Chapter Text
There was something weird on the beach.
It was the first dry morning after a huge storm that had lasted two whole days, and Pabu smelled amazing. Too much of Omega’s life had been spent in sterile labs, so waking up to the rain-fresh, earthy, post-storm air was still a delight every time. She'd got up early and slipped out of the house to breathe in the day before the sun dried up all the rain. Later, there would be lots to do – houses to fix, supplies to check, damage to assess – but this early the island was absent of any hustle and bustle.
Batcher had followed her, of course, so they'd headed down to the nearest beach to squidge their bare toes into the wet sand like they always did when it rained, and…
Then there was something weird.
It was some kind of creature, lingering in the shallows. Curious, Omega watched it without moving for a few moments, a hand on Batcher’s flank so that she also stayed still.
The creature was dark as the night. It had sleek skin – or perhaps scales, she couldn't tell from this distance – and was around the same size as Batcher. Its head was smaller and rounder, and it had a longer tail that swished from side to side as it splashed inelegantly in the waves. Most notable, though, were its huge wings: they were currently folded by its side, but they must be almost as long as its body when extended fully. Omega had never seen anything like it.
“Let's get a closer look, girl,” she murmured to Batcher, keeping her voice low. She started to move slowly towards the creature, Batcher following obediently behind despite a small warning growl.
As they approached, it became clear that the creature was trying to fish, but it obviously didn't really know how. Let alone the fact that it was attempting this in the shallows of the beach, it was stirring up the water so much that any fish would be long gone. It snapped at the water regardless, and Omega couldn't help herself: she laughed. The poor thing looked drenched and cold and a little ridiculous.
At the sound, its head whipped around and all three of them froze. It had surprisingly large green eyes which regarded her and Batcher cautiously. They stared at each other for a few breathless moments.
“Hi,” said Omega softly. She raised her hand in a greeting, then immediately lowered it, feeling a little silly. “Where did you come from?”
Omega marvelled at the sight in front of her. It was scaly after all, perhaps some kind of strange winged reptile. Up close, it was bigger than it had appeared from halfway across the beach. Definitely bigger than Batcher.
The creature cocked its head at her, its gaze intelligent.
“Are… you hungry?” she asked, shrugging off her bag. Those green eyes watched her as she dug around in it. “Aha!” She found a squashed ration bar at the bottom, which she unwrapped and held out towards the creature. “Here you go.”
Its eyes lit up and it splashed out of the sea and sniffed at the bar. After a moment it opened its mouth – it seemed to have no teeth; perhaps that was why it couldn't hunt? – and took the ration bar from her hand with surprising gentleness. Then it trilled at her, and took off across the beach.
“Hey!” exclaimed Omega, scrambling after it, Batcher on her heels. “Wait!” It loped quickly ahead of her, but didn't take to the air. It was heading for a cave mouth at the edge of the cliff, but every so often stopped to look back, as if waiting for her to follow it.
It disappeared into the cave, and Omega reached it a minute later, out of breath. The cave was dark and smelled like seaweed; the air in here felt cold compared to the humid morning. Tech would probably tell her off if he knew she was doing this – all her brothers would (except maybe Wrecker). But she had to know more about the creature. Surely it wasn't native to Pabu, so had the storm blown it in? And where had it come from? If it wasn't able to feed itself, it might die if she left it here alone.
Omega kept her hand on Batcher as they headed towards the back of the cave. Water dripped down the walls. Batcher gave a quiet growl again, and Omega realised with a start that someone was talking. It was too low and muffled to hear what was being said, but there was clearly someone else in the cave other than them and the toothless creature.
Curiosity won out. Tiptoeing quietly, Omega rounded a corner and saw, through the gloom of the cave, the creature curled up next to the wall. Leaning against its flank, half covered by one of its wings, was a human boy.
He hadn't noticed her yet, so Omega observed him silently. He was about her age, and looked in a bad way. Even in the low light he was pale, and his face and arms were covered in scratches. The way he was sitting, with his left leg stretched out in front of him, made her uneasy; perhaps his leg was injured. And he looked exhausted. His eyes were barely open as he held her ration bar loosely in one hand. The creature warbled, a worried noise, and nudged the boy with its nose. The boy started as if he had just woken up, though surely he had just been speaking a moment before.
