All for a Kiss 10

A horrific scream rocked the caves alerting both Hooligans and Berserkers to Hiccup's presence. They were in two completely separate levels. Dagur's men had managed to track the Rider's dragons to the coast line and found a small cave that they seemed to be protecting. It had taken a little distraction and agility for Dagur and two of his most trusted men to pass the dragons and sneak into the cave but they managed and were now tracking multiply foot prints.

"What would Berkians being doing here?" Dagur had wondered as he studied a large pair of prints with a second pair which consisted of one foot and a peg leg followed by several much small foot prints. "Stoick and Gobber. Obviously the Riders. But these are older." There were another few sets of prints, one very large, another narrow and one that obviously belonged to Hiccup, the shape of the prosthetic unmistakable but the steps were wobbly and very unsteady. Dagur dipped his fingertips into the print then brought them to his mouth and licked the dirt. "Hmm…two…maybe three hours old. What would Hiccup be doing here with whoever owns these tracks and without his Nightfury? The dragon's tracks are the same age as Stoick's."

"How can you be certain? Mikah asked, watching his chief with interest.

Harold stepped past Dagur and squinted in the direction the tracks went, his torch held high. "How do you think he learned to hunt dragons?" he told the young man. "The real question is; what are they doing here? There's no exiting tracks. I've known Hiccup since he was a wee boy and he wouldn't have wandered in here with just anyone so why is here?"

"Probably trying to conquer us from below," Dagur snorted as he stood. "He's sneaky, that Hiccup." He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "But without his Nightfury? That's not Hiccup. He loves that dragon."

Harold sighed. "Perhaps but according to these tracks he's hurt or somehow injured. He's unsteady and you can tell here that someone had to help; there's drag marks where his prosthetic should be."

Dagur studied where his uncle indicated and a rare worried looked crossed his face. It was gone in an instant. "Well that should make-"

He was cut off by a scream that was all too familiar and made him freeze in a mix of surprise and fear. "Hiccup?" he breathed, a brotherly instinct hitting him before he could stomp it into the ground and mask his emotions. There was still a part of him that wanted to believe he and Hiccup could be brothers and kill the Nightfury together. After all it was the Nightfury that destroyed any chance they had of bonding as brothers should. "Move out. I don't care about the others. Kill them if you want but Hiccup is mine."

. . .

Stoick's heart nearly stopped when he heard Hiccup scream. It was that heart breaking, terrifying scream that Stoick never wanted to hear from his child. His heart raced and he no longer cared that they were on Outcast Island with potential threats from Outcasts and Berserkers all around. He began running in the direction of the scream the only one running faster than him being Toothless. He followed the dragon, letting him move ahead in hopes of Toothless reaching Hiccup first and getting him to safety. The dragon found a side corridor and whipped around it and Stoick followed only to nearly fall through a fresh opening in the floor. Toothless had already jumped into it and was snarling and growling as if he had found something.

"Be careful," Stoick ordered the teens as they rounded the corner. He jumped in the hole, praying to find his son. "Hiccup!"

. . .

Alvin's head shot up when he heard Stoick's voice down the tunnel. "Son of Loki!" he cursed, smashing his hand against the rock ground. His hands balled into fists as he glared down at the black hole Hiccup had fallen into. He had heard a splash but nothing more. "Hiccup," he called trying to keep his voice low in hopes Stoick would not hear him.

There was the splashing of water and a small whimpering sound that sounded all wrong. "Ow… I think…I think I broke my arm," came the whimpered reply.

"Did you hit something?" Mildew asked, surprising Alvin.

"No…just water."

"Then how did you break your arm?" Alvin demanded before quickly hushing himself.

There was another whimper. "I don't know! I can't move my arm. It's dark in here. I want my Dad."

Alvin bit back another curse. The hole was too small for him to get through and he wasn't sure just how far down Hiccup was, his voice seemed to echo everywhere. He reached down, hoping to at least touch the boy but all he felt was cool damp air. "Find a ledge and climb on it."

"I can't see."

"Then feel around."

"Hiccup!" Stoick's bellow was growing louder and closer.

"We need to leave," Mildew said in a harsh whisper, placing a withered hand on Alvin's shoulder. "I can get down there but I won't be much help. He's too heavy for me to left."

