Author's Notes:
• I do not own How To Train Your Dragon, Kingdom Hearts, or Disney. All of them belong to respective copyright owners. The most I've got are PlayArts figurines and other miscellaneous merchandise.
• Okay, so I finally got off of my lazy ass and wrote an Astrid chapter to go along with the previous Sora one. I've been talking to my RP buddy that I've mentioned several times thus far and it sounds like she might be attempting some of her own. However, I will NOT post her stories without her permission.
• This one is a bit long. To give you an idea just how long, it's over twice as long as the previous Sora chapter. Just a fair warning.
• WARNING: This story DOES NOT have a happy ending.
So this was what it felt like to be a real battle huh? Bloody, bruised, sweaty, and in serious need of some rest. The fighting had originally started a while ago, when the day began its slow descent into night. The first sighting of the mass of moving black and specks of yellow on the far edge of the chain of islands they called home had been a mistake. They all felt it had been. There was no other explanation for the jet black beasts leaping forward from the imagination of every Viking who knew the story. It was much easier for more than half of the village to lie to themselves and claim what had seen was nothing more than a lie.
The sun was just a half circle on the horizon when the first battle cry was yelled and the first Heartless was slain.
That had been several hours ago. Astrid had long since lost sight of Hiccup, the twins, Snolout, Sora, Fishlegs, and their respective dragons. She had not seen another Viking in what seemed like forever. If she could survive the night, then Astrid was confident she would be in the clear. But how long was it until the sun rose again? She had spent who knows how long wondering through the dark, slowly but surely getting cut off from everyone else, fighting monsters she could only distinguish from the background by their yellow eyes.
Honestly, the blond considered herself lucky to make it this long and far without losing her life and sanity. Her right shoulder guard had been dislodged a long time ago, lost to the forest that overtook most of the isle of Berk. Her left shoulder guard had taken a beating and one of the bands of metal had been snapped and smashed in, poking her shoulder without mercy with its jagged edges whenever she raised her arm over her head. Her mother's midnight blue breast plate had proven valuable as shown by the dint in the middle of her chest. The shield she had been carrying had been beaten, torn from her grasp, and lost not too long after her right shoulder guard. The handle of her axe had been snapped in two, leaving her reach and aim awkward and near impossible to work with. Her hunting dagger had been lodged in the head of one of the larger black beasts and she never found it again after the monster was felled. Every muscle in her body was screaming from fatigue and her joints were aching for an extended break. Her mind wasn't as sharp as it should have been due to pure exhaustion and her arms were scrapped and cut open by misjudged tumbles and claws. There were a few tears to her shirt and trousers, but her spiked leather skirt had done its job protecting her. At one point she had come dangerously close to chopping off one of Sora's arms when she spotted the yellow of his gloves and swung, thinking it was a Heartless. Good thing the brunette had sharp reflexes at the time.
But it hadn't been all bad news. Astrid had felled an innumerable amount of the monsters. She had managed to protect Tuffnut the last time she had run into him by killing one of the larger pure black beast that she would come to later know as a Darkball. The monster had been preparing to lunge at the male twin, but was literally smacked out of the air and pinned to the ground by Birdbrain's poisonous tail spines. The last person Astrid had run into had been Gobber, who was in fair better shape than she was. The blacksmith had a spiked hammer for a hand and an axe in the other. It was heavier than her traditional axe, but Gobber willingly handed the thing over to compensate for her own weapon's broken handle. He had warned her against going down into any glades she ran into. Apparently some Vikings had taken to setting them on fire to kill large sums of the beasts in one move. Astrid didn't question the method but silently hoped the cove Hiccup and Toothless considered a second home had been spared. But that had been a while ago. The axe Gobber had given her had taken some getting used to, but Astrid was now as confident with it as she was with her own.
A roar unlike anything Astrid had ever heard before split the air. The blond stiffened up, frantically seeking out the source of the terrible ear-splitting cry. The poor lighting due to the cloudy night and quarter moon made it near impossible for her to make out the shape of the beast that had screeched to Asgard. What little she could make out of it made her instantly believe it was a dragon of some sort. She saw the narrow face, jagged teeth, curved horns, and almost-transparent wings. What Astrid didn't understand was why the beast was on its rear legs. When it threw its head back and balls of green fire appeared out of thin air, Astrid was instantly reminded of when Sora called forth fire spells as a defense mechanism around himself. The blond stumbled backwards when the dragon slammed back down to earth, sending its balls of fire to rain down to some unseen target before it.
