Title: The Lonesome Rider

Chapter title: You Can't Touch Me Cause I'm Made of Fire

Author's Note: On to chapter 5! Keep those reviews comin'!

Disclaimer: HTTYD is the property of Dreamworks and I claim no ownership of any characters or places you might recognize.

A deep rumbling filled his ears.

Its calm, consistent rhythm soothingly lulled him out of the darkness. Warmth kept caressing his check in time with the low sound. In those moments, where he existed between sleep and awareness, he blissfully floated along like he was soaring through the clouds of the open sky. But it wasn't long before the pleasant serenity faded. More, uncomfortable sensations came crawling back to take its place.

Hiccup could discern the uneven and rock-hard surface that was digging into his sore back, the deep ache that had seeped into his muscles and the rough pounding in his head, obscuring his conscious thoughts. His limbs spasmed occasionally and pulled at every hurt and tormented part of his body. The burns and gashes that no doubt littered his skin throbbed and resonated in agony whenever he tried to breathe. Though his mind was still jumbled and fuzzy, the memories of how he acquired those injuries still sprung out, abundantly clear.

Another rumble echoed around him and the accompanying, strange warmth spread out on his cheek. He finally figured out what it was. It wasn't some bizarre thing his fatigued mind had concocted; it was the sound and feel of a Night Fury breathing. It was the thought of his dragon that eventually convinced him to open his eyes. Hesitantly, he blinked them open.

Whatever he had expected to wake up to, this wasn't it. The sky above him was gone. Instead he looked straight up at a sand-colored stone roof. Frowning in confusion, he chanced a glance at his new surroundings. He was in a shallow cave or crevice, cut by weather into the sandy rock hills of the island. Right next to him, lay Toothless. The black dragon lay curled up around him, his left wing spread over his Rider like a protective blanket. His large head rested on the ground and was turned to him. He was sleeping it seemed, his eyes closed, and breathing serenely. Yet he seemed … different – healthier or stronger, than the last time he saw him. Gods, how long has that even been?

The sun was sending its meager rays into their crevice, which meant he had slept through the morning at the least. Right now, that didn't matter anyway. Hiccup smiled at the sight of his best friend and reached out to place his hand on the soft snout. At the touch, Toothless pried his eyelids open and focused his green orbs on the human before him. Hiccup almost thought he saw timid doubt and confusion swirling around in them. The Night Fury cooed softly at him.

"Hi, bud," Hiccup quietly responded, his voice raw and faint with disuse and lack of water.

It seemed to liven Toothless immensely. He purred and warbled with delight as he scuttled closer, his legs wiggling constantly underneath him like he couldn't contain his happiness. It only got worse as Hiccup sat up with a heavy groan, an arm slung protectively around his hurting midsection. The rough dragon tongue was harsh against his skin as Toothless gleefully assaulted his face with licks. Hiccup sputtered and coughed under the slobber, but he couldn't find it in him to scold him for covering him in saliva. Not this time. He was just as happy to see the Night Fury up and about, as he was to see Hiccup.

Toothless relaxed slightly when he was done with the small bath. He purred lovingly, his side vibrating powerfully with the sound, and lowered his head to rest his forehead against Hiccup's in an affectionate gesture. Hiccup breathed in the familiar smell of his dragon and reveled in the comforting feel of his warm scales rubbing delicately on his skin.

"I missed you too, bud," Hiccup muttered. He rubbed Toothless' jaw fondly while the Night Fury hummed along.

They remained like that for quite some time until Hiccup eventually pulled away with reluctance. It was time to face the reality of their situation. With Toothless seemingly back on his feet and him – mostly – upright, they needed to figure out a way off this island. They were still stranded and if he couldn't somehow fix that tailfin to be at least somewhat operational, they would continue to be so. He knew his father, Astrid and the other Dragon Riders were no doubt out looking for him, but he couldn't count on luck for them to find him. He needed help now. If they were going to survive, they had to rescue themselves.

