THIRTY ONE: Reunions
The Riders found them just over three days later, when Sharpshot led the twins, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Heather and Dagur to the cave, guarded by Toothless and Stormfly. The fire was still burning warmly and Hiccup had been hunting for fish and had managed to trap a boar from the nearest island. Astrid had remained inside, recuperating after the birth and nursing her daughter, who they had decided to named Valkana after Hiccup's dead mother, Valka. Toothless scampered around in relief at the arrival of his friends, greeting the dragons with a roar and then sitting proudly at the cave mouth as the familiar tall shape ran out, his emerald eyes lit with relief and joy. Hiccup looked tired, scruff on his jaw and hair wilder than ever-but he waved at the Riders and grinned happily as they landed.
"Thank Thor!" he greeted them.
"How is she?" Heather asked and a proud look lit his eyes.
"They're fine," he said and there was a squeal as the raven-haired girl and Ruff-and Tuff-raced past him into the cave. Hiccup grinned at the sounds of female excitement emanating from the cave as Fishlegs stepped up and hugged him.
"Congratulations!" he said excitedly as Dagur stepped up and almost crushed the one-legged Viking.
"Ah...my little brother...all grown up..." he said in a choked voice. "And now a father..."
"AIR!" Hiccup gasped and the Berserker Chief released him with an embarrassed look.
"Always forget that," he admitted. Snotlout grinned.
"Yeah-congratulations, cuz," he said cheerfully. "What did you have?" There was a proud look as Hiccup smiled back.
"We have a daughter, Valkana," he said as Snotlout nodded.
"Never mind-Astrid can have a strapping son next time," he said obliviously, not hearing the sharp intake of breath from Fishlegs or seeing the fact that Hiccup's grin grew forced.
"Of course," Hiccup said tightly. "Maybe you want to tell Astrid that? I'm sure she'd welcome your input..." Snotlout clapped him on the back, almost knocking him over.
"Good thinking!" he said brashly. "I mean, after days alone with you, she must be dying for a real man! I'll comfort her over the baby and who knows? Maybe she'll decide she wants the Snotman after all..." He swaggered into the cave and Hiccup folded his arms as Fishlegs looked at him.
"You do realise she'll kill him?" he asked and Hiccup nodded.
"For sure," he said calmly, arching an eyebrow. "I mean, her moods are all over the place and I know her much better than Snotlout. And I know the meaning of the word tact. Or that there is such a thing..."
"WHAT? WHY YOU SLIME-ENCRUSTED YAK-LOVING MUNGE-BUCKET SON OF A HALF-TROLL! HOW DARE YOU INSULT MY DAUGHTER LIKE THAT?"
"Yup-though I have hidden her axe in Toothless's saddle," Hiccup revealed. "Even I am getting in trouble for sleeping when she's awake...or not sleeping quietly enough...or not sleeping so I'm tired...I'm sure she'll calm down in a few weeks..."
The sounds of a punch and a loud whine echoed from the cave.
"My beautiful face!"
"Of course, her punch hasn't lost any of its ferocity," Hiccup added conversationally, rubbing his shoulder in sympathy. "She's Astrid, after all. Hookfang-do you want to go in and rescue him?" The Monstrous Nightmare, which had already curled up on the rocky ledge, cracked open one acid yellow eye and then closed it again with a huff. "You know, I sometimes wonder about their bond," he added.
"Oh, I'm sure he'll be fine," Dagur reassured him with a wry look. "I mean, Snotnose is almost indestructible."
A thin wail sounded.
"Or not," Hiccup said and his expression grew pained.
"AND NOW YOU'VE WOKEN THE BABY!" Astrid yelled. Hiccup sighed.
"I better go rescue him," he sighed and walked into the cave, followed by the others. Heather was holding back a furious Astrid, her fists balled as she glared down at the cringing Snotlout. Valkana was wriggling in her crib, a makeshift but elegant and beautifully-finished construction that Hiccup had whipped up while Astrid was sleeping off the birth. Hiccup immediately rescued his daughter, who was bright scarlet with fury, and expertly bounced her against his chest, murmuring gently and soothing her.
"Shh shh little lady," he whispered. "Your Mom is fine. And Uncle Snotlout is just about to be axed to pieces so nothing to worry about..."
"What do you mean nothing to worry about?" Snotlout protested, a hand pressed to his bleeding nose.
