Posted a day early just for you guys, who seem really adamant on having it.

Chapter Fifteen: Flames

Hiccup didn't sleep that night, nor the next. He stayed in bed and stared at the ceiling with Snowdrop snuggled beside him until she woke up to eat with Gothi, the tiny girl quiet and pale. She cried every night after she realized Astrid would not come back, and didn't eat anything unless Juniper and Gothi forced her to nibble at anything. Hysterical crying, random screaming, long periods of monotonous silence plagued Snowdrop's little body day and night. Hiccup could only imagine her grief, trying to control his own.

The villagers avoided him to give him space to breathe; the Dragonlings did not study and the dragon riders could only look at him from a distance. Snotlout and Wormha tried to get his attention once which had only resulted in nothing. The twins did not joke but kept their eyes to the ground. Fishlegs stayed with Stormfly, who had refused to eat since she found Astrid's body. Hiccup knew she would never eat again. Toothless didn't speak to him in his mind, but kept his gaze out over the ocean watching the sun rise and set. Only at night would the Night Fury crawl into the house and into Hiccup's bed to warm Snowdrop and Hiccup as they tried to sleep, comforting thoughts whispering through his mind into Hiccup's without proving helpful.

One morning, after Toothless left to stare over the ocean as the villagers prepared the boat for Astrid's send-off, Hiccup sat up from his bed. He ran his hand over the empty space in the furry blankets where Astrid would have been before he got up, got dressed, made his way around the pink stain on the floor in front of the hearth, and entered the frigid air. He knew Astrid's body would be burned today, giving her physicality the sort of peace he only wished she would get.

He limped down the hill. His leg was stiff like wood, his back hurting immensely, his eyes heavy as if weights were tied to his eyelashes. His chapped lips froze in the air with every step he took. There were no more tears to shed, not now. He avoided looking at the ocean where his wife was, the boat being lined with clean fabric and scented oils and some harvested crops. Instead, he trudged up the hill to the Great Hall. It took him time to heave open the door and walk down the side staircase deep into the ground where the dungeon keep was.

His legs did the walking for him, not his mind, as he found himself getting closer and closer to the girl who had murdered his wife and child. He found the cell, the only one with life in it after the peace Berk had momentarily. The girl was curled up on the floor in the corner, her dirty arms holding her knees to her chest, her head hidden. She shivered. She wasn't wearing much, just the nightgown the matrons had dressed her in that had since been stained with blood. Her back was against one of the rough stone walls that were speckled with holes; windows to outside, taunting and inviting, with a view of the ocean and no way out.

Stopping in front of the bars, he watched the girl tremble on the floor and saw she had fresh bruises, new lash marks. Hiccup wasn't upset by the sight. He simply watched her shiver until she sensed his presence and looked up, her jaw hanging at an awkward angle and her mouth drooling. She sat up and slinked away from him, pressing against the wall as he gouged her body with his accusing eyes.

Hiccup shook his head as his eyes stung and his mouth twisted painfully. A strange noise croaked out of his throat, strangled and cold and dead.

The girl didn't move. She didn't make expression or movement. She merely looked back at him with a green eye. Hiccup leaned against the bars with his forehead, begging for an internal peace he was hoping for but was not happening. He didn't want to speak to the girl and yet he had so many questions to ask (and fists to throw). The hatred came in bouts while the confusion came in waves and the misery plowed his ribcage over and over with every aching and gods-forsaken heartbeat. It became very hard to breathe suddenly, and he found himself clutching the bars to the cell desperately. He threw his hands back against his eye sockets, cramming his fists as hard as they could against his vision as if it would wake him up or something.

He growled and threw a fist into one of the cell bars, cracking one knuckle painfully and sending pain shooting up his arm. He liked the distraction even though he cursed and stumbled back, holding his fist to his chest. He looked at the girl once more before rushing down the hall, desperate to get away from the creature that ruined his world.

When he made it to the cold and fresh air of the island, Toothless whispered in his mind as gently as possible.

"Snowdrop wishes to say goodbye", he said delicately. Hiccup closed his eyes and began walking home. Toothless slinked towards him halfway there in the middle of the road as the last of the villagers made their way to the beach for the funeral. The Night Fury stood on one side of the road while Hiccup stumbled to a stop on the other. He didn't look up as Toothless made an inquiring coo, trying to see if Hiccup was alright. When he shoved past his dragon, his answer was clear.

