Well, I guess it's time to check in with Hiccup once again. How's he been doing since the end of Arc 3? Time to find out!

Review Replies:

ladipretender: Haha. You know me and how I write stories. Breaking hearts and piecing them back together is my specialty! Besides, I don't foresee Astrid just sitting and saying "Okay, if that's what you want, I'll marry Snotlout." No way! She'll fight back. Haha.

OechsnerC: That would be fun, now wouldn't it? Haha.

LuniaWolfe: Glad to hear that you're enjoying the story. Here's the next chapter.

Noctus Fury (anonymous): Wow…that's a pretty long list. Haha. Seems like Astrid's been going back and forth about the idea, so it's possible. Although…Stoick would never allow it…if he knew. Haha.

Guest (anonymous): Huh…now that sounds interesting. That could potentially happen! No worries, this story is fully Hiccstrid. It's hard since they're both so far apart from each other, but they are definitely committed to each other and won't let anyone else come between them.


Chapter 39: A Startling Discovery

How long have I been here? At this village where my "dead" mother is chief? How many months has it been and why do I feel only slightly better than when I woke up here? Hiccup wondered as he lay in his bed and stared up at the ceiling above him. Had he been that sick from his time stuck on the island? If he had been, then why was he still alive now? It didn't make any sense.

As Hiccup lay contemplating his health (or lack thereof or…whatever; he didn't know anymore), Valka entered and walked up to his bedside. "It's just about lunchtime, Son. Think you can handle some real food today or should we stick with soup?"

Slowly and carefully, Hiccup sat up so that his back was propped up by his pillow. "Real food?" he questioned. He knew what she meant, but it sounded strange, as if the soup he'd been eating was not real.

"You know, some meat, bread, cooked vegetables. Perhaps a stew," Valka explained, not realizing that her son already knew what she'd meant.

"I can eat 'real' food," Hiccup answered, emphasizing the word "real". Hiccup, fed up with eating in bed like some sickly person, decided to try getting out of bed to eat at this village's Great Hall. Slowly, he pulled away the blankets and shifted as he prepared to step up from the bed. There was just one problem; his prosthetic leg was missing. What happened to it? I didn't lose it on that island, did I?

"Are you sure that you're ready to be up and walking?" Valka asked her son.

"Yes," Hiccup affirmed. "But…I need my…" he didn't finish his sentence. Instead, he just gestured down to space where the shaped metal that served as his left foot should have been.

"Oh…you mean this?" Recognition flashed across Valka's face and she brought forth the metal leg.

"Yes," Hiccup replied. "That." He reached to take it, but Valka did not immediately give it back to him.

"I don't understand," Valka spoke, looking over the metal that had become Hiccup's left foot. "What happened to your foot? Why did you end up needing to create a replacement?"

"I…uh…" Hiccup sighed. "I don't know the whole story, but it happened when Toothless and I battled this massive dragon." Hiccup relayed the story to his mother, catching her up with most of the details of the fiery battle against The Red Death. He told his mother of how he had been knocked from the saddle and how Toothless had saved him. Then, he continued, detailing about waking up to a new Berk…and a new leg. "Yeah, I don't really know the reason why I lost the leg. My dad never really wanted to talk about it and Gobber…well, he's Gobber. Getting a straight story out of him is often an impossible task."

"I see," Valka replied, passing the leg to Hiccup who secured it back into place. "Sounds like you were very brave."

"I…I guess. So, want to show me where the Great Hall is? I could really use some lunch."

"Of course." Valka helped her son to stand. It took Hiccup a few minutes to balance himself again. When was the last time that he'd stood up? Probably not since being rescued from that island. Before attempting to walk, Hiccup grabbed his satchel (which must also have been rescued from the island) from the nearby nightstand and slung it over his body. Never knew when it would come in handy, so it was better to just have it with him.

"I'm sorry if I walk slowly," Hiccup apologized to his mother as he took a few slightly-unsteady steps. "It's been a while since I've walked and I guess I'm out of practice."

"It's not a problem," Valka assured her son. "Here, let me help you." She put her left arm over Hiccup's shoulders and pulled him a little closer, helping to stabilize his balance.

Together, Mother and Son walked to the Great Hall. It wasn't on a hill like the Berkian Great Hall, but it was still impressive. Tall and towering over them, the Hall boasted of pride. Though they walked side-by-side with Valka still helping to support Hiccup, she led the way into the building. As they walked through the Hall, many villagers greeted their Chief, but Valka's attention was focused on getting her son seated and fed. Valka led Hiccup up to the front table and helped Hiccup into one of the seats next to the center chair (which was reserved for Chief Valka herself).

"You just sit and relax right there, Son. I'll go talk to the cooks and see if they can prepare you some 'real food'."

