Siege & Storms - Chapter 2 Astrid & Hiccup

Siege & Storms - chapter 2 Astrid & Hiccup

-However, before Astrid could close the door behind her, Valka raised her voice. “Astrid, if you want to talk. I’m always here.” Astrid smiled, brushing a strand of her long hair out of her face. "Thanks, Valka."

The stone was cold and wet beneath her bare feet, icy rain wet her heated skin and let the thin fabric of the tunic stick to her skin, exposing her nipples. Her gaze slid to the sky, which was covered in thick black clouds. The raindrops flowed down her chin like a small torrent. "Oh, Hiccup, where are you?" Raindrops continually rolled off her glowing skin, she closed her eyes, her hands clenched into steel fists. Her heart burned with desire and longing. He was alive, he was alive, she continued to tell herself in her mind, fighting the urge to burst into tears. Astrid saw something blue come into her field of vision out of the corner of her eye and suddenly the rain above her stopped. Stormfly's golden gaze collided with hers, a faint smile playing on Astrid's lips as she stroked her nadder's lower jaw. "Thank you." Her pulse calmed again and the tears in her eyes dried up. She was a warrior, a general for Thor's sake. Hiccup was alive, she knew it, deep in her heart. It was enough for her. She would look for him alone and not rest until she found him. "Come on, Stormfly, let's go." Astrid ran back into the house, threw on her clothes and grabbed her axe. She also packed a bag with water, provisions, bandages and fresh clothes. She left a note at the dinner table for Valka. Saddled up, Stormfly was already waiting impatiently for them in the pouring rain when Astrid closed the door behind her. With quick movements, Astrid secured her ax and bag to the saddle before she sat down. Cold wind mixed with icy raindrops fell on her face as they took off and flew away from Berk.

The waves surged like high mountains over the sunken city, lightning broke through the night. The massive shadow of the Phantomfin glided majestically like a great cloud of black smoke over a hidden grotto in the ruins. Toothless grumbled and snuggled against the legs of his best friend, the person who had never given up on him despite the unforgivable act he had committed. Hiccup gently stroked his dragon's smooth scales on his head, which glowed silver in the light of each lightning strike. His chest rose and fell with every heartbeat. He heard the blood rushing in his veins with every wave that surged, with every drop that fell from the onyx-colored rocks of the cave, with every heavy step that echoed off the cave walls. He was there immediately. It could only be a matter of seconds. Hiccup looked into his best friend's big green eyes, which reflected his own fear. “Don’t worry, Toothless, we won’t die today. We won't die today. We will fight for our people, for our friends, my mother, my father." He paused briefly at the painful memory of his father's dead body, who had sacrificed himself for him and Toothless. Hiccup gritted his teeth, trying to push away the memory, the thought that he was about to come face to face with the man who was the real reason his father had to die. "Hiccup, you're much stronger than you think," he suddenly heard a very familiar voice in his head. The memory of his father instantly blurred with the sound of love in Astrid's voice. She stood in front of him, her delicate, soft fingers sliding over his chest. Her long blonde hair was tied back in a loose braid that evening, Berk was still in ice and destruction, his childhood home was one of the few that had been spared. He looked down at her, how could she stay so strong while the house she grew up in was in ruins again and her own father had only escaped death with serious injuries. He took her hand and kissed her palm. "Astrid, how do you manage to stay so strong all the damn time?" A sad smile played on her beautiful lips. "Hiccup, I'm not always strong either and you know that. Should I tell you a secret, sometimes I scream inside because I don't allow myself to cry, I don't allow myself to deviate from the ideal that I'm supposed to represent in my clan, my family . I am strong Yes, but I am not invulnerable. And do you know what has kept me alive in every single battle we have fought so far?” Tears gathered in her fathomless eyes. "You. Hiccup, you are my gravity, the driving force that drives me forward in every battle. Never in my life did I think that I would love someone as much as I love you. I love you, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third, with all your flaws and the qualities that make you so special. I love you." "I love you too, very much," he whispered back, his finger wiping the one tear from her cheek. “And I thank you for always being there for me, my rock, my partner not only in battle but also in my life, for choosing me of all. And I promise you, you can cry at me, scream at me, kick as much as you want. I will never love you less because of it.” “We stay strong for each other,” Astrid finished, her voice broken. He would fight to get back home to the woman he loved and desired more than anything. Hiccup looked down into Toothless' green eyes and he would fight for his best friend. A deep voice snapped Hiccup out of this wondrous memory, he jumped when the shadow of Drago Bludvist appeared on the cave wall. "Hiccup, come out and finally fight like a real man."

