I've been sitting on this particular for FOR MONTHS. Like, longer than half a year even. And all because I couldn't decide whether to use this fic's title because it came across as too sadistic, but then I ended up rolling with it.

Constructive criticism is appreciated. It's almost 2 am.

Enjoy!

No More Honking

When Grimmel fell to his death after their fight in the sky and Light saved Hiccup from suffering the same fate, Berk thought they'd seen the last of him. He was gone and so were the Warlords, defeated by the Dragon Riders.

With them out of the way and Berk having recently relocated to a new island not yet properly mapped that only dragons could reach, Berk also believed they were the safest they'd ever been.

The Deathgrippers kept prisoner by Grimmel for so long were found unconscious and greatly injured in the forest, just barely an inch away from death themselves. Toothless' newly discovered power hadn't been too kind on them.

Valka had taken it upon herself to nurse them back to a healthy body and mind, though they could never return to the wild. Grimmel and his decision to make those dragons dependent on their own venom had made sure of that. A long arduous road of recovery awaited them, but Berk was willing to give them their own space in their new home.

With no new enemies or trouble on the horizon, Berk could focus on itself at last. A new home was built for the Vikings and dragons and named 'New Berk', their old island would not be forgotten.

Everything seemed well, a time of peace was promised to the Hairy Hooligans as they settled, but one more obstacle stood in their way.

Grimmel wasn't quite as dead as they thought he was.

"I know I've been Chief for only a little over a year, but I'm already thinking about firing myself." Hiccup told Astrid as the two of them entered his home in the evening.

It would be dinner-time soon and they'd agreed earlier that day to come together at his place for a meal. All the Riders would be there and it was about time Hiccup got started. Snotlout would complain if he were to arrive and find out he would need to wait on his dinner for too long.

Although, it would make for a great excuse to get him to do some of the work.

"Was it that bad today?" Astrid asked with a hint of amusement as she removed the snow from her boots by kicking the door frame before walking inside. She left her axe by the door.

Hiccup did the same and left his vest on a hook, but while Astrid lighted a fire in the pit, he continued on his way to the kitchen with a basket he held in his hands. In it were some of the ingredients he could use if he wanted to, they were mostly provisions for the coming winter days.

During most Winters on Berk, there were times in which the whole village would end up buried in snow and they had yet to see if the same happened on this island. It was better to prepare.

"Well, Spitelout was involved, so..." Hiccup could hear Astrid groaning out loud in dismay behind him. He smiled.

What did he need for tonight? The weather was very cold as of late, so maybe something to warm the body and soul. Which vegetables? Herbs? Where did he keep the meat again? He and Astrid designed and built this home together and he was already lost. He searched and grabbed what he needed before he went to work.

"Where is Toothless? I haven't seen him all day." Astrid decided to ask as it was something that bothered her all day. She managed to get a fire going and the cold in the home that would very soon be hers as well was quickly broken.

"He and the Light Fury ran off again. They're all giddy together and they only have eyes for each other." He laughed, not even able to fake his annoyance. They almost made him think of lovesick teenagers.

"So they remind you of us?" Astrid was suddenly a lot closer than he remembered her being.

He hadn't heard her coming and now she was right behind him, wrapping her arms around him and resting her chin on his shoulder even as he was busy cutting up the ingredients for their meal. With his vest gone, she was free to soak up his heat.

"Yeah, I guess so." Hiccup replied awkwardly, remembering the times when he neglected his duties as lead Dragon Rider and even his friendships with his friends for any excuses to run off and spent time with Astrid.

He has since learned how to balance his relationships and duties better.

"Now I know what Snotlout feels every time we put him through a "gross Hiccstrid loveplay"." Hiccup joked, causing Astrid to give him a less than amused stare while he just smiled.

"Lovefest." She spoke and snuck her freezing hands underneath his tunic, causing Hiccup to yelp and jump away from her.

Releasing him from her hold, she simply needed to have him in her grasp for a good couple of moments, she retreated to the fire with a satisfied smile. It was warmer there and the fire needed some more coaxing.

