This Ch. has been Rewritten as of 3/19/21

- Berk, Morning of Negotiations, as seen by Bertha, Astrid's Mother & Chieftess of Berk -

The men heaved the treasure chest back onto their longboat. The funnily shaped one Pirate with hook for a hand and a long yellow mustache was still yammering, "This was a good offer, to have an honest trade. You'll regret not taking this bargain, I can promise you that." Bertha was already regretting it. His unnerving first impression due to the sheer amount of mutilations had given way to a charming outgoing personality, and Bertha would not have minded peace with him. And while Stoic the Vast had said little, he had made it clear how much more they'd be willing to give for the boy. Even perhaps set up a long-term payment plan. But the idea of the pirates returning on a regular basis put the village more on edge.

"Why volunteer so much for a single boy?"

The mutilated man spoke for them again, "Only you could call him a single boy, having boys to spare. But to us folk, of which there are so few, each one of us is irreplaceable. Family is what we are… And we would do anything for each other."

This had been both a plea and a warning, Chieftess Bertha knew it. But alas it fell on deaf ears. Despite being Chieftess, at this moment had no true power, these were her neighbors and relations, not a trained army or subjects beneath her. She was a mere speaker for the people and could not override their stubborn deafness.

The two enormous men left slowly, quietly, when it was clear this meeting would not go their way. Bertha watched them row back to their boat with anxiety curdling into dread. The people of Berk had been so proud today, and she felt it was about to cost them something. The pirate ship folded itself into the fog, and the fog eventually left too.

By noon had finally brought the sun back around, her friends were drinking. Celebrating quietly as if turning away a humble Stoic the Vast was some great achievement. Like they had bested him. The Chieftess sat recalcitrant in the great mess hall, waiting for her daughter to make her way in for lunch, Astrid wouldn't dismiss her mother's suspicions. Even if she were to say without proof that... something terrible was about to happen.

The terrible Thorson twins, actually. In they came with bloody news, and they would have screamed it at the top of their lungs had they not been weighed down and staggering carrying a heavier bleeding Viking between them. Sweet and round-faced Maura, the Thunderous, rose from Bertha's side. She ran to the twins, reaching for her son. "Fishlegs!"

Fishlegs was put down on the stage and everyone swarmed around him. Mothers, sisters, and aunties immediately set to work bandaging him. A strange rash of yellow hives had begun swelling around the deeper cuts. Everyone crowded around the unconscious teenager. Mutterings and whimpers arose from the crowd.

"What is it?" "No one touches it directly!"

"What's Wrong with him?" "Someone get leeches!" "Don't shove me!"

"Tis A curse! The Pirates have cursed us all!" "Didn't you hear that?! Give them room to work!"

"Daddy, What's that yellow stuff?"

"Nothing sweetie… Go to our house and get that medicine Daddy uses on snake bites, kay baby?" Bertha watched the child go before sidling up next to the father who had spoken, "What did you mean by that? Could poison do this?"

The father turned out to be Roth the Fair and he nodded. "I haven't seen wounds like that since the last great war… but yes. A poisoned sword could do this, very easily."

Maura made a helpless guttering sound, a far cry from her usual booming self-assurance. Bertha put a hand on Fishleg's mother. She couldn't imagine seeing either of her children like that. Suddenly worried Bertha looks around for her children. She spots her son, Rek, standing at the end of the table by Fishleg's feet with tears in his eyes. "Rek. Reksi! Rek? Hey…go out and check on your sister for me, okay?" The 10-year-old looked at her, shaken. He then gratefully nodded his head and stumbled out of the building. Bertha took a deep breath and looked at everything. The people were beginning to panic and the wounds would be infected or worsened by unknowing hands trying to help. "Everyone out! Children, Men, and anyone who can't help this boy, out with you!"

Everyone but nursing mothers and the few teenagers cleared out, reluctantly, bringing parcels of food with them.

Roth did not leave but instead turned to the twins, "What in Loki's Name happened to him?" Ruffnut didn't seem to hear him but Tuffnut responded for both of them. "We found him like this, hunched over against Wavebreaker Rock."

Roth blinked, "but that's the sea line. Almost a mile from here, I thought he was posted to watch the prisoner-"

Ruffnut cut in, "The prisoner wasn't there anymore…See, we- we went to the barn first but they were both gone. There was b- blood… all over." Her eyes fixed again on Fishlegs and she started to stutter nonsense. Bertha joined them and put a comforting arm around Ruffnut's shaking shoulders. "It's okay, child. Don't cry. Your friend will be fine. We know what to do. Just wait, he'll come round."

From behind them came a raspy voice hissing, "Odin's cursed eye…"

Maura thundered a scolding, "Language!" before realizing who had spoken and leaving an apologetic kiss to his forehead.

"Or he could wake up now. That works too." Chuckled Tuffnut as his sister raced over with Bertha a step behind."

