Chapter 19:
Hiccup reached his house not long after leaving the healer's hut, thanks to Toothless' surprising speed even after the strenuous day of fighting. The Viking's eyes had by now adjusted to the perpetual blackness of night and Hiccup found himself squinting quite hard upon entering his home due to the firelight that washed over him. Although his vision was limited, the boy could still make out the large shape of his father sitting in his big chair by the fireplace, absentmindedly poking at the flames with an iron rod.
Looking up, the Chief spoke. "Why, yer home late."
"Oh! Uh, hey dad. Sorry about that, it was a crazy day today." Hiccup stammered, startled at his father's words. He'd expected the man to be in bed already, as he often was at this hour.
"Mind explainin', then?" Stoick asked, noticing his son hadn't mentioned any specifics.
"Um…" Hiccup looked down at his feet, unsure of how his father would react. "While out on that survey I told you we'd be doing, we were attacked."
"WHAT?!" Stoick boomed, likely loud enough to wake several of his neighbors despite their separation down the hill. "By who?"
"Well, it's more of a 'what' than a 'who.' It was a Screaming Death, but don't worry! Everyone's okay. Mostly…"
Stoick looked confused. "What d'ye mean 'mostly?'"
"We put Arkyn in the healer's hut for the night, and Astrid went home pretty scraped up, but we're all here! They're going to be just fine."
"Aye." The Chief reasoned. "Astrid's a strong lass, and Gothi's been healing for decades. I don't know how bad Arkyn is but he's in good hands." The man sighed, always disturbed to hear of hardships among his people- especially the young ones. They were the future of the Hooligan tribe, after all. "So, what, s'this the same Screaming Death that destroyed Arkyn's island, then?"
Hiccup was surprised his dad made the connection. "Uh, same species at least, yes. There's no way of knowing if it was actually the same dragon that did it."
The Chief gave a nod of understanding. "And I trust you ran it off?"
"Well…" Hiccup hesitated. "Arkyn killed it, actually." He took a deep breath and quickly caught his dad up on the whole story. How the islands had disappeared, how the dragon was headed for Berk, Arkyn's sincerity on the beast's demise despite Hiccup's own uncertainty, and how the Viking eventually bested it.
Stoick hung onto every word of the story, brow raised and mouth open at what he heard. "Odin's beard…" he remarked, once Hiccup had finished. "We owe that lad a great deal. Ye said he'd be out tomorro'?"
"That's what Gothi said- er, wrote…you know how she is." Hiccup replied. His dad chuckled.
"Aye. She's a strange one. Best in the archipelago though, so what can you do?" The Chief thought for a moment. "Let's throw a party."
"Come again?"
"Tomorro' night! After Arkyn is all patched up we need to celebrate. The village is doin' really well, Arkyn hasn't had a proper induction yet, and it's the perfect time to throw one last party before Snoggletog preparations begin. Besides, you know how much Vikings love to party. Berk needs this."
Hiccup furrowed his brow at his father's enthusiasm. "I- uh- I guess so?"
"You and I'll spread the word in the mornin', make sure everyone's there. They need to know who tha' boy is. It's not every day our island looms with such a threat." The large man now smiled as his plan formed.
"Yeah, sounds great dad. Should be fun. If it's all the same to you tonight though, now that you know I'm alive, can I go to bed? Toothless and I are pretty exhausted."
Stoick seemed embarrassed upon catching himself so worked up about the next day that he'd forgotten his own son had been gone since the crack of dawn. "Aye, o'course, son. Get some rest. I'm sure you'll feel be'er in the mornin'."
Hiccup yawned. "Thanks, dad. I'll see you, uh…tomorrow." And with that, he led Toothless upstairs to his bedroom, quickly crashing upon his sheets.
Empty thoughts swirled around in the boy's mind, breaking the otherwise dead silence in the room around him, save for Toothless' quiet breathing. His dad hadn't thrown him a party after his own ordeal with the Red Death, but Hiccup couldn't have been happier about that. He wasn't much for party life thanks to his awkwardness, although he did enjoy the occasional celebration when it came up- whatever it may be for. Instead, Stoick had taken the week off during and after Hiccup's recovery to spend time with him in a way only a father could- for the first time ever. The man took care of him, they'd talked, and they'd even gone fishing one day. His chiefly duties hadn't distracted him once, and Hiccup cherished the memories as they played in the background. It made it hard to believe anyone had ever wanted to call him 'Stoick the Vindictive.'
The thing that was truly bothering him tonight, however, was a question: Is dragon riding more trouble than it's worth? Before he'd met Toothless, Hiccup's life had fallen into a pretty standard routine. It was by no means an ideal routine with him being lonely and all, but it was a safe one. In less than 2 months, Hiccup had almost died twice and watched his friends almost die even more than that. Astrid's fall today was especially disturbing to the young Viking. It was a miracle she didn't break anything. Nothing like that would have ever happened if she'd just become a shield maiden as Hiccup had heard her mention a while back.
