Chapter Seven

A/N: FINALLY the plot starts to take off. Sorry that took so long! I just figure I needed to explain all the events up to this in order to show what, exactly, caused them to crash and where everything came from. Sooo...yeah! Enjoy this chapter and don't forget to REVIEW!

Also, the newest Defenders of Berk episode (named Zippleback Down) (11/21/13) was soooo cool! I love the twins (even though they get on my nerves sometimes with all their antics) XD. So it was pretty awesome to see an episode just for them. Plus, the return of Torch was pretty epic as well! I can't wait to see what happens with Alvin and/or Dagur and/or Mildew in the future.

Astrid grimaces, watching Toothless glide toward the island with no way of stopping or even steering himself. He'll crash eventually. The only questions remaining are: where? And how bad will it be?

Fishlegs cries out as the Monstrous Nightmare screeches in frustration and fires at him. Meatlug dodges but is obviously having a rough time keeping up with the far-more agile dragon.

Seeing this, Astrid turns back to Toothless and closes her eyes in defeat. There's nothing she can do to help him right now. The most she can do is help Fishlegs fend off the enemy dragon and hope that Hiccup makes it out alive somehow...

"Ohhh..." Hiccup moans in pain as he rolls over onto his side, reaching up to clutch his aching head. His eyes are still closed but he's awake now. His body feels heavy and broken. Everything hurts... When he takes his hand away from his forehead, his palm feels sticky. Finally cracking open an eye-and wincing from the painful light-he finds that his hand is caked in blood. His blood.

It's only then that he notices that the ground seems to be moving. It rises and falls, steadily. Confused, he tilts his head backwards to see where he is. His breath hitches at the sight below him.

"Toothless..." He croaks, forcing himself to roll the rest of the way over. Standing, or even sitting up, isn't an option right now though. Toothless is laying on his back, his legs still grasping Hiccup's body. He grimaces when he realizes what happened. Toothless saved his life again...but at what cost? "Hey, bud." He whispers, petting the dragon's head. "Are you okay?"

He gets no response.

Hiccup's breath catches again, he feels his throat closing with the threat of tears. "T-Toothless...?" He asks in a shaking voice. "Bud, wake up."

Nothing.

Hiccup bites his lip against the pain and forces himself to get to his feet. He stumbles and then falls again, gasping at the horrible pain in his head.. But right now, he isn't really concerned about himself. He needs to know that Toothless is okay.

Now that he's no longer laying on the dragon's body, he can see the rather painful-looking gash running up one Toothless's back legs. There are also several patches were the scales were torn off of him. A small amount of blood seeps from those spots. They're nothing life-threatening but they might hinder his movement. Other than those minor injuries, Toothless seems to be okay...so why won't he wake up?

Hiccup moves closer, touching his dragon's head again. "Toothless." He says, trying to sound firm. "Come on, please wake up." But, despite his efforts, his voice breaks again. He drops his hand to his side and takes a deep breath to steady himself. Come on, Hiccup. Get ahold of yourself. Toothless is fine...he's gonna be fine... He bites his lip again, unsure of what to do.

With his eyes closed, Hiccup misses the slight twitch of Toothless's nose. He doesn't notice the very subtle coo that comes from the dragon's throat. That is, until Toothless nudges him with his paw, almost knocking the weakened boy over.

"Toothless!" Hiccup cries out, joyfully. Tears spring to his eyes and he stumbles over, wrapping his arms around his friend's neck. "Thank Thor you're okay!" He breathes.

Toothless purrs and rolls over, shaking his body as if to wake himself up a bit more. Hiccup laughs and pulls away, sighing with relief now that Toothless is back on his feet. Still, those wounds don't look good.

Having forgotten his own pain, Hiccup stands up. "Come on, bud. We need to get back to Berk and have Gobber take a look at..." His voice trails off as his eyes roll back in his head. Hiccup's knees give out and he collapses back to the forest floor.

"Hiccup!" Astrid calls, cupping her mouth to help project her voice. "Hiccup! Can you hear me?" She and Fishlegs have been tramping through the forests for almost an hour since chasing off the Monstrous Nightmare. That island may have looked small from the sky but, up close, it seems enormous. Especially knowing that Hiccup is here somewhere, probably hurt...maybe even dead. She frowns. No, not dead. No way is he dead.

"Hiccup! Toothless!" Fishlegs shouts.

"Hiccup!" Astrid nearly screams. "Toothless!"

They get no response.

Astrid does her best to fight the panic that is steadily rising within her. What if Hiccup is badly hurt? What if he can't walk or is still unconscious? How will they ever find him in this huge forest? What if...what if...

"Astrid." Fishlegs says, touching her shoulder.

"What is it...?" She asks, sounding almost hopeless.

