Archive of Our Own ^beta

With Toothless's help, Hiccup heaved himself over the lip of the icy ravine, pausing at the top to catch his breath and stare at the frozen form of Trader Johann. Though looking at him now, frozen solid in a thick cocoon of ice, memorialized in the last act of his life — poisoned spear raised above his head, poised to kill someone who had always considered him a friend — Hiccup supposed that "Traitor Johann" would be a more fitting moniker.

Toothless warbled, and Hiccup shook himself out of his dark thoughts, tearing his gaze from the terrible sight. He hugged his dragon tightly, then sat back, drinking in every detail of his best friend's face. "You never cease to amaze me, bud," he whispered. Toothless nuzzled his chest in return, green eyes traveling across Hiccup's body appraisingly. He cooed in concern.

"I'm okay, Toothless," Hiccup promised, surprised to realize that it was mostly true. His heart raced, breathing shallow, hands shaking as he reached for his prosthetic, and despite the ice surrounding him, he was soaked in sweat, but otherwise, he felt okay. Hiccup peered over the side of the chasm and into the yawning darkness below, pulse pounding in his ears — what kind of dragon had saved him with its icy breath? How big would the King of Dragons have to be to freeze Johann from all the way down there?

As he peered down the ice wall below him, Hiccup couldn't help but chuckle in astonishment. How had he held on to his sword — a pang of regret as he recalled the flaming blade plunging into the darkness — for so long? How had he managed to climb up that sheer wall of ice with nothing but his sword and prosthetic, all while preventing the egg from dropping into oblivion? That was the kind of heroic physical exploit one would expect of a stronger Viking, like Snotlout or Thor Bonecrusher. Hiccup wasn't exactly known for his physical prowess or upper body strength.

He sat back and scooted away from the edge, suddenly lightheaded. With trembling hands, Hiccup reattached his prosthetic and reverently took the egg in his hands. Toothless hurried to support him as he struggled to his feet. His whole body felt jittery, but he didn’t even feel that tired or sore from the beating Johann had given him or his ice-climbing adventure. Odd, maybe, but Hiccup wasn’t going to look a gift yak in the mouth.

"C'mon, Toothless," he said, making a concerted effort to slow and deepen his breathing as they made their way to the mouth of the cave. The dizziness had gotten worse, and his whole body trembled.

Snow started to fall as they stepped, side by side, out into the open air. The sun had mostly set, and thank Thor, Hiccup saw his friends running to meet him. Fishlegs squealed and put on a burst of speed when he saw what what Hiccup held. "Oooh! Is that the King of Dragons' egg?"

Hiccup tried to respond, but he couldn't get his mouth to cooperate. All at once, the pain he'd thought he'd somehow gotten out of hit — his head, his face, his arms, gods, his arms. Utter exhaustion crashed over him like a giant wave, coating his limbs in lead and fogging his head. He felt weaker than a newborn lamb. He thought vaguely that he should probably be panicking, but he was too tired and weak and in too much pain to care.

"I…" he murmured, looking sluggishly around at his gathered friends, all blurry and out of focus and with varying degrees of concern on their faces. "I—" he tried again, leaning so much of his weight on Toothless that the dragon was practically carrying him at this point. With great difficulty, Hiccup held the egg, which now felt like it weighed a hundred pounds, out to Fishlegs, who took it reverently. "Are you okay, Hiccup?" his friend asked softly. He cradled the egg in the crook of his elbow like an infant — which it was, he supposed — and reached out his other hand to steady the wavering Hiccup. "You don't look so good." A pause as Fishlegs studied his face. "And you're bleeding."

His friends pressed in on him then. Hiccup saw their mouths move, but he couldn't make out the words. A tinny ringing had replaced the sound of his galloping heartbeat in his ears; darkness nipped at the edges of his vision. He felt himself wobble, felt himself teeter, felt himself fall as if in slow motion. Toothless's panicked screech followed him into the darkness.

He was out before he hit the ground.

Hiccup woke up feeling like he'd been rolled over by a Catastrophic Quaken.

He groaned as awareness trickled back, bringing with it an ache that covered every part of him like a shroud.

"Hiccup?"

Before Hiccup could even think about responding to Astrid, her voice hoarse and thin and fatigued, he heard a joyful gurgle to his right and felt a big, slimy dragon tongue licking his face.

Hiccup's eyes snapped open and he tried to raise a hand to stroke Toothless, to reassure him. He barely lifted his arm an inch before he gave up, panting with pain and exertion. He felt like he had been in combat training with Astrid for two weeks straight with no breaks for food or sleep.

Thankfully, Astrid managed to pull Toothless back for him, a strained, breathy laugh escaping as she did so.

"I—I'm okay, bud," Hiccup gasped as the dragon sat back and watched him intently. Toothless's pupils were blown wide, his nostrils flaring. "I'm happy to see you too." Hiccup struggled to prop himself on his elbows and found that he was in his hut back on the Edge, in his own bed, wearing a fresh tunic and pants. He wore a thick sock with no boot, and he spotted his prosthetic lying on his work table. He, Toothless, and Astrid were the only ones there.

