Hey guys! Now, this may be a boring chapter for you all, and I'm sorry if it is, but I have a request of anyone who reads this. This chapter is mianly a reflective chapter for Hiccup, and if you could please leave your opinion of how I did in a review or PM, that would be great. Open to criticism here!

HTTYD belongs to Dreamworks.

Aislin and Ingridbelong to Ahoykailee.

His mind was numb. His thoughts empty. His emotions were shot, as he had cried for the rest of the night. Hiccup couldn't believe what just happened. During the night, the man had suddenly ripped Hiccup out of sleep, tied him up and gagged him. He doused the fire, plunging them into darkness and as his eyes had adjusted, he could see that Tyr sat on a log, watching Astrid intently. About twenty minutes later, he heard her start to move and whimper. Then screaming. Then Tyr had lit the fire once more and Astrid was screaming her head off and grabbing at anything.

He had yelled, though into the rag, for Tyr to let him go. The silver eyed murderer had done nothing for her, just watched as she squirmed and screamed. After she had rolled out of the cot, he'd thrown her back in and done some chant or ritual that Hiccup couldn't understand. And then utter terror.

Her side had popped, like a soap bubble on Azure's spines. The bones in her side cracked and her blood painted the cot and ground around it. He'd watched in horror as her body had gone limp, her face lolled to the side and his Astrid was gone from this world. Tyr did nothing apart from throw a canvas over the cot and go back into his hut, leaving the fire going and the tied and gagged Hiccup to stare at his now dead Valkyrie. Obviously, he couldn't sleep the rest of the night and cried all the way through. The earliest rays of morning poked through the trees, and Hiccup lay in mourning.

The slightest noise alerted him to Tyr's presence once again. The bastard sat calmly on the same log he'd sat on as he murdered Astrid, staring at Hiccup.

"I told you sleep would be hard to come by," He said flatly, his voice resuming the monotone evenness. Hiccup didn't scream, didn't shout, didn't try to do anything. They were just words, and still barely that. The musings of a killer is what they were. That's all.

"You don't trust me anymore, do you?" Tyr asked. Hiccup eyes and the venomous wishes that they concealed were all the answer he received. "Well too bad, you're going to have to trust me." Tyr stopped, seeming to search for any reaction in Hiccups face. He killed Astrid, that's all Hiccup thought about. He would be the one to cut Tyr's head off, and he would be certain of it.

"You want her back?" Tyr mused. Now he had Hiccups emotionless attention. Even though Hiccup was sure that it would just result in a heartless jab at him, he still perked up to listen.

Tyr dropped the crystal the he had last night on the ground in front of him, "Listen carefully, boy. Her body is there," he pointed to the cot, "Her soul is here," he pointed to the crystal. Hiccup eyes stared at it trying to see if he could see Astrid's face in the crystal's clear pattern.

"You want her back, touch the crystal to her forehead. She'll be back, but you're bringing her back to a world of pain. Don't think she'll survive long in the state her body is in." Hiccup flashed his eyes around, looking at the blood soaked canvas, the crystal, and a murderers eyes.

"Her body will heal, her blood guarantee's that. I'd estimate it to be around a day and a half to three days. The crystal will tell you when the body is ready. Touch it to her forehead, then bring her back a new woman. Do it now, she'll die no doubt about it." Hiccup's heart jumped from the canyon it had fallen into over night. Was Tyr really telling him how to do this? Did the bastard expect Hiccup to even consider trusting him again? He decided that he would definitely try his luck and bring her back now. With the way things had gone, Tyr would probably slide a dagger between his ribs before three days were up.

Tyr got up, stalked over and grabbed Hiccup's hair, lifting him up by it. Hiccup found himself staring into the silver eyes, and to be honest, he saw conviction there, "Heed these words. Bring her now, you'll have killed her. Wait for the crystal to tell you and you'll have saved her. Your choice." Instead of dropping Hiccup back to the ground, he grabbed the rope that tied the boys hands and hung it on a branch, leaving Hiccup with just enough room to stand. He then cut the bindings on his ankles, and if Hiccup had any energy, he would have tried kicking out. Tyr removed the gag and Hiccup spit and coughed until he got the horrible taste of old felt out of his mouth. He hadn't enough energy, nor had he the ability to form words then, so he remained quiet.

Tyr picked up the crystal necklace and draped it around Hiccup's neck, "I'm leaving. Her life is in your hands, Haddock. Don't fuck it up." and with that, he disappeared into the woods. Moments later, an arrow whistled out of the trees and hit the trunk behind Hiccup solidly, cutting his bindings. He hadn't known that Tyr had a bow with him.

