Hello, lovelies! First off all, I can't thank you enough for the following and favoriting, and especially for the comments! I cherish each and every one of them. I don't really like ff's system of replying, because I don't want to put the comments here first before the story. What would you want me to do? Reply to them in DMs, or write them after the chapter?

Anyways, thank you for the support, and we finally get the funeral you all wanted.

She woke up with burning eyes and something wet pressed against her forehead. She blinked her eyes open, and was ready to sit up, but gentle, wide hands pressed her back into the comfortable cloud she was lying on. Above her was the watery ice ceiling, colouring everything around them blue, and when she looked to her right, she saw Hiccup sitting by her side, half leaning on the bed.

"Hiccup," she moaned, face scrunching up in pain, her head thudding again. He twirled around in his seat and suddenly, he had a wooden cup in his hands, the wet air around them smelling like herbs.

"Here," he whispered, not trying to upset her hurting head, and she still couldn't comprehend that this was the lanky, awkward teenage boy she remembered being taken away by the dragons. He looked like a man, someone you respected, not someone you threw into the pond after he accidentally kicked down your shield, "this will soothe the pain."

She eyed the cup curiously, but her throat was aflame, and she needed to put the fire out, so she took a thirsty gulp, expecting green tea or nettle, but tasting something utterly disgusting. She spat it back into the cup, and Hiccup chuckled slightly, and she threw him a dangerous look, "What in Odin's beard is that?"

"It's uhh, mint, thyme, and a bit of dragon saliva," he muttered, grabbing at the back of his neck, and she was pretty sure she was hearing things. She blinked.

"What was that again?" she asked, looking at the ghost of a boy she once knew as if he had grown two heads, "Did you just say 'dragon spit'?"

"Um, yes," he admitted, scrunching up his nose, "I found out that Toothless' saliva has extreme healing and pain-soothing abilities. The hard way, may I add."

"Toothless?" she was clasping the cup in her hands. He pointed in the direction of the exit.

"That's the dragon you met before. My dragon." He said and she let out a laugh, but he wasn't laughing with her.

"Toothless," she deadpanned. He nodded.

"Yes."

"Your dragon," she added, and he nodded again, frowning at her as if she was the crazy one.

"Yes?"

"Toothless, your dragon," she said again, and he touched her forehead.

"Yes? Astrid, are you okay?"

She slapped his hand away, "You are the dragon rider," she stated what she already knew the moment she laid her eyes on the mask, but somehow she couldn't grasp her head around the fact that Hiccup, tall and wide-shouldered Hiccup with sharp jaw was in fact the feared persona that had the bravest Vikings hide in corners. Hiccup, the boy who frequently tripped over his own feet on a straight path and twisted his ankle at least once a week was the creature that sleekly flew in the skies and disarmed anyone who tried to hurt him, commanding a freaking dragon.

He seemed to open his mouth to say something, only to swallow it and finally say, "Yes, I am."

"Explain," she demanded, sitting up straight in the bed so he could stop looking at her from above. When they were sitting, their eyes were on the same level, and yes, he still did have that tiny scar on his chin she remembered Stoick blabbering around when he was drunk and desperate and her and Gobber were the only ones left to listen.

"It's kind of a long story, to be honest, but to sum it up, I shot down a night fury, couldn't kill it, befriended it, and well," he shook his hands, "Here we are."

She had so many questions, and nothing made sense, but then she realised how she got here, while she was in this odd cave with this – with Hiccup, talking about his dragon. She bit her lip and straightened her posture, bracing herself to ask the question.

"Where is she."

Hiccup seemed to slump down, his shoulders falling, his face turning sympathetic and softer.

"I took you with her. We tried to save her, but..." he didn't seem to have the strength to have the words to say it, so he just shrugged and looked at her cautiously, "I put her body in the dry ice cave, so you could send her off to a warrior's death when you are ready."

The words were so definite. Putting an end to any hope she had, and she bit her lip so hard she started bleeding, tears falling again. He tried to wipe them away, but she pushed him away once more.

