Secrets Revealed

Chapter 1

Hiccup and Toothless led Sleuther to a pen for the night. Hiccup decided not to lock it in case the Triple Stryke decided to leave. They weren't about to force him to stay. He deserved better.

"Come on, bud, let's grab a snack and go to bed," Hiccup suggested as he climbed on to Toothless.

They flew down into clubhouse and began to raid the storage for fruits, fish perhaps a jug of mead. Hopefully, Snotlout didn't take the last of it. After the past few days, Hiccup needed to get his nerves under control. His body was still shaking with anger and pain.

Being pushed around and having a way to tight manacle around your good leg while being forced to watch your best friend fight, doesn't make for a happy Hiccup.

"Ah-ha!" Hiccup exclaimed as he pulled out the last jug of mead. It had been hiding behind a barrel of fish. The young Viking loaded a satchel full of apples, grapes, and fish and carried the unopened jug in his hand. He climbed back on to Toothless and flew off to their hut.

Hiccup laid the small bounty out on his bed and began to undress. Within five minutes he was wearing only his trousers and prosthetic leg. The latter didn't stay on much longer. As soon as he sat on his bed he took it off and laid it on the table by his bed.

He looked down at his body. He could see day old bruises running down his left arm and side. His right ankle was an ugly purplish black and swollen to the size of a melon. He couldn't even tell if he had an ankle anymore. He tried to flex it and almost screamed in pain.

"That was stupid," Hiccup chided to himself. Toothless cocked his head in worry and sympathy for his hurting rider.

"I'm okay, bud. I just need to wrap it up and stay off it for a couple of days," Hiccup reassured.

"Are you sure that's all?" A voice asked from behind.

Hiccup being Hiccup momentarily forgot he had taken his prosthetic off and that his only good leg wasn't all that good, stood up to turn around only to fall face first on to the floor.

Hiccup groaned from the pain racking his body as he tried to turn himself over, only to find that he couldn't.

"Need a hand?" the voice offered.

"That would be most welcome," Hiccup replied. "Thank you, Astrid."

Astrid turned Hiccup on to his back with the help of Toothless and got him back into bed. "No problem."

Astrid examined her friend from head to toe. "You look terrible."

Hiccup reached for the jug of mead. "I feel terrible."

"Anything I can do to help?" Astrid offered.

"Yeah, um, I have medicine bag on the top shelf above my desk. Could you get it?" Hiccup wondered.

Without a word, just a quick nod, Astrid head to the bottom floor of Hiccup's hut to get the medicine kit.

Hiccup drank about half the jug of mead before Astrid returned and was already feeling it work its way through his body.

"This it?" Astrid asked holding up a red satchel with a big "M" written on it.

Hiccup nodded. "Yeah. That's it." He took another gulp of the mead

Astrid stared at the injured dragon rider in wonder. Hiccup wasn't much of mead drinker. He normally drank milk or water. Occasionally juice if enough could be squeezed for everyone. The last time she saw him drink like this was after Viggo got the Dragon Eye.

She shook her head, despite not being a regular drinker, unlike the rest of them, Hiccup could handle his mead. One jug wasn't going to send him into a slurring rage about what had happened on that horrible island.

"Where do you want me to start?" Astrid asked as opened up the medicine bag.

Hiccup set the jug down and picked up an apple. "Let's start with my ankle. There's an ointment in there marked with a blue cork. Rub it over and around the swelling, then wrap it up with the gauze."

Astrid dug through the bag until she found what she needed. "Will rubbing it in hurt you?"

Hiccup nodded as he lead his head against the headboard. "Only for a couple of minutes."

He placed the apple in his mouth and got ready to bite down.

Astrid looked at him. It was true Hiccup was no stranger to pain. He'd lost a flipping leg for Thor's sake. But looking at him brace himself against the headboard with an apple placed firmly in mouth, made her wonder just how often Hiccup had been injured enough to know that rubbing in this ointment made the pain worse. She got her answer as soon as she uncorked the jar. It was nearly empty.

She dipped two fingers to get a into the jar and pulled out small glob. Just enough for his ankle. She could feel a cool numbing sensation coming from the cream. She figured that instead of taking a tonic, Hiccup had developed a numbing cream that works better.

The blonde teenager took in a deep breath and started to rub in the cream. Hiccup's yells were muffled by the apple, but she understood the message. She was hurting him and had to hurry to finish the job.

Astrid quickly rubbed the cream in and wrapped up Hiccup's foot and ankle. She looked up and saw that the apple had fallen from his mouth and that he had tears streaming down his face. She wondered how could he do this by himself. It takes so much energy out him.

She got up and quickly grabbed a rag out of the bag. She was getting ready to wipe his tears of pain away when she noticed something else. Hiccup was staring off into Thor knows where. His mind was somewhere else entirely. She took this as an opportunity to treat the rest of his bruises.

She took the same cream and rubbed over his arm and along his side. He didn't scream this time. She wrapped up his arm, before clearing the food off the bed. She laid him on his back and pulled the covers over him.

By the time she was done, Hiccup had fallen asleep. She blew out the candles and left the hut. She climbed on to Stormfly, who had been waiting for her. Together they flew over to Fishlegs's hut. Hoping he was still awake.

She had questioned that needed to be answered.

Author's Note: This is a what if story. I know Hiccup is a bit ooc, but to be fair he is drunk. Let me know what you think. I hope you will this story. It is my first in the series I have written.