Not that Hiccup wasn't a source of warmth to her too.

Hiccup watched her leave with a shake of his head before grabbing a cauldron. Maybe dinner was going to be stew this time.

Astrid crouched near the fire and stirred the coals in the pit with a stoker. Their backs were turned to one another and their guards were lowered. If anybody so happened to be lurking in their home waiting for this exact moment, they wouldn't even know it.

Unfortunately for them, that so happened to be the case.

There was a creak on the wooden floorboards of their home that caught Astrid's attention. But when she looked over, her gaze falling on the door leading to a hallway where other rooms, like their bedroom, resided, she saw nothing.

The light didn't quite reach there, but she didn't need it to. She saw nothing and heard nothing besides the thudding of a metal prosthetic on wood. So she put her focus back on the fire again and adjusted herself a little.

Astrid would punish herself for a long time to come for what that evening had in store for them both, but in hindsight, there was no way they could've known that they weren't alone in their house.

No fire was burning before they got home, it was cold inside, their doors weren't left open, nothing was out of sorts, and their quiet moments were, well, quiet.

It was only when Astrid felt something, when she felt her gut screaming at her that maybe they weren't as alone as they thought, that she decided to look behind her.

She looked, took a tiny glance over her shoulder just to check up on Hiccup, and her heart stopped mid-beat.

Someone was sneaking up behind Hiccup.

Forgetting her axe, it was on the other side of the room and she didn't have the time to grab it, she just went for it. Something told her this wasn't one of their friends playing a prank on them.

Hiccup also suddenly paused what he was doing. His instinct wasn't as finetuned as hers, but he sensed it as well.

Too late, of course.

"Hiccup!" Before she could reach him and before Hiccup could lash out himself, the person sneaking up in the kitchen behind him made his move.

Though he hadn't been in their lives for very long, that thin stature and white mess of hair they could still recognize from anywhere. And he got uncomfortably close to Hiccup as he restrained him with one hand, painfully bending and pinning Hiccup's left arm to his back, and held a knife to his throat with the other.

"Grimmel!" Astrid growled at the man. Apparently, he wasn't quite as dead as they had believed him to be.

Though, one could easily mistake him for the living dead with the way he looked.

"Surprised to see me? You didn't honestly think a little drop like that was going to kill me?" Grimmel turned the two of them around to face the fierce warrior. Hiccup nervously followed, minding the blade biting into his skin.

"A little drop? I wouldn't call that little. And you look awful." Didn't stop him from sassing, it seemed and Grimmel made him pay for it by twisting his arm further and causing him pain.

It was true, however. Grimmel had seen better days.

It's been a couple of weeks since his defeat, about two months at most, and he looked like a wretch.

His clothing was in tatters, he was covered in dirt and grime, and there was a particularly nasty scar on the side of his head. A child would scream if they saw him coming at them in the dark. Even a Berkian one.

"No matter." He hissed, it was clear he'd come with a foul mood.

"For many weeks now since my... defeat," That word came out as if the very act of forcing it past his lips brought him terrible physical pain and he twisted Hiccup's arm again.

He grunted in agony, face contorted in a grimace. He could feel how close his elbow was to popping out of its place and trying to escape to prevent it didn't help.

Astrid desperately desired her axe, but her angry wishing didn't make it magically appear in her hand.

"I have been stuck in this godsforsaken island with no way off after your mother stole my dragons from me." With each spoken word Grimmel's hold squeezed tighter and tighter until all three of them heard a loud and horrendous pop followed by Hiccup letting out a yell.

"Hiccup!"

His knees buckled beneath him, but he was forced to find it in himself to keep standing as the cold blade nicking into his throat convinced him to try.

Breathing deeply, Hiccup found it in himself to speak through his growing tears.

"You-you mean-you mean she rescued them from you. Those dragons are finally-f-finally making some progress. They're happy to be away f-from you." Hiccup only just managed to finish that sentence before the blade was pushed in as a warning. He felt the sting of it cutting his skin. A tiny red cut was made.

Astrid's fists tightened at the sight. She hated being this useless.