"I SHOULD AXE OFF ALL BITS OF YOU THAT ALLOW ANY IDEA OF LITTLE SNOTLOUTS!" Astrid roared. Instantly, Hiccup walked forward, wrapping an arm around the furious blonde and pulling her against him and the baby, feeling her fight for a second-before she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck.
"It's okay," he soothed her. "He does seem to be woman repellant so there's no danger of Valkana being bothered by any mini-Snots." She sniffed.
"How could anyone think she's anything other than perfect?" she asked him in a choked voice. He pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"She's completely perfect-just like her mother," he assured her and she gave a cynical laugh.
"Yeah-my hair is like a bird's nest, I look like a fat old yak that's really let itself go, my tunic is covered in baby vomit and my moods are all over the place," she told him sharply.
"You're the most beautiful woman on Midgard," he told her happily and her brimming azure eyes suddenly swung up to stare into his gentle emerald gaze.
"I love you," she whispered and kissed him as Valkana gave a little humph and both her parents smiled. "And I guess someone wants her lunch..."
"...and that's my cue to remove all extraneous males-that means you, Snot!-so you can feed our really red and demanding daughter!" Hiccup grinned, handed her the baby and bodily hauled his cousin from the room.
"Awww-I wanted to see..."
"NO!" Hiccup barked. "No gawping, no insulting my daughter, no upsetting my wife...out!" Snotlout stared at him as the others followed them onto the rocky ledge.
"Whoa-who'd have thought that skinny Viking had that in him!" Tuff admitted, accompanying them. Even though his sister was still inside and he was pretty crazy, he wasn't stupid enough to hazard a hormonal and easily angered Astrid while she was nursing. Dagur cheerfully wrapped an arm around Hiccup's shoulders and grinned.
"Good work, brother," he said loudly.
oOo
"So what was it like?" Heather asked as Valkana quietly nursed. The baby's blue eyes were wide and fixed on her mother's face as Astrid smiled down on her, checking her child was latched on.
"Overrated," she commented briskly. "And ewww." Ruff pouted.
"Really? Awww..." she protested. The other two stared at her. "What? Just because I'm one half of the twins doesn't mean I don't like babies! I mean, there are always kids in the family...and she is so cute..."
"Less cute when she's yelling up a storm," Astrid commented as the infant suckled calmly. "But most of the time...yeah." Heather tilted her head, inspecting the baby minutely.
"She's got his eyes and hair...but her face is more like yours," she said thoughtfully. "And she's bonny. I gather Hiccup was...well, a Hiccup when he arrived. This one...certainly isn't."
"Yeah, tell me about it," Astrid grumbled, shifting her position slightly. It was still uncomfortable to sit but she was otherwise in very good shape. She had been fit and well right up to the birth and though she was tired, she was actually feeling much better...especially now Hiccup was here with her.
"So how was Captain Outpost?" Ruff asked her, jerking her from her thoughts and she smiled.
"Amazing-as you would expect," she told the female twin smugly. Ruff stared in shock. "I mean he looked terrified but he was calm and supportive and he delivered her."
"Really? No fainting or puking or..." Ruff was sounding disappointed. Heather elbowed her in the side.
"Of course not-though I never realised he goes to sleep in such extraordinary positions," Astrid admitted. "I woke up after the birth and found he had gone to sleep draped over Stormfly!" There were sniggers. "But when I wanted a rest, after I had nursed and Valkana was still fretting, he took her so I could sleep. And I saw him walking back and forth, gently murmuring to her-I suspect he was reciting dragon facts or talking about training to her-but it worked. She settled. When I woke, he was asleep, sitting leaning back against Stormfly with Valkana snuggled into his chest. It was adorable."
"He certainly looks happy," Heather said slowly. "I mean, he's been through a lot to find you. When those Hunters got him..."
There was a chilly moment of silence and Astrid stared at the baby before looking up.
"What?" she asked quietly. Heather sighed.
"While he was looking for you, he got captured by Hunters," she revealed. "I think he was their prisoner for a month or so...him and Toothless. They escaped-he didn't tell me how-and Dagur and I found them on a small seastack, in terrible shape. It took us almost four weeks to nurse them back to good enough shape to go looking for you. He refused to return to Berserk and of course, he's outcast from Berk..."
Astrid blinked and stroked her daughter's face.
"What? I thought he had just left voluntarily," she asked and there was an awkward pause.
