There was little that could be salvaged from the smouldering remains of what had, until hours ago, been Hiccup's home. He'd rescued a handful of books that were only mildly singed, and his father's belt, but the vast majority of his belongings were ash now. He placed the saved items carefully into a satchel that Astrid had sourced for him earlier, slung it over his shoulder, and then just stood for a while, looking at the charred mounds of broken wood.

Hiccup thought he should feel more bereft than he did. Maybe those emotions would come later. Right now he just felt... well, for lack of a better word, released.

He certainly had a great deal of happy memories that were associated with it but….he had spent so much of his life finding ways to escape that house.

And then it had just been his, and that was a million times worse.

It was strange, though, knowing that it wouldn't be rebuilt.

He wondered what his Father would have thought of them leaving.

"You spoke well, son."

Hiccup jumped; his mother had walked up to him so silently he hadn't heard her approach. She frowned slightly. "I've interrupted your thoughts, haven't I?"

"N-no no, it's fine. And thank you."

She glanced at the ruined building, putting a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. But Valka said nothing; she simply stood with him. Eventually Toothless decided he wanted in on the moment, and ducked under Hiccup's other arm, warbling conversationally at his friend and nudging his side. Both mother and son chuckled, breaking the silence.

"You're packed already?"

Valka nodded, letting her hand drop. "I don't have much I need to take with me."

Hiccup gestured to his destroyed house. "Me neither," he said wryly.

Her eyes softened, but she offered no words of condolence. In a way, Hiccup was kind of glad she didn't; he wasn't sure that he wanted them. Instead, she said "I thought Cloudjumper and I could rally some of the riderless dragons together to carry some ships. For the sheep."

"Good idea."

"…would you like to join us?"

Hiccup turned to look out over the village. Every possible lantern and fire was lit, illuminating the buildings of Berk enough that even from this distance, Hiccup could see the people ducking in and out of them. Though far more subdued, it sort of reminded him of the late night raids that had been the norm until six years ago. Which in turn reminded him of Stoick. He turned back to face Valka and shook his head, almost apologetically. "I think I'll stay up here a little bit longer."

Valka smoothed down a patch of Hiccup's unruly mop of hair with a gentle smile. "Alright." If she was disappointed, then she was doing an excellent job of hiding it. She gave Toothless a scratch under his chin, adding a soft "I'll see you both later." With one final pat of Hiccup's arm, she set off down the hill, leaving the pair alone again.

Toothless took Valka's departure as an invitation to examine the wreckage for himself. Hiccup absentmindedly watched the Night Fury snuffle around in the ash, memories of all that had transpired in this house flickering like candlelight through his head.

He was vaguely aware of Toothless digging into one of the mounds of blackened debris. He didn't think much of it until the dragon stuck his head into it, and re-emerged looking mightily pleased with himself, something small clenched in his teeth.

"Whatcha got there, bud?"

Toothless padded over, and plopped whatever he had in his mouth into Hiccup's outstretched hand, along with an ample amount of dragon slobber. "Ugh Toothless: you're gross, you know that right?" he said, the fondness in his tone undermining his words. He shook his hand forcefully to rid it – and the object – of the gelatinous substance.

And a breath caught in his throat.

It was a tad burnt, but had mostly survived the fire unscathed; one of the little wooden ducks that his father had whittled for Hiccup when he was a toddler.

Toothless smiled gummily up at Hiccup, who hugged his friend's head tightly. "Thank you," he murmured, his voice thick.

He slipped the duck into a pouch on his belt, and took one last look at the remnants of his home. Then, with a determined gleam in his eye and a hopeful smile tugging up the corners of his mouth, Hiccup said. "C'mon bud, we've got work to do."

Together they left the ruins behind, to go and help in the exodus preparations.