Hi guys!

Woah! I'm so glad to come back with a new chapter! The end is near! Only two more chapters to go! They'll be post very soon cause as I'm going to Annecy, I'm translating the chapters whith megtoons to give my strory translated to Dean DeBlois!

So that's good for you guys, cause you'll finally how I decided to ended this story so many years ago (hopefully before the trailers comes xD)…

I want to send a big thank you to wolfie-dragon-rider and chiefhiccstrid who corrected it! Thank you a lot guys!

Now I hope this chapter will please you!

EDIT : Whosthatgal improved it! ;)

"And if all goes well, Hiccup will be saved," I said, confident.

I'd told them my plan; it was up to them now to decide to follow me or not.

"Your plan sounds good, Astrid, but I have a question: how do you plan on getting the plans for the Night Fury tail?" Gobber asked.

"I'll manage," I said icily.

I knew it would take some time, but I would get there, I would find it, for Hiccup. The twins—as per usual—looked visibly confused about the plan, especially Tuffnut.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"So there's one thing I don't get about your plan!" he said. "The thing about the tailfin, so that Toothless can fly on his own and go find Hiccup and all that, okay… but why send Toothless, when he's the only dragon that can't fly on his own? That sounds… kinda dumb."

I stepped toward him, glaring at him all the while, and didn't speak until I drew level with him.

"Toothless is the only one capable of bringing him back," I said dryly.

Tuffnut threw his hands in the air, admitting defeat.

"Okay, great—who's with me?"

Everyone raised their fists proudly, signalling their agreement.

"That's more like it."

...

It had been a month now since Hiccup was captured by Drago, a month since I'd heard any word from him, a month that we'd been apart, a month of missing him—a month I'd been searching for the plans for the automatic tailfin for his dragon. And still, nothing. I couldn't believe how much time had passed without him.

I found myself in the forge, leaning my head on Hiccup's desk. I had looked everywhere—in absolutely every nook and cranny I could find, and I'd still come up empty-handed. So I stayed there, mulling over all of this, alone in Hiccup's old refuge—right up until I heard a knock on the door. I lifted my head—it was Gobber.

"Astrid," he said, shaking his head.

"Hmm?"

"It's late…you should go get some rest, you've spent all day searching again today. Come on."

He offered me his hand, and I took it. How could I explain that this place was the only link with Hiccup I still had? This was the only place that brought me any comfort. At home, I had nightmares, terrible nightmares. Every night since Hiccup's capture I awoke in a cold sweat, panicked, and the nightmares would start right up again—but how could I say that to Gobber? I couldn't. He was worried enough about me as it was.

He walked me home, and I gave him a grateful hug goodbye.

"Thanks, Gobber," I whispered.

I pushed open the heavy door to our hut and stepped inside, without making a sound. Valka came back in her old house since I was alone. She was sleeping in our room—formerly Stoick's—while I had decided to spend my nights in Hiccup's old bedroom, where I could feel his unique presence. Erik was lodging in Valka's small hut. I headed upstairs, being careful not to wake her, and I threw myself across the bed. And then, I cried. Days' worth of accumulated pressure came out of me like this every night now, followed by my nightmares. I wasn't used to crying, but Hiccup's absence had changed everything.

"No!" I screamed.

I was panting—all lost. Overwhelmed, I swept my gaze around the room—Hiccup's room. I ended up calming myself and gently replaced my head on the pillow. I drew the blanket close to me in order to smell it—Hiccup's scent still emanated from the fabric. I curled up, tightening the thick blankets against me, and went back to sleep.

When I opened my eyes, the sun was all there, so the morning was well underway… I scolded myself for waking up so late. I jumped out of bed and dressed quickly, then I left the hut without having breakfast. Toothless and Stormfly were waiting for me outside to do their morning flight. So I climbed Toothless' back and placed my foot on the pedal to handle his tail fin. Hiccup had shown it to me so many times that now I knew exactly how to make it work. We took off—followed by Stormfly—and we went for a flight.

Flying without Hiccup, it wasn't the same… Before, whenever we went for a flight, we always had new adventures, we always tried things we'd never tried before—we both liked he wasn't there and days were monotonous. It was like I was reliving the same day all over again and I couldn't break free from this vicious circle. Without Hiccup, my life had no sense, my world revolved around him and him only.

We'd been flying for almost a quarter of an hour—it was time to get back, especially since it was getting cloudy. I made Toothless lean to the left to head towards Berk, and we got back to the village. We landed and I barely had the time to put a foot on the ground before the night fury was already on his way to Valka's hut—where Erik was now—and Lifa too. I followed him in a hurry to greet Erik and his dragon—closely followed by Stormfly. But when we reached the hut, Lifa was nowhere to be found. Erik was standing before the doorstep, a smile in the corner of his lips.