Siege & Storms - Chapter 1 Astrid

Post Fire Tides-Story. Nightmares haunt Astrid while Hiccup and Toothless try to escape from the underwater City.

A scream tore through her throat as he fell. "Hiccup!" Her fingers wrapped tightly around the metal rings of her saddle as she leaned forward. “Come on, Stormfly. Get down! Get down!” The blood roared in her ears as the Nadder plunged into a dive, away from the ashen sky and down to the deep black sea that spread out beneath them like a rolling velvet carpet. Below her she saw the frightened eyes of her boyfriend, desperately trying to hoist himself onto the back of his night fury, whose dark scales seemed to almost merge with the darkness of the sea surface. She reached out, tried to reach for him, but he was so far away. So far away. It was as if time stood still as their bodies split the surface of the ocean, like a black mirror breaking into a hundred thousand small pieces. "No. Nooooooo! Hiccup!” she shouted against the roar of the waves. No Answer. Not a brown head in the waves. No wing flapping. The ocean had swallowed them. She sat up, with a clear conscience that this too could be her end. But to hell with her life when the man she loved more than anything was in grave danger. And she jumped. Cold water stabbed her soft skin like hundreds of knives, she opened her eyes and there was the deepest blackness around her. She suddenly flash something in the endless black. A body. Hiccup, she thought. She continued to dive, the pressure on her ears reinforced with every meter she swam. Hiccup's pale, thin body appeared in her mind's eye, his limbs hanging limply in the water, his otherwise beautifully bright emerald eyes staring into space. She reached for him, but couldn't get hold of him. Like a sack full of stones, his body sank deeper and deeper towards the seabed. And there was nothing she could do about it. She was powerless. No matter how hard she tried to move forward, an invisible force had a firm hold on her. She kicked around wildly, screaming at the top of her lungs, so that the salty sea water flooded her throat and sent air bubbles to the surface. The darkness became more and more impenetrable, more and more merciless. Slowly she saw in depth how the body of the person she loved above all else, who she had known since childhood, who had shown her the beauty of the world, had enriched her own life with his good heart and his deep love for her was drawn.

