NOT DEAD! :D :D :D :D

SNEEP SNOOP.

BEEP BOOP.

I'M A BAD GIRl. *sobs* THREE DAYS WITHOUT AN UPDATE. THAT'S TOO LONG.

But in my defense it took me a long time to decide how to end this chapter...please don't hate me, guys, I mean no harm. :) I've been watching the BBC show "Merlin" for a while, too. Second season, yeah! *fist pump* Except I know the ending is going to kill me because of everything I've heard about it over social media and stuff, sooooo...yeah. I'm just waiting here patiently for my heart to be viciously ripped out of my chest, thank you very much. XD

That, and I've been working on an original story of mine, plus we've been busy, school, need I make more excuses? No? Good! No one wants to hear them! :D I'll do shout-outs NEXT chapter, I promise. :D I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH! :D HAVE A GREAT DAY, AND ENJOY CHAPTER 6! :D

Viggo saw them coming before they had the chance to do any real damage. After shoving Dagur backwards, he pulled the lever to one of the loaded catapults, and a giant rock flew straight at Stormfly and Hookfang. Astrid yanked on Stormfly's horns, and the Nadder dodged, while Hookfang spun to avoid it. Unfortunately, when he spun, Snotlout was thrown off his back, and he landed flat on his back on the deck of the ship below.

"Snotlout!" Astrid called.

Snotlout leapt to his feet and drew his sword. "Don't worry about me, babe!" he called happily. "I've got it covered!" And he spun around to parry with one of Viggo's soldiers coming towards him.

Astrid stood atop Stormfly's back and leapt off, drawing her axe while she was still falling. She landed right on top of the soldier attacking Snotlout, just before Snotlout swung his sword. Astrid tossed her head and smirked at the look of disappointment on Snotlout's face.

"I totally had that guy!" he complained.

"I'm sure you did," said Astrid, smirking. While Snotlout tried to figure out whether or not she was being sarcastic, Astrid turned and whacked a soldier's consciousness out of him with the flat of her axe.

"Come on, Snotlout!" she said over her shoulder, racing towards the catapult to dismantle it should Viggo try and reload. "Let's go help Dagur!"

"I can't believe you're actually saying that!" said Snotlout, and he, sword in hand, raced after Astrid. "Let's do this!"

And they charged towards Viggo's soldiers, screaming like happy banshees. Snotlout was the first to reach the soldiers, and Astrid was right on his tail. They swung their weapons at the approaching attackers, and Hookfang and Stormfly dropped down from the sky to join their riders in the fight.

"Go on, go on!" said Astrid. "Come on, Snotlout! Stormfly, spine shot, now!" Stormfly flicked her tail; spines embedded themselves on the deck of the ship, blocking the way of running soldiers. While they were distracted, Astrid and Snotlout pounced.

Above them, Fishlegs, the twins, and their dragons took out the remaining catapults. While they were still doing that, Astrid turned. Viggo and Dagur were still fighting, only now, it wasn't Viggo who was fighting; it was two of Viggo's soldiers, and Ryker.

Astrid looked at Snotlout as he raced over to her. "Convince Dagur that Hiccup's dead," she said. "Look as desperate to kill Viggo as Dagur is. Pretend you want him dead more than anything else in the world."

"I don't need to pretend that," said Snotlout, balling his fists. "You ready?"

"Definitely," said Astrid, and together, she and Snotlout ran to face Viggo. Snotlout reached him first, and Viggo raised his sword to parry casually.

"You're going to pay for what you did, Viggo!" shouted Snotlout. "You're - going - to - pay!" He swung his sword, but before he could do anything else, Viggo hailed over more of his soldiers, who took on Snotlout while he turned and strode in the opposite direction.

Astrid wasn't going to let him get off that easily. She turned and raced towards him; he flicked his wrist, and when his soldiers turned to take on Astrid, she knocked them out easily with the flat of her axe and kept running.

Even if Hiccup had lived, she was still going to kill Viggo for attempting to kill Hiccup, for stabbing Hiccup, for putting Hiccup in such unnecessary pain-

She sprang on Viggo and slammed her axe against his sword. They were at the stern of the ship now, at the very edge. Astrid pressed her axe against Viggo's sword, glaring hard.

"You have nowhere else to run," snarled Astrid, breathing heavily. "You have no other soldiers to expend, nothing else to throw at us. Dagur is against you. You have two armies against you now. You brought this war upon yourself, and now you're going to pay the price."

Viggo pressed hard against her weapon in response, teeth clenched, eyes remaining cool and collected as they always were. "I was expecting Dagur to turn against me," said Viggo. "I realized his treachery, just as I did your friend, Heather. The traitors will always be found out in the end."

"You may have realized it," said Astrid, "but you didn't prepare for it. You didn't have time. By the time you figured it out, it was too late. Admit it, Viggo. Admit to defeat."

Viggo and her were pushing against each other so hard now it was almost as though they were playing a reverse tug-a-war. Viggo didn't admit to defeat; instead, he smiled.

"You are being extremely calm for someone whose leader just perished," said Viggo, grinning softly.

"It shouldn't bother you," growled Astrid furiously. "People are expendable to you, aren't they? Hiccup knew that. You have to move on. The dead exist in the past."

