This was an idea spawned while watching an RttE stream two week ago when the episode 'Dire Straits' from RttE season 4 arrived.

"I'm excited for the one where he dies" - ashleybenlove

I am keeping this quote here too.

The Sound of Silence: Chapter 1

For a moment, Hiccup did not breathe.

He just lied there on the wooden deck of the ship. Soaked in sea water, limp, still, pale. It was the way they had dragged him out of the diving bell, his own creation, which had been ruined by a Submaripper. It had been riled up by Viggo Grimborn and his men, the Dragon Hunters, in an attempt to get rid of him. An attempt that may be successful.

The Riders all stood there in disbelieve, no one moved a muscle as they simply watched. The dragons, very much an equal part of their team, were quiet and waited for a single sign of life, no matter how small. It were Astrid and Toothless who sat by their leader's side and pleaded for him to awaken.

"Please breathe. Please breathe." Astrid begged with him aloud and with the Gods silently, one hand placed gingerly on his chest. It did not heave.

It would be much too soon for him to go to Valhalla. He was only eighteen years of age, just barely a man, much too young to go, and fighting a war for a cause they thought just. They needed him. She needed him. He couldn't leave them yet.

And what a way it would be for him to go. Not in an epic blaze of glory befitting the Heir of Berk, the Dragon Master, but alone in the dark depths of the ocean, slipping further and further away in the freezing cold, knowing that death was inching closer and unable to do anything about it.

Toothless crooned in desperation as he came closer and nudging with his snout against his Rider, licking his chin, his jaw, his face. As if the action was to remind him how to take a breath.

And he did.

Out of nowhere his body seemed to shock itself back into action. Hiccup's eyes flew open and he began to cough. His lungs were trying to expulse all the water he had breathed in from his system and it was doing it violently so.

Though the Dragon Riders were overwhelmed by relief, each wearing looks of varying degrees, Tuff even sagging against his sister and Fishlegs muttering a quiet 'oh, thank Thor', Astrid fought hers as she helped Hiccup turn onto his side. It was what she had to do to help him keep from choking on the saltwater he had coughed back up.

Toothless warbled in worry as he moved to Hiccup's front, nudging him again as he lied on his side and panted once his lungs had been mostly freed. He had folded in on himself by now, curled up and made himself so small for someone so tall. He trembled terribly and seemed barely aware of his surroundings, staring at his hands. But he was awake. He had made it and for now that was all that mattered.

"Is he...?" Snotlout wasn't sure what he wanted to ask as he and the others approached carefully, the dragons attempting to do so quietly as they came to see how their lead Dragon Rider was doing. Stormfly let out a short chirp.

They only felt truly at ease when Hiccup reached out a shaky hand to settle on Toothless nose, who crooned softly and closed his eyes at the touch.

"Hey, Bud. I'm okay." The Night Fury purred.

"How are you feeling?" Astrid softly asked what they were all wondering and then helped Hiccup sit up with the little bit of strength that he had.

"I'm..." He didn't seem sure what to answer, shaking his head when he didn't find the right words to use. But he was okay, he was breathing, he was awake. That had to mean nothing but good.

Astrid, still kneeled and losing all feeling in her lower legs, rested her hands on Hiccup's shoulder as he found it in himself to smile at her as she did at him, sandwiching a hand between hers. His was chilling to the touch and she noticed that his nails were a worryingly blue colour.

Toothless settled behind the two and roared out his gratitude to the Submaripper, who had stayed at the surface and awaited news on the well-being of the Viking who had freed it. It had also been the one to bring up the diving bell after the metal contraption had sunk to the bottom of the ocean, what had anchored the bell destroyed by an enormous rock catapulted to their ship by the Hunters.

The Ripper had realized only just in time on who's side Hiccup really was when it noticed its chains were no more.

It let out a gurgling roar and with a flip sank back into the sea to search for the deeper open water it once called home.

