Chapter Twenty-Two: Son of Loki

Hiccup would soon learn that when given gifts from the Trickster God of Mischief, they often come with a price.

When he got up that morning, he only put on his skivvies, trousers, and prosthetic before heading over to the mirror. He still wasn't adjusted to the fact that when people looked at him, they would see a pair of dragon eyes, but right now, his attention was directed over to the patch of scales. The dragon silhouette matched the one in Toothless' first Dragonstone perfectly, and to the touch they were cool and smooth, and in the right light they shimmered like obsidian.

"Hiccup?" Astrid spoke. He didn't turn, he just looked up to her reflection in the mirror as she got up and fitted her false foot on. She then proceeded to wrap a sheet around her to act as a dress until she was ready to prepare herself for the day.

"Hiccup, you're healthy, and you're alive. You don't have to fret over dragon scales and eyes, after all, Anora has the same traits, and now she has someone to look up to." Astrid stated.

"Anora… I can hardly wait to see her again."

"She'll be here later today. Now, go and put a shirt on. I believe that you have a peace treaty and an alliance to write up and sign today." Astrid told Hiccup. He turned, kissed her, and finished getting ready for the day.

After he and Astrid ate a breakfast of eggs and potatoes, they headed outside. The cool air greeted them in a nice, gentle breeze, and since they were out fairly early they decided to take the dragons out for a flight; but once Hiccup saddled up on Toothless, Astrid told him: "You better brace yourself, when the dragons were trying to encourage him to move on after losing you, he may've broken some serious speed records."

"Hey, I'm ready for anything Toothless throws at me!" He replied.

"If that is the case…" Toothless started. He tossed up his wings and then took off in that near-vertical steep, and going up 1000 feet. Hiccup was about ready to scream. Not only was Toothless climbing at such a steep angle, he was ascending at an alarming speed. When they peaked at the 1000 foot mart, Toothless maneuvered into dive-bomb position, and that was where the real flight began. After Toothless pulled up from the dive-bomb maneuver, at terminal velocity, he caused a wake of ocean spray at about six feet.

With Stormfly pursuing after them now, the two dragons went into a speeding flight fueled by sheer joy of having Hiccup back, and for just being able to fly together again. As for the speed records, Toothless definitely broke a few.

At about 9:30 that morning, Hiccup sent Ruffnut, Eret, Fishlegs, and Claudette to scout for a new home for the Thunder Queen and her nest. Of course, the Thunder Queen had to join them herself; after all it was going to be her home, and the home of her nest.

As much as Hiccup would've liked to have joined them, he had to stick around Berk, as the ships from Outcast Island were expected to arrive soon, and once the children and non-soldiers of Berk returned, it would be time to sign the peace treaty and form the alliance with the Berserkers.

By 11:00, the ships with the Berkians had arrived. The children were eager to hear the stories about what happened to Dagur, and they were shocked to see that the Dragon Chief was really alive and well. Even Gothi was about to jump for joy after seeing him, but she was the one carrying his baby.

Hiccup got down to one knee in order to retrieve Anora from Gothi's arms; he received a confused look from her when she noticed that his eyes had changed. She didn't exactly question about them, but she did ask if anything else had changed on him. Hiccup told her that he had a patch of scales now that looked like a tattoo, but said nothing else about it. Right now he just wanted to hold his daughter again.

It may've been the time they spent apart, but when Hiccup looked into Anora's draconic eyes, he would swear that he had never seen a creature more beautiful than Anora. He would say that Astrid and the Night Fury family would be a close second, but right now he was looking at his daughter as if he were seeing her for the first time.

"Hiccup, I believe you have a treaty to sign." Astrid told him.

"Right…" He spoke. Rather than handing the child off to Astrid, as he would've been expected to do, he carried Anora all the way to the Great Hall, and refused to hand the baby over until he was about twenty feet away from the table where the newly written treaty was waiting.

