Not Made of Stone
(Narrator following Hiccup)
Hiccup sat in the Great Hall eating when he noticed a girl he rarely ever saw stumble in. Even though it was dinner time and already dark outside, she looked like she had just gotten out of bed. But you could never tell with Stone.
She wore her long dirty-blonde hair in a low, messy ponytail. Her clothes consisted of a plain light brown shirt and plain brown pants that had paint smears covering both, giving it what little flair a Viking could. Her skin was pale from hiding off where ever she always did, and she was tall, a good three inches taller than Hiccup. Also, her deep blue eyes, he noticed, had dark purple circles underneath them.
He watched her grab a plate with a single chicken leg on it and stalk back to the corner of the hall where she always sat. Hiccup was no stranger to being an outcast but he never put as much distance between himself with the others then she did and that confused him. Why would she purposely keep herself away from them? They don't bite...well, the twins do, but the rest of them certainly don't. He considered walking over to her and attempting to make a conversation, but he was afraid she'd run. Plus he had been running a lot that afternoon and it wouldn't be smart to stress his metal leg further but trying to stand in front of her for who knew how long.
Not wanting to be caught staring, Hiccup turned back to his own food and attempted to listen to the others chatter. It wasn't easy, but he managed to listen to the conversation and add input without drifting off too many times. When everyone finished he and the others left the Great Hall, all going in their separate directions to get home.
Just as he was about to disappear into the forest next to the hall to go get Toothless from the beach where he liked to stay while Hiccup ate, he heard the door open again. He glanced back and saw Stone slowly making her way out. In one hand she held her sketchbook, which she could be seen scribbling in when and if you ever spotted her, and in the other she clutched the sides of her forehead. Her grip was so tight that her normally pale hand was almost sickly white. She stumbled off in the same direction he was, apparently not noticing him.
Hiccup scrambled as quietly as he could with his sore metal foot into the dark so she wouldn't see him if she happened to glance up. She walked right past him and down the hill that the Great Hall was perched on. Hiccup followed silently behind her for awhile just a few yards behind when Stone suddenly stopped, her shoulder shaking uncontrollably. He was surprised when she stopped but even more surprised when she yelled out, rearing her head back. Her face glistened with tears under the moonlight but Hiccup only saw Stone's face for half a second since she immediately starting running down the hill after her yell.
Hiccup chased after her as quietly and as quickly as he possibly could. She had both arms wrapped around her head, her sketchbook pressed up against the back of her head. Since she wasn't watching where she was going, she headed right toward a patch of small but sharp rocks. Hiccup was about to call out to her, to tell her to stop, to watch out, to ANYTHING, but it was too late. Stone tripped over one of the rocks, flipped head over heels and landed with a thump on her back atop the rocks. She groaned and unraveled her arms and lay there, completely still.
"Are you alright?!" Hiccup called, rushing to her side. She flinched and looked back at him. When she saw him she groaned and looked away.
"How long have you been following me?" she asked, her normally steady voice strained from the tears she had shed.
"The whole time," Hiccup responded honestly. "What's wrong with your head?"
Instead of answering she just groaned and rolled over, revealing a spot in her lower back that gushed blood. One of the rocks she landed on had pierced right through her skin.
Hiccup gasped and reached out to put pressure on the wound but she was already almost fully standing. Stone had her arm wrapped around her middle and was easily slowing the blood flow herself. Before Hiccup could say another word Stone was walking away, seemingly un-phased by the deep hole in her back.
"Hey, stop, wait a minute!" Hiccup called to her but she didn't respond in any way. He quickly got up, hobbled as fast as he could and grabbed her free arm, the one loosely holding her sketchbook.
Stone turned to glare down at him as she pulled her arm from his grasp.
"Leave me alone," she growled. Hiccup felt fear course through him but not nearly as much fear as he got from Astrid when she threatened him with her battle axe.
"No, I want to help you," he insisted. Her glare only increased and she started walking away again.
"You never cared about my pain before so why care now?" she demanded.
"You people see me in pain constantly but none of you ever care," she said, turned back to him. Hiccup swore that if looks could kill he would be turned to smoldering ash by the look she gave him.
"What do you mean? I've never noticed you in pain before that," Hiccup said as he pointed to her lower back.
"This," she also pointed to her lower back, "doesn't hurt. Not compared to the pain I was going through before I tripped."
"What do you mean?" Hiccup asked with genuine curiosity. Stone looked away, her eyes taking on a slightly hollow look.
