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"Come on, go. You're free."
Fishlegs looked to Hiccup with an unhappy expression, "He's been in captivity for too long, Hiccup, he doesn't know how to be free..."
Hiccup's expression changed to one of determination, moving to face Toothless, and watching as his dragon raised his wings high. The Triple Stryke copied him. Hiccup grinned as the large, two-toned dragon pounced into the sky, taking off the way he was born to. Hiccup gave a cheer, eyes wide and happy as he watched the dragon fly out of the arena.
"C'mon, guys. Let's go home,” he said, a smile resonating on his face.
They mounted their dragons and flew off from the small island, the wind catching their every move.
Astrid looked to Hiccup as they flew in their usual formation, "it's good to have you back, I was really worried.”
Snotlout came a little further out in front, flying slightly below Hiccup, he gave a small mockery of a laugh, "Well, I wasn't worried for a second.”
"Sure you weren't,” Fishlegs called from the back of their group, “Astrid would have killed you if we hadn't found hiccup.”
Snotlout laughed again, turned back to face Fishlegs, "Shut up, Fish-face."
Hiccup looked forward, watching the Triple Stryke fly ahead of them, twisting and tumbling in the sky.
“Look at that magnificent creature, so dangerous, so deadly...” Tuffnut said, gesturing with his hands, “I shall name him... Slee-u-ther.”
Sleuther fell back, flying over Hiccup and Toothless, looking at them upside-down.
"Hiccup, I think he wants to come back with us,” Fishlegs called in excitement.
Sleuther stuck his tongue out, Toothless copying with an open-mouthed smile.
Hiccup laughed, softly, "Sleuther, I think you'll like the Edge," he smiled, a softness to his eyes as he watched their new dragon.
As they continued their flight back to the Edge, Hiccup began to feel lightheaded, the air became thin, despite his even breathing. His vision blurred, causing the clouds to fade into one another. His eyes clenched themselves closed, left hand coming up to clutch at his forehead, hiding one of them from sight. His brows furrowed, lips twisting into a grimace, and teeth gritting against each other. His other hand tightened on the saddle, his nails digging into his palm. He swayed.
Toothless turned, looking back at his Rider. He made a small noise in the back of his throat, one Hiccup had come to recognise as concern for him. He opened his eyes, moving his hand slightly away, and looked back at his partner, seeing the tiredness in his dragon's bright eyes.
"I'm okay, Toothless."
Toothless made a noise of disagreement.
Hiccup sighed, breath coming out uneven and staggered. "I... I'll be okay. Let's just get home. I think we both need to rest."
Toothless chortled in agreement, turning back to face the sky, and upping his speed.
The group arrived back at the Edge quickly, and landed in its centre, next to the hut they would eat and hold meetings in. Hiccup landed first, and watched as the others did the same near him. Astrid and Snotlout landed closest to him, having flanked him practically the entire journey back to the Edge. He watched as they dismounted, catching Astrid shoot a few concerned glances in his direction while she stroked Stormfly. Snotlout seemed to be hovering around him and Toothless, so he dismounted, wanting to dismiss them all to bed. Once both his legs were firmly on the ground, Hiccup realised how dizzy he felt, he straightened, trying to appear strong, even if he didn't feel it.
"Okay, gang. Off to bed, it's been... a long couple days. We'll do recon tomorrow, to pool all our information. We need to make sure this doesn't happen again. Fishlegs, could you take Sleuther? Thanks."
There was a resounding vote of agreement, and even some quiet from the twins, which Hiccup hadn't expected. He watched as the majority of his Riders flew towards their huts, with Fishlegs taking their new addition with Meatlug to the dragon pen, but Astrid and Snotlout remained, still hovering. He looked at both of them, one, and then the other, and let out a sigh.
"Go, guys, I'm fine. I'm just gonna go in here," he gestured towards their meeting room, "put some things away, and then I'll go to bed."
"We're just worried, Hiccup. You were gone two days, are you sure you're alright?" Astrid asked, stepping closer.
Snotlout was watching his cousin with concern, still at his side, as if he was waiting for something to happen.
Hiccup took a step back, and turned, placing a hand on the wood of the centre hut's entrance, and looking back at them.
"You can both stop hovering, I'm fine, guys, really-"
Hiccup's world moved underneath him, tilting, twisting, darkness coming up on the edges of his vision, his fingers lost their purchase on the doorframe, and he started to fall towards the wooden floor. He could faintly hear the twin shout of his name, but it sounded so far away. He felt large hands catch him, his chest landing against the person's thick arms. His breathing pattern broke, his breath hitching, catching in his chest. The person that held him carefully lowered him to the floor, resting his head against their chest. He almost unconsciously brought his dominant left hand up to grip at the armor above his heart, feeling it beat rapidly. It seemed like water was rushing past his ears, his own wrecked breathing too loud, the world a blur of black and colour. The person holding him gripped him tighter, and he moved into their chest, trying to hide away from the dizziness forced on him, eyes squeezing themselves shut.
