One of the ships was finally ready. The sun had just gone down and it was getting harder to see. Some of the vikings went around and put logs into the ground to use as large torches and had the dragons that were there light them on fire so they could have some light. Stoick was impressed that it only took them a few hours to patch up a ship that was damaged very badly. He told the men to load the ship with barrels of water and some weapons, just in case.
Stoick went over to where Hiccup was laying with the doctor and Astrid. He was still unconscious. The doctor had been continuously cleaning and rewrapping Hiccup's leg while Astrid kept a cool cloth on Hiccup's head.
"A ship is ready. I want you and Astrid to come on board. We leave in a few minutes." Stoick told the doctor. He went around and gathered a small group of men to take back to the island. Gobber was one of them. The rest of the vikings would stay and finish up with the other boats.
Stoick went back over to Hiccup and picked him up. Astrid jumped up and followed Stoick and the doctor to the ship. She was glad that they finished fixing it so fast.
"Astrid, go find Toothless. I think he's with Snotlout and the others." Stoick demanded. She immediately took off running to get him. Stoick gently placed Hiccup down on a small bed that they quickly threw together for him. Hiccup let out a soft moan and Stoick looked at him. He was very pale. Stoick wrapped his cloak tighter around him to make sure that he stayed warm. He then made sure that everything was all set and that the men he selected were on the ship. Astrid wasn't back yet. What was taking her so long?
"His leg is gone." Astrid told the teens.
"Awesome! He's so lucky." Ruffnut said.
"Not really. If we don't get him back to Berk, he's going to die." Astrid said.
"Then hurry up and take this dragon to the ship. Us manly vikings have some work to do." Snotlout said. The teens decided to go off and try and make themselves useful. Astrid got Toothless to stand up and follow her. He hasn't really moved since he crashed into the ground. Toothless was in pain, but he wanted to get to his rider. The vikings wouldn't let him near Hiccup since they found out he was missing a leg.
They finally reached the ship. Toothless could smell Hiccup. He could smell blood. He shoved Astrid out of the way and ran over to Hiccup. Why was he sleeping? The doctor was re-wrapping Hiccup's leg. The old wrappings were covered in blood. Toothless got worried. Astrid ran over to calm Toothless down.
"Toothless, it's okay. We're doing the best we can. Calm down, we're going home. He will get better." Astrid assured Toothless. He calmed down and laid next to Hiccup. His ears perked up when he heard Stoick yell to the vikings on the island to push the ship. He felt the movement of the boat and knew that they had just begun sailing. Astrid was happy that they were finally on their way home. She had suggested bringing Hiccup back to the island on a dragon, but Stoick didn't like that idea. They would have to wait and sail back.
The only thing giving the vikings light on the ship was the dimly lit torches. Stoick hoped that they wouldn't get lost on the way back to Berk. It was too dark to see anything. Then, Stoick had an idea. He walked over to where the dragon was laying with Hiccup.
"Hey, Dragon." Stoick said to Toothless.
"His name is Toothless, chief. He responds better to that." Astrid informed Stoick.
"Okay, Toothless. Can you lead us home?" He asked. Toothless looked at Stoick. He understood what the man said, but he wasn't sure if he trusted him. It was his fault that they were in this mess.
"Come on, Toothless. We need your help so we can save Hiccup." Astrid said. Toothless took a moment, and then stood up. The chief was surprised that the Night Fury understood what he had said. Dragons were smarter than he thought.
"Thank you, Toothless." Stoick said. Toothless gave Stoick a dirty look, but Stoick couldn't really see it. They sailed off into the darkness and followed the directions that Toothless gave them. He would turn his head and grunt in the direction in which they were supposed to turn.
Stoick left the men to steer and follow Toothless' directions. He walked over to Hiccup and sat down next to him.
"How is he doing?" Stoick asked.
"The bleeding in his leg slowed down, but it's still going. He may have a few broken bones. We'll have to check on those when we get to Berk. He's had a fever going for a while now. Hopefully that will go away soon because that is not a very good sign." The doctor informed Stoick. He sighed. None of this would have happened if he would have just heard what Hiccup had to say in the Great Hall. Stoick had spent so many years trying to find that nest and get rid of it. When Hiccup told him how to find it, his mind went blank. He only focused on getting there. He didn't even think of a good plan. He almost got all of his men killed. Worst of all, he almost got his own child killed. Hiccup saved the entire island of Berk and he was the one who paid the price.
"I know that look. Stop beating yerself up over this Stoick. What's done is done." Gobber said as he walked over.
"I should have listened to him." Stoick said in a quiet voice.
