How To Train Your Dragon: Possibilities

6. Nightmare: The mind of a leader who is secretly afraid of what the future will hold can conjure horrors beyond description. That doubt and fear can cripple normal men. But normal men don't have Night Furies.

Chaos had erupted on Berk that night. On an unsuspecting evening when the residents had thought themselves to be safely asleep, the village had been overrun in a matter of minutes. Smoke was now pouring from the houses that still stood amidst the burning wreckage of the attack. The pathways were starting to run red from the casualties now strewn about the streets, both Viking and dragon alike. A massacre by definition. Hasty to get his revenge and even though he no longer had his former armored beasts to help him, a madman's sheer determination and fear mongering of the weaker willed tribes of the world had made his forces nearly as strong as before, if not more so. Drago Bludvist had spent years planning the events of today. He no longer wanted to simply control the monsters that allied themselves with the residents of this island. That defeat at the hands of the chief and the Alpha had stung too much, cut too deeply into his pride to let those disgusting creatures get away with it. All he wanted now was them all dead. He wanted them destroyed and burned and buried, just like everything else in his life that he had lost thanks to them. And now here he was.

His men had presented him with the last of Berk's brave dragon masters, the ones who had found a way to combat his own forces and somehow win against him so long ago. These three in particular had remained in his thoughts ever since his defeat, the numerous ways he could make them suffer having kept his fevered imagination occupied for days. And now, Drago found his dream within his grasp now they were here on their knees before him. His men were standing behind them with their weapons ready to enact his orders, just in case they refused to answer his demands. He silently hoped they would. It would give him a chance to inflict some real pain before they died. Drago paced between his three prisoners, his gaze glancing over the flaming ruins of Berk that surrounded them all. It had been a clever move for most of the village to go into hiding, but ultimately foolish. Their chief has always been afraid of conflict and he would make sure that the price of that cowardice would be paid. Now he just needed to know where they were.

Drago's brow lowered into a scowl as he focused his attention to the three Vikings before him, arms tied behind their backs to ensure they could no longer fight back. They had chosen to remain behind for whatever reason whilst the rest of the village had fled. Some noble reasons of protection through distraction or some such rubbish. But they hadn't been able to avoid capture for long. The blond haired young woman who had tried to bluff her way to freedom aboard his ship when they first met. The Dragon Thief who had dared to raise her staff against him at her Sanctuary. And finally, the famed Dragon Master, now dragonless and defenseless. They had tried to fight back against his men, but had been quickly overpowered by the sheer number Drago had brought with him. Now he would make sure to savour this as best he could.
"Bring the chief here," Drago said after some silence, almost like he had been too distracted at admiring the devastation he had wrought this night. One of the men behind Hiccup grabbed him by the shoulder and roughly pushed him forward, the young man grunting as his front half slumped into the blood stained ground. Drago whirled on the spot, kneeling down to grab the chief by his throat and pull him upright. Hiccup spluttered at it, struggling for breath until the madman finally let him go. He coughed, trying to clear his airway as his hands struggled against the tight rope binds around his wrists. Drago chuckled, remaining knelt down as he looked his foe dead in the eye.
"And here we are, 'Dragon Master'. If your father didn't feel shame before, he certainly would now." The conqueror sneered, directing Hiccup's attention to the bodies that still lay in the streets with a nod of his head. "They didn't have to die, you know. I just wanted to make a point. You cannot simply run from me. If you think you can, then it only proves that you're still nothing in my presence." Hiccup remained silent, trying to keep staring at the ground instead of Drago's intimidating gaze.
"You can't frighten us, Bludvist!" Valka yelled, pulling against her bonds in near desperation at seeing her son singled out for whatever Drago had planned. "We've bested you before and we'll best you again as many times as it takes!"
"Brave words from someone who thought it best for their people to run like whelps rather than face me like men!"
"We don't need to face you to win," Astrid growled, the image of her own battleaxe singing through the air towards Drago's head all too tempting a fantasy right now. "You can try and do what you want to us, but you'll never find them and you'll never take our dragons away again!" Drago resisted the urge to laugh. They still thought he was in the business of wanting Berk's dragons for himself? It was going to be a nasty shock to them when they discovered otherwise. He waved a hand, the men in charge of guarding the prisoners pulling at Astrid and Valka's ropes to keep them still. He instead refocused his attentions on the chief who had so far remained silent.
"I know you tried to hide the dragons and the others from me," Drago continued. "Typical of you. You've always been a coward."
"A chief protects his own. Which is more than I can say that you've ever done for anyone..." Hiccup hissed. He spat the words out with a menace that he rarely showed, his face caked with dirt and splatters of his own blood. He knew he was in no real position to be brave. Even in his attempts to simply be a distraction to Drago's men whilst the rest of Berk hid safely, he knew the deaths of the few that had been unable to escape were his fault. His greatest fear of not being able to protect was slowly being realized before his very eyes. Yet his scowl remained stern. Even disadvantaged, he would not give in to Drago's tactics. He couldn't.

