Don't leave me

Chapter 13: Raging Battle

Astrid's POV

I woke up to the faint sound of dragon roars.

I sat up in the bed, only to let out a pained growl as my skin stung where Scauld's men had whipped me.

I gritted my teeth as I dug my nails into the side of the bed, in an attempt to ease the burning sensation and the feeling of my own bones turning against me.

Another roar could be heard, but this time it was louder, and followed by a loud 'thud!' as the boat shook and I was thrown against the wall, the pain from my injuries increasing.

Loud yelling and splashing could be heard as the men aboard the ship rushed up to the deck, only to jump off the ship and possibly swim towards land.

A deeper roar rang through my ears as the boat shook once again, only this time water began pouring in under the doors.

I groaned as I tried to stand up, hoping that in some miraculous way I would be able to find a way out of my cell before the entire ship was filled with water.

I tried and tried, but nothing seemed to work. I took a deep breath as I accepted my fate, the water now at my waist.

I sighed as I made my way over to the bed, sitting down on it and waiting for the water to consume me.

As the water rose above my nose, I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the wall, preparing myself for death.

Wow, so this was how I was going to die, huh? No way of fighting back and no way of escaping. Growing up, I always thought I was going to die with my axe in hand as I was being attacked from all sides, Gods, how wrong was I?

A muffled 'thud!' could be heard as the water around me mysteriously grew warmer. And before I knew it, there was a hand around my waist as I was being pulled out of a hole made in the side of the ship.

A let out a series of violent coughs as we surfaced, coughing up all the water that had gotten into my lungs. I blinked before rubbing my eyes and looking up to see who had their arms wrapped around me.

I felt my heart leap with joy as I found myself gazing straight into the emerald green eyes of none other than Chief Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III himself.

I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck as I pulled him closer to me, beyond grateful that he had cared enough to save me. And to my surprise, the arms around me tightened their grip as well, making sure to close whatever space there had been left between the two of us.

And suddenly, I no longer felt the pain from the whipping, I no longer felt my lungs burn from swallowing so much saltwater and I didn't feel the cold as we hovered above the clouds, both eternally grateful that the other one was there.

"Hiccup" I croaked as I dug my nose deep into the crook of his net.

"Astrid, thank Thor you're alive! I was so worried" He told me as his hand caressed the back of my head.

"Hiccup, I'm so sorry, for everything" I said hoarsely as I pulled away from the hug to look at him.

"Don't be. We'll talk about this later, okay? Right now we have some enemies to defeat" Hiccup smiled as he let out a whistle.

At a moments notice, a familiar Nadder shot through the clouds. I grinned as Stormfly grabbed my hand and threw me onto her back, where my axe had already been strapped in.

I grabbed the axe and turned towards Hiccup with a playful smirk. "You ready to sink some more ships?"

Hiccup's POV