Newly Weds
*Dagur's Point of View*
The week had gone by fairly painlessly. There were only three major mishaps, which according to Valka, is a major success for being chief for a week. I had also completed a project of my own that week. With some help from a few other Berkians, I had built myself a simple home. It was small, just the right size for one person. It did have an extra bedroom, though, in case Heather ever decided to come for a visit, even though I was sure she would stay with Fishlegs.
I was getting a bit antsy to see if Hiccup felt the same way when he got back.
The day they came back was quite an event in the village. Everyone went to town that day, hoping to see the newlyweds after they arrived. But Fishlegs, Snotlout, the twins, Eret, Valka, Gobber, and myself all knew they wouldn't be going through town. Hiccup had told us they didn't want to be the center of attention right when they got back. Instead, they would be going to their house. So all of us inner circle vikings waited patiently at the house.
Gobber and Fishlegs had cleaned up the place for them, while Valka and Snotlout had carefully put away all their wedding presents. The twins had wanted to dig a boar pit, but I had given them a firm "no" and they decided to plant some flower bushes instead, which they didn't do without quite a bit of complaining. The bushes were Valka's suggestion. In addition to that, Eret had used his position as head fisherman to stock their icebox full. Hiccup and Astrid's home was all put together and waiting for them to get back.
"I thought they'd be back by now," Fishlegs said. He was sitting on the steps in front of the house.
"Give them time, Fishlegs, it is their honeymoon after all," Valka reminded him from her perch on the fence.
"Yeah they probably wanted to get one more round in, if ya know what I mean," Snotlout said suggestively.
"Snot, how could we not know what you meant by that?" Ruffnut complained.
I chuckled and turned to look down the path the young couple was supposedly taking.
"They'll be here," I said calmly.
"Aye, Dagur is right. They said they would be back today, so they will be back today. The laddie wouldn't leave us here to wonder," Gobber agreed with me. He lifted his good hand to gesture in agreement towards me.
"Unless…" Ruffnut started, turning to look at her brother.
"You are right, sister nut, unless something drastic has happened!" Tuffnut yelled dramatically.
He stepped in front of everybody. "I think it is time we honor the memory of our beloved Hiccup and Astrid. They were so young, taken far too soon from this world!" he sobbed without actually crying, falling to the ground and raising his hands to the sky.
"Why? I ask the gods, why?!" he yelled.
Ruffnut got down next to him and started joining him in his antics.
I just rolled my eyes and shook my head.
"Why hath thou taken our chief and chieftess?! They still had so many beautiful children to make!" Ruffnut cried out.
"Or they could be right there," Eret said, pointing down the path.
We saw two horses approaching rapidly. I smiled when I saw that mop of auburn hair atop one of the riders.
I lifted my hand up to wave hello.
The twins, however, remained on the ground. "Oh, gods! It is their ghosts! Returning to haunt our little town until we have helped them solve all their unfinished business!" Tuffnut wailed.
"Oh, the horror!" Ruffnut yelled, looking up at the sky.
Hiccup and Astrid rode up to the front yard and stopped. Hiccup jumped down first then ran over to help Astrid down, not that she needed help, he was just being a gentleman.
"What are they going on about?" was the first thing out of the chief's mouth.
"Don't worry about it, but if they refer to you as ghosts for a few days, just ignore it," I suggested, approaching him to hug him.
Hiccup looked confused but shook his head as if to clear the twins from his mind. He smiled and hugged me.
"How'd you handle everything, brother?" he asked.
"Oh, just fine! Only three major mishaps!" I told him, leaving my arm across his shoulders.
He chuckled. "Well, that is probably better than I could have done," he laughed.
Astrid quickly stepped over to Valka and Gobber, while the other men approached me and Hiccup.
"So, how was it?" Snotlout asked.
"The trip was great! You guys should see this waterfall we found. Fishlegs, I am pretty sure we found a new plant species!" Hiccup responded. Fishlegs squealed in excitement and was about to ask questions when he was interrupted by Snotlout.
"Uh, no, that is not what I meant! I meant, how was IT?" He said, putting extra emphasis on "it."
Hiccup blushed and got all flustered.
I glared over at Snotlout. "Snot…" I warned.
Snotlout grinned guiltily and slowly backed out of my reach.
"Ignore him, H. Tell me about the plants!" Fishlegs said excitedly. Hiccup gladly obliged and began geeking out with the bigger viking.
