Sorry for being tardy this week! Family member in ICU right now so it's been a little hard. Thank you to those who have taken the time to review - all of you put a smile on my face, along with those who have chosen to follow this adventure.
Chapter Twenty-Four: Warrior
A week after Alvin left Berk in shambles and Stoick in a life-suckling slumber, Hiccup sat at the top of Berk peak. He looked over the valley, Berk's blackened ground sticking out from the view like a sore wing. Toothless watched with him, his head rested on his arms and one of his wings fanned over Hiccup to protect him from the rain.
He fiddled with the Nadder scale with his fingertips and stared at the colours of blue and yellow, so bright under the grey sky above. Toothless sighed and nudged his knee with his snout. He looked over slightly. He rested a hand on his dragon's snout, feeling the bond between them as if it was a net catching him from an impossible fall.
She lives, Toothless said.
Hiccup didn't say anything. He put the scale back in his shirt and Toothless snuffed.
The people need you, Toothless continued.
Hiccup sighed. "Bud…"
He couldn't bring himself to say anything else. His dad was gone – or at least, he was as gone as gone could be without dying altogether – and the dead had been burned three days beforehand. They didn't have enough boats to do a proper funeral, so they used debris tied together that still floated on water, burning that instead. It was the best they could do. Fishlegs stayed with Stoick and Meatlug, trying his best to get debris off the island to start rebuilding. Tuffnut managed to push through the first week, narrowly escaping infection, but not his grief for his lost sister. Snotlout refused to talk to anyone after the death of his wife, spending all his time with Swamplout.
Hiccup wiped his nose with the back of his hand and took a shaky breath.
You're thinking… of the bodies.
Hiccup groaned and let his head hang, pulling on the back of his neck to relief the tension. He couldn't help it; after hours of collecting bodies and piling them and scavenging them for metal and leather, the vacant faces and bloody mess keeping him from getting any sleep. And once they were well into the recovery and reclamation of their village, foul and disgusting recognition began to set in. Faces long thought lost were once again found upon bodies wearing ill-fitting Outcast armour, family members and old friends captured in raids. Everyone assumed they were dead. They weren't, not before the battle.
"They used them." Hiccup choked painfully on his words. "They just took them… and used them."
They no longer suffer.
Hiccup looked up to Toothless with red eyes. "You say that to make me feel better, but it doesn't."
Toothless's irises flickered and the dragon turned his head to look over the valley, his mind quiet.
When the bodies were discovered, Rose had tried to explain to Hiccup, but Hiccup refused to be anywhere near her. She had betrayed him, let the enemy take his wife and she failed to mention that some of the soldiers were their own blood. "They were forced to," she had tried to say. Hiccup wanted to throw her off a cliff at that moment. Instead, he separated himself from everyone. He never wanted the role of chief, especially in this time.
The dragon riders were scattered. Two were gone, and the other four were lost. Their dragons tried to console them, begged them to ride them like before, but the wounds went too deep. It was a bleak and pathetic time, Hiccup realized. Stormfly hadn't heard from Astrid since she was taken, the distance too great for them, and she spent her time with Fishlegs and Gobber, who carefully stripped the dead flash off her wing to at least clean the barren tendrils of bone left behind.
Thinking about Astrid was almost harder than thinking about the bodies or Stoick or the destruction. He had to get her out of there. He had no idea where to go or where to look, the scent of the ships long gone with the storm wind. They spent each night searching for them under the cover of darkness to no avail. All they found were burnt down villages and abandoned homes. But he would never keep looking. He knew, he felt it in his soul, that she was alive.
He hated sitting and stood up. He brushed his legs clean and climbed onto Toothless' back, which was wet from the rain. He secured himself and the two of them flew down to the village, landing at the Great Hall's broken doors. He walked past the still-injured and stayed quiet as people begged him for help, hope, food, water, anything. He pretended he didn't hear them.
Cauli, nursing her arm, locked eyes with him and ran over to him.
"Where have you been?" she asked sharply under her breath. "We need to meet," she pressed.
"What do you want?" he asked with a sigh. Cauli frowned with disgust.