"He did," Ruff admitted. "Left in the middle of the Betrothal-or possibly Wedding-ceremony, not sure which it actually was. He just said he wasn't doing it. But the Chief threatened to Outcast him and he just said he didn't care. So he...did."
"Oh," Astrid murmured and her eyes softened with sympathy. Though he had had told her everything about his hopes and dreams, he hadn't discussed anything about what he had surrendered or endured on his way round the Archipelago to find her. And while she understood why-because she was in labour and he wanted to protect her from any guilt at the choice he had made-she still felt guilt crash around her. If she wanted, she could go home and show her daughter to her family, could see her family and spend time among those she loved-but he couldn't. Berk, his home, the island he was born to rule and protect, the island he had given his leg for, was lost to him.
"He knew the price but he made a decision, Ast," Heather reassured her, seeing the distress in her eyes. "When he had to make the choice, he chose you over Berk-no hesitation or thought required. He had tried every other means to talk his father, Cami and Bertha out of it...but they wouldn't budge. So he refused. And though his face showed he knew what he was giving up, he looked much happier once he had made up his mind."
"He didn't tell me," she mouthed. "He told me everything else...but he was a prisoner of the Hunters? He's been outcast? Why wouldn't he say a word?"
There was a pause.
"Because I don't regret a second of anything I do for you, Milady," Hiccup told her from the mouth of the cave. "I would do it all again in a heartbeat-for you." Her head snapped up and her eyes filled with tears. She stretched a hand out towards him and he walked swiftly forward, grasping it and crouching by her. "Are you okay?" he whispered. She shook her head.
"You shouldn't have," she told him and he smiled.
"Nothing else I could-or should-have done," he pointed out. "There should always be a Hiccup and Astrid-I said that and I meant it."
"Whatever it means, whatever you want it to mean," she murmured. "But I never dreamed it would mean...this..." He smiled and leaned close to her, nuzzling her hair.
"The choice was to have Hiccup without Astrid and stay on Berk-or leave, abandon everything and be with Milady," he told her quietly. "And here, on the edge of the Archipelago, in a cave with just our dragons, I couldn't be happier." She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, his hand rising to thread through her hair as she cupped his cheek. When she pulled back, there were tears on her face.
"I love you," she told him tearfully. "I don't deserve you." He chuckled lightly.
"Chief Astrid, I suspect I don't deserve you," he teased her gently.
"Whoa, whoa-Chief Astrid?" Heather interrupted. "Now where did that come from?"
"And how did you know?" Astrid demanded as he smiled indulgently.
"You know, you are much harder to track than anyone else I have looked for," he told her gently and she shrugged.
"Didn't want to be found," she mumbled. "Everywhere I went, people wanted to harm me or Stormfly...so I had to leave to protect her and us..."
"She was on Granite Island...and though she came to them sick and in need of hospitality, they imprisoned her and wanted her to be forced into marriage to their Chief," Hiccup said, his voice tight. "They threatened Stormfly and the baby if she did not comply. So she exerted her right to challenge the Chief and killed him in single combat, assuming the Chiefdom. So she is, in fact, a Chief...while I am literally an Outcast..."
"You are the Dragon Master," Astrid reminded him and he hugged her tighter.
"I prefer Dragon Trainer," he reminded her, pecking a soft kiss on her cheek. She smiled.
"You are so sappy," she murmured.
"Hey-I have been separated from you for five months, Milady and I don't want to waste a minute with you...because I love you and have given up everything for you," he replied gently. "And it was the only thing that kept me going when I was a prisoner-the thought of you and little one here. No matter what they asked, no matter what they threatened, I couldn't help them train dragons...and they hurt both of us to try to force us to talk." And then he smiled. "But I knew I would find you one day."
"On the day I needed you most," she said as Valkana whimpered and gave a little burpy sound. "And someone is windy..."
"My turn?" he offered and carefully lifted the baby, gently massaging her back until she emitted an astonishingly loud noise. "Wow. Gobber's got competition!"
"How dare you insult my daughter," she smirked, her eyes twinkling. "Gobber's no competition to her!"
"And I'll go quieten down the males while you settle her down..and then we can have a meal and a chat," he said, handing her back to her mother, ghosting a soft kiss on her downy head and winking at Heather as he left-leaving Ruff staring after him, slack-jawed.
"Wow-he really is good at this," she commented.
"Hiccup is good at everything he puts his mind to," Astrid told her smartly.
"Even...?"