Hiccup hated fighting. He hated the very concept of it, the horror and the bloodshed it left behind in its wake. Everything about it was wrong, solved nothing, and caused nothing but grief. The years of fighting among the dragons and now against these invaders had proven that time and time again. So he had chosen to avoid it entirely instead. To hide the dragons and the less battle ready villagers from their attackers, the chief and the warriors of Berk had rushed to move them into the cave systems underneath the island, places that Drago's forces knew nothing about. He had ordered Gobber and the other Riders to be in charge of moving the people underground whilst he had forced Toothless to stay with them for the sake of the dragons. The Alpha had objected. Almost violently. He had pleaded with his human not to go alone, refusing to stay put and had instead tried to follow him back to the surface. Hiccup had to make sure that Toothless stayed alive for the sake of the others. Without an Alpha, the dragons would be as lost as they were all those years ago and then Drago would truly have won. As much as he knew it had broken the Night Fury's heart to force them apart like this, Hiccup knew that Toothless' stubborn loyalty would only get him in trouble. Astrid and Valka, realizing that Hiccup going alone would be nearly suicide, had insisted they remain with him in the village against his initial orders given their past personal experiences with Drago. Together, they made a plan to be a distraction, something for Drago and his miniature army to focus on rather than searching the rest of the island. They hadn't realized just how little time they had before the combined forces of multiple tribes had overwhelmed them. Some hadn't made it. Whether they were human lives that had been extinguished by simply being too slow to escape to the caves or dragons that had bravely tried to defend their counterparts from their fate, it did them no good. Now, the scarred and mutilated bodies of both were littering the walkways of whatever of Berk remained left and the sight of each one tore up the chief inside. Hiccup's plan hadn't worked, at least not completely. His ideals of trying to keep the peace had failed him again because he didn't know what else to do. He never had learned how to do anything else in his quest to be a different kind of chief from his predecessors. But Hiccup knew he had to be brave despite the guilt. He had to be strong. If he broke now, he would not only have let those others die for the sake of this foolish plan, but also condemn everyone else he loved to the same fate.

'I won't let anything happen to you, Toothless. I'll be back, I promise.'

