Sorry for the delay of November's drabble, my family and I got sick and we all had to spend a good few weeks taking it easy. Luckily we recovered on time for our relatives' Thanksgiving dinner! Now without further ado, here is the eleventh drabble!

Title: True Feelings About Lost Limbs

Takes Place: Several weeks before the events of HTTYD 2

Summary: As Hiccup is working on some improvements on his own metal leg and Toothless' saddle, Gobber comes in to check on them. Then the two of them share stories of how they felt when they lost their limbs.

…

"Oh, I've got my axe and I've got my mace and I love my wife with the ugly face. I'm a Viking through and through!"

Gobber sang his favorite song as he dusted the forge's shelves and walls with the feather duster attached to his stump of a left arm. He had been hard at work all day tending to dragon teeth and improving dragon saddles and now he was hard at work doing the evening chores. After he finished the song, he burst out laughing and turned to Grump the Hotburple who was lying on the floor.

"Ah, Grump, I don't know why I keep singing the "love my wife with the ugly face" part when I'm not even married!"

Grump grunted lazily.

"Sure I had a few crushes in the past but I love my life as a bachelor," Gobber continued. "No having to share my house or bed with some lady who'd eventually get tired of me when I'd get tired of her."

Then suddenly his face turned sad.

"But I admit my one regret of never marrying is…never being able to have children of my own," he said softly. "Ah, Grumpy, it would have been nice to hear the pitter-patter of a youngster's feet around the stall, tickle their little toes, read them bedtime stories and even change their diapers…"

His face lit up.

"What am I saying, Grump? I never had children of my own but I did look after someone as if he was my own child. And that's Hiccup!"

He looked up at the ceiling, reminiscing.

"Ah, it seems only yesterday when I offered him to be my assistant. Of course I had to do a little convincing with Stoick first and was I ever happy when he gave in. With Hiccup helping me with my work and chores, I didn't feel so overworked and lonely anymore. That lad worked extra hard for a youngster and now he's twenty years old and still working hard!"

Gobber looked over at the doorway that led into Hiccup's private workshop.

"What do you say we take a peek at the lad now, Grump?"

But Grump just lazily rolled over on his side, his large pink tongue hanging out.

"All right, I guess I'm going to peek at him alone then."

And so Gobber walked over towards the threshold, stopped and moved his good hand over the doorway and knocked on the wall.

"Who is it?" came Hiccup's voice.

"Just your old boss wanting to check on you, Hiccup," Gobber replied. "Can I come in?"

"Sure, I wanted to show you what I'm working on anyway," Hiccup said.

Gobber chuckled. "That's my Hiccup. Always working on something."

He stepped inside the workshop where Hiccup was seated at his desk which was strewn with parchment papers. Toothless was also there lying curled up against the wall, a half-eaten basket of fish beside him.

"So what's the big project this time, Hiccup?" Gobber asked.

"Well…" Hiccup started.

He picked up one of the papers and held it up for Gobber to see. On it was a drawing of what looked like an extra-long saddle with a handle in the front and levers on the left side.

"I've decided to make some improvements on Toothless' saddle," Hiccup explained. He pointed to the left levers. "These levers are gonna help his tailfin stay in place if we're gonna help him with some solo gliding."

Toothless grunted. He didn't seem so thrilled with this solo gliding idea.

"Relax, bud, it might be good for you to do a few things on your own," Hiccup said.

"Yeah, Toothy," Gobber added. "It's nice to rely on others for help but you don't always want to rely on them all the time."

Toothless snorted in response and placed his chin on his forelegs.

"Well, I for one am proud of these improvements on your Night Fury's saddle," Gobber said proudly.

"I'm glad one of you is," Hiccup said, eyeing Toothless.

Toothless snorted again.

"Although I am worried about one thing," Gobber admitted.

"What's that?"

"There doesn't seem to be any stirrups to fit that metal leg of yours," Gobber pointed out.

Indeed there was a stirrup fit for Hiccup's right foot but he couldn't find the stirrup that usually fit his metal foot.

