Warm Toes, Warmer Hearts: When Hiccup and Astrid are (once again) trapped in the remains of an avalanche, they must do the unthinkable to survive. Requested by Kid arachnid (Guest). Set in RTTE S3.

Warm Toes, Warmer Hearts

"Remind me again why we're marching around in a blizzard in freezing cold weather?" Astrid grouched as she and Hiccup trudged through the snow. Chilly wind bit into their faces, and snow crept inside their clothing, wracking their bodies with uncontrollable shivers.

Hiccup rubbed his arms, trying to keep himself warm. "Heather said that some Dragon Hunters are looking for the Snow Wraith key to open the Dragon Eye for Viggo. We can't let them get it. We need to be on guard and prevent them from getting a tooth… and we were the two lucky people chosen to come here."

Teeth chattering, Astrid scowled at the blizzard that swarmed around them. "And we can't even fly on the dragons…"

"Too much body heat in one place. We need to be as discreet as possible if the Snow Wraith is around here. We're trying to keep an eye out for Hunters, not bother any violent dragons… Plus, the dragons are just a little ways behind us." Sure enough, Toothless and Stormfly padded through the snow together at a short distance away. "Also, Toothless and I are in constant danger of falling when we fly in this weather. His tailfin could ice up, and we can't take the chance of any of us getting hurt."

Astrid still felt grumpy. She was freezing, exhausted, and irritated with every snowflake. "Fine…"

Hiccup turned and glanced at her, offering a smile of comfort. "Hey, don't worry, Astrid. We can set up the tents and rest soon. I just want to get us to the base of this mountain." He nodded ahead to a large summit ahead, covered with many feet of snow.

Astrid nodded, relenting her bitterness. "Alright…" They hiked on, pulling their feet in and out of snow trenches and gritting their teeth against harsh gales of wind. Hiccup allowed a few moments of rest every couple of minutes, and neither complained about that arrangement. Hiking through a blizzard was very difficult.

"We're almost there," Hiccup called to Astrid, pointing to the nearing mountain. "Just a little longer."

"Good!" Astrid rubbed her arms. "It's freezing!"

"Really? I hadn't noticed!"

"Oh, ha ha. Aren't you hilarious. Just keep moving, dragon boy, I want to get in that tent as soon as possible."

"As you wish…" Hiccup began walking with a skip in his step, and Astrid could've sworn she saw him grinning. Grinning. Grinning. What was Hiccup thinking? They were stuck on Snow Wraith island for two days, not allowed to ride their dragons unless a serious emergency, also turning into ice statues—and while the others kicked their feet up in the Clubhouse on Dragon's Edge, unaware of Hiccup and Astrid's troubles. Sighing, Astrid shook her head and looked back up at the mountain. They were almost there. Almost to the warm, cozy little tents where she could just slip in and curl up in a ball and pretend like she wasn't crazy enough to be doing this…

"Wait!" Hiccup shouted, interrupting Astrid's thoughts. He had stopped, and Astrid nearly ran into him. He pointed to the top of the mountain, where the snow seemed to be… shifting. "I see something up there…" His heart fluttered with alarm, his nerves on edge. Something was wrong, he could feel it…

"I don't see anything," said Astrid tiredly. "Can we just go? I mean stop… Well, you know what I mean…"

Still, Hiccup shook his head, holding a palm flat out to prevent her from coming any closer to the mountain. "No, Astrid, look closer… there's a rupture in the snow… and it's growing…" He squinted, then gestured an arm towards the specified spot. "You see?"

Astrid lifted her head to look, too exhausted to put much effort into the action. "No, I… wait… is that…"

The top of the mountain suddenly exploded into white powder as something—a creature—burst through the snow with a hollow scream and a shake of its tail.

"The Snow Wraith!" Hiccup shouted. "Gods—we need to get out of here!" He glanced back at Toothless and Stormfly, who were racing up to them, aware of the present danger and ready to help. "Get on your dragon, Astrid! We have to leave now?"