"You say a chief protects his own and yet you can't even do it yourself. And you still try to defend the monsters that have taken lives from the villages of every man stood here?" Drago yelled aloud. The men who had chosen to ally with him nodded to themselves in silent agreement.
"You've manipulated these tribes into being scared of them!" Hiccup shouted back. "Dragons are not a threat to anyone! And yet you go on warmongering like it's the answer to everything! You don't want to help these people, you just want an excuse to make them do what you want!" The next thing Hiccup felt was a sudden blow to his gut, the wind being knocked out of him with a sickening thwack of metal against his armor. Using his prosthetic arm just seemed appropriate to Drago, beating some sense into his enemy who had lost a part of himself to dragons just as he had. At the moment of impact, he heard his other two prisoners call out their chief's name in surprise, prompting the men guarding them to strike them with the handles of their weapons to keep them quiet. Drago raised a brow as Hiccup struggled for air, moving his mouth towards the young man's ear so close that he could almost feel the boy shivering. A thin smile spread across his face.
"I'm merely doing what they want me to. I offered them a way to be rid of these demons once and for all. No...'control', as you put it, necessary." Hiccup grit his teeth, closing his eyes to try and keep himself calm. Drago would not fool him. The world wanted peace. No one but madmen wanted war. Unfortunately, Drago was the latter.
"Where are the dragons?" he demanded, his voice surprisingly quiet for how loud he could get. Hiccup didn't give a response, turning his head away from the conqueror in an act of defiance. Drago grunted and struck Hiccup again, his entire body heaving itself to the side to swing the heavy spiked prosthesis against the chief's face. With a shout of pain, Hiccup was knocked to the left from the impact. He began to feel the wet sensation of thin rivulets of blood starting to pour from the wound above his temple as he hit the ground.
"Where are they?!" Drago screamed, raising his good arm in anticipation of another hit. Hiccup opened up the eye on the side of his head that hadn't been hit. He spat, a splatter of red painting the spot beneath him.
"Do your worst, Drago, I'm not telling you a thing. You won't have our dragons," he said calmly, sending a wave of rage running through the larger man's body. The chief was being defiant, even when he had been beaten. Well, there was an easy way to solve that. Drago grabbed Hiccup by the throat again, nearly fully picking him off the ground from the strength of his arm as the young Viking tried desperately to breathe. He was thrown back down to the ground again, now spun around to face both Astrid and Valka. Another splattering of blood hit the ground as Hiccup's head was tossed forward and as he tried to re-balance himself, Drago suddenly grabbed him by the back of his head and pulled it backwards, towering over him. Hiccup winced in pain as he stared down his foe in the eye.
"Then let me say it another way," Drago began. "You either tell me where the dragons are. Or they die."

Hiccup's initial sense of bravado melted away like ice at those words, his eyes turning wide with a panicked gasp as Drago nodded at his men to take positions. The madman re-angled his hand so that Hiccup had no choice but to watch the scene before him, his head being held in place no matter how hard he was struggling to escape. Both Astrid and Valka grunted, pulling against their restraints until the chilled sensation of a blade was pressed against their necks.
"Astrid! Mom!" Hiccup's breathing came out in shaky exhales. Even his attempt at being defiant was starting to unravel. He was running blank on ideas. What was he supposed to do?
"Hiccup! Don't tell him anything!" Astrid yelled. She remained resistant as ever, even despite the situation. "You need to keep the others safe, don't listen to him!"
"She's right, son! Save the others, don't let Drago take them!" Valka joined in, her expression just as brave even when the blade of her captor's sword pressed harder into her skin. Sensing that the chief wasn't getting the point, Drago nodded his head towards the solider behind Valka. He pressed with his blade, actually digging into the flesh enough that the sight of the blood beginning to spill made fear course through Hiccup's system.
"Stop! Stop it!" Hiccup yelled, causing the men to ease their grip on their weapons. "Don't, I'll...!"
"Hiccup, no!" Valka interrupted, her face remaining strong despite how her heart tore seeing her son so afraid. "Don't say anyth-"
"ENOUGH!" Drago screamed, his hand gripping tighter against Hiccup's head and making the young chief feel like the bone was going to give way from the pressure. "Where did you hide the dragons?!" Hiccup grit his teeth, grunts of pain barely escaping as he struggled to maintain his silence. His hands were shaking, grabbing against the ropes keeping him bound just to have something to hold on to. He had to bite his tongue, literally, to stop him blurting out the answer. He had to save them both, it was his fault they were here! He couldn't let them fall for his mistake. But...he couldn't betray the village. Not under any circumstances.

