A day has come on the Ilse of Berk when the weather finally allowed a streak of sunlight to peak from the sky. The morning fog lifted hours ago, and now, only the occasional cloud passes over the blue sky, leaving Edge feeling renewed at the change in temperature.
Not having a dragon of her own, like her siblings and friends, she spends much of her time helping out in the village, and sometimes climbs to Gothi's hut to learn from the elder. The days pass by rather slowly in Edge's opinion, but she makes sure her time is well spent caring for animals and tending to chores.
On this particular day, Gothi has allowed Edge to take a break, only asking that she collect some tree sap from the woods outside the village. That quest seems sent from Valhalla, as she has not been exploring in the forest for a long while.
So, with her newly decorated leather chestplate around her torso, Hiccup's yak fur vest keeping her warm, and both her journal and treasured dagger stashed safely in the vest, she sets course for the forest. A sense of familiarity and nostalgia settles in Edge, and she smiles to herself, enjoying the feeling of being back.
Taking a while to wander along the forest floor, she collects sap from the trees Gothi requested of her, and soon finds herself merely trekking along a non-existent path, around boulders and over fallen trees.
A memory of several months prior makes Edge smile again, remembering Hiccup and Toothless in the cove, and the time she'd spent with them since, learning new things about Toothless, and dragons as a whole. Almost the entirety of the village is now on dragon-back, since freeing the dragons from the Red Death and bringing them home to the Isle of Berk.
Of course, apart from herself. And Mildew, an antisocial and grumpy elderly man living on a hill outside Berk village. Mildew in particular has an issue with the dragons being accepted into the Hooligan Tribe, having caused quite a stir in the previous days.
Edge has offered to help her best friend Hiccup settle the unrest between the Hooligans and dragons, but to no avail, no matter how much or little she helps, the chaos that dragons bring, keep raining down on Berk village. Edge adores the dragons, and wishes for them to stay no matter how chaotic.
Hiccup has tried to stop a few dragons from stealing food, which resulted in the plaza going up in flames. Chief Stoick reprimanded him as Astrid, Edge and Hiccup discussed the day of failure that same evening, telling Hiccup to get a handle on the dragons before Mildew causes too much of a ruckus.
It's now been a full day since then, and the dragons have blown up the stock of food that was supposed to be saved for winter, and eaten it all. Much to Edge's horror, she found all her friends' and siblings' dragons there, including Toothless. Then, they were about to lock up the dragons, but Hiccup stopped them, along with Edge, because her best friend had gotten an idea to utilize the dragons' natural routines to their advantage.
And this day is the day that Hiccup wanted to prove to Mildew and his father that dragons can be beneficial to the Hooligans. At that, Edge spots the sun high in the sky between some branches, panicking that she might not be there to defend her friends and siblings as they are tattled on by Mildew. She begins sprinting back to the village, knowing the path by heart, begging Odin to be kind to her best friend, knowing how harsh Stoick can be.
Making it back, she finds most of the Hooligans gathered by the old arena, listening to their Chief berate his son and the other teens. She gasps for breath as she slows to a stop near the entrance, and stumbles just slightly as she moves to defend Hiccup from his dad. But she doesn't make it very far before Gobber suddenly moves.
"You're getting a dragon training academy!" He shouts, sounding delighted at his own words. Edge stops in her tracks, laughing slightly in disbelief.
"Gobber! I wanted to tell them!" Stoick scolds his friend and advisor, as Hiccup and Astrid spot Edge approaching them. They share an excited look at the news, and embrace Edge as she gushes out excited words.
"Oh gods, this is amazing Hiccup!" Edge can't contain herself and jumps in a circle with Astrid in her arms, reminding her great friend of little Edge's young age, making Astrid smile.
Gobber and Stoick bicker in the background, before Stoick yells Gobber's name in frustration as the viking man reveals how proud the Chief is of them. Stoick turns to the group of teens and sighs slightly, finding it difficult to express his feelings.
"Hiccup- well, what he said." The Chieftain gestures to Gobber, referring to how proud Stoick is of the teens.
"You've all made me proud, this dragon training academy- is for you." He says, and opens the cage where the dragons have been locked in until now, prompting the teens to run to their dragons and hugs them tightly.
Edge gives Stormfly a scratch under the chin before moving to pet Toothless.
"Now, all you have to do is train them." The Chief tells his son, who gratefully looks up at his father. Edge runs to Barf and Belch at that, giving the two headed dragon some well deserved scratches.
"Not a problem, dad. After all- I've got him!" Hiccup praises his dragon, before recieving a cough from Astrid, who crosses her arms and bumps shoulders with Edge, who places her hands in the pockets of Hiccup's yak fur vest that she's wearing.
"And them, too." He saves his slip up, but not before Edge realises that he might not feel entirely close with the other teens yet, despite what they've all been through together.
The day slowly comes to an end as the celebrations of the new Berk Dragon Academy dies down.
Edge finds Hiccup at his desk in his house some hours later, after having delivered the tree sap to Gothi.
"Hi, Hiccup." She smiles gently, stroking Toothless' forehead before sitting on Hiccup's bed.
