The warm sunlight of dawn shone on Dragon's Edge, slowly waking up the still sleeping Dragon Riders. It had been a rough couple months. With Viggo out there still on the loose, it was hard to get rest. Still, even if he didn't want to be found, there was no knowing when he'd play his next move on them. That's why patrol here was necessary at the time.
A sky blue Deadly Nadder flew above the water surface like a shadow, her wings wide open like she was drifting in the wind. Stormfly rose higher in the air as her rider indicated her and flew towards the next island to be checked. There were so many islands around Dragon's Edge; Astrid had to check them all every morning, waking up earlier than she should. But if it meant protecting friends and saving dragons, she was for it.
Stormfly flew above the island, Astrid's eyes scanning its surface for any unusual sign. Stormfly's eyes popped at the sight of the river down bellow and roared at her rider for permission.
''You're thirsty, girl?'' said Astrid, leaning on her dragon's side to meet her eyes. ''Alright, we'll land for a drink and get right back up into the air.'' Stormfly nodded and dropped down to the ground beside the clear refreshing water. Astrid immediately dismounted, letting her dragon take her time to drink.
She walked away from Stormfly, taking a look around while she was at it for anything unusual. It was pretty calm here. Not a sign of any Dragon Hunters having ever stepped on this island. Yet, something felt wrong. The only thing she sighted was a herd of Nadders on the forest line on the other side of the river. She placed a hand above her eyes to keep the blinding sunlight from her eyes as she checked on them and see if they were okay.
Stormfly rose her head and squeaked at her rider, letting her know she was done and ready to continue their patrol. Astrid smiled and climbed back on the saddle to carry on where they left, but once higher, she could finally spot something unusual around. Looking straight at the herd of Nadders on the other side of the river, a dead dragon body laid on the ground amongst the other dragons.
''Come on, Stormfly.'' said Astrid, patting her dragon's neck to indicate to get in close. ''Let's take a better look.''
Stormfly snorted and rose in the air to pass the river and landed right back on the other side, a distance away from the wild Deadly Nadders. After all, they were still wild dragons. Now closer, it was obvious this dragon hadn't died naturally. Not from any poisoned plant or from age. She could tell, because an arrow was sticking out of the dragon's belly. She couldn't tell how long this dragon had been dead, but one thing for sure, she recognized that arrow. That was a Dragon Hunter arrow, but bigger and stronger, compared to those they use to knock out dragons from the sky.
''Oh no...'' she breathed out, terrified. Her eyes drifted on another Nadder with the same kind of arrow stuck in the dead dragon's belly. Thankfully that one was still alive, with the arrow stuck in its shoulder, still making it impossible to fly.
Astrid looked around for any sign of Dragon Hunters anywhere, but no men came in her sight. There was no way she, Astrid, could help that dragon all by herself. Only Hiccup would know what to do about injured dragons. If she simply left it there with that arrow in its shoulder, infection will take over the wound and the dragon would end up just like its pal.
''Come on, Stormfly.'' said Astrid, determined to save that dragon. ''Let's go get Hiccup.''
With a gentle kick to her side, Stormfly leaped up into the sky, back to Dragon's Edge to get help. Stormfly could feel her rider's anger towards the Dragon Hunters for having done what they did.
...
''Dragon Hunters?'' said Hiccup after Astrid explained the situation to the other riders. It had been months since the 'Viggo Fiasco', and not so many Hunters had been spotted around lately. Hiccup reached his chin as he was thinking. ''On which island did you see those injured dragons?''
Astrid gestured at a small island with her finger on the large map at the board in the corner of the Clubhouse.
''That island's not far from here...'' said Hiccup. It was just two sheets from Dragon's Edge, which meant Dragon Hunters were closing on them. ''Did you see anything else?''
''No... That's what's strange.'' said Astrid. ''There were injured dragons, but no Hunters.''
''This really doesn't make sense...'' mumbled Hiccup under his breath as he turned around. ''And you say these arrows were different?''
''Bigger, larger, stronger.'' said Astrid. ''Definitely not just to knock them out...''
''You're right. You said one of those dragons was shot but still alive.'' said Hiccup. ''Now if we hurry, we might make it just in time.''
Hiccup grabbed his satchel and put it over his shoulder before getting on Toothless' back, Astrid and Stormfly following behind along with the twins.
''You know, Hiccup,'' said Astrid, returning to Hiccup after she took a look at Tuffnut and Ruffnut doing another gag. ''We don't have to bring them every time.''
''Hey,'' said Hiccup, ''If anything happens out there, you'll be glad to have them.''
