Chapter Text
No. Not Viggo. Not now. They didn’t have time for Viggo now. Astrid couldn’t keep going for much longer. She needed that cure now.
She could hear dragons firing, men shouting, and crossbows shooting their deadly dragon root arrows. Strange, it sounded so…distant. It was almost as if she were under water.
She heard the noise lessen, then more talking. She tried to hear more clearly, but she could only make out a few words.
“Think twice about…actions, Hiccup.”
“…profits?”
“…business is business…I’m willing to incur…are you?”
“Okay, Viggo,” She strained her ears and forced herself to hear Hiccup’s response. “Okay, you win. Take him, take the dragon…leave us with what we came for…not leaving here without it…That’s a loss I’m not willing to take.”
Astrid pieced the words together as quickly as she could. Horror set in as she realized what was happening. Hiccup was giving the Buffalord, the very last Buffalord, to Viggo. He was giving up the Buffalord to save her.
She couldn’t let him do that. Viggo would kill it. “No, Hiccup. Don’t give him…not for me.” She forced the words out of her mouth, realizing they were so soft he probably couldn’t hear her.
She was too weak and tired to determine what happened next. She slowly gave in to oncoming unconsciousness, her body growing limp. Where was Hiccup? She didn’t want to die without a chance to say goodbye to him.
Her limbs felt heavy and numb. She was going senseless again, and this time she knew it was because she was dying. She didn’t want to die, but she no longer had a choice in the matter. She wondered what Hiccup would do when he came back and found her dead. He would blame it all on himself, because he always did that, and then someone, probably Fishlegs, would have to tell him it wasn’t. But he, being Hiccup, wouldn’t listen. She longed to smile at the thought. Every breathe was growing slower and slower.
I’ll just go to sleep, she thought numbly. It was that simple. She just had to go to sleep…and it would be…all over…she would never…wake up…she would…just…sleep…
A wooden cup was pressed against her lips, infiltrating the bliss of her half-conscious state. She pulled away, too tired to try and sip the contents. It wouldn’t let her alone, though. Some of the liquid sloshed into her mouth, and her face puckered at the fowl taste.
“I know. I know.” Hiccup was saying somewhere far off. “Just drink.”
Drink. She allowed more of the repulsive fluid to slip down her throat. He toes and fingers began to tingle, and the sensation worked its way up her legs and arms. Feverish aches began to ease. Weakness slowly left her. Chills stopped pricking her body.
She was able to open her eyes just enough to see her friend beside her, his hand tightly clutching the cup. She could feel the ground underneath her. She could feel one of the plates on her skirt poking her thigh.
“Hiccup,” she whispered, “I think…I think…” she didn’t quite have the strength to finish the sentence.
“It’s working.” She smiled as Hiccup finished it for her.
Astrid pushed herself up off the ground, only to lose her balance. She pitched forward, Hiccup thankfully catching her and helping her upright. She rebalanced herself on Fishlegs’ arm, and shakily made her way toward her dragon. Stormfly eagerly leaned into her, asking for affection.
“I’m afraid our time must end, Hiccup.” Viggo’s voice destroyed the moment. “We will continue our contest in due time.” The fiend turned to depart, leaving them with nothing but an evil sneer.
“He won’t get far!” Tuffnut growled angrily. “Let’s go after him.”
Snotlout agreed. “Yeah, I’m sick of that smug—”
“No.” Hiccup stopped them, determination in his voice. “Stand down. We agreed to let him leave the island with that dragon. And that’s exactly what we’re gonna do.”
Astrid glanced at him, surprised, but the look on his face told her that he had a plan.
For a few minutes, nothing happened. Then shouts filled the air, and Astrid watched in awe as the docile Buffalord broke out of the ship, sending boards flying. The beast roared and flew away, dragging the ship with it. The chain was dethatched, and the Buffalord flew back to its island, happy as a boar in a mud pit.
Hiccup smiled triumphantly. “Well, that leaves just one thing to do.” He threw a purposeful glance back at Astrid.
The Dragon Riders mounted and took off, Hiccup and Toothless in the lead.
. . .
“There do I see my father, my mother, my brothers and my sisters. They bid me take my place in the halls of Valhalla… where the brave shall live forever.”