Despite many protests from the Riders to be careful and to conserve his strength, Hiccup had gotten Astrid and Fishlegs to help him on his feet. That was when a pain in his chest took his breath away and he laid a hand on the leather that covered him, gasping quietly.

He couldn't stand on his own. Fishlegs kept one large, comforting hand on his back while Toothless urged him to use his head as a pillar of support. Hiccup wasn't about to argue with them on that. He felt ready to fall over at any given moment.

"What... happened?" He asked, panting and genuinely confused. Though the diving bell wasn't exactly the safest of his inventions, there simply hadn't been enough time to test it out properly and work out the kinks, Hiccup was still puzzled as to just how his plan could've gone this wrong.

Astrid left his side to join up with Stormfly, as did the others with their dragons. Hiccup was safe and now there was something else she and the other Riders needed to do before they could return to Berk.

"Viggo happened." Snotlout growled, it was the first thing he had managed to say since Hiccup's awakening.

The Jorgenson had already climbed into his saddle and both he and Hookfang's worry had been replaced by anger, by rage even. It was a feeling all of them shared after what Viggo and the Hunters had tried to do to their friend and heir.

Hiccup only momentarily glanced at the opposing ship before his weak self jumped into action.

"Viggo... No, no, he can't... escape." He tried to get into his saddle, but his legs just wouldn't cooperate. They gave out underneath him when he tried. Fishlegs' strong hold on him was all that kept him from falling down to his knees.

"Easy, Hiccup, I got ya." The husky young man eased him with his words. It wasn't a good idea for him to climb onto Toothless and chase their foe now.

"Don't worry, he won't get far." Astrid promised with determination in both her voice and her very pose. She, too, had already gotten up on Stormfly. The Riders were ready to rain down fire and destruction on the Hunter ship for what they had almost done.

Fishlegs, Meatlug, Hiccup and Toothless watched them go. One of the latter two helplessly so. Being vulnerable and unable to do anything had always left a bad taste in his mouth.

The Dragon Riders were on their way and they planned on leaving no one alive.

As they approached, the skin of their dragons grew hotter than ever before as if their very blood was boiling as much as theirs', they were witness to a small confrontation happening on the deck. They were too far away to hear what was being said. All they knew was that Viggo had not taken kindly to being outsmarted and defeated again.

His loss did not quell the flames of their anger.

"Okay, let's wrap this up!" Astrid spoke, keeping a hold of herself in favour of a clear level-headed mind.

They were ready. All four of the Riders and the three dragons were ready to get this over with and go home.

Just then a dinghy with only Viggo and Ryker Grimborn left the ship and halted them in their tracks.

"What the?! Dinghy?" Tuffnut was as bewildered as they all were.

"Why would they just leave themselves exposed like that?" Astrid questioned, concerned of what the sudden appearance of nothing more than a small rowing boat could entail.

Why would the two brothers take such a risk knowing that the Dragon Riders could blast them to Valhalla right then and there? Something did not add up.

"No time for questions! Let's hit them with everything we got!" Snotlout was not in a mood to wait for their next move or discuss the meaning of these sudden turn of events. Viggo was going to get it for nearly killing his cousin and he was going to get it hard.

The others agreed. Without another word said, without even so much as a nod or a look at each other, they all agreed to Snotlout's possibly very reckless decision to just open fire without reading the situation first. Astrid, though usually more cautious and strategic in her thinking, seemed to have no qualms on following Snot's plan.

The dragons themselves followed the thoughtless plan without protest. They didn't even need to be told to fire. They gladly opened their maws and ignited their dangerous fires in the backs of their throats. Or in the Zippleback's case, Belch was ready to spark and Barf was already leaking gas.

When the dinghy turned out to be pulled by innocent Seashocker dragons, that put a hold on their plans again.

"Seashockers? Hold your fire! We can't risk hurting those dragons!" Astrid shouted her orders upon spotting the captive creatures of the sea and they all felt the discomforting sensation of frustration creeping in the backs of their minds and hearts.

