Point of View: Jack
11/23
As usual, once it came time for night, I settled down in Hiccup's room, a place that I took slight possession of whenever I stayed here. I didn't sleep, per se; it took quite a lot to tire me out that much, but the cool relaxation of night was welcoming. Finding my usual spot in his room, I settled down by the head of Hiccup's bed, ready to relax there until morning.
"It's sure great to have the big crowd together again," I smiled, glancing over to see he was settling into bed as well. "You okay?"
"I—I don't know, really," Hiccup shrugged honestly, climbing beneath his own covers. "Better than usual. It is great to see them all again, have everyone here. But I just can't help but..."
"Worry?" I finished, knowing what had been bothering him for the last few weeks.
"Yeah," he nodded, sighing deeply.
I stepped to his side, so that I could tuck up the covers around him. "It's gonna be alright, Hiccup. Astrid knows how to take care of herself much better than most ever manage in their lifetime; she'll be fine. You just need to hang in there alright? Be her waiting maiden for when she returns."
"I suppose," Hiccup nodded sleepily, yawning once again. "G'night, Jack."
"Goodnight, sweet dreams," I murmured in reply, sitting back down at his windowsill next to his bed. Toothless purred slightly in his own version of saying goodnight, before curling up next to Hiccup protectively. It was adorable, the way Toothless had slept beside Hiccup every night since Astrid had left and his worry had been so constantly noticeable.
Even then, Hiccup took hours to drop off to sleep, before his breathing finally evened out. And watching his fall asleep relaxed me as well, so I contented myself with watching his chest gently rise and fall. Still I waited for the definite sign of him being completely plunged into sleep, which was the presence of Sandman's dreamsand. Hours passed, and I continued to wait during what must have been the early hours of the morning. Something was very wrong with whatever sleep Hiccup was having. I rose to my feet, pacing over to stand beside him, and watch his fretful face, which was scrunched up and tense. His breathing wasn't even coming easily now.
"Hiccup?" I whispered, my voice strained.
He continued to fret, his head tossing about.
"Come on Hiccup, it's alright, everything's alright," I murmured, hoping that he was at least awake enough to hear me. I moved my hand forward, stroking his shoulder, and patting his hair down. To my great surprise, he did relax at this motion, and he fell back to soothed breathing. As I continued to rub my hand back and forth across his shoulder blades, I watched as dreamsand found its way through the window and cradled his head with dreams.
As Hiccup and I made our way to the main hall for breakfast, I attempted to pretend that I didn't notice how much Hiccup stumbled and tripped on the walk there, or how his eyes held such heavy packages undeath his lids. When we arrived at the table, the meal was already set out for us, and both Merida and Rapunzel were sitting side by side, conversing quietly together.
"Good morning!" Rapunzel greeted cheerily, smiling at us both with bright eyes and a small wave.
"Morning," Merida murmured in an echo, emitting a large yawn. "As you can all see, Rapunzel somehow seems to possess her cheeriness and even the most frighteningly early hours of the morning."
"No, silly," Rapunzel booped Merida's nose, which caused another wave of yawns to roll across Merida's features. "Eight in the morning isn't early."
"You should see her at dawn," I chuckled, sliding in a chair across from them, next to Hiccup, who still looked far too forlorn and tired. "Up at the first crack of daylight with as much energy as ever."
"She's the freaking sun on earth," Merida grumbled, letting her head crumple down onto her arms on the table.
"Thanks, Merida," Rapunzel continued to grin ever so brightly.
"I wouldn't be so sure that's a compliment," Merida grumbled in response, her head still down. While they continued to flirt, I studied Hiccup. He sat slumped over his meal, his fork playing with the fish on the plate before him, his adorable tufts of hair sliding over his face.
"Are you alright?" I murmured, leaning in to close the proximity between his ear and me, my voice soft enough, so that Merida and Rapunzel weren't even slightly distracted by my movement.
Hiccup shrugged in response.
"Hey, it's going to be alright," I promised, setting my hand around his shoulder and squeezing it.
"They're returning!" A faint voice called from outside, claiming Hiccup's attention. "Dragon on the horizon!"
Hiccup stood abruptly from the table, biting his lips nervously. He turned to the rest of us, a spark in his eye. "She's finally back-she has to be."
