Dark Valkyrie

Fourteen: Taking Stock

Fourteen: Taking Stock

Hiccup opened his eyes and all he could see was darkness. He blinked, screwing his eyes closed and then opening then again-to see only pitch black.

Oh nonononono, he thought in a panic, closing his eyes and opening them again. Nononono, please-I thought I had regained my sight when I woke...please don't let this be true...

He shifted his body, knowing he was lying on his bed-and he winced as he was wracked by the pains he felt from the injuries Viggo and Krogan had given him. Gritting his teeth with the effort, he tried to bend up his left arm and he felt a small surge of triumph as the elbow flexed and his hand finally rested back against his shoulder, He winced, feeling the pain from the healing brand and he groaned. Even though he was home, he was lost.

Suddenly the darkness moved and Toothless's head appeared round the edge of his wing, which had been wrapped around Hiccup like a protective tent. The young Viking blinked, the light hurting his eyes-and then he gulped in relief. He wasn't blind! Sure, his vision was blurred and his eyes hurt but he could recognise Toothless no matter what.

"B-bud..." he breathed and the familiar coo of his dragon sounded reassuringly at his side. Toothless moved away and Hiccup realised that the dragon had been stationed hard by him, his wing wrapped over him like a shield and then he felt the warm muzzle nudge him. A relieved laugh burst from his lips and he was immensely relieved that it sounded like a laugh, not like the garbled sounds he had been making while the Wine of Hela had been destroying his body...

And then he stilled. Was he alive? Was this real? Or was this another crazy dream, a venom-induced nightmare as he hovered on the brink between life and death...? But this matched with where he last remembered being, dovetailing with his memories of everything deteriorating as he was dying of the poison. Toothless nudged him and he felt a surge of relief. His head was spinning, his stomach was hurting, his shoulder ached and he still felt weak...but he was undeniably on Berk and he was alive.

"Hiccup!" a female voice said and he rocked his head to look over to his right-to see a blonde shape sitting by his bed. And though his vision was still fuzzy, he knew it wasn't Astrid...after all, the blonde was wearing a familiar helmet, was wearing the wrong colour and her blonde hair was in thick braids and smelled vaguely of fish.

"R-ruff...?" he managed and was relieved that he managed to form an intelligible version of the word he had intended. She nodded.

"You said my name," she said, her voice surprised and relieved and then she grinned. "Thank Thor. We were so worried." She looked up at the dragon as she rose to her feet. "Toothless-can you watch him for a few minutes while I go get..."

"Stay!" he managed surprisingly firmly. Ruff stilled and then looked at the Night Fury.

"No problem," she said and sat back down. "Toothless-could you get the Chief then. I'll sit with Hiccup..." The Night Fury gave a small warble, his head bobbing in acquiescence and he gave his Rider a small lick and then whisked away, barging through the door of the Chief's House and galloping down the hill. Ruff smiled again. "How are you feeling?"

He frowned and tried to frame an answer. How did he feel? Alive. Not blind. Able to move at least one limb and speak sort of, he was better than he could possibly have guessed.

"Great..." he murmured. "Jus' great..." He looked around. "Tuff?" The female twin nodded and smiled.

"He's okay," she assured him. "He's taking Chicken for a walk along the cliffs. Fishlegs is cleaning Meatlug to try to cheer himself up. He's washed her so many times I think she may be shiny. And Snotlout apologised." Hiccup blinked and wondered if he was still hallucinating. He frowned, his face hurting from the effort. He tried to dismiss this as a Thorston prank but Ruff seemed far more sincere than usual.