Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the slightly changed plotline.
Disclaimer: Inspiration for the battle comes from 'The Choice,' as well as some ideas given to me through PM from Midoriko-sama.
It seemed as though the entire sky was being blocked out, the wings were so huge, and dust and small rocks showered them as the wings lifted, turning their world dark. They had damages the wings; Astrid could see large patches of weakened flesh, a lighter shade of grey compared to the rest of them, as well as the deeply embedded spikes within it from the Nadder.
"Brace yourselves!" Stoick shouted, and everyone ran as far back as they could as the wings swept downwards, showering them with smog and dust, blowing them completely off their feet, and the Red Death took to the sky.
Above, Hiccup glanced behind him before turning his attention forward, addressing Toothless. "Think that did it?"
Suddenly, there was a massive roar as the Red Death climbed into the air directly behind them, thundering booms resounding through the air with every powerful beat of its wings.
"Well, it can fly," Hiccup muttered before steering Toothless into a dive, and the two headed straight toward a maze of rock formations, barely noticeable through the smog. They flew between rocks, dodging formations and the snap of the Red Death's teeth, but the colossal dragon paid no heed to the maze around it, smashing through the rocks with a roar.
Below, the Vikings stood and stared as Toothless shot past, the huge beast right on his tail, rocks and debris showering them as the Red Death knocked down every pillar in its path. The recruits, with the exception of Astrid, grinned and joined in on the wild cheering of the crowd, ducking along with everyone else when another pillar was smashed a little too close to them.
Above, Hiccup glanced behind him as Toothless dodged another snap of teeth, seeing blood from its wounded mouth splatter around him. He glanced up for a brief moment, doing a double take, his attention caught by the darkness of the clouds above.
Hiccup gave Toothless a small pat to get his attention. "Okay, Toothless," He said, "Time to disappear."
Toothless let out a grunt of agreement, and Hiccup pressed down on the stirrup pedal. Toothless immediately arched upward, climbing higher into the sky, dodging another snap of teeth as the Red Death followed.
Suddenly, he heard the hiss of gas behind him. "Here it comes!" He shouted, and Toothless ducked to the side, dodging the stream of fire as it shot past them, shooting into the smoke and black clouds, vanishing completely.
The Red Death paused in its pursuit, letting out a frustrated growl as it twisted from side to side, searching.
Below, the cheering died as everyone searched the skies, hearing the echoes of a few thundering growls the Red Death released.
"What is he doing?" Fishlegs asked quietly, afraid to disrupt the sudden silence.
"He should've let me go with him," Astrid said a bit tensely, making a move to climb onto Stormfly.
Ruffnut grabbed her arm a bit harshly. "Stormfly can't keep up with Toothless, and carrying two Vikings wouldn't have done him any good. You'd only get in his way, and all of you'd be killed."
"I can't just leave him up there alone!" Astrid shouted, trying to wrench her arm free from Ruffnut's grasp, but Cnut and Thora stepped in, the large man placing his hands firmly on her shoulders, keeping her still.
"Astrid," Thora said sternly through her daughter's struggles, "There is nothing you can do. The Night Fury is clearly the fastest dragon here. Ruffnut's right; you'd only get in his way, and then you would be responsible for your deaths."
"But, Hiccup-"
"Quiet," Stoick ordered, his voice almost silent, not taking his attention away from the sky, and everyone immediately silenced themselves, trying to peer into the smog of clouds as well.
Above, the Red Death continued twisting around, its growls growing more and more frustrated. Suddenly, there was a familiar high pitched whistle, and a black figure shot past.
The Red Death released a roar when purple-blue fire hit it right on one of the weak spots of its wings, twisting around to find its attacker.
Hiccup and Toothless continued their pattern, zooming around the beast back and forth, releasing plasma blasts directly onto the weakened flesh of the wings, as well as the embedded spikes, creating decent sized holes as the spikes were shot through, Toothless' high pitched whistle escaping him each time.
Below, gasps were heard when there was a sudden explosion, like thunder, and, for a brief moment, the Red Death was silhouetted in the sky under a blue light. Then, another explosion lit up the sky. Then another, and another.
Toothless was going in from all directions, concealed by the darkness, and the silhouette of the beast twisted and turned, searching for its enemy, releasing frustrated roars.
