I'm so glad that everyone seemed to enjoy that last chapter! I was extremely worried that it lacked something pretty critical, but as it turned out (according to your reviews) it just needed an extra punch concerning the action scenes. I promise to work on that in the future, so please bear with me. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next chapter
Numb. That was the best word to describe what he was right now. Hiccup sat atop Toothless with a look of horror and hopelessness. He remembered how hurt he was supposed to feel because of the bolt that he had broken in half earlier when he threw the sword Astrid gave him in their wedding at her father. He remembered how much anguish he had felt as soon as the handle of the blade left his hand. He had wanted so badly to take it back and somehow find a solution to all that had happened, but he didn't.
His eyes were not functioning properly as his vision blurred and started leaking tears down his cheeks. A pained moan came from below him, but he barely registered it. All of his focus was on the dead man that he had respected and come to love in the short time they spent together. He did this. He killed him. Astrid was still splayed out over his body, her body wracked with heavy sobs and her cries of pain and anguish had crushed him. The only word that she had been reduced to saying over and over again was, "Dad" and each time he had heard it, his gut churned with guilt and pain.
Astrid was crying. She was crying because of what he did. He had taken away her father right in front of her eyes. Oh, he had tried to tell himself that the only reason he had done it was to protect Astrid. That particular thought had given him at least the ability to function. However, a nagging thought at the back of his head continued to antagonize him. Angnir wouldn't have hurt Astrid. No matter how berserk he may have been, no matter how close it had come, he wouldn't have hurt his only blood relative. Hiccup had killed him to keep Astrid to himself.
It was that thought that had caused him to retreat into himself and all of his feelings had been shoved away to protect his mind. Slowly raising his head, Hiccup saw the slowly approaching cliffs and realized that the ship would soon crash into it. A quick check of the steering rudder showed him that it had been ripped off the ship and shoved into the gut of a berserker on deck. There was no way to steer it at all.
He slowly and mechanically unbuckled his safety tethers from Toothless and slid off of the saddle. When he landed, his right leg gave out underneath him and Toothless was the only thing that broke his fall. With his best friend's head underneath one arm, he slowly hobbled over to the still weeping Astrid. He reached his hand out to touch her shoulder, but stopped right before he grazed her clothing. She wouldn't want any comfort from the man that took her father away from her. Astrid had every right to blame him for everything that happened.
The promise he had made her of stopping the wedding had never been fulfilled and because of that, her father lay dead before them. Hiccup lowered his hand to his side and hung his head. He was still the village 'Hiccup' and the only difference now was that he was now responsible for killing people now instead of being a nuisance. A gentle nudge from Toothless snapped him out of his thoughts and he took two hobbled steps over to the right of Angnir.
He reached over and touched Astrid's hand. For a moment, she pulled away from him, but immediately after, she grabbed his hand in hers and gripped hard. It hurt his hand, but Hiccup suffered in silence and let her know that she wasn't alone. Soon, Astrid's tears began to falter and her grip tightened. Her breath came in hiccups between wails of sorrow. It was then that Hiccup made his move. The ship was starting to get too close to the cliffs and he needed to get her out of there. Pulling on her hand, Hiccup gathered her into his arms and held her tight against him.
Arms tightened around him instantly and his shoulder became wet with tears. He moved with her to sit on Toothless's back and latched himself in. He went to turn away from the boat, but was stopped by a sudden wave of grief. It didn't go unnoticed by Toothless, who looked at him questioningly. "We can't leave him behind, bud. I know you're hurt, but can you carry him back with us?" His voice shook and he felt his chest tighten as his dragon turned and gathered Angnir in his claws before taking off.
As soon as they had left the ship, it crashed into the cliff and began to sink. Astrid was still inconsolable and gripping tightly to him as they slowly made their way back to Berk. The only thought that kept Hiccup's numb mind aware of anything was the constant beats of Toothless's wings and the soft cries next to his ear.