"Hey, Edge. What brings you here?" Hiccup answers, not looking up from his drawing of the teens, stood in the arena earlier that day. He's drawing Snotlout's dragon, Hookfang.
"Are you feeling alright? With all this?" Edge asks, looking intently at her best friend.
"What do you mean?" Hiccup asks, looking up and putting down his charcoal pencil. Edge gestures for him to join her sitting on his bed, so he does.
"I heard you today, you're not used to having the others around you. Astrid and I are one thing, but the people who used to bully you? Hiccup, I can't imagine how it feels not having received an apology." Edge grabs Hiccup's hand lightly, and he looks down. A few moments pass before Hiccup squeezes Edge's hand a little tighter.
"I guess I haven't really realised how much they've affected me." Hiccup sighs. He looks at Edge, making her heart break a little at the lost look on his face.
"Should I talk to them? I can do that for you." She offers, but he declines.
"No, I want them to want to say sorry." Hiccup firmly states, and Edge nods in understanding. They sit silently, looking at each other for a few seconds, before Edge rests her head on his shoulder.
"I'm always here for you, Hiccup. We promised." She reminds him, and he smiles without her seeing it.
"I know, Edge. I'm always here for you too." He lets go of her hand to wrap his arm around her shoulders. She hums in delight, and they agree after a while that they would stay in Hiccup's room together, rather than Edge camping in front of the fireplace.
The night ends with Edge wrapped in yak skins and sheep fur on the floor next to Hiccup's bed, them holding hands over the side of the bed.
The next morning, Edge's arm is terribly sore. She wakes to Hiccup's hand falling into her face as he turns in his bed. She huffs in amusement, making a sleepy Toothless tilt his head at his human companions. Edge carefully sits up, as to not disturb her best friend. Yawning before turning her head to inspect her best friends face, she smiles at how peaceful he looks. Toothless looks back and forth between the two best friends, cooing gently, waking Hiccup slowly.
"Good morning." Edge smiles at him, resting her arms and chin on the bed as Hiccup pulls his arm back to his side.
"Morning, Miss Edge." Hiccup smiles back at his best friend, sitting up. He rolls his shoulder back a few times to ease the tension in his neck, before getting up to feed Toothless.
"Care to join me, Miss?" He extends his arm to give Edge a hand, and she pulls herself up with Hiccup's help.
"Why yes, Sir Hiccup, I would love to." She grins at him, appreciating Hiccup's seemingly lighter mood. Edge cares deeply for Hiccup and his wellbeing, she can't imagine her life without Hiccup, and now, Toothless. The two best friends spend a little while feeding the dragon in question, tossing many fish along the grass behind the Chieftain's home, for Toothless to eat.
Soon after, Hiccup and Edge meet up with the teens and their dragons in the new academy, to start their first day of official training. Edge hugs her siblings and Astrid, and bids the group goodbye, before wandering off to find her parents.
Her hair, coarse and difficult as always, is severely out of control after not sleeping in her bed, and strands keep falling loose from the braid that is now loose and wonky.
She finds her mother in their home, seemingly preparing dough for later baking, and mead for the future.
"Morning, mum." Edge pushes a strand of hair out of her own face, admiring her mother's tall frame, waiting for the latter to turn around to greet her.
"Good morning, daughter. Did you sleep at Hiccup's?" Her mother turns around, covered in flour and smiling down at little Edge. Her daughter smiles a wide smile at the sight of her, and nods.
The Thorston woman dusts off the flour on her hands in her apron, and motions for Edge to follow her. They each sit on worn down stools, Edge's back turned to her mother, the latter beginning to untangle her young daughter's hair.
They hum a melody together, Edge fiddling with her fingers, picking dirt from under her nails as she gets lost in thought. The older of the two finishes the new braid in Edge's hair, laying her hands on her daughter's shoulders, noticing how silent she suddenly got.
"What's bothering you, my dear?" Her mother gently asks, and Edge turns around.
"I don't really know, mum." Edge voices, receiving a hum in response.
"Everything is just different since Toothless and Hiccup. I don't know how to cope with the difference." Edge tries to explain to the best of her ability.
"It sounds like you were used to being Hiccup's only friend, and now you're not." Her mum responds. Edge looks up at her mother.
"You have gained friends too, but Hiccup was your only for a long while. You had Ruff and Tuff, of course- that doesn't mean it doesn't feel strange to see your best friend with other friends." The Thorston woman clarifies, smiling sweetly at Edge.
"They used to bully him, mum. I was his safe place. Though it doesn't always feel like that anymore." Edge frowns as she speaks, feeling an aching in her chest. Her mother pulls her in for a hug, rubbing her back slowly in comfort.
"You care for and about him, my dear. That is not a weakness in your friendship- Odin, it's a strength!" She squeezes her daughter close, making Edge giggle.
"Do not fret, Edge. I know Hiccup cares for and about you as well." The Thorston woman stretches out her arms and looks Edge in the eyes with a soft smile. Edge smiles back in appreciation.
"Thanks, mum."
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:))
until next time,
CecilieHassing