First Friends

Chapter 37

I was struck by the sudden urge to use the bushes, so I trotted off towards them. Unfortunately that put me at the mercy of the tall dark man, who I later learned was the famed Drago Bludvist. He seized the opportunity to get back at me for biting his leg. I didn't notice until it was too late. His spear entered my side, and exited before I had time to react. Astrid screamed in horror. Hiccup and Toothless had begun pelting the Bewilderbeest with plasmic attacks. Biscuit bolted to my side, along with the rest of the Stingers.

"You won't get away with this!" she shrieked. Drago ran up the Bewilderbeest's tusk and took shelter behind one of the head quills. My flock tried to follow but I coughed.

"No! Don't! The Bewilderbeest is about to surrender and dive," I wheezed. I coughed up a lungful of blood. Not long after they gathered around me, I blacked out. I was certain that this time, I was a goner. My vision was black, but suddenly there was a soft white light, and I felt such a comforting sensation of peace. A quiet voice spoke.

"Not yet," it said softly.

I felt myself thrown back into my body. I jerked in alarm, then screamed as pain exploded in my side. Hiccup had me in his arms. My blood was soaking into the ground. I saw a primal fear in his eyes.

"Hang in there, Tiger. We'll get you fixed up," he said. There were tears in his eyes. Gothi came into my field of view. She looked at my wound, causing a few whines when she touched the open wound.

"She says that he'll live. If he'd been hit any lower, he'd have been dead by now," Gobber said.

She made a bunch of gestures and three of her dragons flew off. I didn't know where they went, and frankly I was too preoccupied with focusing on just breathing to care. I lay my head down on Hiccup's knee and closed my eyes, forcing myself to breath in, hold for a few seconds, then let it out. In, hold, out. In, hold, out.

Hiccup picked me up and carried me to the house. He was trying not to hurt me, but every time he stepped on his peg leg, I winced slightly. He set me down on the nest of furs and kissed my head. There were tears on his cheeks now. He lay on his side, propping himself up on his elbow as he pet me. He sniffed before saying, "I already lost Dad, I can't lose you too, TIger." I licked his hand and he pulled me close for a gentle hug.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few weeks later, I had recovered enough. I stood up and walked out the door. Hiccup had ordered Biscuit to hover around me.

"Biscuit," I said when she stood up with me. "I don't need any help. I feel fine."

"Alright, Leader. But remember, Chief Hiccup told me to keep an eye on you, including following you around," she said. I sighed.

"I know," I mumbled. "He's going to have to let me have some freedom though. The village needs the food. I'm going hunting. I made sure that Gobber added the harness straps. C'mon. We'll go hunting together."

"Are you sure you're up to it, sir? What about your wound? Isn't it-?" I cut her off.

"It's fine. If I'm cooped up in this house any longer I'm going to go insane," I snapped. I felt bad immediately. "Sorry. See how it's affecting me?" She nodded. "This is why I need to go hunting today."

"Alright, sir. I know of a small cart that's just the right size for me. I'll retrieve it and be back in a flash," she said. She leaned over and groomed me. "Hold tight."

I sighed as she left. I nudged the door open and headed outside. I stretched and looked back where I'd been wounded. Very little remained save a small cut and an embarassing bald patch as big as Toothless' paw. I knew this as fact because he'd scratched around it for me at my request. He'd set his paw directly over it and used his claw tips to scratch the itch. After that he'd curled up around me and laid a wing over me protectively. We'd gotten past the "Hiccup's outgrowing you" thing fairly quickly. He'd been young and inexperienced, and I'd been sensitive.