The king of dragons was now safe. An old friend of nearly 20 years had helped Valka get the egg to protect this dragon from Drago Bludvist.
"The king of dragons is safe. Next thing we must do is get the king of dragons here. It won't be easy seeing how Drago is looking for it," Valka tells her friend. For the past nearly twenty years Ragna had been helping Valka save the dragons. Ragna had helped Valka get the king of dragons egg and save it.
"Valka, it was hard enough to save the egg! How do you think we can get the entire ten ton dragon here?" Ragna asks.
"Don't you know someone who knows where it is?" Valka responds.
"I don't want Atali to think we're up to something. Besides, if this dragon is as big as I heard it is then it'll be kind of hard to sneak it away from the island it's hiding on. I mean during the day or night," Ragna reminds Valka.
"Do you know what island it is?" Valka asks not looking at her friend.
"No, why?"
"If it's anywhere near Drago it'll be hard to bring here, but if it's anywhere near Berk then we'll have to leave it," Valka responds.
"What's so wrong with Berk? I can understand the thing about it being near-," Ragna begins to say.
"That's where my husband and son are," Valka interrupts.
"Wait, you're married and have a son?" Ragna clarifies.
"Yes. My husband is Stoick the Vast, Chief of Berk. I have a son who's about twenty years old now. I left when Cloudjumper took me here. My son was only three months old. I don't know if I could take going back. Last thing I want is to see my son turned out to be a dragon killer and he turned out to be someone who, when finding out I left, wanted me dead," Valka says not looking up. Cloudjumper let's out a sad noise as if apologizing for taking her from her child and husband.
"I wish you would've told me," Ragna says softly.
"I hate thinking about it. I hate thinking that my son and husband would hate me and I think about it every night. How would you react if one of your parents left for twenty years and came back into your life?" Valka asks. Her voice trembling thinking about the family she left behind twenty years ago.
"If I was your son or husband I'd be surprised you're alive. I'd then be upset you left for so long, but it wouldn't be for too long because then you'd be back in your family's lives. And you'd be lucky to have a son who loves dragons and wants to save them like you. It's nice to think that there is a possibility he could be just like you," Ragna says.
"I left him with Stoick and I'm sure that he's probably just as strong as him. I wouldn't be surprised if he has killed half as many dragons as his father already," Valka responds.
"I'll go see if Atali knows what island the king of dragons is hiding at. Then I'll have her and the wing-maidens help me move him if he's on Berk," Ragna suggests.
"Thank you," Valka says as Ragna leaves. Once gone Valka begins to think about her family once more.
The Edge had been packed up and everyone was ready to leave to go back home to Berk.
"I wonder who Atali knows that know someone they know to help hide the king of dragons from dragon hunters," Fishlegs says.
"Who knows, Fishlegs? We might meet this king of dragons or even the person who knows Atali or even that third person who is now taking care of the king of dragon's egg," Hiccup responds mounting Toothless.
"I think it'd be awesome to meet them. King of dragons and this third person," Astrid chimes in.
"Okay. Well, I think this is it. It's time to go back home to Berk," Hiccup says.
"I feel like this is going to be a place we occasionally come back to. It's definitely not going to be forgotten," Ruffnut responds.
"Not at all," Astrid agrees cheerfully.
Finally after one final look at the Edge they depart back to Berk.
Once back on Berk Hiccup, Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs and the twins are greeted by Stoick and the rest of the villagers. Heather had gone back to Berserker Island to be acting chief for her brother while he was on his honeymoon with Mala. It was uncertain if he would even return to Berserker Island, but that was a conversation everyone was to have on a later date.
"Welcome back home Son," Stoick says giving his son one of his famous, rib crushing hugs.
"Good to be back home to be honest," Hiccup says between gasps of air. Stoick lets out a hearty laugh and releases his son when he notices the necklace around Astrid's neck.
"When did you come up with the plan to make your betrothal gift a necklace for her?" Stoick asks.
"Well- uh... um, actually, it was- it was actually Snotlout's idea after we went to the northern markets and he stole the medallion from my saddle bag," Hiccup says running a hand through his unruly hair.
"Really?" Stoick asks in disbelief. The entire town had known the Jorgensons were complete muttonheads who never had a good idea and if they did they boasted and bragged about it for a month.
"I can have good ideas!" Snotlout chimes in.
"Why don't we go unpack and then all of us can go to the Great Hall for this party my dad had told me he planned last minute," Hiccup suggests.
