How It Came To Be (An LBR story)

Chapter V

The next few weeks passed by fast, Astrid and Hiccup spending more time together and disappearing every now and again. Nobody thought anything of it, only that it was two friends who wanted to get away and have some time alone together. Astrid started training with Hiccup, so that he would be able to defend himself should someone come looking to take or get rid of the mighty Dragon Conqueror.

Stoick gave Hiccup a sword that had been in the family for generations but had never lost its edge. Hiccup noticed that it had strange runes inscribed on it. He scoured books for days, never finding a single word that would hint to what the runes were or what they meant.

Hiccup and Astrid go to the woods everyday for their training session. Even though it's only been a couple weeks, Hiccup was already starting to fill out. His whole body became toned from the rigorous workouts he put himself on to help become stronger along with swinging a sword. He did push-up, many different types of crunches, ran, did more physical labor such as move bolders and rocks, etc.

The two always start with a sparring match, learning how to defend themselves with nothing but bare hands as their opponent is armed. Hiccup is always the one to go the longest since he has to build strength and stamina more than Astrid. Next they go on a run through the forest and down the beach, ending at the iceberg and then turning around and spendning their sweet time getting back to the cove. Lastly, they race their dragons.

"You're getting really good," Astrid tell Hiccup as the weeks go on.

"I've had a great instructor," Hiccup says as they dismount their dragons.

They always end the race on an overlook above the ocean just off of the beach head.

In the distance the sun was setting, stretching it's purple fingers into the sky, turning the clouds many colors, even some they haven't seen before such as greens and yellows. They sat down beside each other to enjoy the sunset.

"We haven't done this in a while," Astrid says.

"We haven't, have we?" Hiccup says as her head falls on his shoulder.

His head leans on hers and they sit like that for minutes at a time, their fingers lacing together. When the sun fell below the horizon they made to pack up and head back to Berk, but a snapped twig alerts them to someone's presence.

Hiccup drew his sword from his back while Astrid drew her axe. Slowly, the creep towards where the noise was, keeping their weapons at the ready in case they were attacked. Hiccup used the tip of his sword to push back the brush, but nothing was there. The two look at each other in confusion before turning around to see five men armed with swords and axes. They weren't Alvin's men or Dagur's, so they prepared for a fight.

The two men in the middle, carrying single-bladed war axes, attack first, their swings wild and vicious. Hiccup parries one axe while Astrid gets a lucky break, cutting the other axe to pieces with a lucky swing. Hiccup calls for the dragons and defends himself against the other three men. They bore down on Hiccup, trying to break his defenses. Astrid luckily had a throwing axe and landed it in the tree truck next to a head.

Out of nowhere a purple ball lands next to two other men while spikes wound the rest. Toothless and Stormfly block the path between the vicious men and the dragons' best friends. The let out a terrible roar, knocking back all five men and scaring them off. Hiccup and Astrid mount up and take off to Berk.

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Later that day

"I already told you, dad, that I don't know who they were or who they were working for," Hiccup tells his dad literally for the fifth time.

"Neither one of us does!" Astrid chimes in before Stoick asks her once again, too.

"Well I can assure you this. That's the last time you two go off alone like that," Stoick finalizes.

"But how am I supposed to train if I can't use the forest to help with using the surrounding environment to my advantage?" Hiccup counters.

"Then I'll go out and supervise," Stoick crosses his arm.

"What if we keep our dragons around to protect us. You saw for yourself when I took on the Red Death that Toothless will do anything to protect me, and Stormfly will do the same for Astrid," Hiccup trys

"No is a no," Stoick says as he walks out the door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go take care of some business."

"Why don't you ever listen!" Hiccup throws his arms in the air, then slams his fist in the table. He looks down, seeing a huge crack across the surface. He examines his hand, a trickle of blood seeping out of a split in his hand from a peice of rough wood on the table. He just looks at Astrid, who has her mouth cover in surprise.

He heads up to his room and shuts his door. Toothless just sits on the window seal that allows his access to the sky. Soft footsteps were heard and the door opens to reveal Astrid. She sits beside him on his bed and wraps her arms around him, placing a kiss on his cheek.

"Everything will be ok," she says as she runs her fingers through his thick hair. She wipes away some tears that had slipped from his eyes. "Everything will be ok," she holds him.