I nodded in assurance, before we all dashed out through the doors, finding ourselves back where Merida and Rapunzel had first arrived; at the docks. There, my stomach dropped, and I flew to stand beside Hiccup, who had stopped in his tracks feet from the shoreline. There, I saw the oncoming tatters of a dragon, hurling itself forward in a crash landing that dove into the shoreline, skinning the grass from the dirt it had intercepted. I watched Hiccup begin to clench and unclench his fingers, his breathing exiting in shallow pants, as his eyes were glued to the rider with a nervous panic that clenched his heart and rattled it about in his stomach. For this single passenger was not Astrid.
"Come on, Hiccup," I murmured, my hand reaching forward to touch upon his shoulders, taking him from his utter shock. "Let's see what's going on." We both were perfectly aware of the broad picture of what these happenings referred to, but maybe the details moved around the puzzle pieces, forming the solution to be something that wouldn't be so destructive to Hiccup. We did move closer, tentatively pushing through the crowd. Stoick was already there, knelt down beside the crashed Viking, who lay crouched in a position so close to where he had fallen.
"What happened?" Stoick questioned worriedly, his voice staying calm. "What happened to the others?"
"The storm-the waves of blackness came upon us at nightfall and buried the ship, pulling dragons out of the sky, and down into the watery depths," the survivor explained, his voice a feeble shakiness. "No other's survived."
Hiccup froze beside me, and I could no longer feel the ebb and flow of his breath, he just stopped.
"Come on, buddy," I whispered, gripping his shoulder so hard that I must have sent a shot of ice into his system. However, this did get him going, and he moved into motion, his breath coming in gasps, and his feet staggering back and forth.
"Black wave?" Stoick responded, his confusion clear. "You mean the sea?"
"No, not exactly," the survivor rasped. "It was the ocean without liquid, glittering with malice and fear as it came upon us, soaring higher than water could ever muster, and drowning everyone out. It was as though Hel was upon us with all her forces..."
"You're safe now," Stoick reminded him gravely, rising to his feet. "Somebody bring him into be treated." He lifted his gaze to the thrashing ocean that he had flown across, his gaze far away.
Suddenly Hiccup turned, shrugging off my hand, he sprinted away as quickly as he could with his mechanical leg, making for the woods. Toothless was faster than I, and managed to speed towards Hiccup, nuzzling the Viking affectionately, worriedly. Before I had the chance to call out, Hiccup bounded onto Toothless's back, before the two of them flew off together into the morning air.
"What's going on?" Merida asked, coming to stand beside me.
"Astrid's dead," I explained, my voice quivering as I took a deep breath. "The voyage she had taken a month ago sank, apparently. I need to go after him. You both just... stay here. We should be back soon."
Merida nodded seriously, concern dotting across her features as well. "We'll be here."
"Thanks," I said in response, before flying up into the sky. Thankfully, I didn't even need to track the already vanished Toothless to find Hiccup, I knew that he had gone to the place he disappeared to when ever anything upsetting came his way: the pond. It took me only a moment to shout back to the earth, centralizing myself towards the water that Hiccup had first come across Toothless so many months ago. As I came closer, I could spot Toothless running along the shore, thrusting pebbles into the watery depths, forcing them to bounce upon the surface.
Silently, I landed behind him, watching his agitated movements for a fraction of a moment. "Hiccup," I murmured, causing him to pause, before throwing another rock forward, with too much force for the flat surface to skip across the water. Stepping forward, I could see red lines of tears streaking his cheeks, his eyes bright pink from crying.
"It's not-" Hiccup hurled another stone forward, this time missing the water entirely so that it flew onto the opposite bank. "-fair! How can...Why would she...Jack, how come Astrid's dead?" He turned towards me, so utterly hopeless, his shoulders drooped, and his mouth parted in the singular question of why.
"Oh, Hiccup," I sighed, stepping forward to look him fully in the face. "I know it's not fair or right of any of that shit. And I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry."
Hiccup suddenly collapsed onto his knees, the next rock tumbling from his hands. For a moment, he didn't make any sort of movement or sound, which was more worrying than screams of agony in this case.
Quickly, I flew to his side. I threw my arms around him, bending down beside him to hold him in my grasp. "It's okay, Hiccup, I understand. Just let it all out. Just let it all out..."
Hiccup relaxed into my grasp, shaking with sobs. For he did let it all out now, allowed his every breath to emanate tears. Which was good, because in the end there was no fix for death, just the release of bottled-up emotions. And I would be there for him through the entire thing.
