Don't leave me

Chapter 15: Life or Death?

Hiccup's POV

Darkness consumed me. There was nothing but darkness, darkness and guess what, more darkness for miles and miles.

I looked around, and out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly noticed a small speck of light.

I ran towards the small, white light, and by the time I had come near it, I hadn't even broken a sweat.

I narrowed my eyes at the light, trying to make out the large figure that had appeared in the middle of it.

It was when I had come close enough to recognize the mysterious figure standing in the light that I stopped in my tracks, sucking in my breath.

"Dad?" I breathed, my mind not able to wrap itself around how my father, Stoick 'The Vast' Haddock, was standing right in front of me.

"Hello, son" My father smiled, the sound of his voice and the sight of him rendering me speechless as he opened his arms.

I ran straight into my father's arms, wrapping my own tightly around his large body as I buried my face in his beard. "Gods, you have no idea how much I've missed you"

"I have missed you too son, more than you know," My father nearly squeezed the air out of my lungs. "And I must say, I'm very proud of you, Hiccup"

I furrowed my brows as I looked up at my father. "Why? What's there to be proud of?"

"My son, you're an even better Chief than I could've ever dreamed, and you've done such amazing work protecting our people and our island" My father beamed as his hands landed on my shoulders.

"Thanks, I guess?" I replied with a shrug and a confused look.

My father gave my shoulder a squeeze. "But even though I would love for you to stay, it's time for you to go back, son"

"What?" I paused, furrowing my brows and shaking my head violently. "No, I don't want to!"

"I know how hard it is for you, son, but it is something you must do" His eyes were locked onto mine. "Like I always said, 'The needs of the many, outweighs the needs of the few"

I shook my head and he sighed in response.

"Why must you be so stubborn? Here, let me show you why you can't stay" My father moved his hand in a circular motion, conjuring up a round image.

I took a closer look into the round image and found my mother and Toothless, sitting at a bedside as their eyes were glued onto something beyond the image.

I raised my hand to the image, as if I was trying to touch them, but to no avail. The image stayed the same, no matter how hard I tried to break through it.

My father did another circular motion with his hand as the previous image faded and was replaced by the outside of my house, where it seemed as if the whole village had gathered.

I caught myself searching through the crowd for a familiar blue-eyed blonde, but when I didn't find her, my heart sank in my chest.

I furrowed my brows and glanced up at my dad. "What's the point, dad? Is there even a point to my existence if I don't marry and reproduce? Because judging by the way things are looking for me right now, it doesn't seem as if I'll marry anytime soon"

"Son, Astrid isn't the only Viking out there" My father gave my shoulder a squeeze.

"For me she is" I replied as thoughts of the blue-eyed blonde swam through my head.

A smile spread across my father's face. "You don't know how happy it makes me to hear that"

My father did another circular motion with his hand, the outside of my house now fading and being replaced by another image from my bedroom.

Blue eyes and blonde hair. I felt my heart sigh as I saw her sitting at my bedside, watery eyes glued onto my unconscious body as she held my hand to her lips, pressing soft kisses onto my knuckles.

Astrid actually seemed as devastated.

The image faded, this time for good, leaving me feeling a little empty as I glanced up at my father.

"Hiccup, do you still think that she doesn't care about you anymore?" My father asked me, a familiar twinkle in his eye as he gave both my shoulders a squeeze.

I looked longingly over to where the circular image had been, desperate for another glimpse of Berk.

"No ... I don't" I replied as my gaze landed at my feet.

"Hiccup, son, I know how hard this is for you, but you are one of the lucky ones. My boy, you have a choice whether you want to live or die, something many of the people here never had, something many of the people here would die for all over again. Listen, my injuries ... they couldn't be survived, you on the other hand, you still have a chance. The choice is yours, son. It's up to you whether you want to live out a life on Berk or die immediately and stay with your old dad until Ragnarok" A smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

I took a deep breath as the gears in my head were turning so loud my father could probably hear them. "I choose to ... "