They landed back in the village a few minutes later, in front of Hiccup's house in hope to find his father there, or actually, just anyone. Hiccup jumped off Toothless, but regretted once he landed on his feet, feeling the pain rush up his foot and through his body. Astrid ran over to him, placing his shoulder around her neck to help him walk. "And I thought it was all back to normal…," Hiccup sighed, really not needing this a few days before what would become the best night of his life. They walked inside the house, only to find it empty. Hiccup sat down in his bed, which hadn't been moved up just yet. His father wanted him to have it down there for a while later so he could keep an eye on him just in case of any more nightmares.
"Astrid?" Hiccup said, looking up at her with a weak look. She looked back to him as if giving the signal to continue. "I don't feel so good," He whispered, closing his eyes as his hands rested on his stomach where nausea was building up.
Astrid panicked, scanning the area for any sign of a bucket or anything like it. She had to hurry, that much she knew, and as if on cue she found a bucket across the room. Running as if her life depended on it, she grabbed the bucket and ran back just in time to give it to Hiccup. He felt as if his insides were pleading to come out and land in the bottom of the bucket. The taste in his mouth was awful but at the same time strangely familiar. Without having time to go further into the thought, his insides pushed up his throat even though he was sure he hadn't eaten in hours. Astrid stood behind him, patting his back to comfort him. She whistled for Toothless and only a second later he was by her side.
"I need you to go with Stormfly to find Hiccup's father and Gobber," At that he set off.
Toothless searched on the ground and Stormfly took the sky in attempt to find the two brawny Vikings. He searched and searched, running around like a maniac as he got whispers and confused look which he shrugged off easily. Many times had he passed by the forge, ran by the unlit torches by the town square and up and down hills, but without luck he couldn't find any signs of them.
Stormfly landed beside him as he had stood with his head low, feeling like a failure. She nudged him playfully in attempt to lighten up his mood but nothing would. His head rested in his paws as he looked at the open space in the air. Vikings noticed and started to crowd around the two of them, dropping everything they had whether it was buckets, food or stuffed puppets of dragons and lambs. The only thing that seemed to get their attention was the sorrowful dragon, but that also got them wondering, where was their hero? Where was his best friend? Where was his companion for life?
The due lay in the town square, not caring of anything at the moment. An angry voice shouted through the crowd, pushing itself through it. "What are all these people staring at?!" Stoick yelled, looking down at the frozen solid Vikings. Toothless ran up to him, taking him by surprise as he had finally made his way through the massive crowd. He ran around his rider's father, happily jumping up and down.
"Woah, Toothless, slow down. What's going on? Where's Hiccup?" Toothless's face turned into a frown when he remembered his only mission he had been so depressed of almost failing at. He gently walked behind Stoick, nudging his back towards their house. He ran in lead, making the crowd make a path for him as he ran up the hill, standing just outside their door. Stoick understood nothing but to follow and ran up the hill in top speed, rushing up and in the door but only to be met by a feverish boy, lying in bed with a bucket in his hands with a girl standing by his side. He stood there frozen for a couple of seconds before he ran over to his side, taking hold of his hand as he sat lightly on the side of his bed.
Neither of them knew what to do, other than hope he would soon recover from his sudden outburst. Only a few minutes back he had been fine, but the next second they know, he's fully feverish. The strange thing was that it was all so familiar to Stoick. He didn't know why, but something felt like it had happened before, long back in time. Then it hit him. "I need to find Gobber," He said, standing up. He was about to let go of Hiccup's small hand, but felt it squeeze in response. Looking back he saw Hiccup trying to talk, but couldn't make out the real words.
"Phease… doun't lheave mi dad," He whispered, struggling to talk properly. His father looked from him to Astrid, and just as he was about to say something, she had already set off to find Gobber. He held his grip on the bucket tighter, feeling the nausea kick in much worse than before. His father couldn't do anything. After all, he was a very unexperienced father. All he could think of was the depressing feeling inside him, feeling the need of doing something but didn't know what, and he couldn't help but say silent prayers in his head, thinking of his Valhallarama and how much better she would be at this.
Only minutes passed, but for Stoick it felt like hours until Gobber finally showed up. He tried to not let yell at him for being late and fortunately managed to keep it in and replace the anger with sadness. Gobber gasped at the sight of Hiccup's pale body clutching onto a wooden bucket with all his strength.
"Hiccup, I, uhm, need to see your leg lad," Gobber said, walking over to the end of the bed where his feet would be. Hiccup didn't feel comfortable to let anyone even touch it, let alone see it. He wished there was a way he could just hide it, and prevent it from being seen by any living creature. But then again, that's how life is. You go through ups and downs, happy and sad moments, proud or embarrass for or of something. That's just how fate decides to go, and no matter how hard you try, you will never be able to change fate. But that doesn't mean you won't try.
"No-o, I-I'm fine," he said quickly, pulling his aching foot away from him as Gobber reached for the prosthetic part. Gobber noticed his uncomfortableness and pulled his hand away from the covers, sighing.
"Hiccup, I know what is going on. Believe me, I do. Just please let me see it," Gobber said softly, remembering his period of going through the same. Mostly it happened to everyone who had an amputated leg and not really gotten really used to it or was embarrass, but other times they just couldn't accept the fact that they were no longer whole. How Gobber has gotten the information in, he believes Hiccup has a blending of, well, everything, but no one could blame him. After all, he's still just a teenager with only one leg.
Hiccup relaxed a little, feeling the nausea fade away slowly. He let Gobber reach for the prosthetic once more without moving it away. Gobber gently held his foot, unstrapping the leg from his body, but when he removed it fully, his expression turned from soft to shock. Hiccup's leg was blood red, but no blood had been spilled, and his cut veins were showing through his skin in an oddly way, ending the trail just over his knee. By removing the leg, Hiccup flinched, taking in the coolness on his feet as he felt his leg getting air in a strangely way. He already knew how his leg looked like, and the thought made him gag even more, letting him feel as if the nausea never left.
"How long have it been like this?" Gobber asked, still shocked of the condition to Hiccup's amputated leg.
"I-I don't know, a few days tops," Hiccup managed to say, trying to calm down his breathing but failed as a cold hand touched his stump, making him flinch back. Gobber apologized, examining it gentler.
"Well, it looks like it's infected. All we can do is clean it, give you the right medicine and get your leg some rest. Shouldn't take long," Gobber explained, mostly referring to Stoick so he could feel a little more helpful than watching all that was happening. He had to admit, everything was exhausting since the peace came. He just wanted everything to be normal for once. Without anything happening to Hiccup as if the upcoming injuries were his consequences for such a heroic title.
"I should get back to preparing for Snoggletog. Astrid, could you stay with him?" Stoick asked, standing up slowly. Astrid nodded in response and watched the two brawny Vikings leave the Haddock house.