All for a Kiss 11
When Hiccup awoke it was to the constant shifting a moving of many warm bodies around him. If one moved the wrong way he found himself being pricked by large sharp needles. It only got worse when he tried to curl up to protect himself so he let his body go lax in hopes of not getting a quill lodged into him. Even though it was dark and he could really see a part of his mind, the part that wasn't completely clouded by the Eel Pox coursing through him realized he was in a nest and judging by the numerous bodies pressing against him, their long whipping tails and sharp spines with dangerous poisonous tips it was a Whispering Death nest. One brushed against his chest accidently scratching him but he made no sound despite the awful sting, his mind sluggish with silly thoughts that wasn't like himself.
Death by Eel Pox of Whispering Death poison? Beats battling Outcasts and Berserkers…or the Red Death and loosing another limb. He closed his eyes, at least he thought he closed his eyes, it was so hard to tell in the blackness of the cave. His head lulled to one side and he flinched as he was scratched again but it didn't hurt so much as surprise him. A large warm tongue darted out of the darkness and ran over his cut cheek, cleaning his wounds and then moving on as if to groom him. This was something Hiccup was used to; Toothless often groomed him when he was injured or gotten dirty after a vigorous training session or battle. Hiccup didn't think much of it and raised his hand to scratch behind the dragon's horn on to cut his hand against another spine. He lowered his hand. Yep, definitely not his Toothless but that didn't seem to matter as he passed out again, unsure if it was the illness or the poison and not caring either way. He should have been scared but all he could think of was his mother waiting for him and how very much he wanted to see her. She died by dragon it only seemed right that he should, too.
That thought started him. It wasn't his. Yes he got depressed and wanted his Mom but didn't his Dad just say she was waiting for him at home or something to that extent? He wasn't sure, his mind was fuzzy and not much was making sense but he knew this wasn't the way he wanted to go. But he couldn't move without being pricked more. His breathing became rapid as he tried to think. The Book of Dragons…what did he and Fishlegs write about Whispering Deaths and calming them down? He couldn't remember! His head hurt and all he kept thinking about was his Mom and Dad and Toothless and Astrid…Astrid calling him Babe and how that made his insides all funny and twisted and brought a smile to his face and… That might not have even been real. Old Wrinkly…where was Old Wrinkly when he needed advice?
That warm tongue washed over his already heated face again and something in Hiccup snapped as his injured arm was jostled. He screamed. He was unsure if it was in fear or anger or pain or his mind finally snapping but he screamed loud and long for the one person he knew would wasn't far away and would move heaven and earth to get to him even when it seemed as if he didn't care.
"DDDAAADDDDDDDYYYY!"
. . .
Astrid gasped and clung to Toothless's saddle as they raced through the tunnel after the creature that had stolen Hiccup. The horrified scream that echoed through the tunnel pulled at her heart strings and made her want to get to her friend all the faster. She had heard Hiccup scream before but this time it was different. This was directed solely at Stoick and sounded far too young to be her Hiccup, as if he had reverted to a small child who should be out pretending to be a Dragon Rider like Gustav not lost in some dank water drenched tunnel with some strange dragon that he was unlikely to handle in his present state.
Toothless snarled at the sound of his rider in such distress. He sent a sonic wave through the tunnel ahead in an attempt to find his Hiccup and was relieved to discover a carven not too far ahead. There was movement and the sound of soft grinding, a sound he was all too familiar with and not too keen of hearing ever again but he now know what took his little brother and his frills rose in rage. How dare the burrowing take his human!
They burst through the cavern and Toothless let out a warning blast of plasma, lighting up the cavern to reveal the nest of Whispering Deaths. Astrid made a small noise of fear when she saw Hiccup lying amongst the hatchlings, their small wiry bodies rubbing up against his but to her relief none of them seemed to be trying to eat him or anything. There was a pile of fish they seemed more interested in and acted as if Hiccup was just another hatching in the nest. In fact the mother seemed to protectively hover over him, nuzzling his face and grooming him. Hiccup for the most part seemed unharmed. One hand was touching the snout of the mother dragon as he gazed up at her with glazed over pale eyes.
"Hiccup?" Astrid asked as she climbed off Toothless's back and urged him to stay back, knowing his dislike of Whispering Deaths. She had him lit the torch she took from a saddle bag so she could see what she was up against. The water wasn't so deep here, barely reaching her knee. She crossed the cavern slowly, torch held high as she made her way toward the mound that housed the Whispering Death nest. "Hiccup, are you okay?"
