We didn't end up going back to our house immediately and instead walked the long pathways of Berk together, the trailing roads between houses and finally headed up to the Academy in the dead of night. Our dragons had caught up to us as we rounded near the house and walked behind us. Everything was quiet and peaceful when we arrived at the Academy. It's hard to think that this pit we call the Academy was used to kill these dragons barely five years ago. That our Riders rode the original captives within this pit and were not their closest friends. So much had changed, it was heartwarming to remember where it began and where it is now.
Astrid had stayed close to me the entire time, and when we arrived at the Academy, we split briefly. Assembling a collection of broken barrels or boxes from the training the week before, we collected them into the center and Toothless lit us a fire where we could just sit. We weren't speaking, just enjoying our time together. Sometimes there didn't need to be words to be happy. Sometimes it was the mere presence of the person you were with that made you happy. Astrid had become that for me and from the way she moved, I think I became that for her.
Sitting close to the fire, in a light embrace, my fingers race her arms as she leans her head against my shoulder, us both staring into the firelight. I don't think either of us were tired, not after the day we had, which was shocking in of itself. For a day that started before dawn and was certainly long, we were almost into the morning hours and still readily awake.
"Hiccup, I've been thinking." Astrid begins and I glance down at her as she gazes into the fire.
"About what?" I ask softly, bring my hand up to her shoulder.
"I'll always be there. I know I've said it before. Every decision you must make as Chief, every challenge we face; we'll face them together. These trappers won't know what hit them, we'll be better than we were against Viggo or Johann." She says softly but confidently, and I nod, smiling.
"They won't be ready, they think they'll be ready, and we'll show them we mean business and that their ways have no place in the world." I answer and she nods her head lightly.
We hear a sudden tumble outside of the Academy and as we turn, we see Fishlegs and Meatlug walking in.
"Oh, it's you guys." He says, pausing in his tracks and tapping his fingers together. "Hope I'm, uh, not interrupting anything." He says sheepishly and Astrid and I both look at each other and smile.
"Not at all, Fishlegs. Join us, we just couldn't sleep." I say, waving him over and he smiles and runs to my right side, as Astrid is hugging close to my left.
"Sweet! Me neither! I have honestly been looking for you guys all day. Where have you been?" He begins and we both awkwardly laugh.
"Ah-ha, just a day out and dinner with our families." I shrug and his face literally seems to glow as Astrid laughs.
"You guys had the first family dinner together! So, it is going to happen, Hiccup. Can I be best man?" He asks and I nod and shrug.
"It's not happening for awhile, Fishlegs, not while there are Trappers on the loose. But yes." I answer and he grins.
"Speaking of, why are you here?" Astrid asks, leaning over me to look at the larger Viking.
"Oh, I couldn't sleep and was Giving Meatlug her midnight snack when I noticed firelight from the Academy. My first thought was Gustav set something on fire and didn't tell anyone." He explains and both Astrid and I nod.
"Yeah, that'd probably be my first thought too." Astrid admits as we hear a sudden growl from a Monstrous Nightmare.
"Hey! What's going on here? Getting midnight training without me and Hookfang?!" We hear Snotlout's voice exclaim.
"Not at all, just couldn't sleep. Join us." I answer, waving him and Hookfang over.
"Looks like it's becoming a party." Astrid says softly and I smile, gripping her shoulder softly as her brief look of annoyance at the sudden influx of people is replaced with a smile.
"A party? Where? Why weren't we invited?" I hear Tuffnut from somewhere above us and as I glance up, see the head of Belch gazing down at me with Tuffnut holding on.
"Uh, where did you guys come from?" Astrid asks as I laugh
"Saw fire. Middle of the night. Figured it was either a raid of epic proportions being brought down upon our fair village" Tuffnut exclaims
"Or someone had a fire going." Ruffnut finishes.
"Or that. Turns out it was that. We have fish." He adds in no particular order prompting almost all of us to laugh.
"Great, the whole gang is here." I say with a shrug as the Zippleback climbs down and the twins join us in the circle. Tuffnut tossing fish to each of us and hitting an unexpecting Snotlout in the side of the head.
"HEY!" He exclaims, prompting Tuffnut to laugh mischievously.
"Loki'd, my man." Tuff answers and Snotlout sighs.
