How to Preserve Your Loved Ones

"Hiccup goes insane, paralyzing Astrid with Flightmare mist or Speed Stinger venom before preserving her in Death Song amber."

Rated T

2,954 Words

Dark Hiccstrid

Hiccup, Astrid

Dark AU, Violence, Mild Language

July 30th, 2020

The saying goes: die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain.

Maybe Hiccup cheated death just a few too many times and this was his punishment. A spiral into insanity. A slandering of his good name. Something no one saw coming but they all should've. A boy isn't just okay after being the laughing stock of the village, only gaining respect once he lost his leg. Worthless. A boy isn't okay when, the day he got his mother back, his father died protecting him. Useless. A boy isn't okay having the responsibility of a village thrust onto him—a village that hated him not all too long ago. Pathetic.

Everyone could tell that, under the mask he put on, he longed to get away from this. 'He'll get over it with time,' they thought and, for a while, it really looked like he did.

Astrid was running as fast as her feet could carry her. The rain wasn't helping as she slipped several times, skin scraping and bruising against the rough ground. She was bleeding and the rain pouring onto her skin wasn't helping but she couldn't afford to stop running.

She had thought that tonight was just going to be lovely; it was going to be a pleasant break from all the stress she was under and all the responsibilities she had. Hiccup told Astrid to meet him on a nearby, uninhabited island. Alone. She happily obliged, ensuring that no one would come looking for her until the next morning by coming up with some lame excuse.

When she got there, though, she felt uneasy. The part of the island where Hiccup told her to meet him was rather devoid of plants and life in general. In her peripheral, she saw a large cave system that she wouldn't want to get lost in. The night was pitch black with clouds blocking the moon. The wind tickled Astrid's skin and made her shiver. The eerie silence was rather unsettling. She felt alone.

If she had been someone else, Hiccup probably would've taken her right then and there. However, after her stint with being blind for a day, her hearing was pretty good when her ability to see was limited. His footsteps were soft, but she could hear them. She whipped around before he could reach her, catching him off guard as he stopped where he was and awkwardly stretched his arms behind his back.

His eyes were closed. "Good evening, m'lady." But, when they opened and his face was illuminated by the dim light of the small torch in Hiccup's hand, Astrid knew. Hiccup is only human and humans aren't that strong. He finally broke.

Hiccup was reading Astrid's face too because, as soon as she realized that he had changed, he stretched his arm out and grabbed hers with an iron grip. She wrangled her arm, kicked him, bit him; it was all useless. He wasn't reacting. She drew blood and all he did was give her the same goofy grin he'd been giving her for years.

Astrid knew that she couldn't fight her way out of his grip. She might be better trained than him, but he was bigger than her and in a state where he was unreactive to pain. Not to mention, she was holding back. He was still Hiccup. Somehow. Somewhere.

He was also in a state of mental stability which meant his mind was weakened. Normally, Astrid was the brawns that took people down with her fists while Hiccup was the brains that tricked people into enacting their own demise. However, they had picked up on each other's tricks.

Astrid stopped struggling and trying to pull her arm away. For a moment, they were both completely still. Astrid had to focus on not shaking under his touch. She had to even out her raggedy breath under his threatening gaze.

Play innocent. Play dumb. Do something to let his guard down for just a second so you can get your arm free.

"Hiccup, wow." Astrid caressed his hand, turning her body so that her head was on his chest. "You've gotten a lot stronger." She looked up into his eyes and smiled at him. She was hoping to find some sign that the foolish boy she fell in love with was still in there.

His green eyes looked unbearably dark at the moment. She wouldn't be able to talk her way out of whatever Hiccup was planning.

Astrid stood on her toes, placing her free hand on Hiccup's shoulder to support herself. She was nearly at eye level and she saw something. A glint in his eyes. A shift of his gaze. He didn't look any lighter, but he looked confused. Astrid seized the opportunity.

"Baby," she whispered against his neck as she wrapped her arm behind his head, pushing him into a kiss. He remained stiff for a moment and Astrid worried that he already saw through her plan. Then his grip loosened, just a little, until, gradually, his hand slid off her arm and up and down her back.

She'd done it. Astrid grabbed Hiccup's arm and twisted it, causing him to yelp. She kicked him in the leg—the real one—and he crumpled to the floor.

Then she ran as fast as her feet could carry her.

She ran away from the caves and towards anything else that could give her cover. There was a forest and she sprinted. The rain started falling. Her arm was still red from where Hiccup held her. Her face was flush. She kept falling over and over again, cutting and bruising her skin. She hit her head. She ran into a tree. She was dizzy and lightheaded and felt like she needed to throw up.

She ran until there was a cliff and the only options were to turn back or to climb up. The cliff was steep and the water made it extra slippery, but Astrid had to try. She needed to go to save herself. She needed to go home to save Hiccup.