Gobber watched in amazement as he saw twelve draugr wrestling with three of their own kind. Hrothgar had yelled out a moment ago and it seemed that every draugr stopped their march towards the berserker armada and turned on themselves. Their blows shook the beach and sand flew everywhere. Stoick was on the other side of the fight, looking on in fear. He knew what was going on, by the looks of it. Well, if Stoick didn't like it, then he didn't either. So, he started to make his way to the nearest draugr being held down and gripped his hammer attachment in his other hand.
These draugr were hard to kill, especially after what he saw the berserkers try to do to them. So, Gobber decided to get a little closer and try a few things. It was when he got close enough to hear their voices that he knew that he was in trouble. "No, brother! Don't listen to the war mind! It deceives you! These are your people! The people that you swore to protect! Calm down and let your anger fade!" The four draugr on top of the one were struggling to keep his arms and legs from moving. Their bodies sunk into the sand and their motions obviously carried a lot of strength behind them.
Unfortunately, the one draugr seemed enraged and would not stop trying to break free of their grip. He seemed to be failing until Gobber got close. Then, he roared in renewed fury and struggled even harder, throwing one of the draugr off of him and into the ocean. "Oh, that can't be good." Gobber took a small step back and watched as the other three draugr were thrown off as well. He swallowed heavily as the enraged draugr stood and turned to face him. "Now, you're going about this all wrong! You don't want to fight me!" Gobber took another step back.
The draugr howled at him and started to stagger to him. Gobber waited until it got pretty close. "Well, I tried to warn you." Gobber brought his hammer in front of him, at the ready. The draugr raised one of its hands and swung down at Gobber. He moved out of the way and watched as a pillar of sand raised from the ground where the creature had struck. "Beard of Thor, you're a strong one!" He ducked underneath another swing from the right, but it took his helmet off in the process. Gobber brought his hammer up into the jaw of the draugr and watched its head snap back with a crack.
It turned towards him and jumped at him, but he sidestepped and used his hammer to hit the head again as hard as he would pound a weapon at the smithy. "Go to bed, you sack of bones!" Gobber brought his hammer down on top of it again and again until it stopped moving. "Is that it?" Gobber shrugged as if he was surprised that was all there was to it.
The other four came back and immediately jumped back on top of the other draugr. "You can't kill him, Viking. Only Hrothgar can stop him. It is the oath to him that keeps all of us here." A struggling voice came from one of them. Sure enough, the apparently dazed draugr came back to life and started to wriggle and writhe, trying to escape his captors again.
"Right, sooo….ok. I'm going to talk to the chief." Gobber left there and tried to find Stoick. He spotted his friend leaping from the flagship of the berserker fleet with a sword. "Oi! Stoick! What are we going to do about these beasties?"
Stoick stopped for a second before motioning for Gobber to follow him. "Unless we build a doom door, we have to let Hrothgar the Bold stop them. He asked for me to fetch his sword, so we'll see what happens.
Gobber nodded his head as if understanding. "Alright, that makes sense. So should I start getting the stone for that door now or after this doesn't work?"
Stoick chuckled at his friend. "No. I trust a chief of Berk. He said it would work, so it will. After all, his job is to look after the people of Berk. Just like mine is." They both reached Hrothgar, who stood in front of one group of draugr.
"Thank you, Chief Stoick. Please leave this beach and stand at the ready in case something happens. I'll handle it from here." Hrothgar took his sword and motioned one arm in the direction of the village, which was now being guarded by a few dragons and their riders.
Gobber grunted. "Right! We'll be over that way!" He walked over there with Stoick, then turned to see what happened.
Hrothgar raised his sword in one hand. "When life was still within you, all of you made an oath to follow me! You have done so, but on this iron of the bands we once wore, I release you from your oaths. Your vows have been fulfilled. Bravely, you have all fought with me to defend Berk from invaders and as such, your word has been kept. I release you! Join the gods in Valhalla!" Hrothgar's blade glowed and glowing armbands appeared around one arm of each draugr. Hrothgar swept his blade down in a grand arc and every armband shattered. Everything stilled.
