Chapter 23: Aftermath



Astrid slowly walked towards the Viking camp on the beach. She was still distraught from what had transpired between her and Hiccup. The look Hiccup gave her was still flashing before his eyes. The betrayal and hatred in those still haunted her.

"Astrid?" The sudden call snapped her out of her thoughts.

Astrid noticed that she was now back at the camp. She looked at who called her and found it was none other than Stoick. Suddenly Astrid felt her anger rising. And it was directed towards the man known as Stoick 'The vast' Haddock.

"Astrid, did you talk to Hiccup? What did he say?" Stoick asked her.

Suddenly, Astrid did something that no-one ever expected. Astrid walked over to Stoick and punched him straight in the face. Stoick was shocked and taken aback by this action. He looked at Astrid's face and saw her practically fuming in rage.

"Talk to him? Talk to him!? There's nothing left to talk about with him!" Astrid yelled out at Stoick.

"Astrid..." Stoick tried to say something, but the blonde shieldmaiden didn't give him the chance to.

"Don't dare to change the subject chief! Do you have any idea what you've done? What you have caused with your arrogance?" Astrid said.

The others in the camp didn't dare to speak anything as they watched the confrontation between Astrid and Stoick.

"You know, before all this, Hiccup was actually willing to help Berk. He had agreed to help you all, even after all the pain you and your freaking tribe has caused him for 15 years! He wanted to make peace with you! Wanted to welcome you back into his life! And you just threw it away because of your hatred for Dragons! Not only you threw your son away, you also doomed Berk's future, because you couldn't swallow your pride!" Astrid yelled at her chief "Tell me chief, is your revenge against the Dragon so important that you are willing to throw away everything just for that?"

"Those Dragons killed Valka. They took away my wife. I can't just put that behind me." Stoick said in an attempt to defend himself.

"And Hiccup had his mother taken away! Yet he is trying to bring peace!"

Stoick fell silent at that statement.

"Did you ever stop to think about what your vendetta against Dragons has caused to people around you? You speak of protecting the tribe, but yet you let your anger and hatred cloud your judgement." Astrid said.

Stoick was at loss of words as the words Astrid spoke sunk in his head. He wanted to deny the accusations, but he also knew that no matter how much he denied it, Astrid was speaking the truth.

"You threw your son away when he needed you. You put the tribe's wellbeing behind your hatred for Dragons. You are not fit to be a Chief, Stoick." Astrid told him and walked away.

Ingrid and Harold watched as their daughter left the place and soon followed after her. They found her near the sea shore, far away from the camp. Astrid was sitting on the ground with her knees raised to her chest, her eyes fixed on the horizon.

"Astrid?" Ingrid called out as she went beside her daughter.

"Oh, h-hey mom." Astrid greeted her as Ingrid sat beside her while Harold crouched beside them.

"Astrid, are you okay?" Ingrid asked as she put her hand on Astrid's shoulder.

"No. No mom, I am not.." Astrid said. She looked like she was about to cry as she continued,"I loved him, but now I lost him."

Ingrid and Harold looked at their daughter with confusion as they wondered who was the 'him' Astrid was talking about.

"Astrid, who are you talking about?" Harold asked.

"Hi-Hiccup." Astrid sobbed as she said "I-I loved him. And he loved me. But now,... now he hates me because he thinks I b-betrayed him. He thinks that… that everything we had between us was a lie."

Astrid broke down in tears and began crying. Ingrid wrapped her arms around Astrid and tried to comfort her while Harold put his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort his daughter. They knew Hiccup since he was a little boy. And they knew that Hiccup was a good man. They also trusted Astrid's judgement in choosing the right partner for herself. So they were saddened when they found out what had happened between Astrid and Hiccup.

"It's gonna be alright Astrid. It's gonna be alright." Ingrid tried to comfort her as Astrid cried away.

(At the Viking camp)

The Vikings were back into work on the repairs for their ships. Stoick was sitting in a far corner in the camp. He was deep in his thoughts.

"Stoick."

Stoick looked up to see that the person calling him was Gobber. The one-handed and one-legged Viking hobled over to him and sat beside him.

"Ya okay?" Gobber asked him.

"Yes Gobber. Just thinking." Stoick replied and looked down at his hands.

"What's bothering ya? Is it what tha' lass Astrid said?"

"She was right Gobber." Stoick sighed "I had let my hatred for Dragons cloud my judgement. I have made a grave mistake."

"Stoick, we are humans. None of us are perfect. We all make mistakes." Gobber told him.

"And my mistake cost me my son and Berk's future." Stoick looked up "And it's time that I correct my mistakes."

"And what if it's too late?" Gobber asked him.

Stoick got up and sighed as he closed his eyes and stayed like that for a moment before opening them again and said,"Then I will give my chiefdom to Astrid or someone who won't make the same mistakes as me. And after that, I will exile myself."

Gobber stared at his friend with shock. But he could see the determination in Stoick's eyes. And he hoped his friend can correct his past mistakes.

"Come on Gobber. We have got some work to do." Stoick said and walked away.

"Aye, aye, chief." Gobber said with a grin and followed after Stoick.