Using living, breathing beings as shields. How disgusting, how cowardly.

And yet there was nothing they could do about it.

They could chase them and waste time trying to free them, but just how beneficial would that be when one of their own was still in need of medical care?

So the Dragon Riders had no other choice but to watch them go and retreat.

It meant leaving dragons in need behind. It meant that they could not avenge Hiccup for his near drowning.

They returned to their Berkian long boat to haul it all the way back home. It would be much faster than to simply sail it back.

On the deck, now lacking his leather and his tunic, Hiccup was sleeping up against Toothless with a blanket covering him and the dragon curled up around him.

"Keep an eye on Hiccup." Gothi's message had been clear.

He was to stay in bed and rest. He was to be kept warm and watched over in case the inhaling and swallowing of all that cold saltwater would make him sick. That is what their healer had said.

It was not something Hiccup agreed with.

"I can't just rest now. Not with Viggo still out there and the village still starving. I can't just lay in bed all day when others are suffering worse than me!" He was the leader of the Dragon Riders and he was often wiser than his age suggested, but even he could be incredibly dense and much too stubborn sometimes.

Astrid released a sigh as they argued at his front door.

"Hiccup, you didn't just swallow a bit of water or just passed out, you stopped breathing! Everyone saw it. We were scared to death that we were going to lose you!" She argued back, the events of earlier that day still fresh in her mind. In all of their minds. It probably would be for a long time to come.

"But, Astrid, I can't just-"

"Scared to death, Hiccup!" Hofferson made quick work of another attempt at protesting, he needed to sleep. He still looked so ghostly pale.

"I know that and I do get it, but-" For a moment it almost seemed like he wouldn't give up.

"Do you? Hiccup? Do you really get it? Because it looks like to me that you're not getting us at all." Astrid shot him down again and Snotlout crossed his arms behind her, quickly getting tired of his cousin's stubbornness. One look at his Riders told Hiccup that they all felt the same way.

Still...

"Guys, I can't just-"

"Hiccup, will you stop whining and go to bed already?!" The Jorgenson Rider had enough of this.

Toothless, who was the only dragon present for this conversation, seemed to agree. He growled disapprovingly at his Viking's want to act so difficult.

"What is that supposed to mean?! What about Berk?!"

"What about you?! What about us?!" Fishlegs was having none of it either.

"Hiccup, they almost watched a friend die today. I almost came home to the news that one of my best friends was dead. Doesn't that count for anything?" Heather had not been there to see the plan with the diving bell be sabotaged by the Hunters as she and Windshear were out searching the secret off-Berk storage house for anything that they might have missed.

That was her part of the mission and she had the displeasure of hearing all about what happened in the Straits of Baldur when she had returned and Hiccup, still barely conscious at the time, had been taken to Gothi.

The Dragon Rider fell silent upon hearing her words and gazed at each of them again to see that, yes, they had truly been terrified to lose him today and all that would ease their worried hearts now was the knowledge that he would rest and take proper care of himself. His stubbornness seemed to hurt them.

Hiccup sighed and he did so out of both guilt and defeat.

"Do me a favour then? While I stay here on Berk?" His friends visibly relaxed, knowing that he had finally caved in.

It lasted for a good second.

"What do you mean with 'while you stay here on Berk'?" Ruffnut asked and her brother followed.

"Yeah, 'cause it almost sounds like you're sending us away." Tuffnut could not bring himself to smile, even though the very notion of them leaving Hiccup as he recovered seemed completely ludricous.

Astrid glared at Hiccup, her hands settling on her hips. It was a warning to not answer that question with what she believed she was thinking of.

"Listen, Berk is still in trouble and Viggo is out there. I need you guys to go and find whatever trader is in the area. Find Johann, find someone. We can't wait around for weeks until word spreads that the Straits are clear again. People could start falling ill or even die if they go without food for too long. Especially young children or the elderly." It was true, the Hairy Hooligans were starving and it could take a long time for salvation to come in the form of a seafaring merchant.

