NorseWorld

A/N: This chapter took far longer than I expected it to, and that, as well as uni work, has made this finale come out far later than I would have liked. As well as this, I have gone back and made minor edits to previous chapters to neaten the story up as a whole. I hope you all enjoy the final outcome, and I would love to hear your thoughts :)


Part 4: The Promise

Broken, crippled from the inside out, he sat there, holding his very heart in his hands. He called and called her name, but there was nothing. Just the cold silence of the darkness dragging her away. A dead weight in his arms, he shook her, hoping to feel her heart beat again, but there was no re-igniting the spark that had been snuffed out. His guiding light, his beacon of hope in this world, she was gone.

Her skin rippled from the gentle patter of his tears, as for the final time, he placed a soft kiss on her lips. He wanted to feel her one more time, but it just left him… empty. Gone was the heat he had grown addicted to, and all that was left was a vacuous cold. Nothing but a broken shell, the macabre reminder of the soul he had lost forever. Even the sirenic blue of her eyes had faded to the dull grey of a fire no longer burning.

The lump wedged in his throat made each short, sharp gasp for air sting, as the vice tightened around his neck. Through choked breaths, every second was agonizing, but it still couldn't stop him as he strained his neck up the sky and screamed a raw shriek of pure pain into the heavens. So loud, that even the Gods themselves could hear it.

He still couldn't truly believe it. This couldn't have happened. Their story had only just began, it couldn't have ended already. There must be another chapter. Another ending. Just… something. Something to make the hurt go away. And even as daylight began to fade and night creeped closer, he refused to let go. It still hadn't settled in, like it was all an illusion, but in his depths, there was a deafening certainty. She was dead, and nothing he could ever do would bring her back.

There was no light at the end of the tunnel. Nothing could make this right, and the guilt clung to him like an inescapable shadow. A torturous cycle of blame, going through all the different scenarios of what he should have said, should have done, how he should have saved her. Anything that would have let him keep him promise. All he wanted was to keep her safe, and he had failed. Failed… her. She was dead, and he had done… nothing.

The self-destructive trance consumed him, taking over, as he lay there clutching the remnants of his crumbled future. She could have healed him, pieced together what had been broken, but now those pieces were as lost to him as she was. She'd got him living, truly living, and now he couldn't live without her. He'd given it all, and now… now he was beyond repair.

Frozen in place, he couldn't stop looking down at her, captive to the truth that their journey had reached its end. It took Toothless shattering the silence with an ear-splitting roar to finally make him look up. Through the watery film in his eyes, he could just make out the dragon's blurred outline in the distance, but after just a moment he immediately cast his eyes back down. Just in case. In case by some miracle, the world could give him one last chance.

But of course, there was no change. No turning back time. No do-overs. And when, with a heavy thump, Toothless dumped the slumped shape of Dagur infront of him, Hiccup understood what he had to do. He had to make a choice, one that would go against everything he'd ever stood for. Every urge ordered one concrete end. He must get true justice for her. Dagur had took her from him. Had killed her for nothing. NOTHING. Now Dagur had to pay.

His joints aching, Hiccup climbed to his feet and as carefully as he could on unsteady legs, he carried her back to the cave. A place so special, so full of memories, and far enough away that he wouldn't have to see her as he shamed the very legacy he had tried to build. Next to Stormfly, where she belonged, he laid her down.

"I will be back for you," he vowed, "so I can send you on your final journey, and so I… so I can say goodbye. You sleep well, milady. Please forgive me."

With one last look at her laying once more under the protective wing of her dragon, Hiccup turned and strode back to the beach, back to Dagur, back to where his vengeance could be claimed. He didn't want to wait, or even think about what it would mean. He just wanted Dagur gone. He needed to know he would never see that face again. Never hear that laugh. Never have that constant reminder of what had happened here.

Pacing over, he found Dagur motionless and at his mercy. Stood over the man that had caused so much pain, so much unnecessary hurt, there was nothing to stop him. Ridding this world of a true monster with one single strike. It would be so easy. Effortless, almost. The sword was calling out to him, singing all the songs he wanted to hear. Tainted melodies, craving blood, demanding swift retribution.

