"I think that's all of them guys, wings up!" Hiccup called, dodging a swinging mace and clubbing a faceless attacker with the back of his sword as he spun around to look for Toothless. There was a loud clang of a metal cage door from behind him before and the cry of a hunter that had gotten stuck it the way and suddenly his dragon was underneath him in a way that was practiced to perfection.

Hiccup did a quick scan to check that no one needed assistance: Fishlegs and the twins were already in the air herding the freed dragons, as was Valka, Astrid was mounting Stormfly, pausing only to stomp her heel into a man's face that tried to pull her down, Eret was mounting Skull Crusher, and Snotlout….

"Hookfang, get your spikey ass over here!" He heard, whipping around to see Snotlout surrounded by three fighters and holding them off surprisingly well while he waited for his dragon to come to him. Hiccup nudged Toothless towards him just in case, but with a cacophony of sound Hookfang appeared, grabbing Snotlout by the collar and lifting into the air.

"Alright bud, let's go!" Hiccup shouted, but his dragon was way ahead of him, jetting into the sky as one last hunter raised his sword to his good leg and missed by inches. As they rose, Hiccup searched the ship one last time, noticing a cage towards the back of the boat. Did they check that one? He couldn't remember who he had assigned to check the back of the ship.

"Hiccup, let's go!" Astrid called, pulling her dragon back to see why he was hesitating.

"I'm going to check one last thing, go on without me." Hiccup said, turning Toothless around to make one final pass of the ship. The dragon dove quickly, making use of the night sky to disguise their movements.

"Babe, we got everyone!" She called after him, but he was already out of earshot. "Idiot!" Astrid motioned for the others to go on, keeping Stormfly up and back from the range of the ship.

Hiccup and Toothless streaked past the ship's bow, so close to the water that the man could feel it sprinkle his face with drops as the waves hit the ship. As he reached the stern of the ship, he leaned back and urged Toothless up, rocketing skyward. As they rose he scanned the ship closely, looking for any signs of a dragon among the fray of flustered hunters. The cage that had caught his eye was empty, and hunters were taking notice of his sudden reappearance.

"Time to go!" He turned towards the rest of his group, only to hear a familiar low whistle. "Shit!" He tried to shift Toothless away as fast as he could, but it was too late.. The arrow, part of a last desperate volley, hit Hiccup hard right at the shoulder joint of his armor, knocking him sideways. Toothless cried out, barrel rolling to compensate for his rider's imbalance, and soon they were pointed back towards their teammates. It only took a second, a blip for anyone looking on.

Hiccup looked down at the wooden shaft sticking out of his shoulder and groaned as pain radiated down his arm and chest. Crap, now he'd never hear the end of it. He gritted his teeth, and, as quickly and subtly as he could, broke the majority of the shaft from the arrow so only an inch or so protruded out of his aching shoulder. Toothless cooed up to him, but he just nudged him on, ignoring the slow trickle of warm blood in his armor. "It's okay bud, let's go meet up with the others, I'll be fine."

As they sped along, Astrid met up with him. "What was that? Did you lose control for a second?" She asked, checking him over quickly. He hoped the darkness would cover any sign of red on his armor.

Hiccup nodded. "A last attempt to shoot us down. We're good though." Toothless grumbled beneath him, and Hiccup leaned down against him. "We're good bud, let's just get home." He leaned his body low over Toothless' neck, speeding up to keep Astrid behind him.

Astrid furrowed her brow but nudged Stormfly to fly behind Toothless' wing. They quickly caught up with the rest of the group, bringing up the rear. Valka led the pack on with Cloud Jumper with Eret close behind on watch.

Fishlegs was flying in circles around the group, checking on the freed dragons. "We've got fifteen here: two Gronkles, three Nadders…" He continued down his list, and Hiccup nodded in confirmation, cutting his friend off mid-sentence.

"Sounds good, let's get home and we'll do welfare checks on them." He said. The pain in his shoulder was increasing, moving down his chest and back, and his breath was coming shorter. His fingertips were tingling and making it harder for him to grab his saddle.

"Hang on, is one of the dragons bleeding?" Astrid said suddenly, holding up her hands. They were covered in splotches of blood. "It's flying through the air, coming from somewhere. It's getting all over Stormfly too."