"Please, Astrid." They all seemed doubtful about leaving him here, although he was far from alone. So Hiccup turned his attention solely to his second-in-command as he grabbed her hands, who he hoped to convince.

"If I'm gonna rest and ease your worries, than please ease mine too. Take care of Berk now that I can't." His hands were still freezing, his nails had barely regained their original colour, but she just couldn't say no to a face so genuinely worried.

"Okay, fine. We'll leave and find those traders. And we'll keep an eye out for Viggo and the Hunters." So Astrid gave in aswell. There was an uproar of protest behind her, but at least her leader looked back at her with a smile, tuning the others out.

"Thank you. Leave whenever, but please don't wait too-"

"But!"

Hiccup had a surprised and wide-eyed look to him when he was suddenly shut up again.

"But one of us stays. Just to keep an eye on you." That was their condition. They would go out and find help, but one of them would need to stay behind with him. At least they wouldn't try to lie about taking care of themselves.

Hiccup let out a slightly hoarse chuckle. His voice hadn't been quite right ever since his near-drowning.

"Okay, who?"

In the end Snotlout had been chosen to stay behind.

Astrid, as second-in-command, had to take Hiccup's place as he recovered. Fishlegs was their navigator and knew the locations of certain islands where they might find help. Heather was most familiar with trading routes due to her old habit of raiding ships with her Razorwhip not too long ago. And the twins, it was simply better to have two extra pairs of hands instead of just one.

Besides, Snotlout was family. A blood relative of Hiccup's from his mother's side. He seemed like the obvious choice in this situation.

They had decided to leave that very afternoon. Because the sooner they left, the sooner they would be back. And they weren't just going to search for merchants. The Riders had hoped to visit allied tribes that could trade some food they were willing to part with.

Best case scenario, they'd be gone until tomorrow evening. Worst case scenario, they would be gone for days. Either way, they were in a hurry.

But not before seeing Hiccup disappear through his front door.

Knees quaking, clothes still a little damp, growing weaker every passing moment, the Haddock heir had been holding onto his dragon as he was helped inside.

Stoick, who had arrived near the end of their conversation and almost had his fury return to him when he noticed his son still wasn't bed, was keeping the door open.

"I'll see you guys later!" Hiccup had shot them the most reassuring smile he could muster in his condition. Astrid vaguely noted how even his freckles weren't as lively as they used to be anymore.

He disappeared from sight with Toothless helpfully by his side and they left, expecting to return to a brighter smile as their greeting than to the one they had been send off with.

They had no idea.

Snotlout had stayed true to his promise to keep an eye on Hiccup.

After leaving the Haddock home for no more than an hour to check up on his parents and younger sister, he got himself some of the reserves that were being served as a soup at the plaza.

Word about what Hiccup had done in the Straits for Berk had spread quickly and Snotlout had been given an extra bowl upon mentioning that he was visiting him later. They wanted to make sure their heir would eat and regain his strength.

It was with two bowls of soup that he returned to their Chief's abode and with the rude boldness that only a Jorgenson could have did he enter.

"Hiccup, you better be hungry 'cause I got- Oh hey, Chief!" And all that bravado vanished into thin air the second Snotlout noticed Stoick sitting at the dinner table with Gobber. One looked mildly amused while the other looked like someone had just spit in his mutton and then tried to deny it.

"He's upstairs. Count yourself lucky I hear that my son is still awake, Jorgenson. Or you would've been out of here faster than you can blink." The Chief's hands balled into tight fists at the less than modest entrance Snotlout had made.

The teen counted himself lucky indeed and muttered a quick apology before ascending the stairs to Hiccup's room. Gobber let out a laugh at Snot quickly retreating like a skittish little mouse and joked about something with Stoick that he couldn't quite hear.

