Fly On Your Own

Chapter 18

I was told the curtain and beard caught fire, which spread to a rope and a shield that rolled and started causing things to fall. Snotlout jumped up from his place scrolling through the script and came back to help me try and put the flames out. Unfortunately, we couldn't get to any water or snow in time, so all we could do was stomp it out with our feet. The harness on Hiccup's suit suddenly snapped, sending him crashing onto the stage, and right as he sat up, an eye popped out. He tried his best to get things under control, but he clearly ended up pulling the wrong lever, because blue fire shot out instead.

Why he even gave it that functionality, I wouldn't understand.

I'm not really sure how things happened next, but somehow, Gobber and Hiccup managed to salvage the pageant, bringing it to an end and causing the audience to erupt into cheers. I sighed and leaned against a tree I'd rushed to for safety before heading back toward the stage.

"A little help here? Gobber? Anyone? Literally anyone?" My eyes widened and I rushed to my husband's side, helping to open up his suit and get him out of there. He still looked around, kind of lost, as I took his hand and led him off the stage. They had finished the pageant, that's what mattered.

The moment our feet touched the ground, Kjartan ran up and wrapped his arms around Hiccup's legs, a big smile adorning his face. Kerrigan held tightly onto Alith's hand, dragging her along as they approached us. They both had wide grins as well.

"Mom, Dad, that was the best pageant ever!" Kjartan cried.

"Toothless was so cool!" I laughed and leaned down to hug my children.

"I'm glad you liked it, kids."

I was about to suggest that we head home for the night, when a familiar group of faces made their way over to us, causing Kerrigan and Kjartan to jump even higher.

"Uncle Fishlegs!" Kjartan cried, running up to him and practically smashing into Fishlegs' side. "Did you see Toothless? Did you see him?"

"I did," Fishlegs answered enthusiastically, reaching down to pat Kjartan's head. "He's a pretty cool dragon, huh?"

"The coolest!" Kerrigan cried. "Did your dragon look like that, Auntie Ruffnut?"

"What? Like Toothless?" Ruff reached down and scooped up Kerrigan, bouncing her a bit. "No way. Uncle Tuffnut's and my dragon was way cooler than Toothless."

"Yeah!" Tuff shouted. "Ours had two heads. That's way better than just one." I rolled my eyes at him, but couldn't help but smile. Though it worried me sometimes, seeing Alith and Kerrigan bond with the only other twins on the island was a bit comforting.

"What did you think, Alith?" Astrid asked, crouching down in front of the girl. "Like what you hear?"

"I could feel Toothless!" she cried happily. "His scales were bumpy... but I liked it." The little smile on Alith's face grew. "And it was funny listening to Uncle Tuffnut try to sound like Dad."

"Hey, that was some of my best work, missy," Tuffnut teased. "Besides, who could do better? Snotlout? No way."

"That was unnecessary, Tuff," Snotlout scoffed. "Don't listen to him," he pretended to whisper, leaning over toward Alith. She giggled and nodded, then reached out for my hand.

"All right, kids. I'm glad you got to see all your uncles and aunts. Now, come on. Let's head home for Snoggletog dinner." Before we turned away, I raised my free hand to the rest of the group. "Happy Snoggletog, gang. We'll see you in a couple days."