"We need a chief, Hiccup." The statement made Hiccup look away palely. "Our people are lost and don't know what to do."
"I don't know what to do!" Hiccup hissed. "I can't just walk around and fix people and bring them back from Alvin, I don't know what you expect from me!"
Cauli scoffed. "Perhaps some maturity on your part, some responsibility if it won't kill you."
Hiccup growled and tore away, storming away. Cauli bit her lip and grabbed his arm, turning him.
"Hiccup, please," she said. "I know you're hurting. But so is everyone else. We were lucky to escape with the four alliance leaders, even if we are all young and grieving."
Hiccup looked back at her. "I just need time," he whispered. Cauli pursed her lips.
"You've had a week. I had a day. You need to figure this out or find someone who can do it for you. We need someone now."
Hiccup couldn't help but nod, and Cauli gave his arm a squeeze before she let go and walked away. He looked after her for a time before he continued onward, heading towards where his dad slept. He entered the room. Juniper was tending to him, and Snowdrop was curled in a ball under his arm. She looked up.
"Did Astrid come home?" she asked quickly.
"Not yet, Snow," Hiccup replied painfully. She pouted and curled back into her ball. Juniper sighed sadly and she looked up at Hiccup. She went to Stoick's arm and unwrapped it carefully, Hiccup watching her every move.
"We've been changing the bandages as much as possible," she began, "but the infection is powerful."
The skin around the bandage already was fiery red. She pulled the fabric away and showed him the bite mark, festering. He sucked in a breath and Snowdrop moved to see, but Juniper was already rewrapping it.
"Toothless' saliva is helping, but it will take more than that to save him, I'm afraid. The anti-venom Fishlegs made is working as well as it can."
Stoick slept with ragged breaths, his face twitching. He groaned sometimes and shivered through his fever. Juniper put his swollen and freshly wrapped arm under the furs and tucked him in again. Hiccup grabbed a cloth nearby and dabbed the sweat away. Juniper watched and gathered her supplies, leaving the room gracefully. Snowdrop lifted her head again and lifted her arms after a moment. Hiccup looked up and set the rag down, grabbing Snowdrop and pulling her against him delicately, sitting on a nearby chair.
They didn't have to say anything to each other. The two of them had been through so much in the past month, it wasn't surprising that they sat together next to Stoick everyday.
"How's the leg?" Hiccup asked. Snowdrop looked down and lifted her foot, bandaged thickly and splinted.
"They said I get to keep it," Snowdrop sighed. Hiccup found himself glaring, amused.
"You sound disappointed."
"Well," Snowdrop huffed. "Yours is really cool."
"Losing it wouldn't be fun," Hiccup replied. "You're lucky you're still in one piece. If Astrid… if Astrid were to come home and see you with a peg leg like me, she would tear my head off."
Snowdrop smiled and nodded. "Oh, just wait till she finds out about my toof!"
Hiccup smiled, a strange feeling, and he hugged Snowdrop tightly. Snowdrop hugged him back.
"So I was thinking," Snowdrop suggested, pushing Hiccup back a bit. "Now that you're chief and everything, can I protect Icky?"
"Icky?" Hiccup asked lightly.
"He saved me from that nasty dragon and now I have to stay with him till he wakes up," she argued. "Astrid always did after you saved me from the other nasty dragon. You know, to protect you while you slept and stuff."
Hiccup raised his eyebrows. "You're going to protect dad?"
"You'll be too busy being chief so I wanna do it for you."
She turned away and crawled back onto Stoick, sitting on his belly and resting her chin in her hands, watching him. Hiccup watched her for a moment, thinking of how tiny she was, and yet so huge. Her presence alone, that youthfulness and hope about her, was the most reassuring thing Hiccup had seen in what felt like years.
"I… I don't know what to do," Hiccup admitted. Snowdrop looked over with her fair eyebrows raised.
"What do you mean, Hup?"
Hiccup sighed. He didn't know how to explain to a three-year-old. He trailed off and shook his head. Snowdrop wiggled her nose in thought.
"You're sad," she said. Hiccup scoffed and laughed lightly, sucking in a breath and wiping his dry lips with his fingers.
