Astrid wakes to the warmth of her bed and someone jostling her shoulder. Cracking open her eyes, she sees her mother leaning over her.
"Astrid," her mother says, eyes a bit tight around the edges. "Time to wake up, dear."
"Is something wrong?" Astrid asks, sitting up immediately.
Her mother shakes her head, but looks unsure. "Chief Stoick is outside." Her eyes flit towards the front door. "He would like to speak with you."
Pushing back her furs, Astrid rises from the bed and dresses quickly. Food will have to wait. Stoick is never someone you want to keep waiting, especially when she has no idea what sort of mood he may be in. But when she steps out the door, she's not met with the stern-faced chief she was expecting. The slope of his shoulders would make her think he was nervous, if that was a word she could ever associate with the chief.
She waits a moment for him to speak, but the words don't come as he shuffles from foot to foot and forcibly straightens his shoulders.
"Chief?" She questions.
He nods slightly to himself, like he is confirming something internally, before he takes a breath. "Walk with me?" He turns and she follows.
"I spoke with Gobber," he begins.
Astrid's stomach turns a bit, but she tamps the feeling down. There's nothing wrong with how she spoke her mind, and she refuses to feel guilty about it.
"He mentioned the two of you had a conversation when you stopped by to see Hiccup – quite an opinionated conversation by the sound of it."
He pauses, and she waits for the next words.
And you were out of line.
And you need to remember your place.
But instead:
"And you are not entirely wrong."
Her jaw goes slack for a moment before she recovers. "Sir?"
"I am a chief, and everything you see around us," he makes a sweeping gesture to the houses around them and the people milling about, "is my responsibility. But I am also a father, and I have a responsibility to my son. I haven't done a very good job of balancing these two roles, but I think it's time for me to learn."
Astrid can hardly believe what she's hearing. Instead of getting reprimanded for her bold comments, Stoick is telling her she's right and he is admitting that he has fallen short as Hiccup's father and has room to improve. She didn't think he was capable.
"Would you mind sitting with Hiccup today?" Stoick continues. "I need Gobber's help with a few things, and I think Hiccup would appreciate having a friend around."
"Of course sir," Astrid says without hesitation.
"Thank you." He looks off in the direction of his house in the distance. "Hopefully, he wakes soon. Once he is better, there are quite a few things we need to discuss."
Clapping her on the shoulder, Stoick gives her one final nod before walking off.
Astrid runs back to her house to grab some food before heading immediately to Hiccup. Now that she's allowed to see him, she doesn't want to waste any time.
As Hiccup starts transitioning to consciousness, he becomes aware of things in stages. First, it's the warm feeling of the heavy furs resting atop him. Then comes the sound of firewood popping and a spoon lightly clanging against the side of a pot. The smell comes next – some kind of soup? But it's a bit difficult to focus on all of those things once he fully notices the immense ache that covers nearly every inch of his body. A groan escapes his lips.
Boots thump against wooden floorboards as someone steps nearer. Chair legs scrape against the grain of the wood and suddenly there are fingers resting lightly over his.
"Hiccup?"
With quite a bit of effort, he manages to open his eyes and turn his head slightly in the direction of her voice. "Astrid."
She smiles at him, but her gaze weighs on him heavily. She's clearly worried – her eyes are tight around the edges and her shoulders are more tense than the gentle touch of her hand would suggest. But it's ridiculous – she doesn't need to be so worried when he's awake right here in front of her. Unless….
"Where's Toothless?" Hiccup says urgently, fighting every ache in his body as he tries to sit up in bed. "Wh-what's happening?"
Astrid presses her hand gently but firmly to his shoulder, keeping him reclined. "Hey, take it easy Hiccup. Toothless is fine," she reassures. "He's missing you, but I promise he's alright."
Though she still looks worried, Hiccup can tell her words are genuine and allows himself to relax a bit and take in his surroundings.
"I'm… home?" He asks, brow furrowed. "But how-" His words cut off with a cough, his throat too dry to let him continue.
Astrid helps him sit up slowly, propping him up and bringing him some water. The mug feels heavier than it should, but his hands are steadier than expected when he brings it to his lips. After emptying it entirely of its contents, he passes it back to her.