A smaller hand placed itself on his cheek, distantly, he heard someone calling him. The fingers on his cheek moved softly, gentle, like the voice calling his name. The world steadied a bit, and he did his best to wrench his eyes back open, blinking away at the lingering blurriness. His hand unclenched from his chest, and he tried to take a couple deep breaths. The air still felt too light. He saw a wide chest in front of him, and though the armor looked so familiar, it took him a moment to realise that it was Snotlout holding his tired body against his chest, looking down at him with wide, and frightened light-blue eyes. He felt the familiar hand still on his face, Astrid's, remembering her touch from times past.
He moved slightly to sit up, Snotlout's arms framing his smaller body. He felt an odd comfort, a safety, in feeling Snotlout's arm around his shoulders, guiding him into a seated position. Even once he was upright, the arm stayed, supporting him. Feeling small but calloused fingers running themselves through his hair, he lifted his head, gazing into the blue of Astrid's eyes. Wide, and unsure. Worried. He let out another breath. Toothless was by his feet, gazing at him with his own big eyes, looking lost.
"Hiccup?" Astrid called, he could see her lips form his name, see the lines of worry on her face.
"I'm..." he breathed, softer, but still uneven, "I'm okay."
Snotlout's arm tightened around his shoulder as his body swayed again, like a leaf in the wind of Fall.
"Hiccup... Did they... Did they feed you at all while you were in there?" Astrid asked, her voice a slightly higher pitch than usual.
Hiccup took another breath, he started to nod, and then shook his head, "There... There were dragons. They were starving," he looked her in the eyes, begging her to understand.
"What about water? Did they give you any water?" Astrid’s expression grew furious, protective.
Toothless growled.
Hiccup shook his head, his untamed hair flying from the small tosses.
He felt Snotlout's head bump carefully with his own, an echo from a childhood long forgotten, when they had played together despite Hiccup's small stature.
"You idiot," his cousin said, sounding somewhat defeated and resigned to Hiccup's habit of self-sacrifice, "You let me leave you there. I left you there."
Hiccup shook his head again, "I asked you to, Snotlout. If you'd have stayed, they'd have gotten you as well."
Snotlout growled low in his throat, and hung his head. He knows. He'd known. But he'd still left his younger, smaller cousin, and let him be put in a cage.
Astrid's hand fell from Hiccup's hair to cup his cheek, "We need to get you to bed. You need to rest. You need food, and water."
Hiccup moved his head further into Astrid's touch, feeling her cool hand on his burning skin. He nodded once, agreeing. He felt so tired, now that it was all over. The adrenaline was long gone.
"Snotlout, climb on the back of Toothless with Hiccup would you? I don't trust him not to fall out the saddle on the way to his hut. I'm going to go grab some supplies. Get him into bed," Astrid commanded, and gave one final stroke of her thumb across Hiccup's cheekbone, "I'll be back soon, with food and water."
"For Toothless too?" Hiccup slurred slightly, looking at her with a dazed expression.
"Of course. I know you won't eat unless Toothless does. You're too stubborn, Hiccup."
Hiccup watched as Astrid got up and walked into the central hut, before his attention was refocused on Snotlout slowly getting up, pulling him along with him. His cousin moved his arm down from his shoulder to wrap around his back, and placed his free hand on his tricep, gently raising him from the floor. Toothless stood next to him, letting Hiccup reach out and steady himself on his head.
"C'mon, Hic, let's get you to bed," Snotlout said, softly.
Hiccup took a breath, steadying himself. "The air feels thin, Snotlout. Like I'm not breathing enough. I haven't felt like this in years."
Snotlout stayed silent, gently nudging Hiccup into Toothless' saddle, and hopping on behind him. He heard the click of the gear that allowed Toothless' tail fin to open, and felt Hiccup lean back onto him a little. He placed his hand over his cousin's bicep in comfort.
They landed quickly, Hiccup's hut only slightly further away than the others, allowing him some peace from the madness that came with the island. Hookfang touched down with them, and pulled the mechanism that opened the door to Hiccup and Toothless' hut. All gears, and metal, and contraptions that Snotlout didn't understand. But Hiccup did. His cousin, that questioned everything, and took things apart, only to put them back together again, and make them better than they were before.
