Forget (HTTYD Hiccup Haddock)

001

         Hiccup waited.

The stranger laid in his bed per his fathers orders, dressed in some of his spare clothes. Astrid had come to help settle her, and Gothi tended to her wounds. The poor girl was beat, pale skin covered in deep bruises.

Once she was clean of sand, they realized that the lightning had struck her. Gothi wrapped the burns best she could, but everyone knew they would scar. The branching electrical spirals curled over her right shoulder and up her cheek, Hiccup couldn't tell how far down they traveled.

Hiccup busied himself fashioning a new chain for her broken necklace, sat at his desk next to where she laid with a handful of tools and a candle. There wasn't much he could do for her in terms of healing, Astrid had been put in charge of that. Still he sat, Toothless not far away, nimble fingers fixing her broken accessory. He hoped to return it as a peace favor, in case she woke with a start.

He figured that she didn't come from a good place, what with the state of her ship and provisions. Nobody else washed up, so she'd most likely been traveling alone. What one little girl and a dragon were doing in the middle of the sea, he didn't know.

At the moment, however, Hiccup was carefully twisting a thin copper wire into a link. It'd been three days since she washed up, and it'd taken all three of them to fix the necklace. Hiccup fastened the clap onto the end and looked the pendant over again. It was seaglass, so he'd learned. The green had been discolored into a smoky texture by the carving. He ran his fingers over the indents, admiring the craftsmanship. It was smooth and even, not at all choppy and ragged like the stone cravings he was used to seeing.

The carving was that of a cloud, curly and flowing in the wind. It wasn't anything too detailed, but it was beautiful nonetheless.

Hiccup jumped as his father practically bust down the door, lumbering in the narrow doorway. He let out a long stressed breath, head falling into his open palm.

"Sorry, didn't mean to give you a start." Stoic laughed, trying to keep his thundering voice down. He cleared his throat, looking between his boy and the unconscious girl in his bed. "So, how's the lass?"

"Still sleeping." Hiccup muttered, rubbing his eyes. He threw his hand down with a shake of his head. "Gothi says it could take days for her to wake, if she does at all. She was messed up pretty bad."

"Any clues as to where she came from?"

"Nothing. The ship was mangled, there was nothing personal that washed up besides this." Hiccup lifted the necklace up for his father to see. The red haired man grunted in response. "How's her dragon?"

"Eating out the village." Stoic sighed, shaking his head lightly. "Poor thing acts like he's never tasted lamb before. Won't even glance at the fish. Y'know, he's surprisingly docile."

"I'm not too surprised." Hiccup shook his head again. "He was protective of her, I wouldn't be shocked if he was completely domesticated."

"Well, she better wake up soon." Stoic sighed, eyes sad as he gazed over the broken body that was once a beautiful young woman. "Don't want her to starve."

"Yeah..." Hiccup trailed off, looking back at the jewelry in his palm.

"I'll leave you too it then."

"Thanks, dad."

Stoic ducked under the low doorway with his hat in hand, carful not to get it stuck again. Hiccup sighed deeply, chewing his bottom lip. His father was right, she really did need to wake up. He spared a glance her way, taking in her appearance. Pale and sickly, yet he could tell her skin was fair. Black hair, shoulder length and wavy. She was skinny, thin from starvation. Hiccup felt himself frown, it made him sick to see someone so far from healthy. Burk had their run ins with plunderers and plagues, but never, never had someone looked so beat down as she did.

Hiccup continued to wait another two days.

"Oh... fuck..." Were her very first words, bandaged arm raising to touch her head. Hiccup had never leaped from his table so quickly.

"H-h-hey, t-take it easy." He raised nervous hands, palms shaking. He wanted to offer her some sort of comfort, but the yellowing bruises and bandaged burns where everywhere. There was no safe place to rest his hands. "You- you're safe, I found you washed up on the beach. We uh, we patched you up, you've been asleep for a week now."

She opened her sore eyes, blinking harshly. Icy blue eyes met his emerald greens, their stare cold and detached. Hiccup gulped under her glower, not sure if it were his rambles that corrugated her or the pain undoubtedly coursing through her body.

"What?" She croaked, voice hoarse with sleep and gritty from being unused. Hiccup cleared his throat nervously. She blinked again, slowly taking in the information. She looked away from him, scanning the room. "I.. shipwrecked? The storm- Cheese!"

Hiccup jumped as she shot upright, bandaged hand homing to grip the front of his shirt. She yanked him down to her level, a true glare in her steel eyes. This one was directed at him, for sure, and it made his bones tremble.

"Where the fuck is my Dragon?" Her voice was low and cold, yet still ragged from her coma. It intimidated Hiccup effortlessly.

"Wh- uh.. y-you're uh- the, um..." Hiccup's palms began to sweat, and he gulped loudly when she hardened her stare.

"Spit it out!" She shook him a little.

"H-he's fine! Your Changewing is fine!" Hiccup raised his hands in mock innocence, and she let him go instantly. He let out a long breath. "You- you named your dragon Cheese?"

She didn't speak, but looked back to him with a frown.

"R-right, uh, he's fine. He's with the others. You-you should rest." She ignored his nervous pleased entirely, throwing the hide blanket off her body. Hiccup winced. "I-I uh, you- you really shouldn't-"

"Mph." She grunted, hand latching onto the foot of the bed with a white knuckle grip. Hiccup watched as her face contorted in pain, resisting against her as she tried to pull herself up. "I have- I have to go."

"G-go? Go where? Whoa, hey.." Hiccup raced around to catch her from falling, her knees buckling from weakness and agony. She latched her arm around his shoulders, holding herself up against him so she didn't crash to the floor. Hiccup tried not to hold too tightly, for fear of irritating her wounds. "Why don't you just, uh, sit down for a second."

"No, no I need-"

"My name is Hiccup." He interrupted her, gently shoving her back on the mattress. She couldn't resist, bouncing lightly. She looked up at him with a subtle glare. "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock... the third. What- what's your name?"

"My name?" She spat it incredulously, with irritation and venom. "It's-"

Hiccup watched as she cut herself off, all anger and spite falling from her cheeks. She blinked, head tilting to the side as she seemed to think on the subject.

"You don't need to look so lost." Hiccup chuckled lightly, yet she was still staring blankly into the void. "It's just your name."

"I don't- I don't remember." She whispered, almost to herself. Hiccup was now the one to furrow his brows in confusion. "I don't remember my name."

"That's- that's okay." Hiccup tried to offer reassurance. "You were struck by lightning so, memory loss is the least of our worries. Uh, try to think for me. What can you remember?"

"I remember sailing with Cheese." She nodded firmly, that was solid fact. She frowned. "I remember a storm rolling in and... and that's it. I don't remember any lightning, or anything before that. It's all..."

She made a gesture with her hands.

"Blurry."