Hiccup sighed as he fell back onto his bed. With the help of Toothless, he had managed to catch up on all his chiefly duties by mid-afternoon. He had been so busy that he hadn't even given himself a chance to rest so by the time that he made it back to his house, he was close to collapsing.

Toothless had supported Hiccup when his strength had finally left him. As he lay on his bed, he felt the world spinning beneath him, despite the fact that he had both of his feet on the ground, so to speak. He blinked quickly, trying to rid his vision of the black spots that danced before him. He knew he was being stubborn by not asking for help or even telling someone. But he couldn't risk them getting hurt too. He now knew what Drago was capable of. Hiccup had to find him, and soon.

He pushed himself up, thinking of how he would tell Berk that he was going to be leaving for a while when another round of pain wracked his body. His chest felt like it was burning from within and he found it increasingly hard to breathe. It felt like his lungs were filling with molten lead and he doubled over, falling to his knees, coughs erupting from him. What began as dry coughs began to turn wet and more violent. He brought the back of his hand to his mouth, wishing the pain away. He was aware of a great roaring in his head, coupling with a tremendous pounding. He felt tears streaming from his eyes and then began to wish that unconsciousness would take him like it had before.

But he had no such luck. It was a long while before his body calmed down and his breathing turned from hacking coughs to ragged breaths. Hiccup hadn't realised that he had taken a foetal position until he uncurled his limbs. His head was still pounding but the roaring had gone. He looked to his hand and saw it was coated in blood. The sticky liquid dripped down as he stared at it. There was so much of it.

A cooing alerted Hiccup to the worried dragon beside him. Toothless, seeing that his friend was no longer in great pain scooted a little closer. He had never seen his rider look like this. And it was something that he would never forget. Hiccup looked to his dragon and smiled weakly.

"I'm alright bud." Toothless growled, obviously aware of the fact that Hiccup was anything but alright.

Hiccup groaned as he stood, still feeling like someone had dropped a bunch of Gronkles on him. There was a pail of water in the corner of his room that he could wash the blood from his hands on. What stopped him, though, was his reflection. He waited for the water to still before looking properly at his face. What he thought were tears had been more blood, streaming down his face. It struck him then and there just how sick he was. And not just how sick he was, but how quickly his time was running out. This had all happened within the space of a day. He had to abandon his plan of protecting his loved ones if he wanted to stay alive, right?

The door to his house banged open and more than one set of boots could be heard running in. hiccup quickly shoved his hands into the water, rubbing the blood away. He then cupped his hands and brought the now pink water to his face, hoping to wash away the drying tracks of blood.

The footsteps were now rushing up the stairs and Hiccup could mutely hear people calling his name. He grabbed a cloth and dried his face and hands just as his mother, Astrid and Gobber crested the top of the stairs. He stared at them, confused. They were all breathing hard as if they had just run a long way to get there.

"Hiccup. Are you alright?" his mother's voice sounded distant and muffled. He frowned, unable to understand why he couldn't quite hear her. He raised a hand to his ear and felt a warm substance coming from his ears. He didn't need to look to know that it would be blood. "Hiccup what's happened? We heard Toothless roaring." Valka took a few steps towards her son. The fact that he hadn't said anything was worrying her. And he was so pale it looked like all life had been sucked from him. Her maternal instinct knew that there was something wrong with her son. Something big and something bad. Whatever it was she had to find out and help him.

Hiccup frowned as his mother's words belatedly sunk in. Toothless had been roaring? Maybe that's what he had been vaguely aware of. Toothless must have been calling for help. It was never a good thing when one's dragon was aware of how sick you were.

Hiccup looked at the three worried faces in the room. He cleared his throat, feeling the now familiar coppery taste of blood still in his mouth.

"I'm fine. Toothless was just-"

"If you're so fine, lad, why is there blood on the floor." Gobber interrupted. The brunette chief mentally cursed himself for not having noticed that before.

Hiccup opened his mouth to respond, but Astrid beat him to it. "Don't you dare lie to us Hiccup. If you even think about it I swear not even Odin himself would be able to help you."

Unfortunately Hiccup knew the truth behind Astrid's words. She had always seemed harsh to an outsider, but Hiccup knew that she wasn't comfortable being affection around other people, so usually, the worse the threat, the more worried she was. And now, he could see the worry clouding her normally clear blue eyes.

Resigned, he sighed and moved to sit on his bed. He brought the cloth that he still held and wiped the blood away from his ears. He heard the gasp from his mother at seeing the blood.

"I didn't want to worry anyone." He mumbled, looking down. He felt the bed dip beside and saw Astrid's familiar hands take his.

"Hiccup," she said softly, "whatever it is, we can help you."

This was precisely why he didn't want to tell them. He couldn't give them the hope that everything would turn out alright in the end. For all he knew he could be dead in a month, a week, a day, even an hour.

"No," he said coldly. "You can't."

Valka knelt before her son, seeing the despair deep within his eyes. He was trying to hide it but she could tell. She was his mother. She knew these things. Her son had taken after her. He always wore his heart on his sleeve. He had never had his father's ability of being so stoic.