"What is going on? Where's Lifa?" I asked.

"She left with her eggs in the isle's heights, it's time…"

"What do you mean? She's about to have her babies? Right now?" I said, more and more surprised.

"Night furies are very special, you know," Erik said. "Unlike other dragons, their eggs don't explode. They lay the eggs right after mating, and the babies lay dormant until there's a powerful enough storm… like today. They must be struck by lightning to hatch."

"Really? Lightning?! I guess that...makes sense… Well, I think I'll have to ride Toothless up there then! See you later!"

Glad these eggs don't explode… it's one less problem to solve! So I took off with Toothless—looking for Lifa—beneath the storm. With the rain coming down in torrents like this, I could barely see anything. Even Stormfly had chosen to not come.

Toothless finally used his plasma wave to locate Lifa's presence, and we set off at full speed towards one of Berk's peaks. We landed near the female night fury and I let Toothless join her. His protective side—that he'd shown toward Hiccup for so long—was coming out now, in all its glory, with his family that was just about to be formed. Rain and wind were blustering all around me, I was soaking wet, but this scene made me so happy that I didn't care.

Suddenly, the thunder rolled just overhead, and a few seconds later lightning struck the three eggs at once. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Three small night furies came out of the eggs and their parents licked them clean. They were adorable, and I couldn't believe I had the chance to be a part of this. Toothless seemed so happy… He raised his head towards me and I smiled at him, seized with emotion. It was at this very moment he realized he missed his master terribly, because he wasn't there—next to me.

...

Two months had passed since Hiccup had gone. The night fury babies had all grown up, they were flying with their parents now. As for me, I still had hope, I had found one of Toothless' auto-tail plans—it was a good start. So I was in the forge, trying to decipher Hiccup's plan to know what I needed to built the tail.

"Twenty tons of steel… Uh… no, twenty kilos! Twenty kilos of steel!" I exclaimed. "I'm not gonna make it…" I sighed, head in hands, my arms leaning on a table.

I went back to my difficult deciphering when I suddenly heard voices raising from the centre of the village. I jumped out of my chair and rushed towards the sound of Berkians cheering. A young woman with braided ebony hair climbed down from her razorwhip to greet me.

"Astrid!" she cried, running into my arms.

"Heather? What are you doing here?" I asked, disconcerted.

"Well, I came to see you and the gang!" she exclaimed.

"You're not in conflict with someone at the moment?" I asked.

"And no, my last conflicts came to an end weeks ago already! So I'm on sort of vacation, I guess? That's why I came—to say hello!"

"You always have a home here, Heather. You can stay as long as you want."

"Thank you Astrid, that's very kind of you. Anyway, everything's going great on Berk, I assume? I didn't see the gang running up to meet me… Where did they all go?" she asked, jokingly, but with a worried look in her eyes nevertheless.

"Uh… Follow me to the forge, would you? I've got one or two things to tell you…"

So she followed me to the forge. I invited her to grab a chair and sat down next to her by my working table. I took her hand.

"Heather, what I'm going to say is hard to hear so—"

"Astrid, what is it? You're scaring me…"

I took a deep breath.

"Hiccup is being held hostage by Drago Bludvist."

Her face crumbled and she put her hand over her mouth.

"What? But how?" she said, shocked.

"We both got captured, but Drago wanted Hiccup for himself and Hiccup refused to go with him so Drago said if he disobeyed him, he'd come after me…"

"So Hiccup stayed to protect you… It's so him… But what are you waiting for to go find him?"

"We can't, Gobber and Valka made a deal to save me from Drago's men. And anyway, we wouldn't stand a chance, we aren't enough to defeat them… Drago's fleet is huge and Göteborg is a merchant town—too few people there even know that dragons exist..."

"Drago is in Göteborg? But what is he doing down there?"

"I don't know but the fact he needs Hiccup's help in his plan doesn't bode well…"

"I know you Astrid, you're not the type to give up so easily—so what are you going to do about it?"

"The deal was we never come back to Göteborg but… he never mentioned the dragons. I'm going to send Toothless to find Hiccup."

"The only dragon who can't fly alone? Hiccup has really rubbed off on you, you've lost me with your 'element of surprise' tactic!"

"Only Toothless can find him—plus he's also really discreet, unlike the other dragons. And don't worry about his solo flight—look."

I showed her the sketches on the table. She stared at them, perplexed, then she raised her eyes and looked questioningly towards me.

