Post by ♥TaylorRose♥ on May 21, 2010 23:54:40 GMT -5
Alrighty. This is my first attempt at a HTTYD fanfic, and it is the story of what went down when my OC Sage arrives at Berk. It's told in Hiccup's POV until I decide to change it ((which I probably won't do)) and so... I hope you enjoy it. 
It was hard to describe what I was thinking and what I was feeling since the news was revealed. I talked to no one for the mere reason of having absolutely no idea as of what to say. Everyone knew what had happened, and there was despair flooding throughout the entire village. It was always this way when something like this happened, so I thought nothing of it when no one said anything to me as I passed them on the way back up to my house.
My dad wasn’t home when I arrived; he must have still been down at the other house. I guess it was his duty, as chief of the tribe, to help out in situations like these. I, being the chief’s son, should most likely be down there as well, but I couldn’t stand being at that house any longer. I walked over to the bed on the other side of the room, sat down on it, and reached down to carefully turn the metalwork that made up my left foot, “massaging” it, in a sense. After a few seconds of this I put my elbows on my knees and my face in my hands. I had been trying so hard not to ever since I received the news, but I couldn’t hold them in anymore. In front of no one, concealed in my own dreaded thoughts, I let the salty tears roll down my cheeks, smearing onto my hands.
I wasn’t expecting this to happen in the least, and was taking it harder than anyone in the entire village, save for her parents. It was winter time, and people caught sicknesses in the winter more often than in any other time of the year, I knew this. But she seemed like such a fighter; she was someone that could definitely fight off a lousy disease. Or so I thought, for when the time came she failed to live up to her reputation. I don’t think anyone expected it to happen to her… and I knew that I hadn’t. The month had started off with such promise, with the new acquaintance between Viking and dragon. And then, only two weeks after this happened, she had caught the flu. She was in bed for the next two weeks, and no one, not even I, was allowed to go and see her the flu was so bad. I often heard her coughing harshly as I passed her house, and I would always feel the urge to rush inside and comfort her. I knew I couldn’t, though, no matter how much I wanted to.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and I jumped, scrambling towards the other end of the bed. When I noticed that it was my dad I calmed down, letting out a quick breath of relief. I wiped the tears from my face with the end of my sleeve, hoping that my father hadn’t seen the trails that they had made through the very small layer of dirt that rested on my skin.
“Oh, uh, uh, D-dad,” I staggered, watching as he sat down on the bed next to me. “I, uh… I didn’t hear you come in.” I sniffled a little, turning my face away from him in an effort of hiding my red eyes. He sighed loudly, placing one of his large hands on my shoulder once again.
“It’s okay to cry, son, you don’t need to hide it,” he told me quietly. I wiped my eyes one last time before turning back to face him again. I knew that I probably still looked terrible from crying into my hands, and then smearing my face into them. “… her parents want you to be the one to send her off. They know how close the two of you were…” I looked into his eyes, my own pair widening in slight surprise.
“But it’s tradition that the parents send their children off,” I stated, “so that the children could be with their parents when they passed onto the next world.” Dad sighed again and nodded slowly.
“Yes, they know, but they also know that the two of you didn’t get to see each other at all for the past two weeks… and so they wanted you to have the honor. They wanted Astrid to be with you when she passes on.” My eyes widened even more as I turned my head to stare down at the wooden floor. I had never heard of any time in recorded history that someone outside of a family sent a member of the family onto the next world. I was honored to have been chosen to do this, and I so badly wanted to, so I couldn’t refuse.
“I, um… I suppose I can do it…” I accepted quietly, hearing my voice break. My dad suddenly wrapped his big, muscular arms around me in a tight embrace. I didn’t move an inch, and instead just let him hug me. I had no energy to move any part of my body, and I felt exhausted from the crying I had done earlier.
“The ceremony with be tomorrow at sunset,” he whispered to me, pushing himself onto his feet again. “You should, um… probably get some rest. You look like you need it.” I merely nodded, carefully lifting my legs onto the bed and covering myself with the blanket. Dad threw some extra logs onto the fire in the middle of the room before walking towards the front door again. “I’m going back down to Astrid’s house… to tell them that you’ve accepted. I won’t be gone long.” I turned onto my side, facing towards the rest of the large room.
“Okay, Dad,” I responded drowsily, closing my eyes. I heard the door open and felt a slight winter breeze blow into the room. It felt good on my face, and I almost wanted to ask my dad to keep the door open. But after a second he was gone, the door was closed, and the wind disappeared. I sighed quietly to myself as another tear slipped down my cheek.
The morning was quiet and absolutely still. My father and I sat silently around the fire in the middle of the large room, turning the fish on the end of our rods to get them cooked. Dad ate his in one bite, but I couldn’t even bring mine to my mouth. I wasn’t in the mood to eat, and so I gave my fish to my dad, pulled my riding gear on, and headed outside into the brisk morning air. It was still early so the entire village was most likely still asleep. I snuck quietly over to where Toothless came out to every morning to eat his breakfast. He saw me walking towards him with my riding gear on and I could instantly see the look of excitement on his face; he loved going flying, no matter what the time of day it was.
I carefully mounted the saddle on his back, or, more likely his neck, and slipped my feet into their stirrups. I made sure that my replacement left foot was strapped into its stirrup tightly before patting Toothless’ head. He shook his head excitedly, giving a grateful groan, before spreading his large black wings. I held on tightly as Toothless kicked off of the ground and sped into the gray morning sky. The water surrounding our island was also a light gray color, as it usually was in the early morning. Toothless and I soared out over the water, going down near the surface to get a quick, refreshing morning spray. We flew over to the docks where, in just a few hours’ time, I would be sending Astrid off to the next world.
