I didn't get any protests about the alternating weeks schedule, so here's the most voted for story. Next week will be the second chapter of GF, if there are no objections.
Storms were fun.
Staying inside, listening to the thunder and watching the lightning, knowing that it couldn't touch me while I was within the house's walls was exhilarating. Once I met Toothless, storms were even better. We'd sit inside together, or he'd drag me outside into the rain to watch the lightning. I would shelter under a giant black wing while he raised his head to the sky, watching the lightning as though mesmerised. In short, we both thought storms were fun.
What wasn't fun was being hundreds of feet in the air in the middle of a summer thunderstorm, miles from the nearest land or the other riders. Uselessly wiping my eyes, I leant low against Toothless' back as he struggled through the high winds. The rain lashed down in an almost solid sheet, and I shivered violently. I was soaked through, my hands numb, and I definitely was not enjoying this storm.
"C—come on, b—bud," I muttered through chattering teeth. He twisted his head around and warbled at me. We'd thought they could outrun it. We'd been wrong.
It had started out smoothly enough. It was the time of month when I always travelled back to Berk for a few days to see Dad and Gobber and do a few things in the larger forge. The one on the Edge was good enough for most things, but I generally preferred the one I'd grown up in. Bucket's bucket had been tight as we were leaving, but there was so much to do on the Edge that I'd decided to press on anyway. About halfway back, we'd seen the enormous black clouds rise up behind us. Within an hour the winds picked up, forcing Toothless to make his glides shorter and be on alert for stray gusts of wind that might blow us over. Half an hour after that, despite his uncanny speed, we were in the storm.
That was two hours ago.
I pushed my frozen fingers under the front of the saddle, between the leather and his scales. It was slightly warmer there, but the downside was that my grip was much less secure. He flipped to the side suddenly, and I squeezed my legs together in surprise. It was the only way to stay on in the horrible weather conditions. A bolt of lightning zapped past us, barely metres from his outstretched wing, and I jumped in surprise. No matter how often he saved me from a near miss, the crackle-BANG of lightning right in my ear always made my heart skip a beat.
He started flying through the storm again, wings cupping the air and driving us forward. I slumped onto the saddle, trying to soak up any of his warmth I could, and gave him a quick pat at the same time. He crooned at me, seemingly unbothered by the falling temperature.
We fell sideways again, just missing the next lightning bolt. Yelping a little at the close call, I ducked my head down, trusting Toothless to know where we were going. It wasn't like I could actually see anything in the blinding rain. There was normally a break between lightning bolts, so when we lurched roughly to the left almost instantly, I wasn't prepared. My torso slid to the right, and I twisted painfully in the saddle. Suddenly unbalanced, we started to fall through the sky.
It was plain bad luck that the third lightning bolt decided to strike just then. Toothless had to twist almost upside down to avoid it, and I started to fall. For a moment, my fingers caught painfully in the saddle, then they tore loose, leaving some of my skin behind. He roared in panic, trying to reach for me. Typical Hiccup luck—Thor decided to blow the wind extra hard just then.
With his large wings, Toothless spun away into the distance until I could no longer see him, still falling. I screamed as I fell right through the layers of wind, my wet clothes dragging right through the dark clouds. I'd never felt so heavy and landbound before. A quick glimpse of the grey angry sea beneath me was enough to tear another scream from my lips. Waves almost as big as the Red Death's head raced furiously across the surface of the water, competing to see which could move fastest and grow the biggest.
I heard Toothless screech in anger, but he was too far away! I was barely a hundred feet above the water, and he would never reach me in time. I closed my eyes and sucked in a quick breath of air, twisting until I was falling feet first. My heart pounded in my ears, almost drowned out by the rush of air. This wasn't a controlled fall, I couldn't ask Toothless to pull out of it—I was going to fall all the way.
The water was hard and unforgiving and cold, and my first instinct as I plunged into the ocean was to gasp in shock. I barely kept my mouth shut and the air in my lungs, then blindly struggled towards the surface. It seemed far further than it should be, and I pushed my limp arms through the water too many times to count. My prosthetic leg dragged on my stump, the ropes digging into my skin to keep it attached. My lungs started to ache, the urge to breathe growing.
When I was on land, I could hold my breath a lot longer. In the dark, smothering water, I wanted to breathe simply because I knew I couldn't. Knowing I could breathe whenever I wanted enabled me to resist for just a few more moments, I realised, and felt the urge to chuckle at the irony.