It was then that Astrid noticed the pillars of fire before the unknown ebony dragon. And at the angle she was standing, it took her a little while to figure out that the flames formed a near perfect circle with one small opening. The only reason she could even tell that was much was due to the higher elevated ground she was standing on compared to the location of the toxic green fire. The blond took a step forward, ready to take off running toward the large dragon, when she was met with another swarm of Heartless. She'd already downed one of the three Hi-Potions Sora had all but shoved into her hands. The other two dangled around her waist by loops that were part of a make-shift rope belt. Astrid scowled and continued on with the relentless slaughter of the dark beings. She managed to clear a path for herself before taking off in the direction of the dragon she had spotted earlier. Occasionally, Astrid would chance a glance behind her. Some of the larger Heartless, known as NeoShadows, were giving chase.
Silly girl. Should have paid more attention to where she was going.
The next thing Astrid knew, she was sprawled out on her back and staring up at a pair of glowing, solid yellow eyes.
Astrid bit back a scream in frustration. She couldn't make out the beast's details since it completely blended in with the background aside from its yellow eyes. It leaned in closer to her as the three previously chasing her finally caught up. Scowling, Astrid tightened her grip on her axe and swung wide and hard over her head. It was difficult to do since the blade was meant to be carrying with both hands, but Astrid pulled it off without straining a muscle. The blade connected cleanly with the beast's throat, lopping off its head as it continued in its arc. The monster disintegrated into thin air. Astrid used the momentum from her axe swing to maneuver herself back onto her stomach. She kicked both of her feet beneath her and jumped out of the way just in time to feel a pair of massive claws connect with her unprotected shoulder instead of her chest. Astrid swallowed a scream in anguish, instead going in for the kill. Her axe swings weren't as precise as they should have been since she could barely see her targets, so she aimed for between their eyes.
The first NeoShadow, the one that had hit her shoulder, was felled when the blade split its head clean in half. Astrid felt no satisfaction as she pulled the blade back and performed another swing by the time the first Heartless began to fade back into the darkness. Her second swing connected with the black monster in the chest since it had attempted to jump over her. Pure momentum behind the blade sent the axe clear through the monster's chest. It too began to fade back into darkness by the time Astrid started frantically looking around for her third and final target.
She should have looked behind her.
A jet stream of fire went off over her head, nailing something from behind her. It took all of the girl's mental might not to tuck and roll. She heard the pained screech of a felled Heartless from behind, but she didn't dare look back at the fallen monster. Instead, the blond opted to stare straight ahead, gripping the end of the axe Gobber had given her in both hands. But it was all for naught. Astrid blinked several times, unsure of just what she was staring at. She knew those turquoise blue and radiant yellow scales anywhere. A faint smile tugged at her lips even though she knew the expression was completely uncalled for in her current situation. But Astrid couldn't stop herself.
"Hey, Bird . . ."
One concerned squawk later and Astrid was nearly overwhelmed. The Deadly Nadder immediately approached the partially armed Viking, seeming unfazed by the blond's previous demeanor. Astrid was more than a little happy to see her dragon companion. Over the past few months, the two had developed a bond that Astrid couldn't put into words. At some points, the Nadder was like her shadow; following everywhere she went and voicing her opinion when the dragon deemed it necessary. At other points Birdbrain would become like a second axe to her; a second weapon if you will. Still other times the dragon acted more like a mother to Astrid than the blond dared to admit. Just having Birdbrain there beside her sent a wave of relief through her. The previous tension was gone, but now Astrid felt spent. She felt ready to drop dead any second now for some reason. Her grip on her axe was loosened to the point it was only held in her right hand, and even that grip was lax as the blade was touching the ground.
