Tweekerz A/N:

-Thanks so much for all the kind reviews last chapter, there was 29 reviews in all! Yay! Seriously, I become a little less of a procrastinator with each review from you wonderful people. ;o;

-Uhh, here's the next one!

CHAPTER 10

He was drifting in and out of consciousness, his head practically lolling about his shoulder, although astonishingly he vaguely managed to figure out what was going on around him, enough so that he could move out of harm's way when a haphazard sonic blast or a powerful thwack of a tail neared him. He felt heavy and slack, and he was about ready to just yield to the slumber that was progressively creeping up on him.

The concentrated pain in his arm managed to snap him out of his haze.

His arm throbbed at his side, hanging limp and useless as he scurried towards the opposite end of the ditch, his good leg scuffling along the earthy ground. He could feel the blood from his wound seep into the side of his tunic, staining the course fabric a dark red, an almost brackish color that smelled briny and bitter. His thoughts were boggling around in his mind: stop, slow down, why is everything spinning, but instead of paying heed to his brain, Hiccup pushed the thoughts aside and completely ignored them.

"Hahh," he groaned when a jutting piece of rock scraped along his open wound, nearly making his vision explode in white. He grit his teeth and let out a whimper, stomping his foot on the ground in hopes of distracting himself from the pain. Once he made it to the other side of the burrow, Hiccup smacked his back against the dirt wall and slumped down, gripping at his left arm and pressing the bleeding limb to his chest. The gash stung as a gust of hot wind ran along the injury, a blooming ache traveling up the length of his arm where it ended at his shoulder. Hiccup felt like screaming; he felt like belting out all sorts of slurs and profanities, anything to make the pain ebb away. Why wouldn't it just stop? Stop bleeding, stop hurting.

A cloud of muck and rubble erupted from the center of the ditch, dirt clods and small pebbles of rock skipping about the air, some of the debris pelting at his exposed face. He grimaced and cursed when a stray pebble hit him upside the temple. Through squinted eyes, he stared at the scene taking place in front of him.

All he could make out were blasts of blue and red that clashed together ferociously, some of the frenzied flares fusing with one another and generating a color similar to amethyst. He could feel the powerful heat emanating from those blasts alone, and he dimly noted that these flashes of color that spelled out splendor and magic and all sorts of things unexplained, just so happened to be jets of sweltering fire, one stream belonging to the creature that had gnashed its teeth into his arm, and the other…

No, it was wishful thinking, a pipe dream that would never come true. How was he supposed to believe that Toothless was out there, battling against a creature he had no right to confront?

A piercing shriek echoed about the burrow, and this time it didn't belong to Hiccup. The force of the sound nearly blasted through the Viking's eardrums, leaving a slight ringing noise sounding in his head. With his right hand, his good hand, Hiccup frantically rubbed at his ears. With a few trembling breaths, he then rubbed at his eyes, his vision finally clearing.

It felt as if he were sitting on a cliff thousands of miles away as he watched the two creatures face each other off. The red fiend, the feral dragon that had injured him, stood off to the side, its flank raised high while the potent whip of its spiked tail thrashed side to side. Vapor was trailing from its raised nostrils, charred embers tumbling from its parted mouth. The sight was terrifying to behold, and Hiccup had the instinct to turn away from the creature.

However, when his gaze wavered and he anchored his eyes on the other beast…let's just say he couldn't quite look away. He was rendered speechless as he gazed upon the ruffled form of Toothless who was raised on his haunches, yellow-green eyes slanted into tapered slits while a feral snarl took hold of his mouth. His lower jaw was practically dripping with swirling rivulets of azure flame that trickled to the ground like water, setting fallen twigs and broken tree roots ablaze. Hiccup was mesmerized, entranced by the ethereal sight of those two great beasts standing amid the center, both clearly livid beyond belief.

Before he had time to even register anything else, the two dragons leapt at each other, both swiping with their mighty appendages. The red dragon managed to graze Toothless' cheek, the Night Fury letting out an irritated roar as he raked his talons along the other's face. The spiked dragon groaned and twisted away, using its snake-like body to slither to the side, thwacking its tail in retaliation. Toothless leapt away, snorting through his nostrils, before landing on all fours.

Hiccup watched as Toothless' underbelly heaved, the Night Fury's mouth parting to reveal a swirling inferno of bright blue flame. In a split second, the red dragon shifted its gaze and anchored it on Hiccup, a growl emanating deep from its throat.