With no overbearing fathers glaring at him with a look that could almost kill, Snotlout could hear Hiccup's familiar voice coming from his room, backing up Stoick's assumption that his son was still up.

"-You know what? That is just unfair. Terrors have their strengths and Night Furies have their weaknesses!" Toothless warbled in disagreement and rolled his eyes. It was a human trait he had picked up after spending the last three years with Hiccup.

Snotlout almost groaned after entering the room as he had walked in on another animated discussion that this particular dragonriding duo often seemed to have. To him, they were even worse than those Hicclegs lovefests. You could at least understand what Fishlegs was saying. No one, sometimes not even Astrid, was sure if Hiccup could truly understand his dragon or if he was making it all up.

"Snotlout! Come to check up on me, huh? Well, I've tried falling asleep, but... Well, an annoying aching in my chest is kind of keeping me up. And my stump is cold. I'm waiting for the willow bark to kick in. Hopefully I'll be able to get some shut eye soon." For all his talk of jumping right back in the saddle earlier that day, Hiccup did look genuinely exhausted.

It was what helped Snotlout believe him as he walked over and offered the fullest bowl to him. That and the fact that Toothless didn't feel the need to 'convince' Hiccup to tell the truth with a tailfin to the back of his head.

"Thanks. I'm still a little full on seawater, but thank you. I appreciate it." The heir spoke gratefully as he accepted the meal and held it in both hands seemingly more to warm up than anything else.

Besides the leggings he wore, the young man was mostly nude, lacking his leather armour, his tunic and his boot. His metal pegleg had also been discarded, his stump hidden by a pant leg and held onto by Toothless in an attempt to give it warmth.

The Night Fury had his head on the Viking's lap with him draped over it and a thick fur around his shoulders. Like this, Hiccup was between a wall and a dragon to soak up some of his warmth.

Snotlout would've made a comment about his friendly gesture not getting the appreciation it deserved by not having him eat the soup and normally he would've kept the fuller bowl to himself, but these were special circumstances.

"Figured I could bring you some. Didn't know if you got to eat yet or not." There was a softer side to the stouter young man sitting before him on a stool he had grabbed after offering the soup. It was one part of him that he would only show privately and during situations such as these.

They were some of the moments that made Hiccup realize that, maybe, they tended to take him for granted. He had already made a mental note to rectify that.

Snotlout could be a jerk, everybody knew that, but he had his good moments. And anybody who didn't see that didn't know the real Snotlout.

Hiccup brought no attention to it as he had seen this once or twice before, though particularly when his leg was involved.

This was, to him, nothing new.

"Dad tried to feed me earlier, but... You know." He was referring to another bowl that was cooling on his nightstand and shot it a look of guilt. His village was starving and here he was wasting two valuable meals.

"Maybe you should give this to someone else while it's still hot. I know that the traders should return soon, but there are other people who need it more than me. I'll eat when I have less water in my stomach." It wasn't meant to be taken as a joke as Hiccup handed his bowl back, but he was still the one who let out a dry chuckle.

"Have you tried to eat? Maybe you're hungry and you just don't know it yet." Snotlout suggested honestly, though he was a bit miffed that he went through all this trouble just to end up giving the soup to someone else when it was meant for Hiccup.

"Snotlout, the very thought of eating anything right now is making me physically ill. So no, I haven't." It was an acceptable excuse, the Jorgenson boy supposed, but all it had done was make him feel even worse.

"Fine, I'll give this stupid bowl to someone else. Be right back or whatever." Snotlout got back up again from the stool to move out the door, a little bit disappointed and showing it too. Perhaps there was a kid or something somewhere who wanted some soup.

Hiccup smiled tiredly at him, his chin resting on top of Toothless' head.

Snotlout did stop at the stairs, however. And he took a moment to look back at his friend.

"We're gonna get Viggo for this. I know you're not all that vocal about getting revenge and such, but we're gonna make him pay. No way is he gonna get away with this." He wasn't sure if he was telling this to Hiccup or to himself.