Yet as he reached down, it wasn't the sword that he found himself leaning towards. The spine Astrid had struck with was still lodged in Dagur's back, and in one jagged tug, Hiccup released it from where it had been buried. Without even thinking, his arm was raised, the blood-tipped weapon primed in his hand. Eyes closed, he took a deep breath. He would finish what she had started. It would be over in the blink of an eye.

His hand though, it wouldn't steady, and his boots chained him to the sand. Beads of sweat poured from his brow, never ceasing, and his eyes just wouldn't open. His mind, the final boundary, locked him there, forcing him to actually see. To see the father that had taught him everything he knew. To see the gummy smile of one of the best friends he had ever had. To see a pair of bright blue eyes telling him no.

But then they were gone once again, as the sharp, gravelly grunt of Dagur snapped him back to reality. His eyes opened just in time to see man beneath him arduously flop over onto his back and stare blankly back at him. With more blood than skin visible on Dagur's face, and the barest slit of one eye open, he looked more animal than man. And in that half an eye, Hiccup saw no fear, no remorse, just an unnerving calm.

"Go on, do it! Kill me!" Dagur challenged, staring up at the razor sharp tip of the spine that loomed above him. Hiccup didn't strike, didn't flinch, didn't move a muscle. Only the briefest flash of his eyes to the weapon in his hand shown he'd even heard at all. Still, Dagur continued, undeterred, "You've fooled them all, but not me. I can see through your act. I can see the anger, the pain, the hate in your eyes," he scoffed. "Come on, you coward. KILL ME! I KNOW YOU WANT TO!"

Hiccup masked everything behind a blank slate and clenched teeth. "That's not me," he said sharply.

"This is always how it had to end," Dagur replied flatly. "It's the only way."

"No. I won't end things like this," Hiccup refused.

Dagur turned his head away, responding with a low, ringing laughter as he stared out across the beach. The empty beach. Nothing but sand and the sound of the waves. "Where is she?" He cut back, straining his head up to meet Hiccup. The small flinch was enough to know, and Hiccup's eyes couldn't hide it any longer. "Tell me, where is she, Hiccup?"

"Shut up," Hiccup snapped.

"Come on, you can tell me," Dagur mocked, "where is she?"

"SHUT UP!" Hiccup ordered, shaking the spine sharply downwards.

"Just tell me the truth, brother, where is our beloved Astrid?"

"ENOUGH!" Hiccup roared, slamming his boot down as he pressed the tip of the spine to Dagur's neck. "Don't talk about her. You don't deserve to say her name."

"Ooh, there it is, there's the true Hiccup," Dagur rejoiced, a smile snaking across his lips. "We're the same, you and I. I know you better than you know yourself. Tell me, did she say she loved you? Say that you'd find a way out together? That it would all mean something. Well, it doesn't. This world is a lie. It means nothing. She means nothing. And if I still have to prove that to you, so be it. I will make your precious Astrid pay. I will make her suffer. I will kill her again and again and again, until you learn. There's only one way to stop it. Kill me. Kill me. KILL ME! "

"NEVER!" Hiccup growled, as he clutched the spine with two hands and plunged it down…

The impact was cloaked perfect by the anguished scream that followed. The scream of a man that had been so close to becoming the monster he was fighting against. The man hanging to the last shreds of his resolve. The man who needed to be the person that Astrid had believed in. She wouldn't have wanted this, wouldn't have wanted the hate to corrupt him. And as Hiccup stared at the spine, lodged deep in the sand, he finally let himself breathe. No matter what this place tried to make him, no matter how much Dagur deserved it, he would not cross that line.

He backed a few steps away, holding his arms tight to his chest as it finally registered how near to the edge he had come. How only a few inches to the side would have changed him forever. Dagur was completely silent, frozen in place; Hiccup knew it wasn't over yet. He still wanted to Dagur to suffer, to feel the same loss and emptiness that he was feeling. To be left in pieces and never be able to put it back together. To be alone and have no-one there to turn to. He wanted Dagur to be trapped in that same hole, with no way out, no chance at escaping.

He wanted to make Dagur break, leaving eave the vultures to pick up the pieces, and there was only one way he could do that. When he left this world, Dagur would not be leaving with him; this world would be his prison. Hiccup knew it wouldn't make him feel better, that nothing could truly make up for what had been done, but it was something he needed to do. Composing himself best he could, he headed back, only to be met with a look he thought Dagur was incapable of. Beneath the blood, beneath the perfected scowl, for the first time, there was fear in his eyes.

