Chapter 1: Nightmare

                                    

                                          
Hiccup's POV
                          
My mother and I followed after Gobber and Gothi as they carried an unconscious Astrid up to Gothi's hut. Upon arrival, Gothi rushed Astrid inside, whilst Gobber told us that we had to give Gothi some space to do her work. 
                          
Defeated, I slumped down on one of the benches outside the hut as my mother sat beside me, trying her utmost best to comfort me in my time of sorrow. We ended up sitting there until nightfall. My friends and several of the villagers had come to check on Astrid, but they were all met with the same response we had gotten, which often led to them leaving straight away, after a round of trying to assure me that everything would be just fine, which I had a hard time believing.
                          
"This can't be happening" I whispered to myself as I placed my head in my hands and slowly rocked back and forth, tears rolling down my cheeks. A gentle hand landed on my shoulder, and I knew it was my mother trying to tell me that she was here for me, but what could she do to drag me out of this pit I had landed in?
                          
Muffled sounds came from inside the hut, followed by loud creaks before the door slowly opened, revealing Gobber. "Oh, you're still here, we thought you'd gone home"
                          
I shook my head as I wiped away my tears. "I'm not leaving until I get to see her"
                          
"And I'm just here for support" My mother added as she gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze. 
                          
Gobber scratched the back of his head with his good arm. "Maybe the two of you should head home, Gothi is far from done"
                          
My mother forced me to look at her, and as soon as our eyes met, I knew what she was trying to say. I knitted my brows together as I slowly nodded in agreement. "Fine"
                          
We got up from our seats and my mother followed me home, making sure I actually went to bed before she made her way back to her own house. I sighed into my pillow as Toothless' snoring filled my ears. This was going to be a long night.
                          
***

                          
I woke up to the sound of muffled rumbling and heavy panting coming from above me. I slowly blinked my eyes open and almost fell out of bed as I saw a large, dark figure standing above me.
                          
"Toothless!" I scolded the dragon as I sat up in the bed. "You scared me, bud"
                          
Toothless shot me one of his gummy smiles before letting out one of his deep, guttural laughs, followed by the muffled rumbling from before.
                          
My eyes travelled down to the night fury's stomach. "You're hungry, aren't you?"
                          
Toothless nodded as he leaped from the bed and over to the stairs, sparing one glance and me before he shot down. I took a deep breath as I rolled out of bed, got dressed and followed the hungry beast downstairs. 
                          
As I was making my way down, Toothless large, green eyes watched me intently, which told me everything I needed to know, there was no fish in the Haddock residence.  
                          
I groaned as I changed my course to the front door, where Toothless was waiting for me to open up so we could fly over to the stables and he could get his breakfast. I opened the door and was not exactly overjoyed by the sight in front of me. 
                          
"Listen, bud, there's no way I'm playing barmaid in this weather. But you're of course more than welcome to walk to the stables by yourself" I informed the dragon as I gestured towards the pouring rain on the other side of the door.
                          
Toothless cocked his head to the side as he studied the weather outside before shooting me a glare and huffing at me.  
                          
I raised my brow at the dragon. "You really want to fly in this weather? Yeah, I'm not doing that bud, not today, have fun walking!"
                          
Toothless growled at me in annoyance as he pushed past me, making sure to swat me with his tail as he waddled out into the pouring rain. I couldn't help but chuckle at my best friend as he angrily stomped over to the stables. Gods, how I loved that dragon. 
                          
Just as I was about to close the door and prepare some breakfast for myself, I caught a glimpse of Gobber, who was clearly walking away from Gothi's hut, given he was carrying at least five pots of Thor knows what. I furrowed my brows as my gaze landed upon Gothi's hut, reminding me of Astrid who was all alone up there, something that made my heart constrict painfully in my chest.
                          
I dropped the whole idea of breakfast and made the decision to visit Astrid instead, surely they had got to be finished healing her now, right? I climbed the steps to Gothi's hut, leaving me drenched in cold rainwater as I finally made it to the top. 
                          
I knocked softly on the door of the hut, waiting patiently for someone to open up as the rain kept on falling from the sky. After a good minute or so, the door finally creaked open, revealing a tired-looking Gothi.
                          
"May I?" I asked the older woman with large, dark bags under her eyes as she looked as if she was about to fall asleep right then and there. To my great surprise, Gothi responded with a slow nod before stepping aside. 
                          
"Thank you" I smiled as I entered the small hut, rainwater dripping all over the wooden floors. Yes, I felt a little bad for dirtying Gothi's home, but my mind was quickly stripped clean of all thoughts as I laid my eyes upon Astrid. 
                          
I hurriedly scrambled over to her side and fell on me knees beside her, clasping her reddened hand in mine. Gothi had definitely worked hard over the night, seeing as all of Astrid's big, yellow blisters had vanished, only leaving her skin the same color as Hookfang. I couldn't help but feel that familiar sting in my eyes as my throat began closing in on itself. 
                          
"This is my fault" I sobbed as I kissed the back of her hand. The familiar clicking of a staff against the ground came from behind me. I turned around, tears rolling down my cheeks as Gothi, despite her exhaustion, smiled warmly at me before slowly shaking her head. 
                          
I turned back to Astrid, lifting her hand up to my cheek as I closed my eyes and leaned into it, only to quickly retract as I noticed that something was missing. My fingers quickly ran up to her wrist, which didn't indicate any pulse. I shot my head towards Gothi, exchanging a frightened look with her before she began urging me to get out of the room. 
                          
Within the blink of an eye, I was back outside whilst Gothi was once again busy trying to fix Astrid. 
                          
I let out a deep sigh as my gaze turned to the sky, light raindrops falling from it and rolling down my cheeks alongside my tears. Gods, how I prayed for this nightmare to be over soon.