Friendship Cures Old Wounds

by AncillaLucis

Summary:

“I say we go, get the stupid flow—herbs, then come back before Hiccup notices we ever left.” Snotlout said.

“You want us to disobey Hiccup?” Astrid asked.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Ruffnut remarked with a grin.

“And those were times that his instructions actually made sense and weren’t at all hypocritical,” Tuffnut commented, “I mean, since when does Hiccup make sure he has backup when he’s searching a new island?”

 

Hiccup, on a day that his leg is hurting him more than he’s used to, beginning to feel resentful of the Berkians for how they treated him before and after the Red Death, postpones a mission until the next day. The other Riders, dismissing his caution, decide to go without him. However, when they are attacked by a pack of Shadowings, Hiccup saves them yet again, almost losing his arm. At this, Hiccup in his pain lets out all of his hidden resentment and leaves himself and his friends to face the consequences of his outburst.

Takes place during Race to the Edge

Chapter 1

Notes:

Hello!

This is my first HTTYD fic. I hope you enjoy!

This takes place during Race to the Edge at some point after Season 4 Episode 7.

“Urgghhh,” Hiccup groaned, sitting up and dragging his prosthetic off his bed to the wooden floor of his hut.

It was going to be one of those days, Hiccup thought miserably as a shiver of pain bolted up his leg. The teen took a minute, breathing in and out to ease the pain, or try to, at least, endeavoring to keep quiet so as not to wake the still sleeping Toothless.

It was at times like this, on days he’d wake up groggily and in pain, that he wished that the gods would grant him just one day to feel what it was like to have both of his legs again. To relish in the free feeling of being whole just one more time so he could cherish it for its worth. Its worth that he had only fully realized after the Red Death.

It had never occurred to him that he would live to lose a limb. Sure, many people in the village, including Gobber, wore prosthetics and had lost their limbs—Gobber losing two. However, Hiccup supposed he had just always figured that he wouldn’t be one so bold and reckless so as to actually lose a limb to a dragon, at least not until he was older and had killed at least a few himself. At that point, his tribe would’ve come to respect him and he would have had no regrets.

Surely, it had not occurred to him that he might lose his leg when he mounted Toothless to fight the Red Death. To be honest with himself, he hadn’t really been thinking of anything at that point, even the fact that no one in his village deserved him risking himself for their sake. Toothless had motioned to Hiccup to join him on the saddle and Hiccup had ridden off to fight the gargantuan dragon without a second thought.

Looking back at the memory, Hiccup wondered if he would’ve gone if he had known what would happen to him. Of course I would’ve, he reasoned; he had gone to fight for his people: his own, even if those people didn’t consider him to be one of their own. Well, like, he belonged to that tribe even if they hadn’t wanted him there. Of course he would try to defend them; it was his duty, right?

Hiccup groaned again, more loudly this time, tapping his good leg rapidly on the ground to distract himself from the pain in the other one. He was frustrated with himself. How did his mind come to going over this again? He had convinced himself a long time ago not to have these thoughts. He had protected his village by fighting the Red Death—how much the Berkians deserved it, who knew? It had been his obligation, (an occupational hazard, he had told his father), and he had seen it through.

Hiccup gasped at another spontaneous surge of pain, his mind doing back bends and somersaults trying to justify the events he was recalling.

He remembered how surprised he had been when he had woken up with everyone treating him as a hero. He hadn’t even expected them to have a change of heart in regards to him, and they had, so why was he so upset that they had greeted him with open arms and looked to him for guidance?And if he had decided to forget how they had treated him, why wouldn’t they? Why was he even complaining? Now he was surrounded by dragons, surrounded by friends—something he had never had before. Nothing could be better.

“Arrg!” Hiccup grunted, rousing Toothless from his slumber. His leg was on fire, and it wasn’t even there.

Toothless crawled over to Hiccup, warbling gently. He was accustomed to these episodes and knew there was nothing he could do to ease his rider’s pain but to comfort him. He looked up at Hiccup with sympathetic eyes.