Fishlegs' eyes widened. "I'll check!" He called, heading back into the crowd of beasts.

Toothless growled again, swerving closer to Astrid. "Toothless, no, what are you doing!" Hiccup moaned softly, lifting himself upright again. As he did, another sizable splotch of blood hit Stormfly.

"Are you kidding me!? Hiccup!" Astrid cried. "Are you bleeding right now?" She called, pulling even with him.

"I'm good, I'm good, just got nicked." Hiccup said, trying to wave her away with his good arm, but the action felt clumsy. He was getting a little dizzy from the pain.

"You were shot?"

"Only a little bit!" He called back.

Astrid looped in front of him, looking back at him and noticing the wooden shaft protruding from his chest. "Is that an arrow sticking out of your chest?" She shrieked. "Stormfly, get me over there."

Her dragon moved alongside Toothless and Astrid jumped across the small gap and onto the Night Fury. It was only when her fingers struggled to get a grip on Toothless' wet side that she noticed just how much blood streaked the side of the dragon. "You idiot. You're going to get yourself killed." She grumbled as she pulled him back against her, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Why did you go back? What is wrong with you?" She chastised.

Hiccup sunk against her, his vision reeling. "I wanted to make sure we didn't leave anyone behind."

Shaking her head, Astrid replied, "You need to trust your team better. We wouldn't have left unless we knew we had everyone."

"Have you met my team? Half of the time they can't find the front of their tunic, much less the front of a boat."

Astrid's exclamations had attracted the attention of the other riders and Valka soon appeared at their side.

"What's happened?" She asked, swooping in front of them.

"Hiccup thought he could slide the fact that he got shot past me." Astrid said. Hiccup rolled his eyes, though immediately regretted it as his vision spun wildly.

"It's not bad, Mom, I'll live." He replied, closing his eyes. He couldn't tell if that felt better or worse.

"How far are we from Berk?" Astrid asked, becoming more concerned by the minute. Hiccup was starting to feel slack against her, and his blood was streaking off his armor at an alarming rate considering the arrow was still lodged inside him.

"Over an hour." Valka replied, her voice tense. "Where's he been hit?"

"His shoulder, right between his armor plates. A one in a million shot if I ever saw it." Astrid replied.

"We'll need to find a place to land, I'll send the others on with the dragons, hopefully they'll follow even if the alpha stays behind." Valka said. "Find a sea stack if you can!" She pushed ahead to rejoin the others.

Astrid wrapped her one of her arms tighter around Hiccup and reached down with the other hand to check his pulse. Though it was solid and consistent, he was too quiet, far too quiet for everything to be alright. "Hiccup, stay with me, okay? We're going to find somewhere to land to get you fixed up."

"I'm fine, I'll make it back to Berk." He replied faintly, but he didn't sound convincing. Toothless crooned underneath him, and Astrid could see he was watching the water carefully to find a place to touch down. Astrid heard Valka giving the others orders to move on without them. Toothless let out a sharp bark, creating a stir from the dragon pack. He must have been trying to tell them to move on without him, because after a short pause, the dragons moved forward with the rest of the riders.

Suddenly, Toothless jolted to the side, rocking his two passengers. "Toothless, what…" Astrid started, but she quickly realized that the dragon was struggling to right himself. She looked down to see Hiccup's leg was shaking, the motion opening and closing Toothless' fin slightly. "Shit." She shook Hiccup slightly, "Babe, take your foot out, you're going to bring us down."

Hiccup shifted but couldn't balance himself enough to remove the prosthetic from the harness. "I… I can't get it." His shoulder felt like it was on fire, his hand was numb; he was starting to go into shock.

Astrid's heart fluttered to her throat. "Toothless, get ready, this could be ugly." She called, reaching forward to lock Toothless' tail in the gliding position. She pushed Hiccup forward on Toothless' neck so that his leg was jammed in the stirrup at an awkward angle behind him, but she positioned herself in line with the stirrup the best she could. "Ready?" She tapped the dragon's side to warn him, and she reached down to unhook the prosthetic as quickly as she could, still holding tight to Hiccup's loose form.

