Did Anybody See That? Chapter 17

Astrid and Hiccup made another visit to the Hofferson home about three months later. Hiccup did his best to impress on Toothless the need to stay in the back yard and not wander away, but he wasn't completely sure the message got across. The Night Fury was intelligent and curious; the possibility that he would see or smell something that interested him, and follow it, could not be discounted.

Astrid went to the door first, and was greeted joyously by her family. After a few seconds, she said something in her mother's ear. Edda leaned out the back door. "Hiccup, would you please come in, too?" He came out of the shadows and joined them, a bit nervously. Astrid's younger brothers tried not to stare at his metal leg; they had paid him so little attention when he lived in Berk that they didn't realize his leg wasn't whole. Gunnarr shook his hand and bade him welcome.

They sat around the fire pit, trying to think of something they had in common that they could talk about. Astrid and Edda had such a topic, of course, but the men wouldn't be much interested in discussing pregnancy. Finally, Hiccup resorted to asking how the fish were running in Berk.

"No one knows, of course," Gunnarr replied. That got a puzzled response from Hiccup and Astrid.

"That's right, you wouldn't know about that," Edda said. "Dagur the Deranged has taken over the Berserker tribe. They're demanding a tribute from Berk, and until we pay them, they've blockaded the entire island with their fleet. Our fishing boats can't get out and fish; if they try it, the Berserkers board them and take them away. They wouldn't even let Trader Johann through. Oh, can't we talk about something more pleasant?"

"That seems kind of important," Hiccup replied. "How long has this been going on?"

"About two weeks," Gunnarr said. "The village has eaten most of our stored food – we don't have much left because winter is just ending. When the dried fish are gone, we'll have to start on the sheep, which we hate to do because we need them for wool. Stoick says he won't pay tribute to anyone, and we probably can't afford what Dagur is demanding anyway. No one knows what's going to happen next." That remark brought silence to the group.

Finally, Hiccup spoke. "Astrid, why don't you and your mother go upstairs and talk about woman things? I'd like to speak to your father." The two boys were chased off to bed, and the women went upstairs with a certain measure of relief.

"Sir," Hiccup began, "one thing I'd like to know is, what is my status here in Berk? Are the authorities looking for me, or have they forgotten I exist?"

"The day after the wedding, you were somewhere between Dagur and Alvin on the unpopularity scale," Gunnarr replied. "Your father wouldn't even speak your name; you were just 'that boy' to him. That didn't even last a week, though. About a month later, he told the fishermen he'd pay them for information about where you'd gone. It wasn't a 'wanted, dead or alive' kind of thing; he just wanted to know. Incidentally, wherever you're living, it's quite an achievement that you haven't been found. A few of those fishing skippers really wanted to claim the reward; I got the impression they were doing more searching than fishing."

"All I'll say is, we've got a really nice arrangement where we are, and we'd hate to be chased out of it," Hiccup nodded.

"In any case, there's no overt hostility towards you. That might change if anyone actually saw you, though," his father-in-law said. "Now, I have a question for you. Can you explain to me why you ran away with our daughter?"

"That's a long story," Hiccup sighed. "But I have a feeling the ladies are going to be chatting for a while, so I guess I have time for a long story." He shifted to a more comfortable position on the bench.

It took him almost as long to explain his position as it took Astrid and Edda to bring each other up to date. When he was done, Gunnarr sat silently for a few seconds.

Finally, he nodded. "I don't know what I would have done if I'd been in your position. I never had any problems being seen as useful – I have my skill as a butcher and my talent as an animal doctor, and the whole town knows they need skills like that.

"You're more what I would call a dreamer. You aren't happy with the way things are; it's as natural for you to find better ways to do things, as it is for most Vikings to find lunch when the sun is high. When everything is going smoothly and no one is cold or hungry, then a town like this might have room for a dreamer or two. But if there's any pressure, then everyone focuses on things that are immediate and practical, and dreamers become a luxury that the town can't afford. And let's face it – in a town so cold that the thermometers freeze, there's always some kind of pressure.

"In a different time or place, Hiccup, you'd be hailed as a genius and a hero. But a place like this... just isn't your place. It probably never will be. I can see why you felt like you had to make a place of your own. Are you all right, son?"