For a moment he said nothing as he stared into the eyes of the dragon, a very dangerous thing as a dragon's gaze could be hypnotic to ensnare their victims. But them Hiccup moved and rubbed his hand upward, smoothing the poisonous spines back.
"I think this is who they were looking for," he suddenly answered, squinting at the firelight as he turned to face Astrid. "This is Big Mama. She must have escaped to give birth to build her nest and lay her eggs."
"Who's looking for her? Dagur?"
Hiccup shook his head. "Old Wrinkly. He and the big guy were searching. They were really worried about her."
Confused, Astrid just nodded. The Eel Pox had a tendency to mess with people's minds and Hiccup seemed no better than any of the others when they were sick. Old Wrinkly had been dead for many years now. She slowly climbed the mound, making sure not to startle the hatchlings or mother dragon. "Okay," she said gently as she knelt before him, careful of a whipping tail of one of the babies. She brushed his wet shaggy bangs out of his face. His face was burning up. If anything he was getting worse, not better. He needed Gothi's medicine as soon as possible or things could get worse. He could die. She noticed his limp right arm, a sure sign it was broken or dislocated, but she didn't want to try and fix it right now when there was a possible enemy dragon who might take such a gesture as her torturing Hiccup. The Whispering Death mother seemed rather protective and fond of Hiccup considering it was still sniffing him and trying to groom him yet not chasing Astrid away. "Can you walk?" Astrid asked him when he turned his attention back to the dragon.
"I'm tired. I've been walking for hours," he muttered with a frown.
She frowned back. "Okay, five year old Hiccup can go back in the past. I want to talk to my Hiccup."
"Your Hiccup?" he asked, his voice full of curiosity as he turned back to her.
She gave a nod. "Yes, my Hiccup. You know, sixteen, kind of a know-it-all and head in the clouds constantly thinking of dragons."
He looked perplex. "I don't always think of dragons, you know."
"Uh huh."
"I think about you a lot. Maybe more…but I really love dragons, too," he said defensively, a hint of anger in his voice as if she had insulted him and in a way she had. He wasn't a know-it-all and his head wasn't always in the clouds. "I think about you almost all the time lately but you're so confusing and I don't know if you like me, like me, or not and that makes my head hurt so I turn my focus back on dragons cause NO ONE seems to know anything about girls in the village and Mom's not here to help me figure things out and Dad is just turns bright red and say he'll talk to me when I'm older. I'm sixteen! A few generations ago people our age would be married by now and having babies. I don't want to get married or have babies I just want to know if I'm your boyfriend or what we are. Is that so much to ask?"
She was taken back. Hiccup would never erupt like this if he were well. He'd keep it all bottled up and just ignore it while being confused and maybe a little upset by it all.
The Whispering Death hatchlings didn't like his yelling and slithered away from him, some accidentally scratching him but Hiccup didn't seem to notice or care. Soon he was left sitting on the mound with only the mother dragon wrapped protectively around him and he leaned into her, careful of her spines. "I want my Mom, Astrid. I want her to be able to hold me and tell me it's okay, that girls are confusing and we'd figure things out as we get older. That this feeling in my belly is normal. I don't want it being dismissed or ignored like my Dad does. I want someone to tell me that it's okay to feel this way."
"What way?" she asked, pretty sure she knew where he was going with this even if he wasn't.
"I think…think…" He shook his head and did what his father always taught him to do if things were too confusing or painful. He ignored it.
Astrid slid up next to him and gently pulled him against her side, letting his head rest against her shoulder. "You know you're not the only one that feels this way. I'm a little confused by the way I feel, too. It's like butterflies in my belly whenever I think of you or see you smile, really smile. I care about you with all my heart. Is that how you feel?"
He nodded.
"And your dad's not very good at talking about these things?"
"No," he whispered as she wrapped an arm around his waist and tucked him close to her. "He hates me."
She froze before hugging him. "No he doesn't, he just has a hard time expressing himself sometimes, like you. It's a dad thing. Either they don't know how to talk to us or they talk too much and think the wrong thing. Your dad loves you. I see it in the way he looks at you. And no…" She stopped him before he could interrupt. "It's not just because you can train dragons. He always loved you he just didn't understand you. Sometimes teens and adults don't speak the same language. Trust me, I know."
. . .