Astrid replied with a grunt and the four of them took off, leaving Fishlegs and Snotlout at the base while they were gone.
...
The Dragon Riders soared delicately above the specific island, where the herd of Nadders had last been seen by Astrid. Thankfully, the pack of wild Nadders hadn't moved while she was gone for back-up. All the same dragons were still grazing as if nothing was going on, including the one with the arrow stuck in its shoulder.
Toothless and the two other dragons landed deeper in the forest as the herd was at its line. Carefully, as quiet as possible, Hiccup and the other riders slid off their saddles, approaching the bushes separating them and the Nadders, leaving their dragons behind.
''There's no way we'll be able to approach that dragon without it attacking us. Surely those Hunters must have made it develop an immediate defence against humans.'' whispered Hiccup as he studied the dragons before him. They had scars that obviously didn't belong from other dragons, but from arrows, bolas and catapult boulders.
''So, what are you saying?'' questioned Astrid, kneeling by his side behind the bushes.
Hiccup smiled and pulled out a tube and a dart from his satchel, showing those to her.
''Cool. What is it?'' asked Tuffnut as his eyes landed on the objects.
''It's a tranquilizer.'' answered Hiccup, placing the dart in the tube, ready to be fired. ''I thought we could use the same method as the Dragon Hunter with their Dragon Root arrows, but much less painful.''
''So, you're saying you're gonna shoot that dragon down?'' said Astrid, a bit startled.
''It's the only way we'll be able to get close to that dragon.'' said Hiccup. He raised the tube up to his lips and aimed at the injured Nadder. With a sharp breath, he fired the dart and hit its target in the thigh.
Instantly, the wild dragon jumped away surprised, and went running away into the open, only to collapse far enough from the herd for the riders to get close without any of the others feeling aggressed to attack.
They all rose to their feet and made a run towards the downed dragon.
''Come on.'' said Hiccup as they approached the Deadly Nadder, the long arrow sticking out of its shoulder. He kneeled down beside the barely conscious dragon and examined the wound. He stroke the shoulder and took a firm grip at the arrow, trying to pull it up, only for it to refuse coming out. ''Looks pretty deep. Ah, that's some nasty arrowhead on that thing. We're gonna have to cut it out.'' He grabbed his dagger, and with one hand pressed on the wound while he sliced the skin around it. ''Ugh... Okay, Astrid, help me out here.'' Astrid quit stroking the Deadly Nadder's cheek to reassure it and came to Hiccup's side, kneeling down close to him.
''Open it up?'' she asked as she put two fingers in the wound to do as she thought was right.
''Yeah, open it up as wide as you can.'' said Hiccup as he took a grip at the arrow's body. ''Right there.''
''Is that good?'' asked Astrid ad she opened the wound as wide as possible without making the dragon suffer more.
''Yup. Grab the arrowhead tip.'' said Hiccup and Astrid immediately dug her fingers into the wound to get the arrowhead stuck deep in. ''Okay, there we go.'' said Hiccup as they pulled out the entire arrow from the Nadder's shoulder.
''Wow.'' breathed Astrid as her eyes landed on the huge arrowhead that had once been stuck in that dragon's wing attachment.
''Okay, so far so good.'' said Hiccup as he examined the arrow and wound. ''Not too much bleeding...''
''Wow.'' said Tuffnut on the other side of the lying Deadly Nadder. ''That is one scary-looking thing. Mind if I keep it?''
''Next time Dragon Hunters fire those arrows at dragons, they'll be digging this thing outta their butt.'' growled Astrid as her eyes never left the arrow's tip. These people really had to be monsters to be able to do such horrible things.
''Alright, that's it.'' said Hiccup as he pulled himself to his feet, pulling out the dart from the Nadder's thigh. ''The rest is up to this guy.''
A distance from them, in the shadows deeper in the forest, coming discretely out, Dragon Hunters walked in direction of the riders, ready to strike at any given moment.
''Alright, we're good.'' said Hiccup, walking back towards the forest line to meet with their dragons. ''We should be heading back. We'll come back and check on him later.''
Toothless, Stormfly and Barf and Belch joined their riders and each mounted their own buddy before taking off to the sky. But as they did, men shot out of nowhere, crossbows and arches in hand, already loaded and ready to fire.
Catching the slightest movements from the corner of her eye, Astrid just noticed them charging at them and before she could warn everybody, arrows were already flying towards them, barely missing them all.
''Hiccup, look out!'' Astrid called right as one of the fired arrows stroke Hiccup on the cheek, leaving a deep cut in his skin.