"But what about Toothless's tailfin? Couldn't you fall?"

"There's no time to run on foot!" He stole a glance at the mountain, and to his dismay, saw the Snow Wraith advancing down… but what was behind it was far worse than any dragon. His eyes widened, and he stumbled back. "Gods, no… no… avalanche!"

The disaster must've been the result of the Snow Wraith breaking through the snow, sending ripples of peril through the summit. The chilly powder began to crumble down the mountain, growing in speed by the second.

Astrid gasped as she took in the sight, then scowled. "Of all the days… Come on, Hiccup let's get out of here. We'll camp out somewhere else, far away from here!"

But the avalanche was sliding down the mountain faster than ever, and they were standing at the base of it. Hiccup was concerned that they might not make it out in time but kept the negative thoughts to himself. He set into action, running towards Toothless to board him. Astrid followed him and was soon up on Stormfly.

"Hiccup!" Astrid hollered at her friend, who still hadn't gotten on Toothless yet. He was fumbling with Toothless's tailfin. She nudged Stormfly's sides to get her up in the air and circled Hiccup and Toothless from up high. "Let's go!"

"I know!" Hiccup bellowed back, his voice barely audible in the growing rumble of the avalanche. "Just a minute!"

"We don't have a minute! Get on that dragon of yours—quick!"

After a final jerk on the tailfin, Hiccup then managed to jump on the Night Fury, Toothless taking off only a moment later. The snow continued to seep down the mountain, engulfing everything in its path. The Snow Wraith had vanished in the chaos—not a good sign. Hiccup was on high alert, knowing it could pop out of anywhere, but knew it was futile to search for it in the raging blizzard.

Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid, and Stormfly soared away from the mountain as fast as possible, wanting to put as much distance from the danger as possible. The snowslide rushed forward like waves to the shore. Hiccup urged Toothless faster, taut with fear for himself and Astrid. He glanced back to see the progress of the snow, and his heart faltered. They were seconds too late to save themselves and the dragons. The avalanche quickly caught up to them, and with a mighty roar, spewed up its contents and knocked Hiccup and Astrid from their dragons.

Screaming, the pair fell from the sky, trying to grasp some sort of hold to keep them from landing in the snow below them. Astrid was able to take hold of the edge of Stormfly's saddle before she toppled into the mess, but Hiccup was still falling and yelling for Toothless, who had vanished in the white.

"Hiccup!" Astrid cried, one hand holding to Stormfly's saddle as the dragon teetered dangerously, one hand reaching out for Hiccup. Her mouth gaped open in horror as she watched her best friend plummet to his death. With each second, he descended several feet away from her. "HICCUP!"

No. No no no. This couldn't be happening. Just a few minutes ago, they were talking and laughing, and Hiccup was smiling and making her feel all warm inside. And now he was plunging down towards an icy grave. While she just watched. No. She had to do something!

From his precarious position, Hiccup looked up to see Astrid dangling one-handed from Stormfly's saddle. A look of determination was on her face as she—oh Thor—leaped from her spot and down towards Hiccup, reaching out to grab him away from the avalanche.

"NO!" Hiccup howled. "Astrid, no!" She was risking her life just to save him.

If one of us is in danger, the other will save the other person, Hiccup suddenly thought, and knew he'd have done the same. But still… Astrid was ready to die just to save him. He couldn't let her do that—not for him. "Astrid, no!" he hollered again, shaking his head and wishing with all his heart that Stormfly would catch Astrid and bring her to safety. But the Nadder didn't, and instead flapped away, squawking fearfully. The sea of snow below him grew closer, and he braced himself for a painful impact.

The last thing Hiccup saw before his head hit the snow was Astrid's terrified face, her arms reaching out to grab him as she dove towards him. Weakly, he stretched a palm out to aid her in her effort. Their fingers brushed for one heart-stopping moment, and maybe Astrid had grabbed his hand—but then pain exploded in the back of his head and he knew no more.

"Hiccup! Hiccup, can you hear me? Hiccup!"