"Is it even Loki Day?" He asks with an exasperated tone, grabbing the fish from the ground next to him.
"My son. Everyday is Loki Day in the Nut Family." Tuffnut says
"Well said, Brother Nut." Ruffnut adds and we all laugh
"So, why were you looking for us, Fishlegs?" I ask after the laugh and he pulls out a parchment.
"I got a Terrormail from Heather and Dagur today I wanted to show you. Has some information about Ragnar." He says and I nod with a smile, glancing to Astrid whose face has become deadly still with an obvious look of anger in her eyes. I squeeze her shoulder again to snap her out of it and her expression softens.
"Okay, share." I finish and he nods, scooting closer to the fire.
"Okay. Ragnar the Rock. A Warlord from the Eastern Mainland's described as rather sadistic with his humor and jolly nature being a ploy for truly evil machinations. Prefers blades over axes but is a proficient fighter in all weapons. He works with another pair of warlords from varying areas, most from the mainland." Fishlegs begins and we listen, even the twins and Snotlout have shut up.
"Enjoys taunting his enemies as well. Apparently Dagur had run into him and the others some time ago. They worked with Drago, but with Drago's need for control, always took a second, acting like Drago's Lieutenants." Fishlegs finishes.
"Do we know anything about their operation, the other two?" Astrid asks in a soft voice, but I could tell she was hiding a great deal of anger.
"One is a woman but no name. The other one we met on the boat; Chaghatai Khan. He is apparently more ruthless and brutal than Ragnar, preferring to just kill than talk." Fishlegs adds and she nods.
"Noticed that when I tried fighting him." Astrid admits and for some reason, apparently, I wasn't told about that before.
"You did what?" I ask, turning to look at her.
"He ambushed Fishlegs and I. I thought I had the upper hand when I disarmed one of his weapons, but he just become more brutal."
"So, we've a real threat on our hands." I say softly and everyone nods.
"On the plus side, they haven't figured out how to weaponize Dragons like Drago did. That was the Leviathan and something Drago kept to himself. They can cage them, but so far, can't harness them." Fishlegs adds.
"Send a Terrormail back to Dagur; I want to consolidate our efforts and stop these guys. We're not letting them do whatever they want in these waters." I say and Fishlegs nods.
"No way. We'll blow 'em back to their dumb mainland." Tuffnut says.
"Have you ever been to the Mainland?" Ruff asks sarcastically and we all laugh. Good spirits in the face of danger, that's what helped make this group of very different Vikings my family. And together, we'd see no one invade our home. I feel Astrid's hand find mine and squeeze softly, she felt the same. We'd win, in the end, somehow.
I now know who almost killed Hiccup, and Thor help me, I'd make him pay for that. It took every ounce of my will to not get up and jump on Stormfly to hunt him down. It was different, I couldn't control the anger I felt. I know why, it was Hiccup; my friend, my Chief, my love. And he was almost killed by some newcomer to our waters, honestly if I didn't feel his arms around me as Fishlegs gave us the information, I'd have wanted to scream.
I know we would win in the end, somehow. These Warlords were just going to be three new names on our list of bested enemies and distant memories, nothing more. But now, they were a real, serious threat and operating within the archipelago. Berk wasn't exactly a hard target to miss, we had become known among the traders as a Dragon Haven. News spreads as Traders travel; and we were news around the islands to be sure.
We had allies, the Berserkers and Outcasts, the Wingmaidens and Defenders of the Wing. We had made friends and those friends came to our need when it mattered most. I'm sure, if called and able, they would again. But these enemies in our own waters attacked with speed and precision, taking Drago for example. Even with the relative location of Berserker and Outcast Islands, neither could have arrived in time to do anything.
For now, we'd keep to precision attacks using the Riders as we gained more information on the new enemy before they tried making a run at Berk. Though, while Hiccup was injured, we were successful in our first raid and took their dragons. If we remained successful, as much good as having dragons on Berk is, it will make us a target that is a glowing beacon on the sea. We would be attacked sooner or later, like when those Bounty Hunters tried to steal Hiccup from Berk and very nearly succeeded.
He has faced death constantly, more often than any of us, earning the ire of many people as our leader. His ingenuity and unwavering resolve can be threatening to anyone who stands against him, even if he is a hiccup. It made me smile, honestly, like I had said before to Heather, that unassuming hero type.