Astrid hesitated, judging the height of the cliff. A fall from the top would, at the right angle, would certainly kill her. If she was lucky, she'd probably just break an arm or a leg, but that would heavily impede her ability to escape. She latched both hands onto little grooves in the cliff before slowly and cautiously lifting her foot up.

By the time Hiccup found her, she was barely out of his arm's reach. The rain and the darkness were making it really hard for Astrid to figure out how to move next.

"M'lady." Hiccup tapped the rock under where Astrid stood so that she could feel the vibrations ever so slightly. "That's a very tall cliff you're climbing." He smacked his lips. "It'd be a shame if you fell."

Astrid didn't see it coming. Don't look down. She was ignoring Hiccup's taunts looking up, just trying to climb this cliff as fast as she could so she could leave him behind. She'd come back, of course.

She didn't realize Hiccup himself was climbing the cliff under her and he was doing it much faster. Where Astrid had been slow to move, fearing that she'd fall, Hiccup wasn't. He reached her ankle in a matter of moments and pulled, hard.

Astrid didn't have time to scream as Hiccup jumped down and she landed perfectly in her arms. He had a cloth in one hand that he stuck over her nose and mouth. She squirmed but, Odin be damned, he was stronger than her. She wasn't holding back this time.

Hiccup held the cloth over Astrid's face as she clawed at his hands. She couldn't breathe. Her vision was fading and fading and fading until, finally, everything went to black and she stopped moving.

Hiccup placed two fingers against the limp girl's neck, checking for a pulse.

The next time Astrid awoke, she couldn't feel anything except the tears welling in her eyes. She wanted to scream but nothing came out.

She wasn't bound in any way. She wasn't blindfolded either. Astrid could still hear the rain, but her vision was pitch black. She laid there, waiting.

Hiccup waltzed in soon after, humming to himself. His humming didn't stop as he stepped closer to Astrid.

"You're awake, I see." He chuckled, holding her chin with his hand. "I'm sorry about the paralysis, but this really makes the process easier."

If Astrid could've jerked her head away, she would have. Instead, she had to settle for giving him a glare that could kill. She still didn't know what his plan was but she didn't like it.

"Oh, don't worry, Astrid." The way he said her name—so breathless—with a smile made her squirm inside. "I'm not going to hurt you." He turned around to grab something. He was fiddling with something she couldn't see and all she could do was wait and hope. "In fact, I'm going to do the opposite. Astrid-," Her eyes winced at the mention of her name again. -"I'm going to help you."

Hiccup started a fire and that's when she realized his intentions. She would have screamed, but all she could do was go wide-eyed.

Over the fire was a large pot with an orange liquid slowly oozing down the side. Death Song amber. It trapped its victims, preserving them until either the dragon or fire released them. Hiccup was melting a lot of Death Song amber.

"Astrid, you see where I'm going with this, right?" Hiccup sat next to the frozen girl and moved her head to face him.

She blinked, as if to say 'No.' She had her ideas but she didn't want to accept it. Despite him grabbing her and chasing her and knocking her out and paralyzing her, she was clinging on to some semblance of hope; some hope that Hiccup hadn't yet entirely lost it.

Hiccup yanked her face closer to him. "Oh, Astrid,-" His breath was hot on her nose before he moved his mouth to graze her ear. -"You know better than that."

She gulped. She couldn't move her mouth to talk or force enough air to scream, but she found that she could still gulp.

She could also still whimper and she could still cry, so she did.

Hiccup pulled back, his hands on her shoulders and himself at arm's length. "Don't be scared, m'lady. As I said, it won't hurt. It can't hurt." He chuckled to himself. "You're paralyzed. You won't feel a thing."

Astrid huffed and Hiccup already knew what she was trying to say in her vulnerable state.

"'Why?' Well, why not?" His hand caressed her arm where he had grabbed her earlier. There was still a visible mark. "Astrid, I grew up thinking that my mom died when I was just a baby and, when I finally get her back, my dad dies. I had no one for fifteen years." His own eyes started watering and Astrid couldn't help but feel pity for him. "Do you know how that feels?" His mood shifted as he wiped away his tears and his cold gaze bore into Astrid. "Being completely and utterly alone."

Astrid felt a little bit of control back in her hands. They were in a cave—Astrid didn't know how far in. The darkness could have been because they were in so deep or simply because it was still night. She could've been out for hours. It could've been the next day for all she knew. Or maybe she woke up just moments after she was placed in the cave. Whichever it was, the paralysis was starting to wear off and Hiccup was still talking.

"I spent all my childhood trying to win my dad's respect. You wanna know what it taught me?" Hiccup had been pacing around the room but turned to look at Astrid. She stopped moving her fingers. "I. Hate. Losing." He walked towards the pot and stirred it slowly. The stick stuck a bit and Astrid could tell that it wasn't melted enough for Hiccup's purpose. She still had time.

