Hiccstrid forever!

Sorry if the past and present tenses are a bit confusing!

He he Enjoy!

Hiccup turned the parchment over in his hands, reading and re-reading its words. He was in utter disbelief. How could his father put him on the spot like this? Did he really expect his son to be so bold as to—.

He sighed and put the parchment down on his work table. His fathers Terrible Terror; Razoreye, sat on his flight helmet, preening his wings.

It was approaching Midsummer Eve and the days were growing longer and hotter. Even the evenings were steamy. Dragon's Edge had been the victim of several fires and heat waves. Hiccup got up to fetch his water skin, wiping the sweat from his brow as he did so. After taking a sip of cool, refreshing water, he raced back to the table to make sure what he read was correct.

Son,

As you are probably well aware, four days from now Berk celebrates the Midsummer Festival. It is tradition for everyone over the age of 17 to take part in the midsummer dances. As the chief's son you will be expected to have a suitable dancing partner as you will be leading the dance this year.

Anticipating your return to Berk soon!
Stoick the Vast

Nope, he had read it correctly.

Hiccup had multiple issues with this message. Firstly, Hiccup didn't know how to dance! He was possibly one of the most uncoordinated, clumsy vikings on Berk. All he knew was dragons and the things Gobber had taught him at the forge. He couldn't dance! And Secondly, how could his father expect him to lead the dances! Why couldn't Stoick lead the dances? Talk about getting thrown in the deep end. Thought Hiccup. And lastly, he had to have a 'suitable dancing partner'? The first person who came to mind was obviously Astrid. But then, the thought of having to ask her made him a little skittish and nervous. He didn't understand why though, they were just friends after all.

He glanced over at Toothless who was laying on his bed, watching the scene. Hiccup's shoulders slumped. "Can you be my dancing partner, Bud?" Toothless gave a consoling gurgle, sensing his companion was troubled. Hiccup patted him on the nose. "Lets get some rest, I have er… a few things to get done tomorrow."

Hiccup went to bed that night, running the words over and over in his mind as how he was going to ask Astrid. He was nervous. He didn't want her to take it the wrong way. It was just going to be friend to friend. Plus he didn't want the rest of the vikings on Dragon's Edge teasing him about it for the rest of the month. So he had to plan his words carefully.

Astrid had been pretty impartial towards him over recent years. Hiccup had grown out of his crush phase toward her which he had to thank the Gods for, because from it, had blossomed an amazing friendship.

He thought back to when they were younger, and how she had treated him to occasional affections here and there. He recalled how happy it had made him whenever he received a token kiss on the cheek or even, less occasionally, on the lips. Unconsciously, Hiccup still had a deep-rooted fondness for Astrid that was beyond the friendship zone. However, he had, somehow, seemed to have buried it away so deep, that he hardly knew it himself.

He would just have to get her alone somehow and do it casually. Not make a big thing out of it, or she will get the wrong idea. He didn't want to scare her off after all. Hiccup was very pragmatic about these things. If it was his duty, as the chief's son, it had to be done.

Astrid had woken up early that morning to get in an early morning flight before starting her duties on the island. She had just left the stables, smiling to herself when…

"Hey Astrid!"

She turned and saw the young viking man striding towards her.

"Hey" she greeted, cooly. Brushing her hair away from her eyes.

"Look, I'm going to get straight to the point here." He said, stopping in front of her. "My dad sent me this message last night, about the Midsummer festival? Yeah, well anyway, he says I need a dance partner or something. Aaand I reckon you and I would look pretty good on the floor together. Amiright?" He raised his eyebrows a couple of times. "What do you say?"

Astrid was taken aback by his forwardness but recovered quickly. "Errmm, well the thing is… someone has already asked me. And I have already said I'd be their partner. Sorry, Snotlout."

Snotlout's eyes fell a bit. "Oh…" It was his turn to recover. "That's okay, guess… I'll have to ask Ruff then, right?" He laughed awkwardly. It was obvious that he hadn't considered what to do if he had been turned down because, he assumed, who ever he asked would say yes. Classic ignorant Snotlout. Thought Astrid.

"Well, you better get on to that soon, because Fishlegs said something about 'talking to Ruffnut' yesterday… Bet that's about the dance too."

She watched Snotlout's face fall through a mixture of emotions. Shock, jealousy, disbelief and then determination.

"Better go find her now or you will be the only one without a date!"

"Huh? … Who's Hiccup and Tuffnut taking then?"

"Well, I'm assuming Tuff is taking his chicken and well…" Astrid blushed. "Hiccup is taking me."

Snotlout looked incredulous. "Hiccup? Gee, didn't think he had it in him. I assumed Gustav asked you." He smirked.

"I would never go with Gustav. Erk." She mimicked barfing up her breakfast. Snotlout laughed but then raised an eyebrow.

"You and Hiccup, huh? Never would have picked you two."

