Chapter Fifteen: A Heart that was too Strong

Astrid and the other members of the team halted in their fight as they heard Kyra's scream rip through the battle. Two other cries accompanied it – that of the Weedsnake elder, Wavewing, and one from the Darkwing which roared in anger before vanishing beneath the waves, causing a torrent of water to flood the village. The water also washed the Weedsnakes back into the bay – for some reason, the battle had halted. Astrid led Stormfly straight to the chief's house where Kyra's scream had come from. Racing round to the back of the house, Astrid also let out a muffled scream at what she saw.

Hiccup had collapsed to the ground, blood flowing freely onto the grass. Kyra had already scurried over to help and Astrid could see the cause of the wound – Kyra's silver dagger lay embedded in Hiccup's chest all the way to the hilt.

"Oh, my gods...!" she stammered. "Hiccup! What have you done?!" she cried, running over and cradling Hiccup in her arms. She didn't remove the dagger – to do so would hurt Hiccup even further and cause so much blood loss that he could die.

"I...wasn't gonna...let them make me...hurt her..." Hiccup panted, his face contorted in pain. Kyra's face was stained with tears as she yelled at the other teens to get help. "I would...never hurt her...I couldn't..." There he went again with the 'wouldn't / couldn't' – Astrid could see how sincere he was and it dawned on her what he'd actually done. She lifted her face to Kyra with a questioning look in her eyes.

"He..." Kyra gulped. "Their control was too strong," she wept. "He couldn't stop himself from..."

"Bringing the knife down," Astrid realised. She snapped her gaze back to Hiccup. "You idiot! How could you?!" she cried, her hands covered in Hiccup's blood as she tried to staunch his wound and angry tears burning her face.

"I couldn't stop it...from coming down..." Hiccup groaned, wincing as he tried to remove the dagger (Kyra prevented him). "But...I could stop it...from hitting Kyra." Astrid let the waterfall of tears cascade down her face. The control over Hiccup had been too powerful for him to not deliver the blow, but Hiccup's heart had been stronger than Wavewing or the Darkwing could have ever anticipated and he'd managed to gain enough control to bring the dagger into his own chest rather than his sister's. The Defenders of Berk finally arrived with Gothi in tow – Fishlegs barfed when he saw the amount of blood staining the ground, Snotlout could only stare in horror and the twins were clearly torn between amazement at the damage done and shock as their friend lay mortally wounded in Kyra and Astrid's arms.

Gothi gently knelt down by Kyra and mentioned for Astrid to put pressure of the wound to prevent anymore blood loss as she dressed it. Astrid was no healer, but she could tell that Hiccup was fading fast. He'd already lost so much blood, he was paler than ever and the knife had struck in such a place that it would be a miracle if no vital organ had been punctured – Kyra was praying against hope that Hiccup's dragon healing, if it remained, would heal any internal injuries before it was too late. His breathing was slowing down but it was still heavy as Gothi tried her best to dress his stab wound.

"Hiccup...stay with me," Astrid begged as she kept as much pressure on the gaping hole in Hiccup's chest as possible whilst Gothi tied off the first bandage and started the next one. Kyra offered to swap places – Astrid agreed as her best friend placed both hands above the wound and she cradled Hiccup gently in her arms. "Don't leave me again..." she wept. Hiccup was having trouble keeping his eyes open.

"I'm sorry...Astrid," he murmured, his voice getting quieter with every word that left his lips. "For...everything."

"Just shut up, will you?" Astrid muttered angrily. "You're gonna be okay..." She was cut off when Hiccup weakly raised a hand to her face. Like hers it was covered in his blood but she really couldn't care. She just wanted him to pull through. She clasped onto the hand and a fresh tear escaped her eye when she felt the gold band around his finger. "You're gonna make it...you have to..." she gulped.

"It's nice to see..." Hiccup started, his face slowly becoming less contorted. "...that some things never change," he smiled, almost repeating what Astrid had said before. Hiccup remained silent for a few moments, as did Astrid as Gothi tied off the second bandage. Red blood was still soaking through the fabric – it wasn't enough to save the boy. "Just promise me...one thing..." Hiccup whispered.

"What?" Astrid whimpered back. The Defenders of Berk fell silent, as had Gobber and Stoick who'd arrived merely moments ago. Everyone removed their helmets and held it to their hearts in respect. There was an unspoken truth that no one wanted to believe.

"Take care...of Toothless for me..." Hiccup whispered in his old dry-humoured tone. Astrid knew the meaning behind his words – 'don't forget me'. She shook her head desperately as Hiccup's emerald irises vanished beneath his eyelids and his hand dropped from her cheek.

"No...no, gods, please, no!" Astrid wept, shaking the boy in her arms frantically. "Hiccup, stop this, please! Wake up!" she cried.

But she knew there was nothing to be done. Hiccup lay unresponsive in her arms, either dead or too weak to move. She quickly checked if he was breathing – there was something there but it was so faint that there was barely any faith in the boy making it, even if he had any healing abilities left from his dragon side. Astrid didn't want to lose hope – Hiccup had come back from severe wounds before but even she had to doubt her belief in him. Kyra burst into fresh floods of tears and cried into her father's shoulder as Stoick placed a comforting arm around his daughter. Fishlegs walked over and helped Astrid to her feet as Gobber picked up the lifeless body of Hiccup, still with his dragon wings and tail, and carried him through the village to the Infirmary where he could hopefully receive better treatment, although given how weak he was there was still the realisation that he might not last until the end of the fight.

The entire village fell silent as the doors were closed.

AN: I know this is a short chapter - it was originally part of Chapter 14 but I decided to split it.