Flip did this chapter take a long time to write. I hope you enjoy it.
I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.
Read on!
Hiccup stood beside Sigurd outside the door to the mill. To their right Ingrid was teaching her daughter a few tricks she had learned over the years with an axe. To their left, Toothless and Snotlout were having a sparring match while Stormfly and the twins were cheering them on. Fishlegs was keeping score as usual. Hiccup was proud to see his little brother was winning.
"Did you learn anymore of the scout that you saw a few days ago?" Sigurd asked as he watched his daughter and wife with a proud smile on his.
"Yesterday we came across two more," Hiccup replied grimly. Sigurd's smile dropped.
"How far away were they?" he asked.
"Closer than the first one," Hiccup replied. "I don't understand how. I was in the process of leading him in the wrong direction when he came across Astrid. I'm a little worried now. They're getting closer." Sigurd's mouth was set in a straight line. The two looked out over their friends and family and sighed knowing that it wouldn't be long.
"Maybe you should go and tell your father," Sigurd said trying to be helpful.
"It would never work," Hiccup replied confusing the man. "They'll be guarding the crack. One or two people alone will get caught, and we can't all go. And even if we did, we don't know how many there are. There could be enough to catch all of us. And if they are getting closer, who knows how long it will be until they come."
Sigurd watched the boy in front of him carefully. He could see a lot of Stoic in him. He looked a lot like his mother in appearance, but his personality reminded him of his father. He was sure that Stoic must be proud of the young man he was growing up to be. Then he noticed Hiccup's face turn confused.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I think I hear something," he said quietly, almost as if to himself.
"What?" Sigurd asked, straining his ears to listen.
"I think I hear footsteps. They're treading quietly, as if the don't want us to know that they're coming."
"I hear it too," Sigurd replied. The two looked at each other, their faces pale.
"Humans!" Hiccup yelled out just as the men broke through the forest's edge.
Snotlout and Toothless immediately took on defence as they were already holding weapons from their spar. Ingrid stood protectively in front of her daughter. The others came running to the house where Hiccup and Sigurd were already waiting with their weapons. They then ran into the fray of humans to help their friends who were already fighting. Hiccup and Sigurd fought back to back, each facing a tough opponent of their own.
"I know about what's going on between you and my daughter," Sigurd said as he dealt a painful blow to the human before him.
"You do?" was all Hiccup could think to reply as he kicked one human in the stomach so that he fell on the one behind him.
"I like you, Hiccup. And you seem to make Astrid happy," Sigurd added as he pushed back against a blow to his chest. He finally broke free of the sword clash and carried on. "Ingrid likes you too."
"Thank you, sir. It's an honour to have your blessing," Hiccup replied knocking a man out to his right while kicking a man to his left.
"Although," Sigurd said dodging a blow to his head. "If you hurt her I will not hesitate in giving you serious injuries."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Hiccup replied.
The two then carried on their fight, trying to push back the enemy forces. But soon it became to much. There were just too many humans, and too few of them. The humans began pushing them all towards the mill, cornering them with their backs against the wall. Looking across he could see that Ruffnut and Snotlout had lost their weapons and were being protected by Tuffnut and Toothless, but they were struggling against so many foes. Ingrid was mostly protecting Astrid to the other side but he could see that Astrid was swinging her axe when she saw an opening.
With their backs to the wall and so many humans closing in, Hiccup was beginning to wonder whether they would even make it out alive. They were all struggle under the pressure of the amount of humans around them.
Just as he was starting to loose hope and the humans were staring to look victorious, their eyes shining in mirth, a cry broke out behind them. The colour faded from the faces of the humans as the ones towards the back turned to see what was happening and came face to face with a group of angry parents. Hiccup grinned as he saw his parents leading the charge, Gobber by their side. Now with them outnumbering the humans, the fight didn't last so long. Soon enough, the humans were all unconscious on the ground and the teens looked across to see all their parents.
Astrid watched the reunion in confusion until she realised that the people her new friends were all running to looked quite similar to her friends. Then watching the way the embraced made her realise that these were their parents. She smiled at that. She knew that they missed them, even though they wouldn't say. She turned to see that her own parents had come to stand next to her, but they didn't look as happy. They looked more anxious than anything else. She followed her father's gaze to see that he was watching Hiccup's exchange with a large man with a great red beard.
Hiccup stood straight as his father approached. He wasn't sure what to say or do. They had just had to basically come and save them. And he was in charge. He racked his brain for something to say. Something that would make everything okay. But nothing came to mind.
"Hey dad," he said eventually, just letting words flow and hoping that they ,add any sense. "I know that you left me in charge and it was my job to keep them safe, and I did the best that I could. I tried to lead the humans away but they-" He wasn't able to finish as the great man that was his father wrapped him up in a hug that almost choked him to death. "Dad. Air!" he managed to let out. His dad let go.