As Hiccup waited, he could feel his strength returning. Maybe, if he ate all of his lunch, he could convince his mother (Gods, that was still so weird! To think that his mother had been alive all this time!) to allow him to take a walk alone. He was curious to learn more about this village where his mother had been living for the last seventeen years.

Valka arrived back shortly with a plate of food and a glass of fresh yak milk. The food, a hearty cut of lamb and two slices of freshly-baked bread, looked so appetizing to Hiccup…but that's probably because he was so sick of the "soup only" diet that his mother seemed to have deemed suitable for him as he recovered.

Devouring the food within five minutes ' time, Hiccup could easily have eaten another plateful, but he knew that he should probably try to take it slow. This was his first larger meal since…well, since he'd left Berk. He definitely did not want to get sick from overeating. "So, I was wondering if I could take a walk around the village," Hiccup told his mother when she'd come back to check up on him and make sure that he'd eaten.

"Of course, Son," Valka replied. "I could show you around, if you'd like."

"That's okay," Hiccup answered, "But I'd like to do it myself, if that's okay. I'm sure you're busy anyway. Being the chief and all."

Valka blinked in surprise. Hiccup supposed that she was still not used to the idea of knowing that her son, her tiny little newborn baby, had grown up to become an independent young man in the time that she had been away. Finally, with a smile and a nod, Valka gave Hiccup her permission. "Okay, you may go walk the village alone…but don't miss supper! You still need nourishment to make up for that time you spent on the island."

Hiccup nodded back in reply. "Wouldn't dream of missing mealtime! Thank you." He quickly left the Great Hall. The village appeared to be small, but he did not want to risk finding himself in an unfamiliar area after dark. Walking through the smooth dirt streets of the village, Hiccup was first surprised at how friendly the villagers all seemed to be. He did not even know their names and yet they still greeted him by name and asked him if he was feeling any better. Granted, it was probably only because he was Chief Valka's son, but it still felt nice to be immediately accepted without having to prove himself.

Once Hiccup had walked throughout the whole village, he paused briefly to check the position of the sun in the sky. Still a little while until suppertime, he noted. It should be okay if I venture out of the village…as long as I don't go too far.

Unlike Berk, this village was not bordered by woods. Instead, it was nestled in a valley. On one side of the village, just a short walk away, was a beach and then the vast waters that seemed to stretch out to the horizon. Not feeling up to hiking the hills (and there wasn't really enough time to do so anyway), Hiccup decided to go check out the beach. The beach was sandy and Hiccup made a mental note to clean the fine grains out of his prosthetic later tonight after dinner. A breeze blew in off of the water and Hiccup marveled at the picturesque setting. It was almost perfect. If the sun was just a little lower to cast a reddish-orange glare over the water… Hiccup made another mental note to come back here someday soon with his sketchbook. Astrid would love this place! I wish… Looking down at the ground, Hiccup felt the sadness and homesickness return. I wish she was here. No, I wish I was back home. On Berk. With her.

The sun continued to dip closer to the horizon. Hiccup knew that he should be getting back so that he didn't miss supper and, to be honest, he really did not want to keep staring at the water. He'd seen enough water already in the last few months' time. Just as Hiccup was about to turn and head back to the village, he caught a glance of some floating driftwood. Immediately, his curiosity was peaked. He walked closer to the water's edge, careful not to get too close. When he was close enough to one of the driftwood pieces, Hiccup pulled it from the water so he could take a closer look at it. It was a small piece that had obviously been part of a larger board at one time. A dark brown, like the wood that Berk Vikings used for their ships to Valhalla, it was scorched at one end as if it had been burning.

More pieces of driftwood were floating a little ways out to sea. Hiccup pulled his spyglass out from his satchel and focused it on the pieces. More pieces that looked similar to the one he'd found close to shore…but then something else, an object fluttering in the current, caught his attention and he shifted the spyglass. It was a piece of a flag that had once flown on the ship. The flag had been torn and burnt, but Hiccup could barely make out part of the emblem. Is that…the Berk crest?

Hiccup continued to move the spyglass over the pieces of driftwood until he found something colorful. Looking closer, Hiccup could make out some of the faded runes on the object that he guessed to be some type of banner. "CCUP HAD II—OPE ND HEI" was about all Hiccup could make out, but it was plenty enough to understand now what he was seeing. "Hiccup Haddock III—Hope and Heir," he whispered to himself. "That's…me. This is…a ship to Valhalla. Berk thinks I'm dead?"


The plot thickens! Now, Hiccup knows about some of the events going on back home…but of course he doesn't know everything! Next chapter, it's back to Astrid to see how she deals with the news of her betrothal to Snotlout. You won't want to miss it. See you all then!

Thank you all for reading and supporting Wheel in the Sky!

Posted: July 16, 2016