Chapter 6
"NO! DON'T FIRE!" Stoick yelled, rushing down the winding platform jutting out from the cliff above the docks. Three ships were approaching the shores of Berk and by the looks of all the weaponry being directed at them, they weren't likely to get a friendly welcome.
"But aren't those Outcast ships?" someone asked.
Stoick was quick to answer. "Well one o' them is definitely ours and the other two aren't tryin' to sink it. I'd say they used to be Outcast ships."
This made a lot of sense. The people lowered their weapons and Stoick finally allowed himself to exhale.
The ships drew closer until familiar faces could be made out on their decks. People started cheering and getting ready to help secure the boats.
Stoick spotted Spitelout among the crowds of disembarking people and asked, "What happened?"
"Some Outcasts thought they would take us down. We left them adrift on our other boat."
"Any deaths? Injuries?" Stoick always hated to ask those necessary questions. At least Spitelout hadn't let those Outcasts drown and guaranteed some sort of immediate retaliation from Alvin.
"No deaths, a few minor injuries. Except that Fishlegs boy. Got a bit of a nasty bump on the head, that one. Now he keeps mutterin' numbers in his sleep. I've never been good with numbers."
"Can you wake him up?" Stoick asked, desperately hoping that Fishlegs hadn't slipped into a coma like his son.
"Yes, but he falls back asleep pretty quick. Rest is for the weak, I always s-"
Spitelout was silenced by Stoick's glare.
Hiccup was resting, and he needed lots of it. But there was no way anyone was calling this chief's son weak anymore. Not after he'd single-handedly saved them all.
Stoick didn't comment on it though. He just said, "You should've put up a flag o' surrender. A few people almost fired catapults and flamin' arrows at you, thinkin' you were Outcasts."
"Well, I'm not the chief. I tried my best to get everyone home in one piece, and I did," Spitelout said, which was as close to acknowledging his oversight as he was going to get.
"And I thank you for that," Stoick said slightly grudgingly. It could have been a lot worse after all.
"Plus, we've got two new ships, thanks to me," Spitelout added.
"Don't push your luck with me today, Spitelout."
Right. Spitelout knew when to quit. That was the difference between him and Alvin, and the reason why he was still on Berk and Alvin was not. He took the hint and went off to take stock of the cargo that the Outcast ships had been carrying.
Stoick's eye caught the twins, who were watching everyone from atop their Zippleback.
"Where's Fishlegs?" he asked them, not seeing the larger boy anywhere, or his Gronckle for that matter.
"We just brought him home," Ruffnut answered.
"Yeah, he was awake and everything by the time we got him there." Tuffnut added. He didn't seem too worried, but then he frowned. "How's Hiccup?"
Stoick ran a hand down his face. "Not well. He's got a fever."
It was obvious that the chief didn't feel like talking about it, so the twins didn't ask anything else.
"Is there anything you want us to do?" Ruffnut asked.
There was, actually. "Go find Snotlout and the three of you can give Grub and Bertha the Boiler a hand in the Great Hall. We've got a lot o' tired and hungry Hooligans to look after."
"Sure!" Tuffnut said, and he and his sister took off for the Jorgenson house.
Stoick spent the next hour or so making sure his people where okay and pulling a crew together to start repairs on the ship he'd arrived on and the construction of new ones to replace the portion of their fleet that the Red Death torched.
"Yes, work on replacin' the smaller ones first so we'll have them for fishing and then the bigger ones for longer voyages and military-"
"CHIEF!" a voice yelled, interrupting Stoick's conversation with Salty the Shipwright.
Stoick whirled around to see Astrid, and his heart sunk. Her being here was not a good sign for Hiccup.
"Excuse me," he said quickly to Salty and then rushed towards the young blonde girl.
Her words came out in a jumbled mess. "Hiccupsfevrwongodownanthinfectionispreadinguphislegand-"
"Slow down, Astrid!" Stoick said, gripping her armoured shoulders.
She took a breath, desperately trying to calm down, but that was easier said than done.
She tried speaking again. "Gothi's tried everything but we can't bring Hiccup's fever down and the infection in his leg is spreading." Her breathing was sharp and ragged and Stoick realized she must've sprinted all the way down to the docks.
"Alright, let's go," he said, his expression hard, and they ran back up the cliff-side platforms that led to the village.
"Sorry lass, it's probably best if you wait out here for now," Gobber said as he ushered Stoick inside the house.
