Hiccup slid on the ground, stumbling and scratching his skin until he caught himself right just before falling down a great cliff that would've given him a one-way ticket to Valhalla. He looked down at the sea and its rocks sticking out with terrified eyes, but this fear was suddenly replaced by a new one as a low growl echoed behind him. Hiccup turned his head to come face to face with Toothless, Grimoras digging in his skin, turning him wild.
As Toothless approached, Hiccup could see his dragon preparing a plasma blast down his throat and he knew he had to get out of his range of fire – now. Hiccup jumped out of the way, next to a nearby tree, and circled it as the Night Fury trailed him. He fired again, only for it to explode to the ground and burn the grass.
Hiccup furrowed his eyebrows as he found Toothless standing on the ledge, and body-slammed his dragon, wrapping his arms around his thick neck, sending them both plunging down the cliff.
Hiccup yelled as they went down, and he could hear another plasma blast getting prepared, though this time he'd had no chance of avoiding it. They both hit the water, and the explosion rang beneath the surface.
...
The gang ran on the beach, just in time to see Hiccup and Toothless falling from the cliff and hit the water, followed by brightness exploding from underwater and a loud, distant and terrifying BOOM!.
They all gasped, holding back. Astrid could swear her heart skipped a beat and she walked slowly forward. She hadn't seen them come out yet and it brought her hands close to her chest.
''Come on, come on...'' she pleaded, her eyes scanning the area where they both sank, but no movement caught her eyes just yet.
Suddenly, the Night Fury and his rider shot out from ocean, little bugs fleeing in another direction.
''YES!'' they all cheered as the duo flew towards them. Though, there was something in the way Hiccup rode that Astrid noticed the others didn't. As they approached, she could see more clearly that her leader wasn't riding as straight as he usually was. He seemed somehow tired and in pain.
Toothless landed on the beach in front of the group, and the gang approached with great relief, smiling and laughing as Hiccup dismounted.
The riders passed Astrid, who hadn't moved from her spot. She was too busy thinking and inspecting Hiccup's features, the expression on his face and posture.
He stood with his back slightly curved, his eyes clouded with pain but his lips showing a smile. She saw his left hand twitch like it wanted to reach to his side but was holding it back.
But Astrid didn't jump to conclusions and advanced to greet Hiccup.
''Welcome back, bud,'' said Hiccup to Toothless, stroking his bud's head with one hand. Astrid placed a hand on his shoulder, and he made a sudden move like she'd scared him.
''You okay?'' she asked, and received a smile from him.
''I'm fine, Astrid,'' said Hiccup, placing his hand on top of hers and pushing it away. He saw that are-you-sure? look and immediately added. ''Really.''
Astrid forced herself to grow a smile on her lips, though she knew something was wrong with him and didn't want to say what it was. She backed off, telling herself she'd find out eventually anyway.
''Okay.'' she said, and like every rider, she climbed on her dragon and took off for Dragon's Edge. They were no longer staying on this island.
...
Astrid observed Hiccup often as they flew back home. His strange posture hadn't changed on Toothless, and his shoulders were high instead of loose like usual. Hiccup always had a relaxed posture, but this time it was the total opposite of that.
The Edge came in sight, and Toothless clawed the air like he was swimming towards the base. He dashed forward with a blast of his wings. The dragons at the back followed the pace and their base quickly grew bigger as they came closer.
Arriving at last, the dragons landed on the platform of the stables, and the riders dismounted - all except one. Hiccup bent low on the saddle, his face showing pain. Thankfully, everyone had their backs turned when he did.
''Uh, I'll join you guys for dinner later,'' he simply said, and he took off to his hut, where he'd take care of his personal, private business.
Hiccup dismounted when everyone nodded, and finally allowed himself to hold his right side. He was lucky that nobody had noticed the burned line digging in his armor, tunic and skin. Even if it appeared small, it hurt like heck.
Hiccup threw open the door of his hut with difficulty since he could only use one arm, and closed it back once him and Toothless were in. He hurried up to his bedroom; receiving a curious and concerned look from his buddy who followed slowly behind.