Astrid bowed her head as she finished the traditional funeral words, and pulled her bowstring back. She and her friends took aim and released their arrows, and watched as the flames grew smaller. One by one the arrows hit the ship, the Monstrous Nightmare gel quickly spreading the flames.
The twins, Snotlout, and Fishlegs turned and left, but Hiccup stayed for a moment. How could Viggo be so cruel? He was no longer just an evil mastermind, he was a murderer. He wasn’t afraid to kill if it forwarded his plans. Everyone and everything was completely expendable to him, as long as it got him something in return.
He was exactly what Fishlegs had said: a monster. He was a brilliant monster, but all the same, still a monster. He was worse than Alvin and Dagur and Ryker all put together, except for he and Ryker were together.
There had to be something more to this. Why would he bother infecting a group of able sailors with the Scourge of Odin? What could he possibly get out of this? He clearly wanted the Buffalord, but for what? The dragon was practically useless, except for curing the Scourge, and Viggo couldn’t really give people the Scourge could he?
“It’s simple really. Supply and demand. I knew where to get the supply, if I could only generate the demand.”
Hiccup turned and twisted the words around in his mind, trying to squeeze a meaning out of them. Supply and demand, supply and demand. Viggo had said he knew where to get the supply; he just needed to generate the demand. Maybe he could infect someone with the Scourge. It wouldn’t be too surprising; he had done just about everything else. Still, how did he know where to get the supply?
“What are you thinking about?”
Hiccup glanced up, and realized Astrid had still not left. “This might be just the beginning,” he began rather gruffly.
“Of what?” Astrid prodded.
“Something Viggo said about knowing where the ‘supply’ was. You don’t think he could’ve unlocked the Dragon Eye, do you?”
“How? He doesn’t have a Snow Wraith key.”
“But he found the Buffalord on his own. And we need to find out how.” His sentence hung for a while, both pondering the events of the past few days.
“Hiccup, I just wanted to say thanks.” Astrid turned and smiled at him. “I really owe you.”
He smiled in return. “It’s no big deal,” he replied glancing down bashfully. “You’d have the same for me.”
Her smile grew. “I can’t imagine a world without you in it, either.” She turned and flew away in the direction of home.
So she’d heard that. In a way, he was glad, but he was also quite embarrassed. It was pretty pathetic romance, though it certainly could have been worse. How many other things had he said and done that she overheard or noticed?
He followed her on Toothless, attempting to catch up. He did not want to fly home alone. He knew it was dangerous to be out alone at night, especially when you were sleep deprived. It struck him that he hadn’t slept in about two days, though it wasn’t until now that the adrenaline had worn off and he actually felt the need for sleep.
Hopefully he could get Astrid talking. That would help ward off the exhaustion. He flew under her, then came up on her right.
“Boo,” he teased, startling her just a little.
“What?” she asked, glaring at him playfully.
“Nothing,” he answered with a shrug. “Just wanted to see if I could scare you.”
“Well, you didn’t.”
“I saw you jump.”
Astrid scowled in defeat. “Fine. You scared me a little.”
Hiccup smiled at his little victory. Another wave of sleepiness hit him, and he shook his head trying to wake up. “You tired at all?” he asked, trying to keep the conversation going.
“Not really,” Astrid shrugged. “I’m still a little achy. And my mouth tastes like puke. Buffalord spit is nasty.”
Hiccup laughed. “Just be thankful you’re not dead.”
Astrid rolled her eyes, but laughed along with him. “Just be thankful you didn’t have to drink the stuff so you wouldn’t be dead.”
“I am. Believe me, I am. But in all honesty, I would rather it have been me than you.”
Astrid’s expression grew serious. “Why?”
“I don’t know. I guess I just don’t want you, or any of the other riders for that matter, in those types of situations.”
Astrid didn’t reply at first. He tried to figure out what she was thinking, but she remained rather expressionless. “Hiccup?”
“Yeah?”
“Did you mean it?”
He glanced up at her, confused. “Mean what?”
“What you said.”
“What I said when?”
“What you said the other night.”
“What did I say the other night?” He gathered quickly that she didn’t like the fact that he wasn’t following her, but he truly had no idea what she was talking about.
