I'm sorry for the wait, guys. Schoolwork's becoming quite the pain and semester finals are coming up. I know that this chapter is shorter than my previous chapters, but this must do for now. And wow! I can't believe people are reading this! Thanks so much for your support! If there were any errors made, tell me. I love good input when it comes to my writing. :D

Another thing, some dialogue and thought transition seemed a bit iffy to me. I'm going to revise it when I can. But in the meantime, enjoy!


Stoick immediately shot up from his seat, his chair toppling over in his shock. Others came to notice the situation, gathering around for a better sight followed by a wave of murmurs; curiosity had gotten the best of them.

"Hiccup!" he shouted, bolting toward his son, haphazardly shoving aside any Viking in his path.

Toothless heeled over. Eyes looking downward in remorse. He let a low growl of lament escape, weighted by the burden of Hiccup's condition. Stoick picked up his son from the Night Fury's back, holding him as he took a knee.

"Give him some room!" Stoick commanded.

Hiccup lay before the group, unmoving. He had looked absolutely terrible. It was as if he had jumped off the edge of the world to be spat back out into the dirt. His green long sleeve now had small burnt holes and shreds hung off the end. Along the length of his left arm, he had been scraped by something ridged, as the blood that ran down wasn't abundant enough for him to bleed out, but enough to be noted. Hiccup had obviously been heavily drenched from the outside storm, clothes still soaked, accompanied by traces of mud over his body. The rain may have washed most trace of it from him, but was still covered in its mass. One aspect however stood out from the rest. Trailing one's gaze, downward from his current wounds, an older one became more prominent to the eye.

His prosthetic foot was gone.

Astrid put her hand over her mouth, unable to bear the sight before her.

"Oh no...By the gods, no...Hiccup…"

Stoick raised his hand and gently moved Hiccup's chestnut hair from his eyes. His own seemed as if he might shed a tear, a sight no one has ever seen before until now. He placed his hand on his son's cheek, moving it back slowly.

"Hiccup?..Can you hear me, son?" he asked hoarsely. The room grew silent, awaiting a response. A sign of any life left in his existence. A reason not to mourn a young boy's death.

Hiccup's cheek twitched. His brow cringed as he slowly creaked his eyes open.

"Y—yeah, dad?" he managed to say.

"Oh, Hiccup…" he sighed in relief. "You gave me quite the scare there…"

"What do I win?.." he joked weakly, forcing a smile upon his face.

Stoick let out a brief smile, running his hand through his hair, and then rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hiccup!" Astrid shouted, maneuvering between other Vikings to get to him. She knelt down next to him and looked at him again in distress. "Hiccup…you look like a mess! What—what happened to you?"

He shifted his eyes upon her in his dazed state. Half lidded with a broken smile. "Hey, Astrid…" he muttered.

Astrid held Hiccup's left wrist, inspecting gashed wound on her arm. With the other hand, she held the back of his forearm, turning it oh, so slightly. At instant, Hiccup sharply seethed in pain and she retracted her touch.

"Sorry…"

"It's—It's alright, Astrid. I've been through worse…lost a foot." Hiccup looked down at his leg. "Well…again…"

"Hiccup, you look as if you just ran through Hel and back!" The grasp on his wrist tightened. "Just what in the world possessed you to just linger about out there?!"

Hiccup placed his hand on hers. "All in due time, but first things first: Can you help a guy up?"

Astrid held his hand, standing up while bringing him with her as Stoick supported him by the underarm. With his leg missing again, he staggered, nearly toppling over. Toothless caught this and was able to move in, pressing his head against his back.

"Thanks, buddy…"

"Hey, umm—Hiccup? Who's your friend here?" Astrid gestured her hand to the hooded unconscious passenger laying on Toothless' back.

"You'll get a kick out of this one, but…she's your friend too…"

Astrid eyed him in confusion, then back toward her "friend". Walking closer to Toothless, she turned the body over, only to be shocked by this twist of events. At first, Astrid couldn't believe her eyes, but there she lay, eyes closed and unmoving, aside from breathing. A familiar face that she'd never expect to see again. What was more surprising was that she wasn't even at a close state as Hiccup's turmoil. Not a scratch on her body, but still dripping rain water. Dubious as it was, having so much drama in half of a day, the number of questions that not only filled her mind, but everyone else's, just kept piling and piling into a mountain—just waiting for an landslide.

"Heather?! But what is she—?!"

"Yeah, that was my reaction too…Found her trapped in the storm when her ship went down...I was kinda hoping you'd let her stay at your place…for the time being, that is…"

Astrid couldn't believe this. She felt as if she was thrown in the dark, having only his statement to piece the picture together. There was so much more to ask, but she just knew he wouldn't answer. His eye trailed towards Heather, worried more about her than himself.

"No—not now. Not in his condition…or hers."

"Don't worry; she's always welcome at my home…" Astrid sighed, complying assuringly with his request. But at the core of her sincerity, it said otherwise. She felt knots tying up her stomach and had the sudden urge to just smack herself and reconsider—loud. But then…she looked back at Hiccup. He let out a breath of relief, slightly nodding his head. Running his good arm across his forehead, the edges of his mouth slightly curved.

"Astrid, I couldn't thank you enough for this…And—I know you have a ton of—" Hiccup's breathing quickened, then let out a hoarse cough. "–ton of questions right now, but for this moment, I need you to trust me here..."

It wasn't her displacement in this situation that bothered her but the fact that Heather was here somewhat befuddled her. Just the timing of her return—it was just so inconvenient with the storm going on. What was she doing, traveling these waters? Was she alone on her ship? What of her parents? It seemed to her that Heather was still a mystery, knowing and believing only all she had told them.