Now he was alone, with Astrid's body of course. On Tyr's bloodstained word, he carried her soul around his neck in a crystal. All he could do was stand there and stare at the cot, wishing that he didn't have to make this decision. Would he trust Tyr? Could he trust Tyr?

It was right then that he felt a prickling on his neck, and a new feeling of presence behind him. Over the tear stained hours of the night, Hiccup had asked anyone he could think of for help, guidance and comfort. Only two people could comfort him the most. One of them was laying in front of him, and the other had died when he was very young, but he knew now as he stood there who was behind him.

"What do I do, mom?"

Valhallarama Haddock wrapped her arms around his neck, "What do you feel that you must do, Hiccup?" Hiccup's felt the tears well up inside him. His mother, whom he had cried for every night for most of his life was now wrapped around him. He spun and buried his head into her, crying profusely, "Mom! I-I don't know what to do, I don't know what to think, I just want this bad dream to end and wake up at home with you and dad!" He cried.

He remembered this very scene from his childhood many times. When he had gotten bullied at Gothi's, he had ran home and cried in his mothers arms. When Snotlout had pelted him with an ice ball, his mother had stitched his eyebrow while he cried. When he accidentally broke his father's favorite drinking mug, he cried in his moms arms after getting yelled at. She had cheered him up by chastising his father right there for being mean to a small child, and he'd laughed as his father sat him on his knee and told stories of dragon slayers.

He sniffled and broke away from her, "I'm sorry mum...I know I'm older now and I shouldn't cry like that..." he mumbled.

"Nonsense, Hiccup. You'll always be my little warrior, no matter how old you are," She said as she stroked his cheek. He smiled as he remembered his childhood nickname. He was her 'little warrior'.

"If you could have seen how I cried when I woke in Valhalla, you would understand. I cried for you and your father as much as you cried for me," She said softly. Hiccup touched her hand on his cheek, feeling the skin that had soothed him for years, that had carried him into this world. Her voice was a constant lullaby for him, and he rocked in her arms.

"What do I do about this, mom? I love Astrid, but I just can't decide if I can believe Tyr or not. What if I mess up? What if-"

"Hiccup. You cannot fear mistakes because your life will go nowhere. If I feared my mistakes, I would have never met your father. Besides, if I do recall what you said last night in your delirium, it was Tyr who told you how to speak to me." his mother said, rubbing his back.

"What d'you mean you woulda never met dad?" Hiccup asked incredulously, not believing that his mother had any problems finding a man. Her little bit about Tyr having told the truth about ancestors and all that fell by the wayside.

"When I was about your age, I was part of a tribe called the Boneheads and we had to visit several islands for trade agreements. I was a hotheaded teenager at the time, and me and my friends thought it would be fun to start a food fight at one of the banquets. All the islands we went to were posh and proper, so we ended up having to do it on the last island, Berk. During the banquet, I got a nice thick piece of pork and threw it with all my might at someone who I thought was a regular person. It turned out to be the Chiefs son, and his name was Stoick. What did he do? He threw it right back along with a whole pig. Less than a year later, I was married to that same Stoick and pregnant with you." She said, laughing all the way through her story.

Hiccup could barely believe that his parents met by throwing food at each other. It gave his father that playful side that the man never had. "Regardless, Hiccup, mistakes will always happen. What defines you is how you respond, not what the initial outcome is."

"But mom, a mistake here will end her life! I can't afford a mistake!" Hiccup replied to her, looking again at the cot.

"Hiccup, what does your heart tell you to do? Love is a bond stronger than death or despair, so if you do love her, what does that tell you to do?" His mother chimed. Hiccup thought about what she said and tried to delve into his own heart. His mind told him to bring her back right now, this second. As he searched within himself, something murmured at the back of his mind. A soft voice, telling him to wait. Telling him to allow Astrid the time to heal.

"I'll wait," he whispered to himself. His mother nodded head head behind him, silently agreeing with his decision.

The next hours were spent telling his mothers everything that had happened on Berk since she died. She was elated to hear that Stoick was doing so well and that he had gotten over his deep hatred for dragons.

"Speaking of mistakes, Hiccup, If you fear those, marriage is one barrier you will never overcome," Valhallarama said sweetly. This piqued his interest intensely because other than speaking to Astrid's mother and his fathers own gruff explanations, Hiccup had never had a serious chat about marriage.

"Why's that mom?"

