Heir and Pride

Chapter Thirty Seven

Astrid's eyes widened as she inspected the little skinny shape sprawled on the floor of his bedroom and she felt guilt almost overwhelm her. She should never have brought him back to Berk, should never have left him. She leaned closer, seeing the swollen black bruises on his face, the split lip and fear in his green eyes. She gasped at his hair, hacked short and spiky and his clothes, almost hanging off his scrawny frame. She swung through the roof hatch and landed agilely on the hard bed.

In a second, she was by his side, seeing the tear-smudged picture of Toothless in front of him and-most terrifyingly-a naked dagger. She crouched down by him and gently extended a hand towards her friend.

"Hiccup?" she asked him softly. He slowly moved-and then she found him pressed against her, his arms locked fiercely around her body, his face buried in her shoulder and sobs shaking his body. She wrapped her arms around him, feeling his terrified and desperate search for human comfort and gave the boy a gentle pat on his back as she clung to her. "It's okay," she murmured softly. "Shhh, shhh..." But her senses were on alert because she was vulnerable and hunted.

Suddenly, he looked up. "We-we have to go," he whispered, his eyes swivelling towards the steps. "My-my Dad may be back any time!" Reluctantly, she pulled away and then looked around the room. Swiftly, she rose and lifted the cloak. He shuddered. "No," he said softly. "That is his, Astrid. It's not mine."

"Hiccup...it's a fur that will keep you warm," she told him practically, tossing it onto the bed and scanning the room. "We are leaving and you need to take everything you can to keep you alive." She snatched a handful of tunics, leggings and another boot. Then she lifted his sketch book and a spare journal, a couple of charcoals and bundled the whole lot up. She scanned the room, trying to see if she had missed anything and turned to the skinny boy to check: he pointed to the herbs Gothi had given him. She tucked them securely in her tunic, then grasped his hands and pulled him to his feet, wincing at his wobbling gait and helping him to stand on the bed, beneath the hatch. He looked up and sighed.

"I can't climb up," he sighed. He had been able to in the past but not now-and definitely not with this leg. She gave a smug grin.

"Toothless," she called and the dragon leaned over the hatch, warbled excitedly at his rider, then pulled away. Immediately, his tail coiled down and Astrid got Hiccup to stand on the thick bony end of the tail, between the fins, making him hold tight to the scaly muscular tail-and then Toothless pulled his tail-and his rider-back through. Swiftly, Astrid tossed the bundle up and then leapt, scrambling through quickly and snapping the hatch closed. She turned-to see Hiccup on his knees, hugging Toothless's head. He was shaking and she sighed with relief.

Truth be told, she had been frantic when she heard from Fishlegs that Hiccup was on the brink of despair and thinking of ending it all. She had known he was apprehensive about returning to Berk but the reality of what had happened had been far worse than she had ever dreamed. She had assumed his father would be delighted to have his son back and would have welcomed him, making adjustments to make the boy feel welcomed and valued-especially in light of what he had proclaimed on the cliffs. Instead, he had imprisoned the boy and punished him for basically being the person he was, the boy who had saved the village. It was everything he had feared: imprisonment, being forbidden to do all he loved and taken away from his dragon.

But Hiccup was still in danger and so was she. They were vulnerable: it was broad daylight and they were perched very obviously on the roof. She patted him gently on the shoulder. "We gotta go," she hissed and gently pulled him to his feet. She stowed the bundle and pulled him onto the dragon, then she took the saddle and opened the tail. "I have your proper leg but I would prefer to get away before we swap," she told him and his response was to wrap his skinny arms tightly around her.