Stoick had told him this would be something he would need to do years ago. A chief had to make the hard decisions. Decisions that could mean the difference between who lived and who died. But how were you supposed to know what was the right choice until it was too late? How was Hiccup supposed to know what to do when dealing with someone like Drago, a man to which the rules didn't apply? If he decided poorly, two people who meant more to him than any other on Berk would be added to the list of casualties this day. Unless... Drago was bluffing. If he really wanted them all dead, he would've done it by now, right? He could do it easily, a single slip of the wrist and there'd be three cut throats and yet he hadn't carried it out. That had to be it. There couldn't be in any real danger, could there? But that was only if Hiccup was right in what he was thinking. He glanced between Astrid and Valka, the pair of them nodding their heads slowly as if to give him permission to resist Drago's command. They were prepared for the consequences as long as it kept the rest of Berk safe.
"They're hidden somewhere you won't find them!" Hiccup eventually yelled, his teeth almost grinding themselves against each other as a sudden fear of being wrong swept over his emotions. He was praying in his head, closing his eyes and hoping with his entire being that Drago wouldn't do it. He couldn't. He almost felt relief when Drago seemed to hesitate at a next step. The towering figure looked between the young chief and his companions in tandem before he simply raised his hand.
"Fine." The confidence Hiccup had in his choice reduced to nothing but an afterthought when Drago gave a cutting motion across his neck to his men, the young chief straining against his bonds even as his captor held him still. Astrid gasped, pulling against her bonds in a desperate effort to get to her love. Valka did the same, the three of them screaming to one another as if it would somehow stop what was coming.

"Hiccup!"
"Son!"
"NO!"

The next few seconds played in horrifying slow motion for Hiccup. He couldn't even register what had happened straight away. Just near hazy glimpses as his brain refused to process what he saw. Looks of shocked terror on the faces of people he loved, the sudden slicing motions of blades, sickening wet sounds of gasping for breath. And blood. So much blood. The heavy forms of both his mother and the love of his life fell to the ground in near silence, landing in thick pools of red pouring from their necks with gut wrenching twitches and disgusting noises of air gurgling out of the wounds, just as that word finished forcing its way out of Hiccup's lungs. There was no slow welling of tears. They just spilled out of his eyes like waterfalls as he screamed at the ground in sheer anguish at what he was seeing.
"NO!" Hiccup howled, his eyes transfixed on the gruesome sight before him. "No, no, no, please...!" The Viking wept, the dirt on his face clinging to the tracks of moisture the tears left behind.

"Astrid... Mom... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, I'm sorry! It's my fault... please...don't be gone...you can't be...!"

Hiccup kept begging to himself quietly over and over, his thoughts pleading to whatever gods were out there to undo his terrible mistake. This had to be a bad dream, a nightmare he just needed to wake up from. The only response to his wish was Drago aiming a well placed kick at the middle of his spine to send him face first into the ground. He wasn't even being given time to grieve. No gods would save him from this mistake. He might as well have killed them both himself. And if he was wrong again, the rest of the island was sure to follow. Drago himself was fuming inside. This was ridiculous! Even with his own family members threatened with death, the Dragon Master had still refused to talk. It almost made him feel ill at this insect's casual disregard for human life to protect the dragons. He should just kill the chief and burn the rest of this island to the ground for trying to defy his will. Drago was seriously considering it as he glared down at the still weeping boy. But suddenly, Drago had an idea. A devious idea that would kill two birds with one stone. Or, in this case, kill two Alphas. If the chief of Berk refused to budge with his stance of protecting the reptilian monsters even when given the possibility of losing his own villagers, then perhaps the monsters themselves would do the job.

