Hey friends!
Day 8 of Sicktember! I know it's a little late, but I'm a busy person, y'know?
Today's prompt was: "The closest doctor is probably hours away!"
Hope you enjoy!
"Hiccup, shouldn't we head home? Those clouds don't look good." Astrid tried getting Hiccup's attention, though it didn't work. His mind was in exploration mode, and right now he was trying to get an idea of shape of the island they had just found, so he could add it to his map.
She knew he wasn't trying to ignore her, but it still frustrated her. "Hiccup." She urged Stormfly closer to Toothless, right as Toothless dove towards the ground. She groaned. He still wasn't listening. Maybe she could get his attention once they were on the ground.
Landing right after him, she sat down next to him as he unrolled his map, charcoal stick already in hand. She decided to let him add the island to his map before trying to point out the dark clouds again.
This was the only thing she hated about exploring the Archipelago with Hiccup. She'd realized long ago that he had a very one-track mind, one that would sometimes jump from one thing to the next without finishing the last thing, which would leave things undone as he would forget to go back and do them. A lot of times when they were exploring, he would be so focused on adding things to his map and exploring, that he often wouldn't pay attention to the weather or where he was walking. It's part of the reason she wouldn't let him go by himself.
She loved the boy, she really did. She'd known that for over a year now but didn't know how to tell him. She'd initially thought that she just really cared about him, but the longer they spent together, the more she'd realized she loved him.
As she came out of her thoughts, she realized he was staring at her. He must have said something.
"Did you say something?" she asked, embarrassed. She'd probably been staring right at him while lost in her thoughts.
"I asked if you needed something," he responded. "You were just kinda staring at me."
"Sorry, I kinda zoned out."
He chuckled. "I noticed. Did you want to explore on foot with me?"
"Sure," she found herself agreeing, despite her concerns about the dark clouds overhead.
They headed off into the forest on the island, mostly with Astrid listening to him talk about whatever was on his mind.
Before long, Astrid noticed a gorge up ahead. Hiccup, who was in front of her, hadn't seemed to notice it yet and he was only a few steps from it. She tried to grab his attention, but his foot slipped over the edge before she was able to get much more than his name out. She lunged forward, grabbing his hand in an attempt to keep him from going all the way over the edge. Unfortunately, he went over the cliff with enough force that his hand slipped out of hers and he fell into the gorge.
She immediately went running for the dragons, knowing that was probably the safest way down. Thankfully, the gorge was just wide enough for the dragons to fly down.
Hiccup was laying on his back, his good leg and the opposite arm both laying at funny angles. His green eyes were open, and Astrid couldn't tell if he was breathing or not. She didn't even give Stormfly a chance to land before she was jumping the rest of the way down and running to Hiccup's side, praying to any god that would listen that Hiccup wasn't dead.
"Hiccup?" She knelt down next to him, wary on whether to touch him or not.
Hiccup groaned, "I'm alive, if-if that's what you're wondering."
She breathed a sigh of relief, and stood up to go get the bandages and her water carrier. She wasn't quite sure how she was going to get him home yet, given that he probably had several broken bones, but she could at least try to clean and bandage his injuries.
Returning to his side she started with some of the obvious cuts that he had acquired on his way down the cliff. He watched her while she worked, unable to help and barely staying awake.
Finished cleaning and bandaging the several cuts and scrapes he had, Astrid began looking at his shoulder, trying to figure out if it was dislocated and if that's why that arm was laying funny, or if the arm was broken and she needed to go find some sticks for a splint.
"You look mad," came Hiccup's quiet voice.
"What?" she replied, startled by him speaking.
"You look like you're mad at me."
Astrid sighed, "I'm not mad at you, you're just an idiot. You need to watch where you're going when you're exploring like this." She helped him sit up a little as she talked so she could examine his shoulder a little better. It was just as she had thought, it was dislocated.
"I know, I got so lost in our conversatio-AAAAAHHH!" Hiccup screamed. Without warning, Astrid had popped his shoulder back into place while he was talking. "Why didn't you warn me?"
"I've found it doesn't seem to hurt quite as much if you don't know it's coming." He stared at her. "As for why I probably seem mad, it's probably because I'm a little annoyed." Her voice rose, "You just fell off a cliff, are severely injured, and the closest healer is probably hours away on Berk!"
Hiccup shrunk back a little, "I'm sorry. I know I really should pay more attention."
Astrid sighed. "I'm sorry for yelling at you." She stood up. "I need to go find some sticks to make splints for your leg and arm, or you probably won't make it home in one piece."
Hiccup nodded, staying silent. Astrid told Toothless to stay with Hiccup and protect him, though she probably wouldn't have needed too; the Night Fury would have stayed and protected him no matter what anyways.
As Astrid wandered about the forest, looking for sticks that she could use as a splint, she found herself grumbling about how frustrating Hiccup could be. Why did he have to have such a one-track mind? Why was he so easily distracted? Why did she have to be in love with him?
She found the sticks she needed and started walking back towards Hiccup when it started to rain. Of course. That's exactly what she needed right now. She started running, knowing Toothless was probably trying to keep Hiccup dry, but the longer he was out in the storm the worse he was going to get.
She skidded down to her knees next to him when she got there. She'd been right, Toothless was trying to keep his rider dry, his wing was stretched out over the injured boy. Unfortunately, she noticed one more thing:
Hiccup was no longer awake.
Astrid panicked. Had something else happened? Had he been more seriously injured than she'd thought? She pressed an ear to his chest, thankful to hear a steady heartbeat, and feel his chest moving with every breath.
Breathing a sigh of relief, she carefully set his arm with the two smaller sticks she'd picked up. She wrapped it up carefully, being careful to not move it too much. Satisfied with that one, she moved onto his right leg. He was going to hate that as he started feeling better; he wouldn't be able to walk until his leg was fully healed.
Carefully, she moved his leg so that it was straight, hoping that meant the bone pieces had realigned. Hiccup had flinched when she moved his leg, feeling the pain so sharply in his leg, though he was unconscious. She felt horrible about causing him more pain, but knew she needed to get him home.
He thankfully had shown her how to fly Toothless a couple years ago, right before the war with Dagur had ended, so that someone could fly Toothless home in the case of him getting too injured to do so.
Astrid slowly slid her arms under his shoulders and his knees and got to her feet, Hiccup in her arms.
Gods, when did he get so heavy? She'd picked him up once before a few years ago, much to his dismay, to prove that he was, in fact, way too light. He was no longer light enough to carry easily.
She met Toothless's eyes, motioning with her head so he realized that she intended to ride him home. He folded his wing back at his side and came closer, bending down to make it easier for her to get both herself and Hiccup on his back. Astrid carefully sat Hiccup on the front of the saddle, then boosted herself up using the foot pedal on that side, making sure one of her arms stayed around Hiccup's back to keep him on the dragon.
Carefully putting her feet in the pedals, though the left didn't work very well with her actual foot, she wrapped her arms around Hiccup to hang on to him. The last thing she wanted was for him to fall, and she knew Toothless would take it relatively easy, knowing that not only was she inexperienced with flying him, but she was also carrying Hiccup.
She motioned to Stormfly to follow them, and they took off for Berk.
That's it for this one! As with pretty much all of my Sicktember fics, feel free to comment if you would like another chapter, this is just where I feel I can end right now! I am completely open to writing more for this fic.
I am also planning on still finishing Day 9 tonight as well, so that I am actually caught up. Yay! Maybe I won't get behind again, though I make no guarantees!
That's all for now!
Daystrid Out!
*listens to the orchestra as I write Day 9*
