Hiccup thought he heard something but he was partly sure it was just an illusion. Still, it gave him a really bad feeling he couldn't explain. It was like how a paranoid who happened to be forgetful and couldn't remember if he really had locked the door of his house would feel. When he finished with the two he felt something slump against him. For a fraction of a second, he had a choking feeling that stretched his heart in two opposite directions. He spun around, expecting to see another dragon hunter swinging a mace at his head, Inferno held high, but instead of a hunter with a mace, he saw a blood-soaked Astrid with an arrow sticking out of her back.

Not the scene he'd expect to see at all. Not anything he'd ever want to see at all.

Hiccup's blood froze. It dawned on him what had happened. Fear filled his veins at once. He dropped his sword as if he'd been struck by a mace. The back of his head felt punched by an invisible hand so hard that it took a second for him to feel that raw, stinging, unbearable pain right in his heart. He caught Astrid, careful not to touch her right shoulder. That must have been some great vessel. His knees were suddenly too weak to carry his weight.

'Astrid, Astrid! Look at me! It's me.It's Hiccup.Talk to me!' Hiccup shook her desperately gently, afraid that he might break her like a china doll. Half of her body was wet with blood. She was cold and slippery under the coat of warm blood. Hiccup felt hopeless. She didn't show any sign of response.

'Astrid, please! Just look at me! Please, Astrid!' Tears were welling up in his eyes. There was a huge lump in his throat preventing him from breathing.

Oh gods. Oh, gods. Tell me it's a dream.

Sure Astrid had almost died a few times before, but she was never this close to Valhalla. Her pulse was strangely uneven. Her breath was shallow. She was never fading this quick. Stormfly rushed over. When she saw Astrid, she tried to lower her head and nuzzle her arm like she always did but Hiccup stopped her.

'No, Stormfly! Calm down. She's bleeding.' Stormfly cocked her head in shock and backed off, chirping worriedly.

But I'm never gonna let you go. I won't let anything happen to you. Hiccup swore to himself. However, he wasn't even sure this time. He couldn't tell who he was trying to reassure, Astrid or himself. Time was squeezed to a blink of an eye, too short for Hiccup to have enough confidence to catch. He was racing against it. He gathered Astrid in his arms and shouted for Toothless.

There was a fit of 'oy oy oy' which indicated that Snotlout and Fishlegs were out of trouble. Toothless heard Hiccup's voice pricked up his ears and recognized the anxiety in the tone at once. He turned and when he saw Astrid, he growled in shock and started running.

'Toothless, wait!What's...Oh Thor!' Fishlegs noticed where the dragon was going.He turned around and gasped in horror.

'What's wrong this time! I'm so sick of these hunters...Oh my!' Snotlout complained loudly but froze as well before finally felt his legs moving. They rushed to Hiccup who was holding Astrid in despair.

'What happened?' Fishlegs panted.

'I'll explain on the way. Now I need to get her back to the edge.' Hiccup tried to steady his shaky breath. He got on his saddle as gently as he could with Astrid in his arms and took off, the other two following him fast.

They were now literally racing to the edge. Stormfly was flying alone without a rider, which kept reminding them of a terrifying possibility. It didn't help with the atmosphere at all. No one talked. No one dared to. No one wanted to. The wind kept slapping their faces, creating a suffocating dome around them.

'That was one Thorston blast! That was totally cool! And they ran off like little rats full of moldy cheese... I don't know if they really fart but who cares? Right, sis?' An excited Barf and Belch were coming their way, with two even more exciting riders.

'Yeah, ' Ruffnut laughed, 'Guys, you have no idea how...Hey! At least wait for us a bit!' Noticing their friends were speeding and didn't seem to slow down at all, the zippleback sped up as well.

'Guys, wait-ARGH! What happened?' Tuffnut was nearly thrown off the saddle when he got close enough to see Astrid, finally breaking the dome.

'Astrid took an arrow to the shoulder for me. I...I think it was a great vessel...She keeps bleeding.' There was something that kept trying to strangle Hiccup. It could be the wind or the lump in his throat that no matter how hard he tried he couldn't swallow. Or could be both. He stared at the front, afraid to find any grief, perplexity or blame in any of his friends' eyes.

Tuffnut looked like he was about to faint. He was out of breath like a fish out of water.

'Oh Thor! Oh Thor! Astrid...she...Oh my goodness nobody has ever prepared me for this! What do I do? What do I do?' He drew in a sharp breath, suddenly whispering,'Is she gonna be okay? Is she...Is she gonna...die?' The last word was barely audible but Hiccup shuddered at it. Ruffnut's eyes shot daggers at her brother which silenced him at once.

