Darkest Night

The terror mail felt so heavy in his pocket Hiccup was sure it was slowing Toothless down. Surely they could gone faster before, but he didn't dare ask his friend to speed up- he wasn't sure if he trusted himself to speak. He felt sick and shaky and faint, but at the moment, Hiccup didn't care. Self-care was the last thing on his mind. He could only think one thing- dad dad dad dad .

They were almost to Berk now, but Hiccup was sure that time had somehow sped up and slowed down at the same time. The sun seemed to move faster and faster- they were wasting more and more time flying- but Berk seemed to be getting farther and farther away. It was maddening- they should be there, he should be there.

Dad .

Hiccup didn't even know what had happened. There hadn't been enough information in the letter to know what happened, but Hiccup knew it was bad.

Hiccup,

Come back immediately. Your father's been hurt really bad. Not sure how serious. We need you here now.

-Gobber

The short, abruptive sentences in the letter had been what scared him the most. Gobber wasn't known for having the best way with words, but Hiccup figured that he was needed back as soon as possible due to the lack of information in the letter. The lack of information worried him the most. Hurt real bad. Come back immediately. Here now. The fragments all seemed urgent and Gobber's handwriting had been even more illegible than usual, which probably meant that his hand had been shaking. Which meant he was worried.

Gobber didn't get worried unless something was really wrong.

Something was really wrong.

Hiccup took a deep breath, gripping the front of Toothless's saddle even tighter. His knuckles ached, but he didn't care- the pain kept him from spiraling into his imagination of what could possibly be waiting for him back at Berk.

Toothless cooed softly, tilting his head up to look back at his rider. Hiccup didn't trust himself to meet his dragon's gaze. He had been so focused on keeping himself put together, making sure that he seemed okay to the others because he didn't want to hear whatever comforting words they had to say. It made it seem too serious- way too serious.

Because it couldn't be... like that . He couldn't be... dying . Right? Hiccup would know if he was dying- and besides, he reminded himself, he was talking about Stoick the Vast, chief of Berk. His dad was the strongest and toughest person that he knew. He'd pull through.

He had too.

But what if he didn't?

"Hiccup." Astrid called. He glanced back, meeting her soft blue eyes. "We're almost there." She said, as if Hiccup didn't know that himself. Usually he was glad for her presence- for the presence of anyone, really-, but now, he felt like he was being watched. The entire ride, he had felt their eyes staring into his back, watching him like they were worried he was about to break.

He nodded, looking forwards again without answering. Your father's been hurt really bad. Not sure how serious. We need you here now. He forced himself to take another deep breath and tried to think about anything else- but he couldn't, because nothing else was as important and nothing else was going to make him feel better. The war, Johann, Krogan, all those poor dragons, Viggo's death... It felt like everything was piling up in front of him and he couldn't do anything .

Berk seemed to materialize in front of him. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of the island- the peaceful village at sunset, as if everything was okay. Hiccup inhaled sharply, seeing the burned remains of a tree, large indents, and scraping marks on one of the sea stacks. Dad... Oh gods dad ... The sick feeling in the pit of his stomach deepened and he urged Toothless to go faster.