An Unknown Sickness - httyd

Not Much Time to Act

Another twitch to his hands made Hiccup fear the worst. He tried to breathe in any air to prepare himself for the pain that was coming but his lungs could barely extend out to bring any oxygen to his sweating body. Talking was near impossible now. His muscles were tensing up in his face now, making it hard to move anything. Any other part of his paralyzed body seemed like the skin was crushing the bone underneath. Gothi detected some internal bleeding in him. Thor knows what was exactly causing it and how to stop it. Hiccup almost suffocated once from all the blood from his bleeding lungs that pooled into his mouth. He was unable to spit it out, but his dad was able to help him after a terrifying moment that he thought was the end of his life. 

Hiccup wrenched his eyes open painfully when subtle pain made his fingers twitch again without control. Toothless was asleep somewhere nearby, exhausted. For a little while, Toothless refused to sleep or eat or do anything that involved taking his focus  away from Hiccup. Toothless would see him from the corner of his eye sitting upright next to his bed, watching over Hiccup protectively. Hiccup would catch him starting to drift off but he would snap his head up awake and force his big green eyes to stay open.

"You need to go to sleep, bud," Hiccup had said to him in his hoarse voice. Toothless gave Hiccup a discussed look. "I'm serious, Toothless," Hiccup said, he tiered himself. A coughing fit took over, making his whole body shake afterward in pain. Toothless licked Hiccup's face gently. "If you want to protect me, you need to be in the best condition."

Toothless had grumbled almost sadly and Hiccup forced him to eat three fish before he crawled onto his stone slab in the corner, circling with a trail of fire coming out of his mouth before laying down on the nice and warm stone. He passed out instantly.

Now Hiccup could hear his dragon's breathing as he dozed deeply in sleep. 

There was an agonizing sensation in his neck, the side where he had gotten scratched. He bit his tongue to avoid yelling out, he didn't want to wake the sleeping Toothless. Some blood started seeping into his mouth from his throat. It became hard to breathe. But Hiccup suddenly realized his throat was starting to press against the other side as his airways started to close. He gasped for breath and Toothless's ear twitched. 

"Toothless...!" Hiccup shouted with his last breath as his throat was completely closed. 

Toothless bolted upright, still laying down, but when he saw his rider, he was instantly out the door, out to find Stoick. His throat became tighter. The corners of his vision started to spot with black dots as the ringing in his ears became unbearable. 

Stoick appeared, followed by Gothi who was slower on the stairs. Hiccup couldn't hear them at all. But his consciousness was slipping away. Stoick actually slapped him to try and keep him awake. But the lack of air was too great and took him into darkness.

.....

"Hiccup! Wake up!" Stoick yelled and Toothless's ears flattened against his head. Stoick took notice of the Night Fury's strange body language as his big, round, green eyes looked painfully at Hiccup who wasn't breathing. 

Gothi ruffly pushed Stoick to the side and grabbed Hiccup's stiff arm, injecting it with a sewing needle coated with some sort of liquid on it. Stoick watched in full trust of her as Gothi pulled it out and pricked his neck to draw a little blood.

Hiccup's eyes shot open, sucking in a large breath and actually sitting up! 

"Hiccup!" Stoick said in panic and relief. Hiccup's eyes were dilated and unfocused. 

Toothless ran over to his rider and purred when Hiccup clutched his arm where the needle had injected him. His knuckles turned white from holding too tight. Toothless licked Hiccup's bowed head which had tears streaming down slightly. 

"H-hey bud..." Hiccup said quietly, but enough for Stoick to hear. 

"Hiccup, are you alright?" Stoick asked and Hiccup looked up at him with a confused face. He offered a little smile.

"Define 'alright'," He said jokingly but winced in pain and tightened hold on his arm. "Why does my arm hurt so much?" Hiccup asked and Gothi stepped forward and sprinkled some sand on the ground. Her staff squiggled away quickly. 

"She injected a special kind of 'potion' in you," Stoick read. "It was just to keep you alive and stop the tightening in your body."

"Why not use it before?" Hiccup asked, stroking Toothless with his non-bandaged hand.

Stoick paused to let Gothi write. "It is extremely dangerous, with many dangerous chances: There was a chance that it would go to your brain and shut down all communication to your body, or that it would over work your heart so it give out. There was also a chance that the organs in your body would all start to-"

He was interrupted when Hiccup started coughing, his arm pulled away, covered in blood. 

"That your organs would start to lose a lot of blood," Stoic said with a sigh, and Gothi wiped away the writing and started writing more. "She said it was either take that risk or let you suffocate to death."

Hiccup nodded and laid down. "Are all of those chances still possible?" He asked quietly.

Gothi nodded and wiped away the sand, writing more. "Your body will also start tightening again," Stoick translated. "This is only meant to be short term, until the others get back. Hopefully with an antidote."

Toothless grumbled from the side of the bed, looking at the floor. Stoick raised his eyebrow. "What's wrong with the dragon?" He asked and Hiccup turned his head to see Toothless avoiding his gaze.

Hiccup smiled sadly. "He's guilty." Toothless turned his head slightly to glance at Hiccup before he turned away again. Stoick didn't understand how his son knew exactly what his dragon was thinking or feeling, but all he knew was that they had a special bond that bonded their two souls into one. "Toothless, it wasn't your fault," Hiccup tried to coax, but Toothless just grumbled again. "Even if you were awake, watching me, you would have been too tired to go and get my dad."

Toothless finally turned around to look at his rider. His eyes full of uncertainty.

"I mean it Toothless," Hiccup said seriously. 

After a second, Toothless bounded onto Hiccup and started licking him all over.

"Ugh! Toothless! You stupid reptile, you know that doesn't wash out!"

Stoick smiled at the two. But it gave way into a frown quickly. His son may not make it, and what would happen to Toothless? Hiccup saw his fathers look.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

Stoick didn't say anything. He didn't need to. Both he and Hiccup knew what was on both of their minds. The door to the hut closed slightly. Stoick hadn't even noticed that Gothi had left. She probably knew they needed a second alone.

"I've been thinking," Hiccup said slowly. Stoick looked at him. "Because I know I don't...have much time left, I want you to send a terror to the others and tell them to come back. It's been too long since I've seen them, and I don't want them to come back either with an antidote or empty handed only to find me dead."

Stoick gave a shuddering sigh. "There's still a hope they can get something and will be able to come back," He said quietly.

Hiccup shook his head, looking down. "We both know I have little time. I just want to see them...before I face the end."

Tears poured down Stoick's eyes and he hugged his son. "I'll send it right now," He whispered to him and headed down the stairs. He stopped at the door. Hesitating. Stoick looked up the stairs to see Toothless's head resting on the bed as Hiccup's good hand lay on top of his head. Stoick headed out to the Clubhouse. He looked around at the Edge. All of this, Hiccup and his friends built. Discovering so much and doing so much against the Dragon Hunters. And here Hiccup was, dying with all of this slipping away from under him. 

Stoick grabbed a paper and wrote the note to the other riders. He chose the fastest Terror. It would be able to make it there quickly. They called this blue Terror Speedy. Known for reaching the place it was meant to go to in the blink of an eye but passing out as soon as it got there. Stoick tied the letter to Speedy's leg and let him go. He was out of sight instantly, flapping his little wings quickly. With a sigh, he leaned on the table and cried slightly. He had failed, his son would die after all...