"Brother?" Dagur called out, his words lacking of even the slightest shred of confidence. "Hiccup, please, I-"

"-I am not your brother. I never will be," Hiccup cut in, but there wasn't even anger behind the words. They rolled off his tongue completely hollow, sad and slow and empty.

"Hiccup, come on. I… I just wanted to have a laugh. Just let loose," Dagur reasoned, "I didn't mean anything by it."

"Really?" Hiccup replied tonelessly.

"I just wanted to give you a taste of this place, show you what it had to offer," Dagur argued, forcing a smile as he attempted to stretch his hand up.

"Why couldn't you have just left me alone?" Hiccup asked, crouching down beside him, the first cracks of emotion breaking through. "I never asked for any of this. I never wanted any of this."

"I had to give you a chance to be free. I had to help you."

"Help me?" Hiccup scoffed dolefully. "You've just made everything worse. It's what you do. You go into people's lives and ruin them. It's why you come to a place like this. Only here can you destroy life and life and not have to pay the penalty. You're a plague. You contaminate everything you touch. Everywhere you go, destruction follows. Now you've done the same to me."

"Come on. It's a game. It's pretend. It's make-believe. How can you still not under-"

"-I UNDERSTAND JUST FINE," Hiccup snapped. "Don't you dare tell me it wasn't real. What I felt… was real. She felt it too. That wasn't pretend. That was true. I needed that. I… I still need that."

"I only did what I had to," Dagur croaked. "You had to learn. You had to be shown the truth."

"You still don't get it, do you?" Hiccup snarled. "YOU TOOK HER FROM ME! She was the only thing I had left, and you took her from me. She was my last chance, my only hope at a future, and you made me watch her die. Do you know how that feels? DO YOU?" A tear ran down his cheek, and he couldn't help it as the dam burst wide open. "You call me your brother. What type of person would do this to someone their brother truly cares about? WHY? Why have you done this to me? What did I ever do to you? What have I done to make you hate me this much?"

Dagur opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out, as if the words got lost halfway down. Every time he tried to answer, all that followed was an ominous emptiness. A cold, erring silence so astray from the victory he had envisioned. He had won, and now he was faced with what his success had brought. Hiccup was now just as broken as he was, and yet they were further apart than ever. Seeing the sombre aftermath in the desolation of Hiccup's eyes, the only thing that Dagur could speak were two whispered words, "I'm sorry."

Hiccup gave no response, not even the slightest shift. The words were just that… words. No truth or honesty behind them. Dagur had his chance to prove his true nature, and he had shown it, this was just another trick. Hiccup didn't need to hear any more of Dagur's lies. Not now, not ever. He had heard enough. Dagur was not worth his time. He only had one day left here; he would spend as much of it as he could with her. No-one would take that from him.

Hiccup signalled Toothless, immediately leaping on the dragon's back. Before there was even time for Dagur to realise, he was gripped in Toothless' claws and hauled into the sky, hanging freely by his arms as his legs dangled into nothingness. There was no screaming, not a sound at all, just the high-pitched whistle as the ground began to fade away. Hiccup didn't care where they went, they just flew as far and as fast as they could. Far enough that Dagur would never be able to reach this part of the park ever again.

Hiccup hoped flying would make it easier, but it just left him numb. Even the skies were left vacant of the freedom he had once relished in. Not even this felt right, not without her by his side. All he could think about was getting back, giving her the funeral she deserved. It took everything for him to keep going, to forget just for the minute, but there was only so far that he could push it.

Away from everything, in the middle of nowhere on the far verges of the park, it was the perfect place to make Dagur's permanent new home. Here there was nothing. No people, nowhere to run, just a whole lot of rock and dirt, and an abundance of time Dagur would have to enjoy it. He would be stuck here, with no-one to speak to, no-one to save him.

"Goodbye, Dagur," Hiccup said flatly, motioned for Toothless to release.

"Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait," Dagur pleaded, only to feel his arms be freed from their vice. He fell, hitting the earth hard and bouncing, before settling into the mud. Face stinging, back in agony, and arms barely able to support himself, he clambered to his feet, only to see the night fury already vanishing into the distance.

"Hiccup. Hiccup. HICCUP!" He screamed in vain, sprinting across the sludgy beach and into the oncoming waves until he was waist deep. "You can't leave me here. Brother, please. BROTHER! Don't do this to me."