"Not to worry, Gobber," Hiccup reassured. "That's another thing I've been working on."

He placed the saddle drawing down and picked up another piece of paper. This one had two drawings that resembled two versions of a prosthetic leg.

"This one is going to fit the new stirrup to Toothless' saddle and when I want to walk, I just flip it to the other side just like that," Hiccup explained, pointing to both versions.

Gobber pretended to look hurt.

"You mean you're no longer gonna wear the leg that I made just for you? The leg I worked so hard all day and all night after you lost your old one to the Red Death?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Gobber," Hiccup said, suddenly feeling bad. "I'll still keep the one you made for me if you'd like. I just need this one for…"

Then Gobber laughed loudly. "Just kidding, lad!"

He playfully slapped Hiccup's back which caused him to jerk forwards against the top of his desk. Toothless' ears perked up and he stood up and approached his human friend, making sure he was not hurt.

"You make whatever you want. I'm glad you're making a new kind of leg to fit into Toothless' new saddle stirrups."

"Thanks, Gobber," Hiccup said, sitting up and patting his face to make sure there were no broken bones. "And I know how hard you've worked making my new leg and I'm grateful for that."

"Well, I couldn't very well have had you hopping on one leg all over the village now could I?" Gobber joked.

"No, I guess not," Hiccup couldn't help but laugh.

Then Hiccup's face turned sad.

"What's wrong, lad?" Gobber asked, suddenly concerned.

"Well, it's just…never mind. You might think it's silly."

"Come on, lad, silly or not, you should never bottle up your feelings," Gobber said. "Whatever's making you sad, you can share with your old forging teacher."

"Well…" Hiccup started slowly. "When I woke up after the battle with the Red Death and discovered my left leg gone and replaced by yours, the sight of it just…broke my heart. For fifteen whole years, I've had two legs and I thought I would always have them. But at that moment, I was struck with the reality of having one good leg and one fake one and trying to get used to it. And the first few steps I took with that new leg hurt like knives."

He glanced over at Toothless and reached out to pet him.

"I knew exactly how Toothless felt at that time and I still do. Losing a part of your body and never being able to use it again and learning how to do things differently without it."

Gobber gently placed his good hand on Hiccup's shoulder.

"Oh, lad, your feelings about your lost leg aren't silly at all. I know exactly how you and Toothless feel about losing limbs."

"Really?" Hiccup asked, looking surprised.

"Really," Gobber said. "I think it's time I've told you something that I've never shared with anyone before."

"What's that?"

"The true story of how I felt when I lost my arm and leg."

"But you've told the story about a hundred times."

"All those times I've told that version, I sounded proud, brave and perhaps a little arrogant. And I've told that version to hide the other side of the story. The other side that only me and your parents knew about."

Hiccup glanced over at Toothless and the friends shared curious expressions. Then they turned to Gobber eagerly.

"All right, we're all ears," Hiccup said.

Gobber cleared his throat. "It all started about a year before you came around. As usual, the dragons came to steal our winter food stash much to your father's chagrin. And as usual, we Berkians fought and attempted to drive them away. Anyway, I saw a gold-colored Monstrous Nightmare chasing some of the sheep and without even thinking about it, I charged at the dragon and grabbed hold of his neck to strangle him. I was strong but the Nightmare was even stronger. And before I knew it, the Nightmare chomped down on my left arm and the painful feeling of the dragon's sharp teeth digging into my flesh was so sudden, I felt frozen in place. My brain was telling me to keep fighting the dragon but I couldn't move. And that's when the dragon bit my entire arm off."

Gobber felt as if his heartbeat were slowing down.

"I'm acting like gory, bloody sights don't bother me but I admit that the sight of my torn arm was so horrible I couldn't even look at it. I was losing so much blood and I probably would've lost more if old Gothi hadn't sewn the open wound shut and confined me to bed for two weeks. You know how all Vikings say dying a hero's death and entering Valhalla is a great honor?"

