I had to toss a coin for this one. Well, I used a random number generator. Two votes for two different fics. Oh well, maybe the other one will start next week.

At least it was quick.

There was the explosion, a wave of pure heat and pain shredding through his chest in an instant, and the world twisted and turned inside out, doubling back on itself, yet remained the same. Hiccup staggered, unbalanced and head spinning with a terrible dizziness, and fell over. When he managed to open his eyes again, blinking woozily, a pale landscape stretched from horizon to horizon. It was still the battlefield, and the awful shouts and screams of conflict still rang out. People and dragons were still scurrying from one foe to another, but it was also different. The cold air was now pleasantly cool, but felt thicker, as though he were underwater. Astrid's golden hair was grey, Dad's large beard was dull brown, and even the blood coating the ground had lost its terrible bright red hue. Hiccup's thoughts felt sluggish, like his brain was in shock, and he slowly realised it might be a good idea to stand up.

Something caught in his ribcage, a hook that had been placed there before he was born, and he instinctively took a step in that direction. Two steps, three steps, up the tall jagged mountain of ice. He yearned for higher ground and reached the top with uncanny speed, but his legs didn't burn from exertion. Perched on the single tip of a spiked shard of ice, he raised his arms to the sky and arched his back to be taken, obeying the call of the gods. There was a dark speck in the clouds, large wings and reaching arms, and he stretched toward it—before another hook burst into existence deeper in his chest. Larger and stronger, it pulled him back down with such intensity it hurt. He turned away from the incoming stranger, and started running down the mountain with great leaps and bounds. This one wasn't only tugging on him, he was pulling back, clinging to it as if his life depended on it—though he didn't know why. Faster and faster, his torso outpaced his whirling legs—it wasn't a surprise when he fell. He bounced from rock to ice and ice to wooden weapon, falling in a heap at the base of the mountain not far from where he'd started.

"Hiccup…" his mother whispered thickly a few metres away, her voice catching and breaking. "My son…"

His father joined her, one of his large arms completely encircling her shoulders as they hunched over something on the ground. "I know, Val. He's—he's gone."

Astrid was starting to sob nearby, and Hiccup tried to take her into his arms. His fingers went right through her hair and shoulder.

He staggered, numb with shock as painful memories flooded to the front of his mind. Finding his mother, the large Alpha, the other Bewilderbeast—and Toothless. Slit eyes, wings high, each paw placed with an intimidating slap on the ice. Purple fire, in the throat of the person he never thought would hurt him. In the throat of the person who'd killed him.

He knew what he'd find if he joined his mother and father, but morbid curiosity pulled him forward. One shaky foot in front of another—he had both feet for some reason—he drew level with them, and looked at his own dead body.

There was practically nothing left, something he was grateful for. His hair was singed off, one of his eyes burnt shut, and his chest—gods—was chunks of cooked meat hanging on bloody ribs, his stomach and intestines on full display, skin peeled back and mottled with black specks of burnt flesh. His heart was hidden under his torn lungs, but all blood flow had been burnt away before it could hide any of the gruesome scene. The skin was stripped from his legs, his leather armour long gone, and muscle was naked for everyone to see.

"How could you?" Hiccup whispered softly, his eyes flicking to the dark form standing motionless a few metres away. In this world of black and white, Toothless was the darkest thing around for miles. "How could you?"

The surviving Bewilderbeast—the new Alpha—shook its head and turned away. Toothless' raised wings lowered, his eyes widening, and he shook his head. Hiccup still couldn't believe it. His best friend had killed him.

Stoick looked up. "Are ye happy now?" His voice, still cracking under the weight of grief, had an edge to it. "Now that he's dead! All these years…"

Toothless lowered his head, taking a step forward.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Hiccup watched in horror as his father swung his heavy hammer directly into Toothless' ribs. A high-pitched squeal of pain from his dragon tore into his heart despite the crushing burden of betrayal still weighing on him. He simply couldn't hold a grudge, no matter how much he wanted to.

"No! It wasn't his fault!" Valka was clutching at Stoick's arm, and he reluctantly put his hammer down.

'Why would you do that?!' Toothless panted, his wing protectively covering the side that had taken the blow. 'What happened?'