"How did Toothless…. I mean, I remember that-" Hiccup stops himself. The memories replay clearly in his mind – luring the queen out of the nest and into the sky, losing the tailfin to her fiery breath, diving straight for the ground, colliding with her massive clubbed tail. Then nothing after.
"I really think I should see Toothless," he says finally, trying to sound firm instead of panicked.
"I don't think that's a good idea right now," Astrid says, not unkindly. Hiccup still levels her with a glare.
She matches his gaze with an intense one of her own. "You're a bit banged up, so you should probably be taking it slow. I don't need to know the full story to know that much."
She waits a moment for Hiccup to respond, to offer some clarification, but he hangs his head. How is he supposed to explain what happened after he flew away that night? If he hadn't been there, he's not sure he'd believe it himself.
Astrid has never been known for her patience, so he's not surprised when she only allows him a moment of silence before pressing the issue.
"What did happen?" She prods. "After I broke you out, you just flew off without saying much. I was worried."
Hiccup rubs at the back of his neck. "Yeah, that wasn't my finest moment. But I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to freak out."
"Well clearly I would have been right to freak out," Astrid says, gesturing at his bedridden self. "You said you were going to end the war – what does that mean?"
He drops his hand to his lap and begins to twist strands of the furs between his fingers. "Toothless and I were out flying one day when we got caught up with a group of raiding dragons. They ended up leading us back to the nest."
"The nest? The nest? The one Vikings have been searching for since we first sailed here?"
Hiccup chuckles humorlessly. "Yeah, that nest. But it was nothing like we all thought. The dragons don't raid us because they want to – they don't have a choice. Which makes so much sense, considering all we've learned about them. There's a giant dragon on their island, literally the size of a mountain, who controls them all. She's the queen, and if they don't bring food back for her, they become food themselves."
Astrid is clearly still trying to process the fact that Hiccup and Toothless found the nest and learned the truth about the dragon raids when he utters his next sentence.
"And I just thought that, if I could stop the queen, the raids would stop and there would be no more reason for the war to continue."
"You did what?" Astrid says, eyebrows raised and shock seeping into her voice. "I'm sorry, did I miss the part where you said the queen was the size of a mountain? Are you crazy?"
Hiccup shrugs. "Probably crazy, definitely desperate. It didn't seem like I had any other options." His mind flashes back to the nights he spent jailed by his own father. He spent hours pouring over all the different possibilities he could think of before realizing he really had only one choice, and it wasn't much of a choice at all.
"So… you did it?" Astrid asks. "You stopped the queen?"
Hiccup nods. "We did. Toothless and I managed it, but not before we got hit by her tail. There was fire and pain and we were falling - that's the last thing I remember. So how did we make it back to Berk?" He raises a hand to gesture at the house around him. "Toothless couldn't have flown me back without me being able to operate the tailfin."
"That's kind of a long story." Astrid begins. "When I found out you were back, I went looking for Toothless. I didn't know what had happened, so I assumed you'd managed to fly him back. And I found him in the woods with a woman."
"A woman?" Hiccup asks, his brow furrowing as he tries to remember anything after the fall. "I don't remember seeing anyone."
"Well Stoick and Gobber haven't mentioned her, so apparently they haven't seen her either. I'm thinking she must have gotten you to them without handing you over directly."
As soon as Stoick's name leaves Astrid's lips, Hiccup tenses automatically. "Did… did you get in any trouble for breaking me out of jail?"
She shakes her head. "Stoick might have an idea it was me, but he hasn't said anything, so I think I'm in the clear."
"I guess as soon as I'm well enough, I'll probably be going back, huh?" Hiccup says, looking up at the arched ceiling and leaning his head back until it bumps against the wooden headboard uncomfortably.
Astrid shakes her head again, more vehemently this time. "No, of course not. Your dad wants to talk to you, but he didn't seem angry."
Hiccup tilts his head in her direction. "Really? I thought for sure that since my injuries didn't kill me, he surely would." He says wryly.
Astrid narrows her eyes at him, not finding the joke amusing.
This does prompt Hiccup to start taking proper stock of his injuries, instead of ignoring them and feeling an all-over ache. He can feel a pain and tightness radiating from his forehead, so he raises his hand to prod at it gently. There's definitely a cut there. It feels like it's been covered with some kind of salve that is now dry to the touch, causing the skin around the wound to feel extra tight. His neck and shoulders are sore, but nothing intense enough to pinpoint a specific injury. His ribs, however, are a different story. As he pushes himself up to sit a bit straighter, his ribs protest at the movement and he raises a hand to feel them. Bruised for sure, maybe even cracked, but hopefully not broken.