His pleas continued, unheard, and he collapsed to his knees. With the water swelling up to his chin, he raked up a fistful of debris from the seafloor and hurled it in the direction of the dragon. The stones fell flat, sinking to the depths, as Dagur watched the dragon and its rider become but a memory. "I'm sorry, Hiccup" he confessed to the setting sun, as he let the ocean consume him. "One day, I hope you'll forgive me."

Hiccup didn't look back, didn't need the closure. He hoped that he would never again have to see Dagur's face, and that the memories of this world would disappear with him. He wanted to bury this week deep, so deep that it would never see the light of day again. He would need to shut Norseworld away, to lock it up so tight that it couldn't reach him, even in his darkest nightmares. He would need to move on, go on as if nothing happened, and maybe, in a decade or two, he could find the heart to smile again.

The return journey felt even longer, but over the course, he finally understood. The pain of losing that person you can't live without, that changes you. Makes you cold. Makes you distant. Makes you unwilling to let anyone in. Exactly how his father used to act. Hiccup couldn't stop the bitter laugh that managed to escape, as the heart-breaking reality dawned on him. In losing the woman he loved, it was finally the first thing he and his dad had in common.

That knowledge only compounded the weight on his chest. If he'd have known, he could have tried to share his father's burdens. Fixed the bond between them. But now it was just another missed opportunity. Another failure, all on him. First his father, then Astrid, maybe he didn't even deserve their love in the first place. Maybe he was doomed to be alone forever.

He was nothing but a passenger as they flew, trapped in his mind to the point that he had no control of where they were going. But soon enough, they landed, back where it all went wrong. Now, everything was so completely calm, as if nothing had ever happened. The waves were shallow and gentle, with only a few scattered boards of wood memorialising the ships that had been lost forever. Everything seemed too clean, too orderly, too… perfect.

As soon as his feet hit the sand, he was running. Something felt off, and a bitter smell hung in the air. Still, he was here for one thing, and one thing only. She was the only thing that mattered and he had left her too long already. As he raced closer and closer to the entrance, he knew what would be waiting for him, but it didn't slow him down. Yet as he finally reached the mouth of the cave, what he found left him completely motionless. It was empty…

She was gone. They were gone. A dragon-sized imprint remained in the dirt, but there was no Stormfly. There was no Astrid. Just a gaping hole and an unrelenting stream of questions. Why are they not here? Where have they gone? Are they alive? He didn't know. He needed to know. If there was any way, any way at all, he had to get her back. He had to believe that future they had planned could still come true.

He rushed into the cave, calling her name, but there was only the darkness and the ringing of his echo. She wasn't here, but she had to be somewhere. There wasn't long left to find her. As fast as he had raced into it, Hiccup sprinted out of the cave and back down to the beach. Toothless was ready, and without a second's hesitation, he had hopped on and they were in the air. They flew, straight and low over the island, as fast as they could go. There was no time to waste.

They scoured every forest, every cave, every peak of the island in record time, but there was no sign of her. There was nothing to say she'd been anywhere close at all, but he continued the search. On Toothless, Hiccup ripped across the seas, tearing from island to island on a blitz pursuit, but never finding a single clue. Night turned into morning, and the morning was fading fast, but still he hunted. Desperate to a degree he never knew he could reach, he didn't sleep, didn't eat. She was all that mattered.

Night-time would be the end of his trip, the end of everything. He could come back, try again, but in that time, he could lose her for good. No, he needed to do this now. There was one place he had yet to check, one place he'd never been. He had vowed he would never go there without her, but he had no other choice. She had to be there. She just had to.

It seemed almost surreal when Helheim's gate loomed before them. This was it, the place she'd been dreaming of all along, and she wasn't even here with him to see it. Hiccup brought them to a standstill, and for a good few minutes, he simply sat there, staring blankly into the white nothingness, with only the sound of Toothless' wings filling the air. Being here, with the promised land so close he could touch it, he realised the painful truth - he couldn't go through.

This was a place solely for the hosts. Not for him. He didn't belong here, and It would be a violation. A perversion of everything he had learned about this world. Whatever answers it could give, he didn't have the right to access them. Dagur was wrong, this world wasn't built for people like him. This was always Astrid's world, built for them, and if she had reached the nest alone, she still would have made it. She would be free.