"He's using Toothless' ability to disappear in the dark against it," Fishlegs smiled, "That's amazing."
Above, the Red Death released a furious roar, piling up gas before letting loose a stream of one of its river-fires, twisting around haphazardly, filling up the sky with orange flames.
Hiccup glanced behind at the oncoming flames. "Watch out!" Toothless immediately ducked downwards, but one litter flicker latched onto his artificial tail fin. Hiccup glanced back at the tail fin, his worry growing at the sight of the fire attached to it, and now, with the orange glow on Toothless' tail, the Red Death would be able to spot them easily.
"Okay," Hiccup said uneasily, "Time's up. Let's see if this works." Toothless halted, twisting backwards in the air, flying straight towards the beast. "C'mon!" Hiccup taunted, "That the best you can do!?"
Toothless released a roar of his own, dodging the snapping teeth before dive-bombing straight downwards. The Red Death roared, immediately following after them.
Hiccup tested out the stirrup pedal, but it was rendered useless as the fire burned the artificial tail fin away. "Stay with me, bud, we're good, just a little bit longer!" He said as Toothless flapped his wings awkwardly in an attempt to stay aloft.
Hearing the hiss of gas behind him, Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut. "Hold, Toothless." He waited until the hiss grew louder and louder before suddenly snapping his eyes open.
Not so fireproof on the inside, are you?
"NOW!"
Toothless somersaulted in mid-air and delivered a single, small blast straight into the Red Death's gaping, gas-filled mouth.
The thing practically exploded, fire consuming its mouth and nostrils, and Hiccup knew it was travelling downward into its belly, following the trail of gas. Toothless stayed facing the beast, allowing himself to fall backwards as they burst through the smog.
Below, everyone winced when they heard a thundering roar, searching the sky.
"Where is he?" Stoick shouted.
"There!" Astrid pointed.
A tiny black dot burst through the smog, speeding towards the ground at breakneck speed, and, even from a distance, it was easy to see the orange glow of the fire latched onto the Night Fury's artificial tail fin. Behind him, the Red Death followed, its mouth opened wide, fire storming through its mouth and nostrils.
"Hiccup!" Astrid shouted, her worry increasing at the sight of the artificial tail fin quickly coming apart, and she made another move to Stormfly, wrenching free from her father's hold in his distracted state.
"Astrid!" Cnut shouted as she mounted Stormfly, the two quickly taking to the air.
Above, the Red Death's remaining eyes widened when the ground suddenly came into sight through the smog before spreading its wings in an attempt to catch itself. The damage the recruits and Hiccup delivered to it, however, increased with the speed of their descent, the holes increasing in size, tearing through the membrane of the wings.
Toothless twisted around to face downwards before spreading his wings, catching himself and flying safely through one of the gaping holes in the beast's wings.
And then, the Red Death impacted with the ground.
Below, everyone ducked their head, rushing back to get out of the way as the Red Death hit the ground, resulting in an explosion that could be heard all the way in Asgard. The ground shook as it hit, and the explosion threw everyone off their feet.
Everyone was flung aside with the explosion, and the recruits flew back as well, ending up in a heap of limbs on the ground as ash and smoke spread throughout the island.
Above, Hiccup and Toothless zoomed across the beast's back, weaving around its giant spines as they tried to outrun - or out-fly, maybe - the speedily spreading fire.
Hiccup attempted to use the pedal again, but the artificial tail fin finally burnt out and flew right off of Toothless. Hiccup glanced back at it as it fell back before turning his attention ahead, his eyes widening at the sight of the beast's giant tail falling straight toward them.
"No," He muttered as he tried to steer Toothless away, and the dragon desperately flapped his wings, "No!"
The tail crashed straight into them, and, at the angle they were in, Hiccup took the brunt of the blow, tearing him straight from Toothless' saddle, and he immediately fell unconscious.
Toothless let out a desperate warble as he spun haphazardly in the air, watching as Hiccup fell straight toward the inferno below, just past Astrid as she finally reached him on Stormfly.
"Hiccup!" She cried, attempting to reach out to him as his unconscious form sailed past her, and she lost her balance, falling from Stormfly.
