The Path of Wrath

A loan moan came from a side alley, flooding Astrid with relief. She left Toothless and sprinted into the alley to find Hiccup lying prostrate on the ground. If Astrid hadn't heard the moan, she would have thought that he was dead.

"Hiccup?" she asked, kneeling down next to him. There was a large bruise over one of his eyes, a cut on his cheek, and a swollen lip.

"Hi, Milady," he croaked.

"You stupid, stupid, stupid-" Astrid huffed. "Why are you so intent on scaring me half to death and getting yourself injured?!"

"You look so relaxed and I can't help but worry you! Where's Toothless?" Hiccup asked.

Astrid helped him sit up. "He's alive. I can't say the same for you. Can you walk?"

Hiccup laughed weakly.

"Never mind. Dumb question. Where do you hurt most?"

"Just a couple of bruises," Hiccup answered, coughing and wincing.

"Liar." Astrid lightly poked him in the ribs, getting an "Owwww!" from him. "You have a couple of cracked ribs. What happened?"

"I was walking Toothless-"

He got no farther. "You were walking Toothless in the middle of the night in a questionable part of town with no protection? Are you an idiot?" Hiccup had no sense of self-preservation!

"The whole point of having a dog is for protection!" Hiccup protested. "What are you, my mother?"

"You shouldn't be walking out by yourself!"

"Do you want to hear what happened or not?" Hiccup huffed.

"Continue!"

"Toothless smelled them before I did, but whoever they were hit him pretty hard a couple of times before he could do anything. They were prepared for a dog."

"They must have been the person who broke into your house the other night."

Hiccup nodded. "I think so. The next thing I knew, you were calling my name. Are you sure Toothless is fine?" Hiccup was more concerned about his dog than himself!

"He probably needs to get to a vet," Astrid admitted. "He didn't want to get up and most likely has some internal damage. You, on the other hand, need to go to a doctor to get those ribs wrapped. Do I need to call a paramedic?" Too bad she hadn't taken the time to drive. How was she going to transport him anywhere?

"As opposed to going to the veterinarian?" Hiccup quipped. "We can just drive to the hospital."

"Tuffnut and Ruffnut can't drive with concussions, and Fishlegs just spent the whole day at the hospital with his aunt," she thought aloud. "That leaves Snotlout-"

"No! He drives worse than you!"

"-or Camicazi."

"I'll call her." Hiccup pulled his phone out of his pocket. A spider web of a crack covered the device's screen and it refused to turn on. "On second thought, you call her."

Astrid dialed Camicazi's number.

"Ze Great Camicazi speaking. Make your request and I'll consider granting it in a couple of years," Camicazi chirped like a radio announcer.

Astrid rolled her eyes. "You're such a comedian. Cut the jokes out, Camicazi. Are you at home yet?"

"Yep. You've got a nice selection of television channels, although I don't prefer watching archaic stuff."

Astrid ground her teeth from saying something rude and made a note to include the cost of cable television in Camicazi's rent. "My car keys are lying around somewhere. Can you come right away to – hold on a second." Astrid jogged over to alley's entrance to get a glance at the nearest street sign. "To Shipper Street?"

"Why can't I ride my motorcycle?" Camicazi asked. "I could get there more quickly on it than in your death trap."

"Because the three of us won't fit on your murdercycle. Please hurry. Hiccup got into a little scrape." Astrid returned to Hiccup. Blocking the microphone on her phone, she whispered, "She's coming."

"A little scrape? Knowing him, he needs at least ten stitches and a cast," Camicazi remarked.

Astrid glared at nothing. "It's not something to joke about. Would you hurry up?"

"Your chariot shall arrive soon, Your Majesty." Camicazi hung up.

"It's all fine and dandy for her to make a joke out if it!" Astrid crackled her knuckles to vent her frustration.

"Don't be so harsh on her," Hiccup said. "It's just the way she is. Her house got broken into while she was in high school. When the police officers came to inspect the scene and dust for fingerprints, she took photographs. Made scrapbook pages and everything."

Astrid decided not to comment and kept a watch at the head of the alley, just in case Hiccup's assailants came back to finish the job. She comforted herself by petting Toothless, who didn't move much. About five minutes later, Astrid's car lurched to a stop right in front of her.

Camicazi alighted from the car and slammed the door hard, making Astrid wince on the inside. "You need to get a new car. The poor thing didn't want to start. Where'd you get it, the dump?"

Frustration boiling over the top of the tea kettle, Astrid marched up to Camicazi. "If you say one more joke or criticize my television selection or my car one more time, I will arrest you. Got it?"

Camicazi's mouth opened and closed. Finally, she said, "Where's Hiccup?"

"I'm over here, Camzi," he called from the alley.

"I'll load Toothless into the backseat. You help Hiccup." Astrid bent down next to the dog as Camicazi entered the alley.

"Hey, boy," she cooed, stroking his thick fur. His eyes, which had been closed, fluttered open. Astrid hadn't noticed it before, but Hiccup's and Toothless's eyes were almost exactly the same color, which was weird because Border Collies usually had blue or brown eyes.

"Let's get you in the car, okay?" She continued speaking to him in soft, soothing tones as she lifted him and carried him to the car. She kicked the door open and carefully set him down on the seat cushion.

Hiccup and Camicazi exited the alley. Hiccup had one arm slung over her shoulder, and one hand clutched over his ribs. He was trying not to laugh, but Camicazi was in fits of giggles. Just like best friends, Astrid thought bitterly.

"How's Toothless?" Hiccup asked.