Hiccup gasped and shuffled away, as much as his arm would allow it. He could practically feel the dragon's glower on him, as if it were stabbing into him, rendering him immobile. When the dragon quickly leapt from its place and slithered towards him, Hiccup let out a faint scream and threw himself out of the beast's trajectory, unfortunately landing on his injured arm. He yowled in pain, rolling onto his back and nursing his arm as he rocked side-to-side, huffs of breath leaving his mouth. Wrenching his eyes open, he saw the dragon get gradually near, until he could practically smell the dragon's breath once more.

'I'm gonna' die,' he thought morosely, his face paling, but before the dragon could even get to him, an explosion of vibrant blue light erupted throughout the vicinity, bathing the creature in a white-hot blaze. The dragon shrieked and slithered away, thumping its massive body against the earthy ground and occasionally smacking against the dirt walls surrounding it. The flame was still attacking its body, raging with such ferocity that Hiccup shut his eyes and looked away, still cradling his bleeding arm to his chest.

He shifted his head and watched as the dragon drunkenly continued to smack against the wall, until it let out one final roar and shot a an orange blast at the barricade. Dirt and rock melted away, revealing a sizeable hole, and the creature leapt through the fissure, tunneling its way through the earth until Hiccup could hear its cries of pain no more.

The teen breathed a sigh of reprieve, wiping at his forehead with his right arm. His chest was heaving and he was having a difficult time trying to school his breathing. He could still feel the slime of his blood coating his arm, seeping into the earth at his side. He felt dirty, sore, and tired, and he would have fallen asleep right there and then if it weren't for the soft snarl he heard in the distance.

Turning his head, he met the Night Fury's gaze head on. For that instant, Hiccup allowed himself to just stare at the dragon, a swell of emotion rising within him. Toothless averted his eyes, slit pupils anchoring elsewhere. Hiccup scowled and shut his eyes, a shaky sigh escaping his lips.

If it weren't for Toothless, Hiccup wouldn't have plundered the forest on his own, friendless and vulnerable, and thus ending up tattered and spooked.

But if it weren't for Toothless, he'd be dead right now.

Toothless snorted and pawed at the ground, smoke trailing from his mouth. The branches poking from the walls of the ditch were still alight with flame, acting as miniature torches. Hiccup breathed deeply and looked up at the sky, which was already starting to darken. Red and purple splotches of color battled against one another amid the atmosphere, the moon glowing with the waning light. The bottom of the burrow was entirely bathed in darkness, save for the flaming twigs and tree roots providing enough light for Hiccup to stare across at Toothless yet again, his gaze never wavering.

The Night Fury turned away and sniffed the air, the dragon's body stilling as the stench reached his nose. The place reeked with the coppery odor of fresh blood. Hiccup's blood.

His body protesting, Hiccup slowly sat up and propped himself against the wall, picking up a fallen branch that was still blazing with fire at its tip. He held it above his arm to inspect his wound, and what he saw made him jerk his head to the side and wretch. Vomit tumbled from his mouth and coated the dirt floor, the putrid smell of it causing him to wretch even harder.

"Oh God, oh God," he whispered frantically, dropping the flaming stick in terror. He put his good hand to his chest, trying to quell his rising dread. He gripped at the dirt wall, his fingernails gouging into the soil, and with strength unheard of, he pulled himself up, steadying himself along his one leg.

"It's deep, it's deep," he chanted, holding his arm out in front of him. He dry heaved. "Holy crap, holy shit, oh god." With a shaky hand, he quickly brushed at his mouth and spit out the foul taste of bile, tears stinging at his eyes. He blinked them away and breathed in deeply. It was much worse than he had thought, or maybe the blood only made it look that way?

His entire arm was stained pink, blood still oozing from the deep laceration. Every time he moved his arm, even more blood seeped from the wound. The torn flesh of the lesion was jagged and frayed, and dear God, he could actually see the tattered layers of tissue underneath his skin.

He had never received such a nasty looking abrasion, excluding his lost limb, but then he hadn't even been awake for the gritty details. He seriously needed to get to the village and mend it, less he catch some sort of lethal infection. He could always sneak into the Elder's hut and swipe the many medicinal herbs and remedies she had stored there. He'd feel guilty about it, but it had to be done.