“The past is the past, right, bud?” Hiccup said to Toothless breathlessly. “Nothing matters but now. The people, my tribe, they respect me now, and if it took me losing a leg to get them to, that’s on me! And totally necessary!”

Hiccup winced at his outburst. Those words sounded more twisted and wrong out loud.

Toothless huffed. Hiccup wasn’t fooling anyone, he knew—not even himself.

 

Notes:

Thanks for reading! Please leave comments or kudos if you have any thoughts!

God Bless!

Chapter 2

Notes:

Enjoy!

With Toothless at his side, Hiccup made his way to the clubhouse, trying to get control over the noticeable limp in his walk.

“We have to do a reconnaissance flight tomorrow, too? Why do Heather and I have to do everything?” Snotlout’s distinct voice whined from within the clubhouse.

“You don’t,” Fishlegs’ voice cut in, “Astrid and I are patrolling nearby islands all afternoon tomorrow, that’s why you’re doing the recon.”

“What about the twins?”

“They’re going to Berk, to consult Gothi about our current medical stock so we can be better prepared for the next attack on the Edge.”

“Which is why,” Astrid added, “we’re going to the island east of us today to get some herbs so that Ruff and Tuff can bring them with them to Berk.”

“What island east of us?”

“A small one,” Hiccup said, stepping into the common space, “one we’ve never been to before. Johann said an herb with great healing capabilities grows there, and we decided it was worth a shot.”

“Really, Snotlout,” Heather said good-naturedly, “do you ever pay atte—”

Heather’s voice cut off at the sight of Hiccup, with a poorly hidden grimace in a pale face, hunched over and leaning on Toothless.

“What on Thor’s name is wrong with—“ Astrid stomped on Tuffnut’s foot, quieting him. This wasn’t the first time they’d seen Hiccup in pain because of his leg. 

“Hiccup,” she said gently, already knowing the answer, “are you okay?”

“You should rest,” Fishlegs chimed in, stating the obvious.

Hiccup gave a short, dry laugh. “Yeah, about that. Let’s scout out that island tomorrow instead.”

“But we’re already so busy tomorrow!” Snotlout moaned.

“Then we’ll go early in the morning,” Hiccup said decidedly.

“Hiccup, we’re more than capable of collecting a few herbs,” Heather assured him, “you go rest, and we’ll just go without you.”

“You don’t know what herbs you’re looking for,” Hiccup pointed out.

“They’re small and have thick, broad leaves and smell sweet. They’re commonly a dark green, but here in the North they may be a bit paler.” Fishlegs rattled off. Hiccup looked up at him, surprised.

“I may or may not have been looking for quartz on the shore when Johann was telling you about the herb,” Fishlegs explained.

“Either way, we’ve never been to this island before. We don’t know what else might be there.”

“Especially if Johann suggested it,” Snotlout interrupted, his dislike of Johann so great he was actually agreeing with Hiccup.

Hiccup ignored him. “It’s only smart that we should all go together to be safe. Alright?”

Hiccup waited for an answer until the pain in his leg suddenly flared up again. He turned away before anyone spoke, resignedly starting his way back to his hut, leaning on Toothless. He trusted his friends to be responsible.

Once the sound of Hiccup’s steps got far enough away, the Riders all stared at each other with incredulous looks.

“Um, do you think the pain is making Hiccup delirious?” Ruffnut asked.

“Of course not,” Fishlegs snapped, “although his insistence that we postpone our trip just so he can come along is a little uncalled for.”

“Uncalled for? Uh, yeah.” Snotlout said, “the guy doesn’t think we are capable of picking flowers.”

“Herbs.” Fishlegs said.

“Oh, whatever!”

“I say we go, get the stupid flow—herbs, then come back before Hiccup notices we ever left.” Snotlout said.

“You want us to disobey Hiccup?” Astrid asked.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Ruffnut remarked with a grin.

