"Alright, buddy," Hiccup patted his dragon, Toothless, gently, "remember, when we go there, we need to be polite!" The dragon- a black Night Fury- purred, nuzzling its nose into the viking chief's chest. Laughing, Hiccup swayed a bit, Toothless nudging him to regain his balance.

It was still hard to get used to a peg leg after five years.

"Thanks, buddy," Hiccup said, kneeling to the ground, pulling out a small brown leather notebook with yellowed pages. After flying outside of Berk territory for so long, Hiccup had finally managed to put together what could be considered a map. Off to the left was a few archipelagos, to the right were a few pieces of mainland that, in all honesty, he felt a little lazy in going to explore. Hiccup knew he should probably go some other time, but with everything that had happened over the past few days….

He was still trying to wrap his head around it.

"Well, there's Itchy Armpit!" Hiccup pointed out the island to Toothless, who cocked his head to the side, long tongue lolling out of his mouth. They had found the island together while exploring, instead of taking part in Berk's annual games- sheep herding was what it really was, but with Vikings, anything could happen. The wind blew in forceful gusts, playing with his brown hair, some of which Astrid had put in tiny braids at the nape of his neck. Hiccup could hear the sound of flapping in the distance, and he turned around, green eyes gazing up at the bright blue sky to see his girlfriend, swooping down to join him.

"And where have you been?!" she demanded, hopping off the back of her own dragon, Stormfly. Toothless greeted the Deadly Nadder with a playful pounce, and Astrid plopped herself down next to Hiccup, eyeing the map he and strewn out in front of him. "Going over your maps again?"

"I just want to make sure I got everything correct," Hiccup said.

"Oh, I'm sure it's fine," Astrid blew a raspberry, "besides, your mom can fix it for you if it is messed up, right?" Hiccup felt himself stiffen at the question. It was an innocent question, and since it was coming from Astrid, it really shouldn't have been a problem. Of course, the circumstances in which he met his mother were not the greatest.

Hiccup pushed the thought away. Valka was a great mother, and he and to give her props for trying to repair whatever relationship they had, right? Turning to Astrid, he rolled his eyes at her.

"I may as well just have her recreate the entire map at this point, huh?" he joked, and Astrid grinned, her blue eyes darting towards Stormfly and Toothless. The dragons had taken to drawing in the dirt, using broken tree logs as pencils. Their heads were bent at awkward angles as they moved, shot jerky movements moving them along in their task. Astrid looked at the map. Some of the lines had faded, and with the way Hiccup was holding the pencil in his hand, he was bound to smudge some of the lines he was trying to recreate.

"Yeah, just give up on this one, okay?" She patted his chest, leaning her head against his shoulder. Hiccup moved so his arm was around her, his hands delicately stroking her blond hair, poking between the twisted strands of her braid. The wind whistled as the two stared out at the ocean in front of them, small dots of island on the horizon.

"So what exactly did you come fetch me for?" Hiccup said. Astrid shrugged.

"Your mom said there was a letter-"

"Letter?" Hiccup asked.

"Yeah," she said, then with a laugh, "but then Snotlout said he was going to eat it because Vikings shouldn't know how to read." Hiccup felt his face turning red, Astrid's smile growing wider. "Babe, are you okay?"

"Wha…?! Snotlut of course would s-say something like that….! But really?!" Hiccup blurted, Astrid groaning at his utter surprise. Hiccup then grabbed Astrid's hand, pulling himself up into standing position. Astrid followed suit, swinging their arms as they approached their dragons. The creatures had stopped drawing, and now were lying with their bellies exposed to the sun.

"So what did my mother say was in this letter?" Hiccup asked as he got Toothless to sit properly, launching himself onto the dragon's back. Astrid climbed up on Stormfly, and soon the two riders were flying bak to Berk, huts and dragons to be seen on the ground below as they approached. Large walls and chances of opaque cerulean colored ice dotted the island, and Hiccup only grimace at the reminder of what it was, and he felt his stomach and heart drop.

"She didn't say," Astrid said, signaling for them to land, "only that you should read it, being Chief of Berk and all." Hiccup nodded- it sounded like something his mother would say.

"Leave it to mother to be all mysterious," he muttered as they land by on elf the many docs on Berk, some members of the clan waving, others trying to chase after sheep. Dragons of every shape and size could be seen- some were babies, nibbling at their owners, others were adults, napping lazily against the side of a hut as their owner took out old meat from their house.

"Hiccup!"

Hiccup turned to see his mother running over, hand raised as she waved frantically. She was panting as she slowed to a stop, and Hiccup took the time to notice the white strands amongst the brown in her hair, which was tied in a long braid that hung down her back. She wore a mustard yellow shirt with a drawstring detail at the neck, with a red shawl tied around the waist of brown, close-fitted pants. Cloud Jumper, her dragon, was nowhere to be seen, presumably off for a nap in one of the many dragon pens on the island.

"Hiccup, a letter came for you today," Valka said, shoving her fist at her son. Carefully unhitching her fingers, Hiccup took the paper from her, pulling git taut in his hands. The paper itself was thin and yellowed, and he could see slightly through the layers.

"Well?" Astrid peered at it from over his shoulder, "What's it say?" Hiccup raised an eyebrow at her, sighing as he scanned the page. The writing was in fancy curlicues, written in what looked like purple or black ink.

"To Whom It May Concern," Hiccup read aloud, Valka and Astrid leaning in close to get a better look. Valka ruffled her son's hair, smiling wide.

"That's you, son!" she said cheerfully.

"…The King and Queen of Far Far Away-" Hiccup went on.

"Far Far Away?" Astrid nearly choked on her own laughter, "What kind of name is that for a kingdom?"

"Aye," Valka agreed, "a funny one at that!" Hiccup mimicked his girlfriend and mother as they joked before continuing.

"- would like you to join them in uniting kingdoms. The King and Queen await your response," Hiccup read, "signed, King Harold and Queen Lillian.'" As soon as Hiccup finished reading, the three of them stood insolence, pondering the message. By now, a few citizens of the viking clan had stopped what they were doing to watch their new chief in whatever it was he was doing, considering he had missed that morning's dragon race. Stormfly and Toothless had wandered off to play with the other dragons, leaving large prints in the dirt.

"You should start packing, young man," Valka pinched Hiccup's cheek, "and write them a reply!" Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"You sound just like dad!" Hiccup groaned, shaking his shoulders in imitation of his late father, "I know, Mom!"

Hiccup knew he meant it as a joke, but once he looked up at his mother again, he saw he had touched a nerve. Pursing her lips, Valka nodded, crossing her arms.

"So it seems," she said politely, "just get started on that letter, aye?" Hiccup opened his moth to say something, apologize, but Valka had already begun to walk away, head hung low as she avoided eye contact with other villagers.

"You want me to talk to her?" Astrid offered. Hiccup shook his head. The two of them were never going to have the perfect relationship, he knew- but why was he such an idiot to bring up his father?

"Let her be for now," Hiccup sighed, sitting himself down in the grass by the dock, "I should write a reply." Astrid nodded, giving him a quick peck on the cheek before running after Valka as Hiccup managed to begin writing in what looked like chicken scratch.