Chapter Fourteen

A/N: *Sigh* I worked very hard today to get you this chapter. I felt bad for leaving you hanging with such a nasty cliffhanger. XD AND THIS WHY YOU LOVE ME! LOL! The beginning of this chapter is the end of chapter 13, only from Astrid's POV. The rest is plot. Enjoy!

As soon as Astrid reaches the top of the stairs, she sees them. And fury begins to boil in her gut. Dagur is there, as she'd suspected. He's pinning Hiccup to the wall. At first, she thinks he might be choking him again...but she can't be sure since she doesn't have a clear line of sight to her friend. And so she does what any sane person would do under the circumstances: grabs a half-full bottle of wine from the table and walks up behind the murderous psychopath, whacking him across the head with it. She smirks when Dagur crumples to the floor under the weight of her attack. Serves him right. She hopes he gets one heck of a concussion.

But then she sees that Hiccup is no longer standing either. Confused and worried, she takes a step closer. Her boot nearly slips in something. Looking down, she gets the sudden urge to throw up. So much blood... She feels herself going pale when she figures out where it's coming from...

"Oh gods..." She gasps, horror building in her chest. "Hiccup..." She drops to her knees, reaching out with a shaking hand. She touches his shoulder, shaking him slightly.

His eyes are open. But he's just...staring. Off into the distance as if she isn't even there. It reminds her of when he was in shock, not more than six hours ago... And now...he's so pale. So cold.

"What happened...?" She asks him, still hoping he'll answer her. And, for a moment, she thinks he will. His lips part, as if to speak. But then, his brow furrows, ever so slightly and he gives a little cough. She recoils in horror as a bit of blood trickles from his lips. "Hiccup...?" She asks, desperate now. Her hands are shaking with fear that he might actually...die. Tears sting her eyes as she tries again. "Hiccup!" She shouts. "Please answer me!"

His eyes flutter shut for a few seconds. It's obvious he's struggling to stay awake. He's fighting for his life...and all she's doing is sitting there. Again. She bites her lip. No. She isn't going to just sit there anymore. She scoots closer to him, scanning the dark room for something to bind his wound. First and foremost, they need to stop the bleeding.

"J-just hang in there, Hiccup." She pleads. Her eyes catch sight of a trunk laying at the foot Dagur's bed. Maybe something in there can help... "Don't give up!" She shouts from the other end of the room, hoping the presence of her voice will keep him tethered there for a little longer. "I'm gonna help you! Just don't you dare give up!"

She throws open the lid to the trunk, her heart leaping into her throat. She can't believe it. She can't believe it! Dagur must get hurt a lot...because that is a ton of medical supplies! She smiles in relief. For once, something works out in their favor. Scooping as many rolls of bandages and packets of herbs into her arms as she can, she moves back over to Hiccup.

Her breath catches when she realizes his eyes are closed now. He must have passed out... Kneeling beside him again, she gently moves his vest to the side and grimaces at the wet, sticky texture of the fur. It must be soaked through with his blood... Then, she moves onto the tunic. It too is saturated. She lifts it up until she finds the spot that is still gushing blood onto the floor. Hiccup tenses a little under her but doesn't seem to wake up.

Grimacing, she begins wrapping the wound. Every time Hiccup is moved, his face gets a little tenser, a little more pained. Soon, it's all Astrid can do not to stop trying to patch him up. Just so he won't look so tortured anymore... But she doesn't. Instead, she focuses on what he'd said to her back on Berk, and in the stone valley.

"I'm doing this to keep the people I care about safe..."

She closes her eyes, taking even breaths to keep herself from crying. Vikings don't cry. Vikings don't cry. Even so, her eyes mist over a bit and burn from the tears. "Just hang in there, Hiccup..." She whispers as she ties the last knot on the bandage. "You're going to be okay...you're going to be okay..." She isn't sure if he can even hear her. Saying that makes her feel better, though.

She's finally done. Lowering his tunic again, she steps back. What now? She can't carry him the whole way, can she...? And he certainly can't walk-

"Dagur!" The man's booming voice echos through the house. "Sir! Are you in there?"

