He pulled Astrid out onto the open space on the floor, and the crowd parted so it was only the two of them. They all wanted to see the young chief take his girl for a spin. The band restarted the song so Hiccup and Astrid could start. We could see Hiccup's lips moving as if instructing Astrid on how this all went. The two started slow with the song, which was an old courting ballad called "For the Dancing and the Dreaming", Toothless told me later. He said that Stoick and Valka sang and danced to this when they found each other.

Hiccup and Astrid soon were sweeping across the floor, each step as energetic as the music. They increased speed in time to the song, and, by the giddy grins on their faces, I could tell they were enjoying every minute of it. Hiccup swung Astrid around, and she twirled for a second before Hiccup caught hold of her again and they sashayed over the floor. Then, the song ended, and Hiccup caught Astrid in a dip. Astrid grinned and pulled Hiccup closer, and the two kissed. The crowd clapped wildly, applauding their new chief's performance. Astrid pulled away from Hiccup and he helped her stand up all the way. The music changed, and the two disappeared into the crowd.

I looked up at Stormfly. She was gaping, and had an almost horrified look on her face. I laughed. "See, Stormfly?," I said. "Now you know what Hiccup was worried about." Stormfly closed her mouth and nodded numbly.

We waited for a while, and started to wonder when we didn't see Hiccup and Astrid.

"They were supposed to come back here," Toothless said.

"Why don't we go look for them?," I suggested. We headed for the door, and a depressed Cloudjumper joined us.

"She rejected you, didn't she?," Toothless grinned.

Cloudjumper sighed and nodded. "I really thought I was getting somewhere, too."

We looked around the village, and finally found Hiccup and Astrid. They were perched atop Hiccup's roof, just staring at the stars.

"That's their favorite spot," Toothless whispered. "They go up there a lot. When they were younger, they'd go up there on a snowy morning and watch the sun rise before going out to dragonboard. It gave them a little time to bond properly before whipping each other's butts in a race."

"Do they still do that?," I asked.

"They don't dragonboard that often anymore," Toothless said. "The last two times we did, were NOT good experiences. The first one we got buried in an avalanche, and the second one we got separated for a week; I was with Astrid and Hiccup was with Stormfly. Astrid got injured, but, I healed her with my 'magic spit', as Hiccup refers to it. Stormfly just happened to be carrying eggs at the time, and laid them while that whole shenanigan was going on. We reunited by Hiccup and Stormfly showing up right as a pack of Speed Stingers were attacking me and Astrid. That's why we never dragonboard anymore."

I nodded, horrified. I snuck around to the back of the house and tried out my dragon ears. I eavesdropped on Hiccup and Astrid's conversation.

"That was amazing, Hiccup. Who taught you that?"

"Mom did, right before the party started."

"It was really fun..."

"See? Just 'cause I'm chief doesn't mean I'm too busy to have fun.......and spend time with you...."

Astrid leaned her head on Hiccup's shoulder. "I'm glad it's that way."

I smiled, and ran back to Toothless as the two jumped down from the roof.

"It's fun just to listen to them sometimes," Toothless said. "It's only a matter of time before they tie the knot."