Gobber's face was grim, the exact same expression he wore when someone died horribly or a metal was flawed. "I'm sorry, Hiccup, but that leg'll have to come off."

Hiccup's heart nearly stopped right there.

Stoick gave a loud groan. "Don't tell him that, he'll—"

"Yeah, the whole thing. Right under the hip. Hurt like crazy, too."

"Thor's beard, Hiccup," Stoick shouted. "No one's cutting off anything. Gobber, what would possess you to say something like that?"

Gobber gave a shrug, smile bursting into being under his moustache. "Oh, come on, I was just having a little fun. Hiccup gets it, doesn't he?" He thumped Hiccup hard on the shoulder with his good hand.

Hiccup winced in pain. The fact that his heart was still stuck in his throat didn't help. "Yeah, uh-huh. Funny."

"See, Stoick? I told you he would appreciate it."

Stoick continued to look less than amused.

"Actually, Gobber," Hiccup said, letting his head fall back against his pillow. "That was the least funny thing I have ever heard."

And the blacksmith had the nerve to laugh. "Yeah, well, I got a kick out of seeing yer face even if no one else 'round here can appreciate a good joke."

"You are such an idiot," Stoick said. "And I highly doubt Hiccup is in a laughing mood."

That was about right. Hiccup stared at the ceiling. Oh, the good old familiar ceiling of a room that was not his for sleeping. And he had had been so looking forward to getting out of the main quarters of the house. Upstairs. Now that was an epic dream and a half. "What was funny was me screaming for help in the snow for a whole hour." He made sure to fill that sentence with every drop of sarcasm he could summon.

Gobber gave another hearty laugh. "Yeah, that was quite excellent. Like some little girl who had fallen in the snow and couldn't get up. Oh, when I tell that story o'er a few pints of mead—"

"Gobber?" Stoick said suddenly.

"Eh?"

"Shut up."

"Okay, but tonight I'll have a story—ouch."

Hiccup didn't turn his eyes in time to see what sort of injury had been dealt. Rather disappointing. It would be nice to have something else to focus on besides pain. Upon waking up after the Green Death incident pain had been something intense, but also dull and vague. This was a different sort of pain altogether. And having his father and mentor arguing with each other in the same room while the Elder hummed off-key in the background was not helping. Though he did have to admit it probably would have been funny to come upon someone else screaming in the snow for help. He managed a smile.

"So, son," said Stoick now that Gobber had managed to, indeed, follow orders and shut up, "how are you feeling?"

"Like I broke my leg. And like I have frostbite all over my entire body."

"All-over frostbite? Oh, that's nothing. One time—"

"Gobber," came Stoick's warning.

"Jus' trying to take his mind off things."

"Well." Stoick clapped his hands together with deafening results and beamed down at Hiccup as if "well" was an eloquent phrase of meaning. "Once the Elder has her things ready she'll be taking care of that leg and with any luck maybe she won't be cutting it off either."

No one laughed.

"Gobber's funnier," Hiccup said.

"Don't scare the lad, Stoick," Gobber said in a loud whisper.

"I was just trying to make him feel more comfortable. Last time we did anything he was unconscious and I don't want him screaming in pain or—"

"For the pain." Gothi appeared seemingly out of nowhere and shoved a wad of something foul-smelling and foul-tasting into Hiccup's mouth before moving quickly down to his leg to press her tiny frail hands against the bruises with more might than Hiccup imagined any Viking in the village had.

Screaming in pain did not even begin to cover it.

"Done," she said in her tiny voice as if she had done nothing more than slice a carrot. "It was a clean break. Just needed a bit of adjusting, some more rest and he will be just fine."

Hiccup supposed he should thank her, but he was still trying to catch his breath. He had nearly choked on the… thing… she had given him and it certainly hadn't done much for pain.

She didn't seem to expect thanks. From the corner of his eye he watched her go, sidling right out the door while still humming off-key.

"That wasn't so bad," Stoick said cheerfully.

Hiccup tried to glower at him, but didn't have the strength beyond spitting out what appeared to be random and slightly rotten herbs. "I wish she would have chopped it off instead."

"That's not funny at all," Gobber said with a shake of his head. "And on top of that you've inconvenienced me when I have all this work that needs to be done and you to do it and… eh, I guess I'll let you have your rest. I'll be off, then." He hobbled out the door.

Rest did sound nice. He wasn't sure what else he could possibly be doing. His plans for the day had been entirely ruined. Not to mention his plans for the entire winter. So that left… what? Sleeping?

Yet that did not appear to be much of an option. His dad was still in the room, arms crossed over his chest. "You really do have a knack for getting yourself into trouble."

The phrase wasn't threatening—friendly, perhaps even rather loving—but the intent was still there.

Hiccup sighed. "Dad, it wasn't as if I had planned to break my leg. And I wasn't the one who abandoned a boulder in the middle of a hill. I can't lift many heavy objects as we both know."

"I'm just saying it's a funny thing."

"Like all the leg jokes? Yeah, real funny."

"Ironic. You know I mean."

Hiccup was rarely sure of what his dad meant when he spoke. Stoick was not a man big on verbal communication and it was implausibly impressive he was able to give the rousing speeches he did. But he wasn't about to tell his dad that and settled instead for shaking his head.

"I think we can all agree that the past months have been…" Stoick paused, scrunching up his forehead in thought.

"One gigantic mess?" Hiccup supplied helpfully.

