IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ: I have been thinking of starting a story where you guys request the chapters, and I need to know if that's something anybody would be interested in before i post it. If you would like some requested HTTYD oneshots, please tell me!

Anyway...

This story comes from a really good friend and fellow fangirl, who doesn't have an account on FFN. I hope she (and everyone else) enjoys this dump of angst!

This could not be happening.

Hiccup shook his head, clearing the lingering dizziness from the crash, while the sound of a Night Fury groaning came from his right. After a moment, Toothless came padding up beside his rider, to make sure he was okay.

It had all happened so fast, neither Hiccup nor Toothless even had any time to react. One second, they were flying, and the next, they were falling. Hiccup hadn't even seen what hit them; he was already thrown out of the saddle by time he realized what was happening. Toothless was able to catch up, but there wasn't enough time to reset his tail before they crashed. So, even with his friend's protective wings around him, it was a hard landing.

And now, Hiccup was looking at the twisted remains of his prosthetic leg.

"Great," he grumbled, yanking off the useless device. "Toothless, can I get my spare?" Toothless turned, and Hiccup fished around in his saddlebag, only to come up empty handed. "And of course, that was my spare…" Hiccup dragged a hand down his face, as the bad luck just piled up. "Please tell me you're all there, at least?" Toothless examined his gear, then nodded. "Well that's a relief…" Hiccup frowned, looking around. "We can't be that far from the Edge… Want to try something crazy?" Toothless snorted; he'd expect nothing less from his human. Hiccup grinned, pulling himself back onto Toothless and laying flat against him. "Let's see what happens if I try moving the pedals with my hands… Let's go, Bud!"

...Which is how the two of them ended up crashing once again near the Dome, and how Hiccup ended up with not only a broken prosthetic, but now quite possibly a broken wrist.

"Hiccup! What in Thor's name?" Astrid yelled upon witnessing the crash. "What happened to you guys?" That's when she noticed Hiccup's missing peg leg, and the way he was holding his arm "Were you trying to fly Toothless with your hands?" She said in disbelief.

"Astrid… not now… please…" Hiccup answered in a strained voice. "I think I broke something…"

"You mean besides your common sense?" Astrid said angrily. "I swear, I don't know what to do with you sometimes… Stormfly! Come help! We need to get this muttonhead to the Clubhouse."

Which is how Hiccup came to learn that he did in fact break his dominant hand, and also happened to have no extra spare legs on the Edge (even that junk wooden peg was nowhere to be found.)

What luck, right?

"I hope your stunt was worth it, dragon boy," Astrid said. She had been sitting next to Hiccup's bed, which Fishlegs had helped move from his loft to the main floor, since they'd brought him back to his hut.

"I already told you, something hit us when we were flying…" Hiccup groaned. His wrist had been fixed with a splint and sling, but there wasn't much they could do for his leg. Hiccup was the only Rider who knew how to smith, and without both hands, that wouldn't be possible. They would have sent for Gobber, but Berk was in the middle of a treaty realliance with the Outcasts, and it was probably for the best that the chief's right hand man not leave until it was over. Unfortunately, that meant that Hiccup would be out of luck for at least a few days.

"Sure, but that doesn't explain why you didn't just ride back on foot! I'm pretty sure Toothless wouldn't have minded running for a bit."

"I know, I know, I was an idiot for trying that… you don't need to make me feel worse…"

"Sometimes I wonder how you've managed to survive this long…" Astrid muttered, shaking her head.

"I heard that!"

Astrid stood up, giving her friend a glare. "I'm gonna go get some food for us… Try not to kill yourself while I'm gone?"

(○)

The next day, Hiccup had fished out a pair of crutches he despised but kept around in case of emergencies. He quickly learned, however, that using them without being able to hold on to the left one made things a lot more difficult, so he was mostly reduced to either riding Toothless or awkwardly hopping with one crutch on the side that didn't even need it.