That slight sliver of hope, knowing there was a chance she'd got out, that she'd fulfilled the potential he saw from the start, that was enough. As long as she was free, he hadn't failed her. This was one secret he didn't need to find out. One secret she had to discover herself, and one day, maybe he could find her again. With one last languishing look into the unknown, the faintest of smiles crossed his lips. Now, at least the week had some meaning.

Norseworld would soon be nothing but history, and on the way back to where it all began, he sat upright, allowing himself the luxury of feeling the air whistle through his hair. A little souvenir from the trip of a lifetime, for soon he would never feel it again. And Back on Berk, when they landed in the same cove they had met, Hiccup had to prepare himself for one final goodbye.

Hiccup climbed off of Toothless' back, and as slowly as he could, he walked around to stand infront of the dragon. No length of time would be long enough, but he had to say farewell. He closed his eyes and reached forward, feeling the dragon's snout press into his palm instantly and it only made him hate himself more. He was going to have to sever this bond, to cut the line and the let the kite fly free, and despite good intentions, it just felt wrong. He shouldn't have to do this. This wasn't how it all should have ended.

He still had his eyes pressed closed, too scared to open them. He didn't want to see those happy, trusting eyes, or that ridiculously infectious attempt at a smile. He couldn't follow through with this if that is what he had to see when he did it. He just couldn't. He had brought the opposites of this world together, achieved so much, and know this was all he had left. His hope and future already in the ground, this was the final piece he had to bury. Then he could leave this world and never come back.

When he finally plucked up the courage, it was worse than he could have imagined. With a playful look in his eyes and a tongue flapping freely, Toothless was bouncing on the spot. There was no way Hiccup could get through this, not without breaking just a little more inside.

"Toothless, thank you for everything you've done but you need to go," Hiccup stated slowly, as he began to back away, only to be met with an inquisitive tilt of the head.

"I'm serious. You need to go. This is over," he continued, but Toothless only giddily followed him. There was no easy way, no gentle let down. He had to get his point across, had to force the dragon to leave, had to break everything he'd built.

"Go!" Hiccup ordered, shooing the dragon away. Toothless cowered back a moment, letting out a wounded warble. His eyes were giant and green, just wanting to know what he'd done wrong, but Hiccup had to follow through. It was the only way. And when Toothless slowly began to advance, he had to make sure the dragon would leave for good.

"GET AWAY! GO! GET OUT OF HERE!" Hiccup yelled, placing both hands on the dragon's snout and shoving him off. Toothless scuttled back further, almost coiling into ball, as he crooned a chilling plea. Praying for it to be a mistake, anything, but there was no reprise. Hiccup marched forward and stood tall, pointing first to the dragon and then to the sky above, as he forced out three final words, "I. SAID. GO!"

Toothless let out a high-pitched mew, and looked back one final time, before he soared into the sky and blended into the night. As Hiccup watched the dark silhouette melt into the stars, he collapsed to his knees, hanging his head. Now he had nothing left. Now he was truly alone. The week ended just as he'd begun it, and now there was only one thing left to do – finally he could go home.

It was a long trudge back. Longer than he remembered it to be. The trees sheltered him, blocking out the desolate night sky, but they were no shield from the biting wind. Here, alone, it prayed on him. Nipping at the surface, freezing skin to the touch and painting every breath ice white in the darkness. There was no fighting it, no countering the cold, not that he wanted to anyway. It was part of him now, it always would be.

Even the sight of Berk's plaza eventually coming within reach didn't bring any sort of relief, it just filled him with the same monotone numbness. Drained, he plodded forward, staring vacantly at the destination. Berk was bathed in a golden tint, a promise of warmth, if only it were torchlight. Still, he was almost there. Each second bringing him closer to the end. He just had to make it through the park's final gauntlet.

Entering the town, there was chaos. Dragons. Vikings. Fire. Lots of fire. Hiccup didn't as much as give it a second thought. He strolled through heedlessly, heading straight for the docks. In the midst of all the madness, he was almost blind to it. The harrowing screams rung out like alarm bells, but were nothing but white noise. The boat was there, waiting to take him away, and there was nothing to stop him.