"Look." He points up toward the sky.

"What?" She asks him. "What are you pointing at?"

"Look at that tree." He says. "It's all...bent."

It takes a moment but she eventually finds the tree he's talking about. It's a good few yards away but...he's right. Something big-something dragon sized-must have hit it for it snap like that. The two sprint toward it. Astrid's heart is racing at the new evidence. Not only are more broken trees ahead, she even finds a black scale. Toothless crashed near here.

When Hiccup's eyes finally flutter open again, he finds himself wrapped in darkness. An aching pain resonates throughout his whole body, particularly his head. He feels like he's been trampled by a herd of dragons... But why is it so dark?

"Ohh...where am I...?" He wonders. Suddenly, as if the world itself were reacting to the sound of his voice, there's movement all around him. The dark sky breaks and bright, blue light comes streaming in. Oh, that explains it. The darkness had been Toothless's wings covering him. Said dragon nudges his Rider with his nose. The Night Fury lets out a small whimper and prods at Hiccup again. "O-ow...okay, yeah, I'm glad to see you too." He says, petting him. Toothless whimpers again and moves a little closer, sniffing Hiccup's forehead. "I'm okay, bud. Just a little sore..."

Toothless scoots over and stands up, giving Hiccup room. However, Hiccup can't help but notice the limp in his friend's step.

"Oh boy..." He grumbles, pushing himself back onto his elbows. "We really messed up this time, huh bud?"

Toothless drones and tilts his head.

"I wonder if anyone even knows-" He stops, his eyes widening. "Oh no...what happened to Astrid and Fishlegs? They were fighting the Monstrous Nightmare when we..." He grits his teeth together. "I hope they're okay."

-xXx-

"Hiccup!" Astrid is sprinting at this point, her arms and legs pumping as she ducks under branches and jumps over roots and overgrowth. "Toothless!" She knows they're close. They have to be. So why won't they answer her? Of course, the logical reason is that they're simply to far away to hear her. But Astrid isn't interested in logic right now. She just wants to know that Hiccup is alive.

Her steps finally slow once she gets out of breath. Black spots dance across her vision and she has to sit down. "Do you see anything yet, Fishlegs?" She calls. He and Meatlug are hovering just above the trees, trying to get an aerial view.

"Not yet!" He shouts back.

She closes her eyes and leans her head in her hands. Oh Hiccup...where are you?

Hiccup's eyes are closed once again. His body resting against the soft, loamy ground below him, with Toothless's body wrapped around him. He hadn't exactly wanted to go to sleep but his head hurt so much...he couldn't keep his eyes open. Suddenly, though, Toothless snaps his head up. His wide, green eyes flashing back and forth across their little clearing.

Feeling this, Hiccup opens one eye. "What is it, bud?" He asks.

Toothless jumps to his feet and bounces toward the woods, stopping at the edge and looking at Hiccup.

Hiccup tries to sit up but gasps at the pain in his head, clutching it. "W-what's the matter? Do you hear something?" He manages to prop himself onto his elbows without much difficulty and cranes his neck to see what Toothless is looking at. He sees nothing.

Then, as if startled, Toothless yaps and jumps backwards. He looks at Hiccup then back at the woods. When he notices that Hiccup can't stand, Toothless runs over and nudges his Rider, cooing loudly.

"Bud, what're you doing?" Hiccup asks, squinting through his blurry vision. His head has started to ring again and his eyelids feel heavy.

Just then, Toothless whips around to look at the trees once more. His ears perk up and twitch as he listens. The dragon suddenly leans down and grips Hiccup's clothes with his gums, trying to force him to get up.

There must be a good reason for him to be acting like this... Hiccup decides. "Okay..." He grunts, allowing Toothless to help him stand. Hiccup has to close his eyes against the dizziness but remains on his feet, using Toothless like a crutch for the first few steps. "Okay...what is it, bud?" He asks, stumbling after the excited dragon.

Astrid picks up pace, following the scattered trail of broken trees and dragon scales. A few times, she even finds little smears of blood on the bark and on the ground. Her chest feels tight with nervousness. With all this destruction, Toothless must be hurt pretty badly. Then again, dragons are tough. They don't die easily. The same can't be said for Hiccup... He may have survived the fight with the Red Death, but only just barely...

It's while her thoughts are on these subjects that she hears something. The cracking of a branch. She stops dead in her tracks and looks up to where Fishlegs is viciously scanning the woods for any sign of their lost friends. It couldn't have been him. So who-

"Ow-ow! Okay, bud, I got it...I'm coming!" Even from this distance, Hiccup's voice is unmistakable.

"Hiccup...?" She whispers, turning around to face where the voice had come from. "H-HICCUP!" She screams, sprinting in his direction.