“And those were times that his instructions actually made sense and weren’t at all hypocritical. I mean, since when does Hiccup make sure he has backup when he’s searching a new island?” Tuffnut commented.

Astrid hated to admit it, but she couldn’t deny that Hiccup never seemed to have any qualms about exploring on his own.

“That was before the dragon hunters,” she tried to reason, “the archipelago is much more dangerous now. Plus, Hiccup has a Night Fury. It’s not too much of a stretch to say he is just as helpful to us alone as all of us are to him.”

“Oh, please!” retorted Snotlout, “when was the last time we actually needed Hiccup’s help?”

Snotlout was met with five unimpressed stares that all read the same expression that said, more times than you would care to admit, Snotlout.

“Ok, ok.” Snotlout backed down.

“So are we going to get this very simple mission over with while we still have a full afternoon to use, or are we going to needlessly wake up early so we can do the same simple mission with an extra one-legged person and dragon?” Ruffnut asked.

“Astrid, though I hate to say it—“ Fishlegs began.

“Don’t,” Astrid said, putting her hand to her head.

“I agree with the twins and Snotlout. Let’s just get this over with.”

Outmatched, Astrid looked pleadingly at Heather.

“Astrid,” Heather said, “we’ll go and get what we need as quickly as we can. We’re all going; we’ll be fine.”

“What about Hiccup?” Astrid asked uneasily.

“He’ll understand. Really, we don’t even know if Hiccup will be feeling better tomorrow. This is the strategic course of action. He’ll be able to see that.”

If he can see that, then why would he tell us to wait for him? Astrid wanted to retort. When was the last time Hiccup was wrong about something? But everyone else’s (including the twins’!) arguments made much more sense. And really, that was saying something. Maybe Hiccup wasn’t thinking straight. He was in a lot of pain. Astrid reluctantly relented. “Fine.”

                          *        *        *

Just because Hiccup was hurting didn’t mean he was going to rest. Sure, that’s what Fishlegs told him to do, but Hiccup was never one to slack off because he was in a little pain—too much work to do. Just because even Hiccup knew he was not up for a long flight to a new island, didn’t mean he couldn’t work on his maps and little tinkerings alone in his hut though he would have to take breaks every now and then to rest his eyes and ease his headache.

So that’s how Hiccup found himself scribbling on and updating a map and running out of charcoal.

As Hiccup tried to finish an outline of an island, the stick previously holding the charcoal scratched on the paper, leaving not a trace.

Hiccup groaned, getting up slowly from his chair. Toothless was by his side in an instant, knowing his rider would need his assistance to get anywhere.

“Thanks, bud,” Hiccup said, leaning and limping on Toothless as he had on that first morning years ago.

The first thing Hiccup noticed as he stepped outside his hut was the odd lack of sound. Usually even from his hut one was bound to hear either Astrid training, Snotlout complaining, or the twins doing Thor-knows-what. Hiccup shrugged the strangeness off; most of the riders probably seized the opportunity this rare free afternoon and found something better to do than staying near their huts.

Fishlegs, though, was bound to be in his hut or his garden. He seldom ever left the comforts of his home if he could help it.

But Fishlegs wasn’t there. Starting to feel a bit worried, Hiccup reasoned to himself that if the other Riders were doing something special this afternoon, Fishlegs would’ve wanted to be a part of it. By that reasoning, though, his chances of finding anyone at their base were slim.

Hoping Fishlegs wouldn’t mind, Hiccup went into his hut for some charcoal. He looked around.

Weird, Hiccup thought, his medicines aren’t here. Fishlegs, being the unspoken healer of the Edge, usually kept willow bark and some herbs near his desk in case anyone needed to come and take some in an emergency. He only moved them when he needed to bring the medicines to someone or when he was gathering more medicine, in order to compare them with the ones he was harvesti—

“Oh, for the love of Thor!” Hiccup shouted at the top of his lungs, knowing no one but Toothless was there to hear him.