Wild, mad eyes met the former Hooligan's and Stoick was nearly tempted to throw the old man in the hole and make him let the boy stand on his back but if the fall was too deep then he would have two injured people to try and get back and only one of them of any real importance to him. He sighed. There will be other chances to get Hiccup and by then the boy would be cured and he'd have worked out a way to make him do as he wanted.

"Alright," he agreed, pushing himself off the ground. "Hiccup, how high is the water?"

"To my chest."

Alvin nodded. As long as a tide didn't rush in from wherever the water was coming from the kid would be safe until he father and friends got him out. "Stay put. Your father's coming. We'll meet up later."

"Okay," was the small rather unsure reply.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Mildew asked as he stood as well.

Alvin looked a little nervous, a rare sight indeed, as he looked toward the first hint of torch light. "He's Hiccup, he'll be fine. Now more it," he growled lowly, shoving Mildew in the opposite direction of the approaching light. "I don't want Stoick knowing I'm still alive yet."

They hurried deeper into the tunnels and out of sight but still within ear shot to hear what Stoick and his rabble would do to save the boy. Alvin snarled in disgust at the sight of Hiccup's Nightfury race through the tunnel toward the pit, barely seen in the darkness. Only its outline was visible due to the torch light further down the tunnel. It sniffed at the hole, circling it round and round as it tried to figure a way down.

Toothless warbled in distress as he stuck his snot in the small hole. A small warble answered back making the dragon coo in relief. His little brother was safe.

"Toothless?" Hiccup called up, his voice quivering slightly as he held his arm. "Toothless!"

Toothless warbled back, assuring his rider he would get down to him and to stay calm.

"Toothless!" Stoick yelled when he finally caught up to him. His eyes widened slightly when he spotted the dragon scratching at a small hole, one just large enough for a thin youth to squeeze through. "He's found something," he called to the others before kneeling next to Toothless and gently but firmly pushing the Nightfury to one side. He held the torch over the opening and peered down. "Hiccup?"

A pale face looked up back at him, face dirty and hair soaking wet and clinging to his cheeks and forehead. "Dad?" Hiccup asked, his eyes pale and glazed over, or maybe it was the torch light playing tricks. Big fat tears of relief rolled down his cheeks making him look incredibly young and fragile.

"It's okay, son, it's okay," Stoick assured, reminding himself his son was not in his right mind at the moment and more emotional than he normal would be. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"My arm's broken…or dislocated…I don't know, I can't feel it."

"Alright, we'll take care of it as soon as we get down to you. Are you injured anywhere else?"

"No."

"Good, that's good, son. Can you get out of the water? Is there a ledge or cropping you can climb onto?" There was water all around Hiccup from what Stoick could see and it looked to be about chest high. With no idea where the water was coming from and fearing that it may be below sea level Stoick wanted the boy to get above it so that if the tide rose he would be safe while they found a way to get to him.

"There's a few but nothing close," Hiccup answered, water sloshing as he moved to get a better look at his father's face. "Dad? Where's Mom?"

Stoick sat back in surprise and looked to Gobber who knelt next to him with an equally surprised look. "Hiccup, Mom's not with us anymore," he answered honestly.

"Where is she?"

"Son…she…"

Gobber quickly shook his head. "It's the Eel Pox, he's not going to understand," he said gently, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"What are you saying? You want me to lie to him?" There was one thing Stoick swore never to do and that was to lie to his only child. He explained to Hiccup at a young age why his mother was no longer with them and did his best to be mother and father to him while still being chief and leading their people. It was an impossible job to do on his own and relied greatly on Gobber to help him. But to lie to Hiccup…that was something he couldn't do.

"What's going on?" Astrid asked, placing a hand on Toothless's head as she stood beside the dragon. "Is he okay?"

Gobber shook his head. "He's still pretty sick and may have broken his arm," he reported.

"Can you squeeze through there?" Stoick asked, indicating the hole.

She studied it for a moment, surprised that Hiccup had managed to fall through it. "Maybe, but I'll need to remove my armor," she answered after a minute.

"Wait, did she say she was stripping?" ask Tuffnut, poking Snotlout. The older boy said nothing, his voice lost in his surprise.

"Bet you never thought you'd live to see the day," Ruffnut purred teasingly before brushing past them to help her friend.

