Hey guys ! New chapter !

Disclaimers : I don't own the stories of How To Train Your Dragon nor Rise Of The Guardian, all credits go to Cressida Crowell, William Joyce and Dreamworks Animation Studios.

Hope you enjoy !
Love and scales !

Chapter 17
For a child

The journey delayed by the storm, the three dragon riders were now on their third day away from home, and they only reached their destination by noon, in a thick fog that almost prevented them from seeing the barbarian islands were the Bearclaw clan lived.

Avoiding to scare off the locals, they decided to land away from the villages and finish by foot. They had spotted three villages but went to the bigge one, where they had more chances to find the clan chief.

Preparing themselves for a harsh welcome, they left their dragons in the forest and removed their helmets to show they were humans and not demons. They went out of the wood and quietly walked among the houses. Well, Hiccup and Eret were quiet, Fishlegs was completely stressed out.

The houses were quite different from the berkians. Where the vikings were building their hutts entirely in wood, this clan rather use piles of rocks and let moss spread on the roofs. Pieces of furr and leather were hanging by the door frames and windows, visibly serving to overshadow the outside light without stopping the air. It seemed quite handy seeing how the air was dry in this part of the archipelago.

The villagers were eyeing cautiously the new incomers, some of them had their hands on their weapons without unsheathing them. Eret wanted to shield his chief but Hiccup walked ahead and rose his hands to show they weren't harmful.

''Don't worry, we're not here to do any harm. We come in peace, we only want to talk to your chief, Scarlar the Hunter.

He only had the name from Eret, since it was the first time he was coming, he was counting on his friend to identify the man. As the vikings surrounding them still seemed distrustful, one of them stepped forward. Almost as tall as Eret, his shoulders were respectful but has enough fat over his muscles to make him look nice, like Gobber. He glared at them with clear distrust, putting on his shoulder a large cudgel which would have suffice to break Fishlegs bones.

''Who are you ?'' He asked.

Hiccup understood why he was asking, it was logical the villagers would back up their chief, trying to protect him from outsiders, especially weird outsiders dressed in scaled armors.

''Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, chief of the Hairy Hooligans clan, from Berk. You may know me under another name : the Dragon Master."

Gasps escaped from the crowd, the villagers were clearly surprised. The man with the cudgel didn't show it on his face and only turned his head to the hutt behind him, which he seemed to guard. Another man stepped out of it, pushing aside the two pieces of leather hanging from on the door frame.

Despite a large belly, he also had respectful build, and the muscles of his arms could easily compete with Eret's. The man seemed in his middle fourty he had short dirty blond hair, simple clothes that were the same as the other villagers, but he was wearing a peculiar hat. Judging by the claws hanging from it, it was made with a bear paw, and the claws were trying to hide the scars circling his left eye, eye that was closed and seemed unable to open ever again.

''Berk, you say ?'' He wondered.

Hiccup stood with a solemn and diplomatic posture, then nodded as a reply. It was obvious this man was Scalar the Hunter, even if he hadn't the clothes of a chief, he had this presence and confident tone.

''Do you have any acquaintance with the white-haired warlock ?''

From the corner of his eye, the young chief of Berk noticed the surprised look his two comrades gave each other. He remained as stoic as possible, simply waiting for the man's reaction.

''Yes, we do.'' Hiccup answered.

The chief's expression changed as he looked at Eret, whom he pointed.

''Yeah, I do recognize you. Please, come in.''

Without letting them say anything, he went back inside the house, signing them to follow. The three riders looked at each other for a short moment, seeing everyone going back to their business seemed encouraging.

When they stepped inside the house, they noticed the indoor was just as rustic and simple as the outdoor. It may have been the chief's hutt, the man was leaving the same way of life than his people, just like Hiccup was doing back at Berk. It warmed his heart, he always had better relationships with people thinkign like him, which was why he had some troubles maintaining good exchanges with the clans where the leader was above the people, like the queen Mala from the Denfensor of the Wings or the queen of the Wingmaiden. They were still good allies, but less of good acquaintances.

The three riders found the chief at the first story, where he was waiting for them without any mistrust left. Leaning on the window frame, he was looking outside, downward. They could hear the usual commotion of the village, voices talking, wooden weels on earth paths, hammer hiting metal, chirping bird, laughing children, even a dog barking.

