I'll Stay:
(A/N: This story takes place when the gang was 5)
"This is a really bad idea." Hiccup said as he and Fishlegs followed the group in the back.
"What, are you scared?" Snotlout teased. "Is Hiccup being a big baby? Wanna go home and cry to your daddy the chief?" Snotlout mocked. The Twins joined in laughing at Hiccup while Fishlegs and Astrid stayed quiet. They both didn't like the idea of always picking on him and sometimes pitied him, but even then it wasn't enough to stop it.
As the group continued to walk, Snotlout in the lead, they heard footsteps coming from the right. They all reacted by crouching to the floor and hushing themselves. Hearts racing fast, but no one wanted to say anything. They were too scared of getting caught and/or being the "next Hiccup" as Snotlout would put it.
Just then, they heard a twig snap. "W-who was that?" Fishlegs said in a hushed whispered but only received dirty looks and "Shhhh's!" from the gang.
"Who's there?!" A voice boomed. No one knew who it was, where it came from, but a huge black figure appeared. You could easily make the outline from the moon's light shining behind the large figure. It was fight or flight and everyone took flight. They all bolted back the way they came from.
Hiccup, who was behind everyone was in the lead, with Snotlout catching up right behind him as he was one of the faster kids. Astrid, was behind Snotlout and the Twins along with Fishlegs. Snotlout shoved Hiccup out of his way, making Hiccup stumble off balance and trip over a tree root that was sticking up from the ground. Hiccup tried to regain his balance but stumbled and fell into the nearby brush. Still terrified for his life, Hiccup tried to pull himself up but he was stuck. His foot was caught on something. Astrid who had witnessed Snotlout's encounter with Hiccup and Hiccup fall stopped right in her tracks in front of Hiccup.
She heard yelling from the kids behind her and she looked to the way they came from. She looked at Hiccup with a scared but determined look on her face. She contemplated helping Hiccup, or should she just help herself? It wasn't the first time she denied him any assistance, letting him get bullied and mocked but maybe today would be different. She didn't hate the boy, but she didn't like him that much either.
Confusion between her choices showed on her face. Hiccup who was still trying to pull himself free looked up at Astrid scared out of his mind and pleaded to her, "Astrid please, help! I'm stuck I can't .. I don't want to die." He said and she could've sworn she saw tears coming out of his eyes.
Feeling absolutely sorry for the boy she knelt down. "Hold still!" She hissed at him. She heard the rest of the kids running, almost to where they were. Astrid couldn't see a thing but noticed where Hiccup's boot was stuck. She reached her hand in the brush and tried to push the vegetation aside from Hiccup's foot but it didn't work. "Here .. " She said as she stood up. She reached for his hand and with all her might she pulled Hiccup as hard as she could, injuring Hiccup even more in the process.
Hiccup was freed from the bush but Astrid fell back and landed on her ankle, immobilizing her. The rest of the kids caught up by now and instead of helping just ran right past them. Even Fishlegs didn't stop to help. "HEY!" Yelled the dark silhouette who started to near the kids.
Astrid and Hiccup looked where the voice was coming and panic overwhelmed them. Hiccup picked Astrid up but being as he was so strong, and she was bigger than him, made it hard for him to help her. It was enough that the ground was uneven and his own leg was aching too from the scratches he received from the thorny bushes. They only made it a couple of steps before they fell over. "Hiccup just go!" Astrid yelled at him.
Hiccup looked back at where the voice was yelling at them and listened to the footsteps. He looked at Astrid with boldness in his eyes and simply stated a determined, "No." And he yanked her back up. The two didn't make it too far. "Astrid, I can't do this." Hiccup said, out of breath.
This was the first time Astrid was completely scared out of her mind. She wasn't going to let Hiccup get killed after she stopped to help him not get killed. But she couldn't move. "GO!" She yelled at him and pushed him away, letting him just barely, regain his balance.
He shook his head and went back to his friend and tried to help move her again. "I'm staying." He said determined. She was the only one who stopped to help him and he wasn't going to give up the easily. If she'd do the same for him, then he'd do the same for her. It was always like his father had told him, a chief protects his own. If he was going to inherit status, the might as well already start showing it. Neither of the two could stand without the others' support but both were too weak to help hold the other up. They tried to crawl their way but it just wasn't enough.
"HEY!" Yelled the voice and the shadowy figure appeared behind them. The two kids, terrified out of their minds and ready to just accept what they thought was their fate, looked at the shadowy figure.
The man looked to be very large with a full grown beard. He wore a viking helmet and carried a large axe in one hand as if he was about to strike. "Hiccup?! Astrid?!" The voice yelled, and the two kids were absolutely stunned. They knew the voice, but the pounding of their hearts from the adrenaline rush just made it hard for them to focus.
"What did I tell you about the forest?!" The voice yelled at them. Now that the two kids finally took the time to listen to the voice, they knew they were in trouble.
Stoick the Vast picked up Astrid and Hiccup and carried them out of the forest. When they arrived back in the town, you could see just how pale their faces were. They were still scared out of their minds but they didn't know what was worst. Getting in trouble by the chief, or the terrifying experience of almost dying. Stoick called Gobber to take Astrid home and he did.
Stoick took his own son home and laid him in his bed. Hiccup looked at his father. He was absolutely disappointed and mad, Hiccup could see it straight on. Hiccup winced and prepared to get yelled at but Stoick just sighed. "Get some rest. We will talk in the morning." Was all he said as he left Hiccup's room.
Hiccup was absolutely lost and confused. He let out a shaky breath as he tried to lay down and relax. The adrenaline was still pumping and his wounds were bandaged up but he didn't feel the pain yet. Hiccup looked up at the ceiling and move his gaze to his window. The moon was shining bright along with the stars. Through Hiccup's sight, he only counted about 7 stars and 1 large moon. That got Hiccup thinking.
It was interesting, to him, that even at the darkest hours, the moon and the stars are shining brightly. It made him think of Astrid and what she did for him that night. Hiccup's life wasn't the best. In fact, he didn't really like his life all that much, it was always so .. dark to him. But then one night, someone turned it all around. Astrid, stopped to help him when no one else did, even if it meant endangering herself for someone like .. well like Hiccup. He kept thinking about it and running it through his mind, trying to find a reason why. Why did she stop to save him? She never did before, no one has. This was a first.
That night, Hiccup decided his life was like the night sky from window. Everything good about his life, or what he thought was good about his life were represented by the amount of stars while everything else was darkness. But when Astrid helped him, that memory, that image, that picture; that was the moon shining bigger and brighter than the rest of the stars.
Hiccup smiled to himself and closed his eyes. Maybe not everyone is so bad after all, he thought to himself.