"Yeah, I'm… I'm sad."
"About Astrid?"
"A lot of things. Astrid, Stoick – Icky, I mean – and we lost a lot of people a few days ago."
Snowdrop nodded. "I know many mamas and papas were stolen. Or they went to sleep forever."
Hiccup nodded again. He sat back in his chair and watched as Snowdrop thought really hard.
"I'm sad too, Hup," she noted. "But you know what?"
"What?" Hiccup asked.
"Astrid always told me that staying sad did nuffing."
Hiccup raised an eyebrow as Snowdrop used her hands to explain.
"If I stay sad, then I can't fight. If I stay sad, then I'd forget to fix the problem. I broke a toy once when I was, like, two? And I cried and cried and forgot that I could just tie it back together. Astrid told me that if I stayed sad, then I would have forgotten to fix it."
Hiccup thought about that for a moment. He shook his head at the thought. This was much, much more than a broken toy. But Snowdrop had been through the same he had been. Snowdrop waited for a response. When she didn't get one, she crawled closer to Hiccup and reached out for his hand. He sighed and gave it to her. She played with his fingers.
"You just have a lot of broken toys to fix," she added.
"It's a bit more complicated than that," Hiccup said. "I'm chief now, I don't know –"
Snowdrop threw her other hand up and waved it around. "Shh!" she hissed. "No, no, no. That's not how you fix a problem, Hup."
Hiccup clamped his mouth shut and furrowed his brow. "So… I should just fix everything? Just like that?"
"Uh-huh," Snowdrop murmured simply.
"And how?" Hiccup asked.
"I dunno, I'm not you," Snowdrop shrugged. "It's up to you. You're just too sad to start figuring it out."
Hiccup blinked and balked at her. She tried to fit her hand in his, and the size difference made him wonder even more. Snowdrop was surprisingly wise for her age. Maybe it was her sister's care that did it. Maybe it was just her sister shining through her. Or maybe he lacked Astrid's kick in the ass when he needed it the most. He sat in thought for a moment.
"I have to plan a speech," he sighed.
"Speeches are boring," Snowdrop countered.
Hiccup chuckled. Everything he suggested, she shot down. It was adorable. It was fierce and noble and hopeful. He sucked on his lower lip and gave it a sharp bite. He watched her play with his fingers a little bit more before he closed his hand around hers, pulling her towards him. She opened her arms and gave him a hug around the neck and Hiccup wrapped his arms around her torso, giving her a squeeze.
"Will you come with me?" he asked. "I have to talk to the village. It would help me a lot if you came with me."
Snowdrop pulled away and her mouth split into a huge grin, revealing her missing tooth that fell out too early when she fell in the tunnels. "Okay!"
Hiccup scooped her up and planted her on his hip. He bounced her up to settle her and he lingered his gaze on his father. He sighed and gave Stoick a nod, as if saying he was ready, even though he didn't feel like it. He turned and walked out of the room, crossing the Hall. He scanned the room quickly and found Cauli among the crowd. He locked eyes with her and she paused. She had been talking to an elder, but she abandoned the conversation and looked to Barb, who sat next to Netmug. They looked up to Hiccup and they shifted, tensing and watching like hawks. Hiccup's heart began to pound and his stomach grew cold. Snowdrop hugged his neck again as if to calm him.
Hiccup made his way to the platform. He stepped past the injured slowly, and they sat up painfully to watch him. Cauli watched and Barb helped Netmug to his feet. Hiccup put on foot on the first step, then the other on the second, ascending the steps one at a time. Soon, all eyes were on him as he centred himself on the platform. Someone ran out of the Hall, calling to the villagers outside that Hiccup had taken the stage. He repositioned Snowdrop again and found his mouth dry and his throat ragged. He took a deep breath.
"I… I guess I should start by apologizing," he said quietly. The villagers murmured to each other. "I shouldn't have left this for so long."
Cauli looked to the side slightly and looked at Hiccup again. Hiccup took another shaky breath.
"My dad… was a great leader. He was brave and selfless. I mean, he still is… but…"
He choked and the Hall went silent. He sucked in another breath and clenched his teeth.