A small smile was playing on the chief's mouth, but he wiped it to be serious and faced the three outsiders, crossing his arms over his muscular chest.

''I suppose you came back to get an answer. Your men had talked about alliance last time they came here.''

''Sort of.'' Hiccup admitted.

The chief sighed and ran a hand in his short hair, removing his hat and unveiling the expend of his scars. It was not just on his eye, it was running along the skull to reach behind his ear. The three gashes didn't look like of a dragon, rather of a bear. Hiccup concluded it was the past this chief had with dragons.

''Honestly, I'm still not sure about your story with dragons.'' Scarlar said.

The quick glance he took to Hiccup's fake leg didn't go unnoticed, it seemed to serve as an adding argument to refusal, but the young chief didn't let it bother him.

''Dragons aren't that different from us, they can become violent and attack if they feel threaten, that doesn't make them bloody monsters, they just defend themselves. All you need to do is make the first step and show them you're not a threat. You could be surprised to see what a dragon can do for you once you've earned his trust.''

Hiccup wanted to keep on his speech, but a slight nudge from Eret cut him out. The former trapper gave him an insistant look which seemed a bit saddened. He had to admit he didn't know what that meant, so the green eyes went back to the other chief to check on his reaction. Hiccup wanted to make sure he hadn't said something that hurt him. The chief didn't seemed hurt, actually, but angry.

His fists were clenched and his eyebrows knitted together.

''It was the dragon who deprived my daughter of her legs. You should guess this is not something I can forgive that easily.''

Hiccup pinched his lips in embarrassment, unable to answer. So this was the past he had with dragons ?

Understanding Hiccup was not aware of this, neither the stout blond viking behind him - whose horrified and pained look almost made him sad – Scarlar sighed and leant back on the window frame, ready to tell the events. Eret lowered his head all along, hearing this story once again had the eaxt same effect than the first time : it clenched to his heart.

Scalar told them how his daughter Stewhilde, who was ten years old back then, had always enjoyed walking into the forest. Her mother was dead while giving her birth, which explained why the little girl was the most precious treasure of the chief, and the village. So, when they heard her scream and a dragon roar, all of them went to her rescue. The dragon had fled, but they had found the girl stuck under a tree, her back was broken. Since that day, she had lost the use of her legs, and all joy faded from her heart.

Hiccup felt really bad hearing this. He couldn't imagine what he would have felt if it had happened to him. The girl was pretty young when it had happened, and for the three following years, she had stayed in a sluggish state, lethargic even. It was as if she was dead, unable to feel any joy, barely talking.

''Do you have children, chief Hiccup ?'' Scarlar suddenly asked, looking at him dead in the eye.

Hiccup tried to chase away the sadness in his heart, but it was written all over his face.

''Yes. A daughter. She will be born in a couple of months.''

''So you know what is this unconditional love. You must already feel it, and understand a father is capable of anything for his daughter to be happy. Now, imagine that, despite everything you could do, it's not enough.''

Hiccup froze in spot, as if an arrow had been shot directly in his heart. It felt like someone had stabbed him in the chest, and was twisting the dagger again and again to make sure the pain stayed vivid. Even if his daughter was not born yet, he could understand Scarlar's pain, because he was trying to bury deep inside the same kind of pain. His own was not only concerning his daughter's happiness, but her survival. His pain was this sickening dread Kosmozis could kill her along wih Joke, this sickening dread he could never even meet her.

His thoughts came to an end as they suddenly heard a laughter coming from outside, just under the window. The chief Scarlar turned his head there, looked downward again, and sighed heavily before smiling softly. The three riders eyed each other astounded, and Hiccup didn't know what to think as Eret was as surprised as Fishlegs and him.

When Scarlar signed them to come closer, they did it with hesitation, Hiccup the first one to reach the window. Down bellow, they looked at the young teenage girl. She was sitting in a wooden chair with wheels, and was laughing with all her heart while playing with a dog. Hiccup recognized the device. It looked exactly like the one he had designed back on former Berk for the little Mosskitoe, enabling him to move around while he had a cast on his broken leg.

