For the last time, I Own Nothing and all Rights are Reserved

Please don't sue me!

Chapter 33

The Guiding Torch

The sky was gray now as the aged sun began to drift towards the horizon. Most of the fires had been put out, thanks to the dragons improvising a fire brigade and villagers providing any buckets and barrels they could locate. What was left of the burnt buildings now smoldered. Wisps of gray smoke drifted up from gaps in between the cinders and ashes.

Stoick found it hard to be a Chief at times like this when he really just wanted to look around for his son. He did look at every opportunity that came up, but as he was the Chief people kept coming up to him every minute asking for help or directions, and he naturally had to give them his full attention. Thankfully Gobber was around to search for the both of them. The Blacksmith had received miraculously gotten through the battle with hardly a scratch on him, mainly because he had spent much of the battle managing the forge and supplying weapons as opposed to fighting. The forge had not been spared the destruction, but it had survived better than other buildings.

It was quite some time after the Czernobog explosion that Stoick finally found the person he was looking for. Hiccup, supported by Astrid, at last emerged from the woods. Behind them were Toothless and a dozen or so dragons. Clinging to Astrid's leg was the young girl Ase, who was crying her eyes out. Stoick spotted the limb body of Peer on the Night Fury's back and his stomach knotted itself yet again. Hiccup himself had numerous makeshift bandages wrapped around his arms and legs, and he looked ready to fall over at any moment. The sight of his son like this sent a shock through Stoick's heart, like the day Hiccup had been tortured. He could act solely as Chief no longer. With tears springing into his eyes, he at once ran over to them and hugged his son as tightly as he possibly could.

"Hi Dad," Hiccup said hollowly.

It took some time for Stoick to think of anything to say in response. At last all he could get out was "What happened to you, son?"

"It's a long story. Bludvist is dead."

"Dead?" Stoick repeated, as though it did not register.

"Dead," Hiccup shifted his weight slightly, "it's over. We won." But now that he could look over the battlefield himself for the first time, he wondered if he would have felt any worse if they had lost.

Stoick spoke up again. "Hiccup, that ship—the Twins said you were on it."

"Yeah—I made it blow up." he smiled slightly, "guess all those failed childhood experiments were good for something after all," He suddenly looked alert. "Adoncia. Have you found her yet?"

Stoick shook his head. "There's been so much to do I haven't taken a complete inventory on who we've captured yet."

"I saw her earlier," Astrid interrupted, "I put a knife in her eye."

"How considerate of you," Hiccup replied, "but is she dead?"

"I don't know," she frowned. "It didn't kill her outright, that much I know,"

"Well, if she's found alive I want to talk to her. And make certain she's not guarded by any men."

"I'll do that," Stoick replied, "You're certain Bludvist is dead?"

"Nobody could survive what happened to him." Astrid said quietly. Stoick looked at her questioningly but she kept silent. His gaze drifted over to the dragons, some of whom had dried blood around their mouths. He decided not to press the subject and instead said "Well then, that means all the leaders are dead or caught, except Adoncia. Good. Then there's no chance of them reorganizing. Then it really is finished."

Astrid looked over at Ase, who was still crying silently. "I'd better take her back to her mother. And talk to Peer's family." A lump came to her throat.

"I can do that part," Hiccup offered,

"Thanks, but I can manage," Astrid replied, a little awkwardly.

Stoick nodded and asked Astrid to also bring the news of the victory to the others hiding at the cave, as well as to bring all the help back that she could. With a regretful look at Hiccup she turned and left, gently coaxing Ase to come with her.

Stoick turned back to his son. "Son, you need to see a healer,"

"So does everyone else. I'm fine." But he still looked ready to fall over at any moment and had to lean on Toothless partially. With some effort he turned to the Dragon, suddenly all businesslike. "Right, we've got things to do. Bud, I'll need the fittest and most rested dragons to go back to the Sanctuary, we'll grab what medical and building supplies we have and I'll need—Stormfly, go find Grimm, tell him I want to talk to him at once—Persephone, take a party around the island, search the coast for anyone escaping—"

"But sir?" Stormfly said nervously.

"And we'll need to do something about that wreck out there—maybe we should send someone to Breakneck Bog and offer it to the Smokebreath nest—"

"Sir!"

"And then we'll need food—we'll need to muster—"

"SIR!"

