Chapter 14 here :) Hicca almost ready to pop, is Alvin ready to make his move? Read and find out :) Enjoy :)
Chapter 14
Snowbound
Two months.
Eight whole weeks of nothing but endless snow and ice, it was the worst storm the archipelago had ever seen.
On both Talon and Berk, the villagers had locked themselves and their dragons away in their homes, barricading the doors and windows so they wouldn't freeze to death.
It was near impossible for anyone to be out in this weather, and there was no way the dragons could fly between islands either. Of course this worried Dagur and Hicca, if there was no way for them to leave Berk, what would happen if there was trouble?
Thankfully the dragons kept them safe. By this point, every home on the islands had a house-dragon, and some had several. They helped keep the houses warm with their body heat, and they would protect their human if there was a problem, that would at least give Dagur and Hicca peace of mind until the skies cleared.
But it didn't stop them from being bored out of their minds, Hicca and Dagur would have gone mad if they didn't have each other.
Just one week left.
One week and Hicca's due date would be upon them.
That day, Hicca awoke to a very warm feeling. She slowly opened her eyes to see Dagur lying under her, she loved sleeping with her head on his chest, it was comforting to hear his heartbeat as she slept. She looked up to see Dagur still sleeping soundly, his mouth hanging open and snoring loudly, Hicca just lay there and watched him for a little while.
As she looked over his features, Hicca finally started to realise just how much Dagur had grown.
Dagur was now 28 years old, he was only an inch or two shorter than her farther, and only slightly less muscular. His hair was long and reached his mid back when it was loose, but most of the time it was tied in his usual tight braid with thick leather ties. Dagur's beard was really starting to grow in now, as soon as it was long enough, he'd asked Hicca to braid it, she'd styled it with one thick braid in the centre and two thinner ones either side.
Dagur's clothing style had changed only slightly over the last year, his dark red tunic was slightly darker, but it still had no sleeves and was a little frayed around the edges. The pelts attached to his thick leather belt were mostly grey and black, he wore black leggings, and thick fur boots and arm bands tied with leather straps. Out of all his items of clothing, Dagur took the best care of his armour, he always made sure it was well polished and shining.
Dagur's armour hadn't changed since he was a teen, he still wore knee pads, armoured plating on his shoulders, his beloved horned helmet, and the Berserker crested belt buckle he was so proud of.
Hicca ran her finger tips across Dagur's body, drawing swirl patterns along his chest and stomach. Despite having finally found a comfortable sleeping position to accommodate her large bump, the need to stretch her muscles became too great. So Hicca sat up in the large bed, letting the furs slip off her upper body as she stretched her arms above her head.
Hicca looked around the room and soon realised that she and Dagur weren't the only ones in the large bed. Toothless was curled up near her foot, his tail hanging off the edge with his head resting on Dagur's legs, Shrieker lay in the same position near the top on the bed, one of her front paws being used as a pillow by Dagur.
The two large dragons were sleeping peacefully, but the nudge at Hicca's side made her realise that she wasn't the only one awake. She turned to see Spark's smaller form brushing against her side, the small Skrill's eyes trained on Hicca's long braids as they swayed with her movements.
"You must be really bored, stuck inside for so long," Hicca commented as she scratched the top of Spark's head.
It wasn't so bad for the adult dragons and humans, they had ways of entertaining themselves while stuck inside. But for a baby dragon, this long without open air, it was horrible.
Hicca thought in the silence for a little while, then she noticed something.
It was quiet.
No howling wind, no thundering hail, no sound. Out of curiosity, Hicca slid to the edge of the bed and strapped on her prosthetic, then she stood from the bed, wincing a little from the cold floor on her bare foot and the heavy weight of her child. Spark followed close behind as Hicca approached the boarded window, she unlatched the window doors, and opened them just enough to look outside.
Hicca gave a small chuckle, "Looks like you're in luck, girl."
Spark flapped her small wings, and jumped onto the open window ledge, she and Hicca both looked out the window.
The sky was still heavily clouded, and there was a biting chill in the air, but the snow had finally stopped falling, and apparently not a day too soon. The blanket of snow was piled high against the houses, almost hiding the front doors of the other houses from view. Every roof, hill and tree on the island was coated in white.
Hicca wanted to just look for a little longer, but then she heard Toothless gurgle sleepily behind her, she turned to see the large dragon stretching on the bed.
Hicca smiled slightly as Toothless approached her, "Sorry if I woke you boy." Hicca scratched Toothless under the chin, she let Spark jump down from the windowsill before closing the small doors quietly, preventing any more cold air from getting inside the house.
Hicca thought for a moment, then she made up her mind.
"Spark, Toothless, the three of us need some fresh air."
Hicca wrote a note and left it on the side table near the bed, she hoped Dagur wouldn't freak out too much at her absence, but she had Toothless and Spark with her so hopefully that would ease him. She removed her night clothes and dressed for the cold, her pregnancy clothes consisted of a long sleeved, dark green, woollen tunic with a wide waistline and thick leggings, she wrapped a heavy hooded fur cloak around her shoulder and slipped on her thick leather boot.