"…Can we continue this chat later? I don't really want to die by tripping over a rock and loosing too much blood."
"Oh, of course we can! Let's go to the village doctor. Do you think she's still awake?" Stone looked up to the sky, toward the moon, and nodded.
They walked in silence that was only occasionally broken by Stone hissing in pain or Hiccup wincing quietly when he stepped on his left leg too hard. After several long, awkward minutes, they made it to the doctor's office. Candle light could be seen through some of the windows so they knew she was there.
Stone walked up to the door, but before she knocked she looked over at Hiccup.
"You can go now you know," she said, sounding like she desperately wanted him to leave. Hiccup ignored the pleading of her voice and shook his head.
"No, I want to make sure you're alright." Stone scoffed quietly but didn't press him any further. She reached out and knocked. Thump thump thump, pause, thump thump. The doctor immediately rushed to the door and opened it quickly, looking Stone up and down franticly.
The doctor was a muscled woman with long red hair who could have been seen on the battlefield when dragons were our enemies, either treating a patient or battling. Rumor said that she had taken Stone in as her apprentice and that she was as close to Stone as Gobber was to Hiccup.
"Stone, I told you only to use that knock during emergencies!" she sounded exasperated but relieved at the same time. Stone didn't reply except to turn slightly and move her arm, exposing the gash to the doctor. The doctor gasped and took her inside.
Hiccup stood unsure in the door way, watching the doctor rush around, getting bandages and water, before speaking up.
"Uh, Ms. Heinrickson, is there anyway I can help?" Ms. Heinrickson stopped her flurry of activity to look at Hiccup and grant him with an answer.
"You? No, this is going to require advanced medical training, not dragon riding skills. Wait outside the door if you want, but come in here and I'll snap your head off and then sew it back on sideways!"
Hiccup rushed outside, closing the door behind him. He sat down on the porch step and leaned his ear against the door. All he could currently hear was the rustle of clothing and what sounded like a rag being dipped in water.
"So, what'd you do this time? And how did Hiccup, of all people, get mixed into all of this?" Hiccup heard Ms. Heinrickson ask Stone.
"Erm, you don't think he can hear us do you?"
"Nah, Hiccup's many things but I don't think he'd try to listen in on someone." Hiccup suddenly felt very dirty but he didn't move. He wanted to know what was wrong with her head and had a strong feeling that one of them would mention it.
"It happened again. It's been happening daily now," Stone's voice suddenly sounded strained to Hiccup. "I...I don't know how to deal with it anymore!" From what Hiccup could tell, Stone had burst into tears and Ms. Heinrickson was doing her best to comfort her. It took all Hiccup had not to run in and try to help. He couldn't understand why, but he wanted her to be happy.
Once Stone calmed down, Ms. Heinrickson continued to treat the wound. Hiccup didn't know what she was doing exactly, but he was pretty sure that she had cleaned the gash, sewn it shut, and was now wrapping it, all in only a matter of minutes.
"Done! That should hold for a couple days. Don't bend down a lot or you'll stress the stitches. Now, we should talk more about this problem you are having. I've never heard of a Viking getting these as often as you do so we may as well call them chronic…."
They chatted for twenty minutes, blathering on and on about different pain relievers that they could try, but not once did they say what the actual problem was. Hiccup was getting frustrated but then they starting talking about something that made him press his ear closer to the door. They started talking about him.
"So how DID Hiccup get involved in this? He's the slayer of the Green Death; you'd think he'd be busier with other stuff."
"Yeah I thought that he would ignore me like the rest of the village. But no, he followed me and saw me yell, run, and trip over those stupid rocks. He's in pain himself yet he still chased after me. It doesn't make sense, why would he want to help me?" Stone's words surprised Hiccup. How did she know he was in pain when he didn't notice her pain until today? He had thought he had been hiding his pain so well, not even his not-exactly-girlfriend, Astrid, had noticed.
"He's in pain? Well only someone who is in constant pain like you could see the signs, not even I have noticed anything troubling the boy. And so what if he wants to help you? Sure, it's not the Viking way but, if you haven't noticed, neither of you are very Viking-ish. Yes he saved our village from hating dragons and you are the best shield and sail designer our village has ever had, but you both have no skills on the battle field."
"But how do I get him to understand? If I told someone I suffered from…Well you know..." Hiccup signed in exasperation but kept listening, "they'd call me weak and a crybaby. No one understands how painful it can become, not even you!" Stone's voice rose a bit in volume but Hiccup heard Ms. Heinrickson shush her.
