A/N: What's up people? I hope you had/have a great day, and please enjoy this chapter.
Gobber saw his friend walking towards him while he worked. He noticed how blissful he'd been and he had no idea why. "Stoick, you're happier than usual."
"What are you talking about?" he asked walking over towards The Forge. Gobber stopped doing his work and glared at him. "Really Stoick? You've been a little bit…..cheerier since yesterday. Just tell what's wrong with you."
"Nothing is wrong with me."
"Maybe Gothi should take a look at you rather than your father….Oh! That's why you're so happy!" Stoick's eyes widened. "Wh-Why do you do you think I'm so happy?" Stoick asked with a squeak in his voice.
"Your father is out of the house. A little bit of freedom from the old man, uh?"
Stoick felt relief rush through his body. He smiled and said "yeah, that's why I'm so happy."
"By the way, how is your dad?"
"I don't know, Gothi won't tell me anything. I was actually on my way to see him."
"Oh alright, have fun." Gobber said and went back to work.
Stoick walked away and saw his father talking to some people arguing. "Now I said it before, and I'll say it again. Neither of you have the right to fight." Stoick heard his father talking to the two men holding their weapons. While watching his father, he decided to take mental notes about being chief. He knew that the responsibility would be on him one day, so why not get a head start? After a while, the two men shook hands and left leaving The Chief alone. The elderly man saw his son in the distance and greeted him. "Ah son, how are things at home?"
"Great actually, Valka and I are doing just fine."
"That's good to hear. Anyway, I'll be returning home in about two days."
"What is going on dad? Gothi won't tell me anything about your health, I'm beginning to worry."
"You shouldn't be worried; Gothi is just being the crazy old bat that she is." Without warning, a small rock was thrown at his head. He placed his hand on the growing bump and saw the old woman glaring at him.
"I think she heard you."
"Oh you think!" The Chief shouted then groaned. "I guess I'll see you at dinner at The Great Hall tonight." He finished and walked away with the elder.
~oOo~
Valka went to see her parents again that morning. Her father left not long after she got there, leaving her with her mother and brother.
"So, do you know what's going on with chief?" Spitelout asked his sister. Valka shook her head at him.
"No, Stoick went over there last night. She wouldn't tell us anything, we're starting to get worried."
"Oh no need to worry dear, you know The Chief. Nothing will bring that man down." Mrs. Jorgenson said as she put some mead on the table.
"I know, but I can't help it. He's like a second father to me now; I don't want to lose him."
"You're not the only one who doesn't want to lose him Valka." Spitelout stated "The Village will be lost without him."
"Think about this Valka, if you're worried about him, think how Stoick feels." The young woman thought about what her mother said. Stoick lost his mother when he was a young teenager, she can only imagine what he's feeling.
"I've got to go." She said and left her family in their house.
"I have never seen Valka leave so fast before." Spitelout said before taking his mug of mead. Mrs. Jorgenson smiled because she knew the real reason why she left.
"Yeah, she did leave fast didn't she?" She said with a content smile.
~oOo~
Valka got home, but saw that it was vacant. She wasn't sure if he would be home, but she wanted to check there first. She then left the house and walked over towards The Forge, she didn't see her husband there either. However she did see her hard working friend. "Hello Valka, how are you?"
"I'm fine Gobber, just worried about The Chief."
"We all are, but I heard that he'll be returning home in a couple of days."
Valka gave out a small sigh of relief. "That's good to hear. Oh before I forget, happy birthday."
"Aw, thank you Valka."
"So, how does it feel to be 30?"
"Old." Valka smiled and chuckled a little.
"So, want to do something special? I can get Stoick on it."
"Come on Valka, don't make it a big deal, it's just another birthday."
"You only turn 30 once. Now come on, it'll be fun. We'll have our party number of three like when you became The Blacksmith." Valka chimed with a smirk. The two of them started to have a little staring contest, but Gobber gave in. "Oh alright, we'll have a little get together."
"Yay! I'll try to get Stoick to come." Valka cheered and left to find him.
~oOo~
Valka walked into her home and saw her husband drinking out of a mug. He put the mug away from his face and saw her standing by the door. He smiled at her and placed the mug on the table. "Hey, where were you? I was about to go look for you."
Valka picked up the half empty mug. "I can tell."
"Well….I thought about getting a drink first."
"Whatever." She said with a smirk and received a peck on her lips from him. "Anyway, I talked to Gobber, and I thought that the three of us should hang out for his birthday."