A sudden current slammed me sideways, and I almost gasped in surprise. Even without losing any of my precious air, I knew I couldn't hold on much longer. I kicked until my legs burned, forced my arms through the treacle water until they felt heavy and sluggish, but I made almost no progress. Pressure built up behind my sternum, and I was shoved sideways again by a wall of water.
I started to breathe out as slowly as I could. Breathing out tricked my body into thinking that I was going to breathe in soon, and let me keep going just a little longer. The seconds till I would have to suck in a breath, even if it was a watery one, bubbled away with the pockets of air rising from my lips.
I had to work harder and harder to find air to expel from my lungs, and crunched my stomach muscles to harness just a little bit more—air!
My hand felt the surface, and I dragged my arms and legs through the water one last time. My face emerged, and air rushed down my throat. There was so much rain and spray in the air that I entered a violent coughing fit almost instantly. Instincts warred with each other, my lungs trying to get rid of the water by coughing up air I didn't have at the same time as dragging in air, no matter how much water came with it.
"Tooth—" One of the huge waves threatened to submerge me again, and I sputtered, coughing. I spared an arm from swimming to wipe my eyes clean for a moment.
I looked around, holding my panic at bay with mere will-power. Mountain after mountain of violent water, with nothing living in sight. I kept working my limbs to keep my head above water. Worry tore at my heart for Toothless, but my own situation was worse.
My prosthesis, while designed to be excellent at walking, was terrible for swimming with. It lacked the surface area to push against the water effectively, and was even heavier than my natural leg, dragging me down. I sank under the water for a moment, then struggled back to the surface and caught my next breath. I blinked hard, eyes stinging from the water, and spat out a mouthful of ocean.
Another wave lifted me up, and I shivered in the cold water. Looking around, I saw…
Nothing.
Even at the top of the wave, I wasn't any higher than any of the other waves, so there was a large chance that Toothless was hidden behind one of them. Besides, in the few seconds at the top, I could barely see anything in the semi-darkness.
A bolt of lightning struck the surface of the sea in the distance, and I almost screamed in terror. It was terrifying enough to know that I was completely out of my depth, that the only thing keeping me from drowning was my own pitiful strength, but in addition to that I could be fried alive?! Hazy memories from previous electrocutions ran through my mind, and I whimpered quietly, choking as I sank again.
I wished I could discard the prosthesis, but I was on my spare for my spare, and if I let it sink we'd never reach the sky again. I just wished I wasn't so alone. Everything would be far easier if Toothless was next to me, and we could make a water take off and start flying again. I prayed to Odin that he wasn't hurt in any way.
Ooooowwweeeeeeee!
Distinct over the rolling crash of thunder, his seeking roar washed over the surface of the sea. I tried to thrust my hands into the air and sank, swallowing water. Pulling myself back to the sweet air seemed like so much effort, and my legs were already begging me to stop. The rain, already hard, impossibly got thicker.
I was swept up one wave and down another, the cold sapping my strength. As soon as I swallowed any water I spat it out, but the worst times were when I got water up my nose. It passed through my nostrils and deposited the horribly salty taste on the back of my throat. At least when I got water in my mouth, I could mostly wash the taste away with a few swallows. When it lodged at the back of my throat, it got stuck there.
Ooooowwweeeeeeee!
Another seeking roar passed over my position, and I took a deep breath, careful to not inhale any liquid.
"TOOTHLESS!"
He roared back, depressingly far away, but at least he'd heard me. I turned in the direction of his voice, and started trying to move towards him. I was so small and insignificant compared to Mother Nature, and nothing convinced me more than the behemoths of water rushing past me. Each wave tossed me about like I was nothing, shoving me in every direction except the right one. I forced my arms to push me to the place I'd last heard Toothless, but felt like I was moving more backwards than forwards.
Within moments, I was disoriented and confused. There were no landmarks, the sun couldn't penetrate the thick storm clouds, and it was dark except for the occasional bursts of lightning that left me seeing spots.
I stopped swimming for a moment, and took another deep breath. Unfortunately, I got a healthy glob of sea spray in my throat, and dissolved into a coughing fit. When my airways were clear again, I tried again.
"TOOTHLESS!"
His answering roar was in completely the wrong place, a good forty five degrees from where I'd thought he was, so I changed direction and tried again. Fatigue started to build up in my arms and legs, but I doggedly kept kicking.
oOoOo
"TOOTH—less—" I coughed again, desperately trying to keep my head above water. My legs cramped, the muscles locking up, and I sputtered as I sank again. My arms worked harder to make up the difference, but they were close to failure too. Tears mixed with the saltwater all around me, tears of terror, exhaustion and shame. Shame that I wasn't strong enough, shame that I'd die here. Shame that I was letting Dad down.