"Hiccup?" he asked feebly.

"Please," Hiccup said hoarsely. "Not now."

Toothless snorted against the ground sadly as he heard his master's metal leg squeak until it could no longer be heard.

Hiccup made his way to the beach. The ritual was about to start and Hiccup allowed his legs do the walking and his mind to go numb. He found Snowdrop at Gothi's house and picked her up. He sat her on his hip like Astrid would do so Snowdrop could keep her face warm in her hair. But Hiccup didn't have long hair, so Snowdrop's tears flowed freely as they stepped onto the gravelly beach to pay their last respects.

The villagers hushed and turned to watch Hiccup limp forward, pale and eyes sunken carrying Snowdrop towards their loved one, clutching onto each other for dear life. Snowdrop and Hiccup, both wearing thick cotton under their leather clothing, shivered as they made their march through the crowd toward the boat. Neither of them looked up to see Snotlout look out to sea, his eyes swollen and red. The twins held onto each other's arms, both stoic after bouts of rage-filled anger. Fishlegs stayed at the back with Meatlug close to him to keep his composure. Stormfly, however, was at the boat, her head nuzzled against her rider, trying to warm the long-cold body within.

When Hiccup saw her over the lip of the boat, his heart stopped painfully. She was redressed in the riding suit he had made her that year, the blue accents standing out beautifully. Her arms had been crossed over her chest and her hands had been painted to hide the bruises and bloody fingers. A hand-axe was under one hand and in the other was the Night Fury scale that symbolized her marriage to Hiccup. He felt Stormfly's horn under his clothes dig into his skin and found a sort of comfort in having it there. Her hair was braided again and her circlet placed on her head one final time. An engagement, a wedding, and a funeral.

Snowdrop looked down for a minute before reaching out one shaky hand, her body shaking with sobs. Hiccup noted her bravery, at how hard she was trying to not cry in front of everyone, but by gods, the pain in her face was heartbreaking. He reached forward until Hiccup let her down so she could put her hand on Astrid's cheek. A squeak left her chest as she ran two of her fingers through Astrid's bangs. Hiccup heard the village suck in a breath simultaneously at the sight of Snowdrop on the tips of her toes, reaching desperately over the lip of the boat to touch her older sister's face one last time.

"Say hi to mummy," Snowdrop said to her, "and papa. Okay?"

Snowdrop's body convulsed into a large sob but she sucked it down and wiped her nose clean with the sleeve of her coat.

"And I'll stay warm like you always said, and brush my hair, too. Okay?"

Hiccup couldn't see anymore, a sea in his eyes. He looked up over the ocean as Snowdrop clutched the boat for a few more moments before she finally broke down.

"I don't wanna let go of the boat," she cried, "because then she'll be gone forever."

Stoick stepped from the crowd and leaned next to her while Hiccup kept his gaze away lest he break.

"Come here, wee lass," he whispered into her ear as he wrapped one arm around her. Snowdrop sobbed and gasped as Stoick pulled her away from the boat, cradling her as he took her away to comfort her far from the smell of death.

There was a tense moment before Hiccup turned and knelt next to Astrid. He saw her face, how they had painted it to look alive and healthy. Her riding suit held her torn body together and he thought it was what she would have wanted. He reached in and rubbed a thumb over her eyebrow, over the thin blonde hair and the scar that severed it. He remembered softly when the Skrill attacked months before, how its lightning struck the forge and the debris flew into her head. Now a small scar. He marvelled at how strong she had been in the short life she had. Strong, up until days before.

He knelt his head down as he picked up one of her hands. Unbuttoning his furs, he slid her hand within, her cold fingertips pressed to his heart as if the heat from his body and the beats of his heart would spurn hers to start again. It was so cold, he tried to keep his breathing even, but he let the reality sink in as deep as that cold hand pierced his soul, his spirit. He kissed her chilled lips and tears dripped onto her face below him like a gentle rain, warm and alive.

He pressed his forehead to hers and let his body rack with those damned sobs.

