A certain blonde Viking gets assigned to Berserker Island in preparation for the biggest war they are about to fight. And Heather finds herself in the middle of a couple at odds. To ease the tension, she offers a 'destressing plan' for everyone involved.
Chapter 5 – Of Watchdogs and Saunas
Ever since word came out of the resurgence of dragon hunters in the archipelago, Berserker Island has been on high alert. Dragon riders flew around the area to scout for any enemy ships getting close and warships were also mobilized in the event of an invasion. The sea stacks were retrofitted with small outpost huts for the recon dragon riders, acting as watchtowers, in addition to their existing catapults. To some, this may seem like overkill, but Heather isn't taking any chances. She and Dagur were prepared for all-out war if necessary and they can handle themselves without being heavily reliant on their allies.
Fortunately for them, their allies thought of the same thing. Dagur held a meeting with the other chiefs and generals regarding putting one of their own people to their allies' locations as watchdogs. These guys serve as an early warning system to their home islands in the event a threat is nearing their place of assignment – for example, if Berk sees enemy ships closing in on her waters, a watchdog from Outcast Island would fly back home to get ready for an attack. The chieftains got into agreement on who would be these watchdogs and which island they're gonna get assigned to. In Heather's case, she was ecstatic as to whom her brother took in.
"I'm glad Dagur chose me to go here." Fishlegs smiled, unmounting from Meatlug. He was the Berserker's watchdog and had just arrived from Berk; Heather was there to greet him.
"More time for us, I guess." she replied in a flirty tone. The raven-haired Berserker general would take this opportunity to try and win the stocky blonde's heart again, but for now, there are more serious things to deal with.
"Knowing him, he'd pick his brother over me in a heartbeat had he not become our chief." Fishlegs added.
"He sure would, Fish." Heather agreed, "Anyway, I'll show you your home for the meantime. Don't worry, it's a stone's throw away from my hut."
"Great! That means you can show me your new dragon, huh."
"Yeah. She was a pain to train, but she's been invaluable to the dragon fleet."
. . .
Fishlegs didn't take long to get acclimatized to living like a Berserker. He visited the island countless times before but had never stayed there for more than one night. The normally timid, stocky Viking didn't feel like he was an outsider; the locals accepted him, but the process of that was the most Berserker thing one could imagine.
It started with a night of mead drinking at their great hall between Fishlegs and bunch of locals his age. Due to their drunken nature, the local Berserker started throwing punches at another guy, claiming that the latter slept with his girl. Fishlegs found himself in the middle of this standoff and decided to headbutt the two guys' heads together so that they won't cause anymore damage. This earned awes and looks of bewilderment from the other sober guys; Fishlegs was never the one who resorts to violence to solve disputes, but he was still a force to be reckoned with.
As for Heather, she felt relieved that they had some form of outside help, even if Fishlegs is just one Viking in an island of Berserkers. He frequently did seminars on their dragon training arena on how to properly approach, tame, and train dragons that are native to the island chain. He even became the part-time leader of the Berserker Dragon Rider Group, much to Gustav Larson's annoyance. He never admitted it out loud, but Fishlegs was a better teacher than him in terms of learning dragon types. Regardless, Heather's still the one who oversees the whole dragon training operation and having, in her mind, the smartest Viking who ever lived in their island made progress much faster.
"You'd probably make a better apprentice than the kid!" Dagur said, praising Fishlegs' efforts on turning their dragon riders on par with the Berkian riders. Although Gustav is still acting like the Hiccup of this group of Riders, Fishlegs was the one acting behind the scenes to make it possible.
"Thanks. Though I prefer staying in things I'm good at." he replied, rubbing the back of his neck.
"If you say so." Dagur shrugged before mounting on Sleuther to go on the other side of the island. Fishlegs returned to his transient hut where Heather was waiting for him.
"So... what did he tell you?" she prodded.
"Nothing much. Just the usual catching up." Fishlegs replied.