"Gobber planned it, I just went along with this," Stoick informs his son.
"Oh. Well then, okay. I guess we can meet up in the Great Hall in an hour. Gives us a little bit of time to begin unpacking and settle a bit I guess," Hiccup shrugs. The gang splits up going back home to rest up and even unpack a little bit. The dragons definitely deserved the rest of the night off.
A few hours into the party the next chief of Berk and the next general of Berk are no where to be found.
"Think anyone notices we're missing yet?" Astrid asks teasing Hiccup.
"Oh, I'm sure Dad's noticed we're gone. Remember the first dragon race we did? When Fishlegs was so focused on the Regatta and Snotlout and the twins were a team?" Hiccup reminisces.
"That was the first time we had been called Hiccstrid. Now whenever Snotlout wants to talk to the both of us he goes "hey Hiccstrid" and then expects us to answer to that," Astrid laughs. Hiccup loved the sound of her laugh because it made butterflies in his stomach. The way she gave him butterflies in his stomach was the best feeling in the world to him because he knew that it was because he loved her and no one else could give him that feeling. Flying high in the skies gave him a feeling of freedom sure, but he loved being able to feel the way he did with Astrid. He knew that she was the only one who could do that.
"Now, as far as I know, nothing should ruin this moment," Hiccup says after reaching the cove.
"Don't jinx it Haddock," she teases. They sit on the ground leaning against the cove's wall. Well, he had his back against the wall and she sat in front of him leaning against his chest listening to both his strong, steady heartbeat and his breathing.
"This is probably my favorite place on Berk," Hiccup tells Astrid.
"Really?" she asks. To her it was just the cove where they got water for emergencies and the only thing that made it special was how you could hide for a couple hours here. She didn't really have a favorite place. It could've been home, but honestly the only person who helped her become the person she was had to be Hiccup. Her father was gone a lot- more than Stoick, at least until she had left for the Edge, her mom thought she needed to mature before entering war or she'd be killed. It's like Gail Hofferson didn't believe in her daughter. She certainly had a hard time believing that she was betrothed. She still thought that Astrid didn't like him, and after a while Astrid left before her mother's hash words could hurt her more. Growing up Finn Hofferson always made sure that she would try to give a good name back to the Hofferson's and even when she did it wasn't enough. She was still given the same amount of freedom as the others, but it was if her family didn't understand who she wanted to be.
"Yeah. This is where I actually met Toothless and our bond was formed. This is where I went on my first flight, and then we did most of our training on the far end of Berk. However, my favorite memory of this place is the day that Gothi said I was the one who was going to kill a dragon. You happened to be here and found out about Toothless that day. When you ran away we got you stuck up in a tree," Hiccup remembers.
"I thought you were trying to kill me that day. I kept asking myself, if he got the chance to kill the dragon then why is he trying to kill me? Is it the constantly putting an ax up to his face?" she laughs. She looks up to see a smile on his face.
"I could never be mad at you," he says.
"I think anyone can be mad at you, but it's hard to stay mad at you. Your father can't be mad at you for too long because you try so hard to make him proud, and the others look up to you and you promise to fix any of your mistakes. I look at you and I can't stay mad at you. I don't know why. It could be your face or the fact that I love you too much," she tells him.
"That's the first time you said it. After I said I love you on the Edge after giving your necklace back to you I was worried that you didn't," he responds.
"No, if I didn't then we wouldn't be betrothed. Dork," she teases before turning enough to kiss him on the cheek.
"Anyway, after we kidnapped you and Toothless forced you into an apology, we went on that romantic flight around Berk. Once we returned from Dragon Island you had wanted to tell Dad and then you understood why I didn't want to do that after I told you no. After that you punched me in the arm- hard I may add and then- and then you grabbed my shirt and kissed me on the cheek," he finishes.
"Yeah and after being unconscious for two weeks we shared our first kiss," she remembers. They sit in silence for a little while longer. What pulls them out of the spell they were under was a loud crack sound that echoes throughout the cove. It's then followed by a flash of lightning and rain.
Astrid scrambles to her feet and helps Hiccup up. They run to his house assuming the party was still going on.
"There you both are," Stoick says as they enter. He made sure to hide in the shadows so they wouldn't notice him.
"What in the world Dad?! You scared the crap out of us," Hiccup exclaims putting a hand to his chest hoping his heart stops beating so fast.