"Don't touch me," she snarled, "Just because you tell me your excuse of a story doesn't mean anything," she rubbed her eyes herself, noticing her face was clean of the blood and dirt. She wondered if he washed Alvilda, too, "Take me to her."

He stood up and offered her his hand. She ultimately declined, forcing the hand away from herself, but when she finally raised from the soft bed, her head started spinning and she had to lean against him. Finding no reason to fight, she let him lead her down another stairs, paying no attention to the black reptile watching them intently from another dark room, when they finally reached the cave.

It was way more down, and the ice here really did seem drier, and colder. Alvilda was lying on soft, green moss, the bloodied tunic still on, but her face clean. Her blonde hair was laid out around her hair carefully, and her little axe settled on her stomach. Astrid's breath hitched, and she yelped, tiptoeing towards the corpse of her little sister.

Hiccup stayed at the entrance, and let her approach the body by herself. Her skin was blue, but her face showed no sign of pain. She reached out, and ran her fingers through her wavy hair, remembering how she used to braid them every morning.

"She would always complain I was pulling at her hair too hard," she whispered, caressing her cold forehead. Hiccup was still glued to his spot, but she could feel his stare on her, "But then she would show her braid off to everyone. She..." she broke down, wiping her nose and kissing her forehead, letting out loud cries, "Hiccup," she let out for a reason she couldn't understand, and didn't have the power to analyse, and in the blink of an eye, the tall man was by her side, his hand on her shoulder. She cried and cried, throwing up from the terrible sickness that was consuming her, and Hiccup held her hair and whispered soothing words into her hair. She curled her knees up to her chest and punched at her head, and Hiccup took her hands in his and stopped her.

"Why did it happen?" she muttered, her voice quiet, and Hiccup was warm where Alvilda was forever cold.

"The dragon that attacked her, he is known for his aggression," he said against her ear, "He saw her waving the axe, and attacked."

That cause Astrid to shriek some more, screaming and hiding her face in her hands. He sighed, and curled around her. And after what felt like eternity but was actually few hours, the crying ceased, and she was just whining in his arms. He brushed her hair away from her sticky forehead, and said the words she was so afraid to hear.

"We should send her away."

"What? We should send her away?" she turned to him, her red eyes shining with anger, "There is no we, Hiccup. You kidnapped me and her dead body, you took me Gods know where and now you think there is a we?" she let out a bitter laugh, "Why would I want to have anything to do with a lying psychopath who pretended to be dead for six damn years and now fights with the enemy that killed his own mother!" she shouted into his face, her throat burning with every word.

He didn't seem to be willing to fight back, to say any excuse at all, looking at her as if she was ready to shatter at any moment. To be fair, she felt like it, too. She stood up, dusting off her knees.

"You are an idiot, Hiccup, and I couldn't hate you more," she snarled at him, and left him there with her dead sister's body, running to go back to the bed she woke up in and praying to Gods she will wake up just to find out it was all just a terrible dream.

In the meantime, Sigrid was staring Stoic the Vast down, tears in her blue eyes. She was sitting at the same table as he was, with the whole council surrounding them, her husband holding her hand firmly.

"Stoick, please, you must do something," she begged. The couple was exhausted. It was only over two days since they lost both of their daughters to the dragons, and they spent sleepless night crying and praying to the Gods to return them back home, "The Dragon Rider, he took my girls, he took your best warrior, your right hand. We need to save them."

"Sigrid, Gulp, you have to understand," the chief said, but his own eyes were tired, "There is nothing we can do. He took off somewhere towards Raven's point, and then my men lost it. He could be anywhere."

"Besides," Gobber added, even though he could be seen wiping tears away every once in a while, "How do you take down a man who commands a Night Fury itself?"

The whole village talked about it for the whole day. They all saw the silver dragon hurt Alvilda, and then, the Dragon Master collecting them both in his arms, and taking off again. Everyone screamed after him, threw bolas and spears, but he got away, and all that was left of them was Astrid's axe and Alvilda's bloodied bucket. Now, everyone was throwing pitying glances towards the two warriors who lost their everything.

