Chapter Four: Symptoms
The news of Hiccup's paralysis shocked the village. All the vikings came over each day and gave him portions of their crops. But despite the warm gestures Hiccup spent most of the next two weeks locked away in the master bedroom. Luna informed everyone that depression was a side effect of the stroke. With the bedroom door locked Astrid slept downstairs. But without the sleep. She couldn't remember how many times she was jolted awake by Hiccup screaming about the Red Death. Each time she ran up the stair and talked to him through the door. She did her best to support him through this. One thing that she found to be strange that Hiccup would be screaming that the Red Death was trying to kill him but when he woke up, all he could remember seeing was his father. Astrid tried to put two and two together but she couldn't fit the puzzle pieces together.
The sun peeked through the holes in the hatch in the roof. But who said it was a good morning? Hiccup laid huddled in one corner of his bed. His tired and watery eyes stared at the wall. Hiccup was kept up all night by darting shadows and echoing voices that came from nowhere. Hiccup wiped away the tears from his eyes and rose up slowly. Silence. No shadows or voices came. Or were they ever really there? Hiccup heard purring come from the other side of the large bed. He cautiously crept over, "Sharpshot?" The Terrible Terror crooned and wagged his tail. Hiccup saw a note attached to his leg. He went to reach for it but it was suddenly on his bed in front of him. He picked it up and heard Sharpshot make a noise. The little green dragon sniffed the floor around him. Then he stared up and Hiccup and cocked his head. Hiccup barely moved forward when the dragon quickly dashed under his bed. Hiccup moved the blankets out of the way and looked under the bed. Nothing.
"Hiccup...if your up I've made breakfast," Astrid's voice chimed in. Hiccup stared at the note in his hands. Daring himself if he should open it or not. After a short while he unrolled it.
'Lesson one: A chief's first duty is to his people.'
Hiccup was surprized to see this. Stoick was the one who told him that. Was the great chief trying to tell him something from beyond the grave? Hiccup looked up from the note when he heard villagers outside walking and talking. He glanced back at the note to see that it was gone. Hiccup threw the blankets off the bed in hopes that it would reappear. Or was I just trying to tell myself that I need to do my job? Hiccup thought. The young chief turned his head and looked at the door on the opposite side of the bed. Hiccup fought with himself if he should leave or not. He let out a long sign and scooted back over to the side of the bed that was closest to the door. It was only a few feet away but to Hiccup, it felt like it was standing a mile away from him. He took a deep breath as he held onto the edge of the headboard. Hiccup hoisted himself up and out of the bed. He took a step. He quickly grabbed the headboard for support, obviously forgetting about his dead leg. He shifted his weight to his right leg as he hopped over to the door.
Hiccup held onto the doorknob for dear life as he hesitated on if he should open it. A million things ran through his head. What would they think of him? The son of a great man left disabled at the start of his chiefdom. They'd make fun of him, laugh at him. Hiccup shook his head and mentally slapped himself for thinking in such a way. He slowly turned the doorknob and they door creaked opened. And a very special someone was there to greet him. Toothless looked at his best friend with welcoming eyes. The dragon bowed his head a placed Hiccup's left arm on top of his head. And for the first time in days, Hiccup smiled. He was delighted to see that no matter what life threw at him Toothless would always be there to aid him.
The two friends walked as one down the dusty hallway and climbed down the stairs. "Whoa," the kitchen table was littered with foods of all kind. Some of which Hiccup had never seen before. The fresh food teased Hiccup by making their scent snake over to him and enticed the man to sit down. Hiccup's stomach growled loudly throughout the empty house. All that food seemed a bit much for breakfast. Toothless aided Hiccup as they walked over to the wooden table. As he sat down Hiccup noticed something leaning against the one of the legs of the table. He bent down and picked it up. He was surprized to see that it was crutch. It was beautifully hand made by wood from an Oak tree. Hiccup saw that a note was attached to it.
"Dianca and her friends had asked me to make something for you so you'd be able to walk again. It may not be much but I hope you get better."