The Deathgrippers were doing slightly better now. Emphasis on "slightly". The abuse Grimmel had put them through for so many years, making them addicted to their own venom, had left its mark. Valka had often despaired, they went far to have a taste of their own venom again.

Just the thought of them made Hiccup angry and the man responsible was now holding a knife to his throat.

"Oh, will you shut up?! For weeks have I been unable to get that annoying voice of yours out of my head. Honking and honking every godsdamned day and night, taunting me endlessly." Hiccup wasn't at all thrilled with the news. Grimmel wasn't above using its nasal nature as a taunt before, but to hear that it apparently haunted him was somehow worse and brought him no joy.

"More annoying than that idiot blonde girl. When I finish up here, I'll be visiting her next." Grimmel's threat to harm Ruffnut was badly received by both Hiccup and Astrid, but they couldn't lose their cool now. Hiccup's tear-filled eyes were glaring. Hurting him was one thing, but threatening his Dragon Riders or Berk was unforgivable.

"Let him go, Grimmel!" Astrid demanded through clenched teeth, she was furious. She wished she had her axe, but it was still by the door. lunging for it now would only cut Hiccup's life short.

Hiccup was armed, though. Blinded by seeing the object of his hatred and his need to take him out, Grimmel forgot to tell him to drop the knife he was using to make dinner and it was held in his free hand.

"Unfortunately for you," Grimmel gave Astrid a dark, dark look.

"I have no intention of doing that."

"I'm putting an end to this. I'm cutting this miserable embarrassment's throat and while you watch him bleed out, I'll be heading over to Her house next." Grimmel spoke and Astrid's heart dropped. There was nothing she could conceivably do that would help her save Hiccup's life. It was all up to him.

And their time to act was up, they could both feel it. Turning the knife in his hand, Hiccup decided to make his move while he still could. He plunged it deep into Grimmel's right side.

With a shout of pain, he collapsed and let go of his hostage, but this unexpected turn of events didn't prevent Hiccup from getting hurt. The sharp blade grazed Hiccup's throat as Grimmel fell and blood came spewing from his throat.

Astrid and Hiccup stared at each other in horror. She watched his eyes widen and tears roll down his cheeks.

Hiccup let himself drop down to the floor, back against a wall and his uninjured hand grabbing his throat. His top priority right now was keeping pressure on his wound, he could not die today.

"Oh Gods, Hiccup!" Astrid shouted and hurried to his side, completely losing sight of Grimmel. Grabbing cloth, she helped him attempt to stop the bleeding.

Either his injury or his panic wasn't allowing him to breathe properly, but he desperately tried to suck in every breath he could take and stared Astrid in the eye.

"You're going to be okay, Babe. You're going to be just fine, I promise you." Astrid knew it was bad to make such a promise, but she couldn't help herself. She could see how much pain he was in and how scared he was. She was crying herself.

If she lost him just when things were looking up, she would never forgive herself for failing him.

She didn't want a life without him. Astrid's world wasn't worth living in if Hiccup wasn't in it.

The door flung open at that exact moment and on the other side stood the other Riders.

"Here we are! Your favorite Rider on all of Berk, the Snotman, has finally arrived! It took us way too long to find everybody." Of course, that was the kind of greeting Snotlout would give them.

They seemed to have been laughing, but all cheer immediately disappeared when they caught sight of the bloody scene that the living space of their home was turned into.

"Oh no!" Fishlegs shouted and immediately raced over to Hiccup and Astrid.

"What the Hel happened?!" Snotlout shouted. He was expecting to find a nice dinner cooked by Hiccup and not touched by Astrid, instead this is what he found. Their Chief and future Chieftess putting pressure onto the former's wound and Grimmel bleeding out on the floor.

Eret and Gobber were there too, but noticed that nothing needed to be done about Grimmel.

The knife Hiccup had used was no longer in his torso and a pool of blood tainted the wooden boards beneath him. He was quickly bleeding to death, all that remained were a couple of ragged breaths.