The Night Fury always came running. Even through to the end of their last battle, it had fought and struggled to protect the chief whenever something happened to him. So if Drago could find a way to bring it here, he would know where the others are. And that meant having to do something he'd wanted to do for years.
"You sicken me. You'd let them die rather than betray the dragons!" Drago mocked, Hiccup refusing to look up from his crumpled position on the ground as the blood of the latest victims started to stain his hair. He looked shell shocked, like he was unable to process what had just happened. "If you're not going to talk when they're threatened, then it makes me wonder what will!" the madman continued to taunt, grabbing Hiccup's hair once more and forcing another grunt of pain from the young man. "So...let's find out how good the hearing of a dragon is."
Hiccup didn't have a chance to understand what Drago meant before he was suddenly hit by something. Something that made a nasty tearing sound through the back of his armor and pierced right through to the skin. The Viking screamed. As Drago's bull hook pierced into his back, drawing thick lines of red into his now exposed flesh, the weapon tugged and tore through whatever was in its way. Hiccup's back arched, his body wracked with sheer agony from the curved blade cutting into his torso, his cries of pain only amplified by the loss he had suffered mere moments ago before Drago finally ripped the weapon away. Hiccup fell forward, heaving as he struggled to even remember what he was trying to resist at this point. His mind was shutting it out just to try and overcome the sensation of pain setting his nerve ends on fire. At least, until the next hit. As the next strike made contact, Hiccup cried out again, his hands threatening to tear at the ropes they were bound in as Drago almost seemed to cackle at making the 'great leader' of Berk suffer in this way. As the bull hook became temporarily stuck in some of the leather that hadn't torn properly, Drago unhooked it with a grunt before giving a gesture to the men around him. Hiccup saw them begin to move, hiding behind some of the structures that still lay around the scene before them, their outlines barely illuminated by the flames. Like they were waiting for something. He still wasn't given a chance to think about what they were doing before Drago kicked him over onto his now sliced up back, the bull hook blade raising up into the air before is suddenly thrust downwards. Once more, Hiccup's yells of pain pierced the night air as the edge of the blade stabbed into his side, treating his outfit like it was wet paper from the good it did. Blood spurted from the wound, staining the ground and Hiccup's clothing before he grew quiet again, his tear stained face grimacing at what he was having to go through. Drago wasn't going for the kill. He was deliberately trying to draw out the pain and torture him. But Hiccup didn't know why. Why wouldn't Drago just kill him?
"You...what are you doing...?" he managed to groan, his voice hoarse from his cries of pain and guilt. Hiccup was cut off when a distant sound caught his attention. A sound that was all too familiar to him, just as Drago's sinister grin showed itself once again.
"That..." the former Dragon God muttered, pointing his now blood-stained hook towards the source of the noise. It was getting louder, the heavy beating of air against the ground and frantic running footsteps on the ground. Hiccup knew instantly what it was. Drago had lured him here on purpose. As much as he had ordered his friend not to, the chief knew that the dragon would never leave him alone if he heard cries of distress.

"T-Toothless, no! Get away, it's a trap!"

