Yggdrasil
the tree has many branches

The 100's season 6 is right around the corner so this drabble is long due. Toothstridcup recreates one of my favorite scenes from season 1: Lincoln's torture scene.

Warnings: grammar, blood, torture, strong language

Disclaimer: The How to Train Your Dragon franchise is property of Cressida Cowell and DreamWorks Animation.

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world 10

the 100!au

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Hiccup took a breath and steadied his shaking fingers. The dried blood just wouldn't come off no matter how hard he rubbed.

He looked over the cot with bloodshot eyes; Astrid still laid there, pale and barely breathing. He had managed to pull out the knife without puncturing her lung, but he couldn't have predicted the poison.

He risked a glance at the closed hatch just as lightning struck outside the dropship. The rest of the kids were coming inside, huddling for warmth. Even that hubbub did nothing to drown the screaming from above. It had been almost two hours since Heather joined the torture and the Grounder still wouldn't talk.

Hiccup went over Astrid, sniffing as he checked her pulse; weak, and growing weaker. Tears threatened to spill once more as he took in the sight of his best friend. It was his fault. He had been the one that was caught, that fell and almost broke his leg, that was held hostage, and the one that forced Astrid to come rescue him. It wasn't fair. Why should she pay the price for his shortcomings?

Gently, he lowered his lips to her forehead and checked her temperature. Still high, her shivering wouldn't stop either. Astrid moaned in discomfort, her back arching in pain. Hiccup took her hand and murmured on her skin.

"Shh… It's okay, Astrid. It's okay. You'll be okay… You'll be alright."

Above them, another scream hushed the gentle speaking of the others. As one they looked up, just as the emergency lights started blinking. Another scream made the younger kids whimper.

Hiccup looked over and spotted the small blonde mop in seconds. "Cami." The young girl that had taken to follow Astrid and Hiccup around the camp, scampered to his side.

"The bad man is still here?" She asked with a tiny voice that tore Hiccup's heart. Yes, the Grounder was still here. But as for him being bad… Hiccup still remembered the Grounder nursing him back to health, setting his foot right and keeping him fed. Aside from keeping him inside a cave, the Grounder hadn't given him a reason to call him bad.

Hiccup's group, on the other hand, hadn't hesitated to resort to torture without a second thought.

He understood the reason; Astrid had been one of their leaders since the moment they touched down, setting up perimeters and hunting parties that kept their camp safe and fed. But outright violence never sat right with Hiccup. And he had an inkling Astrid would have agreed with him. She would have stopped and listened and wouldn't push him aside the moment the enemy had come in sight.

At least he hoped she'd have.

Cami buried her head in his fraying shirt when another scream echoed. Hiccup focused on the little girl.

"Cami, I need you to do something for me, okay?" Gently, he sat her on his stool, "I need you to keep Astrid company. Take her hand, put your fingers there -that's it! And count, okay? If after a minute they're below 40, call me, alright?"

Cami nodded eagerly and looked at the electronic clock on the wall. Hiccup took a breath, and with a final look to Astrid's pale body, he climbed up the ladder.

The odor hit him first, sharp and metallic, it made him gag. Blood.

"What are you guys doing?!"

Snotlout turned and sneered at him. "Getting some answers, Useless. Now get lost."

Hiccup was too busy staring at the bloody mess to properly answer. The Grounder was suspended by his wrists, naked from the waist up, and bleeding an ocean. Despite his first intimidating impression, the Grounder was a sorry sight. The dark scales on his body were dirty with mud and blood, some missing and the others broken.

Yet his eyes were still a bright draconic green that bore in his soul.

"Go downstairs, Hiccup. Astrid needs you." Heather was the only one facing the Grounder. Her shoulders shaking, her posture tight; she looked ready to explode. And in her tight fists, she held...

Hiccup paled.

"Heather, please. This is madness!"

She ignored him. With a snarl, she thrust the cables to the Grounder's skin. He roared in pain as the lights flickered. Hiccup almost stopped breathing.

"Heather, stop! If you kill him, Astrid dies too! Is that what you want?!"

"He has the antidote!" Heather turned her sharp eyes on him, "He's the one that put Astrid on that table! He's the one that's killing her by not talking!" She rounded on the Grounder again and she tore another scream from his throat. "Unless you have something useful to do, go downstairs."

Hiccup fought a flinch at that. Heather was the only one (besides Astrid) that treated him like a person, like he was more than a waste of air. The Grounder hissed at Heather, his green eyes slitted in anger and his fangs bared. Something clicked in Hiccup's mind then, because the Grounder had helped him. He had taken him in. He had nursed him back to health.

The Grounder hadn't let him die in that ditch.

Swerving around Snotlout, Dagur, and the twins that tried to grab him and force him out, Hiccup got in front of Heather. With a smack, the cable wires were on the ground and Heather stumbled back.

"What the fuck are you doing?!"

Hiccup ignored them and stepped closer to the Grounder. "Please talk. What's the antidote?" He ignored Dagur's scoff and got to his knees. Shaking his pouch, he took out the box with the vials, "Please, which one is it?"

He took turns in pointing at them and looking up at his expression. It remained unchanged.

"Please. She's all I have left. I can't lose her too."

It was like talking to a wall. The Grounder remained quiet, staring him down his nose. Hiccup bit his lip; he knew that look. He wasn't going to talk. Time to change tactics.

Whipping the dagger out -the dagger he had taken out of Astrid, the dagger that had put the poison in her body- Hiccup slashed his arm.

The change was instant.

The Grounder's eyes widened, panic filling his face. He came forward, the chains biting into the scales on his wrist as the whole wall groaned under his weight. A low growl tore from his throat, as he scowled at Hiccup.

"Oh shit." Snotlout cursed in the back.

"If you don't help her, then help me." He ignored everyone else and focused on the man that had saved his life. "You didn't let me die back then. You helped me. You healed me." Hiccup took a breath and ignored the growing buzzing in his ears.

"Help me again. Which one is the antidote?"

No one moved, too busy staring at the battle of wills in front of them.

It felt like an eternity later when one moved. With an indignant huff, the Grounder pointed his chin on the left, to a bright yellow vial right by his foot. Hiccup snatched it and hurried to stand. He almost fell over. Someone grabbed his shoulder to keep him up, but he shrugged them off. Hiccup looked over the Grounder with glazed eyes.

"Thank you."

He almost flew down the ladder. With swift movements, he diluted the antidote and gave half to Astrid. He only took his half when he was sure she could breathe with ease.

And when the pallidness left her cheeks, only then did he allow himself to move to the upper level of the dropship. And it was when everyone was deep asleep that he smuggled the Grounder out of the camp.

"I never learned your name."

The Grounder looked him with his green eyes, pupils dilating in the darkness. He stepped closer and put his palm on his cheek.

"My name doesn't translate in your tongue." The Grounder's voice was low and raw, the consonants as if dragging in his throat. He grinned and Hiccup was surprised to see that some of his back teeth missing.

"But you can call me Toothless."