"You," Hiccup began as if the words tore his heart with every syllable, "are the beauty of my morning… You are my only and my chosen… I will love you even though you are gone, after our dragons have taken flight to Valhalla and our bones are distant memories... I will always remain all that I am and I will cherish you for your entirety forevermore. Always and eternal. A-Always, Astrid."

He kissed her twice more as his sobs became audible, his wedding vows making the entire village stay eerily silent.

"It's time to go," he choked. "I love you… I love you."

He ripped himself away from her and grabbed the head of the boat his both hands, pushing his weight and every emotional ounce of his being into Astrid's send-off. The boat scratched against the gravel and sliced into the water as Hiccup pushed even harder, letting his tears freeze to his face and the frozen water soak through his pants. The ripples made it to his waist before the boat pulled away from his hands and floated out. He stood there and watched to make sure the boat floated safe and sound. Stormfly jumped off the beach and while everyone thought she would go after the boat, she spat fire into it, setting it aflame in a dazzling array of the warmest colours anyone had seen in so long.

Hiccup watched the boat burn for only a few moments before someone grabbed his shoulder. Hiccup turned to shove that person back, but Stoick grabbed Hiccup's fist and pulled his son to his chest and crushed him. And before Hiccup could throw his defenses, he let himself scream into his dad's collar as the smoke hit his nose. And he screamed until he couldn't make any more noise.

The girl heard Hiccup scream and knew the boat had been lit. She smelled the smoke in the distance and remained passive, lying in the cell awaiting her punishment, glad the body was burning in dragon fire. She rested her head on the stone wall behind her and let her eyes fall shut, a smile tugging at her broken mouth.

Stoick pulled Hiccup out of the water and somehow they made it to the Great Hall. Hiccup only returned to himself loosely by the time he was sitting in front of the fire, the sun already setting. Stoick, Gobber, Spitelout, Fishlegs, Juniper, and various other high status men and women sat at the long table and watched Stoick stand, still wet from fetching Hiccup, and threw an object on the table. A stirring spoon clunked and rolled over the wood, making people murmur. The wood was blackened in a bizarre fashion.

"Juniper and the other matrons have told me that they think this was the weapon that took away our young Astrid," Stoick said gruffly. "We need to find out who and how."

Fishlegs reached forwardly, the sadness from the beach still under his eyes like heavy curtains, and looked at the spoon with a sharp eye. "Poison is an obvious culprit here, although I'm stumped as to the type or potency of it."

Juniper coughed. "Fast. Very potent. Three hours passed before we could no longer help her. Then that… girl did her part."

Hiccup gulped and kept his eyes on the table.

"Perhaps you should leave," Spitelout said as comfortingly as possible.

Hiccup glared. "No. My wife was fucking murdered, and I'm not leaving until we know why."

A tense silence rested on the table before Fishlegs cleared his throat. "The carvings on the spoon look to be of Eastern make."

Stoick grunted again and Gobber looked over at him. "They came to the ceremony. There was that one lass."

"Cauli," Hiccup noted. "The brutish woman who challenged Astrid and another girl to a fight for a spot at my wedding. Her tribe is from the East."

"That wouldn't make a lot of sense," Spitelout remarked. "She made a pact with you. Her clan owes us allegiance."

"I guess she broke it," Hiccup replied darkly.

Fishlegs leaned in. "The carvings are from the Eastern tribes, but the poison is something I have never seen. They may have something like this, but I think we would have known about it beforehand."

"Aye," Gobber added, "if there is anything I know about poison, it's that it's a cowardly move and an Outcast move at that."

"We've already exhausted resources to find the Outcasts," Stoick explained. "Their island has been destroyed and that rock never sustained anything other than shit and dirt. They're gone and we have no way of finding them."

Hiccup looked up. "The girl is still alive. We can ask her."

"Her jaw is broken, and if she even negotiates with us, there's too much bad blood after what she's done."

"I never said we had to be kind to her to get her to talk," Hiccup replied. The table went quiet for another few moments.

Stoick groaned and rubbed his eyes. "We've all had a taxing day. Spitelout, I want you to send word to the Eastern Islands to send the chief under the alliance treaty. If they pose a problem, I want them on our turf."

"Right," Spitelout grunted.

"We will interrogate the girl in the coming weeks. In that time, no trade is to be bought unless it is from trader Johann himself."

