It was Friday and at 14:45 there big SUV's without plates or markings pulled up and stopped in a row at the front gate of the Berk High. The few parrents that were there to pick up their children for the weekend looked up in surprise and suspicion.
Exactly at 14:50 the all the doors of the first and the last SUV's opened and men stepped out. Out of the first vehicle's driver's side a woman stepped out, she was tall, had raven hair, her gaze was steely scanning her surroundings, making everyone in a ten meter radius back up a little. Out of the vehicles passenger's aide door a big man with short legs and blond hair, who seemed a bit nervous stepped out, the nervousness seemed to be in his entire body shifting his weight from one leg to another and his head swivelled like that of an extremely nervous pigeon that sensed danger nearby. out of the back doors of the first vehicle stepped to blondes, one of them, who was probably male, was tall and had dreadlocks. The other blond, most likely female, just as tall as the other blond and just as slimly build had her blond hair in two braids, both had a malicious look in their eyes and a slightly crooked smile on their lips, making them look a bit psychotic as they absorbed their surroundings making everyone there slightly uncomfortable. Out of the last vehicle of the little convoy stepped four men. The driver's side a tall muscled shape with red brownish hair that looked like it wouldn't be tamed, a claw mark tattoo from his chin going to his cheek and the other cheek was littered with scars, his eyes flashed from person to person in the area. From the rear door of the car behind the driver came a stubby man with a kind expression on his features and an intricate looking prosthetic arm that twitched a little. The man with the tattoos and scars on his face noticed the twitch in the prosthetic and pulled out a screwdriver and tweaked it a bit so the twitching stopped. When he was done he slapped the man on the shoulder and resumed obsessively scanning all the people around him.
From the other side side of the vehicle two men stepped out both were muscled but very different, one of them was short and stocky, with jet black hair and was wearing bored expression. The other was tall and muscled with brown hair, chiselled features and a small tatto on his chin. However only one door of the middle SUV opened, from the passenger's side door stepped a blond woman with delicate features and her long blond, nearly golden hair slung over her left shoulder in an intricate braid. She moved out of her seat with a dancers grace and closed the door behind her, unlike the rest of the men and women that had stepped out of the cars. No matter how different they all looked they al had a few things in common, all of them were wearing slightly ragged looking, short sleeved military fatigues without any insignias or rank symbols on them. All of them had a few minor or major visible scars on them and no matter what expression they were wearing, everyone around them knew that every, single, one, of them was a extremely capable warrior.
How did they know?
Well these men and women were no ordinary soldiers, these were living legends walking among them, The Defenders Of Berk, The Warriors Of The Edge, The Riders, The Dragons, that were a few of the many names they known by. And where some of them were the rest was not far away. They could only see one of the dragons, the man with kind expression and prosthetic arm that went by the name Shattermaster, the bystanders knew that the rest was close. These men and woman had sacrificed everything to protect Berk from the dangers of the outside world, no other group of warriors, not even the legendary Stoick the Vast and his Battle Brother Gobber the Belch could overshadow them. No man could look at them without feeling a sense of awe, however no matter way they felt when seeing them, ever person on Berk, no the entire Archipelago, hell, everyone on the planet knew that no matter how impressive a soldier and warrior these men and women were. They would not have achieved what they had without their leader, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, son of Stoick the Vast, a man bigger then live, a man that had given everything to protect the Archipelago and by extension the rest of the world from evil. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third was a leader that lead by example and never needlessly endangered the men and women under his command. He lead the most dangerous assignments himself, scratch that he led every mission himself making sure that every single one of the men and women under his command came back out alive even at the risk of his own. The people, who all had taken a few extra steppes back when they noticed Dagur 'the Deranged' Berserk stepping out of his SUV, a man notorious for his zealous overprotective nature over his friend and family and with anger management issues, all were wondering the same thing 'what were these men and women, these living legends doing at Berk High' as far as they knew none of them had children.
