Chapter 12

Warning: As some of you might have noticed, the rating changed, it passed to T, and that's because there will be violence and rape attempt in this chapter. I always thought that for Vikings, our heroes were a little too soft. Here they won't be.

Someone told me that Hiccup tended to have his ass kicked too often, if it's indeed the case, the following chapter should balance things a little more.

The day after Hiccup showed Atsrid the nest, she and Ruff saw him again, but not in the woods. A dragon attack occurred and they saw him from afar, fighting against the adults and freeing dragons. He was careful not to go near them, and none of the girl wished to face him. Stoick and most of the Hooligans were trying to catch him, it was the first time he attacked the villagesince he escaped from jail and it was finally the occasion to put him back in. Astrid silently prayed they wouldn't.

It was a failure for the Hooligans, though they succeeded to protect most of their stock the Dragon's Prince was still free at the end of the attack. Only Ruff and Astrid were happy of that. In spite of the dragon attack, that day went quite well. It wasn't the case for the following day however.

Usually, the Hooligans could foresee attacks from Alvin and the Outcasts, and retaliate before they could even come in the village and fight on land. However two watch towers had been very recently destroyed during a dragon attack, and the surveillance of the island had been lacking due to that. So when the Outcasts ships were sighted at the dawn, it was way too late to prepare the ships for a battle on the sea. Stoick barked some orders for the children and the elderly people to be hidden safe while the rest of the tribe would fight.

The teens were nervous, it would be their first battle. Before, they wouldn't have been deemed experienced enough to go on the battle field, but when someone had already begun dragon training they were considered apt to battle against other warriors. They were watching as the battle was about to get place. The twins and Astrid were nervous but ready to kick some asses, they wouldn't back. Snotlout was trying to hide his fear but was failing at it, and Fishlegs wasn't trying at all.

"We're all gonna die," he whinned.

"Fishlegs, we have to be strong," Astrid growled.

Vikings weren't supposed to feel fear, but right now none of the teens could help it. Her first battle was something Astrid anticipated and trained for, yet she realized nothing could really prepare one for it. She was going to kill other people...It was as if she was standing at the very edge of a cliff and was about to jump, it was somehow thrilling and terrifying at the same time. She couldn't help but think of Hiccup in that moment: did he felt like she was feeling right now when he first went with dragons to fight against bigger and older people?

It started.

Outcasts put foot on their island and started to attack the village, and it felt like a gigantic wave from the ocean to the new warriors. They weren't in the first line, they were more in the back, charged to stop the Outcast from going too far in their lands where the children and elderly people were hiding.

"Come on guys, let's fight!" Astrid yelled to her friends.

They all roared furiously and ran into the battle with the other warriors. It was extremely chaotic, Astrid hardly had time to see the faces of the people she thought, she and her friends, were mainly retaliating against attackers. Astrid was fighting against an older woman, this one was a good fighter, but the young girl was swifter and though the Outcast almost crushed her skull with her mace, Astrid avoided the blow and planted her axe in the woman's neck. At the sight of the blood, she felt electricity in her. She had done it...She killed an enemy! Yet she didn't have time to ponder on that as others were attacking. She attacked a man who was trying to kill Svala by behind and though he was muscular, the man wasn't that good with his sword. He quite clumsily tried to aim at her flank but she parried and deflected to aim at his shoulder and managed to hurt him quite badly there. The man let out a yell and tried to gut her, but she managed to avoid it and then it was her turn to aim at his flank. She got a little too close and not only he blocked but also pushed her away strongly, she almost tripped and he ran to throw himself at her, but then she jumped on the side at the last second and sent her axe in his flank again. This time, she didn't miss.

The battle field was messy, especially because they were fighting in the middle of houses and other buildings, some areas were crowded while others were leaving a lot of spaces to fight but also a lot of spaces to be attacked. Astrid realized she had been separated from her friends during the fight. It didn't matter, she would still keep her position, she had to...

All suddenly, an Outcast jumped in her direction to tackle her, and she only had the time to throw herself on the side, and soon enough, she realized she had three attackers coming toward her. Those were young men, probably around twenty and already broad and tall. She didn't have to analyze the situation much to know she was in a bad situation, fighting against three bigger opponents was definitely not an advantage. Yet she wouldn't let that intimidate her.

"Look what we found here!" One of them barked.

She retaliated against the one who sent his sword at her and parried his blow perfectly, and did exactly the same with the second one who aimed at her flank. It was strange, because though they weren't going easy on her they didn't seem to be actually trying to murder her like the others either. However she was forced to back away because of their combined assaults It was as if they were predators playing with their food...All of sudden, the three of them attacked at them same time, and while she avoided the weapons, she got a punch in the guts and a kick in the leg.

