Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD

A/N: There should be one more chapter after this to wrap up the loose ends ;)

Chapter Eleven – Picking up the Pieces

To the victor goes the spoils. Stoick held to this truth of war, and followed up his son's order to search the enemy fleet for survivors with an order to retrieve the bodies of the fallen and bring the salvageable vessels back to Berk. They would take the cargo on board and share it between the tribes; after checking thoroughly for any unwanted surprises. He had no patience for cowardly tactics.

Stoick was extremely proud of his son. Hiccup won the battle not through might; that was only what he used to command their attention whilst he talked his enemy down. Never expected that, Stoick mused, looking over at where Adulfr had been locked in a cage with that pet wolf of his. He was stroking her with one hand – his only hand – and pointedly ignoring everyone else.

Well, that was fine with the former chief, so long as he didn't try to cause any more trouble. Stoick remembered Gobber, and had to bite back a curse, or perhaps a prayer. His oldest friend was dead because of that man; but Gobber was also Hiccup's mentor, and if his son could find it in himself to show Adulfr mercy, how could Stoick do anything less? He trusted Hiccup to have a plan.

For now, he would lead in Hiccup and Astrid's absence – Valka had flown on to check on them and the new baby. Stoick was grateful to the Norns for not taking her too, and they were going to have words about her putting herself at risk like that. It wasn't as if either of them were getting any younger, after all.

Along with all the frozen hunters – those Speed Stingers had certainly been busy – there were a lot of thralls below the decks. Stoick walked into the galley of Adulfr's ship to find the cooks (who were all women, and the implication galled him) and thralls huddled there, looking terrified. "The battle is over" he announced, "your leader has surrendered, and we are taking prisoners."

That was probably a bad choice of words, because several of them let out hastily muffled sobs. Stoick sighed. "Sorry. I mean we're taking the hunters and knights prisoner. Not all of you" he explained. "Let me introduce myself; Stoick the Vast, retired chief of the Hooligan tribe. Father of the Dragon Whisperer." He couldn't resist that bit, and suppressed the urge to grin at their expressions.

One of the thralls, tall and thin as Hiccup but with brown hair, stepped towards Stoick cautiously. "If…if what you say is true, then you have the right to take us as your own thralls, as the spoils of conquest. So I will do as you wish, Master" he declared, dropping to one knee and bowing his head. Stoick stared at him, appalled. It got worse when the other thralls started kneeling as well.

Shaking his head, Stoick reached down and pulled the younger man to his feet. "We don't keep thralls" he insisted, and the man's eyes widened in disbelief. "Here's what's going to happen. We're locking up the hunters, knights and the dragons they used to attack us. Then our dragons are going to carry the ships back home, where we'll have the frelsis-öl and welcome you as tribesmates." (1)

He smiled disarmingly and added, "If you decide to stay, that is. It's fine if not. What's your name?" Stoick inquired of the paled, soon-to-be-former thrall.

"Uh…S-Sigurd, sir. I….I'm the Admiral's personal servant" the man explained.

"Oh, believe me, he's not an 'Admiral' anymore. He is not your master, either. You were right about one thing; as the victors, we can take you, and we can free you as well. Now you'd best come out on deck so we can have everyone accounted for; and you'll get to enjoy the view. What's the matter?" Stoick asked, seeing that Sigurd – and the rest of them – looked very nervous.

"It…it's just…your dragons aren't going to…to eat us, a-are they, sir?"

Stoick couldn't help but laugh. "Perish the thought! Unless you're secretly a fish disguised as a man, they won't have the slightest bit of interest in eating you. Come! There's nothing to be afraid of, I promise" he tried to assure them.

Sigurd bowed deeply and replied, "Yes, sir, we'll come out on deck if you wish."

Biting back a sigh, Stoick turned and led them up towards the deck. He couldn't blame them for being twitchy; they weren't the first thralls who had come to Berk, been freed, and not known what to do with themselves afterwards.