As one, the draugr fell to bones and dust on the beach until only Hrothgar stood. Finally, the old chief trudged over to Stoick. "Give this to your son, Stoick. He has saved not only all of Berk, but all of us as well. We were cursed by the village for bringing our people into a land where our greatest enemy fought and killed us like sheep. It is through your son that that once savage enemy is now our people's allies. He gave me and my warriors a chance to redeem ourselves and show ourselves worthy to eat in the halls of Valhalla. Through him, I can finally see my people once again. I will wait for you and him in Valhalla and tell everyone there what a great place Berk has become under your leadership." He handed Stoick his blade, then took a couple steps back.
Then, as if the wind was waiting for the old chief to finish, it blew and Hrothgar went with it. His bones fell down to the beach and dust flew off in the wind. Gobber went to talk, but got a mouthful of dust. "Blegh! That's nasty!" Gobber used his one hand to start wiping his tongue off and sputtered trying to rid his mouth of the foul taste.
Stoick started laughing at Gobber. "I told you that your mouth would get you in trouble one day. I just didn't think it would be like this!"
"Oh, you think it's funny, do you? Well, why don't you try some!" Gobber knelt next to the bones of Hrothgar and threw some of the dust at Stoick who was still laughing. It got in his mouth and he started to sputter and do the same thing as Gobber. "See! Not so funny when YOU are eating dead people! Wait… that didn't sound right."
"GOBBER!" Stoick had his chief face on and Gobber looked at him, then to the forge.
"Well, would you look at the time! I have to start doing repairs! Got to go, Stoick!" He ran off toward the forge, laughing all the way.
Crying had to be the absolute worst thing that a Viking could do. Unfortunately, that seemed all that she had been doing recently. From one scenario to the next, without rest and she was tired of it. So tired. She didn't remember how she had gotten back to her house, much less back to Berk. She was disoriented when she opened her crusted eyes and saw her own ceiling and Stormfly huddled around her bed.
For a moment, she thought that everything that had happened was all a bad dream and she would hear her father's booming laugh from downstairs. That was until she saw Hiccup sitting on the floor with is back to the wall, asleep. His right leg had a bandage around it and a crutch was lying next to him on the floor. The sound of his steady breathing and slightly drooped head told her that he was still asleep.
Pain raced through her chest at the sudden realization that everything was all too real. Stormfly must have picked up on it, because she curled tighter around her and cooed soothingly at Astrid while nudging her chest affectionately. Astrid slowly reached around her head and hugged her as best she could. Her heart and head both ached. In fact, her entire body seemed to be sore.
It hurt to think, it hurt to move, it even hurt to stay still. The only thing that kept her from crying out in frustration was the sleeping form of Hiccup. She knew how tired he must be and looked at his leg. He had gotten wounded and yet he didn't pay any attention to it earlier. It was a vast change from when he used to whine and complain about her punching him in the arm. Weird didn't begin to describe what she felt over Hiccup right now. She was so angry at him, yet she couldn't help but feel compassionate as well. He had saved her earlier in the day, doing his level best to be there for her when she needed it, then in the same hour, turned around and killed her father.
The sudden burst of anger towards him surprised even herself. She knew that he was doing his best to be a good friend, if nothing else. After watching him closely for the past couple of weeks, she had determined one thing about Hiccup. He did his best to look out for his friends and family, dragons included. He was a genuinely good guy and Berk was lucky to have him as the next chief when the time came.
However, it was all because of him that she was in her current predicament. She was married to him even though he said he would stop it. But she didn't blame him for that. Everything concerning the wedding was out of his hands as well. Still, he could have done something else, something more. If they were not married, her father would still be alive. Hiccup himself killed her father, she knew. Even that couldn't be seen as Hiccup's fault, though. He protected her. Her dad even thanked him for it. So she couldn't hate him for that.
But she was so angry! She HAD to hate something. Everything that she went through, everything that happened had to be reconciled somehow! She couldn't just sit by and let everything go. It was just something that she had to be active about. Surely there was something that she could do to make everything better? Or something to receive her anger, her hurt, and her confusion.