"Look at the bright side, Boy-Chief," Hiccup glared at Grimmel. Fishlegs was rushing about in search of anything he could use, Eret aided him in his search.

"No more honking!" The man laughed breathily. He was happy it was a sound he no longer needed to hear, not even in his head. Hiccup's frustration was visibly worn on his face.

Grimmel's laughing soon ceased, his face grew slack, and his body went limp. He was gone, he'd found the peace he was so desperately looking for this past couple of weeks.

Tuffnut, feeling sick because he'd made plenty of jokes about his friend's voice before, kicked the dead man's boot.

"Fishlegs, what do we do?!" Astrid hated panicking, but blood was seeping through the fabric and their hands.

It hurt terribly, but Hiccup wasn't gurgling and breathing wasn't impossible. He tried desperately to hold onto the hope that this was a good sign to remain calm.

"I'm getting the healer!" Eret took it upon himself and ran out the door. He shouted for Skullcrusher, who wasn't far it seemed.

"Oh, son." It wasn't an expression Gobber used as often for his apprentice as he wanted to, but he did it as he kneeled next to Hiccup, hand on his shoulder. Hiccup looked at him from the corners of his eyes. His fear and pain broke Gobber's heart.

With Astrid in front of him, Ruffnut took Hiccup's other shoulder. If anything, their presence helped him feel less alone.

Snotlout and Tuffnut, they were helping Fishlegs.

What a turn this evening had taken. One moment he was gladly preparing a homemade meal for his loved ones and the next... It all happened in the blink of an eye, but the consequences may be permanent.

They certainly were for Grimmel.

Fishlegs ordered them to lay Hiccup down and Ruffnut and Astrid helped lied down on the floor. By then, Hiccup passed out.

Everyone was hurt in some way or form that night.

Ruffnut was touched that two of her fellow Riders had taken her health and safety to heart, but found herself to be horrified that Grimmel planned on doing the same to her that he had done to Hiccup.

Sleep evaded her almost entirely ever since that evening. Without Gothi's help, she wouldn't have gotten a single wink if exhaustion didn't force her to doze off.

Tuffnut made far fewer jokes at Hiccup's expense, he made far fewer jokes in general.

Believing that somehow his jokes about Hiccup's voice is what had lead to this, he wasn't his usual chaotic and carefree self. Astrid once heard from Fishlegs that he overheard Tuffnut confessing to Snotlout about having nightmares telling him that he was responsible.

As for Snotlout, he took it upon himself to keep watch over Hiccup so long as he recovered and he was a vigilant watcher. Astrid was expected to be Acting Chief in Hiccup's stead, so she couldn't be there for him, no matter how badly she wanted to be.

It had nothing to do with Eret's decision to do the same, the two worked in shifts and relieved each other. Hiccup hated being babysat, but everybody was afraid of leaving him alone for the time being.

Fishlegs wasn't quite the same anymore either. Though, he'd treated his friends many times before, none of those incidents involved an injury such as a slit throat. Keeping Hiccup alive, his best friend, his confidant, his fellow dragon geek, had been a nightmare from beginning to end.

The second worst off was Astrid, who'd said her goodbyes to her parents so she could move in with her future husbands some months earlier than expected.

The house they had built together with their friends out of love for each other she now hated. Coming home every evening after a tiring day as Chieftess, though the floor had been scrubbed clean, she was reminded without fail of the event that transpired in their living space.

The moment Hiccup was back up on his feet, she wanted to move. It may seem like a rash decision, but this was no longer a place she wanted to share a life with him in, build a family with him in. She knew Hiccup shared her feelings.

As for Hiccup himself...

"Bud... T-Tooth... Toothless."

Important arteries hadn't been hurt in the attack and neither was his windpipe, but it was becoming clear that his voice had suffered, just like Gothi feared. It was still there, he wasn't completely mute, but the words that did leave were so quiet they were nearly inaudible.

It frustrated him. In a community such as theirs, where being the loudest in the room made you the one people actually listened to, Hiccup's loss of voice was a disaster in his eyes. And he already had such a hard time being heard all his life. He was supposed to be the Chief.