“Okay, bud,” he said quietly. He gave the ration bar a long look like it was a problem to be solved, then nibbled the end of it. The creature crooned as it watched him carefully.
Omega was only just processing that the creature had clearly taken her ration bar for this boy, when Batcher whined, and the boy’s gaze snapped to them. His eyes widened, and he looked so nakedly terrified that she immediately stepped forward, her hands out in front of her.
“Don't worry, I won't hurt you,” she insisted.
The toothless creature growled in the back of its throat, a warning but not yet a threat. Batcher took up a growl in response, and Omega hurriedly gestured for her to stop.
“I'm Omega,” she said, hands up to show she was unarmed. “And this is Batcher.”
The boy stared at her for a few moments, like it took him a couple of seconds to compute what she'd said. His gaze kept sliding off her to land on Batcher.
Eventually he spoke: “Is th–that…” He hesitated, his voice hoarse. “What kind of dragon is that?”
“Dragon?” Omega glanced back at Batcher. “She's a lurca hound. I got her from Wayland, she's not native to this planet.”
“I – What?” He gave her a lost look. Maybe he'd hit his head in whatever accident had injured his leg.
“What kind of dragon is yours?” she asked patiently.
“He's… a Night Fury.” He looked at her defiantly, as if expecting her to react badly to this information. Omega smiled and he relaxed, running a hand over the Night Fury’s head affectionately. “This is Toothless.”
Omega laughed. “Right, because he doesn't have any teeth.”
“Oh, umm…” He trailed off, then noticed the ration bar he was still holding in his other hand. “Did Toothless steal this from you? Gods, I am so sorry –”
“It's okay, I gave it to him.” Omega moved forward, then sat cross-legged on the ground in front of him, though not close enough to be a threat. “He looked like he needed it more than me. Or maybe you did.”
The boy averted his eyes, looking embarrassed. He was trembling, though she didn't think he was frightened anymore, and she really didn't like the way he was clutching his left thigh. Instinct told her to keep him talking.
“So what's your name?” she asked, as Batcher settled down beside her, eyes still locked on Toothless. “How did you end up on Pabu?”
His eyes flickered, and he looked, if possible, even more embarrassed. “I'm Hiccup,” he all but muttered, not answering her other question.
“Hiccup?” Omega clarified, not sure she'd heard him right.
“Yeah.” He winced. “We Vikings give our children terrible names so they learn to be… You know…”
“It's a nice name!” Omega scratched Batcher absently. Hiccup gave a half-smile for the first time. “Viking,” she repeated, testing out the unfamiliar word. “That's where you're from?”
He grimaced and closed his eyes, as if blocking out her question. For a moment the only noise was the dripping of water down the cave walls.
“... Hiccup?”
Again, he jumped as if he had forgotten she was there. This time, she saw the little flash of pain on his face as the movement jostled his leg. “Sorry,” he murmured, not looking at her.
Omega scooted a little closer. Toothless’ eyes followed her but he didn't move. “Are you okay?” she asked.
Hiccup gave a small humourless laugh. “Eh, I'm not sure.”
“What happened? Did your ship get caught in the storm?” She hadn't seen a crashed shuttle on the beach but it might have been washed out to sea already.
“Not exactly. We didn't come by ship.”
“Were you travelling by boat, then?”
He gave her a confused look, like she had said something completely weird.
She switched tactics. “How did you hurt your leg?”
For a moment he seemed to zone out again. But then he gathered himself. When he spoke, his voice was quiet and a little shaky. “We were flying through the storm. Couldn't see a thing. I think Toothless’ tail fin got hit by lightning because I suddenly couldn't control him. I suppose we're lucky we crash-landed on an island rather than straight into the middle of the ocean.”
Toothless nuzzled him. He took a deep breath, then let it out.
“Toothless must have dragged me in here to get me out of the rain. I woke up in here a day or so ago.”