Astrid opened her mouth to argue but found she didn't have it in her for once. She just nodded and sat down on the front steps, looking very much like how she had found Stoick that morning.
She felt sick. And helpless. All afternoon, she'd done nothing but exactly what Gobber and Gothi had instructed her to do, but Hiccup had only continued to deteriorate. When Gobber finally sent her out to go find Stoick, Hiccup had been shivering violently and he was sweating from every pore in his body. Several times, his soiled bandages had been exchanged for fresh ones, and each time seemed to come sooner than the last.
His room even smelled stale and rotten, like death and disease, but Astrid must've stopped noticing it at some point because she only realized the stench was there after she got outside and breathed fresh air again. She hated the thought of Hiccup up there, in that tiny room full of sickness, fighting for his life. Hated the thought of him losing that fight, after all he'd done to survive up to that point.
It had taken all her strength to not yell something along the lines of "Hiccup, you can't give up! You can't die on us, not now. Not ever. You have to fight!" Because Gobber was right, and she couldn't talk to Hiccup like he was dying.
She couldn't make her usual threats at him either because in a way, he had every right to let himself die if he wanted. He'd saved them all, and he owed them absolutely nothing. Making demands that he live wasn't fair, because that was like asking him to climb a mountain when he might never reach the summit. He would do it only if he had the will and the ability. She had to trust that he had the will and she could only hope he had the strength for it.
But that afternoon weighed on her, and she found it hard to hope. Hiccup hadn't given her any sign at all, any reason to believe that he would ever stabilize and eventually wake up. Gobber and Gothi's faces had been similarly grim, which only confirmed her suspicions that Hiccup's chances of surviving at that point were slim.
Astrid was suddenly struck by the memory of flying with him. It was the first and only time she remembered him being happy in his very being. It wasn't like the mild amusement that sometimes showed just on the surface. His smile had been genuine that day, and it was infectious. She liked seeing a smile on him that wasn't just the half-hearted grin of someone who would always feel like a misfit. She remembered touching fluffy pink clouds, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his shoulder and smiling with him because in that moment, she was happy too. Up in the sky, there was no pressure, no expectations to live up to, only freedom.
Hiccup had shown her that. Given her that. He'd changed everything, really, for everyone. He deserved to live a long and happy life.
Astrid found herself fighting to hold back tears at the thought that he wouldn't get to have any of that. He might never fly again, might never see Toothless, or his friends and family, or ever get married or become chief or see this new Berk that was already coming into being because of him.
The dam behind her eyes broke when the words, I should've kissed him on his stupid lips, crossed her mind. She was kidding herself if she thought she could keep pretending that she didn't have feelings for the dork. They weren't exactly new feelings; they'd just been highly suppressed until very recently, because Hiccup had been a very inconvenient boy to have a crush on, and she didn't need that kind of thing complicating her life. But now it seemed like she didn't have much choice in the matter anymore – he was undeniably a part of her life, whether she liked it or not.
Astrid gasped when something nudged her arm. She picked her head up from her hands.
"Toothless?"
She wiped her wet cheeks and the dragon gave her a sad look with wide eyes. He'd come down from the roof because he'd heard her crying.
"I'm okay," she said quietly, sniffling. She scratched Toothless lightly under his chin and behind his ears. Then she hugged the beast tightly. "Thank you for saving him." Astrid was grateful.
Toothless purred and nuzzled her, and his presence helped her feel better. Gradually, she managed to calm down.
Just then, there was a creak and the door behind Astrid opened. She turned to see Gobber framed by the entrance.
"Lass? We're going to need your help now, if you don't mind," he said.
"Anything," Astrid said, meaning it. She stood and followed the blacksmith inside, with Toothless right behind her. She would do anything if it would put a stop to Hiccup's illness and give him a chance to come out of his coma.
A/N: This chapter is super late. Oops! :( To make up for it, Chapter 7 will be posted tomorrow! :D Probably around the same time as today. I just have to finish editing it and have my sister proofread it. She just got her wisdom teeth out a couple days ago so I've been trying not to shove my writing in her face too much. I remember how annoying it is to have a sore jaw and not be able to eat anything but mushy food! She's a trooper though.
Reviews are like s'mores. You always want some more! ;D Seriously though, I really appreciate them, so thank you to everyone who's written one. You guys make my day. :)