I knew what would happen the moment I stopped fighting the ocean and accepted my fate. I'd sink, holding my breath for about the first minute, then I'd have to try and breathe water. Suffocating liquid would pour into my lungs, and I'd gradually lose consciousness. I'd already done that a few times before, and it was awful. But this time, there wouldn't be a last second rescue. I wouldn't wake up again and cough up the water. I wouldn't be fine in a few days, except for a slightly sore chest.
I'd be dead.
Another wave swamped me. I went under and pulled myself back to the surface excruciatingly slowly. I spat out another mouthful of saltwater, gasping and coughing. My eyes closed, and my movements slowed down, becoming sluggish.
"Toothless…" I whimpered brokenly. I wouldn't even get to say goodbye. I'd never see Dad, or Astrid, or Fishlegs again. I wouldn't see Toothless…
Something broke in my chest, the jagged edges tearing at my heart and throat. Tears swept down my face, though it was already so wet that I could barely feel them. "I'm sorry…"
My limbs stilled involuntarily, and I started to sink. I had time for a quick breath before the dark water closed over my head.
It was cold, so cold. While the storm still raged above me, down here, in a watery world, it was silent and still. Scarily quiet. It felt like I was dead already.
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to ignore the blood pounding in my temples, the familiar pressure growing in my chest. I didn't want to die.
Something snagged the back of my shirt.
It started pulling me upwards, and I wearily twisted around and forced my eyes open against the stinging water. Everything was a blur, and I couldn't see anything except for a dark shadow in front of me.
My lungs begged for air, but I was still underwater. I started to breathe out slowly again, and the top of a wave caressed my hair. The presence behind me suddenly let go of my clothes, and I started to sink again, too exhausted to fight anymore. Then there was a solid platform beneath me, lifting me up again. It lifted me out of the water and I sucked in air, coughing and gasping. My shoulders shook as I bent double and wheezed, greedily pulling the life-giving gas into my lungs.
"T—Toothless…" I gasped when I was able, sure he was the one who'd saved me. I was on his back, nestled between his shoulder blades and wings. I felt like a pile of wet sheep wool, unable to move any of my limbs, but at least I could breathe.
He looked back over his shoulder at me and crooned lovingly. I closed my eyes and rested my cheek against his neck. "Th—thanks, bud."
After five minutes of sprawling on my dragon as he expertly navigated the towering waves, I felt a little recovered. I pushed myself upright with my hands, and crawled towards his head.
"How's the tail?" I asked, hoping we could get in the air and quickly fly home. My heart sank when he warbled unhappily. Casting my gaze backwards, I saw the problem instantly. He must have been hit by lightning at one point, because the cloth was almost all gone and the metal skeleton was warped beyond easy repair. The saddlebags were gone too, probably burnt off. I winced at the angry burn mark down his side, large and painful.
"You had a worse time than I did," I muttered, and he raised his eyebrow at me.
Who almost died?
"Yeah, that's just because I'm a rubbish swimmer."
He grumbled, and I rolled my eyes. "Hey, it's the truth!"
My arms decided to betray me just then, and I ended up lying flat on his back again. My fatigue reached bone-deep, and I was too tired to think properly. My weak muscles managed to move just enough to let me curl up on my side at the base of Toothless' neck. I reached up and found his head.
"I think—" I found enough energy to yawn. "I think I'm going to fall asleep…"
A familiar ear plate gently rested on top of my hand, and he warbled tenderly. I've got this.
"M'kay…"
oOoOo
The rough waves and pounding rain didn't let me sleep properly, but I dozed on and off for who knew how long. Every time I was jolted awake by the dowsing spray or a particularly steep descent down a wave, Toothless was still swimming doggedly. I'd give him a drowsy pat or an encouraging word, then drift off to sleep again. The cold didn't bother me, because, as a dragon, he radiated heat. In the air, with whipping winds and the need to stay upright, the warmth was gone before it reached me. Here, I felt toasty the whole time.
I finally woke up properly, feeling as refreshed as it was possible to be, given the circumstances. I sat upright and blinked in surprise at the gorgeous sunrise spread across the sky behind Toothless. Pink clouds dotted the eastern sky, swimming in an orange soup. The sun was already three-quarters over the horizon, and I shielded my eyes.
"Wow…"
A jerk, very different from the gentle rocking I'd got used to, made me flip around and face the front.
It was the Edge! Because of the giant wall we couldn't go straight to the huts, so he'd swam round the side to a sheltered beach, and we were approaching it now. I straightened my back and stretched hard, my arms above my head.
