TF2 Disclaimer Mini-Series, 1 out of 5: Worth the Weight
Heavy: "Pootis claimer here! Rift-Raft. IHHS. Echoed Songs. Is good."
Standard Disclaimer: This fic is based on the world created by IHHS. It is not the official sequel; you can find Echoed Songs, the actual sequel, on Rift-Raft's account. Links are provided on my profile page.
"Keep a stiff upper lip."
The first thing I noticed was the scent of firewood being burned on a chilly autumn evening. It was so strong that I would have sworn Toothless' scales were being shoved up my nostrils if I weren't still half-asleep and too tired to think yet. Eyes still closed, I groaned as I pressed myself further into the warm belly below me; soon after, I realized I could smell many other things from my room when my movement stirred the wing covering me. The worn wood from all the walls was strongest, followed by the familiar scents of metal and leather. If I concentrated hard enough, I could even catch traces of the ink on my desk.
Forcing my eyes open to make sure I wasn't dreaming, I met the gaze of two very large, light-green eyes that were looking at me expectantly, followed by a huff of warm air.
They widened when they met mine and their owner gave me a big, toothless smile. "Finally!" Lifting his wing to let in what little light there was at this hour and removing his hind leg from where it was resting (i.e. over my waist), Toothless began pushing me to my feet to wake me up. "No time for _ _ _, it's almost dawn!"
Making a mental note to remember that particular grunt means 'laziness', I reached over to where I had left my metal leg and strapped it on, looking over at the insistent dragon with half-closed eyes. "Why am I getting up this early again?" I grumbled out, my mind still hazy with sleep.
"Flying!" Toothless chirped, nudging me to go faster with the tip of his nose.
I bolted upright as I remembered the promise I had made to him, quickly followed by other important details that instantly removed the sleep from my body (and considering how tiring yesterday was, that's saying something).
I prepared for the day as fast as my body would let me, racing back and forth in my room, gathering my flying outfit and quickly changing into it while I turned to a large pack-sack in the back corner. I picked it up and filled it with everything I would need on the trip: clothes, a small amount of money, my dagger, some preserved food (which smelled much stronger than usual, but, rushed as I was, I hardly noticed), and just in case, a bottle of ink, a quill, a pencil, and a piece of parchment. Being the chief's son does have some perks, I guess, and first pick at Johann's is one of them. Well, was one of them. I'm not sure if that'll still be a thing, after all that happened.
Oh well, I thought, too excited to care. I tied the sack shut very tightly, then loaded it onto Toothless' saddle before jumping on myself. When Toothless opened the door to my room, I pulled out the note I had prepared last night, attaching it to the wood with my extra dagger.
Barely patient enough to let me do this, Toothless gave a quick shake of his rump when I finished and rushed down the steps and out the front door (which I had taught him how to open after the first two times he broke it), closing it with his tail before leaping into the air and catching a large breeze.
My metal leg matched every movement he made.
A loud knock on the front door put me on high alert, making me jump from my bed and reach for the hammer on the front table.
It wasn't until my hand grasped at thin air that I remembered about the raids being over. Releasing a heavy sigh, I stood up and tried to shake off the lifetime's worth of instincts that were telling me to rush outside and hit something. Two months of peace and a year of raidless nights have helped, but I guess there are some things that I won't be able to change. Hopefully they won't cause any more problems than they already have.
Bucket's high-pitched voice reminded me why I was even up at this hour in the first place. "Chief, it's almost dawn! You told me last night to wake you up early!" His voice rose even more in sudden dread. "Were you lyin' to me?"
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at his… innocence. Instead I settled for the voice I usually save for children. I've found it works wonders on him. "No, Bucket, I wasn't lying to you. I'll be out in a minute. Thank you for waking me up." I paused as I got an idea, then spoke through the door after I'd hashed it out. "Now if you don't mind, I have something else I need you to do. It's very important."
I heard him give a small jump behind the door. "Oh! What is it?" he asked giddily.
It was hard not to smile at the enthusiasm in his voice, so I went ahead and did it. It's not like anybody would see. "I need you to get your things together, go down to the ship, and get it ready for launch. You think you can do that for me?"
"Of course!" he exclaimed, happy that he could help.
When I heard his footsteps retreating from the door, I felt my smile widen. Now we should be ready to sail before sunrise, even though we don't needing to be. A good chief knows how to get the best out of his men, no matter who they are.
Walking over to the pantry and grabbing a handful of food out of the small cupboard, I turned to the dresser for my chainmail. I didn't realize I was already wearing it until I'd spent a few minutes turning the drawers inside out. My relief dissolved and I almost fell over when I heard a voice behind me.
"Stoick, can you please stop wearin' your chiefing clothes to bed? I know you had to get up early, but this is ridiculous!"