Instead of taking this occasion to slam their weapons on her, the three young men pushed her roughly against the wall of the closest house, and Astrid felt a cold shiver ran through her as she understood: they didn't simply want to kill her, they were about to rape her. They had pushed her toward the closest house to corner her. No way! She roared and sent her axe toward one of them before they could pin her against the wall. She aimed for the crotch to send a clear message. He barely had the time to parry and let out a laugh.

"This is one wild little bitch!"

"We're gonna have fun guys!"

"Try to touch me and I swear you'll be hardly worth to be called men anymore!"

"Get her!"

He axe met another blade but while she had to defend herself against one, the two others took her arms by surprise, stopping her from using her weapon. She felt a cold wave, they were restraining her! The third who wasn't holding her tore the axe away from her hand. She was pinned against the wall, the guy who took her axe threw it to the ground and was about to rip her clothes while she was still restrained but Astrid wasn't defeated yet. Her heart was beating like crazy, she couldn't let that happen! She violently sent her foot in one guy's crotch, making him bent in half and then sent her other feet in his face. Because she was restrained the blow hadn't been as effective as she hoped but the guy's nose was bleeding profusely.

"You fucking little cunt!"

The two other guys were pulling strongly on her arms and she remembered how to react. She pushed her arms down swiftly, using a vertical move to counter their strong pulling. It worked andhe got herself away from their grasp; she punched one of them, another tried to grab her by behind but she sent her skull back and hit his jaw hard with it, and she struggled like crazy, kicking, biting and punching. While she pushed herslef away and punched the man in the gut, she received a strong kick in the side which she hadn't seen coming and she hit the wall hard. Taking advantage of it, the three men took hold of her, one was grasping her chest tightly while the two others were holding her legs and though she was still struggling like a fury, she was still a thirteen year-old against three bigger young adults. She succeeded to send her foot in one guy's stomach but it didn't make him release, she had to find something, she had to...

A sharp sound was heard and all suddenly, one of the guys who was holding her leg suddenly fell down, his back and his skull burned.

O o O

After the dragon attack yesterday, Hiccup hadn't slept much, worried of what Astrid would say. He and toothless had taken refuge on a small islet nearby Berk to rest there and woke up quite early to search for food. That's when they saw something strange was happening to the Hooligan tribe, and decided to see for themselves what it could be. They quickly understood the village was being attacked again, only not by dragons but other men this time. Hiccup saw the fight from above, people were killing each other senselessly.

"What's happening there?"

"I don't know, but they are massacring one another!"

"Where are our friends?"

Toothless's second question rose fear in Hiccup, where were Astrid and Ruffnutt?They flew above, not being noticed by humans who were too busy with their bloodshed, and they soon saw Ruffnutt fighting with other people, she seemed fine, maybe they would help her if Astrid...

"There!" Toothless shrieked

Hiccup felt a cold wave in him as he saw Astrid next to a house, being held by three men while struggling like crazy. Having been raised in the wild, Hiccup was far from an ignorant and he had a pretty good idea of what three males could want when they cornered a female. Rage seized him more than it ever had and he took out his sword.

"Shoot them! Bring me down!"

Toothless didn't wait, he plunged toward the mass and shot at the Outcasts who were holding Astrid, one of them was killed on the spot and the two others released their prey to back away, horrified when they saw a Night Fury plunging toward them. Astrid gasped in relief and quickly took that opportunity, she plunged toward her axe, gripped it tightly and attacked one of the two remaining guys (the one who tried to rip her clothes); she sent her weapon at him furiously and he hardly avoided the blow this time, allowing Astrid to make a big wound on his arm.

Hiccup jumped from his brother's back and landed on the ground only to immediately lunge at the remaining one who wasn't being attacked by Astrid. Toothless attacked two Outcast who came to attack, leaving the teenagers to take care of Astrid's attacker. The guy Hiccup was fighting was probably twice as big as him but the feral boy had the rage of a thousand like him. He threw his word at him, the bigger boy parried but Hiccup immediately attacked again, aiming at his stomach this time, and though the Outcast dodged, a swirl of the feral boy hit the Outcast in the shoulder, but the older one retaliated by sending his good elbow in the boy's jaw, pushing him away in the process, then he sent his axe with all his force at he boy's hand and almost cut off his fingers, instead he got the handle of the sword and the weapon fell off Hiccup's hands.

Hiccup leaped to avoid one other blow, his sword was too far, but the boy perfectly could fight without it. Seizing a stone, he swirled aside when the boy vertically sent his sword to slice his skull, caught the wrist of his good arm and before the Outcast could react, crushed to the stone against his fingers, breaking some of those. The older boy yelled and violently pushed Hiccup away, yet he had let go of his sword because of the pain, and the feral boy took that opportunity to throw himself at him, lunging while roaring furiously. He thrusted his claws in the boy's neck and planted his teeth in the boy's upper lip, drawing out blood in the process. The guy yelled and tried to push Hiccup off of him, and tripped in his struggle. The Outcast landed on his back, Hiccup on top of him. Hiccup shook his head violently and ripped the young man's lower lip away.

