Summary: Blinded while saving a fellow Berkian during a dragon raid, Hiccup Haddock struggles to find a way to be at least somewhat useful to his tribe. One day he finally gives up hope and wanders into the forest hoping to find a swift death only to stumble upon something that will change his life forever.

Disclaimer: I do not now nor have I ever owned How To Train Your Dragon (or the tv series or the sequel).

Eternal Night

Chapter 1

The sounds of roaring dragons filled the predawn air rousing the slumbering Vikings and pulling them from their beds. Experience from fighting dragons for generations took over and many Vikings were already dressed and wielding weapons before they were even fully awake. Their battle cries joined with the cries of the dragons helping to awaken even the deepest of sleepers.

One such heavy sleeper only finally jolted awake when something heavy and large hit the roof of his home. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third jolted upright and looked around frantically to try and locate what had pulled him from his sleep.

The battle outside filtered through his jumbled nerves and realization finally dawned on him. There was yet another dragon raid going on in the village of Berk.

Quickly Hiccup jumped out of bed and pulled on his clothes. Even Viking children had jobs to do during dragon raids and even though Hiccup was a scrawny fishbone of a boy he too had to prove his worth. Although he couldn't heft a hammer or throw an axe Hiccup knew how to sharpen the tools used to fight off the dragons. He was going to be needed down at Gobber's shop.

With his shoes finally on his feet Hiccup darted out of his home. A blast of fire from a sleek, red, and huge monstrous nightmare shot over his head making the scrawny preteen duck down and cover his head. This did not stop him nor make him turn around to hide in the comfort of his home; no it only spurred him forward.

It wasn't the fire or the dragons that Hiccup had trouble dodging in the midst of battle, it was the large and bulky Vikings waving around their very dangerous weapons. At one point a powerful blast from a flyby Gronkle sent Hiccup sprawling onto the ground.

One of the passing Vikings bent down haphazardly and roared in his face only to smile a half second later to greet him with a 'morning'.

Hiccup picked himself up and dashed off once again. The blacksmith shop was all the way at the other end of the village and he had to get there before one of the more intelligent Viking adults stopped him to escort him back to his home. Technically the runty Viking wasn't supposed to be outside during dragon raids.

As he ran, weaved, and dodged the much larger Viking adults he heard a variety of comments thrown his way such as 'get back inside!' and 'what're you doin' here?' He ignored them all as he ran as fast as his thin legs could carry him.

Suddenly his running came to a halt as he was lifted up into the air by the back of his shirt. It was a good thing he'd been grabbed or else he would have run straight into a monstrous nightmare's blast.

"Hiccup! What is he doing…? What are you doing out?" The particularly large Viking that had grabbed him demanded. Hiccup looked at him sheepishly noting the signed red beard hair and the splatter of blood on the Vikings hammer. "Get inside!"

Hiccup felt himself thrown forward and towards the shop that he'd only been a few yards away from when he'd been grabbed. For a moment Hiccup looked back at the Viking and the only thing he could think was that the great Viking Chief Stoick the Vast looked even more commanding and impressive during battle.

Hiccup watched the Chief turn to one of his Vikings for an update on the battle. There was a blast from behind Stoick and the Viking that had been speaking rapidly covered his head with his shield. Stoick absently swept a flaming piece of debris off of his shoulder plate and continued to look around.

Finally Hiccup made it to his destination. He skidded to a halt after propelling himself into the shop and past the one armed, one legged Gobber.

"Nice of you to join the party!" Gobber shouted as he hammered at a bent and twisted blade of a sword with his prosthetic hand that currently acted as a hammer. "I thought you'd been carried off!"

Hiccup grabbed his apron and threw it on. "Wha- Who me? No, come on, I'm way too muscular for their taste." The preteen grinned as he flexed his way below average arms and then put Gobber's prosthetic Warhammer hand away on its shelf.

This sort of banter was normal for the blacksmith and his apprentice and it helped to make Hiccup feel included during the raid; like he was actually being useful.