Spark followed as Toothless helped Hicca down the stairs, she was so heavy now, almost ready to pop.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Spark rushed over to the front door, she gripped the rope in her mouth and pulled. However, for a small Skrill only slightly bigger than a Terrible Terror, it was unsurprising that the door didn't budge. Toothless gave a gurgle in amusement, he moved forward and gripped the end of the rope that Spark wasn't holding, then he pulled and helped her open the wooden door.
The sight that greeted the three of them, was a wall of pure white snow. Spark, obviously exited at witnessing something she'd never seen before, immediately ran forward and dived headfirst into the white wall. Unfortunately, Spark didn't think before she leaped, she ended up stuck in the snow drift with only her legs and tail dangling from the hole she'd dug herself.
Hicca gave a small giggle, "Um, Toothless, can you take care of this?"
Toothless gave a sigh and nipped Spark by the tail, he pulled her free from the snow and set her down on the floor, allowing her to shake the remaining snow from her head and back. Toothless then faced forward and took a deep breath, he stoked the flames in the pit of his stomach, and breathed out across the ice wall.
He wasn't firing a normal plasma blast, but allowing the fires to collect in his mouth, and releasing the excess flames. The snow didn't stand a chance. It wasn't long before a passage began to open up in front of them, Hicca followed Toothless as he lead the way, she admired the crystal ice walls that stood on either side of them.
After a little while, the small group reached the end of the massive snow drift, where the level of snow only reached Hicca's hips. Hicca could see they had now reached the town square, while Toothless and Spark bounded ahead to play in the snow, she looked around and inspected the damage. Even with the dragons, it would take days to clear all this snow and make it safe, where on earth were they supposed to start?
Then, the still silence after such a long storm, was shattered by the most unexpected sound.
"Hey! Hicca!"
Hicca looked around trying to find the source of the voice, but she already knew who it was, "Ruffnut? Was that you?"
Finally the blonde showed herself from behind a massive snow drift. After having finally lost all of her baby weight, Ruffnut was back to wearing her normal clothes, and despite the cold, she wasn't wearing any kind of fur mantle or cloak. But Hicca did see two leather straps crossed over her chest, attached to a heavy fur bundle on her back.
As Ruffnut waded through the snow towards Hicca, the female chief saw that the fur bundle was moving.
"What are you doing out here?" Hicca asked.
"Same as you," Ruffnut said panting slight from wading through so much snow. When she was finally close enough, she threw her arms around Hicca and gave her a tight hug, "I was going crazing after the first month, Doglegs and I desperately needed some fresh air."
Hicca returned the hug and looked over Ruffnut's shoulder. Sure enough, the tiny Ingerman baby was wrapped in the furs on Ruffnut's back, looking up at Hicca with big blue eyes. He was wrapped from the chest down in fur, with his arms free to tangle and cling to his mother's long hair, he was also wearing a long sleeved brown fur tunic.
When the two separated from their hug, Ruffnut looked over at her baby, "I bet you're happy to be outside, aren't you little one?"
"Baga!" Doglegs responded from her back, then he promptly started gumming at one of his mother's many braids. Ruffnut giggled in response, she now had many thin braids down her back, specifically for when she carried Doglegs on her back.
"So how are you feeling?" Ruffnut asked as she turned back to Hicca, glancing down at her bump.
"Um... A little nervous to be honest. There's only a week left till my due date, I feel like there's still so much to do, but every time I go through it in my head, I know we've already done everything we can right now." A small blush grew on Hicca's cheeks, it was already obvious she was going to be an easily worried kind of mother.
"Yeah, I remember that feeling," Ruffnut said with a knowing look. "The last few weeks of pregnancy are mostly made up of double and triple checking everything." As the two spoke, they started walking through the town square, Toothless and Spark followed slowly behind as they continued to play in the snow. "But once the baby's here, there's really only one thing you need."
Hicca turned to look at Ruffnut curiously, "Oh?"
"Courage."
Ruffnut paused in her steps, and Hicca stopped as well. They both looked out over the water, watching the now calm waves slowly chipped away at the ice that had formed around the island, like some kind of ice halo around Berk.
"You need to be brave to raise a child. You need to watch them constantly, teach them right from wrong, and make sure you're a good example to them." A playful smile grew on the female twins face, "Of course, you already know this, but you still need to learn to trust yourself, and your instincts as a mother. You can't go wrong."
Ruffnut just looked out to sea for a moment, she was actually quite proud of her own words.
"Ruffnut..."
The female turned to Hicca with a smile, but she saw something she wasn't expecting.
There was a troubled look on the female chief's face, as she looked over the ocean with a frown.
"Dose that look like part of a ship to you?"
Ruffnut turned and looked to where Hicca pointed, at the edge of the ice field, was the remains of a small mast. Ruffnut wasn't sure why, but something made her reach over her shoulder, and tug slightly on the leather binds holding her son against her back.
Cliffhanger! Now the story's getting interesting, what do you all think is going to happen? :) Let me know what you think, and find out what happens next time :)