Firstly, he needed to figure out exactly how screwed they were. That required him to make a mental note of every ache and pain he desperately tried to ignore. Three remaining limbs intact, check. That was about the only positive thing he could find. The rest of him simply hurt and even just sitting and thinking had already worn him out. His body had been burned, scratched and torn in several places and if he didn't get back home to proper medicine and safety, there was a good chance he wouldn't make it much longer. His peg leg was completely damaged and only a forge and a hammer stood any chance of actually mending the broken prosthetic, if it could be saved at all. He could still steer Toothless with just one leg. He had accounted for the day when one of them would be put out of commission for a brief period of time. Granted, he hadn't actually expected things to go this wrong, but all he needed to do to actually fly straight home, was to keep one foot in the stirrup to make sure Toothless' tail didn't fold in on itself or collapse in the heavy wind. As long they didn't hit any more storms or harsh weather on the way back, it was definitely doable.

He turned his gaze to Toothless who was sitting beside him, watching him curiously. He seemed determined not to let his Rider out of his sight ever again. A sentiment Hiccup could easily relate to.

"How about you, bud? How're you feeling, huh?" Hiccup smiled wryly at his dragon and stretched out his hand. Toothless gladly leaned into the touch and crooned affirmatively.

Hiccup took it as permission to fully examine the Night Fury. His wings seemed intact and luckily not affected by the one bite mark left by the Grim Gnasher. He moved stiffly and whined lowly when Hiccup pressed down on his front paw, but the hours spent sleeping did seem to have worked wonders. Once again, Hiccup wouldn't help be amazed at the apparent magical way dragons could adapt and overcome. He was even a little jealous of how fast Toothless had recovered, especially compared to humans. It didn't really seem fair, although he was still thankful his dragon wasn't hurt worse. It eased the feeling of guilt significantly.

He turned his attention to Toothless' tail. Most of the fabric still clung to the bent rods and he figured he could probably salvage most of it for reuse, which made his job a little easier. Still, he sighed heavily at the work cut out for him. They had one functional dragon, one functional Rider but no functioning tailfin to actually take them home. And he had none of the tools to make that happen. He leaned back against the rocky wall behind and rested his head on its bumpy surface. Toothless warbled questioningly at him, concern etched into his reptilian features.

"We need to make a new tailfin to last us the flight back to Berk. And we have trees. And rocks. And moss. And the world's smallest dagger," he said aloud, his voice as forlorn as his facial expression.

Toothless moved closer and licked his Rider once across the cheek in his own comforting gesture. Pure, confident conviction wallowed in his green eyes as he crooned softly. The message was clearly written across his face.

I trust you.

Hiccup felt the smile tugging at his lips, the first genuine one he didn't need to force to the surface since the crash. He petted Toothless fondly as he felt hope swell inside of him. They would do this … Together.

"And one very dangerous Night Fury, of course," he huffed happily. "Right. What could possibly go wrong?"

The sun was on the other side of the zenith by the time Rider and dragon emerged from the crevice. It was only then Hiccup had been able to stay on his feet for more than five seconds without dizziness and pain threatening to take him down. They sat outside in the sunshine, Hiccup letting the dim light and fresh air clear the haze wrapped around his brain. They needed to formulate a plan, and fast.

His mouth and throat were as dry as sandpaper and his stomach growled hungrily and distracted his already addled thoughts. The swirling nausea didn't exactly make eating alluring though. He had gone at least a full day now without eating anything, but he wasn't sure, he could actually keep down any food even if he did manage to eat something.

Instead, he worked through the hunger as he drew sketches and rough blueprints into the dirt with a stick to begin their journey back home. Toothless' tailfin needed to be mended. To do so, he needed to straighten out the bent rods and stitch together the ripped fabric. The problem was, he didn't have a forge and appropriate tools for the first hindrance and no sewing kit for the second one. He did however have a dragon, so that was smoldering fire taken care of. The ground around them was littered with various rocks and boulders, so heavy hammering tools were accounted for. Lastly, he could spare some of his leathers and a little of his tunic for thick thread and although he didn't have a needle, he did have his dagger.

That would have to do.

He started with the metal parts of the tailfin. After Toothless had brought him a couple of decent-sized rocks, Hiccup undid the straps that were holding the fin in place to the rest of the tail. He carefully removed the thick fabric from the rods and set it aside for later. There wasn't much to work with in the first place; they needed all of the intricate parts, if this was gonna work. He spread out the metal rods of the fin and placed them as flat to the ground as possible.

