The Dragon Boy - Part 5 - Another Snowstorm
Frostcup fanfic

Authors note: Next chapter^^ hope you guys like it- I can't believe the response to this story! So many faves follows and reviews! Thank you all sooooo much it means an awful lot:-D please review this latest chapter and without further ado I'll leave you to read it^^ (next chapter up tommorow as always)

The wind howled outside the hut as it had done just four days ago. Hiccup sighed as he glanced at the window "Looks like were in for another cold night bud." he told his dragon friend, Toothless growled in agreement. Hiccup leant back on him, grateful for the warmth the dragon skin produced, thinking about the deja vu of the last snowstorm. He chuckled slightly, and reached out to scratch his buddy behind the ears.
"What do you think bud? We gonna be having any more mystery dragons in the night?" he joked. A tired rumble was the reply, as the Night Fury's head sank to the floor. Hiccup smiled at him and gave him one last scratch before standing up.
"Alright, g'night Toothless." Hiccup mummered and walked over to his own bed (having learnt his lesson that sleeping on Night Furies never ended well).

He was half under the quilt when Toothless' head lifted up.
"What is it, Toothless?" he asked. He knew the look on his dragon's face had been much different when they'd heard the noises in the last snowstorm, but he couldn't help wondering if the mystery ice dragon had returned. Toothless had his head tilted to one side, looking more curious and unsure if anything. With no particular urgency, he went up to the window and started looking out of it.

Hiccup was debating whether or not to join him, when a sudden, urgent look and roar from his dragon made up his mind.
"What? What's wrong?" he asked. The dragon roared at the window again, but Hiccup couldn't see anything.
"There's nothing out the-" he stopped in mid speech as he made out a small, hunched figure at the edge of the forest, bearing the full brunt of the storm.

"Toothless, come on! Quick! Dad, there's someone out in the storm!" he shouted, aiming that last comment at Stoick's bedroom as he ran through the house. Jumping on Toothless the moment they were outside, they made a hasty take off.
"Come on, buddy, faster! They won't last long in a storm like this." They soon arrived at the forest's edge and found the figure had stumbled away from the line of trees. Landing Toothless a little while away so as not to scare the figure, Hiccup continued on foot.

His first thought was that it was a boy, around his age. He hadn't seen him before, so he had no idea what he doing here on Berk, and no idea why he was out in the middle of a snowstorm! It was almost suicide!

"Hey!" Hiccup called out, hoping his voice wouldn't be lost in the wind. "Are you alright?" It was obvious he wasn't, but Hiccup had no idea what else to say. The boy obviously hadn't heard him, as he carried on stumbling away from the trees. Suddenly, Hiccup realised- it's not the wind making him walk like that, he's limping! "What happened? and why's he bent over like that? Is he hurt?" he thought to himself. One of his questions was soon answered.

As Hiccup neared him, he was surprised to see that the boy's wind-blown hair was white. But he could wonder about that later, there were more pressing things to deal with.

Hiccup was now standing right in front of the boy. The strange boy had come to a halt as Hiccup reached him and as he stood there, he looked up. Startlingly blue eyes met Hiccup's ,they were vaguely familiar, but Hiccup couldn't think where he'd seen them before. Hiccup's attention turned from the boy's eyes to his body.

He was clutching his right side with his left arm, a worrying, red stain visible beneath his hand. Several more large cuts covered his chest, but the one he clutched was obviously the worst, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that they continued onto his back. His trousers were ripped in several places with minor cuts, though his left thigh bore a much larger wound that was the cause of his limp. His arms, like his legs, bore many minor scratches but his right arm hung limply at his side, a few large puncture marks visible beneath the tattered sweater, just below his shoulder.

Some random part of Hiccup registered that he wasn't wearing any shoes "Who goes outside, bare foot, in this weather?" He momentarily thought. He shook the thought away, but before he could do anything, the stranger collapsed.

Luckily, Hiccup caught him before fell in the snow. He noted how the wind had dropped as the boy had fallen- coincidence, surely. He barely weighed anything, so even Hiccup's small frame could hold him up. "Toothless!" Hiccup called his ever attentive dragon over. He understood the situation perfectly, lying flat to allow Hiccup to drape the strange boy over his neck, before Hiccup himself climbed on.

Hiccup made sure he kept a tight on the boy, to make sure he stayed on the saddle, as they made the mercifully quick flight back.

