Hiccup & Toothless' Fate

Chapter 9 - Failing to Find

Chapter 9

(Astrid)

I wake up stiff and cold just as the sky was lightening. The fire in front of me had completely died out – probably while Snotlout was on final watch. Sure enough, he's fast asleep next to Fishlegs.

I almost lay down again. My stomach was aching relentlessly; even more so than what I had become used to. My head swam, and the world took longer than it should have to right itself. Slowly straightening, I stepped over my snoring team and headed out into the sunshine. The storm had passed.

Sunlight glittered on the sea inside the harbour. The wind had completely died down, leaving bits of leaves and twigs strewn all over the beach and the smell of a new day in the air. Numerous tree limbs and pieces of driftwood had washed up onto land, littering the soggy wet sand all the way from the water's edge to the mouth of the cave. As I watched, the sun cleared the horizon, chasing all traces of night from every corner. With it came Fishlegs, rubbing his eyes and stretching.

"Morning, Astrid," he yawned. "Sleep well?"

"As much as you'd expect – windy, cold and raining as it was."

"Fair enough. Snotlout bailed on watch, I see?"

"Yeah. I've a good mind to make him find dry firewood in the sand for another fire."

Fishlegs snorted. "That should keep him busy for at least a day." He paused and looked at me seriously. "Are you okay, Astrid?"

"I'm fine," I snapped. I didn't meet his eyes.

Fishlegs sighed. "You know what I mean. Astrid, you continually give half of your rations to one of us." He gestured over his shoulders at the rest of the team. "They may not have noticed, but I've seen you get progressively more tired every day. You carry the weight of Berk on your shoulders right now; you're continually out looking for food outside our borders and never staying in one place. Whenever you see a person who suffers from lack of food, you feel responsible for them. It's not healthy and you're going to run yourself into the ground."

I blinked. I hadn't realised what I had been doing had become so obvious. Then again, Fishlegs had always been a very perspective person.

"Astrid, we can look out for ourselves," Fishlegs said softly. "How about you take a day off today and let us look for food." I opened my mouth to protest, but Fishlegs beat me to it. "I know, I know. You'll hate it, and you probably won't stay put for long. But just rest for at least a few hours, as well as have your whole ration." He frowned at me, probably the most serious expression I've ever seen him wear on his face. "Promise? You really need it."

I sighed, about to disagree. At that moment, however, my stomach gave off a loud grumble. Fishlegs raised an eyebrow. "Fine. I'll rest. But only for an hour!"

"Promise?"

"Promise."

xXx

(Hiccup)

I saw Astrid come out of the cave at dawn, with Fishlegs following her sometime later. Neither of them noticed the large, black-scaled shadow sitting above them while they chatted, able to overhear every word. Snotlout had been on watch duty - he was already snoring when we arrived.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut crawled out of the cave soon after. Both were shivering in the morning air but managed to find fun in punching each other harder and harder. Muttonheads. If they weren't careful about their volume (and they definitely weren't), a dragon of the Edge would find them – and probably attack, knowing many dragons' previous experience with humans – before Toothless and I could stop it.