I still couldn’t believe that this was happening to me. The girl I had had my eye on for years had finally decided to like me back… and then she was gone in a blink of an eye. I had hardly had any time to actually get to know her. We would ride our dragons together every day, visiting the canyon where I had kept Toothless a secret for all that time. And now those memories were just those… memories. I would never soar through these skies with Astrid again. I would never feel her arms around my waist when she rode Toothless with me again. Nothing was ever going to be the same without her there with me.
Toothless made a sudden dive, and I held on tightly as we shot back down towards the water. He bounced off the water’s surface and flew back up towards the clouds, spraying us both with water. He made a laughing noise, and I knew that he was trying to cheer me up, but I merely frowned and shivered. He turned his head back to look at me, and I turned my head to look away from him. He understood what was going on with me; he wasn’t like other animals or other dragons. He and I had a special connection, and he was worried about me, I could tell. I reached forward and patted his head again.
“Let’s go back, bud,” I said to him quietly. “I’m getting a little cold out here…” He made an unhappy noise, as I knew that he wanted to keep flying, but he turned and started heading back towards the village. As we were flying overhead I saw Astrid’s mother walk out of their house and towards the edge of a high cliff. When she got to the edge she looked up towards the sky and closed her eyes. I turned Toothless’ head towards her and he understood the message, bringing us down to the ground near her. I carefully climbed down from Toothless and quietly walked over to Astrid’s mom.
“Good morning,” I said, just then noticing how tired and teary my voice still sounded. Astrid’s mom jumped a little, turning towards me with her hand on her chest and her eyes wide with surprise.
“Oh, Hiccup… you startled me,” she said, looking down at me. I saw that her eyes were a little red, and I knew that she had been crying… again. Something that I wanted to go off and do a little of at the moment…
“I’m sorry,” I replied softly. “I… didn’t mean to. I was up on Toothless and I saw you out and I wanted to come and see how you’re doing…?” She gave me a small smile, ruffling my hair gently. I shook my head again after she took her hand back, trying to make my hair fall back to where it had been. I utterly hated it when anyone ruffled my hair…
“I’m… getting along,” she responded, turning to face the water again. “I’ve been praying that the Gods will take care of her once we pass her on to the next world.” I sighed very quietly as I, too, turned to look out to open water. Everything seemed so gray at the moment; the sky, the water, the atmosphere around the village… they were all so dim and downcast. “I know that everyone has their time… but hers just came much too early, Hiccup. Much too early…”
“I couldn’t agree more…” I replied, looking down at the water crashing up against the rocks at the bottom of the cliff. Astrid had been so young… she had been older than me, but only by a few months. But even still, dying at fifteen was unbelievable. I couldn’t imagine dying at her age in a few months… it made me wonder what she had to have been thinking those two weeks that she had been so sick… those two weeks that she had been confined to her bed. Those awful two weeks that I wasn’t allowed to go and visit her…
Astrid’s mother sighed.
“I’m going to go back inside… maybe pray a little more,” she told me, turning back towards their house. I nodded once.
“Add in a please for me,” I said to her in a light, joking manner. She gave a slight chuckle before disappearing into the house. I turned back towards the water, welcoming the slight breeze that blew my hair back. Toothless came up beside me, looking out at the open ocean with me. Out of nowhere I felt sudden raindrops begin to fall, and I groaned slightly. I turned around and began walking back towards my house, Toothless right by my side, the rain becoming harsher and harsher. By the time we both entered the house again we were soaked, my wet hair hanging down in my eyes. I brushed it aside as I walked back over to the bed on the other side of the room. I heard Dad upstairs, but he was quickly making his way back towards the stairs. I hurried under the blanket and acted as if I were asleep, closing my eyes just as he came into the room. I heard Toothless lay down on the floor right beside the bed, and I heard my dad walk over towards us.
“Oh son…” he whispered, brushing my wet hair back. He said nothing more, and made his way over to the door. I heard him put his Viking helmet on his head before opening the door and heading out into the rain.
As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t get back to sleep. I tossed and turned; squeezing my eyes shut tighter and tighter, and ended up on my back, staring up at the ceiling as the rain continued to pelt down on the roof outside. I thought about Astrid and the very first ride she and I had taken on Toothless together. The first time we had ever really gotten along, and the first time she really showed any kind of feelings for me… that was one of the best memories I had of her. I closed my eyes softly and pictured that first ride in my head, letting my mouth curl into a small smile as I slipped into unconsciousness.
I woke up well into the afternoon. I went to the still-burning fire in the middle of the room to cook a quick fish, as my stomach grumbled. I could tell that it hadn’t stopped raining from the sound of the little drops of water still pounding down against the roof. I ate slowly, nearly gagging on every bite I took. After forcing myself to eat only half of the fish, I threw the rest to Toothless before heading out the front door and into the sheeting rain. I saw someone struggling with carrying four large baskets in their arms, and with nothing else to do I ran over to them and offered to help carry the baskets back to their house.
“Oh, why thank you, Hiccup,” Volga said gratefully as I took two of the large baskets from her arms. I gave her a very small grin as we started towards her house again. “You can just place them right over there… thank you,” she told me when we entered her house. I placed the baskets down on the floor where she told me and she placed the other two on top of them.
“You’re welcome,” I told her quietly, giving her another very small smile before turning towards the door again.
“Hiccup… I know how you’re feeling right now…” she said as I grabbed the metal door handle. My grip tightened as she spoke and I gritted my teeth softly. I really didn’t like it when someone stopped me to try to talk to me about how I was feeling at the moment. The entire village was feeling down… why did everyone come to talk to me?
