((A/N: This was mostly inspired by the fact that I just watched the movie four times in a row during a marathon on FX Christmas Morning. With that in mind, I haven't watched the show that comes after, so I'm not really taking any of the events that took place in it into account. Or at least, I won't until I actually get around to watching it.
To anyone who is getting here from my other two stories, fear not. They will be updated, eventually…))
/
Hiccup was doing something he hadn't done for as long as he could remember, and that was walk along one of the sandy beaches of the island. It was relaxing to have a chance to let his mind wander and not have too much to worry about. Between serving as some sort of liaison between Dragons and Vikings as they learned to tolerate one another, and all the turmoil and trouble he had gone through leading up to that point he hadn't had very much time for himself.
Toothless was at his side as always, padding alongside him and going slow enough to match his rider's pace. His silent companion would nudge him playfully every now and then, being careful not to actually knock the human over. His dragon was ever mindful of the life changing injury that Hiccup had sustained those few months ago during the battle at the Dragon Nest.
In return, Hiccup would nudge him right back and smile. It was good to have a friend that was always at his side, and that listened to him in silence when he wanted to vent his frustrations out loud. Sometimes there were doubts and problems on his mind that he didn't want to bother Astrid with. He didn't like to trouble the girl that he had grown to love with trivial things.
He was pulled from his rather Zen moment by his foot snagging on something stuck in the sand and almost falling because of it. The boy stopped himself, but was confused by the source of his sudden stumble. It was a shattered plank, and it wasn't the only obstacle he was noticing. Splintered fragments of wood made some sort of trail leading up to the shattered framework of what looked to have once been a small rowboat.
It had seemed that Toothless had taken interest in it as well, dropping into a defensive stance between Hiccup and the wreckage and letting out a low growl in warning. The boy sighed and tried to look over his friend and taking a few steps to the side to try and see it. His dragon blocked his sight at every turn though, deliberately in his way.
"Relax Toothless." Hiccup sighed, scratching at the dragon's side in a reassuring manner. "I just want to see what it is."
The Nightfury stood its ground though, shaking its head and reaffirming the low growl that rumbled in its throat. After a few moments of persistence by the boy though, it finally stood aside reluctantly. Now that his way was clear of the immediate obstacle, he noticed a rather large bundle of cloth and fabric. It was bulging in a way that betrayed the form of some living thing under it, although it was impossible to tell what. Eager to find out for himself, he started to hobble forward. The prosthetic leg dragged awkwardly in the uneven and unsteady sand, but it didn't slow his progress too much.
The constant growling of Toothless as he closed in on the wreckage was a reminder that whatever this thing was, a Viking with more common sense would have left it undisturbed. The young rider could feel the growl reverberating through his body, at odds with the racing beats of his heart against his ribcage. Hiccup had to know though, had to find out what was hiding underneath this blanket.
He approached the wreckage; he wondered what could have caused the seemingly catastrophic damage to this small craft. There hadn't been any fierce storms lately, did this mean that the wreckage had been here for quite some time, or that it wasn't a storm that tore this boat apart? As he approached the splintered framework, that bundle of blanket and cloth that he was so interested in was growing larger in his view.
Toothless refused to come with him, still standing his ground with claws scraping against the sand. His low growling had turned into a full blown hiss. Hiccup tuned it out; his curiosity was too strong at this point. It only took a few seconds to cross the beach to be standing before the wreckage. The boy knelt down, his hands hesitating just above the cloth as he felt the lightest touch of the fabric beneath his fingers. Whatever was underneath this had Toothless on edge, and now that the moment of truth was at hand Hiccup was starting to doubt if he really wanted to know.
He gritted his teeth slightly and pulled down one end of the fabric slowly, revealing the face of a human. The thing he had been so hesitant to reveal was just what looked to be a teenage girl. Hiccup hadn't even realized that he had been holding his breath until a massive exhale of relief left his lungs. It wasn't anything worth worrying about! It was just another Viking. She didn't seem to be breathing though, and immediately the Hiccup's thoughts turned to helping a fellow Viking in any way he could.
Now that he finally thought he knew what was under that mysterious bundle of cloth, he grabbed one end of the cloth pulled it to the side, ready to look for any signs of injuries or wounds. What he found was something else entirely though, and in a single moment it felt like the world that he knew had suddenly crumbled around him.