''Argh!'' exclaimed Hiccup as he clawed the painful fresh wound.
But worst of all, those arrows that were being used by the hunters at the moment, were the same as the one they just pulled out from the Nadder's shoulder. Big, large and strong, can easily kill a dragon if hits a sensible spot, such as the underbelly, neck, head...
''Watch out for those arrows!'' warned Hiccup to the others and he took a firm grip at his handles and dove towards the Hunters, releasing a plasma blast on his way. The fireball exploded as it hit the ground, all men who were close getting knocked off their feet.
Astrid on Stormfly followed their leader and fired at close-range hunters, not daring to go too far with this fight. First, Toothless wasn't wearing his armor, and they didn't bring any useful weapon for defence. Their dragons were all they could count on right now. A wise person would back off and return home to safety and come back prepared, but they couldn't leave that herd of wild Deadly Nadders to the Hunters.
Ruff and Tuff flew their Zippleback down, leaving a wall of fire around the Nadders to both protect them from the Hunters, and put them on alert so they would fly away. Belch created a spark and a flaming circle surrounded the herd. Instantly alerted at the loud boom, the dragons took off to the sky. All but one...
''Astrid! Cover me, I have to get the Nadder we saved to safety!'' he called, not waiting for any answer from her and flew down, grabbing the still numb dragon between Toothless' claws and carrying it away.
Astrid directed Stormfly right under Toothless, where Hunters would be targeting them from, shooting fireballs straight down at them before they could make their move. As soon as he was out of their range, she redirected Stormfly towards the battle and blasted them into oblivion as they so much deserved.
''Keep blasting them!'' called Astrid to the twins.
''Ooh. One of the strangest thing we hear from dear Astrid.'' grinned Tuffnut to his sister. ''Hey, Hunters! Would you mind showing up more often!? We haven't gotten enough destruction for the past months!''
''Yeah!'' agreed Ruffnut.
Stormfly soared just in front of the line of archers, trying to waste their arrows. Only if they hadn't learned their techniques, things would be a lot simpler. Aiming one step before her, the archers let loose, and all arrows came straight at her, instead of falling behind.
Fortunately, Stormfly managed to avoid all of those coming at her, but not the one twirling straight toward her rider. But at the very last minute, something she didn't even see passing by suddenly blocked it. It took a moment for her to register what had just happened, but as her eyes landed on the Night Fury going down, she guessed everything and couldn't help but let out a terrified gasp.
''HICCUP!'' she cried out and flew Stormfly down towards the down black dragon. Only it wasn't a downed dragon, but more a downed rider. As soon as her dragon's massive feet touched down Earth, Astrid jumped off and ran to the dragon and rider.
''Urgh...'' she heard Hiccup grunt from the other side of Toothless. And the moment her eyes landed on him, she felt her stomach flip upside-down and wanted to be sick. Not a single word could come out of her mouth.
Toothless whined at his rider, sniffing at the large arrow stuck in his right shoulder, the huge arrowhead sticking out from his back. Astrid couldn't believe how painful that must be. If this could kill a dragon, than imagine what it could do to a Viking.
Hiccup's eyes tightened shut as he groaned at the pain from his back. For a moment, he hadn't the single of ideas of what was going on – why was everybody freaking out and worried about him. He could hear Toothless' loud concern whines and see the foggy form of Astrid before him. Noises around were like absorbed and low like they were carried away.
He cracked his eyes open once more as things slowly cleared themselves and from the corner of his eye, noticed the long piece of metal stuck in his shoulder. ''Uh... Look at that...'' he mumbled barely conscious. A terrible headache and pain in the back suddenly hit him along with the need to lie down as sleep started gaining him.
Swallowing all her fears, Astrid rushed to him and collapsed by his side just in time to prevent the arrowhead sticking out of his back from hitting the ground for it to push back in. Closely she held him, Stormfly, Toothless, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Barf and Belch positioning themselves around them for protection from the next attack from the Hunters.
Men came running to them, weapon raised above their heads, coming in to do their one and only job - end them all. Explosions of fire boomed around as the dragons fired blasts at the enemy.
''Hang in there, Hiccup, please, just hold on.'' whispered Astrid as she returned her attention to her barely conscious friend lying in her arms. Her eyes met the scary metal arrow stuck in him, and couldn't help but receive this sick feeling. She could swear her heart skipped a beat the second she looked at it. From the look of the blood dripping out of the wound, they were running out of time. She had to get him back to the Edge as quick as she could. Meaning right now.
