Found again (HTTYD FF)

★23★

The air flowed around him. The world was spinning. Although he took air in his wings and tried to stop his fall, he didn't slow down. He screamed in horror and found that instead of a simple human scream, he roared like a dragon, like any other Night Fury. He flapped his wings like mad, but it was no use. He couldn't slow his fall without his tail, he couldn't hold enough air under him. The ground was closing in and he prepared for a hard, painful impact. He closed his eyes in anticipation of a collision with the ground that never came.

Strong claws caught him and prevented his fall. Hiccup looked above him out of the corner of his eye, still shaking with fear. When did he start shaking with fear? It was Toothless. They flew up, where Toothless set Hiccup on all four precarious limbs.

"What were you thinking!? I left for just a moment and you decide to wake up and the first thing you do is jump off a cliff!" Toothless growled, but his voice made the numbers fearful.

"I'm sorry... I... I completely forgot that..."

Toothless blinked sympathetically.

"I thought I'd be able to..."

Hiccup looked down at the ground, pressing his ears to his head in shame. He had been so reckless! He should have thought first, not jump straight in! He could have caused himself serious injury, the ground under the cliff was full of sharp shards of ice and rock after all. Toothless looked at him with understanding and pity in his eyes.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll figure out a way to get airborne again. I know you will. Eventually,"  the Night Fury assured him.

A spark of hope flared in Hiccup. Maybe one day he would be able to get into the sky again without help.

"Now come," Toothless continued, "the Alpha wanted me to bring you as soon as you woke up. He has a few things to discuss with you... Honestly, we were all afraid we were going to lose you."

"Why?"

"Because your transformation came too soon. No one told you what to do and-"

"I don't remember any of it," Hiccup interrupted. He had no idea what Toothless was talking about. Now that he looked back into his memories, he didn't remember anything since he'd talked to Toothless.

Only agony.

Yet... yet, images of old memories began to surface in his mind.

He remembered something he hadn't even hoped for.

In that moment, he was looking at something only he could see, lost in a rediscovered past.

~~~

He ran through the forest. He heard footsteps behind him, as light as his own. Astrid ran after him, they played a game in the snow together that soon became a game of chase. But neither could catch the other. They were both equally fast, equally persistent, equally agile at zigzagging through the trees. They crept out of the village.

They both knew they shouldn't have done it, but there was nothing wrong with playing chase, was there? And it was much better played in the woods than in the village, where everyone shouted at them to stay off their feet and be careful.

It was just the two of them, the chase and their enthusiastic shouting.

"I'll catch you! You can't run away from me!" Astrid shouted playfully behind him in her baby voice.

Hiccup was barely panting. They had been running like this for a long time. Once he ran, once she ran, but they couldn't catch up with each other. The wet, sticky snow only made it harder and made it impossible for him to run as fast as he needed to. Astrid was in a similar situation, he could hear her heavy breaths behind him. She was getting closer, but he wasn't about to give up.