“Yeah… I’m a bit upset… but it happens. People come and go… it’s a part of life…” Volga sighed and didn’t respond. Taking her silence as a “You can go now”; I pulled the large wooden door open and stepped back outside again. I walked out into the rain, and with only the second step I took, my prosthetic left foot sunk slightly into a muddy patch of grass, causing me to trip and fall to my hands and knees. I groaned to myself as I started trying to get back to my feet, pulling my metal foot out from the muddy grass. I stood back up and the first thing I noticed was that my left foot looked differently then it should. I groaned to myself and looked down at my muddy hands and knees, deciding to go back to my house to wash up.
Toothless was still curled up by the side of the bed when I walked in, asleep. I limped quietly over to the stairs and made my way up them as silently as I could, trying not to wake him up. When I reached the top of the stairs I turned into the large room that made up the second story of the house, walking with difficulty over to a large, hand-carved wooden bowl full of water. I stuck my hand into the water to find that it was cold. I couldn’t find myself caring whether the water was cold or not as I pulled my tattered green shirt off and threw it into the water. I didn’t take the energy to dump soap in; I scrubbed the mud off of the dirty areas and considered it clean enough for now. I then took a small rag, dumped it into the water, and used it to scrub the dirty spots on my pants. Whenever possible, I didn’t take my pants off to clean them; it was such a difficult task to take them off with my left foot, and I always hated seeing where my leg ended and where the metalwork began. After scrubbing my knees and a few other places on the pants I plunged the rag back into the water, not bothering to do anything else with it. I took my wet shirt in my hands and walked back downstairs, trying to keep quiet for Toothless. I went over to the fire to hang my shirt over it to dry, and then I stood in front of the fire to try to get it to dry my pants as well.
I heard two men talking outside the front door and recognized their voices as my dad’s and Gobber’s. I forgot about drying my pants and instead ran over to hide behind the bed, still shirtless, so that I could hear what they were talking about without being seen. I gasped as I tripped over my injured metal foot on the way to the bed, diving over it, and landing on my side on the hard wooden floor. I bit my lip so that I wouldn’t scream at the pain that seared through my body as the two men entered the house, hoping that my shirt hanging over the fire wouldn’t give away that I was home as well.
“Do you really think so, Gobber?” my dad asked as they walked into the room. I shivered as the cold air from outside swarmed through the room, surrounding my bare skin in a coat of cold.
“I’m not one-hundred percent sure, but I am thinking that it could be a possibility,” Gobber replied, shutting the front door. Toothless gave an annoyed grunt and hopped up on top of the bed to curl up again, facing away from Dad and Gobber. I rolled my eyes at him with a very slight grin on my face. “They had a special relationship, you know that… and now that she’s gone… I’m just saying that Hiccup sinking into a slight depression wouldn’t be too surprising…” My eyes widened as Gobber brought up what they had been talking about.
“Maybe I should talk with him about it…” Dad responded. I heard him and Gobber take seats at the table across the room from where I was hiding. Now I knew that I was going to have to avoid any alone time with Dad… that was a conversation that I wasn’t going to have. “Where is he anyway, do you know?”
“I haven’t seen him since yesterday. He’s probably out flying on… wait, Toothless is over there…” Dad sighed.
“He might be out walking… he does tend to do that sometimes, and it’s become a habit for him ever since Astrid became sick. I guess it lets him be alone with his thoughts…” My eyes drooped as I let out a very quiet sigh and repositioned myself so that my back was leaning up against the bed. Going out walking sounded like a very nice idea at the moment, but I still needed to fix up my left foot from after that fall earlier. I sat absolutely still as Dad and Gobber continued their conversation.
“Ah, it’s a mess,” Gobber sighed. “Must have been some case of the flu; I’ve never seen anyone, especially a child or teenager, die so quickly or easily as Astrid did.” Dad sighed as well.
“I’m just hoping that Hiccup can actually bring himself to send Astrid off this evening…” he said quietly. I heard him push himself back to his feet, walking over to another side of the room, and then the sound of another log being thrown onto the fire was heard. I closed my eyes and hung my head, silently thinking the same thing as my father. It was definitely going to be a difficult thing to do, sending Astrid’s body off in front of the entire village. Crying was almost a guarantee, and with everyone watching… it was certainly going to be an interesting night for me.
Dad and Gobber went on to talk about other things, and so I eventually tuned them out and merely sat there with my eyes closed, thinking about what was coming that evening. After what felt like an eternity, Dad and Gobber both stood from the table and exited the house, giving me another quick gust of cold wind to wrap around my bare upper body. When I was sure that they were gone I pushed myself slowly to my feet, accidentally waking Toothless up. His green eyes widened in surprise of seeing me there, but he thought nothing of it and closed them again to go back to sleep. I walked around the bed and over to the fire, grabbing my dry shirt. I pulled it back over my head, welcoming the sudden warmth it gave to my body. I then carefully limped out the front door and began my trip down to the blacksmith shop.
It took me a good fifteen minutes, but I was finally able to bend my left foot back into its original shape. When I was satisfied with my work I headed back out into the rain, realizing that the sky was now noticeably darker than before. I let out a quiet sigh as I realized that the time was drawing nearer and nearer… and only to make me feel even worse, Astrid’s father came running up to me a few steps out of the blacksmith shop.
“Hiccup!” he called, running towards me. I turned to face him as he approached me. “Everyone has begun to gather at the docks… we’re going to start in a short time… are you prepared?” I looked down at the wet ground, my eyes drooping again as the rain dripped from my sopping wet hair.
“… yeah, I guess I am,” I finally answered after a few seconds of silence. “When should I be down there?”