She laughed, "Because, Hiccup, marriage is a bond of love yes, but marriage is defined by problems. Can you and your wife, whoever that may be, overcome the problems you will face every day? You will make mistakes, and you will fear your wife like you fear Hel because of them. You will miss an anniversary. You will unknowingly say something and set her off. There will be times when you feel strained by your wife, when you feel that nothing can help you. As in other bonds, though, the only person who can help that strain is the one who caused it. Fear of problems led to the catastrophe with Aislin and her husban-"

"Mom, how do you know about that? You'd been gone for almost ten years before that," Hiccup asked, not intending to interrupt her like that.

"My dear, do you think Valhalla is a one bedroom hole? I have spoken to Aislin, as well as anyone else who died on Berk since I passed. As I was saying, Aislin was scared of mistakes, afraid of problems, so she began serving Hrushnir unquestionably. It didn't take long for him to grow accustomed to it and he grew to see her as a servant rather than a wife because she never stood up for herself," She stopped to give Hiccup time to process, then continued, "By the time Astrid revealed Hrushnir's abusive lifestyle, it was too late to break him of it. When she began to use her will against him and not serve him utterly, that it when she paid the ultimate price for the years that she slept in fear of problems. Of course, I heard that Hrushnir also paid a heavy price for his behavior."

"Yeah, Astrid's uncle killed him in front of the whole village," Hiccup said ruefully. That wasn't a nice business, and as a boy in his room, he had heard Stoick reprimanding Foreman for his act. After that though, they had jugs of mead and toasted for the health of the village.

"And, my son, I don't think we shall discuss the business of pregnancy and childbirth yet," She giggled. Hiccup's face paled and blushed. He hadn't really though as far forward as kids just yet.

"Lets just say that for nine months, Astrid will want to send you to Hel," His mother chimed, and laughed as his face grew staunch. This time with his mother had given Hiccup a chance to get his mind off the predicament and onto other things. His mother called his attention back to the cot, but what he found was wonderful. The blood that had soaked the ground and the cot was gone, and the cot was its regular color. Having seen his fair share of blood, Hiccup knew that dried blood clung to anything like a stubborn child.

"Hiccup, it's time for you to face this problem on your own feet. Whenever you need guidance, call and I will come if I can," Valhallarama said, smiling at her son, "I'm proud of you," she whispered, kissed him on the head and disappeared. Hiccup shed a single tear as she left, but knew that he was not alone in his plight and he settled down to wait for the crystals signal.

The rest of the first day passed without incident. Hiccup slept in the cot with Astrid that night, on her left side. He didn't want to lay eyes on the anatomical wreck that was her right ribcage. He had the great misfortune of catching a glimpse of it while he was setting up to go to sleep. It looked like a Terrible Terror had forced its way out. There was a hole in her side, with her ribs sticking out at odd angles and horrific states of disrepair.

No matter what magic Tyr may have used, it had to be strong stuff to have any hope of repairing her. The next morning, there was no change at all. The only thing that had changed since Tyr had left was the blood...disappearing. Its like it just grew legs and walked off. He decided to bath in the lake and get some fish to fry over the fire. Rummaging through the supplies at the camp, he got lucky and found a net in one of the sacks, "Well, food won't be an issue today," He said to himself.

He had discovered that talking to himself was proving a nice deterrent to lingering on bad thoughts, even though he felt like a deranged troll sometimes, talking himself through untangling the net or instructing himself on how to wash his body, even arguing with himself about which way was the best to wash ones back.

Creepily, he lost that argument. The second day moved like a blur for him, nothing ever coming too focused or clear. After a dinner of stale bread and a conversation with his fishing net about the water mattress he wanted to create, Hiccup kissed Astrid's cold cheek and fell asleep, confident that the next day would bring more good news.

His dreams were tormented by images of her bleeding out, of Tyr's macabre, emotionless expression as a life expired before him. Hiccup remembered wishing that Tyr would haul out some magic potion that would instantly cure her, something that would be like, BANG and she would be good as new. As his father had beaten into him at a young age, things are rarely the same as the fairy tales would have you believe. I'm hoping for a fairy tale ending right now. He thought to himself as he lay on the cot, awake after a particularly nasty dream.

He couldn't sleep after that and once the sun rose he set about breakfast. Now on the third day, he had gotten over the initial shock of what had happened and resolved to look forward to better things. The thoughts had improved his outlook tenfold, and he knew that she would live.

Throwing the net out into the lake and reeling it in gave him plenty of time to think about his personal drawbacks. His indecisiveness would need to change, that was certain. His fear of public service would need to change as well. He was to be Chief of Berk one day, and that meant that he would need to do all the things his father did now, which meant public speeches in front of not only the people of Berk, but other islands as well.