"Hmm… What is this?"

"Hiccup made Toothless a tail so he could fly all alone, but Toothless didn't want it. However, there are still some sketches and plans in his workshop that I'm trying to find in order to build this tail again so he can save Hiccup."

"Good plan. And where are you at exactly?"

"Well, I only found the material checklist I'll need to do it. I was deciphering it before you got here."

"And what are the others doing?"

"They're in charge of information. Valka and Gobber are trying to rally the other tribes to our cause. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang is keeping an eye on what's going on in Göteborg."

"Astrid," she said with a smile, "I'm going to do everything I can to help you find Hiccup, I give you my word."

She held me tight and I cracked. It was too much. She just got back and she was already offering her help. I tried to hold back my tears but I didn't manage to do it.

"I miss him…" I whispered.

She caressed my hair, trying to console me, but I was inconsolable.

"Oh… Astrid… It's gonna be okay… You're strong… We will save him, together," she stuttered.

I was strong, yes, but right now I just couldn't be.

Spent the whole day in the forge together, deciphering the checklist of things we'd need to make Toothless' tail. We successfully deciphered the checklist in its totality and we even started to understand the schematic of the tailfin on the list a little. Heather had promised she'd help me, and I knew she meant it.

The gang finally arrived, and were surprised to see Heather by my side. Snotlout ran into her direction and took her in his arms.

"Heather! It's been a while!" he exclaimed.

She quickly extricated herself from his grip, but it was twins' turn to lunge at her.

"So, Heather, what brings you to Berk?" Tuffnut asked..

"Is there a particular reason for your presence here?" Ruffnut raised.

Fishlegs approached Heather timidly in order to greet her in his turn and calm the situation.

"Hey Heather, how's it been going since the last time we saw you?"

"Really well, thank you Fishlegs," she answered with a fruity little voice.

"The village is throwing a party to celebrate your arrival Heather, let's go to the Great Hall," I announced.

"Fishlegs, will you come with me?" Heather asked.

"Who? Me?"

"Who else?" she smiled.

"Uh yeah, sure…"

So they headed together, hand in hand, for the Great Hall, I was starting to follow them when I heard Snotlout's lamentations behind me.

"How could she prefer that to this?!" he said, gesturing to himself.

"And he still wonders why I'm not interested in him?" Ruffnut sighed to her brother.

We finally entered the imposing building. The party was in full swing inside—everybody appreciated Heather a lot on Berk and it was different from the usual atmosphere that prevailed in the village lately. We sat at a table all together and we started to talk about everything and nothing, it has been a while. I didn't spend time with all my friends much anymore, and I missed it.

"You know Heather, you can sleep in my hut tonight if you've got nowhere to go? Of course, it would only be temporary, well I mean—" offered Fishlegs clumsily to Heather.

"I'd be happy to stay with you, Fishlegs," Heather answered gently, smiling while looking at him amorously.

She was becoming incredibly dumb when it came to Fishlegs, I should tell her someday… I now had a true friend ready to help me and who supported me. Heather was my friend and I was happy she was there, by my side.

...

One month had passed since Heather's arrival on Berk. We successfully found all Toothless' tail plans despite the excellent hiding place Hiccup had chosen for them. Thanks to Heather, I managed to decrypt them all and we had started building the prototype with Gobber's help. We were missing some elements for the processing, but we were on track to finish it soon enough to save Hiccup. Heather gave me back hope, a hope that was growing each day. I even resumed patrols—I was in great shape. I was—by the way—in the middle of a raid accompanied by Heather, Fishlegs and Snotlout. We were moving towards Göteborg in order to learn more about Drago's intentions and projects. So we were going to check on the ships' traffic in and out of the town. For the first time since Hiccup was gone, I was confident and I felt helpful. We had barely arrived but Snotlout had already spotted a boat.

"There's something suspicious about this ship…" he said.

"I have a bad feeling about it too," Fishlegs agreed. "Let's go take a closer look!"

So we followed the boys to approach the ship to get a better look and see what was going on inside. We were concealed behind rocks to hide our presence and we observed the ship.

"Hey! Look! There are dragons in cages on deck!" Snotlout exclaimed.

"Oh my Thor! Oh my Thor! Oh my Thor!" Fishlegs repeated, panicked.

"These dragons are armoured!" I noticed.

"And those cages, those chains… They look like the ones Dagur used!" Heather noted.

We looked at each other simultaneously.

"Drago!" we shouted.

Snotlout and Fishlegs stared at us, perplexed.

