Happy Saturday, everybody! Hope you had a great couple of weeks.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Family and Friends

"It's not much… but it'll work," Gobber said. Hiccup nodded in agreement as he looked at the forge, the last thing to be completed, finally deemed ready for full use. Saddles, swords, shields, armour – there were more possibilities, and the second stage of Hiccup's plan could begin, now that the houses and Hangar were done.

"We used most of our stores to supply the storm doors and the roofs of the houses," Gobber continued. "But now the forge is done, we can make the little things that will help us out there."

"Sounds good," Hiccup noted. "Once we get some saddles crafted, then we can start training the riders… which will probably take another moon just to get some basic flight down –"

"Get the doubt outta your voice," Gobber remarked. "You've managed to get the whole village rehoused and fortified in one moon, a feat that would take anyone else much longer."

"Yeah, well…"

Gobber rolled his eyes. "You've got a gift for this kinda thing, Hiccup."

"I draw, Gobber."

"Can you imagine me doing your job? I'd say, 'let's build a saddle,' and you'd end up with a bad cabbage harvest and a yak with gut problems. You draw, I stick dragon teeth back into their heads. We make it work."

Hiccup sighed as he walked through the forge, touching the metal and finding the tools all over again. "At least I'll be able to build things. I need to do something with my hands."

"I know the feeling. What's your next project?"

"I don't know, yet," Hiccup shrugged. He blew a breath of air through his lips in thought. "I have to upgrade my sword to make it actually usable; Johann is obviously not coming around to trade anymore so I have to find something else to make the blade light up."

"And why exactly does the sword have to be on fire?" Gobber asked.

"Besides the fact that it earns the trust of dragons and provides some extra damage potential?"

"I think you like it because you think it's cool," Gobber mumbled.

"Hah-hah, very funny."

Hiccup pulled his shield from his back and placed it on one of the work benches. He pulled the sword from his belt and set it next to the shield. He stared at it for a time and Gobber looked over his shoulder. "So? What's wrong with it?"

"The blade pops out of the hilt when I push this button; it keeps the blade away from my leg when I'm flying. But I put the oil into the hilt to coat the blade where a tiny piece of flint ignites it. Only it's now water-logged and there's no oil in it anymore. And I can't keep using the oil supply when we need it for the forge."

Gobber put a fist to his lips. "Hmm. We could look into finding a different material to coat the blade. The flint could still ignite it."

"I'm still thinking of what it could be. I've been thinking about Monstrous Nightmare saliva maybe… something I can use less of and yet replenish it more often."

Gobber laughed. "Yes, I'd love to see you walk up to Hookfang and ask, 'Oi, may I have some of your spit for my knife?'"

"It's worth a shot," Hiccup said, chipper. "At least I'm good with words. And then I'm thinking about adding some extra flair to the sword in some way."

"You are going to walk away from this fight with your eyebrows burnt off and your beard on fire."

"Yeah, my non-existent baby beard that you think is adorable."

"Well, it is."

Hiccup snorted and rubbed his chin reflexively. He stared at the tool on the bench and nodded to himself.

"I've got some ideas already. But for now… saddles. Just the basics; I don't want to waste any material and I need as many as possible for all the dragons in the Hangar."

"Alright, I'll recruit some friends to be my blacksmiths and I'll get on it."

Hiccup smiled and nodded once before exiting the forge.

"Hey, Hiccup?" Gobber called. Hiccup stopped and turned. Gobber smiled, the corners of his eyes twitching. "You're doing a good job. Your dad… he'd be proud."

Hiccup felt his cheeks warm. He swallowed and licked his lips. "Thanks, Gobber."

With that comment in his head, and the warmth still tingling in his chest, he climbed the hill to the Hall as quick as he could, glancing at the rotting timbers of the broken houses. He had to remind himself why he chose to keep the disaster visible. It was for the enemy, to make it seem like they were still winning. He still averted his eyes and entered the Hall.

There were less people inside; the faster they could completely evacuate the Hall for safety's sake, the better. But the leaders usually stayed within in case meetings had to be had, and Stoick stayed in in the meeting room for fear of moving him. He walked through the hall and around the piles of rubble, slowing at the sight of two people he hadn't talked to in a what seemed like a very long time.

"Hey, look who's here," Snotlout quipped. Tuffnut looked up from his sleeping mat on the floor, his complexion returning to a more normal tone. Hiccup awkwardly stopped and swayed. Half of him wanted to stay. The other half wanted to run away. He'd been so busy tackling the village's rebuilding plans that he had little time to touch base with his friends.

"Hey, guys," Hiccup murmured sheepishly. Snotlout waved him over and Snotlout clasped his back. Tuffnut looked between them from the mat, his eyes red.

"How you holding up?" Hiccup asked Snotlout.

"Finally got Swamplout to sleep through the night," Snotlout replied sorely. "Still hard without Wormha."