Snotlout helped Hiccup from Toothless' saddle, the Night Fury remaining close to Hiccup's side as he walked the younger teen inside. Once they were safely in, Snotlout steered Hiccup towards his bed, and lightly pushed him down to sit on the sheets. Toothless bumped his head against Hiccup's leg, prompting Hiccup to reach down and scratch under his dragon's chin.
"You were great in there, bud. I'm so proud of you," he said, an exhausted smile forming from his lips.
Toothless purred, rubbing his head into Hiccup's hand.
"I hate to break you guys up, but I need to get your armor off if you're having trouble breathing. Your head might be stuck in fight-mode; my dad does it all the time," Snotlout said, placing a hand on one of Hiccup's shoulder guards.
Hiccup nodded, trying his best to relax as Snotlout pulled at the straps that kept his armor on, and carefully pulled it away from his torso, leaving him clad in his red tunic. His cousin took each of his arms, and untied his armguards, brushing lightly at his bare hands. Hiccup’s head cleared a little more, and he took a deeper breath in than he'd been able to in hours. He let his body curl over, forearms resting on his thighs, hands loosely dangling between his knees, his spine curved, and head dropped forward. He took another shaky breath, feeling the sickness that rose, his stomach cramping, head pounding. He tugged at his slightly too-long sleeves, twirling the fabric between his fingers. He felt Snotlout place his large hand on his back, dead centre, between his shoulder blades. He took another breath, steadier.
"You scared me when you said you couldn't breathe properly, I remember you getting sick all the time when we were kids. You scared me then, too."
Hiccup turned his head towards Snotlout, still letting it hang in the air. "Sorry..."
Snotlout waved him off. "Don't worry about it, 'm just glad we got you back."
Snotlout kept his hand between Hiccup’s shoulders, feeling each breath the younger Rider was taking. “That’s it, stay there. Just breathe.”
Hiccup let out a small laugh at the familiar sentence, and took a deeper breath, relishing in the air filling his lungs. “Do you remember? You used to say that to me when we were kids. Those exact words.”
Snotlout blushed, looking away, but not moving his hand. “It’s habit, that’s all.”
Hiccup placed his hand onto Snotlout’s knee, his gaze finding his cousin’s. “Thank you, Snotlout.”
Snotlout spluttered. “Yeah, well, someone needed to look out for you,” he lowered his gaze, watching Hiccup’s chest rise and fall. “I just wish I’d remembered that when we got older. Instead, I left you alone.”
Hiccup let out a slow breath, and straightened his back out of the position he was in. He turned towards Snotlout, as much as he could with the bed in the way, and clasped his hands over each side of his cousin’s head, raising it slightly. He leant forward, and bumped his forehead against the blue-eyed Rider’s.
“I forgave you long ago. The years may have been lonely, but they made me stronger. And you’re here now, with me, still looking out for me.”
Snotlout’s eyes produced tears, but he refused to let them fall, instead, he raised his free hand, and gripped at the back of Hiccup’s head, his fingers brushing through the brown strands.
“You’re such an idiot.”
Hiccup laughed. “I know.”
Toothless purred from where he’d sat by the bed, staying vigilant while Hiccup was taking deep breaths. The cousins released each other, and Hiccup bent down, motioning for Toothless to give him his injured paw. The Night Fury sat on his back legs, placing the paw lightly in Hiccup’s lap. The strip of red fabric, from the bottom of Hiccup’s tunic, was still tightly tied. Hiccup removed it, tossing it aside, before scrutinising his partner’s limb. The three scratches didn’t look deep, but it’d been over a day since Toothless had been injured, and Hiccup wasn’t taking any chances. He stood, startling Snotlout, and took a step in the direction of a set of draws on the other side of the room, next to a metal bucket with two cloths hanging off of it. The room tilted quickly, making Hiccup stagger to the side. Snotlout hastily pulled him back, pushing on Hiccup’s shoulders to force him to sit back down. Hiccup closed his eyes tightly, and reached up to touch his head above his left eye. He shook his head, as if to clear it, and re-opened his eyes to Snotlout’s worried expression.
“Are you stupid? You’ve already proved that you shouldn’t be walking around! You haven’t eaten in over two days, Hiccup! You’ve likely not slept either! For the love of Thor, be more concerned about your own state of health!”
Toothless growled in agreement, watching Hiccup with narrowed eyes as his Rider winced in pain. Snotlout quietened his voice.
“What do you need from over there?”
“Uh, there’s some bandages in the top draw, and some salve that I use for injured dragons. The bucket has some water in it, so I can wash Toothless’ paw, I don’t want him to get an infection,” Hiccup explained.