"Astrid, I just don't want to lose you."

She internally groaned at the statement. He was well aware that this wouldn't stop the inevitable. If anything, it'd make things worse. Sure, she might not die, but he'd lose her in the worst way possible. He'd lose her heart. He'd lose her love.

"I mean, how many times have you been captured and almost killed because of me." Astrid rolled her eyes. That's a risk she'd have to take regardless of if she's with Hiccup or not. She's a warrior through and through and she's always fighting. Even now.

Astrid could move her leg. She'd be naive to think that she was in the state to run. As her control over her body came back, so did the pain from falling over and over again in the woods. Gods, she was tired.

Hiccup groaned and rubbed his head. He was much better off than Astrid, save a few bruises from where she had hit him, and a bite mark. Still, he was nowhere near his peak condition. The two of them laid there, against opposite walls of the cave, in total silence. The only noise came from the crackles of the fire, reminding Astrid that time was passing and her time was running out if she didn't do something soon.

She still couldn't tell the time but, after a while, Hiccup turned his back to her to stir the pot. She moved her leg again. Full control. Now all she had to do was pray to the gods that luck would be on her side.

She was still reluctant to hurt Hiccup, but she knew she had to. She could have easily knocked him into the fire or the pot with her momentum, but that could kill him. Astrid knew that she couldn't outrun Hiccup and she'd have to knock him out if she wanted to escape. She could go back to the village and gather all her friends. They'd help. They'd come back, armed and ready. Hiccup wouldn't be able to take them all on at once. Maybe Valka could talk some sense into him as his mom.

Astrid rammed Hiccup into the wall so hard that, for a moment, she thought she had broken his ribs.

"Looks like I underestimated how long you'd take to recover." He wiped some spit off of his chin before wrapping his hand around Astrid's neck and squeezing. Hard. "You never make things easy, now do you, Astrid?" He used his other arm to push Astrid back, twisting until she was the one in the wall.

"Hiccup," she gasped. The hand around her neck loosened enough for her to breathe, but his whole body was now pressing her into the wall. "Hiccup, please, let me go."

"Why would I, m'lady?" His hand slid up her neck to cradle her face. "I'm doing this for us." Hiccup placed a gentle kiss on Astrid's lips that she couldn't return.

She wriggled one arm free to grab the side of Hiccup's head, pushing his face from hers and into the wall. There was an audible smack, but Astrid ignored the blood. She tried to ignore his intentions, to pretend that he was just like any other ruthless Viking in the Archipelago. If she didn't kill him first, he would surely kill her.

Hiccup slumped into the wall, forcing Astrid down with him. Her hand was still grasping onto his head and she was about ready to smash his face into the wall again. Then she heard him cry.

"Astrid, I'm scared."

She knew better than to fall for that trick. She really did but, goddamnit, she loved him. He was shaking in her arms. He was holding her tighter than before, arm wrapped around her waist, yet she didn't feel any more constricted.

This was Hiccup. Her Hiccup. He was just scared. He was broken by the weight of the world that was placed on his shoulders. He didn't need to be looked at like the village screw-up again, which would certainly happen if news about his mental breakdown spread. He needed this. An intimate moment of trust where he could let his walls down and lift the weight ever so much.

Against her better judgment, Astrid ran her hands through the hair of the sobbing boy. She had finally gotten her sign that Hiccup was still there—that he hadn't completely lost it and everything would go back to normal.

She pushed his head back so she could see his face and genuinely tell him that they'd get through this, together, just like they always did. There will always be a Hiccup and Astrid, even after this night. What she saw, though, was not the face of a broken boy.

"Go burn in Hel."

Hiccup had picked up a loose rock next to Astrid. She didn't notice until he slammed it into her head, effectively knocking her out and creating a gash. She fell limp once more. This time, Hiccup didn't check for a pulse.

The amber was ready. He pulled the pot off the stove, wanting the amber to be cooled a tad more so it wouldn't burn her skin.

Hiccup looked at the girl, fully encased in the amber. The light on the amber made it look like she was glowing and he smiled at his work. Now, he was certain, there would always be a Hiccup and Astrid because, now, no one could take her from him.

He placed a kiss on the amber near Astrid's face.

"Now it's time to take care of everyone else."

This is such a great follow-up to the last piece; sarcasm fully intended.

I started writing this thinking that it could take place after the second or the third movie, but he uses Flightmare mist or Speed Stinger venom and Death Song amber, so it's more likely that it takes place before the third movie. Unless, of course, Hiccup had been sitting on this idea for a while and already collected all the materials he needs. Hence, no dragons could be excused by Hiccup's request to meet Astrid alone or because they're no longer here.

Also, I'm not sure how well Death Song amber would work towards this purpose, so just bear with me.

"M'lady" and "Milady" are both technically correct; I prefer writing it as "m'lady".