Author's Note: Rated M in part 2


Astrid, Heather, Fishlegs and I arrived back at the Academy shortly before sunset, where the others were already gathered and waiting as we flew in; my mother and Eret present as well. Landing Toothless near the front inside the Academy with Astrid close in tow, I hop off and motion for everyone to gather as I line up the large board to write on. Their indistinct chatter was hardly noticeable as I drew the mouth of the cove underneath Villainy and the emplacements that I spotted therein. Once I had drawn what I saw, I turned to the others and they slowly quieted down.

"Alright, first, Where is Arne?" I ask, glancing to Snotlout who shrugs.

"Cells; Gobber is sitting there with him telling random stories. Think he was going on about the Boneknapper when we left." Snotlout says with a shrug and I nod.

"Okay, so far, Arne's information checks out. We scouted Villainy and found the cove he mentioned, several emplacements located here and here." I began, pointing to the map behind me. "We're going in full force. A team will attack from the right side, Riders attack from the left. Mom, Eret, you will be with the A team for this assault." I explain, pausing to look around before continuing. "We expect anywhere between six to a dozen ships inside the cove, and established tents, possibly buildings. On our first sweep, dragons will target the decks of the ships, sink them. All riders will have the MonMare Gel Jars, drop them on the docks and tents; or emplacements." I finish, glancing around again as Eret raises his hand.

"Prisoners?" Eret asks simply and my eyes soften but I shake my head.

"Not our concern. They can reap the consequences of their actions." I answer before glancing towards Astrid with a soft look and sighing. "Our goal here is to capture Krogan, alive. If he resists and forces us, then we will finish him on the spot. One way or another, they will learn their methods are not welcomed in our waters." I finish.

"Who knew our stalwart leader could be so ruthless." Tuffnut exclaims with a smile. "It's like watching a son turn into a man!"

"I knew, it was the gambling." Snotlout retorts as my mother steps forward.

"A thought to add to this, dear. Should we succeed in keeping Krogan alive, it may well serve to our benefit at the summit. These trapper mercenaries are a plague to all local inhabitants of the Archipelago, and anyone would be glad to see one of their most ruthless captured and brought to justice before them." She states and I nod.

"I had the same thought. Okay, with all that said, we will be attacking at midnight. Villainy is a fifteen-minute dragon ride away at top speeds, so we will reconvene here an hour before midnight and load up. Until then, get food and rest, riders and dragons." I state and everyone nods, making their way out. I walk to Heather who is talking with Astrid.

"Heather, please feel free to continue using our home. It's your home as well and you and Windshear need rest." I state and she smiles as Astrid's hand slips into mine.

"I will. Thank you, Hiccup." She answers and looks to Astrid.

"We'll, uh, meet you back here later. Hiccup is going to help me with the dragon suit at the forge for a while." Astrid says sheepishly as Heather shakes her head and smiles.

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure. With Gobber at the cells, you two alone in an isolated and hot forge. Yup, working on suits." Heather retorts with a knowing grin that makes Astrid's cheeks flush bright rosary red as I laugh.

"Yeah, not sure even I bought that one." I tease, lightly bumping shoulders to Astrid who responds by punching mine. "OW!" I exclaim as both girls laugh.

"You guys are fine, and you don't need to make any excuse up for my sake. I'm glad you two have an escape together. If you make it back to the house, there will be yakchops waiting. If you don't, at least have a good time and try not to wake anyone up." Heather slyly adds prompting Astrid to audibly groan as she punches Heather.

"Shut. Up!" Astrid exclaims, prompting Heather and I to laugh.

"Hey, just being honest. I'll see you two lovers later." Heather answers before leaving us alone in the Academy again. I move closer to Astrid and wrap my arounds around her with a smile as she sinks her head into my chest and sighs. Slowly her arms wrap around me and we stand there for a moment.

"You okay?" I whisper and she nods.

"Heather is way to smart sometimes." She retorts with a groan as I laugh.

"Come on, all the girl talk you two have, she has to have figured it out." I answer and she sighs with a light chuckle.

"Oh, babe, if you heard half of it, you'd think differently." Astrid answers playful and I pull back, glancing to her and smiling.

"Now I'm curious. Regale me, milady." I retort before leaning in and pecking her lightly on the lips and pressing my forehead to hers. She smiles and shakes her head, closing her eyes.

"Not happening. Girl talk is girl talk, you should know that by now." She answers, pressing a finger to my lips as I start to protest. "You should also know I don't keep secrets from you, but right now, I'd rather just be with you and feel you than talk about any of that gossip. Deal?" She asks, slowly opening her eyes with a smile as I nod.

