A/N-Alright, nobody correctly guessed the meaning of last chapter's title: it means Renewal, fitting for the turnaround that began then. Anyway, last installment of Inheritance Past is here...

Epilogue

Stoick groaned as he awoke, drifting out of a thick haze of sleep to a world of aches and lax strength. He felt like every ounce of energy he had had been sucked completely out of him, to the point that he didn't even feel the motivation to open his eyes. This was not a feeling he was at all accustomed to.

As feeling seeped back into his body, what Stoick did notice was that he was lying underneath a fairly large number of thick blankets, on top of what felt like his bed. Why there were so many blankets piled on him was a mystery when it should have been the middle of summer, and as Stoick's mind began to piece itself together in a proper semblance of consciousness, he began to wonder why he was in bed. It was certainly not the last place he remembered being.

That's when Stoick began to truly notice the odd position he had awoken in. These images flashing through his head, weren't they dreams? He remembered what felt like recent times with Valka, but that couldn't be right as she'd been dead for nineteen years. No, the last recent memory had to be….he recalled a battle, strewn across a rocky beach, with his son there and Toothless…

Everything rushed back all at the same time, and Stoick's eyes snapped open. Those memories were not long ago; Valka was back. He remembered too that he had seen Drago, and Hiccup and Toothless confronting the man, before the Bewilderbeast somehow managed to take the dragon over. Stoick had rushed to push Hiccup out of the way, and Toothless had fired. Then…everything was black after that.

Had Toothless actually shot him? How long had he been out afterward? Stoick sat up, becoming immediately and acutely aware of the lightheadedness that washed over him, but the man was determined to bring himself to his feet. He knew he should be thankful he could get up at all, and hadn't already exited the living world; a Night Fury fireball at point-blank was a death sentence.

Stoick figured already that he couldn't blame the dragon, not after all they had been through together, and of course Hiccup would never forgive his father if Stoick didn't forgive Toothless, but first off he needed to find them all to clear everything up. Once more, Stoick focused on the fact that he didn't even know how long he'd been out, whether or not they were still at war or if he'd been gone for so long that it was already over.

Sliding off the bed and righting himself, wincing at the cold floor always present even during the hottest days in Berk (perhaps that was why all the blankets were there, he reasoned), Stoick moved from the main house where his bed had apparently been positioned for whatever reason and into his room, getting dressed as quickly as he could. Even this took time as he felt incredibly weakened (something he was not used to and was determined never to feel again), and as he headed for the door he even grabbed the staff he had kept around from his own father, just in case a situation like this ever did arise for him (Hiccup never needed it because Toothless always acted like his crutch if something happened). Then, he pulled the front door open and stepped outside.

Stoick didn't know what scared him more: the absolute silence that encased the village or the complete lack of any signs of battle. Neither one added up in his mind; if they had won the village should have been bustling as usual, and if they had lost, well, he probably wouldn't have even had a chance to wake up to find out. If battle was yet to come, then where were all the warriors making preparations? And what on earth was causing the shiny look in so many of the buildings around him?

The only rational thought that came to mind was the Great Hall, so Stoick turned in that direction and began hobbling up the path toward the doors in the mountainside. If anyone was still here they would likely be there. At the base of the steps he finally picked up on the great cacophony of noises emanating from the room that the double doors had blocked in, and breathed a sigh of relief; at least it appeared someone was here.

Stoick took the first step up the stairs, and about halfway up he recognized the din from within as celebratory in nature: he could hear Gobber's drunken yodeling even over the music and yelling of people, an out-of-tune earache that at any other time would have been nearly enough to send Stoick back home, but now it sounded out as an encouragement to the bewildered chief. He hobbled up the last few steps and, with some difficulty, pulled the doors open.

Every Viking and dragon possible was crammed within the modified cavern, all of them celebrating without care. Stoick spotted not only his own tribe, but many of their allies here as well: Bertha and Mogadon were at a table off to the side engaged in a fierce arm-wrestling competition, and Bertha was winning. The Uglithug and Peaceable tribe chiefs were further in the back laughing over mugs of mead, and Stoick managed to spot off to his right some of the teens –Heather, Dogsbreath and Thuggory- with their dragons laughing away at some odd story.

Dancing right in front of the man was Hiccup and Astrid, twirling each other around without a care in the world, and just behind them Stoick beheld the near-comical sight of Valka, who had managed to drag Hawken out with her. Their dragons were up in the rafters above, clearly laughing at their expense.

