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"He looked at the fields, and then his hands
All I need is what I have
Then fell a tear of happiness." - Endgame, Rise Against
Time, Hiccup just needs time.
He grips Inferno, the blade unignited. Just dull useless metal, reflecting nothing but the moon's light from above. He grips and he twists the handle, not daring to step forward or back, just breathing and waiting and watching.
He locks eyes with Astrid.
Her eyes will haunt him for the rest of his days. A dull, lifeless, blue that no longer glints with life, no familiarity in her gaze, no happiness that makes them light up brighter than the sky.
They are the eyes of a hunter. Cold, cruel, and unblinking. Locked on their quarry and waiting for the opportunity to pounce. Sizing up his strengths, determining his weaknesses.
Voices shout and metal rattles, clanging against stone and fists. Dragon roars fill the air with a din and a horrible screeching rises above all else.
Hiccup tracks the sound, high up above him, Cloudjumper tugs at the metal that traps them inside the fortress. It doesn't seem to be doing much and his heart drops into his stomach. It's a sickening feeling that only drives his guilt into a creature that shrieks in his ear relentlessly. This is your fault.
On every side of him, forming a wide circle, a curtain of chains cuts him off from the other riders, from everyone but, Astrid. He can hear his mom shout, his friends protest and toss insults at Grimmel, at the chains, at anyone who's listening. The man himself simply looks on, admiring his work, watching from behind the safety of the chains.
Hiccup shifts his grip once more, he has the horrible revelation that he's trapped in a kill ring, one of Grimmel's own twisted design. Only this is no dragon.
“Astrid?” He hopes beyond hope that he she can hear him. She says nothing, just stares as if awaiting commands. He eyes the collar around her throat, anger nipping at his mind and making him grind his teeth. He should have never come here. “What did you do to her?”
He turns his fury onto Grimmel, practically growling as he lunges to thrust Inferno through the gaps in the chain and straight into the man.
The hunter simply steps back, hands still clasped behind his back. He only smiles, a sick and twisted thing that chills Hiccup to his very core. It is the expression of a man who knows he's won.
Grimmel looks him in the eyes,
“Kill him.”
It's an order and Hiccup knows it's not for him. He spins, Inferno raised to block an axe that swings down on him mercilessly. The clang is deafening and the shock it sends down his arm forces him to give slightly and step back to brace himself.
“Astrid!” He's shouting, calling to her trying to get through. Her axe is locked in a standstill with his sword and she pushes down relentlessly, not letting up and if anything increasing the pressure.
His arms shake with the effort to block her and he realizes that she's suddenly much stronger, more ferocious, willing to use every ounce of her power against him. Hiccup drops low, twisting out of the way, pulling Inferno towards himself and allowing Astrid to fall forward with the sudden absence.
Her axe strikes the stone giving off a spark as the sharp edge collides with the solid surface. Astrid would never allow the edge to chip like that.
“Astrid, it's me!” Hiccup holds out his hand, swinging his sword off to the side, trying to appear unthreatening as if he's confronting a feral dragon.
He only receives a growl for his efforts and nearly loses his hand.
The blade glances off his armor, and Hiccup backpedals pulling the appendage close to him. For a moment, Astrid's side is left vulnerable from the sideways swing but, Hiccup only raises Inferno to defend himself. Astrid recovers, advancing on him with her weapon held aloft, ready to strike.
“I don't want to hurt you.” He takes another step backwards, dropping Inferno with a clatter and she follows. “Please, I know you're in there.”
His back is pressing into the chains now and he knows his only chance is to break Astrid out of the trance she's in. His eyes dart to the collar once more, the cruel contraption has several vials of purple liquid embedded in it. He looks to the axe as she lifts it over her head, the moon dancing on the blade for a moment.
He doesn't move, looking into her eyes. Eyes so dead with the Deathgripper venom running through her veins, making her obedient and the perfect killer. What better way, Hiccup thinks, for Grimmel to destroy everything he loves?
The axe begins it's arc downwards and he breaks eye contact with her, even when he wants to stare unflinching, to not turn away and see her face for the last time as he feels his bones crack and shatter. He can't stop himself from curling in, closing his eyes and raising his arms to avoid the blow. It's a primal instinct he cannot override.
“I love you.” It's nothing more than a whisper and if he is to die tonight, if he will never be able to say it again, then he wants them to be his last words.
There is silence and if not for his own harsh breathing he'd think himself dead and none the wiser.
“Hiccup?” The voice is so small, so unsure and so unlike its owner. Hiccup cracks open his eyes and sees Astrid looking confused, her axe hanging down by her side. Her eyes are beautiful and wonderfully bright once more, life returned to them.
