Author's note: PHEW! That. Was. LONG! =D What can I say about this? Hmmm...Ah, yes. There is a direct reference to Footprints in here, just so you know. And I have to tell you that I wrote all of this while listening non-stop to the second track of the OST of one of my all-time favorite movies, namely The Princess Bride. Boy, is that movie awesome! XD Anyway, the track is entitled 'I Will Never Love Again'. I'm sure you will notice why I am telling you this. And I warmly recommend to read this chapter while listening to that awesome piece of music by Mark Knopfler. I'm even ready to send the track by e-mail to whoever's interested in it. ;-)

Also, because I have written exams to take next week, do not expect another chapter before -at least- the 25th of November. And wish me luck!

And I dedicate this chapter to Contraltissimo. :-) 3 3 3

Enjoy your reading!

Arvarodd the Bold watched both expectantly and patiently his daughter's eyes as they slowly began to roll behind their eyelids, seeking light. He released the breath he did not know he had been holding. Astrid was finally awakening and she was alright, safe for the fairly impressive scar that would, from now on, marry her ribcage.

Arvarodd sighed. For the life of him, he could not remember the last time he had been so scared. Probably never. But when the Thorston twins had brought home his daughter's motionless body in the early evening a week ago, he had instantly understood what Stoick had gone through right after the battle against the Green Death. The exact moment he had thought the unthinkable had been the most terrifying of his existence. Svanhilde had gone hysterical, and Arvarodd had had to yank Astrid's body from the twins' arms and had rushed off in the storm to carry her to the healer's place, hoping Old Wrinkly would be there to take care of his only child and swearing to the Gods to track down the bastard who had done this to his wonderful daughter and make him suffer a torturously slow and painful death.

But when he had reached his destination, Astrid's blood staining his own shirt, he had watched in sinister comprehending the body Fishlegs Ingerman was slowly and respectfully lifting up his Gronckle's back with trembling hands. Ever since Fishlegs had decided to become a healer, Old Wrinkly had taken him as his apprentice with open arms, and it was no secret that the bond between mentor and apprentice was something special, similar to the one Gobber the Belch and Hiccup shared. Fishlegs had looked like he was on the verge of silent tears when he had brought the corpse inside. Dragons had been roaring everywhere in the village until the sound had reverberated so loud through Berk that there was no Viking on the island who could pretend he had not heard it. In a matter of minutes, Arvarodd had been surrounded by the other healers, and they had eventually succeeded in taking Astrid away from him after Gobber had forced him to let her go, ordering him to calm down and go chop some wood if the pressure was to become too much to bear. Stoick and Spitelout had been busy listening to what Snotlout could tell them – Spitelout had even had to intervene when the chief had started to grab Snotlout's shoulders and shake him like a pine tree, firing question after question about where Hiccup was- and organizing a rescue party with the riders of the top four mightiest Monstrous Nightmares in order to bring the Night Fury who had been left at the lowland back to the village.

Thanks to some previous incidents that had happened in the last four years, Hiccup had been clear-sighted enough to invent and build several items one could use whenever a dragon was injured and needed to be taken care of rapidly. The dragon-sized litter was one of those. It took four Nightmares or Nadders to lift it, one at each corner, but it definitely enabled their injured peer to be transported much faster. When Snotlout and the others had come back with a hardly-breathing Toothless, even Stoick had not been able to prevent a gasp from escaping his mouth. The Night Fury's scales had turned into a brilliant white, the unchanged dark wings and tailfin being the only proof that their normal color was black.

Arvarodd sighed again, closing his tired eyes for a second and running a hand through his long blonde beard. He and his wife had taken shifts to watch over their daughter and, when they could, try to comfort Astrid's distressed Deadly Nadder, Starkad, who was stubbornly refusing to eat anything and lay beside the house, whining pitifully each and every time she heard her rider groan in pain.

There was still no sign of Hiccup, Arvarodd knew, and he sincerely sympathized with Stoick because of that. Everyone could see how much on edge the chief was, trying in spite of everything to keep things straight in the village and not to give in to the ever-growing panic that any father would feel swelling in his heart in the same situation. Stoick had come several times to check on Astrid himself, even when he had had no news to share about his own child. Search parties were still being sent, but there was not much hope left. Not after a whole week had gone by.

"…Dad?"