"WHAT?" The King rounded on Stormfly furiously. He calmed down as soon as he saw the Nadder's hurt expression. "What?" he said in a much softer tone.

"Well, sir—about the Sanctuary—"

The King felt his heart drop into his stomach. "What about it?"

Stormfly told him that the island had been destroyed. Toothless then briefly explained his own adventures and told him that Grimm was dead—along with many others. Stormfly suddenly flung herself into the sand and began screaming for her dead children.

For the King, this was the final blow. He looked like he was in a stupor. He staggered slowly down the beach towards the water. All around him he could see what he perceived to be the fruits of his labor. He proceeded towards the wreck of the Czernobog and looked at it like a painter stepping back to look over his now finished masterpiece.

Then with a scream he whipped out Inferno and slammed it over and over again into the wrecked hull. He shouted oaths and other curses. People stared at him in shock, for they had never seen him lose control like this, but he ignored all of them. All he could think of was how he wanted Drago in front of him right now. He felt the dragons had let him off too lightly. He wanted to cut him to ribbons, he wanted to pull him apart over the course of days instead of minutes, he wanted to cook him alive, he wanted to inflict all kinds of pain on that man and he could not touch him anymore. If they found Adoncia he swore he would do even worse things to her. By Odin, if he had known this was going to happen the last time he saw her, he would have torn her to pieces. And he wanted to do that right now.

But his anger could not repeal the sense of failure. His plans had gone wrong, children and hatchlings were dead because of his actions, and he had once again nearly destroyed his village. His father had been right all along: every time he stepped outside disaster happened. He screamed louder and attacked the wreckage even more viciously. For a wild moment he looked ready to use his sword on himself.

Then he felt strong hands grab his shoulders and turn him around. "Son, stop this!" Stoick shouted anxiously. He looked as worried as Hiccup looked enraged. Suddenly Hiccup burst into tears. Stoick just held him and let him cry on his shoulder, as though they were both 20 years younger and he was a father comforting his child again.

"Why?" Hiccup kept repeating in between sobs.

"It's all right, son, it's going to be all right," Stoick kept whispering.

"Hey, comforting him is my job!" Toothless said indignantly. Then he remembered who he was talking to. "On second thought...go ahead,"

Deep in the woods Adoncia partly ran, partly stumbled, and partly dragged herself like a wounded and hunted animal. Disoriented and in extreme pain she tried to make her way to the shore. She held a bloodstained cloth over the place where her eye used to be. She knew Drago had docked a wooden boat somewhere on the coast of Berk as a possible means of escape, but in her current state she sensed she would probably never make it there, assuming the boat was even still there.

Her head hurt as though a thousand headaches were battling for supremacy in it. The only things that kept her from collapsing on the ground and screaming was the drive to escape and a deep hatred for the people of Berk. She would have liked nothing better than to find Astrid and kill her.

Suddenly the ground gave way beneath her feet and she fell into a small cave. More correctly, it was just a gap between some large boulders. Still, despite the pain from the fall, which only added to the pain in her head, she sensed this was her best hope. There was no chance she could find Drago's escape ship or sail it in her condition. If she tried she would be found before she sailed one league. So she would stay here, wait, and recover. Then, when the searching eased up, she would find another boat and escape, or perhaps steal a dragon. She knew it was a long shot, but it was her only real option now. She carefully checked a pocket and found she did have some food. It would have to do. She would wait.

And once she had escaped and recovered, she would find Hiccup again, and this time, with Astrid Hofferson watching, she would make love to him and slit his throat.

"Adios Mi Amor…ahora,"

Night fell at last over Berk. It did nothing to stop the occasional cries and moans of the wounded, but it at least meant the horrible day was finally over. Stoick and Bertha put out orders to get as much of the wounded as possible to shelter and to get some food and rest. But despite the weariness that seemed to infect everyone, regardless of the side they had taken, nobody seemed ready or willing to go to sleep. Astrid and Toothless were two of them and the cause of it was mostly Hiccup.

Since Adoncia had not been found among the prisoners the Dragon King had gathered all the dragons he could find and went off searching for her, as well as anyone else who might have tried to escape. He had had to ride another dragon because Toothless still needed his prosthetic fixed. That had been before evening and since the departure Astrid had been waiting anxiously for their return. None of the dragon riders accompanied him on this. He had not asked them for help, and Astrid had only known about his leaving when she saw it. Stormfly was still clearly heartbroken over all that had happened and Astrid did not have the heart to make her do anything more that day, and in any event, she had her own duties to take care of, like helping the wounded. But in between the various jobs she was given, she waited.

