How to Survive a Trip to Thorston House

"Eret!" Hiccup yelled, pushing both doors to the Great Hall open at once.

Everyone inside looked up.

"Yes?" Eret, Son of Eret, stood up.

"No, we are looking for your son," I explained, giving my husband a 'calm down' look.

"Oh, really? What did he do?" Eret asked.

Hiccup paused then yelled, "Everyone, leave! The hall is being used for a meeting."

Soon it was just the three of us.

"What did he do?" Eret asked again.

"He raped my daughter," Hiccup said. His voice was quiet but furious.

Eret's eyes widened. "And what proof do you have of this?" he asked.

"Eret, our daughter is pregnant," I said. I was angry too. Why would anyone want to hurt our Zephyr?

Eret sat down slowly. He was shocked.

"Hiccup, chief, you have to know I knew nothing of this. And I would never condone it. I want to sincerely apologize. I know that doesn't help the situation, but I truly am sorry for my son's actions. You both have done so much for me and have helped me through some difficult times. Eret Jr. knows this, I don't know why he would have hurt Zephyr like that. I do not know where he is, but I will be more than happy to help you find him, and I will make sure he takes responsibility for his actions and accepts the consequences," Eret said, looking up at both of us from his seat at a table.

"You're right, sorry doesn't help. But I do appreciate your sincerity and honesty," Hiccup said. He sighed and sat next to Eret on the bench.

"Do you have any idea at all where Eret Jr. is?" I asked.

"I saw him this morning when I was leaving our hut to go to the trade ships. I think he said something about needing to get something repaired at the tailor?" Eret said, unsure of his answer.

"Well, it's a start…" I said.

"Eret, we need you to find your son. We have to figure out where Eira is," Hiccup explained. He stood and straightened his cloak on his shoulders. A light rain had started outside.

"Yes, chief. I will find him," Eret promised. He got up and walked out the back door.

Hiccup took my hand in his and we left the Hall. We had a pretty good idea of who to ask about Eira.

We walked down the road toward the Thorston house.

The Thorston house was a strange place. Both twins lived there along with their many children. Tuffnut had been married before, but his wife was not loyal and after having six children with him, she left him for a young foreigner. Tuffnut was strong through the ordeal. He and his twin sister expanded their houses to connect, making it a very odd looking structure, and lived together with their children, Tuffnut's chickens, and Ruffnut's boars. There were twelve Thorston children in total. Ruffnut never married, but still managed to have six children. Nobody ever questioned it. She seemed happy so we left it alone.

Hiccup and I walked up to the door and cautiously knocked. We heard children screaming and playing inside.

"Somebody is at the door!" a child yelled. There were several crashes and various other noises before Ruffnut answered the door.

"What do you guys want?" she asked. She was holding the youngest Thorston, an adorable little girl with an unfortunate name - Kyckling.* All but one of Tuffnut's children had the classic 'nut' names, Kyckling being the 'one', and they ran out of 'nut' names so Ruffnut named all her children after weapons. In order of age, there was Fluffnut, Mallet, Mace, Buffnut, Cuffnut, Blade, Huffnut, twins Bow and Arrow, Muffnut, Spear, and Kyckling.

"We are looking for Buffnut. Is he here?" I asked, stepping out of the way as three children ran out of the house, chasing each other with axes and spears.

"Bow, Arrow, Muff, don't you dare kill each other! Do you hear me?!" Ruffnut yelled after the children who had been chasing each other. She looked back to us and said, "Yeah, he is here. You guys can come inside. I'll get him."

She turned around and led us to the kitchen.

"It's a wonder nobody has died here yet," Hiccup whispered to me.

I giggled and replied, "Noone that we know of." My husband chuckled and shook his head slightly.

We stepped inside. The front hallway was covered with hay and straw. Chickens were nesting all along the walls.

