Astrid was left in complete shock that Emma called her Mommy the night before after tucking her in against Stingwhip, more than that for a little while Emma fell right to sleep on Astrid. Everyone in the room heard it and they all knew that Astrid wasn't Emma's biological mother, Stoick had made it known that Hiccup was married when he was sixteen and had Emma at seventeen with his former wife, Selby. For the time being, none of the chieftains were jumping the gun about what they had heard. It was a lot to take in for a night, and also they were waiting for Hiccup to get back to talk to him about some of their conditions and wonder about the Red Death fight. It was clear that no matter how some of them felt about the current situation, Red Death was the source of their raids and they had to deal with her or the raids would continue and nothing would change.

Astrid laid with Emma for close to half an hour before she let her sleep covered up against Stingwhip and then she got up and moved to the bench sighing. "What's wrong, Astrid?"

"She called me Mommy..." Astrid replied quietly.

"She knows you love her father, she feels how happy you make him just as Selby once did. In that, she remembers what it's like to have a Mom in her life," Valka insisted gently.

"But...Hiccup and I have only been together for two months, I don't...want to take Selby's place in their lives..." Astrid looked down.

"Don't worry so much lass, the lad loves you or he wouldn't be with you," Gobber smiled some.

"Still, I...want to talk to Hiccup about it first. Two weeks ago when I started tucking Emma in with him, we agreed to take things slow..." Astrid stated calmly.

"Of course dear, don't stress about it so much right now, okay? Wait for Hiccup to return and then you two can talk about things regarding this matter. I suspect to wait until after he's gotten some rest, though, he will likely be tired." Valka offered. Astrid knew she was right, there's wasn't much that could be done about it at this very moment with Hiccup off at the nest where Red Death was in order to figure out how to deal with it and he wouldn't be back for a while so she had to wait, they all did and hoped when Hiccup returned it might be with some good news about the situation.

(Five Days Later)

Now they were all worried, five days had passed and there was no sign of Hiccup near Berk and he hadn't been spotted either. Valka, Stoick, Hilda, and Astrid were beyond worried but no one more than little Emma who wanted to know if her father was okay. The child had been so upset and crying when her father wasn't there the next morning after he left as he said he would be. Astrid and the others did their best to console her but all she wanted was her father. It was lunch time of the third day without him, the chieftains were still on Berk since they had planned to be there a week or two.

"I can't just wait around anymore," Astrid finally said as she got up from the table while holding Emma who had fallen asleep in her arms. Astrid handed her off to Hilda as she prepared to leave.

"Astrid, where are you going?" her mother inquired.

"I'm going to look for Hiccup, he should have been back by now," Astrid remarked as she opened the doors to the Great Hall and whistled for her dragon. "Stormfly, come," she called out. Her dragon squawked upon landing before her and crouching down as Astrid climbed onto her back.

"I'm coming with you, Astrid...that's my brother out there," Hilda stated as she handed Emma to Valka and whistled for her dragon, Silverstrike and jumped on her neck into the saddle.

"You two aren't going without me," Stoick informed quickly while he got up, "Val, you stay here with Emma and keep an eye on the village. Astrid, Hilda, and I will go in search of Hiccup..."

Valka nodded, although she did want to go as well, she knew that Emma would need someone around who was family. "Be safe..." she told them as Stoick called for Skullcrusher and the Rumblehorn flew over and allowed the chief onto his back.

"Hiccup headed West from here, that's our best bet..." Astrid reminded softly. The three nodded in agreement as they flew West with high hopes of finding Hiccup on one of the islands.

(Two Hours Later)

Thus far, nothing at all in their search. They were scared and worried, afraid something happened to him and of course, the worst fear was that he was dead. None of them wanted to believe it, they had just gotten him back after thinking he was dead for nineteen years.

"We should be looking for a volcano island, Hiccup said Red Death was stoker class and sat in the corona of it," Hilda mentioned while they were flying.

"There's too much fog to see anything," Stoick muttered, Astrid, however, knew better and something told her they were close to where they needed to be. "What's up, Astrid, do you see something?"

"No, but...I have a feeling that we are where we need to be..." Astrid told him.

"There's nothing in there, lass, I see it all the time when I did nest searches on the ships and flying in we'll just get attacked by unfriendly dragons..." Stoick informed.