Birdbrain tittered quietly, sniffing every inch of Astrid before giving the dragon rider a gentle nudge to Astrid's right shoulder; the one that had been hit by a Heartless. The blond barely suppressed a hiss. There was a faint throb of pain. It was something she could live with. No point in wasting yet another one of those weird potions Sora had given her on something so minor and non-life-threatening. But Birdbrain would have none of it. She nudged at Astrid's shoulder again before licking the three long gashes that went from the front of her shoulder, over the top, and down her back to stop just before the actual shoulder blade. Astrid hissed again, this time taking a step back away from the Deadly Nadder. "Stop it. We've got more important things we need to be doing." Astrid hated to do it, but she shoved the Nadder's nose away from her. If the dragon attempted to lick her shoulder again, Astrid wasn't sure if she would be left standing anymore. The dragon's tongue was rough and felt unpleasant against her skin.
The moment was cut short with another ear splitting cry. Astrid jerked around, firmly grasping her axe in both hands and searching for the source of the outcry. She looked back in the direction of the dragon she had seen earlier. Sure enough, it was swinging its head around and letting out a loud roar of what Astrid hoped was pain. Its mouth was clamped down on something, but it was jerking around too much and too far away for Astrid to be able to tell who or what was trapped within the dragon's jaws. The dragon shot out a stream of toxic green fire and continued to swing its head.
Astrid wasn't sure if she blinked or if her fatigue was making her see things, but the blond could have sworn she saw a flash of several balls of light. Again the dragon screeched in what could be nothing more than pure pain mixed with shock and rage. This time, when it swung its head, it released its prey from his jaws. Whatever or whoever it was went flying towards the ground, back to where the circle of fire was dying down. She didn't hear any other cries other than the dragon's, but that could have just as easily been because the black monster's screams were so loud they were overpowering any others. Astrid could have sworn she heard a tree break, but it could have been her imagination.
"What in the world . . . ?"
Birdbrain lowered her head expectantly. Without missing a beat, Astrid shoved the long, wooden handle of her axe between her spine and the back of her borrowed breast plate. It fit nicely enough not to hinder her ability to bend forward while not having enough space to jingle around too much in flight. Astrid grabbed hold of one of the spines growing on the back of the Nadder's crown of her head and pulled herself up using one hand, the other pressed against the dragon's side. Birdbrain lifted a leg, allowing Astrid to use the dragon's foot as an extra step before pushing herself up and onto the back of the turquoise dragon. It had taken a lot of practice to memorize where the spikes along the dragon's spine were located and more than a few minor puncture wounds, scratches, and torn shirts to get it down right. Astrid eased herself into a sitting position aligned behind the dragon's wings before bracing herself and hanging onto the spines along Birdbrain's spine with both hands. She vaguely wondered just how different it would be to ride with a saddle, but this was fine at the moment. Her leather skirt proved enough protection from the rough scales of the dragon. And Birdbrain's hide was thick enough to parry any damage the spikes on her skirt could hope to cause.
Birdbrain got a running start. And just as she was about to run head long into a tree, the Nadder kicked off of the ground and began to pump her wings at a furious rate to get herself airborne. In a matter of seconds, Astrid went from being grounded to soaring through the air. Usually, the sensation took her breath away. But now was not the time for sentimental thoughts. They had a dragon to fight and Astrid wasn't going to fall off and waste her chance to be of any serious help in this fight. After that tumble against the Red Death, Astrid was itching for another chance to prove herself against a massive dragon. While this one wasn't as large as the former dragon leader, it would have to do.
The thing about dragon riding is that, well, you really have no control over the dragon, the course it chooses to take, or even how long you'll be in the air. You can't alter the aerodynamic maneuvers nor can you decide when, where, or how you'll land. The only thing between you and a quick plummet to the ground is literally a pair of leathery wings, a scaled body, and a trust that has to be worth putting your life in the hands of.
Astrid leaned forward, keeping her head down, and generally doing anything she could to lessen any wind resistance. Birdbrain was closing in on their target at a rapid rate. Astrid could feel the Nadder's muscles tighten and could have sworn she felt the beast's chest swell as if preparing to release her notoriously intense flames. Flames that were strong enough to reduce the strongest of metals into puddles of molten iron in mere seconds. Flames that, not too long ago, Astrid was never happy to see. She still wasn't, but she also knew that those flames would never be directed at her to cause her harm. At least, not from Birdbrain anyway.