"We have to at least try," Gulp, the burly man with a long moustache said, "We have to find Astrid. As far as we know, at least she was alive! He probably just paralysed her with his demonic powers, so she couldn't fight back! He took her to weaken us and we need to take her back!""

"Don't you think I would if I could?" Stoick hit his fist against the table and everyone jumped up in their seats, "Don't you think if I knew of any way to save your daughter, I would have? Don't you think that if I could avoid another child being carried away by a dragon, I wouldn't?" his voice broke at the end, and he slumped back in his chair, rubbing at his forehead. Everyone turned silent, exchanging nervous glances as they waited for their Chief to do anything. But a minute passed, and he still didn't look up, so Gobber cleared his throat.

"Alrightie, alrightie, everyone, out," he ordered, waving his hands in the direction of the door, "The Chief needs some time to himself."

He watched as all the villages obeyed, slowly walking away, and he paid the Hoffersons one last look before turning to Stoick. He grasped his shoulder and shook him a little.

"It's all coming back again," Stoick said, his voice empty, his eyes glued to the wooden surface of the round table they were sitting at, "I see him in my dreams again, Gobber, being carried away. Trying to fight off the dragon with his tiny hands. I see Valka-" he sniffled, "And now, I see Astrid, too."

"There was nothing yer old self could do, Stoick," Gobber sat down next to him again, "We did the best we could. We searched the whole island, but we both know that beast is long gone by now."

"Hiccup would be 21, just like her," Stoick noted, and Gobber wiped at his face with his good hand.

"It wasn't your fault. Not Valka, not Astrid. It wasn't."

The old Chief, whose long hair and braided bear greyed significantly in the past few years, looked up at the ceiling with his wet eyes, his fingers tracing the silver ring he made for Valka over twenty years ago. The two best friends sat in silence, when Gobber broke it.

"Why did he take her? Why not just kill her?" he wondered out loud, and Stoick closed his eyes.

"He never kills. He just spreads terror and robs. Besides," he leaned in closer to his friend, disgust forming on his face, "For all we know, he is at least half man. Now, why would a lonely man need a beautiful young woman?"

Gobber's eyes almost popped out of his skull, and he spat on the floor, "Stoick, ye can't be serious... you think he took the Hofferson's girl to keep her as some sort of twisted slave for his... Needs?"

Stoick nodded, and opened his mouth to add something, when Gulp walked in, holding Astrid's axe and Alvilda's empty bucket.

"We have no bodies to bury, but we would still like to send them off," the man announced, and Stoick nodded solemnly.

"Your daughters will get the warrior's funeral they deserve. This evening, we gather all the fallen and the village, and we send them off," he promised, and the Hofferson man nodded, and with a small bow, left. Stoick leaned his head against the side of his chair and rubbed his eyes.

"See, Gobber, isn't it better to believe that their daughter fell a warrior's death rather than imagining her being used by that devil?"

Alvilda's hair was neatly braided, just the way she liked it the most. When the two sisters had some time, and the younger one wanted to be pretty, Astrid would create a masterpiece of a hairstyle on her head; it were two thick braids, going from the edge of her hair behind, intertwining on the back of her hand and creating small tilted crosses. Now, it had the most beautiful blue and purple, petite flowers woven in. Her body was covered by a red cloth, possession of Hiccup. Her whole head was surrounded by the softest pebbles they could find, and leaves and flowers, forming a gorgeous halo.

She was laid on a wooden boat, supported by dozens of logs. The sky was darkening, and Hiccup and Astrid were standing by the edge of the ocean. The beach they were on was black, with diamond-like pieces of ice laid everywhere. Astrid was sure Alvilda would love this place.

She couldn't sleep much when she finally laid in that unfamiliar bed, and after endless hours spent turning around and crying, she finally approached Hiccup who was waiting just outside the entrance, telling him she is ready to send her off. He didn't dare helping her with the preparations, just promised to get the bows and arrows and a boat.