The signing was an intense moment for Goosefoot, he knew the outcome, but to finally get something he'd been yearning to do for his tribe, it would give him the greatest sense of satisfaction, probably more satisfying than good intercourse for him.

Goosefoot wrote down the final signature, and then he raised the treaty above his head declaring: "My fellow Berserkers, we have peace and allies!" His tribe cheered.

Now that was over, Hiccup relieved Astrid of holding Anora, taking her in his arms.

"Hiccup, you know you can still hold her after today." Astrid told him.

"Hey, I missed her, and you, while I was waiting for the final battle with Dagur. Come on, just let me have her for today." He replied.

"Alright, but right now she's probably getting hungry." Astrid stated as she noticed that Anora was beginning to fuss. Hiccup nodded to Astrid and took his leave for their house.

When Hiccup stepped inside, he glanced over to Midnightfire and told her: "Anora is back."

The Night Fury hatchling abandoned the piled of fish Sapphire had brought for her, and perched on Hiccup's shoulder in order to see the baby again.

"Isn't it great to see her again, Uncle Hiccup?" She asked.

"As her father, who hadn't seen her for days, I'm going to say 'yes'." Hiccup replied.

"It's weird, once you make a bond with a dragon or a human, it sticks to you. Even when I thought we lost you, Uncle Hiccup, I cried for you too; but to know that you have this connection with a creature that's not even your species, it just runs deep." Midnightfire stated.

"You keep thinking like that you'll turn into a dragon philosopher." Hiccup told her. Anora continued to fuss, so he set her down on the guest cot before making her special mixture of yak milk and fish blood. While Hiccup was busy feeding Anora, Midnightfire returned to her pile of fish.

Looking off to a corner of the room, Hiccup noticed that Sapphire was grooming herself while making sure that the hatchling wouldn't start causing trouble again.

"So, what's Toothless up to?" Hiccup asked her.

"Right now he's visiting his parents and giving them the grand tour of the island. Depending on how close the Thunder Queen's new home is, they're considering on staying on Berk. I kinda hope that Lady Anora and Zephyr do; they will provide my father more Night Furies to talk to, and I could always use another set of eyes to watch over Midnightfire." Sapphire replied.

"Yeah, no offense, but she is a real child of Loki."

"No offense taken, she is one to cause mischief." Sapphire chuckled. Hiccup looked over to Midnightfire to find her wearing a cheeky grin.

Now that Anora had finished her bottle, the baby soon fell to sleep, but rather then going upstairs to simply put Anora in the cradle, he decided to nap with her on his bed.

"Hiccup… Hiccup, it's time to wake up!" Ruffnut said. He still refused to wake up, so she struck him across the cheek. Hiccup woke with a start, his pupils were slits, and he pulled out a dagger and pressed it against Ruffnut's throat. It was a habit that Stoick trained him into doing as a form of self-defense in the days after the battle with the Red Death, but before the events of Drago Bludvist.

"Whoa, Hiccup, put the dagger down!" Eret exclaimed.

Hiccup collected his senses and lowered the dagger.

"Sorry about that, Ruff." Hiccup spoke. He sheathed the blade and asked her and Eret: "So did you guys find a place where the Thunder Queen to stay?"

"It took a few hours, but yes we found one not far from the island where you and Fishlegs found the Night Fury natural habitat. In fact it's actually closer to Berk than that island." Eret replied.

"That's good to hear, I wonder if that means Toothless' parents will be staying here or not." Hiccup replied.

"I saw two Night Furies walking around with Toothless, and they weren't Shadowrath or Sapphire." Ruffnut stated.

"Is the Thunder Queen's nest still here?" Hiccup asked.

"Yes, the Black Typhoon needs to rest her wings now." Eret replied.

"I see, well it shouldn't be too long before they leave then. Have the Berserkers left?"