Hiccup stirred…he hadn't even realised he'd fallen asleep. Blinking, he found himself looking up at the ceiling of his bedroom. Astrid was fast asleep beside him, Toothless and Selena were curled up on their slab, and Finn was – Hiccup sat straight up with a jolt of alarm. His son was nowhere to be seen. Panicked, he tried to get up and search for the baby, but forgot his peg was absent.

As a result he toppled onto the dragons, who jerked awake with surprised grunts. Astrid moaned in her sleep, but didn't wake otherwise. *Sorry!* Hiccup apologised, scrambling off of Toothless. *My bad. I fell over* he explained, rather unnecessarily. Selena shrugged and shifted to go back to sleep, but Toothless eyed him in concern, able to feel his fear through their bond.

*Hiccup, what's wrong?*

*Finn's gone, I was gonna look for* -

*He's fine. Valka has him.*

Hiccup blinked again. As the dragons words caught up with him, he heard a melody coming from the kitchen. It was his mother, singing a lullaby. He didn't remember her coming back, but he must have fallen asleep with Finn in his arms, or in the cot beside the bed. Either way, he couldn't settle until he saw for himself that his son was safe. Not that he didn't trust Toothless or his mom.

*Climb on* Toothless prompted, guessing what he wanted and crouching to make it easier for him to mount. Someone had taken off Toothless' saddle – presumably his mother, because Hiccup didn't remember doing it. They slipped out of the bedroom and sure enough, Valka was sitting by the fireplace, gently rocking the bundle in her arms and crooning to her slumbering grandson.

Valka looked up at them and smiled. "He needed a change" she whispered by way of explanation, as they picked their way over to her. "Hiccup, he's wonderful. You know, he looks just like you did when you were born."

Hiccup swallowed at the reminder that he, too, was an early born. "Is he…mom, will Finn be okay? I mean, he wasn't supposed to be born for another month, at least. Early born children don't always survive, and I – I don't want to lose him." Toothless nuzzled him reassuringly, purring quietly so as not to wake the baby.

Valka smiled sympathetically at him. "Of course you're not going to lose him. You were early, and you lived, you thrived – Finn will do the same. He has a loving family to take care of him, keep him warm and fed. He'll be fine."

Hiccup gave her a grateful smile, and fondly brushed his thumb over his son's forehead. Finn was all but swamped in the blankets; so tiny and fragile. It seemed as if Hiccup could hold him in the palm of his cupped hands. "I've only known him for a short time and I already love him so much" he whispered.

*Me too* Toothless crooned softly, gazing down at the infant in Valka's arms. When Helena was born he'd felt unsure of his place in their family; now he was looking forward to helping raise and getting to know his nephew. So was Selena; the two of them had already agreed with each other to watch over the baby at night so Hiccup and Astrid could get some sleep. It was the least they could do.

The door behind them opened and Stoick came in. Seeing them by the fire, he smiled tiredly, walked over and leaned down to give his wife a kiss, and his son a pat on the shoulder. "Who's this little fella?" he asked, eyes twinkling.

Grinning fit to burst, Hiccup replied "Dad, meet Finn. Finn, meet Granddad."

"Finn, eh? Good name. Breaking tradition again, I see."

"Only the stupid ones. So…what's going on?" Hiccup asked his father.

Stoick explained, "We've brought as many of the ships back as we could, and we're going to divvy up the cargo as spoils of war. There're a lot of thralls we're setting free. Gob- Snotlout is cutting their collars off right now. And…and we're getting ready to light the funeral pyres. For the men and dragons we lost."

Hiccup nodded solemnly. "I'll come and help send them on" he declared, using Toothless as leverage to haul himself up from his crouch besides the chair.

"Son, you're exhausted. Go on back to sleep, we've got it under control."

"No. Dad, I need – Gobber was – I have to be there. To say goodbye to him. And as the Alphas, Toothless and I should be there for our subjects" he insisted.

Seeing the determined expression on Hiccup's face, his father simply nodded. Before they could leave, however, a voice called from the bedroom. "Hiccup?!"