"Shut up, Ruff!"
oOo
Once Valkana was settled and Snotlout had been given a serious talking-to by Dagur, Fishlegs and even Tuffnut about not annoying Astrid if he wished to survive to return to Berk-the gang settled around the fire, suitably away from the swaddled and sleeping baby. Heather and Fishlegs had prepared yak chops and Astrid tore into them ravenously, making Hiccup feel guilty that Astrid had clearly needed better cooking than he could provide. He chewed them quietly as Astrid related her adventures to the others, listening to her clear voice and her confident description of her journey. And he wondered if she really needed him at all, now she had the others...
"Hiccup?" Fishlegs's voice jerked him back to the present and he smiled automatically. "Are you okay?" He nodded.
"Just thinking that wow-I really don't deserve Astrid," he said calmly.
"Finally, he gets it!" Snotlout commented. "See, babe-you should trade up for perfection."
"Ugh! If you were the only Viking left on Midgard, you wouldn't have a shot with me, Snotlout," Astrid said sternly. "It's Hiccup and Astrid. And only Hiccup and Astrid."
"But...you're a Chief and he's and Outcast!" Snotlout pointed out, his eyebrows waggling suggestively. "I'm the Heir to Berk, you know. We'd be perfect together..."
"Snotlout, I'd kill you in ten seconds," Astrid told him tartly.
"And I am actually sitting here, Snotlout," Hiccup pointed out.
"Hey-she's gotta be fed up of you already," his cousin pointed out without any evidence of tact. "I mean-she really enjoyed the food we gave her, she's loving the company and what have you got to offer? A cave? Your fabulous providing skills?" He flexed his muscles. "All this beauty?"
"No," Hiccup said sharply. "No-I can't offer...all that. All I can offer is the fact that I love her with everything I have and will until the day I die. That I would give my life for her. That I have given up my home, my birthright and my family for her." He looked calculatingly at his cousin. "What would you give for her?"
"Not a prize at Thawfest," Astrid reminded him tartly. Snotlout glared at his cousin and then saw the slump in the lean shoulders, the fact that Hiccup felt terrible that he wasn't providing a better environment for his girlfriend and newborn child and that he had so little to offer her. And an unwanted and very unfamiliar pang of guilt shot through him.
"Shut up, Hiccup," he said grumpily as the auburn-haired Viking's head dropped. Astrid scooched closer to him and slid an arm around him.
"Hiccup-it doesn't matter what he says-honestly, I pay him no mind at all..."
"Hey!"
"Shut up, Snotlout. Hiccup-I left because I couldn't bear to see you with anyone else. And I rejected all other offers on the way round the Archipelago-and believe me, there were some-because I don't want to be with anyone but Hiccup. And if I can't be with him, then I will be with no one."
"Even if he's Outcast and has nothing and nowhere..." he asked softly and she leaned in, kissing him.
"Even then," she murmured. "Hey, you could come to my new Tribe..." He quirked a smile.
"Really?"
"Helheim, no!" she retorted rapidly. "I was kept a prisoner there for weeks, threatened and feeling utterly trapped. And that place...it's all rock, just like Outcast Island. I couldn't wait to get out of there. And there are people there who still support the man I killed, who are a threat to my safety...and hers..." She craned her neck and glanced at the sleeping shape of her daughter. "But I left them with a viable Council, a series of Regents and the order to elect a new Chief if I didn't return within a year and a day."
"So I get to be with a Chief for a year?" he murmured, leaning his head against hers. "Hmm...I can live with that..." She smiled.
"You know where I said I was from?" she murmured. "Dragon's Edge. That was my home, where I owned to. And that's where we should go...if we can..."
"That may not be the best option," Heather said quietly. "Krogan and his fliers have been attacking islands around the Archipelago. They've attacked Defender Isle, Wingmaiden Isle-and the Edge." She paused and her eyes looked sad. "They destroyed your hut, Hiccup. Completely."
He stared at her and took a shuddering breath. Suddenly, his last place, the last thing he could call his own, was gone.
"So I really do have nothing to offer you," he murmured. Immediately, she took his hand.
"You could share with me?" Astrid suggested.
"Also gone," Fishlegs added. Eyebrows dipping for a second, Astrid tightened her grip on Hiccup's arm.
"Then we build a new hut together," Astrid said determinedly, seeing Hiccup start to brood. "Babe-you with me?"
"Hmm...oh yes..." he murmured, his eyes unfocussed.
"Hiccup..." The tone was warning.
