I'm so sorry for the wait - I was at a Church retreat last weekend and then struggled to catch up on school work once I came back. Then I was a little busy binge-watching Supernatural and I may have gotten a little addicted to it because it is, hands down, FLIPPING AMAZING. I now have another character to whump! *cracks knuckles*
Anyways, thank you, guys, for all the feedback and support last chapter! YOU ARE ALL SO AMAZING! I hope you enjoy this chapter and please tell me what you think!
Chapter Three: Red Flames
Fire. He was on fire.
Hiccup struggled to inhale with each breath, fighting off the flames that twisted and burned inside of him.
He'd never experienced such a pain before. He never thought there was such a pain before. It was all something entirely new, but already he knew he didn't like it.
"Hiccup? Hiccup, can you hear me?" someone called out, the voice cutting through his pain.
"Hold him down, he's thrashing!"
Arms gripped his shoulders even when he tried to pull away and he panted heavily, feeling trapped. He finally kicked out when he couldn't stand it any longer, and his foot made contact with a hard object in front of him. Someone yelled out. "Ow! Hey, watch it!"
Hiccup's eyes flew open.
Groaning, he looked up and saw that it wasn't an object he'd kicked. It was a person. And that person was Snotlout, who was rubbing his stomach while looking unamused. "Hey! He kicked me, guys! He kicked me!"
"Wait, Hiccup?"
"Yes! Who else could kick so hard? It's just like that time he punched me in the mouth… I was unprepared!"
"Hiccup?"
Astrid's face hovered over Hiccup's, and her eyes lit up when she saw he was conscious.
"Hiccup!"
Hiccup groaned as she threw her arms around him, unable to pull away with the pain so bad. Astrid smiled apologetically a moment later, drawing her arms back and standing up again. "Sorry, it's just… oh, thank Thor you're alright."
"Not so sure Thor has anything to do with it, but, uh, I-." He coughed weakly. "Yeah, it's good to be… awake." Swallowing, he looked around with a puzzled expression. He couldn't remember anything that had happened leading up to being unconscious. All he knew was that one moment he was looking over at his friends, the next he was waking up here.
"Out of the way, let me check him out. I'm the professional here." That was a new voice - one he didn't recognize. Astrid disappeared from his line of sight and another man bent over him. "Now, Hiccup, don't try and move just yet," he warned. "I don't know how much damage the blade did to your stomach."
"Blade?" Hiccup asked hoarsely. "What blade? And who are you?"
The man raised his brow. "I'm Gordon, the healer here. And you, young man, were stabbed. Don't you remember?"
It was still blurry, but Hiccup could make out some memories underneath his confusion. He'd been bleeding in the ice cave, he'd remembered, and he'd watched as it dripped onto the snow beneath his feet and spread into a small puddle of red.
"Can you move your legs?" Gordon asked, breaking his thoughts.
Hiccup furrowed his brow and tried shifting both legs. A stab of pain from his stomach, but his limbs still moved. He nodded.
"Good, good. Hiccup, how much pain would you say you're in…?"
"I'm fine," Hiccup insisted. He struggled to lift his head from the pillow behind him but was quickly stopped by Astrid.
"Take it easy, Hiccup," she scolded. "You know that you almost died!"
"I… what?" He didn't remember that part. "What happened?"
"What do you remember?"
Hiccup closed his eyes, trying to resurface the last of his last memories. "I-I saw you and the others riders, and then I... I felt this pain in my stomach. This sharp pain... white-hot, you know? You started running at me and I didn't know what was going on, and then… and then..." He waited a moment, before shaking his head. "No. That's about it."
Astrid looked away, nodding. "Yeah, Johann... that-that traitor… stabbed you. You lost a lot of blood, Hiccup. You severed a blood vessel, even. Almost died during your procedure. Luckily, Gordon here," she gestured to the healer, "was able to fix you up. At least for now. You've been out of it for about a day now, but, Hiccup-" She looked at him straight in the eye. "You can't leave this bed until we know for sure you're going to be okay… these kind of injuries are tricky, you know..."
"Wait, Astrid." Hiccup blinked, something nagging at the back of his head. "There was… a …an..." He closed his eyes, trying to figure out what was so concerning. With a burst of energy, it suddenly came to him. "An egg!" he recalled. That was it. "I put it in the back of Toothless's saddle bag and… hey, did you find it?"
Astrid had suddenly gone stiff, looking over at the other riders to avoid meeting his eye. "Hiccup, um, about that…"
His smile faded. "What?"
"We… the egg… well, it-it's… gone."
"Gone?" Hiccup sat up straighter in bed. "What do you mean-"
"Woah, Hiccup, slow down," Astrid chided, pushing him back down. "You just woke up, all right? We don't know where it is, or where it could've fallen out, so don't worry about it. It's only an egg, and I don't care how important you think it is - your life is a lot more valuable. We have time, okay?"