"Be right back." Hiccup and Toothless returned to the room, finding Astrid leaning over the cot. She looked up at them with wide eyes, mouth opened to speak, but Hiccup beat her to it. "He's fine. Don't worry, our son is fine. My mom's taking care of him" he explained. Astrid sagged in relief. "Listen – they're holding the funerals, and I want to help give Gobber a proper send-off."

Astrid nodded; and then started getting out of bed. "Err, what are you doing?"

"Coming to oversee the funerals, of course. I'm the chief, and Gobber was my friend too. I need to be there. For all I know, members of my clan were lost."

Hiccup knew it would be pointless to argue with her, so he started helping her up. The noise woke Selena, who yawned and stretched, arching her back like a cat. *What's going on?* she asked, with a sleepy but curious warble.

"We're having the funerals for the dead" explained Hiccup. Selena crooned sadly, and got to her feet, insisting on coming along. She even offered to give Astrid a ride, since the woman was finding it hard to walk after just giving birth a few hours ago (2). Whilst they went, Valka stayed behind to look after Finn.

The entourage flew to the western shore, where the tribe had gathered to bid farewell to their fallen comrades. Dragons covered the cliff face, clinging to the rocks, or were on the beach with their riders. There was a general pall of sorrow hanging in the air. The dead were laid out on the decks of three ships, taken from Adulfr's fleet. They had already been stripped of supplies and valuables.

Toothless and Selena landed at the front of the crowd; everyone shifted back to make room. Snotlout and Fishlegs came forward. One handed Astrid a list of their deceased tribesmates, the other gave Hiccup a list of the slain dragons. There were at least a hundred, as well as the ones killed in the first attack – had that really been just the other night? It felt like it had been years since then.

In solemn tones, Astrid read out the list of the dead. Hiccup then read out his own list, and his resolve to ensure that this never happened again only grew. Holding hands, he and Astrid delivered the parting words, with both the Viking and dragon funeral speeches combined together, as the riders had been laid with their dragons when they had perished in battle side by side.

"There do we see our fathers, our mothers, and our brothers and our sisters."

"Our sires and our dams, our mates and our young."

"May the Valkyries welcome them, and lead them through Odin's great battlefield."

"May the memory of them live on in the hearts of all who knew them, and may the fire in which we lay them to rest, lift them up beyond the sky…"

"On the Bifrost to Asgard and the Hall of Valhalla, where the brave shall live…"

"And fly…"

"Forever" they finished in unison. The riders flew up and surrounded the fleet, hovering in a ring around it. At Astrid's signal, they all fired upon the vessels, setting the funeral ships ablaze. As he watched the flames, Hiccup found his eyes blurred with tears. He missed Gobber. He'd never see his mentor again. Never hear Gobber make some sarcastic joke or sing that drinking song.

He'd never get to introduce Gobber to Finn.

Beneath him, Toothless gave a mournful cry, echoed by the dragons around them. *It'll be okay. I'm here for you, always.* Hiccup stroked his head, grateful for the comfort and support. They landed on the beach, next to Astrid and his father, who gathered both him and his wife into an embrace. He might have lost a close friend, but he still had his family to help him through this. He'd be okay.

Breaking from the hug, Astrid looked up at Stoick. "Catch us up?" she prompted.

"Aye. The prisoners are being taken by your fellow chiefs back to their own cells, since we don't have the room in our gaol, and we've still got some, like the flyers, locked up in cages" explained Stoick. "The only ones in our cells are the captains and head knights, and the 'Admiral' himself. All under heavy guard, but the man insisted on keeping that wolf of his with him. It's been allowed."

"Can't do any harm" Hiccup shrugged, "What about the rescued freedmen?"

Astrid gave them a surprised look at that. "Freedmen? They had thralls?"

Stoick nodded. "Fraid so, and they're all rather…timid, one might say. Of course they're not officially freedmen until we have the frelsis-öl, but that can wait a bit. For now we've got their collars off, given 'em warm soup and put 'em to bed in the student barracks up at the Academy. You'd think we'd let them sleep in a palace, the way they were protesting that they weren't worth the trouble."

