Hiccup woke up back in his cell. His forearm was burning. The air stung. He opened his eyes and looked at his arm. What he saw was gut-wrenching. His skin was gone. He looked around saw Jorn standing by waiting to see his reaction.
Hiccup screwed his eyes shut, stopping the tears that threatened to spill. "What happened?!"
Jorn moved over toward Hiccup. "Session number three. Known to break the strongest of men. They would give Johann whatever he wanted. He's hoping it does the same to you."
"How come you haven't treated it yet?" Hiccup demanded.
"You needed to see it first. I need to know you won't break yet," Jorn replied as he emptied his medicine bag.
"I've lost a leg," Hiccup answered. "This is nothing."
Jorn nodded as he began to numb the area around the missing skin, and cleaned up the blood. There was no way to close the wound, other than to bandage it up and change it every few hours. Numbing it helped slow the bleeding. It was going to be weeks before it would start to heal.
The kid was stronger than Jorn gave him credit for. He knew he was lying about how losing his leg freaked him out more. He was scared beyond comprehension, but he wasn't going to break. Johann was going to have to do a lot more than peel and cut his skin.
"Rest up kid," Jorn said as he finished wrapping the wound. "We arrive at Stinger Island in a few hours.
Hiccup didn't put up a fight. He was drained. Staying awake was too much work.
Harry woke up to a dim, candle-lit room. He tried to sit up, only to have a firm hand hold him down. "Stay still, kid. I just finished changing your bandages."
Harry looked up at the man talking to him. "John?"
Toothless's ears perked up at the sound of his rider. The Night Fury immediately jumped up and licked Harry's face, tail wagging. "Hey, Toothless! Glad to see you too," Harry exclaimed, then grunted in pain as Toothless brushed an injured spot.
"Easy Toothless. He's not ready for you just yet." John had to pull him off, for fear of harming Harry. The dragon whined, but Garff whistled and Toothless backed off.
John turned back to Harry. He waited a moment longer for Toothless to settle uncomfortably before fixing Harry's loose bandage.
"How long ha-?" Harry's voice trailed off as he spotted Astrid sleeping in a chair, Stormfly dozing next to her.
"Ten days," John answered, following Harry's line of sight. "She has rarely left that chair; Toothless refused to eat for a bit as well."
"What happened?" Harry asked.
John caught him up with everything that happened after he slipped in a coma. "... Mass destruction everywhere. No modern technology anywhere in the world. It's as if the Earth reverted back to what it was a thousand years ago."
"Any idea what's caused it?" Harry questioned.
John shook his head. "Some are saying it was a delayed aftershock from the first one. A few preachers are claiming wrath of God. Others are saying the old gods have re-awoken or the alpha dragons have returned. Right now it's all speculation with no proof."
Harry was quiet for a minute. As he thought, a memory came to the surface.
Hiccup woke up the sound of his baby boy crying. He lifted his hands to his eyes to rub the sleep of them, only to feel someone stop him. "Easy, kid. I just finished bandaging you up."
The young chief blinked a few times to bring his blurred vision into focus. "Jorn? Where's SJ?"
"He's right here, babe," Astrid answered. "He's just a little cranky from his nap. Normally Toothless or Stormfly would have slept with him, but..." Her voice trailed off for a moment before changing the subject. "How are you feeling?"
With Jorn's help, Hiccup sat up. "Like I just fought a madman while falling through the sky."
"Accurate," Jorn noted. "Because that's what you did. Now, follow my finger." He dragged his finger from side to side in front of Hiccup's eyes.
"Did I have a seizure?" Hiccup asked, knowing Jorn only did this when he had one. Usually, he remembered them, but not this time, it would seem.
"Yeah," Jorn answered. "As soon as the dragons disappeared beyond the horizon, you collapsed and began convulsing. Weird thing, you were still conscious for a few seconds afterward. Eye movement is slow, but should be better later on. Stretch your arm out and make a fist."
Hiccup did as he was told. He waited for Jorn to tap out a minute as he took his pulse. "How long was I out?"
"Heart rate is returning to normal," Jorn noted. "Most of the day. The sun is getting ready to set."
"What's the damage?" Hiccup asked.
"Broken ribs and right wrist, twenty stitches altogether, a bruise on just about every part of your body," Jorn replied.
"What about my leg?" Hiccup wondered.
"Still no sign of it," Astrid answered. "The twins and Fishlegs sailed down and looked. Gobber's working on making you a new one. He should have it ready in a couple of days."
"That means you're on bed rest until then," Jorn stated.
"Figured that out already," Hiccup remarked.
The room fell silent for a long while. The only sounds that could be heard were the Berkians outside gathering supplies to build their new village. Children could be heard playing. But no dragons. Their roars did not fill the air, nor their giant flapping wings. There were none to yell at for blocking a path or eating a whole basket of food not meant for them. The silence of the tent was broken by SJ starting to wail.
"Give him to me," Hiccup said, holding out his good hand. "I'll calm him down." Astrid handed their crying child over to her husband, who held him close to his chest and began to rock him ever so slightly. "It's going to be okay, SJ. One day, the dragons will come back. Once it's safe for them. Together, we'll spread the word about what kind, protective, amazing creatures they are. I will tell you tales of epic battles fought in the sky. I will speak of old and new lands."
As Hiccup talked of the dragons, little SJ quieted down and began to fall asleep. Astrid watched as tears traced Hiccup's cheeks. This change was going to be harder on him, harder than anyone else in the tribe.
"... One day in the distant future, we'll sail to the Hidden World with you, Mama, and your siblings. There, I'll introduce you to all the dragons we can find," Hiccup finished.
"What if it was the Archipelago?" Harry pondered. "I remember in senior year, during history, the teacher talked about this crazy, way out there theory. Beneath the ocean floor of the Atlantic is a hundred or so islands that sunk when the Viking Age ended, taking as much of their history as they could. He said that the world was waiting for the right time to bring the islands back to the surface. Has anyone flown out that way yet?"
John shook his head again. "No. We'll set a plan and fly out once you're better."
"How long will that take?" Harry asked.
"Infection and fever have run its course," John answered. "The wound itself just needs to heal. Shouldn't take more than a few more days."
Harry just nodded before saying. "We got anything to eat? I'm starving."
John let out a small chuckle. "I'll go see what I can whip up. Just stay here. You're still too weak to get out of bed." He stood up and headed downstairs.
As soon as he was gone, Toothless tried to run at Harry but was stopped by Garff. The Night Fury growled, but Garff would not let him get past.
Astrid woke up to the growling. She took a second to stretch and rub the sleep out of her eyes, then muttered a calming thing to the dragons, who quieted.
Once she opened her eyes all the way, she smiled at the sight of seeing Harry awake. She stood up and practically ran to him.
"You're awake!" She exclaimed, pointing out the obvious.
"Yeah, I know," Harry responded. "Have been for about ten minutes now."
Astrid just smiled at sat down next to his head. The couple sat in silence while waiting for John to come back with some food.
A/N: Sorry for the wait. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Both my beta reader and I got busy yesterday and couldn't get the chapter out.
As always thanks for reading. Don't forget to favorite and review. Stay tuned for the next chapter.
Special thanks to Draconicbeing for being an amazing beta reader and friend. Don't for to thank them as well.
