Dragon's Heart ~ Hiccstrid

Chapter 4

"But.. Hiccup.." 

"Astrid. Look at me." Ruffnut held her by both shoulders and tried not to wince as another crack from the whips rang out, followed soon after by another cry from the one of the younger boys. 

"I am considered one of the dumbest of the dumb." She looked up and chuckled to herself,

"Well, except maybe for Tuffnut. But that's beside the point! Astrid, even I know how dangerous and stupid it is to go out there alone, with or without us and the dragons. It's best we leave and come back with a plan."

"But..  Ruff... You're my best friend besides Hiccup, you're supposed to have my back on this," Astrid pleaded, searching Ruff's gray eyes for any sign of empathy, yet only seeing the pain as a whip cracked yet again, ringing through the silence, followed by no noise.

"F..Fish?" Astrid turned to the usually more sympathetic boy, but was greeted with the same look in his eyes as Ruffnut's.

"Astrid, Hiccup is my best friend, and would do anything for me, but he'd never want to see me dead trying to save him." Fishlegs looked almost apologetic for a moment, then set his face like stone.

Astrid felt herself start to blank out again, her heart pounding and her vision going dark from the edges.

"But.. He.. He's in pain!" She sobbed frantically, realizing that they wouldn't give it up.

"Please... please.." She wept silently as the two hoisted her up, dragging her away to the dragons, leaving the cracks of the whips and pleading screams of pain behind.

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                                                     4 DAYS BEFORE

He pulled in a sharp breath of fresh air - finally, the cell had smelled bad enough with the bucket in there, - and set off down the island, through the dark forests, in the dead of the night. The ship loaders had retired from their work, sauntering and jeering as they headed off to their next posts. With the Inferno safely tucked in its usual position, Hiccup headed towards the beaches where he had last seen Toothless.

The beach was deserted and covered in filth when Hiccup arrived, varying from strips of fabric, to smashed barrels of miscellaneous foods. He took in a sharp breath as the sand he was walking on began to look burnt, and scuffled, as if something had happened there.

He trembled and dropped to a crouch, whispering softly,

"I'm so sorry bud. I failed you. I failed you and Astrid." He forced his eyes shut as he laid his head into his arms, falling back into the sand as he sat there, silently whispering to himself about how stupid he had been.

"If only I had stayed with Astrid, or if I had escaped before you were taken, or," he paused to take a breath, "maybe, maybe..." His gaze wandered around the abandoned beach again before he snapped himself back.

"Oh, I don't know! Ugh! I'm so stupid, I - I should have just... Ugh!" He brought his fists down onto the sand, frustrated and unable to think straight. Taking fistfuls of sand, he let them sift through each other before drifting away, whispering and disappearing into the sand around it.

"Oh Toothless." Hiccup's forest eyes filled with sorrow as he sat back once more onto the burnt sand. "I'm sorry. There was nothing I could have done, and right now I'm not sure there's anything I can do anymore." He sighed and brought his gaze up, looking out onto the dark waters of the ocean.

"But I can try."

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The guards rounded the corner, giving Hiccup just enough time to jump behind the next wall just before the next shift came by, chatting animatedly with slurred voices, most likely drunk. Hiccup muttered to himself as the guards stopped right by the place he was hiding, in dismay,