His nostrils suddenly flared. 'No—'

He took a trembling step forward, his eyes flicking to Valka's face, begging her to tell him he was wrong. 'Is—'

Her chest fluttered with rapid breaths. "The Alpha—he—he took you and—"

Toothless almost crawled to a spot next to Conscious Hiccup, in front of Dead Hiccup's body, breathing heavily in shock. A ragged howl rattled in his throat, swelling in volume and pain, and his wings fluttered in distress. His eyes were lost and helpless, fixed on the limp body in front of him.

"Toothless—" Astrid began, and the howl turned to an agonised shriek, loud and heartbroken. The nearby humans slapped their hands over their ears. The sound was laden with grief and guilt and pain, and it broke Hiccup's heart to listen to it, the last dregs of his anger falling away. It seemed to go on forever, all the anguish in the world distilled into one scream of agony. When Toothless finally stuttered, gasping for air, he seemed to collapse on the inside. 'I—I did this—'

"You see, dragon," Drago said softly, almost tenderly, "you're too dangerous to roam free. I could have protected him from you, if you'd submitted to me." Everyone jumped, and swung around to look at the menacing figure, who was offering comfort for something he'd done.

"What?!" Hiccup couldn't believe the man's heartlessness! "No, it was all you! Toothless would never hurt me!"

No one could hear him.

Drago pointed his bullhook at Toothless again, and this time Hiccup watched the Bewilderbeast carefully. Its eyes narrowed, and a strange high pitched buzzing filled the air. Toothless flinched, fear filling his eyes, and backed away. 'No. No! Please, don't!'

The buzzing got louder.

'No! I won't! I won't submit!'

His eyes flickered shut, his jaw straining. The infernal buzzing grew, rattling deep inside Hiccup's brain.

'I challenge you! I challenge you!' A desperate cry cut through the buzzing, and Toothless panted heavily as the sound faded away. 'I challenge you,' he repeated quietly.

There was no warning before the Bewilderbeast attacked. Everyone scattered as ice slammed down in their midst, and fire flew from Toothless' mouth. It exploded against the Bewilderbeast's face, swinging it to the side. He produced another one in a second, hitting the Alpha before it could recover.

Stoick's eyes narrowed, watching the back of Drago's head, and he silently drew his axe. It flew, heading straight for the middle of the dragon scale cloak, but the hiss of air alerted Drago to the danger. He managed half a turn before the sharp edge, honed to perfection by Hiccup, buried itself in his flesh. If he hadn't moved, the cloak would probably have protected him. As it was, the blade sank deep into his side below his ribcage. A mortal wound. Stoick yanked it out with a dissatisfied grunt. "You're nothing without your dragons."

There was so much going on that Hiccup didn't know where to look. His father advancing on Drago, or the small skirmishes that had sprung up across the battlefield, or his dragon fighting the Alpha. Surely Toothless had passed his shot limit by now?

Toothless' back started to glow slightly, a lighter grey than the rest of his black scales, and Hiccup watched, his feet glued to the ground. Arrows and swords went right through him. The Bewilderbeast, even with its impressive armour, was covered in not insignificant craters that oozed blood. Then it made a fatal mistake. Raising its head to bring its horns crashing down on Toothless, it exposed its throat.

One well aimed plasma blast tore through the weaker scales on its neck, right into the jugular vein. Blood poured in a rush through the hollow where a chunk of flesh had been torn right out. The pressure ripping a bigger hole in its flesh, and the Bewilderbeast staggered, falling to its knees. 'HOW COULD YOU?!' Toothless screamed at it, driving himself forward with a powerful wingbeat. He landed heavily on its eye, and it howled in pain. 'HOW COULD YOU?!'

It died quickly, and Hiccup caught a glimpse of something colourful slinking away into the sea. Panting, Toothless staggered off the beast. Valka reached out to him, and he turned away.

"We'll need to get back to Berk," she warned.

'I know!' he snapped. 'I'll find someone to carry me!'

"I could fly you," Astrid offered.

'No!' His wings drooped. 'I don't want to be flown.'

Hiccup took a step forward, arm reaching out to comfort his hurting dragon, before he remembered he was dead. "Buddy…"

The large Stormcutter landed next to them and sank into a low bow. 'Alpha.'

