Anything Is Possible

Rated: M
Pairing: Hiccup & OC-Runa
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the HTTYD or Frozen characters. Everything belongs to its original creator. However, I do own all my characters.

Chapter 45.

=Normal POV=
[February 20; Afternoon]
[Hunter Isle; Great Hall]

The time was 4:00 pm, the sun would be setting soon. The flying lessons went well, there were no problems and Hiccup managed to teach them more than he first anticipated. However, now it seems to be time for the meeting that Viggo spoke of; Hiccup wasn't sure why he needed to be present since he was just a guest to the tribe, but that's why Hiccup assumed the meeting might have to do with Johann. When the lesson ended, everyone took their dragons home, except for Ryker, Hiccup, and Viggo; their dragons accompanied them to the hall for the meeting. Hiccup was staying quiet during the walk, but when they arrived, the nervousness kicked in a bit more. Two guards opened the door to let the males and their dragons inside.

"Thank you," Viggo motioned his head to them in thanks as he passed by. Ryker and Hiccup did the same. The dragons quickly made themselves comfortable against the wall while Viggo took his place at the round table where others stood in waiting. Ryker took his place on Viggo's right, and then Viggo invited Hiccup to sit on his left in the open chair. The doors were shut, the guards resuming their place outside. "Now that we're all here and this is Hiccup's first meeting with us, I believe we should do introductions," Viggo offered once everyone was given the motion to sit down.

"Welcome to the council meeting, Hiccup. We're happy to have you with us," Stated one male who was across from Viggo. Hiccup noted there was Viggo, Ryker, himself, and several others to make a total of eight at the table.

"Have you ever attended a tribe council meeting before on Berk, Hiccup?" Ryker wondered.

"Like, one…And that was my request to the council to be able to leave to discover more about the Dragon Eye and the places it could lead me; then subsequently, the riders too." Hiccup replied calmly. "Otherwise, no. My father said I wasn't allowed,"

"Why am I not surprised?" Ryker sighed. "Firstborn heirs are permitted in meetings as long as they are thirteen years of age,"

Hiccup just shrugged a little as if saying it was in the past and didn't matter because it was one more thing his father clearly withheld from him. "So, can I be bold and ask what a Hunter Tribe council meeting has to do with me?" Hiccup wondered.

"The situations needing to be discussed involve you directly, so you presence is required," Viggo informed.

"Okay," Hiccup nodded.

"First, introductions," Viggo stated. "And assuring everyone is here," He added. "I'll lead off. Viggo Grimborn, chief."

"Ryker Grimborn, second in command," Ryker said.

The door opened as Brynjar entered and moved to sit beside Ryker. "Brynjar Grimborn, firstborn heir to the chief," He announced, sitting down. "Sorry I'm late, Dad. Mom and Aunt Hertha needed help with something," He bowed his head.

"It's alright, son," Viggo replied and motioned for the next to go.

"Arild Landvik, general of island defense," Came the voice of a man with black hair and blue eyes.

"Eskil Beck, head of docks and ships," Spoke a man with blond hair and brown eyes.

"Geir Wolff, head of hunting and farming," Stated the man next someone Hiccup did recognize and already knew the job of. This man had red hair and blue eyes.

"Hauk Iversen, head of all ship crew at sea and all work on land," Hauk informed.

Now all eyes were on Hiccup. "Hiccup Raseri, guest of the tribe?" Hiccup shrugged.

"Head of dragon training would have sufficed," Viggo chuckled a bit. "That is the job we gave you,"

"Fine…If we're going with titles, then I'm head of dragon training, leader of the dragon riders, and assistant blacksmith," Hiccup folded his arms over one another with a mumble.

"Well, he's got us beat," Eskil joked. Hiccup shrugged a little as if he were used to doing a lot.

"Now, as for why we're here…We've got two matters to discuss regarding the tribe," Viggo began, pausing to make sure he had everyone's attention. "The first is the subject of our changed situation. We've accepted dragons into our lives, and quite the number of us have bonded. I believe it fair to say that with this alliance between our species, we can no longer run the dragon hunting business and that hurts our way of survival because it is a source of income and trade for the tribe," He continued. "Before the hunting season begins next month, we need to decide what will replace the dragon hunting to support the tribe," Viggo finished.

