Astrid closed her burning eyes tightly, soaking her own hands that rested against Hiccup's chest. She sobbed into his chest, holding onto him tighter for each word he spoke and each word she spoke herself. Her right hand went down to her stomach. She sobbed harder, trying to tell him what she hid from him ever since the day started. But then it came.
She screamed into Hiccup's chest as the two were lifted off the ground and sent backwards with a force so horrifying. She lifted her head up to Hiccup when she heard him gasp. His eyes were bloodshot and wide open in terror, focused on nothing in particular. She tore her eyes away from his face and buried herself back in his chest. But a gasp escaped her lips as her back made contact with something hard.
Astrid felt herself slip out of Hiccup's limp arms and watched helplessly as she herself got separated from him. She yelped by the contact of hard ground and used her arms to slow her body down from slipping further away. Her eyes squeezed shut. Her body stopped moving and farther. Her lips parted to let out another gasp. For a second, she couldn't move; her body was paralyzed. Frozen in both shock and pain from the impact on her spine.
She fell on her back, breathing heavily. Her hands struggled to help her body sit up right, but she managed eventually, and when she did, it felt as if all the pain disappeared and her energy returned in a flash.
"H-Hiccup," She cried, pushing herself up from the ground. Hiccup lay with his face down in the snow. Large icicles resting itself on his body. Astrid cried his name again, but he didn't move. He laid there. Pale as the snow below him. Her legs carried her the fastest they could go over to him before falling down in a glide beside him. She pushed the ice off him, crying even more as the calls from his father and mother came in ear-shot. "Come on Hiccup, move!" Astrid cried, pushing the last of ice away from him. She rolled him over and shook his body.
"Stop messing around! Please!" She yelled, slapping his face. She didn't feel anything when she held his hand, other than his ice cold skin. She had expected a pulse, weak or strong, it didn't matter; as long as it was there. But it wasn't. "This isn't funny! You can't be-
"Astrid," Astrid turned her head around, looking at Valka with tearful eyes. "He's….," she turned her head down with a deep breath.
"N-no, I-I don't believe it…he-he has to be alive-I can't-," She stopped abruptly with her words when Valka pulled her into her chest, placing a hand on her head. Valka hushed her, soothing her hair while looking down at the peaceful, pale face of her son, shedding a few tears herself. Her arms held Astrid tighter. Astrid's words bringing her deeper into a heartbreak.
Valka looked over Hiccup's body and upwards. Stoick stood there, looking down at Hiccup with an unreadable expression plastered on his face. He held his sword tight in his grip. His expression changed to pure hatred. "Drago did this," Stoick gritted his teeth. "He killed our son," he growled, holding his sword in a death grip. His hand moved the sword up in eye's view before he looked back up at the mad man responsible. "He'll pay for what he did."
His wife looked up at him fearfully, following his gaze. Realization hit her hard. "Stoick, don't-
"I have to," Stoick said, making his way towards Drago who had his back to him, walking away satisfied. "I have to do this…for Hiccup," he rose his sword; the snow cracking beneath his feet. Drago turned around at the sound, ducking away from Stoick's sword.
Drago laughed. "Ah…Stoick the Vast," He smirked. "I see you've survived the war so far." Stoick glared at him, aiming for his head. Drago blocked with his staff.
"You murdered…my son," Stoick growled, charging at him. Drago stepped to the side, digging his staff in his fur and throwing him to the ground.
"That toothpick is…hang on," Drago held up a finger, looking up to the sky in thoughts. "Was…your son?"
Stoick growled at him, turning around. He tore Drago's staff from his cloak and thrust the hilt into Drago's stomach. Drago groaned, holding his aching area.
"Don't you have any respect for the fallen?" Stoick yelled, grabbing his head. He smashed Drago's head against his knee before throwing him to the ground and kicking him a few feet away.
Drago snickered. He held his aching lip and looked at his blood covered thumb. He looked up with a sly smile. "Your son got what was coming for him," Drago smirked, clenching his fists as Stoick came charging for him. He punched his face, sending him to the ground before Stoick could make a single cut. "Join me and you won't have to suffer the same way he did," Drago pointed his finger over to Hiccup's body, but Stoick didn't look. He didn't need his eyes to tell him who the mad man was talking about.
"I would never join the one who killed my own son," Stoick stood back up, wiping his lips. "But I would make him pay!" He raised his sword, clashing it against Drago staff. They parried with each other's strengths to fight the opposite down on his knees. Stoick's adrenaline pumped through his veins in a flash. He made a final push with his sword, sending both him and Drago away from each other. But in the same instant, he went for another blow. He swung his sword against Drago's staff, turned around to gather more strength for the next blow.
Drago's eyes narrowed in focus of holding Stoick back until Stoick would reach his limits. He held his staff in front of him, taking every hit from Stoick's sword. His eyes were locked with Stoick's; both glaring daggers. Stoick even more so.
Crack.
Drago's eyes widened, and both he and Stoick broke their glaring contest to watch his staff snap and fall out of reach in two pieces. Stoick turned his eyes back at Drago's wide ones. He grinned. "This is for my son," Stoick growled. He lifted his sword above his head and swung it across Drago's neck. He glared at Drago's decapitated body once more before throwing his blood soaked sword to the ground and turning around. A thud was heard behind him, but he ignored it and kept walking. Stoick thought that killing Drago, avenging his son, would make him feel better. Flood his shoulders with relief, but instead it stayed the same as when Drago was still alive. Stoick didn't feel anything else than his heart break and his feet losing the feeling in them. His eyes landed on Hiccup's still body, lying in the arms of his future daughter-in-law.
Astrid's voice was in no use anymore. She had stopped yelling at Hiccup; yelling at him to wake up like he had done with his other near-death experiences, but he didn't. He lay still in her arms, his body shaking by her trembling body, his skin becoming paler for each second and cooler by the touch. Her tears never had the chance to dry on her pink cheeks as more tears seemed to come. She didn't look away from his peaceful face even as Stoick kneeled down on the opposite carrying his cloak. Stoick gently draped it over Hiccup's body, but still, Astrid didn't look away. Not until Stoick lifted Hiccup's covered body up in his arms and stood up.
Stoick looked up from his arms and met Valka's eyes. He noticed everyone was gathered. A purr came from beside him. "Toothless," Stoick sighed, closing his eyes. Toothless growled, nudging Hiccup's hand. His master didn't respond. Toothless nudged him again and cooed, trying to tell him he didn't mean it. He hadn't realized everything was a hallucination to make him turn against his best friend; to kill his own master. He looked up at Hiccup's father growling sadly. Stoick held his head low. "I'm sorry, Toothless…he's…," Toothless's eyes went wide. He nudged Hiccup's hand again and continued on doing so until he felt a hand on his head. He looked at Astrid.
"Toothless, s-stop," she cried. Toothless cooed, nudging her. "I-it won't do any good. He-he's already gone," she opened her eyes, looking at him. Toothless looked at Hiccup, nudging his hand one last time before bowing his head. Astrid looked up at Stoick, awaiting orders.
"Get your dragons," Stoick spoke up. He took a deep breath, looking down at Hiccup. "Hiccup deserves a proper funeral. We're taking him back with us. To Berk," Everyone nodded. Astrid pulled the lever to Toothless's tailfin on gliding mode. She patted his head before mounting her own dragon.