Saving You

Chapter 23

"And then he fell," Hiccup finished, running his hands through his matted brown hair. "Down into the deep, dark sea..."
It had been an hour since the end of the battle. Everything was destroyed. The homes, the trader's ships, the great hall... some Vikings had managed to clear the rubble away enough to build a quick shelter to stand currently as the 'new great hall', but it was obviously rather poor in comparison to the original. The sight of it made everyone wince. The majority of the bodies which had covered the flaming ground were simply unconscious, to Hiccup's relief, and the shelter was being used for them to be treated by Gothi and the other healers. Despite this, you could still hear the frantic footsteps of those attempting to find their loved ones, or the silent sobs radiating from those who had found them dead. They knew they were Vikings. They were strong. There faces remained straight, but everyone could see the pain which lay behind their eyes.
It was all so overwhelming the ground was soaked in blood, and abandoned weapons lay scattered less than one meter apart. The rubble lay smoking from the boiling water and fire blasts, whilst those who were mainly unharmed ran around, pouring as much water as they could find onto the never ending flames which were continuing to consume the village. All of the water troughs, and emergency fire extinguishing stations had been blasted to smithereens, so it was may trips to the rivers and seas for those collecting the water. The huts and homes were demolished, with barely a trace of anything left. The only one which was still standing was the chiefs, which hadn't collapsed yet from the fire burning through the wood. No one, out of all the Berkians or Traders, had ever seen destruction quite like this.
Shortly after they heard of the fall of their leader, Drago's armada fled the island on the remains of their boats, (which wasn't much, to be honest), abandoning what little dragons they still had in their possession, and leaving the Dragon Riders to return to their leader and village, instead of keeping them surrounded or hostage. Those out of the hunters who were dead, were left, as if they meant nothing, and the injured were physically dragged back to the ships by fellow crew members. No one was sure if they would ever return again, but no one could deny, it was a possibility.
The dragon riders were standing, huddled in a group, just in the centre of the village, or what was left of it, that was. Valka and Astrid were huddled together, just like mother and daughter, as Fishlegs stood, wrapping gauge around Astrid's arm, where Drago had sliced it. Snotlout and the twins stood, rough and ragged, but not causing chaos as per usual, due to the fact they already had enough of that going on. The dragons each stood behind their owners, letting out the occasional 'squawk' to mak sure everyone was okay. Hiccup stood, between the two clusters of Vikings mentioned, Toothless standing close behind.
"So," Snotlout said, once he was sure his cousin was finished. "How are we sure that Drago's dead?"
"Well," Fishlegs answered. "He was injured, fell into fire, then through a flaming hole and into the sea with no way of quickly getting out from the underside of the boat for air? I think so."
"But," Astrid continued. "We know he is Drago, so the A-team have been out and scanned the sea for any signs of life. Nothing." They all sighed in relief, but Hiccup still looked slightly uneasy. Nobody noticed.
"What do we do now, chief?" The twins giggled, as Astrid rolled her eyes. Hiccup just slumped his shoulders slightly. The twins knew he hated being called that. He straightened again as he figured it was an okay way to ever-so-slightly lighten the mood.
"We rebuild the village, tend to the injured, and go about as normal... as normal as it gets after this..." He sighed again, which shocked nobody, Asa it was a very common Hiccup action. "Speaking of injured, how many dead?"
Valka looked lightly saddened as she explained. "42. But Hiccup, that is amazing, compared to the 140 injured whom we have saved."
"Dragons?" Hiccup said, ignoring his mother's first statement completely.
"7 injured, 2 dead." Valka didn't bother making a comment to follow the facts again. Her son just stared ahead.
He was beginning to feel a little dizzy, but passed it off as tiredness from everything he had been through that day, especially physically. He looked down, and noticed a tiny stream of blood dripping from the wound. He slyly put a hand on his hip, covering it gently.
"And," Snotlout looked directly at Hiccup. "How exactly are you still alive?"
"Snotlout!" Astrid lunged over and hit him on the arm, though not with her normal force.
"Good question. Well, I mean, I wouldn't have worded it that way but..." Fishlegs trailed off, before shaking his head and continuing. "How are you okay? Is the wound healed?"
"I don't know," Hiccup answered, truthfully. He was getting a bit light-headed now, but he was determined not to show it. "One minute I was in agony, half out of consciousness, when Toothless stood over me," He paused to scratch the dragon's chin. "Then, I felt something wet drip into the wound, and the next thing I knew, I was sitting up, coughing up blood, no longer bleeding from my stomach."
