A/N: Sorry for the delay. My brand new laptop broke after I made the mistake of letting my cousin use it. Anyway, I'll be posting chapters through the app until I can save up for a new one. Anyway, here's chapter 5. I hope you guys enjoy. Don't forget to follow and review.
Originally beta read by DraconicBeing2.0
It had been a long week for Jorn. First Berk was attacked by Grimmel and his dragons. Then the Chief decided to relocate everyone, dragons included. Just three days after settling on New Berk, Grimmel showed up with an armada, an armada bigger than Dagur's. The battle was epic but heartbreaking. Watching Hiccup fall to his death with Grimmel fighting him on the way down, was not a sight anyone would soon forget.
Jorn clutched little Stoick Jorn close to his chest and rushed to the front of the crowd with Garff in tow when the Light Fury dropped Hiccup onto the cliff. His leg was gone and he was bleeding through his broken armor. Jorn stopped in his tracks when Ariel helped her husband up. He pushed off of her and hopped toward Toothless.
The tribe watched as their Chief and resident Night Fury said goodbye to each other. Everyone began to shed tears and they released their reptilian companions back into the wild. Jorn was the last to remove his saddle from Garff. He hugged the Deathsong, who nuzzled him back. "In Valhalla do we meet again," he murmured softly to his friend before letting go. Slowly the dragons took to the air and flew toward the Hidden World. Toothless, as the alpha, was the last to leave.
Once the dragons disappeared beyond the horizon, Hiccup stood for a moment longer before he collapsed like a sack of potatoes. Jorn knew what was about to happen. He handed the Haddock baby over to Valka and leapt into action. As Hiccup began to convulse, Jorn turned him on to his side and held the chief as still as he could. Astrid stood over them, ready to help.
Once Hiccup stopped convulsing, Jorn turned him on to his back, surprised to find Hiccup still conscious. "Kid, can you hear me?" he asked urgently.
Hiccup just gave a small nod, but before Jorn could ask another question the young Chief's eyes rolled into the back of his skull and his head lolled to the side. The resident healer picked Hiccup up, like he weighed nothing, and rushed to the healer's tent.
John sat up in bed, his heart beating rapidly. He rubbed his eyes, only to discover he had been crying as he slept. He quickly scanned the bedroom for Garff and saw the dragon, sleeping peacefully in the corner.
"Garff," John called. "Time to get up."
Garff slowly opened his eyes, looked at his rider, and let out a huge yawn as he uncurled himself and stretched. John climbed out of bed and stretched as well. Together, they headed to the kitchen downstairs. John stopped in the living room long enough to turn on the TV and switched to CNN.
He walked into the kitchen and began to brew his coffee. As his cup of joe was brewing, he opened the fridge and pulled out the cod he had caught the night before and tossed it Garff, who happily ate it in one bite.
John laughed. "Did you even taste it? Or are your taste buds in your stomach?"
Garff bobbed his head up and down, showing off his signature smile, before turning and heading back into the living room. As soon as John's cup was done brewing, he followed his dragon.
John sat down on the couch just in time to see Harry on the screen. He recalled the talk the two of them had yesterday over the phone. Harry had been in DC talking to the president, trying to convince him that the dragons were harmless and only wanted peace. The young man mentioned that he was going to be heading to New York to be on New Day talking with world leaders about dragons, educating them and debating the pros and cons of dragons.
"Today we have a special young man with us today," Cassy started. "Who is here to talk to us about the dragons that showed up mysteriously a little over a month ago." She turned and looked at Harry. "Welcome to the show, Harry. How are you this morning?"
"I'm good," Harry replied.
"So what are you going to tell us about the dragons?" the news anchor asked.
"Well, Rosa," Harry began. He talked about a story his grandfather told him. He discussed Toothless and how he was trained, only to be cut off by the other news anchor.
"How do you know how he was trained?" Carlos asked. "You're talking as if you were there."
"Well, I was. In a sense," Harry shrugged. "When the earthquake hit, I fell and hit my head. When I came to, I had a bunch of memories in my head about a guy named, Hiccup. I've had flashbacks of this guy training dragons."
"Are you claiming to be his reincarnation?" Carlos asked.
"No sir," Harry shook his head. "I think when the dragons resurfaced something unexplainable happened to a lot of people. You work in news; surely you've seen people claiming to have memories of another person? That other person living during the time of dragons before they disappeared. I'm not the only one saying this. Close to a million people are saying this and discussing it with each other."