Snotlout nodded. “Right, two seconds, then.”
Hiccup’s gaze trailed after his broad cousin as he crossed the room, opening the draw and finding what Hiccup had asked for, and grabbing the bucket before making his way back over to the dragon and Rider pair. He put the bucket on the floor in front of Hiccup, and passed him the items he’d asked for. Hiccup patted his lap, and Toothless placed his paw back where it was.
“Hold still, bud,” he requested, dipping the cloth into the water and wringing out the excess.
Snotlout watched Hiccup’s hands, smaller than his, as they ran the cloth over Toothless’ injury, ensuring it was clean, and then drying it off with the other cloth. He opened the small jar that Snotlout had brought from the jar, revealing a green paste-like substance, and began spreading it over the scratches that marred Toothless’ paw. Lastly, he wound the bandages around Toothless’ leg, stopping once he’d covered the injury, and reaching into his boot. When he pulled out a small dagger, Snotlout let his surprise show quite obviously. Hiccup let out a laugh at his shock.
“What, you think I wander around unarmed?” He asked, scratching Toothless’ ear.
Snotlout let out a confused noise, a single note, slightly higher than his speaking voice, from the back of his throat. He hadn’t known. Hiccup laughed again, and cut the bandage, tying it off, and patting the front of Toothless’ paw.
“You’re good, bud. Gotta be more careful next time, huh?”
Toothless chortled, as if he found the entire idea hilarious. There was no being careful when it came to protecting Hiccup. There was only failure, and that, the dragon couldn’t accept.
“Hiccup?” Astrid’s voice sounded from the door.
She walked in, carrying a bucket of cod in one hand, a bowl filled with broth in the other, and a jug nestled in the crook of her arm. She set the bucket by Toothless, who looked at it, but didn’t start eating. Hiccup watched him with concern.
“What’s the matter, bud?”
Toothless gave a small growl, looking at the bowl in Astrid’s hand, and then at Hiccup.
“Okay, okay, I get it,” Hiccup said.
Astrid seemed to “get it” as well, because she immediately passed Hiccup the bowl, watching as he took a spoonful of it and put it in his mouth. Only once he’d swallowed, and given Toothless an exasperated look, did the dragon smile widely, practically jumping head-first into the bucket. It didn’t take long for the dragon or his Rider to finish their meals, Hiccup took it slower than Toothless, stopping every few bites to take a sip of water, both Astrid and Snotlout watched carefully as he ate, seeing the small trembles that occasionally shook his hands. When he’d finished, he took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh. He looked more tired now, weary.
Astrid took the bowl from Hiccup and glanced over his drained features; the redness of his eyes, the dark skin beneath them, and the pinched corners of his lips. She placed the back of her hand under his bangs, feeling the small amount of heat coming from his skin.
“You need to sleep, now, Hiccup,” she said, the tone in her voice that means she doesn’t want any arguments.
“But Astrid...”
Hiccup cut himself off, bringing a hand back to his head and clutching at it as another wave of dizziness fell over him. His arms quaked with light, over-exhausted tremors.
“No buts!” Astrid dropped to her knees in front of him, grasping his free hand between both of her smaller ones. “You’re exhausted. Please, just rest.”
Hiccup nodded, just once, resigned that he was more than simply tired. He slipped out of Astrid’s grasp and moved back further onto his bed, Toothless quickly jumped up to join him; sliding around Hiccup’s back and curling around the upper half of his body. Hiccup lowered himself down onto the covers of the bed, lying on his side, arms bent in front of his chest. His eyes drifted closed once or twice as Astrid quietly left the room, whispering her goodnights, Snotlout stayed for a moment more, shifting to sit next to Hiccup’s hands. He pulled the thin blanket up and over his cousin’s shoulders, watching the slightly younger teen blink slowly, fighting sleep. Toothless wrapped a wing over Hiccup’s form, as he did whenever they slept near each other. The Night Fury bumped his head against Hiccup’s before settling his muzzle right next to his Rider’s crown.
Snotlout reached out a tentative hand, threading it through the loose hair near Hiccup’s braids. Hiccup’s eyes slipped closed once more, and after a few more moments, his breathing evened out, soft, and deep. Snotlout ran his fingers through Hiccup’s hair once more, and stood, walking from the room in silence. He looked back inside as he lowered the door to the hut. Seeing Hiccup turn to Toothless in his sleep, and Toothless shift closer to his Rider. Snotlout climbed up on Hookfang, and they flew over to their own hut, determined to follow Hiccup’s example.