Now fully sitting up, his eyes fall to the end of the bed, and his breath stutters in his lungs.
Where the blanket should be raised to accommodate his left leg, it instead lays completely flat just below the knee.
Growing up on Berk, the notion of losing a limb wasn't foreign. Seeing people like Gobber, Bucket, and Mulch on a daily basis forced all of them to confront the possibility at a pretty young age. But knowing it could happen to you, and facing the reality that it has are two very different things.
Hiccup swallows roughly. "You know, it's really not so bad." The words sound weak, even to his own ears.
"Hiccup," Astrid says quietly, "you don't have to pretend for my sake."
Absently, he shakes his head. "I'm not," he reassures. "Really, it could have – should have been a lot worse. If you'd seen the size of the queen, you'd understand. I'm honestly lucky to be alive."
Tilting his head curiously, he wiggles the toes on his right foot and then mentally tries to do the same with his left. Despite the absence of the limb, Hiccup swears he can still feel it.
What do you know, Hiccup thinks as he chuckles lightly to himself. Gobber was telling the truth.
He forcibly and abruptly turns his attention back to Astrid. "How are the others doing?"
It's obvious she can tell he's trying to distract himself, but she's kind enough to let him.
"They're worried about you." She says, leaning back a bit in the chair. "Even Snotlout, but he won't really admit it. So instead, he's been channeling his worry into being paranoid about the woman that found you."
"Is there anything else you can tell me about her?" Hiccup asks. He really can't remember anything about how he got back to Berk and this mystery woman represents quite a puzzle.
"Snotlout may not be entirely unjustified in being paranoid," Astrid says.
"How so?"
"Well, she's different from a normal Viking."
Hiccup tilts his head and raises an eyebrow sarcastically, before gesturing to himself.
Astrid rolls her eyes. "Okay, not my best description. But she doesn't dress like a normal Viking – and she has a dragon of her own, like you have Toothless."
This gets Hiccup's interest, enough that he doesn't bother correcting her when she says he 'has' Toothless. "What kind of dragon?"
"Something I've never seen before," she admits. "But the crazy thing is – she's from Berk."
"You're sure?" Hiccup frowns.
"Positive," Astrid nods. "She mentioned Gothi by name, and said she could tell I was a Hofferson based off family resemblance."
"But you didn't recognize her?"
"No. She's been gone a long time, about as long as we've been alive. I tried to ask my mom some vague questions, but didn't get anywhere. Snotlout seems to think that since the woman won't tell us her name and no one in the village ever seems to have spoken of her, that she must have left because of something bad that everyone refuses to talk about."
"And you disagree with him? I mean, for once, Snotlout is saying something that kind of makes sense." Hiccup tries not to sound so surprised at his own statement.
"I just know that Toothless seemed to trust her, and he's a pretty good judge of character."
Hiccup smiles at that, glad to hear of the trust she's placed in his best friend.
Hiccup's stomach takes this moment to growl rather loudly, interrupting their conversation.
"I'm an idiot." Astrid says, rising to her feet. "Your dad asked me to be here to look after you. I should have gotten you something to eat as soon as you woke up." She walks over to the fireplace, grabbing a bowl off the table as she passes, and fills it with some of the soup Hiccup smelled as he woke. She brings it back over to him and he's proud at how steadily he's able to hold it.
It's a simple soup, more broth than anything, but Hiccup isn't sure he could handle much more at the moment. He begins to eat and Astrid serves herself a portion to eat with him. As they lapse into a comfortable silence, Hiccup takes the time to empty the entire bowl and really think about how grateful he is that it was Astrid at his bedside when he woke, and not his father.
Lowering the empty bowl to his lap, Hiccup clears his throat. "I know you said my dad doesn't seem mad at me, like he just wants to talk but… I don't know if I'm ready to see him yet. But I do really need to see Toothless."