I looked over at Hiccup. His eyes were about as wide as mine felt. It had been a while since we had been inside the twins' house. We hesitantly sat down at the kitchen table.

Ruffnut walked over to the bottom of the stairs and yelled, "Buffnut get down here!"

Hiccup and I heard another crash upstairs and then Buffnut appeared at the top. He walked down and stopped as soon as he saw we were there.

"Uh, she's not here! She's nowhere! I don't know where she is. Bye!" he said quickly.

He tried to run back upstairs, but I grabbed the collar of his shirt. We took him outside where it was somewhat quieter.

"Oh bye! Just don't go in the backyard! Cuffnut and Mallet let the boars out again!" Ruffnut yelled after us, laughing slightly. I guess she was amused by the children's mischievous antics.

We walked several feet away from the house before we stopped and turned to Buffnut.

"Where is Eira?" I asked, grabbing the front of his tunic, my face inches from his.

His eyes widened. He knew this was not a position you wanted to get into with me. If I wanted, when I had somebody in a hold like this, I could kill them about twenty different ways.

"She made me promise not to tell! We have a plan and everything!" the boy said.

"What plan?" Hiccup asked, stepping beside me.

"She wants us to get married when she turns fourteen! She is staying somewhere else until her birthday. But don't worry! It's safe!" Buffnut explained hurriedly.

"Married?!" Hiccup yelled.

I let Buffnut go and turned to my husband.

"Hiccup, honey, calm down. They can't get married without a dowry, and you are the one that approves that. All you have to do is disapprove the dowry and it's all okay," I reminded him, making sure my voice sounded calm so he would hopefully calm down a bit too.

"You're right," he said quietly. He ran his hand over his face and to the back of his neck.

"We didn't think of a dowry!" Buffnut said. He looked down for a few seconds, thinking.

"I have exactly two pieces of gold and a ten-pound boar… is that enough, chief?" he asked.

My husband growled in a very un-hiccup like manner. I held my arm in front of him so he couldn't get to the clueless viking boy.

"Just tell us where our daughter is," I instructed.

"Well, she is definitely not in a shack in the woods," Buffnut said.

No sooner had the words left Buffnut's mouth than Hiccup had started running towards the forest.

"Thanks, Buff!" I called back over my shoulder as I ran to catch up to my husband. We were going to bring our youngest home.

*Third Person Point of View*

"Is it done?" the cloaked figure asked. The voice was hoarse and raspy.

The figure stood in a cave, using charcoal to draw on the walls. Eret Jr. was there with it.

"Yes, your chiefness," he said, bowing towards the figure slightly. The figure chuckled.

"Good, then my plan is working," it hissed.

"So, now do I become chief?" Eret Jr. asked.

"Not until I have my hands on that baby!" the figure yelled. It started drawing frantically on the wall.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you, your chiefness," Eret Jr quickly apologized.

The figure suddenly stopped drawing and stepped back. The wall was covered with drawings.

"What have you drawn, your highness?" Eret Jr. asked.

"These pictures are from a device that held more information than the book of dragons itself!" the figure explained, "It held all the secrets of the dragons."

"What was it called?" Eret Jr asked.

"The dragon eye," the mysterious cloaked figure stated simply.

"But not to worry, you will be my new chief soon enough. As soon as I get my hands on that baby! A third generation from the dragon master himself!" the figure said excitedly.

"Of course, I will bring you the baby as soon as it is born," Eret Jr assured the figure.

"Good, now go back quickly, before you are missed. Don't speak a word of our meeting," the cloaked person instructed.

Eret Jr nodded and left the cave, running back towards the village.

The cloaked figure looked over their work on the walls of the cave. They seemed satisfied. The person picked up a piece of charcoal and quickly added one last detail to a drawing of the village chief, Hiccup Haddock.

"That's better," the person said before extinguishing the torch and leaving the cave.

*Kyckling, pronounced "Shickling" is an Old Norse word. It roughly translates to "chicken"