The trip back to Berk is tough. Many of our ships are in bad condition and we are all weary from battle. Though I don't want to lose Hiccup from sight, I ride back to Berk on the back of the Deadly Nadder to warn Gothi Hiccup is injured, and to help her prepare her remedies. Though I've gotten the hang of flying on the Nadder, flying without Hiccup is a little nerve-wracking. Flying with him felt safe; I knew nothing would happen to me while he was around on that Night Fury.

I hear the flapping of wings close by and turn to see Fishlegs on his Gronckle. Fishlegs is almost too big for his pudgy, little dragon, but they already seem to get along great. Meatlug, I hear him call her. He catches up to me, though his dragon doesn't look too happy to be rushed. "I thought I'd be more help with Gothi," he explains. "The others stayed behind with the ships."

"That's probably for the best," I call, the cold wind drowning out my voice. Out of the whole group, Fishlegs is probably whom I get along with the most. He's smarter than the other three put together and not as much of a yak-headed Viking.

The sky is getting dark when we finally reach the island. I lead the Nadder towards Gothi's hut, but she's already waiting for us outside. Fishlegs lands a few seconds later; he's better at communicating with Gothi than I am, so I'm glad he's here. She's looking out at the sea ominously as Fishlegs explains what happened. "His leg, Gothi," I interrupt, as we don't have time for the full story. "He's losing a lot of blood; it's badly burned, we need to be ready for when he gets here. I would have flown him here myself but I didn't want to risk it."

Gothi scrawls on the sand with her staff and Fishlegs quickly translates her instructions. The three of us get to work gathering ingredients and preparing her hut for Hiccup's arrival. The wait is excruciating, but finally we see the ships in the distance. Fishlegs and I rush to the docks to wait for them.

Stoick's ship is the first to dock, and immediately people get to work unloading Hiccup from the boat towards Gothi's hut. Gobber fashioned a makeshift tourniquet that stopped most of the bleeding, but the look on Stoick's face tells me he's barely hanging on. I follow the chief uphill to the elder's home, and watch as she gets to work. Gothi becomes frustrated by the amount of people inside her hut and smacks us until the crowd begins to disperse. Gobber sighs apologetically and leads me outside as well.

Though he's probably anxious to see his family, Fishlegs stays by my side the entire time. I honestly can't tell how long they've been inside, the only thing that keeps me calm is Hiccup's unconscious moaning, at least that means he's still alive.

When the door opens, I rush to Gobber's side to peer inside. Gothi is covered in blood and Hiccup is lying on a cot. He's still passed out, but his leg is neatly bandaged and… gone? Gobber sighs and points to his peg leg. "You get used to them, ya know? I remember when I first got mine."

"You… you just chopped it off?" I ask incredulously.

"We tried to save it, but there was nothing we could do. It was barely hanging—"

"That's… that's enough. I don't need to know."

"All right." He shrugged and patted my shoulder reassuringly. "I'll be in the shop if you need anything. I think I can whip something up for him, something a little more his style."

Stoick nods at me as he carries Hiccup back to his hut with the help of Spitelout. "Go home, Lass. He's going to be all right."

"Chief, I-"

"Tomorrow. You can visit, tomorrow." I nod, resigned and watch them until they reach the Chief's home.

I sleep until dawn, and then I can't be inside any longer. I step outside to take a walk and jump at the sight of the Nadder curled up by the side of my house. "What the…" She seems to hear my voice because her eyes fly open and she squawks happily. "Shh, girl, my parents are sleeping." I pet her affectionately and lead her away from the village, towards the cliffs near Gothi's hut. "Do you want to go for a flight? Maybe find you something to eat?"

Up here in the clouds I feel closer to Hiccup. The cold wind is harsh, and I could probably do with a nice saddle, but being on the Nadder's back is relaxing. We land on a small island and she feasts on some cod. "We should take some back for Toothless, huh?" I can imagine the dragon is restless, worried about his rider, unable to fly without him.

When I land in front of the Chief's home, I notice the whole village busy at work. There's almost always some construction going on in Berk due to the constant dragon attacks so I don't give it much thought. There's a crash inside the Haddock's hut followed by a cursing Stoick. "All right, boy, come on. Away from the kitchen." I knock on the door and the Chief seems honestly thrilled to see me. "Astrid! How perfect. Take care of him please. I can't be locked up in here with him much longer."

"Huh? Hiccup's awake?"

"Hiccup?" he asks, scratching his beard. "No, he's still out cold. Toothless is getting restless though, and I have some things to oversee." He points towards the center of town proudly, where a group of men are hard at work.

"What are they working on?" I wonder. Now that I look more closely, they seem to be building something in the village square.

"A feeding station." He laughs heartily at my confusion. "For the dragons! I can't wait to see the look on his face when he wakes up. I was up all night with Gobber making some sketches. I'll let him do the rest when he comes around; Thor knows he's much better at making things."

"That's amazing, Chief." Stoick seems genuinely happy to here it.

"Aye. He was right all along, wasn't he?" He stands for a moment watching Hiccup sadly. "Maybe Berk needs to try things his way for once."