Hiccup nodded and looked to Tuffnut, who's expression was laced with hints of anger and despair.

"I'm not about to sugar-coat it like you two," he spat. "Losing Ruffnut is terrible. Losing Astrid and Wormha is terrible. And I'm not about to try to hide my feelings about anything."

"No one is asking you to, Tuff," Snotlout said calmly.

"Yeah, well no one has asked me how I feel. A whole moon goes by and yet no one stops in to see how I'm doing."

Snotlout wrinkled his nose and Hiccup shut his mouth, taken aback by the comment. "What are you talking about?" Snotlout asked with bitterness in his voice. "All people have been doing is making sure you're okay."

"No, they changed my bandages. But I lost my sister. My twin sister. And no one has asked how I am without her."

"We know it's hard for you –" Hiccup began. "And I am trying as hard as I can to prepare ourselves to get everyone back."

Tuffnut scoffed and shook his head. "I lost Ruffnut. And through her, I lost our dragon. And I feel I've lost my friends along the way."

Hiccup was about to say something when Snotlout growled and snarled, his face contorting into rage. Hiccup grabbed Snotlout as he bounded for Tuffnut.

"At least what you lost can be temporary!" Snotlout yelled.

"Snotlout, enough!" Hiccup cried, hauling his friend back. "Both of you, stop it!"

He looked between the two of them, his mouth open from sheer horror and shock. Snotlout tore away from Hiccup and Tuffnut averted his eyes.

"Tuff, Snotlout is not the enemy, Alvin is!"

"You're not the only one who's lost everything," Snotlout spat quietly. "Not by a long shot."

"Whatever," Tuffnut replied.

Hiccup rubbed his eyes and groaned into his hands as Snotlout left in a fury. Tuffnut didn't look up at Hiccup, who stared down at his friend.

"This is the part where you walk away," Tuffnut said.

Hiccup didn't move. He pursed his lips and heard his ears ring. "No. This is the part where I look at you and wonder where your optimism went."

Tuffnut didn't reply.

"We will get them back. I know how you feel; you're not alone."

"You weren't hurt," Tuffnut argued. Hiccup was about to say something before he closed his mouth. Then, without pondering on his idea too hard, he unbuckled his pants. Tuffnut looked up and leaned back, confused and concerned. Hiccup pulled his pants down to his knees, revealing nothing underneath but a pair of shorts to prevent chafing from riding Toothless. Then, he hiked up his chest piece over his ribs. Tuffnut looked up timidly, and grimaced violently. Hiccup kept staring at Tuffnut, taking in his reaction without one of his own. He knew what Tuffnut saw: across his belly, puckered slightly and framed in lightning scars, was the wound the Skrill had inflicted on him. And on his thigh was the divot where the Sun Sap had hit his leg, so hot that it burnt a disgusting scar into his flesh permanently.

"Like I said," Hiccup reiterated bluntly, "you're not alone."

And he hiked up his pants and pulled down his chest piece and buckled everything back together. He nodded to Tuffnut once and left, heading straight to his father's chamber as Tuffnut stared at the floor. He entered the chamber quietly and forced himself to look at his dad. It was never any less painful to see his father's body lose its muscle and colour. But he was still alive and breathing. Only just.

Snowdrop looked over to Hiccup and smiled. "Did Astrid come home?" she asked again, as she did everyday.

"No, not yet," Hiccup replied yet again.

"I was just telling her how the forge was completed today," Rose said, emerging from the corner of the room. Hiccup snapped his gaze over to her and locked his jaw at the sight of her.

"Rose wants to talk to you," Snowdrop said with another toothy grin. Hiccup swallowed painfully.

"Well, I wish Rose would speak for herself when she wants something from me," he said slowly, staring at her from across the room. Snowdrop's smile slowly disappeared.

"Is she in trouble?" she asked. Hiccup looked at Snowdrop and picked her up.

"No," he lied, his voice tight. "I'd be happy to talking to her. Outside."

"I'm not going anywhere," Rose said, suddenly cold. "We can discuss things here. In front of Stoick."

Hiccup sighed angrily and carried Snowdrop to the door. He rested her down on a sack of barley outside the door. After a quick word of reassurance, he left Snowdrop and reentered the chamber. He shut the door and turned to face Rose, who stared back at him from over Stoick's sleeping body.

"I thought you were above lying to children," she noted.

"Don't you dare," Hiccup sneered. "Don't you dare talk about lying to my face."

"Shall I talk behind your back, instead? Or can we have a civilized conversation now?"

"What do you want?" Hiccup asked, annoyed. Rose scoffed and looked down at Stoick. She sighed and stared at him before looking back to Hiccup, her fiery hair mirroring Stoick's streaks in his own.

"How are you?" she asked.

Hiccup balked and cocked his head. "Are you serious? 'How are you?' Is that some kind of sick joke?"

"It wasn't meant to be," Rose stated simply. "I'm only trying to reach out."