"How are ya doing, bud?" I dismounted, splashing into the shallow water. It only just came up to my waist, and I pushed my hair out of my eyes, turning around to see Toothless.
"What the—!"
His head hung low, wings and tail drooping, and when he looked up at me, his eyes were grey with exhaustion.
"Bud!" Tears pricked my eyes, and I forced my way through the water to his shoulder. "Come on buddy, just a little bit further."
I lifted his heavy head and gently started guiding him to shore. He moaned weakly in gratitude, letting his eyes fall shut.
"That's it… that's it. You've done so well," I crooned, and we walked out of the sea together. He staggered a few more steps, just reaching the softer sand, and collapsed to his knees. I went down with him, still cradling his head, and he licked my hand in appreciation.
"Okay, you can rest now," I told him, and he settled onto the sand with a groaning sigh that tore at my heart. "I bet you're really sore," I mumbled, and he nodded, whimpering quietly. "I'm so sorry, bud," I whispered. "We should have just waited the storm out on Berk."
He nuzzled my chest wearily, and I petted him around the ears. Rumbling in pleasure, he slowly sank into sleep, limp and boneless on the ground. I kept cushioning his head, perfectly happy to give him all the time he needed. He'd saved me, yet again, and I owed him far more than I could ever repay. Besides, the beach was surrounded by tall cliffs, and there wasn't any way out except for swimming or flying.
The tailfin!
I gently eased my way out from under him, and moved around to inspect the damage.
"That's quite a mess." I shook my head, starting to undo all the buckles that attached the harness to him. The saddle and straps were fine, but the tailfin—probably where the lightning struck—was a tattered spider of metal rods, twisted into vine-like strands. Worse, the connecting rod had partially melted and cooled again, and it was embedded in his scales, almost fused to his tail. That had to come out as soon as possible, before it had time to severely damage his skin.
I hesitantly touched the metal rod, lightly at first, then harder as he didn't protest. Even when I tried tugging, he didn't stir.
"Okay, this might hurt."
I wrapped my hands around the end of the rod that wasn't melted, and yanked hard. It budged slightly, so I added more strength. With a horrible tearing noise, the metal pulled away, bringing several scales with it. He moaned in his sleep, and I winced as blood started to flow from where the scales had been.
"Easy, buddy."
The medical supplies in the saddlebags were lost forever to the ocean, but I always kept a few supplies in the various pockets around my armour—hopefully they'd stayed reasonably dry. I pulled out a neatly rolled bandage and waved it about until it unfurled. There was also a small pot of salve that Fishlegs had said would help prevent infections. I spread it liberally across the wound, and wrapped the bandages around his tail.
That was the limit of my resources, so I moved back to his shoulders and leant back against his neck. Still deeply asleep, he whimpered brokenly and blindly nuzzled closer to me.
"It's okay," I tried to soothe him, biting back the pain in my chest at his cries. He whimpered again, pleading and lost.
"It's okay, buddy." I knew what it was, of course. Every time he almost died, I'd have the worst nightmares for the next few days. He was the same when I almost died, especially when he was the one who'd saved me. What-ifs were the worst dreams. What if we didn't reach each other in time? What if we both died? What if only one of us died and left the other one alone?
I pulled his head onto my lap and curled over it, scratching and rubbing behind his ears. Whimpering was normally only the beginning. He stirred again, a whine escaping his lips, and I rested my forehead just below his eyes.
"I'm fine, bud. Don't worry, everything is alright."
Suddenly, he screamed, panic stricken and in agony. It started on a desperate note, denying whatever he was seeing, then trailed off into forced acceptance and crushing grief, a thick sound, coated in anguish and horror and guilt. I choked, tears streaming down my face, and squeezed him tighter, trying to flow through his skin and into his nightmare where I could be with him and comfort him.
The scream stuttered when he ran of breath, and he gasped for air before dissolving into shaking sobs. I squeezed until my arms hurt, crying for him. Every time he was hurting felt like the worst moment of my life, and now was no exception. Ryker was plunging his jagged sword into my heart, pulling it out and pushing it back in again as I watched Toothless bear a burden I couldn't help him with.
Green eyes suddenly snapped wide open, thin with terror for a moment, then focused on me and widened instantly.
"Hey, b—bud," I stuttered, trying for a smile, and he grabbed me, his movements desperate and hurried, but still so gentle. I relaxed, the thought of him hurting me so absurd that it never even crossed my mind, and let him manhandle me.
I ended up wrapped securely in four scaly legs, cocooned inside big black wings while he bent down and buried his nose in my hair, shaking. I shoved my own feelings aside and started to hum. It wasn't a song and it didn't have a tune, I just hummed one note for as long as I could, snatching breaths when I'd expelled all the air in my lungs. It was my version of purring, and it calmed him almost all the time.
