Astrid
I waited late into the night. My parents were asleep; the house was quiet. The fire burned low in the hearth as I sharpened my ax.
Hiccup hadn't come back yet. I should know – I could see his house from my own. Through the open door, I could see Stoick pacing back and forth, the way he only does when he's worried about Hiccup.
I shook my head in frustration. I never should have left him! Of course he would do something stupid. There was something different about him, the way he was acting, and the way he looked at everything. His deep brown eyes, normally sharp and clear, seemed so… lost. Unfocused. He looked sick.
Standing up, I realized I couldn't take this anymore. I had to do something. I ran outside and woke up Stormfly. "C'mon, girl, let's go," I coaxed, climbing onto her back.
I flew to wake the other riders up. I swooped past Fishleg's house, using Stormfly's spines to knock on the wall outside his room. He pushed open his shutters, looking out.
"Astrid?" he asked sleepily.
"Hiccup's not back yet," I called over to him.
He ran outside and jumped onto Meatlug, the Gronkle buzzing along to keep up.
We landed outside Snotlout's house. We pounded on his door and explained what was happening. Snotlout pretended not to be concerned, but we could tell in his eyes that he cared for his cousin.
Then, we all went to the twin's house, landing outside their door. I hurled my ax at their door. The door flew open with a bang when the ax bounced off.
"Stupid door!" Tuffnut shouted.
"It's us, Muttonhead!" I yelled.
"I knew that," Tuffnut said, emerging from the door. "Didn't I, Sis?" In response, Ruffnut slammed him on the head.
"Guys, Hiccup isn't back yet," Snotlout said. "Let's go get him out of trouble, yet again."
The twins got onto Barf and Belch and took off, flying with us to Hiccup's house by the great hall.
We jumped off our dragons right outside. "Sir?" Fishlegs asked as we stepped inside. "Hiccup's not back yet, is he?"
Stoick stopped pacing, his back toward us. "No, he's not." He turned around and walked out the door. He stopped a few steps outside and looked over his shoulder. "Well, aren't you coming?"
"Right behind you!" I said, running out and jumping onto Stormfly. Stoick climbed up behind me. He gave up his dragon, Thornado, to take care of some baby Thunderdrums awhile back, and he needed someone to ride with.
"Don't you even think about going without me, Chief," came a voice from around the corner. Gobber stepped out.
"Climb on!" Snotlout said. Gobber jumped onto Hookfang behind Snotlout.
"Stormfly, up!" She stretched out her wings and shot up into the air, the other dragons close behind.
"I never should have let Hiccup go out. I knew he was sick! His eyes didn't focus, he was confused, he always seemed to have a headache; why did I let him out of bed?" Stoick said from behind me. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was fretting.
"We never should have left him," I responded. We scanned the forest below us as we circled the steep hills on our way to the cave. Now, it was my turn to have trouble seeing. Tears filled my eyes, but I couldn't let them fall. I didn't want the others to know how scared I was for Hiccup. I wiped my eyes and tried to keep my chin from quivering.
I felt Stoick put his hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw a worried, yet reassuring look on his face. "Don't worry, Astrid. We'll find him."
I turned forward again and nodded.
"I don't see the cave around here anywhere!" Snotlout called. "It's too dark."
"It should be here somewhere!" Fishlegs responded.
"Look down there!" Ruffnut called. A bright blue flash came up into the sky. Plasma blast.
"Toothless!" Fishlegs called. We angled our dragons down to meet Toothless.
Landing on the ledge near him, Fishlegs had Meatlug blast some lava on the ground so we could see. We looked at Toothless, his prosthetic tail fin being the most visible in the darkness. He was carrying something round and shiny in his mouth. I gasped. "Is that –"
"Hiccup's shield!" exclaimed Stoick.
Gobber jumped off Hookfang and grabbed the shield. "He never goes anywhere without this shield."
Snotlout and the twins began searching through Toothless's saddlebags for some kind of clue. "His canteen is dry as a bone," Snotlout said.
"So Hiccup is somewhere, probably sick, without water, a shield, or weapons," I said.
Toothless wanted us to follow him. He turned to the cave.
"Toothless has been trying to get help," Fishlegs realized. "But he couldn't get down from here without Hiccup."
"Let's go!" I shouted. Toothless led the way into the cave, around the twisting tunnel.
Using our dragons, we lit some torches. We ran to where we had found the carvings.
"Guys… look there!" I said, pointing. Hiccup's metal leg, now broken, was laying on a sharp ledge, caught on a small projection right at the edge of the tunnel, where it dipped down and got completely vertical.
"Hiccup!" Stoick cried, shouting down the tunnel.
The color drained from my face as I realized aloud, "He's down there!"