Ever since he could remember Hiccup had spent his days at Gobber's side learning about how to heat metal and hammer it to his will. Even when he'd been too small to do anything more than pump the bellows he'd been learning from Gobber. His father hadn't really protested this interest that Hiccup had had; in fact his father had encouraged Hiccup to go to Gobber for training. His father had hoped that working with the heavy tools would put some sort of muscle on Hiccup's meek and tiny frame.

"They need toothpicks don't they?" Gobber commented as Hiccup threw open the shop's wooden window shutters. Even before the windows were fully open Vikings were crowding around with their dull and damaged weapons.

Hiccup gathered up the weapons placed before him and awkwardly carried them over to the burning coals. He put them in the center of the coals as best he could and then used his entire body to push down on the bellows. Air was blasted onto the coals and they heated to a red hot glow. The metal that sat on the coals began to glow red from the heat.

Once the coals were blazing Hiccup went back to the window to grab more of the weapons that had been left there. He heard Gobber move behind him to grab a sword from the heat so he could pound it out.

"Fire!" Hiccup heard someone yell and he anxiously leaned out of the shop window. He grinned as he watched other tribe preteens run past him carrying buckets full of water to put out the fire that had been set by a passing dragon.

Hiccup took a mental tally of which of the preteens ran past him. He glanced at the large and round boy named Fishlegs that was covered in a fur shirt vest. Close behind him was his dark haired cousin Snotlout. Even though his cousin was only a little bit taller than Hiccup was he was a great deal more muscular.

Then came the blond twins as they tugged and argued over the bucket they cared. They were thin and walked with a little bit of a hunch. He frowned at them a little as he noticed a bit of an insane grin on their faces. Even though they'd been put on the bucket brigade to put out dragon fire the twins seemed to enjoy the pyrotechnics a little too much.

And then there was the tall, already developed, blond, graceful, and lovely Astrid. He watched as she threw her bucket of water onto the closest flames and then turned to head back to the water carrier. A blast went off right behind her and the heat of the flames warmed Hiccup's face and he couldn't help but admire how the light danced around Astrid. Her knee length spiked skirt waved around her and she flicked her head back to get her bangs out of her face.

For a moment the small preteen was tempted to jump out of the shop's window so he could go join the other preteens in the bucket brigade. 'Their jobs are so much cooler.' He thought to himself as he patted at his apron.

Before he even got the chance to even lean out of the window a hooked prosthetic hand lifted him up and pulled him back into the shop.

"Oh come on! Let me out, please?" Hiccup begged as he was set down well away from the window. "I need to make my mark!"

Gobber rolled his eyes at Hiccup's begging. "Oh you've made plenty of marks, all in the wrong places!" The broad and chubby Viking poked at Hiccup to push him back towards the sharpening wheel.

"Please! Just two minutes. I'll kill a dragon." Hiccup pleaded futilely. "My life will get infinitely better!" His voice dropped a bit. "I might even get a date!" He flung his arm out and then let it drop to try and prove his point.

Gobber started listing off various weapons Hiccup couldn't use and reasons why Hiccup wouldn't be able to kill a dragon. With each fact pointed out Hiccup felt his shoulders droop lower and lower. Gobber lifted up one of his bolas as a last example only for it to be grabbed by a passing Viking and thrown.

"Ok fine," Hiccup said as he looked around and then hurried back to one of his many contraptions. "But this will throw it for me!" Even at his slightest touch his bola thrower sprang open sending the preloaded bola out of the shop where it hit one of the waiting Vikings.

Hiccup winced a little and shouted a sorry. "It just has a mild calibration issue!" He insisted when Gobber advanced on him.

"If you ever want to get out there to fight dragons," Gobber said as he lifted his hands up and then brought them back down to get Hiccup's attention. "You need to stop all-" Gobber's hands faltered in the air before he pointed at Hiccup. He gestured in the air around Hiccup for a moment before his hands froze to on either side of Hiccup. "This."

Hiccup rolled his eyes and his shoulders slumped down. "But you just pointed to all of me." How was he supposed to prove his worth and kill a dragon if he had to stop being who he was?

This wasn't the first time he and Gobber had had this argument. Hiccup refused to believe that he had to give up who he was just so he could fit in with the other Vikings in the tribe. He couldn't exactly change his physical form so he had to find a way to compensate for his lack of musculature. His mind was all he had.