"Hiccup. If we can't help you, like you say, at least tell us what ails you."

Faced with no choice now, Hiccup sighed before standing. He took a few steps until his back was to the other three before lifting his tunic above his head. The others were surprised by this. What was Hiccup doing? Astrid blushed, not at seeing Hiccup topless; she'd seen all that before, but because she was sitting directly next to Hiccup's mother who was fiercely protective of her only son, even more so after what had happened to Stoick.

"The good Bewilderbeast was a being dedicated to life. Its sole purpose as Alpha was to preserve life. But Drago's Bewilderbeast was tasked only to kill. Two separate entities whose paths should never have crossed." Hiccup sighed. Describing what truly happened was a lot harder than he originally thought. "When Drago ordered his Bewilderbeast to kill me, Toothless jumped in and saved my life-" Hiccup paused, thinking of how those words, whilst being true, now had a falser meaning to them. "But all it took was a single shard…" steeling himself for their reactions, he turned, finally facing the people he had tried so hard to protect.

Valka cried out in horror and Astrid gasped, tears springing to her eyes. Gobber made no indication of having seen anything, his shock freezing him. The three could see the cut that was killing Hiccup. From the wound spread a web of blackened veins and mottled purple and yellow flesh. There was no doubt that there was poison at work here, but none of them had yet to realise quite how fatal it was.

Valka stood shakily and took a step towards her son, her hands hesitantly outsretched but not touching for fear of hurting Hiccup further. Years of self-inflicted solitude had made her hard and able to cope with most situations with a level head. But now, seeing the son that she was just beginning to know, hurt and sick, her resolve was crumbling.

"Hiccup? I- I don't understand what you're telling us." She said quietly, fearing the answer that she would get.

"The Bewilderbeast you knew, well, its powers could preserve life. Drago's Bewilderbeast's powers cause death." He choked on the last word. He knew that he was dying. He knew he needed help.

Astrid stood and stumbled over to Hiccup, afraid to touch him in much the same way as Valka. She understood what Hiccup was saying, but every fibre of her refused to accept it.

"But you're going to get better, right?"

Hiccup stepped from his mother's embrace. He looked everyone squarely in the eye before answering.

"The effect of the Bewilderbeast is having a reaction that not even I could have foreseen. In the past two days…" He sighed, not wanting to tell them quite how sick he had been getting. "I don't know how much time I have left." The way that Astrid and Valka recoiled, one would think that Hiccup had just struck them. He could see the effect that this was having on the ones who he cared most for. He had to find Drago. "Tomorrow I leave to find Drago." As expected, everyone began to speak at once, the sudden change in noise levels causing the room to jolt dangerously to the side, sending Hiccup stumbling back. His back smashed against one of the wooden beams in his room, sparking yet another coughing fit as he fell to all fours.

Fortunately, this one was less severe than the previous one. Hiccup fumbled around for the piece of cloth that he had been holding and, once found, he placed it before his mouth, hiding the blood. The others were frozen in place. Never had they thought that they would see the great and strong Hiccup in such a weak state. Not only that, but the full scale of Hiccup's words and condition crashed down on them. Hiccup was dying.

The coughing subsided and the brunette chief pushed himself up so that he was sitting, leaning against the beam. He wiped the blood from the corners of his mouth and looked to the others.

"I know the risks. I know Drago cannot be reasoned with. But I can't afford to not go." He croaked, throat aching from the coughing.

"Hiccup you can't do this alone." Astrid said, crouching before the boy who had stolen her heart. She had never thought that it was possible to feel such pain at seeing someone you loved slowly dying. But now, with every body-wracking cough, it felt like someone was slicing at her heart.

Surprisingly, Hiccup half-smiled when she said that. They could see in his eyes the great relief that he wouldn't have to do this alone.

"Thank you. But if we are to leave at first light, then we should probably get some rest." Nobody argued, thankful instead that Hiccup had agreed and accepted their help.

Valka and Astrid both helped Hiccup stand and move to his bed where he was asleep the second his head hit the pillow. Quietly the three left, all feeling the weight of grief rest heavily upon their hearts. Not one of them would ever give up on Hiccup. They knew that he would do the same if it were them who were hurt.

…

Moonlight streamed through the "dragon-flap" in Hiccup's room. He quietly placed supplies in a bag and donned his flying gear. Telling the others had been horrible. Worse than he had imagined actually. So he had decided the second that he had seen their reactions that they weren't going to go with him. He had lost so much to Drago already and he couldn't risk losing them too. And plus, he wasn't exactly planning to talk with Drago. He didn't want the others to see the dark and threatening side of him.

As he and Toothless made their way out, he looked back to his room. He could see the letter he had left the others on his pillow, explaining why he had gone without them. Should he survive this, he knew he would have to make it up to them. Should he survive this. With one last wistful glance at the room that he had grown up so much in, he mounted his dragon and noiselessly left the island that he called home.

But not even the Fates could tell if it would be for the last time.

Thank you for reading and don't forget to review and let me know what you thought of it.

-WarriorOfTheLight