Welcome back everyone... Merry Christmas! Got a brand-spankin' new computer so it's easier to write and edit and post. Review responses and some other notes at the end if you have any interest in reading.

The sharp clang of two swords dueling brought a smile to my face.

Hiccup rounded me, taking a swipe with his weapon down to my shins. I jumped, avoiding it, and hit him in the back with the butt of my sword, sending him stumbling to the ground.

"In this edition of 'Hiccup eats grass'," I jabbed playfully.

He pushed himself up and met my sword in the middle. He tried to kick my feet out from under me, but I side-stepped and kicked his middle. He recovered quickly, sword clashing against mine, swinging it and throwing it out of my grasp.

I sucked in a breath and pawed uselessly for the sword lying in the grass some feet away from me as Hiccup pointed his blade at my middle.

"I win?" he smirked.

My ears burned as I realized what he has done. I had no weapon and no way out. We were no strangers to the art of dueling, but I beat him every time. I refused to lose. Defeat, at the hands of Hiccup, sent my stomach into a fit of twists.

I ducked under his blade, sweeping his feet out from under him and twisting his wrist to drop the sword. Within two seconds, he was on his back, on the ground, staring helplessly unarmed as I pressed the tip of his own blade into the front of his armor.

"I didn't think so." I grinned through my teeth as he rolled his eyes. He held out a hand and I hoisted him to his feet, handing him his sword back.

"Swordplay was never my strong suit," reasoned Hiccup as I bent over to pick up my own weapon. "I'm great with a bow and arrows." He wrapped his arm around my waist as we walked through the open field, passing by hybrids training with all different kinds of weapons.

"You're just making excuses," I said. "I'm better, and we both know it."

Hiccup pressed his lips together, thinking for a moment, before sighing at me, agreeing.

We observed techniques, adding some comments here and there, to the people training in the field. After we had sent out the video of Hiccup's truths to the world, we immediately started training the hybrids in the camp for battle. Smaller villages that were posted deep in the woods had sent able-bodied men and women over to train with us, under our command. With the help of Snotlout and Fishlegs and those two stupid castle guards that I had encountered in the previous weeks, it was shaping up to be a hotspot filled with readied warriors.

We needed to be ready for everything. We didn't know how the government was going to respond to our message, and we were, admittedly, afraid. We were prepared to do whatever was necessary to gain rights and freedoms to these people, but as we were unsure what it would take, we were nervous.

The castle was silent. Not so much as a peep had come from the king or his council. The media was booming- people were up in outrage, wondering what it all meant. The slight majority of the population had believed Hiccup's accusations, thankfully. Around a hundred or so other hybrids had confessed their identities after his message, further strengthening our support. They were mostly common people, with the exception of a star celebrity, two Olympic athletes, and the billionaire CEO of a successful company, plus more. Berk was now looking for a response from the castle, and with their lack of one, people were unsure of what to think.

"Lord Haddock! Lord Haddock!" cried a voice from the side of a clearing, drawing a lot of attention. Hiccup's grip tightened on my side as he cast his attention to the man running toward us, waving a sheet of paper.

"There's news," the large hybrid soldier said, out of breath from his brief run, bending over with his hands on his knees and panting. "Lord Ingerman transmitted it from the main system. It was found in the media source that's most directly in-touch with the castle and it's officials."

Hiccup thanked him and took the paper, straightening it out and reading the heading. I stood on my toes so I could see what was written in bold letters.

HADDOCK HAVOC: WHO IS KING ANYMORE? LOCAL SOURCES SAY KING STOICK ISN'T AS POWERFUL AS HE ONCE WAS.

It is believed that it is truly the council of the king that holds the most power in this country. Has Stoick gone weak? Why is he no longer in control? Answers inside!

Hiccup crumpled up the paper and clenched his teeth. "That coward," he growled. "He can't even stand up for himself anymore."

The next few days all happened in the same way. It consisted of us waiting for any sign or response from the castle, training the villagers, and Hiccup teaching me how to maneuver better on Stormfly. Other than that, there wasn't much else to do. Hiccup and I liked to sit on the roof of the building (climbing up from a ladder we found in next to a janitor's closet) and watch the stars at night.

My shoulder was healing wonderfully, and I barely felt a pinch when I moved it in an awkward way. I was almost able to string a bow again.

He was massaging it with ointment to keep the infection from coming back. The cool oils felt wonderful on my warm skin, with his delicate fingers pressing with perfect pressure on the spot.

We sat on our spot on the top of the building, sneaking up loads of pillows to stretch out on as we brought a basket of pastries from the kitchens (gifts from the cooks, of course. Those wonderful ladies).

As Hiccup's hand worked on smoothing my shoulder, he buried his face in the back in the crook of my neck. The breath coming out of his nose and his lips were hot on my skin. I leaned back, enjoying this moment between us.