Stormfly let out distressed squawk, flying past Toothless as he fell, the black dragon's eyes never leaving Hiccup's form. Astrid reached out her hands, nearly close enough to grab Hiccup, but she let out a shout when she was jerked back, Stormfly carrying her away from the fire in her claws, away from Hiccup.
Toothless narrowed his eyes, determination setting in, and dive-bombed straight for Hiccup, right past Stormfly as she flew away from the inferno with a screaming and struggling Astrid in her claws, and the boy and the black dragon disappeared into the storm of fire below.
Below, Astrid coughed and choked out dust as Stormfly set her down next to the pile of recruits. She immediately twisted around, her watery eyes desperately searching through the smog of ash and dust for a sign of Hiccup. She heard a cough and, distracted, she glanced down at the pile of recruits, watching as Fishlegs tried to sit up.
She bent down a little, offering a hand.
"Thanks," He mumbled feebly, taking her offered hand as she tried to help him stand up. She suddenly gasped, her eyes widening in realization and remembrance, and she immediately let go of Fishlegs' hand, letting the boy fall back with a startled shout as she spun on her heel.
"Hiccup!" She screamed, running through the fog of ash, dust, and smog, Stormfly quickly following behind her.
"Hiccup!" Stoick's voice joined hers, "Hiccup! SON!"
The smell of burnt flesh hung heavily in the air, and there was no roar, no growl, not a single sound that indicated the Red Death's survival. As the dust cleared, and Astrid tried her best to weave her way through the crowd, Stormfly following behind her, batting away those who did not move away in time with her snout, Astrid could not see it anywhere; it was if it had burnt away into nothing after the explosion.
Astrid finally reached the front of the crowd, and she heard Gobber push his way through after her, and she froze at the sight in front of her.
Stoick was over there, kneeling, his head hung beside a fallen black dragon. Toothless gave an exhausted groan, slowly rolling over, and she could see his artificial tail fin was missing.
His saddle was empty.
Riderless.
Something strange lodged itself into her chest, something like fear, or panic, or maybe both, and her vision began to blur, her breathing becoming heavy.
No.
She could've sworn her heart stopped as she just stood there, staring at the empty space where Hiccup should be, and why isn't he there? She should be over there, helping, but her feet refused to carry her, and she felt completely numb.
Hiccup.
The panic began to increase, and she didn't even realize that Stormfly was warbling next to her, nuzzling the small of her back. She swallowed heavily, trying to hold back the tears, but a few slipped by.
Where is Hiccup?
He's not dead. He's not. He can't be dead.
No.
"Oh, son," She barely heard Stoick whisper, his voice filled with the grief of a parent who outlived their child, "I did this."
Toothless let out another groan, and he groggily blinked his green eyes open. They landed directly on Stoick, narrowed in exhaustion.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she took notice of the crowd removing their helmets, lowering their heads in silent respect, but they shouldn't do that because he's not dead, and the dragons joined the back of the crowd, the Nightmare, Zippleback, and spare Nadder lifting their heads to see above the people's heads.
"Oh, son," Stoick breathed, "I'm so, I'm so sorry."
Toothless' eyes widened for a brief moment before they turned their attention to his folded wings. Slowly he unfurled him and, within the grasp of his legs was -
"Hiccup!" Stoick shouted, and Astrid's head jerked up, and she was finally able to move her feet. She sprinted towards Stoick, vaguely aware of Stormfly following after her, and dropped to her knees next to the large man.
Stoick snatched his son into his own grasp, taking his chin in his hand to point his face straight ahead before brushing hair out of his face. He jerked his helmet off, resting his ear against Hiccup's chest, and Astrid could've sworn she heard a sob of relief.
"He's alive!" Stoick's voice cracked, "Oh, you brought 'em back alive!"
The cheering was a distant sound in her ears as she breathed a laughing sob of relief, bringing a hand over her mouth to hold it back.
Stoick laid a hand on Toothless' head. "Thank you," He said sincerely, "For saving my son."
Gobber suddenly walked up behind them, his face rather grim as he kept his gaze toward Hiccup's lower half. "Well, you know. Most of 'em."
Most of him...?
She glanced down and instantly regretted it.
The blood, the bone, the charred skin, his moaning...
She was only lightly aware of the quick footsteps approaching, and she glanced over in time to see her mother and Hiccup's Uncle Spitelout kneel next to them. Thora gently pushed her aside, taking her spot, blocking her view of Hiccup's injury; she wasn't able to see the full extent of the wound through Spitelout and Thora's backs when the woman lifted the pant leg to check.
