I am so sorry about that wait. I have just had so much stuff going on what with
moving and everything else. Plus I've had a small bit of writers block. But I'm
back with the next chapter. Enjoy and don't forget to tell me what you thought.

Snowbeam12

Chapter 12

Stoick and the others searched the island for any signs of Hiccup or the two riders. Astrid was the first to spot the black Night Fury curled up as the smoke began to disappear. She ran straight towards them, tripping over the rocks and rubble.

"Hiccup!" Stoick yelled, looking around for any signs of them. He knelt down beside the dragon. Toothless let out a small whimper and opened his green eyes. He looked at the red haired chief and slowly opened his wings, reviling Hiccup. Stoick let out a relieved gasp, easily picking his son up. He pressed his ear to his chest, listening for a heartbeat.

"You brought him back alive." He whispered, staring at Toothless. Liam looked around for any signs of Asa, the small sliver of hope disappearing.

"We need to get him and the dragons back to Berk." Stoick ordered. Heather quickly jumped in objecting.

"No! Dragon Island is closer and Hiccup needs helps now!" Liam objected, stepping forward. Toothless growled as Stoick tried to lift Hiccup. Astrid looked between the Berkians and the Dragon island riders. She could tell that all of them had Hiccup's best interests at heart.

"Stoick…Heather and Liam are right. Hiccup needs help now. And dragon island is closer than Berk is. And Dragon Island is his home now. When he wakes up and finds out Asa isn't there…he's going to need people he is familiar with. People he feels like he can trust." Astrid stated, stepping forward. Liam gently rubbed Shimmer's nose as she laid beside Hiccup and Toothless.

"Fine. Than use those…demons and get my son help. We will be there as soon as we can. There has to be at least one ship that isn't badly damaged." He stated. Astrid nodded and carefully moved to pull Hiccup onto Stormfly's back. Toothless gave a small whimper, lying his head on Hiccup's body. He couldn't fly without his tailfin so he was stuck with Stoick.

"I'll take care of him. I promise." Astrid whispered as she took to the sky. Stoick stood beside Toothless watching as the blue Nadder flew back towards Dragon Island. Heather and Liam followed silently. When they landed in the village Heather walked with Astrid beside Stormfly as she carried their injured chief. They ignored the questioned looks they received. They had just made it to the healer's hut when Hiccup was starting to wake up.

"Asa…" he whispered, groaning in pain. Astrid carefully laid him on the bed while Mya began to work on his leg. The other healer forced Heather and Astrid to leave.

"I have to go check on Sylvia." Heather whispered. She didn't know how the two-year-old was going to handle her mother dying and her father being in the healer's hut. Astrid nodded and walked down to the beach. She sat in the sand watching for any signs of Stoick and the others. It was nearly nightfall when she heard the cry of a night fury. A small ship landed and the few Vikings climbed out. Toothless and Shimmer both ran straight to the chief's house.

"How is he?" Stoick demanded, walking over to Astrid.

"They had to cut off his lower leg and he has a few scraps and burns. But…he'll live. They have him under some heavy pain syrups or something. Heather is with Sylvia in her parent's house." She explained. She glanced at the ship silently, half hoping Asa would step off after them. She didn't like her but she could tell she was a big part of Hiccup's heart. Fishlegs saw her look and shook his head a tiny bit. She looked away and glanced at the healer's hut.

After nearly a week, everyone was starting to get worried that their chief wasn't going to wake up. Hiccup had been moved to back to his hut, to rest in his own bed, surrounded by things that he was familiar with when he woke up. He groaned and slowly opened his eyes, glancing around. Toothless jerked his head up when Hiccup moved to sit up.

"Where am I?" he whispered confused. He moved to climb out of the bed and nearly fell if Toothless hadn't caught him.

"Thanks bud." He whispered. He put most of his weight on Toothless as he struggled to walk. He sighed a tiny bit, trying to figure out where he was. He managed to pull the door open and was blinded by the sunlight. Astrid was the first to see that he was awake and smiled, standing up.

"Hiccup's awake!" She yelled, jumping to her feet. Stoick looked up from where he was sitting playing with Sylvia. The two-year old's eyes widened when she saw her father. She climbed out of her grandfather's arms and tried to run to him. Hiccup smiled when he saw his daughter as he managed to kneel and take her in his arms. He held her close as he watched his father and the others crowd around him.

"Where's Asa?" he questioned, looking around at all of them. He looked at Shimmer when she let out a pained whimper. The white night fury looked at the ground, hanging her head. He reached and ran his hand along her side.

"Son…we…we looked but we couldn't find her." Stoick whispered. Astrid knelt beside Hiccup when he looked away in tears. He held Sylvia close as he tried to remember what had happened. Astrid gently sat her hand on his shoulder as she sat beside him. She tried not to blush as she could feel the muscles under his shirt.

"Leave us." He whispered, pulling away. Astrid looked at Stoick who nodded. He helped her up and walked with her back to their camp. Hiccup took several deep breaths as he struggled to hold back the tears that wanted to fall.