I left and went over to say hi to Astrid.
She smiled when she saw me and held her arms out to hug me.
"Hey, 'strid!" I said, hugging her.
"Hey yourself! How was being chief for a week?" she asked.
"Only three major mishaps," I responded proudly.
"Wow! That's impressive!" she congratulated me.
Three may sound like a lot, but these are vikings we are talking about. They are at least ten times harder to keep alive than any other human being.
"How was your week, sister?" I asked.
She grinned "I am sister now?" she asked.
"Well, you are my brother's wife now, so I figured I would promote you," I said teasingly.
She laughed and shook her head at me. "Well, my week was fantastic. It was so nice to just get away from everything and everyone for a whole seven days. It was really nice to be able to get some alone time with Hiccup. We don't get that very often here," she said in answer to my previous question.
"Well I am glad you two got to do that," I responded. She smiled at me.
"I wish Heather could have stayed! Have you heard from her?" Astrid asked.
"No, but when you hear from her, you will be getting some juicy new information," I responded.
Astrid raised her eyebrows. "Oh? Tell me more!"
"Nope, promised her I wouldn't tell a soul," I responded, moving my fingers across my lips as if to lock them shut.
"Not fair!" she protested, shoving me slightly.
"You will know soon enough! I am sure Heather wrote a letter as soon as she got home," I reassured the golden-haired warrior.
She sighed. "I refuse to accept defeat," she told me, pointing her finger at me.
"Well, you'll just have to this time," I replied.
I was glad Hiccup approached before she could beat me up. He walked over, wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed her cheek. She blushed slightly and leaned into him.
"This isn't over, Berserker," she said.
"Oh, I know," I responded.
We both laughed.
"Have you had a look inside yet, lass?" Gobber asked.
Astrid looked towards him, still entrapped in Hiccup's embrace.
"No, what did you guys do?" she asked nervously, as if we had destroyed the inside.
"Oh, don't worry, lass. It is good! We put everythin' away for ya and cleaned it up a bit," Gobber responded proudly.
The young couple smiled wide. "That's so sweet, guys! You didn't have to do that!" Hiccup thanked us.
"Don't worry about it, son. We wanted you both to have a great welcome home," Valka said.
"Uh, guys?" Snotlout said.
"What is it Snotface?" I asked.
"The twins are, uh, doing some kind of dance and chant now…" he said, nervously glancing back at them.
And sure enough, the twins were doing some strange dance that circled around chicken, who was sitting there as if nothing strange was happening.
"Hey, Ruff, Tuff!" Hiccup called out to be heard over their unusual song. Tuffnut gasped.
"He has spoken to us!" He exclaimed.
"What does thou wish for us to do, oh ghostly chief?" Ruffnut said, kneeling to the ground. Her brother followed in suit.
"I want you to knock this weird ghost nonsense off! Astrid and I are very much alive!" Hiccup ordered.
"Brother nut, it is worse than we thought!" Ruff said, turning towards her twin.
"I am afraid it is, sister nut. The ghosts are in denial of their own death!" he exclaimed.
Astrid rolled her eyes and marched over to them, raising her hand and punching Tuffnut's arm as hard as she could.
"Ow! Sister, I do not think they are ghosts anymore!" Tuffnut cried out.
"Way to kill all the fun, Astrid. I much preferred you as a ghost," Ruffnut said. She helped Tuffnut up and they turned on their heels, walking away towards their houses.
"Well… That was… Weird," Hiccup said slowly.
I nodded in agreement. The sun had begun to set on the horizon.
"Okay, well I am glad you two are back, but I have to head out and get some sleep. I will see you in the morning, brother," I said. I began walking away, waving behind me.
"By, Dagur. I'll meet you at the forge tomorrow morning," Hiccup responded.
On my way back to my place, which was fairly close to the Great Hall, I heard my name being called almost frantically. I turned to see who was calling me and saw Mulch running towards me, waving a piece of paper in the air.
"I have a letter for you, Dagur," he called out. I smiled and met him halfway.
"From Heather?" I asked excitedly.
"Aye, sir," he responded, handing the rolled up piece of paper to me. I took it and thanked him before turning to rush home.
I opened the letter as soon as I shut the door behind me.
My eyes went from word to word on the page.
"What?" I muttered, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"Mom is back?"
