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How to Deal With Amnesia
Chapter 3: A Lot of Questions
"Fishlegs… I don't think he's joking…"
"Why do you say that?" As soon as he asked, Stormfly flew up to get to the second floor of Hiccup's hut, curious and happy that her rider's mate was awake, now. It obviously just made the scared boy freak out even more.
Astrid signed Stormfly to go back down and the dragon complied. Hiccup's jaw dropped.
"T-the dragon just obeyed you?"
"Yeah… Something like that…"
Hiccup tried to stand, only to find something lacking below his left knee, and when he looked down, he felt as if his heart stopped for a second.
"Where's my leg?!" The boy yelled.
"Relax, Hiccup, it's right here." Fishlegs showed what to Hiccup looked like just a piece of intricate metal and wood.
"What? I'm talking about my leg! What happened? Where did it go? And… why am I wearing red? I don't even have a red shirt!"
Astrid bit her lower lip nervously and gestured Toothless to back away a little bit, all this stress could not be could for Hiccup and she could see he was not faking it. She kneeled to the ground by his side, trying to keep calm as she looked up at Fishlegs.
"Answering your previous question, because the Hiccup I know might pull a prank like this on those three muttonheads, but I doubt he'd do that to us, especially with Toothless."
The Night Fury looked miserable to have his favorite human look at him terrified like he'd just blast him. Toothless would never do that! Didn't Hiccup know that, already?
Astrid got even closer to Hiccup, but stopped when he flinched as if expecting to be attacked at any minute. She didn't take this personally, since she knew he was dealing with a lot right now.
"Hiccup, what is the last thing you remember?"
The boy had to think for a while, holding his head again, because it still felt as if it was being pounded. Geez, why did it hurt so much? Wait; was that a bandage around his head? Well, Astrid and Fishlegs did tell him he had hit it…
"I… I had just finished my newest invention…"
"And what was that?"
"Hm… It was a net shooting device… I wanted to use it to capture a dragon. It's still on Gobber's forge." He gulped. "I want to prove that I can be just as good of a Viking as anyone else!"
"Do you remember shooting down a Night Fury?" Astrid asked very slowly. Hiccup's eyes brightened.
"Wow, that would be awesome! It's what I'm planning to do, but… I didn't have time to use my invention, yet."
"Oh, Gods… Oh, Thor!" Fishlegs started, concerned. "H-he doesn't remember…" His voice died.
Astrid couldn't say a word, her jaw dropped and stayed there until she snapped out of that and looked up at her friend.
"Can I talk to him, alone? And can you send for Gothi?"
"Sure…" Fishlegs answered and still stunned managed to go downstairs, motioning to Stormfly to follow him out the door.
"Toothless, I'm sorry, but please go wait downstairs, okay?"
The dragon crooned in protest, but went anyway. She didn't ask him to leave the hut because she knew Toothless wouldn't want to leave Hiccup, no matter what. She continued as calm as she could.
"Hiccup, I know you're hurt and confused, but I'm trying to help you, okay?"
"About that… Why are you doing this, Astrid?"
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, come on… we know you wouldn't get near me if you were on fire and I had the last bucket of water in the village…" He used that sarcastic tone of voice he always had back on the time they used to kill dragons.
She half smiled thinking it wouldn't be the best time to tell him they were currently dating.
"Geez, I certainly didn't miss your self-depreciating sarcasm… Even though it is kinda funny…" He raised an eyebrow. "Hiccup… How old do you think you are?"
He snorted, not believing what he had just heard.
"Astrid, what kind of question is that? We're the same age, fifteen."
She shocked her head to the sides slowly.
"No… Look, please keep calm, Hiccup… But we're not fifteen anymore. We're eighteen…"
"What? No… Come on, I know how old I am. My birthday was just a few months ago. Nothing is making sense…" He groaned. "And this this stupid headache is getting really annoying…" He looked around. "Where are we? W-what kind of dragon was that black one? I've never seen one like that before. You called it Toothless? You named it? And why such name for a dragon? Is he really toothless? How can we be eighteen? We're not eighteen. Where's my dad, by the way?" He'd continue if Astrid didn't put her hand on his mouth to shut it.
"Geez, you can surely ask a lot of questions… First, take a deep breath." He complied. "Better, now?"
"No…" She smiled sadly and reached to get his bangs out of the eyes. He didn't expect such a kind gesture from her and flinched in fright, even though he wasn't freaking out that much anymore. Then, he noticed her sweet intentions and the look of pain in her blue eyes and he frowned in confusion. "Why are you being so kind to me? You hate me… Unless… Were you the one who cause my accident?"
