So here is another update for you, but please dont expect them to stay at this rate.

Also, we are eventually going to see things speed up between the two, so, that slow burn is going to quickly be in the past, starting this chap.

RR
CajunBear73: Yeah, he is going to have to put up with a few angry people, and even angrier Vikings, but things aren't going to work out as he may have wanted or imagined. Abdicating is a tricky process after all and Vikings don't do tricky... Cheers

DragonDave45: Cheers for the welcome back! And you will have to read to find out, but the 'affection' is not as immediate as you may like. Thanks for the review.

Guest: Most Definitely deserving of it. Cheers

MarauderPrime12: Yeah, I had debated taking it a little further but I think its about right level of 'abuse' for just going AWOL. Thanks

OensnerC: Cheers

/.../

"I guess I deserved that one," Hiccup says, and it bugs Elsa slightly that he doesn't need to raise a hand to rub his cheek.

"Six weeks and two days." Elsa says sternly, "With no one knowing where you were or if you were even still alive. Hiccup, I have had Astrid come all the way here, searching my castle and my woods just to see if you were here. You have had people worried."

Hiccup nods, "I..." The Chief takes a breath before moving past the Queen and leaning on a fence to look down onto the jousting knights; eventually, he says, "I needed time away from it all."

Elsa continues to eye him, "And what about the people you abandoned? They look to you for inspiration, direction, and hope, and you left them."

"And what about myself? How can I lead others when I can't even inspire myself to stay and lead them?" Hiccup breathes out heavily before adding, "And I was angry, having lost good friends in those Odin forsaken tunnels. The last thing they needed was my toxic leadership leading them down a dark path."

Elsa breaths out heavily before approaching to stand beside him, "At least you are still in one piece, and looking healthy." She knew that continuing to press the issue of Hiccup flying off would not be productive.

How he did not fall in those tunnels Hiccup will never know. Nodding his head, he at least accepts that he is looking somewhat healthy. "The North West has better food than us Vikings."

"That is not hard," Elsa tries, "The last I remember, you would consider meat and meat alone to be a meal."

"And it is," Hiccup tells her before wincing at the sight of a Jouster taking a nasty blow from his challenger. "That looks like it hurt."

Elsa shakes her head, "They say that with their armour, the only thing that properly hurts is the fall from their horse, well, that and the embarrassment of losing."

"If they say so," The Viking replies, unconvinced that taking such a powerful blow would not hurt. "But, you are looking well yourself."

"Thank you," Elsa begins, "But it is not hard to look well when you are not fighting a war and have a small army of servants looking after your every need."

"Suppose not," Hiccup agrees with her, "How is Anna?"

"Lively," Elsa says before adding, "Very lively, but you can ask her for yourself when she returns from a trip early next week. How is Toothless?"

"His tail fin is starting to grow back," Hiccup says with some cheer, surprising the Queen, "So he is ecstatic at the moment, but in general he is doing well."

The Queen is pleased to hear the good news, "That is welcome news then."

"Yes," Hiccup says in agreement before standing from the fence, the jousting now seems to be over and a winner is about to be announced, "Looks like you have work to do, but I'm going to run, I haven't shaved or scrubbed in a while so I'll see you later."

The Queen nods along enthusiastically with this, "Yes, I didn't want to say anything, but I could tell." Hiccup really does smell like a mountain man right now, while also looking it with his beard. "A guard will take you to the palace; you can have your old room again."

/../

An hour or so later Hiccup looks at himself in a mirror, he has now washed and shaved, leaving himself clean shaven, and he has also cut his own hair, though it is still comparatively long, reaching the base of his neck and is still shaggy looking, however the look suits the Viking. He has also donned a white shirt, sleeves folded up his arm to just above the elbow, and brown leather trousers.

Hearing the Queen could still be at the games for a small-time yet, Hiccup makes his way out of the castle and down to the towns market place, and with the games being on it is very quiet. Walking around Hiccup finds his way into a jeweller, and walking to a small desk populated by a little man he says, "Mr Gordon, is it?"

The man looks up from his work, and thick glass lenses make his eyes look astonishingly large, the man squints for a second before removing the lenses. "Ah, the Viking, I presume?"

"Aye," Hiccup says with his thick accent to verify his heritage.

The man takes a moment before saying, "Now, I wonder why you have come here?"

Hiccup pulls a pouch out of a pocket and opens it to reveal two dragon scales, "I have heard these sell for a good price. One is white, the other..."

"...Obsidian black, very rare." The man says before reaching forward and taking the two scales. Before saying anything else, the man's lenses go back on, and he looks at them, scrutinising them for any defects or cracks which could reduce their value. After a while, he says, "Both pure in colour, solid and thick too. For sale, I presume?"

