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c0nfessions-of-a-writing-freak · 1 year

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Chapter One: A Lightfury’s Guide to Stealing A Dragon Rider

Pairing: Hiccup 'Horrendous’ Haddock III x fem!oc

Word count: 3.1k

Chapter Summary: When a destroyed fleet of dragon hunter ships wash up at Dragon’s Edge, with all that is left behind are white scales and scorch marks, it leaves some questions to be raised within the dragon riders and what could have caused this. On the other side of the archipelago, a girl that appears and disappears at Northern Markets makes her presence known, planning to stick around until the heat calms down.

Overall Summary: A mysterious new dragon rider has been starting to make their presence known by tearing through dragon hunter ships and leaving nothing in their wake. What dragon they ride is unknown. What they look like is unknown. Why they are hunting the dragon hunters is unknown. The only thing that is known is that they will stop at nothing to destroy every dragon hunter ship at any cost.

N/A: Make sure you check out the prologue for this series! I feel like near the end of the chapter it sort of goes off the rails a bit. Hope you enjoy :D

*Art and gif is not mine.

Hiccup started his day like any other; waking up relatively early–at least earlier than the twins or Snotlout–and getting Toothless for a morning flight, usually to be met with Astrid as she finishes her rounds of the island, insisting she does a sweep of the island to make sure no hunters had found their way onto the beaches.

Toothless was already awake and bounding around Hiccup’s hut. His teeth were retracted as he watched Hiccup stir awake.

Not waiting for his rider to fully wake, Toothless jumped onto the bed, shaking it as Hiccup startled awake, trying to sit upright only to knock his head into Toothless’ snout. A disgruntled groan left the dragon at the contact.

“Sorry bud,” Hiccup began to say, cutting himself off as the grumbled scorn from Toothless. “What's got you so rowdy this morning?”

A gargling noise rang out from Toothless, flashing his gums before hopping off of Hiccup and his bed before jumping towards the hut’s door, large steps shaking the wooden beams the hut is balanced on. With the rustling from behind, Toothless looked back with a toothless smile to find Hiccup slowly awaking from bed, getting ready for the day on the Edge ahead of him.

“Alright bud, I’m on my way. Don’t worry,” Hiccup muttered with a yawn as he paced after the Nightfury. A steady hand landed on Toothless’ head, pushing him back a few paces so he could push open the door. The sun had started to rise by now, nearly set high enough to commence breakfast. Toothless raced forward, bumping Hiccup with his tail and causing him to stumble forward, a laugh rolling in his chest. “Perfect morning for a flight, isn’t it?”

Before Toothless could rumble a reply, Stormfly came barreling up, Astrid sat on her back as she stared worriedly at Hiccup. “Hiccup, there’s something you're going to want to see,” She announced upon her arrival, causing Hiccup to stumble out of his hut a couple of steps faster.

“What is it?” He hurriedly asked, resting a hand on Toothless’s head, ready to mount his back at any given second to follow after Astrid.

“I think it would be better if you took a look for yourself,” She called out, head flicking around to look down at the docks she and the other dragon riders had built when they first started working on building the Edge.

Hiccup didn’t have to be told twice.

Before Astrid could blink, Hiccup and Toothless were already in the air and flying towards her. His eyes hadn’t yet locked on where Astrid had come from, waiting for her guidance to lead him.

The two of them were in the air for only a few seconds, a quick glide down before their dragon’s claws were touching down on the wooden planks that made up their docks. That was when Hiccup was finally able to see what had Astrid so spooked.

In front of them was a fleet of half-destroyed ships.

Each ship had a number of scorch marks that plunged through the wooden decks, the sails that had the dragon hunter crest torn to shreds. Most of the ships also had discarded weapons and helmets, left behind by the hunters that had sailed on these ships. But something stuck out on one of the ships, the largest out of the lot. There was a variety of cuts and indents in the ship, looking to be placed there by a sword or some other kind of weapon, perhaps claw marks along with a few scales white as snow scattered around the destroyed ship.

“Astrid… what do you think could have done this?” Hiccup questioned, his head whirling around to face Astrid only to find the blonde girl staring hauntedly at the ship graveyard.

“More like who.”

𓆩⟡𓆪

"Ah, if it isn't my favourite customer from beyond the archipelago," A middle-aged man boasts as he sees a young woman walking up to his stall in the Northern Markets, his arms spread wide and a yellowing smile. His loud comments forced many heads to turn as Sindri was one of the best weapons traders within the isle, the man always having something to please any form of customer.

A dry chuckle escapes the girl as she steps up to the stall countertop, her boots digging into the muddy floor as she rests one of her gloved hands on the counter. "You should stop spoiling me with the praises Sindri," She says with a grin, her eyes briefly scanning over the items the man had on display for the day. “Your words might start to get to my head after all.”

"Maybe I'm just trying to make sure I get into Valhalla when my time comes," He says with a booming grin, leaving his prior task behind as he walks up to the girl. "I do after all need a Valkyrie to take me there. Your ego is free to inflate as much as you wish," He comments smugly, wiggling his eyebrows at the girl as he stops in front of her.

"Just because the name Valkyrie belongs to me it doesn't mean I will be flying you anywhere in the afterlife," She chides the man loosely. "And besides, you need to die in battle to be sent there. I don't think selling these weapons counts as so," She says amused at the slight drop in the man's shoulders.

"You might be right there," The man comments, an eyebrow being raised by the girl across from him in question at the might part. "So, what can I help you with today? It's been a while since your last visit to the Northern Markets," Sindri asks, both his hands leaning on the countertop as he waits for the girl across from him's request.

Valkyrie absently looks around the stall, staring at the many weapons discarded around the wooden crates and countertops. "Do you have any more of those Hideous Zippleback exploding boxes? The ones where the gas pours out of it until it gets lit," She asked, going into explanation since she knew that wasn't the name Sindri had given her when he first sold the items to her, and that exploding boxes could be quite vague.

"Of course, I have those in stock! I make them myself, remember?" He asks, grinning wildly as he bends down to reach for something hidden in a crate. Pulling out seven rectangular-like boxes, all made from vast metals and wood. He places them on the counter just in front of the girl’s hands. "Now, Valkyrie, these are the last ones I have in stock since you keep forgetting to bring the empty ones back to me." He says with a slight scold to his words.

"So there worth a pretty penny?" Valkyrie asks, staring up at Sindri slightly sheepish and with her shoulders bunching to her ears as she raises a brow in question, both palms facing up in front of her.

"Precisely," Sindri says with a sharp nod. "Now, I'm willing to trade them off for something, but if not, I'm going to need about two bags worth," He states, his face losing most of its joy as he goes into trader mode, making sure he gets the best deal for himself.

"Two bags?" Valkyrie questions with a huff of air, picking up one of the canisters loosely. When a hum of agreement leaves Sindri, Valkyrie places it down on the countertop rather harshly. "And here I thought I was your favourite customer," She says slightly dejected, pulling out a small pouch of coins from her waist. "How about this? I give you half of this, and the next time I sail in, I'll bring you two double-edged axes?" She offers, loosening the string that was keeping the pouch sealed and flashing Sindri a toothy smile.

Sindri's eyes narrowed at the girl, one of his fists balling as he study's her for a long moment. An air of silence dragged on between the two of them before he came to his final decision. "How do I know you’re not just going to fly off and never return?" He questions with a glower, an opening statement for something further.

A fake mortified gasp escapes Valkyrie's lips as she brings her hands up, resting them on her chest. "You wound me Sindri," She states, closing her eyes like she was crying. Bringing a hand up to wipe at a nonexistent tear, she says, "And here I thought we have built some trust up over the years."

The man across from her rolled his eyes with a huff before he shook his head with a grin stretching across his face. "I’d be in safer hands while wrestling with a Nightfury than putting any trust in you. But fine, I'll take you up on that deal," He mutters. His agreement got a crooked grin slipping onto Valkyrie's face as she raised her chin slightly in accomplishment. "But if you don't return in two moons, I'll be putting a bounty on your head."

The thing with Sindri is that he totally would, which only made Valkyrie grin more. "I'll be back in three then," She said, emptying half of her coin pouch onto the countertop as she pulled another brown bag from her waist. This time the bag was empty, and a lot bigger than the last as she started to load the Hideous Zippleback gas canisters into her bag.

Sindri only looked slightly amused at her words as he tested each of the coins, roughly gauging how much each of them weighed. Valkyrie attached the bag of items back to her hip as he did this, waiting until he had finished the task and put them into his own pouch. "Is there anything else you might need before you vanish without a trace again?" He questions.