"After what you've done?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Gods, Hiccup! When will you start thinking beyond that?!"

"Beyond the time you failed to mention that Astrid had been captured by Alvin the Treacherous? I'll let you know when I'm even remotely forgiving."

Rose closed her eyes and wrinkled her brow, a pained expression mapped over her face. "I don't know how many times I can apologize to you. But I've already told you, I did so for your protection."

"No," Hiccup said shakily. "No, you don't get to come out of Outcast Island and feel like you have to do terrible things in the name of my protection. You have no right to barge in and do anything related to my life."

"I do have a right, actually," Rose argued loudly.

"Being my sister gives you nothing. Nothing but a dying father, a ghost mother, and a pissed off brother who really regrets picking you up off that island."

Rose gasped and her face paled. Hiccup could see her trying to find words to say, but no sound would come out. She scoffed and shook her head, her mouth twisted and contorted. "I gave you that bond. I saved Astrid's life –"

"And you threw it away. You threw it away. And you know what I find really interesting? You saved Astrid's life. You gave us bonds that make us stronger so we can suffer longer in this cruel fucking world and yet Dad lies here dying."

Rose shook her head, her eyes bloodshot. "What are you talking about?" she asked hoarsely, barely above a whisper.

Hiccup gestured to Stoick. "If you could save Astrid from Outcast Orchid – a poison that has always been fully fatal – why won't you do the same courtesy for him?"

Rose threw her hands up, her voice raising in pitch. "It doesn't work that way, if I could offer Stoick that, I would –"

"It's just dragon blood and dragon venom," Hiccup argued. "Willfully given, and I know it won't be hard for us to do –"

"It doesn't work that way!" Rose repeated. "You think I haven't considered it?! Stoick doesn't even know that I am his daughter, for Odin's sake! I never had a chance to tell him!"

"By this rate, I don't even know," Hiccup growled. "This could all be another one of your lies and I would never know it."

Rose went still. She took in a shaky breath through her nose, her jaw clenched so tight it would break dragon scales. She stared daggers into his heart and he blinked, a lump forming in his throat, a shot of cold rising in his chest.

"Mum always told me that you would amount to more than a hiccup," she said sharply through gritted teeth. "And I guess she was right. Although I don't think in the way she would have wanted."

Hiccup caught his breath. Those words, the same words his mother had written on his scroll revealing he could pick his own bride all those moons ago. He had never told anyone the words on that scroll. "Rose –"

"I have done thousands of things that I am not proud of," Rose explained loudly, cutting Hiccup off. "All my mother and I wanted to do was to go back home, to be with our family even though they stopped fighting for us. And I never held that against you or Stoick. I never once brought myself to hate you two after all the years of beatings, rape, torture – never did I lie there thinking about how you had left me to that fate. I never once killed someone and thought that it would upset you. I never stopped hoping. But after all the bad and horrible things I went through and did, I never thought that I would return home to this."

Hiccup pursed his lips and averted his eyes to the ground. Rose stared at him, her jaw tightening. She gulped loudly.

"I would have warned you if I knew of their alliance; if I knew that Alvin and Dagur had gone into this together. Instead, I bonded you to prepare you for the time when the Outcasts came back – which was inevitable the moment I knew you were getting married, otherwise Alvin wouldn't have risked sending me unless it was to gain an inside view – and I bonded Astrid when I realized that she was on death's door. I did those things for you. For your family. The family you are clearly not open to sharing."

Hiccup felt his shoulders sink slightly. "You tore my family apart."

"No," Rose rasped. "I didn't bite Dad. A dragon did. I didn't take your wife away. Alvin did. And yes, I stand by my decision in not telling you. The moment that Alvin found out there was a funeral – Astrid's funeral – he gathered everyone into the arena. The floor was still wet with dragon and human blood, and he made us stand there and listen to him. And you know what he said? He said that you were dead. And it devastated our mother and it devastated me. But that is the only advantage Alvin has."

"…But that isn't an advantage," Hiccup replied, "because I'm not actually dead. "

Rose cracked a sour grin, a single tear falling onto a raised cheek.

"You're finally getting it," she said quietly, her tone razor sharp like the knife that she had cut Hiccup with moons before. "And so long as he thinks that, Astrid is just another one of his prized hostages. He has no reason to kill her. But the moment that he finds out that you're alive and that you and Astrid are remotely involved… she's dead. For now, let him think he's won."

Hiccup looked at the floor and let the words wash through him. "But I'm so…"

"Angry?" Rose finished. "Frustrated? Hurt? Struggling to keep your head above the tide? Welcome to it. But don't forget that you are not the only one with a ghost mother and dying father. I just happen to be in the same boat."

Rose marched out of the room, shouldering past Hiccup and hauling the door open. Hiccup turned to follow her, but he stopped himself. He cursed under his breath and looked at Stoick, the lump in his throat nearly choking him, conflict crawling under his skin.