The Gift of the Princess (HTTYD)

Moving Forward

"Don't worry, girl," Hiccup said. "I'm sure Krogan will return soon." Just then he spotted Reidun coming toward them. She was alone, and her expression was unreadable. "How's Krogan?"

"He will be fine," Reidun said. "He needs some time alone to process everything."

Hiccup nodded before turning to Ruby. "Maybe you should go find him." The titan wing needed no further encouragement to take off. Once she was gone, the younger chief looked back at the elder. "So, about what happened... Did you really... ?"

Reidun's expression did not change. "Did I know how my husband died? Yes, I did. Back then, we made a habit of opposing Drago, and the flyers did not like it. They took care of a threat as they saw it." She paused. "I do not remember seeing Krogan that day. He may have been there, but he was not the one who did it."

Hiccup frowned. "Yeah, but still... Drago's Bewilderbeast forced Toothless to kill my dad, and Drago is the one I blame."

"And if you saw proof of his repentance, would you forgive him?"

Hiccup shifted uncomfortably and averted his gaze. "I know the right answer is 'yes,' but..."

"It is difficult, I know." Reidun gave him a gentle smile. "It is not easy to reconcile with former enemies, but you did so with the dragons who attacked Berk."

"Yeah, but they had a reason for attacking us. They had to."

"And Krogan had to do what he did for his own survival. The dragons killed in their quest, did they not? And they stopped when shown a better way. The two situations are not so different, if you ask me."

Hiccup remembered Eira saying something similar a long time ago. Perhaps they were both right. "You make a good point." He took a deep breath and looked at Reidun with determination. "Okay, if Drago shows evidence he's changed, I'll give him another chance."

Reidun smiled. "And I'll be right there with you."

Hiccup only hoped he could follow through with his conviction. His hesitancy was the reason why he was not eager to help Eira wither her mission even though it meant working with more Night Furies. He supposed he had to face the past sooner or later. For now, he was content to focus on winning over new allies.

Upon return to Berk, he met with Astrid outside his hut to discuss the idea Eret brought up. Toothless and Stormfly happily playing together while the two of them talked. Astrid listened intently, nodding on occasion. "That is an excellent idea," she said at the end. "Just make sure you choose wisely who to send. You can't assume the other villages will be as accommodating as Torleif Island. There is a lot of risk in this plan."

"I know," said Hiccup. "But it's either take the risk now or later in an all-out war. If enough of the villages stand together, but the Northern Alliance will back off."

Astrid crossed her arms, frowning slightly. "I don't know, Hiccup. Grimmel seems pretty determined."

"But I bet the others only follow him because he assured him an easy victory. Think about it; why go through all the trouble of isolating us and cutting us off from trade if they could easily take us in a fight? Grimmel basically admitted he fears our ideas spreading across the archipelago. If we make sure we do just that, we've already won half the battle."

Astrid gave him a small smirk. "So, you're not following through on your idea to send all the dragons to the Hidden World?"

Hiccup chucked nervously, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "I said that in a moment of weakness, but I know better now. Peace is worth fighting for."

Astrid nodded. "Good. And if anything goes wrong, I'll be here with my army to back you up."

Hiccup smiled at her. "I wouldn't have it any other way."