"I think this is all I need for the moment," Valkyrie says, her eyes going distant as she racks her brain for any other possible items she could need for the next following days. She couldn't picture any dire situations arising where she would have to prepare for, everything already thought out in her own mind as they had repeated this process a number of times. The only reason she was buying the Zippleback gas was because she would be going in solo and she would be dealing with a larger number the usual.

Sindri gave her a sad nod. "I'll see you next time you decide to grace the aisle with your presence." He comments, lighting up with a grin before he is turning to a new customer—or maybe it was the person he abandoned to talk to Valkyrie.

Turning away from the stall, Valkyrie begins her way back through the trading village. She kept her head high as she began to weave through the different stalls, a steady eye on anyone who decided to get too close for her liking.

A certain thing that came with the Northern Markets is that there is a large number of dragon hunters always running around getting weapons fixed or buying new custom traps to help them capture dragons that they would later sell to a select few from this very island. It never mattered how much she attempted to avoid them when on the island so she gave up long ago, accepting the fact there was no getting around it.

So when a certain hunter clad in dragon hide started to approach her, there was nothing Valkyrie could do except hide her finds and ready herself for conflict.

Keeping her head held up, she planned to walk past the man, keeping her eyes from the mace hanging at his hip where his hand was starting to itch for. But as she passed a hand shot out, fingers enclosing tightly around her upper arm. Valkyrie was instantly on the defence, a hand shooting to her hip where a broken down sword lay wrapped around her waist. With a hiss, Valkyrie spoke, “Can I help you?”

“Do I recognise ya?” The man spoke, spit flying from his mouth.

“I would hope not,” Valkyrie started. “Now, if you would be so kind as to get your filthy hand off of me, I would be glad to let you leave with all your limbs intact.”

The two stood off, neither being the first to back down. As Valkyrie’s hand slid forward, fingers wrapping around the loose handle of her broken-down sword, another hand came shooting out and wrapping around her shoulder. “Why don’t we all take it easy for a second.”

Turning to see who had spoken, Valkyrie’s eyes landed on a tall boy with auburn hair and pale green eyes. He didn’t look directly at Valkyrie, his eyes instead focused on the hunter that she had previously been threatening.

“Mind your own business boy. This doesn’t concern you,” The hunter spoke with a sneer, attempting to pull Valkyrie closer towards him but when Valkyrie didn’t budge, the hold that the boy had on her keeping her grounded, he let go.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry. Of course, this is between you and this helpless lady,” The boy said, releasing Valkyrie as he raises both hands in an act of surrender.

Valkyrie’s head whipped around to face the nameless boy, eyes wide with her top lip curling up. “Helpless?” Her voice rose an octave, once again her hand shooting down to where the handle of her sword rested.

The boy flashed Valkyrie a sideways glance with an almost pleading look on his face before he turned back to the hunter. “It’s just, I didn’t want to see anything break out when it was so clear that she wouldn’t be walking away as steady as she came in.”

The hunter pondered the boy’s words, face slowly starting to light up. “Aren’t you the chivalrous type?” The man huffed out before turning away, casting one last fleeting glance at Valkyrie before flashing his teeth and blending into the crowd and fleeing from Valkyrie’s sight.

Valkyrie glared at the man even long after he vanished from her sight. Only when she was sure he was gone did she turn to the nameless boy, putting an end to his stuttering responses as one of Valkyrie’s hands slammed into his chest. “I could have handled that myself,” She scorned, going in for a second shove where the boy’s hands mixed with hers, trying to deter their path. “And come on, a helpless lady who can’t fight her own battles? You couldn’t come up with a slightly more justifying cause?”

“It’s the first thing I could think of,” Came the strangled response from the boy, his grip tight as he stopped Valkyrie from pulling her hands away where she would most likely go in for another hit. “I didn’t exactly think of a plan when I came over.”

“You clearly didn’t think much if you had the bright idea to come over here in the first place,” Valkyrie snapped, tugging her hands free in a quick pull, making the unknown boy stumble and fall towards Valkyrie.

Valkyrie quickly raised her arms, bracing herself as the boy collided with her. A soft grunt escaped her lips at the close proximity of the two of them. “Uh hi?”

Valkyrie’s eyes narrowed at the boy’s words, their eyes meeting through the gaps in her arms. “Bye,” Valkyrie said in return, shoving the boy back one last time before turning on her heel, not caring for the startled yelp that came from the boy as she walked away. She told herself as she left, ready to disappear from the island and the views of the world once more, “I don’t have time for this.”

“It was nice meeting you too,” The boy called out after Valkyrie and said girl found herself gritting her teeth at the sound of hurried footsteps running after her. As the nameless boy came to her side, falling into step with her as they walked through the markets, he said, “I’m Hiccup by the way.”

“And I didn’t ask for that knowledge nor do I care for it,” Valkyrie said, earning a soft chuckle from Hiccup in return.

“Normally when someone gives you their name, there's an unspoken rule that you are meant to give it to them in return,” Hiccup said, gesturing loosely with his hands out in front of him, quickly drawing Valkyrie’s eyes to them and the leather cuffs wrapped around his wrists. “And, I mean, I did kind of save you from a fight with a dragon hunter.”

“Something which I didn’t ask you to do,” Valkyrie stated. But at the sight of Hiccup's dejected face, one of his hands bounding up to scratch the back of his neck, Valkyrie find herself speaking without her conscious permission. Turning her head straight and keeping her eyes off the other boy she said, “But if you must know, my name is Valkyrie.”

“Like one of Odin’s warriors?” Hiccup quickly questioned, his face lighting up as he put two and two together.

“Yes, like Odion’s warriors,” Valkyrie muttered, shaking her head as she answered the common question aimed her way once she revealed her namesake.

“Did your parents know you would be just as fierce as a Valkyrie when choosing a name for you?” Hiccup asked another question, seeming to have several more lined up for her to answer.

“More like vicious,” Valkyrie commented. “And I think they trained it into me when I was younger. Had to look at the world as a proper Viking one way or another.”

HIccup’s thick brows furrowed but he chose not to say anything. “What brings you the Nothern Markets?” He tracked back, changing the topic quickly. Before Valkyrie could say anything, Hiccup's head swivelled to the side, something catching his attention from another stall. Valkyrie was about to use these few seconds of distraction to slip away when Hiccup's head came swirling back towards her, large green eyes staring at her expectedly.

“Originally, before I got ambushed by two Vikings?” Valkyrie questioned, hiding a smile at the sheepish look that flickered over Hiccup's face first before a stubborn fierceness took over his eyes. Valkyrie quickly cut him off before he could once again go into why he had to help. “I came here for the same reason anyone else would. To trade and gather.”

Hiccup slowly nodded his head, wringing his arms back and forth and preparing to say something before a loud bang caught both of their attention, two heads of blonde hair fleeing from the scene. “Oh Thor, not those two,” Hiccup mumbled, dragging a hand down his face before looking back to Valkyrie. “You wouldn't be willing to wait here for me, would you?”

“No promises,” Valkyrie shrugged.

“Yeah,” A soft sigh escaped Hiccup's lips. “I didn’t think so.”

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eurydia · 1 year

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Barbie and Ken meme

#vicarcaptain #tow #Outer Worlds #tow fanart #vicar max #outer worlds fanart #maximillian desoto #vicar desoto #oc: astrid #I saw this and had to #max after you let him kill cheney lol #it's so perfect because I've been meaning to do a mugshot for max #and then this meme happened and i'm so happy haha #oc x canon #oc #the outer worlds

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ceoofdestructix · 3 days

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I have a Mobius 25YL AU and...

HEEERE'S URSULA AND SGT SIMIAN'S FAMILY 🐻‍❄️💙🐵

Here are the little yetis' refs btw 🥹💚

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silcoitus · 4 months

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Letters from Silco—You Shine

Letters from Silco Masterlist

This letter is a bit different because I did not write it! I handlettered it, yes, but the words are 100% from @ink-and-dagger. These words are pulled directly from the last chapter of Inky's fic "Drink With Me"; I simply put them in "Silco's" handwriting.

Word count: 446

Tags: Silco x Astrid, Silco x reader, set during the events of Drink With Me, spoilers for DWM!

Astrid,

You were right. Everything you said that night in my office was true.

I have been a coward. I allowed my… fears regarding loss of control to hold authority over me… Ironic, come to think of it. Not only have I been a coward, but I’ve become a hypocrite too. I punish others for daring to make the same mistakes twice, and yet my own repetitive failures have led me to almost lose you on multiple occasions, in more ways than one—

You have given me more chances than I have earned the right to. Because you are generous, and because you always choose to hold on to the good amidst the bad. Or, perhaps, it’s simply because you are just as foolish as I am.