-Fishlegs
Hiccup greatly appreciated the gift his friend had made for him. He set it aside and gazed down at the food that stared back at him. They all smelt and looked so good. Where could he even start? Hiccup looked at Toothless and Toothless looked at Hiccup. They smiled. Hiccup felt a heavy weight lift off his shoulders as the day began shinning brighter than ever before.
Astrid paced back and forth in front of her house. Her mind racing a mile an minute. She just didn't understand. First a stroke, now this. Why did all these things had to happen now? Hiccup was so young, almost twenty-three. And he just became chief. "Maybe that's why," Astrid said to herself. She knew first hand how Hiccup worked night and day to aid the people of Berk. That's where all the stress came from. Astrid stopped pacing and looked towards Cloujumper and Stormfly. They snored away in their separate pens next to the house. The house. She gazed up at the sturdy structure. Hiccup had built it just for her on the day he proposed to her. It wouldn't be fair to say that he built it all by himself. Toothless and Cloudjumper were very helpful.
Astrid noted the little details that made the house unique. The little dragon sketches decked the rails along each side of the stairs. The well crafted wooden Nadder head poked out just above the door. A long metal chain laid gently in the mouth. Both ends of the chain hung out of the mouth and each end that hung in the air held onto a section of the thin piece of wood that danced every time the wind blew. Haddocks was perfectly carved into it. Stating that this mighty house belong to the Haddock clan. The same clan that has led Berk to greatness since the humble beginnings. Astrid was happy to take it as her last name. She wore it proudly like a badge of honor.
Astrid touched the smooth wooden rails and wiped away the tears that threatened to surface. She wasn't one to cry easily but seeing the man she love suffer through all this was eating at her insides. Hiccup had always thought of and did things for others, not worrying what would happen to him. It was a trait that passed down to him by his dad. But Hiccup had a special way of making it his own. It's one of the reasons why she loved him. But now look at where it's gotten him. Astrid huffed and walked up the steps. When she opened the door the surprize she got almost made her heart stop.
Hiccup sat in the large chair at the end of the table taking a bite out of every food he could reach. He does have table manners but it looked as if a twister had gone crazy on the table. Maybe it was the lack of food in the passed few days is what was driving this wild feeding. Hiccup's right hand dashed from food to food while his left one prevented Toothless from snatching a bite.
"Hiccup," he looked up to see Astrid standing in the doorway with tears streaming down her face. She raced forward and crashed into him, tears soaking his shirt. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Hiccup dropped the food he was eating and hugged her tightly. He missed her so badly. As his human was distracted Toothless snatched away some food and trotted over to the end of the room. He nibbled on it.
Astrid released Hiccup and wiped away tears. "I didn't think you were the type to cry so easily," Hiccup joked. Astrid would have punched him for saying that but she knew it meant that he was better than before.
"It's just that I didn't expect to see you out of the room," she said.
"Yea, well somebody was telling me to get up," Hiccup said absent mindlessly.
After the big breakfast had ended Hiccup picked up the crutch. He placed it under his arm and stopped balancing on his right leg. It proved to be strong. Hiccup opened the door the bright sun forced him to cover his eyes. He was hesitant on going outside. having the crutch was something he would have to get use to. He felt kind of embarrassed to have it anyways.
But everybody acted like the crutch wasn't even there. They welcomed their chief back and wished him well. The villagers did noticed that Hiccup looked awfully tired. The wrinkles under this eyes, the tiredness in his voice when he spoke, and the slow pace in his walk was evidence enough to prove that he hasn't had any sleep. The day went on as normal. As Hiccup walked towards the Great Hall for a meeting, something he didn't miss while sulking in his room, Toothless jumped out in front of him," What is it Toothless?" The night fury roared out and turned his body horizontally to his best friend. His eyes gesturing for him to climb onto his back. "No, Toothless. I don't have time to go flying right now. Maybe later," Hiccup continued his walk. Toothless jumped out in front of Hiccup and repeated his action and that's when it clicked in Hiccup's head," You wanna carry me?" Toothless' ears perked up and he made a small noise, happy to see that Hiccup finally understood," That's thoughtful bud, but I think I'll be fine walking," Toothless flattened his ears and glared at Hiccup.