Screams of pain were heard through the chaos, with his sliced should and his broken fingers, the outcast could hardly do much to push Hiccup away. His hands released the man's neck and before his victim could try to catch his wrists, he sent his fingers in the Outcast's eyes, putting out his eyes. River's of blood leaked from the man's eyes's sock as Hiccup proceeded to rip off his other lip. The Outcast passed out under the pain, and Hiccup let go of him. He wasn't dead yet, but he wasn't in the state to fight anyway and he would probably die soon anyway. As Hiccup stood up he was tackled by surprise by another Outcast, he found himself pinned on the ground and the man punched him, he looked furious.

"You fucking beast! My son..."

The guy never finished his sentence as his neck was chopped by an axe. Hiccup saw Astrid above them, her axe planted in the man's neck. She pushed the body with a kick before he could fall on Hiccup and helped her friend to get off the ground.

"Your fucking son is dead," she growled.

She had also killed the one whom she attacked, now the three rapists were gone. They didn't take time to exchange words, he threw himself at his sword and Astrid and he fought side by side in the battle. Toothless joined them soon and Hiccup hissed and roared furiously, and though he was scrawny and small, he scared his enemy away with all the blood on his lips and roars and hisses. He sliced a man's throat, and Astrid gutted another shortly after they threw themselves in the battle, and Toothless shot and tore the limbs of all those who tried to attack those two by surprise.

Maybe it was because of the Night Fury's presence, but the Outcasts retreated shortly after Hiccup and Toothless's arrival. It was maybe also because the Hooligans had been getting the upper hand even before those two appeared. Anyway, the Outcasts ran to their ships, some of them were massacred by angry Hooligans in the process.

Hiccup was finishing one last Outcast, he had sent his sword through his belly and eventually, his animals instinct took over and he clawed the man's face, covering it in blood. His fingers were also covered in blood, and when Stoick came toward them running, Hiccup jumped back on his feet and hissed like a lynx and Stoick felt disgust when he saw the boy's clothes, jaw and hands covered in blood from all the people he bit, clawed and stabbed. He ran toward the boy but Astrid jumped before him, startling him.

"No! Leave him be!"

He pushed her out of the way but lost some precious seconds. Toothless had jumped at his brother's side and Hiccup was on his back in a second and before Stoick or anyone could catch him back, the two were flying away. Astrid felt relief spread through her, at least until she saw Stoick turn toward her with rage in his eyes. Some other people who saw what happened gave her angry and baffled glares as well.

The Hooligans had noticed the Night Fury and the Dragon's Prince of course and they gathered to the spot where they had seen those two leaving. The people who got close enough saw that the chief was pointing his axe toward Astrid. She could hear them speak, some explaining what happened to others who didn't see. Her behaviour since the capture of the Dragons' Prince had been strange and now she was going to go through the consequences. Astrid felt all the stares on her and she just watched the ground, not knowing how to answer the question she had been asked.

"Astrid!"

Her parents were stopped by several people from rushing toward her. She had to face the wrath of the chief.

"What have you done?!" He hissed loudly and threateningly.

The chief was starting to grow angry, her silent attitude reminded her of the dragon-child when he still thought he could talk, except Astrid could talk, and she was supposed to be one of them!

"That thing came to fight at your side, and you helped him escape! You'd better have a good explanation to justify this treason, girl!"

"Our daughter is no traitor!" Yelled her father. "Tell them Astrid...Astrid?"

But the girl kept silent. She had understood it was the moment to make a choice.

She closed her eyes and continued to feel the stares on her, if she told the truth, she was exposing herself as a traitor. But if she lied, if she continued her ways which she came to question more and more, then she wouldn't live with herself. She had to choose between betraying the people she loved, the people she grew up with and the boy who showed her his world and saved her honour and life. A distant dragon's yell was heard from the arena, and then it seemed like she could hear Hiccup's words as if he was speaking aloud to her at this moment, and she realized the shame of betraying him was heavier than the shame of betraying her tribe. She took a deep breath and looked up at the chief, mustering all her pride.

"I'm not gonna lie. That boy and his dragon are my friends indeed."

Those words outraged everyone and wave of indignant words and exclamations was heard. Stoick spoke louder than anyone, he was furious, he wasn't close to that girl but he always respected and somehow liked her for her strenght and dedication. He had trusted her and he couldn't believe she was doing this.

"So that's it! You did betray us!"

"No! I'm not a traitor! And they came to help me, in the end they helped us all…"

"Silence!"

He seized the girl by her shirt and pulled her toward him to make her look at him and after what she had been threatened to got through at the hands of those three Outcasts, she felt like she was going to burst at this simple contact. She gripped Stoick's hands hard, trying to free herself but she wasn't strong enough against that giant.