In all my time, I have never met anyone like you.

You… You’re a brat. Truly, the most infuriating, insolent menace I have ever been cursed to deal with. And you are also everything I adore about the Undercity. You possess the grit and tenacity of a true Trencher. You’re resourceful and sharp. You’re as vibrant and colourful as the entirety of the Lanes and much more beyond it still. You bring light, and warmth, and laughter to a part of the world so rarely touched by such things.

You shine, Darling.

You’re radiant. You’re perfect.

And by some… miracle, you seem to think the same of me. You have changed everything since you came here. Not only in my life but in Jinx’s too. You may never truly understand the impact you have had on the both of us.

You have shown me things that I never thought could be meant for me. That I didn’t think were possible. And instead of showing you the gratitude you deserve, I have treated you abhorrently. You placed your trust in me and I betrayed it. I betrayed you.

I have done nothing but hurt you, time and again and

I am so sorry, Sweetheart.

I am sorry for all that you have had to endure at my foolish hands these past several months. For everything I have said and done to hurt you. And I am sorry that it has taken me so long to apologise for my grievous mistakes.

I do not deserve your forgiveness. Nor do I have any right to ask it of you. But I am a selfish man, and I am desperate enough that I would beg for the chance to earn it.

Astrid, please.

Please give me the chance to do better by you. I will give you anything. Everything.

I cannot lose you.

I need you.

I love you.

Please. Let me love you.

Silco

If you would like a (digital copy) of a Silco letter of your own, check out this post for details on how to request one!

Taglist: @averagecrastinator @mazikomo @writingmysanity @insult-2-injury @ariaud @jennrosefx @ins0mniac-whack @steponmesilco @sherwood-forests @leave-me-alone-silco @givemebeansnow @aeryntheofficial @dreamyonahill @lostbunn @eurydicethesage @thepineapplesimp @whatisafandom @violet-19999 @juicboxd @sageandberries-png @delta-is-here @beardedladyqueen @sirenofzaun @blissfulip

Join my taglist!

#silcoitus #silco #arcane silco #silcoitus letter #handwriting #silco simp #silco x you #oc x canon #astro #silco x astrid #drink with me #reader insert #x reader

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bellvalo · 3 months

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oc x canon moment

don’t look at how badly this formatted

@cover-your-heart @avatarselftitled

#astrid yvonne aaberg #astrid yvonne aaberg metalocalypse #metalocalypse #metalocalypse oc #oc #original character #mtl oc #pickles the drummer #oc x canon #dethklok #HIM (mtl oc band)

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died-of-feels · 8 months

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My Httyd Next Gens Pt. 1

Name: Oswald

Eye color: Green

Dragon: Eruptodon (doesn't ride)

Age: 23

Parents: Dagur and Mala

Weapon of Choice: Sword

Relationship status: Just married to Solvig

Occupation: Eruptodon protector

Personality: Quiet and tends to keep to himself and stay out of people's way and problems. Likes to tease his younger siblings especially Baldur about Zephyr.

Misc: He made a vow to never ride a dragon again after he gave up his position as first in line for the throne to devote all his time to the eruptodon effectively passing the throne to his younger sister Eula.

Name: Solvig

Eye color: Green

Dragon: Eruptodon (doesn't ride)

Age: 22

Parents: Throk and Atali

Weapon of Choice: Katana

Relationship status: Just married to Oswald

Occupation: Eruptodon protector

Personality: She is very friendly and always willing to help those around her. She is just as courageous as both her parents and is quick on her feet.

Misc: She just like her father has always had a strong connection with the eruptodon and vowed to always protect it. Also made a vow to never ride a dragon once she became the protector.

Name: Eula

Eye color: Green

Dragon: Baby Razorwhips

Age: 20

Parents: Dagur and Mala

Weapon of Choice: Wingmaiden spear

Relationship status: Single

Occupation: Wingmaiden

Personality: She is very well spoken and a great debater. She prefers to be off of the island she grew up on but makes sure to visit her family as often as possible.

Misc: She was always so fascinated and amazed by Atali’s story of being a Wingmaiden that when she was old enough she decided to pass her claim to the throne of Defenders of the wing to her younger brother Baldur and become a Wingmaiden herself.

Name: Baldur

Eye color: Green

Dragon: Skrill named Bolt

Age: 18

Parents: Dagur and Mala

Weapon of Choice: Long sword

Relationship status: Dating Zephyr

Occupation: Dragon rider

Personality: He tends to get very fixated on certain things and start to disregard the things happening around him. He is also very stubborn and will treat people the very same way that they treat him

Misc: He is currently first in line for the throne of the Defenders of the Wing and has no plans to give it up. He has every intention of marrying Zephyr and making her Queen of the Defenders of the Wing.

Name: Ericka

Eye color: Blue

Dragon: Changewing named Novax

Age:18

Parents: Eret and OC named Greta

Weapon of Choice: Spear

Relationship status: Single

Occupation: Dragon rider

Personality: She inherited her father’s fierce loyalty but is very naturally aggressive like her mother. She is a very skilled warrior and plans to one day join the Berkian Guard

Misc: She loves to cook and make her friends treats to cheer them up when they are sad so now she knows what all the riders favorite sweets are and can bribe them into doing patrol or other chores. Her best friend is Zephyr.

Name: Zephyr

Eye color: Blue

Dragon: Nightlight named Dart

Age: 18

Parents: Hiccup and Astrid

Weapon of Choice: Sword and Battle axe

Relationship status: Dating Baldur

Occupation: Dragon rider leader

Personality: She has a very similar personality as in Homecoming just more mature and willing to listen to what the older vikings are trying to tell her before jumping to conclusions. She is also the most knowledgeable about dragons out of all the children and is willing to do whatever it takes to protect them to the point of often having to be dragged away by her friends for her own safety or even Dart refusing to cooperate with her anymore

Misc: She enjoys reading the book of dragons and training with her mother. She also got her father's ability to create useful inventions. Her best friend is Ericka

Name: Nuffink

Eye color: Green

Dragon: Nightlight named Pouncer

Age: 15

Parents: Hiccup and Astrid

Weapon of Choice: Battle axe

Relationship status: Dating Thyra

Occupation: Dragon rider

Personality: Very similar to his personality in Homecoming but more mature. He is still very rambunctious and likes to try all of his father’s aerial tricks that he was told about as a young kid. His favorite pastimes are flying with Pouncer and annoying Zephyr.

Misc: With the very real possibility of his sister marrying Baldur he is most likely to become the next chief of Berk.

Name: Thyra

Eye color: Purplish Blue

Dragon: Monstrous Nightmare named Ember

Age: 15

Parents: Snotlout and Ruffnut

Weapon of Choice: War hammer

Relationship status: Dating Nuffink

Occupation:Dragon rider

Personality: Thyra is very confident in her abilities and is willing to spar with anyone who offers. Unlike her dad she isn't afraid to not take first (breaking generational trauma from snotlout). She tends to spoil her dragon and treat her as the most important living thing in the world.

Misc: She is the most competitive of all the children and likes to follow Hiccup around and annoy him until he is quite literally just chasing her away.

Name: Tove

Eye color: Purplish Blue

Dragon: Deadly Nadder named Attor

Age: 15

Parents: Snotlout and Ruffnut

Weapon of Choice: Spear

Relationship status: Flirty with Skjor

Occupation: Dragon rider

Personality: She is extremely girly and likes to focus on how she looks over fighting the other kids. She wants to be a healer like her mother (yes I headcanon Ruff as the healer after Gothi)

Misc: She and Attor like to look in the reflection of shields to preen. She tends to get distracted while fixing her hair or grooming her dragon and will miss important details in a conversation. She is still very useful in a battle and will take down enemies in style. She and Astrid have bonded over having Nadders and she has learned a few tricks from her.

Name: Skjor

Eye color: Blue

Dragon: Razorwhip named Wingnut

Age: 15

Parents: Fishlegs and Heather

Weapon of Choice: Double ended axe

Relationship status: Likes Tove

Occupation: Dragon rider

Personality: Skjor is the perfect mix of both his parents with his father’s love of learning and dragons and his mother's survival instincts. He loves adventure and journaling.

Misc: He met Wingnut when he got stuck on a random island and used the survival skills his mother taught him. First in line to be chief of Berserker Island.

