Now for part 2 of the Alternate Ending.

Alt. End. 12: Happy Endings

We woke up the next morning and ate the last of the beef jerky. It seems that the Gamemakers had indeed tampered with the environment, the pond was now completely dry. Toothless ate all the pond fish that were now just laying on the muddy ground that had once been covered by water.

While we ate we discussed our plan. Me and Rue were going to make a run for the cave to try to coax Cato and/or anyone else from his little group to come out of hiding. Hiccup and Toothless would then fly down and take them out. They wouldn't even see it coming.

By midday me and Rue had reached the edge of the tree line. We looked out at our surroundings. Neither Cato nor any of his club were in sight. That didn't mean that they weren't there though. I knew I could take them on with my axe, it was Rue I was worried about. All she had was a knife she had snatched from a sleeping tribute. She was small and her strategy was to evade, not fight. She would be the choice target in this situation. However I doubted it would turn out that way. Cato's grudge was against me, not her. If anyone was going to be chased after, it would be me.

"Alright. You ready?" I asked.

"Ready as ever."

"Okay. Three. Two. One. Go!"

We jumped out of the bushes making as much noise as possible and sprinted for the cave. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the sight of Cato on my right making a dash to try and intercept us. I had to keep my pace slow enough so that we didn't get separated.

I heard Toothless' distinct shriek and saw Cato stop and cower in fear, looking at the sky for the thing that destroyed his supplies a few nights ago. He obviously saw it and tried to warn some people behind us, but it was too late. The shriek stopped and was replaced by an explosion right behind us. We stumbled as we were hit by the shockwave, but still pressed for the cave.

When we reached the cave, Rue dashed inside while I climbed on top to overlook the field. I already knew where Cato was. I looked to my left and saw Narsca moving towards the cave. She had dual throwing knives drawn, but kept looking towards the sky, anticipating another bombing run from Toothless. I made a quick 360-degree look and saw Cato with his eyes still fixed on me. I also saw a patch of grass burnt black and hosting two burning corpses. I turned my gaze back to Narsca just in time to see her throwing one of her knives at me. I dodged it just in time for the blade to just graze my left shoulder pad. She threw her second knife at me and I blocked it with the head of my axe.

I jumped off the cave and charged her while she drew more knives. I closed the distance quicker than she must have thought, because as soon as she readied a knife for throwing, I lodged my axe deep into her left shoulder. I pulled out my axe to hear a struggle coming from the cave. I ran back in time to see Cato dragging Rue out of the cave. He had her in a neck hold that would allow him to snap her neck in an instant. I heard rather than saw Toothless and Hiccup land beside me. I took a quick look over to see the angry look in Toothless' eyes. I turned back to Cato.

"Let her go Cato. It's me you want."

"I don't think so. You seem to care a lot about this girl."

"I'm not gonna lie to you Cato, you're dead either way."

"Yeah, well so is she. If I don't kill her you will."

"No I won't. I fully intend for Rue to win this thing."

"Really? Alright, fine. I'll let her go, but you have to kill your boyfriend first." Cato was so engulfed in our conversation, that he didn't notice Rue pulling out her knife from under her shirt. To help sell the plan I gave Hiccup a concerned look. "If Rue here is going to win then it's like you said, gonna die either way." Cato boasted.

I smirked at Cato, "Not exactly."

Rue took Cato's momentary confusion to stab him in the hand with her knife. He loosened his grip with a cry of pain, allowing her to slip under his arms and scramble out of reach. She ducked to the ground as I threw my axe over her head and into Cato's.

I walked over to his dead body and pulled out my axe. I then ripped off a piece of his shirt and used it to clean the blood off. I walked back over to where Hiccup and Toothless were now checking Rue for injuries.

"Did you really mean it?" Rue asked. "When you said you wanted me to win."

"Yes I did. Every single word."

"So, what do we do now? I mean, I don't want to kill you guys, and I'm sure you don't want to kill each other."

"Don't worry we got that part figured out." said Hiccup with a smile as he got onto Toothless' back. He then offered me his hand and I took it as he helped me get on behind him.

"What are you doing?" Rue asked.

"We've decided that our current lifestyle just isn't for us." I replied.

"So we've decided to go find our own, together." Hiccup finished. We then pulled out our trackers and threw them into the grass. Rue looked on us with sad eyes.

"Will I ever see you again?"

"Maybe. Perhaps someday you'll get the chance to get away yourself. But for now you have to take care of your family." I told her.

"See you around Rue." Hiccup then gave her a final smile. Toothless then licked her to say goodbye, causing Rue to laugh as she gave his head one final hug.

"So long Rue. I hope our paths cross again in the future." I said.

"Goodbye guys. I'll miss you."

With a final wave goodbye, Toothless pushed off of the ground, launching us into the air. I watched as Rue's already small figure shrank into the distance. As the field left my sight I could barley make out the sound of the head gamemaker announcing the end of the Games.

After a few moments I realized something. I was flying. Not only that, but I was flying with Hiccup. I felt the cold yet relaxing air beat against my face as I looked around at the blue sky and the clouds around us. I hugged Hiccup and felt him tense up. We flew for hours, and as the sunset the sky turned into beautiful shades of purple, pink, and orange. Flying felt even more amazing than it already had. We flew on into the night as Toothless decided to fly amongst the clouds and then above them, just as the Northern Lights began to shine. I gave Hiccup a quick kiss on the cheek. We landed on a small island and rested on it's beach.

I woke up the next morning and found myself leaning against Toothless, right next to Hiccup. I got up and decided to search for some edible plants in the forest. We had skipped dinner last night so I was pretty hungry. The island was too small to support a village like on Berk, but it was large enough that it could supply for at least two people and a dragon. I returned with several pockets full of berries and nuts to find Hiccup crouching next to a fire roasting some fish.

"Oh there you are. I was beginning to think you'd gotten lost." He said in his usual sarcastic manner.

"And you didn't go looking for me?" I said, faking offense.

"I figured you could take care of yourself, plus you'd be mad at me for thinking that you couldn't."

"You're right. Where did you get the fish?"

"Toothless caught them. They are his main diet."

We sat down and ate our fish together while Toothless sat opposite us eating an entire pile of fish. In between bites Hiccup kept talking about the plans he already had for a house and hunting gear and some other things I didn't care for at the moment. Even after we'd finished eating and went for a walk on the beach, he kept on talking. Until I hit him that is.

"Ow. What was that for?"

"That's for talking nonstop."

"Please don't tell me this is what everyday life is going to be like. Because..." I cut him off by grabbing his shirt and pulled him towards me, and kissed him. When it was over he was blushing and had a stunned look on his face. It was rather cute. "I could get used to it."

I smiled at him and he smiled back as we laced our fingers and continued our now silent walk on the beach, with my head resting on his shoulder.

"I love you Astrid."

"I love you too Hiccup."

This island was a start to a new life. One where there were no Peacekeepers interfering with our everyday lives. It wasn't going to be an easy life, but it was our life. Just the three of us, and we were going to live happily ever after.

THE END

So, there's the Alternate Ending. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Once again I would like to thank all of you for reading this story. In the infamous words of Tigger, TTFN; Ta Ta For Now.