"They'll learn" remarked Astrid, "we'll have the freedom ale and the mutton in a feast to welcome them all to Berk. Do we have enough sheep?" she wondered.

"I think we might have ta sacrifice a cow or two on behalf of all of 'em" replied Stoick, "or our flocks will be greatly diminished. I prefer beef, anyway."

Hiccup then had to ask, "What about the dragons?"

"Wondered when you'd bring that up. The maddened ones we've got in cages in the arena – the ones that survived, at least. Then there's all the ones we freed; our dragons are taking care of 'em, I gather. Urchin went and hacked up a load of fish that, from the smell, weren't exactly fresh, into that huge feeding trough we built. They still ate it, of course, but he swam off – to his nest, I figure."

"We'll check on him. What about Gonzales, and the other Speed Stingers?"

"Nicole's dragon is with her, naturally, but I had the younger riders escort the rest back to their own island. They were chafing at the bit for something useful ta do…the riders, that is, not the Stingers. Probably glad to be rid of us. Same goes for the Flightmare – couldn't get away from us humans fast enough."

Hiccup was relieved to hear the Flightmare had escaped; he had feared the dragon may have been slain like Whirlwind and his mother. "Sounds like everything's accounted for. Toothless and I will check on Urchin and the other"-

"No, Hiccup. You and Astrid are going to back to bed. It's been a long night."

Hiccup tried to protest, but it got cut off by a yawn. "Alright" he sighed, "but I wanna talk to Snotlout first. There's…something I've gotta tell him."

Stoick nodded, understanding, and headed off. Astrid gave him a kiss and whispered, "See you in a bit", before climbing into Stormfly's saddle and flying away. Hiccup and Toothless hurried over to where Snotlout and Fishlegs we're standing together, talking in hushed voices. He cleared his throat and waited.

They looked over at him. "Hey, uh, Snotlout? Can I have a word, in private?"

"…Sure. I'll see you later, Fishlegs."

"Yeah. Goodnight. Uh, morning…" the other man shook his head and wandered over to Meatlug. He got in the saddle and waved to them as she buzzed away.

Hiccup rode Toothless and Snotlout walked down the beach away from the crowd. It had mostly dispersed by now, everyone going back to their homes and families to mourn and have a well deserved rest. Once they were out of earshot, Snotlout turned to Hiccup and asked, "So what's wrong?"

"I…" Hiccup swallowed. This was harder than he'd thought. "Dad and I were there, when Gobber…y'know. He, uh – he asked me to tell you that, that you did good. We both did. As his apprentices, I guess. Also, that he'll be watching, so we can't slack off in the forge." They both shared a sad, fond chuckle at that.

"I can't believe he's gone" Snotlout muttered. "It doesn't feel real, y'know?"

Hiccup nodded slowly. "Will you be okay? In the forge, I mean. I'll try to help out if I can, but I'm gonna be kind of busy helping Astrid look after Finn. Our son."

"I heard" Snotlout smiled, "Congrats on being a dad again. Don't worry about me, I can handle it. So, uh, listen. There's something Fishlegs and I have to tell you guys" he revealed, looking nervous. "It's no big deal, I mean it is, but it's…"

"Relax, I get it. Astrid's probably gonna call a Thing tomorrow…or later today…to discuss what to do with the prisoners. Maybe you can tell us after that?"

"Yeah. Yeah, sounds good. Well, uh…Hooky and I are gonna head off to bed."

"Same here" Hiccup nodded. "Sleep well" he added, before bracing himself as Toothless leapt. They flew back home, where everyone was already in their beds and dozing. Hiccup lay down beside his wife, Toothless curled up beside his mate, and both of them, tired to the bone, were asleep in mere minutes.

Toothless woke and took a few moments to appreciate how nice and quiet it was in the house. His ear-flaps twitched uneasily. It was too quiet. He pounced on the fear inside him and held it down before it could bother Hiccup. Then, as quietly as he could, he left the stone slab and padded over to the baby's cot.