Name: Vivika

Eye color: Green

Dragon: Triple Stryke named Suvi

Age: 14

Parents: Dagur and Mala

Weapon of Choice: Sword and Blow darts

Relationship status: Single

Occupation: Dragon rider

Personality: Vivika is the most patient out of all the children and always willing to hear a multitude of answers to one problem. She is the peacekeeper between her siblings and on the island.

Misc: She enjoys sitting under the shade of the trees with Suvi to read and be away from her responsibilities for awhile. She really looks up to her aunt Heather.

Name: Lagertha

Eye color: Green

Dragon: Gronckle named Lapis

Age: 14

Parents: Dagur and Mala

Weapon of Choice: Battle axe

Relationship status: Single

Occupation: Dragon rider

Personality: Lagertha is a born warrior that is always ready to take on anyone and anything that will try to pick a fight with her. She likes to boss people around and get the island people to do tasks for her.

Misc: She likes to get up with the sunrise and fly around the island with her dad. Her favorite pastime is whittling long sticks into spears.

Name: Noma

Eye color: Blue

Dragon: Hideous Zippleback (Gas) named Calothosk

Age: 10

Parents: Tuffnut and OC named Friva

Weapon of Choice: Mace

Relationship status: Single

Occupation: Jr. Dragon rider

Personality: Noma is a free spirit who usually does whatever sounds fun. She is curious of the world around her and can often be found taking a walk around the island. She and her cousin Leahlout are attached at the hip and if they aren't doing their own thing they are always together.

Misc: She likes to help her father in the forge (I headcanon that Tuff begins to help Gobber in the forge now that Hiccup is to busy as chief) or helping her mother cook and bake in the great hall.

Name: Leahlout

Eye color: Blue

Dragon: Hideous Zippleback (Spark) named Thevren

Age: 10

Parents: Snotlout and Ruffnut

Weapon of Choice: Daggers

Relationship status: Single

Occupation: Jr. Dragon rider

Personality: She is the most calm out of all her siblings but still enjoys causing a ruckus on the island especially for Gobber and Spitelout.

Misc: She likes to follow her dad around while he is training the Berkian guard (I headcanon that Snotlout is the captain of the Berkian guard) and likes to train with them herself.

Name: Bjorn

Eye color: Green

Dragon: Gronkle named Fishmeat

Age: 9

Parents: Fishlegs and Heather

Weapon of Choice: Bow and Arrow

Relationship status: Single

Occupation: Jr. Dragon rider

Personality: He is sweet and gentle much like his father but tends to make up his mind and become fixated on his decision and refuses to listen when people try to tell him the opposite.

Misc: Bjorn is a pacifist so he prefers to find nonviolent solutions to problems and stay out of fights for as long as possible until a dragon or someone else is in serious danger of being badly hurt.

Name: Ingrid

Eye color: Green

Dragon: None yet

Age: 5

Parents: Fishlegs and Heather

Weapon of Choice: Teeth

Relationship status: Single

Occupation: Baby

Personality: Ingrid likes to act sweet and innocent especially around her parents (they know she’s not) but she is a feral child and will bite when she feels like it.

Misc: The first person she bit was Dagur. Her other targets include Hiccup, Snotlout, Skjor, and strangely Astrid

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shooting-star-hearts · 5 months

Text

♡•Glitter For Skin•♡

✰ • 𝓟𝓐𝓘𝓡𝓘𝓝𝓖 ⇢ Cloud Strife/OC(Astrid Lovelyn) ✰ • 𝓣𝓗𝓔𝓜𝓔𝓢 ⇢ Fluff/comfort, Angst ✰• 𝓝𝓞𝓣𝓔𝓢 ⇢ Considering that this is oc x canon there will be...some things I changed that differ from canon ff7, such as Highwind scene...yeah I was a bit scared to add that one in sooooo no hate please? Thank you. Also I have horrible writing so I apologize for having to go through this if you choose do so 🥲 Anyhow...I wrote up this fic because it's been three years I've had this lil ship so...Happy Anniversary Cloustrid 💖(I'll also tag as x reader for anyone that wants to use as inspiration I'll allow it) ✰ • 𝓦𝓐𝓡𝓝𝓘𝓝𝓖𝓢 ⇢ Heartaches, Mention of a cut/blood, Suggestive at some point(implied nsfw), no proofread(?), Cloud is a bit...ooc I think, he talks a little more than usual

Now playing - golden hour by JVKE

“Ouch!”

As a reflex, the paper flew from her grasp and was gently curled over the thin cut. Her thumb soothed over the little red slit with her brows furrowing slightly; the cut was small but admittingly it did cause a bit of an annoyance to her finger.

“Astrid~”

Tifa’s voice was followed by the jingling of the bells over the door, signaling someone’s entrance in the bakery. Astrid’s eyes left from her cut momentarily to flash a smile at her.

“Hey Ti! Closed up early?”

“Mhm…You alright?” The dark-haired woman made her way around the counter, her eyes followed down at Astrid’s finger.

“A-ah- yeah! Just a paper cut! Hang on..” Astrid didn’t want to further concern Tifa. She opened up one of the cabinet doors under the counter, shuffling around items in search of band-aids.

Tifa was already ahead of knowing what she needed. “Need band-aids? I believe there’s some upstairs” “Actually that won’t be necessary, I’ll deal with it late-”

Before Astrid could reply, she heard the bells ring again and the door closing. Chuckling, she smiled at how sweet Tifa was being despite the case not being serious.

. . . . .

“How was business today? I’m guessing busy telling from how they were visiting my bakery immediately afterwards~”

“You bet!” Tifa wrapped a small, thin band-aid around Astrid’s ring finger.

Evening on a weekend, perfect for when these two want to hang out after their shorter shifts. It had been two years and a half since Astrid’s official opening to her bakery, Promised Land, and since then she had been extremely happy over the fact that both her and Tifa’s business had brought them closer.

“You weren’t too overwhelmed I hope?”

“Tifa…you’re asking as if this is the first time I’ve dealt with a large crowd!” She laughed.

“I know you’re capable but…being how you’re the only one working for yourself…you know you could always ask Fiona to help out, right?”

“I know! But you two seem s~o happy together even when you’re working! I can’t take that away~” The brunette shot a friendly tease at her.

Tifa simply averted her eyes and chuckled, a faint blush painted on her upper cheeks. “I don’t think one day of not being around me would kill her.”

“Oh c’mon, have you seen how clingy she is with you? I’m not lying when I say there isn’t one conversation I have had with her where she doesn’t mention your name~” Astrid’s teasing was full on Aerith-like at this point.

The more the brunette teased about Tifa’s love life, the more red on Tifa’s cheeks became visible from her smiling.

“Alright, tough cookie…but seriously, I just wanna be sure you have the help you need, at least let me help out with tidying up some things around here?”

“Well, there isn’t much more to be done but…I know you won't say no either.” The girl titled her head.

Tifa pointed a finger gun at Astrid and clicked her tongue. “You know me~!” She went on to pick a broom and started sweeping away.

A new source of warmth entered the room as the sun set, pointing right at Astrid across the room as she stared at her band aid once more. Upon noticing the change in atmosphere, her green eyes softened at the new color that painted the walls of the bakery interior, her favorite color at that.

Gold.

The color of the sunset.

The color of their deal.

…And of course, the color of his hair.

Sunsets never failed to make her think of that one person during these times of the day. Ever since the first day of their budding friendship, a friendship that was sealed by their own hearts and a deal. Some may say childish for such a silly thing, but it wasn’t like anyone would understand how much that alone affected each other throughout their life. Even when starting out as outcasts, it didn’t take much for them to mean the world for one another.

“Hey…did Cloud happen to text you?”

Tifa stopped in her tracks, a smile tugged her lips without facing the shorter lady.

“He…did say he’d come back early but…”

“Don’t worry.”

She turned around, flashing a reassuring grin, remembering the short conversation she had with Cloud earlier.

“...He’ll be here soon.”

. . . . .

Orange sunset: “Warmth and comfort”

“...You’re really good at that.”

Any kid—or adult for that matter—in this village would recognize that voice as the weird kid, or one of them at least. It was a strange interaction for the two children to face each other after all those times of visiting and having their moms bond since they were just babies, but now? It felt as though they had just met for the first time. Except by this point, they were longing for a friend to talk to, so one would say….it was only natural that they’d end up like this, somehow, someway.

The young brunette’s lips parted from the flute, cutting off the soft melodies that escaped from it. From the corner of her eyes, she saw him. His blue eyes—non-mako at the time—glistened widely in fascination with the girl’s talent. Then again, in all his years of knowing who Astrid Lovelyn was, he didn’t really know her.