"Deal. Race to the Forge, then?" I ask as she smiles, lightly shaking her head and tightening her grip. I can feel her soft, warm breath on my neck as she sways.

"For once, I think I'd rather it not be a competition." She answers softly and I kiss her neck softly.

"Are you okay?" I ask and she nods.

"This is huge, Hiccup. If this works, we can finally be rid of Krogan and end the whole Hunter's debacle. We'd still have the trappers to deal with, these warlords who are in their own way almost as threatening. But it's a step in the right direction." She states softly and I nod.

"A step towards peace. Imagine that, we capture Krogan, the Warlords. Send their fleet of mercenaries into disarray. Create the next summit of Chief's, unite the Archipelago, humans and dragons alike." I answer softly.

"It'd be a dream. For now, let's focus on what comes next." She says, pulling away and looking at me as I nod.

"Dealing with Krogan." I answer and she chuckles and shakes her head.

"I was thinking in the more immediate future." She answers softly and presses her lips to mine lightly before pulling away and smiling.

"I like that, so a nice walk to the Forge, then?" I ask, resting my forehead to hers as she nods.

"That sounds perfect." She answers, pressing her lips back to mine and letting them linger for just a moment longer before parting. Hand in hand, we walk back to the Forge together, the sun cresting the Horizon has it goes from twilight to dusk, giving us ample light and a perfect view as we walk quietly together, our dragons walking behind us. I couldn't say it enough, I couldn't appreciate her more, this was what I fought for. The ability to live in peace with humans and dragons, the sound of dragons playing together with humans and humans living without fear of other humans. It was a weird concept apparently, one that was met with scorn by those who sought power and wealth. But it was something I'd fight to live for and if need be, die to protect.


The walk back was beautiful and calming considering how near the edge we were on finally ending the Krogan chapter of our lives officially. It was bad enough we never knew what happened to him, but he is a brutal man who has no place being free in the Archipelago, let alone in a position of power. If his brutality was removed from the trappers, then they would still be a threat sure, but the direct threat to Hiccup would be removed. We can deal with the trappers, we can save the dragons, we can do all these things when the direct threat to my love's life was ended. I couldn't think of anything else; it has been challenging to put the threat towards the dragons ahead of the threat on his life. Even if he can somehow disconnect, I can't.

Walking with Hiccup, his arm over my shoulder with mine around his waist, slowly moving together; was cathartic. This wasn't something I was willing to lose, this was something I'd fight for, this is what we fought for. I know he fights for it too, and it reassured me. It helped me push forward, these moments, these times together. Arriving at the Forge, we both knew why we were here. It was to be together, to enjoy each other, to live in the moment without fear of the future or reproach of the past. It had become a thing we had grown accustomed too; I locked the door, and he lit the forge, so we had ambient heat. The heat helped ignite our passion, the flicker of the firelight, the warmth from the forge and rush of our bodies as we sweat.

Turning from the door as I hear the forge ignite, I noticed a large wooden pallet hooked against the wall behind the table that looked suspiciously like a bed. As he fiddles with the Forge, I move closer and slide the table to the side against the door since we wouldn't be using it anyways and found the latch. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw the padded bedding against it as it lowered to hip level. Looking down, I see a pair of legs lowered with it that stabilized it.

"When did you do this?" I ask in some awe as he shrugs and smiles.

"It wasn't hard, I found some time before we started hunting for Krogan." Hiccup answers and I just shake my head in awe and smile.

"The things you can build are just inspiring, you know that?" I say softly and turn to look at him as he is now standing behind me. When I turn, I feel him press his frontside against mine, pushing me back against the lowered bedframe, forcing me to sit as he presses his lips to mine.

"I'm glad your impressed with the bed." He whispers against my lips. "Let's test it out." He finishes and I bite my lip and smile, kissing him once and pushing him back.

"Gotta lose this." I say, running my finger down he chest as he smiles and nods. Stepping back, we both slowly undress, though I intentionally went a little faster to beat him. As he turns around, I'm leaning against the bed, my back to him and my hips propped out and slightly bent. Looking back to him over my shoulder, I smile and nod. "My back's getting cold." I say softly and he smiles, walking up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist, pressing his frontside to my back. I can feel his stiff member slide in between my thighs as his warm breath rushes across my shoulders to my neck before I feel his lips gently massage their way up my neck to my ear.

"Still cold?" He whispers playfully and I shake my head with a smile, even though I shiver it isn't from the cold.

"Not as much, but I can think of another way you can help heat me up." I retort, looking back at him over my shoulder and biting my lower lip into a smile as he shakes his head and grins.

