A whump fic that whumps everyone. Enjoy! Constructive criticism is appreciated!

Storm At Sea

His heartrate was elevated, his breathing wasn't as calm as it was supposed to be, his hands were clammy, he couldn't stop pacing, he was tense, his mind was racing and... All of these sensations Hiccup was much too acquainted with.

It was the feeling of being worried to death. The current cause? The runaway Snotlout Jorgenson and his tag along Hookfang the Monstrous Nightmare.

He had done it again. Snotlout had gone ahead and made Astrid angry. Pissed her right off! To the point that no place on the Edge was safe for him to hide and he needed to flee for the sky instead.

But hours had passed and now a thunderstorm made the ocean restless and the heavens treacherous. It was much too dangerous to be out there on either ship or dragon and neither Snotlout nor Hookfang had returned home thus far.

And so Hiccup found himself being worried to death. He had no appetite and that while the other Riders were gorging themselves without a care in the world. In fact, it almost looked like they had been granted peace for once.

As they continued to eat and make jokes, Hiccup eventually reached his boiling point. His nerves were frayed and he was irritable.

"Are we really all just gonna sit here and pretend nothing's wrong?" Hiccup questioned his friends, his betrothed, but none of them even bothered pausing in their meal to answer.

"Nothing is wrong." Was all Astrid decided to say on the matter before taking another bite, still steaming from her argument earlier that same day.

"And we're not all sitting-" Ruffnut started.

"-Yeah, you've been standing and pacing for the last hour." And Tuffnut finished.

"Have any of you actually taken a look outside? There's a terrible storm going on and Snotlout isn't home yet! He's a chicken, he would never stay away for this long!" Hiccup gestured to the open door, which he had left open despite their many protests. He wanted to see their missing members return.

"It's Snotlout, Hiccup." Astrid had to keep from sighing. Though she barely tried.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Hiccup let his hands settle on his sides, brows furrowing even deeper. Finally at least three of the Riders paused in their eating as they gazed at the would-be-wedded couple.

"Hiccup, I'm sure Astrid didn't mean anything by it." Fishlegs tried to douse the fire of another brewing argument.

"I mean that Snotlout is Snotlout and that he will be just fine. If he's going to be an idiot and get himself in trouble, he might aswell get himself out." Astrid cared little for the Ingerman's attempt at keeping peace.

"Uhm, Astrid?" Another meek effort was made.

"Do you even hear yourself?!" It wasn't like Hiccup to grow this angry so fast, but he was truly worried. Sometimes just a little drizzle was enough to keep Snotlout inside. He didn't even like getting wet all that much!

So to stay out for this long in a storm that fierce...

Another single look outside, at the pouring rain, the brutal winds and the lightning striking the sea, and Hiccup wanted to wait no more.

He slammed his hands a little too hard on the table, harder than he had intended, and the Riders looked at him in surprise. Ruff and Tuff's mouths once more stuffed with food.

"Fine then. You stay here and eat, but Toothless and I are gonna go out there and find him. He could be in trouble out there and I'm not gonna stand around and let anything happen to him or Hookfang." And Hiccup stomped out. He hadn't really bothered to check with Toothless either, who had been watching the arguing from the sidelines with interest. It wasn't like his Viking to yell.

The Night Fury got up and followed his Rider outside, though. He did agree with Hiccup. Two of their own might be in danger and they couldn't simply stay home and wait.

"Hiccup, get back in here!" Astrid shouted after him, but the lead Dragon Rider was already mounting Toothless and hooking his safety belt to the saddle.

"It's really storming out there."

"Snotlout will be fine!"

"He's probably just hiding on the Edge somewhere."

The Riders tried to convince him to wait the storm out, to stay here with them where it was warm and dry.

If Hiccup wasn't already angry before, he was furious now.

He looked back at the others with a glare colder than they were used to see from him, as if he glared at all. The rain so heavy his hair already clung to his scalp and drenched his clothing.

"Shame you can't show that kind of worry for Snotlout." It was a low blow for sure, especially coming from him, but it needed to be said. He could apologize and feel terrible for it later. At the moment, he was too angry to care.

"Hiccup!" With Astrid shouting his name did the two take off and braved the storm together. They all watched them disappear in a downpour too thick to see through, knowing the duo would not return until they found Snotlout and Hookfang. They were just that stubborn.

"Unbelievable!" Astrid growled, slamming her fists down hard enough to cause a plate to clatter to the ground.

Fishlegs and the twins kept their gazes on the storm raging outside. Even when their lead Rider and Dragon were long gone.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Tuffnut asked, concerend.

"Maybe we should've gone out there too? I mean, he was right. Kinda rude for us to stay inside when they're all out there." Ruffnut continued and the three of them faced Astrid again.

"It's Hiccup and Toothless. They'll be fine." She could only wish her voice and person carried the same kind of conviction her words seemed to hold. After pushing her plate out of the way, her eyes moved to stare out the door and she found her anger swiftly dwindling away to be replaced with something far worse. Stress.

For both Hiccup and Toothless. And perhaps for Snotlout and Hookfang aswell.

Morning came soon enough, but the sun was already high in the sky by the time the Riders woke up. It was what eventually roused them. All still sitting at the table, they hadn't left the clubhouse in favour of staying dry and now the remaining three got to experience the joy of an aching back.

"Oh Gods." Astrid groaned and rubbed her spine, pulling strands of hair from her mouth as she struggled to keep her eyes open in the bright sun. How her hair got this messed up even when she didn't sleep in a bed was beyond her.

Her body was a total wreck too. How did she ever convince herself to sleep like this again?

But it was something they did often. This wasn't the first time they had slept some place that wasn't their bed because of bad weather. One of those locations were each others' huts.