“...Cloud?”

The same could be said for the brunette herself, or as 10 year old Cloud would know as the girl that feared him. He expected nothing more than seeing her run off to her room whenever she was aware of the boy’s presence.

…Or so he thought.

“...Thank you…!”

…So when he heard those two words ring in his ears, this took him by surprise. He’d ask her to repeat again but seeing he had gotten this far, he was pulled to talk further with her.

Except he couldn’t gather the words to create another sentence, he just…stood there, findling with his fingers.

♪Pink and orange skies, feelin' super childish♪

Cloud had only one plan: Ask her why she was being attacked by Tifa’s friends and go back to his lonesome self for the rest of his day, instead it felt like he was confronting a kitten that needed to be handled with extra care; one wrong move could cause some serious consequences.

Wait…why was this kid worried? I mean, he’s seen what this girl is capable of doing, she did scold the kids that lied about him convincing Tifa to endanger herself on Mt. Nibel. Albeit she isn’t violent as Cloud is but seeing her stand up for him deepened his curiosity of what else she was on about.

“Hey…are you okay?”

The tables had turned with who was the shy one in this case.

Cloud’s upper body moved back slowly at Astrid leaning forward to take a look at his expressions better. When the hell did she stand up? He hadn’t even been able to process the fact that he was standing the closest he’s ever been to her. The blonde was desperate to form words to tell, but nothing could rip from his throat to respond besides the common “uh..”

Oh shoot, is she smiling? Was it because he had just embarrassed himself in front of her by being such a dork? Or maybe the blonde just hadn’t considered how lovely he looked with tangerine hues glistening up his miniature spikes and blue eyes yet.

His eyes drifted from the young girl’s emerald orbs, finding himself staring at books leaning against each other.

“What are…” His finger finished the rest of his question while pointing, intentionally diverting Astrid away from him before she could notice his blushing.

The brunette’s pigtails swayed in rhythm whilst turning her head, following the direction he was hinting at. “Oh..those? They're just…boring stuff.”

She walked back over and picked up one of her books, showing off the cover to Cloud, “Growth in Gardening” it read.

“Stuff on gardening…stupid, I know.”

It was fast how Astrid instantly dissed her own interest. “...But you like it, right?” Was simply how he could respond. He wasn’t about to lie and pretend he knew anything about gardening, I mean, boy thinks flowers all look the same.

But, judging by how lush and flourishing the plantation had grew near Astrid’s house, this was definitely her biggest passion, or at least, one of possibly many others

“I do, but others think it’s weird for a girl to be working outside just to get all muddy and sweaty…” She sat down, flipping over a few pages to the section of yellow lilies. “So…I don’t really have anyone else to talk to about them besides my mom and…”

“…who?” Cloud tilted his head.

“...The plants that I grew.” She chuckled to herself. She must’ve felt like a freak in front of him. Guess all that outcasting really affected how she saw herself too.

“...Oh.”

That was the only thing Cloud could murmur before letting the crickets fill in the rest of the silence. Astrid noticed his eyes averting from the corner of her eyes. By this point, the young blonde had completely forgotten the entire reason why he had come to visit her in the first place. He had considered leaving before things got more awkward–

“So…why did you come see me?”

Oh, that’s why he was there.

“Not that I don’t want you to be here but…you haven’t come to visit in so long…”

“...Why were those kids bugging you?”

“Oh…that…” She sighed, recalling how foolish she had put herself into trouble, only for Cloud to get pulled in just to defend her. “I overheard how they lied about you getting Tifa into danger, they were being jerks to you. It’s not fair how they’re doing this to you…I couldn’t just…stand there…”

“But you would’ve gotten yourself hurt.”

Astrid blinked at how Cloud saw it. ”I don’t….think they would’ve went that far-”

“Doesn’t matter. They shouldn’t have talked to you like that. They talk about you all the time and I just wanted them to shut up.” He blurted without thinking.

Okay now she was confused. “...Huh?”

“Yeah. They said some nasty stuff about you so many times. About how you’re weird and ugly and…all that.”

Her eyes widened, the realization stunned her. Yeah she knew he was reckless and getting himself into trouble but…for her though…?

He fought them…because they were saying stuff about me…?

“Cloud…you shouldn’t have…why..?”

“Cuz….even if you hate me…they were still being mean about you.”

“Huh?!” Well that didn’t sound right. “Hate you?! What made you think I hate you Cloud??”

Cloud was just as surprised to figure out that he may have judged her wrongly. “...You always ran to your room each time I came to visit…”

…Oooh…

“C-Cloud I…I didn’t hide because I hated you, I did that with everyone! I was just…scared of people, but that didn’t mean I hated them!”

“I-”

Cloud choked up, both of them did. For a while Cloud had assumed that he was cursed with others taking a dislike to him but ... this was just a misunderstanding between these two kids all along?

One was overthinking on what to say and the other was underthinking, not the most ideal conversation if you can even call it that now. All in all, it was embarrassing, and it would’ve been rude if Cloud had just walked away without saying anything.

I guess the only thing left to do is…to apologize? For misunderstanding? For judging her past fears? Maybe?

“...Sor-”

“Ugh! I can’t take this!”

Astrid stood up, stomping the ground in frustration. “This is dumb, we’re both being dumb!” Walking over back to the confused blonde, she had an idea in mind. “We can’t just keep beating around the bush like this! So if we don’t want that happening anymore, we’re gonna make a deal!”

“A-A deal…?”

“Yeah! A friendship deal!”

The little brunette extended her arm out, fingers widely open. “I can’t keep running away in fear and you can’t keep your own feelings hidden! So I’ll stick by you whenever you’re in a rough patch no matter how bad things get, but you have to be honest with me.”

“But…I-I don’t want you getting hurt because of me…”

“Well someone’s gotta be by your side! You can’t do everything on your own all your life, y’know?”

Yup, that sentence alone settled his decision.

His eyes widened, he never really thought of himself as the type to be looked after. Again, lone wolf, lone life, it was what he was used to up until now. Spending way too much time trying to fit into a friends group didn’t even give him a chance to realize that there would be someone to genuinely be accepted by all along.

“...Deal.”

His hand glued onto hers, Astrid gave it a shake to seal the deal. He never saw her smile so brightly before either, it was a lovely complement to the orange glow on her face. Cloud’s lips tugged upwards into a half smile. The truth is, he would’ve been honest with her with or without this deal the moment he realized that he meant something to her.

This is childish….but she’s happy.

This wasn’t just a friend. This was the soul he vowed to stay close with and protect for the rest of his life.

Cloudy sunset: “Splitting relationship”

“Cloudy!!”

The brunette’s head turned over. Standing before her, his eyes stumbled upon the girl smiling up at him. For a moment, he had almost mistaken her for an angel, she never failed to look like one in these golden hours while the sun was setting. The sky was painted full of clouds, all surrendering the warmth of the sunlight that shone onto the kids’ faces.

The gentle zephyr breezed through the strands of her curly, long hair as he made his way to sit next to her on the dock. Both of their gazes fall upon the miniature wave of the water drifting into the light red thread in the sky.

♪Missed call from my mother, Like "Where you at tonight?" Got no alibi♪

“Are you okay? You seem like…”

The boy turned his head to face Astrid next to him. “Like what?”

Astrid tilted her head. “I dunno…you look like there’s a lot you wanna say…”

Her legs kicked back and forth, slightly hesitating to ask.

“What’s on your mind, Cloudy?”

There wasn’t an answer for several seconds, Cloud was equally hesitant, but after all, this was Astrid, a dear friend who’s been visibly obvious in her support for him. He sighed.

“...I wanna be a SOLDIER.”

“SOLDIER? Wouldn’t that mean you’d…have to leave off for Midgar…?”

The girl’s eyes softened, a hint of sadness hidden within her green eyes. She knew what that meant.

“..We won’t be seeing each other for a while.” Cloud’s head remained low, avoiding eye contact.

“..Yeah…” Astrid sighed. “Well…is it what you want to do? To become a hero?”

“…It’s not just that.” The blonde picked up a knee and leaned against it. “I wanna impress someone.”

The girl’s head tilted to the side. “Hmm? I-Impress someone?”

“Yeah…I want to impress her. So I thought that becoming a hero as good as Sephiroth would finally make her notice me in…a new way.”

“R…really??” The smile widened on Astrid’s face. “May I ask…why?”

“..Because...” Cloud hesitated with a sigh, pink painted faintly on his cheeks. He was quite open with Astrid, so why not be honest with her? “..I like her.”

