Repressing Instincts is Hard

Astrid's terror was overwhelming to say the least. She had a brief glimpse of Erik above her, before her head hit a rock that was jutting out, and everything went dark.

Erik could almost sense the ground rushing up to meet him. And yet, there were still several feet to fall before his imminent death. The fall seemed to take hours. Time was practically at a standstill. He just barely managed to swerve to avoid a rock ledge jutting out from the side of the canyon.

In a last ditch effort, he grabbed it with his hand. He winced as the rough rock dug into his palm. In the next second he had a choice. Astrid was still falling, unconscious due to her head injury.

Acting by instinct, his other arm shot out, and grabbed her around the waist. He gasped in pain as the skin on his palm seemed to split in two due to the extra weight. He looked both up and down. There was still a good twelve more feet to fall. If he moved at all, he would be risking losing his grip.

"Think Grimborn, think," he commanded himself. He saw what appeared to be Hiccup standing over the edge. Loose grit fell on his face as Hiccup moved, making him lose his grip just the tiniest bit.

"Hiccup! Stop moving!" he yelled, praying the stubborn dragon rider would listen.

"What did you do to her?" Hiccup demanded, kneeling over the edge. Rocks showered down again, loosening his grip on the ledge.

"Hiccup I'm being serious!" Erik yelled, feeling his hand slide even more. He couldn't go on like this much longer. He may have been able to hang by one hand with just his weight, but with Astrid and the fact that his grip was slipping, most definitely not.

"Everybody stay back," Hiccup commanded the others. "Let me deal with this."

Deal with what? Erik screamed in his head. He glanced up again.

"Hiccup back up!" Erik yelled again.

"Is she okay?" Hiccup demanded again. "What did you do?" Erik wanted to scream that he did absolutely nothing.

"Hiccup she's okay. But you need to back off." Hiccup leaned out even further, trying to see Astrid. But in the process, some loose chunks of rock tumbled straight down to Erik and Astrid. One hit Erik square in the arm, and he felt his grip slip completely. They were free falling to the bottom.

Today was just a day of firsts for Erik. Within the last second of their descent, he wrapped his own body around Astrid's, preparing to take the blow for himself. There was no way she would survive another blow. He tightened his grip on her, and closed his eyes.

His side was the first to hit the ground, landing with a sickening thud on the ground. Every bit of breath was driven from his body. His bones felt like they were all snapping at once, and his skin felt like it was being ripped apart. It probably was. They skidded for about a foot, before coming to a stop. Not that Erik knew. He was already unconscious.

Hiccup saw the cloud of dust erupt from Erik and Astrid's landing. He exchanged a glance with the other riders, before starting to scramble down the cliff. Toothless gave a worried growl, knowing that he couldn't fit down there.

Once he landed safely, he was running over to the pair. The first thing he noticed was their position. Astrid didn't appear to have even been hurt from the fall. The only injury was the knock to her head. Erik had his arms around the rider, protecting her from the fall.

"They're both alive!" he called out the everyone above. "But Erik won't be for long if we don't do something." As he spoke,Astrid began to stir slightly.

"Can we lift them out?" Fishlegs asked.

"Go to Toothless' saddle bag. There should be a blanket and rope in the left one." Fishlegs nodded, hurrying over to the night fury. He paused to shoot the dragon hunters a worried glance, before grabbing the supplies. The hunters were currently being carefully watched by the dragons, not daring to move at all.

"Found it!" he called out, running back and tossing the items down to Hiccup.

"Can you get Meatlug?" Hiccup asked, gently rolling Astrid onto the blanket. In Hiccup's mind, he wasn't above leaving Erik here. The darker side of him was revealing itself, just like it had with Elliot. Hiccup squashed the urge. For now.

Astrid could feel a dull ache seemingly everywhere in her body. And moving just made it worse. She soon abandoned her attempts at getting up. She'd been confined to her bed for a week already, and was already going crazy. Hiccup was being very supportive, but he also had other things to do.

There was one thing that Astrid couldn't piece together. She had no idea why she wasn't hurt even more badly. Astrid was about to go back to sleep, when she heard voices outside. It was Snotlout and Hiccup.

"We need to make sure he won't hurt anyone else." That was Hiccup.

"Hiccup we can't just throw him in jail! It will be ages until he's completely healed."

"Yeah, and what do you think he'll do once he's healed? He'll plan some sort of attack that will kill us all!"

"Hiccup look, I understand you feel anger towards Erik. We all do. But he saved Astrid's life. That has to count for something."

"I don't care," Hiccup said, his voice more of a growl than anything else. "I am in charge here. And I say that as soon as possible, Erik goes to the prison. I won't let him hurt anyone else." Astrid heard Snotlout make another attempt, Hiccup cut him off, and the sound of someone stomping away.

She may have been injured physically, but Astrid's mind was as sharp as ever. She wasn't sure how, but she knew Erik had somehow saved her, and that Hiccup was still going to throw him in prison. She didn't even hesitate to spring out of bed, and secretly follow Hiccup.

Confusion swept through her as Hiccup began walking towards the dragon cages. He didn't, she silently begged. She slipped around a corner, and saw Hiccup staring into one of the cages. Astrid managed to slip behind him as he turned around again, and saw what was in the cage. Or rather, who.

She knew the second she looked it was who she thought it was. She couldn't hold back her gasp of surprise, pain, and sympathy.

"I cannot believe you!"

Hello again everyone. So, I know Hiccup may seem a little ooc, but that's for a reason. He was also out of character when he killed Elliot, and I've had people say that they wanted a confrontation with Hiccup's darker side. Plus, Hiccup's very protective of Astrid and the riders. It's not unrealistic that he would be unfairly cruel to Erik.

Next time… Astrid confronts Hiccup about his treatment about Erik. Astrid brings up old wounds. Meanwhile familiar face shows up to help guide Erik.

I realize I didn't get to that familiar face in this chapter. So, really sorry about that. You guys are amazing.

R&R

NightLightning21