Omega tried to digest this for a few moments. He had been flying – on Toothless? She couldn't even begin to imagine how that worked, or why they thought flying around during a huge storm was a good idea. No wonder he’d been hurt.
First things first: “How bad is it? Can you stand?”
He started to shake his head, grimaced, and said, “No. Already tried.”
“And… when was the last time you ate or drank anything other than a tiny bite of my ration bar?”
He looked up at her guiltily and shrugged.
“Right.” She stood, brushing sand off her trousers. Batcher shook herself off too. “We need to find you some medical attention. You stay here and eat that. I'll go get my brothers to help.”
“Uhhh…”
“Don't worry, they're all super nice,” she reassured him.
“I'm… sure they are, but… Look, I don't have anything to trade, or anything to offer in return for medical supplies. I don't – I don't think I'm going anywhere anytime soon, Toothless is grounded and I – I can't –”
Omega knelt in front of him and took his hand. It was cold, worryingly so. “Hiccup,” she said seriously. “We don't need anything in return. You're hurt, and you need help. So we'll help you.”
He stared at her for a long moment, and if those were tears in the corners of his eyes, she wasn't going to mention them.
“Th–Thank you, Omega.”
She smiled. It sounded nice when he said her name. She was a little surprised he had remembered it.
She released his hand and stood up again. “Come on, Batcher. Eat that bar,” she reminded Hiccup. “And Toothless?”
The Night Fury chirped at his name.
“Make sure he stays awake. I'll be back as soon as I can.”
Omega dashed back to the village, Batcher close behind her. The sun was higher now, the day already warm and humid. The village had started to wake up properly and there were plenty of people moving around who greeted her as she raced past. She was sweating by the time she reached the house.
Inside, it was cool and quiet. Hunter's door was open, which meant that she knew exactly where he'd be. Since everything that had happened at Tantiss, Hunter had developed a new morning habit: he spent an hour on the veranda, drinking a slowly cooling mug of caf, and watched the sun rise over the ocean. Sometimes Omega joined him. It was one of her favourite ways to start the day.
Sure enough, after two days of being forced by the rain to take his caf inside, Hunter was there on the veranda. He was staring off at the horizon, but he blinked when Omega said his name and turned to look at her with a smile.
“Omega,” he greeted, and gestured to the chair next to him. When she didn't move from the threshold, he turned his attention fully to her, his forehead starting to crease. “What's on your mind?”
“Hunter, I need to tell you something,” she said, twisting her hands together. “It's just, there's this boy.”
Hunter's face froze, then cycled through a dozen emotions all at once, from surprise to horror to suspicion. He took a gulp of caf far too quickly, coughed furiously, then choked out, “A boy, eh?” in a voice she'd never heard him use before.
Her face heated. “It's not like that!” she exclaimed. “Look, I found a boy in a cave at the beach. He's hurt and he needs our help, and I don't know what to do!”
Relief flooded Hunter's features, and he let out a shaky laugh. “Right. Sorry.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “You're too young for all that anyway, right?”
Omega glared at him.
“Uh –” Hunter cleared his throat. “A boy on the beach, you said?”
“Come on!”
Hunter was always good in a crisis. In no time at all, it seemed, Wrecker and Crosshair had been roused and Omega was sent off to locate Tech, while her brothers went to the infirmary to collect some basic supplies and a hovercart. Omega found Tech in the Marauder II. He seemed surprised that it was morning, but easily acquiesced to her frantic demands that he hurry up and follow her.
They reconvened outside the infirmary. Omega filled them in on what she knew about Hiccup's condition as they started for the beach, Batcher alongside and ecstatic to be going for another walk. Hunter looked more and more concerned with every word she said.
“And he'd been there for a whole day before you came across him?” he clarified.
“That's what he said.”
“Hmm.” Hunter exchanged a glance with Crosshair over the top of Omega’s head.
“Do you think he's going to be okay?” she asked, for the first time realising that it wasn't a given that he would be.
“We'll see,” he said, non-committally, which was better than false reassurance but still.
“Don't worry, Omega, I'm sure he'll be fine,” said Wrecker. He looked chipper, and Omega’s spirits lifted slightly. Wrecker wouldn't lie to her any more than Hunter would.
