You woke up in the middle of the night, having heard something outside. You walked out of the tent and you could've sworn you saw the end of Toothless' tail disappear into the woods. You went to follow the dragon, curious as to why he was up and where he was going.
You followed him for a moment before losing sight of the Night Fury. You heard another twig snap as you tried to keep following him. You assumed this to also be Toothless and followed the sound. You looked around as the woods got thicker and darker. Another snap sounded off and you turned toward it quickly.
"Toothless?" You questioned, trying to make out the dragon in the darkness of the shadowy moonlit forest. Something rushed by in the bushes and you jumped back, startled. That...that wasn't Toothless. You reached for your weapons, but your blood ran cold as you realized they were still back with your family in the tent. Oh, gods...I can't believe I forgot to grab them!
Suddenly, you heard a growl. You turned again, inhaling sharply as you saw a pair of bright yellow eyes peering at you through the shadows. They looked focused and hungry. You backed away as the creature came out. It was a shaggy wolf with large claws crusted over with dirt and dried blood. The growling got louder as it bared its fangs, drool spilling out and splatting onto the ground. You spotted more of them as the growling got louder. It was an entire pack of hunting predators searching for one thing: food.
They stalked closer at a painfully slow pace that allowed you just enough time to start to panic. You knew they weren't sure if you had weapons or not. You also knew it would only be so long before they figured out you were defenseless.
You grabbed a rock and threw it as hard as you could at the Alpha's face. It yelped and howled in pain as you took off running. You heard them close behind you, the angry barking and snarls causing your heart to race even faster.
You shrieked as you fell over, one of them swiping under your leg. You screamed as it bit you, causing blood to spill and riling up the pack even more. You kicked it off and kept going as fast as your now injured leg allowed. I-If I can just get back to camp, they'll run away! Of course, there was no way you'd make it back before getting tackled again. You switched to the only backup plan that came to mind.
You were able to get a large stick to defend yourself with. However, now you were backed into a corner, the wolves having chased you to a dead end. There was no way you could climb the small cliff in order to get away.
Your stick kept them at bay, but the smell of blood made them more and more anxious to get at you. You were shaking with terror that you knew the wolves could probably smell a mile away. You were trapped and there was nobody there to help save you. You screamed again as you put pressure on your hurt leg, the pain starting to catch up with you now that you'd stopped running. The wolves took this as an opportunity to pounce. You swatted one of the wolves away with your stick and gave one last try to call for help, yelling for the only person you could think of at the moment to save you.
"HICCUP!!!"
Hiccup's POV
I was back working on some plans for Toothless' new tail. As I worked, I completely zoned out to the noise outside. I could hear people whispering, most likely trying not to wake anyone else up, but there was something off about it.
Suddenly, Ash rushed into my tent. I looked up at him. He looked panicked. I became concerned pretty fast.
"Ash?" I asked.
"Hiccup! It's (Y/n)! She's gone! We can't find her anywhere!" I went over quickly, realizing that if he was worried then I had right to be worried too.
"You've looked all over and around camp?"
"We've looked everywhere around here for her!" He yelled, still clearly panicking. Grimmel couldn't have followed us that fast...could he? I wondered, that conclusion starting to terrify me. I felt my heartbeat speed up at the possibility.
"We'll find her. Come on!" I got Nightshade since she was freaking out. She was pacing and growling worriedly. I pet her snout, calming her down and Toothless made a purring noise while rubbing up against her. "We'll find (Y/n). I promise, girl." She calmed down and I took both dragons with me as we split up to look for her. Nightshade kept going ahead of us, looking frantically for (Y/n). I kept having to call her back to us.
She hung her head and I knew that she was getting more and more stressed. Honestly, so was I. I kept calling out for (Y/n), hoping she would answer. This was so unlike her. She never went far on her own. Why did she leave camp in the first place?
As we walked along, Nightshade suddenly looked in one direction and locked her gaze in that direction. I looked the same way. "You got something?" She whined and I walked the way she was looking. I remembered who I thought was behind this. "Toothless, Nightshade, stay here and stay hidden," I told them. Nightshade whined in protest, but Toothless kept her there as I went on.
I looked around and I kept eyes out for any traps or anything suspicious. I prayed that she was alright. (Y/n) was my everything. I loved her so much. If something happened to her... No. I have to stay focused. I kept going and I suddenly heard what sounded like a howl ahead. I paused. I decided to risk it. "(Y/n)!?" I shouted. There was nothing for a few minutes. Then, I heard a scream.
"HICCUP!!!!" I ran toward her scream and I took out my inferno. I refused to let anything stop me from getting to her. I rushed into a small clearing and saw her ahead. She was surrounded by a pack of wolves. I was stunned, but I knew I had to help her.
"(Y/n)!" She looked up and the wolves turned, growling at me.
"Hiccup! Help!"