"We'll have to trade with the basics, Viggo," Arild informed. "What else can we do?"

"He's right," Hauk nodded. "Furs, weapons, hides…The things we get from hunting animal,"

"Fishing will need to increase, so will hunting. We'll have to go to other islands to hunt towards the end to be able to keep a decent stock for winter." Eskil offered.

"More trips to the ports to make all the trades, or arrange to have a trader or maybe a few to come to the island for trading," Hauk added.

"Or, and just an idea here…We ask Hiccup how other tribes who have peace with dragons are managing without the dragon killing to help in all that?" Brynjar offered. "Makes sense to ask the guy who has probably already had this question and came up with a solution, does it not?"

"Point made…Hiccup, do you have any ideas?" Arild asked.

"You mentioned earlier having an idea on this topic, what was all that about still using the dragons?" Ryker inquired.

"You can still use dragon things without having to capture or kill them," Hiccup sat up to explain more. "Consider yourself in the ship of a traveling merchant who goes beyond the Archipelago boundaries to retrieve a lot of their goods to trade with Vikings, right? There aren't a lot of dragons beyond the boundaries in some of those…Other countries, so dragon scales or teeth even would be highly sought after by traders because it would bring them more to trade with when they venture out," He informed.

"That's…True," The others agreed.

"But how can we get those things without getting the dragons," Hauk questioned.

"You have no idea how much dragons shed their scales, do you? I could make a cape of dragon scales in two days with how much Toothless sheds," Hiccup said. "And not only are the scales excellent on their own as dragon scales, but their properties too. Dragons scales reflect a lot of other kinds of dragon fire. Regular fire, absolutely." He went one. "Some dragons have saliva that has healing capabilities for cuts or burns. The antidote for being bitten by a Slitherwing is the stuff it's body is covered in. Scourge of Odin antidote is the saliva from the green solution of the Buffalord. Deathsong amber is one of the hardest substances I know when it cools, but if you reheat it back to liquid, you can reuse it for things, and the amber alone sells well. Gronckle Iron is a no brainer, who wouldn't want that. All these things that you can obtain from dragons, without having to hurt them." Hiccup told them.

"But can it provide as dragon hunting did?" Viggo wondered.

"It can do better than dragon hunting. Believe me, I've seen it on Berk when they had the same problem. The demand for some of these dragon-related things is crazy, and always sells good." Hiccup reassured. "You can still go to other islands, get what you need, and do the trading at ports thing. And I agree with Hauk's idea of having a trader or two coming to the island rather than only catching at the same port, or possibly at sea. It's far more beneficial to have them coming to the island," He added.

"Hell, if we did this right, Viggo…We could be home on the island a lot more, which brings us into that second topic of concern. The Johann situation, we still don't have much on that and if there is to be some kind of impending fight; it would not be wise for us to take half the men onto the ships to be doing all this business stuff," Arild reminded.

"He's right, we can't afford to not have the island protected, even with the help of the dragons," Eskil added.

"We may not need ships," Brynjar noted. "We have dragons, we can fly to ports in hours to a few days rather than sailing for days or weeks, right Hiccup?"

"That's right, Brynjar. Dragon flight is a great deal faster than sailing, and many of the ports know about dragon riding, so it wouldn't be out of the norm for them to see riders." Hiccup replied. "However, there's a drawback; flying the dragons could reveal the dragon hunters have accepted dragons in their lives, and that would draw attention to the island for enemies, and even possibly the other riders to investigate. I believe Johann doesn't know where this island is, and I'm sure he could have people watching or listening for information,"

"Hiccup his correct," Ryker nodded. "So what is the best option here?"

"You can still have trips to markets by dragons…But I would highly suggest we take the idea Hiccup provided to conceal our identity as hunters while we sailed last season," Viggo remarked. "We'd have to appear as lone or rogue riders, no wearing anything to reveal we're dragon hunters, well, not even that anymore but still."