Astrid woke up with a scream. The endless darkness around her, hit her, she gasped, clutching at her sweat-soaked chest where her fearful heart was pounding as if it would shatter her ribs at any moment. With trembling fingers, she reached for a candle that was on the nightstand next to the bed and lit it. Her eyes wandered around the room, past the various prosthetic tails that Hiccup had made for Toothless over the years, to the large map of the archipelago that Hiccup had drawn on his explorations of the barbaric land. Her shaky hand slid over the empty side next to her where her fiancé should be lying. The blood ran from her fingertips, her stomach cramped as her eyes remained on the mattress. She didn't know if Hiccup was still alive or if he was injured and dying. She convulsively choked down the lump in her throat, trying to smother the tears that began to roll down her cheeks faster and faster. To calm herself, she took the green fabric of his tunic, which she had worn every night since his departure, between her hands and breathed in its remaining scent of leather and forge that had not yet been singed by her sweat. He was alive. He wasn't dead. He was alive. He wasn't dead... She pulled her legs up to her chest and began rocking back and forth, more tears gathering in her eyes. She had to stay strong, for the village, for Valka, for Hiccup. Hiccup. She squirmed internally. "He's alive, he's alive, he's alive...",she kept telling herself, fighting the emptiness that was rapidly spreading in her heart. The dark, cold emptiness swallowed her soul, dragging her down into a bottomless abyss of loneliness and ruin. Everything went quiet in her head; she could only hear the steady beating of her heart. She jumped when something warm and scaly suddenly snuggled up to her. Stormfly. Astrid wrapped her arms around the Nadder lady's head, heard her breathing, felt the warmth emanating from her body. A small smile crept across Astrid's lips as Stormfly rubbed her head against hers. “Thank you, my girl. I love you too.” Stormfly squealed and looked at her rider with concern in her round golden eyes. She gently nudged Astrid with her nose. Astrid sighed and wiped her tears as she stroked her best friend's shiny scale dress. She sniffled: "You know, it's hard sometimes to always have to be strong." The Nadder lady snorted in understanding. Astrid leisurely lifted her legs out of bed, Hiccup's tunic barely reaching enough to carefully cover her intimate area. She grabbed the candle that was on the bedside table and walked out of the room, her heavy steps making the floorboards creak on the way to Hiccup's late father's old room. Astrid hesitated, then knocked on the door. “Come in,” she heard Valka’s tired voice from the other side. She entered the large bedchamber, Valka was sitting up in bed, a bag full of ice pressed to her forehead. “Is something Astrid? Can I help you in any way?” Astrid shook her head as she closed the door behind her and sat on the edge of the bed next to her future mother-in-law. “Yes, everything is fine,” she lied as she smoothed the fabric of the tunic. "I just wanted to see how you were doing." Valka smiled gently. "That's kind of you. But you don’t have to worry about me.” A loud rumble of thunder shook the night, shortly followed by a pelting rain that hit the wooden roof. Astrid's fingers dug into the fabric of the tunic and she gritted her teeth. The fine hairs on her neck stood up against her sweat-heated skin. She hated thunderstorms ever since a lightning strike left her blind several years ago. Although she was now able to cope better with thunderstorms and the darkness, she still felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up every time a storm came. “I'm just going to go outside to see what's going on,” she said shortly without looking at Valka. Out of the corner of her eye, however, she saw her nod in confirmation. -

Next Chapter follows soon…

Kung Fu Panda Fox 4 - from Cinema to Illumination Level

First I was really hyped about this Movie, because I was thinking: Hey they made Puss in Boots: the Last wish what could go wrong? The first Trailer then dropped and it looked promising, then I watched the Movie….

And oh my god why have they removed the Director? Why couldn’t we get Joel Crawford or Jennifer Yuh Nelson, who also worked on 2 and 3. Seriously Mike Mitchell? He is not famous for his incredible Track Record. But to the Film now. As a Standalone it works and it has some good Action Scenes like the Scene in the Tavern. The side Plot with Pos Dads was kinda funny, wish the whole Movie was about them. But the Story was a big disappointment on my side. It just doesn’t makes senses that Po has to pass the Title of the Dragon Warrior, he is in the prime of his life. It’s not like he is diyng or is sick or very old like Oogway was when he chose the new Warrior. Also they reahash the Messages from the first three Movies again as if Po had to learn them again, there no wise words or any emotional hook like in the previous three, which was one of the things I like about KFP so much, the Movie feels lackluster without these elements. Also they do the Hug-Scene with Po and Zhen like with Tigress and Po in KFP2, but less emotional. Apropos I don‘t hate Zhen as a Character, I also doesn’t find her Voice Actress annoying like in the little Mermaid but she doesn’t earn the title Dragon Warrior, it just feels wrong and she looks Designwise straight out Zootopia and doesn’t feel like she belongs in the World of KFP. Her Releationship with Po is okay I guess, but I prefer the fourios Five over her, hell Tigress and Master Monkey Are Pos best Friends, it would be so much better if they go with Po on the Journey and meet Zhen on their way to Juniper City. Also her Backstory reminds me to much of Tigress again. Another one who doesn’t belong is the Chameleon, she is also the reason why we can’t have the fourios five, because her motivation is she is to small to learn Kung Fu and Mantis and Viper are also small but can Kung Fu so…also beware of the Stairs when she’s around. I’ve seen how she pulled the the bear down the stairs. It doesn’t look dramatic. I prefer the word ridiculous. Compared to the other Villains we had she feels lackluster but had a lot of potential to be a great Villain. The plot with the return of the villains is also very useless, Tai Lung is just in the first scene and the end and says something really out of Character. They did Kai (who shouldn’t be there in the first place because his spirit got destroyed in the spirit realm) and Lord Shen dirty too, never would one of them bow to Po. And in my Opinion none of the Villains needed a Redemption. Fuck them to do Lord Shen dirty, he’s my favorite Villain in the Original Trilogy. Also Shifu has nothing to do in this movie, he’s just there for whatever. Also how he talks to Po is like KFP1-3 didn’t happen.

