Setting: HTTYD 2 AU where Stoick lives.

The riders return to Berk to save their village and avenge a fallen warrior. WARNING: graphic scenes ahead and character death.

Avenge the Fallen

Astrid found herself confronting a mind-controlled Toothless. His pupils narrowed at his rider's girlfriend, mouth agape, ready to fire. Hiccup saw this and came running towards her, against what the other riders say.

"Toothless, it's me!" Astrid pleaded to the Night Fury as she reached a corner. There is no escape from what was about to happen. Toothless's mouth glowed purple, priming a plasma shot at her. From the corner of her eye, she saw Hiccup running towards her.

"HICCUP NO!"

"ASTRID!" Hiccup pushed Astrid out of the way seconds before Toothless fired the shot. The blast missed them by an inch, however it did hit the ice formation. Rocks and ice collapsed on top of them and all of a sudden, Astrid's world went black.

After the blast, Astrid was thrown a good ten feet from where she stood moments ago. She didn't see Hiccup until she turned around and saw a limp figure buried under a pile of ice; it was Hiccup. She ran towards him and saw a gruesome sight: his stomach area was bleeding a lot, his prosthetic went missing, and his left leg was impaled by an ice spike. Stoick did what he could to free his son out of the pile of ice, with Valka following suit.

"HICCUP!" Instinctively, Astrid listened for his pulse, but there is a weak one and its losing fast. "No, no, no, Hiccup?! Stay with me, okay?" she said shakily, lacing her hand on his. "You can get through this babe, I promise! D…don't you dare leave me!" Tears escaped from her blue eyes at the sight of her dying boyfriend, who was miraculously conscious.

"A..A..Astrid" Hiccup coughed, his voice getting weaker by the minute. "I…I.."

"Just hold on, Hic. I'm here." she cooed. Turning around, she shouted for the nearest person to administer first aid to Hiccup. "Fishlegs! Hiccup's bleeding real bad! We need to get him to Gothi's quick!"

Fishlegs ran towards the couple and as he applied bandages to the wounded area, Toothless, who had temporarily snapped out of the Bewilderbeast's control, came to check on him. He sniffed the cold limp hand of his rider when Astrid shoved him away.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" she screamed. Although in the back of her mind she knew it wasn't the Night Fury's fault, she couldn't help but unleash her anger at Toothless.

Stoick wrapped an arm around the blonde's shoulder. "It wasn't his fault, Astrid. He was controlled by Drago."

At the mention of the vile man's name, Astrid's fist clenched tight. If Hiccup died on her, she would do anything to rip the life out of that man. His Bewilderbeast had taken full control of all their dragons, even her beloved Nadder, Stormfly. She snapped out of it when Hiccup stuttered a few words.

"A...Ast?" He coughed and as he did, it shot a wave of pain in his stomach. Astrid cradled his head on her arms, while trying to ease his discomfort.

"I'm here babe, just hold on for me please?"

"He's lost a lot of blood." Fishlegs announced, "I don't think he'd make it back home, not with our dragons essentially taken away from us."

"H..hey, d..don't worry about me. Y..you have to s..save Berk." Hiccup sputtered, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. He knew his time was limited judging by his expression.

"And I have to save your life Hiccup!" Astrid snapped. How can someone still be stubborn when they're on the verge of life and death? She pressed her forehead against his and the floodgates of her eyes gave way. Hiccup got weaker and weaker until he could only speak to a whisper.

"I...I l..love y..you milady." he whispered, "Thanks f...for e..everything." Astrid shook her head in disbelief. She wanted to shout, scream to the gods to not take his life just yet. No please don't take him away from me! her mind raced all the possible words to say back to him. Instead, she reciprocated the words Hiccup told her.

"I love you too babe." Astrid pressed her lips to Hiccup's, tears still falling through her cheeks. If this is his last moment, she would make sure he'd hear her voice one last time, feel her lips one last time, and say 'I love you' one last time.

It took almost an hour for the gang to put Hiccup's body and his possessions on the ship. Stoick and Valka were the ones who released the ship from its mooring line and let it sail across the foggy sea. Other than Astrid, the latter took Hiccup's sending off the hardest; she just reunited with her son after 20 years and the following day, she'd lost him forever.

"May the Valkyries welcome you and lead you through Odin's great battlefield. May they sing your name with love and fury! So that we may hear it from the depths of Valhalla, and known you've taken your rightful place at the table of kings." Astrid announced loudly, ignoring the stream of tears running down her cheeks.

The rest of the riders were equally teary-eyed as well, but Astrid was the most emotional out of everyone. For the 2 years she and Hiccup dated, she became a different Astrid - one still fearless and tough yet also understanding and caring to those she loved, especially Hiccup. He was more than just her first (and last) love - people considered them to be polar opposites but they brought out the best in each other.