Hunter's pessimism refused to leave her mind, though. When the cave came back into sight, Omega raced ahead of her brothers.
“Hiccup!” she called. There was a responding roar from Toothless, but no voice replied. She hurried further in and skidded round the corner. Hiccup was where she had left him, leaning against Toothless, but he had slid down his dragon's side so that he was now almost horizontal. His eyes were closed and the ration bar – barely touched – had fallen out of his hand and was lying on the ground. Toothless whined when he saw her.
“Oh no,” she breathed. “Hiccup?” She barely noticed her brothers coming in behind her as she rushed to his side.
“Hiccup!”
The voice came from very far away. Hiccup wanted to ignore it. He was drifting somewhere warm and hazy and most importantly not painful and he had the distinct impression that if he responded to the voice, he'd be dragged back to somewhere he didn't want to be.
Dimly, he heard Toothless roar. He sounded distressed. Hiccup knew he should care about that, but it seemed like too much energy at the moment. He tried to let himself drift away again.
“Hiccup!” The voice was closer now, digging little barbs into his consciousness and not letting go. “Wake up!”
No, he wanted to say. Let me sleep. Who was it? Why were they shouting at him?
All at once, a touch on his hand swept away the haze, and he was suddenly back in his body. Pain pulsed through his head and he groaned. Instinctively, he curled his stiff fingers around whoever had touched his hand, then cracked his eyes open to see who it was.
“Omega,” he said in surprise, or at least he thought he did. His tongue was heavy, and his voice felt like it was sliding strangely around his mouth. “Th–thought I'd made you up,” he confessed.
She squeezed his hand. Huh. Maybe she was real.
“I'm here,” she said. “And I brought help.”
With great effort, he forced his eyes properly open. He seemed to be lying on something cold and hard, with only his head propped up on something soft – ah, Toothless. Omega was looming over him. Everything was so bright, but it was easy to focus on her face. There were other voices around them –
A man appeared next to Omega, and Hiccup stared. He had something strapped around his eyes that somehow made them look huge.
“Hello,” he said. “I am Tech. Look into this, please.”
He held up a metal box.
“Uh – What is it?” asked Hiccup.
“It is a mediscan unit. It will give me an initial diagnosis of your injuries.”
Mystified, he did as Tech asked him. Omega shuffled as if she was about to move away, and Hiccup felt a flash of panic. He tightened his grip on her hand to stop her. He still wasn't entirely convinced that he wasn't dreaming – or hallucinating – but he at least knew that her touch was real. To his relief, she squeezed his hand and stayed next to him.
Other voices continued to echo around the room – cave? One of them exclaimed, “Woah! What is that thing?”, and he really hoped they weren't talking about him. Underneath his head, Toothless let out a low growl which reverberated unpleasantly through Hiccup's body.
“Obviously that's the dragon,” someone else said in a nasally voice.
Omega didn't let go of his hand, but she shifted her weight. Hiccup briefly flicked his eyes towards her, then back to the metal box. What he saw in that tiny moment made him feel warm despite the chill in his bones: she had put a hand on Toothless’ flank and was stroking him soothingly. The growl changed to a much more pleasant purr.
Tech’s box made a sudden noise, right next to his face, which sent a shot of pain straight through his skull. He flinched, and by the time he remembered to open his eyes again Tech was gone, replaced by a man with tattoos covering most of his face. Again Hiccup stared, sluggishly trying to work out if the design belonged to any tribe that he knew of.
“Hiccup, right?” the man said. “My name’s Hunter. Omega says you hurt your leg?”
“Uhh…” Had he said that? He couldn't remember. Certainly there was some level of pain in his leg, but he was more preoccupied with the hammer blow to his brain every time his heart beat.
“We'll do what we can for you here, then we'll take you back to the village.” He gestured at something behind him, and then Hiccup knew he was seeing things. There was a bed just… floating above the floor of the cave.
“O–okay, sure,” said Hiccup, too tired to do anything other than play along.
“Does anything else hurt?” Hunter asked.
It might have been easier to catalogue what didn't hurt, but that was too complicated a thought to get out of his mouth. “My – head,” he managed.