"Gods, that look drives me wild." He whispers and I smile as I feel his hands trace down my back to my hips. Slowly, I feel his stiff member throb and slide in between my thighs as his teeth softly bite down on my neck eliciting a moan to escape from my lips before he pulls back. "Something like this?" He whispers softly and I feel his stiff member slide back as my hips involuntarily push against his as I lower and widen my stance, feeling him guide his member to barely enter me from behind. It was a new angle, a new position we hadn't yet tried but so far, I liked it.

"Yes… keep going…" I murmur softly, closing my eyes as his hands return to my hips and he presses his member fully inside of me. Another moan escapes my lips at the pleasure of the new angle as I press back against him. I feel him grinding his hips against mine as I feel his member moving at an angle new to me, prompting me to sporadically push back against him as he presses forward towards me. Feeling his body pressed against my back as his breath sends goosebumps on my skin as he presses back and forth against me, his hands driving my hips. Closing my eyes and giving way to the passion, I lean all the way against the bed and dig into it with my fingers with each thrust. I feel my legs begin to shake as a moan escapes with every thrust, not even fighting them as it feels too good to fight. He pushes harder as I feel the pressure building within me and I bury my face against the bedding and let loose a long, muffled echoing moan, almost a scream of pleasure as he keeps thrusting inside. His pace increasing with each push, I could tell he was close as I had already felt my own eruption, it wasn't long before I felt his warmth fill be on the inside and his pace slow to a minor grind as he leans down against me.

"I love you." He whispers into my ear as I smile, my eyes still closed as my legs have since given out but fortunately, I was held up by the bed itself.

"I love you. Here, help me." I whisper, and crawl onto the bed with him behind me, and lay down, now facing him. He brushes the hair out of my face, both our bodies riddled with sweat and the forge's fire crackling as I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer. "I truly, deeply love you, with all my heart." I repeat softly and he smiles.

"I know, I couldn't be luckier. I've said it before, and I've no shame saying it again. I love you with everything I have, Astrid Hofferson-Haddock." He repeats, making my cheeks flush when he adds his name to mine. It wasn't a thing that meant much, in our cultures we never completely changed names as we were still members of our birth family. But, incorporating it like that, together, unified, even if unofficial, was still heartwarming to hear. I buried my face in his chest as he pulled our bodies closer.

"Doing better?" He whispers softly and I nod, pulling back and kissing him softly before resting my head against the small pillow.

"I love how sensitive you are. Yes, this… this is perfect. Any time I spend with you is always… just what I need." I answer, closing my eyes and just feeling his presence. Soon thereafter, I felt his lips press against mine, but I left my eyes closed as he parted.

"This is what I fight for Astrid. It's more than just the dragons, or stopping evil people, protecting our people. It's for you, to be able to be with you like this, eventually in a time of peace. When we can be properly married, and.." I hear him pause and smile, opening my eyes to look at him.

"And live happily ever after?" I finish for him, laughing slightly at the corniness of it as he shrugs and nods.

"Yeah, more or less. Corny, I know." He replies and I shake my head, pressing my forehead to his.

"Impossible. I love your pillow talk. About what you were asking about earlier, the girl talk." I mutter and he shifts slightly and shakes his head.

"No, that was private. I was wrong to ask, what you two talk about is your business." He replies and I smile, kissing him softly before pressing my finger to his lips.

"Shush. Thank you. It's just random stuff, a lot of it is about you and me, none of it bad. Heather has known you and I would be a thing since she first showed up on the Edge all those years ago. She also said that she had dibs on you if something ever happened to me." I retort playfully and he shakes his and smiles, brushing the hair that had fallen back in front of my eyes away.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news; but if anything ever happened to you… It'd be much like my father when he thought my mother was taken. I wouldn't take another wife; I wouldn't take another lover. We're not married yet, but know that even now, as far as I am concerned, we're together. You and I, Astrid and Hiccup, until Valhalla and then Beyond. Nothing will change that." He answers and I didn't notice it at first, but a tear or three had shed as I smiled.

"That was about as far from bad news as you could get, babe." I answer softly and press closer together. This was how we rested for the remainder of the night, right up until a couple hours from midnight. We laid in each other's arms, floating in between consciousness, light kissing, and random pillow talk. The flame from the forge continued to barely illuminate the room as we eventually rose and cleaned each other up. We returned to the house and grabbed some of the yakchops Heather had made as she slept before making our way to the Academy with our dragons together. Though we never truly slept, I felt refreshed and ready to tackle whatever the midnight attack gave us. For Hiccup, I'd give it my all, for each other and for all of our futures.