"I see." Without warning, Heather planted a kiss on the stocky blonde's cheek. It was more of a peck but her lips made contact with his cheek.
Fishlegs froze, his eyes went wide. "Wh-whaa..."
"That was... for helping us around." Heather said softly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She was blushing so much that her face was almost red. Embarrassed, she rushed to her house, leaving a confused blonde Viking in her wake.
Once she found her bearings again, Heather cursed herself in taking this flirting too far. She wanted to do it verbally but her instincts got the better of her and it just went with the flow. Deep inside, she always wanted to kiss him more than just in the cheeks.
'Damn it Heather, what were you thinking?! It's obvious he doesn't like you anymore; why are you still hitting up on him?!' For now, she has a date with a cold bath to forget this embarrassing moment.
A few days later, Heather went solo to Berk one day to check up on their friends, leaving Fishlegs behind. She noted that the island was overcrowded with dragons, which acts like a double-edged sword for Berk. They may have enough firepower to overwhelm an armada of dragon trapping ships, but they also become a bigger target for the trappers if for any reason, they have more ships than dragons. Windshear also felt uncomfortable flying alongside so many dragons that she doesn't know, causing problems for Heather in navigating through Berk.
'A dragon utopia sounds cool if they can manage to constantly fend off the trappers. I should probably tell Hiccup and Astrid about this obvious problem.' She made a mental note to call out Berk's chief and general about the dragon overpopulation. A while later, they found their landing spot: an empty patch of land in front of the Great Hall. Once they landed, Heather looked around for any sign of Berk's one-legged chief or his blonde shieldmaiden girlfriend. Normally, that's not a problem, but with dragons running and flying around the place, it would be challenging to find either one. Eventually, Heather found the couple at the forge, where Astrid was waiting on Hiccup to sharpen her axe.
"Hey guys." Heather greeted the couple nonchalantly.
Astrid was the first to notice the Berserker's presence. "Hey sis. What's up?"
"I'm good, however, the same couldn't be said on the way here." Heather pointed to the endless flock of dragons flying about the skies of Berk. Some were flying so close together that they can cause the sunlight to be partially blocked.
"Blame Hiccup for that mess." Astrid rolled her eyes, "We've rescued so many dragons that they outnumber us six to one!"
Upon hearing his name called, Hiccup perked up. "Hey! Do I have to..." He trailed off when he noticed the raven-haired rider smiling at him. "Oh, hey Heather. How's Fishlegs doing there?"
"He's almost like one of us now!" Heather answered, "I think he's gonna be like Gustav and not want to go back here."
"Gustav was annoying as hell, sis. I was glad you guys took him in." Astrid riposted.
"You can say that again, Ast." Heather decided to change the topic. "You know guys, y'all need to destress from all this preparing, and you aren't exempt from that Hiccup." she placed a hand on Hiccup's shoulder.
"And what idea may that be?" the young chieftain raised an eyebrow.
"There's this cave back home that emits a lot of steam. We use it as a sauna to take a break from all the work." Heather shared.
"Do you and Fishlegs use it?" Astrid wiggled her eyebrows, letting Heather know what she's on about. The raven-haired Berserker blushed a bright red.
"Y-yes. B-but in my defense… we don't share the same cave! That would be awkward… you know… seeing each other naked even though you're not a couple…" Heather backpedaled, trying to not make herself weird among her friends.
"Ooohh! That sounds like something I'd love to try." Astrid said. Hiccup was reluctant to cave in.
"I wish I could join y'all, but there's so much work to do here. I can't just drop it all on my mom or Gobber all the time." he reasoned.
"Hiccup, you need some time off too." Astrid argued. While her boyfriend's reasoning was justified, she wasn't gonna let him be bogged down with chiefly duties all the time.
"I've already had enough time offs, milady. I'm staying here." Hiccup retorted.
"But babeee….." the usually level-headed blonde whined like a little girl.
"You can go if you want; I'm staying put." Hiccup replied, which only enraged Astrid.