"It's not fair," he spat. He swallowed and struggled onward. "We have all lost so much, and hope seems to be a dream at this point. But… there is still hope among us," he said, looking to Snowdrop. He looked back to the villagers and felt his blood grow warm.
"Fourteen years ago, my mother was taken. We assumed she was dead because we couldn't find her. We assumed that because she was dead, it was easier to move on. But… why did we stop looking for her? Why did we ever give up?"
Hiccup scanned the crowd. "My dad searched for her for years. I guess he never stopped looking. There are some of us who look over the sea and wonder if our loved ones are doing the same, looking for us… and maybe some of them still are."
Cauli glared and hushed someone next to her. Hiccup looked to Cauli and motioned to her. "We made an alliance with your father –" He looked to Barb and Netmug, who both looked confused, yet perceptive. "– and your fathers as well as a tribute. It was a tribute to those we had lost, and how we had finally – seemingly – made it into a peace time that would span to eternity."
Hiccup smiled sadly. "…Peace can never be eternal. Not if anyone we know lives in the clutches of our enemies. Not after they used our people and forced swords into their hands to strike down their own."
Gobber, standing at the back of the crowd, chewed his lip and kept his eyes on Hiccup. Snowdrop put her head on Hiccup's shoulder. There was a tense moment of silence, a mournful calm that somehow made Hiccup more comfortable on the platform.
"They took our blood," he said strongly, fighting back tears. "They spilled it and stole it and left as if we wouldn't follow. But they? They have no idea what or who we are!"
Someone yelled in agreement, then another and another.
"They may have armies, but so do we. They may have fire, but so do we. They may have our families, but we have our dragons, and if I can't get my hands on both, I will die trying!" he cried.
Villagers threw their fists into the air, cheering. Tears spilled onto Hiccup's cheek, his passion growing, Snowdrop grinning from ear to ear. "We will find our families, and we will avenge the fallen, and we will get our eternal peace, because after this, they will never dare see our shores again, for they will remind them of who we are! Because we are fearless!"
He thought of Astrid, the last time he saw her, the fight they had and the words she had said.
"Because we… are warriors."
After the cheering died down, the village once again felt alive with action. Those who could walk bustled about waiting for a command rather than a speech, and Hiccup weaved his way through them, gathering supplies. He needed paper, charcoal, and he needed to keep moving. It made Astrid's absence feel as if it would be temporary, and him racing around meant he would get her back faster. He made it back to the platform with the other leaders in tow, a bundle of scrolls in one arm and a handful of broken charcoal in the other.
He dropped them onto the wood and grabbed a scroll from rolling off. He opened it and Cauli sat across from him, holding the corners down. Barb sat one one side of Hiccup and Netmug sat on the other. Barb held the third corner down and Netmug was reluctant to follow suit.
"Impromptu alliance meeting," Hiccup said as he poked through his charcoal for a worthy piece. "A little postponed."
"That's alright, you made up for it," Barb said quietly. She looked up and smiled tightly. Cauli watched Netmug's response and Hiccup caught her.
"If you two won't stop fighting, it'll make everything so much harder," he said bluntly. Cauli looked back at him as if he defiled her father's memory.
"I didn't say anything!" she barked.
"You were thinking it," Hiccup replied. "I'm not picking a fight, but just focus and work with me for a few minutes, and then you can go tear his head off."
Netmug chuckled and Cauli bent her neck to give it a crack. "Fine," she spat.
Hiccup returned to the parchment. "Okay… plans, plans…"
He put his charcoal to the scroll, but stopped. He didn't know where to begin, he didn't really sit in on important meetings his father had, he just drew pictures. Cauli, still angry over Hiccup's interjection over Netmug, cleared her throat.
"How many people do we have?"
"The matrons counted a little over two-hundred," Barb replied quickly. "Based on what we had before, and who we counted for Valhalla, there should be three-hundred with Alvin."
Hiccup wrote that down. "Good, okay… I mean, it's not the best, but it's what we got…"
Netmug thought about the numbers and scoffed. "We're going to go after an armada that spans a thousand ships with an army of hostile men and dragons with two-hundred people?"
