Heir and Pride

Chapter Fifty Four

Fifty-Four:

They had flown back to the caves, Toothless laden down with the three riders and taking his time. Even though Astrid had raged and cursed him, there was never any question of following Stormfly immediately: they had no clothes, provisions or idea where they were going. And Stormfly was very fast and had a big lead: Toothless couldn't catch her laden down as he was. But it was the sound of Astrid weeping against him at the loss of his dragon that broke Hiccup and he blinked away tears as well at her grief. And the worst thing was, he had no idea what to do.

Back in the caves, Astrid was distraught, walking away from Hiccup and Toothless and standing at the entrance, staring into the falling dusk, her eyes locked onto the dimming horizon. Wrapped in a fur, Hiccup walked up to her with a bowl filled with yak roast and grains. She spared him only the slightest of glances. He sighed and then coughed as the cold air irritated his chest.

"We'll find her," he promised, closing on her. "Eat this." She shook her head.

"I'm not hungry," she said stubbornly.

"Yes, you are," he told her equally firmly. He offered the bowl again but she folded her arms and glared. "Astrid-I know you are desperately upset. But Stormfly loves you. You have a really close bond-almost as close as Toothless and me. She'll come back."

"How do you know?" she snapped, rounding on him. He stiffened very slightly but forced himself to smile. "How would you feel if it was Toothless who had flown away and let you?" Her eyes narrowed as his widened in shock at the accusation. They both knew the answer: separation from Toothless-and the rest-had driven him to the brink of suicide. "But he can't. Your dragon can't fly without you, can he?"

"Astrid, I..." he began but she pushed past him, grabbing the bowl.

"In the morning, you need to come up with a plan to find my dragon!" she snapped as she vanished down the passage. He swallowed and stared after her.

"Happy Snoggletog," he murmured.

oOo

Astrid was rolled in her furs when he got back, curled with her back pointedly towards Toothless and Hiccup stared helplessly at the shape, unsure what he could possibly say to her. Toothless crooned and the boy sat down with his back to the dragon, resting against the warm bulk.

"Yeah, I miss her too," he murmured. Then he craned his neck round to inspect the large, acid-green eyes and the puppyish face. "Do you know where she went, bud?" There was a small warble and Hiccup sighed. "I wish you could tell me," he admitted. "Because at least we would know what to expect."

Henryk was looking for Astrid to Hiccup and back, his eyes huge with concern. He had spent ages scouting around the cavern-and finally, he warily approached the desolate girl, kneeling by her. Her head moved slightly and he leaned close, quietly offering a small bluish object: it was one of Stormfly's scales.

"I'm really sorry," the boy said and she nodded, accepting the gift. Her breath hitched.

"Thanks," she murmured and clutched the little blue disc to her chest. "Thank you, Henryk." And then she curled up and the others stared helplessly at her before settling down to sleep.

...Stormfly was flying away again, her wings whipping fast through the cold air. Astrid was tumbling, screaming as she fell towards her doom. And Toothless was fighting Hiccup. He stamped his foot down, sending them into a dive and the dragon growled, his pupils thinning to tight slits. He bucked hard and Hiccup felt himself thrown sideways, he heard Astrid gasp-and then scream as the rough grab from the fall snapped her arm.