Once we arrived back at Berk, our dragons landed in the main square, which was only slightly brightened by the dim candlelight coming from a few windows.
The other riders were waiting impatiently for us. At first they didn't notice anything different, but then Ruffnut was the first to see that Eret wasn't with us. She fell down to her knees when I told her what had happened.
“Are you absolutely one hundred percent sure he's a traitor?” she kept asking, as Snotlout and Fishlegs tried to comfort her as best they could. They were sitting on either side of her, both with an arm round her shoulders, partly fighting about who could make her feel better first. But Ruffnut wasn't noticing either of them.
“It was hard to see, but from what was visible, he looked conscious,” I said as gently as I could, as Ruffnut was completely distressed.
“But he was so perfect!!” she practically wailed, nearly waking up everyone around us.
Suddenly, a different voice was heard, and Gobber came running up to us in a lopsided way because of his wooden leg. He must have figured out we were back from all the noise Ruffnut was making. I noticed that his face expressed some sort of fear, and that made me wonder what had happened since we were gone.
“Hiccup!” he puffed, as he stopped for breath. “Astrid needs you! NOW!”
My heart felt like it skipped a beat, and without another word needing to be said, I started running towards the house, completely forgetting that there was a Night Fury just next to me. I shoved the door open with my elbow and ran up the stairs, nearly falling over in the process. Once I reached the top, I flung open the door and practically fell in the room.
There was Astrid, her face flushed, beads of sweat forming on her forehead, with the lower half of her body covered by a blanket. She was breathing quickly and heavily and her eyes were closed firmly shut.
“Astrid!” I immediately rushed to her side and grabbed her hand. It was burning hot and her palm was moist from sweat. She opened her eyes and looked at me. For a while she said nothing, and then, to my surprise, she said something I never thought I'd hear the fearsome Astrid Hofferson say.
“I'm scared.”
I kissed her hand gently and squeezed it reassuringly. “You're gonna be fine,” I said, looking her straight in the eyes, even though I hadn't the faintest idea of what childbirth was like. “You're a warrior, a fighter, and that's what our baby's going to be, too.”
“But it's coming earlier than unexpected,” she practically choked, tears of worry stinging her voice. “What if something goes wrong? What if the baby doesn't make it? What if I don't make it? What if-”
“No, Astrid, no what-ifs.” I kissed her hand again and brushed her fringe behind her ear. “Everything is gonna be fine, you'll see.”
Just at that moment, Mom walked in, followed by Gobber, who still looked out of breath. “What's happening?” she asked, but when she saw the state Astrid was in, she didn't need an answer. She walked quickly but calmly to the other side of the bed, and took hold of Astrid's other hand.
“Listen to me,” she said softly. “I was just as worried as you are now when I was pregnant with Hiccup. He came early too, you know. But he still made it, and so did I. You just have to keep breathing steadily, and keep being strong, like you always are. Nothing is going to go wrong, you'll see.”
Glad that someone who had gone through the same situation as she was going through right now had reassured her, Astrid closed her eyes and breathed, and ever so slowly, her breathing slowed down and went back to a normal pace. I sighed with relief as I noticed this.
Suddenly, I felt a soft tapping on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Gothi, who was motioning towards the door with her staff.
“Gothi says it's best if you leave now,” said Gobber as delicately as he could, as being delicate wasn't his best skill.
“No, I'm not leaving her!” I said determinedly, gripping Astrid's hand as if she was going to disappear. “Not now, not ever!”
“Hiccup,” said Mom in a firm voice. “She's in safe hands. You know that.”
I sighed. Mom was right, Astrid was in safe hands. So, after one last kiss on her hand, I left the room and reluctantly headed outside with Gobber. Every two seconds I turned around, not wanting to look away for too long, as I had never wanted to leave the room in the first place.
The rest of the gang were sitting in a circle, their dragons next to them. They looked up when they saw me.
“So?” asked Tuffnut.
“The baby's coming,” I replied, sitting down next to Toothless and leaning against his wing. “Mom and Gothi are in there with her.”
“Where are you gonna sleep if they have the bedroom?” asked Snotlout. I looked up at the sky and noticed that there were at least another three hours until the sun came up.
“Out here, I guess. I don't want to disturb them, but I don't want to leave them, either. Toothless'll make sure I don't get drenched if it rains, right, bud?” Toothless simply gave a toothy grin, lay his head down on the grass and wrapped his tail around me.
So, as the night went on, one by one the riders said goodnight and returned to their own homes, leaving Toothless and I to sleep with the sky as our roof.