It was well after nightfall, possibly nearing midnight, when a group of dragons began entering the village from the woods. Toothless, who had joined her for a few minutes, spotted his rider first and rushed over to him, with Astrid not far behind him.

"What did you find?" the Night Fury asked.

"Nothing," the King growled. Shamrock, the dragon he had ridden on, was in an equally bad mood. "Not one thing out on that whole ocean!"

"So if she's not at sea she might be somewhere on the island," Toothless said, "we'll search it once it's daylight."

"I say we search it now," Shamrock growled.

"We all need some sleep—especially you,"

"I'm just fine," The King replied firmly.

"Try convincing Astrid about that,"

Astrid was also in a foul mood now. "Why didn't you ask me to come with you?" she demanded.

"Because I thought you'd been through enough today already. And I didn't want you to see what I might have done if we found Adoncia," Hiccup replied without looking at her.

"I thought you might have decided to leave us again,"

"Leave without me?" Toothless exclaimed. Hiccup mumbled something.

Astrid moved closer to him. "What was that?"

"I said I'm considering it," he replied darkly, still evading her gaze.

"Have you gone crazy?"Astrid exclaimed.

He shrugged. "Long and fruitless searches leave lots of time to dwell on the future,"

"What's gotten into you? You can't just abandon Berk now! Not when we need all the help we can get!"

"Oh, and my help will make a big difference, won't it? It's because of my help that Berk needs help so badly—as usual! Don't you think I've done enough already?"

"Hiccup—"

"It's my fault we're in this mess, Astrid! If I hadn't gotten caught that night, the Sanctuary would never have been destroyed and the fight would never have come to Berk! It's my fault people are dying at this minute, that families are destroyed, homes are ruined, that boy Peer would be alive right now if I had just moved a little faster—it's because I messed up that your father's dead! You have every right to be furious with me, and I wouldn't blame you if you attacked me right now!"

"I will if you keep acting like an idiot! You didn't kill anyone here today! It's not your fault Drago decided to attack us!"

"She's got a point there," Toothless remarked.

"Who forced his hand? Who was such a thorn in his side that he leapt at any chance to hurt me?" Hiccup retorted.

"He's got a point there too," Shamrock responded.

"You're not helping,"

"Who asked Drago to get so violent in the first place?" Astrid countered.

"That—that's beside the point!" Hiccup spluttered. "It's my fault Adoncia got involved in all of this, and it's because she did that the Sanctuary is gone—along with all the hatchlings who lived there!"

Astrid froze. "Is that why Stormfly's so upset?"

"Yes."

"All of them?"

"Yes." Hiccup said. He nearly slumped onto the ground in grief. "It's all gone, Astrid, they're all gone…"

Astrid took a deep breath. "Then where are you going to go now? Where will your dragons go?"

"Given all that's happened I wouldn't be surprised if they all went their separate ways now,"

"Hiccup, we need you here! You and the dragons! We need everybody here if we're going to make it through this now!"

"And what makes you think anyone here will accept my help once the truth comes out? They'll turn on me and drive me away, so I might as well save them the trouble and drive myself away."

"Going off to find the horizon, huh?" Astrid jeered, putting her hands on her hips, "Hate to say it, Hiccup, but you'll never find it—and you never escape from your problems by running away from them either!"

"No I won't—but if I run away at least they will remain my problems! At least I won't make Berk and my friends pay for them anymore! Think about it! If I hadn't gone to that meeting would any of this have happened? Would Berk have gotten involved in any of this? Would Drago have targeted Berk if I hadn't revealed myself to be a former inhabitant of it? If I had just finished off Drago the last time, would children now be crying for their dead parents? Would parents by crying for their dead children?" His voice shook on that last point.

"You don't know that!"

"Yes I do! Everything I've tried to do for Berk has ended in disaster, starting from the moment I was born! Good grief, it's not just Berk, it's every place I try to help!" He forced himself to calm down. "Look, it's admirable to keep trying but there comes a point where you've got to accept the facts and give up! Drago never learned that, but I have. Face it Astrid, after all that's happened, everyone's better off without me!"