"Yeah, they're gone, congratulations on the treaty, Chief." Ruff replied. Hiccup tipped his head to her and dismissed the couple, chances were that Anora would need to be changed right then. She was working up the tears to tell him so. He was grateful that the smelly task was over and dons with quickly.

Now that Anora was freshly changed and rested, Hiccup decided that it was time to track Astrid down; chances were that she was filling in for him while he was at the house.

He found Toothless first. The Night Fury had just finished giving his parents the grand tour of Berk. Hiccup told them about the island that the Thunder Queen selected to be her new home, which led Lady Anora and Zephyr to make their decision. They will remain living with the Thunder Queen, but they would visit Berk often.

It was there where Astrid found Hiccup, and she relieved him of the baby. Hiccup was a bit hesitant to give Anora up, but he let go anyway. The moment after Astrid took the baby off of Hiccup, she sent him off to check on the Berserker's dragons. They were locked in the arena where Valka taught her classes, and Hiccup noted that they were lacking in one Timberjack, and Vengeance was still hanging around Whoshadow in hopes to make her his mate.

"Hey human, I'm getting pretty hungry in here!" One of the Monstrous Nightmares called out to Hiccup. So, to help the dragons make their stay more comfortable, Hiccup ran off to get some fish for all dragons. He came back with Fishlegs, Snotlout, and Tuffnut; each man was pushing a large wheelbarrow full of Fish and they picked one dragon to feed them to. Now with their hunger satisfied, the dragons felt more comfortable.

Not long after the feeding, Hiccup had just left the arena when he heard the Thunder Queen let out a bellowing roar that could be heard all over the island. It was her call to bring her nest to her, but the only ones who didn't respond were the caged dragons and Vengeance.

The Thunder Queen took flight, and her nest mimicked her. The Black Typhoon, and Toothless' parents roared a 'farewell' before turning and venturing off to their new home. To Hiccup, the sight was as beautiful as seeing Berk's dragons making the return trip from their mating migration. Hiccup felt a sense of relief to see the Thunder Queen take her leave, but he hoped that this wouldn't be the last he'd see of her. She was a truly remarkable dragon, and her devotion to her nest reminded Hiccup of Aric when he was Alpha. He watched the dragons fly until they were out of sight. After that, he smiled and turned to head home again. By now the sun was setting, and it had been a fairly busy day for Hiccup, the flight, returning ships, the treaty signing, taking care of Anora, and so on. He took a look at the sun and noticed that it was starting to get low. It was a beautiful sunset, and Toothless would want to take Hiccup for a lap around the island. With his mind preoccupied by knowing that, he was unaware that the scales were beginning to irritate him.

"Toothless, are you ready to take the lap around the island?" Hiccup called out. Within a second (maybe a bit longer) Toothless was standing right in front of him, ready to take off.

Unlike the morning's flight, this one was more tranquil and smooth. This was a time to just savor being in the air, and sometimes they would share this flight with Stormfly and Astrid; but for this evening, the flight was just for Hiccup and Toothless.

After landing, the sun had just about set, and it was the first time Hiccup noticed that his scales were irritating him. He shrugged it off and preceded to make his way to his house where he was welcomed by the scent of a nice, hearty, yak tenderloin roasting over the fire, with a tasty glaze Astrid made.

"Heh, Astrid is spoiling me tonight, I wonder what's on her mind." Hiccup thought out loud.

Astrid opened the door, she was wearing a nightdress and she stood her arms crossed. Hiccup picked up his pace, but once he stepped into the threshold, the sun had fully set, and suddenly the scales went from a mild irritation to a feeling of having large bugs crawling all over his chest! Hiccup's pupils went from humanoid-round and into slits, his jaw clenched, and he grimaced.

"Hiccup, what's wrong?" Astrid asked. She stepped over to him, but he backed away, and supported himself against an exterior wall of the house. Astrid could see that he was in some sort of pain, as he was clutching himself where it pained him the most, when he suddenly collapsed. Astrid was frightened for him, and she tried to help him onto his feet, but then she noticed that the freckles on his face had turned into dark scales.