''Stormfly!'' called Astrid to her dragon. The Nadder roared wildly at the last Hunters and turned around to meet her rider. Astrid shook Hiccup with more force than she should have used. ''Hiccup. Hiccup, hey. Hiccup, wake up!''
Hiccup blinked his eyes open and looked at Astrid trying to help him up to his feet. He didn't have to ask what was going on and what she was doing. With the last strength left in him, Hiccup grabbed her arm for support as he lifted himself up to his feet. Astrid held him straight as he fought to stay up. The dragons roared at the last Dragon Hunters running away in retreat and Toothless instantly came to his rider's side for support, his gaze softening as he felt his pain.
''Okay, I can't carry you all the way to the Edge, so you'll have to ride Toothless for the trip...'' said Astrid as he leaned on Toothless' shoulder for help. Even she wasn't sure about this, that this could be the worst thought in history. Riding a dragon with an arrow shot in the shoulder... who does that?
His eyes half-opened, he nodded shakily with the lack of strength and with Astrid's help, got on the saddle and clipped his metal leg in place, the red tail at the end shooting open.
''Just hang on.'' she said as she reached to touch Toothless' side of head gently. ''We'll make it. Trust me.''
Toothless looked up at his rider for permission to fly up, and with a slight weak nod, the Night Fury took off gently and rose higher into the air, Astrid on Stormfly, the twins of their Zippleback close behind them. It didn't take long for Astrid to take the lead, with Hiccup and Toothless between the Deadly Nadder and Zippleback.
They were gonna make it back home.
...
The moment Toothless' feet touched down the landing platform, Hiccup let himself as limp as deadweight and slid down his dragon's side. He had fought all the way back to Dragon's Edge to stay awake and in the saddle. Staying on Toothless for that ride had to be the hardest thing he had ever done that asked for his physical strength. His arms and legs had been quivering all the way here, and he couldn't stand it anymore.
Astrid had landed just before him, and was fast enough to catch him under the arms before he knocked himself unconscious. The sun was very high in the sky now. It had been a couple hours since they were gone. Going, doing what they had to do, getting ambushed, returning back home had made a good few hours. Thankfully, it's not the flight back that took the longer...
Making it to Hiccup's hut wasn't easy, but with Toothless' help, Astrid was able to get him up there and get him inside and onto his bed for him to rest. She still didn't know what to do about that arrow, but she thought it might be better to deal with that once he'd be just a little better. She simply wrapped some tissues around the wound to prevent the blood loss. She couldn't think what she'd do if she ever lost him...
Now all she could do was wait for him to wake up and hope to the gods above that he'll be all right in the end.
...
After around two hours of sitting there next to Hiccup's bed on his desk chair, unable to do anything to help, Astrid heard him groan in pain. Those two long hours had stressed her out much more than she had ever been in her entire life. She instantly shot to her feet, dropping her axe she had been holding for no reason and dropped to her knees at the side of his bed, her hands shaking uncontrollably.
Hiccup cracked his eyes opened and took a look at his surroundings, confused at first.
''I'm... I'm in my room...'' he said to himself, clearly still shocked from the past events. It wasn't surprising.
''Yes, and it's gonna be okay.'' said Astrid reassuringly, not sure if to herself or to Hiccup.
Hiccup groaned a second time painfully as his eyes met the arrow still stuck there in his right shoulder, through one of the muscles there. Astrid may not have known, but he did. One thing to do when shot my anything, it's to take it out and treat it before it got infected. Clearly it was too late for that.
''No, it's not.'' said Hiccup as if now talking was one painful action. He shut his eyes tightly and hissed through gritted teeth. ''My arm... It's infected. This damn thing has got to come out.''
''What do you want me to do?'' asked Astrid, absolutely clueless on what to do here. She hadn't really thought about how, just at the after.
''Remember that dragon – that wild Nadder – how we got the arrow out of its shoulder?'' recalled Hiccup, breathing heavily, sweat from fever going on his forehead.
''Yeah.''
''That's what you have to do.''
It was almost like asking to go kill herself. There was no way she would be able to pull out that arrow out of his shoulder. She'd feel so guilty for the pain she'd cause him. Her eyes widened in fright. But she had to at least try. If there was one way she would be able to help him – to save him – it was this way.
''Okay...'' she said shakily, starting on by unwrapping the clothes around the wound. Hiccup was right. It was infected. She wrapped a hand around the arrow's body and another pushed on the injury. ''I can do this.'' But as far as she wanted to help him, fear just held tight on her and she couldn't quit the shake in her whole body.