A dull sword was thrust into Hiccup's hands before he had time to continue the argument. With a huff Hiccup carried the blade over to the sharpening wheel and kicked the pedal to make it spin. As he pressed the edge of the blade to the spinning wheel sparks flew off.

As he watched the sparks Hiccup began devising a plan to get out of the shop so he could go and kill one of the dragons attacking the village. One by one he went through the list of the usual dragons and wondered which he would be able to shoot down. Even if the only dragon he got was a Gronkle at least he would be able to prove to everyone once and for all he wasn't just a useless fishbone!

Hiccup knew which dragons he'd have the most luck with and he knew which dragons he should avoid. But there was one dragon that he knew that if he could take it down he'd be forever hailed a hero in the Hairy Hooligan Tribe.

Now the question was when would he get the chance to go out of the shop and out from under Gobber's nose?

A high pitch whistling in the air was exactly what Hiccup wanted to hear. He could hear people yelling about the Night fury even as it blasted its way through one of the catapult towers.

"Man the fort, Hiccup," Gobber said as he exchanged his hammer prosthetic for his axe. "They need me out there." With that the one legged blacksmith of a Viking lumbered out of the shop and into the fray.

This was it! This was the chance Hiccup had been waiting for! Without a moment of hesitation Hiccup grabbed his bola shooter and wheeled it out of the shop so he could get it up a clear vantage spot.

Just as he was hurrying through the crowds of Vikings a particular blast caught his attention. Hiccup came to a screeching halt and looked towards the lone girl that had picked up a discarded axe.

"Astrid?" Hiccup said aloud as he watched in shock and a little bit of dismay as the Viking girl squared off with a particularly nasty looking Monstrous Nightmare. "Astrid don't!" Hiccup yelled to try and get her attention.

Even though it was well known that Astrid would be one of the best shield maidens in the tribe, she and the other preteens had not gone through dragon training yet. She had very little idea as to what she was going to do against the Monstrous Nightmare.

"Not now Hiccup!" Astrid yelled as she hefted the axe she'd grabbed from one hand to the other. She didn't even look at the runt of a preteen as she and the monstrous nightmare slowly circled each other.

At one point the long and horned dragon darted in to snap at Astrid making her dart backwards and swing her axe in its directly. From her view point Astrid could only see the monstrous nightmare in front of her so she had no idea what else was going on.

Hiccup on the other hand was far enough away that he could see not only the monstrous nightmare, but also what was going on behind Astrid.

The nightmare had been devious in its manipulation of Astrid. While the two had been circling each other a nadder had moved in from behind to wait for its chance to attack. Just as Astrid had her back to the nadder the monstrous nightmare darted in to make her back up into the sneak attack.

"No-" Hiccup mumbled as time seemed to slow to a crawl. He watched as the nadder lifted its tail, preparing to fling its spikes at Astrid from behind.

Without even thinking about what would happen, or even coming up with a plan, Hiccup dropped his hold on his bola thrower and made a mad dash for Astrid. Time seemed to pick back up just as he reached her, his hand outstretched to push the young preteen girl out of the way.

Angry blue eyes glared at Hiccup in disbelief as she was pushed away. She stumbled back and landed heavily on the ground. "Hiccup what the hell?" She demanded as she looked up just in time to see the nadder's spikes fly through the air.

Hiccup really had been just in time. He'd had just enough strength to push Astrid to the ground when the first of the spikes injured him. The sharp spike hit the side of his face, gashing open a wound that went from one corner of his eye, across the bridge of his nose, and across his other eye.

The auburn haired preteen screamed in agony as his world suddenly turned red. The pain from his eyes was intense enough that he didn't even notice a second spike as it embedded itself in his shoulder.

Astrid's eyes went wide as Hiccup went to his knees and covered his bleeding face with his shaking hands. Only then did she realize that Hiccup had saved her from being impaled by the nadder that had snuck up behind her.

Frozen in shock Astrid couldn't even yell for help as the monstrous nightmare burst into flames and stalked closer to the two fallen preteens. It was only luck that several adults noticed them as they were rushing past to chase after another dragon.

"H-Hiccup?" Astrid asked softly as she crawled over to the fallen boy. "Hiccup let me see." Astrid commanded as she reached out to grab onto one of Hiccup's hands.

