Run and Hide

Chapter 22: Could It Be?

Chapter 22: Could It Be?

Astrid

I sat there; we all sat there and listened to every word that he had to say. The more he spoke the more I could feel my heart being ripped in two. There was so much running through my brain, so many emotions running wild through my body that I didn't know how to react. He called them his family for all those years and they never even treated him as such. Viggo and Ryker being classed as his brothers but there was no connection between them just hate and anger so he put up with it not understanding why it was happening. Aryan and Ashley whoever they were tried helping and then they suffered the consequences just like Hiccup did in the future, but I mean who wouldn't want to get out of there. I would have done exactly what Hiccup had done but the fact that they beat him for no reason, or just for the pure fun was indescribable, who would do such a thing? Oh wait, Viggo would. I could see the pain that rushed its way round Hiccup as he explained it all to us, the cracks in his voice whenever it got to a part he couldn't bear. He would choke on his own words because he blamed himself for all the terrible stuff that came his way, which came to his friend's way – Aryan, Ashley and Toothless I mean.

My eyes wandered to the others and you could see the emotional look in their eyes and their body language was slowly curling up from the sad feeling they were craving inside. Most of us you could tell had tears in our eyes – even Snotlout though he wouldn't admit it – and by the time Hiccup finished we all just sat there in complete silence. The only sound filling the air was everyone's heavy breathing. Hiccup had his head lowered, possibly feeling shame as he handed the Dragon Eye in my hand after we left it here in the room. But I pushed it away from me; I placed it on the side table next to his bed and instead pulled him against me. "Hiccup...I am so sorry," Soon I felt his weight collapse into my lightly, his head rested into my shoulder and I could feel that his head was buried as he wrapped his own arms around me. The weight on our bodies suddenly got heavier as I looked up to notice everyone else had joined in the hug as well. Wow, everyone in this group does actually have feelings, who would know that? "Hiccup, none of that was your fault, you can't blame yourself for all that, you had no idea," Heather spoke up from the group and I could tell that she swallowed the tears which kept blocking her throat from talking.

"How is it not my fault? Aryan and Ashley lost a child because of me; Ashley wanted to risk the life of her child so Viggo and Ryker couldn't have me and then Toothless...Toothless lost half of his tail because I tried escaping with him-," Suddenly his was cut off by the sound of Tuffnut's voice "And you lost your left leg, you can't forget that," everyone pulled away from each other at that point, all our heads turning to look at Tuff with a glare upon our faces, except for Hiccup, he looked completely defeated. From our expressions Tuff commented "What I thought we were playing the why it's not my fault game?" I shook my head at him "Tuff this isn't a game, its reality, this all actually happened to him, don't use it as a joke," I told him as calm as I possibly could be. He nodded at me surprisingly and apologised to Hiccup for causing it to be so. Though he shook it off saying that he was right, but he had to understand that it wasn't right. "Hiccup, everything you did was to survive, everything you did was to protect the ones who cared for you there and all you wanted to do was to be free and anyone else who would in that position would have done the exact same thing as you did. And guess what, you did survive."

He raised his head to look at me as I spoke these words; I looked into his crystallized stained green eyes as he looked back me taking in everything that I mentioned. "You survived Hiccup, most people would never have been able to get through the amount of pain that you went through, but you did. You're not alone anymore Hiccup, you were never alone but this time it's for definite, you have friends, here and we'll always be here for you. You won't go back there; they'll have to go through me if they want you back." A smile slowly appeared on his lips, "Me too!" Fishlegs stood up and said, followed by everyone else in the room, "See, you're not alone." His smile widened as he shared it between us all while we exchanged one back "We'll leave you to rest," I nodded at him just as we all started to leave. I watched Toothless wandered over towards him resting next to Hiccup; a smile brightened on my face as I watched him hold close against his friend and close his eyes.

I followed the others into the clubhouse and automatically there was that sad presence among us all and we didn't know what to say for once. Especially the twins and Snotlout; "You guys didn't notice anything odd about that story...did you?" I asked them as they all looked towards me. Some even raised their eyebrows confused to why I would asking such a question, I mean who wouldn't right? "Astrid what could you possibly find odd about that story? What don't you think it's true, you think he's lying?" Snotlout piped up and started smart mouthing me. "What no I didn't say that, I do believe him, I believe every single word that he said otherwise I wouldn't have said all that stuff to him. I mean doesn't it remind you of someone?" they all shared glances with each, sharing their confusion trying to decide what I could possibly be on about, except from Heather. "Astrid stop it, I know how much you want him back but there is no way. You believed that so why don't you believe it now!" I shook my head at her, arguing with what could actually be real, "Heather put the pieces together, his left foot is missing, he lived in the Grimborn compound and then invaders kept going at them but suddenly it completely stopped the moment his leg was taken away from him, it all fits just the opposite way round."

Still she was shaking her head at me, but it was getting slower with every word I would say and that's when everyone started to catch on to what we were discussing. "Wait you think?" Ruff stopped what she was saying, thinking that she could be wrong, or just didn't want to say it at all. "Yes Ruff...what if our best friend was still alive, what if Hiccup, is the boy who was taken 14 years ago?"