"Maybe not, let me...try something..." Astrid told them as they looked at one another and hovered in place, she put her hands over her mouth and gave a dragon call, specifically a Night Furies. Hiccup had taught her about it, it was how he and Toothless communicated if they were separated. If Toothless was around, maybe he would hear it. There was nothing at first and then, she heard another roar returned to her. "We have to go inside, Hiccup's in there. That was Toothless!" she exclaimed turning Stormfly and flying in quickly with Hilda and Stoick followed quickly.

Astrid had been right, flying past the fog revealed an island that was surrounded by it and sure enough, it was one with a volcano. Inactive of course, Astrid looked around as she saw a purple blast enter the sky and disperse, "That's a distress call!" Hilda called to Astrid, the three of them flew in quickly and saw Toothless on the ground with his wings wrapped around something and they hoped it was Hiccup. Astrid had Stormfly land as she ran over, Hilda and Stoick right behind her.

"Toothless...Thank Thor," Astrid sighed with some relief. "Where...is Hiccup, is he with you?" she inquired nervously. Toothless warbled at her and unwrapped his wings revealing an unconscious Hiccup between his legs. "Hiccup!" she fell to her knees sadly, Stoick pulled Hiccup out and listened for his heart beat.

"He's alive, just unconscious..." Stoick told them both.

"It's more than that, Dad...his...left leg is gone..." Hilda pointed to it sadly.

"It's...already closed and healed too," Astrid cried a little, "We need to get him back to Berk, on the double. Can you fly Toothless?" she asked. The dragon nodded to her as he got up while Stoick carried Hiccup over to Skullcrusher and got on him. Without another word said, they raced back to Berk as fast as their dragon's wings would take them.

(Berk)

Another two hours had passed as they flew in and landed on Berk, Valka and everyone else wanted to know what happened to Hiccup since they saw him unconscious in Stoick's arms but his father took him right to Gothi. After he came out, it was he was swarmed with questions from his wife and even the other chieftains about everything.

"ENOUGH!" Stoick boomed loudly making the others hush quickly, "I don't know what happened. Hiccup was unconscious when we got there. All we know is that he lost his leg, no idea how and no idea how long he's been out."

"Any sign of Red Death, chief Stoick?" Alvin asked, Stoick, shook his head to the man.

"No, the island was shrouded in fog. The only reason we found it is because Astrid had a feeling we were close, she used the call of a Night Fury and Toothless responded to it, that's how we found him and then Hiccup was wrapped in his legs. Hiccup's leg was already gone, closed, and healed..." Hilda said softly looking down. Emma rushed forward out of the Hall now and saw Toothless.

"Toothy, where's Papa?" Emma asked right away.

"Calm your fears young one. Your father is okay, just very tried and needs his rest..." Toothless informed her.

"Toothy, don't lie! I heard Grandpa say that Daddy's leg was gone, what happened?" Emma pleaded with worried eyes.

"What...is she doing?" Dagur asked.

"Emma knows Dragonese, well, a little of it. Hiccup taught her," Astrid informed.

"We took on Red Death, little one. And we won, but at the cost of your father losing his leg. I used my fire to close the wound and then my saliva to help heal it faster. He will be okay, I promise..." Toothless said gently nuzzling her face.

"Tell me what happened," Emma inquired, for the next ten minutes, Toothless told Emma what had happened against Red Death. Emma just listened closely until the story was over and she nodded, "It's okay, Toothy. You kept Papa safe, I'm sure he won't be mad at you,"

"I hope not...it was all I could do to save his life," Toothless sighed some as Emma kissed his snout and then hugged him.

"You rest too. Stingwhip and Windstrike will bring you some food to eat," Emma stated as she looked to the Triple Stryke and Razorwhip beside her, "Take Toothy to the nest and have Icefire get him some fish," she told the dragons as they bowed their heads to her and helped Toothless towards the nest.

"Emma, what did he tell you about what happened?" Astrid asked kneeling before the child now.

"Papa and Toothy took on Red Death alone, they beat it too. But Toothy had to take Papa's leg to save him or he would have burned to death in the explosion," Emma stated as the others gasped a bit.

"Emma, tell me everything Toothless told you," Astrid told her firmly.