Toothless was in bed with him.

After returning from his time away with the Light Fury, he found the living room floor stained in dried blood near the kitchen and that had nearly sent him panicking before Astrid called to him. Ever since then, after finding his Rider pale and lifeless on his bed with Fishlegs working to keep him alive, Toothless hadn't left.

Light had been more understanding than they'd anticipated. She didn't ask Toothless to leave his wounded human's side and she even dared set foot inside the Viking home to warily bring him the fish she caught for him.

Toothless was lying in front of Hiccup, who was sitting up with his legs crossed and his neck bandaged. He was trying to speak, trying to strain his voice and force it to be louder, but nothing except for silent breathy whispers passed his lips. His dragon hated them, too. That they were painful to say didn't help either.

Unlike most, most humans, Toothless loved his Rider's voice. It had always sounded soothing to him and he knew others of his species agreed. Part of why wild and even captured dragons calmed so readily in his presence was because of his voice.

It must've been something specific to their species, humans didn't seem to share this sentiment.

"You shouldn't force yourself, Hiccup. You need to let it rest, you know what Gothi said." Astrid spoke softly. Her tone had grown quieter as of late as well, though Hiccup wasn't entirely sure she even realized she was lowering her own volume around him.

She came into their room holding a plate with food. He didn't have much of an appetite, but there was a distinct feeling Astrid wouldn't care.

The plate was placed on his lap after Toothless made room.

"Berk wants me to tell you that they're thinking of you and that they're hoping to see you out and about soon." After a little while of Hiccup quietly staring at his lunch, Astrid decided to speak up.

"Berk?" Hiccup mouthed. Trying to say his Night Fury's name had taken what little his voice had left to give for that day. Astrid could read his lips, but she could tell what he was trying to ask out of the context of their conversation.

"Yeah, the entire village of New Berk. You have no idea how many people have told me to tell you to get better soon. There are more get-well gifts than we will ever need in life. And there are so many dragons that are leaving heaps of fish or even entire boars on our doorstep. Everyone's thinking of you." She told him, smiling at him.

Hiccup huffed. He received enough gifts from worried Hooligans to know that what she was saying was the truth. He was touched that they thought of him, however.

The silence stretched on and not because of an unwillingness to talk.

Reaching a hand out, Toothless automatically licked it.

"You..." Astrid started, but she took a pause. She wasn't even sure of what she wanted to say yet.

Hiccup already needed to get used to a life with one leg missing and now he was forced to adjust to having no voice. None of them liked to think about it, but trying times were coming for Hiccup.

He couldn't sleep either, neither one of them could. Hiccup and Astrid both shared near-identical dark circles underneath their eyes.

"You know everything's going to be okay, right? It doesn't look like it, but it will. Eventually." Astrid told him. It was because he couldn't respond anymore that it took Astrid longer than it should've to realize he wasn't paying as much attention as she previously thought.

"Hiccup?"

He was staring at his hand, at Toothless licking and nuzzling it.

Perhaps, she was right. A plan was forming.

"I know, I know! But Fishnut was being so mean and she was tricking Nuffink into doing stupid things!" Zephyr was a tiny angry ball as she shouted, fists by her side as her little brother nursed a couple of fresh bruises that the boy was sure to forget about in just another moment.

Who knew playing with a group of excitable juvenile Gronckles was more dangerous than it was fun?

"Mom says it's okay to punch people!" Zephyr argued back at her father and Astrid, who was helping Stormfly pretty herself up outside, couldn't help but smile.

"That's my girl!" She shouted as she brushed the Nadder's side.

"Dad says I can only do it as an adult!" Zephyr shouted back, translating.

"Well, that is when your punches hurt the most," Astrid stated matter-of-factly.

Inside their home, Hiccup rolled his eyes and shook his head, but he was amused. Of course, that would be Astrid's response. He continued his conversation with his daughter.

After that horrible night when Grimmel took his voice as his last act in life, Hiccup developed a new way to communicate.

