LAST CHAPTER! :D

It was then as if the world suddenly exploded around him.

He was suffocating in Astrid's embrace, while he heard Snotlout shout, "YES!" at the top of his lungs. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Ruffnut and Tuffnut shot to their feet, grabbing each others' shoulders and bashing their heads together. His father hugged him as well, while he sat there, confused as ever, wondering what in the world had happened.

"You were dead, Hiccup!" Astrid shouted, slugging Hiccup's shoulder - hard. "DEAD! You...your heart stopped! You stopped breathing, Hiccup!"

Hiccup only stared at her, rubbing his newly bruised shoulder. "So, my heart stopped...and the first thing you do is punch me."

"Give it a rest," Astrid mumbled. "Besides, I hugged you first, so it wasn't the first thing I did."

"And you told me to give it a rest," said Hiccup.

"For someone who just died," said Snotlout, "you have a very good attitude."

"I didn't just die!" said Hiccup, half-laughing. He paused when he saw everyone else staring at him, his smile fading. "...Right?" he asked hesitantly.

Stoick sighed, reluctantly breaking the hug with his son to look him in the eyes. "We have a lot to talk about," he said.

And so they told him, beginning from when Hiccup passed out on the ship, ending with how Astrid and the other youths of the academy and their dragons found the cure. Hiccup listened intently, nodding only a few times during the entire conversation. Astrid left out the part about being shot, only because she didn't want Hiccup to worry, because she knew how he got when he was concerned.

"Wow," said Hiccup, once they had finished their story. Then, he looked at Astrid, his eyes moving to her leg, and he gasped. "Astrid, what happened to your leg!?" he shouted, pointing at the bloodstained bandages wrapped around her calf. Astrid winced. Somehow, she knew he was going to figure it out sooner or later.

"Oh, yeah...um...Dagur shot me," said Astrid.

"HE DID WHAT!?" shouted Hiccup, trying to sit up again, only to cry out sharply and slump against the bed once more.

"Easy there, Hiccup," said Astrid. "You get so worried about something as small as a little scratch."

"It's not a little scratch!" said Hiccup. "Look at the amount of blood on the bandage!"

"Well it's not like it's still bleeding!" said Astrid. "And besides, it's not like it's poisoned or anything, like yours was!"

"YOU KNOW THIS HOW!?" Hiccup shouted.

"How many poisoned arrows can Dagur have, Hiccup?" said Astrid, rolling her eyes. "Seriously! Besides, the arrow was different then the one you were shot with. If it were poisoned, I would already be unconscious."

"YOU ARE NOT MAKING ME FEEL ANY BETTER!" Hiccup shouted.

"I'm fine!" said Astrid.

Gothi motioned for Astrid to sit down, and she groaned before doing so, letting the elder unwrap the bandages, clean the wound, and then rewrap it. Hiccup nodded in satisfaction, and Astrid merely glared at him. Stoick stood, ruffling Hiccup's hair as he went.

"You stay here and rest," he said. "I'm going to go tell the village before they come back and demand to know themselves." He left shortly afterwards, the door slamming behind him. Snotlout, and the twins left after bidding their farewells to Hiccup, heading to their own homes to get some of the rest they needed.

"It's fine!" said Astrid. "You can stop worrying about me now!"

"Yeah...not gonna happen," said Hiccup.

Gothi examined the wound, and then wrote out with her staff. Fishlegs read over it, and then sighed with relief.

"The arrow wasn't poisoned for you, Astrid," he said. "You are lucky."

"See?" said Astrid. "I told you!"

Hiccup huffed.

After Gothi finished bandaging the wound, Astrid stood to leave, limping slightly, Fishlegs helping her keep balance.

"Hey, Astrid!" Hiccup called to the girl just before she left.

Astrid turned around to face him. He still looked pale, sweaty and sick, but at least he was alive. That was better than anything else at that moment.

"Yes?" said Astrid.

"Thank you," said Hiccup, "for saving my life."

"You're welcome, Hiccup," said Astrid, smiling warmly at him. Then, she turned and left, leaving Hiccup by himself with Toothless. Toothless cooed, laying his head on his master's chest while Hiccup rubbed his head.

"I have some great friends, Toothless," said Hiccup, his eyes fluttering as he felt sleep tugging at him, getting stronger and stronger with every moment. "I don't know what I would do without them."

That being said, Hiccup fell asleep.

Author's Notes:

So, I know a lot of you wanted me to kill Hiccup, but I normally try to stay away from DeathFics. I have done some, but it doesn't mean I like doing them. I know I'll do another DeathFic eventually, but don't expect it anytime soon.

On a side note, thank you all for reading, reviewing, faving, or following, or whatever you awesome people like to do. It's so strange, how some of you are asking me to kill Hiccup, and then the others of you are begging me to let him live...

I do BOTH! :D

I don't normally do DeathFics, so when I do it comes as even more of a surprise, doesn't it? You never know what to expect with me...

Except someone getting hurt. You can most assuredly expect that.

I will be posting a new story probably later on titled "Be Brave" (rated T for some violence). It'll be rather short, about five chapters long or something like that, just something about Hiccup and Astrid. :) So, I will see you all then! Until then, this is Beyond, signing out! :D

-BeyondTheClouds777