He followed the path down, taking the blows as they came. Everything ached in one way or the other already, and there was no use in fighting if there was nothing to fight for. The flashes of silver, as stray weapons whizz by. The snaps of red, as sparks light the buildings into raging bonfires. None of it mattered. There was no danger. Nothing to be afraid of. For that, he'd still need to have something left to lose.

The scenes flashed by him, completely abstract, a show he was no longer part of. It was barely a background now, a film set he was walking through at leisure. And away from the centre of the turmoil, its noise just a distant rumble, it grew quiet far too quickly. On the old, rickety pier, he stopped. The boat was a few strides away, he only had to walk those final steps, but he couldn't go any further. He wanted to turn around, look at what he was leaving, what he'd left behind, but he couldn't do that either. So he stood, still and lost, and closed his eyes.

Two worlds, and neither one was right. In neither did he truly belong. He was in a paralysing limbo, a dead end. There was no home to go back to. His home was one memory; with the ocean breeze washing over him, and the blazing heat of Berk at his back, it felt almost real. Like he was flying again, high in the clouds, with warm breath on his neck. That was the only home he'd ever known.

He savoured in in, trying to deceive himself into believing he was actually there. He could picture it so perfectly; even Stormfly was there. He could hear her distinctive squawk as clearly as ever, yet it was far more fierce than he remembered. And it was getting louder. Louder and closer. Too close.

He opened his eyes to a torrent of fire, ducking just in time so only the tips of his hair got singed. Spinning round, he was just able to catch the slightest slight of her before she blended into carnage in the town. Those blue and gold markings he would recognise anywhere. It was Stormfly. She was here. On Berk. That must mean…

He shouldn't think, shouldn't dream, but he couldn't stop it as he rushed after her. From street to street, through collapsed homes and over more corpses than he could count, he followed. A trail of spines and a trail of bodies, with every clue he could found, he pursued the dragon. It all led back to where he had met her a week before – the great hall.

Stormfly was primed and waiting, pacing side-to-side at the bottom of the steps. From across the plaza, Hiccup called her name, but there was no response. He advanced slowly, calling and calling, but still nothing. So he began to shout, louder and louder until the dragon finally snapped her head around to face him. Her eyes narrowed to slits, mouth roaring with an orange glow, it was like she hadn't seen him at all.

She didn't look for long, immediately turning back and firing a short, sharp blast at the great hall. The fire cannoned off the wood, shaking the foundations, and for a few seconds everything went silent. Hiccup tried once more to approach, to get in range to calm her, but he didn't get the chance. Stormfly fired again, hitting the giant doors with a weighty thump, and this time, they swung wide open…

From below, the first thing Hiccup saw was the shining glint of an axe. A two-headed axe. Then came the same shining curls of blonde. Wearing the same determination he admired so much about her, she emerged from the darkness. She was here. Astrid was here. And she was as beautiful as the first time he had seen her.

As much as he wanted to, there was no time to stand and marvel, before Stormfly fired again. This time, at Astrid. She quickly evaded, somersault diving under the blast before sprinting straight for the dragon. Both hands clasped around the axe, she held it high above her head as she leapt from the top of the steps. It all happened so quickly, Hiccup had no time to react. And as she landed, striking down, her blade sliced through scale, painting the tip of the blade red.

Stormfly let out a pained squeal, blood rolling down her chin, before fighting back with everything she could. Teeth, talons, projectile spines and all, there was no restraint. A successful slash caught Astrid in the neck, opening that closed wound once more, but still she fought on. A war of attrition, each strike fuelling the next until there would only be one party was left standing, and all Hiccup could do was watch on. He had to know if there was any going back.

The fighting raged on, both sides taking hits. Stormfly continued to press, snapping at Astrid, pushing her back. A swipe of the dragon's tail swept her off her feet, and only with the handle of her axe could she hold back the onslaught. She held her ground, but the overbearing weight was breaking her hold. Her weapon was shaking, cracking into splinters as the dragon gnawed through it. She couldn't hold it much longer.

Fate seemed set, but she was too stubborn to give up. If the dragon wanted her, it would get her. With her boot, she struck a weighty blow, connecting right where her axe had first cut. With a yelp, Stormfly bounced back, taking off into the sky. It gave Astrid just enough time to scramble to her feet and prepare, as soon enough Stormfly was heading straight back for her.

