I will save you

Chapter 16: Ghastly

Astrid's POV

I had lost all sense of time and direction as I ran from the village. All I knew was just that I was running, and that I had no plans on stopping any time soon.

As the scenery blurred around me, I felt my legs give out and I quickly found myself tumbling to the ground. With an audible groan, I sat up and held my aching knee, which had taken the brunt of the fall. As I waited for the intense aching in my knee to pass, the crack of what I believed to be a stick breaking could be heard from the woods that surrounded me.

Suddenly, I was on high alert, ready to jump up and fight if need be. I narrowed my eyes at the dark trees that loomed over me, there was no way my friends had found me so soon.

I instinctively reached down to the side of my thigh to pull out my dagger, only to remember that my dagger was nestled safely in a dresser back home since I hadn't been allowed to wear clothing that contained hidden weapons during my pregnancy. I quickly cursed myself as I regretted not having installed more weapon pockets in my clothing, making a mental note to fix that once I returned back home.

The low sound of a long whistle could be heard in the silent night. Just as I was about to get up and investigate the mysterious sound, I felt a sharp sting in my neck. Next thing I knew, my head was spinning as my vision blurred around the edges and I felt myself slowly losing my balance before the world went dark.

Hiccup's POV

I scanned the forest, praying for a sign of Astrid. After she had ran away from the celebration, my friends and I had gone after her, having been joined by my mother and Cloudjumper later on.

"Anything, you guys?" I turned and asked the dragon riders behind me, who all exchanged uncertain looks as they avoided making eye contact with me. I let out a frustrated sigh.

"Uh ... Hiccup?" Fishlegs peeked up from where he was flying beside the twins.

I turned to face him, hoping that he had seen something. "What did you find? Where is she?"

Fishlegs twiddled his thumbs. "Oh, no, I didn't see her, it's just that ... well, some of us were wondering, why did Astrid run in the first place?"

I turned back around with a heavy heart and furrowed brows. I had no idea what had happened. One minute I had been holding her hand as she looked around in awe at the decorations in the Great Hall, and then she had just ... faltered, leaving her looking like the entire world had been ripped from her arms.

I turned to face my friends, deciding that it was best to be honest. "I ... I don't know. One minute she was fine and the next she ran away."

"Hiccup ... I think I know what happened." My mother responded from where she had been sitting quietly on Cloudjumper for the duration of the flight.

We all turned to face my mother with raised brows. "How?"

"Well, Hilda and Njord just had a baby and ... I think Astrid caught a glimpse of it." My mother admitted, hands clutching onto her staff as she scanned the trees beneath for any signs of Astrid.

I threw my hands to my face. "Of course, How could I be so stupid! Gods, I wish I could tell her how sorry I am."

"Why don't you?" Ruffnut asked, swaying her legs back and forth from where they dangled off Barf's neck.

I took a deep breath and turned to look at Ruffnut. "Astrid isn't here, Ruffnut."

"You sure about that one?" Ruffnut raised a brow as she pointed to a small clearing in the forest, where a figure was laying face down in the grass.

"Astrid!" I exclaimed as Toothless and I dove down to the clearing. As soon as we landed, I leapt off my dragon and ran over to my seemingly unconscious wife. A small tendril of fear was making its way up my spine as images of her bleeding out in the sand filled my mind and sent a ripple of terror through my entire body.

With shaky arms I turned her around and placed my ear to her chest. It took a minute, but it wasn't long before I heard the ever so soothing sound of her heartbeat. I let out a sigh of relief as I wrapped my arms around her. "Thank the gods you're alive."

***

A muffled groan filled the otherwise silent room as the floorboards began to creak. I rubbed my eyes and was met by instant darkness, only to hear the sound of someone running down the stairs as I slowly gained the ability to see in the dark.

I glanced over at Toothless and found him to be sound asleep on his rock. I quickly cast a glance over on Astrid's side and found it to be empty. I immediately shot out of bed, nearly tumbling down the stairs as I feared the worst. I threw open the front door and was met by the sight of Astrid doubled over on the ground, audibly groaning as she emptied her stomach of its contents.

"Astrid? Honey, are you alright?" I asked as I sat down beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"Hiccup? Why aren't you asleep?" Astrid asked, looking quite surprised to see me.

I shrugged, a grin tugging at the corner of my lips. "I don't know, you were being kind of loud."

Astrid rolled her eyes at me as she leaned in to rest her damp head on my shoulder, her entire body nearly collapsing into my arms as she let out a heavy sigh. "Dork."

I brushed a strand of hair out of her pale face as I looked down at her with furrowed brows. "Astrid are you sure you're alright? Do I need to call in Gothi?"

Astrid shook her head as she nuzzled closer to me. "No ... no. I just need a good night's sleep, that's all."

"Alright, but if this happens tomorrow as well, we're going straight to Gothi." I told her firmly as I wrapped my arms even tighter around her.

"You've got to stop worrying, Hiccup. I'm fine, really." Astrid said rather weakly, not sounding very convincing as she attempted to reassure me that she was well. She shot me a small smile.

I sighed as I rested my head atop hers. "Gods, I hope you're right."

***

A few days had passed, but the vomiting still hadn't passed. Every night she had been running out of the house to throw up, and every night I would find her in the exact same spot, where she would say the exact same thing and I would be told that I had got to stop worrying so much and that it was probably just a stomach bug.

Had it only been vomiting, I might've believed Astrid's little tale, but when she passed out whilst flying with Stormfly, the whole stomach bug thing seemed a little far-fetched. Luckily for Astrid, I hadn't let her out of my sight since she had first thrown up some days prior, and thank the gods that I did that, or else Astrid would've suffered the horrible fate of falling from thousands of feet up in the sky.

I blinked my eyes open, yawning as I rubbed them and sat up in bed. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Toothless sitting at the foot of our bed, face scrunched together in worry. I wrinkled my forehead in confusion as I turned to see what he was staring at. And lo and behold, there was my dear wife, pale as a corpse with dark rings under her eyes, sweat dripping from her forehead, chapped lips and half-open eyes. I had to use every ounce of my strength to stifle the scream that had been building in my throat.

"Astrid! What happened?" I asked, right as a series of coughs tore through her, violently shaking her frail body as I feared she would snap in half.

"Nothing ... Hiccup. I'm f ... fine." She spoke rather slowly as she seemed to struggle with focusing on me. She let the hand she had been using to cover her mouth during her coughing fall to the side, revealing a bright red palm. My eyes widened as a wave of panic washed over me.

I glanced over at Toothless and then at my wife. "I'm going to go get Gothi, right now!"