renegades, httyd

xi. A Blizzard Talk

renegades
chapter eleven

    When I woke up, I was shivering. I felt the feel of flames flickering nearby, casting a dull glow on the darkness around me. I tried to remember what had happened ... we were flying, there was a storm, Winglash and Saber━oh, gods, Winglash!

    I tried to move, "Winglash?" I croaked, my heart racing.

    "Whoa, hey, hey," my eyes were slowly starting to adjust to the light around me. There was a fire, nice and warm despite the constant chill I felt. The floor I was on was stone, and I figured I was in some kind of cave, and in the orange glow, was Hiccup's face. Seeing me awake, he shuffled over, his metal leg scraping the rock. There were a few cuts to his nose and cheeks from the blizzard, and I went bright red with shame.

    There was a coo to my left, and I saw Toothless's eyes opposite the fire. Hiccup had used up his furs to keep his best friend warm in the harsh winter air. Under Toothless's wing, a part of me slumped with relief to see Winglash, breathing, alive and sleeping. Tucked in beside her was Saber, her little body shuddering at each snore she made. The little Groncicle, however, was wide awake, bounding around and in a much better mood than he had been before. He was lively, no longer frail. I stared at him, amazed.

    "Hey," Hiccup came to my side, and he fixed something around my shoulders so they covered me more. I recognised the furs Astrid had given me. I hugged onto them, frowning to see him without any.

    Had he found us? Had he gotten us all here? Had I been unconsious for all of that?

    I felt terrible. I should have helped. I never should have let myself be taken out. I should have ...

    (I guess Astrid was right. Like always).

    "Hiccup," my voice felt like ice itself. "W━Where are we?"

    "In a cave, waiting out the blizzard," he rubbed his own arms to keep warm, sitting in close to the fire. "I think we made it though. The baby Groncicle immediately perked up as soon as we arrived, and he ate the fish and everything. He was homesick."

     I saw him shiver again, and while I was cold, and awkward, that seemed to shift away and I shuffled closer to him. He watched me as I unhooked the furs so they wrapped around the both of us. We sat shoulder to shoulder, knee-to-knee, trying to keep warm. Our breaths fogged out in front of us.

    "T━Thanks," his teeth clattered. I only felt worse.

    It was silence for a long time. The both of us just trying to get warm. I heard Toothless doze off to sleep with the others and the baby Groncicle still bound around until he decided to head to sleep as well, curling up beside me against the furs. I would have given him a scratch, but my arms were warmer under the furs, and so I kept them close to my chest, leaning against Hiccup's shoulder with a shiver every now and then.