'I... I don't know...I'm sorry. This is all my...my fault... I should've seen her coming but I was stuck in that ...stupid fight...At least I could...shove her out of the way..but I just...just didn't !'Finally Hiccup was no longer able to hold himself together. He choked on his own tears, breaking down in the violent winds that gnawed at his heart. A bleak hole appeared somewhere in his soul, drawing his whole world in.

The crew fell in silence again, absolutely shocked by their leader. Whatever happened before, they never saw him cry. Panicked? Worried? Out of ideas? Sure. But cried? Never.

Astrid couldn't see anything. It was just darkness, endless but calming darkness. She couldn't feel anything. Not her body. Nor the pain. She felt nothing. She hadn't felt this relaxed for long. This mattress of soft darkness was so comfortable. She could lie here forever, and be infinite. That sounded so good.

No, wait. She thought she heard something.

Was it in my mind?... Do I even have a mind?

But there is something. At least I think so.

Faint. Vague. Unstable. But definitely exists.

All of a sudden Astrid saw a tiny star. It was struggling against this endless darkness which its light got constantly swallowed by. But it was always there, trying so hard to break free. And every time it shone, Astrid heard a voice. It grew louder and louder until--

Hiccup!

Astrid's mind came into a sharp focus.

It's Hiccup. My Hiccup! And that's my name he's calling!

Thank Thor I'm not dying. I'm not ready to leave him alone yet.

That star was gradually getting brighter and bigger. The moment Astrid tried to reach out to it a white-hot pain hit her on the right shoulder, paralyzing her.

Oh, right. Astrid remembered what had happened. He was not hurt, right? But who knows? It only means he isn't dead. Good enough but is he alright? Like alright alright, not 'don't worry It's nothing ' alright. He does best telling such lies.

Ugh. Stupid stableboy. I gotta check. I'm not leaving him. Forget about infinity. I want to be limited, by that stupid stableboy and his sweet, awkward love.

Astrid smiled. She tried again. That pain hit her again. It was almost like her shoulder was catching fire.

Son of a half-troll.

Her scream was ground to dust between her teeth. It was almost there. The star came closer and the fire blazed even more. The pain in her right arm kept building up. If she had a choice, she would rather have let a thousand yaks run all day on her body than had this. She squeezed her eyes shut. She bit her lips so hard that she started to suspect if they had started bleeding. Almost there. Just a little more. Astrid put all her left strength into her burning arm and stretched it one last time.

The star burst into a blinding white light. It was running and flowing until it completely buried the dark. It was like her arm got chewed on by a screaming death. It was too much for her to hold inside. A pained cry finally tore the blinding white and Astrid was sure she saw it, the world she couldn't let go of, even though it was all blurry and out of focus. But yeah, finally, this was it.

Astrid felt her whole body again. It was no longer light and floating and relaxed. It was cold, rigid, heavy, weak and full of pain. The wind was stealing her body heat fast. But soothing warmth kept radiating from the other side, creating a cradle for her to stay in. A sweetly familiar smell of mixed old leather and newly-made soap surrounded her.

Her vision became clear gradually. She was flying. A tousled, auburn-haired head appeared in her view. Her Hiccup was crying. Astrid had never seen that before. His tears dropped on her stomach, leaving a bunch of warm little spots that grew cold in the wind. He couldn't even seem to be able to breathe properly. Worry and fear exploded in her chest.

What happened? Is everyone okay? Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?

Astrid reached out to touch his cheek. That same burning sensation was back again. She even came to think if anyone just shot an arrow through her right arm. She gasped, dropping her hand.

Hiccup hung his head. Tears were streaming down his face. He didn't want to see anything. He didn't dare to look at any of his friends. Breathing was such a hard thing to do. Where had his lungs been?

Something moved. He heard a gasp. A strong electrical wave washed through him. He looked up almost insanely. Astrid's eyes were filled with pain but they were open. The oceans were still breathtaking.

Hiccup was sure his heart tripped on itself. Now he literally couldn't breathe. Literally, not metaphorically. There was a weird expression on his face. It looked like despair and extreme guilt befriended with astonishment and joy. He felt overwhelmed and dizzy after being tossed up and down from hell to heaven. He pulled her into a tight embrace, up to his chest, so that he could feel her heartbeat.

'Oh my god Astrid! Thank Thor!' his voice cracked. It was shaking and wheezy. He didn't want to let go of her because he feared that she might disappear into thin air at any moment. She never looked this fragile and...illusory like she never existed but was just a shadow. The other riders were watching Hiccup nervously.

'Hey...you know, I might have...a few broken ribs now...'Astrid teased weakly, trying to make him chuckle.

But he didn't chuckle. Hiccup loosened his embrace immediately. 'I'm sorry I'm sorry. Did I hurt you? what was I thinking? You are bleeding!' He looked absolutely mad and disappointed in himself. He checked Astrid's wound. It was still bleeding but it slowed down, but Hiccup wasn't sure how to feel about it. Now his shirt was damped with her blood, too. And he was sure he didn't feel good about that.

