A few days passed with no real productivity. Hiccup stayed in his hut for the most part, with the others not seeing much of him. The edge was being rebuilt, with most of the effort coming from Heather, Astrid, and Fishlegs, with them pushing the twins to help. They took any chance to duck out of the work to try seeing what Hiccup was up to. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were sneaking up to the Haddock's hut, ready to peek inside.
Meanwhile, Hiccup was sitting on his bed, feeling a little woozy. Akey was watching him, sitting on the floor with a curious and concerned expression on his face. His bright green dragon eyes watched Hiccup's every move. Toothless was nearby, watching Hiccup and looking very concerned as well.
"Do- you fe-el a- kay, Hic-cup?" Akey asked, taking a couple of steps forward.
Toothless immediately turned on him, growling wordlessly.
"Toothless, I'm not going to hurt him again, I promise-"
"Oh really? What happens next full moon?"
Akey shrugged. "I don't know. I try to stop it, but every full moon, I turn into a... a monster. I can't control what I do. It's why I was..." He winced and shrunk a little against the floor.
Toothless snorted. "Why you were what?"
"Why I was banished from my home. I was born like this, and they only put up with me for so long, but I was getting stronger..." Akey whimpered.
Toothless' expression softened slightly. "I'm sorry, I just don't want Hiccup hurt."
"No, I understand..." Akey sighed, lying down in a sad puppy sort of position on the floor. "I don't want to hurt him either. He's the first friend I've truly had..."
Hiccup groaned softly, and both dragons looked turned to him.
"I feel- I feel weird, bud..." Hiccup said softly. He hadn't left his hut in a while, and hadn't even eaten. Toothless would have gotten him something to eat, but hadn't wanted to leave his friend. "I think I need a- need a walk or something..." He stood and immediately collapsed partly. Toothless ran to him and braced the Haddock before he fell all the way over.
Hiccup instinctively winced away. Toothless was surprised. Hiccup groaned and clutched his head. "Oh Thor, why does my head hurt so much..."
Toothless whined and tried to comfort him. Hiccup again winced away, hissing for a moment.
"B-bud..." Hiccup whimpered. "H-h-help me..."
He groaned again and doubled over, with Toothless very unsure what to do. Hiccup suddenly reared up, yelling loudly and clutching his head as if he was in a monstrous amount of pain. His eyes were stretched wide.
He blinked, and in a terrifying instant, his eyes went from human to dragon. Toothless drew back, shocked. Hiccup was wheezing, and then he doubled over again. He was letting out muffled screams. Two jet black ears sprouted from the top of his head, and immediately, Toothless knew what was happening. He remained frozen, split between wanting to help Hiccup and wanting to run for his life.
Two huge black wings sprouted from Hiccup's shoulders so fast the young man screamed in sudden agony. A tail sprouted from inbetween his hips and shot out, ripping his pants. Hiccup's forearms and lower legs bulged, causing his shirt sleeves to rip, and his fingers changed into claws. All the while, he let out loud yells, which ominously were changing in pitch until he sounded just like a Night Fury.
Hiccup was crouched on the floor, gasping in pain, and Toothless wasn't sure what was next, standing there, shocked, terrified, having no clue how to help his friend. Hiccup looked up slowly, and held up a large paw close to his face. He yelped and backed away from it so fast he ran into the wall. This hurt his already suffering shoulders, causing him more pain.
"Wha-what's ha-happening t-t-to m-ee?" He growled, his voice sounding distorted and deep and wrong.
Toothless still didn't move. "Hiccup?"
Hiccup was shaking, his pupils thin with terror. He let out a high pitched terrified whine which quickly faded and he was just sitting there with his mouth open, tears starting to flow from his eyes.
Akey had watched the whole thing, going from shocked to scared to guiltily upset. "I'm so sorry, Hiccup, my friendship with you has come with a price I didn't think you'd have to pay."
Toothless whipped around and glared at Akey. "What does that mean?"
Akey's mouth must have gone dry and he shrunk to half his size. "I'm so, so sorry." He whispered. "I-I'm sorry..."
"Change him back!" Toothless yelled.
"It's too late..." Akey whimpered. "He's doomed just like all the others..."