It was so real that I turned around right away, desperately searching for her. The disappointment didn't hit me as hard as it used to. I sighed as Val's reprimanding voice from all those years ago slowly faded away, trying not to think of the sickness that spread through the village a few months later. If I concentrate hard enough, I can still see her dark brown hair, her beautiful face, those light blue eyes…
NO! I told myself. You'll only make it worse. Best to focus on the present.
My smile came back when I let my thoughts wander to my son. We did well with this one, Val. I promise I won't let anything else happen to him.
With a laugh, I suddenly remembered someone else who's probably thinking the exact same thing. Or Toothless, I added.
"And speaking of Toothless…"
I slowly climbed the steps to my son's room and eased the door open, careful to be as quiet and non-threatening as I could manage. It's a good thing Hiccup and Fishlegs taught me the ins and outs of 'dragon behavior'. It took eight weeks (the first three I spent just trying to keep from attacking on instinct), but I think I'm finally getting a handle on it. If you don't spook 'em, dragons are as friendly as any pet. When they're not blasting fire at you, the beasts are like giant, scaly dogs.
Of course, Toothless is the exception. He reminds me more of a cat, and I've always had trouble with those bipolar fur-balls. One minute they're perfectly happy, the next they're trying to claw your eyes out. It doesn't help that he's twice my size and could rip my head off in a second if he wanted to.
Glancing around the dimly lit room, I could just make out the already-made bed (which didn't look like it was slept in at all) and the empty corner that a certain overprotective dragon usually leaps from whenever I come here in the morning. First I took a few cautious steps in, then I slowly began crossing the room just to make sure it was what it looked like.
Resisting a surge of anger when I found the place empty, I searched for any clues to distract me from my temper. I let out a relieved sigh when I noticed the pack-sack was missing from where I put it last night. After a short inspection of his room to make sure that Hiccup hadn't just taken it with him without filling it first, I gave a short nod when I found his dresser empty, and walked over to his desk and lit the candle resting there to shed some light. I caught a glint of metal from the corner of my eye, and sighed when I did. There was a dagger freshly stuck in the wood, holding up the piece of paper to the back of his door.
I walked over, ripping the paper from its place and bringing it back to the candle. It was almost bright enough outside to read, but the sun was still below the horizon. In the orange light, I could easily make out the carefully-written charcoal runes. After shaking off a pang of guilt at seeing the handwriting, I read over the short letter.
Out flying. I'll be at the ship at dawn.
-Hiccup
I felt my eyes narrow in confusion, an old shadow of fear nipping at the edge of my mind until I remembered the talk of the town yesterday. I wasn't sure if it was true at first, but now I'm certain it was. And still is.
Extinguishing the candle between my fingertips, I let out another sigh before leaving the room so I could prepare my own sack. "Best not to think about it," I told myself, throwing the supplies over my shoulder and remembering how responsible Hiccup can be when he's not trying to prove himself as a Viking (which, thank the Gods, he doesn't do anymore).
I took one last look at the empty living room to see if I was forgetting anything, nodding and starting to turn around when another glint caught my eye. This one was above the dresser, and it stopped me in my tracks. Bolting over and grabbing the metal, I felt a surge of emotion when I saw how I had completely forgotten about it. Muttering a curse under my breath, I shoved it into my sack, stepping outside and making my way through the village quick as I could.
Berk has always been quiet at this hour, at least ever since the raids ended. With only a few people beginning their day and the watch guards making their final rounds of the night with extinguished torches, it's just about as calm as it can get. The dragons were quiet too; there were many sleeping in the square, but not a single scale was moving – not until a Nadder swooped in and landed with unsettling silence on an empty patch of dirt.
I didn't recognize it until I saw the rider jump from its back.
"Astrid?" I wasn't expecting the wave of curiosity to hit me as hard as it did. I hadn't really kept up with that bullheaded group of teens ever since Hiccup came back, busy as I've been with keeping the peace between Berk's new and old residents. Well, except Fishlegs, who's been almost as helpful with the dragons as Hiccup. Taking a look at the sky, I nodded when I saw how much time we had before dawn, deciding that now would be the perfect time to learn what they've been up to. I spoke just a tad louder this time so she could hear me. "Why are you up at this hour?"
"C-chief!" she stammered, probably caught off guard by my sudden appearance.
I'll have to remember to tell Gobber that her situational awareness needs touching up. I pressed her a little more than usual, my curiosity getting the better of me. "Well?"
Regaining her composure very quickly, she easily met my gaze as she answered. "I always get up at this hour! Pre-dawn is the perfect time for training."
I raised an eyebrow, not seeing any weapons on her other than the skinning-knife strapped to her thigh. "Is that what you were doing?"
She nodded. "Yes. I was practicing mid-air rescue maneuvers with Stormfly."
Her dragon perked up when the lass said its name, nudging its rider with a happy chirp. It jumped right along with me and Astrid at the angry grunts it got from the slumbering dragons nearby.
