Chapter 9

It was noon the next day. The teens had gathered in the living room of the Haddock house waiting for Hiccup to wake up. They were sitting around the fire pit chatting.

"What is it with Hiccup and explosions?" Tuffnut asked turning the tide of the conversation.

"I know. Does he want to go out with a big bang?" Ruffnut answered.

"Well, since he's worked in the forge every since he was little, he's good at working with fire and smoke." Fishlegs explained.

"Yeah, he's an excellent match." Snotlout snickered.

Astrid was sitting next to Toothless on the far side of the fire place. She held a steady gaze off into the corner of the other side of the room where the now two-time hero was lying in bed. She was too numb and depressed to care what the others were saying. Her thoughts were whirling, again. Her gaze shifted down to the floor. What had gone wrong? I should have gone with him. Stormfly could have taken care of the Outcasts by herself. The image of Hiccup held tightly in Alvin's arms as he ran down the docks flashed before her. "Just do it!" he yelled. Why? Did he know what he was doing? He would be exposed to all that Zippleback gas like Alvin. He would be in the midst of the explosion, like Alvin. He would get hurt….or killed. She lifted her head returning her gaze back to the boy in bed. Hiccup always had a way of getting us out of trouble, saving us; but put himself on the line to do so. Did he not know any better? After all, we had….her whole childhood flashed before her eyes. She could see herself witnessing the ridicule and mockery Hiccup had been given; always being criticized for his maladroit behavior and seen as abject. She had never joined in in disparaging the boy but never did anything to stop it either. With a sigh, she lowered her gaze to the floor. Her mind played the battle with the Red Death again. He'd rather expiate himself than others. Why?

Suddenly Toothless left his place next to hers and walked over to the side of the bed. The teens had all stopped to watch him. He leaned into Hiccup's face before quickly rearing back and quietly barked before returning his snout into his best friend's face.

oOo

Hiccup felt himself slowly enter consciousness. He felt sore. He could hear talking but couldn't decipher the words. He felt hot air on his cheek for a moment. Gradually he opened his eyes and saw the wooden beamed ceiling of his house; but before he could process it, there was a bark next to him. Slowly he turned his head to see two large radiating green eyes staring at him. "Hey, bud." The dragon nuzzled him excitedly. "Yeah, it's good to see….." To see… Hiccup continued to watch his dragon snuggle up next to him. Toothless was really there; a giant collection of black scales with a pair of glowing green eyes eagerly jumping all over him. He…he could see! Abruptly the dragon stopped and opened his mouth where a large, light pink tongue came forth. Oh no. Hiccup quickly shut his eyes and tried to used his arms in defense and brace for impact but it was too late; something slimy and wet was already lapping up the side of his face. Yep, that confirmed it, he had his sight back.

oOo

The teens watched Toothless by Hiccup's side. Then there was a voice. "Hey, bud. Yeah, it's good to see…." It stopped. The dragon suddenly stopped bouncing around the small boy and licked him; but what astonished them was Hiccup's reaction. He closed his eyes and braced himself. Did he actually…? Could he…? They each ran over shouting his name.

Hiccup sat up, dumbfounded at the sight of four teens at the foot of his bed excitedly calling him, asking him questions and rambling loquaciously about how much they enjoyed yesterday evening. There was Fishlegs, the twins- Ruffnut and Tuffnut- and Snotlout. Wait a minute, why was there a faint purple coloring around Snotlout's left eye? Last night? Nah, if it was just last night it wouldn't be faded. He quickly put the dots together of what Astrid had done after he ran away on Toothless a few days ago. A smile spread on his lips and his guests would never know what it really was for. Suddenly the door slammed loudly and his father was at his side in the blink of an eye.

"My boy, you okay?" Stoick, relieved to behold Hiccup sitting up and awake, reached out a hand onto the brown auburn head.

"Hey, Dad." Hiccup greeted as his hair was being ruffled.

