《Artemis || OUAT》9. The Accused
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Astrid slept in the spare bedroom upstairs at the Blanchard apartment, tossing and turning in her sleep; Sweat beaded on her forehead and dropped down her spine coldly.
The teenager whimpered some and gripped the sheets in her fist tightly; She murmured out desperately, "It wasn't me..."
The noises were quiet at first, the stopping of conversations, the swish of swords and crossbows, bolts and thuds of impacts, but they were enough to wake Astrid as she lay sprawled on her bed.
She always woke up early because of Stormfly, her faithful dragon and protector. She sighed and listened.
Another noise sounded closer as Stormfly lifted her head, growling lowly; Astrid sat up in alert, her blue eyes focused on the door and then she was up, her lean and athletic figure moving with purpose, almost silent as she leaned against the door and listened.
People were closing in as Astrid gestured to Stormfly to guard the door while Astrid frantically slid on her boots and buckled her belt to her waist, her twin swords on both of her sides.
The teenager then slid her quiver of arrows over her shoulders and onto her back as she did the same with her bow.
It had been two months since Hiccup had died. She was still grieving over her betrothed, but she couldn't think about that now.
Astrid grabbed her thirteen daggers and hid them everywhere on her attire just as the handle of her door began to turn.
Astrid calmed her breathing and began thinking of a plan of escape; She slid on her knees and crouched inside of the fireplace while nodding for Stormfly to hide also.
The door bolted open then as four crossbow arrows thudded into the dent on the mattress; The intruders stepped more into the room and saw that they had missed.
Astrid unsheathed a dagger and twirled it in her fingers once before throwing it accurately at a man's neck, successfully slicing it deeply as he fell to the floor with a loud thud.
The three other guards turned and looked over at the dark fireplace and noticed the teenager who smirked and spoke up, "Hello boys."
"There she is! Get her!"
Astrid withdrew the knife out of the dead man's throat after quickly rolling out of the fireplace; She ducked from one of the men's punch and tackled him, stabbing him in his heart.
Astrid turned her head, her blonde curls flying and rested on her back now, as she blocked the last guard's fist with her arm and kicked him in his gut hard. He fell to his knees on the floor as Astrid swiftly moved behind him and pulled his head back, the knife against his neck. "You know who I am?" She started.
"A girl who we were sent to kill after she killed the Chief's son and now Snotlout." The man spoke up, his voice wavering a tad bit.
"A girl is Astrid Hofferson. Do you know who you are? You're no one." Astrid commented, "You're nothing." She looked up and closed her eyes as she slit his throat deeply and pushed him to the floor, now dead.
Astrid glanced at the four dead men around the room and knelt down, one wrist covering her mouth and nose as her eyes watered. "Din kamp er forbi." She muttered to the dead men.
Astrid stood back up and whistled to her dragon to follow and took off running out of the hut; Stormfly ran beside her while Astrid jumped onto her back just as the dragon lifted up into the air, her wings flapping as they gained altitude.
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Crossbow arrows soared through the air and was aimed at them; Astrid immediately took her swords out and swung them effortlessly quickly, slicing the arrows away from her and Stormfly.
One crossbow arrow managed to stab Stormfly in her leg as the dragon growled out in pain and began to swerve around and began to fall down. "Stormfly!"
Astrid withdrew the arrow from her dragon's leg and smelled it slightly and gasped. "Poison." Astrid steered Stormfly in a large patch of hay as both of them collided into it.
Fifteen guards surrounded the two of them, pointing their crossbows at them. Astrid sighed and lifted her hands in surrender as she was hoisted up onto her feet and was dragged through the street and to Chief Stoick's large hut.
She was pushed into the Great Hall as she stared at the throne at the end of the room, under a black dragon banner of House Haddock.
And his dark brown eyes widened with anger, disappointment, and... vengefulness.
Chief Stoick the Vast was sitting in his throne, looking down on them. "I didn't do what they said I did, Chief." Astrid began as she was shoved onto her knees.
"You come into my house and feed me such lies!?" Stoick exclaimed and nodded once to a guard standing beside the girl. The guard slapped her across her face as she tasted blood in her mouth now.