Thora's face turned grim as she lowered the pant leg back down, and she looked at Stoick and shook her head. "Stoick, he needs help. Now. And we can't do anything; all of our supplies was destroyed with the ships."
Astrid was too numb to speak, and, luckily, Snotlout made the offer for her. "We can take him back by dragon."
"Yeah," Fishlegs added, "Flying would be the fastest way to get there, and whoever takes him can have ships sent out here to bring everyone home."
"Right," Stoick nodded, opening his mouth to speak, but Astrid quickly interrupted.
"I can take him back."
"Astrid-"
"I'll take him back," She cut Thora off, the tone of her voice letting everyone know that would not be changing her mind. But, she understood their concerns; the only people left on Berk were the elderly and the young children, and they needed someone strong enough to carry Hiccup to Elder Gothi.
"Okay," Stoick conceded before turning his attention to the recruits, "She'll need an escort."
"I'll do it," Snotlout offered; a good thing, too, as, next to Fishlegs and Hiccup, he was the strongest member of their group and could easily take Hiccup to the Elder.
"I'll go, too," Ruffnut said as Snotlout mounted his Nightmare. Stoick nodded his consent, and she hopped atop her Zippleback head before turning her attention to Tuffnut. "Tuff?"
"Nah, you go ahead," He said, "I'll stay here and help salvage whatever we can."
"Okay," She nodded before looking back at Stormfly, watching as Stoick, Cnut, and Spitelout carefully strapped Hiccup to the Nadder's back. Toothless was warbling pathetically, his attention solely on the injured boy, and Astrid knelt down and placed a comforting hand on his head.
"I'm sorry, Toothless," She said quietly, "You'll have to wait for the ships." Toothless let out another sound, and she soothingly rubbed his head. "It's okay, Toothless, we're going to help him, but we can't do it here. Toothless, he needs help. Now."
Toothless looked at her for a long moment before releasing a consenting croon, and Astrid gave a weak smile, patting his head one last time before hopping onto Stormfly behind Hiccup, placing her hands on him to keep him still despite his body being tied securely to the dragon.
Stoick grabbed her hand. "Keep my son safe. I'll be back to see him soon, tell him that."
"Yes, sir," She whispered, trying to keep her voice from shaking, and then the three riders took to the sky, hearing Toothless' mournful cry behind them. The sound tore at her chest, and more tears welled.
Astrid glanced over at Ruffnut on her left side; the girl was patting the vacant head in a silent order to follow the mounted head's movements. She glanced to her right at Snotlout; he was strangely quiet, looking unusually grim, and Astrid wasn't sure how she felt about such an expression on his face.
"How is he?" Ruffnut suddenly asked, and, instinctively, Astrid placed a hand on Hiccup's face, feeling his temperature.
"Fever," She muttered hoarsely, and she heard Snotlout curse quietly beside her.
"Is he going to make it?" Snotlout asked, his voice barely reaching her ears.
"If," She stuttered, "If he overcomes the poison and infection of the wounds, he'll live."
Her words put them in an awful silence, and Astrid bit her lip.
"I should've gone with him."
"Don't start again, Astrid," Ruffnut rolled her eyes, "Like I said before, you would've only gotten in his way, and things would be much worse than they are now."
"She's right, Astrid," Snotlout added, "Hiccup did what needed to be done."
She knew that; she did. But, there was a small part of her that believed she could've done something to help. Like, if she had followed him on Stormfly, or, maybe, used Stormfly's spikes to distract it... something.
"I was so close," She whispered, "He was right there. I could've caught him."
She glanced down at him, watching his brows furrow, watching as he breathed heavily and sharply, the pain getting to him even in his unconscious state, awake enough to feel it, and she pursed her lips in an attempt to stop their trembling.
They flew the rest of the way in silence, and they reached Berk just as the sun began lowering, turning the sky a bright orange. They were met with elders, looking quite out of place with their torches and axes, but, once they saw that the dragons were being ridden, the weapons were lowered in shock.