Except I am again now, Hiccup thought, as he sneakily peeked down again. The blood flow was gradually getting heavier. Despite this, he passed it off, not wanting to worry his friends.
"Of course.." Fishlegs muttered, whilst everyone stood amazed and confused. "Nightfury tears..."
"Care to explain?" Valka asked politely, desperate to find out how her son was alright.
"You said Toothless was standing over you, right?" Hiccup nodded, answering Fishlegs' question. "Well do you happen to know if he cried?"
"Oh come on! How is this going to help?" Snotlout called out in frustration, and everyone but Hiccup 'shhh'ed him.
"Because, dragons rarely cry, it is a rumour that their tears contain different properties. Boulder class dragon tears are said to break even the hardest of rock, tidal class tears are said to cause tsunamis and other sea-related disasters, and strike class dragons are said to have..."
"Healing powers..." Astrid answered.
"Temporary healing powers."
"But why?" Snotlout asked. "If they are strike why wouldn't they have powers to do with, y'know, striking?"
"Because they mate for life, meaning they are very attached dragons. Their tears then give them the ability to temporarily save those they love, until they can find them help."
"Wow..." Tuff exclaimed, his mind racing with possibilities.
"You mean if I slapped him, hard, Toothless could take the pain away for a bit?" Ruffnut lifted her hand, and positioned it at her brother's cheek.
"NO!" Fishlegs yelled, running over and separating them. "As I said, dragons rarely cry, so I doubt. Toothless would shed a tear for your shenanigans."
"Muttonheads," Snotlout smirked, and Ruffnut used her raised arm to slap him instead. The twins giggled, as Snotlout complained, followed by their classic head-smack.
Hiccup felt really queasy now. He could feel the blood pressing against his hand, raring to get out. Everything was beginning to spin, and he had to swallow down the urge to cough up more blood. Everything hurt once again, and he gently leaned against Toothless, who looked down at him in worry.
"I'm okay, Bud," Hiccup stammered quietly, but both of them knew this was a lie.
Just a little longer, He thought, pressing his hand tighter around the wound, which only made him wince, and stifle a cry. Then you can get out of here, without worrying them. He glanced around. Everyone was still talking calmly, not one eye on him. At least they haven't noticed yet...
There was silence for a while, until Astrid's head shot up. "Wait! Fishlegs! Did you not say temporary healing powers?!" Her eyes shot over to Hiccup, though Fishlegs and the others just spoke as if it was natural, oblivious to what this meant.
"Well, yes," He answered, rubbing Meatlug's belly. "Normally they only last for a few hours..." Something in his brain just clicked with that, as he too shot his vision over to Hiccup, closely followed by everyone else. Worry filled their faced, and Hiccup knew this was exactly what he was dreading. He tried to speak, to tell them he was okay, until he found he couldn't. He pushed hard for a sound to come out, and found himself hacking blood out of his body, and onto the ground beside him.
Everything was on fire, and it was arguably worse than when he was first stabbed. He couldn't see straight at that point, and his hand slipped from the wound, allowing yet more blood to flood out of him. Hiccup could hear the other talking frantically, extremely close to him, but he couldn't make out a word they were saying, let alone the cries coming for his Nightfury. It was as if he had an entire bottle of soap in his ears, blocking everything that came in, replacing it with vibrations and ringing noises. Shakily, he wiped his mouth, and tried to walk away, Only to shake and stumble with every step, his legs, prosthetic and all, threatening to give way at any moment.
"A-A-A-Astrid-d-d..." He croaked uneasily, making the fire running through his body even worse. He was swaying violently side to side as he walked, and he was shivering uncontrollably. He glanced down to the rotating ground, to see a large trail of blood leaking from him, across the already red-stained grass.
He was going to be sick, but there was nothing to come up from his stomach, so it came out more as hideous gagging. He couldn't see anything. Black pixels were engulfing his vision, but honestly, he was surprised he had lasted this long. His head was throbbing, and he felt his heart pounding against his chest. He knew he couldn't stay in consciousness much longer.
He could vaguely make out the worried cries of everyone, especially from Astrid and his mother, as he prayed for the pain to go away, but it wouldn't. Instead, it just got worse by the second.
His head ached, his body was in agony, and the blood was leaking out at an alarming rate. He could barely see any light, and what he could see was blurry. He could not take this any longer! And then, speak of the devil...
Hiccup collapsed, and took a deep breath, for what could be the last time.