Was he actually blind? She and Hiccup spent most their spare time together and she had even kissed him a few times on occasions. And it came to a surprise to Snotlout? Jeez he was thick. Astrid thought. But then she had remembered what Hiccup had said…

"We are only going as friends, though. So don't get your dragon in a knot, okay? Look, are you going to go ask Ruffnut or not?"

Snotlout's face, went from mocking, to focussed, in a heartbeat and said "Oh right! Yeah! See you later, Astrid!" And he climbed onto Hookfang's saddle and flew off in search of Ruffnut.

Astrid giggled at the thought of all the boys on the island running around after girls trying to ask them to be dance partners. What did these messages from their fathers say? She wondered. She leaned down and picked up her bucket.

"C'mon, Stormfly. Let's get going before it gets too hot!" Astrid climbed atop her dragon mate and they took off for the caves on the East of Dragon's Edge. She loved nothing more that riding her dragon and feeling the breath of the archipelago in her face and whistling through her hair. The sun beat down upon her freckled back and lit up her blonde hair like fire. She had enjoyed her morning flight with Stormfly. This morning had been an especially good flight though, because she'd had company.

She remembered how she had been swerving between sea stacks and plunging into hard dives when she had seen a black blur flit behind a cliff and up over the cove below. She smiled to herself.

She was not the only one up for a morning flight.

It wasn't uncommon that she and Hiccup would rendezvous somewhere on the Edge to share their morning flights. It was always much more fun and challenging to have someone to compete with and the other young vikings weren't really the early bird type.

Astrid banked left to follow behind Hiccup and Toothless. They hadn't seen her yet. She wanted to sneak up on them. She had tried it a dozen times before but Stormfly could only hold Toothless' speed for about 10 seconds so the timing had to be precise.

"Let's do this. Stormfly. Catch me if I fall okay?" Stormfly let out a squawk of determination.

They narrowed in on their target, flying as silently as could be. She gained on Hiccup fast and mirrored his swift turns as he and Toothless glided around a cluster of sea stacks. Astrid was a fair way above him. She looked down and calculated the distance.

"Okay, now, Stormfly! Go!" Astrid leapt up from her saddle and steadied herself, ready to jump. Stormfly's wings beat extra hard as they closed the gap between the Hiccup and themselves.

With a great heave of effort, Astrid flew from Stormfly's saddle and free fell in mid air. The wind whistling in her ears had been almost deafening. When…

THUNK.

She landed right behind Hiccup on Toothless' saddle.

Both Toothless and Hiccup jumped in surprise and they lost a few feet of altitude. "Holy Thor!" Hiccup almost slid off the saddle but Astrid caught him by the scruff of his sleeve. Toothless gave an indignant growl. But Astrid didn't care she was too ecstatic that she had actually made the fall!

"YES!" She laughed, throwing her hands up in celebration. "I actually made it! Ha ha!"

"Astrid!"Hiccup puffed. He was still recovering from shock, yet starting to look a little amused by the situation.

Stormfly glided along beside them. "Stormfly! I did it! We did it!" Astrid punched the air. She had been trying, for months, to get that right.

Astrid was now in a very good mood. "Good morning, Mr Haddock!" She smiled brightly to him and wound her arms around his waist to secure herself on the saddle.

"Well, good morning to you, too! And nice job on the free fall, may I add. I should be hooking you up with a flight suit!" he called over his shoulder, as the wind was quite loud and blowy on this side of the island.

"I think, there are some rocks a viking should leave un-turned." Her fingers, momentarily, traced the pockets of his suit which concealed the wings he used to fly with Toothless.

"Maybe!" said Hiccup rather unconvincingly. He patted her hands that were resting around his ribs. "Hold on tight."

He twitched his foot on the stirrup and Toothless shot off into the sky.

Astrid loved riding on Toothless. She didn't get to that often, but occasionally, Hiccup would treat her to a Night Fury flight. And she had earned it today! Flying Stormfly was great but there was nothing like the speed of riding on Toothless. The flight was so speedy, yet so smooth and graceful, it could lull you to sleep.

They spent about half an hour, circling the skies and darting between the cliffs. They would fly low above the water, zooming over the waves, and kicking up the seas as they went. The sun was still low in the sky, not too hot yet.

Astrid smiled to herself as she lowered the bucket into a fresh water pool inside the cave. The spot was a sweet relief from the steadily growing dry, heat outside. The air was cool and thick with moisture. She decided she would have a quick rinse and a cool down before she headed back to the base.

Leaving the filled bucket on the stone floor of the cave, she began to strip off her armour and clothing, leaving them on a rock, out of waters reach. Still in her underclothes (in case someone happened to walk in) Astrid picked a small pool to wash in. It was not large enough to sit in but she stepped into it so that it reached up to her mid thighs.