Hunter rummaged around in a bag next to him. “You're probably dehydrated. Take some water – but drink slowly.”
He held out a tall metal cup that sloshed with liquid. Hiccup's stomach roiled, but he was equally aware of the dryness in his throat. Slowly, he uncurled his fingers from Omega’s hand and attempted to prop himself up so that he could take the cup, but the movement sent a cold jolt of pain down his leg. He gasped at the shock of it. Behind him, Toothless whined.
“Easy, there,” said Hunter. “Tech?”
Tech’s voice came from somewhere down by Hiccup's feet. “The boy has a concussion. A few contusions. And a broken left tibia.”
“Let's splint that leg first,” said Hunter kindly. “Then you should be able to move better.”
Omega took the cup as Hunter moved away towards his leg. Hiccup’s hands were shaking, and he balled them into fists, then put an arm over his eyes to block out what was happening. He felt embarrassed, ridiculous even, to be lying helplessly on the ground while they tended to him, and the mixture of pain, humiliation and fear – fear that he would never walk again, would never fly again – had him hurtling towards panic.
Oh, gods. He couldn't stand, couldn't even sit up. He was so far away from home, forced to trust an unknown tribe with his safety, and the stupidest thing was that after everything, he just wanted his dad. His dad, who would undoubtedly be ashamed that he ran away, angry that he did so in the company of a dragon, and scornful that Hiccup was stupid enough to allow himself to be caught out by something so mundane as a storm. A proper Viking would have known better than to tangle with Thor, a proper Viking wouldn't have abandoned his tribe in the first place, a proper Viking would be seven feet tall, have one scar for every year of his life and have a full beard even at fifteen. A proper Viking would have head trauma from headbutting a rock for the fun of it, rather than crashing from a dragon's back.
Hiccup snorted, and to his surprise it came out as a sob. He crushed his eyes shut underneath his arm, but some tears still leaked down the side of his face.
Eh, what was one more humiliation to add to the pile?
He could feel Hunter and the others moving around by his leg, and panic hitched in his throat again as he anticipated the inevitable pain of them splinting it. Toothless crooned, and nuzzled his warm nose against the side of Hiccup's face, as if he was trying to wipe away the tears that had fallen. It was such a human, empathetic thing to do – and when had Stoick the Vast ever wiped away his son’s tears? – that Hiccup took a shuddering breath and somewhat succeeded in grounding himself.
Omega’s fingers brushed his again, and he gripped them before he knew what he was doing. She said his name, in her gentle, lilting voice.
“Just breathe,” she said to him softly. “It's going to be alright.”
And somehow, despite everything, he believed her.
Omega continued to murmur encouragement to Hiccup as her brothers worked on his leg. He kept his arm over his face the whole time, so when he was silent the only way she could tell that he was still awake was the tight grip he had on her fingers. Occasionally his breath hitched – Toothless nuzzled his face every time it happened – but for the most part he bore the whole painful ordeal quietly. It made Omega uncomfortable; either he was used to pain or he was practised at crying without anyone knowing about it. Perhaps both.
Eventually, Hunter stood, stretched, and came to kneel by Hiccup's shoulder again. “All done,” he said. “How are you doing?”
Hiccup didn't remove his arm, but after a pause mumbled, “I've definitely been better.”
“He did great,” said Omega, encouragingly. Toothless trilled what sounded a lot like agreement.
“Shall we get you sitting up?” asked Hunter.
Hiccup took a deep breath and didn't reply.
“Omega,” Hunter said, quietly. “Can you fetch a stimpack?”
Hiccup didn't try to stop her leaving this time. Omega stood and rubbed her sore knees from kneeling on the hard ground for so long. She let out a long breath. It wasn't that she'd never helped deal with injuries before, but there was something about Hiccup, a vulnerability, that was making her protective.
She crossed the cave to where Crosshair was standing with the equipment they had brought. Batcher was sitting next to him, her head against his thigh and his prosthetic hand on her head. He gave her a piercing look, but didn't say anything as she located what Hunter had asked for as well as a fresh canteen of water.