“Any time in the next half an hour. We’ll, um… we’ll be waiting for you.” I looked back up at his face and noticed the extreme sadness in his eyes, and noted the frown on his face. I nodded once at him and he turned to walk back the way he had come. I watched him walk away, and saw the way he was feeling portrayed in the way he moved. His shoulders slumped, his arms hanging limply down at his sides, every step he took was taken so slowly… I felt for him. Going through something like this as a parent had to be difficult. I was upset about it, yes, but being Astrid’s father or mother… losing your child at the age of fifteen had to be so tough.
I made my way back up to the house as the sky grew even darker. Toothless must have given up on trying to sleep, as he greeted me with nearly knocking me over when I walked in the front door. I chuckled very lightly and patted his head before walking carefully over to the hook where I hang my fur jacket. I slipped my arms through the vest, bent over, and shook my wet hair out. I knew that it wouldn’t do any good, seeing as I was about to go right back out into the rain again; it had become a habit for me to shake my hair out whenever it got this wet. After I was finished with that I decided to go and sit by the fire before leaving to go down to the docks. Toothless came over to sit beside me, and I placed one hand on top of his head. I stared into the burning flames as they licked at the air, desperately trying to grow larger and larger. A few moments later my dad entered the house, soaking wet.
“Ah, son,” he said as he closed the front door. “They’re, um, they’re ready for you down at the docks.” I gave him one curt nod without looking away from the fire. He sighed quietly. “Hiccup… I know this is tough for you… and if you would rather not send her off, I’m sure that-”
“No,” I said hardly, still staring intently into the burning embers. I could tell that my dad was surprised at the harshness of my voice. “I can do this, Dad. It’s… something I have to do, I know it. Astrid would want me to…” We were both silent for a few short moments, and then he sighed again.
“I believe she would,” he agreed, grabbing the door handle again. “When you’re ready, son. Um… make it soon, alright?” I gave him another nod, still not taking my eyes off of the fire. “Alright then… I’ll see you down there.” After another moment or silence he slipped out the door, leaving me and Toothless alone once again. I continued to stare into the flames… and after a short moment I closed my eyes, letting one single tear slide down my cheek.
“Please, please take care of her,” I mumbled quietly to myself. “She deserves to be taken care of well… she’s a good spirit, and just… please, let her be welcomed into the next world with the knowledge that she will have no trouble in the next life.” As my prayer progressed I felt more and more tears begin to cascade down my face. I sniffed, wiping the tears away with the end of my sleeve, only to have them replaced with new ones. I wanted to try to get all of my crying out of the way now, so that the rest of the village wouldn’t have to see me cry. “Please… I just ask that she’s taken care of well…” I slid my eyes open and pushed myself back to my feet, making sure that I had my dagger on the inside of my vest before heading towards the door. I turned back to Toothless. “You comin’ bud?” I asked him. His mouth turned up in a great smile as he scampered over to me. I opened the door to let the two of us out to see a magnificent rainbow in the dark sky. The sun still shone over the horizon, the gray storm clouds having finally passed. It looked like it was going to be a dry ceremony.
After taking one step I decided to take a ride on Toothless down to the docks. I didn’t have any of my riding gear on, and so I held on very tightly as we took off. Toothless was careful not to fly too dangerously, as he knew that I didn’t have the appropriate gear on.
When we soared over the docks I saw the entire village gathered on them. My father was standing on a large box above all of them, speaking to them all. A few of them noticed me flying down towards them, and the word spread until everyone was looking up at me. I took Toothless down and we landed carefully on the dock next to where Astrid’s parents were standing. I got off of Toothless’ saddle, instantly noticing her strapped to a board of wood. My eyes drooped and I felt tears begin to sting at the corners, but I blinked them back as my father continued to speak.
“And so now… as we have done for the past few generations, we send Astrid off to the next world, where the Gods will watch after her for us. Astrid’s parents have asked Hiccup to perform this instead of themselves, and so…” Dad turned towards where I was standing, lifting his arm and gesturing it towards me. I knew what he was going to say next, and no matter how much I didn’t want the time to be now, I had no say in the matter. “… Hiccup… it’s time to send her off.” I felt one tear worm its way down my cheek as I gave him one small nod. I watched as the entire village shifted to look at me as I knelt down beside Astrid’s lifeless body. As tradition had always been, I lifted my arm, pulled my sleeve back, and took my dagger out in my other hand. I heard Toothless give a quiet growl at the sight of the weapon, and an even louder one when I touched the knife to my arm and slowly made a small cut into my skin. Blood instantly rose to the surface, and I cringed slightly. I placed the dagger on the dock and took the thumb of the opposite hand to wipe it across the wound, smearing blood onto it. Once my thumb was bloody enough, I took it and gently rubbed it once across Astrid’s forehead, leaving a bright red mark across her skin.
“… please take care of her,” I murmured quietly to myself. With assistance from her parents, I moved Astrid’s body into the water very gently. And then, after everyone had backed away, I slowly pushed her out towards open sea. I let another tear drop into the water as I pushed myself back to my feet, staggering slightly with my metal foot. The entire village was absolutely silent as Astrid’s body floated further and further away from the docks. I stood up straight, trying not to show how sad I actually felt on the inside. I couldn’t hold in the tears that raced down my cheeks.
“May the Gods protect her,” my father announced after a moment of utter silence. I felt myself beginning to break down, and so I quickly turned and threw myself back onto Toothless’ saddle. I said nothing when Astrid’s parents asked me what I was doing; I merely patted Toothless’ head and we were off. I watched Astrid’s body drift out to open water from the air for only a few seconds before not being able to stand it any longer. I turned Toothless in the opposite direction and we sped back towards my house, tears refusing to stop flooding down my face.
And there is chapter one! Sage wasn't present at all in chapter one because I'm mostly just setting up for the rest of the story when she actually will come in.
