"Hiccup had grown to be as old as Old Wrinkly had been. His hair had whitened with age, the russet tones of youth having long since given way to his age. His fingers now ached with every movement, though he still stubbornly continued to draw. He had to keep the stories of his youth alive somehow. Of a time of dragons and riders. Of hunters and dangers. He reflected rather morosely that he remained one of the last few Vikings of New Berk to have seen the great beasts. One of the last who still dreamed of soaring far above the clouds into lands unknown. For the dragons had well and truly disappeared- not a scale or bone left behind for those to remember them by. They existed only in the fading memories of the aged Vikings who had the pleasure of knowing them. Hiccup carefully tucked The Book Of Dragons on his shelf. He had finished illustrating what he knew to be the final copy of the manuscript that detailed all that they had ever known about each dragon they had ever known about. Fishlegs had helped immensely, but the dragon enthusiast had passed on not three winters ago. He was lucky, Hiccup supposed, to have been able to live out a complete life. Adored by his children, respected for his vast knowledge. Others had not been so lucky. Snotlout had fallen soon after the final disappearance of the dragons, the brave fool having given his life defending New Berk from marauding pirates. Tuffnut, strange as ever, had one day simply vanished off the face of the earth never to be seen again. Perhaps he had gone out after the dragons, or fallen to his death somewhere on the island. Hiccup could never be sure as to his peculiar friends fate, but he had mourned his loss. Ruffnut had taken the apparent death of her twin hard and never did truly accept that he would never return to her. But she herself had led a rather content life for a time, raising the children she shared with Fishlegs before finally passing in her middle age from what could only be described as a broken heart. He was indeed lucky, he concluded, the bitter taste of sorrow bearing down on him. Astrid and he may be old and frail (although Astrid would never admit to that), but they were alive and remained in one another's company. He started into awareness as Astrid entered the room, carefully balancing a steaming bowl of yak stew as she made her way over to him. Hiccup made to rise, but was waved off by Astrid- they both knew he struggled more and more with his prosthetic leg by the day. He accepted the stew from her gratefully, and gave a contented sigh as the warm broth filled his stomach. He wasn't sure when Astrid had improved her skills as a cook (or his tastebuds had finally deadened), but he was appreciative nonetheless. "Eric's been off with Gunnar all day", Astrid has said once Hiccup had finished his fill. "He's a far better student than you ever were", she teased, punching his shoulder lightly at her jest. Hiccup rolled his eyes skyward, and rubbed his shoulder out of sheer habit. It had felt like only yesterday that Hiccup had handed the chiefdom of New Berk to his son Eric, and already Eric was preparing his own grown son for the job. Astrid took the bowl from him gently, and made to rise before relaxing back in to her chair. Hiccup wasn't the only one with aching joints. "Brenna told me she's finally gotten the new recruits for the Berk Guard in shape", Astrid said quickly, as if to disguise her inability to rise as simply wanting to speak more. Hiccup felt a frown flicker across his face before he forced a small grin. Brenna was their firstborn and should have been made into the next chief, but she had vehemently disagreed, instead taking her place as a shieldmaiden and leader of the Berk Guard. It had been a point of contention between her and Hiccup for some time, although Hiccup was still proud of her achievements regardless. "We're not needed here anymore, are we?", he asked his wife, slowly rising to his feet before offering her a hand. "What are you thinking?", she replied, taking the offered hand.
—
Neither of them had the strength to man one of the larger sailing ships, so they settled for a smaller boat with only a single sail to manage. It was a crazy idea. Absolutely insane, but it felt so right. No dragons had been spotted in many decades, but both were determined to find the Hidden World once again. It wouldn't feel right to not try for a final time to reunite with their dragons- their best friends. Hiccup thought Astrid's hair shone like silver under the light of the full moon, and he lamented that his own beard and hair (now trimmed back to an acceptable length by Astrid's insistence) was more pale and white. Astrid still remained beautiful as ever, he thought quietly to himself and he drew her sleeping form closer, holding her tightly against himself. The boat rocked and swayed gently with the sea current, and the winds had picked up the single sail and had them powering along across the sea. Hiccup could only hope they were going in the right direction, although it would seem no one could know what that was. The last time they had found the dragons had been by complete and utter accident with a fair share of good luck thrown in the mix. Astrid seemed to have stilled in his arms, her embrace becoming slack. Hiccup blinked wearily around, trying to peer over the railings of the boat from his sitting position but was surprised to see a thick fog obscuring his view. Hiccup made to rub his weary eyes, but found himself unable to let go of Astrid. He wasn't quiet sure if the fog had been born from the sea or from behind his tired eyes. A brief memory of the last fog that had revealed his dragon to him was the last thought that Hiccup had before his vision faded to black.
—
A slimy tongue woke Hiccup, and he gave a cry of indignation as he pushed the perpetrator away. "Toothless! You know that doesn't wash out!", he complained in a mock-angry tone, desperately trying to wipe away the dragon saliva that had covered his dragon-scale armour. Toothless, tail wagging excitedly in a blur of black and red seemed to laugh at his disgust. A trill from above announced the presence of Stormfly, with Astrid perched lightly in her saddle, hair gleaming golden in the sunlight. "Finally sleepy-head!", she teased, "I thought you'd never get here!". Hiccup made to retort, but instead poked his tongue out at her in a not-so-mature manner. He sprung lightly to his feet, nimbly leaping on to Toothless' back, the familiar click of his prosthetic leg connecting to the tail rig sending a familiar shudder through him. "Does milady feel like a race?", he called to her. But she was already off, Stormfly spiralling and turning with such agile grace through the sky. "Come on bud!", though Toothless needed no further urging before he shot off after them. Hiccup whooped in excitement, the wind whipping through his bright russet hair. They could fly forever, Hiccup thought with a sudden blooming of happiness in his chest. And they would.
—
Somewhere out in the vastness of the sea, a lone boat sailed aimlessly through the waves, guided only by the wind and currents. Two small figures lay on deck, curled in one another's arms in an eternal sleep. A shadow passed overhead, unseen and unheard by no man. A mournful crooning filled the air. Out of the clouds, a purple blast exploded into existence, hitting the ship squarely and igniting it almost instantly. The ship burnt bright and fierce, all the way to Valhalla.