Toothless wobbled dangerously for a few seconds in his glide, trying to balance himself while Astrid moved Hiccup's leg forward and tried to get hers in its place. The stirrup reversible, with one side designed for Hiccup's prosthetic, and the other for a normal human foot, but she didn't have the ability to rotate it in the air. Instead she shoved her toe into the metal, pushing down to try to activate the tail the best she could. It took a few wiggles, but it did clip in eventually.

"Thank Thor." She whispered, leaning forward and wrapping her arms around Hiccup again. The front of his armor was wet and tacky, and she swallowed hard.

"Sorry bud…" Hiccup said, trying to sit up straighter. He shook his head like a dog, trying to keep himself awake. "I lost it there for a second."

Valka swooped back over and flanked the opposite side that Stormfly occupied. "The others are going ahead. How's he doing?" She asked. Astrid looked at her but didn't answer, her mouth a tight line.

Hiccup looked up and watched as the flock of dragons pulled away, with Hookfang, fully engulfed in flame, taking up the rear. From the pack he heard Snotlout call: "Hang in there chief, you don't want me taking over, do you?"

Hiccup was getting more disoriented by the minute, but he was determined to stay as alert as he could. "Fuck you, Snotlout." He called back halfheartedly.

Suddenly, Toothless cried out - A small sea stack appeared just in front of them, and the small group streaked towards it. Valka leapt from her dragon's back as they touched down, rushing to the front of Toothless to help ease her son off his back.

"Ready babe?" Astrid asked, pulling Hiccup's leg over Toothless' side and helping him down. Hiccup tried to stand for a moment, only for his legs to wobble terribly and give out. He came to rest against Toothless' shoulder as the dragon laid down and Astrid knelt beside him. Valka produced a small bowl from a saddlebag and sent Stormfly to grab some seawater. Cloud Jumper opened his mouth wide enough to emit a bright light, and the two women got to work on Hiccup's armor.

"Honestly, babe, you gotta quit with all these buckles, they really suck in situations like these." Astrid tried to joke, but it came out flat.

"I'll take that under advisement." Hiccup retorted lightly, but his eyes stayed closed. His breath was coming quick and shallow.

"I think it hit an artery." Valka said quietly, catching Astrid's gaze. "That would explain the amount of blood loss." She moved her fingers gently around the shoulder and Hiccup groaned and shifted away. "It may have also struck his collarbone, which could be making it hard for him to breathe."

"One in a million shot indeed." Hiccup murmured, rolling his head backwards against his dragon.

Astrid pulled the last buckle loose and began to pull away the damp clothing underneath the armor. The wound was deep, nearly pushing through to the other side, and, based on the size of the entry wound, there was a large head on the arrow. "Must have been a crossbow, no way a regular bow would have done this much damage." She said, pushing Hiccup's hair out of his face. "Either way, this is going to hurt like Hel."

Hiccup opened his eyes to meet her concerned ones. "You always did like to cause me a certain amount of pain and grievance." He joked.

Astrid gave him a weak smile. "Do you have your tools?"

He nodded, raising his good hand towards his saddle bag. Astrid stood up and dug through the bag until she found a sharp pair of pliers. Valka was pulling herbs, moss and bandages from her bags and laying them beside him.

"I'd like to sterilize it if I could, and we may need to cauterize the wound to stop the blood flow."

Astrid took a dagger – a blade Hiccup had made for her - from her belt and handed it to Valka. The older woman took it from her solemnly and placed it gently in Cloud Jumper's mouth with the blade in his fire.

"I could brew some willowbark quickly, for the pain." Valka suggested, but Hiccup shook his head.

"It'll take too long to take effect, it's better to just get it over with."

Astrid nodded, coming to sit in front of him. She straddled his leg with hers. "We ready?" She asked, adjusting the tool in her hand. "Do you need something to bite?"

Hiccup shook his head again. Toothless crooned behind him, resting his head against Hiccup's side to comfort him while his tail swung forward, coming behind Astrid to hold his legs down.

Astrid leaned forward and pressed her lips to Hiccup's temple. "I'm sorry babe, this is going to suck."

He nodded and leaned against her for a minute. "Let's do it."

