"Where's Andreas?" Hiccup scanned the entire island helplessly. He had been burdened with the task of watching over Andreas for this battle who had decided not to stay in the bunkers. As the Chief, he emphasized the fact that it was his duty to fight for and protect his people. For Hiccup, it just made his job much more of a headache.
"There!" Luneah called, pointing to a spot up on the cliffsides before urging Midnight to dive down.
Hiccup followed her trajectory and spotted two soldiers locked in a duel. One was wearing a brown and red chestpiece. It was obviously Andreas. Red was Isunder's color, and the color of Andreas' armor. The other fighter was unknown.
Toothless landed right behind Midnight, behind one of the rock outcroppings higher up on the hill than where the duel was taking place. Hiccup jumped off his dragon, crawling on his stomach over to the edge of the boulder. Luneah soon followed after him. She pulled off her helmet so she could get a better look at the scene.
"Who is it?" Luneah whispered, watching s the two cirlced eachother.
"I don't know... his back is to us. I'll have to wait until he gets around to the other side."
There was no waiting because the strange soldier immediately let out a battle cry and charged for Andreas.
"Wait..." Hiccup's mind reeled. "That battle cry. That's a Berserker, definetly."
Hiccup studied the strange man's armor and scars. He connected the dots without much more thought. "That's Dagur himself. We need to get Andreas out of there."
"What?! Who is Dagur?"
"Heir to the throne of the Berserkers," Hiccup turned on his back and slid off the boulder. "Berserkers are unpredictable and completely insane. Andreas won't see anything coming."
Luneah slid off after him, tugging on her Inferno to release the tie from her belt. "Do we intervene?"
"No," Hiccup adamantly refused. "He'll become cornered. Desperate. He'll go even more berserk."
"Then what do we do?" Luneah urged. "We can't just sit here and watch our Chief get killed, Hiccup!"
"I know we can't! But do we have another option?"
"..."
"I thought so—"
He was cut off when they heard a cry of pain from the battle below. Hiccup and Luneah both glanced at eachother before taking off to the edge of the cliff.
They were relieved to see that it was Dagur who had let out the cry, not Andreas. Their Chief had gotten a slice at Dagur, against his right side. It was one of the unarmored areas.
The Chief, in a heroic display of strength and power, surged straight forward and ran his sword right through the Berserker, right up to the very hilt. Dagur groaned and let blood spil from his lips.
The Berserker let out a manaical cackle and then, Andreas was on the ground.
"Chief!" Luneah cried, finally revealing herself. She ran up to the Chief, turning him over onto his back and gasping at the sight of the poisoned knife that had been stabbed into his side.
She sent a desperate glance at Hiccup, their eyes meeting and silently communicating. Luneah whistled for Midnight, helping Andreas onto the saddle before taking off in the direction of the city in hopes of finding a medic.
Hiccup walked up to Dagur, pulling off his helmet as he nudged the dying viking. "Dagur. How nice of you to show up here," he quipped sarcastically, crouching down beside his childhood friend.
"H-Hiccup? What—"
"Shhh... I just have one question for you. Why us?"
Dagur smiled, his teeth stained with blood. "Isunder was supposed to be the richest tribe on this side of the map. We wanted a piece."
Hiccup shook his head and tutted. "Typical Berserker." He stood up and unclipped Inferno from his belt. The blade extended from the hilt with the click of a button. "Y'know, Dagur... I might have spared you if it was anyone else. But no. You just had to go for the Chief, didn't you?"
Inferno suddenly ignited, the blast of heat sending a whimper through Dagur the Deranged.
"I'm afraid I have to kill you now."
.
"Hurry, now, Hiccup. Andreas is on his dying breath. He's asked for you to be there," one of the elders came up to Hiccup as he landed outside Andreas's hut.
"W-what?" Hiccup asked. "He wants me— Why would he want me there?"
"Just go, child!" Another elder exclaimed.
"O-okay."
Hiccup ran up the pathway and quietly opened the door to Andreas' house. When he entered, Allen, Jeysannia, Elise, and Luneah were already there. Mark and the remaining Elites were standing by the bed, their scale necklaces held tightly in all their hands.
"Hiccup..." Andreas exclaimed weakly. "Boy, come here. Sit by Luneah."
Hiccup did as he was told.
"I'm sure this comes as no surprise. I'll be appointing the Elite positions today, as I might not be able to do it tomorrow." Andreas looked to the first Elite at the edge of the bed. "Hecate Fletcher, Isunder Elite of the Arts, I pass down your position to Elise Fletcher. Elise, guard the culture of Isunder well. Heal the minds and bodies of your people."
Hecate, Elise's aunt, handed the scale necklace over the bed to Elise herself. Elise immediately put it around her neck. "I will do so, sir."
"Fenrir Ferrum, Isunder Elite of the Forge, I pass down your position to Jeysannia Solum. Jeysannia, maintain a strong and unyielding desire for the improved. Your work has changed the course of Isunder forever."
Jeysannia's mentor, a bandaged and broken man named Fenrir, handed the necklace over with a smile. "I will do so."
"Esta Faber, Isunder Elite of Woodwork, I pass down your position to Allen Egirium. Allen, continue to strive for perfection in your craft. You will never achieve it, but you will get close. I believe in you."
Esta had died in the battle. Allen already held the scale necklace in his hands, tears streaming down his face at the loss of his mentor. "I will do so."
