Sorry for the delay in posting… sadly, my grandmother passed away last Tuesday and we had to travel out of town for her funeral. We just got back late last night and I hadn't had much time to get back into writing yet. But at least she's in Heaven now. :)

Anyways, thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy this new what-if!

Chapter One

Hiccup, in short, was going to die.

At least, that was what it felt like. His head pounded with a vengeance, his back ached from the hard fall, and his arm was on fire. Toothless was nowhere to be seen, having been separated in the crash, and he didn't know when help was going to arrive. If it did at all. It wasn't as if he'd exactly told anyone where he was…

Forcing his eyes open, he faintly saw the remaining Dragon Flyers approaching him from the distance, but for some reason, he didn't care anymore. He was in too much pain to spare the energy. All he wanted to do was roll over and give up.

But the thought of his friends and family sparked a flicker of movement in his legs. Jaw set and teeth grit, Hiccup started to claw his way towards a nearby boulder, planning to take cover behind it until help arrived.

Shaking his head, Hiccup spat out the blood that came from his injured tongue and reached out to grasp his palm against the rock. He knew he had to fight to survive, until the gruesome end.

The roars of angry Singetails bellowed from above him. The world shimmered with fire as the grass was set ablaze, and Hiccup was dismayed to realize that he was out of time. The Flyers were already upon him, he was seriously injured, and there was no one left to rescue him now.

And that was why Hiccup Haddock knew he was going to die.

TWO DAYS EARLIER

"Hiccup, your father has it handled," Astrid continued, leaning against the side of Hiccup's hut with her arms folded. She stared at Hiccup with a pointed expression, as if she was wondering why he hadn't already given into her argument by now. "Hiccup? Are you listening to me?"

"Hmm?" Hiccup looked up from Toothless's tailfin, looking slightly surprised. "Yes. Right. Sorry, I was just working on this new tailfin here – it should be much handier the next time we're fighting against the Flyers. Light but strong, sleek but maneuverable… and almost fireproof."

Astrid raised her brow quizzically. "Almost?"

"Almost," Hiccup agreed, unfazed as he returned to his work.

Astrid sighed. "Hiccup, how many hours of sleep have you gotten in this past week, exactly?"

"Can't say I know."

"Three, Hiccup. Three. Not good." She ran a hand down her face. "What you're doing, Hiccup – it's not healthy. To you, or to the team. I know you want to help, I really do, but wearing yourself into the ground isn't going to solve our problems. You've already done the last two night patrols, so why insist on doing Berk's too? Haven't you done enough already?"

Hiccup looked up at her for a long moment before his eyes dropped. He shook his head. "Astrid, to tell you the truth… I'm worried."

"About what?"

"My dad."

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Really? Hiccup, if anyone can handle Johann and his Flyers, it's your father. Why are you worried about him, anyway? It's not like Stoick hasn't faced the Flyers before."

"I know, but… I'm worried that Johann knows my weakness. My friends, my family…" Hiccup sighed. "And that's including my dad. And-and he's targeting Berk for that reason because he knows it hurts me. He's going to keep doing it, too, until he's won. But I can't stand by and watch any longer. I want to check up on Dad, anyway, so I might as well take on the night patrol too." At Astrid's unamused expression, he let out an exasperated sigh. "Alright. Alright, then I'll-I'll sleep for a week. I promise."

For a moment, Hiccup was sure she was going to argue further, but Astrid slowly tipped her head once she was done thinking. "Fine. One night. One," she held out a pointed finger, "and that's it. Got it?"

Hiccup grinned up at her. "Perfectly. One night, and then I'm coming home."

Yeah, right.

He reached Berk the following morning and had a small but joyful reunion with his father who, after some talking, also complained that Hiccup wasn't sleeping enough. Hiccup had just laughed him off, and thankfully the chief had moved onto other things, such as the attacking Flyers.

That evening, Hiccup started his patrol.

There'd been no sight of any Flyers around. A bit of a waste of time, but at least he had Toothless to keep him company. Morning gradually rose with another sleepless night, and an exhausted Hiccup started to wonder if he'd ever sleep again.

The day passed ever so slowly. Hiccup was long past prepared to get a good rest that night before heading back to the Edge, but an alert from the village stirred his attention.

"A group of Flyers has been sighted a few miles north of here!" a Berkian yelled as he burst into the Great Hall. "Near our storage hut, too!"

That was when Hiccup knew he had to seize the opportunity. He'd patrol again that night… alone.

He'd slipped off unnoticed. Toothless had slept away his exhaustion that afternoon and was prepared for the possible fight ahead, but Hiccup very clearly was not. The heavy purple bags under his eyes and disheveled look were only the beginning of the long road of sleep deprivation.

Dusk set in and the sunset was washed away with dark colors of the night. Hiccup prepared himself for another long twelve hours of waiting, but he was not prepared to almost immediately be surrounded by Flyers.

"Toothless!" he yelled, leaping onto his dragon's back. They took off quickly, speed on their side, and fired at the other Flyers once they were close enough.