This was it. There was no turning back now.
Any sentimental thoughts about what she was getting herself into were put on hold as soon as Astrid felt a jolt coarse through Birdbrain and then threw herself. The Nadder had collided with the black dragon's shoulder. Whether the maneuver was intentional or not was unimportant. Astrid tightened her grip with her thighs as she fought to just hang on. The blond glanced up just in time to see a stream of toxic green go off just centimeters above her head. Had she been sitting up straight, the flames would have burned her face and upper torso. The noxious smell burned her nose and throat, but Birdbrain quickly dipped down into a dive to avoid the ebony beast's jaws. The Nadder tilted herself so that she was tumbling down at an angle, her ivory talons on her feet before her as if she was going into a drop-kick. And, sure enough, those very same sharp claws raked against the larger, black dragon's left shoulder. A few small sparks flew at the contact between talons and scales. The black dragon was more annoyed than injured it would seem. Birdbrain rooted herself in place by sinking in both of her feet into the scales between the larger black dragon's shoulder blades as best as she could before releasing a powerful jet stream of her magnesium-fueled flames straight toward the gaping jaws of the other dragon. The larger black dragon had turned her head backwards thanks to her long neck to get a good look at the turquoise dragon that dared to attack it. The flames connected and licked down the black dragon's face, down its throat, and some even traveled down its long neck. Birdbrain soon ceased fire upon realizing that even her intense flames would have no effect here. Dragons may be fire proof on the outside, but that didn't mean they enjoying being set on fire. The black dragon screeched in anger. It would seem Birdbrain's fire had little to no effect past angering the larger dragon. Astrid tightened her grip in anticipation. She wanted to reach back for her axe, but knew she was in no position to attack. Throwing her weapon would end up with the loss of it and dismounting from Birdbrain was not an option at this point in time.
The black dragon jerked her head forward. Birdbrain had attempted to jump out of the way, but without the running start she needed to take flight, she was at a severe disadvantage. Night Furies were the only dragons capable of vertical takeoff due to their incredible power-to-weight ratio thanks to their possession of the largest wing-to-body ratio of all the known dragons. Night Furies could fly higher, faster and longer than any other dragon. Granted, Nadders could sustain flight for longer distances and were known for their agile movements when airborne. But since Birdbrain was no Night Fury, these qualities were not her own.
And, as a result of these shortcomings when in comparison, what happened next really shouldn't have been all that shocking.
The black dragon's jaws snapping shut around one of the smaller turquoise dragon's legs. The Nadder released her own ear splitting screech and flapped her long wings furiously, desperate to escape the sharp teeth and toxic green flames. She even threw in a peck or two courtesy of the hardened point on the end of her snout toward the black dragon's eyes. But Birdbrain's attempts hadn't been completely in vain. Her attempt to jump away had saved her own head from being crushed. And, better still, it also meant her rider was safe from those jaws for the time being. Astrid could hold back no longer and reached back for her borrowed axe. The blond grit her teeth to hold in her rage as she leaned over the side of the struggling Nadder. No sooner had Astrid caught sight of target did she release her pent up rage toward Birdbrain's attacker.
She swung the heavy axe with one hand, connecting with the black dragon's nose with ease.
The black dragon howled once again, releasing its grip on Birdbrain. The problem was that Birdbrain had been expecting this about as much as their ebony target was. The Nadder shot backwards and upwards due to how furiously she was pumping her wings and, due to Astrid only hanging on with one hand over the side of the Nadder, her rider was jarred loose and knocked off of the blue dragon with a violent jerk. No sooner had Birdbrain realized she was free and suddenly a bit lighter did the Nadder feel a blow to her side, literally knocking her out of the sky and sent her careening back towards the trees and unforgiving ground.