She swallowed thickly and glanced away. “Did you mean ‘Kaerasta’ when you said it?”
So she’d heard that too. Well, he knew she’d heard it, but he’d hoped she wouldn’t remember it. Hiccup studied her face for a minute, trying to decipher whether or not she wanted him to mean it. Her big blue eyes seemed almost sad, yet they portrayed the ever tough Astrid Hofferson that everyone knew so well.
For one of the first times in his life, he had absolutely no idea how to respond. The problem was not only that he didn’t know what to say to Astrid, but he did not know what to say to himself. Had he meant it? He remembered he wanted her to stop crying, and thought that it might pacify her.
But did he mean it?
“Hiccup?” Astrid’s tone indicated a sense of worry, as if she was afraid he hadn’t heard her.
“I meant it only if you want me to have meant it.”
“What?”
“If you want me to have meant what I said, then I do. But if not, you can forget I ever said it.” He was proud of his answer. It seemed the best possible way to avoid a sock to the shoulder.
“What happens if I want you to mean it?”
Now that caught him off guard. She wanted him to mean it? “I guess that means I meant what I said.”
“Really? You’re serious?”
“Of course. When am I not serious?”
Astrid shrugged again. “I don’t know, you just happen to be the most sarcastic person I know, so that puts a tiny damper on your seriousness.”
Hiccup blushed, quite visibly. He could just hear Snotlout shouting “burn!” He could only thank Thor his cousin wasn’t present. “Fine, you got me. I guess you’ll just have to take my word for it.”
He flew closer to her. “I meant every word.”
A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, and for the first time that day, he saw her eyes sparkle.
“I’m glad you mean it,” she replied, her voice a little quieter than usual.
He smiled back at her, allowing the distance between them to grow. His smile faded as she started to shiver. “You okay?”
She nodded. “Just cold. I’ve been cold all day.”
Guilt nagged at him. She’d been cold all day. He had taken it for granted that he was comfortable, but he’d always liked cold weather, and even he was a little chilled right now.
He didn’t have a blanket with him, or even an extra shirt to offer her, which reminded him, he needed to restock his emergency clothes… It dawned on him how cold she must have been flying to meet them on the Buffalord’s island. Feverish, with nothing to keep her warm, she had to have nearly frozen. He could see now that she was shivering, though trying to hide it.
Hiccup pulled up beside her, and slightly lower. He scooted back in his saddle, and patted the space in front of him. “Come on,” he encouraged. “You’ll be warmer if you ride with me.”
He offered her a hand for balance as she climbed from Stormfly to Toothless. She easily sat in front of him, her feet dangling over Toothless’ shoulders. She leaned back against him, allowing him to put his arms around her to hold the saddle.
She gave a long, happy sigh. “Thanks,” she smiled. “This is a lot better.”
“I’m sorry I don’t have a fur or blanket you could use.”
“This works.” She giggled.
“Yeah, but not as well as a fur. It would-”
He giggling cut him off again.
“What?” he asked.
“Look down. It’s our lucky day.”
Hiccup glanced down, and though Toothless’ wing blocked most of his view, he caught sight of one of their emergency barrels. It was perched on a sea stack, only visible from the air. Inside there was bound to be a blanket of some form. He too chuckled at their luck, and landed on the small patch of ground.
Stormfly landed behind them, squawking. Hiccup quickly dismounted, opened the barrel, and pulled out the blanket. He made another mental note to restock it, and walked over to Stormfly, expecting Astrid to follow. He glanced back over his shoulder, finding her still seated on Toothless.
“Aren’t you going to ride Stormfly now?” he asked, confused.
She shrugged slightly, an impish grin on her face. “I like it here,” she told him simply. Her eyes glittered with mischief as he shrugged back and brought the blanket over to her.
She took it from him, a devilish smirk momentarily passing across her face. She swiftly delivered a solid punch to his shoulder as he tried to mount behind her.
“What was that for?!” he demanded, gingerly rubbing the spot where her fist had made contact.
“That was for leaving me all by myself and then sending Snotlout, of all people, to get me,” she replied smartly, crossing her arms and looking away with an indignant pose.