Hiccup flexed his fingers, wincing as the skin around his wound stretched and pulled. It hurt to move his fingers, but at least they were moving. It wouldn't do to have to have his drawing arm out for the count. He'd surely be miserable then.

'I can still move my arm, that's good. That's really, really good,' he thought distractedly.

Hiccup was so busy surveying his arm that he momentarily forgot that Toothless was still in the vicinity. With a feeble gasp, Hiccup perked his head and stared across at the Night Fury. The teen was at a lost of what to do. He felt immensely grateful that the dragon had come to his rescue after all, saving him from what was sure to be a tragic death, yet however, the images of Toothless snarling at him, ignoring him for months on end, managed to stray Hiccup away from any thoughts of gratitude towards the beast that had ultimately saved his life yet again.

"Thanks…" Hiccup whispered breathily, wincing when a stabbing pain swelled from his wound. It was all he could say to the Night Fury that had shunned him so, because believe it or not, Hiccup was still holding a grudge against the dragon. He had every right to. He had spent countless many months trying to fix whatever had broken in their friendship, and eventually gaining nothing from his persistence…it had wounded him far more than he let on.

He wasn't ready to flank himself across Toothless' neck and whisper words of thanks and gratitude, such candy-coated phrases like "thank you buddy" or "that blast was pretty kick-ass". A simple thanks would suffice, because Hiccup wasn't going to dish out anything more than that.

Shaking himself from his musings, Hiccup decided that first and foremost, he was going to have to staunch the bleeding. Carefully, the boy grasped at the hem of his tunic with his free arm and managed to slowly drag it up his torso, where he eventually (and rather painfully) hauled it up and over his head. A bit of the ripped fabric caught on his wound and Hiccup cried out in pain, where he then clamped his mouth shut and breathed deeply from his nose. Once the garment was completely off, Hiccup grit his teeth and braced himself for what he was about to do.

Placing the tunic over his wound, the teen quickly added pressure and began wrapping the fabric round and round, grunting in pain every so often. When the cloth could wrap no more, Hiccup tucked the hanging end underneath the first layer, holding his arm aloft to inspect his work. The cloth would hold for now, but there was only so much time until the blood eventually bled through the fabric, rendering it useless. He had at least an hour.

Placing his arm gently by his side, Hiccup looked up and across at the dragon who stood beyond, the Night Fury's wings pressed to his back. The teen bit at his lip and awkwardly gripped the wall behind him, saving himself from almost teetering over.

Then a thought hit him: what if Toothless just left him there? Sure, the dragon had saved him from an impending doom, but who was to say that Toothless would have just up and left him there to fend for himself, now that the threat was temporarily gone. Hiccup knew that the other beast was still alive and kicking despite its horrendous injuries, he'd see the dragon again sooner or later.

But back to the question at hand. Hiccup gulped, pressing his back against the wall; surely Toothless wasn't as callous as to just…leave him there. The teen let out a chaste gasp, locking eyes with the dragon that was silently inspecting him.

Hiccup blanched when a wave of dizziness overcame him, causing him to tilt forward. He quickly caught a hold of himself and practically ground his back against the dirt wall. He felt as if his body was sinking into the earth, and if that wasn't cause for alarm, a blooming ache in his chest traveled down his body, his only leg throbbing in pain. He felt jittery and on edge, and he realized with much dread that he was having an anxiety attack.

'Calm down, just calm down,' he desperately thought, fighting another wave of vertigo. Hiccup panicked, not at all used to the dizzying sensation. 'Please, please, let me stay- .'

Hiccup felt his breath slow, his chest painfully heaving at the lack of oxygen. I can't breath, I can't breath. Why can't I breath?

His vision went entirely black.

Toothless watched the boy plop to the ground face-first, the teen's face mussing against the dirt. The dragon snorted and flared his wings, sinking his talons into the earth. The Night Fury was aggravated beyond belief. The air was practically saturated with the stench of Hiccup's blood, so much so that the dragon could practically taste it on his tongue. A year previous, the stench would have been pleasing, welcoming even, but all it did was unnerve him.

Toothless surveyed the earthen ground, grimacing at the mixture of blood and soil. Toothless slinked his way around the fallen Viking, contemplating whether to leave him or not—he growled and rolled his eyes. The ditch was much too steep for Hiccup to climb out of, not to mention the teen's lack of a prosthesis, which by the way was still dangling from a tree branch up above. If Toothless left him there, Hiccup would surely die.