They were hand signals created to get most, if not all, of his points across. A completely non-verbal language Berk had never seen before that was unlike Gothi's way of speaking. If there was one thing Hiccup excelled at, it was languages and Fishlegs helped.

It also didn't hurt that the Dragon Riders had gone out there in search of outside sources to help. Others spoke using their hands and it was fascinating to learn all about it.

Hiccup's hands were already as expressive as they come and he'd been assured that a lack of a verbal voice certainly hadn't tempered his sass in the slightest. In fact, it had tripled.

Most of Berk had a hard time learning, but Zephyr and Nuffink, at the very least, and most of the other kids on Berk seemed to understand him perfectly.

That had been one of Hiccup's greatest fears when faced with the prospect of becoming a father, that his children may never understand him, that they would never be able to have a single conversation, but they did.

This was something they'd grown up with. Their father's language was as natural to them as their mother's.

All of the Dragon Riders had been adamant in learning it when Hiccup first started using it, refining it along the way.

They had learned how to communicate with their dragons using only their hands for stealth situations long ago, they stubbornly claimed that this would be no different.

They were wrong. Learnings things such as "fly" or "duck" wasn't as similar as learning an entirely new language, but Hiccup made sure to implement those old signals for their dragons into his new way of talking.

Of all his friends, Snotlout was the one having the hardest time adjusting, but he saw it through. He was going to learn it no matter what and Hiccup greatly appreciated his devotion to once again understand his Chief and best friend.

Snotlout's efforts had touched him in a way very few had. And with someone like Hiccup, that was saying something.

Developing a way for him to talk with his hands had been an arduous process filled with many trials and errors. They all remembered it as a very frustrating time filled with more breakdowns than Hiccup would ever want to admit, but it kept him looking toward the future.

Hiccup and Astrid's wedding still took place sometime after he recovered and it was only a year later that Zephyr was born. Nuffink was born three years after his sister.

Much like how losing a great deal of his left leg hadn't stopped Hiccup from taking up the mantle as Berk's only dragon expert and opening the Dragon Academy, losing his voice hadn't stopped him from building his future. During many dark moments, it was one of the things that kept him going.

And there was one advantage to having a beard and a high collar. The scar on his neck remained hidden.

Well, most of the time. Sometimes it felt good to feel the wind on the entire surface of his face again.

Hiccup knew he would someday have to tell their children what had happened that day, however. He would have to inform them how high the cost of protecting dragons could sometimes be. Just like their parents, Zephyr and Nuffink loved those amazing creatures as much as they did.

Toothless was like an uncle to them, Light a very distant aunt, and the Nightlights their cousins.

And Zephyr, curious and smart, had noticed from a very young age that her dad wasn't like the other dads in the village because he couldn't talk.

It made them very patient children, Nuffink included. They never interrupted him, they let him speak his mind, that is what they had been taught. Astrid would not have it any other way, she was particularly strict about that. They also knew their father would let them speak uninterrupted as well.

"She can be a handful, that one." After Zephyr had left with second thoughts about punching Fishnut in the chest and after finishing tending to her Nadder, Astrid joined her husband at the table.

He was in the middle of sketching out his newest design when Fishlegs' and Ruffnut's daughter came to tattle on theirs.

"Sometimes it's almost like Nuffink is the quiet one." He signed with a playful smile. To their surprise, there was truth to his words and Astrid let out a short laugh.

They sat together in silence, hands intertwined as they watched Zephyr and Nuffink run around with Dart, Pouncer, and Ruffrunner. There was only so much the open front door allowed them to see, but the sounds they made helped them fill in the blanks.

During the last decade, they'd both discovered a newfound fondness for simple quiet moments together like this.

"Hiccup..." Astrid broke it momentarily to face him and Hiccup gazed back at his wife. Having caught his attention, she signed the one sentence she practiced over and over again until she deemed it perfect enough. And when it came to herself, her standards were always high.

A loving smile appeared on his face and Astrid cupped his cheek.

"I love you too." He returned the gesture, leaning into her touch.

Scooting over to sit closer to him, Astrid let her head rest on his shoulder and Hiccup let his rest on hers.