Omega stopped to give Batcher a quick scratch on the head, then headed back. By the time she returned, Hunter and Wrecker between them had supported Hiccup upright so that he was now sitting. He looked pale and shaky, tear tracks smeared down the edges of his face. Toothless, freed from being Hiccup's pillow, sniffed at his splinted leg and then licked the side of his face gently. Hiccup gave perhaps the first genuine smile Omega had seen, which sent relief down into her toes.
“Thanks, bud,” he murmured, scratching Toothless’ chin as the dragon rested his head on Hiccup's lap.
“Water?” Omega asked, offering him the canteen.
Hiccup took it with unsteady fingers, but didn't drink. He stared into the water for a few seconds and his throat bobbed.
“Are you experiencing nausea?” asked Tech, who was standing nearby with the now-deactivated hovercart.
Hiccup hummed noncommittally.
Omega wouldn't have been surprised if he was, but suspected that the bigger problem was that they were all looking at him. Hiccup didn't strike her as a person who was used to being the centre of attention. So, she made a lot of noise about pulling the stimpack out and then going over to give it to Tech. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hiccup take a few sips of water while everyone else was distracted. It was something.
Tech opened the stimpack. “This will make you feel better,” he explained to Hiccup, “but you may feel a small sting.”
He injected the stim into the side of Hiccup's neck. Hiccup winced and closed his eyes, but when he opened them again a small amount of colour had returned to his face.
“Wh–What was that?” he asked.
“It is a medical stimulant,” explained Tech. “It contains adrenaline, analgesics and bacta to promote accelerated healing.”
Hiccup blinked and shot Omega a bewildered look. She nearly laughed in relief at how much brighter his eyes looked already. Toothless purred in his lap.
“Okay,” said Hunter. “Let’s get you on this, then we can take you back to the village for some proper care.”
Hiccup eyed the hovercart like it might attack him, but he allowed Hunter and Wrecker to manoeuvre him towards it. Despite the gentle treatment, something must have bumped Hiccup's leg and he let out a strangled cry of agony.
In an instant, Toothless leapt forward and snarled at them.
“Uh, Omega,” said Wrecker, his voice restrained. “I thought you said he didn't have any teeth.”
“He didn't!” Sure enough, Toothless was baring a full set of sharp teeth at them. Where had those come from? Hiccup had closed his eyes, his jaw tight, and didn't seem to be aware of what was happening, so Omega stepped between Wrecker and the dragon, her hand outstretched. Batcher was barking somewhere behind her, but Crosshair must have had her under control. “It's okay, Toothless,” she said soothingly. “I promise that we're helping him. It was just an accident.”
Toothless gave her a look that could only be described as suspicious. He stopped growling, but his eyes remained narrowed and he screeched a warning at Wrecker.
“Yeah, alright, dragon,” Wrecker grumbled. “I'll be more careful.”
“S–Sorry,” said Hiccup through a clenched jaw.
“He's protective of you,” said Hunter. “We all understand that.”
Toothless kept a close eye on proceedings after that, but they managed to get Hiccup onto the hovercart with no further incidents. When Tech activated it, Hiccup gripped the edge so hard that his knuckles went white.
“Oh, Thor…” he muttered.
“Are you okay?” asked Omega, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice. This boy flew on the back of a dragon, and a hovercart floating two feet off the ground could scare him?
“Today has been the strangest day of my life,” he said as if in a daze. “How – How is it doing this?”
“The propulsion is –” started Tech, but Omega nudged him and he stopped.
“Are you comfortable?” asked Hunter.
Hiccup considered this, then gave an unconvincing, “Yeah.”
“It's not far to the village. Let's get going.”
Wrecker took one end of the hovercart and Omega took the other. It glided smoothly over the uneven ground. Toothless followed close behind, getting under Wrecker’s feet and making him curse good-naturedly. Hiccup stared at the ceiling of the cave, his face pale and drawn again.
He once again flung his arm over his face as they approached the entrance to the cave. Omega winced in sympathy. The sunlight felt bright to her, and she didn't have a concussion.
“So, Hiccup,” she said, wanting to keep him awake and talking. “How did you meet Toothless?”