"I'm not!" Toothless shouted indignantly as Astrid said the same thing.

"Oh yes? Who took off your tail fin? Remember that?"

"And how many times do I have to tell you I've gotten over it?" the Night Fury shouted, "Yes, I remember that because you keep bringing it up! Shall I remind you how you lost your leg?"

"Stop it all of you!" Shamrock suddenly yelled, "This blaming isn't helping anybody!"

Astrid was somewhat shaken by the anger of everybody but held her ground. "Hiccup, I—I won't deny there's some truth in that—I can't—but if this is true then you have a duty to help set things right!"

"No, I have a duty to get away before I set things wrong again! When have I ever set things right successfully?" He finally turned to look her in the eye. Tears were forming in his eyes. "I can't do it, Astrid, I can't do it guys, I can't stay here knowing that I'm the reason there's so much pain and death right now! Do you think I can look at Peer's mother everyday and know I'm the reason her son is dead? Do you think I can look at Stormfly and know that her hatchlings are dead thanks to a woman I refused to have sex with? And who would want me to stay anyway, besides you? They'll all blame me for it, just like in the old days, only this time they'll have every right to!"

"And if you leave you'll be proving them right." Astrid said firmly. "Leave here now and I promise you Hiccup, the Vikings here today will hate you forever. Stay and you have a chance to show them you're human enough to face the consequences of your actions. Besides I—I—"

"Yes?"

"I don't want you to leave,"

He looked up sharply. "Say again?"

"I don't want you to leave. Not again, not after all that's happened, I—I want you to stay here—" she looked at him imploringly. Hiccup would have needed a heart of stone not to be affected by this and he did not have that. "When you disappeared, I was worried sick. I had to force myself to eat, I could hardly sleep and when I did I had nightmares about what they might be doing to you…"

"I was worried about you guys too," Hiccup mumbled, remembering when he had threatened Adoncia, "I was going crazy with worry in that cell and I couldn't even show it—"

"And when Adoncia let it slip that you were still alive, I felt the happiest I'd been in—I don't know how long. And when that ship exploded I thought for a horrible moment that you had perished with it—I thought you would have come straight to me once you were safe—but you didn't!"

"I wanted to Astrid, but I saw Drago escaping and went to head him off! How could I come to you if I'd let the reason for the destruction to get away?"

"And then I found you in the woods and you looked almost ready to keel over—"

"I was never so happy to see you as I was then, but it was hardly the time to show it when the dragons were ripping Drago apart!"

"And when I came back and saw you attacking that hunk of iron—" she grabbed him and slapped him in the face. "No, Hiccup Haddock, you don't get to make me worry so much and then disappear afterwards!" And she pulled him towards her with such force his legs nearly buckled and kissed him as if her life depended on it. Hiccup, once the initial shock wore off, kissed her back as passionately as his strength allowed him. Toothless watched with smug satisfaction. Shamrock had walked away before it happened.

"Guess we didn't need to kidnap her after all, we just needed to kidnap you!" he laughed.

"Whoa," Hiccup said when they parted at last.

"Don't leave, Hiccup,"

"You make a rather compelling argument," He replied with a bitter smile that soon faded, "I don't know, Astrid…"

Astrid gently took his hand, "Look, you need some rest before you decide anything. Get some sleep and we'll talk about this in the morning, all right?"

"You sound like Toothless when he's nursing me," But he made no effort to stop her. Some sleep honestly did not sound like a bad idea.

Astrid paused. "You know, I just realized something. You've been blaming all of this on yourself, yet a minute ago you said Drago was the reason for all the destruction,"

Hiccup thought a moment. "I did? Huh, I guess I did."

"See? You don't really believe you were the cause of all of this. You're just blaming yourself because you need someone to blame and you're too decent to blame other people." He looked a little dazed as she said this. "Come on, Hiccup, you need some rest. You can't go driving your body on like this, or it's going to wear out on you when you can't afford it."

"I'm fine, Astrid," he lied.

"Come on," Toothless said a bit impatiently.

"I thought you were supposed to be on my side," Hiccup said with a slight bitterness. He supposed in any event he could not leave until Toothless had a new fin, and that could take some time.

As soon as they began making their way back Astrid spoke again. "Hiccup, I need to know something. Did you intend to be on that ship? Was that part of some plan you kept from us?"