"Well, they got there and Red Death tried to eat them. They couldn't get away from it so they took her on. They led her high in the sky and Papa had Toothy shoot blasts at her wings then make her follow them straight down. When they got closer to the ground, Red Death formed the gas in her mouth to shoot at them but Toothless turned around and shot a blast in her mouth and she swallowed the fire. Dragons aren't fire proof on the inside, that's what Papa says anyway. They flew up and past her as she hit the ground and exploded because she couldn't slow down with the holes in her wings from Toothy's blasts on them. But Toothless flew into her clubbed tail and Papa fell off him and towards the explosion so to grab Papa, Toothy accidentally bit his leg off and then wrapped his wings around him to keep him safe from the fire. When it faded, Toothy used his fire to close Papa's leg and then lick it so it would heal faster..." Emma explained to her.

"And...Red Death is gone?" Stoick asked, Emma, nodded proudly. "At least he's alive..."

"Don't worry, Daddy will wake up soon. Toothy said he's been out for three days and since the leg is healed, it won't be much longer until he wakes up," Emma told them. "Papa is always okay because Mama is with him," she added as she looked at Astrid now, "Can we go play in the nest?"

"I-I don't see why not," Astrid told her with a soft smile. It was at this time that Gothi came out of her hut and down the stairs, "Gothi...how is he?" she inquired right away. Gothi began to write in the dirt, runes that they didn't understand without Gobber, Emma peeked over at them and smiled.

"She said Papa is fine and just unconscious. Few bumps, bruises, and scrapes and he should be awake in a day or so," Emma stated at they all looked at her confused, she understood the runes?! "What? Daddy teaches me a lot of stuff," the young child shrugged.

"And she adds that Hiccup doesn't need to stay in her hut, he can rest in his own bed," Gobber told them now.

"Well, let's get him back to his bed then," Stoick nodded in agreement as he and Gobber went up into Gothi's house and brought out Hiccup carefully in their arms. The walk didn't take more than twenty minutes, it's not like Hiccup was heavy to carry and the chieftains followed behind the young adults, Valka, and little Emma who was being carried by Astrid. The chieftains were shocked to see everything in the nest, it was incredible to see first hand and they got to meet Icefire too. Hiccup was placed in his bed and covered up, Toothless laying beside him on the floor and resting as well.

"So, this is where the dragons have been hiding out?" Heather inquired after much silence between everyone.

"Hiccup is head dragon trainer and rider around here and since he brought dragons into our lives, he makes the calls on what happens to them in the face of outsiders to Berk. If you'll recall, Alvin, a Night Fury attacked your ships when you were sailing towards Berk a few months back. That was Hiccup protecting us before we knew he was Hiccup, back then he went by Henrik Andarsen. The name he was given by the man who raised him for seventeen years," Stoick stated.

"And that ended up being your wife's father, yes?" Vidar questioned.

"Yes, Reynir Andarsen was my father. He passed away just after Emma was born," Valka nodded to him.

"Do you miss your Daddy, Grandma?" Emma asked looking over at her.

"Yes, Emma. I do very much miss him," Valka smiled to her, Emma got up from the floor and dug through one of the chests that Hiccup had against the wall. Finally, she pulled out a small notebook and brought it over to Valka.

"Daddy has a lot of drawings in there, some of your Daddy too if you wanted to see what he looked like before he passed away?" Emma offered now handing it to her, Valka looked at the book in her lap before opening it and flipping through the pages to see everything.

"How long as your Papa been drawing for?" Hilda asked curiously now.

"A long time, he said he started when he was ten I think..." Emma shrugged a little before returning to her spot next to Astrid on the floor to continue playing, a game called: Memory, where tons of cards were placed down so pictures couldn't be seen. Each player would pick one up, and try to find its match. If the player made the match, they won a point and if not then they had to flip both cards back over and try again on their next turn. Something that Reynir had started with Hiccup to teach him dragon species and what they looked like. Emma was very good at this game, she'd beaten Astrid twice at it.

"So, do you know any other games?" Camicazi questioned.

"I know lots of games thanks to Papa. We play Hide and Seek, Tag, Memory, and so much more." Emma smiled wide.

"What else do you tow do for fun?" Thyra tilted her head to the side now.

"Papa dances with me, he sings to me too," Emma informed while flipping another set of card and they ended up another match as she beamed brightly.

"All the time?" Heather and Camicazi blinked questioningly.