Very carefully, he looked down at the sleeping infant. To his relief, he saw the tiny, thin chest fluttering up and down. Finn was still breathing. He remembered Valka telling them how, when Hiccup was born, she'd stayed awake for hours on end to watch over him, fearing that her baby would grow too weak and die. Well, that wasn't going to happen to his nephew, not if Toothless could help it.

A noise from the kitchen caught Toothless' attention, and he looked over his shoulder to see Agatha, Astrid's mother, peeking in. "Hello, Toothless" she murmured, "It's only me. I came to check on those two. Are they still asleep?"

The dragon nodded. Then his stomach audibly rumbled, and he cringed a little, embarrassed. Toothless hadn't realised how hungry he was, but the last time he remembered eating was…was the night before last. It felt like such a long time ago now. He glanced up at Agatha, who was giving him a sympathetic smile.

"They'll likely be hungry as well. You should all come to the Great Hall and have breakfast. Lunch, rather. It's just past noon" she explained. "Why don't you wake Hiccup, and I'll wake my daughter" Agatha suggested. Toothless nodded again and awkwardly manoeuvred himself back to Hiccup's side of the bed.

Agatha came forwards and peered into the cot. "Dear little thing" she murmured, before leaning over to rouse Astrid, shaking her shoulder. "Astrid, darling, wake up." Toothless, meanwhile, started nudging and licking Hiccup. *Wake up. I'm hungry and we haven't eaten for ages. Hiccup, wake up!*

At last, with much grumbling, the married couple awakened. Well, sort of.

"Go 'way, or I'll banish yer" Astrid mumbled irritably, knocking Agatha's band aside and snuggling deeper into the pillow. Hiccup rolled over to spoon with her and declared, in thought-speak, *No, bud. Sleepy time. Not playing.*

Toothless and Agatha shared a deadpan look. *Astrid, your mother is here.*

"Uh, huh. Nice try, Toothless."

In an amused tone, Agatha inquired "If I'm getting banished for disturbing your beauty sleep, Chief, is your father coming with me or is he staying here?"

Two sets of eyes, one blue and one green, snapped open. "Mom? What are you doinghere? In our bedroom?" Astrid demanded, whilst Hiccup surreptitiously checked that he was wearing pants. Much to his relief, indeed he was.

All the noise woke Finn, who began to whimper. "Finn! Oh, c'mere baby" Astrid cooed, heaving herself up in bed and reaching out for her mother to hand him to her. "Oh, I'm sorry. You must be hungry, yeah? Let's get you some milk."

She set about feeding the baby, and looked up at Agatha. "So, what exactly are you doing here, mom? Not that we aren't happy to see you…"

The elder Hofferson chuckled. "I came to see if you two lazybones were planning to get up any time soon. It's a beautiful afternoon. Helena and Ebony are already up and about" she remarked. Hiccup and Astrid shared a look of parental mock-dread at the trouble their eldest daughter could be getting into.

"There's also the frelsis-öl, and a lot of new dragons who want to meet the Alphas" explained Agatha. She quirked an eyebrow at Hiccup and remarked, "From what Marigold tells me, the rescued dragons all thought Urchin was the Alpha, him being a Bewilderbeast and all. Our flock is trying to convince them that one Alpha is a Night Fury and the other a human heart bound to him."

*She's right, Hiccup. We should go meet them, and see if they want to join the pack* Toothless commented, having just woken Selena. She was very pleased at the idea of meeting new friends, of course. So Hiccup and Astrid agreed to get up and come to oversee the ritual that would officially remove the freedmen, and freed dragons, from their thraldom. Agatha said she'd be waiting outside.

Astrid nursed Finn whilst Hiccup checked his stump and got dressed. Then he held Finn whilst his wife dressed, and they rested the babe in a carry sling, padded with blankets. Finally they were ready, and emerged from their house.