"I love you," he murmured into my shoulder. "A lot."

I hummed as I pressed my lips together. "Thank you."

He nuzzled up further to my neck and the side of my jaw. "For what?"

I smiled as he wrapped his long arms around my torso, squeezing me comfortably. "For loving me."

He smiled into my skin. "Always."

It was a perfect moment in time that I wished I could pause and live in forever. But alas, that would not be so as I realized later that night.

When asleep in our room, snuggled tight in the quilts draped over us, I heard footsteps. It wasn't strange, for we'd been asleep a few hours and Hiccup often awoke in the middle of the night, sometimes grabbing a cup of water, so I didn't think about it much and I didn't open my eyes.

I took the opportunity to spread out on the mattress, feeling the stretch from the tips of my fingers, snaking down to my toes. As I lay flat again, I noticed one thing that wasn't right. I took my fingers and traced next to me, where he had been laying. I pressed my palms against the mattress, feeling around more.

It wasn't warm. Hiccup's part of the bed was always warm, he never left for that long. I pawed at the material longer, quickly finding a spot that was much too warm, the same time my ears caught the sound of shuffling of more than one pair of feet.

Nervous, I slowly opened my eyes and let them adjust, focused on my hand. What was that feeling? It was hard to recognize at this hour. I focused on my hand, and soon realized it was wet.

The moonlight through the curtainless window made the bit of blood on my hand look black. My eyes widened when I realized it was quite fresh, and the shuffling got louder. A quiet grunt made me whip around.

Three men standing by the window, behind where I was previously facing. They were eerily quiet, two larger ones standing around a thinner one, in which I realized was Hiccup. His mouth was stuffed with a rag and taped shut, his eyes were droopy and dazed. Blood was dripping out of both his nose and on a gash on the side of his head.

I sprang up, almost unbalanced because of the sudden movement and the sudden awakening, and called out to them.

"Did you forget about me?" I challenged, causing the two to stop.

One of the bigger men's mouths crept into a grin that made my gut feel uneasy. "Don't worry darling, we were waiting like gentlemen for you to wake. It took you longer than we'd expected, given we took your beast here and have him tied up like a caged animal."

Both of them gave an evil chuckle. The one who hadn't spoken yet threw back his head with a laugh and delivered a swift kick to Hiccup's middle. The hybrid doubled over in pain, but too weak to give much more of a reaction.

"What do you want?" I demanded fiercely. "Let go of him!"

"Sorry, ma'am, against orders," the one who kicked said smugly. "No can do."

I felt stupid just standing there, talking, as these giant men beat my man to a bloody pulp. But was else was I to do? These guys had to be twice my size, I couldn't take them. I was still groggy, it was dark, and I didn't want them to beat Hiccup anymore. I needed some time to recover from the stark wakeup and set my mind to work.

"Orders?" My mind was reeling. "Wait… orders from who?"

Word has been out that Stoick wasn't speaking to any press and only let his secret cabinet near him. Valka had been missing for days, without notice from anywhere. To me, it seemed unlikely that Stoick would send people to, I suppose, weaken, and possibly, his son. He seemed too unstable.

"The Chief," was all was said.

That was definitely not Stoick's title.

A sudden alarm went off throughout the building. It was piercing and surprising and deafening. It screamed in my ears and knocked my skull, almost making me fall over. The men felt it, too, and hissed as the pressed their hands to their ears.

The red light near the door blinked. It swirled around the room, making it harder to see the situation that was playing out in front of me. Adding to the chaos. Shouts, screams, and footsteps down the hall grew increasingly louder. These hybrids- they were running from something.

One of the men threw open the window, grabbing a hold of the rope they had secured. It was a multiple story drop, no doubt it was extremely dangerous, and slung Hiccup over his shoulder. Hiccup was pale and unconscious at this point, his eyes finally shutting close. I let out a scream and threw myself toward him, but the other big bloke shoved me out of the way. I reached for him, just now realizing I was crying.

A sharp sudden pain struck the back of my head and I was gone.

A dull beep.

Another one. Again. Again. Again.

A pounding in my head. It hurt so bad, it started in the back of my skull, near my neck, and pulsed up my scalp and to my eyes and felt it in my teeth. It was hard to breathe, and it was cold. So, so cold.

The air was damp. I tried to inhale deeply, but sudden and immediate pain caused me to cease. I let out a shuddering breath and tried to open my eyes. Pain was felt at any movement in my body, so I slowly blinked them open, unsure of what was to come.

Not much to my surprise, a few seconds later, my eyes were open but I wasn't seeing anything. It was completely black. I liked to pride myself on being fearless, but as I kept consistently finding out about myself I was very much not.