"Where did you go?" Stoick follows up sitting at the table.
"We were overwhelmed so we went to the cove," Hiccup informs his father.
"I should get going. See you tomorrow?" Astrid asks Hiccup.
"Yeah, of course. The only reason you wouldn't would be if I was unpacking or something," Hiccup responds.
"Okay," she simply states beginning to walk towards the door. He grabs her hand and kisses her on the cheek before allowing her to leave. He watches her leave and begins to miss her slightly.
"So," Stoick pipes up reminding his son he was still there.
"So, what?" Hiccup asks turning around to face his father. He notes the smile on his father's face. Something was definitely up.
"You were in the cove, and stayed there until it began to pour. Not long after you left the party ended and I noticed you were no longer in the Great Hall and neither was she. I assumed you walked her home and had gone home yourself, but the past half hour the only other creature that's been in the house with me has been Toothless and he's been asleep the entire time. Just wanted to know why you went to the cove," Stoick says as casually as possible.
"Because it was the only quiet place on Berk besides the Academy," Hiccup answers before walking towards the stairs.
"You chose well. I'm glad she makes you happy," Stoick says.
"I feel like this adult conversation isn't going to last long," Hiccup responds pausing on that first step.
"What do you mean?" Stoick asks.
"Never mind, I'm exhausted so I'm going to get some sleep," Hiccup announces continuing to walk up the stairs.
"Good night Son," Stoick responds.
"'Night Dad," Hiccup answers back. Once he enters his room he flops down on his bed ready for sleep. He doesn't even care his clothes are soaked when he closes his eyes finally feeling like he can relax. Suddenly he feels the presence of someone in his room with him, and it wasn't Toothless.
"Toothless," Hiccup whispers loud enough to wake the sleeping dragon. This made Toothless upset. First someone wakes him and tells him to go back to bed and then Hiccup was waking him. Hiccup reaches to grab his fire sword temporarily forgetting it was destroyed on Berserker Island. Something on his desk bites him.
"Hiccup!" a female voice gasps.
"Who's there?" he asks putting his injured finger to his mouth.
The figure moves making the girl visible. Her light red hair only half up in her ponytail, her breathing labored as if she had a couple broken ribs, cuts and bruises on her arms, and one arm was resting on her side. The thing that bit Hiccup lets out a small sound earning attention once again. He gives the small creature a quick glance noticing it appeared shiny.
"A- Atali?" he asks.
"Wing Maiden Island has been attacked. The man Krogan was working for is looking for the king of dragons and he began searching islands. Wing Maiden Island was the Island he started with. I had to let Ragna, the one who helped give the egg to someone trustworthy, know that the egg she has and king of dragons on Berserker Island were in danger. Her best friend promised to help protect the dragon and the egg. The Wing Maidens that are uninjured are on the island Ragna's friend lives. They're protecting the island and the egg. We have no where for the razor whips to go besides there and there could be trouble because they're territorial," Atali tells Hiccup in pain.
"Let me get you help," he says before running from his room and down the stairs. He doesn't stop when his dad asks where he's off to in such a hurry. He runs out the door and only stops when he almost collided with Astrid's front door. He knocks on the door until Gail Hofferson opens it.
"Hello Hiccup, what brings you here so late?" she asks calmly as possible, but also sounding slightly annoyed he was over so late.
"I need to tell Astrid something. It can't wait until tomorrow. It's important," he says still trying to regain his breathing.
"Astrid! Hiccup's here and he needs to tell you something!" Gail calls out to her daughter. Astrid walks down the stairs confused at what was going on.
"Hiccup, what's wrong?" she asks. It wasn't like him to do something like this.
"Wing Maiden Island was attacked. Atali is at my house now and I think she needs help," Hiccup informs her. Her worried look melts away and is replaced with a look of understanding.
"I'll be back," she tells her family running towards Hiccup's house. Her mother rolls her eyes as she closes the door. To her it was a far fetched story.
Of course Astrid didn't tell anyone in her family about her adventures, sure she wrote them down in letters each night, but she never sent those letters. She wasn't sure she should. She was worried her mother would be disappointed and think she was never returning. The same thing almost happened to her father. He was gone so often that she was constantly worried he was never returning.
The couple returns to Hiccup's house and past Stoick once more. The chief looks confused then after a second he thinks he's put two and two together.
Hiccup stumbles back into his room and kneels next to Atali.