"Where's Mom?" Hiccup asked again, his voice whining and sounding on the verge of actual tears. "I want my Mom!"

"Hiccup, sh…" Stoick quickly answered, keeping his voice calm even as he felt panic creep through him. "Sh…it's alright. Your Mom…your Mom's waiting for us, son. She's waiting for us." Okay that wasn't so much of a lie. Valka was waiting for them in Valhalla and one day they would see each other again, he knew that and Hiccup – in his right mind – knew that as well so Stoick didn't feel so guilty.

"Promise?"

"I promise, son. She'll be there waiting for us."

Gobber nodded in approval as he switched out his prosthetic hook for a pick axe. "I might be able to able make this bigger, as long as we get no more earthquakes," he told Stoick as Astrid began removing her shoulder pads. He looked down at Hiccup. "Okay, lad. I know you're hurt and probably tired but I need you to get up on a ledge and out of the way of falling debris. Can you do that for me?"

"But it's dark down here and…and I think there's something down here with me. Can't Toothless come down here?"

"The hole's not big enough for Toothless or any of the rest of us," Gobber advised, understanding the child's fear and feeling it himself. "Astrid's going down in a moment so do as I say and get up on a ledge."

The child shifted around and looked down at the water. "No…no…Gobber, there's seriously something in the water," he called up sounding more like his usual self even as he squeezed his stuff dragon to his chest. Something slithered against his legs causing him to yelp. "I want out of here!"

"It's okay, Babe," Astrid called soothingly as she worked the belt to her armored skirt. "Take a couple deep breaths. It's just fish."

Ruffnut froze in surprise as she held the older girl's shoulder pads. "Did you just call him babe?"

Snotlout's mouth hung open in shock before it snapped shut and he looked away. "Maybe we should go and uh…distract the Berserkers," he offered, shoving Tuffnut back in the direction they had come. "Ruffnut, give Stoick Astrid's stuff and come on."

Stoick and Gobber looked after them in surprise but otherwise didn't worry about them. Despite their odd tendencies they were good Riders and knew how to fight. They would be okay. The whole "Babe" incident was ignored for now although Stoick did stash it away for later processing and took the armor Ruffnut tentatively handed him before running after the boys.

Hiccup was ignorant to what was going on above and moved as quickly as he could to the nearest ledge, feeling out with his good hand. That strange slithering feeling only increased, as if a school of trout was rushing past him only larger and there seemed to be spines or something that occasionally pricked him. He got as far out of the water as he could, sitting on a low rock cropping but his feet dangled in the water. There wasn't enough room to keep them up. He stared at his prosthetic in wonder, momentarily forgetting he had lost his foot and nearly panicking, as if having strange fish brushing against his legs weren't enough.

"Dad…" he called as he lifted his bad leg to inspect it.

"Yes, Hiccup?" Stoick answered.

"Why do I…" He fell silent at a strange rumbling sound echoed through the tunnel. The ground began shaking again and Hiccup forgot all about the prosthetic. "Dad!"

Pushing Gobber aside Stoick laid on the ground and reached as far into the below tunnel as he could reach. "Hiccup, reach for my hand!"

The boy hurriedly stood on the ledge and shuffled against the rock wall toward the outstretched but it was still too high up and the ledge was too far from the opening. Nonetheless he reached out and tried, his fingertips just barely brushing against his father's.

Stoick shifted and tried to reach further until he was almost able to wrap his finger around the boy's wrists. "I've got you," he said, trying to stay calm. There was a sudden tug and Hiccup gave a scream of utter horror and Stoick was left grasping air. "HICCUP!"

He gave a sudden yelp when Toothless shoved him out of the way with such force that he was knocked almost a dozen feet away. Gobber got just enough warning to jump out of the way before Toothless let out such a ferocious blast of plasma that the hole exploded inward creating an opening large enough for a small army to enter with ease. The Nightfury leapt into the opening, followed closely by Astrid. Stoick darted to the open and peered inside but Hiccup was gone, the only thing left being the stuff dragon his mother had made him when he was a baby bobbing in the water with a tear across its chest.

"Hiccup…" Stoick breathed, fearing the worse and praying that Toothless and Astrid made it to his son before something horrific happened to him. He and Gobber jumped down and raced to catch up but there was no quenching the fear tearing at Stoick's insides.