As he walked up the stairs, Hiccup began detaching the strap crossing from his back to his chest along with the belt above his waist. He threw the leather brown armor to the floor against the wall, and with one hand, took off his red tunic and threw it at the feet of his bed, a hole in the side, the edges turned black.
Hiccup turned his head and lifted up his right arm, uncovering the wound caused by Toothless' shot. What should've been the dark red of the muscles was now black. He wasn't so sure about it because of the lack of strength - which he'd been hiding - but he'd swear having seen something greyish-white in the wound.
His vision suddenly turned blurry and Hiccup regretted having taken a look at it. Somehow, it suddenly hurt more, and he felt like he'll drop dead to the world at any moment now.
He reached a hand up to his forehead, pushing the hair upwards as he felt his face burning. He squeezed his eyes shut at the pain, and his legs gave up on him, sending him collapsing to the ground, next to his bed. He clawed at his bed painfully, trying to get back up, but it was like everything around him started moving on its own. A distant concerned roar echoed around and a black shape bent over him.
Next thing he saw was total darkness with one last roar ringing to his ears.
...
''Argh! Where's Hiccup! I'm hungry!'' complained Snotlout as he banged his fist on the table angrily.
''Would you stop whining? It's not like you were trapped in Death Song amber.'' snapped Astrid, turning to him. She sighed as she turned back around. ''I should probably check out if he's okay.''
''Be my guest. Please,'' said Snotlout, leaning back against his chair, only to be misbalanced and fall backwards.
Astrid walked up to Hiccup's hut. It was getting dark, and the first stars appeared against the marine-blue sky. She reached his door, candle light flashing from the door's cracks. She threw it open, and found a black tail with a red tailfin at its end dangling down from upstairs.
The Night Fury instantly jumped to face her, eyes narrowed dangerously but softened as he recognized her.
''Toothless?'' asked Astrid, her voice betraying her worry. Toothless replied with a low whine and turned back around.
Astrid rushed upstairs, and first thing she saw was Hiccup's limp arm on the floor, and as she climbed higher, she found him lying on the floor next to his bed. He had his front pressed against the floor with his head turned towards her with shut eyes.
''Hiccup!'' cried out Astrid and collapsed by his side. She grabbed his shoulders and pulled him off the floor, and rested him in her arms. She pressed her ear against his chest to hear a heartbeat. Thankfully there was one, but her concern wasn't gone just yet.
She pushed his bangs out of his forehead with quick movements, and when her hand pressed on his skin, she found him boiling hot.
''Oh, gods,'' she said, and without thinking what she was doing exactly, she lifted him up onto his bed, leaning his head carefully on the pillow and pulling a warm blanket over his form. She didn't know what could've caused this fever, but it was serious.
It's when she rolled the cover down to his stomach that an unusual color at her friend's side caught her eye. Astrid pulled down the blanket completely, revealing a deep wound that could've been caused by nothing else but fire. She then recalled Hiccup and Toothless falling from the sky in the ocean together and the explosion ringing from underwater – Hiccup's strange posture and expression.
Toothless really hadn't missed. The skin had been torn and burned like paper to the bone. One of the ribs appeared out amongst the dark dried blood and torn muscles. It was a scary sight. Even for Astrid – who had fought a war for fifteen years and seen many deadly injuries.
There wasn't anything much that could be done since it wasn't bleeding. Perhaps a thick bandage to prevent infection. The rest was up to Hiccup.
She shifted her eyes to his face, brushing the back of her hand against his burning forehead. His fever – she had to get that taken care as well.
Lucky guy, she thought to herself as she watched his chest rising and falling effortlessly. Can't he do anything without somehow getting hurt?
Astrid couldn't count the number of times he'd almost gotten himself killed. But she had to say this: she was glad he was still here.
Her eyes didn't leave him once as she took care of him that night, pressing a wet cloth on his forehead and wrapping his side with bandages. She thought of when she'd been sick and was almost lost to Hiccup and everybody else. When she rethought of that, she remembered him saying he couldn't imagine a world without her in it. And then once she was alright and thanked him, she realized...
I can't imagine a world without you in it either...