Astrid was both luckier than Birdbrain and unluckier than the Deadly Nadder. The blond landed roughly on the side of the black dragon. Her axe was knocked out of her grip and she was only saved from facing the plummet back to the ground due to her fast reflexes as she gripped one of the many long, jagged black spikes along the larger dragon's spine. No sooner had Astrid realized where she was did things take another wrong turn. The black dragon has spotted her. Astrid ducked down and took her chances as she slid down the side of the black beast. Good thing too. No sooner had she released her grip and started her decent did she feel the intense heat of fire behind her back. Astrid did her best to steer herself in her decent. Despite her previous bad luck, she seemed to have a stroke of good karma as she slid down the side of the black dragon's right foreleg. The blond landed on the ground and took off in a stumbling run. She barely got five feet before she attempted to turn and fell onto her side. Astrid felt out of breath for some reason as she pushed herself up onto her feet again. She looked up to see if she had any openings to make a run for it.
Astrid would later wish she hadn't.
Staring right down at her was a pair of glowing neon green eyes that lacked pupils.
Astrid froze. She couldn't look away no matter how badly she wanted too. Those two toxic green spheres enchanted her somehow. Their eerie glow ensnared Astrid's attention. She didn't notice the occasional flames flickering out of the black dragon's mouth. She didn't notice the fact that the dragon was raising one of his massive forelimbs. She didn't notice that the second source of light was coming from herself. She didn't even notice the gash between the black dragon's nostrils from where her axe had hit it just minutes before. About the only three things Astrid did notice were those two eyes, the distant sensation of feeling lighter, and that her ability to breathe was being cut off.
"You have something of use to me . . . " a silky voice purred in her head.
Time seemed to be at a stand-still. Nothing was moving. The only sounds she heard were her own steady breaths and her rapidly decreasing heart rate. Both of which seemed to come to her attention from a distance; as if this was nothing more than a dream. A hollow feeling began to spread across her chest and numb her lungs. Her stomach felt like she had just swallowed several ice cubes whole. Her calves felt like they were made of water, her knees locked in place, yet they somehow continued supporting her. Astrid's mouth was dry and her throat tasted like bile.
Again, the voice in her head whispered.
"Give it to me . . ."
While Astrid's physical body was numb, her thoughts were in slow motion. Her mind couldn't seem to wrap itself around what was happening or why. All the blond would do was stare. She didn't know what the voice wanted from her, but Astrid had the sneaking suspicion that it wasn't something she was willing to give. And yet she couldn't remember why she didn't want to give this creature something. Those eyes didn't appear to be as full of malice as they had a few seconds ago. To an outsider looking in, it was like Astrid's mind had reverted back to that of an innocent child's.
He had witnessed it all. He'd seen all of Astrid's miserable attempts to turn the battle around to her favor. It had taken him a few moments to realize who was sitting on the black dragon's back. Initially, he had been overjoyed to see that Astrid was, for the most part, uninjured. The black dragon was just proving to be too much of a pain and the Heartless had strained the fearsome forces of Berk to their limits. So many had been injured and it was impossible to tell how many more were going Kingdom Hearts while trying to protect the isle of Berk. They were leaving the realm of existence to protect their home.
He wanted to help Astrid. He really did. But there was one problem with this; he was being pinned down. Sora was sprawled out on his stomach, one massive clawed forelimb courtesy of Maleficent pressing down on his back. Even though all of Maleficent's attention was locked onto Astrid, she had still seen the older brunette attempting to sneak in from her blind spot. It was a valiant effect, but Sora just wasn't quick enough. Since he thought Maleficent wasn't paying attention, he didn't keep an eye out for the dragon's other limbs aside than her head.
And it had cost him.
With a claw on either side of his neck, digging into his shoulders, Sora was effectively grounded at the moment. His left hand was out in front of him, but his right arm was pinned down to his side by Maleficent's "thumb", rendering the Keyblade out of the picture for the time being. He wanted to call the Keyblade to his left hand, but Sora knew his swings would be terribly off course. Any magic spells he could have thrown held the high risk of hitting Astrid. And from his current vantage point he couldn't exactly do much. Using what little magic he had regenerated, sending Firaga spells around himself had done Sora little good other than burning the ground. He could vaguely hear Spitfire chirping next to him as the little Terror bit, slashed, and head butted Maleficent's clawed toes in a vain attempt to get Sora out from under the larger dragon's weight. What surprised Sora was that Maleficent wasn't pressing her full weight down on him. She had him effectively pinned down, yet all of her attention was focused onto Astrid.