When the clock struck 14:55 the beautiful blond, known to the world as Astrid Hofferson and second in command and right hand of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, a woman men had probably dreamed about, until they heard what she had done to a man that had made what she considered an inappropriate remake to her, raised her left hand to her ear and nodded, she knocked two times on the passengers side window and then went back to scanning her surrounding. Someone with training in such things might have noticed a minute difference in the way the rest of the group behaved after that, all of them did not change the way they were stood but all were looking a bit more intently at their surroundings making sure that everything that could be considered a threat was know and catalogued in their minds. When Astrid Hofferson had knocked on the window the driver's side door had opened and a tall man with skin so dark the it seemed to adsorb light while at the same time it seemed that when he moved that the sun danced over his ebony skin and reflected all the colours of the rainbow. Everyone knew him, he was only known as Nightfury and was the closest friend and personal guard of none other then Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third himself. Rumour had it that early in the career of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third he had come across one of the tribes that littered the smaller islands of the Archipelago and found a boy, the boy had been cast out by his tribe because he had lost his leg in some ritual fight and due to the loss of his leg he was of no more use to the tribe and had been left to die in the woods. However Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third had been shocked by this barbarism and had made a prosthetic for the boy out of scrap metal in the area. Since then the rumours say that the boy know as Nightfury had owed Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third a live debt and even when the debt was repaid he didn't leave the side of the man that had saved his live and had become his best friend. While he walked over the other side of the car and put his hand of the rear door handle a whisper ripple through the people around them, if Nightfury was here that could only mean one thing, no it couldn't be, could it be that He was here himself. As Nightfury opened the door people held their breaths. Out of the SUV stepped none other General Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third Himself. As Nightfury closed the door behind his friend all the door of the other two cars closed as well. Astrid Hofferson and Nightfury immediately flanked the General, Astrid Hofferson at His right and Nightfury to His left. He was wear the same cloths as the men and women under His command, simple camouflage trousers and a short sleeved shirt that was in the same camouflage pattern as the trousers, his arms were littered in small and bigger scars either from the many fights he had been in, from working on their vehicles, for he was a genius with machines or from creating and testing the new weapons and other inventions he was famed for making. His face was creased with the lines from stress, worry and sleepless nights over the men and women under his command, the sign of a commander that actually cared. That same face bore only one obvious scare, it was jagged and went from under His right eye, just under His nose to just above the middle of His lips. The legend that circulated around that scare was that when He was fighting the criminal syndicate known as the Outcast, He fought their leader Alvin the Treacherous personally. The legend says that when Alvin the Treacherous had been on his knees and had been begging for mercy, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third had extended His hand the the Outcast leader and offered him a deal, if they stopped their illegal activities and did everything by the book and in accordance with the laws of the Archipelago he would allow the man his freedom. At this offer Alvin had smiled and taken the hand Of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third and had pulled a knife swiping it to him in an attempt to slit his throat, if it had not been for the swift reaction of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, He would be dead, but because of His swift reaction he had only suffered a cut across the face. While still bleeding he had knocked the knife out of the Outcast leader's hand, He then knocked him to the ground again and made the offer again. This time however the Outcast leader accepted the offer, seeing that he had no other choice. Since then the Outcasts had been reformed and accepted the rules and laws that were throughout the Archipelago, now from there some of the most well know and best running businesses in the entire Archipelago were run, with Alvin the Treacherous upholding the law with an iron fist in recognition of the third chance he was given by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third.
The people around the group of living legends were torn between going closer to their hero and protector, and backing up further because everyone knew that the men women around Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third were unwaveringly loyal to Him and would do anything to ensure his safety, and if they perceived the people as a threat they would not hesitate to use lethal force. Or so they thought, in truth they would only push them back to give their commander and friend his space but the people around them did not know that.
As the school bell rang at 15:00 signalling the end of the school day en thereby the end of the week, the children came storming out as fast as they could, as if the building was on fire, most of them stopped dead in their track as they saw the man, who's exploits were equal those of the mythical gods they learned about in school, standing there surrounded by living legends. They all, from the youngest freshmen to the oldest senior, gawked at Him, all except one. One girl with a flaming mop of curls on her head elbowed her way to the front to see what all the gawking was about and then stormed forwards. She looked no older then twelve, happiness was written all over her face as tears welled up in her bright green eyes while she stormed towards the men and women everyone else was to afraid to approach.
When she was only a few meters from them she dropped the bag she had been carrying while she had been storming to them, after that she went as fast as she could and jump straight into the arms of none other than Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, he caught her and stumbled a bit under the force of the storming redhead girl.
The girl let her tears go as she clung to the man, who held just as tight. After a minute He gently put her down and the girl took a step back, then slapped him right in the face. A shocked gasp could be heard going through the crowd around them. The girl after she slapped him immediately broke down into tears again and blubbered out between them "sorry daddy" Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third gently put a hand on her cheek and wiped away the tears with his thumb "sshhh, it's okay little one"
"I thought you wouldn't come home again" she mumbled, tears still streaming down her face.
"shhh, it's okay little ems" he softly told her again sitting on one knee, still stroking away the tears.
She jumped into his arms again and with tears still streaming down her face that she had buried into his neck she mumbled "I was so scared that you wouldn't come back for me daddy"
"I'll always come back for you baby girl" Hiccup mumbled softly into her ear "I'll always come for you my baby girl"
When she had called down a little after a few minutes of him holding her close all the while mumbling soothingly into her ear he told her "now that the war is over I think it is time you meet someone" the girl's head shot back and she looked at him "really, you'll finally take me to her?"
"Yes baby girl, I'll take your mom today" he gently put her on the ground again, he still held onto her "however we don't have to go far to meet her" he told her as he turned her around to face Astrid "ems meet your mother and the love of my live, Astrid Hofferson" the little girl's eyes were as big as plates as she looked at the blond woman in front of her.
