Falling for Him

...

The Red Death battle scene was too long for a drabble length, so I split it into two parts. This is Part I. And the things that weren't shown in the movie are what I think happened while the movie was focusing on people other than Astrid. Since this is Astrid's POV, she wouldn't know about Hiccup diving underwater to get Toothless and the little talk he had with Stoick and stuff, so yeah. Anyway, here you go.

...

We arrived at the dragons' nest to find what we had all (minus the twins and Snotlout) been fearing we would: the monstrous dragon that had tried to kill Hiccup, Toothless, and I was out in the open. The people of Berk were surrounding it, shrieking in terror. Half of them were running for their lives, and the other half were helping the chief scramble to find things to hit it with - not that a mace or sword would do anything to the beast.

"Ruff, Tuff, watch your backs!" Hiccup shouted as the smoke from the deadly reptile's ferocious blasts came up right behind the twins' Zippleback. "And Fishlegs, keep moving!"

As the air became more and more fogged, I tightened my grip on Hiccup.

"Look at us!" shouted Tuffnut to the crowd below. "We're on dragons! All of us!"

"Alright. Lout, Legs, go find its blind spot. Make noise; keep it confused," called Hiccup in reference to the giant creature. "Ruff, Tuff, find out if it has a shot limit. Make it mad."

"That's my specialty!" Ruffnut shouted back.

"Hey! Everyone knows I'm more annoying!" protested Tuffnut. He turned so he was hanging upside-down on his dragon's neck.

"Just go!" said Hiccup. "I'll be back as soon as I can." With that, he steered Stormfly away from the group. "We're going to find Toothless."

I felt my palms grow sweaty at the sight of the burning ships Hiccup was heading towards. Resting my chin on his shoulder, I pulled my legs about his waist and moved my arms up around his chest.

"It's okay," he reassured, gently pushing my feet off of him. I got the hint that he wanted to be able to move quickly if needed, and accepted the fact that it obviously couldn't happen if I was wrapped around him.

Swallowing hard, I shifted my hands back to his waist.

"There!" he shouted suddenly, directing the Nadder to where Toothless was lying - chains binding him - in one of the smoking ships. Before I knew it, he was handing me the rope he'd fastened to Stormfly for steering purposes and jumping into the boat with his Night Fury.

I froze for a second, trying to register what was happening while, at the same time, fearing that the worst would happen to Hiccup.

"Astrid! Go and help the others!" he shouted.

I obeyed. It felt a bit strange guiding a dragon, but I soon got the feel for it enough that I could move at a decent speed and reach the rest of the group. However, the sick sensation of worry that was churning in my stomach was, to an extent, throwing off my focus. But knowing I had to be brave, I took a deep breath and headed toward Snotlout and Fishlegs, who seemed to be struggling with their duty.

"Die! Die, you troll!" Snotlout was shouting from the beast's face as he smacked one of its six eyes with a hammer.

"Fishlegs, give me a weapon," I commanded.

Fishlegs silently handed me a mace, which I then proceeded to use to pound another of the dragon's eyes with. After what seemed like forever, I looked over my shoulder, only to see no sign of Hiccup. A lump rose in my throat at the thought of what could be happening. Dropping my tool, I rose into the air, determined to find him. What if he needed help? What if he had been burned by the fire too badly to move? What if he was...dead? Trying to shake off that last thought, I squinted my eyes and tried to look out over Stormfly's head into the foggy distance.

Nothing.

Sighing, I pushed forward. It was then that I caught sight of Toothless ascending up into the sky - with Hiccup sitting on his back. Relief rushed through my body. "He's up!" I shouted, a grin breaking out onto my face.

However, that ecstatic feeling wouldn't last for long, as things were just about to get worse for all of us - especially Hiccup.