"You know, this would be a lot easier if I'd broken my right hand…" he grumbled as he practically fell into his seat at the Clubhouse.

"Or not broken anything at all," Astrid reminded him.

Hiccup just glowered at her.

Over the next few minutes, the rest of the Riders filtered into the building, coming to sit around the table and discuss plans over breakfast.

"There's some unusual activity back at the Northern Markets," Heather said. "We should check it out soon."

"What kind of activity?" Hiccup asked.

"Not positive. Heard about a dragon trade or something…"

"Hm. We'll need to work out a strategy before we do anything. We can't risk harming any of those dragons if that's true…"

"What do you mean 'we'?" Snotlout interrupted. "You're not going anywhere."

"Why not?"

"We're not letting you on any missions until your wrist is better," Astrid replied.

"And how long will that be?" Hiccup asked, beginning to get irritated.

"My uncle had a broken arm once. It took a month and a half for it to fully heal," Fishlegs said.

"I'm not gonna just sit at the Edge for a month and a half!" Hiccup exclaimed.

"Sorry, Hiccup, but you don't get a say in this," Astrid said.

"Especially since you can't even walk right now," Tuffnut added.

"You're all in on this?" Hiccup asked.

"Yeah, pretty much," Ruffnut replied.

Hiccup just looked at his friends, bewildered, before motioning for Toothless and awkwardly mounting him. "Fine. I'll just… be at my house… then…" Hiccup's voice trailed off as he nudged Toothless to go, trying not to let his feelings get into his words.

(○)

"Oh come on, really?"

Hiccup crumpled up the parchment he was writing on, throwing it across the room. He'd spent the last hour attempting to write a message for Gobber, to send by Terror Mail so he could come to fix Hiccup's legs when the Outcasts left. But writing with his right hand made the runes practically unreadable, and Hiccup was fed up with trying. "Gods, why can't I use my right hand like everyone else? I'm the only person I know who's left handed…" Hiccup hung his head back, spotting the upside down shape of Toothless on the floor. "Bud?" The dragon lifted his head. "Can you do me a favor and get Astrid, please?" Toothless nodded, getting up and leaving without complaint.

At least he wasn't treating Hiccup oddly. Over the last day and a half, the rest of the residents on Dragon's Edge had been acting different. Always offering to help him when they spotted him riding or hopping around the base. Being overly careful when he was nearby. Hiccup even stopped going out, but that just led them to come by his house and ask if he needed anything. It was frustrating, and made Hiccup feel something he hadn't felt in years.

Useless.

He could hardly do anything for himself right now, and each time his friends had to help him, it just drove that feeling in deeper. Everyone else was there, doing their share of work on the base, and Hiccup was basically trapped in his house. If he hadn't broken his wrist, those stupid crutches would at least be usable, and he could still help out around the island. Or even better, if he still had his leg, he wouldn't even need them in the first place. Hiccup growled, feeling a resentment toward himself he hadn't felt in a long time.

"Stupid leg…" he muttered, glaring at the currently unusable limb. "Ruining everything…" Just when the Riders were finally getting somewhere with the Dragon Hunters, his life had to throw another wrench in his plans. Maybe if Toothless could just fly on his own like any other dragon, he wouldn't be in this situation.

Hiccup blinked, shocked by his own thoughts; that was uncalled for. Toothless was his closest, absolute best friend. It was his due to his actions that Toothless couldn't fly in the first place; none of this was the dragon's fault.

But that still didn't make Hiccup feel like any less of an invalid.

The front door opened, and a moment later, Astrid and Toothless walked inside.

"You needed me?" Astrid asked. Her anger at Hiccup had finally fizzled out the day before, but now she was almost as bad as the rest of the Riders when it came to worrying.

"I guess I do," Hiccup said tersely. He held up a new piece of parchment and his charcoal. "Can you write something for me? I've been trying to but my stupid handedness has made everything illegible."