While the sight of such reveling much relieved Stoick, he still didn't have any concrete answers, so gathering in as deep a breath as he could, he bellowed out, "Would someone please explain to me what is going on here?!"

I'm not sure how Valka managed to get me out on the floor with her (while I liked dancing I wasn't a couples-dancer), but considering Astrid had also dragged Hiccup out with her I at least wasn't alone. And what the heck, this was a time to have fun! I just had to block out Toothless' incessant jeering from above me and resist the temptation to knock him off his perch.

What I couldn't bock out, however, was the sudden and jarring, "Would someone please explain to me what is going on here?!" that came from the front doors of the hall. At that voice, the entire room suddenly went completely and utterly silent as we took in the shocking appearance of the man, somewhat thinner than we were used to but no less imposing, who stood at the door looking a combination of relived, confused, and somewhat irritated at having to rely on a staff to help hold him up.

Almost simultaneously, the entire hall then shouted, "STOICK!" and Valka and Hiccup immediately broke away from the dance and ran up to him, almost tackling the man to the ground in their embrace.

"You're awake!" Hiccup shouted ecstatically. "Oh, thank God, you're finally awake!"

"Why, how long was I out?" Stoick inquired worriedly. "Nearly two months," Hiccup replied, trying and failing to hide a tear that fell from his eye. "You missed out on our kicking of Jezebel's rear, permanently."

Stoick's face lit up with a grin. "Well, can't say I'm happy about missing my chance to give the old witch my own punch to the face, but I'm relieved te hear the worst is over." His eyes lifted up to take in the sight of Toothless leaping excitedly from the rafters and running toward him, tongue lolling out.

"Stoick! I'm so glad you're alright! I"- he yelled animatedly, but then faltered, slowing down and his face dropping in concern when he realized the last thing Stoick would have remembered, and that he might still hold a grudge for what happened.

Stoick, however, grinned and held out a hand welcomingly. "Come on Toothless, ye didn't do anything wrong. I'm sure ye took care of the lunatics who put us all into that mess." Toothless grinned at the statement, nodding as he leapt up again and closed the distance between them. "That I did," he assured, "and I can assure it will never, ever happen again!"

A few moments of family embrace ensued, with Thornado barreling through the crowd to join Cloudjumper as they completed the little group, before everyone else swarmed in to welcome the chief back.

Amidst the flood of people I managed to squeeze through, and slapped a hand down on Stoick's shoulder. "Good to have you back in the world of the living," I said jokingly, smiling. Stoick laughed in response. "Good te be back. Though I may have te request a few days te get my bearings and strength back before I go back te chiefin' the village."

"Well, don't wait too long," Valka chuckled, "or I think our son might overload." We all looked over at Hiccup, who blushed from the attention, before laughing again.

Stoick stood up straight again and looked around. "For now though, I think we should get back to the celebration! You'll have te regale me in the heroic battle, and tell me how everything turned out. I slept through it once already, now I want the full recount!"

"Well, if that's the case," Gobber started, hobbling up through the crowd with a mischievous look on his face marred by the evidence of yet another empty mug in hand, "then we should start off with the"-

"Gobber it's fine, we can tell it!" Hiccup hurriedly interrupted. "And weren't you on bedside duty during the battle anyway? We'll take care of the storytelling for now."

Everyone cracked up at that, especially at Gobber's disappointed pout at having been cheated of another wild exaggeration, before falling back into the spirit of the party. The Haddocks, Astrid and I retired to a nearby table, soon to be surrounded again by our friends, as we regaled Stoick on all that had happened while he'd been out.

The celebration proper lasted well into the night, but the festive mood had only gotten stronger especially with the return of the Chief of Berk. Everyone had been put into incredibly high spirits, and we all turned with a cheerful outlook toward the future. Even once the crowd began to filter back to their homes, permanent or temporary, we all had smiles on our faces, and felt like we were ready to take on anything now. After all, there's not much that tops out beating out a centuries-old sorceress and bringing back together a family separated for just as long, right?

Yeah, right, so we thought.

A/N-Yep, so Stoick's back once more, mostly okay if disappointed at not being able to give the witch his own goodbye.

Alright people, Book 5 is over! However, it may be some time before we begin the final installment as I have not yet even finished writing the rough draft of the last book, and would like to do so before I begin typing; it's at 291 pages written and still a fair way to go. There will be an author's note updated to every one of the books in the series probably a week before I upload the prologue to give all my followers a heads-up, but until then, let the tension build and be on the lookout for Two Worlds Collide Book 6: Echad, We Are One.