Fishlegs groaned, "Sorry, mum." His words were slurring and sloppy and he was still squinting as if he couldn't see where he was. Ruffnut might have hugged him if he hadn't started coughing up blood. Maura held a bucket and pulled her son up so he could spit the blood out. After he did this she inspected his mouth. She soon sighed with relief, " He bit his tongue. So not likely anything else… it's just his tongue."

Ruffnut teetered with uncertainty until she was beaten to the punch by Bertha, "What happened?" Fishlegs coughed a lot more before he could get enough air in his lungs, "Was attacked by this…piratess. and she came to take the prisoner. Too fast for me, and silent, 'cept for the song. She… was singing at these random little moments" He broke into more wheezing coughs.

"Were all these cuts by her?", asked Roth.

"N-no. Some were by my own foolish ax being whirled around by that –cough- Overgrown – cough- One-Year-Old."

"Is he getting delirious on us?" asked Bertha, with concern.

Ruffnut smiled weakly, "No, he's just talking about the prisoner."

"That's a pretty accurate description of him." Chimed in Tuffcup.

Ruffnut snapped at her brother, "Accurate of you too, now hush." This set off a classic twins argument. Bertha ignored them and asked Fishlegs to continue.

Fishlegs seemed to be having trouble remembering so he explained slowly, "We were in the barn… But she was too fast. Snotlout got free and got me from the back… He had me… He had me with my own ax. B-but… He didn't kill me. Knocked me on the head instead. Heard another song, must have been a signal. They turned tail and ran. S- so, I chased them. Through the northern brush, but my arms started going numb and my vision blurred. Couldn't throw an'thing at them. Followed them all the way till they climbed over Wavebreaker Rock. Then the blood rushed to my head and it all went dark. Som-something wa-asn't right about her sword. Not normal. Definitely not…"

Fishlegs was fading out and Bertha gently nudged him, "Try not to sleep just yet… Can you describe anything else? What did she look like?"

Fishlegs seemed to wake up more with that question, "Copper hair. Long and curly, like the Scottish traders wear. Dressed all in black. And she was older than you, Chief."

"Really? Older than me?" Bertha asked surprised, radically changing the mental image she was building in her mind's eye.

"Yeah. Much smaller. Shorter than Astrid, even. But definitely older, experienced… and just sorta beautiful." Fishlegs said, off-handedly.

Ruffnut seemed to come out of nowhere, "Beautiful? What- What do you mean Beautiful?!" Ruffnut dug her nails into his palm.

Fishlegs winced and then flinched away from her violently, "Ow! Gods, I didn't mean it like that! Ahg!"

Ruffnut was now twisting his arm and squeezing his wounds, "I thought I was beautiful to you. You plan on leaving me for some older woman?"

Bertha moved forward to stop her, but Tuffnut stretched out an arm in front of her. "Wait, it's getting interesting." And curiosity got the best of her as Fishleg's yelled

"Gods No! Ow! Crazy Woman, NO. owww!" Fishlegs was stamping his foot in pain as she popped and squished puss out of his arm. This was technically the same treatment the women had been doing the whole time, but Ruff was using it as a way to give new meaning to 'no pain, no gain'.

"Well leaving me isn't going to me that easy you, Foolish Viking." There was a loud pop.

"OW!" Fishlegs was suddenly able to yank his arm from her. "I Was NOT Trying to Leave you for another woman. And please remember that I'm a foolish Wounded Viking!"

Ruff stamped her foot and screeched this next part as only a teenage girl can. "Well, you coulda been a foolish DEAD Viking! Are you trying to leave me for the halls of Valhalla?! You went chasing after two pirates while you were unarmed and wounded- I mean, really?! " Ruff wanted to shake him, beat the living daylights out of him. But then she saw the bewilderment on his round face... and she let her arms and shoulders fall limp, all the energy drained slowly out of her.

You could see Fishleg's brain- realigning, recalculating in the full silence. "oh. Oh, Ruffnut…"Fishlegs tried to sit up, he couldn't really- but he did manage to take her hand.

"Shut up," Ruffnut muttered under her breath. Ruffnut wiped her welling tears on her sleeve and suddenly noticed that everyone around them was fully engrossed in the soap opera. Maura whispered in Bertha's ear, " I'm not sure whether the Lil Harpie just helped or tried to kill my son twice…"

Bertha laughed and everyone in the room broke from their suspended animation. There were quite a few catcalls, giggling, and wolf whistles as hands resumed their careful work. The couple turned scarlet.

Bertha the Endowed turned a commanding glare on the teenagers. "Now that everything has been said… someone needs to tell the people what we've learned…" Tuffnut immediately turned to the door but Ruffnut squealed.

"WAIT! Wait… I need to do his other arm."

"I suppose that's true." Hummed Bertha.

