Chapter 1 – We meet again

Astrid was running through the forest. She just wanted to escape the harsh reality. Her father had been extremely strict recently. At the beginning, she thought that it would pass quickly but even after a month, her father still hit her whenever she was disappointing him. First it was all about B's. Now she was not even allowed to bring a B plus home. The pressure was building up day by day and finally she broke down.

She ran and ran until she reached a clearing in the middle of nowhere – somewhere in the forest, she presumed, since the clearing was still surrounded by trees. But it was not the clearing that took her breath away but a young boy who was moving against the wind yet still in harmony with it. He wore a hood and probably did not even see her since he kept on moving lightly on his feet. She had seen her father and her mother dancing, she had seen Spitelout dancing with his wife, heck, she had even seen Gobber dance, but she had never seen someone dance like the boy she was watching in the clearing right now. His movements were free and smooth. Every step and breath that he took was in preparation for the next one.

She hid behind a tree, watching him in awe. And just like that, she forgot about her grief for a moment. All she could think about was the boy and his activities. She wanted to get closer, hoping that his freedom could reach out to her. What she did not realize was that her shoelaces were stuck at a branch of the bush behind her, which led to her falling right out of her hiding place with a deep 'Oomph'.

The boy turned around in an instant, stopping whatever he was doing. Astrid was so embarrassed that she would not dare to look up at his face, afraid to see his shocked and disgusted feature. She lay there for a few minutes before she heard something shift. She was staring daggers in the grass, still lying with her belly flat out on the ground. Then Astrid saw a shadow hovering over her and before she could scream out of surprise, she saw a hand reaching out to her.

The hand was thin and had scratches all over it. Astrid felt confident enough to look into his eyes, so she raised her head, only to be dazzled by the sun that was shining brightly from behind his back, making it hard for her to make out his face. She could barely see how he moved his lips. He was saying something but she could not hear it. It was as if she were deaf. The sun suddenly began to shine even brighter and the last thing she could see was a white void.

She opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling of her room. It was the same dream again. Every now and then she would dream about that young boy that she met when she was just seven. Astrid pushed herself up and out of her bed. She took a shower and brushed her teeth, having breakfast afterwards and silently wished that her father would not wake up. Getting new bruises was the last thing that she wanted in the morning. She had to be fit for the audition.

After getting dressed and packing her jogging pants and white tank top into the bag, she left the house. She jogged to the forest where she would normally meet him, just to find an empty space again. She looked around the unused clearing and then up to the sky. It was the perfect weather to dance. There was no sign of rain or a storm approaching. She smiled and said in a whisper, "I'm out. Wish me luck."

Afterwards she turned and was on her way to Berk Dance Academy. It took her nearly five months to convince her father to agree at her going to BDA. She had to promise him that she would land full points at the audition in order to get his full support on that matter. If she got even one point less, he would send her to a military school. She spent her whole time training and perfecting her movements after that particular meeting with the boy in the forest. She regretted that she never asked for his name more than anything though.

In the waiting room, she changed into her joggers. At least a hundred people were present, stretching and warming up for the same reason she was. Everybody wore the same expression. They were betting everything on this audition. After a while, a moderator came in and gave out their numbers. When it was her turn, she got a round plate with the number 97 written on it, placed in her hand. She took a slow and deep breath since it would not do her good if she could not perform properly just because she was too nervous.

Overall, there were 150 contestants and only 50 out of them could pass. She looked around, just to find one person after another fidgeting and tapping nervously with their feet. She could not take it anymore; she had to get out of this tense atmosphere. Maybe she could check out her rivals on stage. Maybe she could find out if there were movements that the judges preferred. And with that, she left the waiting room, going up the stairs to the next floor which allowed her a perfect view on the stage of the audition.

She placed her elbows on the railing, raising her hand as she supported her head with it. Soon after that, the first contestant was called to come up to the stage. It was a boy in extremely tight leggings and a white tank top.

"Ballet, huh?" she thought to herself and watched as he presented his choreography. She did not know much about ballet but she did know a fragrance of it. She never took dance lessons except from the boy in the forest. The boy had a unique style that no one else had. She could make out traits of ballet from his dance style but overall it still was not ballet.

She watched as contestant after contestant presented the same movements that the previous one already showed. Of course there were some of them who stood out but there was no one to show something new. Most of them landed about 70 to 80 points out of 100. There was still someone to come to claim 90 points. Maybe she could do it and be the first to stick out of the average. She got lost in her thoughts rather quickly, not being interested in her rivals anymore. One thing that she noticed in everyone was that they were stiff, like, really stiff. There was nothing that told the judges that the contestants felt free while dancing. Their form was perfect but it was as if it was rehearsed over and over again. The dancing had no soul and no life – except for some who in the end seemed to really enjoy it though.