'Come on...I was messing with you. I'm fine...probably...and are you okay...is anyone...'Astrid looked at his tear-stained face and sighed. Astrid lifted her hand and cried out when that same sharp pain shot through her again.

'Astrid! Don't move! You are bleeding like mad!'a breath hitched in Hiccup's throat when he heard the cry. It broke his heart. How could she be fine like this? Plus that 'probably ' ruined the whole 'I'm fine '. She never said 'I'm fine' like that. Hiccup took a deep breath and tried to control his nervousness. It didn't work.

'No...I'm serious...Answer me, Hiccup.' Astrid tried to ignore the pain. She gritted her teeth while reaching for Hiccup's cheek. It got worse.Cold sweat appeared on her forehead. Her breath started to be heavy and raspy.

The whole movement seemed to accelerate the bleeding. Hiccup grabbed her hand and put it on his cheek. Her hand was covered in blood, leaving a scary red handprint on Hiccup's face.

'Everyone is fine. No one is injured except for you.' Hiccup said quickly. His tears were coming up again. It was just as painful to watch her suffering like this. 'Now stop talking. Just rest. You need to save your stream. you'll be okay. I promise.' Hiccup nodded to somebody that didn't exist, feeling necessary to do so just to make somebody he didn't know feel safe.

Astrid sighed in satisfaction. She felt cold and exhausted. What she just did cost all her strength. Now all she wanted to do was sleep. A short nap would do, too. She really couldn't keep her eyes open anymore.

Hiccup felt the hand in his go limp. He looked down in horror and saw Astrid's eyes fluttering shut. Endless fear engulfed him.

'Astrid! Astrid! Don't sleep. Don't fall asleep! Hold on. Just a little longer.'

'But I'm tired...Just some shut-eye...Hiccup, please..' Astrid sounded helpless. She pleaded, turning her head towards Hiccup's chest and trying to bury it there. She heard his strong but sky-rocketing heartbeat. It felt warm and soothing through his shirt and armor.

'No, Astrid! Don't ! Stay with me! Don't go! Look at me! I beg you. Don't fall asleep. Just for me. Okay?' Hiccup was desperate. He was crushed. He looked down at Astrid's face. The color completely drained from her face. It was as pale as the snow in December and covered in cold sweat. He heard loud cracks in his heart. He held her tightly and kissed her forehead.' Don't leave me. Please don't leave me.'

Hiccup had never sounded so scared. His voice was shaking. So was his breath and body. This short ride felt like forever.

Just for me. Okay?

Hiccup. Hiccup.

Astrid forced her eyelids open. She felt Hiccup's lips on her forehead. It was her pivot. She thought she found her stren gth.

'Alright.'

'Toothless, can you be just a little faster please?'Hiccup swallowed, trying to wash down the tension in his throat with some air. Good, It'll only take a few minutes before we get to the edge. Toothless grunted in concern, going as fast as he could.

Astrid was freezing. The faster wind was doing no good. The cold seemed to creep down to her bones.

Gosh it's so cold. Is there ice forming on me?

She shivered. The consciousness of hers was getting frozen, too. Her eyelids drooped.

Hiccup felt her shivering. He held her tight against his body. Now the only thing he could offer was his body heat.

'Are you alright? Are you cold? Is this helping? Oh no Astrid don't go. Look at me!' He cupped her face with one hand and shouted. Astrid struggled to open her eyes and look at him. They were quickly losing focus. They couldn't keep open for long. She was slipping in and out of her consciousness. And it scared Hiccup to death. He really thought he could be expecting a heart attack.

He kissed her forehead, again and again, trying to keep her anchored. There was something wet on his face. He couldn't tell if it was sweat or tears. His heart was pinched. It hurt, so much.

'Guys, the edge!' Fishlegs squeaked.

The edge was right ahead. They would be arriving in no time.

'Astrid, come on! We're here. We're home! Just hold on. You'll be fine. Don't sleep!' The closer they were to the edge, the more terrified Hiccup become. She was slippery with all the blood and red all over. He clutched her tighter, afraid that she might slip out of his arms any minute.

Toothless slowed down and landed with a soft thud. Hiccup tumbled down and dropped on his knees, with a semi-conscious Astrid in his arms. He set her down on his laps.

'We need to remove the arrow. Fishlegs can you help?' Hiccup panted. The front of him was drenched in blood.

'Of course. Snotlout go get the medicine cabinet under my bed and quick!' Fishlegs turned calm and organized in a second which gave Hiccup a bit of relief.

'I'm on it!' Snotlout ran away.

'Hiccup give me your knife. I need to break the shaft and after that, you pull the rest out from her back.' Fishlegs looked at Hiccup and tried to be as confident as he could.

Hiccup nodded. He handed Fishlegs the knife. His hands started trembling.