"I brought Astrid to help you. I didn't tell her everything though," he tells Atali.
"Hiccup, what didn't you tell me?" she asks sitting on the floor right next to him.
"Krogan was working for someone looking for the king of dragons. He's searching the entire archipelago for this dragon. The person that knows that person who helped save egg left it on the island one of them are living on with the uninjured Wing Maidens. They're going to go and save the king of dragons from this guy," Hiccup tells her.
"Give me something to help Atali," Astrid tells Hiccup gently. He hurries to get up and practically ransacks his room looking for a first aid kit. After a few minutes he finds his first aid kit in one of the dozen of boxes throughout his bedroom. Hiccup paces his room while Astrid helps the leader of the Wing-Maidens, and he tries to come up with a plan to help his friends.
"Thank you for your help," Atali thanks the young couple.
"Not a problem. You've helped us plenty of times before," Hiccup answers absent mindedly.
"Hiccup, stop pacing," Astrid orders. The young man stops and looks at his betrothed helping Atali.
"Astrid, Hiccup seemed to fail to mention I told my friend Ragna about the dragon- the king of dragons, on Berserker Island," Atali says as Astrid finishes bandaging her side.
"We need to warn Heather. Otherwise she'll think it's attack," Astrid responds concerned once more with the situation.
"Ragna and this friend of hers were told to find Heather and inform her what they were doing and why," Atali informs the two.
"This was really thought out," Hiccup mumbles to himself.
"Yes, it was," Atali agrees.
"You need to rest. Hiccup and I will help you more in the morning. We'll gather the others and together all of us will come up with a plan to help Wing Maiden Island," Astrid tells Atali helping her up and onto Hiccup's bed.
"Thank you again," she says beginning to rest. Astrid turns to Hiccup and grabbing his hand she leads him towards the sleeping Night Fury and they fall asleep against the warm dragons. It may have bothered Toothless a bit, but it was freezing considering the fact that they were still soaked from the pouring rain.
Hiccup wakes up finding a thick blanket draped over him and Astrid. From what it sounded like the rain was letting up a bit. He watches her for a few seconds. She looked so peaceful sleeping. He kisses the top of her head before looking over to Atali to make sure she was okay. The baby Razor Whip, Wingnut, nestled by her head. He wanted to get up and clear his head, but the only thing stopping him was Astrid leaning against him using his chest as a pillow. He thinks back to when he was fourteen and how he had a crush on her. Many things stopped him from asking her out. The only time he'd even thought about this moment was in his wildest dreams. It makes him smile thinking about the past and how much it had changed. He sighs and pulls Astrid a tiny bit closer. He lets go of her when she stirs.
"Go back to sleep Hiccup," she mumbles.
"I can't. You go back to sleep, I'll be okay," he says quietly.
"I can't sleep if you're not," she responds.
"Would you hate me if I asked you if I could get up and take Toothless for a flight?" he whispers.
"Go back to sleep Hiccup," she orders him once more. He sighs in defeat. This was the first time in about five years he didn't fly Toothless at all. Sure, the the dragon needed rest, but he also needed his freedom. He needed to be in the sky.
"I need at least twenty minutes in the air," he tries convincing her.
"You're not going out in the rain," she argues. He knew he lost this fight and there was no more trying to argue with Astrid Hofferson. He closes his eyes and without even realizing it he falls asleep.
When he awakes he notices both Astrid and Toothless are gone. He sits up and notices even Atali is gone. After a few seconds he gets up and walks downstairs to see his dragon eating while the gang and Atali were downstairs talking.
"Hey," Tuff says to Hiccup before going back to pretending to be listening to the other's plans. He'd been listening for the past twenty minutes and for him it was a record. Astrid stops talking mid-sentence to turn to see he betrothed.
"Good morning," she tells him.
"You've missed a pretty good idea, and some boring plans," Ruffnut announces. Of course she was saying her idea was the best and the others had boring ideas. Her idea on how to save Wing Maiden Island from this lunatic involved blowing stuff up in which Tuff responded with "but it's such a great idea and maybe even the best!"
"We were discussing how to help Atali. We already said no explosives," Astrid assures Hiccup. Before he can answer there is a sharp knock at the door. Hiccup looks at the group and walks to the door to reveal Heather and two Wing Maidens. The look on their faces say something bad had happened.
"Oh no," Atali whispers.
"Heather, what happened?" Hiccup asks.