Seeing Hiccup like that night scared me. Or had it been a previous night? I had no idea how to tell how long I had been knocked out.

These men scared me. The idea of Stoick, though how awful he had been to us, being out of power scared me. I knew whoever replaced him would be much worse.

This place scared me. It was so void of color, so full of nothing, that all I could see was Hiccup. All I could see were his nearly-lifeless eyes and his bloody head.

There was so much blood.

I suddenly felt pathetic. I was sitting here, wallowing in my pain, when he needed me. I needed to be better for him, he who couldn't help himself.

I'm Astrid Hofferson, I thought to myself. Hiccup needs me. I can do this on my own. I'm Astrid Hofferson.

Despite the obvious protests from my body, I persisted in lifting my body. I felt triumphant for a brief moment, soon realizing that I was strapped down, and restrained.

I couldn't help him.

I couldn't save him.

I couldn't help it when I burst into tears. I could hardly move, every movement causing me pain. I couldn't escape, I was strapped to this rough surface. I was cold and had trouble breathing. I felt tears run down my face, drool drip down my mouth, and snot dribble down my nose and run down the side of my cheek (as I couldn't move to wipe or adjust).

I sobbed. Huge, loud sobs that racked my body. I was all I could hear. The ugly gasps that emitted from my mouth, the dripping of tears onto the metal surface beneath me. I was terrified and alone.

Two things, no matter how rough my life had been, I had hardly ever felt before I had entered the Selection.

Paired with overthinking and anxiety, exhaustion and pain dulled me into an uneasy sleep. The deafening silence and lack of anything to see was driving me crazy, so I squeezed my eyes shut and breathed loudly, as to give something for me to put some concentration to.

What felt like hours later, I heard a slight shuffling. I waited, breath stilling, as I waited for it to happen again. When it did, a rush of adrenaline shot from the top of my head down to the bottoms of my feet.

"Who's there?" I wanted to call out in a strong voice, but it only came out as a hoarse whimper.

Shuffling evolved into stronger footsteps, and I tried to shrink further down, anything to get away from any unwanted intruders.

Sudden contact with my forehead made me flinch. My breath shook as a large finger trailed my forehead down my cheek, stopping at my chin as the figure walked alongside my bed. There was limited light in the room at this point, so I could make out the looming figure that was this man.

"What the hell do you want from me?" I growled lowly.

A match was struck and a candle was lit. I could see the scar-ridden face of this terrible man. His black hair knotted into dreadlocks atop his head, as well as sprouting from his chin. His eyes were evil and frightened me when he bent further down with a snarling, wicked grin.

"Fear."

I don't remember much of what happened. I screamed a lot. A lot. My throat was raw and sore and my head pounded painfully. I thrashed and kicked and shook. He didn't violate me, but I was so out of it, I didn't know what was happening.

I am Drago, he had said. I killed Stoick. I killed Hiccup. I'm going to kill you.

He, fortunately enough, didn't end up killing me. He had said something else, and for a long time, too. His sentences drawled on and his eyes grew angrier, and he ended up pulling a knife on me. He kept asking me questions, but I was screaming and I couldn't hear anything else. I could hardly hear at all. I was slashed a few times, and I felt brief, hot pain. Once across my face. Once on my shoulder. Once on my arm.

He left and I was still on the metal table, stomach shouting for food, throat screaming for water, and my limbs begging for relief. It was when the door opened again, shuffling ensuing, when I started screaming and thrashing again.

Voices had to calm me down, coaxing me down. Familiar voices. Friendly voices.

"Astrid!" cried Ruffnut. "We're here, calm down!"

Hearing Ruffnut's voice stilled me. I then heard Tuffnut's, then Fishlegs's. A knife cut through the thick restraints, freeing my body. I fell off the table, Fishlegs barely catching me. My legs were weak, but I insisted on walking.

"What… happened? Where's Hiccup?" I questioned immediately as I was stable and leaning on the large hybrid. "He said he killed him! And Stoick! Are they dead?"

"Your face!" Fishlegs gasped. I brushed my fingers and felt hot blood coming from the slash. I didn't feel anything, though, so I merely shook my head and let him speak. "The camp was raided," he continued, and I nearly cried out. "Luckily, though, with all of our training, we defeated them! It wasn't until after we realized you two had been taken, though. We found you quickly, they wanted you just as a mental game for Hiccup. We don't know where he is. We can assure you, he was fibbing about them being dead. Both are certainly alive."

I stumbled. Though I was somewhat relieved he was alive, my brain still went haywire. This was all for Hiccup. My pain was used to cause him more pain. I lifted my head up and tried to resist the hot searing sensation throughout each inch of my body. I had to be strong, so he could be strong. They couldn't break me.

