Hello! Here's another one-shot! I may actually make this a two-shot, because this is going to be dark...and sad. Consider yourself warned. Anyway, please review and request! Enjoy! I'm going to go ahead and give this a T rating. I made this really dark and brutal. I'm sorry for any emotions that I may cause. I will end this happily.
Chapter 7: This Is It
Astrid's P.O.V
Freezing to death
Cold. All I could feel was the cold hard stone that my weak body laid on. I looked up at the cold stone ceiling that dripped rain water from the down pour outside. My armor was gone, my pants ripped off to the knees and my shirt ripped at the stomach and sleeves.
Weakness
Two weeks. I think. I've lost count. I haven't seen the sun. I've started counting other things. Bruises. Guards. Escape attempts. But now I counted the ways I could die. The list grew with everyday. Every interrogation. Every beating.
Starvation
My stomach no longer gave little grumbles in hunger, but now just left a faint ache underneath the layers of cuts, burns, and bruises.
Infection
My ankle throbbed. It was clearly sprained. It was red and swollen, causing me to collapse with pain if I put weight on it. It was the price to pay for repeating the same words with every question. "My name is Astrid. I am a dragon rider. I will tell you nothing more."
Bleed to death
The large gash on my side hurt the most. It's been slowly bleeding for the last two days. It was my punishment for failing to answer questions once again.
My groan echoed the hallways as I tried to turn over. The chains covering my bloody hands scraped against the ground creating a small spark.
Footsteps. 'No. No not again. Please not again.' Two guards came to the cell door.
"You ready to give up brat?"
"Not on my life." I sneered back, trying my best to stand. I winced in pain. They laughed.
"Looks like it is on your life." They opened the door and dragged me down the hallway. I tried to pull and kick and elbow, but it was no use. With a rough shove, they threw me into a dimly lit room. I collapsed to the floor, my vision to disoriented from the multiple concussions that I probably had.
One of them forced me up, pinning my arms against a beam and tightly tying them. My breath felt heavy, as my chest heaved for air. My head pounded. My ankle screamed in pain as I did my best to stand. They wouldn't break me.
"Let's try again today shall we?" The sinister voice came from behind. Krogan. He went around and me in the front. He gently placed his hand underneath my chin and tilted my head up. I threw him a dirty glare.
"Now Astrid. We know that you are the key to taking down the riders. Why don't you tell us how?" I didn't say anything.
"Hmm. Let's go back. You and your partner in battle, Hiccup? He tells you all his plans, I assume. I'm sure he tells you everything. You are his best friend. And... his betrothed. My head shot up. 'How did he know? If that son of a half-troll, gods forsaken mutton head touched my Hiccup, I'd kill him. I'd watch him die a slow and agonizing death. If he-'
"Ah. That got your attention. Tell us everything and I will let you go live out your days with your husband to be. Of course... I can't say the same for your friends... or your dragons, but at least you will be together. Love conquers all as they say."
My eyes narrowed and I clenched my hands into tight fists. He came closer.
"if you don't... I will find him... and force you to watch him die!" I shoved the painful vision to the back of my brain. His face was only inches from mine.
I stood up tall, my head held up, my chest out and my knees straight. I gathered a mixture of saliva and blood in my mouth... and spit on him.
He jumped back in surprise and wiped it from his eyes. I smirked. They weren't going to break me.
"Why you little-" I didn't hear the last words. I was out cold. The last feeling I had was a painful smack to the jaw. Then, I was gone.
...
"Astrid? What are you doing here?" I stepped back from his hut entrance. It was freezing in the middle of the clear, starry night.
"I Uh... just had to check on you... I was uh-" I didn't finish as Hiccup pulled me in and closed the door. He nodded. He knew what I was going to say. He got the nightmares too. Ones where he's lost the war. Ones where he's lost me. He pulled me to his chest and wrapped his arms around me in a warm embrace. We stood there like that for a while, when questions suddenly rushed into my thoughts. I pulled away.
"Why are you up so late?"
"Same reason." I nodded.
"Its all over now." We spoke at the same time. He chuckled.
"Want to play a game of cards? Get our minds off... well, you know." I nodded, taking his hand already pulling up the stairs. We sat on his bed and quietly played.
By the end of the game I was laying in his pillows and dozing with each turn. He chuckled slightly at me and leaned over me to push hair behind my ear. I smiled at him. He didn't move. With a swift movement I kissed him. He took a second to react, but once he did, he wrapped his hands around waist. My hands went up around his neck, and slowly he sunk down onto the bed.
We parted and laughed softly, our noses so close that they almost touched.
"Can we just stay here forever?" I whispered. He smiled and kissed the tip of nose.
"I wish." Hiccup wrapped his arms around me, and I did the same as I curled into his chest and he rested his chin on my head. I sighed contently. The warmth and love between the two of us at that moment was almost overwhelming. I wanted to stay ther forever. To wake up the next morning with him... that sounded wonderful.
...
My head shrieked as I slowly opened my eyes. My face was warm. Blood. And what I realized was tears. The dream seemed so real. It was real.
It had happened the day before I was taken. It was the last I saw of Hiccup. Hiccup.
I couldn't take it anymore. The pain. All of it.i jumped to my feet. The gash my side reopening and my ankle collapsing. Tears poured out of my eyes stinging my cheeks and the burn across my face. I launched forward and screamed. I pounded the wall and cursed every swear word I knew. My body shook with pain and sobs. I screamed again. With my good leg, I kicked the wall.
The overbearing pressure on my ankle made me fall to the ground with a sharp thud. 'The fearless Astrid Hofferson doesn't cry!' Well I wasn't Astrid anymore. I was just a person dying in a moldy cell. They had broken me.
The tears were gone. Now it was just me and my thoughts. I could feel each sense go. First the taste of blood left my mouth, then the musty rotting smells left my nose. My breathing became delicate.
The feeling of the cold, hard ground left as a warm, welcoming sensation overcame me. If I had the strength, I would have smiled.
My vision slowly became dark until the world became an eternal night. Without a star visible in the night sky.
But Hiccup somehow appeared in the darkness. It wasn't real, I knew that. I tried to reach for him. I knew I couldn't. I tried to tell him the one thing I never did. 'I love you.' The world faded.
As my hearing went, I heard the oddly familiar sound of a plasma blast.
Okay... so that was the hardest one-shot I've by far have had to write. I stopped several times because my heart couldn't take it. I hope it turned out alright. The feels though! I will post another shot about this in a couple days. I didn't kill Astrid and there will be a happy ending. Please request and review, otherwise you are going to get a whole lot more of this angst, morbid stuff. Anyway, until next time,
-Daisy
