I'm writing a new fanfic when this one is done called "Be Brave" which will be one of my last fics before my hiatus. It'll be short (like, five chapters long, or something), and then I am posting a one-shot, and then...HIATUS THROUGHOUT MARCH. ENJOY THE CHAPTER! :D

Astrid and the other dragon riders forced their dragons to their limit; it was nightfall. They didn't have much time left. Astrid ignored her throbbing leg, her mind only having thoughts for Hiccup. He was going to die...if he hadn't already…

"Come on!" she shouted. "We need to go faster! Which dragon here's the fastest!?"

"Um...either yours or Hookfang," said Snotlout.

"Okay, well, let's go as fast as we possibly can!" said Astrid. "Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, we'll have to leave you behind."

"Oh, don't worry about us!" said Fishlegs. "Just go! Hurry!"

Astrid and Snotlout nodded, and then shot towards Berk. Astrid pushed Stormfly even faster, making sure the dragon flew as fast as he possibly could have flown. Stormfly, sensing her rider's distress, went faster, soon leaving Snotlout behind by accident.

However, she didn't have time to care. With Hiccup on Berk, dying, there was hardly any time to. She needed to get to him, and save him, before it was too late.

She landed Stormfly in front of the Haddock residence, just in time to have her heart stop for a moment when she heard Stoick shout, "NO! HICCUP!"

"No…" she whispered to herself, shaking her head, tears stinging her eyes. "No...no no no no no no no no...Hiccup no…" She yanked the root out of her satchel and ran, straight into the house, up the stairs with no problem, and then into Hiccup's room. She gasped at the sight of the pale body of her friend while Stoick and Gothi stood around him, both of them crying.

Astrid froze, almost dropping the plant in her hands in the process. Half-consciously, she heard the other dragon riders arrive, landing their dragons and then racing into the house and up the stairs.

Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins stopped dead in their tracks, looking at Hiccup with horror.

"No," said Snotlout, shaking his head. When Astrid looked at him, she saw that he was crying. "No, he can't be...he can't be...dead."

Astrid only continued to stare, unable to speak, until she finally found courage to race forward to the bed, crashing to her knees and pressing her ear to Hiccup's chest. Nothing. His heart wasn't beating, his chest wasn't rising and falling...he wasn't breathing.

But he...he couldn't have been dead. Astrid finally found her voice, feeling heated with rage and pain. Dagur had done this to Hiccup. Hiccup, her best friend, and her leader. The person who had ended the three hundred year war between viking and dragon.

"We can still try," said Astrid, and then turned to Gothi. "How do I administer the root?" she asked. Gothi broke herself free from her tears and scribbled out on the ground quickly. Astrid moved away and pushed Fishlegs towards the writing, silently ordering him to read what it said.

"She says to rub it off on the wound," said Fishlegs. Astrid instantly turned, undoing Hiccup's bandages, the root still in one hand while she worked with the other. "But Astrid…" Fishlegs hesitated. "It's too late. Hiccup is gone."

The words hung in the air like a bad aroma. Astrid paused for just a split second before she continued to work in earnest. When she finally finished unwrapping the bandaging, she gasped at the sight of the wound. It was red, almost glowing, as if in triumph.

Astrid shook her head, took the root in one of her hands, and then started rubbing it against the wound. Hiccup's skin was freezing, like ice, but that didn't stop her. She continued going, tearing little pieces of root off and pushing them into the wound, not knowing what else to do.

She thought that maybe, just maybe, the cure would kick in, and everything would be alright. Hiccup would wake up again. Hiccup would smile at her again. Hiccup would train more dragons, come up with more ideas, and just live again.

As she worked, she was vaguely aware of Toothless moaning, tossing his head back and wailing in sorrow. She heard Fishlegs sobbing, and saw, in the corner of her eye, Ruffnut and Tuffnut once more holding each other in comfort as they stared at their heir. Snotlout was crying silently, no doubt trying to keep his tears a secret, while Stoick did no different.

Astrid didn't try to hide her tears; they flowed from her eyes like miniature rivers, never ceasing as she continued to rub the cure into Hiccup's wound. She didn't know whether or not it was going to work, but she needed to try. She couldn't give up without letting Hiccup have a chance.

Once the root was no longer in her hands, rubbed over Hiccup's open wound hastily and unceremoniously, the waxy blue look standing out over the red of the incision. Astrid took a step back, staring at Hiccup, hoping and expecting him to shoot up and breathe again.

After about ten seconds, nothing happened. Astrid felt her breath quicken. Were they too late, for real? No...no, they couldn't have been too late...Hiccup couldn't have been dead. Not for real. He couldn't have died.

"Hiccup…?" said Astrid, stepping towards him and, hesitating at first, grabbing his cold, limp hand in her own. "Come on, Hiccup, get up," she said through clenched teeth, tears continuing to spill from her eyes. "HICCUP!" she screamed at him.

"Oh no…" Fishlegs said, sinking to the ground against the wall. Next to him, Snotlout did the same, burying his head in his hands. Ruffnut and Tuffnut remained unmoved until they too dropped to the floor, staring at the floorboards as if they were suddenly very interesting.

"We...we failed," said Snotlout. "We failed him."

As if on cue, Hiccup shot up in his bed, coughing and dragging in lungfuls of air as he fought to get the proper amount back in his lungs. After he fell back sharply almost instantly, getting his breathing under control enough, he glanced around the room. Everyone was staring at him, looking torn between fainting and screaming.

Hiccup double blinked. "What?" he said. "Did someone draw on my face again?"

I am sorry to those who were hoping I was going to kill Hiccup off. Well...sorry about that. Please, no one get mad. :)