I hope you liked it, and that nothing was OoC. I try my best to keep everything in character, and if something wasn't I apologize. Feedback is much appreciated, thanks! <3
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Chapter One
It was hard to describe what I was thinking and what I was feeling since the news was revealed. I talked to no one for the mere reason of having absolutely no idea as of what to say. Everyone knew what had happened, and there was despair flooding throughout the entire village. It was always this way when something like this happened, so I thought nothing of it when no one said anything to me as I passed them on the way back up to my house.
My dad wasn’t home when I arrived; he must have still been down at the other house. I guess it was his duty, as chief of the tribe, to help out in situations like these. I, being the chief’s son, should most likely be down there as well, but I couldn’t stand being at that house any longer. I walked over to the bed on the other side of the room, sat down on it, and reached down to carefully turn the metalwork that made up my left foot, “massaging” it, in a sense. After a few seconds of this I put my elbows on my knees and my face in my hands. I had been trying so hard not to ever since I received the news, but I couldn’t hold them in anymore. In front of no one, concealed in my own dreaded thoughts, I let the salty tears roll down my cheeks, smearing onto my hands.
I wasn’t expecting this to happen in the least, and was taking it harder than anyone in the entire village, save for her parents. It was winter time, and people caught sicknesses in the winter more often than in any other time of the year, I knew this. But she seemed like such a fighter; she was someone that could definitely fight off a lousy disease. Or so I thought, for when the time came she failed to live up to her reputation. I don’t think anyone expected it to happen to her… and I knew that I hadn’t. The month had started off with such promise, with the new acquaintance between Viking and dragon. And then, only two weeks after this happened, she had caught the flu. She was in bed for the next two weeks, and no one, not even I, was allowed to go and see her the flu was so bad. I often heard her coughing harshly as I passed her house, and I would always feel the urge to rush inside and comfort her. I knew I couldn’t, though, no matter how much I wanted to.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and I jumped, scrambling towards the other end of the bed. When I noticed that it was my dad I calmed down, letting out a quick breath of relief. I wiped the tears from my face with the end of my sleeve, hoping that my father hadn’t seen the trails that they had made through the very small layer of dirt that rested on my skin.
“Oh, uh, uh, D-dad,” I staggered, watching as he sat down on the bed next to me. “I, uh… I didn’t hear you come in.” I sniffled a little, turning my face away from him in an effort of hiding my red eyes. He sighed loudly, placing one of his large hands on my shoulder once again.
“It’s okay to cry, son, you don’t need to hide it,” he told me quietly. I wiped my eyes one last time before turning back to face him again. I knew that I probably still looked terrible from crying into my hands, and then smearing my face into them. “… her parents want you to be the one to send her off. They know how close the two of you were…” I looked into his eyes, my own pair widening in slight surprise.
“But it’s tradition that the parents send their children off,” I stated, “so that the children could be with their parents when they passed onto the next world.” Dad sighed again and nodded slowly.
“Yes, they know, but they also know that the two of you didn’t get to see each other at all for the past two weeks… and so they wanted you to have the honor. They wanted Astrid to be with you when she passes on.” My eyes widened even more as I turned my head to stare down at the wooden floor. I had never heard of any time in recorded history that someone outside of a family sent a member of the family onto the next world. I was honored to have been chosen to do this, and I so badly wanted to, so I couldn’t refuse.
“I, um… I suppose I can do it…” I accepted quietly, hearing my voice break. My dad suddenly wrapped his big, muscular arms around me in a tight embrace. I didn’t move an inch, and instead just let him hug me. I had no energy to move any part of my body, and I felt exhausted from the crying I had done earlier.
“The ceremony with be tomorrow at sunset,” he whispered to me, pushing himself onto his feet again. “You should, um… probably get some rest. You look like you need it.” I merely nodded, carefully lifting my legs onto the bed and covering myself with the blanket. Dad threw some extra logs onto the fire in the middle of the room before walking towards the front door again. “I’m going back down to Astrid’s house… to tell them that you’ve accepted. I won’t be gone long.” I turned onto my side, facing towards the rest of the large room.
“Okay, Dad,” I responded drowsily, closing my eyes. I heard the door open and felt a slight winter breeze blow into the room. It felt good on my face, and I almost wanted to ask my dad to keep the door open. But after a second he was gone, the door was closed, and the wind disappeared. I sighed quietly to myself as another tear slipped down my cheek.
~ ~ ~
The morning was quiet and absolutely still. My father and I sat silently around the fire in the middle of the large room, turning the fish on the end of our rods to get them cooked. Dad ate his in one bite, but I couldn’t even bring mine to my mouth. I wasn’t in the mood to eat, and so I gave my fish to my dad, pulled my riding gear on, and headed outside into the brisk morning air. It was still early so the entire village was most likely still asleep. I snuck quietly over to where Toothless came out to every morning to eat his breakfast. He saw me walking towards him with my riding gear on and I could instantly see the look of excitement on his face; he loved going flying, no matter what the time of day it was.
I carefully mounted the saddle on his back, or, more likely his neck, and slipped my feet into their stirrups. I made sure that my replacement left foot was strapped into its stirrup tightly before patting Toothless’ head. He shook his head excitedly, giving a grateful groan, before spreading his large black wings. I held on tightly as Toothless kicked off of the ground and sped into the gray morning sky. The water surrounding our island was also a light gray color, as it usually was in the early morning. Toothless and I soared out over the water, going down near the surface to get a quick, refreshing morning spray. We flew over to the docks where, in just a few hours’ time, I would be sending Astrid off to the next world.