Stormfly chirped a little and Astrid started to absently scratch her chin. She needed her axe. It had been left in her room until the wedding was over. Looking around, she saw that Hiccup was right next to it and that he was slowly starting to wake up. She cursed her luck silently and watched as he first groaned, then slowly raised his head to look at her. When she saw his eyes, her anger was quelled a little. He looked so haunted. His eyes wore black bags underneath them and his green colored eyes looked faded and pale with sadness. All in all, Hiccup didn't look like Hiccup.
"You're up. How are you feeling?" He grunted as he used his crutch to help him stand.
"Why would you care?" Astrid flinched a little at her own response. She hadn't meant to say that. The words left her mouth before she thought. It was the flinch of pain and anguish that flashed across his face that made her truly regret those words.
Hiccup sighed heavily. "You're right. I'm probably the last person you want to see right now. I shouldn't have stayed in your room. I'm sorry." Hiccup started to turn towards her door.
"No! Don't…don't leave me too…" Astrid's voice got smaller and smaller as she continued. Panic started to swirl in her chest. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that." She may be angry, but more than that, she didn't want to be alone. Her eyes had moved to watch her hands clench around her blankets when she saw another pair of hands cover her own.
"It's okay, Astrid. I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay here as long as you want me to." Hiccup's hands were cold and she could feel the pain that he was going through right now. She wasn't the only one suffering. Stormfly cooed at them and moved her head to nuzzle Hiccup.
Astrid clenched her hands tighter. Something inside of her both appreciated Hiccup's help and thought that it was wrong. Take care of each other. Her father's final words echoed in the back of her mind. She would do her best to follow his advice. So, Astrid let go of the blanket and grasped Hiccup's hands instead. It was her silent way of saying thank you, even though she couldn't voice it.
His grip tightened around hers as well and he shifted a little on the bed, trying to get comfortable. Astrid saw that his leg was still bothering him a little. "How is your leg?"
Hiccup grimaced a little. "Well, Gothi fixed it as best she could. Apparently, taking a bolt to the leg is better than an arrow. They gave me this crutch and then said to stay off of it for the next few days. Dad about had a fit after I showed up." His voice trailed off as if he was saying something wrong.
"How long have I been asleep?" Astrid let go of his hands and instead started scratching Stormfly again. She had to do something with them and if Stormfly's contented growls was anything to go by, she was at least doing something right with them.
"Not long. Maybe four hours." Hiccup kept his reply short, she noticed.
"What about…what about my father?" Astrid felt her gut clench, but she had to know.
Hiccup sighed again, but answered anyway. "He…The village is building a boat now. Gothi and the chief took care of him as soon as we landed. When the boat is done…we will…yeah." His eyes were downcast and his demeanor sank. Astrid nodded her head. She understood what he was saying. A true Viking burial. Hiccup stood up slowly and leaned on his crutch. "Let me bring you something to eat. I stopped by the great hall before I came back here. I hope you are in the mood for trout." Hiccup chuckled nervously and shuffled to the door.
"Thank you, Hiccup. For everything." Astrid tried her best to convey her heartfelt feelings toward him. He had obviously done so much for her and injured no less.
"No problem." Then in a smaller, yet infinitely more meaningful tone, "After all, it's my job to watch out for you." And then he left.
She didn't know what to think about that. For as long as she could remember, she had worked tirelessly to be independent. Yet, hearing Hiccup say that made her a little happy. Not that she would ever tell him that, of course. Shaking her head, Astrid stopped that line of thinking. There were more important things that she had to focus on.
Life as she had knew it had changed so drastically and so fast that she really had no time to take everything in now. She looked down at the silver ring on her left hand. She was married now. No, she was married to Hiccup now. Her new name was Astrid Haddock. No more tales of the fearless Astrid Hofferson for her. Now all her glory would be tied to the Haddock house and be overshadowed by Hiccup's stories.
Anger swelled up inside of her again, but this time she wondered how fast it seemed to come to her. Lately, she had been like an open wound. Everything that had happened had left her reeling and either crying or fighting with herself. In the past week, she had cried more than she would care to remember and been angry the rest of the time. She gave up trying to decipher what she truly felt. Everything was too much for her to take right now. So she resolved to just think from day to day and not delve too deeply into her own mangled emotions.
