Ch. 10
"Something troubling you?" Cloudjumper appeared from behind a cloud startling Stormfly. "I don't see Valka with you." Stormfly shot back sharply, she was in a rotten mood and had no desire to pretend she was happy. An image of a Monstrous Nightmare mid-jump, with a crazed, bloodthirsty look in its eyes plagued her thoughts. "What makes you think something is bothering me" Stormfly was not in a talkative mood and hoped Cloudjumper would simply fly away, this, of course, did not happen. Cloudjumper said nothing but looked at her in disbelief. "If you must know Cloudjumper, I'm worried about Toothless; he wasn't with Hiccup when Meatlug and I found him. There was a Monstrous Nightmare, however, he nearly roasted Hiccup." Stormfly oddly felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her back having spoken her mind on the subject. "You sure the dragon was attacking Hiccup?" "I see quite well thank you." "My apologies," Cloudjumper backpedaled not having what he wanted yet.
She began to break away from Cloudjumper and proceeded to circle back to Berk. "How does this make you nervous about Toothless's well being?" The Stormcutter asked pushing the issue in hopes of getting the information he wanted. "Toothless would've found Hiccup long before we did, even without Hiccup shouting for him; if Toothless something hadn't found Hiccup, the shouts as we landed should've alerted him right away." Cloudjumper realized why Stormfly was so upset. "You think Toothless is injured and unable to find Hiccup? Hasn't Hiccup said anything about the four days he was on that island?" "All I know is what I heard from a Terrible Terror that overheard Hiccup talking to Valka. I don't believe most of it though. Always trying to stir up trouble by exaggerating things." Cloudjumper was curious as to what 'gossip' the terror had told her. "So? What is so unbelievable?"
Stormfly looked at the larger dragon perplexed, "why is this so important to him?" she thought before answering figuring it was the quickest way to make him leave. "I was told, 'a great rock punched Toothless out of the sky right as the sea reached up and grabbed Hiccup off the saddle. Hiccup tamed the sea and rode it to the island, while Toothless was swallowed by clouds and hasn't been seen since' that just doesn't sound right—at all." Cloudjumper tried very hard not to laugh the moment he heard the ridiculous tale but failed miserably. "That wasn't funny." Stormfly said displeased "If you find anything else let me know," Cloudjumper stated still chuckling before veering away.
Over the next few days, Stormfly became increasingly curious as to what kept Hiccup from returning to where she'd found him to look for Toothless. It also concerned her that Toothless hadn't returned, "is he dead?" began to float around in the back of her mind stirring up undesirable possibilities whenever it showed up. Her frequent flights with Astrid were kept unusually silent on the matter. "Before we rescued Hiccup, you wouldn't shut up about him. Now you don't talk about him at all." Stormfly thought to herself on the way back to Berk from a patrol flight with Astrid.
At the forge, Gobber waited for Hiccup to show up to finish all of the work he'd missed. "There you are. Thought you'd gotten yourself lost again." Gobber said urging Hiccup to work. "how thoughtful of you to remember" Hiccup replied sarcastically as he hobbled to his worktable.
Once Hiccup had eaten and gotten his bearings, he'd removed his prosthetic as it was badly damaged from the saltwater, frigid temperatures, and rust. The prosthetic he was using as an interim hadn't quite been tall enough, which was why he'd replaced it. Several hours later Hiccup was roused from his work by Astrid. "Valka said you would be here; haven't you finished that thing yet?" Astrid said looking at the pile of gears and wood pieces on Hiccup's workbench. "I—" "You've been back for over three days, and you still working on that?" She joked looking at the heap of cogs and gears on the table in front of her. "I only needed a few pieces from it; I'm about ready to try out the new pegleg." Hiccup stood up and promptly fell. "I should've expected that," he said getting up, Astrid just stood off to the side amused at the spectacle. "You said it was finished right?" Astrid teased helping him up after his third failed attempt to pick himself up off the floor. "When are you going to go back for Toothless? Astrid asked when they exited the forge. "let me get a few things, I'll meet you at the stables." "Just where do you think you're going? You still have work to finish, now let's get to it." Gobber said grabbing hiccups shirt. Hiccup was about to argue, Astrid could almost hear the words coming from Hiccup. "We'll find Toothless Hiccup; he'll be okay for one more night." With that Hiccup resigned himself to finishing the work that had piled up while he'd been away.