They stopped on the threshold, stunned. It was a good thing Toothless and Selena had gone out first. Their family, friends, the whole darn village plus guests were standing in a crowd outside their home. Helena waved to them enthusiastically from her grandfather's shoulders. Strung between two of the dragon perches was a large cloth banner, on which was painted the words:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FINN!

Everybody cheered and applauded. When the noise died down, Hiccup looked down at the babe in his wife's arms and said "Nice going, son. You're less than a day old and you're already getting surprise parties." The whole crowd laughed.

Astrid beamed at them all. "I wasn't expecting this at all. Thank you so much…" Still emotional from the birth, her eyes welled with tears as she made to embrace her parents. Hiccup hugged his mother as well, and then Helena when she climbed down from her perch on Stoick's shoulders. At last, wiping her eyes, Astrid turned back to the crowd. "I believe we have a frelsis-öl to partake in?"

There was a knot of recently emancipated thralls standing on the far side of the steps up to the Great Hall, at the foot of which an unlit bonfire had been arranged. Short haired, with calluses around their necks from the iron collars they'd once worn, the freedmen – and women – were looking around at the dragons with awe, nervousness, or more likely a mixture of both.

"Welcome to Berk" Astrid greeted them, "I am Chief Astrid, and yes, I'm a woman. My husband gave me the job so he could be the Dragon Whisperer."

Hiccup grinned at their incredulous, shocked expressions. "Hiccup Haddock the Third, Dragon Ambassador and Alpha of the Berkian Pack, at your service" he announced with a bow. His dragon nudged him pointedly. "Oh, and this is Toothless, my honorary brother and fellow Alpha" he introduced. The freedmen stared at Toothless and Selena as if they'd never seen any like them before.

"Right, so how shall we do this? We need a sacrifice for the ritual, but if we let them all slay a sheep individually we're going to lose all of our flocks."

Stormfly chattered amusement. *Right, so it's okay if humans take all the sheep* she said sarcastically. Everyone in earshot, who could hear thought-speak, chuckled. Astrid turned to Hiccup, hands on hips, and demanded "Stop corrupting my dragon with sarcasm!" More laughter followed. The freedmen just looked confused. There were more than a few mutters of "They're crazy."

Hiccup suggested, "How about we have one freedman sacrifice a bull to the gods on behalf of all of them, and one of the freed dragons", he gestured at the cluster of dragons on the other side of the steps, "can light the bonfire?"

"Good idea" Astrid smiled, giving him a peck on the lips. "Will anyone come forward?" she asked the group of freedmen. There was some shifting and muttering, but at last one young man, whom Stoick recognised, stepped forwards, nervously rubbing at the back of his neck and the callus there.

He bowed to Astrid and Hiccup. "My name is Sigurd, and…I will slay our thraldom on behalf of my fellow freedmen" he announced. There was a smattering of applause. Astrid called for someone to fetch the biggest, strongest bull they had, and Snotlout volunteered immediately, flying off on Hookfang.

Whilst Agnes came forwards to deliver the rites and prayers to the gods, the Alphas approached the recently freed dragons. *Toothless-Hiccup, Alphas of Berk* the Night Fury drake introduced them both. Hiccup smiled without showing teeth and continued, *We know this is all new and strange, but you're welcome here for as long as you wish to stay. We stick together in this pack.*

The dragons stared at him and chittered nervously amongst themselves. Then a bright green female Scuttleclaw moved forwards, scenting the air curiously. *Do you know the human who freed me? He was big with a wooden paw and a sharp metal paw.* The drakaina whined sadly. *I think he died in the fight.*

Hiccup sucked in a breath, and clutched at Toothless' shoulders for support. *Gobber. His name was Gobber. He was…one of the best humans I've ever known.* He slowly reached a hand out towards the drakaina, and she pressed her nose into his palm. He scratched her and asked, *What is your name?*

*My name is Zeleny, Alpha* she replied. (3)

*Nice to meet you. Zeleny, would you like to light the bonfire? I think Gobber would have wanted you to do it* Hiccup told her. Zeleny tipped her head from side to side, considering, and then bowed to him and Toothless.

