Run Away (HTTYD)

The Marriage

Chapter 12

"Ugh..." Toothless snapped his head up. It had been about a week since he started eating again, and his rider's mate started acting weird. He looked around for the source of the noise, and was elated to realize it came from Hiccup.

He glanced quickly over at the chair where Astrid slept, exhausted, then warbled quietly at his rider. "Wake up, wake up, wake up!" As if to demonstrate, Toothless got up himself and bounded around the bed before leaning over his rider to nudge him awake if necessary.

Hiccup's eyes opened tiredly, and he smiled up at his excited dragon. "H-Hey, Toothless..." He was immediately covered in dragon slobber and he laughed. "Hey bud, I'm happy to see you too..."

The ecstatic dragon edged forward onto the bed as he licked and nudged his rider, accidentally stepping on his stomach. "Aww..." Hiccup forgot his pain as he sat up and realized his surroundings. "I'm... not in my house... This is my dad's house... You're in my dad's house... Wait, is that Astrid?" He looked confusedly at the girl sleeping in her chair.

"What's she doing here, bud?" He asked.

"Waiting for you to wake up," Toothless answered, jumping around the room, knocking things over with his tail as he went. "I was too, but now you're awake and we can go flying!" With that, the dragon leapt into the rafters to peer at Hiccup upside down.

"You were? How... How long was I asleep?" Hiccup wondered, starting to push the covers back.

"A whole moon cycle!" Toothless dramatized, hopping down to pad over to his rider. "Can we go flying now? I didn't want to leave while you were asleep, so I haven't been outside since you were carried in here, and I really want to go flying now!"

Hiccup laughed. "Sure, buddy." Then he flung the covers off and froze. Where he'd fully expected to see his two healthy feet, he found only one, and a piece of metal where the other should have been. He took a deep breath.

"It.. She crushed it in the battle, it couldn't be saved..." Toothless told him sorrowfully. Hiccup's eyes widened as his memory came rushing back.

"Oh... Okay, I-I can deal with this... I can do this." He swung his good leg over the edge of the bed, then moved the other one. He carefully set the metal foot down on the floor, wincing at the odd sensation. It was weird not being able to feel anything lower than his knee. He gripped the bedpost tightly as he stood, taking another deep breath, then took a step.

"That's it, Hiccup... Just like that!" Toothless encouraged. Hiccup took another step and his knee buckled. Toothless caught him before he could touch the floor.

"Thanks, bud." Hiccup was already panting from the exertion of exercising his malnourished body, and Toothless let him put most of his weight on him as they limped around the room a few times. "Okay... Okay. Bud, can I sit down now?" Toothless gently guided him back over to the bed.

"I'm going to wake your mate up now, okay Hiccup?" Toothless announced. Hiccup nodded, catching his breath. Toothless gave the sleeping girl a hard nudge, and she fell off the chair.

"Aaagh!" She cried. "Toothless! What was that for! I told you not to wake me up unless something important happened!" Hiccup grinned, watching her berate his dragon, who was pretending not to understand Norse.

"So I'm not something important?" He teased, laughing. Her head shot up and her eyes widened.

"Hiccup!" She leapt onto his bed and pulled him into a hug, clinging tightly to him. "You're awake!" If he didn't know better, he would have thought she was more excited than Toothless, Hiccup mused.

"Yeah... I'm awake... But, um... Can't breathe..." She pulled away with a smile, and he beamed at her. "So, um... What's new?" He asked, awkwardly.

"So many things..." Astrid grinned. "Your dad has accepted dragons into the village, you're a hero, and we're getting married."

Hiccup opened his mouth and closed it again. Then his mind settled on the last thing she'd said and he fainted.

When he came to a few minutes later, Toothless began his scolding as Astrid hovered anxiously over him. "Hiccup! Don't ever do that again! I thought you were going to sleep for another moon cycle!"

"It's okay, Toothless... What Astrid said shocked me, that's all." Hiccup explained, smiling. "So... Us, um... Married, huh?" He raised an eyebrow at Astrid. She nodded nervously, looking away.

"Yep... My parents arranged the contract with your dad last week." She glanced worriedly over at him, half expecting him to scowl and tell her he didn't want to get married to her.

"Oh. Okay. I just... Really didn't expect marriage..." He fidgeted awkwardly, and kept glancing between her and his new metal leg as if he couldn't decide which deserved his attention more. "I-I mean, you're Astrid Hofferson, and I'm... I'm just the village idiot who ran away with a Night Fury." He settled for looking at his remaining foot dejectedly.

Toothless growled at his rider's self-hate, but waited for Astrid to correct him. She started by punching his shoulder.

Hiccup let his frustration and sadness rise, feeding his anger, and took it out on the first thing he could. "What was that for!?" He snapped, glaring at her. She looked into his eyes and held his arms firmly.

"Hiccup. You're clumsy, sarcastic, persistent, annoying, weak, scrawny, un-confident, and un-Vikingly, b-"

"Thank you." He interrupted, sarcastically. "Thank you, for summing that up."

She hardened her stare until he shut up, then continued. "But, you are also unique, devoted, intelligent, courageous, hard-working, modest, respectful, and cute." Astrid turned pink at the last word, but held her gaze.

"I... What?" Hiccup looked so flustered, she thought, as he processed what she'd said. "You think I'm cute?" She giggled at the bewildered expression on his face, blushing harder.

"Yes... Yeah, Hiccup. You are, and I thought you changed when you were gone, but then I asked Ruff, and she said you were the same and I really like it when you smile..." She stopped babbling as he smiled lopsidedly.

"Y'know, I think that's the first compliment I've ever gotten, Astrid."

She smiled shyly and stood up. "Come on, fishbone. Let's go outside, hmm?"

"Wha- Oh, okay." He winced as he put some of his weight on his new prosthetic. Toothless was quick to let him lean on him as they made their way to the heavy door.

Astrid paused before opening the door. "Whatever happens, don't freak out, okay Hiccup?" He nodded, and she swung the door open. The first thing he saw was a Nightmare, taking off from the Village.

Looking closer, he saw Snotlout on its back. Hiccup looked around, amazed at the transformation the village had been through while he was asleep. Dragons were perched on top of buildings, calling cheerfully to each other and the Vikings working in the streets, and helping Vikings with their daily chores.

It was the Vikings that spotted Hiccup first. They swarmed him with congratulations, grinning and laughing as Stoick pushed his way through the crowd to stand beside his son. "Well Hiccup, what do you think?"

"I... Wow, I never thought I'd see this..." Hiccup beamed as the dragons began landing around them to offer him their thanks in defeating Her. Soon enough, the Vikings had been pushed out of the little circle Hiccup was standing in, now talking excitedly to a Nadder. Stoick eventually left to make wedding preparations, as the date had been set for the day after whenever Hiccup woke up.

Astrid was dragged off by her mother to help pack her things for the trip to Hiccup's home.