"Argh! Why can't you appreciate the little things I'm doing for you?! Of course you won't – you keep saying 'Oh I'm a chief, duties come first' yada, yada, yada." She went on a rant about how Hiccup wasn't noticing the things she's doing to keep his sanity in check.
"Oh boy, here we go again." Heather shook her head. As Hiccup and Astrid continued having a lover's quarrel, a short, black haired man came; Heather was unaware of his presence.
"The last time they're like this was when we rescued that Armorwing and Hiccup was ignoring Astrid's betrothal necklace." Snotlout remarked, wrapping his arm around Heather's waist.
"Ahhh!" Without warning, Heather threw a punch square in Snotlout's nose. This caused him to release his hold on her waist.
"OUCH!" he exclaimed, clutching his now bleeding face. His dragon gave him a smirk. "What'cha do that for?!"
"Where in Thor did you come from, Snotlout?!" Heather asked.
"At the arena. I had just finished giving Hookfang a bath." Hookfang huffed at his rider, letting out smoke from his nostrils. "Oh don't you huff at me, big guy, you know you reeked like fish!" Snotlout added.
"Please don't remind me of that nightmare." Hiccup deadpanned, referring to Snotlout's previous comment. Astrid and Heather giggled. "What's so funny about that?!" he added.
"It's like child's play getting you flustered, babe." Astrid smirked in triumph.
"She's right, you know." Snotlout grinned. Hiccup sighed indignantly.
"And looks like I've been triple teamed in this argument, how typical." He left the forge and mounted on Toothless before leaving Astrid in Heather's company once again; Snotlout also left the two ladies.
"Yup, the stress is really hitting him especially hard, sis." Astrid sighed, watching Hiccup and Toothless fly to another part of the island. Heather could only nod in agreement.
"He needs an intervention. If you can't get him to bite, maybe I can?" she offered.
"Actually, there is a way." The blonde general smirked, "Try asking Valka; maybe she can get him to cave in."
Heather also smirked at Astrid's idea. "I love your thinking, don't stop that."
. . .
Later on, Heather was invited at the Haddock household to help Valka out with the chores at home. Since both her and Hiccup are too busy running the village, their home was one big mess, to say the least. She saw a lot of her son in the raven-haired woman and thought if Astrid never showed up, Heather was the next best girl for the chief.
"You know lass, if Hiccup met you first before Astrid, I'd say you two are perfect together." Valka remarked as she organized some scrolls laying around.
The ravenette Berserker general was taken aback by her statement. "Y-you really think so?" Valka nodded.
"I see a lot of similarities between you and Hiccup. You're both stubborn to ask for help in an effort to prove yourselves." the older redhead added, "Don't take it as an insult."
"None taken Valka." Heather replied, "Although I do see him as my little brother, I mean, we both got these green eyes."
"He still doesn't get that there's people around him who are willing to help with the burden; his dad didn't." Heather changed her tone to a playful one. "Speaking of help with the burden, we're planning to do so tomorrow."
"Oh? Do tell." Valka raised an eyebrow. Heather told the older Haddock about her plan of using the steam-filled caves back home to their advantage, in a bid to destress everyone. She also asked Valka if Hiccup would ever agree to her plan, to which she replied she'll deal with it.
When Hiccup retired home that night, his mom was waiting expectantly for him. She told him about Heather's plan and how she would take over his duties upon his absence. As expected, Hiccup refused to go, making up all kinds of excuses. But Valka reassured him that everything would be alright as long as she's taking control. Reluctantly, Hiccup gave in and told Heather through a note she passed through one of the Berkian locals.
The next morning, the gang flew to Berserker Island to reunite with Fishlegs and go on their sauna trip. Heather tried to have Dagur join in their escapade, but he was too busy so he turned down. The steam-filled caves that Heather mentioned were on a volcanic island within the Berserker island chain. They all agreed that the men would have their own cave; so did the girls. In the men's side, Hiccup, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Tuffnut weren't wearing anything, save for the loincloths they had wrapped around their waists.
