Astrid's POV

I woke up to the faint sound of dragon roars.

I sat up in the bed, only to let out a pained growl as my skin stung where Scauld's men had whipped me.

I gritted my teeth as I dug my nails into the side of the bed, in an attempt to ease the burning sensation and the feeling of my own bones turning against me.

Another roar could be heard, but this time it was louder, and followed by a loud 'thud!' as the boat shook and I was thrown against the wall, the pain from my injuries increasing.

Loud yelling and splashing could be heard as the men aboard the ship rushed up to the deck, only to jump off the ship and possibly swim towards land.

A deeper roar rang through my ears as the boat shook once again, only this time water began pouring in under the doors.

I groaned as I tried to stand up, hoping that in some miraculous way I would be able to find a way out of my cell before the entire ship was filled with water.

I tried and tried, but nothing seemed to work. I took a deep breath as I accepted my fate, the water now at my waist.

I sighed as I made my way over to the bed, sitting down on it and waiting for the water to consume me.

As the water rose above my nose, I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the wall, preparing myself for death.

Wow, so this was how I was going to die, huh? No way of fighting back and no way of escaping. Growing up, I always thought I was going to die with my axe in hand as I was being attacked from all sides, Gods, how wrong was I?

A muffled 'thud!' could be heard as the water around me mysteriously grew warmer. And before I knew it, there was a hand around my waist as I was being pulled out of a hole made in the side of the ship.

A let out a series of violent coughs as we surfaced, coughing up all the water that had gotten into my lungs. I blinked before rubbing my eyes and looking up to see who had their arms wrapped around me.

I felt my heart leap with joy as I found myself gazing straight into the emerald green eyes of none other than Chief Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III himself.

I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck as I pulled him closer to me, beyond grateful that he had cared enough to save me. And to my surprise, the arms around me tightened their grip as well, making sure to close whatever space there had been left between the two of us.

And suddenly, I no longer felt the pain from the whipping, I no longer felt my lungs burn from swallowing so much saltwater and I didn't feel the cold as we hovered above the clouds, both eternally grateful that the other one was there.

"Hiccup" I croaked as I dug my nose deep into the crook of his net.

"Astrid, thank Thor you're alive! I was so worried" He told me as his hand caressed the back of my head.

"Hiccup, I'm so sorry, for everything" I said hoarsely as I pulled away from the hug to look at him.

"Don't be. We'll talk about this later, okay? Right now we have some enemies to defeat" Hiccup smiled as he let out a whistle.

At a moments notice, a familiar Nadder shot through the clouds. I grinned as Stormfly grabbed my hand and threw me onto her back, where my axe had already been strapped in.

I grabbed the axe and turned towards Hiccup with a playful smirk. "You ready to sink some more ships?"

Hiccup's POV

I found my gaze wandering over to Astrid several times as we blasted Scauld's ships.

Gods, was I happy to see her. I feared the worst when I blasted through the ship Scauld and kept her on and found her floating in a cell, but as soon as she opened her eyes, I felt invincible.

"Woohoo!" Astrid exclaimed, pumping her fist in the air as she and Stormfly sunk yet another ship.

A chuckle escaped me as I watched the duo, but when I noticed her wincing and placing her hand over her stomach, I furrowed my brows.

I shook my head as I was reminded of what I was really doing, looking for Scauld, who seemed to have vanished off the surface of the earth.

Toothless and I landed on the beach, my eyes scanning the battlefield as I slid off Toothless, inferno in my hand.

I glanced up at the village above and noticed that it was eerily empty. I was about to turn my head and help out my friends when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye.

It was Scauld, standing at the edge of a cliff, watching the battle beneath.

"Toothless, stay" I commanded the dragon, who growled in response, before I furrowed my brows and made my way up to Scauld.

Scauld let out a chuckle as I came up behind him. "Good, I was hoping you wouldn't bring the dragon"

I pointed my sword between his shoulder blades, a dangerous look in my eye as I watched him.

He spun around quickly, knocking my sword out of the way with his own. "Nice sword"

I narrowed my eyes at him as he lunged forward, attempting to stab me. I responded with stepping to the side and letting him stumble forwards as I pressed my blade against the exposed skin of his arm, burning him.

Scauld let out a loud groan as rage flashed through his eyes and he raised his arms to attack me. I seized the opportunity, and drove my sword right through his chest.

The older man moaned in pain as he fell to his knees. "You win, Hiccup Haddock, you win. Too bad that your little girlfriend won't"

My eyes widened as I threw myself over to the edge of the cliff, desperately looking for Astrid. But when my eyes landed on her, she seemed far away from losing against the men around her.

I furrowed my brows just as I felt a sharp pain ripping through my back and spreading to my chest. I glanced down at my chest and found the tip of a sword sticking out of it.

"There's one thing you always have to remember in a battle, Chief Hiccup" Scauld coughed. "Never turn your back to the enemy"

I choked on the blood that had risen to my throat as my knees began to wobble, before giving out and sending me falling off the cliff.

Astrid's POV

"Grrrah!" I exclaimed as my axe connected with the head of the man in front of me. I smirked as I watched the man fall to the ground, but furrowed my brows as I felt my stomach twist.

I glanced to the side, and saw Hiccup balancing on the edge of a cliff, the tip of a sword sticking out of his chest.

"Hiccup!" I screamed as I pushed past all the people that stood in my way, my eyes locked on the falling Chief.

Toothless must've heard my scream, because before I knew it, he had jumped onto a ledge and caught Hiccup, right before he hit the ground.

I let out a quick sigh of relief before running towards them and falling to the ground.

Scauld's men soon realized that they would not be able to beat the Berkians without their leader, and quickly retreated.

I threw my axe in the sand as Toothless opened his wings, revealing a bleeding Hiccup.

I felt my heart drop as the pain from the whipping returned, but this time stronger than ever.

"SOMEBODY GET GOTHI!" I heard Fishlegs scream as he and the rest of the Berkians made their way over to us.

"Hey, I'm here, Hiccup. I'm here" I whispered as I carefully pulled the sword out of Hiccup's back and placed his head in my lap.

"I'm so sorry about that night Hiccup, I was just so angry I couldn't even think straight..." I whispered to him as I brushed the hair out of his face. "Please Hiccup, I need you to stay here, with me, with Toothless"

The dragon growled sadly as he nudged Hiccup's hand with his head, but gained no response.

Gothi came running as fast as the little woman could. She took a quick glance at the wounded Chief before motioning for Gobber to pick him up.

I could do nothing but watch as the two of them ran up to the village, an unconscious Hiccup in their arms. Toothless let out a sad coo as he nudged my hand.

I immediately understood what he wanted as I mounted him and we flew up to the village, landing in front of the Haddock House.

We were about to barge in the front door, when Gobber opened it, arms crossed as he blocked the doorway.

"Gobber, please move, we have to see Hiccup" I told him sternly.

The blacksmith shook his head. "I don't think so, lass, Gothi's busy patchin' him up and can't be disturbed"

"But Gobber—"

"I said no, lass. I'm sorry, but you'll just have to wait" Gobber said as he slowly closed the door.

"Wait!" I exclaimed as I stopped the door. "Can you at least tell us if he's going to be okay?"

Gobber shook his head slowly. "There's no telling, but it isn't looking so good right now"

I nodded slowly as Toothless growled sadly at Gobber. To older man closed the door.

Toothless let out a pained cry. I patted his head. "I know, I know. I want to see him too"