I added physical contact after a while, firmly rubbing my hands into his skin, driving in the fact that I was alive. He snuffled in my hair, still stuttering for breath sometimes, but getting better.
Time didn't matter when I was comforting my dragon-half. I could have spent five minutes or five days in the dark space behind his wings, just humming and rubbing.
When he was ready, he unfolded his wings and I squinted at the sudden brightness.
"Better?"
He nodded, crooning, and stiffened. Looking back along his flank, he tentatively licked the burn mark and hissed in pain.
"Yeah, we need to get you back to Fishlegs," I told him, and he nodded, before raising his head and shooting a plasma bolt into the sky. It exploded, visible for miles, and I settled down to wait.
Within fifteen minutes, the other riders came down out of the sky, prepared for a fight. Astrid's axe was out before they even landed, her eyes whipping back and forth for threats.
"There's no danger," I told her, and her battle-ready stance softened. Fishlegs jumped off Meatlug and hurried over.
"Are you alright? We saw your distress signal."
I rubbed the back of my neck. "We got struck by lightning and the tailfin was wrecked. Toothless swam to this beach, but we can't get back to the huts."
"What about your spare?" Astrid asked.
"The saddlebags fell off somewhere," I admitted.
"Whatever," Snotlout rolled his eyes. "Let's just get you back to your hut."
Hookfang and Snotlout jumped into the air and swooped over, claws ready to grab Toothless.
"Snotlout, no!"
Toothless bared his teeth, and Hookfang veered away. Snotlout, not holding on tightly enough, flew off and crash landed on the sand. "Hookfang," he grouched.
"Careful, guys. He's hurt."
Fishlegs rushed over and Toothless lifted his wing, displaying the angry burn. "Okay, that looks like a second, or maybe a third degree burn. From the lightning, I assume. Anything else?"
"He's really worn out," I mentioned, and Toothless looked indignant. "Oh come on, remember what you were like when we got here? You've barely slept an hour since then."
He rolled his eyes, but didn't protest. He also made no move to get up, reinforcing my suspicion.
"Okay, so we could go and bring you a tailfin, or we could just lift Toothless," Astrid summarised. "If we lift him, it's going to hurt. If we get you a tailfin, he'll still have to fly back."
I nodded. "Which would you prefer, bud?"
He hesitated for a moment, then relaxed and warbled something at Hookfang. The large Monstrous Nightmare took off, Snotlout clinging to his horns again, and eased into a careful hover.
"Be careful," I warned, then he closed his large clawed feet over Toothless and lifted. He yelped once, and fell silent.
I hurried over to where Astrid and Stormfly were waiting, and pulled myself up. We flew after Snotlout, Fishlegs and the twins following at their own pace. Landing just outside my hut, Hookfang dropped Toothless on the wooden path. He spread his wings and landed somewhat gracefully, then wobbled and fell to his knees. I jumped off Stormfly and practically teleported to him.
"You okay, bud?"
His eyelids flickered, and he had to make a visible effort to look at me.
"You're right, he's worn out," Astrid said somewhere in the background.
I turned around briefly. "Fish', can you work on him while he sleeps?"
"Yes, he should get as much rest as possible."
Toothless crooned pleadingly, and I smiled. "I'm not going anywhere, bud." I sat down next to him and leant sideways against his shoulders. Whuffling tiredly, he turned and deposited his head in my lap. My fingers slowly and gently ran across his scales, and his breathing deepened and slowed.
"Thanks, bud."
THE END
I'm going to add the voting options here. When all the stories below have been posted, I've got another seven oneshots/sixshots written and ready to go.
1) Fix Yourself First—4k words, oneshot. There's a lot to deal with on the day the dragons return from Drago. The new chief and Alpha cope reasonably well, at least on the surface. When the villagers are busy, Hiccup finds his way to the top of a cliff and calls for his dragon. There's a rift between them that needs dealing with before it grows.
2) Stay With Me—5.7k words, oneshot. A surprise attack from the dragon fliers is never welcome. But for the first time ever, one of them is seriously injured. Thank Thor the A-team, including Gothi, are there to help out.
3) You're Mine—3.5k words, oneshot. He arches his back and screamsas his shot explodes with a loud bang, all without an actual muscle movement. Agonising pain instantly coats his insides, and he can feel his stomach walls blistering with the heat. The pain should be blinding, but the imposter keeps his eyes open and clear.
~JustAnotherRandomPoster