When they landed, Snotlout immediately dismounted his Nightmare and unstrapped Hiccup from Stormfly. He carried him piggy-back style, Hiccup's head and arms hanging limply over his shoulders, and he determinedly ignored the blood seeping onto his pants and shirt from Hiccup's leg as he sprinted past the shocked villagers toward the Elder's home.
Ruffnut and Astrid followed his lead, sliding off of their dragons, and Ruffnut began barking out orders. "The warriors are fine, but we need to send ships out for them! They're stuck on the island! We're gonna need to use a dragon to find them, so follow my lead!"
Too shocked to ignore the orders, the elders immediately scattered, readying ships to send out to the island. Ruffnut followed them, allowing them to use her Zippleback to find the place, leaving Astrid to sprint after Snotlout.
Ruffnut's Zippleback followed after her as she led the elders to their remaining ships, and Stormfly and the Nightmare followed after Astrid and Snotlout. The two ran as fast as they could up the winding stairs of the Elder's high house, and Stormfly and the Nightmare took to the sky, landing on the porch just as the two reached it, and Astrid immediately began banging on the door.
The Elder answered, and, if she was shocked by the sight of the dragons, she didn't show it, her attention solely on Hiccup. Astrid didn't think that Hiccup had a close relationship with his great-grandmother, but those thoughts left her when she saw more emotions in the old woman's eyes than she's ever seen. The Elder immediately stepped aside, allowing Snotlout to carry Hiccup in, and she directed him to the bed in the corner of the room.
Snotlout carefully laid Hiccup down as the Elder scoured through her medic shelf, grabbing the supplies she needed.
Astrid made a gesture to the dragons, giving them a silent order to stay outside as she watched the Elder closely. She used a scalpel to cut away Hiccup's bloody pant leg, and Snotlout and Astrid cringed at the sight of the wound, looking away.
There was bone and blood and charred skin, and Astrid was positive she saw teeth marks somewhere in there. So, Toothless had been so desperate to save Hiccup that he resorted to using his teeth to catch him.
The Elder tapped Astrid on the arm, catching the girl's attention, and the older woman held up a large leather band. Confused, Astrid grabbed it, furrowing her brows at her. "Why do we need a tourniquet...?"
The Elder simply stared at her, her face free of emotion but her eyes grim, and Astrid wanted to cry again. She was a healer; she knew, she knew he couldn't keep that leg, but some part of her hoped...
Her face scrunched up as she tried to hold back the tears. It wasn't fair. This was Hiccup. Kind, genius, hot-tempered Hiccup who was always there for her when she needed him. Why was he the only one injured? The only one to lose a limb?
Snotlout crossed his arms, determinedly keeping his eyes anywhere but on Hiccup's prone form as Astrid slowly made her way to the injured boy's side. The Elder tapped him, catching his attention, and made a gesture over to Hiccup, and Snotlout knew that he was going to have to hold him down.
Pursing his lips, Snotlout walked beside Astrid, stopping by Hiccup's head and placing his hands firmly on the boy's shoulders. He jerked when Astrid grabbed his leg as gently as she could, sliding the tourniquet into place right where the injury began somewhere in the middle of his shin. It was much worse than she thought, with pieces of bone and blood and blackened flesh. Quickly and efficiently, she yanked the tourniquet into place.
Hiccup made a strangled sound, his body arching with his agony, and Snotlout did his best to keep him in place.
Astrid cringed, biting her lip and immediately looking away as the Elder checked her work, making sure the tourniquet was tight enough. She gave a single nod before gesturing for them to leave. They've done all they could to help, and now they had to wait for the ships to return with men who were strong enough to remove the leg, while the Elder worked on the less serious injuries instead.
Snotlout released a shaky sigh, and he followed Astrid as they excited the Elder's home, stopping on the porch, taking in the comforting nuzzles of their dragons.
And now they wait.
Okay, Hiccup's all jacked up...
A tourniquet, just in case people don't know, is a band used to block the blood flow. It's only used during emergencies, like if you are unable to reach a hospital in time and desperately need to stop a wound from bleeding out. It's also helpful for amputations, keeping the blood from flowing into whatever limb that needs to go. In Hiccup's case, it's being used for both scenarios; keeping him from bleeding out, as well as stopping the blood flow into his leg.
Um, I think there's going to be, maybe one more chapter, maybe two more, I'm not completely sure yet. I have to get it written first, so...