"Of course." Astrid took the paper and writing utensil. "What did you want to say?"

"Just ask Gobber to come by the Edge when the Outcasts leave." Astrid transcribed the words, then tapped the charcoal against the floor.

"You know he's gonna need more persuading than that. I'll tell him why." She set the pencil down to write, but Hiccup interrupted her.

"Please don't…"

"Why not?"

"This is hard enough as it is."

"Hiccup? Is something wrong? You were perfectly fine writing that when Barf and Belch broke all your legs."

"Yeah, but at least then I could do stuff."

Astrid's hand drifted from the paper. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing. You wouldn't understand," Hiccup answered, exasperated.

Astrid looked like she wanted to press him, but it was clear he was not in the mood, so she bit her tongue. "Okay then. I'll just send it as is."

"Thanks."

"Well, I'll get it to Sharpshot, then, and it should get there within a day. I'll bring you the response if there is one. In the meantime, we're about done with dinner. I can bring you some, if you want."

Hiccup almost said he'd get it himself, but decided otherwise. He didn't want to make Toothless carry him around, and the trip to the Clubhouse on foot would be pretty exhausting the way he had to do it. So, he just resigned himself and nodded. Astrid mumbled an "okay", and left.

The second the door shut, Hiccup's frustration returned with new unbridled fury. His eyes scanned his desk for something, anything breakable, and settled on a clay cup. In a fit of rage, Hiccup threw it across the room, the pottery smashing against the wall and breaking into tens of pieces. But all that served to do was just infuriate Hiccup more. Why? Because throwing it with his right hand had made it miss its target by several feet. Which was stupid because he didn't even have a target in mind; he just knew that wasn't where his throw was aimed.

"Augh! Why does everything have to be so complicated!?" Hiccup cried, practically throwing himself off his desk chair and to the floor. "Why, Toothless?" Hiccup's voice broke, and he laid there on the floor, staring at the ceiling.

But Toothless had no reply.

(○)

Hiccup could not stand to be in his house any longer.

Another day had passed, marking five days since his predicament began, and it was getting hard to stay home. Hiccup's closest confidant, the one creature he was counting on to stay the same, had begun to act like everyone else. Whether it was because of Hiccup's increasingly self deprecating attitude or something else, the teen couldn't even look at Toothless without getting a mournful pair of eyes staring back at him. The dragon insisted on having Hiccup ride him everywhere, and would croon sadly each time the pain in his rider's wrist flared up, giving him big, worried glances.

And Hiccup just couldn't take it anymore.

Why were all his friends treating him like this? Even Toothless, Hiccup's last bit or normalcy. Why did they have to look at him like he was helpless? They didn't treat him like that before, even when the only difference to how he was now was a usable hand and a piece of metal attached to his leg. But as soon as he lost those, it was like they thought he was a different person.

Fed up, Hiccup kicked off his blanket, reaching over the side of his bed for the crutch that he currently despised with every fiber of his being. He was going to go out and do something. What that was, he wasn't sure yet, but he couldn't just lay in his hut anymore. And with Toothless out on a flight with Astrid for the first time in days, now was the perfect moment to leave.

Once he was outside, though, he realized his next big obstacle. The Edge was built on a cliff; which meant there were lots of ladders and stairs connecting each platform. And wouldn't you know it: his house happened to have a ladder as the only means of getting off its platform without a dragon.

He really should have thought of that when designing this place…

No matter… Hiccup had slid down staircases before. He just hoped none of the others were close enough to see that. From the right, one of their sentry Night Terrors flew by, screeching a greeting to Hiccup. He smiled a little; finally something different. Hiccup looked over to Astrid's hut, seeing Stormfly preening by the door. He knew Astrid kept a basket of fish on the side of her house; maybe he could give the Nadder some. It wasn't a big task, but it was a whole lot more than he'd done in the last five days, which was enough.

