A/N – This would have been up ten minutes sooner but Mr. Phone decided he wanted to be senile this morning. But, here it is! Thanks for enjoying this so much, team, and that's for all the positive (and questionable) feedback! You're all awesome! Feel the virtual hug.

X

Chapter 10

The first thing Hiccup saw was Astrid. She stood at the bedside, looking down at him. He tried to speak her name but no coherent words came out of his mouth.

"The cup," the brown-haired woman said.

Astrid reached around her and picked up the clay cup. She leaned forward and held the cup to Hiccup's lips. The same pungent, bittersweet aroma charmed his senses. He drank it all, and licked the last drop from the cup's rim.

The nausea faded. The pain subsided. The shaking world calmed.

Everything hurt. It felt like he'd fallen off of Toothless and smacked flat on the ground, shattering every bone in his body.

"Astrid," he managed to gasp.

"Hiccup," she said, leaned over him. Water lined her eyes. "I'm sorry."

It took a moment for him to grasp the heft in her words. Astrid's presence changed things. This strange place. The unknown people. The bittersweet drink they insisted he take. It all made sense.

Blood. He drank blood. He'd craved it from the first whiff. His body needed it, yearned for it, desperately needed it. This body of his, the one that no longer felt like his own, quaked in pain, had been exposed.

He remembered it. Astrid attacked him in a frenzy, fangs bared. He still felt the ghost of her fangs pressing against his neck, sinking into his skin.

He ran his tongue along his teeth. Two teeth elongated over the others, sticking out, and ended in points. Fangs.

"You…" he gasped, eyes on Astrid.

She covered her mouth. A tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm sorry."

Astrid collapsed onto the bed and grabbed onto the sheets, hugging herself onto his middle. Hiccup didn't know what he would have done had his hands been free. He wanted to shove her away for what she'd done. He wanted to comfort her, to stop her crying. The restraints held him from either course of action and he didn't find out which he would have chosen.

"You'll be alright," said the brown-haired woman to Hiccup. "You're still adjusting."

The other woman put her hands on Astrid's shoulders. She didn't pull her away. Astrid stood on her own.

"Astrid, fetch me a refill," she said, handing Astrid the empty cup.

Astrid nodded, and without looking back at Hiccup she left the room. He heard her footsteps on a stone floor, a door, and those steps continued on the other side. He listened until he heard them no longer.

The brown-haired woman, a vampire he realized, stood at the end of his bed.

Without looking at him, she said, "I remember having wild dreams when I turned. I still have them once in a while. They were so vivid and beautiful."

Hiccup kept his stare on the woman. He felt the pull of sleep again, urging him back into the void of dreams. Each time he tried to get closer to the mountains but they stayed where they were, as if they'd been painted on the sky.

He could still smell the blood on his lips.

A vampire. The word still sounded as strange as it had. He was one of them. He was a vampire.

How would his father react? How would the others react? They'd been so ready to throw Astrid to the stake and burn her for what she was. Would they feel the same about him? He was still himself, right? Astrid said the turning changes things. How much would be different?

How long had it been since he flew away from the Edge? Weeks, it felt like. The others would assume him dead, or be searching. Berk would know by now. His father would be in a state.

Hiccup sighed, ready to fall back into the void of thoughtlessness. He closed his eyes to better find it, or let it find him.

Toothless.

At once his eyes opened. He tried to sit up. The restraints held him down. He pulled against them; the leather whined and creaked.

"Calm down," the brown-haired vampire said. She came to the bedside and laid a hand on his chest.

"My dragon," he gasped.

"Toothless?"

Hiccup paused, and gazed at the woman, silently demanding an answer. "The hunters…they…"

"They don't have him anymore," she said. "He's here, the Night Fury."

"Let me see him."

"You're not ready," she said. "He is fine and being taken care of. Don't you worry about him. When you are well enough, you will see him. But not before I say you're ready. Understand?"

Hiccup leaned back into the bed.

What to do? Once again he was at the mercy of vampires.

X

"You're making remarkable progress," the brown-haired vampire, who introduced herself as Mamie, said to Hiccup.

He stood for the first time since he'd woken up in the vampire's care. His body still ached. He didn't complain. He needed to make sure Toothless was alright.

He heard footsteps in the corridor outside, not an unusual sound, but this time the steps stopped at the door. The door opened and he caught the whiff of her on the air before she saw her.

"You wanted to see me?" Astrid asked, walking inside. She'd changed clothes, instead of what she borrowed from Heather she wore a gray tunic and pants. She still wore Heather's boots.

"I think he's ready to leave the nest," Mamie said.

Astrid looked at Hiccup and caught his stare. She looked back to Mamie. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Mamie nodded. "Are you not happy about it?"

"No, no, I'm ecstatic," Astrid said quickly. "What do you need me do to?"

"I don't know, he's your charge." Mamie shrugged.

"Take me to Toothless," Hiccup demanded.

Astrid stared at him for a moment, unsure, and then nodded. "Okay."

Astrid stepped back into the corridor and Hiccup didn't want to know if he should follow, he did anyway.