"Your tribal crest would need to vanish, as would your style of clothing. Mainly those helmets…Appearing somewhat normal, but as you said, rogue riders in small groups of perhaps four and hitting different markets. To avoid suspicion, you could even come at night and hide your dragons, then get what you need, and leave the next night. This evades being seen and if anyone does catch you flying out, always fly directly up out of sight, then head back here. Don't give away the direction you're heading," Hiccup suggested.

"That seems to be the way we'll have to do things, and as you said; you can help with the dragon aspect of things," Ryker mentioned as Hiccup nodded.

"And expanding our hunting and fishing to other islands can be useful as well," Viggo agreed. "So onto that second problem, Johann and the people who work for him, or he works for,"

"I think it's a mix of both," Hiccup interjected. "I believe he has people working for him, but he still answers to someone else,"

"You're probably correct, and have the most information about the situation, Hiccup. Johann and whoever else was with him were your captors…" Viggo said softly as Hiccup looked down. "I know you don't want to talk about what happened to you, and I'm not asking that you do, but what can you give us about the situation from anything you may have heard…" He suggested.

"A lot of the time as prisoner is still missing, but I know that's because I'm obviously not ready to face it…But some things stand out, which is how I know this is bigger than capturing a dragon rider and Johann being a traitor," Hiccup said softly. "Anything I caught was strictly because they were talking and thinking I was unconscious…But I caught a lot of them saying they needed to get me to work for them, using my powers to their boss's cause."

"Now…How do they know of your powers?" Arild wondered.

Hiccup took a breath. "I hope you're comfortable, there's a lot to get through…I'll tell you about the two months I was with them, excluding details of my abuse because I'm just not ready to go through all that yet," After saying that, everyone sat still and looked at him to go ahead when he was ready. Hiccup began to explain things to them about the things he could remember, just not any of the abuse he endured.

. . .

[Dusk]
[Hunter Isle; Grimborn House]

While Brynjar, Hiccup, Ryker, and Viggo were attending the meeting, the rest of the Grimborn family was cleaning up the house, and tending to the dragons' supper. Hertha and Truda were cooking together, with the assistance of their daughters, part of their mom/wife training.

"Something on your mind, dear?" Hertha inquired at Runa as the three women noticed Runa's silence while making bread for dinner.

"Hm, not really." Runa said. "Just thinking of maybe talking to dad about throwing Hiccup a party for his birthday. Hiccup said he's never enjoyed parties, or were part of them and I just figured that as heir, he would have enjoyed birthdays, but he said he didn't feel welcome at any parties,"

"That's a nice thing to think of doing for Hiccup, sweetheart. I'm sure your father will agree, we all do," Truda smiled. "When is Hiccup's birthday?"

"Last day of February," Brynjar informed as he came through the door. "Came in towards the end of the conversation. Dad, Hiccup, and Uncle Ry will be right along behind me; they're finishing up the meeting with the council. Now…What's all this about?" He wondered.

"Runa was just thinking of the fact Hiccup has never gotten to enjoy parties, according to him, and maybe it would be nice if we threw him a party for his birthday," Hertha informed.

"He probably would like that. Are we telling him, or surprise?" Brynjar asked.

"Surprise would be better; he'd never see it coming and I think it would cheer him up," Vera smiled.

"He always looks so upset," Agnar nodded.

"Hiccup is going through a lot and he's still trying to recover," Brynjar sighed. "We heard about some of it at the meeting, but I can't say more than that," He added.

"We understand. Come in, wash up for supper. We can eat when your father, uncle, and Hiccup return," Truda said.

"Yes, Mom," Brynjar nodded, closing the door and heading to the first level bathroom; it only had the hole to use the bathroom, then a small handle pump nozzle for water with a bar of soap for cleaning hands. The second level had the full bathrooms with one each in the parents' room, then one full one for the five others to share. So while Brynjar cleaned up for dinner; Agnar, Runa, and Vera got to work on setting the table so everything would be ready when Viggo, Ryker, and Hiccup returned to the house for dinner.

. . .

[Dusk]
[Hunter Isle; Great Hall]

Brynjar left after Viggo suggested that he make sure everything was prepared for dinner and they were going to wrap the meeting up. Unfortunately, that was only to keep Brynjar from knowing too much. Hiccup's eyes had given Viggo and Ryker the look of not wanting to drag too many innocent people into this, more so that Brynjar knowing would make him a target and Hiccup didn't want either of Viggo's kids to be hurt. The worry was commended, but the council still needed a course of action on what to do next regarding the situation.