He was on Toothless in a moment. Except for the pained gasp Hiccup let out when he slid his prosthetic into its place, Hiccup’s journey to the island he knew his friends were on was swift and volant.

 

Notes:

Don’t forget to leave kudos and comments, and thanks for reading!

God Bless!

Chapter 3

Notes:

The drama unfolds…

Have fun reading!

“Remember, everyone! No dilly-dallying! We’re just going to grab what we need and leave before anything bad happens.” Astrid called out to all the other Riders as they approached the island.

“Ugh, nothing bad is going to happen. Contrary to what Hiccup thinks, impending doom is not waiting for us wherever we go.” Snotlout retorted.

Astrid shot him a glare. Just because they were disobeying Hiccup’s instructions, it didn’t mean they were allowed to disregard Hiccup’s caution and ways of thinking.

“Look,” Fishlegs shouted, pointing to a part of a forest surrounded by shrubbery, “there’s a lot of dense foliage over by those trees. We should start looking for the herb there.”

The Riders flew to the indicated spot and landed.

“Everyone knows what we’re looking for, right?” Fishlegs asked, carrying the box with all his medicines to a bush.

“Yes, you’ve told us fifty times!” Snotlout yelled.

Ignoring Snotlout’s boorishness, Fishlegs began to inspect some shrubbery.

“Hey, guys! I think I found some!” he called.

“Already?” Tuffnut asked, “I haven’t even calmed down my dragon yet.” Tuffnut was petting and holding the lower neck of Belch, who was looking around, distressed.

“Calm him down?” Heather asked, confused, just as Windshear began to growl.

Astrid looked around as all the dragons tensed up; something was definitely off. “Uhh, guys… maybe we should get out of here,” Astrid said, really wishing she had listened to Hiccup. She’d feel a lot better if he was here.

“Hold on, I think there’s enough leaves of this herb here to bring back to Edge. Just let me check if it’s the right type.” Fishlegs held up an herb from his box next to a leaf of the plant he was inspecting to compare the two. “The color is not as dark as I thought it’d be, but Johann said that’s to be expected.” Fishlegs hadn’t finished speaking when a shadow slipped over the leaf he was observing. Trembling, Fishlegs looked behind him to see a light blue dragon looming dangerously over him.

“Now it’s the right color,” Fishlegs spoke nervously, “thanks, Mr. Dragon.”

The dragon opened its mouth to shoot, and Fishlegs yelled, covering his face with his arms. Fortunately, Windshear dragged him out of danger just as the dragon blasted a ball of fire.

“What is that?” Snotlout shrieked.

“Everyone, to the air!” Astrid commanded.

Everyone mounted their dragons, but before they could leave the island, an identical dragon cut them off.

“This dragon can teleport?” Tuffnut cried incredulously.

“It’s not teleporting, Tuff,” Astrid yelled, “it’s got a friend!”

That wouldn’t have been that much of a problem by itself. The dragons were relatively small, about the size of a Gronckle each, and there were only half as many of them. However, the Riders hadn’t changed direction before four other identical dragons surrounded them on a the other sides.

“Six?” Snotlout shrieked as the dragons closed in.

Suddenly the dragons, with a coordinated attack, all simultaneously fired at the Riders all huddled together in front of them.

They barely got out of the way fast enough. Barf and Belch crashed back onto the island, Hookfang and Windshear skidding to a landing right next to them. Meatlug and Stormfly tried to stand their ground (or air, in this case) although they were spinning out of control. When Meatlug spun dangerously close to Astrid, Stormfly jerked so abruptly that Astrid flew off her saddle.

Fortunately, Stormfly had been close enough to the ground that Astrid’s impact on the earth wasn’t too bad, but it left her vulnerable and exposed. The dragons were quick to target the intruder to their island without a dragon to protect her. All six opened their mouths, lining up a shot when—

A familiar shriek pierced the air around the Riders. Before they could even locate Toothless and Hiccup, a plasma blast burst between Astrid and the hostile dragons. Seizing her opportunity, Stormfly shot several spines to keep them back and retrieved her Rider.