"So we all ended up taking the king of dragons to this safe haven for dragons. The friend of Atali's friend showed us the egg and we got to see it hatch. It was so cute! Only problem was that this guy Krogan was working for had men come and find us. The king of dragons had frozen a couple of these guys, but the other three managed to get away. They stole the baby dragon," Heather explains.
"We did the best we could Atali. Oh, hi Snotlout!" Minden adds.
"I've moved on Minden," Snotlout says putting his arm around Ruffnut. Deep down he was hoping to make her jealous, but he also liked the attention he was getting. He'd only seen Hiccup get this kind of attention.
"Astrid, when did this happen?" Heather asks in complete shock.
"How did you not see this happening at your own brother's wedding?" Astrid asks.
"Oh my Thor," she responds.
"From what my friend Ragna has told me, this man is a crazy lunatic who is doing who knows what to these dragons," Atali tells the group.
"Atali, if we want to save this dragon we need to meet Ragna and her friend. All of us-," Hiccup begins to say.
"I'm afraid that can't happen. Ragna told me her friend was going to trust you to protect the dragon if it was here on Berk. She made it clear that she didn't want to meet you," Atali inform Hiccup.
"Did this person give reason?" Hiccup asks.
"No, but you have to trust her. She wants people and Vikings to be at peace. Just like you do," she responds. She seemed so calm at the situation.
"Atali," Hiccup says.
"Hiccup, this dragon safe haven took at least a day and a half to get there without stopping and I'm at the point where I may have to stay here and terror mail Berserker Island so they know their chief isn't going to be back on time. I know that you want to save this dragon, but we won't win this fight," Heather explains firmly.
"Hiccup, what it sounds like is that we can just trust this Ragna woman and her friend," Astrid tells Hiccup putting a hand onto his shoulder.
"But what if he's as ruthless as Viggo and Ryker were?" Hiccup asks.
"How about this? When we come up with a plan to save this dragon and we get more information on the mad man about his plans and who he is, then and only then will we go after him," Heather bargains.
"Okay," he reluctantly agrees. He begins to feel defeated because all he wanted to do was save the dragons and everyone else was telling him that he couldn't. Granted it could get him killed, but he couldn't stand even the mere thought of someone hurting dragons.
"We'll help these dragons Hiccup. It's just going to take some time," Astrid reassures him. The look on her face said she'd be by his side the entire time, and would help free these dragons with him.
"Should we give you both a moment?" Heather teases.
"No need for that. So, Heather, if you want you can stay over at my house tonight. Atali, I think it'd be best if you saw our healer, Gothi. That way if you have more serious injuries then she could help," Astrid says.
"Awesome. After moving away from the Edge, and helping with the king of dragon, who's awesome and enormous by the way, Windshear could use some rest. I may not even get to go home tomorrow. Depends on how she feels," Heather explains.
"Stormfly has been resting since we got back," Astrid laughs.
The group leaves Hiccup's house leaving the two lovers alone. Heather had even walked with Fishlegs as he brought Atali to Gothi's.
"I like how we keep being left alone together," Hiccup announces half sarcastically.
"How much longer did you stay awake?" Astrid asks out of both concern and curiosity.
"I dunno. Not much longer I'm sure," he answers. He walks over to her and wraps his hands around her waist, his head resting on her shoulder.
"Why did you want to get up so early to go flying?" she questions him.
"I think about things more clearly when I'm flying," he reminds her.
"You don't need to think at that time in the morning. You need to be sleeping instead," she tells him.
"You're bossy," he informs him.
"If I wasn't you've been dead a few years ago. It also means I love you," she responds.
"I love you too," he tells her. She smiles and turns to kiss him. The kiss doesn't last as long as either of them wish it would've because of Toothless.
"I thought you made a tail so he fly on his own," Astrid asks.
"That tail I spent about six to eight hours working on? It took him less then five minutes to destroy completely," he says. His lips still near hers.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot that. He's just so needy," she complains.
"Wanna come with us on our ride, M'lady?" Hiccup asks Astrid slowly moving away from her and towards the Night Fury waiting to stretch his wings once more.
"You didn't even need to ask," she says smiling. They fly over the island of Berk reminiscing the days when they were younger and he had taking her flying for the first time. The day that they fell in love. It was both of their favorite day ever. They both knew there were more days like that to come and it made them both fall in love with the other all over again.
Finally, it seemed like peace had fallen over the archipelago once more.