Work Text:
“Hiccup! Snotlout! Fishlegs!”
“Hiccup! Fishlegs!”
“Oi Snotlout! Hiccup! Fishlegs!”
Astrid sighed, running a hand down her face as Stormfly walked through the dense forest of the island, the twins not far behind on Barf and Belch. Of all the muttonheads she was stuck with, of course it would be the twins. The group of them had been separated by a hunter ambush – Hiccup, Fishlegs, and Snotlout had all take to the skies, while Astrid and the twins had been forced low, and the canopy above was too thick to take off again without finding a clearing of some sort. She definitely wanted to find the others before the hunters did, she didn’t want to think about what would happen to them otherwise.
“Hiccup! Snotlout! Hey Astrid, what’s that?”
Astrid grimaced, opening her mouth to retort, but then she spotted what Tuffnut was pointing at. The canopy of the forest was broken, like something big had crashed through the trees, skidding across the ground and – blood. Lots of blood, enough that Astrid felt her heart crawl into her throat. It trailed across the clearing, and the footprints…Astrid would recognize those mismatched footprints anywhere.
Hiccup.
“Stay low, guys…” Astrid coaxed Stormfly forward, following the bloody trail. It didn’t get far before it led into a shallow cave. Inside, Astrid could see a familiar dark shape, and she hopped off of Stormfly, approaching slowly. “Hey, Toothless…are you hurt? Where’s Hiccup?”
Toothless turned to face her, and instantly, Astrid knew something was wrong. His pupils were narrowed to slits, his eyes darting about like he had a hard time focusing on her, and his teeth were bared. He roared at her, curling protectively around – something, and his mouth began to glow with purple flame.
“Get back!” Astrid dove out of the way just as the shot went off, and it hit the space where mere seconds ago her head had been. The twins screamed, and Barf and Belch roared, flaring their wings. Stormfly, in turn, grew skittish, jumping in front of Astrid and squawking with anger at Toothless, her own wings flared protectively. Astrid pet her side, trying to soothe her frightened dragon. “It’s okay, girl, I’m okay. I just need to get closer.”
“Uh, Astrid? Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Ruffnut called down from her perch on Barf, glancing around quite skittishly herself.
“Yeah, no offense, but the ol’ T-man doesn’t seem to be, uh, himself.” Ever so casual, Tuffnut’s remark was helpful as always.
“Where Toothless is, Hiccup’s not far behind, and something left all this blood.” Astrid glared hard at the twins. “I’m getting closer.”
Hesitantly, she took a step out from around Stormfly. Toothless growled, glancing around again, but Astrid just raised her hands in surrender. “Toothless? Hey, Toothless…it’s just me. It’s Astrid.” Some sort of recognition must’ve clicked in Toothless’ mind, because he stopped growling and baring his teeth, just watched her warily as she continued to get closer. She swallowed hard. It was easy to forget with Hiccup and Toothless were bouncing around together, but Toothless was easily the deadliest dragon of the group, and the smartest. She still didn’t understand how Hiccup managed to train him sometimes. “I just need to get a little closer, okay? I need to see what’s wrong.”
Toothless growled softly, but then he shifted, and there it was. An arrow sticking out of his left hind leg. She didn’t know if it was dragon root tipped or what – Hiccup had told them that story, but there was something wrong to make Toothless not recognize her at first. “Oh…you got shot, I see. Where’s Hiccup? Why hasn’t he pulled that out of you yet?”
She realized it before Toothless even moved that something was very wrong. One little stick with an arrow wasn’t going to cause that much blood, not from a dragon. And when Toothless shifted a wing, revealing Hiccup in his grasp – Astrid nearly threw up, all the blood draining from her face.
Hiccup was lying face down on the ground, unconscious and pale. There were arrows, so many arrows, at least four that Astrid could see sticking out of his back. There was another that had punctured straight through the meat of Hiccup’s good leg, and that must’ve been the source of the blood. There was so much of it, pooled around Hiccup’s body, covering the rocky ground –
“Go! Find Fishlegs!” Astrid practically screamed at the twins, running for the cave. “Get help!” For once, the twins didn’t argue, and Astrid took a little comfort in that as she skidded to a halt before the Night Fury and his unconscious rider. She fell to her knees gathering Hiccup in her arms, her hands shaking, unsure of what to do. Does she pull them out? That would just make him bleed more, oh Gods, there were so many arrows, there was so much blood –
Hiccup groaned, and his eyelids fluttered. Astrid desperately pushed his hair out of his face, her eyes welling with tears. Hiccup made a soft sound, almost a whimper. “…Astrid?”
“Yeah, it’s me, it’s me, Hiccup –” Astrid choked, and held him close, careful to avoid touching the arrow shafts and causing any more damage.
“Astrid…” Hiccup’s voice was strained, his breathing too fast. “We…we got hit, and Toothless…Toothless…!”
“Shh, Toothless is fine, Hiccup, he’s right here.” On cue, Toothless stuck his nose in Hiccup’s face, cooing at his rider and nuzzling against him. Hiccup let out a weak laugh, and held up a hand, shakily petting the side of Toothless’ head. Astrid bit back a sob. “He’s – he’s hit, but Fishlegs is on the way, and then we’ll get you both patched up, alright? Just hang in there, Hiccup –”
Hiccup’s arm went limp, and he groaned again, shifting his injured leg. “…Ssss…something on the arrows…burns…”
Astrid wiped at her face, just to realize Hiccup’s blood was all over her hands, warm on her skin, drying on her face – she swallowed hard, and drew a shaky breath. “We’ll get you help soon, Hiccup, Fishlegs is coming, then we’ll get you back to the Edge, and everything will be fine. You hear me? You’ll be fine.”
Hiccup didn’t respond, and it was only after Astrid shook him and called his name again did she realize he’d passed out again. It was probably for the best, even as her heart seized in her chest. At least he wasn’t feeling the pain while he was unconscious.
All there was left to do was pray to the Gods that he’d be alright.