Arvarodd's deep blue eyes shot open, all previous thoughts shattering instantly as the unusually weak voice – that voice he cherished so much- reached his ears and he looked down, his irises instinctively finding Astrid's. He hesitated for a millisecond, and then rushed forward to take her into his fatherly arms, murmuring her name over and over again like it was the holiest sound in Midgard. He had never really been the protective type, for Astrid had never seemed like she needed or wanted him to be like that, but this was different. He had nearly lost her, his own flesh and blood. He would never forget how pale her skin had been a week ago.

"Dad, stop it! You're…crushing…me."

He complied, releasing his hold on her, and taking a moment to observe her. The healers had removed her clothes, had done what they had to do after extracting the dagger from her flesh, and had eventually slipped a white nightgown onto her womanly body. With her long hair that had been let loose framing her face and caressing her shoulders, Arvarodd thought she looked beautiful. She tried to lift herself up from the bed, and ended up groaning in pain, gritting her teeth as her right hand dashed to the injured area. She renounced and lay again. Arvarodd took silent pride in her: she was still physically weak and yet she was already trying to hide it.

"Take it easy, Astrid. You need to rest."

"I've rested enough to last for several weeks. How long have I been out?"

He suddenly realized Astrid was staring at him quizzically, a frown forming on her face, and he sighed once more. She had obviously not forgotten about whatever had happened in the lowland and she would want to know the truth, nothing but the truth, and he would have to tell her. This was not going to be easy. At least he would hear her own tale, and maybe he would finally get some information to share with Stoick.

"A week. It's Ruffnut and Tuffnut who found you in the lowland. From what I've heard, Ruffnut found it odd that you hadn't returned to the village after the storm begun. She rounded up your other friends and they set out to look for you and Hiccup."

Upon hearing the name of her husband-to-be, Astrid tried to shoot up once more, and actually succeeded in doing so. She grabbed her father's hand, trying to convey the urgency of the situation in her grip.

"Dad! They took him! We've got to go after them! We've got to save Hiccup!"

"Astrid, calm down! And who's they? No one here knows what actually happened but you, and you were not exactly talkative the last couple of days."

Astrid's eyes widened as she understood the full extent of her father's words.

"What about Old Wrinkly?"

"He didn't make it," Arvarodd simply stated whilst shaking his head. "There was nothing we could do."

"…Toothless?"

"Not dead yet, but still in a pretty bad shape. The healers don't know what's wrong with him, meaning they can't do much to help him."

"He's been poisoned with eels' blood!"

"Eels' blood?"

"Yes! I've got to see the healers and tell them!" Astrid announced, getting rid of the several layers of fur that had protected her from getting cold and ready to get up when Arvarodd firmly grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her back down, resolutely shaking his head.

"You are not going anywhere until you've told me everything that's happened."

"But-

"No. Stoick is worried sick about Hiccup, and he doesn't have the tiniest piece of information about him. You owe your chieftain that much, Astrid. Start talking."

"…And then I blacked out. That's all I can remember."

Arvarodd nodded once, the frown on his face a clear sign that he was going to report all of this to Stoick as soon as he stepped outside.

"Dad, has Stoick sent search parties for Hiccup?"

"Of course. In every direction. But wherever those men took Hiccup to, they must have been caught up in the storm, which means that they are either exceptional sailors or complete numbskulls. Not all the search parties have come back yet."

Astrid looked down. She knew her father, and understood that he meant most search parties had returned without the slightest clue. She would never forget how Hiccup had looked like when he had been reduced to crawling into the mud. He had been hurt deeper than she could imagine. All the work she and the others had done to make Hiccup feel like his missing foot wasn't something he should be ashamed of, all the hopping races they had done to make him feel better about himself and strengthen his leg, all the work Hiccup himself had done while training with her to be capable to rise above the problem of his handicap, all the crosses Hiccup had scratched with her on the walls of his bedroom, all of it for nothing. It had all vanished in that single moment when that asshole had torn Hiccup's prosthesis off from his leg.

A series of knocks against the door interrupted her thoughts and her gaze followed her father as he strode along to open it, revealing a rather uncomfortable-looking Snotlout standing on the threshold, nervously shifting his weight on one leg after the other.

"Snotlout! I'm glad to see that you're back," Arvarodd greeted Spitelout's son with a friendly punch on the shoulder. "Did you find anything?"

Snotlout swallowed thickly, not sure of how he should bring this up. "As a matter of fact, I did, Sir. Is Astrid awake?"

"Oh, yes. Well come in, lad, we're all waiting to hear what news you can give us."

