Chapter Five: A new friend
Hiccup was surprised when he opened his eyes.
He thought he would die.
The coldness, the darkness, the loneliness, the pain and the nothingness had done their part to increase that feeling.
But when he realized that he was on the threshold to the living world, he found the will and had opened his eyes.
He was in a cave.
At least that was, what his instincts told him.
It was dark and wet and the ground was hard but there seemed to be a light source somewhere nearby.
His leg still hurt like hell but it was nothing compared to what it had felt like…hours ago? Days? For what he knew weeks could have past.
He found the strength to title his head.
He was alone.
Where was Toothless? Had he abandoned him? Did he think he was dead? Or maybe he was caught? But by whom? And that still wouldn't explain where they were.
He tried to sit up but imminently was caught by a wave of nausea. The bile was hurting his already sore throat.
"Toothless? Toothless!" he coaxed with a hoarse voice.
And suddenly there was a dry scaly snout at his face that muzzled his cheek.
"Toothless?" he whispered. His dragon gave him a comforting purr.
"Where are we? How am I alive? And how did we get away from here?" he asked.
"Well, I could help answering those questions, I think!"
Again he sat up, again to fast and everything turned.
"Oh gods, it hurts."
"I can tell! Got yourself a nasty wound there."
The voice was somehow familiar.
Slowly his sight cleared.
"You." He declared. It was that stranger from Helheim's Gate! "What are you doing here?" The man folded his arms and looked at Hiccup with a pout.
"Is that how you treat the guy saved your life?"
Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "You saved my life?"
"Of course pal! I was the one to amputate your leg!"
That information hit Hiccup.
Hard.
His hands and eyes shot to his lag. He threw the blankets away…and stared.
And stared.
Horror covered his face.
There.
Where his lower left leg was supposed to be, where was…nothing.
His breath got uneven, his heart did a desperate race in his chest as his mind tried to process, what he saw.
His left leg ended a bit below the knee in a stump.
While a little part of him was still glad about having his knee and the better part of his leg altogether, the bigger part of him screamed in terror.
Everything was moving too fast, everything faltered.
He marginally didn't feel the hand on his shoulder nor heard the man's voice.
"Calm down. Easy there mate. Don't stress yourself. Lay down. You're still weak."
He was softly pushed back and a blanket was thrown over him again.
"You did great pal! Now rest, I'll watch you. Everything's going to be fine now."
And with that he fell back into the world of darkness, where the image of his crippled and bandaged leg hunted him.