"I was actually going for difficult. But I was impressed with the past few weeks. You're a hero. No father could ask for more in a son and I want you to know just how proud I am of you. Not many other fathers can boast of their sons slaying a dragon as monstrously huge as that Death back there. So… just know that I am proud of you. And worried. Your health and safety are important to me and I have to say it terrifies me when anything does happen to you. And I know we have never exactly had the perfect father-son relationship—"

Hiccup's head began to spin. He put a hand to his head and closed his eyes. "Dad, what exactly are you trying to say?"

There was a long pause. "I'm not sure. But you need to listen and not interrupt me."

"Can do. Sorry."

"As you know, son, I'm not going to be around forever and—"

"Why are we talking about your mortality?" Even with his eyes closed he saw red and he was pretty sure he was going to throw up in the near future.

"Hiccup, I told you not to interrupt."

Hiccup pursed his lips together. He had never thought of himself as an interrupter—it was a quality that had always driven him nuts in his father.

"As I was saying! I'm not going to be around forever and though I don't think anyone has ever wanted to say such a thing tradition dictates you would be chief after me. To tell the truth I used to think it would be condemning the entire island to a cursed existence but your actions of late made me change my mind and I think you would be able to offer… a lot. I was going to use this winter to talk to you about… chief things, but now… Hiccup, you already lost a foot and now you're going around breaking the other leg!"

Had his father just rambled on to state the obvious? "Can't you still, you know, talk to me about chief things?"

"Well, of course I can, but that's not the point. How are you supposed to manage as chief if you can't even take care of yourself?"

Hiccup's eyes snapped open. The light was enough to burn his brain. "Dad, it was an accident!"

"I know." Stoick had his own eyes closed, his hand on his brow. "I know it's not your fault but… I have things to be doing. Get some rest. I'll be back tonight."

Hiccup watched his dad leave and looked at the door long after it had closed. Then he let his head drop back to his pillow. Great. Another brilliant father-son conversation. To his credit his dad was trying and maybe Hiccup shouldn't have been so… had he always been this snappy? He couldn't shake the feeling that a big apology on his end was in order.

Chief. The word rose to the top of his mind like a neutral thought fleeing all the other bad ones. That wasn't a word tossed around very in front of Hiccup save for references to being the son of the chief. He supposed he had always known the position would one day be his, one of those little factual nuggets tucked away at the back of his mind. Wasn't it something to be excited about? And hadn't his father suggested that maybe he wouldn't be horrible at it? Instead the idea sunk like a rock to the bottom his stomach.

Oh, but his leg hurt. He pushed back the covers. As was habit his first sight was of that other thing, not a foot but a weird contraption of wood and metal that he had amazingly come to depend upon. Even so it was still an alien sight to him, something incomprehensible as necessary. He then forced his gaze to the right leg, the one that looked normal aside from the fact that it was purple and black and swollen. Yep. Definitely broken.

Leaving him entirely unable to walk.

He wasn't sure how he thought about that. All that concerned him was that it hurt and he was now trapped in this bed. Already he was tired of it and its place downstairs- of all crazy places to put a bed, with the fire and the cooking and the door right there for all the traffic of anyone who just wanted to wonder into the house.

Speaking of which…

The door burst open and a blur of blonde and blue rushed through it.

"Hiccup!" Astrid jumped onto the bed and Hiccup choked back a scream. "Oh, I'm sorry. Your leg. I heard what happened and I had to come see you." She sprang away from the bed with as much force as her original jump. Another denial of pain.

"Hi, Astrid," he managed to squeak out.

She paused next to the bed, hands on her hips, her cheeks red with the cold and snowflakes clinging to her hair. She was not wearing any sort of coat.

"Did you burst through a Berk snow to see me?" he asked.

She waved a hand. "Eh, it's just snow. I need to build up my resistance to cold."

"That's a stupid thing to say."

"What's stupid is this." She gestured at his leg. "You broke it. You're left with one leg and you immediately set about breaking it."

"Yeah, my father has already established that."

"How are you feeling?" Without waiting for an answer she put a hand to his head. "You're warm. You're going to get a fever."

Hiccup was sure some of the warmth was just Astrid touching him. Nothing like having a pretty girl touching you when you're incapable of movement. "I'm fine."

"Are you? Because I've seen people with broken bones before and they never seem all that fine afterwards."

"I'm seeing red. Does that count as something?"

"Yes. I think that would be normal." She sat down on the bed next to him. "Hiccup, were you practicing walking?"

"Yes. What's wrong with that?"

"Um, the fact that you were walking in a place where you were at risk for falling and breaking what appendages you have left, you idiot."

"I did it last week. Same place." He grimaced as a wave of pain rolled up from his leg. The blur of red before his eyes increased.

She sighed. "Hiccup, I was sort of hoping, when you were up to it, going for a walk. Together. Just us. Maybe see where the dragons buried themselves."

"Like a date?"

A few moments passed before she responded. "Yes, Hiccup. Exactly like a date. But I don't think that's going to happen for awhile."

She sounded like she was a mile away. "We can still go for a walk someday."

"Not with you like this."

"Hey, I just have a broken leg and another leg I can't really use and…" He could hear his words slurring together. What exactly had Gothi given him?

In the blur that was now his sight he could see Astrid smiling at him. "Look, I'm sorry. I know you didn't mean to fall and I really wanted to see how you were doing."

She was so pretty. He smiled. "Yeah. I'm glad you came." His eyes closed. "I really wish we could go…"

"You need your rest."

"Uh…huh…"

He was vaguely certain she kissed him on the cheek, but by then was too out of it to respond.