Slowly, Hiccup made his way over to the next building (just a bridge, thankfully), and found his friend's stash of seafood. The scent hit the dragon, and she stepped up beside Hiccup, waiting expectantly.

"Hey, girl. You miss me?" Hiccup asked as he picked out a nice looking salmon. "How's that look? I know it's not chicken, but I've heard this is another one of your favorites." He tossed the fish up, and Stormfly snatched it from the air. "Atta girl." Hiccup scratched the Nadder's chin, feeling better than he had in days. "Your rider would probably kill me if she saw what I was doing." Stormfly squawked, seemingly in agreement, but not caring enough to turn him in.

Unfortunately, even if the dragon wouldn't tell on him, that didn't stop Astrid from finding out on her own.

"Hiccup! What do you think you're doing?"

Hiccup looked up to the sky only to see Toothless and Astrid hovering above him. And both the dragon and his rider were scowling down at him.

"Uhh… just… checking on Stormfly?"

"I thought we all told you to ride Toothless when going out."

"Well, you were busy with him, so I just thought… thought I'd…" Hiccup trailed off, seeing the stony gaze of the others; this was not an argument he was going to win. Instead, he just sighed, not fighting when he felt Toothless wrap his front legs around his waist and carry him back to his house. Once they were inside, Hiccup practically fell onto his bed, turning away from his friends.

It was quiet for a moment before Astrid spoke. "Hiccup, what was that really about?"

"I don't want to talk about it, Astrid."

"Please. You've just been acting so... weird since that crash. What happened?"

Hiccup turned back to face them, that comment breaking his resolve. "You think I'm acting weird?" He said, a tone of fury in his voice. "What about all of you guys? You're the ones who can't even look at me without asking if I'm okay! Well, guess what? I'm fine. You don't have to keep treating me like I'm useless!"

"Who ever said you were useless?"

"You don't have to say it. I already know."

"Hiccup, we're just concerned abo-"

"Well don't be! You wouldn't be acting this way if it were anybody else who was hurt!"

Astrid opened her mouth to reply, but no words came out.

"See? Remember when Spitelout got struck by lightning and couldn't talk for hours? No one cared then, not even Snotlout. But when I'm the one who's down, you guys aren't letting me do anything!" Astrid just stayed quiet, letting Hiccup pour out his pent up anger. "You have no idea how that feels, Astrid. I can't even do anything for myself right now; I don't need all of you making it worse."

Hiccup's words hung in the air for a minute, with the weight of what he'd revealed hitting both of them. Finally, Astrid responded.

"Hiccup…" she tried to think of the right words to describe her feelings. "I wasn't trying to make you feel like that. None of us were. Yes, even Snotlout and the twins… We said those things because we care about you."

"If you cared you would have noticed how I was feeling…"

"You're probably right…" Astrid admitted. "But frankly we're all still learning."

"It's been three years since we've been friends, Astrid."

Astrid didn't respond.

"I just hate being treated differently… that was the first thing I told my dad when I was learning to walk again… I didn't want him to look at me any different. He did a pretty good job, too, but there were still times I would catch his expression fall, or see him avert his eyes from looking. And I realized that people just can't help it… they're going to look at me differently because I am different. Of course, it doesn't help that I'm not built like everyone else, but add in the missing leg and I can be a spectacle. Especially since I'm still young… a lot younger than everyone else who's lost limbs..." Hiccup trailed off.

Astrid still said nothing. She didn't know how she could respond to that. As much as she hated to admit it, she had been acting differently since Hiccup broke his wrist. She didn't realize it until now, but it was rather unlike her to be so concerned about him. What he said really hit her, though. And she didn't know how to reply, because she couldn't put herself in Hiccup's situation. She hadn't even thought about that before; Hiccup had to relearn how to do a lot of things after he lost his leg. Of course, she was around when he was learning, but she was an outside observer; she'd never know what it would feel like to have to figure out how to walk again after already doing it for fifteen years. And by now, three years later, he was so used to it that having that ability be taken away again probably felt like the end of the world. No wonder he was so upset; being reminded of your disability after getting so good at working with it had to be frustrating.