John watched as Carlos kept trying to twist Harry's words, but Harry was not having any of it. Just as things were starting to get heated, Harry froze in place.
"You have nothing else to say?" Carlos sneered, thinking he won.
"Oh no," John muttered under his breath. "He's having a seizure."
Viewers watched as Harry fell out of his chair and onto the floor, where he began to convulse. Carlos's smug look was wiped from his face as he looked on in horror. John found himself counting the seconds until Harry stopped seizing and watched as Cassy yelled for the onset medics.
As Harry stopped seizing, the show cut to commercial. John grabbed his home phone and dialed Ariel's number.
Ariel answered immediately "Hello?"
"Ariel, what's going on?" John almost yelled. "The whole world just watched him have a seizure."
"The medics are loading him on to a stretcher now, and rushing him to the ambulance they have out back," Ariel answered. "He's unconscious but will come around in a few minutes. I'll update you when I get to the hospital."
"I'll be there soon," John said before hanging up. He looked over at Garff. "Come on, we got to get to New York." Garff tilted his head and squawked, then headed for the door.
They reached the island as the sun began to set. There to greet them was a Deathsong. Jorn quickly figured it was Garff. He jumped out of the boat and pulled it to shore after releasing the Seashockers, who seemed grateful for their freedom.
He helped Hiccup out of the boat and sat him down on a nearby boulder. The kid's skin was warm to the touch. He definitely had a fever.
Garff trotted over to Hiccup and butted his head gently against him. Hiccup gave him a scratch under the chin. "Hey, big guy. I know it's been awhile. Astrid and Stormfly are going to be so happy when they see you."
Jorn went back to the boat and emptied out all of its supplies before lighting it on fire and pushing it back into the ocean. He listened as Hiccup talked to the dragon. The dragon seemed concerned for him, but the kid kept reassuring him he was alright.
"We need to find shelter and rest for the night," Jorn stated.
Hiccup shook his head. "We have to leave as soon as possible. Garff here will be more than happy to give us a lift. Isn't that right, big guy?"
Garff screeched out a tune as he bobbed his head up and down.
Jorn looked uncertain. He had never flown before, but Hiccup was right. They couldn't stay the night. Hunters were looking for them.
"Okay," Jorn said finally. "But first, let me change all your bandages."
Hiccup only nodded as he continued to give the Deathsong chin scratches. He seemed out of it. His mind was somewhere else, but it was also here. It was trying to deal with all that it had endured.
It didn't take long for Jorn to clean and bandage Hiccup's wounds. He riffled through the supplies he had kept from the ship and found a tunic. It was bigger than Hiccup, but it was something to wear. Jorn helped Hiccup put it on.
Once Jorn finished properly treating the kid, Hiccup motioned for Garff to lower his neck so they could climb on. Jorn gathered the supplies and stuffed it into his bag. What he couldn't fit would be tossed into the ocean.
The healer helped Hiccup mount the dragon and climbed on behind him. He sat Hiccup up with on hand as he pulled a tonic out of his bag with the other.
"Where are we heading?" Jorn asked.
"Dragon's Edge," Hiccup said. "Garff knows the way. Hopefully, we'll run into the rest of the Riders on the way."
Hiccup used his good hand to pat Garff on the side, signaling for them to take off. Garff obliged and took to the air. Jorn's vision went black for a split second before everything came into focus. They were flying over the ocean. The island was miles behind them.
Jorn looked at his patient. Hiccup's eyes were shut and his head hung forward. The kid was unconsciousness, probably for a long while. This was his real first chance to recover. He slipped the tonic back into his bag and held on to one of the dragon's horns for balance.
John made it to New York in just under an hour. Having a dragon that can fly faster than a plane came in handy when you were in a hurry. As he flew over New York City, he called Ariel to find out what hospital Harry had been taken to. She told him Bellevue Hospital. That's where he headed.
He and Garff landed just outside the ER. He signaled for Garff to fly up to the roof and wait for him. John ran into the ER waiting room and found Ariel arguing with one of the nurses.
"What do you mean you can't tell me?" Ariel yelled. "I'm his fiancée. I have a right to know what happened to him!"
John walked over and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and gave the nurse an apologetic look. "Ariel, calm down. I'm sure Harry is fine. He's being taken care of by the best doctors in the country."