Still, sleeping at a table wasn't their best idea and now they were paying the price for it. The twins and Fishlegs, too, woke up feeling more tired than refreshed. They really had to think this through next time.

The loud sound of something crashing against the clubhous wall completely out of the blue startled them all. Who wasn't awake yet, sure was now. One by one they groaned, becoming more aware of the aching in their bodies as they sat up.

They were a mess and what happened next would only make it worse.

"Uh, hello?! Did you forget how important I am? I can't believe none of you wanted to go out there to find me!" Snotlout Jorgenson and Hookfang had returned and the former had brought with him loud complaining.

"Oh great." Another round of groaning.

"Hey! I heard that!"

Snotlout entered and promptly searched for some food to satiate his raging hunger. His stomach was eating itself by now and he needed something to chew on. Meanwhile Hookfang left to do the same in the stables, for once not striding with his usual pride.

"Where is Hiccup?" Astrid didn't bother asking where he'd been. She asked this instead as she tried to rub the sleep from her eyes, noticing that her fiance hadn't joined them in the clubhouse. Was he still angry with them? Not like him to hold onto his anger like that.

"Hiccup? I don't know, maybe the backstabber's in his hut? Can't believe not even Hiccup 'I get worried when my friends get as much as a splinter' Haddock didn't come find me either!" Snotlout then casually dropped a Shadow Wing's bomb on the others as he stuffed his mouth full of cold stew.

He had no idea the kind of immediate impact his words had.

He hadn't noticed that the room had fallen silent. He hadn't noticed a certain and chilling cold settling in the air. He hadn't noticed the others staring at him with eyes wide in shock until he turned around to complain about cold food and found himself staring back.

"What?" His mouth was still full.

Astrid jumped up and grabbed the Jorgenson by the shoulders, a wild look in her eyes.

"What do you mean Hiccup never came for you?!" The strength of her grip on his tunic would've left bruises on skin.

Snotlout swallowed the stew and almost didn't know what to say. This was awfully reminiscent of yesterday and he wished Hookfang hadn't left yet. Astrid's axe was right here in the clubhouse too.

"That I can't believe Hiccup would stab me in the back like that?" That answer wasn't what she was searching for.

"No, Snotlout! What did you mean when you told us you never saw Hiccup?!" She pressed on, formulating her question differently in the hopes of figuring out what the Viking before her had really said.

"Just that I never saw that freckled mug of his? Or Toothless'?" Snotlout choose his words a little more careful now, not sure what to think of Astrid's new outburst or that look on her face, the one he could only call panicked.

He looked beyond her, at the faces of the three remaining Riders who stared at him too. And their expressions he could only describe with terror.

"Hiccup... came for me?" Snotlout ever only used his voice to be loud, but the tone he used that time was small and scared. Like the realization that timidly came to settle in his mind, as if frightened.

Hiccup had come for him? And he wasn't home safe and sound now? Hiccup had come searching for him, but Snotlout had never seen him? He hadn't strayed too far from the Edge either because of the weather. Finding each other should've been easy!

But Snotlout was here. And Hiccup wasn't.

"Riders, suit up! We're going out there!"

The Dragon Riders searched.

After saddling their dragons and mounting them with haste, they took off and left for the direction they had last seen Hiccup and Toothless disappear into. One by one, they had felt determined then. Ready to face anything and anyone if necessary. They had courage on their side. And hope.

For hours they were out there as they scoured the now calm sea for any signs of life. The North, the East, the South and the West. When they came with nothing in one direction, they returned to the Edge and started over in another, making sure to include every sea stack and island on their way.

Nothing.

Like this morning turned to midday, to evening and then eventually into night. The need for food and sleep was pushed aside in favour of continuing what was essentially a search and rescue mission. Even the Dragons, once realizing that they were missing two of their own, cared little for their growling stomachs. When resting for a moment on the nearest island or sea stack, they would quickly urge their Riders to get back in the saddle to keep going.

Nothing.

It was only out of pure exhaustion that they'd drag themselves back to their home away from home, hoping to see either one of those two muttonheads already there with no idea what was going on.

They weren't there, nor did they return the following morning.

The Riders would all crash in the clubhouse again, the Dragons closeby and ready to go at a moment's notice. When the next day came, they grabbed a quick bite to eat along the way and off they were again.

That night they also came back empty handed.

And the next and the next until eventually a week had passed.

And then another and another, until one whole month had passed.

And still nothing.

One late night, a whole three months after that fateful night, the Dragon Riders landed in front of the stables. Their fruitless mission had ended without a reunion one more. And as one half went on to check the huts and clubhouse, like they had been doing every day since the evening Hiccup and Toothless left, the Vikings stayed.

Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut looked to Astrid, who found herself staring at the dark horizon, hoping with every fiber of her breathing being to see an even darker speck come closer in the distance. One by one, they all wore expressions of defeat and of loss.

"Astrid?" Neither one of the five had said much these past twelve tiring weeks filled with nothing but worrying, searching, pain and a growing hopelessness.

Astrid balled her fists.

She knew what he was going to ask. It was a question present in the backs of all of their minds, nagging and demanding to be heard and spoken.

Each and every day it grew louder and louder. Her heart shattered and her fighting spirit left her just thinking about it.

No, she didn't want to hear it. Not from him, not from herself, not from anyone!

These were words that should never be spoken.

Because so long as she didn't actually say it, so long as she didn't, they could all keep pretending those two were still out there. Somehow.

And yet...

"Did we lose Hiccup and Toothless?"

Fishlegs spoke the words no one had dared to speak.

And suddenly their entire world came crashing down.