Hiccup jerked away and shook his head weakly against his hands. He needed to apply pressure to the wounds on his face to try and slow the bleeding. Even though he couldn't see it, he could feel just how wet his hands were from his blood.

"What is going on over here?!" A thundering voice yelled making Hiccup whimper and shrink in on himself. Now he was in trouble; his father had arrived.

"Chief!" Astrid yelled over the yelling of the Vikings that were fighting off the monstrous nightmare and deadly nadder. "Hiccup's hurt!"

Stoick the Vast paled and scowled as he charged through the fighting to get over to the two huddled preteens.

"Hiccup!" Stoick yelled as he took a moment to hit the monstrous nightmare with his hammer to slow it down for the other Vikings. "I told you to stay inside!" He stormed over to his son and ignoring both Hiccup's and Astrid's protests he wrenched hiccup's hands away from his face.

"D-dad!" Hiccup said as he stared blindly up at where he thought his father was. "I'm sorry!" He hadn't meant to get hurt; he had only wanted to help!

"Oh…Oh Hiccup." Stoick fell back a step as he stared at the gruesome wounds on Hiccup's face. "Why couldn't you have just followed my orders." He said angrily as he picked up his son. Stoick winced when Hiccup seemed to shrink away from his anger and the man had to fight not to keep yelling. He was more angry with himself then at his son; why hadn't he been able to better protect the frail small boy?

"Please chief! He saved me." Astrid said hurriedly to try and get him to stop being so angry at Hiccup. "I thought I could take on the nightmare myself! I didn't see the nadder!" Her words were rushed as she fought to make Stoick understand.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Hiccup mumbled over and over as he covered his face with his hands again. He still didn't feel the nadder spike in his shoulder even as his father jostled him around. He could only feel and hear his father running; to where he had no idea.

Astrid chased after her chief as he practically ran through the partially destroyed village. The sun was coming up and most of the dragons had flown away at the first sign of the rays of light.

Stoick made his way past the smoking rubble and up to the Great Hall where the civilians, children, and the elderly waited for the raid to end. "GOTHI!" Stoick yelled as he kicked open the door to the great hall.

Hiccup was feeling very light headed as he heard his father yell for the tribe's elder. There was a scrambling sound as he heard a lot of people moving out of the way.

"Son, you need ta uncover your eyes." Stoick said as he knelt down so the diminutive elder woman could get a look at Hiccup.

Hiccup felt like fighting that order, he really did, but what could he do? Gothi would know what to do to heal his injuries and the only way for her to even get a look at them was for him to move his hands. Still…the darkness from his hands was better than the searing pain he felt whenever he tried to open his eyes and look around.

A small and gentle hand touched his wrist and Hiccup jerked away. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He started mumbling again as he heard a tapping sound on the stone floor. His father started moving again and after a minute Hiccup felt himself being lowered onto a hard wooden surface.

"Hold him still." Hiccup heard his father order and suddenly there were hands pulling his hands away from his face. The young teen winced at the sound of the people gasping and he wished he could just curl up into a ball to get away from them all.

"Chief! Chief, please don't be mad." Hiccup turned his head towards the sound of Astrid's out of breath voice.

There was a shuffling sound and Hiccup could hear his father talking to Astrid quietly a few feet away.

"This is gonna hurt boy." One of the Vikings holding him down said before reaching up to wrap his large hand around the nadder spike that was still in his shoulder.

It was only when the spike was yanked free of his shoulder that Hiccup realized he'd even had it there in the first place. A scream of pain caught in his throat and he chocked for a moment. He struggled to breathe through the new pain.

"I'm amazed he's still conscious." Hiccup's head swam as his ears seemed to catch everything that was being said around. "-heard he saved the Hofferson girl." There were too many voices crowding around him. For a moment he wondered why everything was so dark. "Death would have been kinder for him."

That last statement was the last thing he heard before Hiccup finally passed out from the pain and blood loss.

"Well?" Stoick demanded only to lower his voice when Gothi made a shushing motion at him. "How is he?"

The elderly woman huffed and drew several figures on the ground below before grabbing some of the healing salve to rub onto Hiccup's wounds.