I still couldn’t believe that this was happening to me. The girl I had had my eye on for years had finally decided to like me back… and then she was gone in a blink of an eye. I had hardly had any time to actually get to know her. We would ride our dragons together every day, visiting the canyon where I had kept Toothless a secret for all that time. And now those memories were just those… memories. I would never soar through these skies with Astrid again. I would never feel her arms around my waist when she rode Toothless with me again. Nothing was ever going to be the same without her there with me.
Toothless made a sudden dive, and I held on tightly as we shot back down towards the water. He bounced off the water’s surface and flew back up towards the clouds, spraying us both with water. He made a laughing noise, and I knew that he was trying to cheer me up, but I merely frowned and shivered. He turned his head back to look at me, and I turned my head to look away from him. He understood what was going on with me; he wasn’t like other animals or other dragons. He and I had a special connection, and he was worried about me, I could tell. I reached forward and patted his head again.
“Let’s go back, bud,” I said to him quietly. “I’m getting a little cold out here…” He made an unhappy noise, as I knew that he wanted to keep flying, but he turned and started heading back towards the village. As we were flying overhead I saw Astrid’s mother walk out of their house and towards the edge of a high cliff. When she got to the edge she looked up towards the sky and closed her eyes. I turned Toothless’ head towards her and he understood the message, bringing us down to the ground near her. I carefully climbed down from Toothless and quietly walked over to Astrid’s mom.
“Good morning,” I said, just then noticing how tired and teary my voice still sounded. Astrid’s mom jumped a little, turning towards me with her hand on her chest and her eyes wide with surprise.
“Oh, Hiccup… you startled me,” she said, looking down at me. I saw that her eyes were a little red, and I knew that she had been crying… again. Something that I wanted to go off and do a little of at the moment…
“I’m sorry,” I replied softly. “I… didn’t mean to. I was up on Toothless and I saw you out and I wanted to come and see how you’re doing…?” She gave me a small smile, ruffling my hair gently. I shook my head again after she took her hand back, trying to make my hair fall back to where it had been. I utterly hated it when anyone ruffled my hair…
“I’m… getting along,” she responded, turning to face the water again. “I’ve been praying that the Gods will take care of her once we pass her on to the next world.” I sighed very quietly as I, too, turned to look out to open water. Everything seemed so gray at the moment; the sky, the water, the atmosphere around the village… they were all so dim and downcast. “I know that everyone has their time… but hers just came much too early, Hiccup. Much too early…”
“I couldn’t agree more…” I replied, looking down at the water crashing up against the rocks at the bottom of the cliff. Astrid had been so young… she had been older than me, but only by a few months. But even still, dying at fifteen was unbelievable. I couldn’t imagine dying at her age in a few months… it made me wonder what she had to have been thinking those two weeks that she had been so sick… those two weeks that she had been confined to her bed. Those awful two weeks that I wasn’t allowed to go and visit her…
Astrid’s mother sighed.
“I’m going to go back inside… maybe pray a little more,” she told me, turning back towards their house. I nodded once.
“Add in a please for me,” I said to her in a light, joking manner. She gave a slight chuckle before disappearing into the house. I turned back towards the water, welcoming the slight breeze that blew my hair back. Toothless came up beside me, looking out at the open ocean with me. Out of nowhere I felt sudden raindrops begin to fall, and I groaned slightly. I turned around and began walking back towards my house, Toothless right by my side, the rain becoming harsher and harsher. By the time we both entered the house again we were soaked, my wet hair hanging down in my eyes. I brushed it aside as I walked back over to the bed on the other side of the room. I heard Dad upstairs, but he was quickly making his way back towards the stairs. I hurried under the blanket and acted as if I were asleep, closing my eyes just as he came into the room. I heard Toothless lay down on the floor right beside the bed, and I heard my dad walk over towards us.
“Oh son…” he whispered, brushing my wet hair back. He said nothing more, and made his way over to the door. I heard him put his Viking helmet on his head before opening the door and heading out into the rain.
As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t get back to sleep. I tossed and turned; squeezing my eyes shut tighter and tighter, and ended up on my back, staring up at the ceiling as the rain continued to pelt down on the roof outside. I thought about Astrid and the very first ride she and I had taken on Toothless together. The first time we had ever really gotten along, and the first time she really showed any kind of feelings for me… that was one of the best memories I had of her. I closed my eyes softly and pictured that first ride in my head, letting my mouth curl into a small smile as I slipped into unconsciousness.
~ ~ ~
I woke up well into the afternoon. I went to the still-burning fire in the middle of the room to cook a quick fish, as my stomach grumbled. I could tell that it hadn’t stopped raining from the sound of the little drops of water still pounding down against the roof. I ate slowly, nearly gagging on every bite I took. After forcing myself to eat only half of the fish, I threw the rest to Toothless before heading out the front door and into the sheeting rain. I saw someone struggling with carrying four large baskets in their arms, and with nothing else to do I ran over to them and offered to help carry the baskets back to their house.
“Oh, why thank you, Hiccup,” Volga said gratefully as I took two of the large baskets from her arms. I gave her a very small grin as we started towards her house again. “You can just place them right over there… thank you,” she told me when we entered her house. I placed the baskets down on the floor where she told me and she placed the other two on top of them.
“You’re welcome,” I told her quietly, giving her another very small smile before turning towards the door again.
“Hiccup… I know how you’re feeling right now…” she said as I grabbed the metal door handle. My grip tightened as she spoke and I gritted my teeth softly. I really didn’t like it when someone stopped me to try to talk to me about how I was feeling at the moment. The entire village was feeling down… why did everyone come to talk to me?