Useless boy, Toothless snarled, halting right in front of Hiccup. The Night Fury raised a paw and nudged at the boy's shoulder, growling when Hiccup failed to respond. Toothless nudged at the teen yet again, this time with a little more force. Hiccup only managed to flop over, the front of his body now facing the sky. Toothless flinched when he saw Hiccup's face. The boy's face was littered with small scratches, some merely grazing the top of the skin, some deep enough to draw blood. Hiccup's cheeks were pale and caked with mud, a mixture of blood and soil no doubt, and the boy's clothes were ripped and tattered, some of the fabric only hanging by mere threads.

He continued to nudge and paw at the boy, as if Hiccup would magically spring to life, his injuries healed and long forgotten.

That didn't happen.

Toothless' ears lowered, a low whine emitting from his throat.

Wake up, the dragon growled, prodding at Hiccup's abdomen with the tip of his tail. Wake up, wake up, wake up. He continued to poke and prod at the lifeless teen, his nudges growing frantic when Hiccup did absolutely nothing in response. In that moment of time, a desperate bleat emanated from the dragon, a dash of fear lapping at his insides.

Hiccup couldn't be dead, no, that wasn't possible. Toothless had traveled from practically the opposite part of the island in search of the fleshling, had saved him no doubt, only to have the boy die in the end?

No.

Hiccup should be groveling at the dragon's feet, pressing kisses of gratitude to his muzzle. The boy shouldn't be like this, plastered about the ground, his body limp and unmoving.

Hiccup get up.

The ground was for snakes and rabbits and insignificant little bugs; Hiccup was supposed to be standing upright like he should be, towering above them all.

Hiccup wake up.

No, not like this, anything but this.

Hiccup. Wake. Up.

The Night Fury lowered his head and pressed the rounded end of his nose to the boy's chest. It felt as if a tidal wave of relief washed through the dragon, blanketing him in every possible way. The light fluttering of Hiccup's heart was enough to sate him, so were the boy's deliberate breaths, so sluggish that even with the dragon's superior hearing, someone would literally have to press themselves against the teen's chest just to check if he was alive or not.

Toothless tried to quell the happy yip that accidentally escaped from his throat, but with no one around to hear, especially not Hiccup's motionless form, the dragon didn't particularly care. Drawing away, Toothless huffed in exasperation and smacked the boy with the end of his tail. Idiot.

Hiccup was still alive, just unconscious. Toothless had the sense to know the boy was suffering from blood loss, a rare occurrence among brawny Vikings, and if he remembered correctly, it usually signified illness or impending death. The dragon's wings flared at the realization.

He'd have to get Hiccup to the village, and fast.

He felt like he was floating, and then he was sinking and sinking and sinking, and then nothing.

Hiccup shot straight up with a start, clutching at his heaving chest with his good arm. He frantically surveyed his surroundings, his panic gradually subsiding when he realized he was laying half way across the threshold to his house. He felt stiff and sore, and when he rubbed at his face and his hand came away with a sticky red residue that didn't feel like dirt at all, Hiccup grimaced.

He stilled.

Hadn't he been in that ditch when he so embarassingly fainted?

"Toothless," he whispered, wincing when he accidentally shifted awkardly on his injured arm. Hiccup continued to scan the premise, hoping to see a flare of dragon wings or the end of a tail shuffling behind a house, but all he could see were cobble-lined streets and huts, huts, and more huts. There was no sign of the Night Fury anywhere. It was deadly quiet, Hiccup noted, rubbing the pad of his fingers along the length of his wrapped arm.

He slumped his shoulders in defeat, fluttering his eyes shut. The teen breathed through his nose, trying to suppress the well of disappointment blooming within him. He felt hollow, the sensation quickly overwhelming the physical pain he could feel in his arm.

So Toothless had unceremoniusly dumped him off at the village and fled.

Hiccup sighed.

He should have known better.

- Oh! OuO

- Anxiety attacks are no fun at all. I suffered with them for a couple of months, succumbing to attacks at least once every day. Totally tired me out. Sucked sooooo bad. But now I've learned to control them, and I don't get 'em anymore! :D

- Another thing. When characters in movies or books get seriously injured, they act as if its nothing. I'd be freaking-the-fuck-out!

- Until next time! Please leave a review!