It suddenly occurred to Stoick that his son had shut his eyes and braced for the touch. Did he really see it coming? Stoick stopped and looked down to Hiccup. His eyes were wide, green and happy lacking the cloudiness that they previously displayed. "Son?" He barely tried to restrain the hope and excitement rising in his chest.

"Yeah, Dad, I can see."

oOo

Astrid watched as all the teens were crowding around Hiccup, yammering away. He was awake, good. She stood up and walked out of the house; Stoick was on his way up. He stopped as soon as he saw her. His eyes widened, probably from fear and worry.

"He's up." She said and continued walking. This immediately concerned the chief causing him to wonder why she would be so depressed and walk away if his son was awake. He ran up to the house.

Astrid could hear the door slam. She walked towards the forest, her head down facing the ground; her eyes observing the dirt and grass rushing through her eyesight. Suddenly, there was a large brown root in front of her. She stopped and looked up; a large solitary pine tree stood beside her. She returned her attention towards the forest and simply patted the tree, remembering what happened almost a week ago. She continued forward, just walking through the forest. She had no idea where she was going nor did she really care; not paying attention to her surroundings. She didn't bring her axe with her; didn't feel like training. She just kept walking until her body subconsciously jumped pulling her out of her daze. Ahead of her was small tunnel. At the end of it was a large cove, thee cove. With a sigh, the blond Viking sat down overlooking the immensely sized nature nook. Her thoughts reeled to Hiccup. This was where she met him and Toothless. Her mind calculated for a moment the possible events that could have happened here between the two that she didn't know about but it quickly returned to the present. Hiccup was awake- that's nice. He could see-that's good….so why am I not happy? She should be happy after all this is what she wanted, right? She closed her eyes with a sigh and somehow fell asleep. It was about evening when Astrid awoke. She hadn't slept that well in a while. Noticing the change in the time, Astrid headed back to the village. Not many Vikings were out and about meaning they were all in the Great Hall for dinner. Upon entering, she was surprised to see such a pandemonium. It's usually never this busy unless…that was it- a celebration for Hiccup. Immediately she was able to spot him, standing amongst his father, Gobber and the rest of the teens. They were having a good time, laughing and smiling. She quickly grabbed a plate with a chicken drumstick on it and sat down at a table by herself.

oOo

Hiccup was having a good time. The village was throwing a party, for him; it was great, a nice get together but the one person who would make this a real party, was not here. With his newly regained eyesight, he couldn't wait to see Astrid; it was the first face he longed to see. Ironically, it's gonna be the last. He was in the middle of hearing a joke when something caught his eye; it was her, sitting over by the door all alone. The group around him erupted into laughter but he didn't care, he kept his eyes on her. Suddenly, her head turned upward and she faced him. Her face was lax, her lips in the awkward straight line, and the bright, big, beautiful blue eyes did not sparkle. The next moment she was up and briskly walked out the door. Hiccup's heart churned; something was wrong.

oOo

He looked at me. Something inside Astrid was giddy at the thought but it quickly dissolved at the realization that he might be coming after her. She walked away faster; he needed to stay, she had to go. Quickly entering her house, she ran upstairs to her room and curled up in bed. She reveled in the feeling of lying in bed and just resting. At that moment she realized why she was so lugubrious, she was exhausted; drained from everything she had been through in the past week. Guilt quickly sunk in for thinking about herself; the depressed emotion came anew. She turned over and tried to bury herself deeper into the covers eventually falling into a deep sleep.

She woke up late the next morning feeling refreshed; not as depressed as the night before but wasn't happy either. Noting that the window was open, she quickly came to the conclusion that Stormfly must've popped in and, unsuccessfully, tried to arouse her. Outside she could see that it was at least mid-morning considering the amount of Vikings bustling around.

By the time she had eaten breakfast (well, brunch) and completed her household chores it was early afternoon. Too late for dragon training. But then she began to wonder if there was any training today; after all Hiccup has only just regained his sight. Well, on the other hand, considering Hiccup, she should wonder why there wouldn't be dragon training today. However, the topic still made her ponder if the teens were concerned about her. Normally, if any of them didn't show up for dragon training, they would ask; yet no one came. She pushed the thoughts aside. No time to worry about that now.