“Yeah… I’m a bit upset… but it happens. People come and go… it’s a part of life…” Volga sighed and didn’t respond. Taking her silence as a “You can go now”; I pulled the large wooden door open and stepped back outside again. I walked out into the rain, and with only the second step I took, my prosthetic left foot sunk slightly into a muddy patch of grass, causing me to trip and fall to my hands and knees. I groaned to myself as I started trying to get back to my feet, pulling my metal foot out from the muddy grass. I stood back up and the first thing I noticed was that my left foot looked differently then it should. I groaned to myself and looked down at my muddy hands and knees, deciding to go back to my house to wash up.
Toothless was still curled up by the side of the bed when I walked in, asleep. I limped quietly over to the stairs and made my way up them as silently as I could, trying not to wake him up. When I reached the top of the stairs I turned into the large room that made up the second story of the house, walking with difficulty over to a large, hand-carved wooden bowl full of water. I stuck my hand into the water to find that it was cold. I couldn’t find myself caring whether the water was cold or not as I pulled my tattered green shirt off and threw it into the water. I didn’t take the energy to dump soap in; I scrubbed the mud off of the dirty areas and considered it clean enough for now. I then took a small rag, dumped it into the water, and used it to scrub the dirty spots on my pants. Whenever possible, I didn’t take my pants off to clean them; it was such a difficult task to take them off with my left foot, and I always hated seeing where my leg ended and where the metalwork began. After scrubbing my knees and a few other places on the pants I plunged the rag back into the water, not bothering to do anything else with it. I took my wet shirt in my hands and walked back downstairs, trying to keep quiet for Toothless. I went over to the fire to hang my shirt over it to dry, and then I stood in front of the fire to try to get it to dry my pants as well.
I heard two men talking outside the front door and recognized their voices as my dad’s and Gobber’s. I forgot about drying my pants and instead ran over to hide behind the bed, still shirtless, so that I could hear what they were talking about without being seen. I gasped as I tripped over my injured metal foot on the way to the bed, diving over it, and landing on my side on the hard wooden floor. I bit my lip so that I wouldn’t scream at the pain that seared through my body as the two men entered the house, hoping that my shirt hanging over the fire wouldn’t give away that I was home as well.
“Do you really think so, Gobber?” my dad asked as they walked into the room. I shivered as the cold air from outside swarmed through the room, surrounding my bare skin in a coat of cold.
“I’m not one-hundred percent sure, but I am thinking that it could be a possibility,” Gobber replied, shutting the front door. Toothless gave an annoyed grunt and hopped up on top of the bed to curl up again, facing away from Dad and Gobber. I rolled my eyes at him with a very slight grin on my face. “They had a special relationship, you know that… and now that she’s gone… I’m just saying that Hiccup sinking into a slight depression wouldn’t be too surprising…” My eyes widened as Gobber brought up what they had been talking about.
“Maybe I should talk with him about it…” Dad responded. I heard him and Gobber take seats at the table across the room from where I was hiding. Now I knew that I was going to have to avoid any alone time with Dad… that was a conversation that I wasn’t going to have. “Where is he anyway, do you know?”
“I haven’t seen him since yesterday. He’s probably out flying on… wait, Toothless is over there…” Dad sighed.
“He might be out walking… he does tend to do that sometimes, and it’s become a habit for him ever since Astrid became sick. I guess it lets him be alone with his thoughts…” My eyes drooped as I let out a very quiet sigh and repositioned myself so that my back was leaning up against the bed. Going out walking sounded like a very nice idea at the moment, but I still needed to fix up my left foot from after that fall earlier. I sat absolutely still as Dad and Gobber continued their conversation.
“Ah, it’s a mess,” Gobber sighed. “Must have been some case of the flu; I’ve never seen anyone, especially a child or teenager, die so quickly or easily as Astrid did.” Dad sighed as well.
“I’m just hoping that Hiccup can actually bring himself to send Astrid off this evening…” he said quietly. I heard him push himself back to his feet, walking over to another side of the room, and then the sound of another log being thrown onto the fire was heard. I closed my eyes and hung my head, silently thinking the same thing as my father. It was definitely going to be a difficult thing to do, sending Astrid’s body off in front of the entire village. Crying was almost a guarantee, and with everyone watching… it was certainly going to be an interesting night for me.
Dad and Gobber went on to talk about other things, and so I eventually tuned them out and merely sat there with my eyes closed, thinking about what was coming that evening. After what felt like an eternity, Dad and Gobber both stood from the table and exited the house, giving me another quick gust of cold wind to wrap around my bare upper body. When I was sure that they were gone I pushed myself slowly to my feet, accidentally waking Toothless up. His green eyes widened in surprise of seeing me there, but he thought nothing of it and closed them again to go back to sleep. I walked around the bed and over to the fire, grabbing my dry shirt. I pulled it back over my head, welcoming the sudden warmth it gave to my body. I then carefully limped out the front door and began my trip down to the blacksmith shop.
It took me a good fifteen minutes, but I was finally able to bend my left foot back into its original shape. When I was satisfied with my work I headed back out into the rain, realizing that the sky was now noticeably darker than before. I let out a quiet sigh as I realized that the time was drawing nearer and nearer… and only to make me feel even worse, Astrid’s father came running up to me a few steps out of the blacksmith shop.
“Hiccup!” he called, running towards me. I turned to face him as he approached me. “Everyone has begun to gather at the docks… we’re going to start in a short time… are you prepared?” I looked down at the wet ground, my eyes drooping again as the rain dripped from my sopping wet hair.
“… yeah, I guess I am,” I finally answered after a few seconds of silence. “When should I be down there?”
“Any time in the next half an hour. We’ll, um… we’ll be waiting for you.” I looked back up at his face and noticed the extreme sadness in his eyes, and noted the frown on his face. I nodded once at him and he turned to walk back the way he had come. I watched him walk away, and saw the way he was feeling portrayed in the way he moved. His shoulders slumped, his arms hanging limply down at his sides, every step he took was taken so slowly… I felt for him. Going through something like this as a parent had to be difficult. I was upset about it, yes, but being Astrid’s father or mother… losing your child at the age of fifteen had to be so tough.
