A World Gives and Takes: Epilogue

The following fall Hiccup, Jack, and Hasna began to prepare for winter. The girl wanted to go down to the docks every single day and feed Nepta until he almost burst. The water dragon followed them all the way north after they left the midworld island. However, as winter began to take hold, Nepta disappeared, and Hasna suffered a broken heart until spring. When the seas around Berk cleared, the water dragon returned. From the smithy where she liked to play and annoy both her fathers, the wet trumpeting sound reached their ears. Their daughter cried with unadulterated joy when she saw the dragon waiting for her near the docks. Yet a year after returning, they needed to prepare her for the dragon's absence once again.

"You know he's going to find warmer water when winter gets here," Hiccup warned Hasna.

"Why Nepta go? I want him to stay," she begged.

"Do you want to be outside without a coat in the snow?" Jack asked from where he continued to pack crates with woodworking supplies.

"No. Cold," Hasna grumbled. She did not like the cold one bit.

"And that what happens with Nepta. Warm water is like a jacket for him."

"Nepta stay," she pouted.

"You can say it all you want, but he's going to head south," Hiccup told her for the umpteenth time. He continued to bend a piece of metal, but got little results as the piece cooled too much. "Besides, you got Toothless and half the dragons on this island to play with. What about Meatlug?"

"Me-lug," she giggled and forgot to finish part of one word.

Hasna and Meatlug formed a bond nearly as powerful as the one she formed with Nepta. Of course, it did not hurt that she and Haloke became inseparable. Although a year younger, the daughter of Fishlegs and Groanhilde became attached to Hasna. The other children on the Berk liked Hasna as well, although she figured out on her own the Thorston clan posed certain challenges. Moreover, Hasna severely disliked the chickens, and the feeling appeared mutual. Aside from Meatlug who did not mind being used as playground equipment one bit, many of the other dragons followed Toothless' lead and treated the girl with great care. The night fury, while not as extremely patient as the gronckle, seemed very fond of the Hasna. She liked him as well and would gamely use him as an alternate when Meatlug became unavailable.

"Ja, where Unca Snot?" She asked and started to poke around inside one of the packing crates.

"You already know the answer," Jack replied and added: "You're going to get your fingers cut if you keep doing that.

Hasna removed her hand while she asked:"How come new house?"

"Workshop, sweet girl. We're moving to a new workshop so Hic-ah can use the whole forge. Besides, Uncle Snotlout and me are getting more work 'cause of it. People want new furniture."

Like most everyone in the immediate vicinity of the forge, Hasna became a favorite curiosity. Her eyes, hair, and skin loudly proclaimed her from someplace else. That she commanded as much language as she did, including some complicated words and sentence structures, made her a bit of a gadfly. Hasna would talk to anyone who wanted to talk to her. She accepted correction regarding mispronounced words with subtle ease, although she would only adhere to the correct pronunciation half the time. More than anything, people noted the speed at which she learned and possessed a curiosity her two fathers began to believe might get her into trouble in the near future.

"Hic-ah go new house?" Hasna inquired after a few moments of thought.

"No, Hic-ah is going to stay in the smith. This is where he works," Jack explained for perhaps the hundredth time.

She frowned. Jack went and picked her up and took her to a window. He pointed to the new building not more than fifty feet away.

"Ja works there; Hic-ah works here. You can run back and forth… or ask Toothless or Meatlug to fly you over."

"Really? You're encouraging her to use dragons as a ferry instead of walking?" Hiccup complained to his mate as he reheated the piece of metal in the forge. The wild groan and hiss of the bellows forced him to speak louder.

"She'll get maybe one or two rides at best, and you know it. Toothless won't put up with it and Meatlug is too lazy," the Earthling rejoined.

Hiccup stood with one gloved hand clutching a hammer perched on a hip with the other gloved hand held tongs holding the metal into the fire. Dressed in work-scared pants, a long-sleeved shirt despite the heat of the forge, and the precious dragon-hide apron, the man did not resemble how he last looked when they sailed north for Berk with Hasna and Nepta in tow. He frowned at the two standing by the window. During the previous winter he , Jack, and Snotlout finished the plans for the new woodshop. In the early spring when they began to break ground, the rest of the Berk pitched in to help once they realized the benefit they would receive. By mid-summer work ended and a new building sat behind the forge. Jack, Snotlout, and Fishlegs then spent two months adding or building other equipment to assist them. The Berkians began to pepper Jack and Snotlout with new orders almost as soon as the last piece of thatch got laid on the roof and final nail sunk, but slunk away realizing the woodshop needed preparation. The current state of the move proved vexing to the master smith since it disrupted his workshop at every turn.

"But you still shouldn't be encouraging it," the Viking returned to the main point.