"Mark Egirium," Andreas paused and Luneah's head snapped up. "Isunder Elite of Defense, I pass down your position to Luneah Maia. Luneah..."
Luneah's eyes were filling with tears. He had used her birth name—her parent's last name. "Yes sir?"
"Protect our people. Don't be so stuck up on the past. And listen to your heart. You have one for a reason."
Luneah took the scale necklace from her adoptive father. The one that her father once wore before him. The one she would now wear proudly in his stead. "I will do so, sir. I promise."
"Good. Finally," Andreas turned to his retired Elites with a weak grin. "My heir is dead and so is my wife. But I have decided..."
Andreas turned his head to the boy at his right. "Hiccup."
"Y-yes?"
"I, Andreas Dynastes, Chief of Isunder and Commander of the Order of Elites, pass down my position to you, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock."
"M-me... sir? Why? I'm not even from this island— I... I don't know how to rule."
"Trust me, son. You do," Andreas held out his palm, the necklace sitting in his outstretched hand. "You would have been Chief of Berk. You have one of the sharpest minds I've ever seen, and your ability to captivate and lead a crowd is one-in-a-million. You're the perfect choice. I even asked your mother a few weeks after Ava passed. She agreed that you were a suitable choice."
"I..."
"You don't have to accept, Hiccup," Andreas said softly. "You can say no. But just hear me out, you're the perfect choice. I couldn't have asked for a better successor. I couldn't have asked for a better son."
"I..." Hiccup was speechless. It was true that over the course of his time here, Andreas had taken him under his wing. But to have this much faith in him? On his deathbed, too? "...I'll do it."
"Good. Hiccup, keep on moving. Time does not wait for us mortals."
"I will so so, sir," Hiccup mirrored his other friends.
Andreas looked around at the new Order of Elites, tears finally beginning to well up in his eyes. In all his time here, Hiccup had never seen this man be anything but the pillar of strength—to see him now so broken and fragile was humbling in a way.
"I wish," Andreas began mournfully, "How I wish I had more time with you all. I could've taught you so much more and watched you grow."
He reached out a hand for Luneah who had begun to tremble, dipping her chin to hide the tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Isunder's New Order of Elites," Mark announced, sensing that Andreas's strength was slipping from him. "Do you accept the duties entrusted with you, and swear your allegiance to first, your country, your people, and your Chief?"
"Yes sir," five voices rang out in tandem.
Andreas smiled, tired and thankful all at once.
"Chief Hiccup," Mark began.
Hiccup's head snapped up. That was weird to hear. "Y-yes?"
"Please take the Elites outside of Andreas' dwelling. I think Andreas has had enough activity for the day."
"Of course."
He led them out, an arm wrapped around Luneah's shoulders as she sobbed. Before he closed the door behind him, he took one last glance at the bed, the former Elites mumbling their final words to the man they faithfully swore allegiance to decades ago.
Hiccup shut the door and let them have their moment in peace.
Andreas succumbed to the poison a few minutes later in the silence, with what remained of his generation of Elites surrounding him. His chosen brothers and sisters. To the bitter end.
.
"Is he okay?" Luneah asked, tapping Jay's shoulder as she peeked around a cliff.
Jeysannia turned around, shaking her head.
"He's been there, staring at the sky for over an hour. You need to talk to him."
Luneah let out a breath through her lips, nodding. "Can we have some privacy?"
Jeysannia smiled slightly and nodded, mounting Athena and taking off.
Luneah watched her leave before taking a deep breath and walking over to Hiccup, who was sitting on a rock, staring out into the horizon. Toothless was next to him, eyes narrowed to slits, and sitting upright like an obedient dog.
"You okay?"
Hiccup's head snapped up to her, before falling back down to the painted sky.
"No... I'm not."
Luneah sat down next to him. "That's to be expected."
When his head dropped slightly, she grabbed both of his hands in hers.
"Hey, hey hey— Don't feel sad. There are so many things to look up for."
"Like what?"
"...like me. I'm here."
"..."
"I'll always be here for you, and you know that. I love you, Hiccup."
"I love you too..."
"... I can tell there's a 'but' in there somewhere."
Hiccup stood up, pulling Luneah up with him. Holding her close, he kissed her nose.
"I'm sorry, Luneah."
He looked towards the northwest, the setting sun. Dragon sillhouettes were flying off in the distance, dancing between the clouds and diving down to the wine-colored sea.
A slight breeze picked up, carrying the bite of winter with it. It brought about a sense of nostalgia. The autumn in the barbaric archipelago, when winter was slowly sinking its icy claws into the world. Hiccup was suddenly very homesick.
"I'm just missing Berk."
.
A/N: as stated in previous chapters, mark is allen's father and luneah's adoptive father. hecate (former elite of the arts) is elise's aunt.
solum is latin for "lonely". I found it fitting since jeysannia is an orphan on a different island than the one she was born on.
I think hiccup would have told everyone his full name. HHHIII is... a lot.... It's kind of funny to hear Andreas say it all though.
as I said before, the previous chief chooses the new elites when he either dies or decides to hand down the throne: this is in order to prevent former elites from taking advantage of the younger and less experienced chief. the elite roles usually stay within the same families, although the chief is allowed to choose someone from outside to become a new Elite.
dynastes means "ruler" in latin... just thought that was cool