The smell hit them first, a combination of the vinegar from the table covered in brewing equipment, spices from where they hung, drying from the ceiling, and clean linen piled in one cabinet and covering the many beds in an adjoining room. It was a scent Hiccup remembered well from his many visits to the infirmary at home, due to the injuries his brothers often inflicted on him, intentional or not. Then a voice fluttered down from the balcony above. "Ah, Cloudjumper. What has our good master done to you this time?"

They looked up and saw a rather elderly gentleman, with curling, shoulder-length white hair and a long brown robe. Cloudjumper answered with a chuckle. "I'm not the one in need of your services. These two have that honor."

The old man looked down and spotted the two. "Toothless!" He shouted down. "But who's the other one?"

Cloudjumper smiled. "The one who made sure you'd never have to treat Thanatos-related injuries again." At that, Gaius hurried down the stairs and approached the pair before the other man intercepted him. "They were injured in the battle. Perhaps you could treat them before grilling them?"

Gauis nodded. "Of course. Have they bathed?"

"Just before coming here."

"Alright then." He looked over at the two. "Let's get started then."

The old man led both dragon and boy into the infirmary. He pointed Hiccup to one of the beds and had Toothless lie down on a stone slab in front of the fireplace, stopping her from lighting it up. Hiccup sat at the foot of his bed and watched as the older man examined the torn tail fin. After the man put the damaged appendage down and walked past him back to the table covered in brewing equipment, Hiccup asked, "How bad is it?"

"It could be worse," answered Gaius as he ground up a herb with a mortar and pestle. "There are three tears and two of the bones broke, but she's a young dragon. With the right treatment, she'll heal just fine and be back in the sky." He went to the cupboard and rummaged through it until he came back to the table with a small bottle of something yellow. He measured out a spoonful and emptied it into a small mixing bowl, to which he added the crushed herb. "This," he continued, "will help the scabbing along and numb the pain. Cloudjumper," the man jumped up from where he'd been sitting on another of the beds, "Get me a splint and clean bandages."

The man ran to a bigger cupboard and retrieved the articles, handing them to the older man as he sat by Toothless' tail fin. Hiccup watched as he recreated the prince's slapdash bandage with more care and professionalism. As Cloudjumper helped tuck in the edge of the cloth, he said, "You should check him as well."

"Of course," the man said as he bustled over to the bed where Hiccup laid down. "I'm going to remove the bandages. It will hurt, but only a little. Cloudjumper, grab my smallest scissors." The man ran back to the laden table and returned with the tiniest scissors Hiccup had ever seen. He had to get his hands on those, to study so he could make himself a pair. Gaius cut through the layers of bandage on the other side of his body from the wound and peeled away the layers, removing the last layer as gently as he could.

The wound hadn't had time to build up more dried blood between his skin and the clean cloth since his bath, so it didn't hurt as much as he'd been expecting. Gauis told him to lie down as he inspected the wound. "Oh, this is nasty," he commented as he examined the prince's side.

"What's wrong?" asked the youth with a hint of fear, lifting his head off the table to get a better look.

The older man pushed him back down with a finger. He really was weak. "There's splinters everywhere in this wound. It's going to take quite some time to get them all out, and it'll be painful." He looked at his patient. The boy was so pale. "Perhaps we should wait." Toothless wandered over to hear better.

"No," answered the boy. "It'll only get worse if it's left like that."

"It'll be painful," cautioned the physician.

"I'm a Viking. It's an occupational hazard." Toothless brushed against his hand and he reached out to pat her. She slipped one of her ear plates into his hand and he gripped it. "Just get it over with." Gaius nodded and told the only other able-bodied person to grab his surgical tools and a flame to sterilize them, along with some more of the numbing salve he'd used on Toothless.

He spread the salve around the wound, letting it numb the edges of the torn nerves. Then he lit the candle and ran the end of the tweezers through the flame. "Are you ready," he asked the boy now under the knife.

"Yes," he answered as he gripped Toothless' ear plate. Gaius reached in with the tool, clamped it around the largest splinter, and pulled.

Hiccup whimpered with each tug, each new fragment of branch as it was pulled from his body. After what seemed like hours but was really five minutes, Gaius said, "There's only one left. It's buried pretty deeply, so I can't just pull it out. I'm going to have to make a cut." Hiccup nodded, giving him permission to proceed. "Cloudjumper, grab his other hand." The big man did so.

Gaius took the point of the knife and made a tiny incision under the tip of the wood fragment. Hiccup tensed around the tool and Gaius retreated. "Does it hurt too much?"

"I just don't think that area was numbed." The boy laughed.

"Should I keep going?"

"Oh, yeah, sure. Pain, love it!"

Gaius laughed at the sarcasm and went in with the tweezers again. The final fragment slid out of his body and Gaius reached for a pad and roll of bandage. "Hold him up, Cloudjumper." The man reached behind his shoulders and gently brought him upright so Gaius could wind the bandage around his slim waist. Then they put the boy back down and looked over at Toothless. "Get some sleep," commanded the physician. "You too," he added, glaring in mock anger at the dragon. She huffed at him but curled up beside her husband's bed all the same, letting his slack hand rest on her head. Cloudjumper and Gaius slipped out of the infirmary and closed the door behind them.

The younger of the two sighed. "I hope Hiccup heals quickly."

Gaius whipped around and stared at the man. "That boy was Hiccup?"

Yes, Gaius is also stolen from Merlin. I think I'm keeping him pretty IC, though. What do you think? I realized that, if someone injured themselves on broken branches the way Hiccup did, there would probably be something in the wound that he couldn't just wash out. That's where most of this chapter came from.

Should I include more dragons from different places? There are so many to choose from in YuGiOh alone!

We have reached 150 reviews and over 23,000 views! Amazing! I'm just as excited about that as I am my job interview later this week!

Please, keep encouraging me!