"D-doomed?! No! Help him! There has to be a way!" Toothless snarled, beginning to pace. Hiccup remained where he was, frozen and shaking with terror and hyperventilating more than he needed to. "Calm down Hiccup, we'll get you back to normal." Toothless knew Hiccup couldn't understand him, but that didn't stop him from trying to comfort his friend. A thought occurred to him, and he faced Akey again. "How did this happen?"
"My blood must have gotten in him somehow, that's the only way it could have happened." Akey responded. "That's how it always happens." He moaned. "Always- first attachment, then transformation, then madness, then-"
Toothless froze. "Then... then what?"
Akey met his gaze sadly.
"Death."
When the twins had heard screaming from Hiccup's hut, they had run for it. The entire edge could have heard the agonized screams, and Astrid ran up to the hut, practically destroying Hiccup's door on the way in, her axe in hands, ready to dispatch whatever was threatening her boyfriend. At first, there was no threat in sight, but then a pair of green eyes peered down from the upper level Hiccup slept on.
"Toothless?" Astrid asked.
The Night Fury jumped down and stared at Astrid, looking torn and upset. He let out a moan and began to pace.
You okay?" Astrid asked. "What's wrong? What happened to Hiccup?"
Toothless let out a short bark and hissed through his teeth, throwing his big black head in the direction of the stairs. He growled and shook his head. Astrid gathered that something was wrong. Keeping her axe in hand, she began walking towards the stairs. Toothless immediately ran forward and blocked her path, growling softly. He was staring at her axe.
"You know I always keep my axe with me." Astrid complained, confused. But she put it down anyway. She walked up the stairs, Toothless directly behind her. She saw Akey staring at a big black creature in the corner and was immediately confused. Akey turned to her and started.
"As- rid?" He asked.
"What happened? Where's hiccup?"
"Here." Akey said, pointing to whatever was beside him. The creature looked up at Astrid, and what she saw looked nothing like Hiccup at first glance, and more like Toothless. But there was no mistaking the tattered armor he was wearing, or the auburn hair, or those cute freckles. His prosthetic was sitting on the floor, as both his legs were transformed along with the rest of him, and for the first time since the Red death, he had both legs, such as they were.
What scared Astrid the most was Hiccup's expression. It was twisted in a mix between anger and terror, and his dragon pupils were thin as paper.
"Assstrid..." Hiccup hissed, his voice distorted.
Astrid gasped and ran to him, kneeling and reaching out, yet unsure what to do.
"Hiccup, what- what happened? What in Odin's name happened to you?" Astrid asked.
It was Akey who answered. "He is- changed- because- of- me. It can't- be- undone." He lowered his head apologetically. "I am- so-sorry." "Very sorry."
Astrid continued to stare at Hiccup. "Don't worry, Hiccup, we'll figure this out. It'll be okay. Fishlegs is bound to find something, I'll tell the others..."
Hiccup's expression had changed. "Astrid..." He wheezed.
"What?" She asked. "Anything."
He grabbed her hand in his oversized paw, claws flexed to interlock with her fingers. The intensity of his gaze almost made her flinch away.
"Don't let them see me."
Astrid walked into the clubhouse, where the others were already gathered. Akey was with her. Heather stared at the boy, a cold glint in her eyes. No one spoke. Astrid walked up to the center table and put her hands down on it.
"Something's happened to Hiccup." She announced, her words dropping like stones.
The silence dragged on. Everyone turned to Akey as if they expected him to explain, then back to Astrid.
"Did he have something to do with it?" Heather asked coldly, staring at Akey. Akey shrunk, whimpering.
"I think so." Astrid replied.
"I knew it." Heather growled, drawing her axe. "I knew he was trouble." Akey backed up, looking alarmed. He pressed against Astrid as if she would protect him.
"I-I sorry." He whimpered. "I no-ot mean to h-hurt him... it just hap-pened..."
Astrid shook her head. "I don't think he did it on purpose."
"That doesn't change-" Heather began.
"So exactly what happened to Hiccup?" Snotlout interrupted.
"He's-" Astrid paused. "He's turned partially into a Night Fury." Astrid expected gasps of terror or laughter, but there was only a heavy silence.