Hiccup didn't quite respond in any way. He didn't condone revenge, though he had almost made himself guilty of it aswell. What was important to him, was that none of his Riders got hurt. His own health did not matter.

With silence as his only answer, Snotlout walked out the door. He didn't need to tell Hiccup and Stoick that he would return later.

He would come back to spend the rest of the evening with the heir in lighter spirits. They would joke, they would talk nonsense, it was a conversation like any other. Forgettable, really. Nothing special. There were supposed to be many like them after that day.

Snotlout left with an eased heart that night because of this quiet reassurance. Hiccup was still pale, still cold, still tired, but as he had fallen asleep somewhere in the middle of one of a Jorgenson's typical animated tales, Snotlout had thought nothing was out of the ordinairy.

Honestly, why should he?

With a gasp did Hiccup Haddock startle awake in the middle of the night. Jumping upright, gasping, sweating, from a different position than the one he had fallen asleep in. Toothless must have moved him somehow in his sleep without rousing him. He found himself lying up against the dragon's side instead.

The Night Fury heard him easily, purring as he woke up and lifting his head to meet his Rider's gaze with a look of worry of his own. One that urged him to speak about what was troubling him.

Hiccup looked back at him as he panted, near tears. A hand was on his chest and Toothless wondered if it was bothering him again, if he needed his dragon to wake Stoick so he could prepare willow bark for him again.

"Bud?" The Viking started with a voice that could only be called scared. Like a little boy's after he woke up from a terrible nightmare.

"Do you ever feel like... like something is wrong with you? Physically?" The question alarmed Toothless as he heard it, and rightfully so, as he got up on all fours and seemed to warble his concern. He pushed his snout against Hiccup's bare chest, sniffing up and down as if it would help him identify whatever 'wrong' he was feeling.

"Tooth-Toothless-" Hiccup found himself caught in a coughing fit when trying to address his Night Fury and he pushed his nose away from him.

Toothless respected his want for distance and drew back, watching with narrowed pupils until the coughing ceased.

As he finished, Hiccup sat there and panted , staring down at his lap before glancing up to Toothless.

He stared at the Night Fury and suddenly there was something subdued about him, as if he was calmer.

"I'm fine, Toothless. I'm fine, Bud." His breathing evened out and he looked down again, offering his right hand like he had done so many times before. Closing his eyes and releasing a sigh, he felt the warm familiarity of a dry, scaly nose against his palm. It was reassuring.

Toothless had momentarily closed his eyes aswell, but when he opened them again, he noticed some tear streaks on his Rider's cheeks.

He crooned softly.

"I'm fine, just a little startled, Bud. That's all." Hiccup answered with a sniff, though he stared entirely too long at his dragon, who wasn't quite sure what to think about this strange... exchange.

"We should get some sleep. I'm... really tired. Like I could sleep for ages!" Toothless purred at those words, agreeing that Hiccup needed to try to doze off again and get the rest that his healing body so desperately needed. They could always request a visit from Gothi tomorrow and have her find this 'wrong' that the Rider was feeling and his dragon could not find.

He would probably have to make Hiccup let the elderly woman examine him as the young man was often too stubborn for his own good, but those were concerns for later.

Toothless lied down on the stone slab they had chosen as their bed for tonight and Hiccup snuggled up next to him, trying to take in all that warmth the reptilian scales provided for him. With his head resting on a foreleg, he found a comfortable position and closed his eyes. Sighing, he could feel Toothless curling up around him, protecting him from the cold.

"I love you, Bud." Hiccup muttered, a hand on his other half's scaled hide.

It was a typically human phrase, but Toothless knew what it meant, knew its significance, and warbled something back that sounded quite similar. He had taught it to himself, just for his human boy.

The next morning, these strange couple of minutes made all the more sense.