"She says the wound on his shoulder will heal fine, but the ones on his face-" Gobber's voice faded as he stared sadly down at what Gothi had written. "I'm so sorry Stoick…"

Stoick glared at the silent old woman and then at Gobber. "What? What is wrong with my son?"

Gobber rubbed his neck for a moment with his good hand. "She says…the damage is extensive…Hiccup will probably be blind."

Silence filled the Great Hall as Stoick the Vast faltered and went to his knees. "I failed him." He mumbled weakly as he stared at his unconscious son. "I failed to protect him."

Upon hearing Gobber's news Astrid's hands flew to her mouth in shock. Hiccup, the boy that had been called useless for so long, had risked his life to save hers and now…now he had paid the price for it.

Astrid stumbled back a few steps before turning and running out of the Great Hall. She slammed past Snotlout as he tried to greet her and tripped over large pieces of Debris. Even as she fell and scraped her knees and hands, Astrid still got up to continue running.

She eventually found herself down on the docks as far away from the Great Hall as she could get. "That…that idiot!" Astrid swore as she knelt down at the edge of the dock to stare at her wavering reflection in the water.

In all the years she'd grown up with Hiccup never once had she been kind to him. Astrid had treated Hiccup with disdain alongside all the other Vikings of Berk. And yet he had thrown himself into the middle of battle, with no regard to his own safety, just so he could push her out of the way of a dragon attack. She was sure she would have died from being impaled by those nadder spikes if Hiccup hadn't gotten in the way.

Astrid felt sick as she stared into the water. "Why? Why did you do it?" She asked no one in particular. Something wet hit her cheek and she reached up to rub away the damp feeling. Astrid looked at her fingers and then rubbed her eyes. Was she crying?

Angrily Astrid stood up from where she'd been kneeling. She didn't know why Hiccup had saved her and she didn't care. What mattered now was the fact that she owed him her life and her pride and honor as a Viking would never let her forget that. Things were going to change and she would make sure she paid her debt.

In the end the dragon raid had taken only a few lives and the Vikings had successfully protected the majority of their sheep flock. Hiccup was the only person who'd received a major injury during the attack.

Days passed and the damage that had been done during the dragon raid was cleaned up and the repairs were executed with precision. During that time Hiccup remained bedridden and unconscious. As much as he wanted to be by his son's bedside Stoick was often called away to handle disputes and oversee the village modifications.

Stoick looked to Gobber and Gothi to watch over his son and to help him heal. The real surprise had been when Astrid had offered to help as well. Knowing that the young girl owed his son a life debt Stoick could not deny her request to help take care of Hiccup.

News of what Hiccup had done during the dragon raid spread quickly through the village. The fact that the preteen, often referred to as 'useless', had done something courageous and selfless did not go unnoticed.

By the time Hiccup finally woke up 3 days later the village had become split about what to do. On one hand Hiccup had proven himself as a man by sacrificing himself for another; on the other hand Gothi was sure the boy would be blind after this so what use would he be now?

What would the village do with the boy now? He wouldn't be able to work in the forge anymore, he was too weak and scrawny to do anything useful, and Stoick had refused to let his son die. All the village could do now was wait for Hiccup to wake up so they could find out if he really was blind.

Hiccup awoke in darkness. His body felt weak and heavy as he tried to lift his arms. A groan left him as he tried desperately to push himself up into a sitting position. He heard a chair fall back and feet slamming against the wood floor as someone rushed to his side.

"Dad?" Hiccup's voice cracked and broke and he swallowed several times to try and get some moisture in his mouth. A cup was pressed against his lips and Hiccup reached up weakly to tip it back so he could drink greedily.

"Slowly Hiccup," A soft and feminine voice said as he suddenly coughed.

Hiccup rubbed his throat and turned his head towards the voice. "Who-" He cleared his throat again. "Who's there?"

Frustrated by the fact that he couldn't seem to open his eyes Hiccup reached up to his face. He could feel the cloth of a bandage against his fingers. "Wha-" With shaking hands Hiccup tried to get the bandage off of his face.

"Hiccup don't!" The female voice grew louder as hands grabbed onto his own and pulled them away from his face. "Your wounds are still healing! You need to leave the bandages on until Gothi gets back."