Snotlout complied silently, carrying some sort of bundle in his beefy arms. As soon as Astrid set her eyes on him, she knew whatever he had to tell her was not good. She did not avert her eyes when he stared at her in that particular way that spoke volumes about how he thought she looked, and waited for him to talk. He glanced down once.

"Hey, Astrid. Nice to see that you're back with the living. Not that I ever doubted it, you know. I mean, the guy's who's going to kill you isn't probably born yet, right? And-

"Get to the point, 'Lout. What news do you have?"

"I-Uh…Blaze and I were flying above the sea, looking for anything that could lead us to Hiccup. And, well, we found this." He handed her over the bundle he had brought with him, and Astrid recognized it instantly. It was Hiccup's fur vest. Banishing the tears that threatened to moist her eyes away and clasping the vest to her chest, Astrid looked back at Snotlout, who merely shrugged. "It was stuck on a plank. I guess Blaze picked up Hiccup's scent, which might explain why she was able to spot this. Anyway, there were pieces of wood floating everywhere. I'm sorry, Astrid. I really am."

Arvarodd looked sadly at his daughter as she tried to take it all in. If Snotlout was telling the truth –and there was no reason why this shouldn't be the case- then sending more search parties for Hiccup and his abductors was a lost cause. For even if, by some incredible chance, Hiccup had survived the shipwreck itself, his body wouldn't have been able to bear the freezing cold waters of the sea for that long, let alone in his crippled state. Arvarodd shook his head. How could the Gods allow his daughter to be a widow before she even got married?

"Please. Leave me alone," Astrid whispered, her voice cracking.

Both Arvarodd and Snotlout looked at her, then at each other, not budging an inch. This seemed to infuriate Astrid further as she glared venomously at both men, her voice rising significantly in volume.

"I said leave me alone!"

They exited the house, but not before Arvarodd told her that the pyre for Old Wrinkly would be set on fire at sunset and that Stoick would probably appreciate it if she could be there. Astrid simply nodded. And it was only when she was sure that nobody could either see or hear her that she allowed herself to give in to the chaos of tears and sobs that had been welling up inside her. And if any Viking on Berk actually did hear her, no one was stupid enough to mention it.

Astrid knew she was being watched by everyone when she stood next to the lifeless body of Old Wrinkly and gently put Hiccup's fur vest on the old chest that had stopped rising with each breath. She thought Hiccup would have wanted her to do this. The fur vest could not be compared to the much finer clothes the corpse had been wrapped in, let alone to the different items that would accompany Old Wrinkly during his last travel, but it was more symbolic that any of them.

She looked down. Old Wrinkly was smiling softly, even in his death. He had died smiling to his grandson to comfort him, to make sure Hiccup would understand that he wasn't to blame for what had happened. The old man looked peaceful, serene, and his face had a sense of tranquility she was almost jealous of. Astrid cupped Old Wrinkly's cheek, biding him farewell and praying for his journey to Valhalla or Hel's realm to be a safe one. She hoped it would be Valhalla. The man did not deserve to spend his afterlife wandering aimlessly through the mists of Helheim, having to endure the freezing cold air Hraesvelg created by flapping his wings. After all, Old Wrinkly had died in battle, even though he had not exactly killed his foes. Astrid hoped the Gods would have mercy for the Old Wrinkly's kindred soul. She was not that worried for Hiccup's, though. Even if he had died in a shipwreck, he was a hero. He would make it to Odin's Hall. She murmured another prayer for Hiccup, her Hiccup, feeling the last tear she had to shed leave its shelter of skin, and for she thought would be the last time in her life, she did nothing to stop it.

She stepped back eventually, squaring her shoulders with dignity, behaving like a true Viking. But deep inside her, she felt so cold. Stoick, Gobber and Spitelout silently went past her and stepped into the water, pushing the longboat at sea with all their might. The chief looked older than he ever had. The ship rocked gently, the wood creaking from time to time, the sail swelling beautifully thanks to the soft evening breeze and pushing the longship into the horizon where the sun was slowly going to sleep.

When the vessel had sailed far enough from the beach, the archers bent their bows after having set their arrows on fire. Stoick gave them the signal, and suddenly the twilight was lit with countless spots of bright flames similar to shooting stars, and they drew a perfect arc of a circle before sticking in their single target.

It was strange, Astrid thought, how oddly beautiful a pyre could look like when reflected in the water. The sky and the sea both crammed with vibrant colors, outdoing themselves to honor the passing of two great souls. Most Vikings began to make their way back to the village, but she was not one of those. She would stand there and watch the ship burn until the last ashes would scatter across the sky, performing their last dance.

