Chapter 10
Panting, Astrid caught up with Hiccup who was having a panic attack and kept limping in circles.
"Hiccup?" Astrid asked cautiously as she approached the freaked man. There were tears of fear in his eyes and his metal leg had come loose.
"Don't come any closer!" He warned me stopping me in my tracks.
"Hiccup, Drago is not here, its me, Astrid!" She tried to reassure him. Hiccup was still hurting but he stopped pacing. He held his head in his hands as images of rotten ropes tied around his hands and the smell of blood poured its way into his nose blocking all other senses, Hiccup jumped at the sound of approaching footsteps they were loud and it sounded like metal on the cold floor of a cell..
"You lied to me! Don't hurt me Drago, please!" He whispered to Drago, when actually it as Astrid.
"What? No, Hiccup listen!" Astrid exclaimed. He stared at her.
"Drago is not here, ok? I am. Astrid, remember? And here comes your mother now," she tried to calm him. Hiccup still panicked a little but believed the female's words were true. Hiccup kneeled down on his good leg and Astrid jogged up to him.
She embraced him in a warm, comforting hug and refused to release him until Valka was here. She appeared to have come alone.
Hiccup looked up into Astrid's eyes, then followed by Valka's. He appeared to be coming out of it, the horrible memories that he was stuck started to fade away till all he could see was forest and two figures..
Hiccup looked around the forest clearing.
"I'm...I'm sorry," Hiccup stammered as tears shimmied down his face, as he struggled to get to his feet.
Valka leaned down to help him up,hugging him as well.
Hiccup's breathing returned to normal. Astrid mouthed to Valka;
'What happened to him with Drago?' But all Valka could do was shrug and look to the floor in desperation of a way to help her suffering son. Astrid helped pick Hiccup up into a standing position.
As soon as they stood, Hiccup collapsed in their arms from exhaustion.
"He really has me worried," Valka whispered to Gobber, Astrid and Stoick as Hiccup lay in bed once again.
"His past with Drago must have been too traumatic," Astrid added shuddering at the thoughts of what could of happened to her sweet Hic...Ah, Hiccup.
Everyone shuffled out of the room deep in thought, well, all except for Valka.
Astrid walked along the main dirt path, and to her luck, Eret came running to her from the shade cast from a nearby shack.
"Astrid, hey!" He called out before he reached her. but to his mistake when he arrived at her side, Astrid side-stepped and punched him square in the face. Eret was knocked to the ground letting a dust cloud rise around him.
"Well, I guess I deserved that," Eret mumbled, a ring of green and purple forming around his left eye as he stood. Staying a few feet away from his vengeful ex-girlfriend, he spoke;
"Look, I know you're upset because I lied to you, but came to make it up to you," he explained. Astrid sighed annoyed and side-glared at him.
"I don't care, Eret. Hiccup is back now, and I told you we had history so when he's back to his old self we will get back together. Besides, you have enough to take care of," Astrid shrugged and kept walking.
"Like what?" Eret said. To that, Astrid turned around and lashed another punch lose at his face blackening his right eye.
"Like that!" Astrid exclaimed and turned once more to walk home, leaving Eret dazed on the spot.
Gobber limped out of the Haddock house and to his forge, putting on his small bronze-mask and got his dragon, Grump, to light the fire. He then took a broken saddle latch and melted in in the heat.
There was a knock at the wooden window.
"Yup, hold on a second!" Gobber called out to whoever it was and abandoned his work.
Gobber hobbled over to the window and opened it to the frowning face of Spitelout, Stoick's brother.
"Yes, how may I help you?" Gobber asked him.
"I need a new axe, my Gronckle ate the last one I had," he said.
"Even the one with the gold base?" Gobber asked.
"Especially that one! He swallowed it whole first," Spitelout replied.
Gobber let out a short laugh and turned around.
"Alright, lad. Which design do you want this time?" he asked Spitelout holding up three sketches of axes, all different shapes and sizes. Spitelout pointed to the far left one and leaned on the window ledge.
"So, busy day today?" he asked Gobber trying to make conversation.
"No, not really. We've been busy getting Hiccup back to his old self," Gobber told him.
Oh really? What happened to the poor lad?" Spitelout asked.
"He was trapped by Drago Bludvist for five years, and he's having a hard time getting over what happened while he was there," Gobber explained.
"That's awful. Do you know what happened to him while he was there?" he followed up.
"You know, he's never really told us about it," Gobber said looking up thoughtfully from sand-papering the wooden handle of the axe.
"But I have a feeling he probably went to Hel and back," Gobber said as he started making Spitelout's new axe blade.
Stoick glanced up from the map while sitting in the mead hall. With the drama concerning his son he had a hard time concentrating on his duties. He was supposed to mark on the map where specific enemies were situated like rogue dragons or dangerous people, but to no avail.
He sighed and continued staring blankly at the map. Maybe, he thought. Maybe Hiccup knows what's in some of these places. He nodded to himself. But he couldn't ask him. Not yet anyway. He jumped at the sound of footsteps, one a boot… but the other foot metal. Stoick peered around the hall but could see no one. He shrugged it off and returned to the map. Angry at himself as he had no recollection of these places he raised his fist and slammed it onto the table. Following this loud bang, a short scream came from someone. Stoick screamed in fright as well as he saw Hiccup standing in front of him with a frightened expression.
"Hiccup? What are you doing here, you should be resting," Stoick said as he looked past his son into the sky out of the open hall's door. It was already dark and cold.
Hiccup hugged his arms and looked to the floor.
"I had a nightmare and didn't want to wake mother," he explained. Stoicks expression softened at his comment. He stood and walked around the table. He reached Hiccup and embraced him in a comforting hug which Hiccup returned.
All of a sudden, horns went off. The deafening sound frightened the pair to the bone. They ran outside and watched in horror as a dragon flew onto Berk soil.
As soon as some flaming torches went up, Hiccup screamed and tears ran down his face.
The dragon had sheets of scales hanging from it's flesh, blood dripping and the smell of agony filled the air. Hiccup ran to the dragon as it landed, weak and in pain.
"No, no, no, no!" Hiccup repeated as he held the dragon's fading head in his hands.
He remembered him from when he was trapped by Drago. This dragon was his friend there.
As the dragon exhaled it's final breath, Hiccup burst into tears. That was when he noticed a note tied around the now-dead dragon's throat.