With shaking arms and a frantic heart, Hiccup set the egg on the couch beside his wife and stood. His voice was calm on the surface but it was easy to hear the panic bubbling underneath when he said, "I'm gonna go find my mom. She'll know what to do."
Astrid gave a curt nod and pursed her lips, and as Hiccup ran from the room, she pulled in Eira closer to her chest. The poor little dragon egg. It's mother had entrusted Hiccup, and by extension, her, to protect her baby. And they had broken that trust, cracking it when they had cracked the egg.
What a terrible mother she was.
Astrid couldn't even protect a child when it was inanimate. How was she supposed to keep Eira safe when she started walking? Odin help her, she could barely handle it when the girl just crawled away! And the baby dragon would learn to fly fairly soon after birth. Imagine how far a winged child could stray!
As if to compound on her mother's fears, Eira began to struggle in her arms again, attempting to free herself. Her tiny arms pushed and strained, and though they had no effect on Astrid's grip, the mother sighed and frowned heavily. She didn't want to let Eira go. But Eira didn't understand things like that- she continued to wiggle, and a low whimper came from her throat. "No, don't cry," the mother said as her shoulders fell in defeat. With a soft frown, Astrid compromised. She set the baby into her lap, so that Eira was no longer firmly in her arms, allowing the child more freedom of movement.
This erupted a happy giggle from the baby, and Eira threw her arms up and smiled a gummy grin. Though Astrid was conflicted, her baby's smile warmed her heart. With a gentle poke into Eira's round cheek, she muttered, "We should have called you Toothless, huh?" The girl giggled again, revealing the scattered teeth that had only recently begun to sprout.
Astrid pet the girl's hair down, lovingly pushing the thick curls away from her eyes. The tugging was irritating to the child, though, and with a tiny snort, Eira pushed away from her mother.
No longer cradled in Astrid's arms, the push proved enough to tumble Eira off her mother's lap and onto the couch. "Oh Gods," Astrid chuckled as her baby squirmed on her side for moment, trying to right herself. "What are you doing, silly girl?"
Astrid moved to upright the girl, but when Eira was lifted, the chieftess could see a flicker of interest in her baby's eyes. The gleam of the egg had caught her attention. The shiny scaled sides were pretty, and Astrid could see how they'd be distracting to a child.
Eira reached out for it, fingers stretched and wiggling, and with a sad smile, Astrid set the girl beside the egg. "There's a baby in there," the mother explained, though she doubted the girl would understand. Her voice was soft when she added, "We're hoping it's not hurt."
Eira reached her arm out halfway to the egg, soft and slow, as if she was going to faintly brush the egg. But that changed when, fast as a fire strike, she shot her hand out the rest of the way, smacking the egg with her palm. The resonating thump the egg gave sent her into a fit of giggles.
"Eira! That's mean!" Astrid scowled. She knew the slap couldn't have possibly hurt the egg, but she didn't want her daughter learning that it was alright to hit!
But as Astrid leaned over to scoop her baby girl back into her lap, a resonating thud echoed back from inside the egg.
Frozen in place, Astrid watched as Eira proceeded to smack the egg again, one solid thump followed shortly by two fast ones. Once more, there was a brief moment of silence, before the egg thumped back from inside, repeating the pattern.
Her lips parted loosely as the egg started to rock, the echoing taps coming quickly now, without Eira's prompting. Astrid took the girl into her arms, ignoring the baby's squeak of disapproval, and watched as the thumping stopped and the egg fell still. "Hiccup!" Astrid called, hoping her husband was within earshot. She couldn't just leave the egg to go get him, but she really needed some help. "Hiccup!" she shouted again.
The door swing open and frantic eyes found her. "What's wrong?" the chief asked as he darted into the room, closely followed by his mother.
And he froze when the egg started to shake again.
Astrid pursed her lips. "I think it's hatching," she muttered as the egg began creating tapping sounds again, and the shaking increased.
"Well, what's it doin' on tha couch, then?" Valka snorted as she approached the vibrating egg, picking it up and placing it on the ground. "Ye want it ta rock and fall again?"
And as if to prove the woman right, the instant the egg left the grasp of her fingers, it began to shake harder than before, and the tapping increased in volume, echoing inside and outside the egg. Eira let loose a ticked laugh, and began bouncing and clapping her tiny hands along to the beat of the thumps. Her mother gripped her a little tighter, but her eyes did not leave the egg. Inhaling deep, Astrid watched as the thumping stopped as a gleaming claw pierced through the shell.
Her baby gave a coo and with gripping fingers, Eira reached her chubby arms out towards the shiny new thing. When her mother did not free her to go play with the glistening object, small whimpers escaped her throat. However, they did not last, because the claw quickly retracted, and began thumping again within the egg.
This continued for a time, the family watching silently, except for Eira, who'd coo and whine and wiggle as she pleased. The egg would thump and break through in several locations, repeating the process until a circle had been dug out of the shell.
And with the circle broken away, a slippery, slimy baby Night Fury pushed it's way into the world.