It's not like befriending dragons was saving any of them from being attacked by them, either. Before, there was the raids. It was Berk's job to fight off the beasts and then they were sent away. Just because most dragons could now enter and leave the village as they pleased did not mean it was no longer in danger of any dragon attacks- that had been proven earlier in the day. Hiccup couldn't lie to himself…Toothless was obviously still his best friend, but the dragon came with new responsibilities. Big responsibilities. It was a lot to handle. His life would never be the same.
Hiccup finally drifted off into a slumber tentatively accepting that his dreams of becoming a small home repair Viking needed to be snuffed out. A dragon rider is what he had to become, not only for himself, but also for the benefit of those he loved as well as the other dragons who were in need of a protector. From then on, it would be Hiccup and his friends against the world. Dragon riding was no longer able to be just a hobby, risks be damned. It was time to get serious.
—
Astrid tapped her boot impatiently. She'd been waiting for Hiccup to show up in the arena for about half an hour now. He was the one who told her late morning, after all. The girl had already had time to feed Stormfly as well as execute several drills with the Nadder, trying to occupy herself as the minutes ticked by. Finally, Hiccup came running through the arena's entrance at what she assumed was top speed for the Viking.
He stopped in front of her, panting. "Sorry I'm, uh, sorry I'm late." Hiccup noticed her upper left arm was now bandaged where the brush burn had been and she'd put on new clothes that lacked tears. "Astrid, your arm…"
"How many times do I have to tell you I'm fine? It's not a big deal, Hiccup, and I don't mind that you're late, but why in Thor's name did you walk here? You ride the fastest dragon of all of us." Astrid sounded confused.
"My dad's had me running all over Berk the whole morning telling people about the party tonight. I left Toothless at home because I can't really do a job like that from the air."
"Wait a minute, what party? I didn't know there was supposed to be a party tonight."
"It's for Arkyn. I told my dad about what Arkyn did yesterday and he wanted to celebrate; repay him in some way. Where is that guy by the way? Haven't seen him all morning…"
"Neither have I. He hasn't come out of the healer's hut yet. I hope he's not in worse shape than we thought…"
"I'm sure he's fine, too." Hiccup smiled. "So uh, will you be there?"
"Hmm?"
"At the party. I already tracked down everyone else and they said they're going to come."
"Oh, of course! Why would I miss something like that?"
The boy laughed nervously. "Heh, just making sure."
There was an awkward pause before Astrid spoke. "Crazy day yesterday, huh?"
"Don't even get me started…" Hiccup said, exhaling sharply. "When Arkyn first told us about the Screaming Death on that cliff, I never thought I'd ever see one, let alone have to fight one."
"We were totally unprepared for that fight." Astrid remarked flatly. "We'd all be in the ground right now without Arkyn's help."
"You might be right, but I don't like to think about it. We're all here. Focus on that."
"That's what I had to push to my parents last night. There was so much explaining to do…took me at least an hour to calm them down and get them to understand what happened. I think they're starting to disapprove of my dragon riding."
"Well shit, Astrid. I hope they come around." Hiccup did not swear often, so this was a rare occurrence for him. There was another pause before Hiccup perked up again. "Well uh, I should go. I still haven't been to the markets yet and…you know, chiefly orders. I'll see you at the party later?"
Astrid smiled. "Definitely."
They shared a quick hug and Hiccup began walking out of the arena and up the path back towards the village, leaving Astrid alone with Stormfly once again. She cracked a smirk and looked up at her dragon, calling her over. "Hey girl, what d'ya say we go pay someone else a visit?" The Nadder chirped happily and Astrid climbed aboard, taking off in the direction of Gothi's hut.
—
A short while later Astrid set Stormfly down at the end of the small path that led to Gothi's hut, electing to walk the final hundred paces or so just in case her dragon wanted to get in the way. Stinger was curled up to the right of the modest structure, and he sniffed the air and lifted his head as the girl approached the door, eventually standing up and hobbling over to meet her. Astrid smiled and patted his snout, feeling the Triplestryke's hot breath on her hand before finally giving the door a courtesy knock and letting herself in.
She stepped inside to find Arkyn leaning against a countertop, gloves on, cup of tea in hand, absentmindedly observing his surroundings. Gothi was towards the back of the hut tending to another older Viking whom Astrid did not know the name of.
Arkyn turned towards the sound of the opening door, lighting up when he recognized his friend. "Hey there, you." He quipped, lightheartedly.
"I have a name, you know." Astrid teased, slightly annoyed.
"But using it isn't as fun as all…this." The boy pointed at her uncharacteristically lively facial expression before setting his tea down. Gothi slammed her stick on the wooden floor twice to get the teens' attention, gesturing to them that Arkyn was free to leave when he wanted to, so the pair took their conversation back outside.
Stinger was excited to see his rider again after the long night, and he squawked noisily at the Viking's presence. Astrid watched them bond briefly before speaking again. "So how bad was it, anyway?"
"Two fractured ribs." Arkyn replied, patting his side and lifting his tunic slightly to reveal his own bandages that had been wrapped underneath. "Gothi says I'll be fine in a day or two, but until then no dragon riding. Something about bad posture for the healing, apparently…"
Astrid nodded solemnly. "Come on, I'll walk you home."