"What—what happened?" Hiccup asked.

"I was hoping you could tell me," Astrid countered. "You came out of the cavern with Toothless looking awful, like you'd been beaten up. And you were… shaking and swaying and right after handing the King of Dragons' egg over to Fishlegs, you passed out." Her eyes were solemn, worried. Her hair had been freshly washed and she smelled of chamomile and honey. Gods, she was beautiful.

Then her words hit him — "Wait. King of Dragons?" All at once, his memories returned with bruising force: Johann and Krogan running for him, being tackled by Johann, being held down as the man punched him again and again and again, his head slamming into the ice floor, lunging for the falling egg, right off the edge of the chasm and into oblivion. Climbing up the sheer ice wall. Being kicked in the face. A green-tipped spear coming down on him while he hung there, helpless. An earth-shaking rumble, a blast of freezing air from below. The crackle of settling ice. Trader Johann frozen in ice, frozen in time. Dead, moments before he would have killed Hiccup.

"The egg," Hiccup said, struggling to sit up. "Where is it? Is it okay?"

Astrid pushed him back down, pinning him to the bed one-handed with an ease that spoke to just how much Hiccup's ordeal had weakened him.

"The egg is fine, Hiccup. It's safe. We gave it to the Wingmaidens. They know someone who will protect it." She fixed him with a stern look. "And you need to rest." She slowly removed her hand as Hiccup stopped straining against it. Toothless plopped his head onto Hiccup's stomach to ensure that his rider didn’t attempt to escape again.

"That's unnecessary, bud," protested Hiccup, but he actually didn’t mind. The weight of Toothless's head felt comfortable and familiar and helped him relax amid the swirl of memories, worry, and pain. He closed his eyes; his head really hurt.

"And Krogan?" he asked, keeping his eyes closed.

"He got away. I'm sorry."

Hiccup had been afraid of that. He took a shaky breath, fought against the irrational urge to cry.

"Hey. " Now Hiccup did open his eyes. Astrid knelt by his head, placed a hand on his cheek. "The important thing is that we got the egg. The King of Dragons and its egg are safe, and it's thanks to you."

Hiccup offered a slight smile. "It's thanks to all of us."

Astrid smiled back, then sat back on her heels. "So. Want to tell me what happened to you back there?"

Hiccup glanced at Toothless, who had fallen asleep and would certainly be no help in telling the story. "I'll tell you once we're all together," he decided. "I really don't want to have to tell it more than once."

Despite Astrid's protests, Hiccup insisted they meet up in the clubhouse instead of his hut. He felt like the Red Death had chewed him up and spat him out, sure, but he was already sick of being in bed, and he wasn't going to regain his strength by lying around anyway. Plus, he'd added when Astrid had continued to argue, the twins would snoop around and mess with his things, and probably break something.

He did stop to take a look at his reflection in his shield before leaving his hut. His left eye had nearly swollen shut, a large gash had been carefully stitched on his cheekbone, and an ugly black bruise had blossomed on his jaw. Worst of all, was his nose, badly bruised and swollen. Johann must have broken it with that last kick.

Once settled at the table with the rest of the riders, Hiccup recounted his encounter with Krogan and Johann. He kept his head high and chin up and did not succumb to the nearly overwhelming desire to hunch over the table or lay his head on his arms. As their leader, he wanted to appear strong, regardless of the fatigue and pain, especially after a battle — and victory — such as this.

When he had finished, everyone stared at him for a long moment, the air in the room charged like the premonition of lightning.

Surprising no one, Snotlout broke the silence. "You're telling me," he said slowly, "that you — you — took off your leg and used it and your sword to climb a cliff of ice with the dragon egg on your head?"

Hiccup shrugged. "I mean, it wasn't on my head—"

"Tomato, tomato," said Snotlout, pronouncing the word the same both times. He picked up, "Your toothpick arms pulled you all the way up that cliff, and you got the egg to safety, and then got kicked back down in the face and still managed to hang on with one hand until Toothless came back to pull you up? All after Johann beat the crap out of you and gave you a concussion?"

Hiccup glanced around at his awed friends and nodded; Toothless puffed out his chest in pride.

"That is—" Snotlout began.

"Amazing," Astrid said, and Hiccup sat up straighter, emboldened by the respect burning in her eyes. He already knew she trusted and respected him as a leader, a thinker, a dragon trainer, a strategist — but to know that her admiration now was because of his strength and endurance in a moment of crisis… well, it felt good.

Snotlout scoffed. "I was gonna say that's the biggest pile of dragon dung I've ever heard." Hiccup rolled his eyes but wasn't especially offended; he expected this kind of skepticism from his cousin.

Astrid scoffed, offended enough for both of them. "Since when has Hiccup been one for tall tales?"

"What about the time he claimed to have shot down a Night Fury?" Tuff demanded, pointing an accusing finger dangerously close to Hiccup's broken nose.