"Daddy." Sylvia whispered softly. Hiccup looked down at her silently before he whistled for Toothless. He carefully placed her on the black dragon's back before he pulled himself to his feet. He glanced at Shimmer and jerked his head, signaling her to follow. They walked to the cliff just outside their home. The sun was just starting to set as they laid there.

"Asa…you left too soon." He whispered, looking at the sky. He sighed a tiny bit, wishing his wife was sitting beside him.

After nearly a week, Hiccup felt well enough to give Asa the proper burial. He stood on the cliff overlooking the beach where his wife's funeral pyre was. Toothless stood beside him while Shimmer was lying curled around Sylvia. He glanced at the people gathered around to pay their respects. He took a deep breath before he took a step forward, still getting used to his new leg. He didn't want to go down and wish her good bye but she deserved to be sent off to rest in peace. He slowly walked down to the beach, ignoring the sad looks the Berkians were giving him and accepting any condolences his people gave him. He stood on the beach as the water softly rocked his wife's pyre. He felt Toothless rub his head against his good leg as he slowly grabbed his bow and arrow. He stood there, aware of everyone watching him. He just couldn't bring himself to do it. He glanced down when he felt a hand against his shoulder and saw Heather and Liam standing beside him. Tears ran down his cheeks as he stood there.

"I can't. I can't do it." He whispered, weakly. Heather touched his shoulder as Liam nodded his head. He stepped up as Hiccup tried not to clasp against Toothless. Everything seemed to be spinning as Liam spoke the words he was meant to. Tears ran down his cheeks as a small fire began in his line of vision. People walked past their hurting chief and went to their homes to rest.

"Hiccup I am so sorry about Asa. I know how much you loved her-" Astrid began as she walked up to him. Hiccup glared at her, his eyes red and blood shot from crying.

"No. You don't know anything. You don't know the pain we went through during the years of traveling. You don't know the joy I felt when I started to court her! You don't know the love I felt when I married her! You don't know the worry but the happiness I felt when we had Sylvia! You don't know anything Astrid. None of you do! I'm not that weak little Hiccup the useless I used to be!" he yelled, the pain in his voice cutting into the young Viking like a knife. Toothless gave Astrid a warning growl as she stepped closer to the hurting chief.

"You really need to leave. All of you need to leave." Hiccup whispered as Heather and Liam knelt beside him. The young chief accepted their help back to his hut, feeling emotionally and physically drained. Astrid stood there wide eyed as they walked. Shimmer was lying outside the hut with her white body curled up in a ball. Hiccup watched as Toothless padded over to her, rubbing his head against hers as she let out a small pained whimper.

"She misses Asa." Hiccup whispered as he watched the two dragons.

"We are all going to miss Asa. She was a sister and a friend to all of us. You two gave us a home when most of us didn't have one." Heather whispered as she gave him a gentle hug. Astrid still stood on the beach watching the three figures that stood on the cliff. She rubbed her arms silently. She was determined to do something to fix everything. She rubbed her eyes before she turned and walked back to the camp. Ruff and Tuff were both sitting by the dying fire talking in hushed voices. She sighed and walked over sitting beside them.

"Poor Hiccup. He seemed so heartbroken at the funeral." Ruff commented, glancing at Astrid. The blonde was silent as she sat staring at the fire. Flashes of Hiccup and Asa falling kept playing over and over in her head.

For nearly a week after Asa's funeral, Hiccup kept to himself. He refused to come out of his home unless it was to feed the dragons or sit on the cliff. Heather and Liam were doing their best at running the village but it was a lot of work for something they had no clue how to do. One evening while Hiccup was sitting inside by the fire the door was thrown open.

"You are not just going to sit in here! I can't do all of this and Liam is driving me insane in that stupid forge!" Heather snapped, storming in. Sylvia was close behind her, giggling. She didn't completely understand what had her father so unhappy. Hiccup raised an eye brow as she stood before him.

"And what is he trying to do in the forge?" he questioned softly. She threw her hands up, groaning, which caused Hiccup to laugh. He carefully got up, mindful of his injured leg. He followed his wife's best friend and his daughter to the forge and pushed open the door just as Liam managed to knock over a rack of tools. He glanced up in annoyance when the door was opened.

"What are you doing in here?" Hiccup questioned confused looking around. Liam managed a small grumble as he pushed everything off of him and stood up, brushing himself off.

"I was trying to do some of your work load since it's been stacking up but you've always been the better welder than me so…have fun." He stated before he made a run for it. Hiccup laughed as he watched his best friend run straight to his dragon and climb on his back. He turned back to the mess he'd left once Heather and Sylvia had left. He had just started to pick everything up when he heard a soft voice behind him.

"Need any help?" Astrid questioned softly as she stepped into the forge. Hiccup looked at her before he looked back at the mess and slowly nodded.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I promise I will try to update soon. Leave me a review on what you thought but please be helpful not hateful. Thanks. ? Until next time.

SNOWBEAM12