"Yes." Hiccup says, "But I have a question, what does a man like yourself want these for? Why have you guys been trying to buy these from us?"

The man removes his glass lenses again before placing the scales down delicately, "Gold," He starts as he drops down from a chair and walks across the room, "We can buy from many countries, but these? These are rare. It makes people want them. As for why I want them, take a look at this."

The man recovers a sky blue scale from a small decorative wooden box, a small gold band surrounds the scale, and at the tip of the dragon scale it is connected to a gold chain, "People pay a good price for these."

"I see," Hiccup says, now understanding the fact the jeweller was making a necklace.

"Yes, we also cut them up and place them in rings, or if the scale is thick enough, I can also make a ring from it. Now, you were saying they were for sale?"

Hiccup nods and the man leads him back to his desk, only to pull two small books out, the first book seems to have conversion rates, and the second book contains drawings of different dragon scales. The second book surprises Hiccup with its accuracy, making him wonder who its author is. "First things first, species of the white scale please." The man asks.

"I doubt it will be in there." Hiccup says, "But try Midget Snow Wraith Thingy." Sure enough, there is no entry on the dragon. "Then if we go off shape, I can tell you the scale design is similar to a Skrill."

"No no no," The man says, "Skrill is very pricey. I will give you, considering it is pure white, whole, unbroken and of considerable weight and thickness, 0.4kg of gold for this piece."

Hiccup nods, "Done. The black scale is from a Night Fury."

The man looks up from his book before taking the scale and turning the books page to the Night Fury, and after a while to inspect the scale compared to the drawing in the book he says, "Yes, this one is very valuable." The man looks back to the scale, making sure it has zero defects. Next, he gets out a balance and weighs the scale, "250 grams." The man says before next measuring its dimensions, and once this is done he looks into his conversion book, "I can give you 1.9kg of gold."

"1.9kg?" Hiccup almost splutters while thinking 'Toothless is worth a fortune.'

"Yes," The man says, "You must understand however, I will need time to acquire the gold, I do not store so much in this store, makes me vulnerable to the crooks."

"When can you have it by?"

The man looks to a small pocket watch before saying, "One hours time."

Hiccup knows there are enough clocks around town to figure out when an hour has passed, so he nods while picking up the two scales and carefully placing them back into a pouch, "Then I will see you in an hours time."

The jeweller nods his head and Hiccup makes his way out the store, "Bugger," He says when outside the shop. Despite the price of the dragon scale being good news to him right now, this is terrible news for his Vikings and equally worrisome for dragons.

/.../

Two hours later, Hiccup is sat on a wall overlooking a fountain, which in turn overlooks the docks. Hiccup, thinking furiously does not even notice the Queen approach till she says, "I know that look, What is wrong?"

"I got all this," Hiccup says while tilting his head to the bag of gold, "For two dragon scales."

"This is an issue?" Elsa asks with a brow raised before moving to sit beside him on the wall.

"Yes," Hiccup replies truthfully, "Viking economy runs on gold, and this is a year plus worth of wages. This could devastate our economy far more than the war has, and puts certain rare dragons at risk."

"Then I can see how this is a serious issue, but I thought you were aware and were using this to fund the war?" Elsa says with a frown.

Hiccup turns to look at her with his own brow raised, "No, I had no idea. All I knew is that the traders wanted some scales and were paying a small piece of gold per scale."

"Then..." The Queen says, speaking as she thinks, "I can think of four solutions, the first is you flood the market, making scales far less valuable then they are. Secondly, you could just ban the sale of scales in your borders, but how you would govern this I do not know, thirdly, you could change your economy to scales, which I can not recommend. Finally, you could try and get the sale of scales banned in purchasing nations; I can ban the sale of scales here, but I can not speak for other nations which are buying them too."

"I honestly don't know," Hiccup tells her, "But I have worked out, if each of Toothless's scales made 1.9kg of gold, I could probably sell him for more gold than the combined pre-war gold reserves of Berk, Bog Burglars, and Basheem Oiks. He is one valuable, valuable dragon."

Elsa shakes her head in slight amusement, "Putting that big brain of yours to good use then I see. I am also pleased to see you have made yourself presentable."

"Yeah," The chief responds, "It was long overdue."

The two sit in a comfortable silence for a while, watching the sunset before Elsa says, "We should go for dinner."

"If you insist," Hiccup says standing from the wall. When standing on his own two feet, he turns around and offers Elsa a hand to stand up, which she accepts. As they turn to walk back to the palace Hiccup asks Elsa, "So, have you gotten yourself into any mischief since I was last here?"

"I," Elsa slowly says, "Do not get into 'mischief'."

Hiccup turns to look at her as they slowly walk down a street, "Really?" He asks her with some mirth, finding the statement hard to believe.