Sora didn't understand it until a good several seconds into Astrid and Maleficent's staring contest. Maleficent's neon green dragon eyes seemed to glow even brighter and Astrid didn't seem to even be making an attempt to look away. The blond's blue-gray eyes glazed over, but from the distance between them Sora really couldn't tell whether or not that was just his imagination playing tricks on him. The brunette felt his blood run cold when he realized some of the flames escaping through Maleficent's opened jaws were becoming semi-solid masses that twirled through the air around Astrid. A few balls of fire flicked too close to the girl for Sora's comfort, but the blond herself seemed indifferent to the whole scene. She just stood there, staring blankly up at Maleficent. He wanted to scream at her to get out of there, but his voice was hitched in his throat. Even Spitfire had ceased in his squabbling for the time being.
Things just seemed to be getting worse by the second.
A light, too bright to be a natural part of the earth, began to make itself known. Sora had to squint in order to keep watching. If his blood was cold before, it turned into ice now! The light was coming from Astrid. From her chest. Sora's pupils dilated drastically as his heart quite literally skipped a beat. The fingers on his left hand dug into the dirt as he tried to pull himself out from under Maleficent. Sora grit his teeth in frustration when he didn't budge an inch. His throat burned from the now semi-toxic air, but Sora managed to find his voice anyway. He took a deep breath and screamed, "RUN!" It wasn't a request; it was an order. An order that fell on deaf ears. Spitfire seemed to have had enough of this as he bounded forward in a few quick leaps, took flight for a short distance, and bumped his head into Astrid's side. The blond barely even moved from the shove. Her body remained as stiff as a board. Spitfire spun around in the air, going behind Astrid, before biting down on the end of her braid and giving it a few tugs. Nothing. Not even a flinch. The flames dancing around Astrid seemed to have a mind of their own as they sprang to life and began to chase the smaller dragon around and away from the blond Viking. Soon Spitfire just had his claws full just trying to stop the toxic flames from hitting himself or Astrid.
Sora's fingers dug further into the soil as he continued to try and pull himself free. He could feel Maleficent's talons digging into his shoulders through his clothing, but that wasn't of any concern for him at the moment. If anything were to happen to Astrid, not only would Sora be deeply upset, but the others as well. Whether Astrid saw it or would admit to knowing it, she meant something to everyone. Especially Hiccup and Birdbrain. And one of the last people Sora wanted to see upset were his friends.
This was not good.
An eager snarl.
A sharp snap.
An enraged roar.
A faint click.
One ticked off Mistress.
Sora barely had time let out of yelp in surprise before he felt himself being lifted up off of the ground. He was barely three feet in the air before he was dropped onto his stomach. The brunette didn't even look up as he scrambled to move out of the way should Maleficent decide to stomp her foot back down. He had temporarily lost sight of Spitfire. No sooner did his brain finally catching up with his body did he feel the vibrations from just that, catching Sora off balance and by slight surprise. The sudden shock wave caused him to stumble forward. Losing one's balance in the middle of a fight was bad enough, but to stumble into somebody else was worse. Sora fell backwards from the impact, landing roughly on his rear end. Once again, Sora's mind was slower than his reflexes. The Keyblade flashed to his aide before he was even up on his own two feet again.
But, upon closer inspection, the weapon of light was not needed.
Sitting across from him, not even looking directly at the brunette, was Astrid. Her eyes were downcast. Both of her legs were sprawled out in front of her while her arms were limp at her sides. She didn't move for the longest time, prompting Sora to get up onto his knees and lean forward, oblivious to chaos going on to his right. After a minute, Astrid blinked before slowly bringing her gaze up to meet Sora's.
Again, Sora's blood turned into ice within his veins.
Astrid was looking right at him, but her eyes said otherwise. Her usual stormy blue - gray eyes had tremendously dulled and the two colors mixed together even more with the gray becoming the more prominent shade. The blended colors had spread throughout most of her eyes, leaving little room for the whites to be seen. Where her pupils would have been were darkened pits within the diluted grays.
Sora had seen that look before . . . on Kairi . . . over a year ago on Captain Hook's ship . . .