"Astrid, you're kidding, right?" Snotlout asked nervously. "You're joking?"
Astrid shook her head slowly. Fishlegs paled. The twins's jaws dropped slightly. Snotlout whimpered. Heather bristled like an angry Nadder. Meatlug whimpered softly. Hookfang growled uneasily. Barf and Belch exchanged a look. Windshear shook her metal head with a snort.
"This can't be happening." Fishlegs whispered.
"How do we help him?" Heather asked. They all turned to Akey, who had come forward again at this question.
"You- you can't. He won't turn b-back. First- atta-chment, the-en trans-forma-tion, then madness, then- then-" He shook a little and whimpered. "D-death."
You could have heard a blade of grass hit the floor. Everyone stared at Akey, shocked and wide-eyed. Astrid felt as though a blade had been driven through her heart.
Everyone had some idea what this meant.
Hiccup was going to go mad.
Then he was going to die.
And there was nothing they could do about it.
But of course, as they were stubborn Viking types, they decided to give it a valient try. Fishlegs went through as many books as he could find, trying to find anything. He spoke with Akey until the boy was ready to fall asleep on his feet. Accoring to Akey, they had two moons. Hiccup would be mad by the first moon, and would get steadily weaker.
After that, he'd die. Akey wasn't telling them the specifics, but they knew he wasn't lying. The desperation was in everyone on the edge. Even the twins knew the direness of the situation and were following orders without question. Snotlout was behaving himself and hadn't even spoke much. Heather was always watching Akey whenever she was near him, as if warning him not to try anything.
In only a week, everyone was exhausted.
Toothless hadn't left Hiccup's side, watching him and taking care of the young man. Hiccup slipped in and out of being himself, sometimes acting like a terrified hatchling, other times pacing on his back legs, sometimes chattering nervously about nothing in particular. He seemed sometimes to know what was happening to himself, sometimes have no clue what was going on. Whether it was stress or a side effect of the transformation or even the start of the madness to come, no one knew. Either way, he never left his hut, and only Akey and Astrid ever really saw him.
Astrid closed the door behind her as she walked into Hiccup's hut again. She walked halfway up the stairs to see Hiccup standing up, surprisingly. He was pacing in circles, but stopped as she approached. He winced and shrunk a little as if he knew her thoughts.
"I know I should be resting." He mumbled. "But It's hard to sleep with wings and a tail. I don't know how Toothless does it."
"Seems you haven't lost your sense of humor." Astrid observed, walking closer and standing close to him. "That's good."
Hiccup didn't reply for a long moment.
"I'm going to die, aren't I?" He asked at length. "Oh, gods, I'm going to die." He put a paw to his head and sighed softly. His tail twitched.
"Don't say that." Astrid stated. "We'll find a way to stop this."
"I had hoped I would at least live to be twenty." Hiccup moaned, starting to pace again. "I'm going to die."
Astrid had no idea how to comfort him.
"I-" She started to speak, only to stop. "Hiccup..."
He sighed again and deflated. "I'm sorry, Astrid. I shouldn't be like this. I- I'm just glad we got somewhere with our relationship before," He gestured to himself. "This happened. I'm so glad that I'll get to be with you and Toothless and not somewhere dead already." He paused.
"I should be thankful I have some time to do things before I lose my mind. Maybe I should spend some time with Snotlout. I haven't told him how much I appreciate him recently. Maybe some relaxing with Fishlegs. And some flight with Toothless." He glanced at his feet. "Although, the saddle will need some adjustments before I can do that... although, it does feel nice to have two feet again..."
Astrid put a hand on his shoulder, tears flowing from her eyes. He winced a little with pain.
"Hiccup, I'll make whatever time you have left the best, I promise. Even if I can't save you, at least I can be here for you." Astrid promised, staring into his eyes. His expression went very soft and gentle.
"Thank you, Astrid. It means a lot to know you care."
Astrid moved closer and wrapped her arms around him, careful not to hug too tight because she knew he was still in pain. He hugged back. After a moment, he began to sob quietly, folding into her arms and crying.
"I'm going to die..."