It was in the middle of her musings that Hiccup knocked on her door again and hobbled in carrying a plate of trout for her in one hand and gripping his crutch in another. "Here is your trout. I got a basket of fish outside for you too, Stormfly." Her dragon looked at Hiccup, then back to Astrid before squawking and slowly going to the window, but stopping to look back at Astrid.
"Go on, girl. Get something to eat." Astrid smiled and shooed her out the window from her bed. Stormfly turned and jumped out the roof entrance, following her rider's orders.
Hiccup moved over to her and placed the plate on the bed next to her. "Eat up. I tried to snatch the best, but it's hard to beat the line when you have two bum legs." Hiccup motioned to his feet, one a metal peg leg and the other wrapped in bandages.
She scoffed and pointed at the trout. "As long as this didn't come off of Snotlout's plate, I don't care."
A smile reached its way to Hiccup's face before it disappeared quickly. "I wouldn't wish that on anyone." He shivered for dramatic effect then stayed still and turned away from her, as if avoiding her eyes.
Astrid had picked up a trout when she noticed the way he was acting. "What are you thinking about, Hiccup?"
His back stiffened at her words. "No-nothing!" He turned to meet her eyes, but his shifted away after a couple of seconds.
Putting down the trout, Astrid pushed the plate back at him. "You are going to tell me or I will start pulling teeth." Then she glared at him meaningfully.
With another sigh, he looked back at her. "I had to have a talk with my dad. He wanted to know where we are going to live. Usually, you would join us in our hall or we would build another house, but…" His gaze shifted off to the left.
"With my house now empty, he wanted to know if we were going to live here." It wasn't a question. Astrid knew what he was saying.
"I didn't want to ask you so soon after… well…all that's happened, but the next time I see dad, I have to tell him what our decision is. I just need to know what you want to do."
Her appetite was gone now. She had already lost so much, she was slowly losing herself, her own identity was changing and she had no idea how to stop it from slipping away. This house was all that kept her together. Being here made her feel safe, even if one of the best things about it was now gone, she couldn't lose this as well. But she couldn't tell Hiccup that. It was too personal, too important to her.
Everything you told me, everything that you want to tell me, everything that you are too proud or too scared to tell others, you have to tell Hiccup now. His voice reverberated in her mind. So intense was it that she almost looked around to find where it came from. Then her eyes settled back on Hiccup's. His were full of fear and still soaked in sadness. There was something else in his eyes that she had a really hard time understanding. It wasn't physical pain that tormented him. He was hurting because she was.
That discovery shook her, badly. She wasn't going to cry, she had done far enough of that recently, but it caused her to finally understand her father's words. Hiccup wanted to help her, to shoulder her pain and make it bearable. She owed it to him to be truthful, at least about this. So with as much courage as she could muster, she spoke her mind. "Can we stay here? This house is all I have left. Everything that I have ever known, ever wanted to know of living in a household is all here. Living with the chief would be an honor, but I want to stay here."
No sooner had they left her mouth, then she knew that she had made the right decision. Hiccup's eyes lit up a little and a small smile made its way to his eyes. "If that is how you feel, then we'll stay here. I'll go tell my dad as soon as I see him." He pushed her plate back to her. "Now eat up. The day is almost over and we still have a lot to do."
Astrid looked back at him and wondered, not for the first time, what he was thinking. Something was wrong with Hiccup, but then again, something was wrong with her as well. She was just about to ask him when he stood up and made his way to the door. "I have to go check on Toothless now. I'll be downstairs if you need me." And with that, he walked out the door, leaving Astrid with a nagging thought that she just missed something important.
Alright, sort of a set up chapter this time around. Tying up loose ends and all, but necessary nonetheless. I wanted to get this chapter out as fast as possible because it is a bit slower than the others. I appreciate all the reviews that I have gotten so far! I'm doing my best to try and upload faster, but I can't make any promises as life has a way of getting in the way. Still, I really lean on the support all you guys give me! Thank you so much for all your kind words and help along the way! I hope you continue to tell me what you think as we continue on! I'll see you next chapter!