Everything felt very quiet as the clouds were blown away as if a stream of water, flowing away from the center, where they still spun as if a hurricane's dying breath. Berk stared at the sky, having been cheering and in awe moments before, to see if Toothless and the white, sunset-glowing Night Fury would emerge.
Rain began to come down as the clouds released all the stress, and it was as though the droplets themselves were glowing, emitting light and healing. The air seemed more magical than it ever had. The dragons closed their eyes and breathed a sigh of relief, their blacklight scales making it as if the scent of the Hidden World was really in the air.
Without flair, the swirling hurricane of green and blue dancing clouds parted in the very center.
A gasp from every mouth, tentative, as if each individual was too scared to disturb the stillness as they watched the two figures emerge.
Descending almost without use of their wings, merely drifting down to return to the rest of the world, Toothless and Albino lowered Darling down through it, the Deathgripper unconscious and limp and wrapped in a cocoon. Her collar was gone, as though vaporized, and her eyes squeezed shut.
They landed atop the mountain and let Darling lie there.
Wordlessly, Hiccup ran to Toothless and hugged him with everything he had.
Albino looked to Moon-guider and received a nod of approval. Her ear frills flew up and she could have glowed again.
"You are so amazing," Hiccup whispered to Toothless. He took his head away and looked at the dragon. "You know that, don't you? You're incredible."
A moan came from the side of them.
All dragons' eyes locked onto Darling, shaking herself awake and opening her eyes with great difficulty. She blinked heavily and groaned again.
Hiccup knelt and reached his hand out to her. "Hey," he said. "You okay?"
She pushed her nose into his palm and huffed, and for the first time he could understand her.
Forgive me.
Her wings unwrapped and, when Hiccup looked, displayed there in her clutches was Grimmel, his face a mess, his nose and mouth covered in blood. Darling slumped to the side.
Toothless and Albino stared at him for a moment.
And they realized they were unafraid. She pushed her head into his side and rubbed against him, looking down at the pathetic man.
"That's okay," Hiccup murmured to Darling soothingly, stroking her scales. He glanced at his best friend, and at Albino, and at Moon, and his mother and Astrid. "We'll heal him, too."
—
"This is Berk."
When they arrived back at their island, several ships in the Warlords' fleet were already on fire. From its center, Ruffnut in her scale armor leapt into the air, and Barf and Belch caught her and swooped away. She laughed evilly and she and her brother stuck their tongues out at the ships.
"You might be able to tell from all the colors, and the architecture, but it's inhabited by some of the weirdest and most stubbornly optimistic people out there."
The fleet stood no chance against the whole flock of dragons and their Alpha. The traps were dismantled, the armies scattered so that each ship limped away back to its own homeland. Weapons were unloaded and shoved into the forges of Berk to be melted down for scrap. Flying over all of it, Albino looked down, curiosity written on her face. Toothless swooped by to join her flight.
She darted down and came back up with Doc, who screamed and clutched at her feet. Following her lead, other dragons darted down to rescue others from the burning ships.
"Sure, it might not have turned out like we planned it…"
A stoneworker tapped the last detail out on a monument to Toothless on New Berk. Men and dragons worked in harmony to erect buildings. Water dragons watered the grass as it grew from between the stones and farmers coaxed new plants out of the soil. Colors began to spread over the rocks. Further and further. Until the ground was almost covered in green.
"…and it might be a little cramped, or crowded, or...loud, sometimes. But we don't mind."
Gobber waved his wooden hand prosthetic at Grump's fat head irritably as the dragon knocked over a rack full of his other prosthetics.
"Well. Most of us don't. But we're working on it."
A boatload of supplies was deposited onto New Berk, the sky there clear and unusually blue, and began to be unloaded. Astrid turned around, admiring the work. People moved in to the new houses, built into the mountainside. People lined up for the first bakery on the island, taking bread away back to their tents or houses. Others painted the sides of the buildings.
"The people that grow here are—well, what can we say about them? They're tough. They're abrasive. Like my dad always used to say, they're stubborn and hard-headed and hardy."
The Warlords and Grimmel were led into the jail, the bars closing firmly behind them. Grimmel looked up from where he sat to see Hiccup, Astrid, and their friends looking down at him, in various states of crossed arms, raised eyebrows, and balled fists.