*Yes. I will light the bonfire, Alphas…and may I join your pack?*

Toothless-Hiccup shared a glance and agreed - *Yes, and be welcomed.*

Snotlout and Hookfang returned with a stunned bull. The Fire-Scale held the bovine down and reluctantly obeyed Toothless' order to not set fire to the pile of wood in front of him. At Astrid's urging, Snotlout offered his knife to Sigurd, who nervously approached the large dragon under whose scythe claws the sacrificial bull lay. With a deep breath, he reached out and slit its throat.

Then Hookfang moved out of the way, and Zeleny breathed flames at the bonfire. It took a few blasts to really catch, and the flames briefly shone bright green before settling to a more normal red-orange hue. Agnes declared them all free in the eyes of the gods, and a great cheer went up. Then Valka, Agatha and Selena shushed everyone, pointing at the babe still cradled at Astrid's breast.

A great feast was held in celebration of their victory against Adulfr's forces. There were platters groaning with food and the ale flowed freely. For starters, Hiccup devoured a bowl of seasoned carrot soup, fresh baked bread and roast chicken, and felt quite satisfied. Some of that satisfaction may have been from Toothless, as he happily worked his way through an entire barrel of fish.

The bull was roasted above the fire on a spit Hiccup had designed to use the heat of the fire itself to turn it. The Great Hall was packed, and trestle tables were set up outside for more people to eat around. One of the skalds was reciting to the wide-eyed freedmen the Tale of the Hero of Berk; a saga about Hiccup himself. He tried to ignore that, lest he cringe from embarrassment.

As they ate, the villagers kept coming up to Hiccup and Astrid with well-wishes, congratulations, and thanks. Ones that Hiccup wasn't sure he deserved. They also brought gifts – clothes knitted for the baby, hand-me-down toys. The dragons gave them presents too. Shiny, coloured pebbles, pretty feathers, tufts of sheep wool, rabbit skin that they'd licked most of the blood off of…

The roast beef was delicious, as was the apple and blackberry pie served for dessert. Hiccup had just polished off a plateful when Stoick called for attention.

"Astrid. Hiccup. In honour of your son's birth, we would like to present you with these naming gifts" he declared, holding a lumpy object under a cloth. He and Valka, as well as Astrid's parents, Heather and Dagur, were all holding or hiding naming gifts of their own. Astrid checked on Finn, as she had been doing periodically; reassured that he was okay, she motioned for them to continue.

"Gobber and I worked together on this one" Stoick revealed, "so consider it a gift from him as well." With that, he pulled away the cloth. The attentive crowd gasped at the reveal of an exquisitely carved effigy of their family, posed thus: Hiccup with his right arm around Astrid, and his left hand atop Toothless' head; Astrid with a babe in one arm and her other hand on Helena's shoulder, Ebony sitting at her feet; Selena beside Toothless, and Stormfly behind Astrid.

The woodwork was fine indeed, with just enough detail to make each figure recognisable. The metalwork was even more impressive. The statue of Hiccup had a tiny metal prosthetic and sword hilt on its hip; the statue of Toothless had a metallic left tail-fin; the statue of Stormfly had a saddle with an axe holstered to it, a miniature metal head on the shaft. It looked remarkably realistic.

"Wow…dad, this is amazing!"

"Stoick, thank you so much" Astrid said earnestly. Hiccup sent a silent prayer of thanks to Gobber as well. He could only imagine how many attempts – and how much swearing – the blacksmith had gone through to forge such tiny pieces.

"When you were born, I asked Gobber to make the smallest axe he'd ever imagined. With a handle tiny enough for a baby to grasp."

"I remember that axe…" "Hey, dad?"

"Yes, son?"

Hiccup gestured to the statuette and grinned. "So since it's not a miniature axe, can I use this as a paperweight?"

Stoick blinked, and then got the joke and laughed. "I'm sure you can find a better use for it than that!"

They put the gift to one side; then Valka stepped forwards and presented a blanket, lovingly embroidered with stylised dragons. They could pick their own dragons, and those of their family, out of the stitched, threaded flock.

