This is my FORTH update today. Aaaand we're back to Astrid's POV. :) I should be finishing it either tomorrow or Thursday; I don't know. Sometime around then. :) Anyways, shout-outs:
Wanli8970: Yes! Let's ask Dagur how he feels about a BBQ over an open flame. Flara's flame! BWAHAhAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
silverwolvesarecool: Aaah, Dagur. Don't we love him? (obvious sarcasm there) Now, if you'll excuse me...DAGUR YOU DERANGED FOOL GET BACK HERE SO I CAN SHOVE YOU OFF A MOUNTAIN PEAK AND I HAVE A FEW CHOICE WORDS FOR YOU TOO!
Invosodude: Sorry. I tend to leave people hanging a lot. *shrugs* I guess it's in my blood.
xFaerieValkyriex: NO NO NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Jesusfreak: I AM MUCH TOO SICK WITH MY INCURABLE CLIFFHANGEROVERLOADITIS DISEASE (not to mention the cold I haven't really gotten over yet). Anywho...NO! HICCUP! DON'T GO DYING ON US NOW! NO!
"NO!" I screamed. "NO!"
I thrashed against the man who held me back. He was strong, but I was furious. I was absolutely furious. When the guard had come to get me, I had a feeling something had happened to Hiccup. I had grabbed the satchel and taken it with me, just in case, but this...this was worse than anything I could have ever dreamed.
"She's a fighter!" shouted the man restraining me. I screamed in fury and kicked him in the shin, sending him doubling over in pain. I wrenched myself from his grip and ran towards the side of the cliff.
Another guard grabbed my wrist and pulled me back, but I simply slid between his legs, used his weight against him, and then pulled the arm that he held and yanked him flat on his back. Then, I continued to run towards the edge.
"STOP HER!" shouted Dagur.
Well, easier said than done, Dagur.
The more guards that came to take me down, and more guards I took down. I grabbed one of their weapons (a smallish battle axe) and fended off more, using my new weapon against them.
"KILL HER!" shouted Dagur. "SOMEBODY KILL HER!"
"Dream on, Dagur!" I shouted.
I bashed a Berserker with the flat of my axe. "That's for kidnapping me!" I shouted. I turned around and bashed another one. "That's for kidnapping Hiccup!" Another Berserker went down. "That's for shooting him!" Another one. "That's for making him amnesic!" Another one. "That's for dropping him off a cliff!" Another. "And that's for EVERYTHING ELSE!"
I saw an opening, and I took it. I sheathed the axe on my belt, ran to the edge of the cliff, and jumped, falling fast towards the ocean in the perfect dive. I didn't know exactly what I had been planning to do once I hit the water. I didn't even know if Hiccup was alive. But something told me he was. Something told me he wasn't dead.
The water came sooner than I had expected. It was also far colder than I had expected. But I didn't have time for admiring the coldness of the water. Hiccup was drowning somewhere beneath me.
My blood grew even colder when I located Hiccup. He was sinking, his eyes closed, not even moving; not even struggling.
"Hiccup!" I screamed, even though my air was limited, and also running out. I kicked furiously, desperate to get to him. I reached out, just barely enough to grab his wrist. My limbs hardly moved, but I forced them to. I pulled Hiccup to me and wrapped one arm around him. As soon as I was sure I had a firm enough grip on Hiccup, I kicked my feet so they were beneath me and then kicked, desperate to get to the surface. My lungs screamed for air. The edges of my eyesight grew black. But I kept kicking. I kicked until I reached my hand up and felt the freezing cold wind hit it. Then, I kicked once more and found myself able to breath.
I gasped in huge breaths of air, unable to stop the giddy laughs that escaped me. I squeezed Hiccup, and then realized that he was still limp in the tight hold I held him in.
I treaded water, but wouldn't be able to do it much longer. Hiccup wasn't heavy at all, but the initial cold of the area was numbing my skin, making it near to impossible to move. I knew we had to get to land, though. I couldn't even tell if Hiccup was breathing or not.
I looked over to the side desperately, my eyes scanning for some sort of shelter. In this weather, both of us could well get hypothermia. And going for the little dip in the ocean certainly hadn't helped.
I saw something that looked like sort of a cave off in the distance. It was the only shelter I saw within my ability to reach, so I decided to try. I tightened my hold around Hiccup and swam towards the cave, hoping I wouldn't be too late.