"It's the truth, Sir-" Astrid tried again.
"We saw you go into Snotlout's hut at night and him." Stoick cut her off, "We also saw you calling that Wraith and sending it on my son, giving him a terrible death."
"But-" Astrid attempted once again but was only slapped in the face again.
"Astrid Hofferson, you are hereby accused of treason. I had expected more from you. You were once like a daughter to me..." Chief Stoick cut her off once again, "Guards, take her to her execution!"
Astrid was pulled up from her knees and dragged into the courtyard, the guards tying her to a post. "You're making a big mistake! I didn't do this!" Astrid exclaimed while trying to reach for the dagger stored in the back of her skirt to cut the ropes on her wrists.
"Shall I silence her lying tongue, your Grace?" A guard coldly asked as Stoick shook his head and answered him while staring at the teenager, "No, the executioner will silence her."
Astrid swallowed, fear suddenly beginning to grip her heart. She suddenly realized that no one was going to believe her; She also realized that she may not even get to see her real biological family again and that terrified her.
"Chief, Sir, you are loved by your people, including myself. You are like a father also. Please." Astrid began, pleading for her life, "I didn't do any of this. I'm being set up, you have to believe me."
"Child, I do admire your gumption and tact." Stoick began, "But the evidence speaks for itself. Do you have any last words to the people of Berk?"
The teenager looked out at the gathering crowd of Vikings as she stood on the Block. Astrid inhaled deeply and sighed sadly. "Yes, I do. I know I'm being judged for crimes that I didn't even commit. I know I have a past where I have caused pain, a past where I've... even brought death."
Astrid glanced at the crowd once more and could've sworn she had seen two familiar people with hoods over their faces, watching her execution- Captain Hook and Cora.
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Her face hardened then and scoffed some. "No. You know what? I was going to apologize, but I'm not. You want to bloody kill me? Then bloody do it. But, just know, I come back and haunt every single one of you asses."
Chief Stoick stood up from his seat quickly and exclaimed, "ARROWS!" The archers armed their bows as Astrid was blindfolded, and once she was blindfolded, Stoick then yelled, "Take your aim!"
The archers then aimed while Astrid tried to not let the fear she felt show as she held her breath, her jaw clenched as she closed her eyes tightly underneath the blindfold.
She was scared.
"FIRE!" The arrows were launched through the air just as Cora stopped the arrows with her magic while Hook snuck through the crowd quickly and moved over to his favorite teenager and cut the rope off of her hands.
Guards then started to fight the pirate as Astrid removed her blindfold and exhaled a bit shaky, noticing Hook fighting off the guards.
After those guards were down, he and Cora disappeared then; Astrid noticed Stormfly tied up as she took off running to her dragon and cut the ropes on her. "Come on, girl, we're leaving."
Astrid leapt onto the saddle on her dragon's back as they flew into the air and flew away. "Take us to another world, Stormfly."
Stormfly circled in the air and then flapped her wings hard and shot through the air at mech speed, creating a vortex and entering inside of it, both of them going to a new world.
David ran into the bedroom with Snow following close behind him; They noticed their teenager on the floor along with her comforter from falling off of her bed and moved over to her.
David knelt beside the girl and lifted her halfway, sitting her up as she now was in his arms. "Astrid. Astrid, hey, wake up." He started gently, brushing a few strands of her blonde hair from her face.
The teenager opened her eyes and started to push away from them but stopped and just buried her face in his chest, not crying or doing anything, just tried calming her breaths down. "Cor-Cora..." She murmured lightly.
"Cora can't harm you, Astrid. She's back in the Enchanted Forest-" Snow began, kneeling beside them as she also laid a hand on her daughter's arm.
"N-No... They're not." Astrid sighed.
"They?" David and Snow repeated after sharing a look between one another and glanced down at the girl in her father's arms.
"Ho-Ho-Hook..." Astrid murmured once more, her blue eyes rolling up to the back of her head as her body then fell limp in David's arms.
"Astrid?" David asked, softly shaking her a little.