Hiccup shook his head numbly. "No. We spotted Adoncia that night and I thought we oughta take her prisoner. She turned the tables on us and we got caught instead. After that Drago took my leg away, so my only hope for escape was this acid I carry in my belt buckle. But Drago was watching me all the time so I couldn't use it without getting caught. And I had no idea where Toothless was, so I had no means or hope of getting back to Berk. All I could think of doing was to wait for the ship to arrive here and hope Drago would leave to join in the battle. And he did. He left Marva behind to watch me, but I took care of her."

"How did Drago know to take your leg away?" Astrid asked. Toothless also let it be known he wanted to know this.

"I wondered about that too. It was probably gossip."

Astrid frowned. "Gossip?"

"Yeah. We made no secret of our escape from the Berserkers. Someone probably asked how we got out of our cells and one of the witnesses, most likely Snotlout I imagine, told them. After that the stories went around, especially when our allies showed up, and sooner or later Drago heard about it. That's all I can think of anyway. A daring and dramatic rescue retold by Vikings who don't have filters on their mouths. I imagine the whole Archipelago will know about my secret pick lock soon." His face fell, "I'll have to devise a new hiding place for it. Vikings just never stop talking."

"No kidding,"

"We'll take care of that later. You need some rest right now." Astrid repeated,

"So do you,"

"I'm fine," she lied.

"No you're not."

They reached one of buildings still standing. Inside the floor was crowded with snoring Vikings. Nobody had been too preoccupied with questions of ownership. Astrid picked up a blanket lying in a random spot and tossed it to Hiccup. She then whispered apologetically "I need to get back to my mother,"

"Astrid—I'm really, really sorry about Olaf—I never wanted it to go this way,"

"Yeah," Astrid said quickly. Her voice trembled. "Yeah, I know—"

"So, I'll—see you tomorrow, then?"

"Yeah," She was gone in an instant. Hiccup suddenly wanted to go after her but Toothless said quickly "let her be. Sometimes privacy is better." The Night Fury was forced to stay outside. There was no space for him in the building. So he stuck his head through a window. "She's right, you know" he continued softly, "They'd never forgive you if you left now,"

"I doubt they'll forgive me for being the cause of all this," Hiccup sighed,

"Then if they won't forgive you no matter which way you turn, the question is which option will let you forgive yourself?"

"Neither, probably,"

"That wasn't what I meant," Toothless mumbled to himself, and then to his human, "I should whack you with my tail for that!"

"Why is it everyone I care about takes delight in hitting me?" Hiccup mused, and he was not entirely joking. "Toothless?"

"Hmm?"

"Don't take this the wrong way, but why'd you have to kill Drago right then?"

"What do you mean?" The Night Fury demanded.

"Who built that ship of his with such secrecy and precision, Bud? Who's the Dragon Rider he confused me for? Who are the 'friends' he hinted to me about?"

"I don't know," In fact, aside from the ship, Toothless had not known about any of these until now.

"I don't know either. I wanted information from him, Bud, and you ruined the chance of getting it permanently!"

"I did that because he tried to kill you!" Toothless said indignantly.

Hiccup fought to keep his voice down. "I had it under control, Bud! I knew he was going to pull a knife on me! The blade snapped as soon as it hit me!"

"Well I didn't know that! All I saw was you exposing yourself and him trying to stab you! What would you have done if it had been me he pulled a knife on?"

Hiccup recalled his words when he was a prisoner on the Czernobog. 'So help me if you've harmed one scale I'll burn your face off and make you eat it.' Suddenly, despite his injuries making movement painful and difficult, despite his weariness, he stood at the window and flung his arms around the Night Fury's neck. The two of them said simultaneously:

"Oh Toothless, I'm so sorry—I was worried sick the whole time—it doesn't matter, he's gone for good now—we'll get the information sooner or later—what happened to you? Did you get hurt anywhere?"

"Hiccup, I'm so sorry, if I had just know I would have let him live—we could have devised a better punishment for him but we can't help it now—we'll figure things out somehow—"

Slowly they both fell silent. Sometimes words are not enough to show affection. So Hiccup instead kept just wrapped his arms around the dragon's neck and slowly petted him, while Toothless nuzzled him as best as he could.

"You know," Toothless said after a while, "I took a bath to get here. Well, not exactly a bath, but I still went swimming and had to subdue an eel. That's got to count for something."

