A/N: Really sorry for the long delay, I've got several uni deadlines coming up so I barely have a moment to think about online responsibilities at the moment, oops. But I've managed to upload this chapter nonetheless. Thank you for all the kind reviews on the last chapter, it seems I surprised and devastated some people but the general consensus appears to be that it was well written, and I'm really glad you guys thought that :)

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 16

Hiccup didn't know how long he had been crying on the floor when he heard footsteps downstairs. All he knew was he was in need of a bit of comfort. He only wished that Viggo could be the one to give it.

"Hiccup?" Astrid's voice called up to him. "Are you alright? You're taking a while. Is everything okay?" Hiccup readjusted his legs, shuffling back to sit against the wall of the room, trying to steady his breathing to reply. "Hiccup?" Astrid called again, closer this time.

"Up here," Hiccup called. He swallowed. His voice sounded horrible.

"Hiccup?" she sounded worried now as her footsteps came quickly up the stairs. "Is everything okay? I know you said to wait but I thought…" she trailed off as she entered the room, gaze falling on Viggo, then looking over at him. "What's wrong? What happened?" she said quietly and Hiccup looked up at her.

"He's dead, Astrid," he whispered. "We were too late." Hiccup watched Astrid's face fall, saw the disbelief in her eyes as she glanced between him and the bed before she rushed towards him, pulling him into a hug. Hiccup welcomed the embrace, welcomed the warmth and comfort of her closeness as she sat down next to him and just held him. He heard footsteps again, heavy ones that thumped up the stairs as Toothless came to join them too. The Night Fury crooned for a moment, taking in the situation, then settled himself down next to him and Astrid, laying his head in Hiccup's lap. Toothless crooned again, the noise low and soothing. And while it did little to help the pain he felt, Hiccup allowed himself to smile ever so slightly for a moment. He was thankful that his friends were here.

Once Hiccup's tears had dried, after they had been sitting on the floor for Thor knew how long, Toothless and Astrid helped him to his feet and led him downstairs. Hiccup let himself fall into the chair Viggo had made for him and sighed. This wasn't how he'd planned for the trip to go. Not at all. If only... he found his mind repeating. If only he had come earlier, then Viggo wouldn't have died alone. If only he had waited before leaving, maybe this could have been prevented. If only... but there was nothing he could do.

He looked over at Astrid, who appeared to be rummaging around in boxes in the far corner of the room. He watched the Maces and Talons board fall on the floor along with all the pieces and smiled sadly at the pang in his chest.

"Astrid?" he asked, the question clear in his voice. Astrid didn't reply. But only a second later, she slowly straightened. Then she took something out of the crate and turned around. Hiccup watched her come closer and swallowed. She was holding a longbow and arrow.

"I was thinking…" she started, looking from the objects she'd found back up to Hiccup's face. "… maybe you'd want to…" She didn't need to finish her sentence. Hiccup nodded.

"Yeah," he said softly. "We should. He deserves it."

So they did. The ship that Johann had come to attack them in a week ago was still on the beach and Astrid, Stormfly and Toothless helped Hiccup carry Viggo's belongings onto the ship, from the furniture he'd made to the Maces and Talons board to his armour. Then they lifted Viggo's body from the bed, dragged it onto the deck and used the store of firewood outside the hut to cover it up. Hiccup finished off the pile with the blankets they had both slept with and on top of that, the one Maces and Talons piece he hadn't put in the hull of the ship with the rest of Viggo's belongings. The Accomplice. The game piece Viggo had used to reveal himself after not quite dying twice and the same one he had given Hiccup just before he had helped him and Toothless escape Johann's base.

And then it was done. He and Astrid raised the sail of the ship, letting the wind carry it slowly out to sea as the sun set on the horizon. The four of them took their place on the cliff overlooking the beach and the ship, Hiccup standing in front, right on the edge of the precipice and Astrid behind him, beside Stormfly and Toothless. Hiccup sighed as he looked out over the sea. The view was still just as gorgeous. He took another deep breath, then nodded subtly to Astrid.

"There do I see my father, my mother, and my brothers and my sisters," she said, one hand resting on Hiccup's shoulder as they watched the ship move slowly away from the island. "They bid me take my place among them in the halls of Valhalla... where the brave shall live forever." Hiccup looked down at the bow and arrow in his hand and raised the tip towards Toothless who, with a tiny plasma blast, set it alight. The flame danced in the light breeze and he loaded the bow, carefully pulled back the string as he aimed, then released. He watched as the flaming arrow hit the ship, setting the deck and wood stack ablaze. There was silence on the cliff as Hiccup gazed out, imagining what could have been. And when he felt Astrid turn him around and pull him into another hug, he didn't resist but melted into the embrace. He sniffed, then brought his arms up to cradle her head.

"I'm so glad I have you," he whispered into her hair. He sighed, then felt a slight movement against his shoulder that told him Astrid was smiling. He pulled back to press a kiss on her cheek but something in his peripheral vision caught his eye. He looked over her shoulder to look at the forest, where a distinct purple shape had appeared. Astrid furrowed her forehead and followed his gaze.