Groggily, Hiccup tried to obey Astrid's pleading voice and forced open his eyes. It took him a few moments to be able to form words. His lips felt frozen together. "A… Astrid?"

Astrid's face hovered above him, looking worried, but then relieved to see him awake and talking. "Thank the gods… I… I feared the worst…"

"Nah… don't worry 'bout me…" Hiccup couldn't force back a small moan that escaped through his lips. He touched a hand to the back of his head, where he felt a nice bump growing. He felt confused and disoriented like there was a piece of time forgotten in his mind that he couldn't recall. "What… what happened…? Where are we?" It looked almost as if the walls around him were made of snow… and was he in a cave?

Astrid helped him sit up, still concerned about his well-being. "You don't remember…? Well, you did hit your head pretty hard when we fell… see… There was a huge avalanche that hit us. A Snow Wraith caused it. The dragons were swept away from us, but I managed to catch you when you fell. You were knocked out by hitting your head hard in some debris when we fell in the avalanche… the snow dumped us down in this… snow-cave." Hiccup suddenly realized that the dirty white powder caked around him was snow. "Do you remember now?"

Flashes of recollections swept across his brain. "Yeah… I think I do…" He winced as his head throbbed again.

Astrid touched his shoulder lightly, brow creased with sympathy. "Are you alright?"

"Me? Oh, yeah, I'm as fine as could be…" It was an obvious lie, however. He had a killer headache, but other than a few bruises on his back, and the slow awareness of the freezing temperature, he truly felt okay. "You?"

Astrid gave a shaky laugh. "Grand for someone trapped in an ice cave. Snow cave. Whatever it's called."

Hiccup forced his blue lips into a small smile. "Yeah…" He then noticed Astrid shivering. She was also occasionally touching her leg as if it hurt, but she didn't want him to know. "Astrid. Are you sure you're okay?"

Astrid shrugged. "I hit my leg when we fell in here. It's not broken, just bruised. It doesn't hurt too much, though… I'm mostly just cold…" She shuddered. "My coat slipped off when we fell in here…"

"Do you want to borrow my vest? It's no trouble."

"No, no, you keep it… Hiccup, you were unconscious for a couple of minutes. You're certainly not well now. You need to keep warm."

"So do you, Astrid. Your arms are bare, and you don't have anything to cover them. Whereas I have a tunic on underneath my vest… it'll keep me warm enough if I give my vest to you."

Astrid shook her head adamantly. "I said no Hiccup. You have to keep it on."

"But I can't let you—"

"Oh, yes you can, dragon boy," she growled, rubbing her arms. "I'm a Viking. I'll be fine. We lived on Berk for eighteen years. And at least it's not snowing in here…" She glanced up at the ceiling of their little snow cave. Hiccup followed her gaze, squinting. They were definitely trapped in here—well, at least there was no way out from the top. He looked at the sides of their cave and found that they were trapped all around by snow, too. It was a tight fit in here, and they were close to being pressed together. The only possible exit would be the top…

"So… we're trapped in here," he said slowly.

"Sounds about r-right." Astrid had tried to hide her shaking, but couldn't keep back the quake in her voice. She felt like she was turning into ice, she was so cold… "Hiccup," she said after a moment, exiling the shivering from her voice, though her teeth still chattered. "If we stay in here… we'll freeze to death."

Hiccup's lips pursed, and he was silent for a long time as he thought. During those few minutes, Astrid quivered quietly, then weighed whether or not to slump against the wall and fall asleep. She was exhausted from all of the walking earlier, and wanted a good long rest… but she knew that if she slipped into a slumber now, there was a chance she would never wake up again. She settled for leaning her head against the wall, too tired to keep it up herself.

Hiccup noticed her discomfort. "Astrid…"

"I'm fine." Astrid sighed in frustration about… well, everything. "Gods above… what are we even going to do, Hiccup?" There was something in her voice that alarmed Hiccup. She was scared. And Astrid… well, she was hardly ever scared.

