Hiccup pulled away many heartbeats later. Astrid stared at him. She smiled when she saw no confusion or worry in his eyes. Everyone may have once thought Hiccup was no warrior and could not hold his own in a fight. They were wrong.
He fought with the same intensity that he used in anything he did. He just used his mind more than most Vikings. He also dealt with and processed the aftermath of a battle different than many in the tribe did. They would boast while drinking mead in the Great Hall, telling everyone of their courage and relaying every time they felled an enemy. Hiccup worried over the hows and the whys and if he could have done something, anything, to affect another outcome. Astrid also noted that when he took a life it left him quiet and looking inward. She knew Hiccup valued all lives and would rather not kill if he did not have to.
That Alvin followed him this far. That the man did not allow Hiccup a chance to speak. That the man ordered an attack. Astrid knew all of these made Hiccup realize the Outcast chief would stop at nothing to get what he wanted, and it did not matter who stood between him and his goal. She knew Hiccup chose to kill him to prevent others from being harmed. To prevent his family from being harmed by the madman's schemes.
Hiccup not blithely turning away from the results of his orders showed an honor most, before Toothless, before the Red Death, would have said he did not have. An honor Gyda' once told her the history she knew claimed Vikings did not always possess. Astrid realized Hiccup's actions after a battle showed hints of the leader he would be when he fully stepped into the chief's position. She firmly believed, with just those hints alone, Hiccup would be a greater chief than his father, perhaps greater than any of the chiefs who came before him.
He was already a great alpha to the dragons, though Astrid would be the first to admit she was biased and had only met two other alphas to compare him to. The Bewilderbeast did not count as he seemed to prioritize his dislike of Hiccup over his nest's well-being. Astrid still could not forgive that dragon for insulting Hiccup at the Hatchery then removing his nest and their hatchlings for no other reason than Hiccup was there. Learning the dragon had moved his entire nest just as winter set in and then destroyed the old one firmly placed the dragon in a list Astrid once held Snotlout and the twins in. Children who refused to grow up. The Bewilderbeast did gain the prize for being the only in that list, for now. Snotlout and the twins having chosen to grow up, or as Astrid suspected for all them, growing up whether they wished to or not. She did not see how anyone could live through what they all had and not mature.
Astrid, also, knew Alvin's death left the Outcasts without a chief and she realized that should be a concern going forward. Not today though. Today they won. Today the nest they had fought for and guarded was safe. Young dragons did not have to deal with the loss of friends or family. Those who fought survived. Hiccup survived. Today things were right in Astrid's world. Tomorrow she would worry. Tomorrow she would plan. Right then she would, and did, gather Hiccup closer. Right then she would relish in his arms around her. Right then she would, and did, steal the air in his chest until they both had to fight the sky for breath.
Stoick lowered his gaze and spied Gobber watching him. Gobber tipped his head in a silent show of understanding. Stoick was grateful his old friend did not comment. The chief knew how long he had stood beside his house, staring north for any sign of the Riders' return. He stood there for the same length of time each day.
It did not matter the weather. It did not matter what was happening in the village or with the dragons. Stoick stood and watched for his son. For all of his sons and his grandsons. He had failed to be there for Hiccup so many times. Stoick saw those times in vivid detail each night he laid down to sleep. Waking to a house devoid of his son, of his family, caused a deep seated fear to well in Stoick, though he made sure no one saw it.
It was during those moments, when his mind did not remember the Riders' trip and Hiccup's promise to return, that Stoick knew what his life would have been like should Hiccup had left. Should Stoick's stupid declaration of disownment, spoken in anger and pain, ripped his son from him and sent the boy to Outcast island.
Stoick would admit, if only to himself, that he never wanted those moments to be real. So, he waited, and woe be the tribe member or visiting person who disturbed him. Stoick did not fail to note the dragons, at least the adult ones, never bothered him whenever he found the time to watch the northern skies. There was even a day that the Elders once joined him and never said a word. Stoick never thought in his entire life he would want a moment with dragons to last and reoccur, yet he would not mind those Elders joining him each day.
It also did not pass Stoick's remembrance that it was his son who brought all of this about. It was his son who fought for and won peace. It was his son who forgave dragons and gave them a home. It was his son who showed set in their ways Vikings that things could change and change for the great.
Stoick shook his head and chuckled, earning a confused look from Gobber. Stoick did not elaborate as he joined his friend for the short walk to the Council meeting. Gobber did not need to know what Stoick was thinking. The blacksmith, for years before the war ended, expressed the belief that now rested solid within Stoick.
Hiccup would be a greater chief than any the Hooligans had ever seen or remembered. Stoick did wish it had not come at such a cost to Hiccup and Toothless for that realization, for Gobber's steadfast belief, to finally take root in Stoick's own soul. To take root in the reality they, now, gladly walked through.
Just as they reached the Great Hall doors, held wide by Bjorn and Quickclaw, Starkard ran up to them.
"Chief, da swamp be shakin'!"
Literally Nobody: Yes, Johann. Partially Hiccup's darker side, but more his quiet thoughtfulness when he has to take a life, especially when he can't figure why the person pushed to the point he had to order their death. Aye, we are almost done. This was the last arc of the story. I look forward to your reviews for the sequel. Have a good day/night as well.
Kirika: Thank you, my friend. And hehe, yep.