A/N: Thank you guys for reviewing! :-) You guys rock!
When I wake up, I'm in a glaringly bright room. The lights hurt my eyes.
I groan and attempt to yank the blankets up over my head.
The blankets are heavy and thick, though, and they barely move.
With a sigh, I give a weak attempt at kicking the covers off my legs and turn over, burying my face in the pillow, which smells like antiseptic.
I instinctively wrinkle my nose before realizing what the smell means: I'm in the hospital for the second time in a month. Perfect.
I turn over again, preferring the lights over the smell and shut my eyes.
I hear a shout. "Hiccup!"
Astrid's warm arms are suddenly around my waist.
I pull away. "What happened? Things got a little blurry there."
It's true; I can't remember anything.
Astrid sighs and begins fiddling with her braid. "The Venom Wind cut you and…when Toothless and I tried to stop it from killing you, it…got Toothless."
Suddenly, I'm wide-awake, ignoring the pain in my chest. "What?"
My head pounds, but I ignore it. "Astrid, what's wrong with him?"
I scoot to the edge of the bed, wondering how well I can jump the railings.
"I'll shove you right back in bed," Astrid threatens, correctly guessing my train of thought.
I sigh, shoving my hair back from my face. "Astrid, what happened to him?"
"I really think you'd better see…" Astrid says uncomfortably. "I don't really understand it, but…the dragon kind of got his wing or something…"
"Astrid, I'm not going to—
"Hiccup, just give it a few minutes, okay? I'm sure they'll let you out soon."
In truth, they did let me out of the hospital pretty soon.
But to me, it felt like an eternity.
"He's right through here," Astrid said, leading me to a house on the edge of the woods.
What if Toothless is really hurt? What if he's so badly hurt, he dies? What if? Questions run through my mind, maybes and what-ifs, possiblys and could-bes filling every particle of my brain.
Toothless is lying, asleep, on the floor in the house.
Gobber comes over to meet us, a smile on his face. "Hiccup!" He claps me on the back with enough force to snap my spine. "Hey."
"How's Toothless?" I instantly zero in on my dragon, just lying there. Panic chokes me. If he's not okay…
I race over to him, falling to my knees beside Toothless kneeling beside his head, stroking him.
"He's all right?" I ask, hope rising.
Gobber nods. "Yep. That dragon's strong. And stubborn."
I wrap my thin arms around Toothless' strong, thick, scaly neck. "What happened?"
"Well, the dragon hurt Toothless' wing, see here?" Gobber points to Toothless' wing, which, sure enough, has an odd curve to it that definitely wasn't there before.
"I fixed his wing up as best as I could, but I don't think he'll be able to fly for about a week."
I smile. "Good. I'll have a hard time getting him to stay on the ground much longer."
After the stitches dissolve, the only thing that remains of my fight with the Venom Wind was a single, jagged scar running down from my chest.
The pale mark doesn't look right against my skin, like it belongs on another person's body.
Toothless is, just as I predicted, a quick healer and urging me to fly again within three days.
I'm pretty firm, though, and Toothless eventually gives up.
Two days before he can fly again, I'm idly chatting with him, stopping to listen when I hear his voice in my head.
After a while, he begins wheedling me about flying again.
I sigh and look away. "What happened during the rebellion, Toothless?"
There's no answer from behind me. I've caught him by surprise.
"You said 'many lives were lost' but…you know, it just sounds like you were there and would know the truth of what happened."
I glance at him again.
He stares up at me silently for a few moments. It…was not so long ago, Hiccup. Maybe three decades?
I nod slowly.
"Sit down with me."
So I sit, leaning against his side, my eyes trained on him.
And, with that, the Night Fury begins to tell his story.