"..That sounds tedious to me.." he said out loud as he pulled in the net and cast it out once more. He unconsciously fingered the crystal around his neck, wondering what it would do when Astrid was ready. How would it tell him? What happened if he missed it?

"Gods Hiccup, stop asking so many damn questions!" he yelled at himself. It really was frustrating now. For three days, he had done naught but ask questions of himself. Question after question, after question, after question. He never answered himself. Just asked more questions, trying to invalidate his previous questions with ever more of them. He wished to be the heroic, fast thinking, split second decision maker that he knew Astrid deserved.

This time, the net had a decent load of fish wriggling in its folds. Hiccup pulled them ashore, and laid them out on the grass. Pulling over a small log and turning another one over on its end, he made himself a crude cutting board. Pulling out his trusty dagger, Hiccup inspected its old blade. This same dagger had been his very first weapon, given to him on his third birthday. This dagger had cut a Night Fury out of its bonds two years ago, and now it was still cleaning his fish.

Smiling and shaking his head, he set upon removing the heads of the fish and clipping off the fins. With quick moves that he had learned from Fishleg's, Hiccup slid the dagger along the spine of each fish both ways, making thin but succulent filets. Carving off thin stakes, he skewered the filets and set them over the spit.

He hummed a lullaby that his mother used to sing to him when he was trying to go to sleep. His closed eyes and swayed his head along with the tune. While he did this, he didn't see as three of Astrid's twisted bones lurched back into place and the muscles twined into each other.

Hiccup savored the fish meat and, after a brief lounge, he decided to practice some of the things Tyr had taught him.

Placing his right foot forward and his steel foot back, Hiccup assumed a balanced stance that he could block and attack from. The idea of placing the prosthetic back was so that if he needed to attack, he could swing the steel foot through and deliver a heavy blow, the extra damage from the steel allowing him to recover. Should he need to defend or retreat, he can lean his weight on the foot and either spin off it or use it as a crutch to block blows.

He rolled through some of the progressions that he had taken a liking to. Sets of attack and defend that maximized his chances of winning any fight. He fired punches through the air and evaded attacks that never came. The sweat and soreness that accompanied the workout were welcome to him and he opened his arms to them.

He kept flying through air fights, trying to achieve faster and faster punches, rolls and ripostes. Mentally, he had trouble diagnosing problems that he had because he didn't really know what they all were. In lieu of that, he just did what felt right and it worked out. Almost every time. Two run ins with full splits had left his lower feature quite sore. Astrid could do the splits no problem, but flexibility was not his forte. Oh well.

Resting for a few minutes, he noticed that something was hot on his chest. Pulling away the cuff of his tunic, he laid eyes on his lightly haired chest and the crystal that dangled from his neck. The crystal that held Astrid's soul. He had stopped wondering if it was the truth long ago. He made the decision in his mind that if he was to change, for Astrid, then he would no longer question himself at every turn. Only most of them.

The heat that he felt actually was the crystal. It was hot against his skin, which he knew was a change because it had been cold. His heart started to beat faster. If the crystal changed, maybe Astrid had changed too!

He ran from his spot on the other side of the lake to her side. Feeling her skin, his heart dropped from its high. It was still cold and colorless. Much like the ice that would cover the island in a few weeks. He drooped; Tyr had estimated 3 days at the most, but it was nearing the end of the third day, and she showed no motivation to wake the fuck up. Or it was this damn crystal. Had he missed the signal it was to give him? Had he been distracted by fishing or talking to himself like a dumb maniac? What the hel kind of trick was this anyway! Tyr was probably sitting in a tree, laughing his ass off,watching him waste his time like a lovestruck monkey as he waited for his dead love to come back from the grave! How did he get caught acting like a complete fool like this?!

For several minutes, he fumed like Thor after Loki had stolen Mjollnir. He legitimately contemplated going out into the wild and killing Tyr, but who was he kidding. Prior to a few days ago, he couldn't even throw a punch properly. Just cool off, Hiccup. He thought. Anger would get him nowhere. Settling his hard beating heart, he sat on the cot next to her and leaned his head on her shoulder. His mind searched for any clue as to what he did to her. He retraced his knowledge to that night. Suddenly, something had become clear to him. The verses! The verses that Tyr had spoken! At the time he hadn't known what they meant, but for some reason, now he did! He focused his mind on the words. To better understand them, he lumped them together in one phrase, rather than separated as Tyr had spoken them.

"Nitrei Ortevas kiri ker aiifal,

Saa huy jarichi ji xexilo al wasdoi,

Al homlk lorchi azshin ji ku mejital!"

They had been foreign to him, but as he pictured them in his mind, the words shifted and changed, it something that catapulted his heart high into the sky.