He didn't remember anything between Viggo's arena and waking up here. They were north, he assumed, wherever Astrid called 'home.' The stone walls of the corridor rose up on either side, arching above. Crystals embedded in the stone let out a ghostly light.

"What are those?" he asked, pointing up at the ceiling.

"They call them sun stones," Astrid said. "I'm not sure what exactly they are. They give off light."

"Are we underground?" he asked. Everything about this strange place said so: the darkness, the chill air, the silence.

Astrid nodded. "This is where the vampires have lived for thousands of years. It's underneath the ice in the north."

"Underneath the ice?" Hiccup asked. He looked up at the ceiling and found it hard to think that a layer of ice sheltered them.

Astrid paused in the corridor. "Hiccup, I'm really sorry about all of this. I didn't mean…I didn't mean for this to happen."

She spoke with sincerity. He knew, somehow, that it hadn't been her fault. Viggo had pushed her until she wasn't herself, and let her loose on him.

"It doesn't matter," he said, not wanting to think about it anymore. "It's done. We can count the things that we could have done different, but it doesn't matter what we should have or could have done. We're here. Let's just…keep going."

"Okay," she nodded.

She led him down the corridor, down a flight of wide stairs, and along corridors lit with the strange crystals. They passed other vampires, none of which spoke, all of which stared.

"You're new," Astrid explained after a while. She glanced over her shoulder at him. "They don't know what to think about you yet. I don't know if they know what to think about me, yet. Vampires are used to life happening slowly."

"Does this mean I have to live here?" Hiccup asked.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "You don't have to do anything. You can, if you'd like. You can go out and come back at any time. This isn't a prison. It's a refuge. It's a place where we can go and not be afraid of waking up with someone trying to stab a wooden stake through the heart."

"Does that work?" Hiccup asked.

"What do you think?" Astrid turned around to look at him, walking backward. "Anyone that got stabbed with a wooden stake through the heart would die."

"How you feel about garlic?"

"It's alright. If you mean if it will kill me, no it won't. I'm not sure where that rumor came from."

"Anything about being a vampire I should know immediately?" Hiccup asked. "Instant deaths? Allergies?"

Astrid hesitated, slowing down to think. "Not that I can think of. I've told you about sunlight. You need to eat every night or you'll start to get woozy. Um…you don't have to worry about freezing to death anymore. Burning is another matter. We can't handle the heat."

"Which makes the Artic a perfect home," he said.

"That," Astrid said, "and that no one comes up here."

Astrid climbed down another staircase, this one smaller, and into a box of a room compared to the grand castle elsewhere. Astrid led him through a corridor and into a wide room that dropped out into a dark underground lake, framed by ice. Dozens of dragons, some Hiccup had never seen, lounged about the large space.

Toothless spotted Hiccup immediately and popped away from his new friends. He ran to Hiccup, tongue lulling, and ran around him. He nuzzled Hiccup's chest.

"Toothless," Hiccup said, worry for the dragon waning. "I'm so glad to see you, too, bud."

Toothless sniffed him, head to foot, circled him, and blew into his hair. He wore a quizzical expression, ears perked, eyes wide.

"Yeah," Hiccup nodded. "I know. It's different."

"He can smell it on you," Astrid said. "All dragons can."

"That's how he knew what you were before I did," Hiccup said.

Astrid nodded. "They're not afraid of us as people are. I don't know why."

Hiccup hugged Toothless again. His attention traveled over to the other dragons in the cavern, to a large dragon that blended so well with the darkness that Hiccup had missed it the first time. The large dragon, the size of a large boulder, had glaring red eyes and a nightmarish blue skin, underneath which thick red veins spread.

"What is that?" Hiccup asked.

"That would be Bloodletter," Astrid said. "He's been here longer than any of us. "According to legend, his bite made the first vampire. It's bogus because he doesn't have teeth or venom. He's a water dragon. He is also…"

"Don't tell me," Hiccup said, nausea returning.

"A renewable source of blood," she finished.

His stomach churned. "Is that what I drank?"

"Yes," she nodded. "You'd rather it be human?"

"No," Hiccup said. "It'd rather not have to drink it at all."

"As would I," she said. "But it is what it is. He gives freely and we don't complain. This way we don't have to keep humans in a closet somewhere. Some vampires, do."

"Keep people in closets?"

"As slaves," Astrid said. "We don't here."

Hiccup swallowed, the question burning. "Have you drank human blood?"

She blinked at him. "Once."

"Oh, right," Hiccup said. He reached a hand to his neck. He remembered.

"If it matters," Astrid said, hands twisting together, "yours tasted much better."

He shuddered. Toothless returned to where the other dragons lounged beside a fish bowl.

"He'll be safe down here," Astrid said.

"How did he get down here?"

"Through the castle," she said. "The same way that we did. There's a cave that goes through the water, but it's dark and cold and filled with water."

Hiccup watched Toothless for a long time. He ate several fish and returned to a spot on the smooth stone floor and lounged with the other dragons. None of them looked in distress. If the vampires were friends of dragons, they couldn't be all bad.

"They've got a room made up for you," Astrid said after a while. "It's not much, but you can fix it up however you like. It's down the hall from mine, so if you need anything, you know where to find me."

