Chapter Eight

A/N: Short chapter. I apologize. By the way, we're about a third of the way through. So...yeah. Gonna be a long fanfic XD Sorry if that's not your 'cup of tea'.

It's late evening by the time Stoick returns home. A bit of glaring sunlight manages to squeeze through the gaps in the trees, flaming against the dark backdrop of a bruised horizon. Berk's chief sighs deeply and pulls off his helmet, rubbing his aching head. The village seems unanimous. The Berserkers came onto their land, invaded their home, attacked their heir...! If they want war...Berk is going to give them a war. Stoick knows this won't be easy to explain to Hiccup. His son had always been the pacifist type. More likely than not, Hiccup will think it's his fault that Berk is in danger of battle and try to convince Stoick to back down. Of course, there's nothing Stoick can do if the villagers decide they want to fight the Berserkers. He will have to back them up. That's his job.

All this stress is starting to give him a major headache. And yet...he's worried about his son. Has he woken up yet? Or is he still unconscious...? Unconscious by Dagur's hands... Stoick grinds his teeth together and replaces his helmet onto his head. That treacherous scumbag had better hope he doesn't meet me in a dark alley...!

At that point, Stoick has reached his front door. He hesitates, listening. He hopes, with all his being, to hear his son's voice. But everything is silent on the other side of the wall. He sighs again and opens the door. It makes a horrendous creak as it swings ajar and Stoick goes inside, closing it behind him.

He moves slowly, wearily. Peeling off his cape, he tosses it over the squat table in the corner and carefully lays his helmet beside it. He hears a quiet voice upstairs, accompanied by the soft coos of his son's dragon. Toothless must be at it again, trying to wake his Rider. Stoick shakes his head, a deep frown on his face. When will they learn that it takes time for someone to recover from something like that? They can't expect Hiccup to wake up just because they ask nicely...

Astrid watches with large, blue eyes as Hiccup's eyes twitch again. His head lulls to the side and his hand gives a little jump. His breaths are uneven now as well. And while that part has her a little concerned, she's too excited to be scared. With all this movement, he's bound to wake up soon! Within the next hour, maybe! She smiles, butterflies fluttering in her stomach at the thought of seeing those innocent, green eyes of his... She freezes, a strange look coming over her face. Did I really just think that...? She bites her lip. Wow...all the anticipation must be getting to me... 'innocent green eyes...' Ha...Haha... She pushes those thoughts away, trying to ignore the way her cheeks heat up when she thinks about him.

Instead, she switches her focus to Toothless. The Night Fury seems even more excited than she is. He is waiting patiently by his Rider's side, practically buzzing with glee. His own emerald eyes dart around the boy's face. He leans down and sniffs him before cooing, softly. A gentle 'wake up', she realizes.

Smiling, she decides that maybe human language will better pull him out of his comatose state. Gingerly, she scoots a little closer and places a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "Hiccup," She whispers. "Come on, wake up."

His eyes squeeze tighter shut than before, a quiet sound comes from his throat. Somewhere between a moan and a cracking voice.

"Snap out of it." She says, a little louder. "It's time to wake up."

Both of them go still when his lips part, as if to say something. Hiccup's brow furrows, suddenly. As if he's in pain or is having a nightmare.

Astrid glances at Toothless, as if trying to see if the dragon can sense what's wrong. The Night Fury whimpers at the sight of him, coming a bit closer. He nudges Hiccup's cheek, trying once more to wake him. At first, it seems to not work... but then-

Without warning, Hiccup's eyes snap open. His body jolts in his bed, an agonized scream wrenching from his throat. It sounds a bit like he cried out Toothless's name.

Astrid jumps back, her heart giving a startled jump at the sudden event. Toothless's eyes go wide and he sceeches in surprise, stumbling backward into the wall.

After his outburst, Hiccup goes silent again. His eyes remain open but they look foggy, unseeing. His body trembles slightly. His breaths are short and uneven, as if he can't breathe...

A second later, Stoick thunders up the stairs. His eyes are frantic as he takes in the shivering form of his son. "What happened?!" He demands, obviously having heard the scream.

Astrid shakes her head, quickly. "I-I don't know! He just...screamed for no reason!" She says, still staring at the quivering, gasping boy. "Maybe...it was a nightmare...?" She offers.

Stoick sits down on the edge of his son's bed, eyeing Hiccup's pale, blank face. "Hiccup...?" He asks, slowly. "Are you okay?"

Hiccup doesn't respond. He only continues to stare at the ceiling, evidently still dead to the world. His breathing evens out a little but that's the only thing that improves.

Stoick grabs his shoulders-a little too rough for Astrid's taste-and shakes him. "Son!" He barks loudly, hoping his shouts will drown out the deathly silence in Hiccup's ears.

But Hiccup just lays there, his eyes gazing at nothing.

"He's in shock..." Astrid mutters, recognizing those symptoms. The sudden lack of oxygen in his blood must have triggered it. She bites her lip. We know what's wrong with him...but how do we fix it?

Stoick nods. "Astrid, get Gothi. She'll know what to do." He says, releasing his grip on Hiccup's shoulders. There's a pained look in the viking's eyes. As if it physically hurts him not being able to do anything to help his son...

Astrid quickly agrees and hurries to the stairs. Just hang in there, Hiccup. You're going to be fine!

Toothless stares at his Rider in horror. Pure horror. He whimpers, unsure of what to do. Why is Hiccup acting like that? He's...awake now, right? His eyes are open... But he screamed like he was in pain. And Toothless is pretty sure he called his name. But...why? What's wrong with him? Astrid said something about him being in 'shock' but what does that mean?! Is Hiccup sick now too? With a pitiful whine, Toothless edges closer to his friend.

The dragon leans his head on Hiccup's chest and closes his eyes. For the first time in his life, he wishes he could speak his friend's language. That way, he could ask Stoick what's happening to his little Hiccup... But he can't. So the Night Fury will just have to settle with being there next to him and waiting. Gods, he's getting tired of waiting...