Hiccup continued to the Great Hall but Toothless stopped him again. This repeated three or four more times before Hiccup was able to slip pass his dragon and make it to the stairs. He stared at them. Were there always that many steps? Hiccup looked back at Toothless," Uh...I'll take that piggyback ride after all." Toothless happily carried his rider as he skipped up the many steps. He helped him down and followed him inside.
The meeting went on normally. But Hiccup wouldn't be able to back that up. He sat towards the middle of the group to get a clear view of the speaker. But he often found himself staring at other vikings or gazing up at the many paintings that hung on the walls. "Hiccup," the young chief snapped his attention back to the meeting and saw that all eyes were on him.
"Uh, sorry, Hiccup rubbed the back of his head where Luna shaved parts of his hair off," I've been having trouble paying attention all day." Hiccup laid his head on the table.
The man who had been speaking looked at Hiccup with his gentle blue eyes," Don't worry about it Hiccup. We know your goin' through some hard times right now. And we pray that you get better soon." He paused for a moment," you know, since I have your attention right now, what's your thought about expanding the village?"
Hiccup raised his head," Expand?" The man turned towards the map behind him so he could explain.
" As you can see here on this map the village is sitting on this gentle slope of land. And every day it's grows bigger and bigger," the man began," I thought that it would be best if we expand the village to the spots here and here." He pointed to the empty slopes of land that laid east and west to Berk. "We could connect by building long bridges and make landing spots for the dragons." The men in the room thought over the idea. But one thing popped in Hiccup's mind almost immediately.
"What about the wild dragons?" he asked," Every inch we take is an inch of open area we take form them."
"Nothin' to worry about," the man said," no dragons live on these patches of land. I've checked each one two times over. We won't be harmin' them at all." The larger vikings began to chat away at the wonderful thought. But then Hiccup started to feel his heart race. His breathing became more rapid, desperate for more air. Anxiety, yet another wonderful side effect of a stroke, crept up on him like a predator stalking its prey. Toothless sensed this and walked up to Hiccup. He sat his broad head on top of Hiccup's shoulders and began to nudge him in a hugging like manner. Hiccup looked at the night fury. Those big, green, and trustful eyes KO the anxiety and Hiccup's breathing returned to normal. He hugged the big head next to him," Thanks bud."
The meeting had ended with good words, Berk will expand to the lands that sat next door starting next week. The villagers couldn't be more excited, or at least express it anymore. Hiccup however, was far to exhausted to show his excitement. He could remember overhearing his father on how he wished to see the village expand. Now that wish was coming true. Hiccup sauntered quit sluggishly towards his house. He gazed up at it and gave a tired smile. Something at the back of his head had started eating at him. Hiccup looked down at his useless leg. Why did all this had to happen to him now? He was just starting the rest of his life. But Hiccup was to tired to try to figure it out. He stared up at the name plate that hug above the front door. Hiccup rubbed his eyes and looked back up at them. The words that spelled out his last name seemed foreign to him. But they were written in the viking alphabet.
He snapped out of his trance when he felt Toothless nudge at his elbow. Hiccup patted Toothless' head and began to walk up the stairs. Toothless jogged over to the basket of fish that waited for him. Hiccup climbed up the stairs that lead to the second story. When he got to the end of the hall and shoved his door opened he dropped the crutch while falling onto his side of the bed. A sign escaped his throat as he wrapped his arms around the soft pillow. Hiccup opened his eyes and glanced around the semi-dark room. No shadow, no voices. He removed his wingsuit and prosthetic and let them fall to the floor. Hiccup pulled the blankets over his head as he began to feel the sweet relief of the sandman's sleep spell get cast over him. He slowly shut his eyes. And thankfully, no nightmare decided to make a repeat performance.
A few days had passed without any problems for Hiccup. Except maybe a couple of headaches now and then. Luna on the other hand, could have been better. She's been up day and night trying to make medical history and help give her friend the use of his leg back. She paced back and forth, hoping that an idea would surface. But she was drawing a blank. Luna stopped pacing and took a drink from her springs. She glanced back at the stairs when she heard someone rush down them. It was Toothless. And he was freaking out. " Whoa!Whoa! What's wrong Toothless?" Luna saw the desperate plea in the dragon's eyes. As if she read his mind, which she can do but didn't, she knew who was in trouble.