Snow immediately checked her pulse to find that it was slow now. She looked at her husband and replied, "David, she's barely breathing. We have to- to take her to the hospital or Gold or something!"
The teenager barely opened her eyes and glanced above them at the ceiling. "N-No..." David picked his daughter up bridal-style as he and Snow rushed out of the room and down the stairs of the loft. They exited the apartment and quickly made their way to David's truck.
Snow opened the doors as she entered the truck first and helped Astrid in, wrapping her arm around the girl and held her hand in reassurance; David entered the driver's side and drove them to the hospital fast.
David pulled up to the hospital and exited the truck and scooped up his daughter in his arms again; Snow ran by his side into the hospital. "Help! Please!" Snow yelled out.
Nurses came running with a gurney as Dr. Whale also ran over to them; They laid the teenager down on top of the gurney as Dr. Whale shone a light in Astrid's eyes. "What happened to her?"
"Astrid was having a nightmare, we heard her, so we rushed into her room and then... she was barely breathing and like this..." Snow recounted, her voice cracking a little, "What's going on with Astrid?"
"Her airway's clear, nothing seems to be broken, her pupils are responsive, no fever or anything..." Dr. Whale commented while he checked her slowly dropping pulse, "If there is something wrong, it's not a regular sickness... it's more like... magic."
Astrid began to seize then as Snow and David was escorted away from her while the nurses and Dr. Whale tried to stabilize the teenager.
Astrid's eyes opened just barely again after she stopped seizing and noticed her parents watching helplessly, their eyes watery.
Astrid began to squirm on the gurney desperately as the nurses tried holding her down; The teenager bit one woman's hand as it was near her mouth, making the nurse quickly step back.
Astrid was held down long enough for Dr. Whale to inject her with a sedative; Her body relaxed as she fell back asleep.
Snow covered her face in her husband's chest as he held her in his arms, watching the doctors try and save their daughter. She looked up and over at an unconscious Astrid. "Gold. He'll know what's wrong with her."
"Let's go. We have to make it quick." David replied as both of them ran out of the hospital and to their truck. They drove to Gold's shop and rushed inside.
"Gold!" David called out just as the man with a cane stepped into the front of his store behind his counter. "We need your help."
"It's Astrid. Something's wrong. She's at the hospital right now, really sick." Snow added, "The doctors doesn't know what's wrong, though."
"It's almost like magic-" David finished.
"I'll help you." Gold cut him off and stepped out from behind the counter. Snow and David shared a curious look as Snow asked, "What do we have to do in return? There's always some catch with you."
"No catch. This is for Astrid." Gold simply answered. Out of the Charming family, other than Henry, he actually liked the teenager. Even if she just came to Storybrooke yesterday.
David nodded and replied, "Then let's go." The three of them headed outside and entered the truck, driving back to the hospital.
As soon as they arrived, David and Snow rushed into the hospital with Gold following after them in a normal pace for him. "Dr. Whale, how is she?" Snow asked the doctor.
"At the moment, she's sleeping. As soon as you two left, Astrid woke up and freaked, knocked out a few nurses." Dr. Whale answered, "Had to give her another sedative to calm her down. She keeps crashing and she now has a high fever, gave her medicine for that, though."
"What room is she?" David asked.
"114." Dr. Whale answered, nodding over to the room. The two parents and Gold walked into the room to find the blonde haired teenager sleeping in a hospital bed, an oxygen tube around her upper lip and into her nose.
"Save her." David told the Dark One who moved over to one side of the girl's bed and laid a hand across her forehead lightly.
"Have you tried True Love's kiss?" Gold inquired after a brief moment.
"We don't know who her true love is." Snow started slowly, holding her husband's hand in hers perfectly.
Gold slightly smirked and looked over at the couple. "You both know Emma is the Savior. So, what does that make Astrid here? You know that she also has magic..."
"What does that have to do with healing her?" David inquired, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Astrid- because of who she is- forms strong bonds with everyone she meets. I felt it as soon as she came here." Gold began to explain, "She has the potential to literally feel what everyone else feels. That strengthens her light magic."