I gestured for Astrid to follow me before walking in the direction of the docks. A grumpy dragon is almost worse than a grumpy Viking, after all, so I was careful to keep my voice low when I spoke again. "So you've been training with your dragon? Is that all Gobber's been having you do?"
Astrid looked at me in confusion before shaking her head. "Gobber hasn't been having us do anything lately. He's been too busy keeping up with all the repairs. I decided to do this on my own."
Making a mental note to talk to Gobber later, I pressed on. "And what about the others? Are they 'training' with their dragons, too?"
She sighed. "I guess. In their own way. We all practice flying, but beyond that you'd have to ask them."
I didn't have that kind of time. "Give me the short version."
She shrugged before counting off on her fingers, starting with her index. "I know Fishlegs is mostly doing research on all the dragons, especially his Gronckle. The first thing he did was teach it how to understand Norse. Meatlug picked up on it way faster than I thought she would when a really old Gronckle came by and helped. Other than that, the last time I saw him he was feeding her a bunch of rocks and taking notes on the lava that came out. He said something about 'different metals' when I asked him about it."
We had reached the cliff above the docks at this point, and began slowly making our way down the planks.
Now she was on her middle finger. "I don't think Snotlout does much other than fly around as fast as he can, shouting at people and telling Hookfang to fire at things. I'm not sure how productive he's been, but he seems happy enough, and he tries to keep the damage to a minimum."
We were a quarter of the way down the docks now, Bucket's bucket clear as day on board the deck of a readied ship. I grinned when I saw him smile and wave; I gave a small wave back.
Astrid didn't notice, moving on to her ring and pinky. "The twins… ugh," she rolled her eyes. "I don't even want to know what they've been up to. I saw Barf drench them in gas before they jumped into the ocean and told Belch to try and blow them up."
I chuckled. "At least they learned their lesson about collateral damage the first time around." I've been playing my hand at jokes these last couple of weeks, and I think I've finally got it down. The key is timing, and making sure it's not forced.
I felt a small smile of satisfaction on my lips at Astrid's light chuckle. "Yeah, I think giving them the task of housebreaking Berk's entire dragon population was a good idea. Tuff even seemed like he was enjoying himself by the end of it, but with the way Ruff was acting, I don't think they'll be making that mistake again."
This time it was my turn to give another small chuckle, just now noticing the irony of the two most comedically-challenged Vikings on Berk making decent jokes. We were halfway down the cliff when I began again. "So, what have you been up to this last couple of months? You said something about rescue maneuvers…"
"Oh!" she cut me off, clearly excited to tell her chief all about her latest exploits. One thing I always admired about this lass was her loyalty (which took a big beating last year, but she's done well to mend it since). "I've been practicing as many different flight patterns and useful tricks as I can. One of the first things I learned was that flying is just as dangerous as it is fun, so Stormfly and I practice test-falls and mid-air rescues more than anything else."
I almost tripped over a plank when she described her training routine. "Wait, you fall off your dragon on purpose?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Well, it's not like I have a saddle like Hiccup. And if I don't practice as much as I can over the ocean, I'll be in even more trouble if it happens anywhere else."
I thought for a moment before I had another good idea. "You should have Gobber make you one."
Astrid stopped dead in her tracks, mouth gaping as if I had just told her she could have a new axe for Snoggletog. "What?"
I nodded. "You heard me. When we get back, ask Gobber to make you and your friends some saddles." I paused when I thought of something even better. "Actually, you should ask Hiccup to do it. I'm sure he'll give you a discount, and it sounds like he's already got the experience."
The happy lass rushed back to my side when she came to her senses, bouncing with excitement. "You'd really let us do that?"
I shrugged. "I don't see why not, so long as you pay for it. The materials that we're using to fix up the other tribes' equipment used to be what we used to fix our own stuff during the raids, so anything extra should be up for sale as usual." I gave a small nod, satisfied with the way things are turning out. We may still be recovering, but if I play my cards right, Berk should be able to make a good comeback this year. I turned my attention back to the lass' dragon training. "So, what else have you been doing, besides falling off your dragon?"
"You make it sound like that's all I do," she deadpanned.
I raised my eyebrow. "Well, you haven't told me about anything else."
She rolled her eyes and continued. "I try to cover all my bases. We've practiced speed, stealth, stamina conservation, evasive action, accuracy with spikes and flames, defensive, offensive, and passive attack patterns, and just recently I started looking into dragon magic."
I felt my heart skip a beat at that last remark, stopping and turning to Astrid and snapping at her all at once. "Of all the irresponsible-! You know how dangerous that is! I want you to stay away from that devil's work! I thought you of all people wouldn't be so reckless!"