Hiccup looked at her impatiently, his thoughts swirling. "No, we don't. We have to find it, Astrid, you don't understand… what if Johann or Krogan somehow got it? I know that there was this dragon-thing that somehow froze them, but what if one of them broke free? What if they already found it? What if-"
"Then they found it," Astrid said bluntly, much to his surprise. "But there's nothing we can do about it right now. What we can do is take care of you. Just go back to sleep; get your strength back. The other riders and I will look for the egg in the meantime." She put a hand on his shoulder when he tried to get up again, her worry turning to anger. "Stop it, Hiccup. Stop!"
Her eyes dropped.
"You almost died out there. Really died. I mean, what would I have... if you… if you..." She closed her eyes, shaking her head. "Can't you just take care of yourself for once? Just for a little bit?"
An icy silence filled the room.
"I'm sorry. No." Hiccup rubbed his eyes, pushing himself to sit up in bed. He muffled a painful gasp, closing his eyes. "Now help me get onto Toothless. We need to find that egg." He opened his eyes again, looking at Astrid with something she had never quite seen before - desperation. "Please, Astrid. I'm fine, and I won't strain myself. I just need to do this."
"Wait just a minute. There's no possible way you'd be able to make the trip," Gordon scoffed, crossing his arms. "You'd be half-dead by the time you got there. Wouldn't be much use to your friends anyway."
"Yes, I would," Hiccup said confidently. "I've been through worse before and have still been good on my feet. The day I got this," he lifted up his prosthetic leg, "I walked straight out of bed as soon as I woke up." Toothless rumbled his interjection from the corner, and Hiccup laughed. "With help, of course. This isn't any different. I can go, and I'll be fine."
Astrid put her hands on her hips. "If you think there's any way I'd let you come, Hiccup Haddock, you must've hurt more than your stomach in that fight. You almost died, and you just woke up. Now, you better get back in that bed right now before I make you."
Hiccup raised his brow.
"Thor, I can't believe I let him come with us," Astrid moaned, eyeing Hiccup and Toothless soaring beside her. "I mean, Hiccup's always been convincing, but not this convincing. He heals fast, sure, and he doesn't look like he's hurting, but… oh, I don't know, Stormfly. I know he wouldn't have given up until he was allowed to come, wouldn't he?" She returned her attention to him.
She had to admit, for being recently injured Hiccup was flying Toothless surprisingly well. It was evident that he was in more pain than he was letting on to, but he didn't make a word of complaint as they flew. He only started to talk once they ducked into the ice caves. "This way, guys," he yelled, before cringing and rubbing his stomach.
"Hiccup?" Astrid called. "Hiccup, what's wrong?"
Hiccup seemed to snap out of his thoughts, blinking slowly. "What?"
"Are you all right?"
"I'm-I'm fine. Just follow me," he said, but she couldn't help but notice how he avoided her gaze as he said it.
The riders maneuvered through the jagged edges of the cave, everyone taking care to avoid bumping into the walls. One slip up and the whole cavern could come crashing down on them. That was a risk they didn't want to take.
"This is it," Hiccup finally announced, turning left on Toothless and leading the other riders through a broken hole in the ice until they came out on the other side, where he'd been before.
He shivered as he looked at the place where he'd fought Johann and Krogan, and remembered how overpowered he'd been and how nervous he was when they both charged at once. He had thought he was going to die.
"This way, Hiccup?" Snotlout called, landing Hookfang on a patch of snow near where the egg first was.
Hiccup nodded silently and dropped down with Toothless as well. The other riders quickly followed.
Hiccup looked over at the blurry tracks in the snow from the day before. As he walked around, he could make out Toothless's prints as the dragon and he had taken off and escaped, but couldn't see the egg anywhere. But that didn't make any sense, he reasoned. If the egg wasn't in Toothless's saddle bag and it wasn't here, then where was it?
"What's going on?" Astrid asked, walking over to him.
Hiccup pinched his brow, a headache starting to throb against his skull. "I don't know - I can't find the egg." He sighed. "Alright, let's all split up and look for it. Maybe it just rolled away-"
"Hiccup, stop." Astrid held up a warning hand.
"But, Astrid, I'm fine. I can help," Hiccup protested.
"Yeah, and we definitely need you straining yourself and bursting your stitches, all for some egg," she argued, and placed a hand on her hip. "Stay here and don't go far. The others and I will go look for the egg - like we first planned to."
Hiccup frowned and gingerly crossed his arms. Just because he was injured didn't mean he was useless, he wanted to say. But as he looked into Astrid's deep, concerned blue eyes, he realized she was right. His stomach was throbbing badly by now and he knew he had already done more than his fair share of searching today. Walking around any more would only make things worse.
"Fine," he agreed, albeit reluctantly. "But let me know as soon as you find anything."