Handling the body of her dead sister was terrible. It was terribly heavy and stiff, and even though it was preserved by the dry, cold cave, there was that terrible smell that reminded her of that day her aunt died and the Hofferson women prepared her for her last journey, just like she was doing now. All alone. But she knew she had to do it. It was the last honor she could give her; she spent her teenagerhood taking care of little Alvilda, it was only fair to do it one last time, too.

When she changed her into comfortable rags that weren't dirtied by the battle she lost, she wiped off the last trace of blood and corpse fluids out of her sister's hands, and caressed her cold, wet cheeks. It was like touching icicles, not like feeling her beloved sister's skin.

When everything was prepared, she swallowed her dignity and called that strange man who called himself by her old friend's name, and asked him to carry her with him, afraid she would crack her fragile body or tear her thin skin. He didn't say a word, and just helped her lift her.

She was holding her still hand, trying to memorise her face. She tried to remember every freckle, like little stars on her pale skin. She hoped she will never forget her cute, slightly bigger upper lip that always trembled so cutely when she was supressing tears. She wished she could see her bright smile again.

The sky was purple and dark blue when she kissed her one last time and let go of her tiny hand for good. Slowly, as if not to disrupt her peaceful sleep, she pushed the little boat off, letting the flow of the water take her where she was meant to go to meet the Valkyries. She stood up and picked up the bow next to her. It was a beautiful, bright night, just like the one when Alvilda was born. She watched the boat sail away, gripping the bow tight, trying to get a steady hold of it. The breeze played with her hair as she finally raised the bow, and let Hiccup set the tip on fire.

The boat was meters away now, the tiny axe laid atop of the body, and Astrid knew it was time to send her sister where she now belonged. Her hands were shaking, and she couldn't seem to focus herself enough to aim for it.

Astrid always rejected everyone's help. She rarely ever needed it, to be honest. And she definitely didn't need the help of a man she hated with everything she had. But as Hiccup watched her aiming the arrow, her bottom lip trembling and her chin tight and stuck out, he walked up to her and slowly helped her steady her limbs. The blonde woman bit her lip, sniffled, and finally shot the burning arrow, hitting the boat and setting it on fire. She watched the fires raising up high, glistening in the distance as Hiccup followed with his own burning arrow. Then, to her utter shock, the back beast moved a bit closer to them and fired a single purple blast himself, lowering his head afterwards.

"There do I see my father, my mother, and my brothers and my sisters. They bid me take my place among them in the halls of Valhalla... where the brave shall live forever," she said in a strong voice, the fires reflecting in her eyes. She could see the wild flames licking at her sister's body, could almost feel the fire devouring her soft curly hair and burning the petals of flowers that accompanied her on the journey over the bridge.

She lowered the bow, the wind that smelled like ash and burnt bodies messing with her hair and showing strands of gold into her face, but she never stopped looking at the boat, floating away with the tide. Hiccup told her he coated the boat with a Monstrous Nightmare gel to make sure everything would burn even though they didn't have enough arrows. The sea seemed to be on fire, shining with her sister's burning body, the plasma eating away everything physical that remained of her sibling.

"I promised I would be there," Astrid whispered to no one in particular, hypnotised by the twirling flames. She knew the black beast was somewhere around even though Hiccup commanded it to stay away after the shot with a simple hand gesture, but she didn't care. All that mattered were the ashes lazily floating the air around them, falling like snowflakes. "Every damn time, I made her believe I would always be by her side to scare the dragons off. But I let her down," she sobbed, dropping the bow to the ground. The fire grew bigger and bigger, the flames consuming all of the logs below the girl's body, "I told her not to worry, and she... I disappointed her in her last moments."

She fell to her knees, and Hiccup followed. She was still not used to his presence, and Gods, she did think she hated him even though she went over and over everything he said in her head around million times when she couldn't sleep, and she didn't know how to feel about his constant need to touch her, but she found it reassuring in that moment. It wasn't like there was anyone else to hold onto. She cried, not caring she showed her weakness in front of another person. The sky was jet black above them, stars appearing, as she bawled in his shoulder.