"Yes, I... I've got something in my eye, that's all," Hiccup said as he turned away. It was true – he did have something in his eye. Tears. In this one short visit, Gunnarr Hofferson showed that he understood Hiccup better than his own father did.

When he'd regained his composure, Hiccup turned back to face his father-in-law. "Sir, while we're leveling with each other... are you angry that I took your daughter away?"

"Not anymore. I understand your motives," Gunnarr replied. "I'm not as clear about hers. If she'd married someone from another island, she'd be just as far out of our lives as she is now, maybe more so. My main concern is that she is well cared-for and happy, no matter where she is. I can plainly see that you're caring for her well and making her very happy. The fact that you love each other is a nice bonus. I am very pleased that you keep bringing her back for these visits; they mean a lot to Astrid, and they mean the world to Edda."

Their discussion ended when the two women came back downstairs. Astrid yawned. "I hate to go, but we've got a long ride home," she said. They all nodded and said their goodbyes. Fortunately, Toothless had not wandered off, though he was plainly anxious to get back off the ground.

"One more thing, sir?" Hiccup asked Gunnarr. "Would you mind... if I call you 'dad'?"

The bigger man rested a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "I'd like that, son."

As they flew home in the darkness, Astrid murmured, "When we get home, I'm going straight to sleep. I hope you don't mind."

"That's okay. I know you're really tired these days," he said.

The next morning, it was Hiccup who was tired. Astrid had to work to get him awake. "Get up, you lazy Gronckle! What's wrong with you, Hiccup? You're never this slow out of bed. Are you feeling okay?"

"Jus' let me sleep a little longer," he begged.

"Sleep a little longer, and Toothless is going to stick his big scaly head in here, wondering where you are," she mock-scolded. She picked up his clothes from yesterday... and held them to her face and sniffed.

"All right, Hiccup. Start talking."

"Huh?"

"Your clothes have the scent of plasma-blast on them. You and Toothless were up all night doing something – that's why you're so tired – and I am not giving you a moment's peace until you've told me all about it."

Hiccup groaned. "Do you have to be so observant?" He forced himself up into a sitting position on the bed. "We were out shooting Berserker ships, if you must know."

"Go on," she demanded.

"I taught him to shoot the sails and masts," he said. "It forces them to row home for repairs, which should put them out of commission for a week, at the least. I figure, at eight shots a night, we can break the blockade in eight or nine days, and then your family won't be hungry."

"Is that all you were doing last night?" He sleepily nodded 'yes,' then realized that she was giving him The Look, and shook his head 'no.'

"Once Toothless reached his shot limit, we did a little fishing, and we dropped a couple of big ones in the snowbank outside your parents' house. And that really is all we did."

"You took on their entire fleet, all by yourself? You stubborn, stupid, wonderful man! I probably ought to hit you." She gave him a big, affectionate hug instead, encouraged him to lie down again, covered him with the furs, and left him to sleep. He finally awoke to the smell of lunch cooking over the fire; that got him moving.

"Now that you're awake," she began, "you need to help me teach Stormfly how to shoot the sails off a ship."

"That's not happening," he protested. "You're not going into battle in your condition."

"I can still ride Stormfly just fine," she countered, "and if I can ride her, then I can fight with her. The dragon does all the work, remember? Think how much faster we can break that blockade if we hit them with fourteen shots a night instead of eight!"

"Astrid, I know you're thinking like a warrior, but... I'm thinking like a husband and a father. It's natural for me to want to protect my family. Can you understand that?"

"Perfectly," she nodded. "I want to protect my family, too. All of them."

Hiccup gazed at her. He'd fought enough losing battles in his life; he knew he wasn't going to win this one. His eyes kept sweeping back to her belly. "Will you promise me you'll be careful?"

"I'm taking a very important passenger into battle with me," she nodded. "You'd better believe I'll be careful!"

"Okay," he sighed. "This isn't how I'd prefer to do things, but ordering you around never works, so...

"Toothless and I learned a few things last night. He refused to fire a shot into the hull of a ship; I think it's because he knows he'd kill people that way, and he doesn't see the need to kill. Flaming the masts and sails doesn't bother him. I suspect Stormfly is going to play by the same rule. We don't have to sink the ships; if we can force them off the blockade line for seven or eight days, that's just as good for our purposes.

"The second rule is, if a ship is on fire, do not attack another ship right next to it. The flames could give them enough light to see us, and if they can see us, they can throw sharp pointy things at us. We own the night; our dragons see much better in the dark than we do. Any kind of light is our enemy.