This was it.

Those three simple words made Astrid’s heart rush faster.

He didn’t even have to say that he felt the same for her. She just…knew it.

Was he finally going to confess? Was he finally going to tell his love for her? He’s always been so unusually affectionate to her even if it was just as a “friend”…she knew this was going to be it.

…This was it, wasn’t it?

She made up her mind: She’ll go in for the first move.

“You know, Cloudy…” Her legs swung in a light rhythm, the excitement within her heart felt like bursting out of its cage like a wild animal. Cloud turned his head to her as she spoke.

“...You’re great with the way you are…you don’t need to prove or impress anything to anyone. I think you’re amazing and already a hero to me just by being an amazing friend but…I like you, for you and you only Cloudy~.”

The smile remained brightly on her face, a warm glow of red flushed to Astrid’s cheeks. She could’ve sworn the blonde shot a momentarily smirk for a second.

But then…he turned back to face the sunset and…and then came back in silence.

…What went wrong? Did the words come out too weird and awkward? Was he trying to find his own words to express his feelings?

“Thanks Astrid, but…I don’t know if she’ll think the same as you.”

Wait…what?

“Wh…wh-what do you mean…?” Astrid’s smile slowly faded.

“I like Tifa but…I don’t think she’ll feel the same. That’s why I wanna impress her.”

[...]

Oh.

“I know it’s…surprising. Especially since Tifa and I aren’t the closest.”

Astrid didn’t even realize how widened her eyes were. Surely it wasn’t only surprising, but shocking. Her little heart remained at that same speeding pace, but this time, it was all for the wrong reasons. Had she misread his signals? Shouldn’t she be happy either way? Shouldn’t she have known this all along? Where was the part she had missed about Cloud’s feelings for Tifa?

…Does…Tifa like him as well…?

There were too many questions buzzing in the girl’s head. She couldn’t think straight.

“...That’s okay.”

Stupidly, those were the only words she could put together. Nothing more, nothing less.

The boy looked at her, he noticed how awfully quiet she’s been since he told her his crush.

“...The heart wants what it wants Cloudy…There’s…” She forced a soft smile. “...nothing…wrong with that.”

They both were one with the silence. The sun was slowly fading into the clouds, and so was Astrid’s fake smile; she badly wanted to cry her heart out but…this is her friend, her happiness, and if this was how he felt…then she knew well that she should be happy for him too.

“...When will you tell her?” The brunette spoke up, her green eyes glued on the sun’s disappearance.

“Hm?” Cloud’s turned to her.

“Your feelings for her…” Likewise, Astrid’s eyes met his blue ones. “When will you tell her?”

He looked away momentarily, this had him thinking of what time would be the perfect time to confess to Tifa. “I’ll be telling her about it tonight but...do you think it’d be best to confess when I come back?” He looked back at her. “Do you think…she’ll like me too…if I became a SOLDIER..?”

“I…I-I don’t know….” The tone was hinting at her breaking apart. Even she realized she couldn’t keep it together for long..

Cloud stuttered a bit on her response, he didn’t expect her to know but…it did in a way made him insecure about his idea.

It took all her strength and force to spark a small smile back onto the corner of Astrid’s lips.

“B-But….no matter what….”

Astrid faced Cloud with that radiant happiness she always carried around him, hoping that it wasn’t forced this time though.

“...I-I’ll be there for whatever happens between you too…just like what we shook on.”

“Thanks Astrid…and if I haven’t said it…” Cloud itched the back of his head shyly. “...You’re a great friend too.”

It never existed.

His feelings for her.

His protection for her.

His love for her.

…Only to realize they were merely just feelings for a very, dear friend.

And that those feelings…had been built off of imagination.

It got darker soon, as the sun sunsetted early behind more dense clouds that surrendered the remaining light left. The young blonde knew it was time to head back home.

“Before I leave…I want to give you this back.”

As they stood facing each other, Cloud took off the gold necklace that hung from his neck from under his shirt, handing it in Astrid’s palms.

“You…don’t want it anymore?” She looked up at him with hurt hidden in her eyes.

Cloud shook his head. “I just…don’t want to lose it somewhere in Midgar. I think it’s safer with you.”

She looked down at the necklace. “D-Does it…still mean something to you…?”

“Of course it does.” Cloud responded softly. “That’s…why I’m scared to lose it.”

“...Yeah.” Her fingers curled on top of the jewel before looking back up to him. “...I’ll keep it safe…for us.”

Astrid could feel her eyes water up, and as a desperation attempt to hide her emotions, she hugged him suddenly.

It took Cloud by surprise, not being used to affection that comes out of nowhere. “A-Astrid…?”

He could sense something was wrong, her grip refused to let him go. Eventually the young blonde relaxed. This was Astrid after all…a girl of nothing but love to give for others. His arms gently wrapped around her slowly.

“Calm down...you’ll see me again.” Cloud awkwardly muttered.

Astrid was having a hard time focusing on what he said, being that she was in between keeping her breathing from becoming shaky and not letting him see the few tears that failed to stay behind eyelids.

She was able to eventually clear her mind temporarily from his comforting touch, although she knew she had to let him go at some point, so she did.

“S-Sorry…I-I….I don’t know why I did that…” She looked down, a bit ashamed of herself.

“Hey….don’t worry ‘bout it, K?” Cloud reassured her before having to make his farewell to her. “Well…I gotta go now…”

Cloud began walking away from her.

“Cloudy..”

Until she called for him for one last time.

He turned over to look at her, standing under the spotted, clouded sky, her hands held closely to her heart. Her smile was as sweet as it could look.

“I….wish you nothing but the best for you.”

. . . . .

Her hand hurt so much when clutching hard on the jewel of the necklace.

Well….Astrid definitely knew what a heartbreak was now if she wasn’t gonna feel it later.

Describing her as a sobbing mess would be an understatement, it was hard to make less noise but she just had faith that no one would check on her.

She felt ridiculous, crying over a boy after teaching herself not to care about what others think of her, and yet the thought of her own crush not feeling the same way she does for him bothered her?

Astrid, grow up…you’re better than this.

The young brunette sat up, caressing her cheek dry from the rest of her tears. Looking out from her window, the stars faced down on her brightly. She remembered how Cloud was supposed to meet up with Tifa tonight, just thinking about it made her hear their voices, but it was just difficult to imagine how they’d be together. Would they be happy? Would it work out? Would she….finally notice him like he had hoped for?

It was what he wanted, after all. And she knew.

That night before sleeping, Astrid had vowed never to fall for her friend like that again.

Pink sunset: "Budding romance"

“Cloud…I think you should talk to Astrid. I mean…really talk to her.”

“...You’re right, Tifa.”

. . . . .

The moment she felt fingers curl around her hand, all the thoughts and worries blurred the instant her gaze met with stunning, angelic blue eyes. She was so caught up in her own thoughts, Astrid hadn’t even noticed Cloud’s presence crawl up from behind whatsoever.

“Astrid…”

The blonde softly muttered from his lips, almost sounding like a whisper. Astrid struggled to talk, he could see how hard she was trying to either talk or not break down in front of him. She truly looked as if she knew that the world was gonna end that night.

Well.

That’s because the world is ending.

She was clearly scared as a result. A part of her was trying its best to be strong, something that her own cousin, Aerith, would do, but she felt as if she wasn’t brave enough, then she’d have to carry the burden of disappointment. Well, it wouldn’t have mattered anyways if the planet’s life was coming to an end, would it now?

Cloud softly sighed, he acknowledged her suffering and saved her from the trouble of responding to him. He got closer to her, his eyes looking down at her in empathy. He softly spoke in his lowest tone.

“..Let’s get off the Highwind for the night. Just…the two of us.”

He didn’t need to hear her say ‘yes.’

Her eyes said it all.

♪Can you even imagine fallin' like I did for the love of my life?♪

Their hands remained stuck together. Each moment that passed they held on slightly tighter, giving a few squeezes every now and as they walked onto the rocky mountain, decorated in patches of green here and there. They stopped at the top, their skin basking under the warm, pink-casted light of the sunset that they were both facing. They stood there, soft wisps of wind fluttering the tips of their hair gently. Their eyes locked gaze with the beautifully painted sky, the rosie scenery that resided in their nostalgic memories and hearts.

It was exactly why the image of it being ripped and wrecked by the giant meteor beast scared them. They both flinched. It was clear that they were thinking of the exact same thought.

