Astrid's Tale

Chapter 5

The weather was cold and rainy as I walked home from dinner. So many things had happened, It was hard to wrap my head it all. I had always known that Snotlout had like me, but I'd never thought he would be such a jerk about it.  And so Ignorant! Why couldn't he get through his thick skull that I didn't like him!

I sighed. And then there was Hiccup. He liked me. How could I have never seen this before? Him staring at us, me, during the dragon attacks. How he couldn't speak properly in front of me. 

I gasped. If Snotlout found about this, he would kill Hiccup. But Snotlout couldn't do that, could he? He wouldn't hurt Hiccup, the heir of Stoick the Vast right?

I can't remember the last time I cried, and it certainly wasn't about boys.  I took a deep breath. I had to be strong now. I will prove myself. I will be the one to kill the Monstrous Nightmare at the end of training. I will be strong, courageous, and prove myself to be a true Hofferson.

Time skip(Next day)

I stepped into the arena, awed by what Gobber had done overnight. The entire arena was filled with wooden walls, forming a maze. I figured we would be fighting a Nadder, as they tended to be smarter than other dragons. 

"H-hey Astrid," Hiccup stuttered, "So I read the boo-"

"I told you Hiccup, I've already read it," I said, trying to keep emotions out of my voice as I walked past.

"Okay, so-"

"Hey babe," Snotlout walked over with a stupid grin on his face, "Sorry about last night, everyone just kept interrupting us, eh?"

I gritted my teeth together, trying not to yell. 

"So now that you've had more time to think, how about that offer? The basement is pretty nice."

"Thanks for the offer Snotlout, but I'm afraid that I'll be busy in the following days."

"So next week then," he said.  I could see him getting nervous.  He wasn't used to rejection. 

"Next week?" I asked, feigning stupidity, "I said I was busy these few months, didn't I?" I paused for a moment, stifling laughter at his confused face, "Oh!" I exclaimed, giggling,  "I said days, didn't I? Oh my, no, I'm quite busy for what seems to be the rest of the year, training, dragon attacks and whatnot. I'll take you up on your offer sometime, but not now."

Snotlout paused for a moment, taking in what I had all said. "So just whenever?"

"Sure," I fake giggled. Thor, did I sound stupid. 

"All right, everyone! Let's get to it!" Gobber called. We formed an uneven line in front of him. Snotlout stood to the right of me, and Hiccup stood quietly, far off to the left. 

"I'll get this dragon for you, babe," Snotlout whispered. I tried not to puke as I inched closer to Hiccup. 

"Today," continued Gobber. "We will be fighting the Deadly Nadder."

I was right!

I looked around, but Gobber had already disappeared into the maze.  "Find yourself a shield!"I heard him call.

I darted around a corner and found a stack of shields. I took one and ran. I looked up. The Nadder was on top of the maze! I gasped, and started to bang my axe against the shields. The Nadder look confused, but it wasn't so disoriented yet. 

"That's right, Astrid!" Gobber called. Somehow,  he had gotten out of the maze and into the viewing stands.

"So I noticed the book didn't say anything about Night Furies," Hiccup called to Gobber.

Honestly, Hiccup? You have to start taking this seriously.

I ran around the maze, and began to recognize where I was going. Gobber called suggestions to us as we went and I could tell that things were going much better than the last session. I began a pattern of where to run out of the firing range of the Nadder, but not so far as to lose eyesight. 

Snotlout followed be the entire time, talking about his basement. With all his noise, I had to make sure that we couldn't be seen. That was harder than it sounds. Snotlout seemed to lure the Nadder nearer and nearer to us until it was directly in front of us. 

"Look out, babe, I got this," Snotlout promised.

He threw his hammer, which missed the Nadder by a mile. 

I took off running, Snotlout dragging behind. "The sun was in my eyes, Astrid," He protested. "I can block out the sun, but I didn't have time-"

I smacked him on the side to get him to shut up. He saw that I was crouched and copied me. I looked over his shoulder and saw Hiccup. I paused for a second. 

"Hiccup," I whispered, gesturing him to get over here, crouch down and follow me. 

I did a somersault to the next wall, and Snotlout followed. I looked over at Hiccup. He hesitated, and everything seemed to go in slow motion. He jumped forward, ducking into a flip, tried to propel himself off the ground with his shield and-

flopped onto his back. He got up and started screaming. The Nadder had seen him. I started running, breaking free from Snotlout, who was running in a state of full panic. 

The dragon, disoriented by all the sounds, ran after Hiccup, knocking down walls. One wall would hit another, and they were all going down. I started hopping on top of the falling walls, trying not to get stuck in between. I heard a crash, and before I knew it, I was falling.

I looked down and saw Hiccup lying on the ground in sheer terror. I fell on top of him, my axe plunging into his axe. 

"Ooh, love on the battlefield." I heard Tuff call. 

"She could do better," Ruff muttered, but I shook it off. 

I looked around and saw the Nadder coming towards us. This was my moment. I pulled on my axe, but it didn't move. It was still stuck in the shield, and Hiccup still had his arm attached. I was worried that I had cut his arm, but I had to ignore the thought. I pulled on my axe, trying to get it free. I put my foot down to get better leverage. The axe came free and I threw it at the Nadder, which flew off. 

I was furious. I had had the chance to kill the Nadder and prove myself! I hadn't been able to because of Hiccup. 

"Is this some kind of a joke to you?" I roared. "Our parent's war will become ours! Pick which side you're on!"

Still angry, I walked out of the arena. 

Hiccup had to pay more attention. He's risking everyone's lives. Why can't he be better at this?