"What… the hell… is... happening… to me?" Hiccup panted. Even Toothless looked between Hiccup and Astrid with worry.

"From the looks of it, you're turning into a dragon; you've got scales covering your skin." Astrid replied; the statement made Toothless exhale in relief. In realizing her observation, Astrid pulled off Hiccup's prosthetic and took off as much of his flight suit before he would outgrow it and tear it to pieces. She managed to strip him of everything but his trousers before they tore to shreds.

His metamorphosis took five minutes before he was finished. He became the same Night Fury that fooled Astrid into thinking that he was an incarnation of Loki. Astrid took notice that his left leg grew back during the change. She took it as a good thing, because Hiccup looked like his head was spinning.

"Come on, let's go inside. You can curl up by the fire, and you can still have some of that tenderloin I cooked up." Astrid told him. She led him inside while he was leaning on Toothless for support, and she had him lay down by the fire while she cut up the tenderloin.

"How did this even happen? You didn't do this to yourself, I know that much, so why are you a dragon, Hiccup?" Astrid asked. Hiccup moved his wings as a draconic way to shrug his shoulders. Even Toothless shared their confusion.

"You know what, I'll bet Loki had something to do with this! The nerve of that god! Why would he do this to you?" Astrid said. She set a plate of sliced meat before Hiccup and left him to eat while she fixed a plate for herself.

"I know you are the Dragon Chief, but Loki didn't have to take it to a more literal level. Well, as I've said before, Hiccup: whether human or dragon, I will still love you… How's your dinner?"

Hiccup's ears perked up and made a sound to tell her that it was delicious.

"That's good to hear, even though in this body, you'd probably favor fish." Astrid replied. A sound came from Hiccup, but Astrid was slightly confused with the reaction and asked: "Were you agreeing with me?"

Hiccup made a sound that was identical to a human voice saying 'no', which meant that he preferred the steak over the fish… at least for tonight. Who would've thought it, dragons like a good snack of Yak, perhaps they would introduce their meat into their diet and see if it affects tem like chicken.

After Astrid finished her meal, she cleared away the plates and set them in the washtub to be cleaned later.

"How're you feeling, Hiccup?" She asked. He chuffed; he looked like any other happy and healthy dragon at the moment. He was still simply confused as to how this happened to him. Astrid bent down and kissed him at the top of his head, which made him emit a purring sound.

A few seconds later, there was a knock on their door.

"Who would come over here at this hour? I'm in a nightdress!" Astrid said. She heaved a sigh and opened the door. To her shock, Loki was standing on the other side. Astrid was at a loss for words, so she simply stepped aside from the door to allow the god inside.

"It's a lovely evening, isn't it?" He asked as he made himself comfortable by sitting down on a wooden chair.

"Is there something we can do for you?" Astrid asked.

"Well, for starters, I wish to give you this, Astrid." Loki replied, and then he produced a necklace chain with what appeared to be a tiny Dragonstone set in the pendant. Astrid was hesitant to accept it, but when she took it from Loki's hand, he told her: "That is a Dragonstone set inside it, but the only power it has is to allow you to understand the dragons when they speak. Now, I am sure that you and Hiccup have questions to ask. So, I am here to answer them."

Astrid put on the necklace as Hiccup asked: "Well, the first question that comes to my mind is: why am I a dragon right now?"

"When the Dragonstone revived you, and you went for that laborious task of climbing out of that crack, I noticed that you had the soul of a dragon. In knowing this I knew that you really should've been born as a dragon… Hmm, if memory proves, Frigg had a bit more than her fair share of mead the night you were conceived. Oh well... I fixed her error as much as I could in a fashion that you would've approved of."

"I would've preferred assuming this body on my own will."