"Who… who is they?" I still believed it could not have been Stoick to have done this. I didn't feel it in my heart.

"Drago, Bludvist? I believe?" The giant blond knit his eyebrows together in thought. "Correct me if I'm completely wrong, but I believe he was Stoick's opposer on the Council. His most frequent debater and challenger. Stoick kept him on, though, so he'd have the views from all different kinds of people in the country."

"What's our plan? Where's Stoick? Where's Hiccup?" I pressed as they helped me up a winding stone staircase.

"Stoick- we don't know. Sources have been telling us that Drago has been using Stoick as his puppet this whole time. I don't believe that's entirely true, but it's what has been going around. We think Hiccup is in the castle somewhere, though we are not sure. We are going to defeat him, Drago, we know that for sure. More uprisings have arisen than ever, in this short amount of time. Hybrids have gathered in the masses." Fishlegs fished his hand to the pocket of his trousers, pulling out a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it cautiously, careful not to rip or tear any part of it.

On the front were the figures of me and Hiccup. A drawing, obviously, incredibly realistic for something that looked like a quick sketch. We stood tall and we looked angry, our eyes narrowed, hands intertwined, and weapons in our free hands.

REBEL, the giant word underneath read, calling people to take action. Some writing below that was written as well, detailing on how we were captured and that the government was being taken over. I looked at my face, strong and determined, and I felt inspired. I guess it sounded cheesy, perhaps, maybe even narcissistic, being inspired by myself- but it didn't feel like me. That wasn't me on the front. That was hybrid-ally-warrior Astrid. The face of a new rebellion.

To me, though, I was just Astrid. A poor girl that lived in a shack and wore rags.

"People are angry," Fishlegs continued. "We've had an influx of camp recruitments, along with numbers in new militias and standing battle groups. More than half the country is turning on the king. Er, rather, this Drago guy."

I shook my head, pausing in my slow incline up the stairs. "Wait, wait, when did this all happen? How long have I been here?"

Fishlegs sighed. "Three days. It's not a lot, but the rebellion is spreading like wildfire. With the amount of Berkians joining the movement and the number of people leaving their positions in the royal military and the castle jobs, we're starting to expect victory."

"Three days?" I shrieked.

"Hey, sister, we sent out troops looking after you within an hour after the battle at the camp ending," Tuffnut retorted. "We've been searching for you non-stop."

We reached the door and Ruffnut peered out the small opening, ushering us through the door she opened. It was dark and cold out, colder than how the weather usually was on the west coast, the wind biting into my bare skin. I soon realized one of the reasons I was cold was because I was practically dressed in a burlap sack. The rags I was dressed in came only to my biceps. Tough they were made out of thick material, they were scratchy and hung off of my body. The pants cut off mid-calf, making me look altogether a terrible mess.

As they lead me through the door, they turned me to the left. There I saw a mass of people spread out along the hills of the castle grounds, armed with weapons, shields, and leather armor. Some wore helmets, some even dawned entire metal knight's armor, while some were stanced with only a staff and the rags on their back.

"What's this?" was all I could say, rendered speechless by what had to be thousands of people before me.

"This," Fishlegs said, sweeping his hand to gesture at the dark figures. "Is our plan. This is our army."

It took me literally two days to write most of this, but like, 2 months to actually start writing and to get the motivation to think about what to write. Sorryyyy.

But we're almost done! Yay.

Please don't judge my skills thus far. This is nearly unedited, and something to get through. If you can't tell, I'm getting tired. U_u But of course, I'm going to finish out for all of u. Hearts! 3

Don't expect the next chapter to take as long, but don't be expecting anything awful soon!

Review Responses:

DeathBerryHime- I have never heard of the Red Queen before! Is it similar to the Selection? Sounds interesting! I did use the Selection as my original inspiration but added my own odd twist to it. Thank you for reviewing :-)

Insanity Studios Ink- if that ain't me i don't know what is

Theskrillrider- thank you *heart*

Kaylee- Thank you! How kind. I find it funny, I originally started writing this story (granted… in middle school a long time ago, not college xD) to procrastinate papers. I appreciate it :-)

twilight sparkle- thank u thank y! We shall see about the ending… dun dun dun… mwahahaha

Guest- honestly same tbh

BrawlerGamer- Aw, thanks! Yeah, Stoick is just tryna do the right thing for the people, little does he know, it's not working so well. I totally agree with that, too, that they don't deserve to rule. Bro can't make up his mind, now we got this to deal with smh.

JasmineDragon22- ahh sorry for taking so long! Not gonna lie, I had to go back and reread the end of the last chapter to find out where I left off… haha.

gigidragons85- thank you, and I'm fine! Sorry i had you worried there. Always love your input :-)

Review/comment, encouragement and positivity are what helps me write more!