I made my way back up to the house as the sky grew even darker. Toothless must have given up on trying to sleep, as he greeted me with nearly knocking me over when I walked in the front door. I chuckled very lightly and patted his head before walking carefully over to the hook where I hang my fur jacket. I slipped my arms through the vest, bent over, and shook my wet hair out. I knew that it wouldn’t do any good, seeing as I was about to go right back out into the rain again; it had become a habit for me to shake my hair out whenever it got this wet. After I was finished with that I decided to go and sit by the fire before leaving to go down to the docks. Toothless came over to sit beside me, and I placed one hand on top of his head. I stared into the burning flames as they licked at the air, desperately trying to grow larger and larger. A few moments later my dad entered the house, soaking wet.
“Ah, son,” he said as he closed the front door. “They’re, um, they’re ready for you down at the docks.” I gave him one curt nod without looking away from the fire. He sighed quietly. “Hiccup… I know this is tough for you… and if you would rather not send her off, I’m sure that-”
“No,” I said hardly, still staring intently into the burning embers. I could tell that my dad was surprised at the harshness of my voice. “I can do this, Dad. It’s… something I have to do, I know it. Astrid would want me to…” We were both silent for a few short moments, and then he sighed again.
“I believe she would,” he agreed, grabbing the door handle again. “When you’re ready, son. Um… make it soon, alright?” I gave him another nod, still not taking my eyes off of the fire. “Alright then… I’ll see you down there.” After another moment or silence he slipped out the door, leaving me and Toothless alone once again. I continued to stare into the flames… and after a short moment I closed my eyes, letting one single tear slide down my cheek.
“Please, please take care of her,” I mumbled quietly to myself. “She deserves to be taken care of well… she’s a good spirit, and just… please, let her be welcomed into the next world with the knowledge that she will have no trouble in the next life.” As my prayer progressed I felt more and more tears begin to cascade down my face. I sniffed, wiping the tears away with the end of my sleeve, only to have them replaced with new ones. I wanted to try to get all of my crying out of the way now, so that the rest of the village wouldn’t have to see me cry. “Please… I just ask that she’s taken care of well…” I slid my eyes open and pushed myself back to my feet, making sure that I had my dagger on the inside of my vest before heading towards the door. I turned back to Toothless. “You comin’ bud?” I asked him. His mouth turned up in a great smile as he scampered over to me. I opened the door to let the two of us out to see a magnificent rainbow in the dark sky. The sun still shone over the horizon, the gray storm clouds having finally passed. It looked like it was going to be a dry ceremony.
After taking one step I decided to take a ride on Toothless down to the docks. I didn’t have any of my riding gear on, and so I held on very tightly as we took off. Toothless was careful not to fly too dangerously, as he knew that I didn’t have the appropriate gear on.
When we soared over the docks I saw the entire village gathered on them. My father was standing on a large box above all of them, speaking to them all. A few of them noticed me flying down towards them, and the word spread until everyone was looking up at me. I took Toothless down and we landed carefully on the dock next to where Astrid’s parents were standing. I got off of Toothless’ saddle, instantly noticing her strapped to a board of wood. My eyes drooped and I felt tears begin to sting at the corners, but I blinked them back as my father continued to speak.
“And so now… as we have done for the past few generations, we send Astrid off to the next world, where the Gods will watch after her for us. Astrid’s parents have asked Hiccup to perform this instead of themselves, and so…” Dad turned towards where I was standing, lifting his arm and gesturing it towards me. I knew what he was going to say next, and no matter how much I didn’t want the time to be now, I had no say in the matter. “… Hiccup… it’s time to send her off.” I felt one tear worm its way down my cheek as I gave him one small nod. I watched as the entire village shifted to look at me as I knelt down beside Astrid’s lifeless body. As tradition had always been, I lifted my arm, pulled my sleeve back, and took my dagger out in my other hand. I heard Toothless give a quiet growl at the sight of the weapon, and an even louder one when I touched the knife to my arm and slowly made a small cut into my skin. Blood instantly rose to the surface, and I cringed slightly. I placed the dagger on the dock and took the thumb of the opposite hand to wipe it across the wound, smearing blood onto it. Once my thumb was bloody enough, I took it and gently rubbed it once across Astrid’s forehead, leaving a bright red mark across her skin.
“… please take care of her,” I murmured quietly to myself. With assistance from her parents, I moved Astrid’s body into the water very gently. And then, after everyone had backed away, I slowly pushed her out towards open sea. I let another tear drop into the water as I pushed myself back to my feet, staggering slightly with my metal foot. The entire village was absolutely silent as Astrid’s body floated further and further away from the docks. I stood up straight, trying not to show how sad I actually felt on the inside. I couldn’t hold in the tears that raced down my cheeks.
“May the Gods protect her,” my father announced after a moment of utter silence. I felt myself beginning to break down, and so I quickly turned and threw myself back onto Toothless’ saddle. I said nothing when Astrid’s parents asked me what I was doing; I merely patted Toothless’ head and we were off. I watched Astrid’s body drift out to open water from the air for only a few seconds before not being able to stand it any longer. I turned Toothless in the opposite direction and we sped back towards my house, tears refusing to stop flooding down my face.
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And there is chapter one! Sage wasn't present at all in chapter one because I'm mostly just setting up for the rest of the story when she actually will come in.
I hope you liked it, and that nothing was OoC. I try my best to keep everything in character, and if something wasn't I apologize. Feedback is much appreciated, thanks!
<3