"It's beautiful, Valka, thank you."

"Yeah, mom, thank you so much."

Astrid's parents were next. "We weren't actually sure what to give you" Fredrick admitted, "but we wanted it to be something he could keep. Then we teamed up with Toothless and Stormfly, so this is from all four of us." On that cue, Agatha held out an amulet on a braided leather thong. It was a blue and yellow scale carved into a shield, with a black scale 'boss' in the middle. Etched around the circumference were runes of protection, good luck and good health.

"And, since it wasn't as if we had a shortage…we made one for Helena, too" Agatha revealed, holding up a second amulet that the little girl eagerly slung around her neck. Hiccup and Astrid thanked her parents profusely, and turned to give their dragons appreciative pets and chin scratches as well.

"My turn!" Dagur cried eagerly, once Fredrick and Agatha had returned to their seats. "I brought this from Trader Johann, but it's not from him too, okay, he can give Finn a naming gift himself. But to Finn I gift this ornamental dagger, all the way from distant Syria" he declared, bowing and presenting a blade sheathed in gilded leather, the ivory handle carved in an unknown tongue.

Hiccup took the blade from Dagur and pulled it out of the sheath. It came out smoothly, and just as he suspected, the blade seemed to ripple in the light with strange, swirling patterns. "I thought as much. It's made from Damascus steel" he explained to Astrid. "It's really rare, and the forging method is a closely guarded secret. And yes, I am planning to go there and find out how it's done."

She laughed. "Just don't go too soon, I need you to stick around for a bit."

"Oh, I'm not going anywhere just yet" he assured her, leaning over to give her a kiss. They only stopped when Heather politely but pointedly cleared her throat.

Still, she smiled at the pair when they turned to her with apologetic looks. Her friends were both so in love, and she felt happy for them. Having their attention at last, she presented her own naming gift; a horn carved from shed dragon-horn, and covered in metallic scales. Dagur complained that it looked too fish-like, to which she calmly replied, "Well, he's named Finn and he is a Haddock."

The Great Hall rumbled with laughter. Heather grinned, bowed, and took her seat. There was somebody standing behind her, looking nervous and shy.

"Klaus?" Hiccup said gently, "Is there something you wanted to say?"

The youth gulped and nodded, clearly out of his element as the centre of attention. "I…I don't have a gift for the baby, but um, I just wanted to…I know you follow the old ways, but…may God bless you, Hiccup, and your family, with long and happy and prosperous lives" he declared, more confident now.

Hiccup smiled, genuinely touched. "Thank you, Klaus. We appreciate that" he said gratefully. Klaus beamed at him, bowed, and went to sit back down. Feeling inspired, Hiccup rose to his feet, goblet in one hand. "I'd like to make a toast; to the tribesmates we've lost, and the ones we've gained"; he glanced briefly but fondly down at Finnick, lying peacefully in his wife's arms.

"What I said after the parade is still true. We are on the cusp of something great, something that could change the world. Whatever our enemies do, whatever weapons they make or armies they raise, we stand defiant, because this? This is our home, and we're not giving it up without a fight." He raised the goblet and toasted, "To the people of Berk, and our peace with dragons!"

As the crowd cheered – but quietly, there was a baby there, after all – Hiccup felt his chest burst with hope. He missed Gobber, and he would never forget the man…but life would move on. He and Toothless would move on with it.

(1) Frelsis-öl means 'freedom ale drinking' and was a ritual to mark the transition of someone from thrall (slave) status to freedman status. Berk not keeping thralls is an idea inspired by and taken with permission from 'A Thing of Vikings', one of the best fics I've ever read. Highly Recommended.

(2) It may seem unrealistic for her to be up and about so soon after giving birth…but my own mum says she picked my brother up from school after having me, so it isn't unheard of XD.

(3) Based on 'zelenyy', a Russian word for 'green'. Why Russian? Because there's a supply of copper there…the same mineral in Scuttleclaw fire.