Okay so this probably takes place a little after season 4 of rtte. It prob doesn't follow the storyline perfectly... I mean, obviously they didn't go through a harsh winter in between season 4 and 5. But this was something i literally wrote on impulse at midnight because i couldn't sleep lol...
Chapter 1: phantom pain
Hiccup woke with a jolt, sitting up in his bed. He peered out the window, it was pitch black.
"Huh, I wonder what-" then it hit him, so hard it knocked the breath from his lungs. Pain. That's all he could feel. Searing hot pain. It started at his stump, flowed through his leg, and up his spine. He bit back a scream. Phantom pain, just my luck! He thought. Those were never fun. He buried his face in his pillow to muffle a shout. He really didn't want to wake Toothless. He'd only worry. And a panicked dragon is never a good thing. He groaned. Great. It's gonna be a long night.
...
Astrid drummed her fingers against the surface of the table in the clubhouse, becoming impatient. And a bit annoyed too. It was freezing out and she didn't think she could take the twins bickering anymore. Hiccup wanted everyone there extra early to do some training. Everyone was there... except Hiccup.
"...Maybe he overslept?..." suggested Fishlegs.
"It's Hiccup, he's the one who wanted us here. He wouldn't over sleep." said Astrid.
...
30 more minutes had past, and still no sign of Hiccup. Astrid, now becoming slightly worried, got up, put on her coat, and made her way to the Dragon Rider's hut.
When she reached his hut, she knocked, no answer. Huh... maybe he really did sleep in. Upon opening the door and walking inside, things seemed normal. But when she climbed the stairs up into the loft and saw him there, pale and sweaty, looking so helpless, fear quickly seized her heart. It brought back horrible memories of the voyage back from the Red Death. The infection, the amputation, him near death…. He let out a pitiful whimper, and she was snapped out of her trance.
"Gods, hiccup! A-are you o-ok?"she said. Rushing to his side. He only moaned in response. He was delirious from the pain, curled into himself and shaking uncontrollably. She knelt down and upon feeling his forehead exclaimed, "Thor, hiccup! You're burning up!"
She rushed downstairs and started rummaging through drawers and flinging open cabinets until she found what she was looking for. A rag. She grabbed it and raced back upstairs, snatching a bucket of clean drinking water from a nearby table on her way up. By now Toothless had woken up, his bright green eyes glowed in concern. The poor dragon was gently nuzzling Hiccup's hand, cooing in worry. Astrid knelt back down by her friend. She dipped the rag in the water, and rang it out, placing it on his forehead.
"Okay...Hiccup? What hurts?" she asked gently. Trying not to let the panic that was quickly growing show. He simply moaned in response, waving his hand about like one would try to wave off a fly.
"Hiccup..." she said warningly.
"Hmmm...m'fine" He slurred.
"Hiccup! You're obviously not fine! Now tell me what it is before I make you!" She threatened. Although she was pretty sure she sounded anything but threatening. Her voice was strained and hoarse from panic.
"Mmmm..m-m'leg" he mumbled, so quiet she almost didn't hear.
"Hiccup, why would your-" and then it all came back.
His leg.
The amputation.
She thought back to Gobber's words...
...
"Gobber!" Astrid called as she made her way into the forge. She was looking for hiccup because he was late for dragon training. AGAIN.
She found the old blacksmith bending over the anvil, hammering away on a still-hot gronkle iron sword.
"Gobber!" She tried again, but her only reply was the ringing of metal banging against metal.
"Ugh, GOBBER!" She yelled, now only a couple feet away from him. He jumped, causing him to drop his hammer. He muttered something under his breath as he bent down to pick it up. He then set it on the anvil and turned to face Astrid.
"Oy lassie! Don't scare me like that!" Gobber shouted.
"Sorry Gobber, I'm looking for hiccup...have you seen him?"
Gobber sighed "Aye... didn't show up for dragon training aye? Figured, he's not look'n to good"
"what? What do mean? Is he okay?"
"He'll be fine in a day or two...listen, for us amputees," he lifted up his right peg leg for emphasis, "the first cold can be tough. It causes phantom pains, no one knows why that is or even why they happen, but it's different for everyone. It all depends on how you came to loose that appendage."
...
"Oh...gods hiccup! Th-the cold! Your leg..it's a phantom pain isn't it?" She asked gently.
He nodded meekly and whimpered in response.
"Okay, I'll be back hiccup, I promise. I'm just gonna go get fishlegs. He knows what to do for these."
"O-ok" he managed to croak out,"but I told you I'm fine."
Astrid sighed and pressed a kiss to his sweaty forehead before she ran to the steps, but stopped after she took the first one. "Watch him toothless...come get me if he gets worse."