“Everyone, into the forest!” Hiccup’s commanding voice called out.

Within moments, everyone, relieved Hiccup was there, had scrambled to him. They didn’t recall why he wasn’t there to begin with. Neither did he seem to.

“Hiccup, what are those dragons?” Fishlegs asked, panting.

“They’re Shadowings. Toothless and I have met them before. It’s impossible to outmaneuver them.” Hiccup replied.

“Yeah, we noticed,” Ruffnut said.

Hiccup spun toward Ruffnut, about to fire back, but he shook himself and said, “The only way to get past these guys is to trap them. Lucky for us, I keep a net in my saddlebag.” Hiccup began untangling a large net from his saddlebag.

“How on earth does that fit in there?” Snotlout marveled.

“It’s a bigger bag than it looks.”

Just then a dragon’s screech rang.

“Oh no, I think they’re coming back.” Fishlegs whimpered.

“Heather, Tuff,” Hiccup commanded to the two closest to him, “strap the ends of this net between those two trees there. I’ll lead the Shadowings into it if I can.”

Hiccup mounted Toothless and sped into the sky.

“Hey, Shadowings! Come get me!” he called to the approaching angry flock. The dragons took the bait, eager to defeat the dragon that had shot a plasma blast at them. All six of them raced toward him at an incredible speed.

Hiccup knew he couldn’t outfly them for long. “Heather, Tuff, hurry!”

To his relief, Hiccup saw that Tuffnut and Heather had acted quickly. Toothless dove down at full speed until he reached the ground. Hiccup expertly flew him around trees while the Shadowings slowly gained on them. Suddenly, Toothless jerked to the right.

“Toothless, down!” Hiccup shouted as the net came into view.

The gap between the net and ground was small, and Hiccup knew it would be a challenge to get through it. He waited until the perfect moment and then forcibly triggered the right configuration with his prosthetic.

Instantly, searing pain met him and Hiccup instinctively jerked his foot back up barely after they had passed under the net. With the wrong position of his tail, Toothless fell sideways onto the rocky ground while the Shadowings got caught in the net directly behind them. Hiccup tumbled off of Toothless’ back.

“Hiccup!” Astrid cried.

Fortunately for Hiccup, Tuffnut and Heather had tied the net very tightly to the trees; Hiccup had enough time to get out of the way toward Tuffnut’s tree before the Shadowings and the net collapsed on him. Unfortunately for Hiccup, Tuffnut and Heather had tied the net very tightly to the trees; the Shadowings were not trapped but only stuck behind what was essentially a wall, and they could at any moment realize this and simply fly backward.

“We need to cut the ropes so that we can trap the Shadowings from behind!” Hiccup yelled.

Heather, who was still standing by her tree, cleanly cut her rope with her axe then ran to the net to secure it behind the flailing dragons.

However, neither Tuffnut nor Hiccup had an axe or dagger. Hiccup realized with distress that he didn’t have the Dragon Blade either—he had lost it in his fall. They would have to untie the rope themselves.

Hiccup reached out his hand to the rope and was almost touching it when—whoosh! Astrid’s axe sliced through the rope and stuck securely on the tree just inches away from Hiccup’s outstretched hand.

There was no way Astrid could’ve seen Hiccup right there near the tree. Yes, he had visibly run over there to Tuffnut, but they were in a forest, after all, and there were many trees that blocked Hiccup from Astrid’s vision.

But that didn’t change how close it had been.

Tuffnut had immediately run away from Hiccup to help Heather secure the net just after the axe had been thrown. He hadn’t seen Hiccup jerk his hand back and stumble backwards, accidentally putting all his weight on his prosthetic foot. He hadn’t seen him cry out in pain and fall backwards, tumbling onto hard ground for the second time that day. No one had.

No one had seen just how close Hiccup had been to losing another limb. Suddenly Hiccup remembered that no had listened to him. He had asked them to stay behind, to be safe, but they had put themselves in peril, and, of course, Hiccup had put himself in peril to save them.