Heather was now considered a friend on Berk. The entire Outcast incident still lingers in memory, and her actions that day had almost cost them their home and secrets. But her motives were of that that anyone would do if their loved ones were at stake. Hiccup would…and so would Astrid…

It was just something about Heather that made her stomach churn right then and there. It was the same feeling when she had "washed up on shore" and all the guys tended to her, foot and nail. Ruffnut called it jealousy, seeing how all the guys of their clique instantaneously flocked around Heather like moths to a candle light and Astrid grew resentful to her presence. But no, that wasn't it that time. Astrid had managed to convince herself that it was plain instinct; telling herself of Heather's deceit behind those looks. She had proven herself right, finding her on the cove consulting with Savage and just went with her "reason".

But this time it was different. Here she was again; as a friend and visitor. She had not spoken a word and arrived knocked out after Hiccup had rescued her.

"Just the way he overlooked her, it was—it was so—what is it!?"

And that was frustrating and confusing as is.

"Astrid, can you—loosen your grip a bit? You're—hurting my hand." Hiccup stated, cringing at the cut in blood circulation running through his only good arm.

Astrid snapped back to the present and realized that she was gripping onto Hiccup's arm as if she intended to rip it off. She jerked her hand back in realization.

"Sorry, Hiccup. Just a lot questions on my mind, with no answers to back them up…"

"If it'll ease your mind, I'm partially in the dark here too." Hiccup put his arm over his mouth and coughed again, a bit louder than the first. Stoick took a step forward and extended his arm for assistance, but Hiccup waved him off. "Look, what happened in the past has been forgiven and I hope you've gotten over any resentment towards her. And if you still have some tension between you and Heather, I'd be obliged to take her to my place for the night—if dad'll let me."

He looked back at his, who gave a slight nod in approval.

"No! Its okay, Hiccup! Everything's okay!" Astrid panicked. "There is absolutely no tension between us." She gave a hesitant chuckle between words. "She'll be like—"Astrid gulped hard. "—a sister to me"

"Oh! Well, alright then; if you—if you say so." Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck. "I couldn't thank you any mo—"A violent cough cut off his last word. He fell back, putting all of his weight against Toothless.

"Are you okay, son?"

"N—Never better" he cracked an awry smile as he slumped forward. Astrid looked closer and carefully inspected Hiccup. He was slightly shivering. It was somewhat heavier underneath his eyelids as he stared back at her drowsily. It was hard to tell whether it was water or perspiration as droplets divot into his temples then trail down his cheek. Astrid placed the palm of her hand onto his forehead then retracted it back.

"Hiccup, you're burning up!"

"Wha—? No, I'm not, you're just—just saying things" he said sluggishly.

"Hiccup, face it: you're sick! You've got to get fixed up and into bed now."

"No, Astrid. It's just—I'm too close to the fire. That's all…" he argued mundanely as he tried to get back on Toothless, only to struggle trying to pull himself up.

Toothless looked back at them with a confused expression, wondering what in Odin's name was he trying to accomplish by flailing about like a child trying to grasp something that was out of their reach.

Astrid managed to wrap her arms around his chest and pulled him back. He sagged in her hold, his arms being the only things that held him in place.

"Hiccup, we're getting you to rest now!" she commanded.

"Astrid, I appreciate the concern, but—"Hiccup lifted his arms and wriggled his way out and fell back onto his Night Fury. "There's something I gotta do first—There's a dragon out there—a Skrill. And I'm sure that it's connected to the storm. I just gotta go back out there and find 'em…"

"Hiccup, you're in no condition to go back out there! And neither is Toothless!" she gestured back to his tail piece. Burnt and broken. Toothless couldn't fly even if he wanted to.

"I've got a spare back home…" he slurred. "It'll be a quick stop and then I can get down to business…Nothing to worry ab—"

At this point, Astrid just couldn't restrain herself anymore. Flared in anger for his persistence, she clenched her fist. She would not allow Hiccup to go back out there, let alone finish his last word. Her patience had quickly shortened as she turned him around by the shoulder and let out all her pent up anger into one punch, knocking him back and shortly after, out. Hiccup fell forward onto his face and silence had once again filled the room. Astrid's breath was quick paced as the wanted deed was done.

"Oh gods, I forgot the last time I've ever done that to him…"

Stoick stood over his son yet again and sighed. "Don't worry; I'll take care of him." In a single-handed hoist, he lifted Hiccup onto his shoulder then looked at Astrid. "There's only so much I can understand these days. As for Hiccup—I don't think I ever can."

He made his way to the door then stopped momentarily beside Toothless. "And don't forget about this one, here. Do as Hiccup says and look after her. She'll have the answers you're looking for. So stay vigilant for now" Stoick made his way to the door. The sound of one-thousand raindrops falling overcame him as it creaked open. Astrid looked down at Heather as she still lay dormant.

"Also—"Astrid darted her head back at Stoick as he stood at the doorway. "If it'll make you feel better about yourself, I'd say Hiccup likes you more than the girl over there." At that, he chuckled to himself and finally left for home.

Astrid stood in surprise of what the chief had said. Her face had turned into a light shade of red as she bit the corner of her lip, trying to suppress a smile. She caught Toothless in the corner of her eye who gave her a suggestive smirk.

"What?!" she retorted. Toothless then nudged her with the end of his nose, the grin still in place.

"What?!"


More internal conflict for Astrid! Well, that has to be quite the pain. Sorry, Astrid~

Hiccup's now bedridden and Astrid's in charge of Heather now. There's still that gap between her rescue and their return, but I was getting to that in the next chapter! :D