"This battle would have happened one way or another." Astrid said. "Even if you had taken the time to listen to Hiccup, we still would have come over here and fought that beast. Hiccup still would have been the one to save the day. He has a Night Fury for Thor's sake. But Gobber is right, what's done is done. Now all we have to do is move forward." Stoick took what Astrid had said in for a moment. She and Gobber were right. When Hiccup woke up, Stoick would have to focus on fixing their relationship. That wasn't going to be easy.
"I wonder how long it's going to take for everyone to get used to living with dragons." Gobber said.
"I'm sure it won't take too long. We've been fighting them our whole lives so it is going to take some time, but I'm sure once everyone sees that they can be friendly, they will adjust." Astrid said. Gobber and Stoick agreed.
Stoick placed a fresh cold cloth on Hiccup's forehead. His fever was still pretty high. The doctor told Astrid to fetch another barrel of water and find something to feed some to Hiccup with. She dragged over a barrel and found a cup. Stoick took the cup and filled it with some water. He lifted Hiccup's head up slightly and poured some water in his mouth. Hiccup swallowed and choked a little. After he finished the cup, Stoick laid Hiccup back down. He then stroked Hiccup's hair. He had his mother's hair. His color, but her texture. Hiccup was so much like his mother. Stoick was happy about that.
Gobber decided to break the silence. "Hiccup's gonna have a hard time getting used to a fake leg."
"I'm sure he won't have too hard of a time. He's tougher than we think." Stoick said.
"True. But he's young. It's always harder when you're young. I was a few years older than him when I lost my hand. It was not easy. Getting used to my fake leg was a lot easier than getting used to my hand. I'll make him a good prosthetic when we get back to Berk." Gobber told the chief.
Astrid began to fall asleep leaning against some supplies. Everyone on the ship was silent. It was hard to stay awake. She let sleep overcome her. She dreamed about the battle. In her dream, they called it the battle of Red Death. That is what they would call it from now on.
The sun began to come up and the vikings could finally see. That was a good thing, considering Toothless was falling asleep where he was sitting. The viking who was steering sent the dragon to go sleep somewhere else. They could make their way home now without Toothless' help. He got up and walked over to where Hiccup was sleeping. The doctor was still awake surprisingly. He saw Astrid a few feet away sleeping. Stoick was also asleep. He was sitting next to Hiccup with Hiccup's hand in his. 'Maybe I'm wrong.' Toothless thought to himself. 'Maybe this man does care about Hiccup.' Toothless then laid down on the other side of Hiccup and fell asleep.
The sun was fully in the sky when Stoick woke up. A bunch of the vikings were still sleeping. There were two others that were awake steering and keeping a lookout. Even though the battle is finally over, you never know what could attack you.
Stoick looked at Hiccup. He was still very pale. The doctor had fallen asleep, so Stoick took a look at the wrappings on his leg. They would need to be changed soon. Hiccup's fever was still there, but it wasn't as bad as it was a few hours ago. He fed Hiccup more water and then went to the front of the ship.
"Are we close?" He asked the viking who was steering.
"Very. We should be there by this afternoon." The viking responded. Stoick liked that answer. He kept a lookout with the other vikings.
Astrid and the doctor woke up a little while later. The doctor changed the wrappings on Hiccup's leg while Astrid got up and looked around. They were close to Berk and she knew it. Thank Odin. She didn't like how long this was taking.
A few hours later, they spotted Berk. Stoick was relieved and Astrid was ecstatic. They crashed onto the land and were greeted by the vikings who stayed behind. They were shocked when they saw Stoick carrying Hiccup off of the boat. They were more shocked when they saw Toothless walk off of the boat right next to them. Stoick, Gobber and the doctor all brought Hiccup to Stoick's house while Astrid stayed behind and told the vikings what happened and why they shouldn't be afraid of the Night Fury. It was difficult to explain and she knew that it would take a while for them to fully understand and believe what actually happened. When she was finished explaining, she ran to the Haddock house where Hiccup was. When she walked in, she noticed that Hiccup's bed had been moved downstairs next to the fire. Gothi was there now. Gothi always knew exactly what to do.
Astrid stayed out of the way of the healers and Stoick. Gobber went and gathered all of the vikings at the Great Hall to talk to them about what happened. He knew that not all of them would believe Astrid, so he went to make them believe it. Eventually, Astrid's mother came to the Haddock house and told her to come home. Astrid obeyed and told her mother all about the battle on the way home.
"How is he?" Stoick asked Gothi and the doctor after an hour of silence. Gothi burned the end of her staff and used it to draw some pictures on the wooden floors. Stoick couldn't read her drawings, so he left to fetch Gobber. When they got back, Gobber read the pictures.
"She says that he should be alright. Keep giving him water so his fever will go down and keep his leg clean. He has a few broken ribs, but those will heal over time." Gobber read. Stoick was relieved. Gothi was always right. His boy was going to be okay.