"I…" Hiccup paused, still a little sluggish from his head injury. "Well, we…"

He suddenly had a memory—a memory that just might be able to save them from freezing to death…

Hiccup and Astrid raced back to Berk to explain the awesome thing the dragons had just done—save them from freezing to death while they had been trapped in an avalanche. This revelation of the dragons' protective streak was inspiring and amazing, and Hiccup and Astrid were going on and on about it to Fishlegs.

"Who'd believe it? The dragons we fought for years came to our rescue!" said Hiccup, ecstatic as he glanced back at Toothless.

"Yeah," Astrid added enthusiastically. "If it weren't for them, we would've frozen to death."

Fishlegs smiled. "You know what—you could've used your own bodies to keep each other warm!"

At the light-hearted comment, the fifteen-year-olds immediately slid away from each other with red and embarrassed expressions, scoffing. "Who would do that?" Hiccup muttered, face turned away from Astrid. If it could be avoided, physical contact was out of the question. Even if it was a matter of life and death… touching each other was… awkward, to put it lightly.

Never again Hiccup would've dreamed that they'd be trapped in an avalanche… but without their dragons.

Hiccup glanced away from Astrid, his face burning with the little heat he had left. "I… I know what we could do till we can get out of here… to keep from freezing to death…"

Astrid searched for his eyes, wondering why Hiccup wouldn't tell her the answer. "What?"

"Well…" Hiccup hesitated, then muttered, "Weuseourbodyheat…"

"...what?"

"We… use… each others'… body heat," Hiccup tried again and looked up to see Astrid—who already had a heavy pallor from the cold—pale even more if that was possible. She shook her head, avoiding eye contact.

"There has to be some other way," she insisted, though the protest was weak. "Crawl around to warm up… get our blood pumping…"

Hiccup placed a hand on Astrid's shoulder. "Astrid… I know it's… well, awkward… but wouldn't you rather be embarrassed than—than dead?"

"Of course, Hiccup. It's just…"

They looked at each other furtively. The words were unspoken, but the message was there.

"I know," said Hiccup softly. "We're older, we understand… relationships more…"

Astrid nodded. "Yeah, but… but if this is the only way…" She gave the tiniest of smiles. "I'm glad it's you I'm stuck with."

"Haha… well… me too. Can you imagine me being stuck with Ruffnut?"

Astrid chuckled. "Or me with Snotlout." The pair began to snicker, then laughed so hard their sides hurt… But their mirth soon faded into chilly silence. Hiccup then raised his arms, like he was about to embrace Astrid in a hug.

"You ready?" he asked, and his face looked so playfully grim that Astrid had to force back another snigger.

She scooted forward in the snow, blushing. Blushing. What? Astrid Hofferson didn't blush. "As ready as I'll ever be."

And so, hesitantly, Hiccup wrapped his arms around her in a big hug. Astrid moved her arms around so she returned the embrace, and then set her chin on top Hiccup's shoulder. Hiccup's heart was pounding hard at each movement from Astrid. She was so close, he could turn his head just a little bit… and kiss. His palms grew clammy with nerves at the thought. Sure, Astrid had kissed him a few times before… hugged him… punched him ten times as many… But now… there was something different… Something there that wasn't there before…

"You smell like dragons," said Astrid in a muffled voice. Her mouth was half-buried in Hiccup's shirt.

Hiccup smirked. "Well, what did you expect?"

"I don't know. But it smells… nice. Like… you."

"...I'm just going to decide that's a compliment…" Hiccup noticed that Astrid was still shivering, even though they were so close. Without thinking about it, he began to rub Astrid's back, surprising her. The action was light, and he was only barely doing it, but Astrid felt every brush. Warmth from Hiccup's body and his hands crept into her, draining the cold out. She regained feeling in her toes, which had grown numb a while ago. The heat spread until she stopped shaking.

She then mimicked what Hiccup was doing to her and onto him, trying to return the favor. Hiccup also grew warmer with the new pressure on his back. Together, they sat for a few minutes, the awkwardness slowly fading from them into an almost comforting silence. After a while, Astrid and Hiccup were much warmer than before and didn't think they were in danger of freezing to death anymore.