Ariel shoved his hand away. "I still want to know where he is!"
John looked at the nurse. "Do you know where he is? Or can you get us someone who does?"
"If you give me a minute, I can look up his file and see if he's in our system yet," the nurse replied.
"Thank you, ma'am," John replied. "Come on, Ariel, let's sit down and give her a chance to look."
Ariel begrudgingly sat down, still fuming. John stared at the young women as an old memory formed. He quickly found himself traveling back in time.
"As you said, Hiccup is tough," Jorn consoled.
"I know. What Johann did to him though; it's worse than what he did six months ago," Astrid remarked. "Hiccup spent a month in a coma due to the blood loss. After he woke up, he was angry and full of rage. It took weeks for him to finally open up and tell us what happened in those caves. He was finally getting better. Then he went down into that stupid cave, at Gothi's request. Seeing Johann blink nearly sent him back. He's spent the past month trying to hide it, but he was scared. He was nowhere near ready to face Johann again. To go with Ryker and willingly be tortured, all for a zero to slim chance at killing Johann, was, was, I don't know what it was."
Jorn watched as the young woman poured her heart out to a man she hardly knew. She was so scared of what the future might hold. She didn't know if the Hiccup she knew and loved would come back to her or not.
The healer placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "He'll come back. I promise."
Astrid wiped away any evidence that she might have been crying. "I hope you're right."
Jorn decided it was time to change the subject. "Before you head out, can you help me change the bandages real quick?"
Astrid stood up. "Sure. No problem."
The two worked in silence as they discarded the old bandages, cleaned the wounds, and bandaged them again. They worked as if they had been doing it for years. Jorn was impressed with how careful and gentle Astrid was with Hiccup's injured body. The girl would make a great healer. She was someone who could tend to the injured on the battlefield and continue to fight at the same time.
John smiled at the memory. Ariel deeply cared for her soul mate, no matter what. It didn't matter when or where; they had a love that withstood the testament of time. As he started to walk toward where Ariel was sitting, the building began to shake.
Not again, was John's only thought as he dove for cover. As the building shook, the power went out and gods knew what crashed to the floor.
After what felt like an eternity, everything became still. John fumbled for his phone and turned on its flashlight. He scanned the room. "Everyone alright?"
Several "Yeah's" echoed, with a few "No's". One of the no's belonged to Ariel. He quickly found her. Her leg was trapped under the pipe that had fallen from the ceiling.
He waded through the destruction to get to her. When he finally reached her, he knelt down to get a closer look. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"
Ariel shook her head. "I don't think so." The doctor examined the pipe to make sure it hadn't embedded itself into her leg somehow, before trying to lift it. It quickly proved to be too heavy.
John scanned the room with his flashlight once more until he spotted a man standing, trying to console an obviously frightened woman. "You, sir, can I get some help over here? I have a woman trapped under a pipe."
The man gave the woman a kiss and walked over, eager to help. "What do you need?"
"I need help lifting this pipe off of her leg," John explained. "Go to the other end and on the count of three, we lift. Ariel, as soon as the pipe is off of your leg, back up as quickly as you can."
The man got into position. "Okay. One, two, three!" The two men lifted the pipe, grunting, and Ariel backed up. As soon as she was safely away they set the pipe back down.
As both men stood up, John reached his hand out. "Thanks for your help, Mr…?"
"Beckstrom," the man replied, shaking his hand. "You can call me Liam though."
"Well, thanks again, Liam," John said he looked back over at the woman. "She's your wife?"
Liam nodded. "Yeah, Pandora."
"Is she okay?" John asked.
"I think so," Liam said. "Just a bit shaken up. I'd better get back to her."
John walked over to Ariel and knelt down to examine her leg. "Can you move your foot?"
Ariel wiggled her foot. "Yeah."
"It's probably not broken then," John stated. "Bruising is starting to form. Let's move you to a chair, while I try and see if I can find some spare crutches or something. You shouldn't put any weight on it."
"Don't worry about me," Ariel said. "I'll be fine. Harry needs you. He's somewhere in the hospital."
John knew she was right, but he really didn't want to leave her. "Are you sure? You'll be okay?"
"I'll be fine," Ariel insisted. "Go."
John nodded and stood. He waded once more through the rubble and down a corridor, searching for Harry's room.