"The courts prosecute in my name," Elsa informs him, "Therefore, I can not charge myself, meaning I can not get into mischief, you could say I am immune to such accusations."

"Or, you could just say yes." Hiccup tells her, seeing through her words.

"No." Elsa states, "As mentioned, I can not get into mischief. That does not mean, however, other people would not get wrong for some of my doings."

"Care to share some of these heinous acts?"

Elsa smiles at him before shaking her head and saying, "Later, maybe. But I must apologise for turning this conversation to a more serious note as I must ask you, what is your current status Hiccup? In what manner are you in my nation, as a king or a friend?"

"You know I hate the word 'king'." Hiccup tells her, "But I am just Hiccup now. I lay no claim to the North."

Elsa half expected this, but it still shocks her to hear it, "So, you have renounced your title?" This will be the first time she has heard of someone abdicating.

"Trying to," Hiccup tells her, "But... characters, for the lack of a better word, aren't letting me for one reason or another."

"But aren't you their... chief? How can they stop you?"

Hiccup speaks his next words slowly as he thinks, "It... is complicated, and you would think me crazy if I told you."

"I already think you're crazy," Elsa tells him, "And you are yet to prove me wrong, your latest stunt just disappearing how you did proves it."

"You are not going to let that drop, are you?" Hiccup asks her.

"Most certainly not," Elsa tells him. "And don't think I am letting you off so easily, we will talk about it later, but moving on if you are here as 'Just Hiccup', what does that mean for your visit?"

Hiccup thanks a guard who holds open a palace door for himself and Elsa before replying to her, "I have come to offer you a chance of a lifetime."

Elsa connects the dots, "You are going travelling."

Hiccup nods to this, "Yes, and I would like to do that with a friend."

Elsa slows her stride as she thinks, and after a few steps to consider she says, "I remember you inviting me on your last visit."

"Thought any more on it?"

"Yes," Elsa tells him before continuing, "But convincing my council will be a hard sell."

Hiccup raises a brow, "But aren't you their Queen? Can't you just tell them you are going?"

"It is... Complicated," Elsa tells him, mirroring Hiccups own response from earlier, "With the trip just being you and myself, it will cause eyebrows to wriggle, but this is a problem we can fix later."

Entering the dining hall Hiccup finds himself in a room with Idunn and Luke, to which Idunn greets him by saying, "Viking."

"Queens mother, Luke." Hiccup replies, the mood quickly changing in the room to become slightly tense.

"Still fighting Umea?" Asks Idunn after a second, she speaks to make conversation.

"His head has parted ways from his shoulders." Hiccup tells her before taking a seat before anyone else.

Idunn takes a moment to revel in that fact before also sitting and saying, "That is... welcome news."

"Yes," Hiccup says without much emotion. "Now I would appreciate it if we did not talk about that blight again."

After a few moments, Idunn then asks Hiccup, "What will become of your captured territory?"

Hiccup shrugs his shoulders, "Whatever Heather deems fit. So probably, it will be annexed by Viking forces."

There is another tense silence till Idunn asks, "And what of the locals?"

"Heather is not a one for mindless violence; she will either tell them to go or respect Viking rule."

Elsa stays quiet, wishing to learn of the potential situation just to the North of her nation, but after another extended period of quiet she asks, "How many people will the Vikings be in control of if everyone stays under Viking rule?"

"Maybe a million, at the upper limits."

"That is a lot of people," Elsa says.

Hiccup agrees, "Yes, and good luck to Heather on figuring out how to deal with that many people."

/.../

After a very tense meal, no thanks to Idunn's presence Elsa sits Hiccup down behind a desk, "Sit." She instructs before placing some paper down in front of him and a pen. "Now, you are going to write home, and if you don't, I sure will." She crosses her arms over her chest to try and amplify the fact that this is not something she will let him wriggle out of.

Hiccup sighs before picking up a quill, "You know what will happen the moment they get this, right?"

Elsa does not care, "Yes. Now, get writing, there are people back home who are worried for you, so letting them know you are alive and safe is the least you can do."

After a small while writing, informing Heather of his intent, he signs the document and seals it, ready to send it via merchants to the Barbaric North. "Done," He says, "But you do realise once they have this, we will have a horde of angry Vikings head this way?"

"Not my problem," Elsa tells Hiccup as she takes the sealed parchment away from him and hands it to Kai.

With the servant out of the room and the door sealed behind him, leaving the two alone, Hiccup asks, "So, what now?" As he stands from the chair and rounds the table, only to then sit on the table.

When the Queen is sure the door is sealed, she turns around and says, "Now, I do this." Her next move surprises Hiccup as she closes the distance between them and pulls him into a hug, her head resting on his chest.