"You said – you said he attacked because she had an axe," Astrid remembered, looking up to meet his eyes, "I gave her that axe. Hiccup, do you think I killed her?"

Not waiting for any answer, an agonising scream filled the air, and she was punching against the pebbles and throwing them everywhere and trashing in Hiccup's arms. He held her firmly, trying to get her attention back to reality as she kept chanting 'I killed her, I killed her' all over again.

"Astrid, Astrid!" he shouted to get her attention, and shook her in his arms. Forcing her to look up at him by lifting her chin, he wiped some of the tears away, "Look at me," he ordered her in a commanding voice she had no idea he was capable of (but then again, she didn't know this person), "It's not your fault. You did what everyone would; you gave her the means to protect herself. And the dragon – I know him, he is angry at the world, angry at the humans. He was captured by dragon trappers for ages, and they used him to train recruits. He would have done it even if she was swinging around a straw of grass," he brushed her blonde bangs away from her glassy eyes, "Astrid," he said importantly, and she actually stopped sobbing for a while, "It's not your fault. And I'm pretty sure she knew you would never let her down."

She took in a deep breath and looked over his shoulder at the flames. She was far enough from them to become just a glowing dot in the ocean, just a burning star in the endless waters. Alvilda always loved to swim, and Astrid remembered how happy she was when the sea was warm enough in summer and they could jump in, play in the coming waves, crashing against the shore. Just like they were washing against the tips of her shoes now.

"May the Valkyries welcome you and lead you through Odin's great battlefield. May they sing your name with love and fury, so that we might hear it rise from the depths of Valhalla and know that you've taken your rightful place at the table of kings. For a great soul has fallen today. A daughter, a sister, a little star. My best friend," Astrid cited, and then, leaned her head against the soft pebbles, laying down. The air was soothing, and the smell of fire was distant as she blinked at the stars above her. It was like millions of fallen souls staring back at her, glittering with warmth and love. A star fell, and then another one, and she smiled, "The sky fireflies," she said, and Hiccup laid down next to her, cautious not to disturb her.

"You were asleep for almost two days," he informed her, and she sniffled and watched as another one created a fire trace in the sky and disappeared.

"I know," she whispered, and reached into her pocket to pull out a small braid of blonde her. She tangled it around her fingers, and breathed in the salty ocean, "Goodbye, little star," she kissed the hair, and watched the stars, suddenly feeling closer to her sister as a significantly stronger breeze flew around her, carrying her sister's soul to the Valhalla, "May we meet again."

The wind was carried off to the oceans, and Astrid watched the fireflies glimmer around, passing by her and Alvilda's favourite constellation of the wolf. Hiccup never left her side.

After what felt like an hour of just laying around and watching fireflies crossing the skies in random patterns, something returned Astrid back to the world of the living. She turned to face Hiccup, who seemed to be watching her the whole time.

"You said you tried to stop them. You control that Night Fury. Why the Hel didn't you tell them not to attack Berk when everyone you knew was back there?"

His breath seemed to get stuck in his throat, and he shook his head, "Astrid, I don't control the dragons, I don't control Toothless-"

"You did know they were going there, though," she continued, sitting up, power coming back to her, "You knew they were in to attack us, and you did nothing the whole time."

"I thought if I interfered, someone would recognise me-"

"And we can't have that, can we?" she hissed at him, gritting her teeth, "Poor little Hiccup ran away and left everyone fucking behind to deal with their own shit while he had the solution in his damn hands! He left so poor Astrid could spend years consoling his father and trying to put Snotlout in good enough shape not to become the worst Chief ever, and then he returns, and he does nothing because someone might recognise him while Alvilda was fucking pierced through by a damn dragon!" she screamed, her whole body shaking with terrible rage, "You are nothing but a coward. A damn coward who thought living with beasts was better than facing the consequences of his actions."

Without another word, she left again, leaving gaping Hiccup behind her.

Next time, we will get to see a fight between Hiccup and Astrid! Yay!