But the odds weren't even, and Toothless was quickly depleted of nearly all his shots.

With Toothless's last plasma blast, they'd fired at the smallest of the Singetails, but it hardly seemed to faze it. Hiccup's grip on the saddle tightened with anxiousness. He was alone, against six nasty Dragons Flyers who wanted nothing more than him dead.

"Toothless, dive!" he yelled, but it'd been too late. There were too many of them and only one of him. He'd gone down in an angry blaze, being thrown off Toothless on the way.

In the end, the impact had been the worst. It even bypassed the way he'd slammed his head against the ground and the way his arm snapped like a twig underneath him. No, the worst was the sickening thump as he hit the ground and all the breath was knocked out of him, unable to gasp, breathe, or even move.

Hiccup laid there for a minute, struggling to regain his senses. There was no way he was getting out of this by himself, he reasoned. His head injury made everything seem as if it was clouded in a dense fog, and the pain in his arm was impossible to ignore. He might be able to crawl a few feet away, but then what? He couldn't hold off the Flyers without Toothless who was missing, and no one was going to check up on him at least until morning.

"Gods," he whispered, suddenly feeling utterly and completely useless. "Gods, no. Gods."

So, as Hiccup Haddock laid there in the cold and dark, grasping at the last straws of life, he knew this time for sure… he was going to die.

"What do you mean, you don't know where he is?"

Stoick scratched his beard, worry lines deepening across his forehead. "Well, lass, it isn't as if I've been able to check up on him every minute. I'm the Chief around here, you know. Saw him head back to his hut a while ago and haven't seen him since – I thought he must be asleep."

Astrid slammed her foot on the Great Hall floor. She'd flown from the Edge to Berk in less than twenty-four hours to see how Hiccup was doing, only to be greeted by this? "Well, he's not there," she breathed. "Which means wherever he is, it can't be good. What if something's happened?"

"Astrid, he's a Haddock," Stoick assured her. "He's born to survive."

"He's Hiccup," Astrid said irritably. "He's born to find trouble."

Stoick eyed her for a moment, and then nodded. He stood up from the table where Berk's other supervisors sat and began walking her towards the door. "Right. There were some Flyers spotted a few hours ago… and Hiccup seemed to pay special attention to the news, now that I think about it."

"Where?" Astrid demanded.

"Near the storage hut. North of here."

Astrid did not need to be told twice. "Let's go."

As they neared the small island only ten minutes later, though they struggled to see clearly in the dark, Astrid spotted the Dragon Flyers firing at something on it and her heart leaped into her throat. Who were they aiming at… and why?

Taking a look beside her, she saw that Stoick looked equally as concerned, his pale skin gleaming in the moonlight.

"Come on!" the chief ordered as he pushed Skullcrusher forward. He dove towards the Flyers, firing on his way down, and soon engaged the Flyers. The men quickly scattered in the air as Stormfly and Skullcrusher drew near and eventually backed up in retreat once the two proved too powerful.

"Yeah, you better run!" Astrid yelled as they flew away. "And if you ever come back, I'll kill you!"

"Easy, lass," Stoick grunted, coming up beside her. "They're leaving. And the way we showed them, I don't think they'll be coming back anytime soon." He patted Skullcrusher's side in relief.

Astrid's eyes widened, getting the feeling that something was still very wrong. "Where's Hiccup?"

The first traces of alarm went off inside of them. Hiccup had most likely been on night patrol around the island tonight, having sneaked off, but why wasn't he here now? Uneasiness stirred inside Astrid. He'd been alone against six Flyers, completely unprepared for a fight. The odds were not good.

"Hiccup!" Stoick gasped, turning Skullcrusher and diving to the island below them. "Son! Where are you?"

Astrid followed Stoick's lead, unable to breathe or think as she looked around. The worst pictures floated before her mind. Hiccup and Toothless, lying bloodied on the grass as they struggled to stay alive. Or worse – not alive at all.

She shuddered, willing the horrific image to go away.

"I see something over here!" Stoick yelled, and her eyes snapped to where he was headed. There was a pile of rocks gathered in the shadows, along with a crumpled form hidden within them. It wasn't moving.

Astrid's breath hitched, and she prayed to the gods that it wasn't Hiccup. Anyone but him. Please.

Stoick dropped near the boulders and immediately slid off Skullcrusher, running towards the shadowed spot. Astrid had just landed next to him as he reached down and pulled the figure out, revealing the cruel image of the broken form of his son.

"It's him," whispered Stoick, gathering up and cradling the bloodied Hiccup in his arms. "Oh, gods. It's him."

Astrid's mind rushed, and blood roared in her ears. It was him – it was Hiccup. And now he was going to die because she hadn't gotten there in time. Because she hadn't been there to help him when he needed her most.

"Find Toothless," Stoick choked out, and his head bowed with the weight of the world suddenly placed on his shoulders. "We're bringing him and my boy home."