“I-It always felt like…the sunset either brings us closer or…drags us apart…each time we bask in its light…”

Cloud turned to her, watching her slowly walk away from him and creating more distance. It felt like a wave of relief washing over him upon hearing the brunette’s soft voice, but he can feel her worries and sadness louder than her own words.

“...But r-right now…I can’t tell what it feels like…” Her green eyes shift down to the ground. “...A part of me feels like….all of this…is my fault…”

Cloud mouth slightly parted, blinking in disbelief.

“The reason for how we got here and…why we’re here…you know well that I don’t deserve a moment like this Cloud…”

She sighed gently, then turned back to face Cloud with slightly watery eyes.

“...You didn’t just take us down here for the scenery…didn’t you?”

“...No.”

Cloud paused before continuing.

“...But you know well why I brought you here, and all I want…is to hear you say that reason.”

But here she was.

Eyes slightly widened at him, the state of shock was clear as crystal on her face. Her breath hitched as she immediately looked away, the red hotness creeping up her cheeks. She knew it’d only have been a matter of time until Cloud finally found what was in the depths of her heart, the feelings that she’d been trying her best to kill. The guilt was catching up, and the woman was at her limit of excuses to make.

She couldn’t tell if it would’ve been better for her to finally fess up to it, or if the world should’ve just ended right then and there.

She had been so lost in her doubtful thoughts she hadn’t realized Cloud standing right in front of her, her hands resting on his palms. She looked up through her lashes, and the blonde knew how fearful she was to tell him.

“Don’t be scared..” He gently gave her hands a few faint squeezes. “I’m not letting you do this alone. So…let’s both promise to be honest this time…deal?” Cloud tilted his head.

A deal huh.

If anything, maybe things would’ve been different had Astrid not come up with that similar scenario when they were younger. But even god knew they both needed it at some point in their lives.

Astrid seemed to calm down, nodding softly. Yet, the pit of anxiety in her stomach still rested comfortably, and it would only grow bigger the moment she opened her mouth. She’d have to, eventually.

“They all told me.” The blonde started.

“The lifestream….Tifa…Aerith…”

“They all wanted me to know about your feelings, Astrid.”

“In the lifestream…Tifa took me to you…during the time after I left…”

Astrid looked as if she had a million words to say, but she just couldn’t bring herself to even say a single word. She just looked away, the memories forcing her to relive the young pain she once swore to get over.

The blonde’s crystal eyes softened. “...I hurt you badly…didn’t I…”

Astrid’s hand wrapped around her arm, her chest elevated and softly fell back down as she sighed through her nose.

“...I never blamed you, Cloudy.” She let out a sigh-chuckle while humming to herself. “If it was never meant to be then….”

Once again, she couldn’t find the words. Cloud blinked, finally hearing Astrid’s inner feelings, as if she had another hidden heart that she had just revealed to him. A heart that’s been hurting…and he blames himself for it all.

Astrid looked over to his guilty expression, one that can be rarely seen. And this…just devastated her more.

“C-Cloud…i-it’s not your fault..” She looked up at him with pleading eyes. “...I promise…i-it really isn’t..”

“If there’s one thing that can put me at ease right now…it’s to hear you talk to me, Astrid.” Every one of his words filled to the brim with sincerity. “You’ve always had an ear to everyone else…but there wasn’t once anyone’s returned the favor for you…I wanna change that, right here, right now.”

…He had a point.

“Please Astrid…you don’t have to hide your feelings anymore…especially not with…me.” His hand reached up to her cheek and lifted her head up to look at him. “...Please.” Cloud whispered gently.

…And he was right.

It had to be said at one point. All those feelings. Those memories. Those heartaches…

She took a deep breath, sighing away the small emotional rock that was stuck in her throat.

“...I-If anything…it’s my fault.” She looked off to the side, ashamed. “I should’ve never fallen for you in the first place…”

She shook her head.

“...but even so…it was like I was never allowed to get over it completely…even when I saw you again I…I wasn’t even sure how to be myself around you like I used to…” The brunette bit her lip.

The blonde started to realize. “...When I changed, so did you…”

She looked back at him to face him.

“But….no matter what…there were always those feelings we had for each other that stuck with us, huh…”

. . .

F…

Feelings…?

Our…feelings…?

Does he….also…?

“C-Cloud…”

Her body had a mind of its own.

Not realizing the closed-in space between herself and Cloud, her hands rested upon his chest, fingers curling into a hard grip at his shirt. Her form was kept still by the strength of Cloud's arms wrapped around her, hands resting up on her lower back. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the blonde’s crystal blue orbs.

So full of emotion…

So full of feelings…feelings that can’t be put into simple, plain words…

It was a naturally magnetic feeling. Each second pulled each other closer, both having the strongest urge imaginable to get even more closer. It was like..they were both revealing their true selves to each other…

Oh…

How much she missed him…

How she missed his true self…

The Cloud she once knew and fell in love with all those years ago…

…

“I promise….never to fall for you again.”

The remembrance of that oath gave Astrid’s heart a sudden jolt. She snapped herself awake from the sweet dream that clouded her thoughts, finally gaining back control of her senses and only to realize that the real she knew Cloud didn’t feel like this for her.

He never did, never would either.

Those thoughts alone made her pull herself away from his arms. Tears overwhelmed her eyes, making them glossy and brighter to the reflection of the light. It was clear she wanted to cry, but something held her back, not allowing her to let the droplets escape from her eyes.

“I…I-I shouldn’t…I can’t…!”

Her hands formed into fists, a sign that she was still clenching hard on her remaining hidden feelings.

“...I can’t fall in love with the boy whose heart was never meant for me…a-again…”

She was scared, afraid to fall in love with him, only to have her heart crushed to pieces all over again with the unfortunate truth.

It was deja vu to the both of them.

But this time.

Cloud could see…her.

His heart was at its fullest with his honest feelings for her.

And he wanted her to know.

Every.

Single.

Bit of it.

“Astrid…”

Cloud’s eyes gave the softest look, he badly wanted to make amends with the fear he caused in Astrid’s heart. He wanted to prove his feelings innocent, that they were honest, from the bottom of his heart, and from his own real self, the same one who had been too blind to see how all of her past efforts were all out of nothing but the love she had for him. It was the same love for him that’s trapped in her but..

Only he had the key to unlock the trust of her love for him again.

“Whether this may be the last night we’re together like this…or we’ll have more nights to talk…just to get closer each time...it wouldn’t matter. I feel the closest to you at this moment, but if I’m never able to fix the trust of your feelings for me…then I’ll always be afraid…”

He drew closer.

“...Because I now know…I hurt the one girl that’s always understood me…”

His hand cupped her cheek once more. A single tear rolled softly down her cheek.

“...And it was the biggest mistake I could’ve ever made..”

“....C….Cloud…”

“...Is there any way I can fix this…?”

More tears started to spill, slowly. Cloud’s voice becomes a soft whisper. Astrid’s lips quivered, the more she looked into his eyes, the more she saw how serious he was about her.

“B-By knowing how I feel, Cloud…. th-that’s all I want…all I need..” Her voice was shaken up. “I-I never wanted to say a thing to you, I vowed not to…I-I knew I could never be the one for you…I kn-knew that there was always g-going to be someone else for you…. a-anyone but me…”

It was clear he was fighting for her trust again, and it was equally clear that it’s working. It was stinging Astrid’s heart in so many ways at the thought of this finally being her moment to finally accept her own feelings for him.

Their moment.

“No…you convinced yourself that Astrid.” Cloud brought himself closer to her slowly, trying to break her walls break by break at an unrushed pace. “...You were always there in my mind even when I didn’t realize it..”

“You understood my feelings for the longest time…but I hadn’t known about your broken heart that you were trying to fix by yourself..”

He slowly leaned near her ear, blonde strands brushed against Astrid’s cheeks softly..

“You can’t do everything on your own all your life….y’know?”

He….remembered….

Finally, Astrid was speechless through tears, her arms thrown around Cloud’s form as she stuttered through her sobs. It was all going so fast yet time seemed to slow down to a halt.

Being in Cloud’s arms felt like a lifetime, despite all the times they lost together had she fessed up earlier…it didn’t matter now though. She felt like a huge weight was washed down even through the crying.

Soft lips were planted on her head…but Cloud knew they were far from being done.

. . . . .

♪She's got glow on her face, a glorious look in her eyes♪

By now the sky’s hues were radiating with magenta-purples, a sign of nighttime approaching.

He held her close, laying on a soft patch of grass with his hands entangled in her reddish-brown waves of hair. To the sound of his gentle heartbeats, Astrid’s breathing did its best to regulate itself after crying.

Once she was ready…she spoke up.

