Caught

Delvin was working on Snap-pines saddle in Gobbers workshop when he heard that hiccup had been chosen as the one who would kill the dragon.

Astrid, fuming far more than usual had barged into the forge, swearing like only a Hofferson could and had been searching for her sharpening stone, which had been left in his possession while the others were training. He had been given personal exemption that day as Stoick had informed him that Gothi would likely be picking the best student and that he would not be pick, on account of him already killling a few dragons over the years

Which was annoying but acceptable, especially when stoick bribed him with a new halberd that had been bought off trader Johann that morning. This one was far better than his old one, sporting far greater balance as well as being made of Gronkle iron, making it far superior to his old halberd

Needless to say, he had accepted the bribe, choosing instead to focus on a few projects, one of which included a saddle for Snap-pine. So when Astrid entered the forge like a raging bear all he could do was keep at his work, offering a half-hearted

"So i take it didn't go well?" he asked, already fully knowing the answer but hoping to give his cousin a way to vent, instead of killing hiccup.

"That son of a sniveling ugly half troll-" Astrid began, swinging around her axe wildly

"Language" he admonished, giving her a look as she fumed in his direction "no need to insult the chief"

"HICCUP was chosen as the best student!" Astrid continued, grinding her teeth loud enough that Delvin could hear them "he-he knocked out the nadder before i could!"

"And how does that make him a son of a half-troll?" Delvin asked, taking the role of the older sibling, a role he personally held with great pride, despite being her cousin "you aren't normally such a bitter loser"

"But he doesn't deserve it!" she hissed back at him, sharpening her axe "he doesn't train, he's sloppy, he takes nothing seriously and Suddenly he becomes a prodigy!?" she demanded to the air, slamming her axe into a nearby shield "something isn't right about him and i intend to find out what!"

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Delvin asked as he turned to Astrid, only to find her already gone

"Oh"

"I guess we should stop her right?" Delvin asked turning his head to the back window, repealing Snap-pine who had been laying just below sight

Snap-pine let out a low grumble and looked at Delvin with his scales shaking slightly, in excitement

"Time for our first flight then"

****

Flying was… hard to describe

It was like riding a current, not entirely in control of the direction you went but also dictating the flow and effect.

From the moment Snap- pine had taken off, with Delvin strapped into his saddle the dragon had been extremely happy, darting through the air like he was on Dragon nip, flapping his wings and often releasing happy growls and roars

As they darted through the skies Delvin could feel the air hitting his skin, it felt like rain on his skin, heavy and cold yet also refreshing as they flew.

It didn't take them long to find hiccup and by extension Astrid, with hiccup carting a large basket on his back and wearing the flying harness they had created, Astrid following half a dozen meters behind him

God that boy wouldn't notice if he was being followed by an island of gorgeous women

Following from above the treeline and patting Snap-pine to be quiet Delvin followed behind, flying within the tree line to avoid being spotted or having his rather shiny dragon glimmer in the sunlight

Eventually, they reached the cove and Delvin had Snap-pine land carefully and quietly above the cove, watching as hiccup obliviously began speaking to an unseen toothless, unaware of the girl literally sitting a meter behind him, sharpening her axe

"We're Leaving!" hiccup announced while going through the bag he had brought with him "let's pack up! You and i are going on a big, long and likely permanent vacation!" he continued rummaging through the bag

"we'll give Delvin our nicest goodbye and then- Oh my god what are you doing here Astrid!" Hiccup exclaimed as he finally noticed the girl behind him who gave a cold look while she sharpened her axe

"I could ask the same" she replied before getting up and walking towards Hiccup, getting in his face "why the hell are you out here? And why the hell did you suddenly become soooo good at being a Viking!?"

"Um ah" hiccup tried to speak, looking unsure of himself and stumbling on his words

"He's been training with me" Delvin answered, stepping out from the shadows and walking towards Astrid, Halberd in hand as usual

"What?" both of the pair asked looking shocked, before Astrid pushed Hiccup over and paced over to Delvin, looking at him with a new look

Betrayal

"W-why would you be training him behind my back!?" she asked looking him in the eyes as she started turning red "did you not want me to win!? Is that it!? Couldnt have another Hofferson Protege!?"

"No, hiccup is my friend" Delvin replied, trying to placate his cousin before she happened to alert or notice toothless, where ever he was "he was struggling so i helped him out"

"And we're family!" Astrid yelled, small tears appearing in her eyes as she threw her axe at the ground, causing it to nearly hit Hiccup "why the hell would you be helping this spineless piece of sh-"

ROOOOAAAARR!!!

"Dammit" Delvin muttered as he turned to see toothless, looking pissed and running over

"Look out!" Astrid yelled before pulling Delvin to the ground, snagging Hiccup on the way down. Before he could say a word Astrid had already gotten to her feet, raising her axe to attack and yelling at them to run

Thankfully, however, hiccup of all people jumped in front of her, between her and toothless, and held out two arms, stopping both of them from moving further

"Stop!" he yelled, looking towards both, one at a time "just stop"

"What the hell is that?!" Astrid demanded, nodding towards toothless, axe still raised

"That would be toothless" Delvin introduced as he got up from the dirt, brushing off his knees and wincing as he got up, forced to use his halberd to stand because he'd hit his bad leg in the fall "he's the thing hiccup needed help with"

That shocked Astrid into silence, she just stared at him like she had no idea who he was "you kill dragons!" she eventually got out pointing towards toothless and causing the dragon to hiss at her "since when do you help them"

"When it benefits me or berk" Delvin responded matter o factly

Astrid just gave him another look of betrayal before running off into the woods

Signing and sitting down as he massaged his leg Delvin turned to Hiccup

"Go talk to her"

"Me?!" Hiccup asked pointing at himself

"Theres no way she's going to listen to me at the moment" Delvin sighed, before looking towards toothless "besides, you caused the problem"

"Now go fix it"