"Sorry," he said. "I just… I'm sorry I sent you away. I know now that it was a bad idea. Both you and Fisher tried to warn us but we didn't listen. I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me."
"Of course I forgive you, dad," Hiccup replied, a little surprised that his father would think any different. "But only if you can forgive me for not being able to keep them safe from the humans." His fa her looked at him with an expression that silently asked if he had lost his mind.
"You've done nothing wrong , Hiccup. There was nothing you could have done to have prevented this. I'm proud of you for having held them off for as long as you did."
"Really?" Hiccup asked, surprised.
"Really," his father said.
Astrid had watched the whole exchange in surprise. She could hardly believe that this was Hiccup's father. There wasn't much in common between their looks. Now that she was looking, she noticed that they both held themselves the same. Back straight and head held high, but there was nothing else from their appearance that struck her as being the same.
"Dad," Hiccup said gaining his father's attention again after they had both been distracted by Valka pestering Toothless about his health and what he had been eating and whether he had been washing properly. "I think that there's someone you need to see." Stoic's looked at his son confused before seeing who Hiccup was pointing to. His jaw immediately dropped.
"Sigurd?" he asked as he walked closer.
"It's good to see you again, Stoic." Astrid could see that her father had tensed up. He was clearly not looking forwards to this exchange.
"It's good to see you again, old friend," Stoic said, his grin growing. Sigurd looked quite surprised.
"I would have thought that you would be angry at us for leaving," he said sadly. Stoic just shook his head.
"You're one of my closest friends," he said. "I'm just happy to see you again. Have you been here all this time?" Sigurd nodded. "And what about Ingrid?" He then gestured to his wife that stood slightly to the side.
"Hello, Stoic," Ingrid greeted.
"Ingrid?" They looked up to see Valka with a dropped jaw.
"Hello, Val," Ingrid replied smiling. She wasn't prepared for the hug that Valka gave her. Bone crushing and full of compassion.
"Where have you been? I've missed you so much! When we found you missing I was so upset! You were my closest friend!" The Hofferson couple looked at each other, both feeling guilt for leaving. They explained everything. Where they had been, what they had been doing and why they left.
"Stoic," Sigurd said turning to Astrid who was now nervous. "This is my daughter, Astrid."
"Oh, you are just the spitting image of your mother when she was your age," Valka said looking her up and down with a friendly smile. Astrid stood blushing as her parents discussed her with Stoic and Valka, who she knew were not only Hiccup and Toothless' parents, but also the chief and wife of Berk.
"So, are you planning on coming back soon?" Valka asked. Astrid watched as her parents turned towards each other.
"We hadn't quite decided yet. In all honesty it's up to Astrid. If she wants to stay here, we'll stay with her. If she wants to go, then we'll go." Stoic and Valka nodded.
"We'll leave you to it," Valka said leading her husband away to talk more with their own children. Sigurd and Ingrid both turned towards Astrid, who knew exactly what they were going to say.
"Now, honey," Ingrid started. "Whatever decision you choose to make is the right one. Do you want to stay here, or do you want to go to Berk? If you don't like it on Berk we can come back, or if you're not sure we can wait a little longer."
Astrid stood weighing the options. She knew this world. She knew everything in it. Berk was completely knew. She didn't really know what to expect. But at the same time, she had made some great friends. She had no friends as school in this world. And, from what she had heard, there was a certain amount of freedom that came with going to Berk. And there was Hiccup. If she chose to stay, she might never see him again. But if she chose to go, who knows what the future holds. And there was also her parents to think about. They would stay with her whatever she chose, but she could see how much they wanted to go back. She too a deep breath and made her decision.
"I'll go," she said with a smile. The grins on her parents faces were unforgettable.
"Are you sure?" Ingrid asked, trying to look concerned but not being able to stop the look of pure glee that sat in her face. Astrid nodded.
"Like you said," she replied. "I can always come back if a I don't like it." Her parents smiled, her mother happy, her father proud. The they looked themselves up and down.
"We're going to need to change," Sigurd said looking at his clothes.
"What do you mean?" Astrid asked confused.
"We can't go to Berk dressed like this," her father replied he's turning to his clothes. "Gobber!" he called and a man with a missing arm and leg who fit Hiccup's description of his mentor ran over.
"Sigurd? Ingrid? Is it really you?" he asked his eyes wide.
"It is, old friend," Sigurd replied smiling. He was suddenly enveloped in a hug by the other man.
"It's been too long!" Gobber exclaimed happily.
"It has," Sigurd said, coughing slightly when he was finally let go. "Actually, I have a favour to ask you. Do you have an spare clothes?" Gobber put his hand to his chin in thought.