“Cloud..I…I’m ready…”

The man’s arms loosened around her waist, facing the emerald eyes that reflected the remaining light of the sunset. Some hair rested upon her nose, to which he brushed off slowly and tucked it behind her ear.

“I never really cared about what others thought of me but…after that growing connection we had…it really stung upon realizing how I had conjured those memories as romantic when…it wasn’t true. After that I promised never to fall for you again but…” She chuckled. “...I guess fate didn’t like the idea of me truly giving those feelings up, when your true self was starting to melt from the ice…so did my feelings…and it hurt even more knowing how I knew I fell over again for someone who was….already in love…”

“Maybe I was, but…”Cloud’s hand rested still on her cheek. “...in the end, it all led me back to you.”

Seeing him move closer, she was at her last chance at resisting.

Instead however, as her mind reeled every memory.

Every memory of her heartaches…

Every memory of him…

Every memory of the times he’s spent with her…

Oh, Astrid…

You’re not just childly in love; you want to spend the rest of your days and nights with him, don’t you?

She wanted to spend her evenings with him outdoors and watching every glorious sunset with a feeling of reassurance, knowing that tomorrow she’ll wake up to see the same loving, blue eyes that glowed in her own times of darkness. To hold him gently through his pains, watch him smile when he knows that everything will be okay…

Yes…this was what she wanted to fight for….

The only sounds that they could hear were each other’s heartbeats as their lips interlocked.

♪My angel of light…♪

Red sunset: "Passionate love"

Soft glows of red streaks filled the bedroom across through the blinds. She closed the door, soaking up the serenity atmosphere as she faced her lover that she hadn’t seen for a week, an apologetic look at his face spoke for itself.

“Astrid…I-I’m sorry..”

“I know you are, Cloud..”

The brunette walked over to the bed, sitting next to him as he avoided eye contact. He felt ashamed abandoning her ever since geostigma had caught up to Denzel.

“I also didn’t know how to fight that battle…all those years of…mourning over her put me off from learning anything more of my heritage.” Astrid sighed, she too was in deep regret of how she had handled things. “...I’m glad to know that we’re getting stronger now…and to know that we have others that I can call…family…”

Family…

Oh how lovely that word sounded…something they both hadn’t heard since they were little, something they had longed for once more.

“....That includes you, Cloudy…” Astrid reached for his cheek, turning his head gently to face the loving look in her eyes. “...so we’re not letting you go off to face the impossible alone no matter what…got that?”

“Yeah…”

A faint tint of red appeared on his cheeks. He felt warm from her words and lingering touches, her thumb brushing some of his blonde spikes behind his ear. Cloud took his gloves off before removing her hand from his face, taking a good look at her palms whilst caressing its softness…

So soft…

“They wouldn’t have cured if it wasn’t for you…~”

The blonde smiled, his heartbeat steadied at a relaxed pace. She didn’t wince or feel any pain when he applied some pressure onto it with his thumbs, unlike when it was infected. The look of joy on his face was unforgettable upon washing away the geostigma from her hands, knowing that he’d be able to hold her hand again.

“This is a future that we fought for…” His hands held Astrid’s, looking into her eyes. “...so I won’t let it go to waste again. I promise.”

“Cloudy…you don’t have to promise…because you already know it’s what we want…”

♪I was all alone with the love of my life♪

Astrid closed the leftover gap between them with a tender kiss. Saying that they missed the feeling of locking their soft lips with one another was an understatement, they practically yearned their touch after what they had been through. They couldn’t keep their hands to themselves no matter how hard they tried to resist. They separated in between kisses for air but they had no plans on stopping any time soon.

Slowly, they ended up laying together. Cloud crawled on top of his petite girlfriend while cradling her legs up his thighs, his hand caressed up her waist tenderly under her shirt.

At some point their loving stares locked with each other, Cloud’s thumb rubbed her bottom lip with a strip of red light streaking over it as well. It was obvious how much he wanted to take things a step further, telling by the look in his eyes that she knows all too well how to read.

“I missed this…I missed you…” He absolutely longed to reveal his unconditional love to her.

Sparks burned brighter with each kiss that led to a more passionate connection. Fire prickled at Cloud’s fingertips all the more as he stroked further up her form, craving to hold her smaller body into his loving embrace, it felt like his whole world was in his very arms…

It was a fresh breath of air to know he was in the same room as her, the same bed as her again…just like how it should be…

“...C-Cloudy…~” The pace of the girl’s heartbeat quickened from the euphoric state, she wanted him as much as he wanted her that moment.

. . . . .

The warm lovers were tied up together in cuddles and kisses. Cloud’s mouth buried on Astrid’s head whilst tangling his fingers through her wavy hair.

“Astrid..?”

♪She's got glitter for skin, my radiant beam in the night♪

He didn’t get a response from her, she must’ve been tired out. He smirked while giving a tender peck on her head. Just from that, she snuggled up closer to his chest which earned a chuckle from him. She was the absolute cutest in every way possible in his eyes, he could feel the fireworks in his chest go off with happiness to have her warm and safe in his arms again…

“I love you…~”

He slowly dozed off to the sound of a muttered "I love you too."

Golden sunset: “Long-living love”

Ding ding!

The bells rang in rhythm with sounds of footsteps that followed.

“Ah! Sorry but we’re closed..” Astrid’s eyes didn’t leave her focus on organizing the money in the cash register.

Tifa giggled in the back when she realized that her own friend hadn’t even noticed who just walked in. “Astrid…look up silly!”

“Huh?” She hadn’t even taken notice of the shadow approaching her until a familiar gloved hand was placed on the counter in front of her. “Cloudy~!!” The young brunette raced around the counter and threw her arms around her boyfriend gleefully, having him return the affection with his left arm while his right one was holding a small decorated box.

“For a moment I was worried that I wasn’t welcomed back~”

“Don’t worry I was just distracted…Tifa and I were just tidying up some things. I just need to bring the rest of the tools upsta-”

“Allow me!” Tifa hurried over to grab the rest of the stuff before Astrid could get to it. She giggled and winked at the two. “Gotta let the couple of the night have their deserved rest~” Tifa winked and walked out of the room before either two could reply.

“She seems…oddly chipper all of a sudden…” Astrid remarked, it confused her to how Tifa had just rushed out so fast. She looked back up to Cloud after hearing a soft chuckle escape from his throat, he had a smile that screamed he was hiding something as he averted his eyes. Astrid noticed and got even more confused. “Hey, why the mischievousness? Do you two…know something that I don’t?”

Astrid placed one hand on her hip and the other on the counter beside her, leaning towards Cloud with an eyebrow lifted to interrogate him. He didn’t reply, instead he simply placed the small box that was in his and pushed it towards her. The girl’s green eyes widened at the beautifully detailed box with a gold ribbon and a red rose attached to it.

“...I think this package will answer your question~”

She let out a soft giggle and shook her head at his attempt at distracting her.

But as she carefully peeled at the wrapping, her heart slowly increased its pace.

“C-Cloud…”

“Open it Astrid…”

♪I don't need no light to see you shine♪

This girl could’ve been shaking from the excitement upon lifting the box open, facing a glittering golden ring, a mold of the yellow lily’s petals was circulated around a shining blue gem, reflecting the golden light off of its flat sides.

“Oh my…C-Cloud…I-I..!” Her mind was still reeling at the fact that Cloud had just proposed to her and she didn’t even acknowledge how much she was crying her eyes out, not until her now-fiancé reached to caress the tears off of her cheek with his thumbs gently.

“Astrid..?”

Through tears, Astrid lunged herself in a hug with him. “Yes Cloudy! I will marry you!! You mean the world to me!! I love you so so s~o much…!” Her arms tightened around him, it caused his heart to flutter with a loving smile that followed up.

Hearing a tap on the door window that Tifa had left from, Cloud could still see her presence whilst she raised two thumbs up and a wide grin plastered on the woman’s face for encouragement. The man smiled, he was the happiest in that moment. He wanted to see her excitement last for the rest of their days, to hold her like this forevermore…

That wasn’t the only thing that Cloud is giving however.

“Ah right, I almost forgot…” He gently held Astrid’s arms for her to loosen her grip, allowing him to pull something else from his bag.

A pen and a marriage certificate.

“Just sign here…Astrid Strife~”

♪It’s your golden hour~♪

#🌠⇢oc x canon #[🌿]astrid lovelyn #[🌅]cloustrid #Cloud Strife x oc #Cloud x oc #Cloud Strife x reader #Cloud x reader #final fantasy vii #ff7 #oneshot

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