"It's clear that we're not safe, even here," Ryker remarked.

"My brother was attack not long ago, and would have been killed if not for Valiant moving him out of the way," Viggo reminded. "It's likely to say that perhaps we have people watching us from afar," He added. "We must take action," He stated firmly.

"Chief, I agree with you on needing to take action, but we have to do it safely and wisely. This isn't just us out on the ships anymore because we're dragon hunters…Or were. This is our home," Arild protested.

"Elderly, women…Children," Hauk informed softly.

"I'm well aware, but we also can't sit here and do nothing…" Viggo sighed. "We agreed to sit it out and wait, but now attacks are being made since Johann was revealed to be the one who captured Hiccup and is clearly up to no good with an operation we know nothing of, only that it will be bad and affect many," Everyone sighed now, not knowing what could make this better. Hiccup felt responsible because he was the one who made it known that Johann was a traitor.

"This is all my fault," Hiccup muttered. "If I'd just…Kept quiet to Johann; he wouldn't be trying to get revenge for me making him known as a double-crossing jerk…" He closed his eyes. "I never should have dragged you into this,"

"Hiccup, no, it's not your fault," Ryker told him. "Even if you did out him, the truth deserved to be revealed and we're safer for knowing because now we can't be fooled by his ploy of a humble trader," He added.

"Yes, Ryker is absolutely right, Hiccup. You might have made Johann mad and now anyone who knows the truth is a target, which makes you the biggest because you're talking. But Hiccup, the more people who know, the less can be affected by his lies and be ready to defend themselves." Viggo added. "We need your help to do this, Hiccup. Together we can win. What can we do?"

"More patrols, ground and sky. Watch towers with Terrible Terrors, set an early warning system. I can get Cinder to have other wild dragons in the forest and on the shores act as another alert to us if anything is coming in or hiding out. That's…All we can do right now, until we get more information. Observing missions should be discussed as well, small teams to see what can be found out," Hiccup suggested.

"We'll employ those measures first thing tomorrow," Arild nodded firmly.

"It's getting late, and we should be getting home for supper," Viggo informed as the others nodded. "We'll discuss this matter in a few days, see how it's holding and what should happen next,"

"Agreed," Ryker nodded.

"Dismissed, and goodnight," Viggo said calmly. Everyone stood, shook hands, then exited the hall before splitting off to go their own ways. Hiccup walked with the brothers, and the three dragons; he was mostly quiet. Viggo and Ryker looked at how miserable and down Hiccup looked, and began to wonder if they needed to call for Gobber; this only seemed to get worse after Hiccup talked about what happened as a prisoner to Johann, even if nothing was discussed about what he specifically went through. The walk was silent as they headed for the house.

. . .

[Dusk]
[Hunter Isle; Grimborn Home]

Reaching the house, Hiccup broke off from the brothers and started for around the back of the house. "Where are you going, Hiccup?" Ryker asked.

"Up to my room," Hiccup replied softly.

"Are you coming down for dinner?" Viggo wondered.

Hiccup shook his head a few times and kept walking. "I'm so drained, physically and mentally, that I'm not hungry. I just want to sleep, and even that's becoming harder to do…" Hiccup sighed. "I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight," Hiccup vanished around the back of the house as the brothers looked at one another.

"We'll watch him a few more days, and if this doesn't improve, we'll send for Gobber to talk to him," Viggo stated as Ryker nodded before they entered the home.

Viggo and Ryker explained that Hiccup was tired and going to sleep early, then after washing up; the family sat down to eat. It was a mostly silent dinner because everyone was worried for Hiccup, but Runa did bring up the surprise party idea, and the brothers felt it could be good to throw Hiccup a birthday celebration considering they knew that everyone always forgot about it and he's never had one, even for the major age milestones. It was decided that they would still invite Gobber, and hope the man could come for a few days for Hiccup, they would express their worries too. For Hiccup; after he used the bathroom and washed up a bit; he crawled into bed and fell asleep by 5:30 pm, hoping tomorrow would bring him some relief from all this stress he felt.