Hiccup stared at him. "Uhhh," he started, exchanging an incredulous look with Astrid.

Beside him, Toothless popped his head up over the edge of the table and glared at Tuff, chuffing indignantly.

"Oh, hey, T," Tuff waved cheerily. He motioned to Hiccup with his head. "Can you believe this guy?"

"I swear one day he's gonna come running to us with one of his wild tales and nobody will believe him even if it's true," Ruff tutted, shaking her head.

"The little Viking who cried Night Fury," Tuff agreed.

"Oh, gods," Hiccup grumbled.

"I'm just saying," Snotlout said, "That kind of thing would be hard for even me to do." He flexed his muscles, then leaned across the table and poked Hiccup in the arm to illustrate the difference.

Hiccup yelped in pain and swatted Snotlout's hand away. "Can you not touch me, please, Snotlout? I am very sore after doing all of those things you think I didn’t do."

Snotlout sat back, pouting. "I just don't get it. You've never even been able to beat Fishlegs's kid cousin at arm wrestling."

"Maybe that's because I've never actually arm wrestled her!" Hiccup exclaimed, exasperated. Fishlegs's kid cousin happened to be a four-year-old girl who Hiccup had interacted with only twice, and neither of those interactions had involved arm wrestling.

Fishlegs cut in. "The human body is actually capable of doing amazing feats in times of peril," he explained to a grumbling Snotlout. "There have been reports of moms lifting full-grown yaks off of their children all by themselves! It's like the body goes into overdrive, maybe its something natural our bodies do to protect us, maybe it's some kind of blessing from Tyr. But whatever the reason, you think quicker, move faster, not to mention the boost in strength and endurance."

"Kind of like when you go into battle and everything clicks," Astrid said. "Your mind and your body sync up and you react on instinct, fighting stronger and harder and smarter than you ever have in training."

"Exactly."

"So… you really did do all of that?"

"Yes, Snotlout." Hiccup could no longer keep the weariness out of his voice.

"And you weren't hypnotized?"

Hiccup threw his hands in the air. "Who exactly was there to hypnotize me? Krogan? Johann, so I'd have a sporting chance?"

Snotlout held up his hands in surrender. "Just checking. So, follow up question."

"What. Is it. Snotlout?" Hiccup groaned, letting his eyes slip shut and his head fall back.

"What in the Hel are you doing out of bed, you muttonhead?"

Hiccup lifted his head, opening his eyes to stare at his cousin in shock.

"Wh-what?"

"Let's see," Snotlout said, counting on his fingers. "You got the snot beat out of you, pulled yourself up a freaking ice cliff, you got your face kicked in, you hung by your arms over a bottomless pit for a really long time—"

"Um, the chasm wasn't — wasn't bottomless," Hiccup stammered, feeling as off-balance as if someone had pulled off his prosthetic and pushed him out onto a frozen pond.

"Don't act so modest, Hiccup, we can see right through you," Snotlout snapped. Hiccup glanced at Astrid for help, but she just crossed her arms and grinned. "Now, where was I? Oh yeah, all that happened and you're here running all over the Edge with us? Take it from me, even the strongest warriors need to rest after something like that."

"I'm not exactly running—"

"He's right, you know," Ruff chimed in. "Your face looks like a Thorston used it for bludgeoning practice."

"And you're like, really pale," Tuff added.

"I'm always really pale," Hiccup countered dryly.

"I don't know, Hiccup, they have a point," said Fishlegs, wincing but not relenting when Hiccup shot him an irritated scowl. "You've been through a lot, and your face is paler than normal. You're exhausted, and injured, and you'll end up making yourself sick if you don't take some time to rest and heal."

"Oh, come on," Hiccup protested, despite the fatigue clinging to him like spiderwebs and the pain hammering in his head. "There's too much stuff that needs done after the battle. We need to talk about whether its time to head back to Berk for good. I've got T-mails to send to our allies, I need to check—"

Toothless growled and indicated the clubhouse door with his head, then lay his head on Hiccup's lap and whined.

"Really?" Hiccup asked flatly. "You too, bud?"

Toothless chirped.

Heaving a great sigh — because if he didn't have his dramatic flair in times like these, then what did he have, really? — Hiccup levered himself up from the table, his arms shaking. Astrid looped her arm around his waist and helped him rise.

"You need to sleep, and you need to eat," she said. "I'll make you something and you can eat it when you wake up."

They shuffled back to his hut. Hiccup, his head dangerously close to lolling over onto Astrid's shoulder, murmured his thanks.

"Honestly, you spend so much time trying to take care of us that you forget that sometimes you need someone to take care of you."

Toothless followed them through Hiccup's door and watched in approval as Astrid eased a half-asleep Hiccup onto the bed. He tilted his head when she brushed a tender kiss on his forehead, then padded over to his stone, warmed it, and curled into a contented ball, at ease knowing that his rider was safe, and resting, and in good hands.