"Astrid?" Hiccup turned over slightly, looking for her. "Oh. I thought maybe you left."

"No. I…" Astrid looked back at her friend. "I just didn't know what to say…"

"It's alright. I probably wouldn't either." He pulled himself into a sitting position, setting his foot back on the floor and stretching out his shoulders. "But hey," Hiccup looked down, working on flexing his injured hand," at least I can finally move my fingers again." He gave Astrid a feeble wave, smiling through gritted teeth. "Still really hurts though."

Astrid laughed a little, before her expression sobered, and she sat down beside her friend on the bed. "I am really sorry, Hiccup. I didn't even think that my actions could have been hurting you. I thought I was just being a caring friend…"

"You are a caring friend," Hiccup clarified. "And, maybe… maybe I just need to work on accepting help. I can't always do everything all the time; maybe it's not so bad to get a little assistance every now and then…"

"Well, you know we're always here for you. I'm always here for you. And in the future, I'll try to be a little more considerate."

"I appreciate that. Really. I guess deep down I know I'm not actually useless… it just gets hard to remember that when I can't walk… But I think I'm okay with it. These days are few and far between, after all."

"Right," Astrid smiled. "Not to sound patronizing or anything but, I'm proud of you Hiccup. Not for what you're thinking of, but for being such a resilient person. I don't know how you can keep going sometimes…"

"Yeah… I don't get it either…" Hiccup said quietly. "But I guess it's better to just try and stay together than to let everything get the best of me. I spent quite a few years learning how to keep to myself… I guess I got used to it."

Astrid tried to ignore that reminder of how Hiccup was treated before the end of the Dragon War, clearing her throat before speaking. "Well, just promise me you won't hide your feelings anymore. It can't be healthy to keep everything to yourself…"

"You're probably right… it certainly doesn't help to let it build to a breaking point…"

"I know it might be hard to remember in moments like this, but we are your friends, Hiccup. We're here to listen when you need us to," Astrid smiled. "Even Snotlout and the twins care deep down," she teased. "We only want to help. Because, like it or not, you are a bit notorious for getting into trouble."

Hiccup smiled back. "I prefer to say I have a healthy dose of curiosity."

"Sure. That's what we'll call it," Astrid teased, and they both laughed. "Seriously, though, Hiccup… don't beat yourself up about anything. I know that everyone on this island- Thor, everyone on Berk looks up to you. We owe a lot of how our lives have turned out to you and Toothless. So please, don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it."

"I think I just might," Hiccup replied, smiling gratefully, and after a moment of hesitation, he wrapped his usable arm around her in a hug. Astrid stiffened for a moment, unprepared for the show of affection, before returning it. They stayed there for a moment, before Astrid stood back up, a sheepish smile on her face.

"So, in that case…" she started, "did you need anything?"

"I'd rather just join you at the Clubhouse, if that's alright. Maybe explain what's been going on to the others…" Astrid nodded, before a thought crossed her mind and she raised an eyebrow at Hiccup. "Yes, I'll take Toothless there…" Hiccup said in mock exasperation, though his grin portrayed his true feelings. "But believe me, the very second Gobber fixes this," he said, gesturing to his legs, "I won't even look at that saddle until I've gotten to run all over the Edge."

Astrid laughed, reaching out a hand and pulling Hiccup up so he could get onto Toothless. "I'm sure your dragon wouldn't mind that either," she replied.

"You know it," Toothless warbled in agreement, though he truly didn't mind being Hiccup's transport; he just wanted to join the humans' riffing.

Then, the three made their way out, and for the first time in days, Hiccup felt like himself again. He just needed a little help getting there.

So, how was it? I did quite a bit of rewriting, which I almost never do, because it was a little tricky to get right. Thanks again to my friend for the idea!