He throws his arms around her, pulling her against his chest in an embrace so tight that he can hear their armor creak and crack in protest. A small sob of relief leaves him and he can't help the little hysterical laugh that mingles with it, “Oh gods, I thought-”
He breaths for a moment, just relishing in the sensation of her hair tickling the side of his face and her presence in his arms, “I thought I'd lost you.”
His limbs are shaking, a trail of tears rolling down his cheeks and he can't believe that he's still alive. He can't believe that he got her back. She returns the embrace finally and Hiccup sinks into it,
“I love-”
His words are cut off when cruel hands grab the back of his armor, yanking on the collar hard enough to dig it into his throat. He chokes and flails his arms for a moment, trying to bring them up to grab at his assailant. He can't see them and he tries to shove at Astrid and push her to safety but, she doesn't seem to budge.
“Ghn… As..tr...”
His world spins harshly, momentarily blinded by the dizziness that ensues he blinks rapidly, his temple throbbing from where it slammed with a sickening thunk against the stone. He turns onto his back and stares up at the spinning sky. His vision begins to settle, the swaying, vertigo inducing movement calming until the four figures above him merge into one.
It's Astrid's face and for a moment he smiles dumbly, not quite understanding what happened but, glad to see her nonetheless. He is thrust back into adrenaline induced awareness when a fist collides with his cheek, snapping his head sharply to the side.
Hands encircle his throat and he turns to face his assailant, bringing up his own hands to fend them off and bucking against the weight that pins him down.
He kicks at the ground harder, hearing his prosthetic as it scrapes harshly on the stone. It's a grating squeal that curdles his blood but, it's nothing compared to the ice that floods his veins and threatens to shatter his heart.
He claws at Astrid's wrists weakly, pleas and cries cut off by the vice on his neck. He can feel pressure build in his chest and behind his eyes as each gasp draws nothing into his lungs. It's painful and spreads like fire in his chest. His heart pounds louder than the shouts and cries that fill the air. It's all he can hear thudding faster and faster with each second, he digs his nails into her vambraces and they slip uselessly against the dragon scale.
Gray starts to fill his vision and the world gets violently quieter and quieter. He thrashes against it, reaching up and grabbing desperately at her face and her neck and her hair. He can't think past the need for air and he tugs and scratches at anything within reach. Hair rips from her scalp and skin gives beneath blunt nails leaving angry red trails.
He hooks something with his fingertips and he tugs with the last of his strength, his body craving for any kind of relief, for even just the tiniest breath of oxygen. Something gives with a tear and he yanks his fist pulling the thing to the ground with a satisfying shatter of glass.
Warm liquid splashes on his hand and something sharp slices his palm. His vision dips in and out of blackness as he looks to the side, seeing the leather of the collar gripped in his hand and the vials shattered around it. The venom coats his fingers in a sickly mess of reds and purples, mingling with his own blood.
He breaths, a desperate and greedy inhale that leaves him gasping for the next a moment later. He coughs, grabbing weakly for his own throat, he finds no hands there. Blinking weakly, he rolls his eyes for a moment searching for something. Each breath burns his throat like a brand but, it's so addicting to finally have air in his lungs he doesn't slow.
It's quiet and the night sky above is beginning to lighten, chasing away the stars and the moon.
Hands grabs his shoulders, a gentle touch as if afraid and he's propped up against something, or rather someone. Fingers dance across the rapidly forming bruises on his neck for a moment and he flinches with a soft cry of protest.
The fingers leave and he sighs, closing his eyes for a moment, relishing in the taste of the air and the rapidly dissipating fuzziness at the corners of his consciousness. Soft voices reach his ears, becoming louder with each heartbeat. He hears his name strung among the words and he slowly opens his eyes.
“... Hiccup?”
Astrid's face fills his vision and he can't help the frightened look that seizes his face and makes him raise his hand, trying to scramble backwards only to press further into the body behind him. Unmistakable hurt flits across her features, followed by a sideways glance and a frown as she stands and shuffles away. She looks at the ground, nasty lines of red litter her face and her neck, puncture wounds from the vials joining the scratches on her throat.
It's Hiccup's turn to feel guilty. He stamps down his fear and reaches for her, trying to get to his feet in the same instance. Helpful hands help him to stand and he walks to her, a hand coming up to grab the side of her chin.
She turns to face him, brows knitted and eyes downcast, he can't help but notice the tears that gather in them. “I… You're scared of me… I could've killed you.”
Hiccup grabs her hands in his own and pulls them to his chest, “Look at me.”
She does and her eyes are bright. A blue that rivals the color of the sky and never ceases to light up his life. There is no mistaking the life he sees there. He smiles, glad to see those eyes again, and she copies him, a small thing that tilts up the corner of her lips.
“The only thing I'm afraid of-” He presses his forehead to hers, closing his eyes, “-is losing you.”