"No, I told it was Snotlout and the twins. But I never hated you, Hiccup. Where did you get this idea from?"
"Hm… From the obvious truth? And what's going on with you? Why would you say we're eighteen?" The time jump was really started to freak him out, it could have done that before, but his thoughts were not as quick as they used to be.
"Hiccup, I'm not lying. We're eighteen. And you said yourself we look older. It's true."
"What? No… I… I can't be eighteen already… How could I have lost three years of my life, not to mention part of my leg, and not remember anything?"
"I don't know… I guess it has something to do with that fall. Look, whatever it is, we're gonna fix it, okay? Now, you need to rest. I'll explain everything later, but you really need to rest. So let me help you get back to your bed." She stood up and helped him do the same and jump with one leg to the wooden surface with the soft pillow. Hiccup felt weird having the girl he always admired and was sure would never get close to him being so helpful and sweet. What happened during this three-year gap, after all? "Now, Hiccup, I'll go out, but I'll be back soon, okay? Then, if you're feeling better, I'll explain everything. Toothless will be downstairs, if you need anything, just ask him to get me and he will. Oh, and here is some yak stew and biskets. Eat it up, you're probably hungry." She grabbed the bowl and bisket on the table and gave him.
"Thanks…"
"Please don't leave this bed for now, I'm gonna help you walk with your prosthetic later, okay?"
"Okay…"
Astrid didn't say anything else, but she felt terrible hearing him with that sorrowful tone he used to have as she walked downstairs. She always felt sorry, yet kinda admired him for trying his best to prove himself, even though he ended up damaging the village just as much as the dragons during raids. But he never actually wanted any of that; it was only accidents that happened because he was just so different. It wasn't his fault; yet, he'd always search for a way to overcome his weaknesses.
However, she never really noticed the way he just seemed to feel horrible for trying so hard to be something he wasn't. And although she never mocked him or liked the way Snotlout and the twins annoyed the guy, she surely didn't care for him then as much as she did now. The pressure and the sadness was present in everything on him since he woke up, his voice, his posture, his way of looking as if he'd done something wrong…
Before leaving, Astrid told Toothless to stay there and be quiet, reassuring the dragon that he'd be fine and that if he needed something, he should look for her. The Night Fury nodded solemnly and laid down, sadly.
Astrid didn't really know what to do now, and she wanted to have Hiccup's help and support. Her Hiccup, the eighteen-year-old one with the confidence boost and leader-y posture, was the one that always knew what to do. With a heavy sigh, she called for a gathering with the other riders at the Club House.
"So… You're saying he doesn't remember anything?" Snotlout asked. All of them, except Hiccup, were in the Club House and Astrid just finished telling them what happened since he woke up.
"Not exactly anything… He remembers the raids… He just doesn't even remember shooting Toothless down. It's like the last three years were erased from his memory."
"Oh, come on! It is obvious that he's pulling a prank on us so we won't do anything like that anymore."
"No, Snotlout! You guys really messed up this time!" Astrid yelled. "You shouldn't have been goofing around with the Monstrous Nightmare gel! We already told you it's not a freaking toy! And he's not joking, I'm sure of it!"
"And how can you be so sure?" Tuffnut dared to ask.
"You didn't see Toothless's sad expression when Hiccup acted as if the dragon would attack him at any moment. Hiccup would never trick Toothless like that, we all know that."
Fishlegs took a step ahead. "So, what do we do now?"
"I don't know… I guess I'll go check on him and try to help him get used to the new him, with prosthetic and all and then hope Gothi can fix him…"
"I already sent a Terror Mail, they'll be here probably in two days or so…"
"Thanks."
Snotlout approached and placed his elbow on her shoulder. "You know, babe, if he doesn't go back to normal, you can always have me…"
"Are you serious?" She groaned beyond irritation. "You messed up real bad and still try to hit on me? You know what? You're gonna clean up the stables for a month. And you're gonna spend the whole afternoon washing the dragons and the saddles. And I don't wanna see you again today."
Astrid got a block of ice and left the Club House, walking slowly back to Hiccup's hut. It was usually in times like that the girl would try to feel better by causing pain to Snotlout, like twisting his wrist or throwing him on the floor, however, she actually didn't feel like it, and that's what scared the riders the most about her reaction.
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And just out of curiosity, that line about the last bucket of water, I took it from a deleted scene from the first movie… Who realized that while reading?
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