Dragon's Heart ~ Hiccstrid

Chapter 5

"Where's Astrid?!"

"ASTRID!"

"Where is she?"

"Astrid, come on!"

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My whole body ached as I was tossed harshly onto the ground, landing on my shoulder and cringing at the wave of blood streaming from my back. A wet towel was thrown to me, and then the door was shut. My back hurt too much to move my arms, so I lay there on the stone ground, thinking about what I could have done to help my escape.

Of course, I could have shut up in the Nadder hall, that's for sure. But how was I supposed to know that the guards actually had brain cells? And getting the dragons aroused probably wasn't a good idea either. Heck, none of this was a good idea, as if a random dragon would just let me hop onto its back, and fly me wherever I please!

Astrid always thought I was some kind of magical dragon god. That I could tame dragons in seconds, and have them do my will instantly. While I have gotten pretty good at training, she overestimates me. And I think I've started to as well.

I wonder if I'll ever get to see Astrid again, or Toothless. I wouldn't mind seeing Fishlegs either.. I'm ashamed to say that I would even be glad to see Snotlout right now. Or not.

He would probably say I wasn't fit to lead, or that I was weak. He makes me feel so insecure about myself, and I've started to wonder if I'm leader material, even without Snotlout judging my every move. Sighing, I attempt to reach for the damp cloth and dab at my back. 

As the blood is sopped up by the soaking wet towel, I begin to think I'll never make it out. What if every time is like this? What if there won't be a next time?  I sigh. Astrid would never let me ask so many questions, or babble so much about nothingness. 

With the memory of Astrid's first ride on Toothless with me, (shown above) my eyes drift close, as I hope that when I wake up, it will all have been a bad dream.

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The wings of my dragon skimmed the clouds as we dipped lower, back towards the menacing mountain of brick. As the island came into view, Stormfly swerved, landing hard onto the other side of the shore. I slid off, and after surveying the dimly lit beach, snuck around to the main gate, with Stormfly close behind. ~

~ As the last guard grunted before falling to the ground, Stormfly perked up, catching a familiar scent.

"Go, Stormfly!" The dragon trotted off after the scent, shoving guards to the ground, unconscious, as she passed by, sniffing her way through the fortress. Suddenly she stopped, twitching and trilling at me. "Yes! Good girl, Stormfly!" After scratching her under the chin, I peered between the cracks of the door. 

In it, I could see a large, well dressed man facing the opposite direction, talking to some guards with his arms crossed. After not seeing Hiccup, something else caught my eye. The Inferno. Strapped to his belt, the strange man held the weapon as his own.

I scowled, then motioned for Stormfly to turn the corner, away from the man.

"You gotta try harder girl. Try again. Find Hiccup." The dragon whirled around again, sniffing, and within seconds, she was dragging me down the labyrinth of hallways, hopefully towards Hiccup. ~

~ Stormfly raced down a row of shut doors, some of them with blood coming out from underneath, and all of them smelling, accompanied with moans. I grimaced at the smell, and just as I was about to wonder how in the world Stormfly could pick up anything through this, she skidded to a stop at one of the doors, scratching at it and whimpering like an dog.

The door was different than the rest, instead of simply bolted wooden doors, this one had iron bindings around the wood, keeping the wood from breaking in any way, accompanied by a bolt similar to the rest. I sighed, settling my hand on Stormfly's head.

"You had better be right this time, girl." Taking the keys off of the wall and unlocking the door, I pushed it open cautiously. 

"What took you so long, milady?"

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"Hiccup!" Astrid fell to her knees by the limp young man, laughing through her tears.

"I was beginning to think you wouldn't come." Hiccup winced as her arms reached around his neck for a hug.

"Oh, Hiccup... I'm so sorry.. About the whipping, I wanted to help, but-"

"Wait, Astrid... How do you know about the.." Hiccup grimaced. "That thing?"

"We were there." Astrid's face fell. "Ruffnut, Fish and I. I.. I tried to stop it, but.." Her voice tightened at the memory. "They.. They wouldn't let me, they said to wait, and it wasn't the right time, and I tried to fight, but they... Oh, Hiccup..." Tears silently began to fall as Hiccup pulled her in, resting her nose on his shoulder.

"Astrid.."

"No, Hiccup, I failed, I'm a failure, I couldn't help you and you're here now because of it." Astrid pushed away from him, tears streaming freely now as she rambled on, "And because of me, because I wasn't strong enough to fight back, you were hurt, and in pain. And... Ugh! I'm just so.. so stupid." Her face fell again as she trembled silently, the most Hiccup, or most likely anyone, had ever seen her, Astrid Fearless Hofferson, cry. 

"Astrid, none of it's your fault." He cupped her face in his hands as he continued on. "There was nothing you could have done, and the pain from right now will eventually go away. But if I lost you..." He gulped self-concsiencely before continuing. "That would never heal." Astrid looked up at him, her tears run dry. He smiled. "Now come on. You've stopped crying, everything is right with the world, we have a clear way out," He gestured to the still open door. "And now, the only problem is getting up." He grinned and pecked her cheek, grunting in pain as he struggled to stand.

"Well, this is gonna be a problem." He plopped back to the ground, panting, and then looked up at Astrid, hair in his eyes, and gave a lopsided, goofy grin. Astrid smirked.

"My gods, Hiccup, you disgust me sometimes." They both giggled as Astrid lightly pressed her lips to Hiccup's.

"It's my job to disgust the people, milady." Hiccup murmured as they pulled apart, both of them breathing softly.

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"I told you to keep an eye on her!" Fishlegs threw his hands in the air as Ruffnut's eyes narrowed at him.

"Well, if someone hadn't fallen asleep reading letters from Heather, she wouldn't have left!" Ruff scowled at Fishlegs, but before he could respond, Cloudjumper whizzed out of the stables, with Valka on her back, heading off towards the island of Bludvic.

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Hiccup staggered 'round the corner, near falling over, yet using Astrid as a support. In close pursuit was Stormfly, sniffing most everything they walked by. As they pushed through a large set of wooden doors, Astrid stopped, in utter shock.

"Astrid, wha-" Hiccup froze, mid-sentence. Standing in front of them, was Bludvic, face finally exposed, and a woman standing across from him. Hiccup dropped the rag and his flight suit at the sight of the familiar woman scowling at the much taller man. Bludvic then opened his mouth to speak, him in shock as well.

"Valka?.. Is that you?"

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DUN DUN DUN! Aah! This was such a fun chapter to write, and I tried using POV's in this chapter.. did you guys (little though there may be of you) like it? Even though this was a bit on the shorter side, I still think it was long enough to be considered a chapter :3  Love you guys, and keep reading!

~Emmathepug