But not only equal peril, but the most peril. He hadn’t needed to; no one would have blamed him for not risking himself for his friends who had disregarded him. Just as no one would have blamed him for letting the Berkians face the consequences of their own actions instead of taking on a huge dragon by himself.

Well, Hiccup tried to justify to himself as he painfully stood up, the Berkians hadn’t apologized for how they had treated him before he became their hero; his friends  would. All would be forgiven this time if they would just apologize to him.

Hiccup smiled to see a very happy Toothless coming at him through the trees. He didn’t look too beat up from their less than perfect landing.

“Happy to see you too, bud,” Hiccup said, leaning against a tree, “sorry for the crash.”

Toothless nuzzled him joyfully, showing all was forgiven, then let Hiccup support himself on him as they made their way to the other Riders, retrieving the Dragon Blade on their way.

The Shadowings were secured and there was no sign of a larger one. That’s good, Hiccup thought.

The Riders were all waiting for him, big smiles on their faces.

“Hiccup, that was genius!” Fishlegs remarked.

Hiccup only smiled.

“Yeah, who knew those dragons were so easy to trap?” Ruffnut added.

Easy? Hiccup thought. Easy for you.

“Who knew indeed,” Hiccup muttered under his breath, still waiting for an apology.

“Hiccup, are you okay?” Astrid asked, “I saw you lose control of Toothless over there. How did that happen?”

Hiccup looked up at Astrid in disbelief. She couldn’t have forgotten why he hadn’t been there with them to begin, right? Forgotten that his leg hurt so much he had postponed this little scouting until tomorrow—forgotten that he had asked them to stay behind for his own sake?

Before he could say anything, Snotlout added with a grin, “Ok or not, that was pretty epic.”

A part of Hiccup snapped. Part of him knew his best friends were standing there in front of him; that part of Hiccup told him, No, don’t say it, but that part of his mind was too overworked and tired to put up much of a fight. His leg was burning, and his patience was thinning. He had had enough.

“Epic, huh?” Hiccup snapped, meeting his friends’ eyes with an expression they had never seen before, then continued, letting out his frustrations with the past and present without even knowing what he was saying or whether or not it made any sense.

“Pretty epic that I had to fly all the way here to rescue you, risking life and limb in the process? If I had lost my hand today, it would’ve been even better, right? You would have been thrilled that someone had taken the risk other than yourselves—someone you didn’t have to repay because he didn’t expect anything back from you. Because—why would he? Why would someone who had been mistreated and neglected his whole life expect to be apologized to even after defeating the Red Death? How you treated me, how everyone used to treat me, was awful, just awful, and no one would’ve blamed me for letting you all fend for yourselves. And yet no one has ever thanked me! Did you all just suppose that calling me a hero and moving on would be enough to make it up to me? I lost my leg because of you all! You could have at least learned your lesson, but you didn’t. How has it not crossed your minds that you were only in danger today because you decided it was beneath you to tell me you were coming here first? And if it did, how come you haven’t apologized? You deliberately disobeyed me, and none of you remember.

Hiccup exhaled, finally dropping his eyes. All he had just said was making itself known to him. He felt a wetness on his cheeks. How could he have just said those things?”

“Hiccup, I—“ someone’s voice said.

“Toothless, to the sky!” Hiccup cut whomever off. He mounted Toothless and was gone.

 

Notes:

Thanks for reading! Please leave kudos and comments if you have any thoughts!

 

God Bless!

Chapter 4

Notes:

Thanks for getting this far!

How long the Riders stood in silence no one could tell. They couldn’t lift their eyes. Even the dragons made no sounds.

They had never seen Hiccup that angry; they had never felt more ashamed.

What had Hiccup ever done to deserve what happened to him?

They had forgotten… forgotten that Hiccup had told them to stay behind, that he was in pain.

If Hiccup had left them alone to fend for themselves, they would have deserved it.