When Snotlout woke up as the sun rose for once, the first thing he did after a refreshing morning stretch to wake himself up was going out to see if the other Riders had returned with new reserves and new traders on the way.

They hadn't yet, which most likely meant they could expect them to come back to Berk somewhere in the afternoon or evening at the earliest, and Snotlout decided to grab himself some breakfast.

Though it was still so early in the morning, the kitchens just might still have some leftovers from last night and he was determined to get his cousin to eat today.

The soup was all gone. And if there still was some, it would've been cold and Snotlout did not fancy the idea of heating it back up again. So he settle for an old biscuit that was still somewhat soft and moist that Hiccup would somehow already get his fill from. He didn't know how someone could eat so little, but it was true.

Besides, who even wanted to have soup in the morning?

It was with one biscuit and one apple, the former for Hiccup and the latter for himself, that Snotlout made the trek up to the Haddock house, which stood on a hill overlooking the village.

It was a short walk, one he knew by heart for years already. For anyone who wasn't as used to being at the Chief's house as him, the way there would've almost seemed long.

All of Berk was still quiet at this time of the crisp morning and a soft layer of fog was his only companion. The baker wasn't up yet due to a lack of ingredients he could use and that gave this particular day almost something lonely that went right over Snot's head.

He arrived at the Haddock household and entered, quietly for once. Chances were, Stoick was only just waking up and he did not feel like angering the Chief once more.

Call it instinct after all the battles he had fought the past three, almost four, years or perhaps it was something else entirely, Snotlout could sense that nothing was right the second he stepped inside the house.

The fire place wasn't lit, which made it as chilly as in here as it was outside. There was no sign of either father or son having had any sort of breakfast this morning. It was something he expected for Hiccup, but not for Stoick. There was nothing to indicate that the Chief had risen early to tend to his duties as he normally had every single day for the past twenty years.

It was quiet. Too quiet. And too cold.

And was that... sobbing?

Fear clenched its cold unforgiving grip around his heart and Snotlout almost forgot to breath as his confused and hesitant gaze trailed upwards to where he knew one specific room to be.

It was soft, but he definitely heard it. And he knew it was coming from up there.

It was with a sense of foreboding that he walked up the stairs, praying to the Gods that whatever fear that was gnawing at the back of his mind turned out to be false, that it wasn't even deep, foreign crying that he heard.

Climbing the stairs as quietly as he could, he never noticed just how long it took to get to the upper most floor. Reaching Hiccup's room seemed almost painfully endless and yet much too quick at the same time.

Snotlout did not feel ready when he reached the opening and could clearly identify the noises he heard as a grown man weeping softly.

Yet he had to see. He had to know for sure.

He steeled his frightened heart and made the final climb.

"Oh son." Snotlout heard Stoick speak before he had even gotten up to Hiccup's room and to him was revealed a large man kneeling on a stone slab, hunched over with something deathly pale clutched to his chest.

Or rather... someone.

Snotlout froze in place as he stared, his grip on the breakfast he was to share with Hiccup this morning slipping from his grasp to fall almost soundlessly to the wooden floor. He easily recognized the limp figure in the Chief's arms to be his heir, who was not responding to his father's cries. The Jorgenson boy felt himself growing cold on the inside.

"Oh Hiccup... Please, son, don't do this to me. Wake up." Stoick, usually an impenetrable wall of stoicism, was begging his only child to finally open his eyes. He was the only one who could speak, who could move, while Snotlout stood there frozen. Unable to even announce his presence.

Toothless was here too, he vaguely noticed. He was blending perfectly with the shadows of this barely lit room. He sat in the corner, facing away from them, unmoving, silent. It barely seemed like he was even breathing himself.

"Chief?"

Snotlout didn't know where the courage to speak up came from, he hadn't even felt his lips move or heard sound leave his vocals, but Stoick's broken gaze met his scared one and they confirmed what he had feared.

Silently, without a single goodbye, in the middle of the night, Hiccup had passed away.