"He's not moving much." Astrid slammed the car door shut after they got Hiccup settled next to Toothless. Astrid got in the driver's seat and hit the gas. She turned up the heater as far as it would go. Her skin felt numb and goosebumps were all up and down her arms, but that was what she got for forgetting her coat.

When they arrived at the hospital, it was lighted up like a Snoggletog tree. Camicazi hopped out and then leaned back inside.

"I've got Hiccup covered. You can go ahead and take Toothless to the vet," she told Astrid.

"Are you sure?"

"Worry wort. Yes, I am sure." Camicazi shooed her along.

Astrid watched as Hiccup and Camicazi made their way into the hospital. Before they reached the doors, Hiccup said something (probably sarcastic) and Camicazi threw back her head and laughed.

Astrid suddenly felt very alone. Overnight, Camicazi seemed to have taken her place as Hiccup's best friend. She ran a hand over her face and was ashamed to find that she wanted to cry. Angrily, she wiped away one traitorous tear. Hoffersons didn't cry.

…

Astrid tried calling Hiccup to tell him the good news that Toothless was mostly okay and the attacker had just administrated a drug, but Hiccup's phone was still out of order. Over the weekend, her backyard gained lovely patches of dirt that were sure to never grow back, all thanks to Toothless running around and barking at every leaf that fell to the ground. Camicazi spent the rest of the weekend out of the house and came back at the wee hours of the morning when Astrid was asleep, so she didn't get a chance to question her about Hiccup.

Ruffnut called in sick the next day to work, something to do with a creepy dental hygienist, so Astrid didn't have to pick her up. With no little trepidation, Astrid loaded Toothless into the back of her car on Monday morning and the ride to the office occurred without incident. Before she could drag Toothless over into Hiccup's custody, however, an officer went over to Hiccup. A few seconds later, they left together, and Astrid could see that Hiccup's forensics tool kit was slung over his shoulder, meaning that he would be out for the day.

Well, Astrid couldn't very well leave Toothless in the office all day. Unless they were service animals, pets were forbidden after an incident involving an escaped llama, a rabid mink, an electrician, and a representative from the chief researcher. She grabbed some food from the cafeteria and a dish of water and took Toothless back out to her car. Thank goodness for Mystery Meat Monday.

She rolled each of the windows down all except for the front passenger side, which had a broken motor, and set the food and water down.

"Stay here," she commanded Toothless, who cocked his head at the sound of her voice. She mildly entertained the idea of charging Hiccup for dog-sitting fees, but ultimately decided against it when she looked at his cute little face. Before she could regret the set up, Astrid hurried back to her desk. She had a bunch of alibis to check for certain case suspects.

While she was working, two officers came up behind her desk and began chatting. Astrid didn't pay much attention to them.

"It's just amazing how people will react to the dumbest things," the one Astrid remembered as a files librarian at the police station remarked.

"Yeah, to go all wild like that over a photograph," her coworker agreed.

"Cantankerous," the files librarian rejoined.

"She looked looked like a ghost with all the white she was wearing!"

Astrid slammed her pen down and spun around in her chair to face them. "What did you just say?" Astrid urged.

"Just a little gossip." The first one laughed. "Sorry to bother you."

"No! Tell me what happened!" Astrid insisted.

"Well," the librarian began, "a little tourist boy was walking the streets with his mother, taking photographs of everything. He took one of an old lady who was strolling down the street, and then the next thing she was flying at him and beating him. Took two officers to pull her off, but the damage was already done and the photograph was destroyed."

"You said she looked like a ghost," Astrid prompted.

"White all over."

"Did they arrest her?" Astrid asked, a plan to interrogate the woman running full tilt boogie in her brain.

"Nope. The mother didn't press charges."

Loki's luck! Astrid was sure that the old lady had been the mysterious ghost who had been causing all of the trouble and didn't want her picture on file anywhere.

"We'd better get back to work." the second officer said, and they both went on their respective ways. Astrid turned back to her own work, but she couldn't concentrate. Why hadn't that mother pressed charges? A great opportunity had gone down the drain.

At noon, Astrid went back to check on Toothless. His water was out, so she refilled it and gave him more food. Then, she noticed that one of the back seat belts was chewed on a little.

"Bad dog," she scolded, but she wasn't too mad. No one would notice. Toothless was panting heavily, so she rolled down the windows a bit more since it was against the law to leave a dog in a hot car. She gave Toothless a quick rub on the tummy before heading back inside.

At the end of the day, she left work feeling down and as if she hadn't gotten anything done. Hiccup hadn't shown up and Camicazi kept bragging on about cases she had been assigned to. Astrid opened her car door, threw in her stuff, and -

"TOOTHLESS!" she bellowed. Four brown and white Chihuahuas were in the car with Toothless, stuffing hanging out of their mouths, which she discovered came from inside the back seat. Her car was ruined. Strips of the leather that had covered the seats hung at odd, pathetic angles. Frankly, there was no backseat anymore. On top of all of that, a sour smell wafted to her nostrils. The dogs had used her car as a porta-potty. Toothless refused to look at her.

"GET OUT, YOU MANGY MUTTS!" she roared, throwing open the door. The Chihuahuas didn't wait for a second invitation and took for the hills yipping like the cowards they were.

"YEAH, YOU'D BETTER RUN!" she screamed after them.

Astrid turned to Toothless. "YOU HORRIBLE, DUMB, STUPID, HORRENDOUS- UGH!" Her precious car! It was in pieces!

Astrid got in the car and revved the engine. "Hiccup Haddock, you'd better run for the hills, 'cause you are going to rue the day!"

A/N: Thank you to all those who reviewed, especially Guest. Here's the update! :D

Rider