"Hold on!" The wolves ran at me, seeing me as another target, but I lit my inferno and they leaped back. They growled at me, but they stayed back further now, knowing better than to try and leap at me.
"Hiccup! Look out!" I looked up at (Y/n) for a split second, before I felt something crash into me from behind. I dropped my inferno and the paws on my back made it hard to breathe. I was able to roll over and throw the wolf off, but now both of us were trapped.
"Stay behind me." She nodded fearfully as I tried to protect her as best I could. Then, I heard a roar. The wolves turned again, ready to face the new threat, but I knew they had no idea what they were fighting. Nightshade leaped out of the trees, her tail bright red and her fangs already out. She roared at them and a few of them whimpered and backed away.
The alpha, however, didn't back down. The fight broke out in an instant. Nightshade whipped her tails around and smashed one of them into a tree. The swing was so powerful that I heard its bones breaking. I held (Y/n) close, still shielding her as it all took place.
Another wolf leaped onto her back, but Nightshade snapped at it and threw it off. She bucked a third wolf backward and reared up at the fourth one. The Alpha leaped at her, going for her throat, but Nightshade lashed out, the sharp ends of her tails going straight through its body simultaneously. She yanked them out and the rest of the pack yelped and backed away in horror. Nightshade let out another furious roar at them and the surviving members took off with their tails between their legs.
(Y/n) was still shaking in my arms. I quickly turned to comfort her. I hushed her, holding her close. "It's okay. It's okay. I'm here. It's all over now. You're alright, (Y/n)." Nightshade came over and nudged her, whining worriedly. (Y/n) relaxed in my arms and I felt relieved as she pulled away, looking much better. Then her expression twisted with pain. I looked down and saw her leg. "Oh no." It as bleeding and bruised in places. I quickly pulled her up with me onto Nightshade. "Let's get her back, girl." Nightshade nodded and took off. Toothless came up beside us as we hurried off. He must've been looking somewhere else after I split off of the two.
We made it back and the dragons let out their calls so her brothers would know we'd found her. I rushed her to Gothi and she told me to take (Y/n) inside. She examined her leg and I waited for Kent to show up and translate for me. They all arrived soon enough and Gobber read what Gothi wrote in the dirt.
"You want the good news or the bad news?" This worried me instantly.
"The good news!" I exclaimed.
"Well, the good news is you two are about to match. The bad news is she says stitches won't be enough. It'll need to be amputated."
"What!?" Gothi glared at him, wacking him across the back of his head.
"Ow! Uh, oh! Sorry! Reverse that! The good news is stitches are enough! She'll be fine! The bad news is now you won't match, which isn't really bad now that I think about it. Heheh...sorry."
"This is why I should translate," Kent remarked. I sighed, relieved.
"I'm glad she's better off than needing it removed, but still, do whatever you have to, just please help her." Gothi nodded and she and Kent stayed up to treat (Y/n). I stayed up too, working on Toothless' tail to distract myself. It wasn't the reason I had started the tail, but now I had a good excuse to help me keep my focus on other things.
Soon enough, somebody came into my tent. I looked up and I saw the same familiar beautiful (e/c) eyes I'd fallen in love with. "(Y/n)? Why are you up? You should be resting, you need to-"
"Hiccup, slow down. I'm fine." She told me. I looked at her bandaged leg. I frowned.
"No, you need rest."
"So do you, you moron." She insisted, cupping my cheek. I sighed.
"I...I have some stuff to do, (Y/n). Please, just..." I picked her up and placed her where I slept. "just rest. For me?"
"I'm not going anywhere, Hiccup." She said as I turned away. I paused. "Us (L/n)'s don't go down easy." I turned a little, wanting to let myself believe that she didn't need my protection, which she didn't most of the time, but...I loved her too much to not look out for her every moment I was with her and every moment when she was away. I just wanted her to be safe and now...things had been getting so hectic that I hadn't realized just how much danger I was getting her in. If only I had realized that sooner. "I'd never leave you, Hiccup." I looked back at her and I saw her eyes shimmering, pleading with me. I sighed. I walked over to her and I knelt down beside her. I took her hand.
"(Y/n)...I...I can't lose you. I've watched you get hurt before and I thought I lost you back with..."
"I know. I'm sorry I cause you to worry so much, but I'd never let anything happen to you or my family, Hiccup. You know that."
"Yeah...and that's what scares me." She kissed my cheek.
"I know you'll be alright, now you have to trust me with the same thing. I did need you today and that's why we'll always be there for each other, but you can't spend your whole life worrying about whether or not I'm alright. I'd always find a way to come back to you." I smiled softly at her.
"So would I," I replied. I kissed her for a moment and then I stood up. "I do have to get this new tail for Toothless done though. I promise I'll rest as soon as it's finished. Sound good?" She sighed, shaking her head with a smile.
"There's no changing your mind, is there?"
"Yeah, it runs in the family," I joked, even if it was true. She chuckled.
"I know it does."