Despite his protests, Hiccup couldn't stop his dragon even if he wasn't tied up. In a matter of a moments, the familiar black outline of a Night Fury burst from around the corner, soaring through the air in a pouncing motion and sending a fireball straight towards Drago. He had heard Hiccup crying in agony all the way down in the caves thanks to the nearby well. It made his entire being ache just as bad at knowing his rider was in distress and yet he was forced to stay and protect the other dragons. Alpha status be damned. Whatever this nasty trapper had done, he would not make Hiccup hurt again! Those sounds had made Toothless act almost by instinct, the former idea of obeying his rider's orders far removed from his mind as he raced to save his Hiccup from harm. With a trusty plasma blast in the signature style of a Night Fury attack, Toothless watched as his burning projectile raced through the air towards Drago. His foe simply raised his cloak and deflected the fire away thanks to the dragon skin it was cut from, just as the other men leaped out from their hiding positions. A group of five, each armed with weapons, jumped onto the dragon to pin him down in an ambush, the Night Fury roaring in frustration as he was literally tackled out of the air. It was like the arena all over again.
"Toothless!" Hiccup cried, Drago grabbing him by the ropes around his wrists to keep him steady as the dragon was pulled to the ground. Drago's men yelled in their own exertions to keep the Night Fury solidly grounded as Toothless resisted and tried to kick them away. He partially succeeded as his tail whipped one of the men near his back legs, roaring as his front claw swept another off his feet. The dragon prepared to pounce towards Drago again, growling furiously at what the madman had done to his rider. But Toothless found himself stopping when Drago raised his hook blade to Hiccup's neck, the blood dripping from it almost frightening the dragon with imagining what it could be from. Was that Hiccup's blood...? Toothless whined at the threat, his resistance to his captors growing weaker until he eventually let the men keep him held down on the ground. They planted a heavy weapon on each limb and wing that they could muster and the Night Fury didn't stop them. If he had to be captured to save Hiccup, he would be. Anything to save him. Hiccup mentally cursed at his dragon for being so loyal.
"Toothless, no! Forget about me, get out of here!" Hiccup pleaded, his tears threatened to show themselves again. "I can't let them take you too, please!" Toothless flinched at the shouting, unable to understand why his Hiccup was so upset. He was here to help, they'd get out of this together like they always did. What was there to be afraid of? And that was when the dragon noticed the two bodies to his left that remained lying in deep puddles of crimson. Toothless knew who they were just from the smell, his horrified expression turning back towards his Hiccup as the young chief threatened to cry once again.
"They...th-they're gone...they're gone and it's my fault..."
"Indeed, it is. And if you try anything, dragon, he's going to join them!" Drago spoke up, slamming his bull hook into the ground near Toothless' head as a warning. The Night Fury only momentarily flinched, disregarding Drago completely as all his concern focused on his human. He knew his Hiccup would never do this, he shouldn't blame himself. A sympathetic croon vibrated its way along the ground towards Hiccup, a noise that always lifted his spirits. But now, the young Viking couldn't feel it. He couldn't see a way out of this, waiting to hear Drago's inevitable demands as the madman circled the two.
"So, the two Alphas of Berk, brought to kneel before me so easily!" Drago gloated, acting the closest to a positive emotion that Hiccup had ever seen him manage and causing the men he had brought with him to laugh in sync with him. The braids of the conqueror's hair blew loosely about in the night wind as he knelt down towards the still immobilized Hiccup.
"Now, you have one last chance, 'Dragon Master'. Tell me, right now, where the rest of these vermin are hiding. And I'll let you both live." Drago ordered, gesturing towards Toothless with a tone of disdain.
"Drago... please... I'm begging you to stop this..." Hiccup mumbled, his usual energetic self having long since died thanks to the night's events. He sounded pathetic. "You... don't need to do this... no one else has to die..." Drago could only laugh again at having so easily broken the famed master of dragons, even as he vainly tried to offer peace as usual.
"Is that a refusal to answer, I hear? Because if it is..." With those words explaining the threat of failure to comply without saying it outright, Hiccup suddenly understood why Drago had lured Toothless here. A panic greater than anything he had felt before overwhelmed his senses now that the last bit of family he had left was faced with extinction. As a sneer spread over Drago's lips, Hiccup shook his head frantically, struggling to right himself being tied up as he was.
"No...! Please, you can't!"
"Too late!" the man roared fiercely. "I've waited years to break you, you dragon sympathizing scum! You've just given me the perfect excuse!" Drago whirled on the spot, grabbing his bull hook from the ground and jabbing it downwards as a final order before he walked behind Hiccup's body. "Such a shame to send off the last of them. Kill it."
"NO!" the chief screamed, the Night Fury whining back at him as the pair of them struggled against their bonds. Toothless whimpered, staring at Hiccup with his usual big loving eyes as if to hope that his human had a plan. Hiccup always had a plan. They would get out of this, wouldn't they?

Wouldn't they...?

One of the men holding Toothless down grabbed at the dragon's head, raising it up off the ground as a sword was pressed underneath it. Toothless cried out in distress at feeling cold steel press against his scales, the rest of his body wriggling and forcing itself to try and break free against the weight of men holding him down. Hiccup was still being help firmly back by Drago's own strength, despite how he was still vainly trying to reach his beloved dragon in time.
"Toothless! TOOTHLESS!" he yelled, his voice threatening to crack from how much it been exerted today. "STOP! PLEASE, DON'T!" The man in charge of the weapon merely turned his nose up at the suggestion and went back to his 'craft', readying his hand. Toothless became still, his eyes wide and pathetic as his ear plates slowly drooped down against his neck. He whimpered, seeming to plead with his human to save them both. Yet he was still seeming to slowly realize what was going to come next. And there was nothing either of them could do to stop him. Hiccup and his dragon stared at each other, the moment seeming to slow to a standstill as both of their eyes began to fill with tears. For Hiccup, it had happened one time too many today. And yet he couldn't help his friend, his family, the one scrap of love he had left in the world after his own actions. His own decisions had caused this. He had lost his father, the man who had expected him to lead Berk to greatness but would instead lead it to ruin. He had lost his mother, the one who had shown him the true majesty of dragons and his lineage. He had lost the love of his life, the girl who stole his heart and aided him through thick and thin. And now, he was going to lose his dragon. The one other soul in this world who reflected his own. The one whom his love for knew no bounds. As Hiccup's mouth hung open, the words refusing to come to him, the thug in charge of the sword cut.

