She flopped back onto the floor, staring up at the high, glistening ceiling of the Ahtohallan. Fury and Elsa had gone out to find firewood and food, leaving the Viking in charge of the search for the spirit throughout history. They had been there for several days and had yet to discover anything, and Astrid was already running out of patience.
He took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment to relax. Immediately, the image of Hiccup on the floor of that tower returned to her mind, as it did every time she closed them, and she felt again the pressing need to do something.
"Hiccup... what have they done to you?" She whispered to herself.
She took a breath again, renewing her energy, and got up ready to continue, but couldn't quite sit up: right there, in front of her, Hiccup was reflected in the bright lights of the glacier. He was on the tower floor, as she had seen him days ago, holding his head and mumbling. She heard her own voice in the background, calling out to him as Fury flew her away, and saw how the Viking recognized her and searched for her with despair in his eyes. He awkwardly managed to get up and take a step towards the window, but Toothless made him fall with his tail. Astrid's soul ached of seeing him like this.
"What happened next?"
Reacting to her words, the images changed and showed Hiccup in a dark room, chained to a wall by the wrists with chains so short that they forced him to keep his arms raised. He was on his knees, his head falling to his chest, and, judging by his breathing, he seemed to be asleep.
The door opened, filling the room with light and waking the Viking up. Toothless came in and sat across from him, without further ado, but the Viking began to frown and shake his head over and over again.
"No! Astrid loves me!" He said confidently.
The Viking put her hand to her mouth, unable to hold back her tears.
"That's it..." she told Hiccup. "I love you, Hiccup. Hold on..."
"Stop bothering me!"
Astrid didn't quite understand what was going on, but it seemed like Hiccup was having a conversation with someone. She listened, but she didn't hear anything other than Hiccup's heavy breathing.
"Seriously, why do you insist? I don't care what you tell me. I know that it isn't so."
Hiccup looked Toothless in the eye.
"Hi, bud. I know that you are in there, somewhere. You have to hold on, okay? It doesn't matter what they tell you. Whatever it is, it's not true."
The dragon didn't react in any way, but Hiccup didn't give up.
"What did they tell you? Something related to Fury? Was it because of the pressure to be the alpha? Shut up! I'm not talking to you!" He exclaimed suddenly looking up. Then he returned his sight to the dragon."Come on, buddy! Give me something!"
Toothless was impassive. Then he flicked his tail on the floor and left the room, leaving Hiccup hidden in the dark.
The image changed again. Hiccup, his beard a little longer and visibly worse, was still in the same place. This time he was sitting up, arms up. His wrists and hands were bloody, but the Viking looked cheerful. He was humming the song of his parents while her foot and his prosthesis rhythmically moved from side to side.
The door opened, forcing him to look away. Toothless came in and sat across from him.
"Toothless! Where have you been? I've been waiting for you for days!"
Nothing. No reaction.
"Blablabla. Shut up now! Listen, bud. I've been thinking about it a lot these days and I think I owe you an apology. I've never told you, but I'm so sorry I crippled you for life. We were at war with the dragons and that was what I was supposed to do, but that doesn't justify my actions. And I'm very happy that, thanks to that, everything changed and we became friends but, still, I want to ask your forgiveness." Hiccup looked Toothless in the eye. "I'm really sorry."
The dragon's pupils dilated for a small fraction of a second.
"There you are..." Hiccup said, smiling satisfied.
Then he took several breaths and, closing his eyes, he yanked his arms hard, hanging his entire body from the chains. His shackles slipped through his hands causing intense pain until they were released, but Hiccup didn't cry out; he didn't have time for it. Before giving the dragon time to react, he jumped on his tail and tightly grasped the membrane that shouldn't be there. He had a strange, cold touch, almost ethereal; nothing similar to the real tail of the dragon.
Toothless scrambled, but Hiccup held on tightly with his legs as he yanked on the membrane with all his might. He managed to break it a bit and the dragon screamed in pain, intensifying his movements. Hiccup endured as best he could the blows that Toothless gave him when he threw himself against the walls, without letting go of that strange appendage. The dragon managed to stir enough to catch the Viking in its mouth and throw him against the wall. Hiccup fell to the ground, inert, and his face began to cover with blood.
The images faded.
"Hiccup!" Astrid yelled.
The Viking tried to get the Ahtohallan to show more images, but it was impossible.
Deep in despair, Astrid paced in the room.
"Think, Astrid, think," she told herself.
He feared for the life of the Viking. If the Ahtohallan didn't show her more images, it was either because it was a very recent event or because he was dead. Only thinking about it Astrid felt how the world was crumbling and how darkness completely enveloped her. But she also knew that, despite his puny appearance, he was a strong man, a Viking who had managed to overcome battles and blows much worse than that, so she decided to believe in him, to believe that he was still alive. Taking a deep breath, she pulled out forces weakness to do the only thing she could do right now: focus on finding a way to finish that spirit. However, her mind returned again and again to Hiccup, to her love, to the bond that united them, losing herself in him and shaking her convictions. Despite this, every time, Astrid shook her head, repeating to herself that Hiccup was still alive, that he still needed her help, and that she should keep fighting.
One of those times, the Viking shook her head so hard she was dizzy, hit the wall, and fell to the ground, face up. There, watching the small shadows that fluttered around the world because of dizziness, she suddenly had a revelation.
A while later, when Elsa and Fury returned, Astrid urged them to come closer to her.
"I think I have something..."