He wondered how the Bearclaw clan could had have the same device, then the explaination hit him. It could only be the L League. He asked the question to Eret with his eyes, who shrugged as a reply, then both looked back to Scarlar. He was smiling kindly at the teenager. Everything seemed to prove she was his daughter Stewhilde, but she didn't look like the description he had made of her. She was neither lethargic nor depressed, she was joyful.

''I don't think I can join your alliance, chief Hiccup.'' Scarlar added. ''I'd like to believe dragons are more than fericious beasts and that peace is possible with them, but I can't just let go of what I feel and forget about what they did to Stewhilde.''

Hiccup listened in silence, he felt like Scarlar was aiming to say something else, but it felt difficult for him, so he decided to not push him. The Bearclaw chief straightened, half a head taller than the younger one, but he looked at him with humility.

''However, I feel indebted to your warlock. I don't know exactly how he did it, I first thought he had cursed her, but he gave my daughter back to me. Since he had visited us and made our black-smith build this chair, it's like she has reborn. I didn't see her smile for three years, and now it's happening almost everyday.''

Listening to the chief's emotion-filled-talk and kind look at the laughing girl, who was playing fetch with the dog, Hiccup felt his heart warm up, he also felt proud. Endlessly proud of his husband. With only one visit, whereas he had the mission to preach peace with dragons, Joke had taken care of a little girl that life had broken, and helped her getting better.

He surely was a healer. Even if Hiccup had played a role in this story for designing the wheel chair, the young chief refused to earn any credit for it. A smile as warm as the other chief's spread on his face. When both chiefs looked at each other, Hiccup could read in his brown eyes all the gratefulness Scarlar was feeling. Said chief even slightly bowed to him.

''I don't think I'm ready to make peace with dragons, but I am really thankful to your clan warlock. I'm indebted on honor, and I'd like to pay it back.''

''Joke.'' Hiccup said.

Scarlar gave him a confused look, he was certainly fearing Hiccup thought his gratefulness was only a joke, but Hiccup still smiled proudly.

''His name is Joke. He's not a warlock, he has dragon blood.''

Berk's young chief didn't have any fear about revealing this fact to that man. Actually, he considered it a way to convince Scarlar that dragons weren't all that bad. Seeing his reaction, Hicup was proved right. The Bearclaw chief seemed to be really thoughtful, all of a sudden. He may still have some troubles to get rid of his bad feelings, but it looked like peace was finally starting to gain back his heart.

Hiccup took the risk to put a hand on his shoulder, a pretty friendly gesture for two men who had just met.

''Joke would surely tell you to move on from this debt and only care for Stewhilde, but I can't agree with him.''

Scarlar rose an eyebrow, suddenly more serious. Hiccup knew he had picked his attention, and wheres he was not usually opportunist, he rather make use of this debt.

''I offer you the possibility to pay back your debt, and show you the way to befriend the dragons.''

Scarlar step back with a frown that seemed suspicious, distrustful. For a second, Hiccup feared he had ruined his chance to convince him, but his question reassured him.

''Why would you do this ? What do you gain from it ?''

Hiccup let go of his previous fear and breathed in to gain back his stoicism. He knew he had to keep his head up when negociating with other clans. However, while his brain was searching for good arguments to explain the situation, his heart remained stronger than his mind. Worry sank out of his features and added weight to his words.

''Our clan is in danger, that's why we came here. To seek help. A powerful enemy threathen our dragons, our way of life and my dearest persons.''

Scarlar dropped his presence and distrust, looking at him with renewed sadness, just like the one he felt when he told them his daughter's story. Behind the young chief, Eret and Fishlegs were both tensed. They didn't really dare to step into this conversation, but they were worried about their chief using emotions unstead of reason to convince their potential ally. Fishlegs highly doubted one warrior would accept to follow someone that sensitive, but he was proven wrong.

Scarlar had talked to them about his daughter with his open heart and, visibly, Hiccup doing the same touched him. And when Berk's chief decided to unveil the last pieces of secrety about him and the 'warlock' - the fact he was his husband and the bearer of his daughter – that was all they needed to convince the Bearclaw clan to join them in battle.