“First of all, I didn’t want to leave you all by yourself, and when you really think about it, I didn’t, because Stormfly was there. Second, I didn’t send Snotlout to get you. He just jumped in and left. If I had a say in the-”
Astrid suddenly grabbed the collar of his tunic and pulled him toward her, grabbing his lips with hers. He, as always, stood stiffly until she let him go.
“What was that for?” he whispered, staring at her as if he’d never laid eyes on her before.
“That was for everything else,” she whispered back, motioning for him to climb up behind her.
He did so, and quickly urged Toothless into the air. Astrid wrapped the blanket around her front, covering everything up to her shoulders. Hiccup kept his hands underneath the blanket as well, as the temperature was continually dropping.
The stars flickered above them, and the full moon cast shimmering rays down on the ocean. The night air was so silent, except for the sound of Toothless’ wings and the ocean waves below them.
“It’s beautiful out tonight,” Astrid commented, leaning back against Hiccup, resting her head on his shoulder. “The stars are so bright.”
“Mmm,” Hiccup agreed thoughtfully, “They aren’t the only beautiful thing out tonight.”
“Yeah, the moon is pretty spectacular too. I don’t remember the last time it was so big.”
“I was referring to you.”
Astrid giggled and blushed, her eyes dancing at his comment. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Hiccup smiled and pinched her leg, rather hard.
“Ow!” She hollered, turning in her seat to face him. “What was that for?”
“That was for scaring me,” he replied, leaning closer with a smirk.
“That’s my line.”
“Not anymore.”
She scowled at him, her eyebrows growing close. He could see the annoyance in her eyes. Healthy color had crept into her cheeks, and her lips were full and pink again. He had been so close to losing her today, and yet here she was. His smirk faded as he realized he could be flying home without her now; he could have burned her funeral ship.
He realized then that there was a chance he wouldn’t have her tomorrow. He could wake up, and she might be gone forever. He realized then that he didn’t have the rest of his life with her, he might only have today.
And overwhelming desire to kiss her rushed through him, and since he might not have the chance tomorrow, he did.
Astrid stiffened for just a second, shocked by his sudden move. She never expected her first real kiss to be on the back of a dragon, but that hardly mattered. This was the first time Hiccup had ever kissed her, and she wanted this moment to last forever.
She wanted to remember every piece of the wonderful moment. The way his arms pulled her close to him, the way he stole her breath away, the way blissful warmth spread all the way to her toes. She knew she would laugh in the future at the awkward way she was twisted around, but for now it was the best moment of her life. It was a gentle, fervent kiss, but not forceful. She could only glean from the action that he really meant “Kaerasta” when he said it.
Hiccup finally drew back, allowing her to take a breath. She loved the way his deep green eyes searched her, almost begging for her to say something. She could read nearly every sentence his eyes portrayed, but this one was just too complex to understand.
She knew she should say something, but she just wasn’t sure what, so she said the only thing that she could think off. “What was that for?” It was so soft; even she had difficulty hearing it.
Hiccup brought a hand up, cupping her cheek and tracing her face with his thumb. She loved the way she could feel the calluses on his fingers, and the gentle way he caressed her face. For a split second, she could have sworn that she saw tears in his eyes.
“That was because I might not have the chance again,” he whispered, his voice cracking softly. “I almost lost you today. I won’t risk losing you again without kissing you first.”
Astrid turned and snuggled back into him, leaning her head up against his temple. He pressed a gentle kiss on the top of her head as he urged Toothless on a little faster, realizing how late it had gotten.
“Thanks for everything,” Astrid whispered with a sigh “I wouldn’t have made it if it weren’t for you.”
“Yes, you would,” Hiccup answered, a slightly playful tone in his voice. “You would’ve just stood up and gotten the antidote for yourself. After all, you were completely fine, weren’t you?”
Both laughed, and Astrid blushed again at his teasing. He knew how much she would have liked them to believe that, and only he was allowed to tease her about it. “I really love you sometimes, you know that?” she told him with a laugh.
He placed his mouth right beside her ear, so that she was the only creature on earth who could hear what was spoken. In a gentle whisper of sincerity, he murmured: “I love you all the time, my Kaerasta.”