Hiccup quickly returns the gesture, while saying, "I missed you," Quietly.

"Me too," Elsa confesses, before also adding, "And I was worried sick for you." Hiccup does not know how to reply to this, so he stays quiet. After a while, Elsa pulls her head away to look him in the eyes, and she asks, "If we are to go travelling we need a plan of action to initialise it, have you had any thoughts on this?"

"Some," Hiccup admits, "First of all I need a new flight suit that isn't for fighting in, and you need a flight suit. Then I need to teach you how to fly, while at the same time teaching you the more advanced dragon lessons, and finally, I need to make a plan of where to go outside of 'south'."

"Won't you just be flying Toothless?" Elsa asks of the Viking.

Hiccup shakes his head, "Oh no, I've brought an old friend for you."

"An old friend?" Elsa asks, a brow raised. "Do go on."

"She is snow white," Hiccup begins, "Loves snow, and is roughly the same size as Toothless now."

After a second to process the information Elsa asks, "Is this the dragon I met on Bog Island?"

Hiccup nods, "Yes, I ran across her just before I came here, and I have it on good information she will be a good match for you."

"Oh really? And Anna is not going to like this. I barely let her have a Terror."

"Hmm," Hiccup hums before telling her, "Wooing the so-called 'dragon boy' does have its perks."

"I guess so." Elsa agrees, "So, when do I get to meet this dragon?"

Hiccup looks outside momentarily, checking the rough time before saying, "Tomorrow now, she is most likely asleep."

"Then, what would you suggest we do for the rest of the..." Hearing the door creak open Elsa turns her head to see a servant who had come to clean the room, but a quick look sends the servant scurrying away. "...Evening?"

"Any mead or wine?" Hiccup asks.

/.../

Next morning

A man immaculately dressed walks into a dark room that is dimly illuminated with a few candles. "Could this not wait till later in the day?" He asks three others in the room.

"It could," One says before adding, "But do you fancy coming all the way back here just to have a meeting?"

"Suppose not," The first man says, "So, what is so important that you call us here?"

"The Viking," The second man goes on, "As you are aware he has returned, to the Queen's delight as already seen by a servant preparing to clean the Queen's study."

Another man in the room sags his shoulders while saying, "Not this again."

The second man turns to face the third and says "I have a reliable source saying the Vikings have defeated Umea. There would be little consequence; we would be pulled into no wars."

"The Queen does not care for our opinion." The third says.

The second nods, "Yes, typically you would be right, but I talked to her guards that report to me to find out what they talked about, so on and so on, she wants to do something which would require the council's blessing."

"She has ignored the council's advice a few times before," The third says, "Remeber that boat trip North for example? But... I'll hear you out, for now." None mention the questionable practice of using the Queen's guard to report on the Queen as it is an easy method for the Council to keep an eye on what the Queen is up to.

The second man nods in recognition that the man is willing to listen before going on, "The Viking is a warrior, he commands dragons and an experienced army to the North, right now he is a formidable character and fortunately for us our Queen has seemed to catch his full attention, which she returns intimately."

"Yes, but isn't he trying to abdicate?" The fourth man in the rooms speaks for the first time before adding, "I too have my sources."

This forces the second man to acknowledge the fact, "Yes, which is why we must move quickly. He has sent word to his people, informing them of his whereabouts and intentions to fly south, I suspect he will abdicate properly before heading south."

"That could be any time now." Number one says, "We would have to move very quickly.

Number two nods, "Yes, but we can not make our move until the Queen approaches us with her request to travel south with him or we will give away our sources. We must be ready for this day, and be ready to initiate our plan."

"And what if she does not approach us for a while?"

"Leave that to me," Number two says. "But we can not pass this opportunity, and even if we can not influence her to prevent his abdication, we will still have gained a wartime leader who will undoubtedly make our enemies question any plans they may have."

"Do you really think our enemies will stop because of the Viking?"

The second man nods, "Right now we are in an alliance with the Vikings, but we supplied no troops to help their war, making other nations think it is nothing but a trade alliance. So, we seal the alliance on the altar, and it will leave no questions as to what it is. Then, Hiccup is a warrior, he has more scars from war and fought more battles than our entire army combined, and other nations know this, they know he is a highly experienced wartime leader."

The first man speaks again, "What if the Viking refuses?"

This stumps the group for a minute before number two says, "Then we lose nothing, but we can force his hand, tell the Queen his hand, or no trip south. If she does not agree with us and tries to go south anyway, we condemn it publically. She is not of the character to make a move against us if we do it together."

Number one scratches his nose before saying, "Then I am convinced. When the time comes, I will give you my backing." Soon, the four in the room are in agreement with one another.

/.../

So, now you see how this is going to progress. Cheers all