"Since the beginning, it was Drago! He started his revenge much sooner than we could imagine… He's the one who sold the dragon-proof ships to Dagur in the first place!" Heather exclaimed.

"And now, these armed dragons! He's preparing a war by all the gods!"

"Well—girls, not that I want to interrupt you but—I think we got spotted!" Snotlout quipped.

"Let's get out of here!" Heather shouted.

We moved away from the ship as fast as we could but men had already taken aim to shoot us down.

"Come on, speed it up girl!" Fishlegs moaned.

"What are you doing, Astrid? We have to go right now!" Heather yelled to me.

Suddenly, I didn't feel right; everything started to go woozy on me… It must be about all these revelations—we were in even more danger now! I would have to undertake a multitude of procedures and I… I felt myself fall; I was falling from my dragon. In the distance, I heard Heather's voice shouting my name and moving towards me into a dive to catch me, then nothing.

When I opened my eyes, Heather was standing over me, she seemed different, and she was smiling—she must have had a nasty fright. I scanned the room while passing a hand on my face, I was laying on a bed, obviously at Gothi's. I turned my head towards Heather.

"What happened?"

"You fainted. You fell off your dragon and I caught you, barely..."

"Oh no… Did the men spot you because of me?!"

Heather burst out laughing—why wasn't she taking me seriously?

"Astrid, everything is fine… In fact, I've got something to tell you…"

She was still standing there with this radiant smile on her lips—I didn't understand.

"What? What is it? Why are you staring at me like that?" I asked, disconcerted.

She smiled again, then she took a deep breath.

"Astrid… you're pregnant!" she exclaimed.

"What? But how?" I started choking.

"That's why you've been acting so crazy lately!"

"And I don't see anything…" I whispered.

I was surrounded by so many emotions at the same time… but fear dominated. I was afraid at the idea of losing the baby once again… I couldn't handle that a second time, especially without Hiccup.

"What is it? Are you okay?" Heather asked, worried.

"Yeah… It's just— Heather, the last time I got pregnant… I— lost the baby…" I sobbed.

"I'm sorry."

"You couldn't have known," I added.

"But it's still good news, right? I mean, you're pregnant! You're gonna have a baby, isn't it wonderful?" she exclaimed.

I smiled, on the verge of tears.

"Yes!" I acquiesced, emotional.

She put her arms around me and held me very tight against her. I was full of joy and at the same time also full of fear, but I was so happy to be pregnant again that it was all I could think about.

"I'm so happy for you two…" she whispered in my ear.

Hiccup. His comeback to Berk was vital now.

"Here, enjoy…" the man said ironically.

He came to feed me in my cell daily so that I would stay alive. He threw my bread through the bars and also dragged a bowl of soup between them, then he left. I ate my bread slowly in order to stretch out this moment that had become so precious these last four months.

I dipped my bread in the soup to restore some flavor but it was still flat and stale. However, this simple action of eating was keeping me alive, so I remained hopeful. I knew that I'd get out of here eventually. I didn't receive any other whipping as violent as the one I had at my first day here. I got hit several times but nothing more. They used me for something else, for training their armoured dragons. Drago had visibly abused them and now, they were uncontrollable.

These dragons had become completely crazy and didn't listen to anything, so I had spent hours with them, helping them relearn everything. I had to make them trust and listen to me, but it was extremely difficult. When I wasn't with them, Drago invited me in his quarters and he told me about his evil projects. He was convinced I'd die before the war began and that nobody would come to save me.

I had to discuss and debate major issues with him. He was listening carefully to my remarks, but his arguments made him right—according to him, he was never wrong. Through our interactions, I learned what kind of man Drago was; a ruthless man, full of himself, believing he was above everyone else and sure to be the chief that all Viking folk had been waiting for.

Clearly, Drago was mentally ill. He was a man traumatized from seeing his family kidnapped by dragons and who wanted to get his revenge on something no longer relevant. Despite all that, at least now I knew important details of his military tactics that could help me to prepare Berk, if this war actually took place.

After a while, some men came to bring me to the training arena of the castle. I arrived in the arena and found one of the armoured dragons that I named Raspar. Drago was against naming dragons, but I had explained him the importance of a name in the climate of trust between the dragons and I and he didn't argue. It was the only domain in which I was impressing him.

I approached Raspar, with whom I'd established a steady understanding, more or less—on account of his recent arrival at Göteborg—and I caressed his head gently. So I began the training session by showing him a few exercises. Everything was going great until he categorically refused to be saddled. I was trying to quietly calm him when Drago intervened, ordering me to hit the dragon if he didn't listen.