"Well, part of that is the price that you pay when you're given one of my special gifts. When we blessed your stone: Odin gave you a boost of strength and endurance, Thor gave you the lightning, and…"

"Lightning, but he's a Night Fury, not a Skrill." Astrid interjected.

"It is rude to interrupt a god while he is speaking." Loki snapped.

"And actually, Astrid, in this body, I'm an unnamed subspecies of Night Fury, and so is Midnightfire. One of the few known differences about them is that they can take in the lightning, like a Skrill, and use it to charge their plasma blasts." Hiccup stated. He looked over to the Night Fury family and found the parents looking at their hatchling in awe.

"As I was saying: I gave Hiccup's dragon soul it's wings and fire, with an added touch of mischief. After we blessed the stone, and Hiccup placed it back in his armor, I gave it a little tap to change him. Had I not, he would've done it himself or he'd be stuck on that glacier; but during his change, his Dragonstone disappeared, and it's powers now live inside him. Now that his soul has wings and can breathe fire, it will need to fly, hunt, and other things dragons do; but it can't do all of that in a human body. So, about four days a month, after sunset, if Hiccup doesn't change of his own, then the night and his soul will make the change for him… but don't you worry, Hiccup, once the sun rises, you'll be able to change back whenever you feel like it." Loki told them.

"What if I'm away from Berk on some sort of serious political trip? I may find the time to change, but I'd prefer to keep this a secret from tribes who aren't my allies, and I wouldn't want to go out into a forest to change only to have some hunter spot me and then think that I'm some sort of were-dragon." Hiccup said.

"If your scales tell you that it is one of your dragon nights, like they tonight when they started to irritate you, you can transfer the power over to one of your people and have them become their inner dragon. It would help if they were willing, but I suppose you could use it as part of a punishment for a crime. Now, unlike you, they would need something to change them back. It could be any other Dragonstone made by Toothless or his bloodline, or it can be you yourself. That latter will be preferred as your power doesn't have to take three days to recharge." Loki replied.

"Ha, I wonder what Snotlout's inner dragon is." Astrid mused.

"With that boy's vanity, he's a blue and pink Deadly Nadder for sure." Loki stated. His response made Astrid double over into a fit of laughter. Snotlout would be so sure that his inner dragon would be along the lines of a Monstrous Nightmare or a Thunderdrum, and he looked at Deadly Nadders as a 'girly' dragon.

"Well, Loki, thanks for your time, but I have all the answers I want right now." Hiccup spoke.

"I'll come around if you need me." He replied as he stood up. He put his hand to Hiccup's snout and told him: "Welcome to the family, my son."

Loki was about to leave when his attention turned over to Midnightfire.

"Hello, little one, come on over here and let me take a look at you." Loki told her. He held out his arm, allowing her to make it into her perch.

"You are so beautiful, Midnightfire… and I know you, you take after me quite nicely with your mischievous acts. I am so proud to know that you're one of my children." He spoke as he brushed his free hand over her scales. The hatchling purred to him as he set her on the ground. He watched her return to her parents and took his leave.

"Well, Hiccup, it appears that you can fly whenever you want now. Now I feel like I will no longer be of as much use to you." Toothless stated.

"How could you think that? You're the brother I've always wanted, and my best friend! For that I will never stop needing you. Let me tell you something, the first word I said when I climbed out of that crack was your name."

"Hey!" Astrid snapped.

"Sorry, Astrid… The love of my life." Hiccup replied.

"You told me what I wanted to hear anyway… and thanks for being so honest about it." Toothless told him. He smiled to Toothless before Astrid asked him to follow her upstairs. She took the covers and pillows off the bed and threw them on the floor. She took Anora in her arms and laid down on the fluffy pile of blankets and pillows, and Hiccup curled around them.

It was a perfect ending to a day in the life of the Dragon Chief.

Epilogue and AN to follow.

So, what did you guys think? And which Dragonstone story did you like best?