"Why did I agree to this?" Hiccup moaned.
"Because you can't say no to Astrid?" Fishlegs guessed. Snotlout and Tuffnut sniggered while Hiccup gave them the death glare.
"She says its for my own sanity and all that nonsense." He said flatly, "If my father can handle the stress without having days off, so can I!"
"Aww, ain't that cute!" Tuffnut mocked, causing Snotlout to burst out laughing.
"But you're not Stoick, chief." Fishlegs pointed out. Hiccup always compared his success as a chief to his father's, but he was too stubborn to realize that Stoick was his own man; so was Hiccup.
. . .
On the ladies' side of the steamy sauna, Heather, Astrid, and Ruffnut were relaxing. Unlike the guys, they had nothing to cover their bodies, letting the sweat and steam drip down their toned bodies.
"Now this is the life! Two caves means we don't get to share with the guys!" Heather sighed, leaning against the cave wall.
"I'm glad you and Fishlegs found this. Steam-filled caves were the last thing I'd ever resort for a makeshift sauna!" Astrid commended the ravenette Berserker. Ruffnut nodded in agreement.
"I wonder how Hiccup's dealing with Tuffnut and the three muttonheads?" the female Thorston twin asked.
"Knowing him, he's probably more stressed about keeping Tuff and Snotlout in check." Astrid rolled her eyes, then turned to Heather. "I hope those fools won't make him look bad in there."
"I hope not." Just as Heather said that, the girls heard cackling and the clunk of a metal leg headed their way.
"HEY! GET BACK HERE YOU TWO!" The sound of Hiccup's yelling echoed through the caves.
"Guys!" Fishlegs barged into the ladies cave, prompting them to cover up their chests and legs. Ruff and Astrid were wondering what's going on, but Heather's eyes widened at the sight of her ex's fully naked body.
"Come and get this!" Snotlout was next to barge in with a loincloth in hand. Tuffnut was following him and from what Heather can make out, they're pranking Hiccup but it backfired.
"Hey! Cut it out!" the one-legged chief of Berk stormed through, trying to chase his friends. Like the other guys, he didn't have his loincloth on. The ladies, minus Astrid, couldn't help but comment about their sizes; who had the biggest and smallest.
"Huh..." Ruffnut pondered, "I never expected our chief to be that small."
"If you say another word about Hiccup's…you know, I'm gonna slice your braids off." Astrid warned, her axe now in hand. Ruff was only messing with Astrid, while Heather was surprised.
"Where in Thor do you hide that thing when we're all buck naked?" she asked. She wouldn't admit this but seeing Astrid defending Hiccup is quite the turn on if she hadn't noticed the wetness between her legs. Whether that was sweat or arousal, Heather didn't care.
"It's a habit, sis. Believe me, when Hiccup tries to sneak on my while I'm asleep, I almost cut his neck because I hid some daggers behind my pillow." Astrid replied.
"But why would you do it to him of all people?"
"Just because he's my boyfriend doesn't mean I have to let my guard down when I'm most vulnerable. But yeah, I can let my guard down when I feel his arms embracing me, knowing that he'll protect me from this crazy world of humans and dragons." Astrid said. She put back her axe and hugged herself to make her point. "I wish you could see me all hot and sweaty for you, babe." She said dreamily to herself.
Heather smirked. "If I didn't know better, you two are practically a married couple already!"
"Everyone keeps saying that but they still don't see each other that way." Ruffnut interjected.
Astrid wasn't amused. "Shut up Ruff. Thank Thor I'm too hot and sweaty to punch you." Heather chuckled at their constant sniping, realizing that some things never changed.
A/N: I know I mentioned extensively about guys releasing their stress, but I wanted to tell about the boring, less adventurous stuff they do. Also, the sauna part of this chapter was loosely inspired by a comic over on DeviantArt by Chromosomefarm.