"But they can also be kind. And compassionate."
Tuffnut told a joke, and immediately sat down in front of him and began to talk. Ruffnut smirked and leaned against the wall.
Hiccup and Valka approached a pen where the Deathgrippers paced, shaking their heads and trying to fight off the effects of withdrawal. The humans were greeted affectionately by Darling, whose eyes were, for the first time, healthy and round, and she led them to her pack mates.
Fishlegs picked up Meatlug's baby Gronckle and beamed with pride. The village Elder recited stories to a group of children and hatchlings who listened eagerly. Astrid and Snotlout landed from their excursion to the outpost and greeted their parents with a hug.
"The dragons that grow here? Even more so."
Toothless and Albino stretched coming out of their own hut on Berk and shook themselves, looking around. Moon-guider melted into visibility just behind them, perched on top of the hut, and roared, scaring the two Night Furies, and even Toothless jumped.
Albino laughed, and Toothless flicked Moon with his wing and she clacked her teeth at him non-threateningly. Hiccup called to his friend from somewhere above and with a smile, the dragon called back, launching into the air to join his friend.
"We might not exactly be the Hidden World, but here on Berk we're committed to healing. We used to be fighters, dragons and Vikings enemies for generations, and it's up to us to right those wrongs. Yes, the world can be uncaring and cruel. Most of us have scars to prove it. But you know, you can't fix it by fighting, and you can't fix it by killing, because all those things will only make it worse."
Toothless tossed Hiccup into the air and spun underneath him, so that they flew with each other once again. Astrid, on Stormfly's back, appeared behind them, beaming and waving. Albino caught up to them quickly and flew circles above and below Astrid before looping around to soar beside Toothless and let the wind carry her around until she was upside down above them, looking playfully down at Toothless. Hiccup beamed at the two of them.
The scene changed: the sky, the colors, the clouds.
"It's enough to be loving. It's enough to forgive."
Albino righted herself and zoomed ahead.
They dove into the Waterfall Gorge, bathed in glowing golden sunlight and frothy water. Moon-guider and Albino in front, Toothless and Hiccup darted behind them through the weaving crack in the ocean. Behind him, Valka's eyes were wide as dragons swarmed curiously around them. Astrid and Stormfly flapped up next to Hiccup, and the Twins, Snotlout, Eret, Gobber, and Fishlegs on their various dragons followed behind, incredulous.
The group were followed by their entourage of curious Hidden World permanent residents. Albino called out to each of them joyfully, left and right, and Moon-guider swooped above her to play in the sky with her brothers and sisters and fellow Light Furies. Hiccup, a confused smile on his face, patted Toothless's head and received a knowing laugh in response.
And then they all pitched forward and downward, their stomachs being left behind as they dove into the hidden world, air and sea spray rushing past them. The dragons lit up, bioluminescence in the odd blacklight of the massive cavern. The Bewilderbeast formerly of Drago Bludvist looked up and called to welcome them as the newcomers rode in to greet the mass crowds of dragons.
"The only thing that lasts, the only thing that helps, is kindness, and love, and compassion. We're trying to teach the Warlords that."
When they landed on the top of the glowing Hidden World rock, surrounded by swirling dragons, Hiccup's face was priceless. The three Furies cackled to themselves as he stared around in awe. The rest of the group dismounted and spun around, taking it all in. Astrid's face was turned golden-pink by the light as she stared around, the world reflecting in her eyes as she turned.
And finally she caught sight of Hiccup, who was grinning.
And on one knee. Holding two new engagement spoons.
She slapped her hands over her mouth.
"And sure, maybe we can't change the whole world's minds. Maybe some scars go too deep," Hiccup said. "But we have to try. We have to try." He was coming near the end of his story now, from in front of his world map, illuminated by firelight.
His two children, looking up at him from Astrid's lap, were wide-eyed with awe. Behind her, Stormfly tilted her head.
"We're Vikings." Toothless lifted his head from the side and looked at Hiccup fondly. Hiccup smiled back, continuing, "And we ride dragons!"
He looked at his children, their mouths open.
Hiccup smiled.
"So who knows what's possible?"