"What is it? Do you see something?"

"That's..." Hiccup breathed. "That's Stormchaser! He's okay!" He untangled himself from Astrid's arms and ran towards the dragon, who stood on the edge of the forest as if waiting for him. He slowed to a stop as he approached and Stormchaser bowed his head. Hiccup hesitated before placing his hand on the Skrill's snout. He opened his mouth to say something but couldn't find the right words. What do you say to a wild dragon who has just lost his rider and friend?

"You know," he said eventually, looking into Stormchaser's eyes. "You're welcome to come to Berk if you want. I know Viggo isn't here anymore, but the offer still stands." The Skrill looked at him silently, as if considering the proposal. But when the dragon turned to gaze out to sea, Hiccup knew what the answer was. He smiled. "You want to go back home, don't you? It's okay, I understand. Your loyalty was to Viggo, not to me." But then the dragon looked back at him and, much to Hiccup's surprise, nudged him away from the cliff. Hiccup tilted his head in confusion. "What is it?" But Stormchaser only growled quietly, so he let the dragon lead him into the forest anyway, briefly glancing back to see Astrid and their dragons following him from a distance. Stormchaser pushed him further until they were almost in the clearing where Viggo's now mostly empty hut still stood. But right before they reached it, the Skrill stopped.

"Here?" Hiccup asked. Stormchaser looked down at the ground, then touched his snout to a large stone. Hiccup only felt confused but obeyed what he thought the Skrill was telling him and lifted the rock. Beneath it was a folded piece of parchment and Hiccup's eyes widened when he saw his name written on it with charcoal. Could it be…? He looked up at Stormchaser.

"He…" His mouth felt dry. A note. From Viggo. The thought made him nervous. He stared at it, feeling the parchment with his fingers, realising that this was all that he had left behind. Part of him wanted to rip it open to find out what it said while another felt scared to read it at all. But after a few seconds, he heard a rumble and when he looked back up at Stormchaser, the dragon was gazing up at the canopy of trees. Hiccup smiled in understanding. He stood and once again placed his hand on the dragon's snout. "Thank you," he said. For fighting for me, for helping me, for bringing me here. Then stepped back and watched the Skrill fly off and once he was but a dot in the sky, in the quietness of the clearing, he looked over at Astrid, who had been watching them from a distance.

"What is it?" she asked as he approached, taking her hand and leading her back to the cliffside.

"A note," he said quietly. "From Viggo." Astrid nodded quietly, squeezing his hand as they walked. They reached the cliff, where they could see the burning ship that was now a fiery spot on the horizon, and Hiccup sat down on the edge, letting his legs swing down the side. Astrid sat down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder as their dragons sat down on either side of them. Hiccup took a deep breath, smiling at all of them as he took another moment to appreciate their presence. Then finally, he unfolded the page and read.

My dear Hiccup Haddock,

If you are reading this, I can only assume that you really did come back to take me with you to Berk and as such I must commend you for being a man of your word. That is a quality not displayed often enough in young men in this archipelago or beyond. However, I am afraid I will not be able to take you up on your kind offer.

Hiccup, you are the most intelligent man I have ever met. I am certain that by the time you read this you will have found me lying dead somewhere and seen the puncture marks. You have probably already worked out what happened. I should have been more careful when collecting water today. But with Stormchaser not well enough for sustained flight, I am unable to get help in treating it and a ship wouldn't get me there fast enough. So I suppose this is the end for me. I am likely to die within the next day and there isn't anything I can do about it. But as I told Lars, I have been a dead man walking for a while now. The prospect of death does little to scare me now. I can only hope that we shall one day meet again in Valhalla.

Before I die, however, as I inevitably will, I would like to apologise for all the way I have wronged you over the years – and thank you for accepting my help and my attempt at friendship. While you had an island of people waiting for you, I did not and yet you stayed with me. Part of that is Johann's fault and part of that is my fault, of course. But while I regret keeping the truth from you for so long, I cannot put into words how thankful I am for you and your company.

My respect for you, Hiccup, is insurmountable. You will make a great chief someday, I am sure of it. And while I may never see you become that, I will die knowing that fighting alongside you is probably the greatest and final irony of all. And my greatest joy as well.

Sincerely,

Your friend, your ally, your Maces and Talons buddy,

Viggo Grimborn

A/N: And that's the end. The Final Irony :)

It feels odd to me that this is finished now. I spent so long writing it and it's my longest story yet, so I hope you guys enjoyed it! Thank you so much for all the support, the reviews made the experience so much more enjoyable.

As for the future... as you have probably noticed my upload schedule the past few weeks (and my apologies in the author's notes), I'm really really busy with uni so while I have another story in the works (not a very long one, just something I've been working on) I daren't make any promises as to when you guys will be seeing it. Just know that it's coming at some point and hope you guys will enjoy it.

Until then, thank you so much for reading and I hope to see you around!

~httydfangirl123