Not only did Astrid's toes unthaw… but her heart felt warmer than ever. Warm toes… a warm heart… she was growing to think that they'd be alright.

CRACK!

There was a sudden sound that came from the ceiling, almost as if the snow was shifting above. Hiccup and Astrid quickly pulled away from each other, too concerned about the noise to feel embarrassed about their close contact.

"What was that?" Astrid whispered. She knew that any loud sounds could trigger the collapse of snow, and didn't want the snow-top caving in on them.

"Hold on…" Hiccup listened intently for any other crackle. There was another pop, and then-

PFFFFTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!

Snow spurted through a crack in the ceiling, pouring out into the corner of the cave. Hiccup lunged for Astrid, covering her body with his in an attempt to shield her from harm. Though Astrid deeply appreciated the gesture, she knew that covering herself wouldn't stop the snow from burying her alive.

The snow continued to spill through the whole until… silence. Fresh white powder was now caked around Hiccup and Astrid, and after a moment, Hiccup removed himself from his position, and they both sat up and looked to the ceiling.

"Oh my…," Astrid murmured at what she saw.

A small smile broke through Hiccup's lips. "Thank the gods."

The ceiling hadn't been caving them inside after all. They had had nothing to worry about. Instead, the new opening allowed an exit for them to get out of their prison and to safety. The pair could hardly believe their luck, and it took a minute for them to come to their senses and scramble to get out.

Hiccup decided he would crawl up first so he could look around to see if it was alright to get out. Astrid rolled her eyes at his chivalry, but allowed him to play hero. He had just saved her from freezing to death, after all.

Once out, Hiccup took a few moments to look around, then deemed it safe for Astrid to follow him. The avalanche had thankfully churned to a standstill, and they were somewhere near the edge of its remains. Hiccup pulled Astrid through the crack, nearly losing his balance as his feet shifted in the snow. Once Astrid was up, he put an arm around her back to hold her up, as, despite Astrid's earlier claims, her leg was badly bruised from the previous fall and she couldn't walk too well. Astrid slung one of her arms around Hiccup's shoulder in return. Supporting each other, they limped across the snowy wasteland. The blizzard had died down a bit to where they could see a fair range.

In the distance, Hiccup thought he saw a black dot, growing bigger with each step. He squinted, cocking his head as he tried to make it out. "Is that... Toothless?" He glanced over it again, and he grinned. "It is! Yes! He's okay… And I think… I think I see Stormfly behind him!"

Astrid practically sagged with relief. "Thank Thor. We're alive… we can get out of here and go home…" She thought that after the ordeal she and her friend had just gone through, they could get a pass on Snow Wraith duty for a few days. She glanced at Hiccup beside her. "Hiccup... I think... I think we're going to be alright." She felt Hiccup squeeze her shoulder with similar happiness.

"You know what, Astrid?" Hiccup said. He suddenly found a wide smile stretching his mouth in reply. "I think you're right."

Special thanks toooooo…

SunshineGirl14, laythkamal, harrypanther, Chibibread, jackie016, Rosalie24, devufairy, surferbabe2019, thepurplewriter333, Guest (#1), Guest (#2), PsychicWonderKitty, Plasma-energy-virus, phieillydinyia, DragonGirl310, annnnnddddddd TheLastInspiritDragonRider (for your own private review :D). Thanks, you guys! And we're ALMOST at 19,000 views! WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN? WOW. THANK YOU ALL!

Hey, guys, so I put up a poll on my profile for your favorite chapter of this so far. So if you want to vote on that, that'd be really awesome because then I could do more chapters like your favorites in the future! ;-)

Also, to those who might be wondering, the doctor appointment went pretty well. Also, apparently my energy levels are super low (according to some high-tech machine), so that explains why I have no energy when I've done nothing strenuous.

Thanks for sitting through my banters and random little facts that probably annoy the heck out of you. Until the next time, fellow Dragonites!