"They're looking for lenses," he said thoughtfully. "And they were looking for mine-because Johann and Viggo knew I had a lot of lenses for the DragonEye that I kept...because I was building another DragonEye."
"Oh, come on...really?" Snotlout whined.
"Yeah-you get all the cool toys!" Tuff grumbled, stroking his chicken, which he had brought with him in his saddlebag. Hiccup glared at them.
"Tuff-I had to build it from scratch!" he protested.
"Yeah-but even so..." the male twin protested.
"We will need to return to the Edge to collect my lenses," Hiccup said thoughtfully. Heather frowned.
"Won't they have found them?" she said. "I mean-they tore your hut apart..."
"The lenses aren't actually on the Edge...at all..." he said with a small smile. "Just close by..."
"Clever, brother," Dagur commented, then fumbled in his waist pouch and handed over a hexagonal shape. "Here's the lens I promised you." Hiccup frowned and stared at it, then rose and walked to his saddle-bag, fishing out a shape wrapped in oilskin. Carefully, he unwrapped it-to reveal his DragonEye 2-an elegant version of the original seemingly based on a black Night Fury dragon.
"Whoa...I want one of those," Ruff commented.
"Give us a hand, bud?" Hiccup murmured and Toothless willingly opened his eyes, scrambled up and opened his mouth, purple plasma glowing in his throat. The light blazed into he dragon eye and purple images and symbols sharpened into focus on the reasonably smooth wall of the cave. Hiccup frowned, Fishlegs gasped and Dagur leaned closer.
"Okay-what does it mean?" he asked. Hiccup sighed and rubbed Toothless's head.
"It means we need to find the other lenses as soon as possible-because otherwise Johann and Viggo will find the King of Dragons," he said.
"Talking about Kings," Tuff added cheerily, "Dagur is going to be Mala's King!" Hiccup's head snapped sound and he stared in utter shock. The carrot-haired Berserker Chief gave a soppy smile.
"My little Mala-poos," he sighed.
"Oh my Thor," Hiccup murmured. "Seriously?" Heather and Fishlegs nodded simultaneously as the twins looked particularly smug.
"All part of the patented Thorston conflict resolution and trust engenderment resource," Tuff announced proudly.
"Or CRATER," Ruff added. "All we had to do was allow them to see past their bone-headed stubbornness and instead understand the deep similarities and connections they had and could have..."
"Yeah-what she said," Tuff added lazily. "I mean, we got the idea from watching you two ignoring what was plainly obvious for...oh, I don't know...YEARS!"
"We did not," Astrid growled.
"You really did," Heather told her with a smile.
"Yup-Dagur has taken the Trials and is now betrothed to Mala," Fishlegs confirmed. Hiccup grinned and clasped his friend's hand.
"Congratulations," he said happily. "I am so..." Dagur crushed him in a huge hug.
"I owe it all to you, brother," he said emotionally. "I mean, if you hadn't given me the chance, hadn't seen some good behind this crazed exterior, even braving the anger and disapproval of your friends...and my sister...then I wouldn't be here. I would almost certainly be dead..." Hiccup struggled for air but felt suddenly incredibly touched. He had no idea what Dagur felt towards him after all their conflicts but it seemed that the man genuinely forgave him for the imagined slights and his very real lies about the dragons-though he hadn't wanted to participate in the deception. And now, Dagur was about to have a wife, a new home, a family...everything a man could possibly want.
"You're...welcome..." he gasped, struggling for air, his ribs creaking. Dagur finally released him and he gasped a grateful breath in. "Really. Very happy for you-pleasedon'tdothatagain..." Dagur clapped him on the shoulder and it almost knocked him to the ground once more.
"That's my brother!" he said, grinning. But Hiccup felt shame curl through him and he resumed his place, hunched up and staring into the flames as Fishlegs related how he and Heather found the Island of Dramillions. He snatched a glance at Dagur and felt his stomach drop as memory swirled around him-about the things he hadn't even told Astrid.
I'm not your brother, in blood or heart, he thought miserably, glancing at Dagur. Except when I thought that they had Astrid, so close to her time. And then, I behaved like a Berserker, attacking and killing those Hunters without mercy. Because I was so anxious, so fearful, so...angry...that I pushed aside who I was and hurt them because they deserved it.
And in doing that, I betrayed everything I supposedly believe in.
Thor, how can I tell my friends that? How can I admit I became as bad as the people we are fighting?
How can I own up to my crimes without losing them all?