Suddenly a crowd formed next to her, all leaning over the railing, whispering and staring in shock. She blinked a bit and returned her gaze to see what got everyone's attention. Then she stopped breathing. A tall boy came onto the stage. He had auburn hair and wore loose jeans and a green t-shirt. But what probably took everyone's attention was the mask he wore. It was black and in the form of a dragonhead. There were small slits for his eyes but even they could not be seen. However, the real reason why she stopped breathing was because she knew this boy - or rather - man.

They were on their way home, when suddenly a nerdy boy went towards the group. They stopped and the boy looked around secretively before he whispered, "Are you guys interested in dancing?" Astrid and her friends looked at each other before she answered, "Why would you want to know?" The boy looked around again and smiled at her. "I can see from the way you walk that you dance yourself. Not ballet or all that crap, but real dancing," he said smugly and looked at the others, "Although I can't say the same about your friends." Scott, who saw a chance to impress the girl he had laid eyes on for years now, pushed her aside and looked down at the nerdy boy, "I love dancing just as much as she does!"

That information earned him a couple of raised eyebrows though. "Really?" another blonde girl said sarcastically. Rachel just laughed at his face. While the other two boys remained silent and ignorant on the topic, the nerdy boy took the chance to pull out a poster. He held it to Astrid and explained, "There will be a show for the best dancers in this city, this Sunday. It will be held at midnight. There's a map at the back of the poster."

He held up the poster and turned it around, then showed the cover again. "This guy is the best dancer known in the underworld so far. Nobody knows his name or his face but he dances as if he was born for it. If you are interested, then remember one sentence. The code to get into the building is 'May Odin bestow freedom upon us.' Don't forget it," the boy said and pointed at a picture in the poster, showing a boy with auburn hair who wore a black dragonhead mask.

Astrid took the poster and wanted to ask him something but he had already disappeared. She would ask next time, if there were a next time at all.

"That was weird," Tyson said and was the first one to resume his way home. Rachel snorted and punched into his side, "You are weird."

Her twin brother just smiled smugly and responded, "Why, thank you. Praise me more."

"That wasn't a compliment though…" a larger boy with blond hair pointed out and followed his friends on their way. They began to get chatty all the while she just stared at the poster in her hand.

Something about the boy in the picture felt familiar. Scott, who noticed Astrid's absence and lost look in the poster found another chance to impress the girl, "Hey. Let's check out that show."

Everyone turned to him and gave him a suspicious stare. "What? Can't I be interested in too thin people moving like apes on a stage too?" he asked rather offended and frowned.

"It's called dancing, Snotlout. They're not apes," Astrid said and turned back to the poster, "But I think we should really check out this show."

Rachel was the first one to talk back, "You know how strict our parents are. There's no way in hell they would let us go out at midnight."

"Not to mention to an illegal show," Freddy added and looked nervously to the ground.

"Since when did you stop breaking rules, Ruffnut?" Astrid asked sarcastically and turned to Freddy, "And you, Fishlegs, should grow a pair of balls. It's boring to follow rules every day."

"True that," Ruffnut answered and shrugged her shoulders, "So? Where should we meet?"

Astrid smiled and showed them the back of the poster, "Dragon Slayer Coffee Shop at midnight." She pointed at the red point on the map.

"Yes! We have finally an adventure to look forward to!" Tyson yelled and swung his arms into the air.

"They will kill us… they will surely kill us…" Fishlegs muttered frightened and nervously. And like that they went home, looking forward to their new adventure more or less.

The judges looked through some paper before they turned to the young man on the stage. The judges gave him the sign to start. Compared to all previous contestants, the song that could be heard now was not stereotypical classic. It was one of the popular ones recently. Astrid straightened her back and payed close attention. She still could not believe that he was standing on the stage, applying for the same academy as her. If he were to pass the audition, then she had no choice but to pass as well. He had been her goal for years. If she could land the same points as him, maybe he would consider looking at her. Looking at her - dancing. He was the reason why she could stay strong and do her best in everything. He was the reason she did not break down yet. Finally, here they were, meeting each other again.

A/N:

So, this is like the first fanfiction (in my whole life) I am going to write. I have read many Hiccstrid Fanfcitions so far and one day, I got the idea of making a fanfiction as well. There were many ideas, but this was the one idea that actually stuck. So I hope this fanfiction will reach some of you people out there. English is not my mother tongue, so if there are any grammar mistakes then feel free to inform me.

If you liked this chapter, then please leave a review/feedback for I would really like to know if I should continue this fanfiction or not. If you didn't like it, tell me why. I really want to improve my writing and hope that you will assist me.

Date of Update: 16th September 2015 (Rewritten)

~ KeGzZ