See end of chapter for A/N.

Hiccup pulled Toothless into a steep dive, heedless of the arrows that swarmed the air around him. He dug his knees into Toothless' flank, and reached out with both hands, trying to grab the net.

Not that it would do much.

Antoni reached out towards Hiccup. For an agonizing second, their fingers skimmed. But Hiccup couldn't get a firm hold, and the ground was coming far too fast.

Toothless turned of his own accord, trying to grab the net, and causing Hiccup to lose his balance. He was forced to grab onto his saddle with both hands grabbed onto the saddle with both hands or risk falling himself.

He squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't want to watch Antoni hit the ground.

He couldn't hear Antoni screaming anymore. He bit the inside of his lip hard enough to draw blood and swung himself back up into the saddle, breath coming in panicked gasps. Antoni was gone. Just like that, he was dead.

Why wouldn't he listen? Hiccup hadn't wanted him to come, willing to leave him behind at least knowing that he would be safer in Pomerania, but like a stubborn idiot, Antoni had insisted on coming.

And now...oh gods.

Toothless hit the ground and Hiccup was already swinging off the saddle. A small crowd had gathered around Luka, and Hiccup pushed his way past them, disregarding the arms that reached out to try and stop him. He reached out for the net wrapped around his friends, trying to pull it away. The ropes were thick and he fumbled for the knife at his side, unable to pull it out of its sheath with how hard his hands were shaking.

Somehow, he had a knife in his hands within a few seconds, but whether it was his own or someone else's he couldn't tell. He just frantically cut into the ropes. Every breath hurt, his throat was so raw from the cold and screaming Antoni's name.

He was surrounded by Vikings, but no one made a move to stop him. They all understood, without a single word spoken.

Hiccup finally managed to get the bola off. Luka was struggling slightly, but she had taken a hard fall. Stormwardens weren't as heavily armored as other dragons, so there was no telling what kind of damage she had taken. But Antoni...

He pulled his friend from the net and let out a strangled cry. There was blood covering his face, pooling at various points along his body. Hiccup flinched at the thought of how many bones must have been broken in the fall.

Antoni gasped for breath, eyes shooting open for only an instant. The terror from the fall was etched into them. Hiccup nearly burst into tears right then and there.

He was alive. Antoni was alive.

"Somebody help me!" Hiccup said, slipping into the harshness of a commander's voice. He had a wounded soldier. He couldn't let his emotions get in the way of duty.

Antoni passed out again in his arms and for a split second it wasn't Antoni, it was Seris, covered in blood and weakly holding his hand knowing that she was going to die.

The tears broke. "Antoni, gods no, you have to stay alive. Stay with me, okay? If you die I'll kill you."

There was so much blood.

Antoni's pulse was so weak beneath his fingers. It was Seris, Seris all over again.

Next to him, Toothless appeared. He nuzzled his snout into Hiccup's shoulder, crooning a soft apology. Hiccup put one arm around Toothless's neck.

"Please, stay, stay Antoni, I can't lose you too." He bent his head over his friend's body.

Gentle hands belonging to faces he didn't recognize lifted Antoni's body from his lap. Hiccup didn't stop them. He just cried, with all of his rage and sorrow.

Someone placed their hands on his shoulders, pulling him up and turning him around to face them. He shoved their arms aside, falling into a defensive stance. Then, his eyes went wide.

It was his father.

He shouldn't be crying in front of his father.

It was his father.

"I never thought that you'd come home." Stoick's voice was gravelly, tears already misting in his eyes.

"Antoni is going to die." Hiccup whispered.

His father didn't respond.

"You can't let him die. You did this to him, you have to fix it."

"We didn't realize it was you. Jafaren's men have Night Furies and other dragons we've never seen before. We could only assume it was them."

"No," Hiccup said, "You have to-"

"We will give him the best care that we can. For him and..." His father gestured to Luka, still prone on the ground.

Toothless's head came up beneath his hand, and Hiccup slid his fingers down the Night Fury's neck.

"Stoick, I came as soon as I heard. Did Jafaren..."

Astrid froze, looking back and forth between Stoick and Hiccup. Fear sparked briefly in her eyes.

"Oh great Odin's ghost," she whispered.

