Escaping to You -Book I of the Journey Series

Chapter 17

===Hiccup===

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of metallic wings beating and a strong gust of wind. I opened my eyes to find Heather and Windshear landing in the cove. I decided to get up, stretch my limbs and greet her a good morning.

"Good Morning, M'Lady. How was your morning flight?"

"Pretty Good. Got a nice breath of fresh air and a good stretch to start the day." She replied as she hopped off of Windshear and greeted me with a kiss and a hug.

"How do you feel now?" I asked her, referring to last night while I'm still hugging her.

"I feel much better now, though I still can't really believe it. But, I gained some perspective last night from someone unexpected and I have a pretty good grasp of it all." She told me with a smile.

"Good to know, though I am curious about who helped you."

"Astrid." Okay, wasn't expecting that.

"Turns out she eavesdropped on us last night, but she apooogized about it. Actually, she apologized for everything last night. She told me her reasons, and it gave me a whole new perspective. I mean, I'm still mad about what happened to my village and parents, but I understand."

"And you just forgave her?" I asked, a little dubious about what I'm hearing, and she nodded.

"She said that the whole Berserker-Hooligan arranged marriage when we were born was like a bucket of water to her head and made her realize that she was being childish and decided to apologise." She told me.

"Okay, I'm a little confused. How did our arranged marriage, that didn't pull through because you went missing, made her realize how wrong she was?" I asked, not getting the connection.

"I'm guessing finding that out made her realize that she doesn't own you. And that you're your own person and you have your own life, where other things that are more important than her get to decide what happens to you next." Was the answer I got, and now it made sense to me.

"And how did you feel?" I asked her.

"About what?"

"About finding out that we were supposed to be betrothed when we were born?" And her cheeks turned red which was absolutely adorable.

"I was.... shocked. I began thinking about how it could be if I was never cast out to sea. We could've been married already by now. Though, with the war with Dagur and you battling the Red Death to consider, I'm happy that the events that played in this timeline went the way they did -I'm with you and it's more than I could ask." She said, her emerald eyes sparkling with emotion with every word.

I just kissed her deeply to show her I felt the same, and I swear I feel like I'm flying even though my feet are firmly planted on the ground.

"Oh my Thor, it's too early to be making out!"

"Yeah, and we're still here in case you forgot."

"Besides, aren't you two hungry for breakfast instead of each other?"

Three familiar voices caused us to stop, and by Odin, if they weren't my best friends I would have thrown them off a cliff.

"Sorry boys. And you're right, let's go get breakfast." Heather said as she pulled away from me and mounted Windshear.

With a defeated sigh and a glare at my cousin and best friends, I mounted Toothless and we all flew to the Great Hall for breakfast. As much as I hate to admit it, they were right and I was starving for something to eat.

We quickly grabbed plates and bowls and found a table next to the firepit. As we ate, Heather told us everything that happened last night. And I gotta say, I'm really proud of Astrid -she's starting to sound like the friend that I know.

"So, that means she's available?" Nikolai just had to ask, but I'm fine with it.

Hopefully, she can teach him how to be a little more serious. That guy is seriously turning into a ladies man, and I'm afraid he's gonna pay for that heavily one day.

"Yeah, she is. But, I wouldn't get your hopes up, Nikolai. I have a feeling she wants to focus on herself to become the best version of her she can be before she can even be thinking about dating." Heather discouraged him while throwing a wink to Astrid who was walking by.

Astrid returned it with a fist bump and a look that clearly said she heard what Heather said.

"Okay, I'm still a little shocked at how you two became friends in one night." I admitted to her.

"We're not kids anymore, babe. Besides you'll get used to it eventually. I am."

Just then, Gobber walked in and headed straight for our table.

"Ah, Hiccup and Heather. Just the pair of love birds I want to see. Tell me, how's the training going? Do we have a chance of winning -without someone's ego getting bigger and ruining everything?" Gobber asked, giving me a look towards the end of his statement.

I visibly gulped at the intensity of the look he gave me.

"Don't worry, Gobber. We'll be here to keep him in check and slap some sense into him when his head gets bigger." Aaron assured him.

"And as for his training, it's going really well. He's gonna have a shot winning both the viking and dragon competitions the day after tomorrow." Heather told him.

"Good. Keep up the good work with him, lass." Gobber complimented Heather, then turned to all of us.

"Now, for the real reason I came to you. Since we have four lads with four Night Furies and a lass with a rare dragon in town, Stoick thinks it might be a good idea for you and the other riders to have an air show -a performance of you and your dragons in the air to really kickstart Thawfest in a New Berk. You'll be performing at the start of the Viking Competition." Gobber told us.

"Oh, and you kids only have the entire day tomorrow to practice. So, best get on with it." He quickly added then just left.

"Wait, an airshow?" Heather asked.

"Apparently." Skylar just said.

"Well, like what Gobber said. Let's get the other riders and get a headstart on this thing." Aaron said as he stood up to put away his empty dishes.

"And here I thought I was gonna have to race Midnight, Phantom and Leo today to help me and Toothless train." I playfully sighed in defeat as I followed them.

"Oh, that's still happening." Skylar assured me with a playful glint in his blue eyes.

"Definitely, I wouldn't miss a chance to race a fellow Night Fury Rider." Nikolai added with a smirk.

"How about we make this interesting?" Aaron suggested.

"How?" The three of us asked, clearly interested.

"Winner of the race gets the first batch of Yak Butter Parfait at the Thawfest Closing Ceremony dinner." Aaron told them.

"Yak Butter Parfait?" Heather asked, confused.

"The first batch is always the most delicious. And it's always gone before anyone who actually deserves it gets a taste." I explained and she just nodded.

"Deal!" We all accepted.

"Now, to make this wager public so everyond knows the first batch is hands off." Nikolai said as he ran out the Great Hall to tell everyone about our bet.

"This is gonna end badly." Heather singsonged next to me as we followed Nikolai out the door of the Great Hall.

I sighed, put and arm around her and said, "I know. But, what's life without a little friendly competition and food-centered wager."

"True."

And we all set out to find the other teens, peel them away from their training for the last-minute airshow my father had just come up. Lucky for me, I started my training early. Can't really say the same thing for the others.