Fishleg's eyes popped out of his skull, "WHAT?"

Ruffnut smiled evilly down at him, " Yes. I have to pop the other arm back in. Did you think you had just magically regained power over your arm, By Your Self?"

Fishlegs seemed to calculate this in his head before deflating. In a resigned dread, he asked, "Does it have hurt as much?"

Maura the Thunderous cheerfully added, "Well, my brave boy, if you faint from the pain- That's fine since you were gonna need sedating anyway." Laughing goes around as the women roll up their sleeves and proceed with the ghastly work. Tuffnut is cackling hardest of all when he opens the huge door and nearly trips over Rek.

Rek darts around Tuffnut and toward the stage, "Mommy!"

Bertha, "No, dear. You mustn't see this."

Rek gasps, "Mommy, it's Astrid's."

Bertha looked down to see a splintered piece of wood clutched in the 10 year old's hands. But he's shaking it as he speaks. Bertha bends down to hear her son, "Rek, Mommy doesn't understand…"

Rek takes a deep breath before looking at his mother with big meaningful eyes, "It's Astrid's."

Bertha's eyes finally focused on the splintered wood. She recognized it. A light hunter's bow that has been split in half and thrown in the mud. The wire was still attached and carved below the grip in cursive was a single name. "Astrid…"

-*&^$%- A small island of black sand and rock, miles away from somewhere-*&^$%-

Acid. Her throat was burning. Her knees knocked together as she stood hunched over and gagging. Her eyes watered and all the strength went out of her. She fell backward, and soon curled into a fetal position. Burying her face in her blonde hair and arms, she wept. The shame. Astrid had actually thrown up. If they flew straight perhaps this could have been avoided but more dragons had appeared and the damned thing had started to do loops. Loops!

Was he trying to kill her?!

Taking some quick cooling gasps, she sat up straight to ponder that. They had landed on a small volcanic rock with little life. No trees; not even bushes. Nowhere to hide. Not that anyone could hide for long on an island this small. The sky was clear and annoyingly cheerful while the ocean lapsed lazily on the shore. The boy and the dragon had gone on the other side of the hill to give her privacy. In fact they had only landed when they saw her turning green. Politeness is an unusual trait to find in… What were they?

A boy… And a Dragon? Working together? They had listened to each other, taking and giving note to the other's demands. Even now, Astrid could hear the boy talking and the dragon growling, like two friends carrying out a conversation. She hiked back up the hill and dropped low, to eavesdrop.

"She's going to kill me." Yes, I will, thought Astrid.

"When she said, 'Take her out', She Definitely did Not mean 'take her out of danger even though she's the kin of kidnapping Vikings!" The small boy sat down hard on a small boulder. Astrid froze and the dragon sneezed.

"Of course, you don't think so. You are not in trouble. YOU are a dragon and have no mother! Especially not a mother as famous for her ruthlessness as mine!"

The dragon snorted and Astrid was intrigued. Did dragons talk? And who was his mother? Astrid was also a bit put out that what triggers fear in the boy's heart was in fact his mother rather than she, Astrid of Berk. Then thinking upon her mother, she saw his point. Mothers were scary.

The boy looked to the dragon with utmost dread, "There's no choice, Toothless… I'll have to kill her."

Astrid reeled back in shock and lost her footing. She slid downhill before catching her grip again. But too late. The dragon has heard her and there would be no more information to be gathered. They came up the hill now to check on her. They would kill her. Astrid crouched low her eyes focused on where their heads were due to appear. The boy came first. She tackled him. They were both sent tumbling downhill in a wrestling embrace. The dragon roared after them. They came to rest where the hill ended and the beach began. She immediately asserted herself over him grabbed his dagger from his belt.

The dragon hissed menacingly and prowled forward. Astrid froze, dagger an inch from the boy's face. "Toothless! Calm down!" The boy tried to sit up, Astrid halted him with the dagger to his throat, and the dragon once again growled.

The boy just looked directly in her eyes. He was so calm. "Don't do it."

His voice lowered and his words came out slow and gentle. Like he was taming a new dragon, hiccup said, "Take it easy. There's no reason to angry. Everything is okay… you will be okay."

"LIAR!" Astrid jammed the dagger up into his chin, starting off a slow trickle of blood. The dragon's claws extended into the sand and it lowered itself into a crouch. Muscles tensed and small teeth appeared in a silent hiss. The boy waved his dragon down. His eyes found Astrid's. "Listen. If you kill me… my dragon will kill you."

"Astrid spat into the side and scowled, "What does it matter? I heard you! You're going to kill me!"

"No, I won't."

"You won't- because I am going to Kill You First."

Hiccup rolled until he was over her, both of his hands wrapped around the hand that held the dagger. She used both her feet to kick him off and roll away from him. They began to circle with bated breath. Hiccup took out another dagger.