Astrid freezes. Time to go. NOW!

She rushes to the window and throws it open, letting loose a loud Nadderhead call. Stormfly should be here any second now. Hopefully, Toothless follows her. She can hear more voices at Dagur's front door.

"Dagur, sir?"

"Are you in there?"

"Come on, Stormfly..." She quietly urges, holding Hiccup's cold body against hers. "Hurry up...!"

As if on que, the Nadderhead appears at the window. Somehow, the guards at the front door don't see her. Astrid also hears the small cooing of a nervous Night Fury. Surely, Toothless can smell Hiccup's blood. Heck, Astrid can smell all this blood. He must be scared out of his wits. Then again, so is she.

"Stormfly, hover." She calls down, quietly. The dragon obeys, positioning herself to that the saddle is right outside the window. Astrid heaves Hiccup to a limp standing position and literally shoves him out the window. He flops into the saddle and Astrid jumps in behind him. "Take us to the stone valley, girl!" Astrid orders. "Toothless," She says, turning to the other dragon. "Follow."

After reaching a safe distance from the town, Astrid switches into Toothless's saddle. She straps Hiccup in right in front of her and holds on tight. "Toothless, take us home. And fast."

The Night Fury growls, determination set in his eyes. He wiggles a little, preparing to take off as fast as his massive wings will carry him.

"Stay close, Stormfly!" She says, patting the Nadderhead's side. "Now let's go!" As Toothless rockets into the air, Stormfly right behind them, Astrid reaches back and pats the satchel that she just barely remembered to grab on her way out. The Book of Dragons is still inside...

"It'll be okay, Hiccup...just don't give up."

Astrid sighs in relief as Berk's shore comes into view. Their home has never looked quite so appealing. For the millionth time, she readjusts Hiccup in his seat and folds her arms around him so he won't fall.

Toothless roars as they approach the island. He beats his wings even faster, eager to get help for Hiccup.

Astrid closes her eyes. Hiccup is going to be fine. He's going to be fine. He's going to be-

"Ughhh..."

She gasps at the sound of his groan. At first, she's worried he might be in pain. Which he probably is. But then, as she leans around, she notices his eyes fluttering open. Oh gods...he's... "Hiccup?!"

"Ast-rid...?" He mumbles, confusion plain on his face. "What's...going on-AH!" He doubles over, grasping his stomach as pain stabs through it. Oh...oh man...what happened?! Even as he asks himself this question, he already knows. This time, his memory hasn't failed him. Dagur. Dagur happened.

"I know it hurts, Hiccup." Astrid says in a soothing voice. "But just hang in there a little while longer. We're almost home."

"D-did you find the Book?" He asks, breathlessly.

"Yes."

He physically relaxes, hearing that. At least one thing went right. At least this wasn't all for nothing. Astrid came through for him in the end, as usual. "Good..." He whispers, tiredly. He doesn't really want to sleep anymore. But his eyelids have other ideas. He feels her grip on him tighten, her body press against his in a protective manner as they swoop down for a landing. Wait a sec... Landing? Cracking open an eye, he gasps. He hadn't been imagining it, after all! "Toothless!"

The Night Fury doesn't respond. He's too focused on landing as close to their house as physically possible. That way, his injured Rider won't have to walk as far. Honestly, he has half a mind to land on the windowsill...but Hiccup might fall if he does that. So he contents himself with landing right outside the front door.

Astrid slides off first, acting as a crutch for Hiccup as he goes to get down as well. Pain is etched across his face but he doesn't make a sound. He stumbles down and allows Astrid to carry most of his weight as they limp to the house.

"Stay with me..." She mutters, seeing the way his head is drooping. "We're so close. Just stay with me."

"Gotcha..." He murmurs, but even as he says this, that solid darkness returns. It swallows his mind in one, fell swoop before he even gets the chance to struggle against it.

Astrid catches him as he crumples, not allowing him to fall. She kicks open the door and drags him inside. "STOICK!" She shouts at the top of her lungs. "STOICK, ARE YOU HERE?!"