'I don't want it,' Toothless said, almost whimpering. 'Please, challenge me.'

'I couldn't—'

'Please! I'll order you if I have to!'

Cloudjumper hesitated. 'I—I challenge you?'

He swung one of his four wings out, and gently knocked Toothless over. Refusing to get up, Toothless muttered, 'I submit.'

"We have a new Alpha," Valka announced limply. "Cloudjumper is the Alpha of both the Berk flock and the Ice Nest flock." She spread her arms in a dragon-like bow. "What are your orders?"

He nibbled her hair gently. 'What do you want? Do you want to travel with your mate?'

Valka nodded wordlessly, and Stoick gathered her to his chest. "Val…"

"Twenty years," she murmured numbly. "Twenty years I could have had with him. Now he's gone."

"I know." Stoick held her tighter as she started to weep quietly. "Did he ever tell you how he met Toothless?"

"No. Not—not in detail—"

"It's quite a story," Astrid said, with forced joviality. "Only Hiccup could have pulled it off."

"We'll tell you on the way home," the Chief promised. "Come with me, my love."

She reached up and wiped away the glistening tear on his cheek with her thumb. "Tell me everything."

They mounted Skullcrusher together, Cloudjumper reassuring Valka that she should spend time with her mate, and Hiccup felt a stab of panic. He couldn't ride a dragon if his body went through everything!

…come to think of it, why wasn't he sinking through the floor?

He bent down and tried to feel the ground—and his hand went straight through. But his feet hadn't. He tried to climb onto Skullcrusher, carefully balancing because his hands couldn't hold on, and went straight through the Rumblehorn's tail.

"Huh…" It felt wrong to ride a different dragon, and he found himself approaching Toothless. He started by putting a foot in the stirrup—and it felt solid. With a quiet sigh of relief, he swung himself over the saddle and jammed his left foot awkwardly into the place his prosthesis normally hooked. After an awkward and very cautious experimental squat, he found that the saddle was solid under his backside, but made of the same thick air as the surroundings when he tried to touch it with his hands.

The worst part was not being able to touch Toothless.

The drooping stiffness in every limb of his dragon screamed warnings at him, and those flat ears were always Toothless' first sign of unhappiness or pain. Hiccup wanted to wail. To see his best friend suffering and being unable to do anything about it was far worse than anything he could imagine in Helheim.

Maybe this was his eternal punishment. Doomed to wander the earth forever, to see pain but not alleviate it…

The flight back was mercifully quick. He crouched to avoid Cloudjumper and worried. He worried about his family, about Astrid, about his eternal fate, but his mind kept dragging itself back to Toothless. If it weren't for the regular breathing and occasional blinks, he would have thought his dragon was dead too. Eyes glassy and distant, he hadn't moved a muscle in hours and hadn't complained despite the talons digging into his side to keep him aloft. Hiccup's chest ached to make it better, but he couldn't.

Even when they landed, Toothless barely spread his wings to avoid crashing on the ground in time. He swayed a little and quietly slipped away, ignoring the human's calls, and Hiccup had to clench his legs to stay on. They slipped through the forest, and for a moment he thought they were going to the cove, before they switched direction and ended up on the slope above their house. He reached down and gently rubbed his hand over the scales he could see, occasionally going in too far by mistake. "I wish you could see me, bud."

Toothless took a deep breath, and half heartedly jumped through the window. Hiccup's heart cramped to see the bed he'd never sleep in again, but most of his focus was on his dragon. As if the ropes holding him up had been cut, Toothless slumped onto his bed and buried his face under his tail, briefly touching the metal fin with his nose. 'Just a few more seconds, and—and—'

"No! You did all you could," Hiccup mourned, sitting down on the stone slab next to him. "Please don't blame yourself."

It was obvious that his dragon did.

Hiccup sat next to him for hours, waiting and praying, and Toothless eventually dozed off. In the evening, Valka climbed the stairs hesitantly, and knocked on the door. "Toothless?"

He didn't even raise his head from his slumped position on his bed, but she came in anyway. "I thought you might be hungry?"

'Leave me alone.' His voice was hollow and empty.

She scooted over and sat next to him, on the opposite side to Hiccup. "Would Hiccup want to see you like this?"