My limbs screamed in protest, but I forced them on. The icy hands of the water were clawing at me, almost begging me to curl up and sink, to give up. But no. I wouldn't give up. I was too stubborn for that.
And Hiccup was too stubborn to die.
I kicked my feet harder until the water became shallow enough to walk in. I stood up, pulling Hiccup with me, and walked, half stumbling, to the shore.
As soon as my feet touched the sand, they gave way. I fell to my knees and sprawled out on the sand, Hiccup laying beside me.
For a moment, I didn't do anything, finding myself unable to move. But then I looked at Hiccup, and fear spiked me. His skin was pale and turning slightly blue. I couldn't even tell if he was breathing or not.
In a panicked frenzy, I forced myself over. I pressed my ear to his chest and listened for his heartbeat. I found it, but it was weak. And then I realized that he wasn't breathing. He wasn't breathing.
"Hiccup!" I shouted, grabbing his shoulders (completely forgetting about the one that was injured) and shaking him harshly and desperately, not knowing what else to do. I didn't know anything about drowning. I didn't really know anything about anything that had to do with injuries and what not. I wasn't a doctor.
What was I supposed to do now? Flip him over? Slap him on the back?
I shook him again. Hiccup coughed once before flipping over on his stomach and coughing up the seawater that invaded his lungs. I released a breath I didn't know I was holding and placed a hand on Hiccup's back as he continued to cough, fighting to regain his breath.
When he finally stopped coughing, he flipped back over on his back and gazed up at me. I wanted to just stay there and sleep, but if Dagur and the Berserkers came after us...
"Come on, Hiccup," I said. "We have to get to that cave over there, and then we can rest. Okay?"
He nodded and sat up, swaying uneasily. I grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. After making sure he was steady, the two of us headed towards the cave, where, hopefully, we could relax, even if it be just for a few minutes.
When we made it there and inside a little ways, Hiccup collapsed. I fell down right beside him, breathing heavily. The ice cold water had made everything about ten times worse, but at least the cave blocked out the wind and snow.
We laid there in silence for a little while until Hiccup spoke. "Thanks...for...saving me," he said.
"Don't mention it," I said. "Seriously, Hiccup, don't you ever mention it. I don't ever want to talk about anything that ever took place on this dreaded island again. Clear?"
"Duly noted, milady," said Hiccup.
"Whatever, Dragon Boy," I said, sitting up. Hiccup sat up beside me and turned to me.
"So..." he said, "what should we do now?"
"Do you have any ideas on how we could get off this island?" I asked.
"One, actually, now that you mention it," said Hiccup. He grabbed a stick from the side and drew what looked like a map in the dirt. "Okay, so we're here-" he drew a little circle, "and we want to get here-" he drew an X about a foot away from the circle.
"Why there?" I asked.
"Because that's where the ice meets the ocean," said Hiccup. "Now, I've been thinking...if we cut a thick piece of ice, we might just be able to use it as a raft to get back to Berk."
"Hey, yeah," I said. "That's perfect!"
"Thanks," said Hiccup. "Problem is, there's a six hour walk between here and the sea. So..."
"So we'll have to be ready for it," I said.
"Precisely," said Hiccup, pointing the stick at me. "First of all, though, I don't think either of us would be able to walk six hours straight, do you?"
I frowned. He had a point. "No," I said.
He nodded. "We'll have to stay here for a while," he said, "and just prepare ourselves for the journey. I don't know how treacherous it'll be, or what the weather will be like."
I nodded. "I have the satchel from the prison," I said, unstrapping it and pulling out its contents. I was relieved to see that the satchel had been somewhat water proof, so the blanket wasn't soaked.
"Great," said Hiccup. "We should probably start a fire, or something. I don't think we'll be spotted by any of the Berserkers. But if we don't make a fire, we'll both get hypothermia, or-"
"I get it, Sir Knows-A-Lot," I said.
Hiccup frowned. "What's the meaning of all these nicknames?" he asked.
I shrugged. "Think of it as my way of telling you that I care," I said.
Hiccup smiled. "Whatever you say, milady," he smirked.
We started a fire shortly afterwards and sat in front of it, sharing the blanket, keeping it wrapped around our shoulders, our sides pressed up against each other. Whenever Hiccup nodded off, I would shake him awake again, and he did the same with me. Since there was a chance we would both get hypothermia, we couldn't trust ourselves to fall asleep.
We sat there, watching the flames.