If Astrid hadn't blinked again, Sora would have not been able to fight the urge to look away. The two continued to stare at each other before Astrid looked away to where Maleficent had previously been. Sora followed her gaze, his jaw only just now starting to come back together.
The black dragon was enraged, swinging her head around like some wild animal. Hanging from the side of her throat, almost touching the back of her head, was a blob of warty browns.
A Gronkle.
"Astrid! Sora!"
Sora nearly jumped out of his skin at the voice, but Astrid seemed unfazed. The brunette bit back his chills and looked his left, seeing Fishlegs coming bounding toward them. Sora could only stare before he could no longer hold Fishleg's gaze and went back to staring at Astrid. The blond's movements were slow, almost as if she were elderly. She looked to Fishlegs, as if only just now noticing the larger boy's presence. The sight of her hollowed eyes caused Fishlegs to jump and let out of a faint squeak in surprise.
"What happened?" Her voice was devoid of emotion. Cold. Empty.
Sora felt like screaming. He wanted to take Maleficent down even more than before. More than anything, Sora wanted Astrid to just snap out of it and hit him for running into her. Even while sitting so close to the leader of the Heartless, Astrid's limbs were limp and her movements lethargic and tiresome. Sora had to force himself to harden his emotions. He turned his attention back to Fishlegs, doing his best not to let his emotions overrun him so he could get his point across. "Fishlegs, take Astrid back to Berk. Keep an eye on her until I get back." Fishlegs jumped again, coming out of his trance-like staring contest with Astrid. The blond boy looked down at Sora as the brunette hauled himself up to his feet again. He managed a stuttering, "Wh-what's wr-wrong-g w-wi... with her?" Sora chose not to look at Fishlegs as he approached Astrid. Going against what he knew she would normally find annoying, the brunette Keyblader bent down and carefully pulled Astrid up onto her own feet. Her legs wobbled before Fishlegs caught her by her other arm, leaving the two boys being the only things stopping gravity from overtaking her weak knees.
Without another word, Fishlegs dropped the mace and shield he had been previously carrying and, knowing this would likely land him in the medical hut, scooped Astrid up much like someone would a newborn baby. The larger boy stiffened, expecting Astrid to snap and deck him between the eyes. But Astrid just felt like dead weight in his arms. Her muscles were lax as her eyes just kept on staring off into the distance. His lower jaw dropped and Fishlegs lifted his gaze to look at Sora. The brunette wore a sad expression that he could no longer hold back from anyone. Spitfire had returned, taking up his usual roost on top of Sora's head. The brunette's expression hardened for a split second before the facade was dropped once again. He knew Fishlegs wanted answers. Answers Sora hoped weren't true. "I'll explain later. Just get her somewhere safe." Sora turned, slinging the Keyblade over his shoulder and preparing himself to make Maleficent pay. But he stopped before he even took two steps and looked back to Fishlegs. "Please don't tell Hiccup. It's my fault, and I'll tell him myself when I get back." Fishlegs just stood there, cradling Astrid and still waiting for the blow he had a sneaking suspicion would never come.
"Sora . . . You gotta tell me . . . What's wrong with her?"
Sora hadn't even taken another step before he froze at the question. He looked back to Fishlegs, this time by completely turning himself around rather than over his shoulder. The sad expression that he was wore was making Fishlegs's skin crawl. "I think... I think Maleficent tried to take Astrid's heart. But when Horrowcow attacked, Maleficent lost her concentration and Astrid's heart reacted by locking itself to stop the assault from ever happening again." In other words, she was there mentally and physically. But the emotional aspects of Astrid were missing. Or, for lack of better words, "locked away". It was probably like being a Nobody without having to go through the process of getting yourself ripped in two. Meaning there wasn't a Heartless counterpart nor an actual Nobody.