He looked at the girl held by the man he loved without question. The death of IceSpike remained a touchy subject, but Jack channeled his flying energies into helping raise the girl. Few realized or understood Hasna's seeming preternatural intelligence came from the hours and hours Jack, and Hiccup, poured into her education. The artistic skills of her fathers proved invaluable when words failed. Thus, Hasna developed a visual acuity as great as any adult could claim. She also took up drawing. Between Hiccup and Jack the girl learned numerous techniques. Moreover, her keen eye aided her increasingly deft hand. The Viking knew the foundling girl loved him without mercy, and he wanted the same for Jack. Thus, he never showed a single iota of jealousy as their bond became stronger.

"I suppose you're right, but who can resist this?" Jack said and stared blowing raspberries on her neck.

Hasna laughed and shrieked at one and the same time. Mouldy and Fartbritches looked up from their work, saw the cause, and resumed their tasks. The two smiths learned to ignore the chaos introduced by the girl whenever she entered the smithy. However, and when they thought Hiccup did not see them, both men liked to entertain Hasna. Hiccup saw the small items they crafted for her, and it actually started to make Fartbritches a better smith.

"So… are you waiting 'til the snow begins to fall before you begin the move?" The master smith grumped at the master woodwright.

"Need to pack everything first. Snotlout is…"

"Unca Snot," Hasna cooed the name since she never tired of the repeat-the-name game.

Hiccup grinned at their daughter and said: "You're the only one who gets away with calling him Snot. Even his father isn't allowed."

"Sassa does," Jack said and shrugged.

"Yeah, well, look at who she is."

The men smirked at one another. They made a private bet when the two would announce their betrothal. Jack predicted by fall while Hiccup opted for spring. Time began to run out on Jack's clock regarding the bet. However, they saw how she greeted the man when they arrived from midworld. Moreover, Snotlout did not hide his considerable and deep affection for the woman.

"You know we were just as bad once a upon a time?" Jack rhetorically asked.

"Worse, probably, especially after you came home looking like that," Hiccup stated and waggled his eyebrows in a salacious manner.

"And she's going to start imitating that."

"Mimititting," Hasna mumbled as she continued to look out window at the new woodshop. "Unca Fishy."

Hiccup glanced out the window in the direction of the new woodshop and saw Fishleg's arm swing inside. The brilliant and stout Viking lent considerable assistance to Jack and Snotlout as they designed and constructed the new building. Then Hiccup noted the tilt of the sun. He pulled the now heated metal from the forge and set it on his personal gronckle-iron anvil. After stripping off his apron and gloves. He walked over to Jack. Jack nodded.

"Hasna, know what time it is?" Jack questioned the girl.

She sucked in an excited breath and said: "Nepta eat. Nepta fed."

"Okay, now say Nepta needs feeding," Hiccup pressed her.

"Nepta needs eed," she replied.

"Um, try again, Scrunch Face. Nepta needs feeding."

"Ahh," Hasna huffed, but she also appeared to focus. "Nepta needs… eeding."

"F-f-f-f…. fa… fa… f-f-f-eeding," the Viking parent sounded it out.

"Fa… eeding.

"Feeding."

"Fa-eeding."

"Nepta needs feeding," Hiccup made another approach to the sentence.

"Nepta needs fa-eeding," Hasna studiously replied.

"Good," the one she called Hic-ah said and kissed her on the forehead. Then he ruffled her hair.

"Hic-ah, no!" She rumbled at him while patting down her hair.

"Hic-ah bad," Jack said in a low tone.

"Bad," the girl giggled.

"Ugh! You're getting too heavy to carry down to the docks."

During summer daylight hours they would go see the dragon at the north beach where Nepta often lounged and swam with the other dragons. Fishlegs would spend as much of any given day as he could studying the water dragon. Despite being on an island and surrounded by water, none of the Berkians ever got the chance to really study one, but they did managed to fight and get killed by sea dragons in absurdly high numbers in days gone by and, in a limited number, present days. It remained one of the last breeds of dragon the Vikings did not entirely befriend. Thus, Nepta offered a rare chance, and Fishlegs seized it with gusto. During spring until summer arrived and the fall when he departed, they met Nepta at the docks. He retained his training and would sometimes pull himself from the water. Hiccup and Fishlegs augmented one dock so the edge hovered a few inches from the ocean's surface. Hence, it afforded Hasna a relatively safe place to meet and play with her dragon friend.

Her Guardian parent set her down, but not before Jack demanded a kiss a payment. Then following a ritual they established the previous year, and Hasna loved her rituals, she held out her hands. Hiccup took her left hand, and Jack her right. The started to walk through smith toward the east entrance, accessible since Jack and Snotlout moved equipment and wood scraps out of the way. Jack saw the way Hiccup eyed the newly opened space and wondered to what use the man would put it.