''Stay focused.'' swallowed Hiccup in a way to help her concentrate. He lay against the bed's head, clenching his teeth at the pressure made on the open wound. ''You can do this.''
''Okay.'' breathed Astrid, taking a strong hold at the arrow. Once calmed down, she carried on where she left. ''You're ready?''
'' 'Kay. Go.'' he said, taking a strong hold at the both sides of his bed, preparing himself at the horrible pain to come. If only they had tranquilizers for humans...
Astrid took a deep breath and pulled on the piece of metal, slowly making its way out, sliding through everything inside it went through. Hiccup groaned the horrible pain. If he wanted to, he could've cried it out, but he didn't. All cries were locked inside, not to be let out.
''Got it.'' announced Astrid as the rest of the arrow was pulled out, the arrowhead and part of it stained of fresh and old blood.
Hiccup hit the back of his head against the wooden bed's head behind him in great relief, sighing and breathing heavily; sweat covering his forehead as a fever took place. ''Good. Is it bleeding out?'' he asked between shaky breaths.
''I don't think so.'' she replied, observing the wound.
''Great. Now the fun part...'' said Hiccup, sarcasm so included. ''Sew it up. Make it pretty.''
For a moment there, Astrid was almost sure he enjoyed hurting. But she knew it was what was needed to be done. After cleaning it up with as much delicacy she could pull off, she grabbed Hiccup's sewing box and took hold of a needle and thread. Nobody said this was going to be easy...
The wound wasn't large, but it was definitely deep. Carefully, taking deep breaths, trying to keep her hands as steady as possible, Astrid plunged the needle in the skin at the edge, closing up the injury, pulling up and sinking the needle once more in the skin.
''Hold on, hold on...'' whispered Astrid to Hiccup as she heard him groan painfully, feeling his tight grip at the wood. ''There.'' She finally tied up the whole thing and put aside the needle and thread in the box. She took a step backwards, panting, feeling like collapsing any minute now. For all things she had done so far, this had to be the worst. Yes, she had seen blood, and had gotten injuries herself, helped Berk's healers with patients who had gotten awful and disgusting injuries in the past when they were still at war, but this was different. This had been way scarier than anything she had lived to far.
''Relax, Astrid.'' said Hiccup, breathing heavily himself. But he was calmer than she was. ''Have a seat.''
''I'm good...''replied Astrid, straightening herself up. ''How're you doing?''
''Okay, I guess.'' he said, leaning back against the bed's head. He checked out his shoulder, the wound sewed up correctly and on its way to heal greatly. ''Nicely done.''
...
''Gods, you look like Hell,'' said Snotlout as he grabbed Hiccup by the shoulders. ''But it is damn good to see you.'' he said right before embracing him tightly. ''Dawn good.''
The riders had all be aware of Hiccup's state after he had been transported to his hut. Astrid had passed the word, and everyone had been on alert the whole time since they had heard. It only took a day for Hiccup to recover from the shock of having been shot in the shoulder. The next day he was able to walk, with help, of course. The blood loss had taken a lot of energy out of him, but rest had allowed gaining more.
That afternoon, he walked in the Clubhouse, where all the other riders had been waiting for news from Astrid about their leader. And when they saw them enter, none of them could help holding back a smile of relief.
Being his one and only cousin, Snotlout, along with Astrid, had been the most worried ones of the group.
On Astrid's side, she still held something back. She knew Snotlout could be soft sometimes and show that he cared about something... And now it was her turn to do the same. That whole near-death experience had really made a mark, and she couldn't help but think about it.
...
''Hey.'' said Hiccup, late at night, approaching Astrid sitting on the edge of a platform. She was looking at the ocean, the moonlight's reflection dancing on the water's surface. He could tell she was taking this whole in, and understood it wasn't an easy thing to do.
''Hey.'' she replied, looking up at him as he sat by her side, watching the great glowing white moon high in the sky. There was a moment of silence between them, where their thoughts played around. And Astrid finally spoke her own mind. ''So this whole thing, about life and all, it got me thinking.''
''Careful.'' said Hiccup, ''You don't wanna hurt your brain.''
Astrid half laughed and continued speaking her thoughts. ''There's something I gotta tell you, Hiccup.'' she said, sounding more serious than ever. She took a deep breath and let it out. ''I really care about you. And not just as friends.'' She met his eyes as she turned to face him. ''It's just the way I see it. Life's too short.''
Waiting for her to say no more, Hiccup pressed his lips against hers.