They were cleaning his stab wound. It hurt so bad. He kept wincing every time they touched it. He did his best to hold in the tears threatening to fall. After what felt like hours, they were finally done, and they left the basement. He sighed in relief.

He thought he would be left alone for the rest of the day, but he was wrong.

He fell asleep shortly after the pirates left him, but about half and hour later, he was woken up by the leader.

"Wake up, boy! Let's have some fun, shall we?" He shouted.

Hiccup's eyes shot open. No. He was going to hurt him. Again. He started to panic. The leader noticed that and laughed. His men came from behind him and tied Hiccup's wrist with ropes. He tried fighting but it was no use. They were too strong.

Slap. Slap. Slap.

They all laughed.

Slap. Slap. Slap.

He wished they would just stop. This was embarrassing. And it was also painful. But he wasn't going to give up. And he will not beg for them to stop. He is strong, he can take this.

The slapping went on for another few minutes and then it stopped. His cheeks felt like they were burning, but he was glad that it finally stopped.

They were all laughing at him, but he just sat there and glared at them. He hated them so much.

"Did you enjoy that boy? It looked like you did. I bet you enjoy getting hurt. Don't worry, we are not finished yet." The leader spoke and laughed evilly.

Hiccup was so angry, he tried using his right leg to kick the leader but missed. The leader stopped laughing and glared at him. Hiccup was actually scared right now but he tried not to show it.

The leader got his men to hold Hiccup down, and then he knelt in front of him. He took out his knife, and placed it at Hiccup throat. He panicked.

"If you move or fight back, I will slice your throat. Do you understand?" The leader warned him.

Hiccup's eyes widened in fear.

Hiccup woke up screaming, waking Astrid who was sleeping next to him.

"Hiccup! What's wrong?!" Astrid asked worriedly.

But when they met eye contact, Hiccup got out of bed and backed away towards the wall. He was shaking uncontrollably and he started to sob.

"P-please don't hurt me! Please just leave me alone!" He shouted at her. He sat on the floor and hid his face in his arms and pulled his hair.

"Hiccup! It's... it's me, baby... it's only me. I'm not going to hurt you. You know I will never hurt you. Ever." She spoke and started to approach him.

Hiccup only started to sob louder. And then he screamed. He screamed so loud, Astrid was sure he woke everyone up. She didn't know what to do anymore. She looked at Toothless, hoping he knew what to do to calm his rider. He tried licking and nudging him but it didn't work. That was when she really started to panic. But while she was thinking of what to do next, her door slammed open. She turned around and saw the gang. They must have heard his screams and were worried.

"Oh Thor!" Fishlegs said with wide eyes. Snotlout and the Twins gasped.

"What happened?!" Ruffnut asked Astrid urgently.

"I was sleeping when he started screaming! But I think he had a nightmare. And now he thinks I'm going to hurt him!" Astrid said sadly.

Ruffnut thought for a moment.

"Let me give it a shot." She said. She began to approach Hiccup.

"Hey, Hiccup. It's me, Ruffnut! Don't you worry, I'm not going to hurt you... I just want to comfort you." She spoke calmly and slowly reached her hand to touch him. When she did, Hiccup only moved further away from her in panic. Ruffnut sighed. At least she tried. Then she looked at the gang.

"So do you guys have any other ideas?" Ruffnut asked.

Snotlout and Tuffnut shook their heads. They had no idea what to do. But Fishlegs was thinking hard, and then he finally spoke.

"I... I think I might have an idea. Right now, Hiccup is only thinking about the bad things... the things that happened when he was captured. So we need to help him think about the good things. Like all the fun memories we had together, you know? If he focuses on those happy memories, then maybe it will help him to calm down, and then he will realise we are his friends and that we are not here to hurt him." He suggested.

The gang thought for a moment and decided it was worth a shot. So they started talking to Hiccup, telling him about the happy moments they had together.

"Hiccup... Remember the time you asked me to be your girlfriend and I said yes? You were so happy and you couldn't stop smiling the whole day. I was actually waiting for you to ask me for a long time, and I was so happy when you finally did. Words can't even describe how happy I am when I'm with you. And I can never forget that big adorable smile on your face." Astrid said with a smile.

Hiccup looked up. He still looked really scared. He was still crying but he stopped screaming which was a good sign. Fishlegs spoke next.

"Do you remember the time we discovered a new species of dragons, Hiccup? We were both so excited! We couldn't even stop talking about them!" He said happily.

"Remember the time we fought off those dragon hunter ships together? I was un... I mean we were unstoppable!" Snotlout said with a smirk.

"What about the time we almost burned down the Edge?" Tuffnut said with a smile.

"Yeah! We all had fun putting out the fire! You had fun, right Hiccup?" Ruffnut said happily.

Hiccup just stared at them, still crying. But he didn't look so scared anymore. And slowly, he started to smile a little. It was working. Eventually he stopped crying, and was just sitting against the wall smiling at them. That was when Astrid decided to approach him.

"Hiccup... don't be scared okay? I'm not going to hurt you. I promise." She reached out her hand and pulled him towards her and hugged him tightly. He hugged back weakly. They did it. They were able to calm Hiccup down.

After awhile, the gang returned to their huts. Astrid brought Hiccup back to her bed and they went back to sleep.