"For a great man has fallen, a warrior, a leader, a son, a friend….my babe, my Hiccup." Astrid had no strength emotionally to ignite the arrow, shaking uncontrollably from grief. But she had no choice; she's the chief's son's fiancée so traditionally, she fires the first shot. With a dead shot aim, she hit the flaming arrow directly on Hiccup's pyre. The rest followed suit as one by one, the arrows hit the ship and slowly burned it. As the ship burned away, Astrid watched mournfully as she realized she'd be living a life without her Hiccup by her side.

"W…why d..did you have to leave me babe?!" she sobbed. "Y..you said there will always be a Hiccup and Astrid, but now I couldn't even fathom that you're not here anymore! Oh Thor, please let this be just a bad dream!"

She fell onto her knees as the rest of the gang left her alone to mourn for the time being. She knew that they had to return to Berk and defeat Drago but without her boyfriend by her side, Astrid knew it wouldn't be easy. Earlier, they woke up in his mother's dragon sanctuary and realized that it was their last time sleeping together.

Astrid woke up to the sight of Hiccup snoring lightly beside her. She noticed that he wasn't wearing anything, only the furs of the bed. When she saw herself equally naked as him, that's when it hit her. They made love the night before and even though Viking traditions forbid anything of this nature before marriage, their instincts and love for one another took over control. Besides, a lot of Vikings were already pregnant or had kids before they got married; they just needed to be betrothed. She looked at the betrothal necklace Hiccup gave to her the year before, the cold medal resting idly against her breast.

"Good morning babe." She whispered against Hiccup's ear, before planting a kiss on it.

"Morning to you too, milady." Hiccup yawned, returning the kiss on her lips. They stayed in this position for a while before pulling out for air.

"Oh gods, can we just stay like this forever?" he smiled, earning a giggle from his fiancee.

"I wish. But we still have a dragon hunter to beat."

"True, I just wanted a peaceful life where dragon and Viking live as one." Hiccup retorted, "And where I get to spend all my time with you." He gave her a peck to the cheek.

"Until one of us gets called to Valhalla." Astrid finished. She got out of bed to put on her clothes before someone catches them bare naked, Hiccup did as well.

She cried for what seemed like hours until she felt a pair of massive hands caressing her back. Turning around, Astrid found herself under Stoick's embrace, as she sobbed against his armor. He was like a second father to her.

"I'm sorry Astrid." he sighed, "I should've been the one who got hit." That made Astrid cry even harder, knowing her chief, her future father-in-law was more than willing to lay his life for his son. The two stayed in this position for a few minutes until the blonde shieldmaiden found the courage to stand up and address the riders. She's their second-in-command whenever Hiccup's out of action; now she becomes the new leader.

"We need to return to Berk. Save our village and avenge Hiccup's death." Astrid declared definitively. Her steely tone of voice, even though she was still weeping, was enough for everyone to listen to her. She told them that they should start thinking like Hiccup and what he would've done in this type of situation.

"But how are we gonna get back there? He took all the dragons with that damned Alpha." Eret remarked nonchalantly.

Astrid placed a hand atop his shoulder in reassurance. "Not all of them, Eret."

The riders returned to Berk using juvenile Scuttleclaws from Valka's mountain. They are immune to the Bewilderbeast's hypnotic glare thanks to their underdeveloped senses. Somehow, Astrid was able to snap Toothless out of the Alpha's hypnosis, and she and the Night Fury challenged the Bewilderbeast.

"Alright bud, we're doing this for Hiccup." she patted his head. Toothless cooed in reply.

He fired a couple of plasma shots on both the gigantic beast's eyes, causing it to lose control over its flock of dragons. The first one to snap out of it was Stormfly and as the blue Nadder caught sight of her rider atop Toothless, she came towards his side. Other dragons started to snap out of the hypnotic glare as well, now siding with Astrid and the Berkians.

"TAKE THEM ALL!" Drago commanded the Alpha, slamming his staff against its hide. Astrid let out a battle cry and with a wave of her axe, she ordered the dragons to fire on the Bewilderbeast. The ice-breathing titan struggled to shoot its ice directly at the dragons, hitting docks and buildings instead. When it stood up and about to fire a huge plume of ice, Toothless and Stormfly fired at its mouth, causing the ice to melt.

Drago, who was knocked off his Alpha by the barrage of dragon fire, tried to flee towards it but was stopped by a spear piercing through his right hand, pinning him against the gigantic dragon's tusk. He used his left prosthetic arm to take the spear off but with a dual blast from Toothless and Stormfly, the arm was knocked off.