"I'm very proud of you," Hiccup said seriously, "I'm sorry, Bud, but I had no hope of a quick escape without my leg."

"I wouldn't mind in the least if it hadn't cost us so much,"

Hiccup's face fell. "Yes, we lost a lot. One more disaster I can add to the list."

Toothless felt it best to change the subject. "What was that about a Dragon Rider you were confused for?"

"Drago said we've been a problem since Fort Flay, Bud—he also said I used to ride a different dragon."

"Oh? Is there someone from your past you haven't told me about?" Toothless was only partly joking.

"Toothless! You know perfectly well you were the first dragon I've ever flown on! And you also know we've never been to this Fort Flay place. Our first act against Drago was against a ship,"

Toothless licked him again. "So, either someone has gotten names or locations mixed up, or are you saying Drago confused us for somebody else? Somebody else who rides a dragon,"

"That's what I think, yes,"

"And where is this other person? Who is this other person?"

"I have no idea."

"Another mystery for us to figure out," Toothless mumbled.

"Yeah and goodness knows when we'll get the chance to solve any of those, what with all the work to be done here,"

"So we're staying then?"

"I—think I need to get some sleep,"

Toothless scowled slightly at the evasiveness but could not argue with it.

It was only a few hours later when Hiccup woke up. He felt just as tired as he had before but now could not go back to sleep. His mind was too active. So, after tossing and turning for probably another hour or so he decided to go for a walk. Toothless opened an eye when he passed but recalled his words "sometimes privacy is better," and let him go without hindrance.

It was quiet and still over Berk. The clouds were heavy in the sky and the color of mauve, a clear sign that rain was coming. He made his way down to the beach to the wreck of the Czernobog. The high tide prevented him from getting close to it, so he just stopped and looked.

Looking out to sea, there did not seem to be anything wrong. It was just the waves lapping onto the beach as they always did, and ahead of him was the horizon—the great unknown. It would be so simple to just get on Toothless, head in that direction and keep going.

"But Astrid's right: no matter how far you go, the horizon is always out of reach," he muttered.

"Can't sleep?" Stoick the Vast was behind him.

"I must really be tired if I didn't hear you sneak up on me," Hiccup commented with a small smile, "If Drago could attack me now I'd probably be dead in under a minute."

"Well, he won't be attacking anyone anymore," Stoick replied with an air of satisfaction, "that at least is a mercy,"

"Yeah,"

"I know what you're thinking about son,"

"Yeah, I know you know,"

"You're thinking about all the ways you could have prevented this. I've thought that after every dragon raid, and when your mother was taken, and when you were taken. Everybody has them when something bad happens. But you know what I've learned since you came back into my life?"

"Not to throw spears at your children?" Hiccup asked sarcastically. He regretted his words instantly. Neither of them was really in the mood for jokes and this was hardly the time to bring that up.

"Aye, that too—but what I've really learned is to not dwell on the past too much. And when you have to dwell on it, you have to keep something in mind,"

"What's that?"

"You can dwell on it all you want, but the only thing you can do about it is learn from it and move on."

Hiccup's face was unreadable. He remembered making a similar statement to Astrid once. He sighed and turned away from the beach.

"Where are you going?"

"Nowhere in particular,"

"Mind if I come with you?"

"Not at all, Dad,"

They walked around the wrecked houses and carefully stepped over the sleeping Vikings and around the sleeping dragons.

"It's a mess," Stoick said softly, "But we'll rebuild. We always do."

Not the Sanctuary, Hiccup thought bitterly. From what he had heard the island was little more than a huge pile of rubble. And after what had happened he doubted anyone would want to live there anymore, even if they did somehow manage to fix it up.

Stoick stopped a moment. "Poor Spitelout,"

Hiccup nodded stiffly.

"I know you and he were never on good terms, but I can still look back to those days when he was my playmate, or when we were the toughest fighters on Berk, me always trying to impress Valka, and him trying to impress whoever caught his fancy…"

"Yeah…"

"I think he would have come around, you know. Given time,"

"Yeah…"

"It's going to be hard on Snotlout now. And Astrid. And all the others who lost their mothers and fathers yesterday. They're all going to need a friend they can count on. So will your dragon friends, I imagine,"

"Did Astrid tell you something?"