Hiccup raised a hand. "There is someone I want to find."

Stoick nodded his head. "And that may be?"

"Her name is Rose," Hiccup began. "She came to our wedding, fought with Astrid for my hand, and then bonded Toothless and I. It's proven to be very useful and if things are going to take a turn for the worst, I want us to have everything possible. Our forge is too outdated and Berk is central to most dragon nests. Find her, we find help."

Stoick shook his head at that. "That girl is just a child."

Hiccup sat up straighter. "Since Rose bonded Toothless and I, I have been able to have constant contact with him, been stronger and healthier. And there have been times where I dreamt into the minds of other dragons. The Skrill showed me that there are other dragons out there under the control of tyrannical masters who try to break them. The only reason I didn't die was because the dragon forced himself not to. And she can talk to these other dragons somehow, I want to know how and why and what's going on with these dragons. We're going to need all the help we can get if something bigger ever happens."

His father ran his fingers through his tangled beard before Fishlegs spoke up. "And dragons are supposed to be peaceful unless agitated. The Skrill had no reason to attack, so this makes sense. Which makes me very concerned."

"The Skrill was sent to kill me," Hiccup said. "Then, poison is brought into my home and… kills… It was meant for me. They were… trying to… kill… me."

The realization hit him as he said it. The room seemed to shift as he noticed how the dots were connecting. And no one questioned it, it made too much sense.

"Why would someone try to kill you?" Juniper asked.

Hiccup licked his lips. "The Skrill called me the Saviour. The dragons also know that Berk is a haven for dragons and I am next in line for the chiefdom. Take me out, the dragons have no Saviour and no haven."

Silence. Stoick flicked his eyes up to Gobber and Spitelout. "After you send word, I want Snotlout and the twins to search for this Rose woman. Find trader Johann and ask for his routes. Find her that way. Then, I want patrols doubled. Word of Astrid's funeral will spread and I don't want whoever is endangering us to take that news as an opportunity. And I want that girl kept alive so we can get information from her as soon as possible."

Most stood and began work on their tasks. Stoick placed a hand over Hiccup's and gave it a squeeze. "Go home. You can be a chief later. You've… had a bad day."

"Master of understatements," Hiccup spat, suddenly hateful. He threw his blankets down and stormed out of the building. He knew he should have been satisfied with the news that searches were underway, but that didn't stop him from wanting the result immediately. Even so, it wouldn't bring Astrid back. He focused on walking home to meet Snowdrop.

He found her in his bed already, her body buried in the furs and blankets. She always slept on Astrid's side; the smell comforted her and Hiccup, which meant they had to share the bed but the two of them had no issue with that. The moment his foot made a sound, Snowdrop peeked out of the blanket.

"She's gone," she sniffled. "I saw the boat turn around the island."

Hiccup bit his lip and said nothing as he grabbed dry clothes and put them on in another room. As he changed he saw the scar the Skrill left behind and ran his finger over it thoughtfully. Astrid had helped stitch this shut, he recalled. The Skrill tried to kill him, but it also spurned their wedding. He clutched the Nadder spike around his neck and breathed a deep breath before pulling a sweater on and returning to the room.

He squatted by the fire and tossed two more logs into the flames until Snowdrop dropped from the bed and crawled next to him, crawling under one of his arms and into his lap, snuggling her face in his chest.

"Hup?" she asked quietly as Hiccup stared into the flames. Hiccup made a sound to continue. "Astrid… told me about the baby."

Hiccup's stomach turned as the heat from the flames burned his eyes. He wrapped his arms around Snowdrop and clutched her tightly.

"It's just you and me, Snow."

"Are we going to be okay?"

"Yes," he breathed into the child's hair comfortingly, trying to convince himself, but failing horribly.

He remained still until Snowdrop had long fallen asleep, running his hand through her hair and humming deep in his throat to comfort himself. Stiffly, he lifted himself to his feet with Snowdrop cradled in his arms, carefully lying her down among the nest of furs on Astrid's side. The girl nuzzled into the fur with a deep sigh, her eyes fluttering and her body melting into the bed warmly. Hiccup placed the blankets over her and sat on the edge of the bed.

