Found again (HTTYD FF)

★21★

The hazy memories of the very first part of the transformation were filled with confusion and unremitting pain. Hiccup thought it was one of the worst days of his life. Even his short time with the Hunters hadn't been as painful for him. He thought he would never have to undergo anything like this again in his life, but he didn't know how badly he was wrong.

This was a hundred times worse.

It was indescribable. His feelings were so strong that he came out of his stupor.

The pain forced him to wake up and take it all in more clearly.

Every one of his limbs burned and boiled with excruciating pain and the skin on them itched and pinched. It itched so much that he felt like scratching it away with his bare hands just to get rid of the unpleasant feeling. Every muscle in his body twitched, jerked, shifted, and with every slightest movement, a stinging pinch shot through him as if needles were embedding themselves there. Deep. As if something else was coursing through his veins instead of blood, something so hot it would burn a dragon to the touch. Yet he was cold, the feeling fading from his fingertips. He could feel his limbs shaking with cold, causing him to suffer.

He knew he was wet from head to toe, but he didn't know why.

He was sure with his whole being that he was safe in the nest where he was not in danger. Yet the feeling of danger kept growing, he couldn't shake it. It was as if the hateful eyes of all his enemies, all the Dragon Hunters who had ever set foot in this archipelago, were watching him from all sides. It was as if they were all threatening him with the worst possible death. Fear found its way into his mind and heart, where it grew into something bigger and stronger than fear. Into terror, into panic and dread.

He could see nothing but darkness through his closed eyelids. He could hear at least two dragons talking, but at the moment it was just meaningless noise to him. Just another sound amplifying an already very unpleasant headache. He willed them to shut up, to leave and let him suffer in peace. He had no idea what the hell was going on, which only added more embers to the fire of panic. He wished this would all end now, that whatever needed to happen would happen and he wouldn't have to feel everything anymore.

At one point, he was almost convinced that he had started to drown. He wasn't getting enough oxygen, his lungs weren't cooperating. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't even move properly anymore, his limbs were weakening, he was beginning to lose feeling in them. He couldn't determine much from his blurry vision, but his surroundings were certainly not changing, he was definitely not drowning - and yet he couldn't breathe. It must have been his imagination playing tricks on him - but he didn't have high hopes for that possibility.

It was that moment when another spasm of agony passed through him, when he could no longer get a single breath of air into his lungs, when he felt nothing but the fading pain, when he heard no more sounds and saw nothing but darkness. It was that moment when sweet unconsciousness decided to return and spare him from everything for a while.

~~~

He slowly opened his eyes. The world seemed much sharper, much more colorful and bright. He couldn't tell where he was, as his eyes hadn't adjusted to the light yet, but everything felt... different. Something was either horribly wrong, or he was dreaming.

Recent feelings of fear came to mind, feelings that now seemed so unattainable that he considered them a mere nightmare. He couldn't remember ever going to sleep. He didn't remember anything after his conversation with Toothless. He couldn't even remember what the subject of their conversation had been, it was all so distant... It seemed to him that a lot of time must have passed since then. It all seemed strange.

He recovered a little and wanted to get up. But instead of hands, he only had another pair of legs, and when he tried to stand, he found he couldn't keep his balance the moment he was only half off the ground.

The world spun and he slumped back to the ground. He took a frightened breath and looked around. He was in his nest cave, which partially calmed him down. But a moment later he realized why he felt so different. His wings were bigger and stronger, and so was his tail, but that wasn't the strangest thing. His legs were strangely short, and instead of arms he had the same pair of limbs - he only noticed it at that moment. Unexpectedly sharp eyesight and hearing were also another oddity. He saw things he had never noticed before, he could hear the dragons outside the cave far too loudly, as if they were standing next to him and deliberately making noise.

What's going on!? What happened to me? Wait... The Bewilderbeast said something about another transformation... He said I could turn into a dragon... That... that...

He looked at his reflection in the wall of ice. He nearly jumped out of his skin as he looked at a Night Fury instead of his reflection. And the dragon returned his gaze with equal dismay, repeating his every move. Hiccup knew he was looking at his own reflection, but at the same time he felt a threat from the Night Fury; in reality it was just his own threatening gaze. He blinked in confusion. But the Alpha said I had a few more days!

He stood up carefully, this time with a calmer head. It took him a moment to stand without too much difficulty. It was unusual, standing on all fours instead of two legs. He tried moving his ears and it worked! He stared in amazement at his reflection in the icy wall as he moved his ears in all directions - now he had four instead of two. No wonder everything was so loud!

When he had scolded himself enough, he tried walking. The first few attempts he didn't get more than half a step before he bumped his snout, but he didn't give up. After at least the twentieth attempt he growled in frustration, his legs just wouldn't obey and start walking! Then he paused. It was a really strong growl, the kind only dragons are capable of. Out of curiosity, he tried again, but suddenly he couldn't. He preferred to let it go, he could deal with that later - right now he needed to learn to walk like a dragon.

With new determination, he got up and tried again. This time he didn't rush so much, carefully shifting his weight from foot to foot - or rather, paw to paw. It worked.

Once he had gained enough control over his movements, he decided to go see what had happened and how much time had passed. He didn't suppose something as big as this transformation took only a few hours. He walked out of the cave. He thought he was going to lose his hearing forever, the noise was much more pronounced here - he didn't understand how Toothless could have endured it all these years. Now he understood his eternal grumbling about how noisy the nest was.

He looked around. The nest looked as quiet as ever. Some dragons were resting, others were flying lazily around the giant stone columns that supported most of the weight of the ice structure, and still others were crouched by the inner pools, fishing.

Flying should work the same whether I'm a half or full dragon. I think... Hiccup wasn't sure he really wanted to try. Maybe it wasn't a good idea, but he needed to get to the Alpha, he needed an explanation, and he needed to know how it all worked. The Bewilderbeast said he would be able to change between dragon and half-human form.

He stood indecisively for a moment on the edge of the cliff leading down to one of the streams that fed the largest lake in the middle of the nest. Should I try it or not? How much would it hurt if I fell all the way down from here? Night Furies are supposed to withstand bad falls, I should be fine... Toothless has had - and survived - worse falls...

And so he jumped.

He forgot all about the missing tail fin.

I'm still alive! I'm so sorry that I'm so late, but I wasn't able to force myself into doing something again, it took me long enough, I know. But now I'm back and hopefully with a better working updating schedule! (One chapter every second Monday - as ususal, but without any delays and skippings!)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did!