"You perfectly know what dragons did! You perfectly know how they torment everyone! And you go to this little monster, you saved his life in battle and stopped me from capturing him!"

"Yes, I did, because it's him and his dragon who saved my honour and life, not my tribe!"

She heard whispers and indignant yells, and though she didn't say anything anymore, she was still furious. It dawned on her that she almost got raped earlier, and none of them seemed to care!

"Call me a traitor if you want, but I'm not gonna turn my back to him."

Stoick did his best to control himself right now, the girl's defiance was infuriating, not so much because she was standing for herself, but because she was standing for that thing. He had to think rationally, so the right things and ask the right questions.

"Did he take you to the nest? Have you been there?"

In his rage, Stoick didn't pay attention when she said 'her honour' had been saved, he hadn't seen the rape attempt, only the moment when she saved Hiccup's life by killing an Outcast. But Astrid wasn't aware of that, she thought he had seen everything. She knew she would deny them the discovery Vikings died for since generations, but she didn't care, she was just angry at all of them.

"No."

"Too bad, your felony would have been useful otherwise. Put her in a cell! She is a traitor."

In spite of her anger, Astrid felt suddenly very fragile, she felt she was nothing but a little piece of flesh and bones to be crushed, she felt cornered again. It could have make her cry, honestly, she had fought with all her might to protect her tribe, and now…Her parents would hate her too, but she didn't even know how she was feeling toward them. They tried to defend her against accusations, but they hadn't been here during the battle, when those guys tried to sully her. She remembered Hiccup and Toothless and she clung to that, it was worth it. So she held her head high, let her eyes turn into stone, and she followed the men taking her away without a word with the dignity of a queen.

In the crowd, Ruffnutt was confronted to the very same choice as Astrid, and she never felt so torn apart in her life.

During this battle, she had remained with her brother, and some adults had stayed near them to help them, but they had been separated from Astrid and Ruffnutt truly feared for her life during this chaos. Now Astrid was threatened again, but in a different way. What should she do? She kept Astrid's secret and she knew she shouldn't have, she knew she did something bad, but Astrid was her friend, so she did. In the process, Hiccup and Toothless had started to become her friends. Now, Astrid was being taken in jail and Ruff hated that, they were all looking at her like a criminal, but Astrid wasn't a criminal, wasn't she?

Ruff remembered how once she and her brother went to steal paint to throw it on buildings. They had been surprised by Stoick right when they were about to throw it on his house. Her first thought was to run away, but Tuff had looked at her with a bright smile and told her: Let's take on it till the very end! And he had thrown all the paint on the house under the chief's eyes. She mimicked him. They had been punished of course, well punished, but they both concluded it was worth it.

Ruffnutt frowned, her resolve was taken. She hadn't been here for her friend during the battle, but she had helped Astrid and Hiccup, she would continue and take on it to the very end. She turned round and started to leave, when she heard her brother:

"Where are you going?"

"Don't bother, mutton head! I've something to do! Alone!"

Her brother shrugged and let her leave, thinking it was probably nature's call, because it was generally one of the few reasons why Ruff wanted to stay away from him. She ran toward the woods and didn't stop her course until she was at the cove, maybe he would come here to rest. She looked around and saw no one.

"God, why won't he be there when someone needs it! Hiccup! Hiccup!"

She called for him several times, when suddenly she saw a big form emerging from the trees, and for a moment she feared it could be another dragon, but she was soon relieved to see Toothless and Hiccup. The boy was obviously confused to see her alone and she ran toward him immediately, but the boy backed away a little, reminding Ruffnutt he hadn't give her trust completely to her already, and seeing her without Astrid wasn't easy for him. The girl rolled her eyes, there was no time for his usual feral-boy behaviour!

"Hiccup, you must come with me!"

"Why?"

"Astrid! When you saved her life earlier, the other, they understood!"

"Understood?"

"Yes, you dumbass! They understood you're friends! She is in jail now, they call her a traitor!"

Hiccup paled at this, and Toothless felt the worry from his brother. He was about to tell the girl to led him to her, but he realized this could be a trap. Could he trust that human? Until now she had been friendly, but he didn't know her since long. But Astrid…Astrid could be really in danger, he couldn't let her rot in a cell, he remembered how he felt in there. If it was a trap, well he would escape again, he did it once, he would do it twice!

"We free her!"

"But there are guards!" Ruffnutt said.

"Dragons will come tonight. I know it. When they'll attack, I'll free Astrid and you'll have to help me."

"How?"

He sat down in the grass and they started to make a plan, watched by the Night Fury all along.

Let's hope those two will have a good plan! I'm getting fond of writing action scenes, though I admitted the part with Hiccup was a little gory, but he is feral after all. Tell me what you think!