Toothless nodded and sat down as to say "don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." She nodded and rushed down the rest of the stairs, out the door, and towards the clubhouse.
...
"Fishlegs!" Astrid gasped as she entered the clubhouse. "Fishlegs! I need your help! It's hiccup."
Fishlegs, who by now was out of his chair and making his way over to Astrid shouted "what's wrong!?"
"It's hiccup, he has a phantom pain. I don't have any idea what to do for him. But I knew you had some medical training."
"Thor...ok, ruff, tuff! Go get some ice! Snotlout! Go to the store house and get those purple herbs I got from Gothi last year."
"What!? Why do I need to fly all the way to the store house on the other side of the island!?" he asked incredulously. Good Thor he could be such a Muttonhead!
"Because I can use it to make a salve to put on his leg. It helps with the pain! Now will you just shut up and go!?" Fishlegs yelled.
"Okay, okay, jeez. I was just wondering." snotlout mumbled as he climbed on hookfang's back and flew of towards the store house.
"Come on Fishlegs, he wasn't looking to good. We should hurry." Astrid said worriedly.
Fishlegs simply nodded in reply and started jogging towards Hiccup's hut, Astrid close behind.
...
Pain. That's all that existed for him right now. This constant, agonizing pain that wouldn't go away. It was pulsing. Almost like his leg had a heartbeat of its own. He moaned softly, not having the energy to do anything else. His senses weren't working correctly either. Somewhere in the background he could here a gentle cooing and cold scales against his hand. Toothless... at least he was here. He couldn't be independent anymore. All he wanted was to curl up in toothless' warm embrace and fall asleep. He felt a sudden wave of fatigue wash over him, and didn't even fight the feverish sleep that was threatening to take over.
...
By the time Astrid got back up to Hiccup's loft, along with Fishlegs, he was, thankfully, asleep, albeit a fitful sleep. Fishlegs went downstairs to do Thor knows what while Astrid dipped the rag that had fallen of Hiccup's forehead back into the bucket of cool water and rung it out, wiping his brow then setting it on his forehead. She peeped her head over the edge of the loft and looked downstairs to see Fishlegs working furiously with some odd looking green liquid. "What in the name of Thor is that?" She asked.
"It's something to help with the pain." He explained as he finished up stirring the strange concoction and pouring it into a smaller bowl. He then came up the stairs and sat it on the nightstand near his bed."He needs to drink this...but I don't want to wake him. I guess we can wait until he wakes up on his own and then we'll give it to him."
Just then, the twins came running in and up the stairs to the loft with a bucket of snow. "Here." Tuff said, sat the bucket down near Fishlegs, and ran to the corner with his sister, both staring wide eyed at Hiccup. For once, they actually looked genuinely concerned.
"Okay, we're gonna have to roll up his trousers..."
Astrid nodded. She reached down to do as Fishlegs said but hesitated. Hiccup had never shown anyone his leg, not even her. It was his handicap, his weakness...it almost felt wrong revealing it without his permission. She knew it probably didn't look to pretty either. She wasn't allowed to see the extent of his injuries after the red death, but she heard his screams during the amputation...thank the gods he didn't remember. She shuddered at the memory, but pushed her thoughts aside and did as she was told. Hiccup would suffer otherwise, and Odin knew that was the last thing she wanted. She rolled his trousers up and over his knee. The shield maiden drew in a sharp breath at the sight of the puffy white and pink scars that started at his stump and stretched all the way to his knee, like a grotesque spiderweb trapping its next victim.
"Thor..." she whispered.
Fishlegs stared for a moment, but recovered quickly and set to work. He grabbed a small wad of bandages that he had acquired from one of Hiccup's chests and scooped up a handful of snow with his other hand. He placed the snow against Hiccup's stump and wrapped the bandages around it to Keep the snow in place. Through all this hiccup hadn't even stirred. Which meant he probably fell into unconsciousness at some point.
"Where on Odin's green earth is Snotlout? I could really use those herbs right about now." Fishlegs said irritably.
" I don't know Fishlegs, but we'll just have to make do with what we have."
Ok I know this probably sucked but it was kinda hard to get it going. I actually have some really cool ideas for the next... how many chapters I decide to do. Idrk yet lol. And do keep in mind that I am only 13 and have never really written before in my life. So you can't expect everything from me. And I'm sorry if it takes me a little while to get the next chapter up. I live on a horse farm with 60 horses and have 2 of my own that require attention. Along with school, a dog, snake, and a pig that requires constant attention. But anyways, I'll stop rambling now. Thanks for reading! See ya next chapter!