"The third rule is, don't take any unnecessary chances. If you don't have a clean shot at your target, pick another target. We've got all night to reach our shot limits, so make every shot count. Any questions?"

"Just one, Hiccup. I'm doing this to protect my family; why are you doing it? You don't owe Berk anything."

Hiccup rested a hand on hers. "The same reason as you, Astrid. I'm protecting my family."

"You mean your father?"

"I mean the family that has adopted me and welcomed me and accepted me..." He blinked hard. "If a few more people treated me the way your parents do, I never would have left Berk." She smiled and gave his hand a squeeze.

They took it easy that afternoon and evening, to make sure they wouldn't be too tired that night. The dragons sensed that something was up; Toothless was restless and Stormfly was quite agitated. It was a relief to finally strap themselves in and soar off into the darkness.

"There they are, right below us," Hiccup called. "I'm taking the first shot. One of us will dive, shoot, come back up and meet the other, then the other one will take a turn. We won't collide or shoot each other's targets that way. I'll be back in a minute or two." Toothless banked away before she could say anything.

Far below, she could just make out some darker shapes against the dark sea. Those dark shapes were starving her homeland and her family. She felt no pity for them; if Hiccup was right, then her dragon might be more compassionate than she was. He had done this before, not just last night, but long ago against the Red Death. He was an experienced dragon warrior, probably the only one in the world. She was a warrior, to be sure, but she'd never taken a dragon into battle. That was about to change! She felt a quick shiver of excitement.

She heard the whistle of Toothless' dive; she saw the purple fireball reach out and burst far below; she saw flames flare up. In less than a minute, those flames disappeared. The crew must have cut the burning sail down and thrown it overboard. Without a sail, that ship could no longer hold its position in the blockade line; it would have to row home and get another sail. How many extra sails did the Berserkers have? She was pretty sure they couldn't keep replacing fourteen a day for very long.

"Astrid?" Hiccup's voice was distant.

"I'm up here!" she called back. A couple of seconds later, she dimly saw Toothless pull up next to her.

"Couldn't he see me?" she asked. "I thought he had the best night vision of all of us."

"He could, and he does," Hiccup replied; she couldn't see his face, but his voice sounded like he was smiling again. "I called from a distance so we didn't scare the daylights out of you when we came up behind you in the dark. Are you ready to strike, warrior woman?"

"Just watch me!" she called. "Stormfly, down!" They glided toward the ocean, half a mile below them. She grinned to herself. She was the second Viking, and the first woman, ever to attack her enemies from the air! Then she thought about those ships and what they were doing to her family, and her smile faded. It was with a grim mask of warrior-trained rage that she silently swept out of the sky toward the blockade line.

She picked a ship that looked somewhat bigger than the others, and pointed it out to Stormfly. They flew alongside it until they were ready to flame; otherwise, her dragon might lose the ship in her blind spot. Stormfly turned sharply, angled down, and lit up the night with a spike of white-hot fire! The sail erupted immediately, followed by the mast itself. She pulled up, fiercely exultant. They would throw the burning sail overboard if they could, but with a damaged mast, that ship would be out of action for a lot longer than a week. "That one's for Dad," she said out loud as she rose back to Hiccup's altitude.

She dedicated her second strike to her mother, and numbers three and four to her brothers. Strike number five was for Hiccup, and her final shot was for... what were they going to call the baby? They hadn't made a decision about that yet. It didn't stop her from wrecking her target's ability to sail.

Hiccup finished his eight shots, and they turned for home, tired but triumphant. They'd both sleep late in the morning, for sure. They'd do it again the following night.

That morning, Stoick sent out a ship to scout the situation, as he did every morning since the blockade began. The scouts returned with exciting news – the enemy ships were fewer in number, and had to spread out so they could keep Berk surrounded. The following morning, there were only enough Berserkers left to guard the harbor itself, and the morning after that, the blockading ships were gone.

The town celebrated. Some of them praised Stoick for his firm, confident leadership during the crisis. Dagur the Deranged paid them a not-quite-friendly visit a week later, demanding to know where Berk's dragons were, and growing visibly frustrated when he couldn't find any.

Only a few citizens of Berk suspected the real reason the blockade had failed, and they didn't find out for sure until several months later.