Hearing this, Fishlegs started to wish he hadn't asked. He felt his grip on Astrid tighten. The blond he was holding didn't respond. She just continued to stare blankly ahead. "Can she be fixed?" It was odd to ask such a thing about a person rather than a weapon or a house, but Fishlegs didn't care about his grammar at the moment. Sora attempted to have an encouraging smile, but Fishlegs could see right through the sad grin. "Once Maleficent is gone, I'll do whatever I can to make this right. I promise." This gave Fishlegs little comfort, but he knew there was nothing that could be done at the moment. With the dragon still at large, this could happen again to somebody else if they drew to near to the black monster. But Sora had previously stated that he had fought this creature before, meaning it was logical to believe that Sora was the only one who could bring the dragon down. "If Hiccup asks, I'll have to tell him you know." Sora's shoulders stiffened, and not because Maleficent let out another ear-splitting cry. "Fine... But please tell him I'm sorry if he reaches you before I can get to him." Feeling ashamed of what he had let happen, Sora turned around and took off running for Maleficent, leaving Fishlegs and Astrid behind.
As Sora charged downhill to face the beast that had done this to their friend, Fishlegs looked down at Astrid. Her expression remained blank while her hollowed eyes continued to stare off into the distance. If not for her slow breathing and occasional blink, Fishlegs would have thought his friend was dead. Though he and Astrid were never close, Fishlegs, like almost everyone else, admired Astrid for her strength and courage both on and off the training field. Seeing her rise again after a tough blow in dragon training gave all them, whether they would admit it or not, a sense of inspiration. All of them, except for maybe the twins, feared the idea of her turning her wrath upon them. She pushed herself until she was coated in sweat and even then she continued to train until her bones broke.
Horrowcow had finally lost her grip on Maleficent's neck, sending the Gronkle careening back down to Midgard. The was a massive gash in the side of the larger dragon's neck, but it was ignored as Maleficent opened her great jaws and released a volley of toxic flames. Fishlegs caught sight of Sora throwing up what looked like a transparent shield around himself, Spitfire already preparing to counter attack with his own flames. He barely heard Sora's battle cry over the roar of the flames surrounding the brunette before Fishlegs heard Astrid mumble something quietly. He looked down at her, but she continued to look ahead like some space-case. Fishlegs took one last long look in Sora's direction before he turned. Horrowcow was already behind him, snorting expectantly. Fishlegs didn't want to leave Sora alone, but he also had no idea where Birdbrain was or if the Nadder would even be willing to offer some assistance to the foreign brunette. Riding on Horrowcow while carrying Astrid would be difficult, but it was far safer than running back through the forest without a free hand to hold a weapon or shield. Biting down hard on his lower lip, Fishlegs eased Astrid down a little to be within the Gronkle's line of sight. "We need to get her to Berk. Okay?" Horrowcow inhaled loudly for a few seconds before she bent down, giving her rider easy access to her leather saddle. Faintly satisfied with the reaction, Fishlegs allowed himself to look back one more time. By now, Maleficent had taken a few steps away from the trio, likely Sora's doing to try and give Fishlegs a better chance of getting out of there safely. He could no longer see where Sora was since Maleficent's back was to Fishlegs. "I'll hold you to that promise, Sora." It was the only thing Fishlegs had to metaphorically cling to by this point. Something he could lean on and hope that everything would go back to normal in the end.
With that in mind, Fishlegs turned back to Horrowcow and began to try and figure out how to make the flight back home with an extra passenger.
Leaving Sora to face Maleficent on his own.
Foot Notes:
• There is a point in KH:CoM that Maleficent explains that she requires powerful hearts to fuel her dark magic. This idea sprouted from this and kinda went off on its own. Astrid is no Princess of Heart, but the idea stuck with me for days. I figured Astrid of all people would have to have a strong heart considering the profession she's going into. And she generally seems to give a damn despite how much she tries to show that she doesn't care throughout more than half of the movie. The fact that she tries to hide her true feelings actually reminded me of Belle in CoM in the sense that she hid her true feelings as well to stop Maleficent from taking her heart. The difference here is that Belle ended up loosing her heart protecting the Beast. Astrid, in my opinion, received a worse fate.
• I was actually thinking about not posting this. But, in the end, I chose to finish it. I'm just mean to my muses I guess.
• Midgard is the name for the world of average human experience according to Norse Mythology.
• It's been over a month since my last drabble. Sorry this one took so long to write.
• The entire end of this was written while listening to the tune of Sad Princess courtesy of the BbS OST.