Chapter Two – Sacrifice

"Sometimes in life, you do things you don't want to. Sometimes you sacrifice, sometimes you compromise. Sometimes you let go and sometimes you fight. It's all about deciding what's worth losing and what's worth keeping." - Lindy Zart

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Ruffnut!"

Pain was evident. Her body felt heavy as if she had been punched. Well… she had. But it felt different. There was a prickly, numbing sensation on the right side of her body. It like she was wearing a yak-fleeced parka with her body buried deep within the layers of fur. Her stare was unfocused but, she faintly noticed the grate being shut above her.

"Ruffnut!"

After being re-tossed into the bit, the wind was knocked out of her. She's landed like a dead tree into the heavy dust at the bottom. Her breathing was labored, but she was breathing.

"Ruffnut!"

She felt as if her name was being called. It was a muffled call and her mind didn't register anything until the blurred figure of Astrid popped in within her line of vision, blocking the sunlight from above.

"Ruffnut, can you hear me?"

The feeling of light pressure could be felt against her chest as Astrid began ripping her vest from her shoulders. Right. Her mind and body weren't exactly on the same pace, but Ruffnut remembered what had happened. She'd taken the hit for Astrid.

"Come on, Thorston. Give me something. I have to know that your still with me." Astrid commanded firmly. She fumbled with the vest but her eyes were vibrant.

Ruffnut managed to get her brain to connect with her left arm. She lifted it and trusted it wildly towards Astrid's shoulder in a weak attempt to pry her away. " I-I hear ya. ... Didn't know I was your type, Hoff."

A ghost of a smirk appeared across Astrid's lips. She seemed satisfied with that reaction. "You're right, I usually don't go for the idiots."

Ruffnut didn't respond, but he gave a weak grin. "Ugh... What... are you doing?"

"We can use your vest to help with the bleeding. You're bleeding a lot. We have to stop it. I'm going to sit you up, okay?" Astrid replied hastily while refusing to wait for Ruffnut's reply. This was bad. The arrow was still stuck in her and Astrid knew better than to pull it out. The wound was bleeding badly but if she were to put it out without proper medical attention...

Hiccup... She needed Hiccup.

Ruffnut didn't protest with any snide comments but she grunted as pain fled up through her chest. The bile and sand that had built itself up in her throat threatened to come up. She felt the warmth of her vest leave her shoulders ND her back pressing against the wall. Her head throbbed from the sudden movement. She finally got a good look at Astrid.

"You look like yak dung." Ruffnut shot out while attempting to regain her bearings and worked hard to get her breathing under control.

Astrid stifled a short laugh. "You don't look to good yourself either, Thorston."

"Who would notice." Ruffnut snickered weakly with a short shrug of her bare shoulders. She watched Astrid ball up the vest in confusion.

"Okay. Here goes. Are you ready?"

"Ready for wha- Ah! Gods!" Ruffnut flinched as the pain hit the inside of her body as Astrid pressed the vest against her stomach. She maneuvered it around the arrow. The vest was supposed to be weather resilient, but Astrid could visibly see the blood soaking through.

"P-pull it o-out! I feel it." Ruffnut seethed through her teeth while using her left arm to reach for the thin wood.

Astrid caught her wrist firmly before it could within inches. "No. It has to stay in! You'll bleed out!"

"I'm already bleeding out! If you're to chicken, I'll do it!"

"Ruffnut, no! You pull the arrow out and you bleed out faster! Do you want to die?"

Ruffnut wrenched her wrist away, but Astrid refused to let her guard down. Both blondes glared at each other intently.

"No. I rather not." Ruffnut shook her head slowly with a deep frown on her face.

"Just let me do this. Stay still. Hiccup will be here soon..." Astrid huffed and fell silent as she tied the vest to her companion's stomach using her own belt to keep it from falling off to much.

Silence occurred.

Astrid glanced back up towards Ruff to make sure she was still awake. Her skin was pale. The blood on her forehead had dried and crusted and dried into the layer of sweat. Ruffnut was staring back at her. Quickly looking back down, she tied off the belt and sat back on her knees. She reached back to the vest to press it back down while making sure it was secured.

"Ah! Astrid... Stop." Ruffnut hissed in reaction to the pain. Her stare turned into a glare. "Leave it alone..."

Silence followed once more.

"I'll definitely get a scar now. It's gonna look so cool." Ruffnut mused as she leaned her head back against the wall while watching the grate at the top of the pit.

Astrid hovered but eventually planted herself on Ruff's right side against the wall. She pulled her knees up to her chest. She could still feel grubby hands on her. She made a promise to herself to cut them off when she got out of here… If Ruffnut hadn't been there…

"Why'd you do it?" Astrid asked out loud before she could stop herself. "Lo'kir…He had a clear shot of me. I was his target, he wanted me. ... You know what. Just never do that again."