Astrid recoiled, but held her ground. "I am not being reckless! If I don't learn what dragon magic can and can't do, it'll be like asking history to repeat itself! I don't want to be ignorant and helpless like the last time. Besides, from what little Hiccup has told me, the only dragons in the area that can do – well, you know, that – are Night Furies, and it'll leave them drained for weeks if they do. Ever since the Queen died, Toothless has been the only dragon that can do anything to humans with magic, and I don't think he'll ever be doing that again."
By the time she was finished, I could only stare, stunned by her strong refusal of her chief's orders. It lasted a bit longer when I thought about what she said, realizing that she was right on all accounts. I'd forgotten about how cautious and thorough she's always been, even back in the day… not to mention how the others still follow her around, despite everything. A small part of my mind was telling me to look into this, but a glance at the almost-visible sun forced me ignored it.
If we didn't use our chance to learn more now, we could be faced with something terrible happening once again, like she said. I let out a heavy sigh before speaking, as serious and firm as a pine's roots in a storm, as every chief should be. "Alright. But only on three conditions."
Astrid nodding, almost as firm and just as serious. "Fine."
"Number One: You must report anything important immediately."
She replied evenly. "Okay."
"Number Two: Work with Fishlegs. Have him record everything you discover in his copy of the Book of Dragons. Once you're done, I'll hold a small meeting to decide what to add to the official book."
"Okay."
"Number Three: Don't start until we get back."
She tilted her head. "Why?"
"If you're going to be studying dragon magic, I think you should ask the only expert we have about it first. That means you don't start until Hiccup is here and ready to give you any warnings you might need."
We were just approaching the ship, Nadder still in tow when all was said and done.
Astrid nodded. "Fair enough. I'll tell Fishlegs at breakfast. He should be excited about it." She hopped onto her dragon, but didn't take off right away. "Anything else?"
"Actually, yes," I said, just remembering an important detail that I'd overlooked until now. "I need you to run the evacuation drill this Thorsday." Ever since an entire nest's worth of dragons took up residence in Berk, we've had to train them to hide themselves in the forests on the other side of the island in case any unexpected visitors arrived. "It'll be good practice for everyone on Berk to get a feel for it without Hiccup's guidance. They almost got it right the last time I saw Hiccup lead 'em, so have them run it all afternoon if you have to, just make sure they get it down once and for all."
She nodded a final time. "Will do!"
The Nadder leapt into the sky, more graceful than most I've seen in its flight back to the village. Must be the girl's influence.
"Well, now I'm glad you're takin' me on this little trip. I'd hate to be anywhere near that lassie come Thorsday." Gobber's banter stole my attention away from the retreating dragon rider.
"And why's that?" I asked, trying to keep a smile from reaching my lips.
Gobber pointed in the direction Astrid had disappeared with his hook hand. "That lass is a perfectionist! And a workaholic. I wouldn't be surprised if we came back to hear she had those dragons flyin' to the forest and back till dawn the next day!" He shuddered at the idea of missing an entire night's sleep.
I chuckled a bit at the thought. "Well, all the better that they get it down before we get back."
He shuddered again. "You try tellin' the beasts that! I don't think anyone but Hiccup could get away with somethin' like that and still have their head on their shoulders." He rubbed the back of his neck as if it would pop off right then and there.
I raised an eyebrow. Maybe I should have put more thought into this. Or maybe… of course. It is Gobber I'm talking to. But just to be sure…
"Well then I better cancel the drills for this week."
I smiled when Gobber waved his hand in front of him. "Oooh I'm just messin' with you. If anyone besides Hiccup can handle 'em, it's her. And speakin' of Hiccup…" he trailed off, looking behind me to make sure he wasn't mistaken. "Where is he? I thought he'd be showin' up with you."
As if on cue, a shadow passed overhead before a light thump shook the wooden planks of the dock. I hadn't even turned around before I heard his voice.
"Am I late?"
"Right on time, actually!" Gobber said after taking a glance at the now-visible sun. "Are you goin' to be wearin' that to the gather?"
He rolled his eyes. "Oh yes, I was planning on wearing this flying harness the entire time! I even made four extras so we could match!"
Chuckling, Gobber turned around and stepped onto the deck, now waving his hand behind him. "Alright, alright, I was just makin' sure you brought enough to spare, is all."
I looked at my son nervously. "You do have your normal clothes, right?"
Hiccup laughed before giving me what he probably thought was a reassuring smile, but was a bit too similar to one he would give before getting one of those ideas. "Yes, Dad. I have everything I'll need." At Toothless' insistent grumbling, he added "Okay, almost everything."
I sighed in relief. "Well if you're sure. Come on then, we have to set sail," I said as I turned back to the ship and walked up the gangplank. I didn't hear his footsteps behind me.
"I'll just be a minute."
Sending a quick glance over my shoulder, I boarded the ship and told the crew to prepare for launch, providing what little privacy I could for my son. It was the least I could do.