Astrid gentle extended her hand to girl she had known all her live, but who she had never told she was her mother, fear was clearly visible on her face as she told the little girl "hey Merida, I am your mother" anxiously she awaited the little girl's reaction.
Merida looked at the blond woman, at the hand that was still extended to her, at her father and then she looked back at the blond woman. It took a few seconds, in which Astrid grew more and more anxious and fearful for the little girl's reaction, the little girl she loved so much but never had the courage to tell that she was her mother. Hiccup had been so forgiving to her when she told him that she couldn't take care of her, that she wanted to pursue her career and did not want to be tied down by a child. And he had accepted her decision and the burden of raising her on his own. He had even allowed her to come and visit as much as she wanted assured her he understood and then even told her that he still loved her, even that when she was ready they could tell Merida that she was her mother. Now regretting her decision those twelve years ago and wished that she could have been there for everything, but Hiccup had been so good with her and she was afraid that she would screw it all up. And when the war was over and they were both still alive she had asked him if they could tell Merida, the only thing Hiccup had said was "finally" and there they were.
Everyone knew her as Fearless Astrid Hofferson but she had never been so afraid in her live as she awaited the answer of a little girl.
Finally Merida moved, she slapped away the hand held out to he her, Astrid felt tears welling up when she thought that the girl rejected her, but was completely suprised as that same girl jump at her and threw her arms around her neck.
Merida jump at her with so much force that Astrid fell flat on her as the girl hugged her as tight as she could, after a few seconds of nearly being strangled by a twelve year old girl, a few seconds Astrid would not trade for anything in her life, Merida dislodged herself, but grabbed one of Astrid's hands as eh turned around and shouted "I KNEW I WAS RIGHT UNCLE NIGHT"
The tall man gave her bright white toothed smile that stood in stark contrast to his skin "it looks like I need to teach how to drive when your old enough" Nightfury said with his rumbling deep voice.
However the girl's attention had already swivelled to someone else, in this case Dagur 'the Deranged' Berserk as she ran up to him dragging Astrid with in a surprisingly firm grip for a twelve year old "I told you so that Astrid was my mom uncle D"
Dagur was grinning from ear to ear "that you did ems, looks like " he said as he scooped her into bear hug. However Merida was far from ready to let go off Astrid's hand so she got dragged into the hug awkwardly, but Dagur just opened one of his arms and pulled her into the hug as well.
As he released them both Merida was gone like the bullet from a gun and she dragged Astrid yet again after her back to her father, Hiccup who had an awestruck expression, he snapped back into reality as tugged on his shirt and asked "eh daddy can we go I think people are staring"
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third snapped out of his daze and looked around him and yeah people were most definitely staring at them, with their jaws on the floor.
"ehm, yeah Ems that seems like a good idea" he opened the door for his daughter and Astrid made for the passenger door but Merida tugged at her hand and gave her a pout "your not gonna sit with us?" she said with puppy eyes.
Astrid knew that there was no way she could resist that look even though it went against protocol, she looked at Hiccup who after all was still their commander, he nodded at her with a smile and motioned her with his thumb to get in. So she did after all you cant deny your superior officer now can you.
When they pulled away, leaving all those people standing there utterly gobsmacked, Astrid asked that was now sitting between her and Hiccup and was still holding her hand "how did you know I was your mom?"she asked the little girl.
The girl answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world "well duh, he always looks at you with puppy eyes, you booth look out for each other when your away doing dangerous stuff and you both come and check in on me when you come back." Then Merida added "also a year ago before you both left again, I went to dad's room when I couldn't sleep and you were both sleeping in his bed and is something only moms and dads do"
Astrid and Hiccup looked at each other with a slight blush but a soft voice cut through their awkward moment "your not going away again are you?"
Hiccup hugged his daughter and told her "we're not going anywhere, we're staying right here at home"
A bright smile broke through on Merida's face "So now we can be a real family from now on"
Hiccup looked at Astrid and with the hand he was not hugging Merida with he took a small black velvet box from pocket and gave it to her "if milady wants so as well I would be the happiest man on earth" Astrid's eyes went wide as she recognised the box as it being the same one he had offered he now nearly thirteen years ago a few weeks after she had told him that she had fallen pregnant. When she opened it there was the same golden ring with a blue gem inside when she had opened it all those years ago.
As she pulled out the ring to admire it once again and this time she did not put it back in it's box but slid it on the ring finger of her right hand and leaned close to Hiccup "I would want nothing more than to go home and be a real family from now on" she said softly and planted sweet and soft kiss on his lips.
"finally" Merida squealed as she threw her arms around both their necks hugged them.
So how did it come out, I hoped everyone liked it. I got the idea for the story when I was listing to a song from Eminem called Hailie's Song.
I just love the idea of Merida being their daughter, I mean if you take away the thick Scottish accent and put her in Berk it could so be cannon. I am already working on a sequel called The Midas Curse and if people ask for it I might write a bit of backstory that is in my head. I'm looking forward to hearing everyone's thought. Love Danny.