She wondered if Snotlout had made it to Ruff in time, before Fishlegs. She took out her braid and used part of her legging bindings as a rag. She began to wash herself. The cool water trickled down her skin, and over her developing curves. It was dim in the cave. A cool, blue light was being cast by the water, throwing watery patterns on the stone walls. She couldn't decide who she was rooting for; Snot or Fishlegs?

She started wondering about the festival coming up. Her mother had taught her the steps for the dancing when she was growing up. Astrid had always loved dancing. She didn't like to admit it, because she didn't want to seem too girly. But she had always held a soft spot for a dance. Hiccup had admitted to her, his fears about the dancing. And she silently admitted, she thought Hiccup would be a terrible dancer. He's all arms and legs. Plus, it can't possibly help only having one leg, either. She had promised him she would take him through a few simple steps before they got to Berk.

Astrid's thoughts always took her back to Hiccup. She delicately wiped a spot at the crook of her neck and down her chest. Water dripped off her body and rippled the water around her thighs. She was happy he had asked her. She would much prefer going with Hiccup as a friends, than going with Snotlout or Gustav as their… 'prize'. Hiccup respected her and she appreciated that. Even the way he had asked her had been polite, despite his obvious nerves.

After about an hour up in the air with Toothless, the two vikings had decided to call it quits and head back to the stables. Astrid had jumped back on Stormfly now and they headed off to the base. It was growing hotter. They flew over Dragon's Edge. It seemed the others had finally risen. Astrid saw mysterious smoke billowing out of the twins hut (which seemed to be the norm these days). They flew over the training arena and passed Snotlout, who was toasting a mackerel over a fire pit, with Hookfang. He waved and his gaze followed Astrid up to the stables.

She and Hiccup dismounted their dragons when they had landed on the platform outside the stables. Hiccups hair was a wind-swept mess. He could probably say the same about Astrid's though.

"Better start my duties before it gets too hot." Astrid said, heading over to grab a bucket from a shelf. She was about to say her farewells when Hiccup cut in.

"Astrid, I err… my father sent me a message last night…" he looked nervous, as if he was in trouble.

"What's wrong? Is everything okay back on Berk?!" She started to panic.

"What? Yes, everything is fine. Don't worry." He laughed nervously.

"Okayyy…" Astrid prompted.

"Yeah, well the letter was about the Midsummer festival." He paused. "He's put me in charge of a few things." This was all very mysterious. What things?

She raised her eyebrows.

"Well, since us Vikings here are all of age this year… we're all expected to take part in the midsummer dances."

"Yes, I am aware." She had a feeling she knew where he was going with this.

"And well, dad has, conveniently, put me in charge of… of leading the dances this year." He didn't sound thrilled about this idea.

Astrid laughed. "Hiccup, I don't think I've ever seen you dance."

"That's exactly my problem, Astrid! I don't know how to dance!" He looked a little stressed about it, in all honesty. "And well… I know you are a good dancer."

"How do you know that?" Asked Astrid, despite being a bit flattered.

Hiccup smiled and turned a little shade of pink.

"I err… used to watch you dance when we were kids." He admitted, hesitantly. "You were very good."

Astrid laughed again, Hiccup was very cute when he was embarrassed. She would like it if he would ease up a bit.

"Look, the point is; I need a dancing partner who might help me look a little less hopeless out there on festival night. And plus it will be fun!" He gave her a warm smile. "So… will you be my dance partner?"

She was unsure about what he was asking. At first she was thinking, he just needed a hand with the dancing. But he was going all pink in the face and stumbling over his words. Astrid was making him… nervous! Now she wondered if his intentions were maybe… romantic? Her question must have been written on her face because he quickly added "As friends. I… er" he searched for the words, trying not to offend her or scare her off.

"As friends" said Astrid brightly, placing a hand on his shoulder. She was happy to be dancing as friends, yet there was something inside her that made her feel, subconsciously, disappointed. She easily disregarded these feelings though.

Hiccup looked relieved.

"So we are leading the dances then, huh?" She said, smiling.

"Yep, let's hope it's not a disaster."

"Well, you better get some practice. I can come to your place tonight, and I can… show you a few steps, okay?"

Hiccup's worried little face, brightened and he laughed "Really? Okay, that sounds great. Well, I'll see you at training this afternoon, anyway."

"Yep," She leant down and picked up the bucket. "See you, Hiccup." And she turned and left the stable, smiling to herself.

Astrid had tied her hair back up in its usual braid and pulled her clothes and armour back on. She grabbed the bucket and headed back out of the cave. She blinked blindly in the light of the sun. Stormfly was waiting at the mouth of the cave, hiding in the shade of the cliff. Astrid climbed on her back and they headed back to the base. Astrid's thoughts still on Midsummer eve, dancing and Hiccup.

To be continued...

Please leave a review to let me know if you want more. I'm still unsure if I want to finish this or not!