She started back toward the castle and Hiccup followed. The went back the way they'd come and Hiccup tried his best to memorize each turn.

"It's a maze," she said after several corridors. "I still get lost every now and then."

The came to a corridor lined with identical wooden doors. She stopped outside one and put her hand on the door. "This is my room." She led him down to the next door. "This is yours."

She turned the old handle and led him inside. A simple bed had been made up in wool blankets and a fur. A wooden shield hung on the wall with a symbol that looked vaguely familiar.

"Where did you get this?" he asked.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "We trade when we can, and we'll bring back all sorts of things from traveling. I guess they hoped it would feel more like home than a blank wall."

Hiccup walked the space of his room. "It's bigger than my old room."

He sat on the bed and ran his hand over the soft fur. He saw the small blue veins on the inside of his wrist. He pushed his finger down on one of them and felt the pulse underneath. Slow, but still there.

"Do I still have blood?"

"Of course," Astrid said. "It won't satisfy, but it's there. Vampire blood is different."

"Do…vampires drink from other vampires?" He asked it as an innocent question, but the blush on her face shocked him. "Is that a bad question?"

"No, no, it's just…I guess it's better to ask me that someone else," she said with a nervous chuckle.

"Why?"

"Well…it's just that…when vampires drink from other vampires," she paused, words stuttering. She inhaled to speak, but someone else walked into the room, the man that Hiccup had seen when he'd woken up.

"It's a show of affection," he said. "Like during sex. We bite."

Astrid's face burned. "Yes. Thank you, Eret."

Eret shrugged. "See? They should have put me in charge of him. I can answer the difficult questions."

Astrid glared.

Eret continued, "Humans kiss or hold hands, which vampires do as well, but we also bite. It's one of those intimate actions."

"How is biting each other intimate?" Hiccup asked.

"How is sticking your dick in something intimate?" Eret asked back. "Same principle. You like it, you stick something in it, whether it be fangs or a dick."

"Thank you, Eret," Astrid said louder. "I'll send him to you if we have any other difficult questions."

"Anytime," Eret said to Astrid, and winked at Hiccup before he left.

Astrid let out a sigh. "That was Eret."

"Is he your…?"

"No," Astrid said before Hiccup could finish. "Eret's a friend. He…helped me out when I was young. Looked out for me. He's like a brother, or a cousin. He's family."

"Am I family now?"

She nodded. "Like it or not. We're family."

X

Hiccup stood in a green plain, far from the ocean, and not any closer to the mountains. The ground beneath his feet rumbled and before the sky turned red, he woke with a burning in his stomach. It gnawed on the inside of his stomach. He tried to sit up in his bed but couldn't. He fell out of the blankets and onto the floor.

"Hiccup?" The door to his room opened. Astrid rushed inside, dressed in her pajamas, a simple tunic. Her bare legs knelt down beside him and she grabbed his shoulders, turning him over.

His entire body shook violently, contorting him hands and locking his knees.

"What's wrong?" Eret appeared, shirtless, wearing nothing but a pair of pants.

"He's hungry," Astrid cried out to him.

Eret vanished.

"It'll be alright," Astrid said to Hiccup, pulling him onto her lap, hugging his head close to her.

He could smell her, a combination of odors that made her. Underneath, the blood pumped through her body. He could feel it under her skin. He could feel her pulse.

Eret reappeared in the doorway with a cup in his hand. He knelt down beside Astrid and handed it to her.

"Hiccup, drink," she said, and pressed the cup of warm blood against his lips.

He drank, without breathing, until the cup was empty. Astrid held it for him, tilting it when she needed to. Hiccup reached up to it with his shaking hands and held it, his hands closed over hers. She no longer felt cold.

The rampant hunger subsided. Eret stood and walked out of the room without a word. Astrid stayed, holding Hiccup against her. She pressed her chin against his temple and he made no move to push her away. The feeling returned to his limbs and he grabbed onto her, holding her as close as she held him.

After the episode passed, Astrid helped him to his feet.

"What the hell was that?" Hiccup demanded.

"You didn't eat enough at dinner," she said.

She wiped a stray drop of blood from the corner of his mouth. Hiccup watched her hand move away from him, but he reached out and grabbed her wrist. She gasped, more of surprise than pain. He held the drop of red with in his sight. He couldn't explain the desire he felt, the urge, for more. He brought Astrid's hand to his mouth and closed his mouth around the bloody finger. He licked it clean.

Astrid stood, wide-eyed, watching him.

He released his hand and she pulled it back to herself. He understood then, what Eret had said by 'affection.' He knew he had gone into unknown territory by licking her finger. He had pushed the bounds into something more intimate that he understood.

Hiccup stepped toward her, closer than he had been, close enough to feel her breath on his lips. He leaned in but did not kiss her. Instead he leaned into her neck, where her pulse beat just below his lips.

Astrid gasped and grabbed him by the shoulders. She pushed him away and took several steps away.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"You're feeling the high of a late feeding," Astrid hand, hand on her neck. "You need rest."

"Astrid," he called, but she was already through his door.