"But Hiccup wasn't your past," said Viggo. "You don't think I couldn't see what was going on between you? Hiccup may have been protective over all of you equally, but I saw the way he looked at you. The way you looked at him. I'm not blind."

He leaned closer.

"You loved him, didn't you?"

"And you killed him," said Astrid. "You killed him, and I'm not going to-"

"I know how one reacts when they lose someone they love dearly," said Viggo. "Don't take me for a fool. If Hiccup were truly dead, we wouldn't be having this conversation. If Hiccup were truly dead, you wouldn't wait around to talk to me...you would fight me head on, you would make me pay for killing the man you loved...deny me this, if you can: Hiccup isn't really dead, is he?"

It was a statement, not a question.

Astrid didn't wait around for Viggo to confirm his own assumptions. She yanked back her axe and swung it just as quickly; Viggo met her weapon with a lazy parry, and they launched into battle.

…

The Berkian ships pulled up right alongside the dragon hunter ships, and on Stoick's command, the men dispatched, waving swords and screaming as though mentally disturbed. The dragon hunters fought back valiantly, but it was clear they were outnumbered by the combination of the Berkian soldiers and the Berserker soldiers. The Berserkers didn't fight the Berkians when they realized they were both fighting a common enemy: the dragon hunters. When that common enemy was destroyed, who knew what would happen.

But for now, the two tribes had formed an unspoken peace treaty; an unspoken alliance, and the fight continued on and on, the dragons attacking from the air, and the soldiers fighting on the ships below, taking out catapults and archers in their wake.

The Berkians and Berserkers were winning the battle.

…

Snotlout knocked a soldier out with a quick, strong punch, and when he spun around, he knocked out a second one with the flat of his Gronckle Iron sword. Dagur was fighting Ryker, laughing maniacally, swinging so quickly that Ryker had a hard time keeping up with his swipes. Snotlout raced over, leapt atop a barrel, jumped off, and, with a shout, landed directly on top of Viggo, knocking Viggo's brother to the deck of the ship.

Dagur raised his axe and brought down the flat of it on Ryker's head, knocking the man out cold. Snotlout punched the air in triumph and, before he thought about what he was doing, high-fived Dagur.

"YES!" cheered Snotlout, and then, to Dagur, "This isn't going to be a regular thing though, is it? Working with you?"

"I hope not," muttered Dagur, looking down at his hand in disgust. "Did you really just high-five me-"

Snotlout turned and tackled another approaching soldier - attacking the hunter was more appealing to him than answering Dagur's question.

Dagur turned, spotted Viggo fighting Astrid, and raced towards him, ready to finish what he had started.

…

"YOU'RE GOING TO PAY, VIGGO!" shouted Astrid, swinging her axe over her head in an arch; Viggo stepped out of the way, and Astrid prepared her next strike even more carefully, knowing that soon enough, Viggo would have her strategy memorized, and fighting him would no longer be an easy task. "You're going to pay for what you did to Hiccup, you're going to pay for what you did to Eyelicker, and you're going to pay for being the most horrible, disgusting human being in the archipelago!"

Viggo swung his sword at her, and she met his blow with a swing of her own weapon. "Don't be a spoiled sport," said Viggo calmly. "You always knew I was smarter than Hiccup. Even Hiccup knew that much."

"But smarter doesn't mean better!" Astrid shouted, throwing what could have been a fatal blow had Viggo blocked it a second later than he did. "You are nothing like Hiccup! Hiccup is a better person than you'll ever be! You could be smarter than him, but Hiccup knows what's right and what's wrong. He cares about people regardless of who they are. He doesn't try and murder innocent people, just because they threaten him!"

She swung again. She didn't see Dagur running up behind them, grabbing a long, thick chain as he did so.

"You are selfish - murderous - evil - prideful - arrogant - moronic - and all around horrible!" Astrid shouted, delivering blows between each insult. "What you deserve is something worse than death! You deserve worse than the worst! You deserve to die a thousand times over!"

Astrid slammed her axe hard against Viggo's sword, and this time, finally, the weapon flew out of Viggo's grip and embedded itself in the ship's mast. Astrid stepped back, breathing heavily, axe remaining raised.

"And you know it," she said heavily and threateningly - knowingly. "Don't you?"

And that was when Dagur attacked.

He tackled Viggo to the ground, winding the heavy chains around Viggo's arms and neck. Astrid didn't have time to react; another one of Viggo's hunters had come up from behind her, and she had to parry in order to keep her head attached to her neck. Dagur and Viggo wrestled, and by the looks of it, Dagur was winning.

The heavy chains that looked like they could hold down even the strongest of dragons were wound around Viggo's body, and he and Dagur continued wrestling even then, until they neared the edge of the ship, until they nearly fell over the edge-

It all happened so suddenly.

One shove in the right direction from Dagur, and Viggo fell off the side of his ship and into the ocean below. Astrid quickly knocked out the soldier she was fighting and raced to the edge, standing beside Dagur, looking down into the water.

A minute passed.

Two minutes passed.

Three minutes.

Four minutes.

Five…

Viggo didn't resurface.

Astrid swallowed hard, unable to believe it. "He's…" she said. "He's...he's dead."