The sights that Hiccup saw were beyond description. The sounds that he heard were beyond processing. And the feelings were something he could never forget. No one had ever heard a Night Fury scream before. And they never would again after tonight. The horrendous screeching of utter fear of the end drowned out everything around it. The blood spilled thick and red in quantities not thought possible, the majestic creature's pupils turning to slits as the energy of his body drained out in horrible spurts and sprays to the ground. Toothless' wings and tail twitched and flailed in terror, his muscles seeming to spasm the more the blade cut into his body. Hiccup couldn't even hear himself screaming. He couldn't hear anything except for Toothless' howl driving into his skull. All he could feel was the most painful feeling of guilt and remorse in the world. He had only felt a taste of it when he had lost his mother and Astrid. He had felt the fear of it when faced with the prospect of the entire village being wiped out. But now, the true realization as he watched the light drain from his beloved Night Fury's eyes hit him. The realization of his failure. The realization he was alone. The realization that he had doomed everyone under his care. The realization that everyone he knew would soon be dead.

Because of him.

"TOOTHLESS!"

Hiccup bolted upright as he screamed, his voice screeching into the silence of the night loud enough to probably wake up all of Berk. His heart felt like it was going to rip itself free from the confines of his rib cage, the dull thudding of its beating ringing in his ears like the island's horn sirens. His breathing rattled through the dryness of his throat as he hurriedly spun his head about to try and get a sense of where he was. Drago wasn't here. Neither were those men. He wasn't outside amidst the burning remains of his home. He was safely inside it, laying in bed with the only noise apart from the constant pumping of his heart being the sudden rushing of footsteps moving towards him, quiet as they were.
"Hiccup! Son, what's wrong? Is Toothless OK?" The voice of his mother broke Hiccup out of his stupor, making him jump as Valka's face came into the light from the lantern on his desk in her usual sleek way of maneuvering. She grabbed his hands, alarmed that they were shaking harder than if he were in a blizzard, one of her own reaching up to brush over his face. Hiccup seemed shocked to see her.
"Mom... gods..." he panted out, leaning towards her to properly hug around her torso. The former Dragon Thief smiled warmly to mask her worry, rubbing her hands over her son's back to keep him calm.
"Shh, shh, it's alright. A bad dream...?" she asked, relaxing her grip on Hiccup as she brushed his sweat drenched hair from his brow. "You've been working so hard lately, it's no wonder your head's running wild at night. Are you alright?" Hiccup wasn't sure, his mother did have a point. The day to day stresses of revitalizing Berk's defenses had kept his mind occupied for the past month. Sleepless nights had been a common occurrence, but he would've preferred to still have them rather than seeing those horrors. Especially since that dream was focused on an evacuation plan he had started to draw up only the previous day.
"I... I don't..." Hiccup's words were cut off when he felt the familiar warmth and vibrations of Toothless pushing into his stomach, his tear stained eyes stinging as his mind caught up with the reality of his situation.
"Bud... oh, Toothless, you're safe..." he muttered, his entire body leaning forward to hug against his dragon's head tighter than he had ever done before. The vice like grip of his human's hands made Toothless only feel more concern as to the origin of the loud burst of noise that had woken up the rest of the house. The Night Fury crooned at his rider, looking towards Valka with a face that implored her to find out what was wrong. She nodded her head, leaning in towards her babe with a warm smile.
"You're safe now. Even the bravest of chiefs have nightmares that can rattle them," she assured him. Hiccup opened his eyes, keeping his head rested against Toothless' own as he nodded slowly. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"No," Hiccup blurted out quickly, shaking his head. "No, I'm sorry I woke you. It was just a dream, right? I'm fine." Valka frowned, not seeming convinced.
"You don't need to put on the brave face, Hiccup. You can tell me." The young Viking hesitated, relaxing his grip on Toothless' head and moving back towards a properly sat up position. He sighed, sniffing and rubbing at his still damp eyes.
"It was...it was Drago. He came back to the island after I tried to protect everyone, hide them from him. But I couldn't save them. I couldn't save you, I couldn't save Toothless and I watched you all..." Valka placed a hand on Hiccup's shoulder to hush him, already being able to tell it was a hard thing to recall from the tone of his voice. Some gentle motherly encouragement seemed like it would do the job to ease his still active mind.
"Listen, Hiccup. With everything you've done, with everything that this island has managed to build under your leadership, Drago will never get to us. He may threaten us, he may bring armies. But I promise you, son, you will prevail. As you always have." Valka shifted her body closer to Hiccup and wrapped him in a hug once more, holding him tightly to her chest. "You're a kind soul in a world that doesn't like the idea. You have your family, you have your dragon and you have everyone on this island behind you. And that's what will be Bludvist's downfall." Hiccup breathed a big sigh of relief, one that was surely needed as his tired body finally began to relax. Valka always knew what to say to soothe his frantic and panicked thoughts. He held onto her just as firmly for a fleeting second before she pulled away, pressing her lips softly onto his forehead. Hiccup dared a slight smile.
"Kissing it all better too, huh?"
"You forget you're still a babe to me" Valka replied calmly, ruffling his head playfully before standing up. "Try and get some rest if you can, dear. You know where I am if you need me."
"I will... thanks, Mom." The look of Valka's smile soothed Hiccup as she began to move towards the stairs in her usual quiet-footed manner.

