renegades, httyd

xxii. Lesson Four: How To Destroy A Boat, Advanced Class

renegades
chapter twenty-two

"Hiccup!"

The boat and the Berserkers were completely forgotten for the moment. I raced to the pile of snow Hiccup and Toothless had landed in, heart racing. Dropping to my knees, I found Toothless huffing, in pain as he curled up, holding Hiccup safe in his wings.

"Hiccup?" I didn't want to think the worst, but that fall was hard. I set my palm on Toothless's head and he moaned, turning towards it. The others all surrounded us, breaths hitched. The boys landed down, eyes wide.

He's survived worse than this, I reminded myself. He's survived worse...

Toothless let me come in closer, and I gave him a tender touch of my forehead, happy he was okay before he unwrapped his wings to show me Hiccup. If he had hit the snow without Toothless's protection, he might've been a lot worse. He was bruised, covered in snow and scratches, but I could see the rise and fall of his chest.

"Oh, thank the gods!" I cried, the weight of my shoulders lifting.

Kneeling in front of him, I didn't care the others were around. Something inside of me just had to make sure he was okay; it craved to help him, to look after him, to get him out of here and somewhere warm like he had for me. He had saved me so many times, and I owed him; but it was more than. I knew it was more than that, and that slightly scared me. These feelings that have grown so quickly from only the starts of friendship could ruin everything, and after spending so long making Hiccup's life Hel with jeers and mean comments, I couldn't let loose of this amazing second chance I had been given.

"Hiccup?" I whispered, fingers coming to his chilled cheeks and hair. I brushed it away from his eyes, not even thinking as I did it. I glanced down, and there was relief to see he still had his other leg. But his metal prosthetic was bent in on itself; he wouldn't be able to fly or walk until Gobber fixed it.

I needed him to wake up, just for now. I didn't want him to succumb to the cold and wake up with a fever and a sweat. We needed to get him somewhere warm, somewhere safe. I knew the Berserkers were getting away with the eggs, but I had to make sure he will get out of here.

"Hiccup, come on, wake up," I whimpered, continuing to brush through his aurburn hair. I don't know when he had suddenly meant so much to me; maybe it was since that night alone in the cave where he draped his furs around me to make sure I was warm instead of him, or maybe it was the day he came out and sat with me after Astrid's explosive argument, or maybe it was the moment he told me he trusted me, or perhaps it had been unsurfaced flutters even before that.

"Hiccup!" I grew desperate when he wouldn't open his eyes. He was breathing, but I needed to see his eyes. I needed to know he could get out of here. I shuffled in closer, pulling him up towards the warmth of my furs. I settled his head against my chest, cupping his cold, freckled cheeks. "Come on, stop being dramatic," I felt the ache in my throat. "You're alive━I see you breathing, just wake up..."