If one looked at Hiccup from a distance, his injuries would not have seemed so bad. At least at first. Treatable, one would presume. The boy was lucky to have survived the fight with such minimal damage.

But if they looked closer, the bruises and cuts lining his brow would almost multiply. There was not an inch of his body that was not covered in blood. His arm was painfully bent at the elbow and the back of his feathery brown hair was soaked with blood.

Astrid could not look away from any of it as they flew back to Berk, praying that he would last one more minute and stay alive. Maybe even open his eyes and tell her he was alright, just like he always did.

But Hiccup was unresponsive to anything around him. Even Toothless, who they'd rescued from the angry sea below and was panicked to find his rider in such an injured state. He'd licked Hiccup's face over and over again in hopes of him waking, but with no reaction.

Whatever condition Hiccup was in, he was unable to wake from it. He was stuck in the same trance for what looked to be forever.

Astrid barely remembered the flight back. She'd hardly lifted her eyes from Hiccup who was cradled in his father's lap, in fear that he'd stop breathing and die if she looked away.

Once they reached Berk's shorelines, they landed next to Gothi's hut and Stoick carried Hiccup inside, laying him tenderly on the bed before turning to Astrid. His usual stoic expression was paled, fear for his son overtaking him. "Go get Gothi," he ordered. "Now!"

And Astrid ran.

The other riders, who'd joined her on her expedition to Berk, greeted her once she made her way into the village, asking where she'd been and where was Hiccup. Astrid hadn't bothered to answer, only set on getting Gothi who was just coming back from treating a sick child in town.

"Gothi," Astrid panted when she saw the woman coming her way, grabbing her by the arm and tugging her towards the medical hut. "It's Hiccup. He's hurt."

Gothi looked alarmed but didn't stop to inquire further, only picking up her pace to meet Astrid's. The other riders, however, gathered around Astrid with questions on Hiccup's well-being. "What happened?" Fishlegs squeaked, struggling to keep up with everyone else. "How is he? Is it bad?"

"Yes, it's bad!" Astrid snapped once they reached Gothi's hut, pushing open the door and gesturing inside. She stared at the riders with heavy eyes. "He's in there, okay? Just… look."

They entered the hut and looked.

"Holy Thor," Snotlout breathed, looking stricken at the battered sight of his cousin. "Is he… is-is he…"

"He's alive," Stoick said, coming up to Hiccup's side with Gothi. "And he'll stay alive. Haddocks don't go down easy… now, what does it look like, Gothi? When will he be waking up?"

The old woman inspected Hiccup's face for a long minute before she propped up his head. She fingered the back of his hair for a few seconds before looking deeply concerned. A few more pokes and prods and then Hiccup's head was gently set down. Gothi looked up at Stoick, Astrid, and the others, and then waved her hands to usher them away.

"She needs privacy," Stoick muttered, but still looked uneasy in leaving his son. Nonetheless, he took Astrid by the shoulder and guided her as well as the other riders out of the hut.

Privacy? Astrid thought once they were outside, wringing her hands as she started to pace. That's bad. Privacy means something's wrong, and when it comes to Hiccup, 'wrong' is twenty times worse than usual. But how much worse?

Gazing hopelessly at the healer's hut, she found herself wondering if Hiccup even would last the night.

They couldn't tell how bad the head injury was. At least, not yet. Until Hiccup woke up, Gothi had no way of telling what damage had been done to him and how to treat it.

But that was exactly the problem. Hiccup wasn't waking up.

Not when Gothi set his broken arm. Not when she cleaned his wounds in case of infection. Not even when a desperate Astrid poured a cup of cold water over his face in an attempt to rouse him.

He wasn't waking up.

A day passed. Hiccup's condition still didn't change. Gothi gathered Stoick, Gobber, and the riders in her hut, looking grave as she wrote down her diagnosis. Each symbol seemed to last centuries to write. But at last, she was finished and pulled her cane away with a heavy hand and an even heavier heart.

Astrid fearfully read the runes sprawled across the floor, her heart thudding at each word.

"He's in a coma." The words felt sour and unwelcome in her mouth, and she would give anything to take them back. "A coma… one that could kill him if he stays in it long enough."

The words took a moment to settle in around them.

"What can I do?" Stoick suddenly demanded, turning to Gothi with urgency. "There must be other treatments? Other medicines?"

Gothi only shook her head, looking ten years older and sorrow-filled as she turned away. Stoick gathered his head in his hands and started to pace, shoulders trembling as the worried father's grief began to sink in and take its toll from the past few days.

Hiccup's body lay on the bed where they could touch it, but his soul was lost somewhere they couldn't see. And as much as they wanted to rescue him from his gripping fate, none of them could, rendered useless by the severity of his injuries.

The darkness was closing in on them, and it looked like Hiccup was the first to be swallowed.

… sorry not sorryyyyyyyyyyy.

On that dramatic note, I know it's a bit of a slow chapter but I promise the next one will pick up some speed. I hope you're enjoying it so far, and don't forget to tell me what you might want for chapter two! Thanks for reading, and please review! :)