"Do you even remember what used to sit there?" Jack asked while lifting the latch of the door.

"To be honest, no. I think Grump might've slept there a lot," Hiccup said.

Both men felt both a sense of warmth and of loss at the mention of the dragon's name because it immediately conjured a singular person in both their minds.

"Grump slept wherever he wanted and that usually meant everywhere," the Earthling muttered and grinned as he thought of the huge hot burple.

"Nepta needs fa-eeding," Hasna implored when they stopped walking.

"Yes, Dragon Butt, Nepta needs feeding," Hiccup teased her.

"Hasna not dragon butt. Hic-ah bad," she rumble darkly, but her eyes gleamed as she looked at her Viking parent.

"Should we feed Hic-ah to Nepta?" Jack queried.

The girl shot him a look of abhorrence.

"Bet he tastes… like eel."

"Okay, that last line wasn't funny," Hiccup protested.

Hasna giggled at the reaction and mumbled, "Hic-ah eel."

"You are so going to pay for that, Jack."

Jack leaned over and gave him a peck on lips.

"Un-uh. You use that on me all the time…"

"Docks, now!" The girl demanded.

The men shot her a stern glance.

"Pease," she quickly added.

Her parents glanced at one another, nodded, and resumed heading out the door. Hiccup lead the way, Hasna followed him, and Jack followed her. Hiccup looked slovenly in his smithing clothes, and Jack barely less so. Hasna dressed in familiar Viking garb: sturdy, tanned yak-hide boots, stiff broadcloth pants, a decorated broad leather belt, and a vested flax shirt. Her long, black hair got plaited every morning by Groanhilde who almost took out both men when they contemplated cutting it. On that particular day, green and blue ribbons got woven into her tresses. Unlike Viking children, Hasna did not like to wear hats or helmets except during the brutal winter months. Her brown skin, only a shade lighter since leaving the island, announced her as from somewhere else. However, in the preceding year people began to forgot Hasna arrived with Hiccup and Jack as she initiated her own form of childish terror on the inhabitants of Berk.

Hand-in-hand they walked out through the alley into the main plaza. The stone pediment hosting a taller pillar of wood that once held aloft an enormous signal and watch fire got fitted with various sized perches. Dragons of many types roosted there to catch the last warming rays of the day. The trio walked passed to the outer edge where they would find the ramps leading down to the docks. Even at that range they could hear the ocean; the sound grew deeper as winter made an approach. At the docks the wind picked up. Clothing ruffled in the seemingly constant breeze, although during midday it tended to be slack. Six feet began the descent on ramps four of those feet knew very well. The angle, about which the longshoremen complained, meant they needed to carefully tread. The decline reduced at the first switchback and again at the second. Waves slapped the edges of the folding docks that would be lifted before the ice began to floe and set in. The two men and little girl aimed for the last dock, the one adjusted for a sea dragon.

"Nepta!" Hasna shrieked and her fathers released her hands.

They did not fear the girl would fall in the water. Even if she did, the dark green sea creature would save her before Hiccup could call to Toothless. Instead, the men clasped hands as they continued at a leisurely pace in the wake of their daughter. At the junction of the docks, the Viking grabbed the bucket of fish left there for Hasna's visits. They then turned to the right and slowly ambled down the dock while Hasna hugged the thick and wet neck of Nepta. The dragon slushily warbled in contentment. The Hallan man and the Earth man both considered Nepta a part of their family. Hasna's love for the beast demanded it.

"Here you go, sweet girl," Jack said as Hiccup set the bucket down.

Overhead a black shape sailed into view. Toothless joined them every evening without needing to be called. He went first to Hiccup who slathered emotion all over the night fury while scratching the tough hide. Toothless crooned with pleasure. At that sound Hasna turned and brought a fish to the ebony dragon who gently took it from her. From there the night fury turned to Jack for more affection, and Jack piled it on almost as obscenely as his husband. Sometimes Jack wept while tending to the winged wonder. That evening he luxuriated in the simple love Toothless always showed him. When he finished, the night fury went to join the girl and the water dragon.

The two men slipped an arm around the other's waist.

"I love this," Hiccup quietly said. "I love this time of day. I love it when it's just the five of us."

"Mmm, yeah. Family," Jack agreed in his own fashion.

At the end of the dock a girl from a far off place cavorted with a water dragon from an unknown location and a night fury whose origin remained a mystery. A man born and raised on the island beamed with happiness at the treasures of his life. He never expected he would ever feel as content as he did in that moment. Next to him a man from a world so far away no one could explain it hugged the Viking. While Hiccup felt at peace, Jack felt more of himself than he ever thought could fit into one skin.