Astrid leaned back and adjusted the pliers in her hand a final time, placing her other hand on Hiccup's chest to brace. Gritting her teeth (as Hiccup did the same) she placed the metal tips as far into the wound as she could, trying to block out Hiccup's hiss of pain. Clamping the base of the pliers around the shaft of the arrow, she glanced quickly at Hiccup's pinched face, then over at Valka. "On three…. One, two…"

And she ripped back with all her strength and the arrow came free as Hiccup let out a strangled cry, throwing his head back into his dragon. Toothless moaned in sympathy. Astrid quickly inspected the arrow to ensure it was in one piece – no sense leaving shards inside to cause infection – before reaching her hand out to Valka for the dagger. She did her best to inspect the wound, which was now streaming blood at an alarming rate. She could only see so much in the limited light, but it seemed that the arrow had clipped the artery and maybe chipped his collarbone. However, there wasn't much she could do about that now without risking him bleeding out - Already his head was sinking forward limply.

Valka placed the hot dagger in Astrid's hand and leaned over her son, putting pressure on the wound as Astrid angled the blade just so. Taking a deep breath, she nodded to Valka and as the older woman removed her hands, she pressed the hot blade into the wound, emitting a horrifying sizzling sound.

Hiccup moaned weakly and Astrid checked his face carefully. In the pale light, he looked ghostly. "Babe, stay with me." She said, removing the blade and checking the wound. The flow of blood had reduced significantly, but the smell of burning flesh made her stomach flip uncomfortably, making her lean over Hiccup's leg to spit in the dirt. She then nodded to Valka again and stepped back, letting the older woman swoop in to begin packing the wound with herbs and moss.

Astrid sat beside Hiccup, pressing her forehead to his temple and cupping his cheek. She winced as she noticed too late that her hand was coated in his blood. "Babe, look at me. I need you to open your eyes."

He reluctantly did so, though they were groggy and unfocused. "You're right, that really did suck." He mumbled, leaning into her. She smiled gently. If he could still make jokes, he wasn't dying.

"I'm sorry, there's really no gentle way to remove an arrow from a body." She said, pressing kisses to his hairline.

After a few minutes, Valka stepped back, her fingers painted red but a satisfied look on her face. "It'll hold till we get him home. His collarbone is definitely broken but it's stabilized. It's probably just the swelling that is pushing on his lungs." She walked over to the bowl of water Stormfly had brought and washed her hands the best she could. She then carried the bowl to Astrid so she could do the same, dipping a rag into the water and wiping Hiccup's cheek. The rest of his clothes were beyond the point of saving.

Astrid grabbed her water flask with her newly cleaned hands and lifted it to Hiccup's lips. "Drink. We can let you rest for another few minutes, but we should probably get you to Gothi as quickly as possible."

Valka brought over some willowbark strips and Astrid took them from her, feeding a few to Hiccup.

"Ugh, I hate this stuff." He groaned as he chewed on the oily bark, resting his head back on Toothless' shoulder.

"Of all the things to complain about, Hiccup." Astrid retorted. "You've been joking through this whole process, but the willowbark, oh, how we hate the willowbark." She rolled her eyes. Valka laughed softly, and Hiccup smiled weakly.

"What can I say, I know my limits."

Toothless shifted, resting his head on Hiccup's lap. Astrid stood up and went to adjust the stirrup on Toothless' rig, flipping it to the side meant for a human boot.

After about fifteen minutes, the crew readied themselves to leave. Hiccup stood on shaky legs, and with some help, lifted himself to sit just behind Toothless' head. Astrid stepped up behind him, wrapping one arm tightly around his waist to steady him as she reached forward to clip the safety harness to his belt. He didn't use it much these days, as he was prone to jumping off and free-gliding, but with how loose and limp he felt, it wouldn't hurt to strap him in. She them wrapped her hands tightly around him and clipped her foot into the stirrup.

"Ready babe?" She murmured into his ear, giving him a squeeze. Hiccup clasped one of her hands in his and returned the squeeze. He leaned back against her and allowed himself to relax.

"Wings up."

I haven't written fanfiction in over five years. I fell back into this fandom really hard after a tough year, so any advice or feedback would be most welcome. Thanks!