And begins my next little arc within this story.
They're a little busy getting wrapped up in each other, so she's not exactly listening to the radio closely, but she pulls away when she hears escaped African and Asian cats. She edges closer to where they've got the radio plugged in—they're on the porch, so they can just hear it from inside. "Hey, Toothless, your kinsmen are busting out," she calls; Hiccup grins and shushes her so he can hear the announcement. "And in the transport of the creatures from the farm where they had been neglected by an unlicensed owner, a disruption from the cages led to the escape of the creatures. The only cat not recovered is a male tiger, which is not to be approached and at any sighting should be reported to the police. It was last seen off Candle Road at twelve this afternoon. The cat is dangerous because it has not eaten in several days and may attack." Hiccup raised his eyebrows. "Toothless's kinsmen indeed."
"I wonder if anyone ever figured out where he went?" she asks, sliding off his lap because she's probably crushing him.
"Doubtful…at least, no one ever came here. No that I would have given him up," he adds, scratching his panther behind the ears.
"Of course, why give up your dangerous exotic animal?' she teases.
"Gosh, because he's so cuddly."
On cue, Toothless growls. He doesn't appreciate the cute comments, or any variants on the word. They laugh and start that nuzzling thing again. He half-heartedly snarls at them before laying down his head. "He's jealous," Lindsay whispers.
"He'll survive," Hiccup whispers back.
Toothless' growls morph; he stands, his haunches tense. "What's up, bud?" Hiccup asks. They glance over to where his yellow-green orbs are focused, at the tree line by their garbage cans. Hiccup stands and leans forward. "I don't see anything," he frowns. He starts to approach the trash, still squinting.
"Hiccup," she calls, suddenly nervous, "Come back here."
He shrugs. "It's no—"
And then she sees the tiger behind him.
Toothless is slower than his panther counterparts because of his leg.
But he leaps off the porch and drags himself to his boy in seconds. The tiger is still shrouded in the shadow of the woods. Echoes of growls come to Toothless and he snarls back.
The tiger lunges for Hiccup's throat and Toothless blocks him. Hiccup maneuvers his body so he confuses the tiger between jumping at him or Toothless, and when he chooses him lunges behind Toothless's frame. But when Toothless turns, giant teeth, teeth that dwarf Toothless's, rip out his prosthetic, attached by leather cord because Hiccup doesn't have a veterinary degree and surgical tools to do it properly. Toothless stumbles, and that's all the tiger needs. Toothless throws his body over Hiccup's and Lindsay, who had stayed frozen to keep the tiger calm decides oh, hell, he's not calm now and darts to call 911. "Tiger," she gasps. "He's attacking my boyfriend…please, please, hurry…" she gives the address and grabs the fire poker. It is the closest thing, and it can do damage. Toothless is wrestling the cat, while Hiccup edges from under him. Lindsay breathes, steels herself, and gets into the thick. She conspicuously bangs a garbage can with her poker and the tiger's eyes hit her. He is huge, massive. The tiger is the largest of all wild cats, she thinks, a random Animal Planet thought she remembers looking at those gleaming yellow eyes. Toothless takes the moment of distraction to clamp on the tiger's throat; the tiger roars and flails, finally throwing him off. The creature pounces on his quarry, Hiccup, the only part of him he can reach: his leg. The fangs pierce the skin and claw rake against the muscle and Hiccup shrieks. Lindsay and Toothless attack, Lindsay with her poker and Toothless with his claws. They manage to distract the animal again and Toothless looks at her and she understands. She seizes Hiccup, whose leg is bleeding and disgusting and swelling and looks God-awful. She drags him to the shadow of the house, out of the way, in relative safety. There is no time to put him in the house. He's passing out, and Toothless has just saved his life though he himself is in danger. Lindsay kisses Hiccup, screams, "Don't you dare let go on me!" and returns to end this... without sacrificing Toothless.
Toothless is losing; he is getting battered to pieces. She swallows and screams as loudly and shrilly as she can muster. The tiger looks and she begins to run, knowing he will chase. And he does. He is faster, stronger, the victor of this race. Toothless is following as fast as possible after them—he will save her just as she will save him. She slams into the door, yanks it open, and dodges into the safe house, and slams it. The cat pounds the door, clawing and snarling. Toothless and Hiccup, she realizes, are now in danger. She hears the sirens in the distance and realizes…
Toothless will be seen and perceived as a threat and taken away and—
She has to hide him.
She streaks out the back door and back around; she unceremoniously grabs Toothless' collar and shoves him into the house, banging the door after him, ignoring his screeches. The tiger has found her and she's not sure how long she can distract him. The ambulance pulls in as he begins to pound after her and she sprints as far from Hiccup as she can, because he is down and bleeding and exposed. Easy prey—while she is enough of a challenge to buy time.
Animal Control tranquilizes the beast and she sinks to her knees, coating them in mud. "Hiccup—" she gasps. "Leg—there—" she points. They put both them in the ambulance and drive away, speeding, and she feels nauseous and like rain is falling inside her skull. "Hiccup?" she yells at his flickering eyes. "You stay awake, you understand? You do not sleep!"
"Hurts," he pants.
"They're giving you medicine," she promises, "It'll be okay." But she is starting to melt, dissolving, dams breaking in her head, and she starts to cry. A paramedic separates her from Hiccup; she screams until they give her a sedative and she falls into blackness still screaming for him to stay awake.
The hospital is bustling, but all the activity stills compared to the pounding of her heart. God, why is it taking so long for the doctor to come? He checked her, proclaimed her uninjured, just exhausted, and promised he would bring news soon. He said he'd come tell them, her and Stoick, who arrived at the hospital within five minutes after the ambulance, what's happening, what's wrong, as soon as possible. If he's not here…is it that bad?
She looks at Stoick, who is gray-faced and exudes fear. It's unsettling—he is the leader. He should be assured, but he's not and that makes it more real. "He'll be okay, right?" she asks. "He can't…" She swallows and begins to unravel her braid again. Something about the undoing and re-braiding calms her, gives a center to focus on. Still, her tears drip. Stoick awkwardly squeezes her shoulder.
She rocks in the chair, chanting please, please, please, her hands clasped, begging God to spare him. She cannot be here without Hiccup. It is unnatural. She cannot voice it…all she says is please, please, please, don't take him...
A doctor trudges down the hall to them. They both jump up. "Is he okay?" One of them asks, Lindsay honestly couldn't tell you which.
"His leg will have to be amputated," the doctor delivers the words with quiet exhaustion.
Lindsay stumbles. "Amputated?"
"From the knee down, where the tiger attacked. The skin and muscle is mutilated and the risk of infection is very high. We've taken him to surgery. We'll keep you updated."
Stoick grabs his arm as he turns. "This is my son."
The doctor repeats, "We'll keep you updated," and the waiting begins again with a fresh layer of terror.
Okay, I wanted to incorporate the Green Death. So, since a tiger is the biggest of all wild cats...see? Yeah, if you guys don't like the idea of Hiccup losign his legs, jsut pretend it ended last chapter. Tahts' fine with me.
And that's a cliffie, but I'm not cruel. So the next chapter will be up in some 20 minutes.
Don't you love me? ;)