"It depends. What time of the day did you have in mind?"
"Oh I don't know, maybe at dinner or after."
"Let's go after dinner, my dad is expecting us at The Great Hall tonight."
"You talk to your dad today? How is he doing? How does he feel?"
"Whoa, whoa, slow down. He didn't tell me much. He pretty much thinks that Gothi is taking this all out of proportion." Stoick answered, but he saw her look away from him and stared at the ground. He knew that answer wasn't good enough for her. He placed his hands on her shoulder trying to get her attention. "Hey, don't be like that. My dad is fine."
"You don't know that. Gothi knows more about this than any of us. If Gothi is worried, then we should be too." Stoick sighed and brought her closer to him. "I know…..I just hope that he'll get better."
~oOo~
After dinner, the three friends went back to The Forge. Gobber got some leftover mead from The Great Hall and some Yak Butter Parfait. Valka even found some new panpipes for Gobber. He took his gift and tested it out. He hugged her and played several different songs. While he was playing, a battle horn drowned it out. "DRAGON ATTACK!"
Stoick took a weapon from the shop. Gobber took out his best weapons and waited for people to get them if needed. Valka stayed behind with Gobber in The Forge. She watched Berk being light by fire and seeing the people running and swinging their weapons at the creatures. She was also keeping a close watch on her chief, she wasn't sure if he was able to fight.
The gods know that she won't know anything about that, but she was still concerned. "Valka, while you are in here, I need your help handing me some weapons!" Gobber shouted making Valka leave her thoughts. The young girl nodded and found some axes that looked to be in good shape. She handed him the weapons and they were taken quickly away from The Blacksmith's hands.
Without warning, she heard a blood curdling scream. She turned her head towards the scream and saw her father-in-law bleeding on the ground with a Deadly Nadder over him. Stoick saw his father and ran to his side. He threw his axe and it landed on the dragon. Valka had to turn her head away; she couldn't stand seeing a creature in pain. "Gobber! Help me!" Stoick screamed trying to pick up his bleeding father.
Valka was paralyzed seeing what was happening before her. She saw Gobber running and other men to their chief. Stoick put his hand on the bloody wound as they lifted him off of the ground. The other Vikings made a circle trying to get the dragons away from their wounded leader. Valka watched them running to the closest house and saw the elder following.
~oOo~
Stoick was pacing outside of the house, Valka was biting her nails and Gobber twiddled his thumbs. Gothi had been examining their chief for hours and hasn't told them anything. Stoick was already nervous about his health, he didn't need this. He couldn't lose his father now!
He then felt a fragile hand on his shoulder. He turned around a saw his teary eyed wife. "He's going to be okay." She whimpered. Stoick nodded softly and bit his lip. She didn't know what was going on in there, but she did know that he needed support right now.
~oOo~
The Chief whimpered when Gothi put in the last stich. He looked down at his bare chest and saw it swollen and red. She placed some herbs on the sore and put dirt on the wooden floor. The Chief cringed when he adjusted his head to see what she was writing. "Sir, I hate to say it, but your illness is worse than I hoped."
"What do you mean?"
"When I got the poison out of your system, I decided to examine you more for your illness. Sir it's worse; it's time for Stoick to learn about how to run this village."
The Chief's blue eyes widened. He put his head back on the pillow and stared at the ceiling. He blinked a few times and plainly nodded. "Can you bring my son in?"
Gothi nodded and opened the door. She held back Valka and Gobber to only let the heir in. "Dad! Are you alright!? What did Gothi say?"
"Whoa, slow down there son. I got a few stiches, but nothing to worry about." He said seeing his son now kneeled at his bedside.
"Nothing to worry about?! You bled everywhere! I didn't know if you would die of blood loss or something else!"
"Stoick, I'm fine. You have nothing to worry about."
"Really? You're completely fine?"
The Chief swallowed and nodded with a smile. "I'm perfectly fine, just a little sore is all."
"Well….that's good. I guess I'll see you home in a few days, right?"
"Right, now just go home and get some rest."
"Alright." Stoick got up and walked to the door. "Night dad."
"Goodnight son, I'll see you in the morning." He said and saw his son walk out the door. The Chief sighed and stared up at the ceiling again then whispered "oh great gods above help me."
A/N: Thanks for reading, and also, don't forget that poll, it'll be up until I publish the last chapter of this story. Don't forget to review and please no flames.