"Hiccup…" She trails off, shaking her head slightly as she does so. "I really don't think-"
"Look, if you aren't willing to help me, I'll just have to do it myself," he says with determination. Squaring his shoulders, he sets his bowl off to the side and throws back the furs covering him. There's a swathe of bandages adorning the place his left leg now ends, but he doesn't let his gaze stop there for long. He turns, bringing his legs over the edge of the bed, allowing his right foot to rest on the floor. Just as he puts weight on his forearms to stand and begin hobbling around on one leg, Astrid finally concedes.
"Okay!" She says, throwing her hands up in exasperation and standing. She fetches a crutch that Hiccup hadn't previously noticed leaning up against the wall. "We're taking this very slowly, and if you need to stop, we stop. Got it?"
Hiccup nods immediately. She helps him to his feet and steadies him as he positions the crutch under his arm. Together, they make it to the back door of the house and begin the trek up the hill to the tree line. Hiccups' limbs are definitely weaker than normal, and he needs to stop to catch his breath often, but he's determined to pause for as little time as possible. When they finally make it, Astrid steers him towards a fallen tree trunk and has him sit.
"You wait here, and I'll go get him. I'll try to be-"
The sound of rustling leaves interrupts her sentence. The two of them glance over at the same time to see a black form with bright green eyes swiftly approaching.
"Toothless!" Hiccup exclaims, immediately grabbing the crutch and getting back to his feet. He stumbles a few steps in the Night Fury's direction before his best friend is within reach. Dropping the crutch, Hiccup falls forward to wrap his arms around Toothless and press his face into his scales.
"Hi bud," Hiccup whispers wetly, moisture dampening his lashes as he squeezes his eyes shut. "I'm so glad you're okay."
Toothless croons in response and nuzzles back against Hiccup, equally as happy to see him.
Astrid sighs, but it sounds more fond than annoyed. "He was supposed to wait at the cove, but I really shouldn't be surprised he was lurking around your house waiting for you."
When Hiccup pulls back from embracing Toothless, he wobbles. Instinctually, Astrid reaches out to steady him, but Toothless beats her to it. The Night Fury brings his tail around to support Hiccup. Then, he lays in the grass and uses his tail to guide Hiccup down to lean against his side. As Hiccup extends his legs out in front of him, they rest next to Toothless' tail where the Night Fury has curled it around them. Hiccup sees the empty space below his knee mirrored in Toothless' missing tailfin, and suddenly doesn't feel so bad. They've dealt with this before and now they'll do it again. And they'll be stronger for it.
Now that they have had their reunion, both dragon and boy are very concerned about the other. Hiccup is looking Toothless over for injuries, while Toothless is thoroughly investigating Hiccup's head, ribs, and leg. Toothless thankfully seems to have gotten out of their encounter with the queen relatively unscathed, except for some swelling and tenderness that is all but gone at the base of a wing. Hiccup is so grateful that he doesn't even try to protest Toothless' intense examination. Eventually though, the Night Fury seems satisfied that Hiccup is not actively getting worse, and the two are content to sit together in the grass and enjoy each other's presence.
For all of this, Astrid hangs back, giving them the space and time she knows they need. But eventually it's clear that the trip outside and his emotional reunion with Toothless has completely depleted Hiccup's energy, so she decides it's time to intervene.
"Hey Hiccup?" At hearing his name, his eyes open fully, where they had been fluttering closed moments before. "I think it's time we get you back to bed."
He opens his mouth to protest, but Toothless gives him a gentle nudge, clearly agreeing with Astrid. So Hiccup sighs, but doesn't argue. He takes a moment to close his eyes and press his forehead to Toothless'. Both of them take a deep breath before Toothless uses his tail to support Hiccup standing. Astrid brings him the crutch. As they turn to go, Hiccup pauses and turns to Toothless once more.
"Stay out of sight bud. I'll be back soon, I promise." And Toothless disappears back into the trees, though both Hiccup and Astrid know he hasn't gone far.
The journey back to the house is longer than their journey out. Hiccup learns that hills are even worse when you're going down them. By the time he's back in bed, his limbs are shaky and he's got a bit of sweat beading on his forehead.
"Thanks," Hiccup says as the two of them work to get his furs back in place. They both know he's talking about more than fixing the blankets.
As he drifts back into an exhausted sleep, Astrid reclaims her spot in the chair at his bedside and thinks about how it all started, with her sitting at his bedside after he went and collapsed at training. From a quick glance, it's almost as if nothing has changed, when in reality everything has. And she couldn't be more grateful.