"No one's ever had this problem Hun, that's why I don't understand. Its normal for Vikings to get these…These migraines like you do but they've never lasted as long as yours or been as strong are yours are! And I've never heard of someone getting them daily!"
Hiccup gasped. MIGRAINES?! Stone was right; he didn't understand how a simple headache, even if it WAS daily, could unhinge her like it had earlier.
"Yes, that's right. No one knows what its like to feel like Thor Almighty has wrapped his hands around your skull and squeezed it for hours on end, day after day. Or that a dragon is inside your brain ripping and tearing it apart for hours. Only me. I can't possibly tell him, there's no way in his entire life that he could understand!" Stone was yelling now.
Her words reminded Hiccup of a long lost memory from when he was maybe 5 or 6 years old. He himself had gotten a terrible migraine and he had described it the same way, that Thor Himself was squeezing his head mercilessly. He had screamed and yelled to his dad to make the pain stop but his dad only said to stop complaining and act like the Viking he was supposed to be.
He suddenly felt a lot of sympathy for Stone if she had to deal with that daily. Hiccup couldn't hold off any more. He burst into the room, practically sprinted to Stone and enveloped her in a large bear hug, ignoring the slight bulge of the bandages underneath her new red shirt. No one said a word until he let her go.
"I understand," Hiccup said, voice strong and full of confidence.
"You were listening?!" Stone exclaimed, her face turned as red as her shirt. Hiccup nodded and pulled up a chair across from her.
"So, how can I help?" Hiccup asked eagerly. Stone's shoulders, Hiccup noticed, drooped slightly and her eyes began to look hollow again.
"Hiccup you have her own problems and pains. You shouldn't have to deal with mine."
"I can handle my leg, but you obviously need help with your headaches. Tell you what, you let me try to help you and in return we hang out some time. Maybe ride our dragons together?" Stone shook her head.
"That sounds nice but…I don't own a dragon."
"What?! I thought nearly everyone owned a dragon by now! Why don't you have one?" Stone just shrugged and looked away, unwilling to look into Hiccup's eyes. Ms. Heinrickson also shifted slightly uncomfortably, clearly knowing the reason that Stone didn't have a dragon.
"Well we can hang out and I can help you pick and train one. How's that sound?"
"…It sounds…Nice," Stone said with a smile bigger then Hiccup had ever seen on her face.
Finally, after remanding silent for the entire conversation, Ms. Heinrickson spoke up.
"How do you intend to help exactly?" she asked, scooting her chair forward slightly so her knees were in between the teens, guarding her apprentice.
"Well you were saying there's some sort of plant that helps calm someone's headache but that it grows on top of the largest hill. If I taught her to ride a dragon she could fly up there anytime she needed the plant. We could go get Toothless and fly up there now if you wanted."
Ms. Heinrickson thought about this for minute before agreeing that it was a good plan. Suddenly Stone's hands shot up to her head, squeezing the sides of her head.
"I'm tired so I can just sleep this one off. Let's go tomorrow morning instead," she murmured, stumbling to the door.
"Okay, well, I'll walk you home," Hiccup stated as she walked out.
"You go wait outside Stone, I need a word with Hiccup," Ms. Heinrickson said protectively. Once Stone was gone with the door closed behind her, Ms. Heinrickson rounded on Hiccup.
"I don't care if you did kill the Green Death," she growled, "if you hurt my delicate apprentice in any way, I'll cut the rest of that leg of yours off. You hear me?!" Hiccups eyes widened in fear and he nodded eagerly, feeling like he was talking a protective father into letting him go out with his daughter. But he didn't feel that way about Stone….Did he?
"Good. She may not seem like it on the outside, but she's not entirely made of stone, no pun intended. She's as delicate as a new-born duckling on the inside and she tells me everything. I'll know if you hurt her. Now go, you don't want to keep her waiting now do you?" she added a wink with the last sentence as she pushed him out the door.
Hiccup, feeling very confused, looked around for Stone but didn't see her. Then he noticed Toothless lying down with Stone, both peacefully asleep. Stone was curled up in a loose ball and Toothless had happily coiled around her to keep her warm. Hiccup chuckled before walking Toothless up and having him carry him and Stone to her house.
'Maybe we could be good friends', Hiccup thought to himself. Toothless seems to like her. 'Looks like a possibility of happening…'