But Hiccup had come, had risked himself to save them—and no one had thought to thank him or to apologize.

They felt like dirt.

And this wasn’t even the first time. They hadn’t apologized to him for the Red Death, either. Hiccup had reminded them of that.

That part of Hiccup’s rant, however, Heather hadn’t understood completely. She hated to rip up old wounds, but the silence had gone on long enough.

“Um, guys…? How did Hiccup lose his leg?”

They all looked up at Heather.

Fishlegs was the first to answer. “When his father first found out that Hiccup had befriended Toothless, he tried to use Toothless to find the Dragon’s Nest.”

“Hiccup warned him not to, that it was too dangerous,” Astrid said in a miserable voice.

“But he didn’t listen,” Heather said, beginning to understand.

“Hiccup took on the Red Death, just Toothless and him. They killed it, but Hiccup lost his leg.” Fishlegs explained.

“But that wasn’t all,” Snotlout said, sounding close to crying.

“We were awful to him,” Ruffnut said, not really talking to Heather now but just thinking out loud.

“We called him weak and useless,” Snotlout continued, “we shunned him. It wasn’t until he lost his leg that we even—“ Snotlout stopped, unable to keep going.

“Respected him,” Fishlegs said sorrowfully.

“We didn’t even talk to him until he saved all our butts!” Ruffnut screeched, exasperated at herself.

“And now h-he leads us, looks after us; he even cares about us,” Snotlout reflected in a rather bewildered tone.

“Well, did you ever apologize?” Heather asked, hoping that Hiccup had been mistaken.

“No, he moved on,” Astrid replied, tears threatening to spill, “or I thought he did. We all didn’t— w-we never knew—h-he never said—“ Astrid broke down. “We were all such jerks!”

“We have to find him and apologize,” Tuffnut said.

“He won’t accept our apology. I wouldn’t. We don’t deserve forgiveness,” Snotlout said.

“Either way we have to,” Fishlegs said, “and I hope he doesn’t forgive us.”

Astrid looked up at him. “Yes, Thor knows there’s nothing better for us to do.”

 

                    *             *             *

 

The regret wouldn’t stop building. Hiccup couldn’t believe what he had said. It had all happened so fast, he hadn’t been able to stop himself.

He lay back on Toothless as he flew on, head spinning.

He had yelled at his friends with so much hurt and anger. His friends. His best friends. His only friends, really. Every time he thought back to their hurt expressions as he had selfishly flown away without offering any sort of explanation or apology, a new wave of remorse and frustration knocked him down.

What type of a friend was he? What type of a person was he? To be angry that he had saved his friends? Selfish, selfish, selfish.

But the most frustrating part was that his outburst had felt good. He felt freer now, even if he was sorry and confused. That made it worse—that he had felt good while yelling at his friends. Either he was a jerk, or his friends had truly deserved it.

“Did they deserve it, bud? Just a little bit?” Hiccup asked his dragon.

Toothless warbled, giving Hiccup an affirmative response.

Well, at least his dragon didn’t think he was a monster. His friends, though, were a different story. Why would they even want to be friends with someone who saw them as in debt to him? 

Hiccup sat up, realizing something. What if the Riders actually were only his friends because they felt in debt to him? Maybe they only even spent time with him because they felt obliged to.

Hoping that that wasn’t the case, Hiccup quickened their pace. He and Toothless were heading back to the Edge, but Hiccup planned to hide out in his hut until either his head cleared or his friends found it in them to forgive him.

 

Notes:

Please leave kudos and comments!

Thanks for reading!

God Bless!

Chapter 5

Notes:

Last chapter! Thanks for making it this far.

The journey back to the Edge was silent and uneventful for the other Riders, (except for Fishlegs flying back to the island to retrieve the herbs they had come for but had all forgotten about).

They soon found themselves at the door of Hiccup’s hut.

“Who wants to knock?” Snotlout asked.