"Get onto the part where it helps heal her." Snow remarked in slight impatience. She just wanted her daughter to be awake, healthy, again.
Gold sighed some and placed his hand lightly across the teenager's forehead again and closed his eyes, searching through her mind slightly. "There's one person who's still alive that cares deeply about Astrid as she does him... He may can help."
"Who?" Snow and David both asked in unison, sharing a look.
Gold looked slightly annoyed. "A pirate named-"
"Hook." Snow finished with a sigh. "But he's back in the Enchanted Forest with Cora."
*Cora's and Hook's location POV*
Cora was outside of the teenager's hospital room as she listened to David's, Snow's, and Rumplestiltskin's conversation about Astrid who was unconscious currently.
Cora disappeared into her cloud of purple smoke and appeared on the docks where Captain Hook was sitting, sharpening his hook.
Hook noticed her look on her face and asked curiously, "What happened? Your plan not work?"
"It's not my plan that I'm worried about." Cora answered as Hook stopped and stood up, facing her, "It's Astrid. And it seems you're the only one who can save her."
"What happened?" Hook curiously asked, his eyebrows furrowed.
"She's sick and needs True Love's Kiss. You're the closest to her and genuinely care about her." Cora replied.
"So do you." Hook pointed out.
"Yes, but without my heart, it'd do no good." Cora commented.
"Alright." Hook replied and started walking towards the hospital just as the witch stopped him.
"What's your plan? They won't exactly let you near her, especially Rumplestiltskin." Cora pointed out.
"I'll just wait until they leave out of the room-" Hook started.
"I'll make you appear in the room, you get her, and then I'll bring you back here." Cora cut him off, "And wear a mask to prevent them from recognizing you."
Hook nodded and pulled out a black mask and tied it around the bottom half of his face where you could only see his eyes.
Cora made him disappear as Hook then appeared in Astrid's hospital room near her bed. David shot up from his chair on her other side and looked at the man suspiciously. "Who are you!?"
Hook didn't answer and quickly but carefully picked up the teenager as he disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.
"Astrid!" David exclaimed while moving his hands through his hair. Snow walked into the room with two cups of coffee in her hands and noticed the now empty bed and spoke up, "David, where's Astrid?"
"A masked man appeared out of thin air and took her... He took Astrid and left." David murmured.
Back at the docks, Hook appeared with the girl in his arms bridal-style as he and Cora entered his ship. He laid the teenager down on a bed once they moved down the stairs and into a room.
"If this doesn't work... we just kidnapped her and exposed ourselves for nothing." Hook began after removing the mask from his face.
Hook thought of his memories of the teenager and him and then thought of Neverland as he took a guilty breath. He does love the girl-- After all, she will always be like a daughter to him no matter what.
And that day on that bloody island he abandoned her was the day Hook most regretted. Hook then planted a kiss on Astrid's forehead, closing his eyes, and then parted as a wave of magical energy pushed them back slightly.
Astrid gasped some and opened her eyes, looking around and landed her gaze on the pirate beside her. Cora had stepped out of the room. "You-- You saved me?" She quietly asked in slight surprise.
"Always." Hook answered softly and nodded slowly.
Astrid smiled some and replied lightly, "I knew you and Cora was here in Storybrooke-- I should've listened to my gut."
"What happened to make you that sick, AJ?" Hook asked in concern.
"When I left Berk after I was accused, someone placed this... curse on me that made me reluctant on coming here." Astrid admitted, "This curse comes the strongest when I reunite with both of my birth parents..."
"I started to feel the effects of it when I discovered that Snow is my mother." Astrid continued, "But it wasn't as bad until I came here... until now. The curse is lifted. Thank you."
Hook nodded slightly and glanced away for a second and looked back at the teenager. "And what happened on Neverland... I truly am sorry-"
Astrid cut him off by holding her hand up and looked down at the floor, reluctantly saying, "I forgive you... Tonight made me realize, you never really left me. You were always there. And if it weren't for you- and Cora- I would've been executed that day in Berk... So, just accept my thanks."
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