"Noble elders hear my plea,

See the bond by honor and blood,

And save her pain by your grace!"

In his translation, Hiccup finally knew that Tyr had not murdered her at all. He had done some fancy healing ritual! His heart flew as high as the sun, and suddenly, he could allow his mind to flow on to better things.

He thought about all the years that he had a crush on her.

When he was twelve, they had to go to some conference on a nearby island, and being a good friend of his father, Ingrid Hofferson had come along as his bodyguard. Not that his father had needed one but it was customary to have one.

Hiccup had to go along too, but he had a wonderful distraction. The thirteen year old Astrid was there, and her hair had just begun to grow long. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on. Admittedly, if anyone had asked him what was said at the conference, he wouldn't be able to tell. He had focused on her the entire time, even imagining how she would swoon over him as he, the great dragon slayer Hiccup and his rippling muscles asked for a wife. That was back when he thought he was just a late bloomer in the department of physical attributes. When Snotlout got big at age fourteen, Hiccup's dreams of muscles wasted away.

Age fifteen, the first time he actually did something worth noting. He and the other teens had been given the job of hanging shields on the annual Snoggletog tree. He had pretty much avoided catastrophe for most of the day and found himself hanging the last shields near the top with Astrid. She hadn't said much to him, and he hadn't really attempted to strike conversation, concentrating on not destroying something for once. A misplaced foot, and Astrid had slipped from the scaffolding. On a reflex, he had reached out and caught her hand. Her skin had been the softest thing he'd ever touched. Before long, he had managed to pull her up onto the scaffold, but in the process of climbing onto the scaffold with his help, Astrid knocked over a torch that fell into the wooden tree.

The blaze destroyed the tree and two houses near it, and when all was said and done and Stoick came looking for the culprit, he had spoken up and said it was all his fault. The only ones who knew of Hiccup catching her were the other teens, and the were reluctant to say that it had happened. Hiccup was berated, beaten and treated like trash for four months for ruining Snoggletog. He had been contemplating running away during that time, but when he arrived at the forge one day, there was a note in his office, addressed to him. Nothing had ever been addressed to him.

Hiccup,

Nobody will say it, but I will. You saved me a lot of pain that day. Not only that, you took the fall for me when chief wanted answers. Thanks.

The letter hadn't been signed by anyone, but he'd known exactly who wrote it. That exact letter was stitched into the inside front cover of his personal diary that sat in Astrid's room at her house.

Then, a year later, the magical flight on Toothless in which he had convinced her that dragon's were a good thing, and the first time her lips had touched his skin. It was just as heavenly as he imagined.

He sighed. The gods certainly had a sense of humor. Nobody could have ever guessed that the powerful Astrid would end up with the scrawny screw up. Hiccup was a rarity among vikings, but that made him a liability. Bah, that was all a long time ago.

He covered himself and Astrid with the furs. Threading his fingers through her cold ones, he settled in to go to sleep, hoping that tomorrow would bring better things.

XXX

"The boy shows faith," the spirit said. Tyr watched along, nodding his head silently. He had been there since he had "left", watching.

"How's Astrid?"

The spirit vanished for a moment and then returned, "She's a strong one. Even our people would be hard pressed to last this long in stasi. If her body is not ready soon Tyr, she will die."

"Can you accelerate the healing?" Tyr asked. His concern had been growing. This lesson was taking a deadly turn.

"Tyr! It is enough that you asked us to do this for you! We should kill you for this colata in the first pla-"

"CAN you accelerate it?" Tyr grunted. He knew how many rules he was breaking by doing this, but he didn't care. He had foolishly involved Astrid in something beyond his control, all because she looked like her. The one woman Tyr could not live without. And because of his weakness, Astrid and these vikings were doomed.

The spirit behind him disappeared with a curse. His ancestors had been furious when Tyr told them what he'd done, but they have no idea of the gravity of the situation. He would need to walk on egg shells for the next weeks.

There is Chapter 14! Like I said, please let me know how I did with the personal reflection. Other than that, I hope you enjoyed! Reviews welcome!

P.S: To clear up any confusion about the story. ANY conversation with spirits or ancestors (aka Astrid talking to Aislin, Hiccup talking to Valhallarama) is done in Antenati, indicating why Hiccup only now knows what Tyr said in the ritual. It is pointless to try and write all the conversation in Antenati and then translate it. This will be a fact throughout the rest of the story. Serious plot pieces and the such shall be written in fancy pants words and then translated at some point in the story. Of course, if you find something in the language that you would like to know, I will gladly PM you. Thanks.