The Dragon Master and The Lightning Rider *Hiccup Fanfic*

24. Too Much To Handle

It was like the cover draped over Hiccup had become a thick, cozy woolen blanket, like he could bury himself in it and sleep for a century. As he sleepily pulled it to his chin, humming contentedly, Hiccup could feel himself slip back into the lull of sleep.

Something shook around him. The blanket was fading away like it was being pulled into the darkness and leaving him shivering. It wasn't enough to wake him up, but Hiccup did feel a little irritated.

Again, something shook, and this time, he realized it was him shaking. More like, someone was shaking him.

And then came the nasally, blaring voice of the soon-to-be-dead Viking that dared wake up the Chief of a Berk. "WAKE UP!"

It did the trick nonetheless, sending Hiccup shooting up in his bed, his auburn hair spiky and mussed. He blinked at the harsh sunlight streaming through his window before he turned on the squeaky person who woke him up.

"Fishlegs!" Hiccup snapped, looking like the devil himself with his furrowed brows and scowl. "What the—why'd you do that?!"

Fishlegs was tittering on his feet. A sure sign that he was either excited, nervous, or just Fishlegs. "We have news."

Hiccup groaned and pushed off the cover, feeling his sleep leech away before he stretched and strapped on his prosthetic foot, tightening the buckle before he looked up through his lashes. "Did you have to break into my house? Couldn't it have waited?"

"Not really."

He led Fishlegs out of his room, swinging the door open to come face-to-face with shining, stainless steel that reflected every freckle in his face, and Hiccup screamed and backed away before he came to his senses and realized that weapon only belonged to one person. "What's wrong with you, Astrid?!"

Astrid stood on the other side of the axe, pulling it back to her side as she rolled her eyes. "We've got a lot of news."

"So I've been told. Are the scares necessary?"

That made her lips tug upwards. "You're too busy to scare most days. We take all we can get."

His eyes narrowed at her words. If Fishlegs and Astrid we're here, that definitely meant the rest of the gang was, too, and while he went downstairs, Hiccup'a head swerved from one place to the other, trying to figure out where the others were. He was met with an empty living room and sighed. His friends were amused, taking seats around the house as he went to a cupboard and opened it. Two identical faces popped out and screamed bloody murder, making Hiccup shriek and stumble backwards, clutching at his heart.
"Are you mad?" Hiccup gasped, rubbing his face as he slumped into his father's chair. "I could've died."

The twins, ever the demons, squirmed out of their hiding spots and walked around, Ruffnut chomping on an apple. "Told you he wouldn't have a clue about us."

"That cupboard was way too small to be stuck in with you," Tuffnut complained as he stretched.

Toothless burst into the house, annoyed at he didn't get his morning flight, and began pestering Hiccup. The Chief stood up, went to the barrel in a corner, and just when he was about to pop the lid open, he turned to his friends. "Snotlout's in there, isn't he?"

They all looked sheepishly at each other. Hiccup just sighed and kicked the barrel over, letting a fishy-smelling Snotlout tumble out with a cry. He looked u to see a grim Hiccup. Snotlout just grumbled under his breath about how to was the twins' idea before he joined the circle.

Hiccup fed Toothless and sat back down. "Alright, what have you got?"

Astrid scraped her nails against her axe. "Fishlegs found a lead on the arrow. And you'll never believe where it's gonna take us."