Still sitting around the fire with the riders and laughing, we soon actually felt fatigue wear into us all as I feel Hiccup tighten his grip on my hand and stand.
"Alright, gang. As much as I'd like this to never end, we need to get some sleep. Tomorrow, we start recon; we'll work with Eret and my mother as well. Keep the Aux riders as a base defensive line on Berk. We won't leave bright and early, it's already dark and early. I want everyone fully rested and here by mid-morning." Hiccup says and everyone nods.
"Mid-morning? Hiccup the Tyrannical more like." Tuffnut says with a grin and Hiccup sighs.
"Can we not?" He pleads and everyone, I'll admit, even me, laughs. "Ha ha, funny jokes. Okay, get to bed. I have spoken." He says in a jokingly deeper tone as he points out of the Academy, playing into it.
Slowly but surely, everyone makes their way out as Hiccup and I are the last ones there. I move to Stormfly but feel his grip around my waist pull me back and my lips meet his in a strong kiss. I melt into it, wrapping my arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. Unexpected though it may be, it was anything but unwelcome. Tracing his lip, our tongues find each other as he pulls my hips closer to his and our bodies fully press into the kiss, to the point to where we are nearly out of breath and breathing heavily to recover it as our lips part. I feel my face flushed as I look into his eyes.
"I've been wanting to do that all night." He whispers softly, taking a deep breath and kissing me lightly again.
"I could tell." I answer playfully against his lips before nodding. "I have too."
"Thank you, Astrid. I know hearing what we heard about Ragnar and Khan couldn't have been easy. It certainly wasn't for me, but now we know our enemies." He says softly, pressing his forehead to mine as I feel him sway slightly, his hands keeping my hips pressed against his.
"I wanted to scream, to fly out and find them, burn their ships to cinders and let the oceans take them." I admit, closing my eyes and just taking in his warmth as we sway together.
"I know, we will, together." He answers me and I nod. He moves to release his grip on me and I shake my head.
"Nuh uh." I say softly, my eyes still closed as my arms around his neck tighten their grip. I open my eyes and look into his and smile. "You started this; you finish it." I whisper, leaning in closer until our lips touch ever so lightly before pulling back.
"Not fair." He answers, his lips chasing mine as I laugh lightly and let them connect again. His grip around my waist tightening as we sway together, our lips and tongues locked in a perfect harmony as they dance.
Suddenly, I feel something literally sweep my feet out from under me and open my eyes in surprise to see Hiccup's eyes equally surprised as we are pulling away from our kiss mid-fall. He lands on his back and I land on top of him with his hands still around my waist as we look to the side and see Toothless doing a not-so-innocent waddle away. The dragon looks back at us and does his guttural laugh as he burns the stone beneath him and lays down. I glance and see Stormfly perk her head up from her nestled position and then lower it again.
"Should we go back to the house?" Hiccup asks from beneath me and I look down at him and smile.
"Only if your body continues what your mind was thinking there." I answer teasingly.
"And what do you think my mind was thinking, oh reader of minds?" He retorts with a knowing smile.
I lean in and lightly kiss his lips, straddling him and kissing down to his neck. I bite down a little hard and kiss his neck before my lips trace to his. Sitting back, I let my hips grind against his and raise my eyebrow with a smile.
"That give you enough of a hint?" I ask softly and his hands slowly glide up my thighs and rest on my hips. I feel his leg kick and he rolls me onto my back, his hands pinning mine to the stone beneath me with a smile.
"I think" he pauses, leaning in and kissing my lips softly. "I got" He whispers against my lips as he kisses my neckline and bites softly before tracing it with his tongue. "The hint" he finishes, his breath tickling my neck as I let loose a light moan of contentment. He pulls back and looks down at me with a smile and I bite my lip and nod.
"Then yes, let's go back home. I'm eager to see just how well you got my hint." I add and he smiles, standing up and helping me to my feet, he pulls me in and kisses me one last time.
"To the bed then, where I will explore and pleasure your body, Lady Haddock-Hofferson." He says in a remarkably teasing voice and the last line sent a shiver down my spine as I smile.
"I'm looking forward too it, my love." I whisper and together, we make our way back to the house.