"Haha, no surprise there. Everyone wants you." Ruffnut let her head tilt to the side against the wall while watching her dully. Way to kill the mood, Astrid.

"What are you talking about?"

Ruffnut groaned and swatted at her hand on the makeshift bandage. "What do you mean?"

Astrid narrowed her eyes towards the twin. "If you have something to say, then say it."

Ruffnut shrugged her shoulders, wincing as she did so. Her body was stiff and sore. "You don't see it? Astrid, Astrid, Astrid. Everything is about Astrid."

"Ruff, that is so not true. Where do get these crazy ideas? No, you know what, don't answer that. Point is, none of that makes sense." Astrid watched as a drip of pink tinted sweat rolled down Ruffnut's temple. She didn't have to physically feel her head to know that Ruffnut was burning up.

This was bad. She had to keep her talking.

"Yes it is. You remember when you got infected with The Scourge of Odin? Things fell apart. Hiccup was so stressed out. He was… mad. We almost didn't save you and it was terrible. I don't want to see him look like that again. Face it, the world can't handle not having a pretty face with big ideas in it." Ruffnut replied bitterly. It was truly a terrible time when Astrid was down. She didn't like it. The boys didn't like it. Stormfly was as wild as ever. She refused to look at Astrid, but could feel those intense eyes on her. "In other words, for you to understand, I'm not worth as much as you are."

Astrid couldn't find the words to backlash her. How was she supposed to respond when she heard words like that? No one had openly said anything like this to her before. They weren't true.. it was the fever talking. Right? Ruffnut thought... No. Her eyes became fierce.

"Ruffnut Thorston, don't ever say something like that again! You are /not/ expendable. Three years ago, I would have something differently. But now, you're a dragon rider."

"Heh. Whatever you say, mom." Ruffnut shrugged her off with a dull tone and a half slit gaze.

Suddenly, Astrid pivoted herself from the wall and took a firm hold on Ruffnut's shoulders. Ruffnut was forced to look at her. Ice blue eyes met sky blue. "You are important, Ruff. Just like me. No one knows how to keep your brother or your dragon in line, like you do. You're fearless and stubborn as a bull yak. Don't ever think that you're not."

Ruffnut stared up at her in surprise as she had no idea that Astrid had the heart to tell her these things. Maybe she was saying these things because Ruffnut was on her death bed. Ruffnut wasn't stupid. She knew how bad she was and the ferocity in Astrid's eyes didn't help the situation. She wondered if Astrid knew that she was dying. Things certainly weren't looking good for the two.

"If you say so, Hofferson."

Astrid let her go and flopped back by her side. "I know so, Thorston."

Ruffnut leaned her head back again while watching the sunlight bright up the dust dancing around near the walls. All this talking was making her tired. If her brother was here, he would be telling her how weak she was. Sleep, after all, was for the weak. The thought of her brother caused her heart to clench. They were supposed to walk into the gates of Valhalla together, not separately. Tuffnut would be okay though, he had always been the strongest out of the two. Barf would take care of him.

Wow. All this thinking was making her even more tired. She could feel sleep overpowering her. Maybe just for a few minutes...

Astrid had been in deep thought while having an inner battle with herself. She hadn't ever thought that Ruffnut would feel like that... Guilt wrenched in her chest at the thought of /how long/ she had been feeling that way and was angry at herself for not noticing before this situation.

Astrid did, however, notice the silence. She could no longer hear Ruffnut's labored breathing. Her head snapped towards the twin and panic pricked into the pit of her stomach.

"Ruffnut?!"

Astrid shifted her weight back onto Ruff while giving her arm a few shakes. Ruff was as white as a sheet. Her breathing was shallow and her head rolled loosely in reaction to Astrid's shaking. "Ruffnut, you can't go to sleep. You have to stay awake! Ruff!"

"S-stop...Hoff." Ruffnut breathed out in a weak response. She was out again.

"No, no, no. Ruff. Stay with me. You have to make it back to, Tuff!" Astrid pulled the wounded Viking against her. She knocked the loose hair out of Ruffnut's face.

"Oh, Thor! Please, don't take her yet." Astrid muffled under her breath. This went from bad to worse. How would she explain this to Tuffnut. She couldn't think of one twin without the other.

"You listen to me, Thorston. You better wake up or else I'll -" She didn't get the time to get her threat all out before the roar of a night fury echoed from the sky above her.

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Thanks for the Feedback! Chapter 2 Down, On to Chapter 3!
*Note: I also posted this story on Archive of Our Own.