"No! This dragon has been abused long enough," I replied.

Drago flew into a rage.

"How dare you disobey my orders?! Guards! Bring him to me right away!" he ordered.

I didn't have time to think before two of his men seized me by the arms and brought me in front of Drago. He took out a knife and asked his men to remove my shirt.

"Turn him over! You'll see what we do with guys who don't respect the orders like you!"

He stuck his knife in my flesh, and I screamed.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" he said.

He continued to carve my flesh with his knife, and with each new line he spoke to me.

"So do you think you're gonna do it again?"

"No…" I answered with an inaudible voice.

"I didn't hear, 'no' who?"

"No, Master," I struggled to say.

He ripped my skin once again, letting thick drops of blood pour down my back. The pain was becoming more and more unbearable.

"Who's giving the orders, Hiccup?" he finally asked.

"You are, Drago."

I couldn't believe it. After five hard months, we finally did it: Toothless' auto-tail was done! I was in the forge with Gobber and Heather, holding them tight between my arms.

"You can't imagine how grateful I am, I couldn't have done anything without you!" I exclaimed. "Thank you."

"Aw, c'mon, it's the least we could do to save the chief!" Gobber retorted, laughing.

"Astrid, what are you waiting for? Go find him!" Heather added.

I smiled to them and slipped away outside, the gear under my arms, looking for Toothless. He wasn't hard to find. I approached him, but he moved away from me when he recognized the object I was holding.

"Wait! You know, we talked about this... I know you didn't want to use it anymore, but this time, it's for Hiccup. I want you to save him, Bud," I smiled, eyes full of hope.

He finally approached me and rubbed his head against me, I caressed his head affectionately, then I held him tight in my arms.

"Thank you, Bud," I whispered.

I removed his old tail and attached the new one instead.

"Come on, try it!"

He flew over me and tried several maneuvers in order to check the tail's functionality, then he came down to see me.

"Well, everything seems to be working perfectly…"

I put a reassuring hand on the top of his head while looking straight in his eyes.

"I rely on you, Bud, everyone does and I believe in you. Please, bring me back Hiccup, Toothless."

He licked me over my whole face—a sign of agreement with him—and he flew away to Göteborg.

I couldn't hold on much longer in here. I had lost a lot of weight, and I couldn't get out of my cell as much as I used to since refusing to obey Drago. I spent my entire days locked in my jail, waiting and withering. I was in rougher shape than I'd ever been—plus, Drago's men were hitting me again and their instrument of choice was the whip. I couldn't sleep anymore; it was like living an endless torture, both mental and physical. The only thing that kept me alive now was Astrid. The image of her smile. She was waiting for me.

Against all odds, men came to find me in my cell.

"Drago wants to see you, in the arena," one of them announced.

I could barely stand on my feet. I finally managed to stand up, and followed the men through the narrow corridors of the castle's tunnels. Once we arrived at Drago's side, he told me that he wanted to see me for a special reason.

Suddenly, he was interrupted by a loud thud—and a cry I would have known anywhere. A plasma blast followed the recognizable cry of a night fury. I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Toothless!"

In the smoke generated by the firing, he caught me in his talons and took me away from the arena—soon, we were flying across the castle. In the distance I heard the angry shouting of Drago's men, but I didn't care anymore. I was once again a free man. Toothless slowed a moment to allow me to climb on his back, then took off immediately, flying at full speed, without any help. I leant on him and surrounded his neck with my arms.

"Thank you Bud…" I whispered. "You saved me…"

I gently tapped his head before collapsing into nothing, I need to get some rest, and since he was able to fly alone—somehow—I let myself pass out from exhaustion.

When I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, we had not yet arrived on Berk. It took a few minutes before I could see the village's imposing statues, situated not far from the isle's entrance. I was finally able to make out the shape of the village, and started to hear villagers' voices… announcing my arrival? We were very close.

I saw all these happy, relieved people but I was only looking for one person in the middle of this crowd. And I finally found her. Toothless slowed rapidly in the middle of the square. I dismounted and I ran as fast as I could to join her.

"Astrid!" I shouted.

"Oh my gods, Hiccup!" she exclaimed.

We fell roughly into each other's arms, and I clasped her to me with all my might. I was clinging to her as if my life depended on it. I tightened my grip to feel her closer to me, I needed to feel her presence, to know she was really here, with me.

"I'm… so sorry… for not being here," I murmured between two sobs. "I love you Astrid, I love you so much!"

"Shh… you're here now," she said, caressing my hair with a trembling hand.

Then, she took my head between her hands.

"And I love you…" she added, tears in her eyes.