How To Train Your Dragon - The Book of Oneshots

Eyes

Astrid loved everything about his eyes.

His irises, a deep malachite. Windows to a wild forest of tangled bushes and brambles. They reflected his wild side, his daring ambition, his impulse.

Two gleaming, glistening emeralds that shone like the sun. They reflected his brightness, his intellect, his creativity and his constant yearn to learn and create.

A wide, vast meadow, an endless expanse of freedom. Rolling hills and fields of flowers. They reflected his innocence, his joy, his love for the world and the dragons in it.

Astrid didn't just love his eyes, she loved the personality they held within them. They reflected everything that made Hiccup special, they reflected everything she loved about him.

But... one day, those eyes lost their wildlife.

A young man stands and watches his father's ship sail from the shore.

One day, those eyes lost their light.

He grasps a bow, solemnly lighting the tip of it's arrow.

One day, those eyes dimmed in colour.

Raising the bow, he releases. He watches as flames engulf the ship.

One day, those eyes became sombre. They became dull, and tired. They became irritated and angry. They became anxious and unsure. They became unrecognisable.

Behind the sadness, the fatigue, the pain, Astrid could not find Hiccup. She could only find a broken boy, filled with guilt, sorrow and grief. For the loss of his father, and for the loss of his freedom.

Astrid watches, as the man she loves slaves over hours upon hours worth of work, how he jadedly ends a quarrel between two bickering spouses, and how he, resigned, wakes up at the crack of dawn, not to go flying with Toothless like he previously did, but to repeat the chore of chiefdom again, and again, and again.

When he saddles Toothless, he does not feel excitement like he did before. Toothless is the Alpha, and Hiccup is the Chief. When they leave the ground, there isn't any enjoyment. It is business. It is their duty. Astrid is shocked to find that even the fierce, but goofy eyes of the Night Fury have dulled.

Astrid looks within those pained sets of eyes, and they are exhausted. Astrid pauses, and thinks. Then she realises. She now understands.

One morning, while the stars are still in the sky, she quietly goes to wake him.

"Psst... Hiccup. Wake up."

Hiccup groans and rubs his eyes. "Astrid... what are you doing up...? The sun isn't even out yet..."

Astrid only puts her finger to her lips and gestures for the boy to follow her outside. "Saddle up Toothless," she says, simply.

And so Hiccup reluctantly exits his warm covers and equips his flying gear, following his girlfriend into the cold night. The sky begins showing a glimpse of morning, but the stars and moon have not disappeared just yet.

He finds Astrid waiting at the bottom of the steps, already mounted upon Stormfly. "Let's go," she says, as she takes off.

Hiccup has no time for words as his dragon eagerly follows the girl and her nadder.

The rush of air while taking off is something that Hiccup has not acquainted himself with for weeks, it is an almost foreign feeling. But as Toothless levels out within the clouds, the unfamiliarity subsides. The sky was a second home to him. As he cheekily follows Astrid in pursuit, it is as if he never left.

They spin and dive in the air, the wind rushing at full force. Time seems to slow down, even when the early morning sun begins to hit their faces. To them, there is nobody else in the world. Just themselves, and their dragons.

Astrid looks at Hiccup and Toothless. What she sees does not surprise her, but still makes her heart soar. She does not see a boy and a dragon. She instead sees one whole being, two halves of a whole, two brothers who lost a little but gained so much from one another. She sees her beloved, a smile she has not seen in weeks. She watches as he lets go of his handles, and spreads his arms out like wings. She watches as he takes a breath, and opens his eyes with a smile.

Those eyes.

They're pained, they're broken. They're worn and they're tired. But within the wreckage there is life.

The forests are growing over, the emeralds are polished and shined. It's not a lot, but within those, big, bittersweet green eyes there is evidence of healing.

And Astrid cannot be happier to see, that within those eyes...

There is a flame.

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I kinda experimented with this oneshot. I tried going for a poetic sort of style while still adding in some dialogue and some excuse of a plot haha

But yeah! The first actual finished oneshot for this book! This one was fairly easy because, like I said, there isn't much of a plot and there's mostly just poetic, artsy stuff and a lot of repetition. I'll try to get a couple more oneshots out soon, but I do have a bad reputation of saying stuff will come out soon, and actually have them come out a year later (I'm ashamed to say that I'm not even exaggerating)

So yeah, don't take my word for it lol

-Ami