Stoick was waiting for them outside. From the looks of things, he was about to saddle Thornado and come after them, when they landed right in front of him.
"Dad! Go get Gobber! He needs help!" he shouted, urgently. The chief nodded his understanding, before vanishing into the swirling snow.

Hiccup, with Toothless' help, managed to carry the limp body of the boy into the house. Gently placing him on the dining table that served as his temporary bed, he ran off to get some supplies.

Strips of cloth, a bucket of water, a random assortment of herbs and flowers his dad kept in a cupboard. Passing the boy for at least the seventh time, he placed a hand on his forehead. Hiccup cursed, he was so stupid! The boy was freezing! He dumped a load of extra logs into the fireplace and hoped it would make things warmer. He moved on to the other side of the room- what else would he need? He heard something about placing raw meat on an injury once. Was that enough cloths? Should he get some mo-. He stopped in the middle of his mental rant as Toothless had wafted the fire out.

"Toothless, what are doing! He's freezing! We need to get him warm!" he shouted in panic. Since his dragon wasn't going to relight the fire, he scrambled about looking for some flint and, striking two of the stones together, he managed to get the fire going again. Only to have it blown out-again. "Toothless, really?! I am not arguing with you about this. The fire is staying lit!" he said with finality. The dragon spat a blast of flames into the fireplace like "FINE!" and sat down beside it. Hiccup narrowed his eyes at him, but continued his preparation for the older men's arrival.

Within a few minutes of the fire burning, the stranger started shifting about, breathing heavily. Hiccup dashed over, placing a hand onto the damp-with-sweat forehead.
"He's burning up!" Hiccup yelped, dancing about in a half panic as Toothless blew the fire out. Thirty seconds later, the boy was calm again. Hiccup turned, astonished, to look his dragon. He was wearing a smug look on his face.
"What..." Relieved, confused and slightly dazed, Hiccup had no idea what to think ,or do. Thankfully, at that moment, the door burst open and Gobber, closely followed by Stoick, came rushing in.

Gobber, taking in his patient and inspecting the injuries, picked up a water soaked cloth and began to clean the wounds.
"He's in a bad way, Stoick." he commented.
"Is he gonna be alright?" Hiccup asked, unable to stop himself.
"Hard to say." was the response, "The best we can do is tidy him up a bit, and cross our fingers." Hiccup went and sat by Toothless as Gobber continued his work. He was exhausted- and Stoick noticed.
"Go to bed, son. Don't worry, he's in good hands." Hiccup shook his head, stubbornly.
"I'm alright, I can wait. I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway."he told him. Stoick nodded with a knowing smile.
"Just like your mother, you know that?" he muttered, earning him a smile from his son. "Well, even if you're not going to bed, I am. Gobber, I can trust to man the fort for a bit?" he asked, "Man the fort" meaning making sure Hiccup went to bed when he was done.
"Sure thing, Stoick. I'm almost done here, anyway." he said as Stoick retired to his bedroom. Unfortunately they got an unexpected surprise when he turned the boy onto his back.

"Thor almighty." he muttered, his lower back wasn't too bad, but his shoulder blades were horrendous. It was as though many cuts and injuries had been compacted onto that one area of skin. Hiccup turned away, wondering what could have happened to leave him wounded that badly.

He turned back once the shoulders were bandaged and went to the boy's side, taking his hand in his. Not the viking-like thing to do, but Hiccup knew that if the boy would be comforted by it, and even though he probably wasn't aware of it, it made Hiccup feel like he doing something to help him. Besides, the grip on his hand gave him hope- from it he feel a gentle pulse. Still beating. Still surviving.

Eventually, Gobber stood up to leave.
"Right, that's the best I can do for him. He'll have to stay in bed for the next couple of days, but, with a bit of luck, he should pull through." Hiccup sighed with relief.
"Thanks Gobber." he said gratefully.
"Think nothing of it." came the nonchalant response, "I'll be back in the morning to check on him. You'll be off to bed now, hm." he stared at the teen expectantly.
"Yeah, sure. Thanks again." he said.
"Until the morning, then." he promised, before heading back out into the storm.

Hiccup was utterly exhausted, he couldn't find the strength, nor the will, to carry himself up to bed. So, leaning back, he did the one thing he swore never to do again. He slept on the Night Fury.