She slashed the air with the dagger, defensively. "I will not die here, by your blade! Nor your dragon! My people need me!" hissed Astrid, she wasn't sure if she was saying this for his benefit or her own.

Either way, something about this pissed Hiccup off. "Your people need you? Your people need you? Ha!"

Astrid faltered, unsure. Perhaps this boy was insane? He wouldn't turn out to be one of those berserker types would he?

Hiccup abruptly stopped circling. He stood straight and crossed his arms over his chest. "Listen up. You think you're the only one with responsibilities? Well My people need Me. And now you want to kill me? I saved your life! I caught you at 40 miles per hour on- " Astrid had interrupted him. She had interrupted with a side ways tackle that sent him flying face first into the sand. She grabbed random limbs and twisted, hoping something would lock and some sort of cry of pain would come out. The boy seemed to slide out of her grip. He also seemed to be insane- as she had first thought- since instead of trying to flip her off him he rearranged himself beneath her. Apparently making himself comfortable, he left himself flat on his back and put both his hands behind his head. Astrid had trouble believing this and waved the dagger in his face. Not to threaten him more but more like she was saying, 'Excuse me. I Still have a Dagger'.

The boy was silent for a bit before continuing in a shaky irritation, "You know what! You want to kill me? That's fine! What more would I expect of a Viking?! … Just know that if you kill me, Toothless will kill you… And even if you kill us both you will still starve to death. Especially considering we are your only way on and off this island."

Astrid's adrenaline was still pumping though her but she held herself frozen, mental wheels turning. She started cursing and cussing as never before. She grabbed the hair at the top of his scalp and began to bash his head into the ground. This didn't have the desired effect since his hands and the sand cushioned the bashing but it was rattling enough that the insane boy finally tried to sit up from his reclining position. His left hand caught her hand with the dagger while his right clamped on the claw in his hair. His eyes were wide is fear and Astrid thought, finally something normal.

But wrenched the normality right back out of the situation when he let go of her dagger hand and reached for her face, maternally. "Don't Cry…"

Astrid blinked rapidly; she felt the tears flow down and her temper rise up. "Don't Pity Me!" She made a clumsy jab at his head and nicked his ear with the dagger, drawing blood. This was an unfortunate turn of events for it was this smell of blood that sent 180 pounds of pure dragon muscle straight at her head.

-In the still sea-

Two ships with black sails entered the rock maze, shrouded in fog. The wind stopped and the two Pirate ship's sails wilted like flowers in poisoned water. Stoic the vast ordered masts in and oars are pulled out. The order was loud enough to be heard on the second pirate ship and was followed immediately. Every man and woman was doing his/ her part. All accept for Gobber. Snotlout, despite being recovered from the enemy just a few hours ago, was rowing stubbornly like two men.

Gobber was praising him but trying to pull the oar from Snotlout, insisting, "You should really take a rest".

Snotlout was breathless but still managed to pant, "And give up my oar to a man with only one hand? No way."

They sang all manner of sea shanties as they navigated the rocks, some of which moved to make way for them as they were sea dragons. and eventually, they were home sweet home. Especially the songs that were Snotlout's favorites, which mostly involved violence and swearing.

The songs let what few people that had stayed home on this pirate Isle know that they were coming.

Valka had stayed home, in her squat little cottage build into the cliff face, tending to the messenger dragons the size of kittens. But she overheard the strain of a joyous sea shanty and knew that Snotlout must have been returned. Smiling, Valka began singing along.

"Yoho Sebastian! Let's go far away!"

A careful but nasal tenor voice joined her from outside her window, "Somewhere where the captain won't be mad."

Valka reached up without leaving her chair and pulled a cord that opened the window. She greeted Hiccup with a smug smile. "Hello, son. Oho, you look guilty~ Burry any treasure lately?"

"I'm not sure what you mean." Hiccup said as he hopped through the window and headed for the kitchen. "I'm starving!"

Valka pulled a lever behind a broken rocking chair and the kitchen doors slammed shut. Never should have designed that for her, Hiccup turned back toward his mother. He looked at his toes nervously before he admitted, "Just a Captain's ransom."

"Tell me all about it sweetheart, I'm all ears."

He dove into a rapid-fire explanation, "But i didn't mean to disobey orders! you weren't quite clear! And even so you knew i wasn't capable of a... a dispatch. I couldn't even off a dragon, remember?"

He stopped himself abruptly because she was laughing. "YOU are going to get So much Dragon Shit for this!"

"Who's eating dragon shit?" said Stoick, leaning against the framing of the front door. He had walked up the stairs to the hut straight from the boat as soon as it docked, especially when he saw Toothless sunbathing on the roof.

Valka giggled and Hiccup winced. She turned to Stoick with open arms and a guilty smile, "My Love, we didn't hear you come in..."