There was a sharpness in the voice that Hiccup recognized. "A-Astrid? What are you doing here?" The shock of having his crush so close to him made Hiccup forget about his bandaged eyes for a moment.

With his eyes covered by the bandage Hiccup couldn't see Astrid's expression, but he could hear her shifting awkwardly by his bed.

"Why did you save me Hiccup?" She asked after a few minutes of tense silence. "You could have died! Why did you save me you idiot?"

Hiccup felt something wet hit his hand and he idly wondered if there was a leak in the roof. "I-" He was at a loss for words for a moment. Why had he saved Astrid? He remembered how panicked he had felt when he had noticed the Nadder sneaking up on Astrid.

"Well?" Astrid demanded loudly. She angrily wiped the tears out of her eyes before they could make it hard for her to see.

"I…The village needs you." Hiccup said slowly. "I'm just a hiccup…a mistake…but you're Astrid!" Even though he'd fought his entire life to try and fit in he knew that in reality he had very little purpose in the village.

"The village needs you." He repeated. His voice was filled with sadness as he slowly lay back down on his bed. The truth of the matter was no one needed Hiccup, but Astrid would probably one day save the whole village.

"Idiot!" Astrid hissed as her fist shook. How she wished she could punch him at that moment. She fought with herself before forcing her hands to her sides.

Hiccup smiled up at Astrid and her heart constricted. "Hey! At least I finally did something right!" He was pretty sure saving Astrid had been the right choice at least. No one would miss him if he was gone after all.

Astrid turned and stormed out of the house. She slammed the door closed behind her as she went off to go find Gothi, Gobber, or Stoick to tell them that Hiccup had finally woken up.

"W-wait! Astrid!" Hiccup said in a panic when he heard the door slam. Suddenly the world was not only dark, but filled with silence. He turned his head this way and that to try and hear anything. Slowly small sounds filtered into his panicked mind.

The small pops and crackles from the fire told him that his bed had been moved down to the main living space of his home. The soft sounds of birds singing outside told him that it was day. One by one Hiccup picked up on the small sounds that he normally ignored.

Slowly Hiccup reached up his hands to his face and he gently fingered the bandage there. "What's the harm?" He mumbled to himself as he slipped his thumb under part of the bandage. Slowly, so as not to pull on any scabs or tear any possible stitches, he lifted a corner of the bandage up.

"What the-" Hiccup knew he had his eyes open as he lifted the bandage higher. He fluttered his eyes, squeezed them shut, and then opened them as wide as they could go despite the pain he felt. Even after making sure his eyes were properly open there was still no light filtering into his vision.

Panicking, Hiccup grabbed the bandage and pulled it completely off of his head. He looked around desperately, turning this way and that to try and see something, anything. He looked in the direction of the fire and still only blackness filled his gaze.

"What's going on?!" Hiccup yelled in fear as he reached out to the edge of his bed. Once he was sure of where the edge was he struggled to push the blanket back so he could swing his legs over the edge.

Using the heat coming from the fire as a guide he staggered out of the bed and towards the far wall where the stairs were. Blindly Hiccup waved his hands out in front of him until they came in contact with the smooth wooden surface.

Hiccup blinked over and over to try and desperately clear his vision. His breathing was ragged and his heart pounded in his chest. Carefully, all the while using the stairs and wall as a guide, Hiccup started walking towards the front of the house where the door was.

The boy faltered for a moment when the stairs became too low for him to hang onto. Determined to try and find some source in the inky darkness that was his vision Hiccup stumbled forward until his hands collided with the front door.

The door was heavy as he pulled at the handle; heavier than Hiccup remembered it being. He struggled with the door for a moment before finally it swung open.

He stood there, in the doorway staring out into the world. He had a mental image in his head as to where the village was and how things should look. Hiccup tilted his head up and the light from the sun warmed his face. He could hear people in the village talking and he could hear birds flying overhead.

And yet his world remained black.

A/N:

I had this idea running in my head for a little while now and I wanted to write it out. I kept asking myself how different the story would have been if he hadn't hit Toothless. And then I started wondering what events would have prevented him from firing his bola launcher.