The night had fallen for a long time already when the last flame was extinguished by the quite sea, but Astrid kept staring at that precise spot anyway, unwilling to pay attention to anything else. She perfectly knew Ruffnut was coming up to her. She could hear her coming, and she had long ago learned to recognize her friend's footsteps.

Ruffnut and the others had all mourned the loss of Old Wrinkly, and even more that of Hiccup. Even Snotlout had looked completely down. When Spitelout had reminded him that he was consequently next in line to become chief and should start acting like it, Snotlout had only muttered that he wasn't interested anymore. Not that he had a choice, but it proved just how much more than two lives had been lost. Hiccup had turned out to represent Berk's light and hope. With him gone, the village had lost its future.

"So…How are you feeling?" was the admittedly stupid question Ruffnut asked, and Astrid thought her friend looked a bit like she herself must have looked that fateful day on the cliff, that day when she had understood Hiccup, although having been disowned and banished, was the key to a new age and had forced him to realize he had to go after his father to save Toothless and the entire tribe in the process.

"Do I need to answer that?" Astrid replied, and she was shocked to hear how harsh and cold her voice sounded. Ruffnut simply shrugged it off.

"Not really. I was just trying to make you say something. You've been standing here for hours, so I came to see if you had turned into a damn statue already or not."

Astrid grunted once as a response, and resumed her staring at the horizon and, without uttering a single word, Ruffnut imitated her. How long they stayed like this, they did not know and didn't care to know. After what felt like an eternity, Ruffnut suddenly pointed a somewhat excited forefinger to indicate the pod of dolphins that had appeared in the distance.

"Look! They've been here for several days already. I dunno what they're doing here."

The mammals were jumping happily above the water and diving back into it under the light of the moon and the stars. Astrid stared at them for a moment, and then simply turned her back on the sea.

"Astrid?" Ruffnut called, putting a hand on her childhood friend's shoulder to hold her back. Astrid glared at her, and in that single glare Ruffnut saw someone she had not seen for four years. Someone cold and harsh like the blade of a sword. Just as there was a 'before the battle against the Green Death' and 'after the battle against the Green Death' Berk, there was a 'before Hiccup' and 'after Hiccup' Astrid. And the 'before Hiccup' one had just resurfaced.

"I will never love again."

And with that, Astrid made her way back to the village, preparing herself to spend the night alone, more alone than ever.

All the dragons in the village kept whining, as if they knew what had happened and what fate awaited the Night Fury. Starkad had been somewhat happier than the others ever since she had seen Astrid coming out of her house the day before. But the atmosphere in Berk was still heavy, filled with grief and anger.

Astrid had just paid a visit to Toothless, who was still being taken care of by the healers, and especially by Fishlegs who had spent the night trying to find any information possible about how to deal with all kinds of poisons. Astrid was out of tears, but she had felt her heart tighten upon seeing the Night Fury. And vice-versa. It seemed Toothless had, upon seeing her and feeling her sympathizing fingers scratch him, somehow figured out that Hiccup wasn't there anymore, that he would never be there again, and although she tried to lift the dragon's spirits in every way she could think of, Astrid knew he was letting himself die.

It was only when she heard a series of powerful roars echoing outside that Astrid decided to go and see what was happening. Vikings ran past her, giving her looks that were full of pity, and she hated them for it. But she did not allow herself to dwell on the thought for very long, for she could hear the fishermen cry out incomprehensible things from the docks. A crowd had gathered there, she noticed, to observe whatever was attracting their attention.

Almost in spite of herself, Astrid elbowed whoever stood in her path to cut herself a way through the bulky Vikings and what she saw when she finally managed to stand at the front of the crowd struck her speechless. A pod of dolphins – and, call it feminine intuition, she was pretty sure it was the same pod Ruff had pointed to the evening before – was swimming rapidly back and forth in the harbor, trying to prevent the fishermen from setting sail. The children of the village emitted cries of pure delight; they had never seen dolphins from this close, and soon they were cheering for the mammals, applauding happily whenever one of them performed a perfect somersault. Astrid felt the ghost of a smile tug at her lips when, suddenly, two dolphins jumped right in front of her, and her eyes widened in complete astonishment when she saw the spear one of them was holding. She took a step forward, bending over the dock to peer at the animals as they clicked furiously, as if they were trying to get her attention. The two dolphins she was interested in turned round in the water, their dorsal fin neatly splitting it and leaving a trail of sea-foam behind them as they dashed back to where she stood. They jumped once more, and time seemed to slow when Astrid caught a glimpse of something round and golden and unbelievably familiar that was glinting in the morning sun, hanging between the other dolphin's jaws.

