Remember, Hiccup (HTTYD)

Wild Fire

Hiccup heard Toothless warble in fear at his words and felt Astrid grasp his arm.

"We need to get out of here," she told him, trying to mask her fear but Hiccup could see it in her eyes as she looked straight into his.

He nodded his agreement before looking up at the rocks they would have to climb to escape The Cove. 

There's got to be a quicker way! Hiccup thought, the smell of smoke becoming thicker by the minute. He then felt a nudge from behind.

It was Toothless who was motioning to his back, urging Hiccup and Astrid to climb on.

Yes, of course, the dragon can fly us out! Hiccup thought triumphantly before helping Astrid onto Toothless' back and getting on himself, his fear of dragons gone by the need to escape before the smoke became too thick. It was that moment when Hiccup realized the strange contraption at the dragon's side and he had no idea what it was for.

"Hiccup," he heard Astrid say with a cough "You're going to need to help Toothless fly, he can't do it on his own."

"What?! But I don't know how-what to do!" he exclaimed looking at the device in panic.

Toothless, meanwhile, could sense the smoke begin to thicken around them as it stung his nostrils. It was now or never, he had to get them out of there. Without warning, he lurched forward causing Hiccup to grasp the dragon's neck in fear of falling off.

Hiccup then felt Astrid grab his midsection, as the Night Fury sprinted toward the rocks and began scaling them, claws gripping the boulders. 

Hiccup held on for dear life as Toothless climbed higher and higher, until finally they were back in the wilderness, which was a raging inferno.

"Astrid are you alright?!" Hiccup yelled backed to the girl who had loosened her hold but still clung to Hiccup.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" she yelled back above the roar of the flames.

After hearing she was alright, Hiccup urged Toothless on, even though Toothless already knew the urgency of the situation.

Toothless took off in a sprint dodging flaming trees and bushes, ears pricked up for signs of danger though some noises were blocked out by the constant coughs from his passengers. One of which, was a falling tree branch.

The Night Fury looked up just in time to see the flaming branch and dodged out of the way, but his tail was caught underneath the branch's mass, causing Toothless to shriek.

Hiccup looked back to see what had caused the dragon's sudden screech of pain, but was soon faced with Astrid's slumped over form.

"Astrid!" Hiccup exclaimed at the sight of her body slouched against his. He examined her before realizing she must have inhaled too much smoke causing her to pass out. 

She'll be alright, he told himself reassuringly but we need to get her to the village and fast!

"We need to go now Toothless," Hiccup told the dragon who was growling in annoyance which frightened Hiccup a bit. 

What if I made him mad and now he's just going to desert us? Hiccup thought worriedly but then realized it wasn't him Toothless was growling at, it was the fact that his tail was trapped underneath the branch, still coated in flames.

"Come on, boy!" Hiccup told the dragon, trying to motivate him to pull his tail out from under the flaming limb "Pull!"

And with a shriek of determination, Toothless pulled his tail out from under the limb, but the damage was yet to be assessed.

Hiccup looked back and saw that the dragon's tail was now freed, but it was missing one of its tail fins. That's when Hiccup remembered something.

A downed dragon in the middle of the forest, tangled in ropes, but later set free and given a second chance to fly after being given a prosthetic tail fin in replacement of the one he had lost.

For the first time since the training accident, Hiccup saw clearly. "Toothless?" Hiccup murmured causing said dragon to tilt his head towards him.

Toothless saw something different in Hiccup's eyes. There was no more lingering fear in his eyes, but remembrance. If it was not such a dire moment Toothless would have leapt on top of his friend, smothering him with kisses but he knew he had to get the pair of Vikings on his back to safety.

Hiccup knew this too and they would have to escape the wilderness if they wanted to celebrate. So, making sure he had a good hold on the unconscious Astrid, he told Toothless, "Okay, bud, it's now or never!"

Toothless screeched with response and began to sprint through the forest once again, dodging the trees with flames that licked their bark and underneath the once clear sky that had now turned dark by smoke.

"Come on!" Hiccup yelled, trying to motivate his friend to go faster "Is that the best you've got?!"

Shrieking in defiance, Toothless urged himself to run faster, the safety of both riders in his mind. Legs screaming as he sped through the forest, he ran faster and faster until finally he burst out of wilderness, the Viking village just a few feet away, but he didn't stop running and as he barreled into the village, he collapsed in exhaustion.

"Good job, bud!" Hiccup told Toothless as he climbed off his back while supporting Astrid. Toothless could only respond with a faint warble as his chest heaved up and down from the nonstop sprint from the wilderness to the village.

The villagers soon saw the commotion and rushed over to the chief's son, seeing his dragon down and knowing something was wrong.

"Take her to Gothi!" Hiccup ordered the nearest Viking, who obeyed and took Astrid to the healer's home. As he watched her go, with worry in his eyes, he heard someone call his name.

"Hiccup?"

Hiccup turned to see the Viking teens, in the midst of the crowd of villagers, gazing at him.

"Where's my father?" he asked them, ignoring their confused faces.

"He's leading the bucket brigade in the forest" Fishlegs explained before asking, "Do you...remember Hiccup?"

Hiccup then looked at all of them and then at Toothless, scratching the dragon's head affectionately before responding, "Yes, I do."