As she disappeared from sight, Toothless came close again, gently nudging into Hiccup's side with an insistent rumble to check whether his human was alright. Hiccup smiled, once again wrapping his arms around the Night Fury's head and tightly squeezing it close to his chest. Toothless snorted as he was tugged forward, but quickly settled with a content growl that vibrated its way into the bed frame.
"Hey, bud? Could you...stay here for a bit?" The question made the dragon's ear plates flutter as he simply bobbed his head down once in an answer, shuffling his legs into a more comfortable sitting position as Hiccup began to lay back. Toothless' head laid on the bed, pushing into the chief's hand and nuzzling him softly to try and keep his spirits up. Bad dreams were always icky and he would do his best to help Hiccup be rid of such unpleasant memories. Hiccup's smile remained for moment as he idly brushed his fingers over the Night Fury's snout. Though when he saw Toothless looking up at him with those huge adoring eyes of his, it faded. The same eyes had been staring at him in the same way moments before...
'No. I won't let that happen.' Hiccup thought to himself, trying to keep his fears under control might have felt scared deep down. Keeping that fear in check and hidden for the sake of everyone else had manifested itself into that horrendous dream. But Hiccup was determined he would never see that vision come true. He didn't want to see the ones he loved in such danger. He didn't want to see Berk in ruins thanks to his actions. He didn't want to watch Toothless die. That last thought stayed with him as Hiccup shifted onto his side, once against embracing Toothless' head into his arms to keep close. Almost like he was afraid he wouldn't get to do so again if he let go. The Night Fury sniffed at Hiccup's hands as they brushed over his nose, seeming to almost smile at the company of his human's touch. Hiccup himself gently nuzzled at the space between Toothless' eyes with his nose. He wasn't tired enough to go to sleep again and, after tonight, he didn't want to. But even just spending some time alone in the company of his dragon was enough to ease his mind.

Nightmares are something you never really get used to, not when you're in the position of a chieftain who sometimes felt out of his depth when it came to the future. But their lingering pain can always be eased when you have someone you love close by. Hiccup kept that idea in his thoughts as he continue to embrace Toothless.

'I won't let anything happen to you, bud. I promise'.