His mind tried to wrap around everything that had suddenly been revealed and wasn't sure which part shocked him more. Hiccup's face had molded into a blank stare and he suddenly felt like he was going to be sick. The girl's chest was barely covered, simple tattered remains of what probably used to be a shirt revealed horrific scarring up her arms, torso, and stomach. Even worse than that were the numerous open wounds that were still oozing blood. The blood wasn't red though, it was dark black ooze that ran thick.
That wasn't even the part that had left him the most shocked though. It was a small part yes, but the biggest surprises were her scaled arms and legs, as well as the massive red wings that seemed to sprout from her back. "What are you…?" Hiccup whispered in pure shock.
The girl's forearms were covered by rigid red scales that ended in dragon's talons where normal fingers and hands should have been. Starting just above her hips, patterned scales stretched down her sides, leaving only her toned stomach to be uncovered by them. These scales ran down to her knee, slowly covering more and more skin as it progressed, where the bones and joints seemed to be disfigured and backwards. Her lower legs were completely encompassed by the scales, and her feet looked more like dragon's paws than anything else with talons and all.
He didn't want to move the girl at all, apprehensive to even touch her or to roll her over and see if those wings really were connected to this girl's back or if it was all just some trick of his eyes. He really hoped he was just hallucinating this because he didn't know how he would explain it any other way. He had just found some dragon-looking human thing, in the wreckage of a boat, coming from who knows where.
He was pulled from his shock and confusion by the sudden rise and fall of the girl's chest, something he was trying to avoid directly looking at. This girl dragon creature thing had started to breathe again, albeit weakly and in a ragged fashion. Hiccup wasn't sure whether or not to be excited or terrified by the prospect that whatever this thing was wasn't dead.
He looked at the horrific open wounds that split open this girl's stomach and arms. He had to find some way to treat them or else she might not even live that much longer, but failing that he had to get her to someone else who could. Strange creature or not, he couldn't just leave it to die. Could he?
Toothless was finally at his side now, trying to nudge him away from the body. He needed time to think, to understand what he had just discovered, but it seemed like he wasn't even going to get that chance.
"Toothless, we're bringing her to the village." He decided out loud with a certainty in his voice that left no room for argument. Still, that didn't stop the dragon from shaking its head and growling aggressively. Hiccup ignored it and knelt down, digging his arms beneath her scaled legs and her neck. He stood up, the metal and wood that made up his prosthetic leg creaked under the added weight and he growled in discomfort.
The boy carried her over to the dragon and laid her down on his back before hopping into his place in the saddle. He settled her between him and the front of the saddle so that he could keep her in place during their flight. He deliberately tried to avoid laying hands on her wounds or the exposed skin. That was very difficult to do, given the tattered condition of her clothes.
"Alright boy, let's go!" He shouted with urgency, and Toothless snapped to attention at the order, his wings flaring out and flapping quickly. Without a moment's hesitation they launched into the sky and in the direction of the village.
Hiccup guided Toothless with his prosthetic leg guiding his dragon's fake tailfin in a trained and expert way. They had no time to waste and a girl's, or well strange monster dragon thing's, life was in their hands.
A few agonizingly long and drawn out minutes passed and the village was finally in view and the sun was already starting to set. He had been out a lot longer than he had expected to be, only for it to be cut short by this strange discovery.
"I need some help!" He shouted as he came in for a landing. "I need a doctor now!" Toothless came in a bit harder than normal, tearing up some dirt and grass and coming to a skidding halt as they came in faster than they ever had before. He dismounted quickly, ignoring the lancing pain that shot up his stump of a leg from the hard impact.
A few Vikings came running out of their homes at the sound of his calls, some likely fearing the worst. They seemed to be confused by his admittedly flustered but otherwise intact appearance. Once they laid eyes on Toothless and the figure wrapped up in bloody cloth on his back, they sprang into action. One ran off in the direction of the town's doctor, and the others moved to help carry whatever was wrapped in the cloth in that direction.
It was a dangerous gamble, but the boy knew he wouldn't be able to carry her by himself. He just had to hope nothing would go wrong, that they wouldn't feel the scales beneath the cloth or the wings that protruded from her back. He knew that if they had seen her the way that he had, they would have been put into inaction and uncertainty out of fear and surprise. There was no time for that to happen, she didn't know how long this girl had left, it could be hours or it could even just be minutes.
All Hiccup could do now was stand by and hope that he wasn't too late. And if it wasn't too late, then he would start to pray that he hadn't made a foolish mistake by bringing a creature he knew absolutely nothing about to the heart of their village.