"Really?" Arkyn sounded surprised. "You brought Stormfly."
"Well I've got nothing better to do. It's my recovery day too, you know."
"Wow. It makes me feel so special when you phrase it like that." The boy shot sarcastically, but his smile remained intact.
"Oh, be quiet. Besides, there's some stuff I have to catch you up on."
"What could have possibly happened between last night and this morning that I would need catching up on?" Arkyn asked, beginning to step down the path towards the village, Stinger in tow.
"There's gonna be a party tonight."
"Oh yeah? For what?"
"For you."
"Yak shit."
"You'll be surprised when you learn I'm not kidding. Word on the street is people are calling you a hero."
"Damned fools." Arkyn muttered under his breath. "I'm no hero."
"Do you think the rest of us are blind? All the riders saw what you did yesterday."
"If you're talking about the Screaming Death, that was all of us. Nothing I did is worth singling out. Besides, you're the one who stopped me from falling into a lake and drowning to death after I was too slow to avoid some rocks."
"Yeah, you're welcome for that by the way, and for the record, nobody could have been fast enough to avoid those rocks. They were huge."
Arkyn sighed. He was too tired to argue. "So I guess I have to go to that then?"
Astrid looked confused. "Don't you want to go? It is for you…it would be weird if you didn't show up, especially when the Chief wants to introduce you to everyone."
"Oh great, mass recognition, my favorite. What is he even going to say?"
"Well how should I know?" Astrid spat, exasperated.
Arkyn apologized before changing the subject. "You doing ok?" He asked her, nodding at the bandages covering her left arm.
"Yeah it's nothing. My mom fixed me up last night. What about you?"
"Astrid, I already told you back at the hut, I have two fractured ri-"
"That's not what I meant, you dork. I meant to ask how are you doing." She drew the word out explicitly to send a new message, one that he now understood.
His expression faltered slightly. "I think I'm…doing better." He pieced together slowly.
"You think you're doing better?"
"What do you want me to say, Astrid? I killed something and now my life is magically fixed?"
"Well, not exactly, but I hoped you'd be at least a little more positive."
"Alright, fine. I'm glad it's dead…or something. Happy now?"
"Message received, but revenge ain't a good look, you know." She teased.
"I'll remember that next time someone presses me for an answer." Arkyn said flatly.
It was Astrid's turn to apologize, after which the pair walked in silence for a moment. A thought came into the girl's mind and she offered Arkyn a suggestion. "You know, you should really find something to be more passionate about. Occupying yourself with something else would be good while you can't fly. It couldn't hurt."
Arkyn considered for a moment and then smiled. "Maybe I will." Truth was, there were some things he'd been meaning to do, even before having to leave Nomanisan. He'd just been too busy lately. "So what are parties on Berk usually like?"
"Loud." Astrid laughed. "Very loud, but they can also be fun. There's music and food, sometimes dancing. It's pretty straightforward."
Arkyn nodded. "We didn't have many parties where I come from. Of course we celebrated Snoggletog, sometimes the Chief's birthday, and usually a harvest festival, but that's about it."
"Oh wow, we have way more than that. We even have one every time someone gets married." Astrid explained.
"Wouldn't they get boring after a while?"
"Sometimes they do. It's a miracle we get anything done at all. Most adults use them as an excuse to get really drunk."
"Well that's fantastic." Arkyn chuckled to himself. "So glad my 'heroic actions' could help them on their journey to the joys of alcohol."
"You need to give yourself a little more credit. There'd be no Berk to have a party on at all tonight if it wasn't for you."
"Vanity is a path to animosity, Astrid."
"Alright mister philosopher, be boring like that. Your party is happening whether you like it or not, and you'd better be there." She pinched the spot where Arkyn had showed her his bandages to make her message clear, causing his face to twitch in pain that he tried to hide, still smiling. It was right about now that the two teens and their dragons reached Arkyn's home, and they stood on the doorstep finishing their conversation.
"Not cool, Astrid, but yes. I'll be there…so long as you don't bail out."
"I wouldn't miss this one." She smiled. "It's for too crazy of a knucklehead for that."
"Adjectives I probably deserve, but oh well. Thanks for the walk home, though. I needed that."
"Anytime, although hopefully you'll be able to fly again soon. You know you're one of us now."
"I appreciate that." Arkyn replied.
They both let an awkward pause fall over the moment, neither one knowing how to properly end the exchange of words. Astrid spoke first. "Well I guess I'll see you later then…at the party. All of us should be going." She turned to leave.
"I guess you will." Arkyn blurted in response. They shared a quick wave of departure and Astrid left his doorstep to mount Stormfly for her short flight to her own house. As she left, Arkyn sent Stinger around to the back where he'd been staying and stepped inside, not knowing what to do with the time he had between now and the late evening.
A party…. He thought.
How strange.
AN: This story broke 2,000 views since last upload! That's pretty cool. Also thank you to my recent new story followers and reviewer. I had to translate one of your reviews to understand it, but they were both positive and I appreciate that haha. As always any reviews are welcome and I look forward to hearing your thoughts if you have any! I still don't know what I'm doing here.