"Yeah."

"Well, in my arrogance, I pretended to be proud and brave and told everyone I knew that even if the loss of my arm was my one-way ticket to Valhalla, I'd walk through those gates with dignity. But the truth is, Hiccup, I didn't feel at all ready to die. Why the thought of entering Valhalla so early, while wonderful, scared me to death. I wasn't ready to leave the home where I was born and raised or leave all my friends behind."

"But you didn't," Hiccup pointed out reassuringly. "You recovered and began learning to live without your hand."

"Indeed," Gobber nodded. "Was I relieved that I was still walking on the grounds of Berk after spending nowhere but in my bed for two weeks. I thought I was delayed from Valhalla's entrance for at least another couple of years…until another three weeks later."

"That was when another dragon raid happened," Hiccup said.

"Aye," Gobber said. "Even after spending two weeks in bed, Gothi still advised me to take it easy. But I thought I was feeling well enough to join the fighting again. So I zigzagged all over the village, hoping to find the gold Monstrous Nightmare and avenge my lost arm but I didn't. But a blue-green Monstrous Nightmare did catch my eye and decided to deal with him instead. So I charged at him and kicked him in the face with my left foot which was a mistake because after he recovered himself…"

"He chomped off your left leg – the one that you kicked him with," Hiccup concluded.

"Exactly," Gobber said. "So Gothi sewed the bite shut again and I was confined to bed rest for two more weeks. And again, I felt the queasy feeling of watching my leg being chomped off and the fear of entering Valhalla early. And after that, as I learned to walk with my current peg leg, I too felt the stabbing knife-like pains that you felt and I hated the feeling."

Hiccup nodded in sympathy the whole time the story was being told. Even Toothless was staring at the blacksmith in wonder and sympathy.

"So you acted brave and proud in front of everyone but deep down you were scared and sad about the losses of your limbs just like Toothless and I were," Hiccup said.

Toothless warbled in agreement.

Gobber nodded. "I was also angry – angry at the two Monstrous Nightmares who bit off my arm and leg respectively. But now, after spending five whole years living with the dragons, I've come to realize that losing my arm and leg were my own fault. I provoked those Nightmares when I should have left them alone."

"You didn't know any better back then," Hiccup said understandably.

"You know what else I've come to realize?"

"What?"

"You know how I always said that by one look at the Nightmares' faces, I could tell that they thought I was delicious?"

"Yeah?"

Gobber cracked a smile. "Looking back at it now, I don't think the Nightmares found me delicious at all. In fact, they must have thought I tasted horrendous. I must have tasted so horrendous in fact that it made your mom's meatballs worth tasting."

And with that, both Hiccup and Gobber burst out laughing. Even Toothless joined in the laughter. When they finished laughing, Hiccup smiled at Gobber.

"Well, I guess all three of us have something in common," he said. "All three of us had to learn to live without a limb…or two." He added that last part as he eyed Gobber's peg leg and featherduster.

"And now look at us," Gobber added. "We're living just fine without them…most of the time."

"Thanks for telling me that side of the story, Gobber, and thank you for making my metal leg," Hiccup said gratefully.

"My pleasure, lad," said Gobber kindly.

"Oh, yeah, and thanks for looking after me like I was your own child."

Gobber blushed. "You heard that, huh?"

"Gobber, I'm a few feet away from you when I'm in here. I hear everything you say."

"Well, in that case, your're welcome, lad," Gobber said, wrapping his arms around his apprentice and pulling him close.

"Uh, Gobber, can you let me go now?" Hiccup asked. "Your feather duster is tickling my nose."

"Oh, sorry," Gobber said sheepishly, pulling away.

He had completely forgotten he still had his feather duster attached to his arm.

Then Hiccup picked up a few more papers on his desk and said, "Now would you like to see the plans for a new flight suit I'm also working on?"

Still smiling, Gobber nodded. "It would be an honor, son."

…

Well, everyone, get ready for the twelfth and final drabble coming soon!