Astrid sighed. "Sure, Hiccup. But just stay here." She looked up and turned to the other riders. "Alright, guys, let's split up and look for the egg! It must've rolled away when Hiccup and Toothless took off, so check everywhere!"
"What does it even look like?" Tuffnut asked, scratching his chin. "I mean, I've seen a chicken egg and I've seen a Deathsong egg, but what does a 'king of dragons' egg look like?"
Astrid stared at him for a long moment. "Like an egg."
"Really? It's not, like, invisible or something?"
"No! Of course not! Why would you think that?"
"Have you ever seen a king of dragons egg before, Astrid?" Ruffnut pointed out.
"No, I have not. But I know it's not invisible!" She groaned, pressing a hand to her brow. "Just-just go and look for it. It's an egg. It shouldn't be too hard to find." She gave Hiccup a pointed look as she walked over to mount her dragon along with the other riders. "Alright," she said, looking in his direction. "With that taken care of, you are going to stay right here, dragon boy."
"I know, Astrid," he sighed, then his eyes lit up. "But maybe I could just-"
"Hiccup. The answer is no. Stay. Here. Where it's safe." She swung herself on top of Stormfly and looked back at him. Her expression softened, and she smirked. "Be careful, okay? I'll come back soon. But if you've gone so much as ten yards away, I swear…"
"Don't worry, I think I get the picture," Hiccup laughed, rubbing his stomach again; the pain was slowly starting to worsen. "Just go. I'll be fine."
Astrid nodded and leaned forward, nudging Stormfly's side. "C'mon, girl." The Nadder squawked and took off, flying around the ice corner until they were out of sight. Once all the other riders had gone as well, Hiccup allowed himself to bend over slightly, clutching his stomach for relief. It was almost like daggers were cutting up his insides, drawing breaths from his throat and making him pant.
Sensing his pain, Toothless turned around to check on him, worried.
Hiccup could see the question resting in the dragon's eyes and smiled faintly. "Don't worry, Toothless. It only hurts some," he said. "But I can't tell anyone yet. We have to find the egg first - then I'll rest."
Toothless snorted, unamused.
"Oh, don't look at me like that, bud. I'm fine, at least for now. And you know we need to find that egg. It's the one thing that could end or start this war and we can't risk it falling into the wrong hands."
But as soon as the words left his mouth, he realized something was very wrong. When he looked over to the side where Johann and Krogan had been frozen, there was something missing. Something bad.
"Toothless," Hiccup said faintly. "Where's Johann?"
Confused, his dragon tensed and looked to where Hiccup was pointing at. Krogan was visibly frozen in place, encased in a thick sheet of ice, but beside him, where Johann had once been, was an empty spot. As Hiccup drew nearer with Toothless, he saw a broken pile of ice on the ground.
Realization crashed down on his shoulders.
"Toothless, he's gone," he whispered, bending over to inspect the ice. Yes, it was clear now that Johann had somehow escaped. He'd broken free from the ice and ran off, but Hiccup couldn't make out any clear footprints in the snow to where he'd gone.
Hiccup motioned Toothless to keep quiet and slowly crept forward, looking around with caution. He didn't know whether Johann was still in the cave or not, but if he was, he was a danger to him and his friends and Hiccup wasn't going to risk their safety.
Just as he was about to make a turn around the corner, a voice far behind him shouted, "We've got something over here! I think it's the egg!"
Hiccup flinched and swerved around, but relaxed when he realized it was only Snotlout.
"Oh, well. I guess Johann must've run off somewhere else," Hiccup mused, walking over to Toothless. "At least he probably doesn't have the egg, right, bud? For now, we'll just have to take care of Johann later..."
He was four feet away from Toothless. The dragon was practically right there - he should've made it. He should've gotten to safety. In his defense, he really hadn't expected anything to happen so quickly... but it did.
One second he was walking towards his dragon in hopes that the other riders had found the egg, the next he was suddenly grabbed from behind and pulled back around the ice shelf. Toothless shrieked. His stomach burned like fire. Something cold and sharp pressed against his neck...
A knife.
Dazed, Hiccup vaguely wondered what was going on. His plan was going up in flames.
Like an answer to his to his thoughts, a cool, calm voice spoke from behind him. One that he hoped he'd never hear again. "Wonderful to see you again…" the voice said, and two eyes, both red and pink from the cold, gleamed back at him.
"Master Hiccup…"
:D
Many thanks to reviewers: Grizzly98, katurdi, animalsarepeopletoo, The Wizard Rider, TridentCA, DianaG-J, harrypanther, AnaWinchester-Universe67, The Dreaming Dragon, AlaskanViking (guest), GabrielBR12, Astrid E Lokison, Snowflake (guest), DaisytheDoodleDog, Daystrid Hofferson, Stella (guest), Kethereal, PsychicWonderKitty, BLaiZeRSToRM, Darklightningstorm, and Kas3y! THANK YOU!