"Yep, cuz he knows it's my favorite thing to do. I don't sleep right at night if he doesn't tuck me in," Emma told them as Astrid made a match next.

"I'm sure he'll wake up soon and be able to tuck you in again, sweetie," Astrid smiled at her.

"But you'll keep doing it til he wakes up, right Asty?" Emma asked.

"Of course I will, Emma." Astrid replied to her as she ruffled the young child's hair. After that, they just continued to have fun and talk a little while the hours ticked by slowly. It was nearing dinner time now and none of them wanted to leave since Hiccup would be alone but Thor only knew when he'd wake up, Emma and Gothi said a day or so since it had already been a week. When it came time to leave for dinner, Emma threw a fit and refused to leave, even going as far as having Stingwhip and Windstrike step forward so they couldn't take her.

"No! I'm not leaving my Daddy!" Emma yelled loudly while crying.

"Emma, you're being unreasonable..." Hilda sighed heavily.

"I'm not leaving him!" Emma stomped her foot down angrily.

"EMMA SELENA ANDARSEN-HADDOCK!" yelled Hiccup's voice from behind his door, everyone froze as his door opened and he stood there using the staff to balance on like a crutch, "I know you aren't giving you grandparents and aunt a hard time, right?" Emma whipped around to see him there, tears filling her eyes.

"Papa...you're awake!" she exclaimed as Hiccup got lower so she could hug him tightly and not tackle him down. "I was so scared..."

"Easy now baby girl, I'm alright. Just like I promised," he smiled at her.

"Son, thank the Gods..." Valka rushed over to hug him, followed by Hilda, Stoick, and of course, Astrid. "Are you alright?"

"I'm alive," Hiccup shrugged as he forced himself up with Toothless's help.

"What the hell were you thinking taking that thing on alone!?" Astrid yelled at him, he winced a bit when she punched him in the arm.

"Well, to be honest, I wasn't thinking. It was kind of fight or die, Astrid and I certainly wasn't leading it back to Berk..." Hiccup sighed as he moved over to his small forge area within the nest and grabbed a few things.

"Now what are you doing son?" Stoick asked.

"Can't exactly get around with one leg now can I?" Hiccup asked as he grabbed some wood and his dagger and started cutting a section out of it, next he got a few pieces of metal and began hooking them on with nails and a spring-like motion. He connected another piece that fit the spring area perfectly, then had Toothless heat up the metal at the bottom as he hammered it flat. Hiccup cooled it off in a bucket of water before he got a piece a rope and sat down to place the wood against where his stump was, then tied it in place under the pant leg. When that was all set, Toothless helped Hiccup up again and it took him a minute to balance before he tried to take a few steps.

"Take it slow, Hiccup...it's gonna take time to adjust to that..." Hilda tried now, Hiccup shook his head and kept trying to walk. After nine failed attempts, he got it. He was still slow but had it down.

"Well, I think it's a good time to eat. What's say you, princess?" Hiccup asked as he picked Emma up in his arms and kissed her nose making her giggle. She nodded her head to him as he walked over to the spot where the food was and pulled out a couple things to make for the group of people there. Fish was the easiest with yak milk, mead, water, and some bread. It took a total of fifteen minutes to get it all done, but finally, they sat down around the table in the main room with the spread of food Hiccup had made for them. "There we go," he smiled.

"So, you're okay, right?" Astrid inquired after he had set Emma's plate down before her.

"Yes, babe, I'm okay for the hundredth time. Toothless told me what happened when I woke up, I'm not mad at him over it. Red Death is gone finally. I might have lost my leg but, I'm alive, I have my daughter, family, friends, and you. I'm good," Hiccup smiled and then kissed her deeply. Hiccup headed for the washroom now to relive himself and take a bath, the Hooligans remembered what Emma told them that Hiccup didn't eat right after waking up because it would make him sick. With Red Death gone, they wondered how things would be now. Peace would return to the world, wouldn't it? The dragons would weren't under her control anymore, that meant the raids would stop and things would get better. They just assumed that Hiccup might have a better answer so they would ask him when he came out.

Aside from all that, Astrid still needed to talk to him about five days ago when Emma called her Mommy. She didn't mind but also had some concerns about it. For the time being, things were okay, Hiccup was alive and things would finally return to normal and there could be peace and happiness once more.