'It doesn't matter, does it?! He's dead!'

She paused, reaching over to wipe a stray bead of liquid off his face, and rested her hand on his neck. Hiccup's heart ached with desire to do the same. It was better than nothing, but his mother could never replace him in his dragon's life. "Do you want to talk?"

'I want you to leave me alone.'

She bent down and gently kissed Toothless' forehead, even though he shifted his head away. "I can't imagine what you're going through, but if you need me…"

'I'll ask, yes.' Toothless' eyes slid shut, such pure misery on his face that Hiccup's heart broke, and Valka slowly left the room. She paused in the entrance to slide in a basket of fish and a bucket of water.

"If you change your mind, it's here."

Hiccup reached out and traced the black ears with his hand. "You're thirsty. And hungry. Please eat."

But both containers remained untouched well into the night. Hiccup himself didn't seem to need food or sleep, and didn't feel any discomfort even after hours of sitting motionless by his dragon's side. Stoick and Valka went to bed at some point, and a few minutes after that, Toothless slowly raised his head.

He sniffed once, ears twitching, checking for anything nearby. Hiccup slowly rose to his feet, anticipating something. Toothless' breaths, so steady until now—almost too steady—started to dissolve into the ragged pants of someone trying to hold back a tide of emotion they weren't ready for. Rapid breathing shook his shoulders, and he lowered his head almost to the floor, rolling onto his back to hide in his wings. Tail, legs, and head all tucked inside, curled up tighter than Hiccup had ever seen, he trembled and rocked back and forth, tiny whines and whimpers softly filling the room.

"Toothless…" Hiccup moaned, helpless. "Buddy…"

There was nothing he could do.

oOoOo

Hiccup never left Toothless' side. He sat on the stone slab, never hungry or tired or stiff, and watched Valka carrying away the untouched food and water every day, replacing it with something fresh. Not even Gobber's famous soup could tempt Toothless.

Astrid tried storming in one day and attempted to pry his jaws open. Hiccup wept quietly, knowing it was no use. Strike class dragons boasted the strongest jaws of all dragons for their size, and she'd never have the strength to force him to drink.

Red-eyed and panting, she finally released Toothless. Her boot connected solidly with his shoulder and her fists clenched. "You can't die, dammit! I won't let you!"

She stomped down the stairs furiously, and Valka's voice called out softly. "It's cruel to force him to live when he doesn't have anything to live for."

"What about you? Stoick? Me? Stormfly?" There was the sound of someone angrily demolishing a chair with an axe. "He's all I have left of Hiccup—"

"He can't stay for you. Losing Hiccup, and by his own fire, killed him days ago."

Hiccup buried his face in Toothless' shoulder with a small sob. "Bud…"

The scales were more solid under his hands than before, springy and offering resistance. For a moment, it seemed like Toothless was going to move, then he sagged onto his bed again.

Waiting.

Chairs moved across the floor below them, and Stoick's heavy sigh drifted through the floorboards. "There's something we need to talk to you about."

"Sir?"

"Neither Valka nor I are young anymore. With our son gone, Berk has no heir—"

Wooden legs scraped against a wooden floor as Astrid flew to her feet. "I can't."

"It's you or Snotlout," Valka said softly. "You're the best person for the job. We trust you with Berk's future."

"I—I'm not blood. Snotlout has the better claim."

"With your permission, we'd like to legally adopt you," Stoick told her.

"You don't have to answer now," Valka added. "Think about it."

Hiccup nodded sadly. Astrid was the best person for the job—but he wished he was still alive. A small sob slipped out, and he wrapped his arms around his knees, rocking slightly. In the silence of the room, next to his grieving dragon, he mourned his own death.

oOoOo

A week after the victory over Drago, Hiccup was still watching and waiting silently. Toothless lay on the stone slab, breathing softly in the still air, eyes tightly closed. The nightly crying sessions had continued everyday, breaking Hiccup's heart over and over again, but last night Toothless hadn't stirred. He had to be severely dehydrated after seven days without water, and something deep in Hiccup's gut was twinging, warning him.