"I might for you two, but definitely not the girl. She'll need to talk to Stormfly about that. Does this mean that you're coming home?" Sigurd and Ingrid nodded. Gobber wrapped them both up in a hug. Ingrid managed to gesture to Astrid to go to Stormfly and Astrid left her two struggling parents, laughing as she went. It was then that she noticed that all of her friends had changed into Berkian clothes and had all their bags, ready to go.
"Hey, Storm," she said walking up to the girl. She wore a blue top with a yellow skirt, blue leggings, brown boots and a shoulder guard on her left shoulder with the Sharp Class symbol painted in pink. "Do you have any clothes I could borrow?" Stormfly's eyebrows shot is in surprise.
"You mean you're coming with us?" she asked a smile growing on her face. Astrid nodded and Stormfly leapt on her giving her a hug. She then pulled away suddenly and grabbed Astrid's hand, pulling her into the mill.
She pulled her into one of the bedrooms and shut the door. She began grabbing things out of her bag. She tossed a red top towards her and turned around so that she could put it on, as well as a blue skirt and some brown leggings. Once they were on, Stormfly looked her up and down. She narrowed her eyes and Astrid felt a little nervous. Then she grabbed Astrid by the shoulders and turned her around. Astrid could feel her pull out the hair band that had held her hair in a pony tail and begin doing something to her hair.
"What are you doing?" she asked as she saw her hair band thrown across the room.
"You can't go to Berk with your hair like that. Trust me. I know what I'm doing." Astrid sighed and let Stormfly finish her work. Once she was gone, Astrid was once again turned around. She watched as Stormfly looked her up and down with narrowed eyes before suddenly holding up a finger with a look that said she had an idea. She turned Astrid back around and Astrid could hear her rummaging around in her bag before pulling something else out. She felt her attaching it around her shoulders and then she was suddenly pulled towards the mirror.
Astrid stared at her appearance in surprise. She was used to wearing a t-shirt and jeans with her hair in a pony tail. It was just how she dressed. But this was different. On top of her red top, sitting on her shoulders was a brown hood. When she felt it, it was soft and warm. Her skirt and leggings were comfortable and warm, especially her boots. Then she noticed her hair. It was braided down her shoulder and had been tied with a piece of material at the end.
"Well?" Stormfly asked smugly, obviously seeing how much Astrid liked her new look.
"It's amazing," was all Astrid could say back. Stormfly just smiled to herself and tidied up her bag before hoisting it over her shoulder.
"I know," she said before gesturing for them to both leave. She led the way and Astrid followed. As they left the mill she spotted her parents by the door, dressed just like all the other parents. Ingrid took one look at her and looked like she was going to cry.
"My darling girl!" she said happily. "You look perfect."
"Thanks, mom," Astrid said with a smile.
"Well, shall we go?" Sigurd asked. Astrid nodded. He then turned and nodded towards Stoic who called for them all to leave. The group then all began the trek towards the crack. Astrid and her parents stood towards the back. Stormfly ran up to Toothless and whispered something in his ear. He turned to see Astrid at the back. He then rushed to the front where Hiccup stood beside his parents looking depressed. As he heard what Toothless had to say, his depressed look faded. He followed Toothless to where there was a good view of the back of the group and saw Astrid in Berkian clothes. His eyes widened and Toothless nudged him in the back towards her. He nodded to his brother and thanked him before making his way beside Astrid.
"Hey," he said gaining her attention. She looked up a little startled at his voice but smiled. She looked him up and down to see what he was wearing. He had on a red shirt with brown leather shoulder guards and a leather armour piece that ran down his right arm. He wore brown trousers and boots and his sword was strapped to his side. The look suited him.
"Hey," she said back.
"So you're coming with us?" he asked.
"I am," she replied. "Is that a problem?"
"Not at all." They both laughed and he took hold of her hand. She gladly let him. They didn't notice Toothless nudging his mother who looked back to see her eldest son holding hands wth a girl. She smiled knowingly. She would leave him be now, but she would pester him later.
Soon enough they had arrived at the crack. All those who had been through before were quick to slide through and eager to get home. Stoic and Gobber stood on either side of the crack making sure everyone got through okay. Last of all were the Hofferson's. Sigurd and Ingrid wanted to wait for Astrid to go first in case she decided to change her mind. Hiccup shot Astrid an encouraging smile before stepping through. She took a deep breath looking up into the patient faces of her parents, Stoic and Gobber. Then she stepped through to the other side.
Hope you enjoyed two chapters at once. Finally off to Berk! Woohoo! Hiccup's look as described by Astrid is inspired of Hiccup's look in Race to The Edge, but I didn't want to do it the same so I changed it a little.
Miti-sweets: Thanks! I love doing the fluffy stuff.
An Amber Pen: I shall!
OechsnerC: Sorry about that. Were these two long enough for you?
The SkrillRider: Just wait and see!
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Until next time!