"That's for using Toothless." She sunk her axe right into his shoulder, earning a blood curling scream.

"That's for destroying my village." She buried her axe downwards, effectively slicing Drago in half.

"And that's for Hiccup." Astrid grinned evilly at the mauled corpse of the man who took her boyfriend away from her. The Bewilderbeast also fled, following the death of his master. The gang was stunned; not even a warrior of Astrid's caliber could kill the way she did. But she was on fire, she needed to avenge the death of Hiccup.

While the rest of Berk erupted in cheers of victory, Astrid fell onto her knees and cried her heart out. The rest of the riders gave her a bone crushing hug. Astrid appreciated their effort in comforting her, as they knew that she's still emotionally broken over Hiccup.

"He's got to be so proud of you right now." Ruff commented.

"Death by axe always brings me to tears." Tuff added and started bawling at the mention of the word 'tears'. Fishlegs and Snotlout said some things Astrid never expected from them, hugging her tighter still. Once Astrid broke free of the embrace, she looked towards the open ocean, her mind thinking about him.

"You were one of a kind, babe. And I promise that you'll be in my heart until the day we meet again." Astrid sighed sadly. She vowed never to find another boyfriend because she knew that there's no replacement to her Hiccup. While that would mean Snotlout, Eret or some other man would try and win her over, all of them combined would never match the love Hiccup gave her and Astrid felt like she didn't deserve him.

Right now, she wished for him to hold her in his arms, foreheads touching and lips kissing. She needed to hear him whisper sweet nothings to her, making her feel like she's in Valhalla. She needed to let go of the tough fearless warrior side of her and just be babied by Hiccup. A reality that Hiccup was gone is going to be a tough pill for Astrid to swallow, she knew this, but she's also aware that her friends and family will be there to help with her grieving.

Two months after the battle, Astrid woke up sick as a dog in Hiccup's room. She couldn't sleep in her own room without getting nightmares of Drago killing not just Hiccup, but her family and Stormfly as well. Besides, the Haddocks already treated her like a daughter-in-law. She was wearing one of Hiccup's red tunics and brown leggings, as she wanted to emulate the feeling of his embrace. It still smelled the faint scent of wood and Night Fury plasma, a scent that defined Hiccup. Grabbing the nearest bucket, Astrid threw up a bit and felt queasy afterwards.

"Are you okay Astrid?" Valka rushed towards the room, where Astrid had been barfing out her stomach.

"Just, a little dizzy." the blonde replied, hands clutched to her stomach.

"When was your last cycle?"

"About a month and a half."

"We need to get yo to Gothi's. Just to be sure." Valka suggested, although she had an idea of what was happening to Astrid.

Astrid and Valka headed over to Gothi's to check on the blonde shieldmaiden's health, since she had missed her monthly cycle. After a couple of hours of drinking tea, placing herbs, and Gothi's etchings in the sand, the healer smiled at the blonde delightfully. Valka, who could understand Gothi's writings, gasped in awe and gave Astrid a hug before kissing the top of her head.

"You're two months in Astrid." she smiled. Realizing what she meant, Astrid shed tears of joy, burying her face against Valka's shoulder. It was a bittersweet moment for the two of them: in 7 months give or take, Astrid would bear her and Hiccup's child but at the same time, she wished he were there to see it all happen.

"I wished Hiccup were here to see this." she mumbled. The older Haddock caressed Astrid's braided blonde hair to give her comfort.

"Me too lass." Valka agreed, "Do you still love him, even posthumously?"

"With my life. He promised that there will always be a Hiccup and Astrid, and I will not stop loving him til the day we meet again."

After the checkup, Astrid made her way to the cove, where she had built her own statue of Hiccup. The one erected in the town square only depicted him as the great dragon master; this one is smaller, about the same height as him, and depicted the Hiccup she had fallen in love with. A brave, stubborn, determined knucklehead who also happened to be the most loving, caring, and forgiving man she's ever met.

"Hey babe, I'm pregnant." Astrid said to the statue, letting the tears of joy fall through her cheeks. Although their child would never get the chance to meet his father, but Astrid knew that he'd be looking down on them from Valhalla, no matter what. She held her stomach, which was starting to grow, and daydreamed of her and Hiccup being parents. She would be both a mother and father to their child but she knew deep down, she wouldn't ride this journey alone.

"There will always be a Hiccup and Astrid, always."

A/N: A bit tragic one with a bittersweet ending on this but I had to deviate a bit from all the usual types of one-shots like fluff or relationship problems and that. I got the idea from a one-shot titled 'For Astrid' by One-Crazed-Up-Dragon, but this time, Hiccup dies.