57. Preparations
"Even with the dragons, they'll need about ten hours to get to Berk, the size of his fleet would not let him move any faster."
"So we have about three hours before we need to move out?" Storm asked Hiccup who was slowly leading the group into the almost vacant nest.
"Basically," Hiccup nodded, "I don't know how long it will take to get on the dragons though."
"With me here, you'll have the dragons in no time!" Snotlout boasted as he raced to the front to walk next to his cousin.
"You never caught a dragon in your life," Tuffnut told him and shrugged at the glare he received.
"Yeah, even Hiccup managed to catch a Night Fury before you managed to catch a Terror!" Ruffnut agreed.
"Shouldn't Eret be the one boasting about his dragon trapping skills?" Astrid asked from where she was walking next to Storm who was heavily leaning on Shadow. Astrid had taken to walking next to her in case the girl collapsed, just as Eret was walking next to Stoick in case the man's headache took a turn for the worse.
"There isn't a dragon alive that I can't wrangle!" Eret bragged with a smirk. Hiccup turned around and started walking backwards, his face to the group.
"Are you sure about that?" Hiccup and Storm asked at the same time, both giving Eret disbelieving looks.
"I could, and still can, wrangle any dragon!" Eret told them, he rolled his eyes as his shoulders fell, "I just couldn't keep them, because of you three," he explained while gesturing to Hiccup, Storm and Valka.
"That seems like a 'you' problem," Ruffnut decided as the others nodded along. Eret sighed in defeat.
"I am looking forward to seeing you try to get on the babies," Storm commented with a smirk.
"And you'll be laughing at seeing us fail, right?" Hiccup asked her and turned back around so he could see where he was going.
"No I won't," she disagreed, Hiccup raised his eyebrow and threw her a disbelieving look over his shoulder, "I won't! …It hurts to laugh" she mumbled the last part, which made Astrid chuckle.
They reached the open nest. It was strange seeing the space without all of the dragons flying around and only baby Scuttleclaws were playing around in the water pond that the white Alpha had laid in. The mood fell a bit, the Alpha's death had affected them all.
"I think you two should stay here," Hiccup told Storm and Stoick as they were about to go over to the babies. Storm nodded and went over to lean on a wall where she would still be able to watch how they tried to get on the babies.
"Son, shouldn't we be down thee to help you?" Stoick asked as he was a little bit more hesitant to stay there.
"Stoick, you're injured," Valka said as she put a hand on his shoulder, "You need to avoid doing anything too strenuous."
"Valka – "
"The only reason you survived was because of Storm, dad," Hiccup interrupted him, "I know I won't be able to stop you when we reach Berk, so please, take this time to rest."
Stoick reluctantly nodded and went over to Storm. He leaned on the other side of Shadow and watched as the others made their way down. Stoick sighed as he leaned his head back against the wall, his head was killing him.
"Thank you," he said as he opened his eyes and watched as Snotlout vaulted over the Scuttleclaw baby.
"Losing you would have broken Hiccup," Storm told him as she smiled when a baby threw Eret off, "He always thought about you, y'know? Blamed himself for the fight you had."
"It wasn't his fault."
"Yeah, well, that's Hiccup for you," she shrugged and turned to look at him and took a painful breath, "Every victory is a coincidence and every failure is only his."
"I might be to blame for that mindset," Stoick shook his head, his voice full of regret, "I have been training him to be Chief since he was a little boy, 'Every victory you face will belong to the tribe, and every loss will be just yours to bear,' I used to tell him."
"I blame you for a lot of things Stoick," Storm told him, "What I said in that meeting was true, Hiccup loves you, he doesn't have an ounce of resentment towards you," she explained, "I do. I have a lot of hate for your actions, but not for you. You're changing, I can respect that."
"I can respect you too, after all, you saved Hiccup when I couldn't," Stoick sighed once again, he turned to Storm, "Thank you for bringing him back to me."
"Thank you for cushioning my fall," Storm chuckled uncomfortably, "I would have probably bust my head open if it wasn't for you."
"I do have a thick skull," Stoick agreed with a laugh, Storm joined him only to gasp in pain, "Are you okay?"
"You might have cushioned my fall, Stoick," she grimaced in pain, "But I still took most of the blast and the shield banged against my head. I'm in pain."
"Maybe you should lay down?"
"And miss that?" she asked and gestured to the group below, Hiccup had already gotten close to one of the babies and was calmly petting him, while the twins, trying to jump on the same one at the same time, banged their heads together, much to everyone's amusement.
"Still, laying down might help," he told her with concern.
"Stoick, if I lay down, I'm not getting back up," she rolled her eyes, "At this point, I'm running on pure spite."
Stoick laughed and winced when his headache intensified. He joined Storm in watching the group again and couldn't help but feel grateful that he wouldn't be riding on one of the babies, as it seemed that the small dragons couldn't sit still at all. Storm had volunteered to take him back to Berk on Shadow, because the smoother ride would not grate on their injuries as much. And Stoick was thankful, because he was sure they had a concussion each and Storm had at least a bruised, if not broken, rib.
They were fighters. All of them, in different ways with different strengths, even injury couldn't stop them when they were at war. They would rest when this is all over, but at the moment it was like Storm had said: they were running on spite.
