Frozen Heart

Prologue

"He who controls the Alpha," Drago says as he points his spear at Toothless, "controls them all."

Drago's Bewilderbeast locks eyes with Toothless. He whines and roars, trying to fight the Alpha's call. Hiccup looks at Toothless concerned, asking him what's wrong, then turns to Drago. "What's goin' on?"

"Witness true strength," Drago says, remaining perfectly still. "Strength of will over others." The Bewilderbeast strengthens his call, and Toothless succumbs, his pupils now slits so tiny they can barely be seen. "In the face of it," Drago continues, "you are nothing." Drago points his spear at Hiccup, and Toothless turns to him.

"Uh, what did he just tell you?" Hiccup asks his dragon nervously, taking a step back. Toothless creeps towards his rider, his wings flared menacingly, teeth bared, snarling. Hiccup pleads with his dragon as he keeps backing up, but Toothless doesn't listen. The dragon's vision is cloudy from the brainwashing, and he can't see Hiccup clearly. "STOP! Snap out of it!" Hiccup commands, and still Toothless keeps creeping closer.

Astrid hears Hiccup's cries, and turns to see Toothless backing Hiccup against a giant wall of ice. "Hiccup!" she yells as she takes off running. She races past Stoick, Gobber and Valka, heading straight for Hiccup. She throws her axe at the side of a ship, snapping ropes and causing the mast to fall on its side. She runs up the mast as it falls and jumps off, still running to Hiccup's aid.

"Toothless no!" Hiccup yells desperately as Toothless backs Hiccup fully against the wall of ice. Toothless begins to charge a blast.

"HICCUP!" Astrid yells.

Hiccup hears her cry and turns to her, holding out his hand for her to stop. "Astrid! No!"

She doesn't get there soon enough. Toothless fires as Astrid pushes Hiccup out of the way. Hiccup rolls a few feet away from the wall from the force of Astrid's push. Astrid is blasted back into the wall, her back slamming into it. She falls to the ground, chunks of ice burying her. Stoick, Gobber and Valka immediately stop in their tracks, all unable to see who was hit.

Hiccup, currently on his hands and knees, shakes his head, trying to clear his vision and stop the ringing in his ears. He stands up, and his heart plummets when he sees Astrid, lying on the ground, perfectly still, partially covered in ice chunks.

Hiccup glances at Toothless. The dragon is panting from the intensity of the blast, still hypnotized and frozen in place. "No," Hiccup says as he races to Astrid. He pushes the ice off of her, screaming her name. Valka, Gobber and Stoick unfreeze and run to Hiccup's side.

Hiccup holds Astrid in his arms, saying her name repeatedly. Scratches are visible on Astrid's face and arms from the ice chunks. Her eyes are closed, her skin pale, and she doesn't move or make a sound to acknowledge Hiccup. When he gets no response, Hiccup lays his head on her chest, listening desperately for a heartbeat. Astrid's chest is silent and still; no pulse can be heard beneath Hiccup's ear.

Instantaneously, everything stops around Hiccup. His vision turns hazy, the world slows. He can barely feel Stoick's hand on his shoulder, or see Gobber remove his helmet and put it over his heart. "No...." Hiccup whispers as tears start spilling down his cheeks. "No no...." He buries his face in Astrid's silent chest.

Drago calls off his Bewilderbeast, and the dark Alpha releases Toothless. The Night Fury shakes his head as his pupils dilate back to their normal oval shape, and he sits down, looking at the scene before him: Stoick and Valka on either side of a sobbing Hiccup, their hands on his shaking shoulders; Gobber standing next to them, his helmet over his heart; Astrid lying cold and still in Hiccup's arms, his face hidden in her chest.

Toothless walks slowly over to them. Astrid's hand lays on the ground, pale and cold and still. Toothless noses it, whimpering slightly, which results in Hiccup nearly dropping Astrid as he pushes Toothless back; Stoick puts his large hand beneath Astrid's back to keep her from hitting the ice.

"Get away from her!" Hiccup yells hysterically at Toothless, who backs up, looking at Hiccup confused. "Go on, get outta here!" Toothless takes a step towards Hiccup, giving him a pleading look, but Hiccup replies with "Get away!"

Toothless turns and walks away, and Hiccup drops to his knees sobbing.

"It's not his fault, you know that," Valka says softly, trying to keep her voice from breaking. "Good dragons under the control of bad people do bad things."

As she says this, Drago's Bewilderbeast takes control of all the dragons, including the currently flightless Toothless. The brainwashed Night Fury tries to fly, but fails, falling to the ground. Drago uses his spear to hold the dragon down, then climbs onto his back, taking off.

"Toothless!" Hiccup yells as he tries to run after his dragon.

Valka holds Hiccup back, keeping him from going after Toothless and Drago. "No don't," she says.

Hiccup watches helplessly, tears in his eyes, as the evil army leaves, taking all of the dragons with them.

********************

A heavy silence rests on the battle-ridden island. The broken ship sails towards the rocks beyond, the sail ripped and torn in various places and hanging lopsided from the mast. On the ship, a white blanket covers a fallen comrade, an axe that has seen many brave battles lying on her chest over the blanket. A small coalition stands alone on the island, watching the ship sail away.

Stoick says his traditional speech for the fallen Astrid, able to conceal the lump in his throat but not the tears on his cheeks. Valka stands at his side, her hands clenching tightly the bow she holds at her side. Next to her is Fishlegs, trembling with sadness. Snotlout stands next to him, staring at the ship sailing away, trying not to let the tears fall. Ruffnut is next to him, with her brother at her side. Both have a bow in one hand and an arrow in the other, staring at the ground. Beside Tuffnut is Eret, who had turned to the riders' side after they saved his life. The great dragon trapper feels a soft sadness in his heart at the loss of the girl who taught him what he never knew about dragons, but he doesn't show it, keeping his eyes down.

Standing near the water, a stone's throw away from the others, Hiccup watches what he had hoped was his future wife sail away from him, wanting but unable to tear his eyes from the heartbreaking sight before him. Gobber hobbles up to the boy, a bow and arrow in each hand. He hands one to Hiccup, who takes it, barely acknowledging his mentor. Gobber lays a hand on Hiccup's shoulder before limping over to his place beside Stoick.

When Stoick finishes his speech, Hiccup nocks the arrow. He leans it forward to the burning pile of wood that lays at his feet (well, foot) and lights the tip of the arrow. Flames lick away at the stone tip as Hiccup raises the arrow, aiming at Astrid's ship. With trembling hands, arms shaking, tears rolling down his cheeks like salty waterfalls, he fires at the ship. The arrow finds its mark in the wood near Astrid's foot, and the fire slowly starts to spread. The others follow his lead, firing their flaming arrows. Fire now not only took Astrid's life, but accompanied her in death to the Viking heaven known as Valhalla.

All eyes turn to Hiccup as he screams, throwing his bow into the water. He drops to his knees, his face hidden in his hands. "I'm sorry, babe," Hiccup says softly, his face still buried in his hands. Stoick moves slowly over to him, laying a hand on his shoulder. He says nothing, just stands there, being there for his broken son. Hiccup, without even acknowledging his father, fights a losing battle with his tears as he speaks, loud enough for the others to hear.

"I swear," he says. "I swear on Astrid's ship...I swear I'll never love again."