“If he’s even in there,” Ruffnut commented. She doubted Hiccup wanted to be sought out by them right now.

“I’ll do it,” Heather said. She raised her hand and knocked.

Inside the hut, Hiccup looked up at the door. He had been simply sitting on his bed, still out of charcoal and not in the mood for anything else.

The Riders were probably here to warn him to watch himself or else they’d quit or to try to kick him off of the Edge or something. Really, he didn’t want to deal with his angry friends right now. But he owed them an apology, and he wasn’t going to let his pride stop him.

“Time to face the storm, bud,” he said, walking toward the door. He was annoyed to find that his leg hurt more than ever. He put on what he hoped was an expression that made it look like he wasn’t in pain and opened the door.

“Look, guys, I’m sorry.”
“Hiccup, we’re so sorry!”

Hiccup and Astrid spoke at the same time. They both looked at each other, shocked.

“Did you just say what I think you said?” Heather asked, being the only one who could believe Hiccup’s words.

Hiccup looked like he was about to list out a whole stream of apologies when Heather cut him off.

“Hiccup, be quiet. Just let them talk.”

Hiccup was confused, but if his friends wanted to tell him something, he had to let them.

“Hiccup, we’re so sorry we left even though you told us not to,” Fishlegs said.

“It was my idea,” Snotlout apologized.

“No, it was my idea!” Tuffnut retorted.

“But I let them go and went with them—“ Astrid began.

“And we’re so sorry we made you save us on your own,” Ruffnut said.

“And for not apologizing.”

“And for forgetting you were in pain.”

“And for not saying anything earlier.”

“And for after the Red Death—“

“We should have made everyone apologize to you—”

“Everyone, calm down and stop!” Hiccup said, his hands put out in front of them, overwhelmed by his friends’ unpredicted, remorseful apologies.

“No, Heather told you to listen to us—“

“But I have things I want to say too! Just, give me a sec,” Hiccup leaned back against the wall of his hut, trying to comprehend all he had just heard. After a few moments he looked back up at them.

“Look, guys, I just want to say I’m sorry—“ 

“Don’t you dare apologize to us—“ Snotlout yelled. Hiccup silenced him with his hand again.

“I shouldn’t have yelled at you—that’s a fact. Ruffnut, you didn’t make me save you, I chose to save you because you’re my friends.”

Another blanket of guilt smothered the Riders.

“And…” Hiccup made eye contact with everyone as he said, “I accept your apologies.”

“Just like that?” Tuffnut asked, “can’t we do anything to make it up to you first?”

“You already did by apologizing,” Hiccup replied, “that’s all I want, except…”

“Tell us what you want. Anything,” Astrid said.

“Could you all forget this ever happened?”

His friends blinked. That was not what they had been expecting.

“How can we erase our memories?” Tuffnut asked.

“I don’t mean it like that, Tuff. I just— I want everything to go back to the way it was before. I don’t need all of you pitying me whenever I’m in a little pain. And…” Hiccup inhaled before he continued, “I don’t want you all being my friends just out of obligation from me saving you all from the Red Death. If you were doing that before, please stop.”

The Riders gaped at him. Were they really that horrible to Hiccup and was Hiccup so used to being treated poorly that he actually thought they were only friends with him out of obligation?

“Hiccup, it’s settled. You really are an idiot,” Snotlout declared.

Hiccup smiled. His friends were his friends, and they were back to normal.

“So we’re… good?” Fishlegs asked.

“Yes, Fishlegs. Just maybe the next time you decide to disobey me, tell me beforehand,” Hiccup said with a smile. “Alright, all of you go away now.” Hiccup said, about to lower the door to his hut.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Fishlegs shouted, “we’re not going anywhere until you drink this willow bark tea!”

“Seriously?” Hiccup asked.

“Yes,” they all replied.

 

Notes:

Well, that’s it! I really enjoyed writing this, and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Thanks again for reading!

Let me know what you think!

 

God Bless!
St. Anthony of Padua, patron saint of amputees, pray for us!