Terrors were still singing, early in the morning, when it happened. He was cradling his dragon's head tenderly, stroking the black ears in a rhythmic automatic pattern, when the large hook deep in his chest trembled a little, tugging on something. Then the world turned inside out and flattened to a two dimensional picture before snapping back into place with a nauseating jolt, and scales melted into being beneath him.

There were two dragons under his hands, one ghost-like and untouchable, the other solid and finally reachable. Hiccup collapsed over the solid head with a small sob of grief and relief. His dragon was dead—but so was he.

"It wasn't your fault," he whispered into Toothless' ear, releasing the words he'd longed to say almost from the moment he'd died. "It wasn't your fault."

Toothless shifted his head away, trying to hide under his wings. Hiccup gently pulled it back. "You'd never hurt me."

Something wet fell on his hand and he tenderly wiped the tears away. "You're my best friend, bud. My best friend."

'I k—killed you.' The words scraped through the air, hurting and shaking, and Hiccup wrapped his arms around Toothless' neck.

"Drago killed me." He rested his cheek on the smooth scales, hands stroking and caressing the strong neck lovingly. "He wanted to hurt you as well as me."

Toothless slumped into him, a thin whine cutting through the air. 'I wasn't strong enough."

"You avenged me, didn't you? You and Dad together."

He buried his head in Hiccup's torso, trembling. 'Don't leave me. Please don't leave me again.'

"I never left," Hiccup mourned. "You couldn't see me."

Paws wrapped around his waist, and when Toothless rolled over, Hiccup was gently tugged into a shaky embrace. His breath bounced off scales and back into his face, and Toothless' quivering breaths stirred his hair. Wings came up, sealing them off from the entire world. Completely fireproof.

"It's okay, buddy." Hiccup's hands reached up to grip the top edge of Toothless' wings, stroking and soothing. "It's okay. I'm here."

The large dragon trembled under his fingers, swallowing, and tried to stifle a sob. Hiccup let his eyes close, bringing his knees up to his chin, and struggled against his own emotions. "There's no one else here, buddy."

Like a bomb when the fuse finally burnt to the end, the first tears were explosive. Hiccup and Toothless melted into each other for comfort, almost one body, and clung to each other as they wept in grief and relief and fear.

oOoOo

When Odin sent his valkyrie back for Hiccup, she found him standing next to his dragon, one hand resting possessively on Toothless' head. They leaned into each other for support, terrified of being separated. With a firm voice that shook, Hiccup declared, "Together, or not at all."

The winged woman nodded. "Together."

THE END

Quick reminder:

1) Always Come Back—1.8k words, oneshot. Just some gratuitous Toothless whump, really.

2) Blood Always Shows—9.6k words, five oneshots in the same universe. I'm not entirely sure about posting this, because it deals with some stuff I know is a sensitive topic, and (thankfully) I have no personal experience with it. Nothing too graphic, hopefully, but still trigger warnings for self-harm and accidental near suicide.

3) Blush—1k words, oneshot. An attempt at humour. Right after HTTYD 1, Hiccup and Toothless were the pair dragons and humans went to when they needed translation. And sometimes, those conversations could be... embarrassing.

4) Coconuts—3.5k words, oneshot. Berserkers poison Hiccup, and Toothless and Astrid have to find the antidote that happens to be halfway around the world within a week.

5) How Not To Pick Your Dragon—3.1k words, oneshot. I saw an opportunity for Hicctooth hurt/comfort and took it. Slight deviation from the episode How To Pick Your Dragon.

6) Lowest Moment—23.3k words, sixshot. AU on Weakest Moment. Hiccup flew from Toothless' grip as he hit the ground, leaving Toothless alone to brave both Alvin and Dagur.

7) The Longest Dark—3.3k words, oneshot. This was a request from Dargur about the episode The Longest Day. When the Shadow Wings are chasing Hiccup and Toothless, what if Toothless was too slow and Hiccup got hit in the face? Now blind, he has to depend on Toothless to get them out of there.

8) Tired—3.7k words, oneshot. Immediate aftermath of HTTYD 1. Hiccup isn't Useless anymore, and he's determined to keep it that way. Toothless only wants his human well rested and healthy again.

9) Undeserving Trust—5.1k words, oneshot. The Terrible Twos, but from Toothless' POV and with a few extra details.

Thanks for making it this far!

~JustAnotherRandomPoster