The dragon led with a few spines, and Astrid evaded them all with precision. She wouldn't hide, wouldn't cower. She kept her head high, even as the dragon dove in, mouth aflame. There was only one option left, one way to survive this. She waited, steadying herself until the final moment. And when it finally came close enough, she threw her axe, as straight and fast as she could.

Hiccup only saw the briefest glimpses as it span through the air, the slightest flickers of light as it blended in with the stars. Then there was nothing. Every now and then he would catch its flight, but it disappeared as quickly as a deathly silence. Between the smoke and the ash, nothing was certain. Until he heard the single, strangled screech.

Stormfly dropped like a stone, slamming to the ground. There she lay, motionless, the blade lodged straight between her eyes. Astrid advanced, crouching infront of the dragon, before tearing the weapon free in one jagged tug. And as she span the handle within her fingers, there was more than the slightest hint of a smile on her face.

Her axe back in hand, she turned to find her next target, only to find her path blocked. With the bile stinging his throat, Hiccup gingerly began to approach. He stepped forward, staring deep into her eyes. They were cold, angry, without a shred of hope to be found. They were glaring back at him, but they were empty. Hollow. Unreadable. In them, he was nothing.

It was the final crack, breaking down the lie he had been clinging to. This wasn't the Astrid he'd fell in love with. Just a husk, a shadow of the girl he knew. His Astrid had died back on that beach, and this was nothing but a stranger. So close he could touch her, but still so far out of reach. Her true nature was lost, buried in the sand, but he had find his way back to it. She was in there somewhere.

"Astrid," he spoke softly. "Astrid, it's me. It's Hiccup." He came closer, but she stared back with not a single emotion showing. He focused on her, only her, as he closed the distance further. She made no movement, and even within a breath's reach, she remained completely still.

"You know me, Astrid," he continued, taking her hand. "After everything we've been through, I know that you know me. Think about Toothless. Think about Stormfly. All the adventures we went on together. Please remember. Come back to me. I need you, milady."

Her expression remained flat, unmoved, as she ripped her hand away. "I don't know you. I've never seen you before. And the next time you call me milady, you'll lose your tongue."

"Astrid, please. Think for yourself. This isn't you. Not the real you. You don't have to do this."

"This is me. It's who I've always been," she protested, shaking her head forcibly.

She tried to rush past him, but he caught her, spinning her back to face him until her forehead was almost touching his. "You told me that of all the lives you've lived, ours was the only one you wanted to remember. I need you to remember it. Please, please remember."

"I-I don't. I-I can't, I-"

"Just give me a sign," he pleaded, cupping her cheek. "Something to fight for. Something to believe in. Something to let me know that a part of you still wants what we were so close to. There will always be a Hiccup and Astrid. I love you. I won't stop loving you. Please, just give me a sign that you are still fighting for us as well."

For a few seconds, there was nothing, until slowly she turned her head. One look down to the dragon she had just felled. One look at the blood-soaked axe in her hand. Then she was staring back into the swimming green of his eyes. He could see the faintest flickers, the subtlest shifts, the lines drawing their way across her forehead. Just for a moment, the ice began to thaw, and out escaped a single tear.

"I'm so sorry," she snivelled, the axe falling form her hand. Turning away, she took a few steps, then a few more, until she was almost running.

"Astrid, wait!" He called after her. She took a few staggered strides, before stalling to a halt. Head bowed, she slowly turned back to face him.

"I'm the monster, Hiccup. That's who I am. And even you can't catch me this time."

In an instant, she was gone. Before he could say a word, before he could follow, she had flown, cloaked by the wreckage and the smoke. Hiccup stood alone, in the middle of the plaza, with fires raging all around. There was no time left to search. He had to go. This journey was over.

But as he stepped back on the boat, he did so with a sense of hope, not loss. For just as he carried her with him, she carried a part of him deep inside. He had reached it once, he would do it again. And as the boat left the shores of Norseworld, he held his head high and stood firm. This wasn't the end, but merely the start. He would be back, and he would fulfil his promise. One day he would free her from this place for good.

THE END


A/N: And there it is, the end of Norseworld season 1. Not exactly a happy ending, but with an optimistic look forward. With the way I've built this world, it is perfect to continue the story in a future installment. I do have a brief outline for a sequel, one building things I set up in this story, and I really want to start writing it. With work and everything, it may be a while, but I will try and start it when I get time. Let me know if you want to see a season 2, and I'll answer any questions you still have.