Before she even knew what she was doing, Astrid had jumped into the cold water, crawling towards the mammals and ignoring the astounded cries of the other Vikings around her. The white-beaked dolphins clicked in joy and swam up to her, the biggest of them coming to a halt right in front of her. For a brief moment, the two stared at each other and then the dolphin opened is jaws in what she swore was a smile, and she did not believe what she was seeing.

The Ring of Heavens pendant. The very pendant she had given to Hiccup for his latest birthday. Her fingers trembling slightly, Astrid carefully took the golden medallion, letting her eyes rest on the pure emerald it sported in its centre. There was no possible mistake. This was definitely Hiccup's. He had always kept it with him ever since he had first put it around his neck. Not even a shipwreck would have been able to make Hiccup loose this. And why would a dolphin bother to bring it back to Berk if it had not been asked to? Hiccup had proved he had a way with dragons, so why not dolphins?

"He's alive…" she whispered incredulously, almost afraid of believing her own words. And then it fully hit her. "He's alive! Hiccup's alive!"

And in that moment Astrid felt like her heart would literally explode with hope and gratitude. She was torn between laughing and sobbing, and she did not care. She could only throw her arms around the dolphin in front of her as best as she could, thanking it over and over again while it flapped the water with its tailfins.

When her excitement had cooled off a little bit and she had had time to warm herself up next to a fire and change clothes, she explained the situation to the chief, her parents and her friends, telling them that no matter what they thought, she was leaving Berk to search for Hiccup herself. Stoick had not even tried to dissuade her; he was probably too happy that there was still hope for his son to be alive, even if that hope had been given to him – to them- by a pod of dolphins! He had even ordered the fishermen to feed the mammals in order to thank them for what they had done, convinced that it was a sign of the Gods.

"You shouldn't leave alone." Astrid's mother, Svanhilde the Honest, pointed out sadly. She didn't want her daughter to risk her life for –possibly- nothing.

"But I have to. And no one knows what's waiting for me where-

"My point exactly!"

"But I will be stealthier on my own. Besides, Starkad will be there, too. You can rely on her to protect me, mom."

"What if you do need help?"

"Look, I'll go with Starkad and Ruff's Terrible Terror. As soon as I'll know where Hiccup is and how to get there, I will send you a message thanks to that little bugger, okay? Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

"Astrid. Does he really mean this much to you?" Svanhilde asked, almost afraid of the answer she would get. Astrid's eyes bore into her own, pride and fierceness showing in every move she made.

"Yes." She replied simply. "This much, and much, much more. And anyway," Astrid added while turning to her friends, "I promised Toothless I would bring Hiccup back, so I really have to do this. I just want you guys to make sure Toothless survives that poison one way or another."

They all nodded - a bit too solemnly for Astrid's taste, but she had more important things to do now. Like packing up, feeding Starkad and asking Gobber to sharpen her axe and Dagmar.

Arvarodd the Bold and Svanhilde the Honest stood motionless on the docks. Their hands entwined while they stared at the shrinking figure of their daughter in the distance, riding her dragon in the twilight, guided by the once more benevolent dolphins.

"What is wrong with you, Arvarodd? Why did you let her go? She might get killed out there and you know it." Svanhilde demanded, whirling on her husband as soon as Astrid's dragon had vanished from sight.

"I had to. Death is the risk we all take on a daily basis, dear. We're Vikings. And you know better than anyone that Astrid is just as stubborn as the both of us put together; you know how she gets when she's like this. There's no stopping her. She would have gone anyway, with or without our consent. It's better that she leaves with our support than having to sneak away."

Svanhilde glared at him. "Yes, but what if we never see her again?"

Arvarodd the Bold couldn't help but smile as his wife jutted out her lower lip."She'll be fine, dear."

"How do you know?"

The blonde Viking chewed his lip thoughtfully. "I can't know, but..." He looked Svanhilde straight in the eye. "She's been in worse situations than this, and she's always pulled through."

Svanhilde had to admit, she was a bit reassured by these words. "That's true. Even when she was a kid, she was always getting herself into and out of danger."

Arvarodd nodded. "Astrid's always been strong. Possibly stronger than I could ever be."

"Me, too," Svanhilde agreed, and then sighed heavily. "I just hope her strength won't fail her."