This is inspired by a drawing that lunarcrown did on Tumblr. Check it out, it's amazing!

Hiccup let the small sounds Toothless was making in his sleep soothe him as he looked through his father's notes.

A cold draught passed through the house. He shivered, wishing that Toothless was awake or that Astrid was there, with her warm (most of the time) hands, telling him to go to sleep.

His inner Astrid was telling him to rest, to close his eyes just for a few minutes, but his inner...well, Hiccup, was saying that if he didn't push himself to his limits right now, he would fail.

There had to be something. Anything that could give them a set direction to fly in. But all there was was bits and pieces. A puzzle he had to put together.

He yawned, rubbing his eyes. The words were getting a little blurry.

He looked at Toothless, covered by a cloth he had draped over him and breathed softly with a smile. If all this would pay off and make Toothless safe, then it was so, so worth it.

Everything was worth it, if it was for Toothless.

He was just about to rub his eyes and go back to reading when he heard a footstep that was much louder - closer - than it should have been.

He turned his head with a gasp to see a blond man helping himself to a cup of water.

A sharp bout of fear shot up Hiccup's spine. He hadn't even heard the man come in.

Without warning, the man took out a crossbow and shot Toothless. Hiccup yelped out loud. "Toothless! What did you do to him?" He took out Inferno faster than he had in his life and held it up frantically.

"Nothing he won't sleep off." The man waved a hand as he walked towards him. The tankard of water was still in his hand. There was a wide smirk on his face as he sat down in the chief's chair.

Hiccup's blood boiled. His heart started pounding as he took a step forward. More than ever he wished Astrid was here, with her attitude of lopping heads off first and asking questions later.

"So, Chief Hiccup. I'm sorry, is it Hiccup or -" The man let out a hiccup and Hiccup gripped Inferno tightly, his hand shaking.

Then it hit him who he was looking at. Eret's words rang in his ear. Grimmel the Grisly. The one who lived for the hunt, the one who had tried to trap Toothless on his own island.

That man was in his house, sitting in his father's chair.

"Why are you here? What do you want?"

Grimmel chuckled, keeping his crossbow trained on him. "I'd lower the flashy sword, Chief. This can be a very smooth transaction for both of us, or it can be incredibly painful for you and troublesome for me."

"Get out of my house," Hiccup said, with gritted teeth.

Something was screaming at him that this man was dangerous, and that he would do well to stay away from him. Something set the man apart from anyone they had faced before. No one had been as nonchalant as the man sitting before him.

"Certainly. As soon as you give me your Night Fury."

Hiccup scoffed a little hysterically. "Not a chance in Hel."

"I think you've misunderstood." Grimmel stood up, walking towards him. Hiccup held Inferno even tighter as he took a step back, eyes trained on the approaching figure. "I am Grimmel the Grisly. I've hunted every Night Fury. And to have left even one alive is a disgrace. You understand, of course. I need that dragon."

"I don't think you heard me," Hiccup said, his eyes flashing, "I said, not. A chance. In Hel."

Grimmel moved so quickly that Hiccup didn't have time to react.

Knocking him to the floor with his shoulder, he ran towards Toothless. Hiccup shouted - hoping Toothless would wake up, or that someone would hear him - and threw Inferno in a well-aimed shot that landed in Grimmel's path. He scrambled up, shoving him down.

"Bud! Toothless, get out of here!"

Grimmel shouted, elbowing him in the side and slamming him against the wall. Hiccup tried to move before the man started to choke him.

"I said we could have done this easily, Chief." As he held him with one hand, he rummaged through his pockets with the other before taking out a collar. Hiccup writhed and struggled against his hand, eyes wide in terror. "I've only ever done this on dragons, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to experiment."

Grimmel yanked his hair and snapped the collar on him. It wasn't as tight as the man's hand, but it pinched, and in his haste to get it off, he fell back.

"Get away from me!"

"You brought this on yourself." Grimmel's eyes narrowed as he took out a syringe and took off the cap.

Hiccup's heart pounded. Anytime now, Astrid had to burst in through the door. Or his mom would enter, with her staff at the ready. Or Toothless would wake up and save him.

"You've never seen anything like me," Grimmel hissed."I will destroy everything you love."

He stabbed the syringe into his neck and Hiccup gasped in pain, his eyes nearly bulging out as the world went fuzzy.

The room started to spin. He was suddenly ten times more drowsy than he'd been before, and he fell to his knees, throwing up a little on the floor.

The last thing he saw was his roof bursting into flames.

The last thing he heard was Astrid's scream.

And the last thing he felt before he lost consciousness, was Toothless's scales, as he fell backwards onto them and prayed that Grimmel wouldn't be able to get him.

Hope you liked it!