"I saw her a few hours ago, yeah, and we talked for a few minutes. She looked pretty upset when she mentioned you were considering—"

"Dad, there's no need to say more. My mind's already made up,"

Stoick looked him in the eye and nodded slowly.

The day was gray and chilly. Rain seemed imminent. A slight wind picked up on occasion. Walking along the beach and gazing out to the sea would leave a person reflective and morose. But nobody had the time for such leisure.

Bodies had been placed in piles along the beach. Not the beach where the fighting had occurred on but further along the coast to the north. Prisoners had had the unenviable task of sorting out the dead and transporting them to the pyre sight, for Stoick and Bertha refused to let the dead of the enemy mingle with their own in the funeral pyres. Gort was still unable to give his consent but his adjutant and now likely his heir Morton had agreed with them. Once their task was finished the prisoners had been herded onto some of the ships that had survived the battle. Dragons were set to guard them. They would stay there until the ships sailed. Of the leaders, only Dagur would be going back to his own island, at Hiccup's suggestion. After getting his armada, harbor, and now army virtually destroyed, everyone suspected that his days as Chief were numbered. As for Alvin, he was still alive but barely. As an exile from Berk, he would be treated as such if he somehow recovered.

The bodies had been prepared according to tradition as much as possible for the funeral. Then they were laid upon large piles of wood, built mostly from the wrecked ships and homes. Offerings and gifts, especially the possessions of the deceased, were then placed around the bodies as carefully as possible. This process had taken considerable time and effort to manage.

The dragons who had died in the battle were given a pyre of their own. While dragons had no burial customs, it was deemed both a symbolic and practical way of taking care of their bodies. Several dragons, following the Viking custom, also placed gifts next to the fallen. Most of these gifts were fish, as food was one of the few things dragons placed a value on. Hiccup himself had placed his sword and shield in the pyre. Stormfly took a cod and cut it into four pieces before laying it on the wood pile.

It was late afternoon when the Vikings and most dragons gathered on the beach at last. The tribal elders recited their prayers and performed their rites, followed soon afterwards by the Chiefs. Prayers were muttered by various families and prominent members of each tribe. Finally, at Stoick's silent command a group of dragons moved forward and breathed flames on the pyres.

There was something strangely moving about the sight of flames burning a lifeless body, Fishlegs thought. The person looked like they were merely asleep and the flames would soon make them disappear forever. With his parents behind him and Meatlug on his left he felt a few sniffles coming on. He knew deep down he had gotten lucky.

The Twins kept a quiet reverence. Compared with other families theirs had been among those who had suffered the least. While they were a bit downcast out the funeral, their minds soon got bored and they began to determine what their next morale boosting stunt would be. Mildew would be the target. He had survived the battle with barely a scratch, and while he claimed to have been in the thick of it, nobody bought it, not even Hognose, who had made up his mind to get off Berk as soon as possible.

Camicazi, with her arm in a sling, was with her mother and Midnight. While the Bog Burglars were thieves on principle, there was an unspoken rule against stealing at times like this. Had it been Drago's funeral they would have robbed everyone blind, but this was not the case. Drago himself had not been given a burial according to custom. Instead, what was left of him had been simply burned by Hookfang and Persephone, and then the ashes were trampled into the ground. Nobody but they knew where this had taken place either, and Hiccup wanted it to stay that way. He would not make Drago's final resting place a shrine for people akin to Marva to worship at.

As the pyres burned, Astrid went over to Snotlout.

"How are you holding up?"

"Just fine," he said quickly,

"Look, I know we've often been at odds, but I'm sorry about your father. I—wouldn't wish that loss on anyone," she muttered. She was not used to making apologies like this.

Snotlout nodded and his eyes lit up a little. "You know, if you need a shoulder to cry on, mine are very large and muscular…"

Astrid decided not to punch him this time. In a way it felt strangely comforting to have him flirting with her again. It was as though life was back to normal already. Still, she moved away and rejoined her mother and Stormfly.

"She didn't punch me, Hookfang. She's starting to give in to my Vikingness," Snotlout told his dragon. The dragon looked at him as if to say 'is now really the time for this?'

Gustav's mother needed no shoulder to cry on: she had her son's already, and she was bawling on it. Gustav was trying to not look embarrassed as he patted his new friend, a Monstrous Nightmare whom he had named Fanghook.

"So what do we do now?" Persephone asked Shamrock. Evictus was sitting nearby listening.

