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Hiccup is really regretting not telling his father about the bounty situation now. He’s having the kind of day that will easily be making the top of his list of unpleasant, downright awful days; it will be right up there with losing his leg, he’s sure.
First, he got kidnapped from his home (and wasn’t that harsh. One of the few places he had thought he was safe in… and now that feeling of safety will be hard to find again). Then, he got kidnapped from his kidnappers, which is stressful enough to be treated like a piece of meat a rabid pack of starving wolves was fighting over when he realized just how many people would be trying to be the ones who actually collected the bounty; it just got even more stressful when he was rescued just to be kidnapped all over again by a hooded, masked bounty hunter. This was just not a good time for him.
He tried to run, but his efforts only landed him with a chain around his neck. The metal is cold, biting against his skin as the masked man secures the chain around his neck… and then makes it tighter.
His fingers come up to pry at the chain as it slowly is drawn tighter and tighter, cutting off more of his air supply. Hiccup’s head begins to pound, an awful, achy feeling overtaking him. The world around him seems to spin as his fingers prying at the chain become more uncoordinated, his attempts at escaping slowing down as he feels himself getting drowsy from the lack of air in his lungs.
Just as his vision starts to dance with black spots, the masked man loosens the chain around his neck.
Hiccup sputters and gasps, the rush of air all at once almost burning, but he takes heaving breaths of it anyway, similar to a man halfway to death from thirst finally getting his hands on water to drink. He coughs, struggling slightly to swallow down his own spit, the feeling uncomfortable on his throat.
He glares at the masked man, rubbing his hand against his neck where the metal of the chain stays pressed against it. He digs his fingers into the slightest gap that exists between the chain and his skin, wanting the barrier for if the masked man tightens the chain once more.
The masked man glares right back at him, “Don’t do that again.”
Then Ryker walks over, and Hiccup’s already awful day gets a whole lot worse.
He really, really should have told his dad about the bounty.