Stoick and Gobber had caught up to them by this time and stopped when they heard the children's words. It was like an arrow through Stoick's chest, hearing Hiccup's confusion and distress at not being able to talk to his father about his feelings. Stoick had to admit that when it came to relationships he wasn't exactly the best person to turn to. When he was a youth he was a little wild and had a few relationships but when Valka caught his eye all that was forgotten and he dedicated himself to her, even after she was taken by dragons. He never tried finding a new mate and never could find someone suitable to be a mother to Hiccup – although there were a number who tried. And Hiccup was still so young and vulnerable that Stoick never really thought his relationship with Astrid was more than a boy's fanciful dreams, something childish and wouldn't last long since it was built around the whole incident with the Red Death. It was supposed to be only temporary. Of course he should have known better when he saw the way the two took care of each other, not only while sick but almost all the time. Maybe it was time to have the talk with Hiccup. Not the sex talk – although a refresher course might be an order – but the relationship talk, the one he should have had long ago.
Gobber placed his hand on his friend's shoulder, sensing his friend's distress. "It's just the Eel Pox, Stoick," he assured, realizing that some of what the boy expressed must seem hurtful. Thankfully there was Astrid there to defuse the situation.
"You know your dad isn't the only one who's bad when it comes to the relationship talk," the girl said gently. "My Dad thought me liking you meant counting our sheep and seeing how many we had for my diary and start making arrangement with your dad over our marriage. And my Mom started sewing a bag to stuff you in so that we don't have sex until our wedding day." She gave a little laugh.
Stoick nearly choked and revealed himself while Gobber fought back a fit of giggles much like Hiccup who pressed his face into Astrid's shoulder to stifle them.
"How's this," Astrid announced, ruffling Hiccup's hair in amusement. "We try dating, actual dating, without the rest of the gang hanging around…"
"Toothless?"
She giggled. "Toothless and Stormfly can join us. How else are we supposed to escape Snotlout and the twins and keep Fishlegs from bugging you with some new dragon fact that would consume most of your day?"
"Am I really that bad?"
She pressed her lips to the back of his head before making a face at the mud and sea water in his hair. "Yeah, you can be that bad."
"I still want my Mom."
"I know, babe, I know."
His head shot up and he nearly bumped her chin. "You called me 'babe' again. Does that mean…?"
"It means you're overtired, sick and in need of your bed. It's time we go home."
He gave a little moan and put his head back on her shoulder. After a moment he was snoring softly, having passed out yet again. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and glanced up at the Whispering Death mother, offering her a small smile.
Stoick left Toothless and Gobber and slowly splashed across the cavern to the two teens, watchful of the Whispering Death that Toothless was still softly growling at. "How is he?" he asked Astrid as he knelt down to take his boy. He paused as the Whispering Death snarled and then began sniffing at him, refusing to let him near the two until she was sure he was not a danger. "He slowly raised a hand to prove he meant to no harm. "Thank you for caring for him," he said softly, sure that she had taken his son because he was hurt and scared and need protection – at least that's what he hoped and that Hiccup wasn't meant to be someone's meal.
She gave a snort that nearly sent his helmet flying off his head before retreating and leading her hatchlings into another tunnel and letting Stoick retrieve his own hatchling.
"That could have gone very bad," Gobber observed, noting the numerous scratches on Hiccup's face and arms and tears in his clothes. "Those cuts should be oozing poison. She must have thoroughly cleaned each wound. His arm's definitely dislocated, though. You have to be careful moving him. I don't want to try popping it back into place here."
The Hooligan chief gave a nod. He looked down at the garments he was holding, wondering what he could use to hold Hiccup's arm still. He turned one of Astrid's shoulder pads in his hand. An idea stuck him and when gentle hands he used one to cup Hiccup's elbow then ran one strap across his back the other along his front and placed the other pad on his shoulder before tightening the straps. That worked for the most part. He ripped a strip from the bottom of his tunic and tied it around Hiccup's chest and injured arm, making sure to keep his hand elevated. Once the arm was secure Stoick took Hiccup from Astrid and lifted up in both arms. "Alright," he said as he stood. "Let's head home. Hiccup needs Gothi's medicine and I think it's time he and I had a little one on one father/son talk."
But first they had to get past Berserkers and Outcasts and with Hiccup injured that meant Stoick had to carry him and couldn't fight and he wasn't prepared to tie Hiccup down to Toothless just yet considering the Nightfury needed a conscious rider to fly. Astrid would have to go with them but right now he needed every available warrior beside him. He only hoped the other Riders were doing a good enough job keeping Dagur's men distracted.