"Well, the Sanctuary is gone, so we stay here, join another tribe, or go off on our own, I guess." He shrugged. "Personally, I'm staying here for now. You?"

"I have considered going with Midnight and the Bog thieves,"

"Persephone, do you ever use words that have 'L' in them?" Evictus asked.

She thought a moment. "I do not know…"

"How about you, Evictus?" Shamrock asked to get back to what interested him.

"Oh I'm staying here. Berk will need my tree cutting skills, and wherever the Hatchling is, that means sooner or later there'll be a lot of people to evict!" he grinned at his old friends.

Shamrock shook his head with a smile. "Just like always. It won't be the same without Grimm, of course,"

"Grimm would never want to live here anyway," Evictus replied with a sad smile, "I can hear him now telling me humans are too selfish and brutal for his liking." He stopped smiling and sighed. "And he was right—about some of them anyway,"

Other dragons had been having similar discussions about where to go next. Most, however, had decided to put off their decisions until after the funeral—and until they knew what their Beta intended to do. While Toothless would never order them to stay, as the Razorwhip might have, he still was their Beta, which meant they sometimes used him for a role model. For Stormfly, Meatlug, Hookfang, Fanghook, and Barf n' Belch, staying was a foregone conclusion. And by the looks of it the Berkians were not going to mind if more stayed, considering how most of them had no qualms about watching the pyres with dragons beside and behind them.

"So wot's gonna 'appen now, Stoick?" Gobber asked,

"We rebuild," Stoick replied firmly,

"An' the dragons?"

Stoick shrugged, as if Gobber should have known better than to ask. "Any that wish to stay can, provided the island can support it."

"An' 'Iccup?"

Hiccup had not really listened to the funeral rites and mostly just stared upwards at the sky. His mind was not on Berk, and his eyes were glazed over somewhat. He absentmindedly tapped his fingers on his leg occasionally. Once the pyres had been burning for a while, people and dragons alike began to gather in small groups around the smoldering ruins.

Hiccup finally snapped out of his reverie when Toothless came up to him. It was only then that he realized that the Dragon Riders were standing next to him, flanked by their dragons. On the other side stood Gobber, Stoick, and Bertha, looking at him expectantly.

"You guys all right?" he asked quietly. The Riders and dragons nodded. "How are the legs, Snotlout?"

"Well, I don't need to get them replaced," Snotlout said with a grin that did not match his eyes.

"Well…that's good,"

"The Chicken is pleased too," Tuffnut announced, holding up his poultry friend, who squawked.

"Right..." Hiccup folded his arms and looked at Toothless. "And how are you today, Bud?"

"Well enough. So the Sanctuary's gone. Berk's the only home we've got now. What do we do about it?"

Hiccup turned around, and he could hear murmurings from the crowd. People were wondering if he was going to leave them or help them.

"When you travel at night, somebody needs to carry the guiding torch." Toothless remarked.

"What was that?"

"Oh, just a little saying I picked up somewhere. Might have been China," the Night Fury looked around. "I'd say these people expect you to be their guiding torch,"

"And who's going to be mine?" the King mumbled.

"I am of course, stupid!" Toothless laughed, "And I'm sure Astrid will be willing to help too,"

"Hiccup?" Astrid said. She spoke with expectancy, not uncertainty.

Hiccup smiled at her, then his gaze drifted around the war torn village. A multitude of destruction, pain, and death was visible everywhere. For a moment he wanted to break down and cry again, regardless of who was watching. But he had already done that. Now was not the time for tears, not from him at any rate.

"This is not the end of it." He spoke softly at first, as if to himself, but now it grew in size until he might have been shouting at the Earth itself. "This is not the end of it! I've been down in the dust for years and I've always come through and I will do it again—and I will help the rest do the same! No matter what it takes, I will get us out of this, and I'll turn this day into the beginning of something new and greater than the world has ever known—and when we're finished, as long as I'm still breathing I'll do all I can to ensure this never happens again! Come on, guys, we've got a village to rebuild. The funeral celebrations are in seven days—let's see how much we can accomplish done by then. I don't care what anyone else thinks, I'm the Dragon King and the Heir of Berk, and I say that no matter what it takes, this is not the end of it!"

He put one arm around Astrid's shoulder and the other on Toothless's head, and directed them back to the Village.

The End