"No, we're going to go ask trader Johann to bring us a thousand veterans to help us out in return for some rotting fish," Cauli seethed. Netmug glared.
"It's what we have," Hiccup interrupted. "And we can't keep them in the Hall…"
He began drawing a quick sketch of Berk.
"We need to start by rebuilding. Fortifying."
Cauli watched. "All our infrastructure on all the islands were built for dragon attacks. They broke easily because we were used to rebuilding them so often."
"We were all like sitting yaks," Netmug agreed. "And if we're staying here, we need something more subtle."
Barb looked over to Netmug and blinked. Cauli sniggered at the sight. "I don't think she's ever heard you say that word before," she snorted.
"Subtle…" Hiccup mused. He drew more of the island and thought. "I… I don't know how to make plans like my dad… but I have an idea," he said strongly, nodding to Cauli. "Changewings… are able to change the colour of their skin to match their surroundings, to make it almost impossible to find them." He drew the forest and the rivers with simple lines and tapped the page. "We gathered the armour from the dead?" he asked gently.
Cauli nodded stiffly. "As much as we could… they kept their swords."
"We can recycle it," he said. "If we make simple homes in the forest using some of that metal as protection from a follow up attack, we can also use the woods to camouflage them."
"So if Alvin comes back, it looks like we left," Cauli said. Hiccup nodded.
"We won't use all the metal…just enough for the Sun Sap."
"Sun Sap?" Netmug asked. Hiccup closed his mouth. He remembered. They didn't know anything about Rose. Or at least, where she came from and the terms that came with her.
"Yeah, it's sticky and burns like the sun, anyway… thought it fit."
He drew little 'x' scribbles to mark where the houses would go, around some small rivers and around the cliffs that scarred Berk.
"What next?"
"Soldiers," Netmug said quickly.
Cauli smiled and said, "Finally, something we can agree on."
Hiccup nodded quickly and drew the forge. "The forge was damaged in the attack, but not too much. We can fix it up real quick, I think. And the cellars in the Hall are still intact. We have leather, ore, dragon skin."
"We need swords," Cauli pressed. "But we need people to use them."
"We have people," Hiccup argued.
"Not everyone knows how to handle a weapon," she countered. "Barb as an example."
Barb twisted her mouth and frowned. Hiccup raised a hand to Cauli, the charcoal staining his fingernails. "I don't know how to use a sword, either," he replied. "I know how to fly dragons, you know how to swing a blade, Netmug too. Barb…"
He trailed off and looked to her. "We'll find something. We'll definitely be training everyone to defend themselves."
Barb shifted sadly, embarrassed for being seemingly useless. Hiccup caught her gaze and chewed the inside of his lip.
"Stand up for a second," he said quickly, jumping to his feet. Barb raised her eyebrows and hesitated before making it to her feet. Hiccup grabbed her skirt and lifted it, looking at her legs.
"What are you doing?!" Netmug cried. Cauli stiffened and fixed her eyes on him, glaring at him. Hiccup met his glare with an empty gaze, too tired to fight, too determined to stand down. He returned his gaze to Barb's legs and nodded.
"You have muscle," he said quickly. Barb squeaked and shoved her skirt down, her face turning into a very scary shade of red. Hiccup turned to Cauli and knelt next to her, touching his hand to her shoulder. She moved her arm away and Hiccup nodded.
"Strong legs, and your shoulder isn't broken… and none of you weigh too much…"
"You sure about her?" Netmug spat, gesturing at Cauli. She gasped and was about to leap at him when Hiccup returned to the paper.
"That's how we're going to win," Hiccup said. "We only have two-hundred sets of hands, and we'd be lucky to get some good fighters out of that… but…"
Hiccup carved a huge mark into the scroll where the arena stood, his mouth twitching with excitement. Cauli squinted and Barb looked over timidly.
"The only way we can do this is to do it together," he stated. "So… Cauli? If you could ride a dragon, which one would it be?"
And when Cauli's mouth fell open in what could be confused as either horror or shock, Hiccup finally smiled.