"Toothless, if you would."

Toothless opened his wide mouth and the white-hot fire burned around his sharp teeth. He ran it over the first of the rods, careful not to burn the thin metal all the way through. When it was shining with heat, Hiccup picked up one of the rocks and slammed down hard onto the metal while Toothless was holding it down. Every hit sent jarring pains through his abused muscles and the burns etched into his skin cried out at the harsh movements. The deep cut on his chest tightened and pulled as it throbbed agonizingly at the abuse. But he kept going. He could rest later. They continued this process again and again until every rod was straightened out. They were curved and bumpy and Gobber would not doubt berate him for his crude work, and it wasn't particularly aerodynamic either. But given what little they had to work with, Hiccup was pretty proud of how it turned out.

While the metal rods cooled down, he set to work with the fabric. He tore several pieces both of his already-ruined and bloodied tunic and some from the leather on top, for extra hold. It was still some hefty winds that would tear at them once they were airborne again. Then he used his dagger to carve some of the clothes into small strips that would serve as thread. He made sure to twist leather strips into each makeshift thread. The rest of the fabric he left as flat pieces to patch any holes in the deep red fabric of the fin. It took several hours to stitch it all back together, with Hiccup nicking his fingers numerous times and one time almost slicing his index in half. Toothless helped where he could, but in the end, there was only so much a dragon could do when it came to fixing and repairing intricate fabric parts.

The sun had vanished past the horizon when Hiccup finally declared the work done. He had assembled the tailfin with the lumpy metal rods and patched-in fabric pieces. It was by far his ugliest and clumsiest work he had ever done. He was in the process of strapping it back onto Toothless' tail. He was tightening the first buckle around the scaly appendage when his vision suddenly tipped and threatened to send him spinning to the ground. Nausea returned tenfold and he bit back the bile burning in the back of his throat. He stopped his movements and closed his eyes, frozen on all fours as he waited out the spell of dizziness. Toothless had noticed his sudden stillness. He prodded him gently and crooned with worry.

Hiccup wanted to answer but didn't dare open his mouth. It wasn't until it slowly evaporated, leaving him weak and weary, that he had the courage to open his eyes. He placed a hand on Toothless' neck to assure the great beast.

"I'm okay, Toothless..." he whispered in a comforting tone, although even he had a hard time believing his own words. The look in Toothless' eyes told him the Night Fury didn't believe it either.

Hiccup secured the last strap and pulled at the tailfin to make sure it stayed in place. Satisfied, he turned his attention back to Toothless, who was staring at him with his big, black pupils.

"What'd' you say, bud? Ready to get back home?"

Toothless warbled gleefully as an answer. Hiccup rose to his feet with a grunt, using his dragon's body as a crutch when his legs shook precariously.

"I'm gonna take that as a yes," he said as he moved to Toothless' back and the saddle there. He didn't let go of his dragon while he limped the short distance. He tugged tryingly at the leather saddle, testing its limits. It seemed sturdy enough and he hoped it would hold the trip back to Berk. He didn't think he could take any more setbacks. Actually, he wasn't entirely sure he would survive any more setbacks.

Hiccup took a deep breath before he hoisted himself onto the saddle. He bit back the groan as the movement pulled painfully at his injuries. He grabbed the handlebars tightly and let every bit of the agony that he was feeling into that grip, hoping it would be enough. He let his broken peg leg hang loosely on the left side while he placed his right foot into the stirrup. With a rapidly beating heart, he twisted his foot and heard the telltale click that followed. Almost not daring to look, Hiccup turned his head and felt enormous relief surge through him as the inelegant, patched-up tailfin spread out, all the fixed pieces still intact. So far, so good.

"Dear Thor, let this work," Hiccup muttered under his breath before urging Toothless to fly. The Night Fury spread out his wings and shook them once, testing their mobility. Then he jumped. His large wings flapped in rhythmic beats as they steadily rose higher and higher into the air. The rocky island below grew smaller and smaller until it was barely the size of a golden coin. Having gained the desired altitude, they remained there, hovering in the still night air, the moon a bright white light against the dark sky. The tailfin fluttered and creaked as the wind currents surrounded it. But it held. Hiccup breathed out his relief.

"Okay, bud. Lead us home."

TBC