Astrid grabbed a basket and headed toward the plaza; she had errands to run around town. In the center was a large gathering. Her interest perked, she stopped to listen but it didn't take long for her attention to switch somewhere else. Sticking out of the forge, a half red, half black tail was swishing back and forth. Astrid walked in and spotted him hovering over the table concentrating on something. He was busy on whatever he was working on focusing on that instead of….Astrid wasn't sure what she wanted to think next but she knew what she wanted to do.

Hiccup was intently focusing on his work. He stared down at his open notebook. If he wasn't jotting down ideas as to why Astrid would be depressed, he would be tweaking the sketch of her on the left side of the bind. Sighing, he turned his head slightly to glance toward his dragon who, for some reason, had enlarged excited pupils with an overjoyed smile. Before he could ponder the peculiar expression, he felt a hard impact on the back of his arm. "Ow!" he yelped. Instinctively, he clutched the wounded area and spun around to see none other fleeting away.

Astrid was running towards the woods again; it would be her only hope to escape; she figured Hiccup would be after her. If I was trying to avoid him, why did I go up and punch him?! She reprimanded herself and ran faster. Halfway there, her right arm was suddenly grabbed and she was hosted into the air. Glancing to her right, she could see a large black mass griping her arm. Knowing what was happening, she wouldn't scream; somehow she was used to being dragged through the atmosphere by only a limb. She knew what was coming; she would be abruptly dropped and confronted, again. She didn't feel like talking to Hiccup, her emotions couldn't handle it. The urge to run and hide was prevailing in her chest. Without warning, the dragon swooped down behind the chieftain house and released her to plummet to the ground below before itself alighted. She landed off balance and struggled to gain it; wailing her arms in the air as she wobbled back and forth. Suddenly she stopped. Turning her head to the side, she saw Hiccup supporting her with a goofy grin on his face. She dropped her arms down to her side; Hiccup releasing his grip in the process. Astrid walked away back toward the village. As expected, Hiccup was accompanying her so before he could stop and confront her, she started talking all the while avoiding eye contact.

"You really need to practice on where and how Toothless drops me. First up in a tree, then in front of the Red Death and now behind a house; what's next- on top a mountain? Oh, and you know everyone's deciding what to do with you. You downed a Night Fury, first ever to ride a dragon, defeated the biggest and most monstrous dragon ever seen and somehow live, end a generational war between Vikings and dragons, survive a lightning bolt to the head mind you, two explosions and somehow regain your sight. You defy death, which is remarkable but it causes us to wonder-"

"Astrid,"

She stopped, turned her head and looked at him. His eyes were clear and intensely green; wide and full of compassion. Instantly her heart softened.

"I want to thank you for all you've done: taking care of me, ensuring my safety, even punching Snotlout in the eye for retribution." He chuckled, her eyes widened in shock. "Being blind doesn't mean you can't see. I may not have seen it with my eyes but I know what you did for me. Thank you." He then embraced her. She was surprised, she normally made the gesture but this time he did. With a smile, she wrapped her arms around him. Instantly a flood of relief and joy swelled with in her. It was finally over; her nightmare had ended and with this affectionate caress, it had turned into a dream. Releasing each other, they smiled and, with Toothless in toe, walked back to the center or town hand in hand. The large group was now more rambunctious than before.

"What?!" a scratchy voice exclaimed from the center of the gathering. "Ye mean Hiccup was hit by the hammer of Thor?!" the mentioned hero and his companion sighed eyeing each other; one person was on their mind: Mildew. "What more proof do you need to convince yourselves to get rid of those blasted beasts?!"

I would like to thank all those who continually read my story, commented and supported me. Thank you all so much.

Update: The sequel is up and is called The Effect of Mjolnir.