I was genuinly suprised that they have given this movie Illumination Budget, 85 USD that’s not much for a KFP - Movie and embarrassing too. I missed the old background style from this very much. The Original Trilogy has such beautiful backgrounds that looked like Chinese Paintings. To the song baby One more time I have to give one credit, it’s better than the Original but it doesn’t fit KFP at all. In httyd terms it’s like you would play heavy metal instead of Where no one goes, sticks and stones or Toegether from afar at the end.

Well another Franchise on my list I don’t care about anymore, I guess. Count me out if the next Kung Fu Panda Movies are about an Character that doesn’t earn the title and isn’t as enjoyable and charming as Po was. My closing thoughts are: this happens when you try to expand on a Franchise and that has already an ending, with Puss in Boots, Rise of the Guardians or Megamind (until they butchered that too as we had to witness) it is something else, these worlds you can still expand because these movies are in their infancy. With a Movie like KFP this doesn’t work at all, because it had an perfect ending and Pos Character Arc is completed. It’s not a bad Movie by any means, you can still go and enjoy it. Looking back I would also say it was an alright film, a nice gap you can ignore when your more of a fan of the original trilogy. But for KFP it is in my personal opinion a letdown. Also it is just a copy and paste of the Masterpiece that is called KFP2 but without any of the emotions. I’m also lowkey happy though that this movie is so mid, than now KFP3 gets more of the appreciate that it deserve, I’m honest it’s a still a pretty great Movie. The Wild Robot seems like an Apology for Megamind2 and KFP4 now and their last Hope, but I will accept it when I have seen this Movie.

Headcanon:

Hiccstrid always plan one day in a week a romantic evening to have some alone couple time. (The kids are then with Valka or Astrids Parents.) Sometimes they sit by the fireplace cuddle up in furs, have a romantic dinner they Cook together, dance slowly under the Stars, take a bath with wine and rose petals or make hot Love when they are in the mood.

Man, I have really a Obsession with This Franchise😅

I‘ve watched Riders of Berk again after a long Time…

…And I can’t remember likening it that much. For the first httyd Series it’s a pretty good start. Bucket and Mulch are very cute Toegether. I like the Rivaly they set up between Snotlout and Hiccup, the hicctooth-episodes are brilliant and touching, I just say: I save you, you save me. That’s the way it is. The little Moments between Hiccup and his Dad are very cute. makes Httyd2 and httyd3 even more heartbreaking. What I also really like are these little Moments between Hiccup and Toothless, for example in Viking for Hire when they sit in Hiccups Room and Hiccup talks about Gobber to Toothless that he made his metal leg. Outcast Island gives me by the way gothic vibes and it looks pretty cool. Honestly there’s maybe a Chance that they could’ve planned it since than that Johann is going to be a Villain in Rtte, even they haven’t known that they would get Rtte later, some things could be hints, to build something up, for example when he says he has a Knife with him but rejected that after or the fact that he brought Mildew the Dragon Flower. By the way Mildew, I was surprised that he only annoyed me in one episode, in the rest of the season he was a decent villain. The Cinematography was also pretty cool, I personally Love the shot when Hiccup and Snotlout crash land on Outcast Island und you see all these high spiky rocks which are shrouded in fog.

My favorite Episodes are:

Animal House

Viking for Hire

When Lightning Strikes

What flies beneath

Breakneck Bog

Portrait of Hiccup as a Buff Man