He looked out the window across from him to the night sky and the ocean beneath, hoping to see some sort of trace of Astrid, a single flame or a puff of smoke, but the closest thing to Astrid was snoring softly behind him. He held his breath as he stood up and left his room, going to the main room and sitting against a wall, any wall, holding his knees, and allowing his body to tear apart in every way as tears and sobs wracked and raged through him like the frontlines meeting each other on the battlefield. He bit his wrist as he let himself go, sinking into the floor as all the water drained from him into the wood beneath his body.

He cried for all the flights they would never have. Flying above the clouds where no one would see them, kissing on the back of Toothless who would have flown true, diving until their hearts threatened to jump out of their backs. He cried for the fights they wouldn't have, the punches she would have thrown and the kisses he would have given after. He cried for their family now broken too soon, too late, never, forever. He let his body convulse as he forced every emotion out of his body, allowing the rage and sadness and grief to pour out of him like a waterfall over the highest peak off the coast of Berk.

He cried until he cried no more, until he simply lie on the floor numb and cold and lost in the dark. Hours had passed, maybe years, before his body was too sore to stay still. He sat up and felt his way over the cracks of the wall back to his bedroom, back to the warmth of the fire that had burned down. He tossed another log in and heard Snowdrop stir.

"Astrid?" she groaned. Hiccup raised himself and leaned next to her. "Hup?"

"Yeah?"

"I have to pee…" she mumbled. Hiccup sighed. He pulled Snowdrop out of bed and took her to the front door. There was a chamber pot next to it and some leaves, so he left Snowdrop to her business by going around the corner to the hall.

He heard her wriggle out of her pants and balance herself, pee, then grab a leaf before she huffed.

"You okay in there?" Hiccup asked through exhaustion. Snowdrop sighed again.

"Yeah."

"I can help you if you want."

"No fanks," she said quickly. She pulled up her pants and found Hiccup. "I thought I heard Stormfly outside."

Hiccup looked up and narrowed his eyes with another sigh. "Crawl back into bed. I should go check on her."

Snowdrop trudged off and Hiccup pulled on a fur vest and his boots to step outside. He shivered against the air, snow sprinkling down. Stormfly hadn't been well during the funeral procession, and now that it was done, Hiccup felt he owed it to the beast to care for her or at least check on her. Dragon grief was noted as being one of the more powerful emotions to the creatures, and Hiccup could only imagine the pain she felt.

"Stormfly?" he called quickly, stomping around the house under the moonlight. He heard the Nadder before he saw her, and she was pacing back and forth with distressed chortles and croaks burping from her throat. Her eyes were wild and her wings twitched as Hiccup approached cautiously.

"Hey, girl, easy," he said gently. He put out his hands and the dragon reared her head. Toothless jumped between them and stared at Hiccup alarmingly.

Hiccup, Toothless said quickly. Wait.

"I need her to calm down, bud," Hiccup replied. "She'll hurt herself."

No, I must speak first.

Hiccup frowned. "Toothless, seriously –"

Hiccup!

"No, you can wait! Stormfly, calm down!"

I can tell you what her worry is if you let me, Toothless growled.

Hiccup stepped around his dragon with a wrinkled nose. "Please, let's keep things simple tonight, okay? I don't want to deal with damned riddles or rhymes or –"

Astrid stepped from around Stormfly and made Hiccup jump out of his skin. He stumbled back and felt a sharp pain in his ankle. He fell onto his back, his eyes fixed on the creature that floated towards him. Its skin was white as frosty wheat, its long hair in stiff, frozen tendrils like a sea monster. Blue eyes glinted in the moonlight and off its leather scrappy clothing. Strips of fabric hung from its appendages, and it looked at Hiccup. Toothless and Stormfly backed away nervously as Hiccup began to hyperventilate, his heart shrieking and his mind going dark. It couldn't be her, she burned, she bled, she was gone, gone!

"Hup?" a tiny voice called behind him. Snowdrop rounded the corner of the house and found him sitting on the ground, mouth open, terrified. She looked up at the figure across from them and blinked.

"J-Just fell, get back inside," Hiccup wheezed. But Snowdrop stepped forward to the figure and looked up at it slowly. Hiccup blanched when he found out Snowdrop could see it too.

When she jumped forward and hugged the ghost around the knees, Hiccup realized that Astrid wasn't as dead as he thought.