Hey! :D
So, one reviewer was wondering where the links for "Wayward Foray" (sequel to Wayward Strangers) and "How Not To Give Up (last installment in the "How Not To" series), and unfortunately, I haven't written either story yet. o_o I KNOW! I KNOW! I'm awful! But I like to plan my writing out before I write it, and right now, the planning for "Wayward Foray" is going real slow, but the planning for "How Not To Give Up" is going rather splendidly. You can expect to see How Not to Give Up before Wayward Foray by any chance. ;)
And also: because I have ideas that I can't get out of my head right now, I'm going to be writing either "Of Peace Treaties and Battle Cries" or "Stay With Me" after this piece is finished. I was wondering...which one do you guys want to see most (you can read the summaries on my profile if you fancy).
So, sorry for the long A/N, stay amazing, and I will see you all next chapter! Thanks so much! I love you guys! DRAGONITES UNITE! *flies dramatically into sunset*
Astrid fought with the fury of a thousand angry dragons who had their food stolen from their clutches. Dagur wasn't expecting it, and it wasn't exactly hard to see why. Astrid slashed and dove, throwing punches whenever possible. Her foot connected with Dagur's ribs in a kick. Her fist connected with his face in a punch. His fist smashed against her cheek in a punch of his own, and although she winced, she never stopped fighting.
Even if she had been alone with Dagur, she would have defeated him without a problem. Now, though, she had an angry Night Fury on her side, and Toothless was a dragon you didn't want to be on the bad side of.
Toothless roared in pure hatred and swung his tail at Dagur's chest. Dagur stumbled backwards with a cry of pain, but neither Astrid nor Toothless stopped fighting. They fought for the one they treasured more than their lives. They fought for the person they cared about more than anything else in the world.
They fought for Hiccup.
Astrid seized Dagur by the throat and held him tightly. Her face stung from his punch, and she knew she would have a bruise, although she really couldn't bring herself to care. Dagur coughed and laughed weakly, and Astrid choked him harder.
"Okay...OKAY," he coughed and chuckled mockingly. "You...you win! You win, I'll admit it!"
Astrid wanted to do so much more. She wanted to bring her dagger into Dagur's chest and be done with him without so much of a second thought, but in the back of her mind, some part of her heard Hiccup's voice, telling her not to do it. Hiccup's voice, telling her that there would be another time. Hiccup's voice, telling her that killing Dagur wasn't going to solve anything.
So, instead of bringing down the fatal blow, Astrid threw Dagur back to the ground and stood over him, her dagger gleaming against the light of the fireplace. "Leave," Astrid ordered. She pointed the knife in the direction of the door. "Leave, NOW, before I do something drastic!"
Dagur rose to his feet. "There will be another time, girl," he snarled.
"Yeah," Astrid nodded. "And next time, you won't walk away from this alive. Leave. Get out of here, before I change my mind."
Dagur looked reluctant, and clearly, he was, but when Toothless growled at him, and when Astrid took a threatening step forward with the knife in her grip, Dagur turned and bolted out the door, leaving a furious Toothless and Astrid behind.
Astrid stood there, breathing heavily, her chest heaving. She wanted to go after Dagur; part of her did, anyways. But before she even had the chance to, a small, feeble, broken voice broke through the air and reached her ears.
"Astrid…"
Astrid spun on her heel, looking in Hiccup's direction. His eyes were only partially open, but as dazed and unfocused as they were, he was looking directly at her, his expression laced with confusion.
Astrid dropped the dagger and raced to him, collapsing to her knees at his side. She smiled unconvincingly. "Hey," she said. She put her hand against his cheek. "How're you doing?"
Hiccup smiled faintly, although it didn't reach his eyes. No one else would have noticed, but Astrid did, as she always noticed the small things with Hiccup. "I'm...I'm holding up okay," he said. "I...I don't...I don't know what happened. What…?"
"You were shot," Astrid explained. "Dagur. Snotlout and Fishlegs brought you back here, and Ruffnut and Tuffnut went to get Gothi."
Hiccup looked up at her blearily, frowning in confusion after another moment. He reached up slowly, his fingers brushing against the bruise on her cheek. She winced, but didn't mention being in pain. "Wh...what happened…?" he asked. "Not to me...to you?"
Astrid shook her head. Ah, poor Hiccup. He was so out of it he didn't hear any of the fight between her and Dagur. He didn't know that she had broken out of her hypnosis.
But really, that was okay, because he was awake now. She put her hand over his, her cheek pressed against his palm. "Nothing," she said. "I'm okay."
The concern didn't leave Hiccup's eyes. "I...I told...I told you to stay out of trouble," he said, weakly.
Astrid remembered that conversation. He had told her to stay out of trouble. Well, too bad she never listened to him.
"Oh, yeah?" she asked. "You told me you'd be careful. You promised me, Hiccup, and look where you are now."
Hiccup smiled again halfheartedly. "Well," he said hoarsely, "I guess neither one of us are very good at...keeping promises...are we?"
Astrid shook her head. "I guess not," she agreed. There was a beat of comfortable silence, and then, Toothless raced forward and pelted Hiccup with happy, relieved licks of joy. Hiccup laughed weakly and pushed Toothless back. Or, tried to, anyways. It was in vain, because Toothless didn't step back.
Not until Hiccup groaned in pain, his hands coming to clutch his wound. Then, Toothless backed away, cooing sadly.
"No...no, it's okay, buddy," Hiccup promised, reaching one shaky hand back towards the dragon. Toothless dipped his head and pressed his muzzle against Hiccup's palm, purring softly.
"It's okay," Hiccup repeated. "You didn't hurt me." Toothless rubbed his nose against Hiccup's cheek, and Hiccup shut his eyes, leaning his head against Toothless' with a small, content sigh.
Astrid moved to sit at Hiccup's other side, across from Toothless. "Does it hurt bad?" she asked.
Hiccup shook his head. "No," he said. "Just...just so long as I don't...you know...move...at all."
Astrid nodded. She knew being shot with an arrow wasn't going to be a non-painful process. It would be a very painful process. "Then don't move," she offered. "You have no reason to move. You need to rest."
Hiccup's eyes opened again, and he gazed directly up at her. "But...but what about...Dagur?" he asked worriedly. "Is...is he still...going to attack? Or...or did the other riders stop him?"
Astrid shook her head. "Dagur isn't attacking, and the other riders didn't stop him," she said simply.
Hiccup looked confused. "But...but who-"
"I did, Hiccup," Astrid said with another small, fragile smile. "I defeated Dagur. I don't think he's going to be back any time soon."
Hiccup's eyes widened. "But...but that means...did you...you were…"
"Yeah, Hiccup," Astrid nodded, rubbing her thumb across Hiccup's hairline. "I'm back to the old me."
Hiccup's smile grew. "That's...that's...great, Astrid," he said breathlessly. "I like the...old you...much better, than...the...new...you…" Slowly, his voice began trailing off, until his eyes shut, his breathing evening out.
Astrid smiled. She bent down and kissed his temple. "Yeah," she sai. "Me too."