Hiccup shook his head. It was too much all at once, he couldn't process. Focus, Hiccup. "Where are they taking Antoni?"

His father gestured behind him, towards Gothi's house. Hiccup nodded and started walking, but was stopped almost immediately by both Stoick and Astrid.

"Where do you think you're going?" Astrid demanded.

Hiccup looked straight into her eyes, watching her resolve falter. "I'm going to see the friend you almost killed." Toothless nuzzled against Hiccup's arm, giving him the strength to push past them and march away.

~o~O~o~

Antoni's breathing shuddered on occasion, unintelligible murmurs pulling their way free from his mouth. Aside from the occasional lurches of pain when Gothi's assistant set a bone or moved him more than a few inches, his sleep was undisturbed.

Incredible the old bat was still alive, quite honestly. Hiccup watched Gothi silently direct her assistant. He sat next to Antoni, stroking Toothless's head in his lap. The underside of the dragon's mouth was warm, the heat soaking into his leg and providing some source of comfort.

"You haven't asked if he'll be okay once," Gothi's assistant remarked.

"What would be the point?" Hiccup snapped, "I can see him myself."

He could hear Seris reprimanding him. She didn't do anything wrong. You're always a bastard when you're upset, don't take it out on her.

He pressed his hand a little harder against Toothless' scales.
She shrugged and continued wrapping a bandage around Antoni's arm. She was so calm about this, even though it was clear that Antoni was on the brink of death. If he died, what would Hiccup do? Would he go back to the Pomeranian army, explain what had happened? How he had gotten his second in command killed on some whim? Antoni hadn't requested a resignation like Hiccup, merely a leave of absence to assist his best friend in his crazy scheming.

Toothless churred, his throat vibrating softly, whispering words of encouragement to him and Antoni both. Luka was being treated outside, but while Hiccup couldn't handle the thought of losing two friends in a day.

He didn't keep track of the time that had passed, but out the window, the sky faded from blue to pink. Gothi's assistant left, taking with her the majority of the medical supplies. Gothi herself lingered only long enough to give Hiccup an encouraging smile.

As soon as they were alone, Hiccup leaned forward over Antoni's body, his chest still rising and falling steadily. Hiccup couldn't find the tears to cry anymore, but he rested his head against Antoni's forehead.

"You have to stay with me, okay? I don't...i-if you die, I..."

What did he even say? It wasn't as though Antoni could hear him.

"Just...stay." Hiccup said. Antoni's deep exhalation was his only reply.

With no more words and no more tears, Hiccup stood. Antoni would be all right, for now.

Now, he had to speak with his father.

A/N Well howdy! It's been a long time, that's for sure. Over two years since I posted the last chapter!

Ironically, me updating this fanfiction has less to do with the trailer for the third movie (although I am extremely excited for it! The villain looks awesome) and more to do with the fact that I had a huge nostalgia kick and was going back through old special interests and watched a ton of HTTYD stuff. And I realized that damn, I missed this story. I missed working on it and writing Hiccup and Toothless and all of the other random bullshit I've done.

Of course, I'm a very different person now. I was still in high school the last time I wrote for this and now I'm almost twenty! That being said, my writing has changed and improved a lot since then. And while I loved re-reading this story, I was cringing pretty hard, so I will be doing a thorough edit alongside writing new chapters for this, as well as cross-posting on AO3 (I'm as_time_stands_still over there if you're interested in seeing what I'm up to over there, hint, all I'm doing is reading risque Venom bs). I've also got a couple one-shot ideas (just as needlessly angsty as always tbh) and perhaps another longer fanfiction that I mentioned all the way back in like chapter 8 of this, which would have been 2015, holy shit. Also, there's a Spotify playlist for Chasing Eternity if you're into that? It's literally the only playlist named Chasing Eternity so go forth.

If you're here, reading this after patiently waiting for TWO FUCKING YEARS? Oh my god, you are my favorite. Like, drop me a PM or a review or something so I can shout you out because y'all the real MVPs. I want to shower you with love and affection. You guys, I am SO happy to back and I am so ready to continue this adventure with you. It didn't take me 8 years to come back, like Hiccup, but I'm here and ready to keep going.

Carry on!

Max