Be warned: This chapter is an emotional whiplash. There is sweet cuteness – and then torture. I have tagged the scene, to be safe.

Also I realised that I'm a noob and I missed chapter 12, so I went back and straightened everything out.

Berkian Eddur - 2

Winter in Líf's Holt

Chapter 18 - Healed

The soul is healed by being with children.

― Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Hiccup clung on tightly to the saddle, the wind rushing by in his ears even with the helmet on at the extraordinary speed they were going. As it turned out, Hiccup and Toothless had been confined to their old hut for only a day - they'd left in the wee hours of the morning yesterday and probably landed on their old island way before the midday hour had even begun to creep in. By the time the winds and snow had abated enough to stick their nose outside and see whether they were snowed in, it had been night-time.

The dawn bloomed pink and mellow, as if the weather wasn't responsible for the of the destruction of the day before. The snow had been mixed with rain for too much of the storm to be more than slush and ice, so at least they hadn't been stuck inside the hut, but Hiccup had despaired at being able to follow the dragons.

"You've lost the trail haven't you, bud?"

Toothless gave him an eloquent look, narrower irises as he nodded towards his saddle.

" … you don't … need a trail, do you?"

It made sense, really, and he should have thought of it before. All the clues began to fall into place - the dragons' restlessness, the sea-dragons' migrations, Clover and Stormfly, Fireworm and Hoark's nightmare… it was beginning to form a picture in his mind. And of course, Toothless wouldn't be immune to it.

"Are we almost there, bud?" he said quietly. Toothless gave a growl, perhaps more violent than his usual answers, but still recognisable. Hiccup didn't dare pat his flank - if he was right, Hiccup was lucky that Toothless hadn't thrown him off. But his battle-brother recognised him even now, when he was focussed on one thing alone.

Powerful wing-beats ate up the miles faster than usual, the sea a blur underneath them faster than even Hiccup was used to. There was a sense of urgency in Toothless that Hiccup was feeling by proxy, so very few words were exchanged between them, the human doing his best to keep up with his dragon as they flipped and turned and sped ahead like a bat out of Hel's realm.

It wasn't three more minutes before the clouds parted. They'd been through Helheim's gate, across the ruins of Dragon Island, and out the other side. But now, the clear blue skies were becoming dotted with more and more dragons of every shape, colour and size. Hiccup looked around in amazement at the different species, some of which he'd never even seen, and almost sat up in his saddle before Toothless gave an impatient growl.

"Sorry bud, on it," he said, changing gear; Toothless's body rippled, and suddenly they were going at breakneck speed. If he thought they were going fast before, he'd been wrong. They twirled in the sky, rose, fell, rose again; Toothless began giving roars the likes of which Hiccup had never heard. Hiccup's theory was more than confirmed when in the clouds around them, shapes of familiar wings began to glide upwards towards them in the cotton white haze.

"Bud, put me down, I'll engage your emergency fin," he whispered in Toothless' ear. "Like that, the girls won't see me and get spooked." Toothless' eyes were almost as narrow as they would go, but there was still a spark of love in there among the instinct that made him look up at his human, then snort and nod.

Without warning, Toothless threw himself into a nose dive. The other dragons followed, and Hiccup could only pray that they didn't find him a tasty meal; he was assuming they were all night furies, but he'd never even seen another one, and he had no idea whether dragons liked to mix species - it's not like he and Toothless ever had a long and involved conversation about his taste in scaly ladies.

They landed with a jarring thump, and his dragon gave a shake and a muted roar of impatience.

"Alright, bud, keep your scales on!" he said, feeding off Toothless' nervousness and excitement as he fixed the foot-gear in place and then hitched all the proper levers and wrenches. Hiccup barely had time to unhook his leg and get off the saddle before Toothless was rearing up and letting out an ear-splitting roar again.

Three black dashes landed around them, three heads rising with cocked, twitching wings. Hiccup backed away slowly, careful not to fall over when at the same time he was rather mesmerised by the sight; three other night furies. He'd never seen this many together; they didn't look pleased to be this close to one another, either.

Toothless roared again, spreading his wings but not taking off yet. He pulled them backwards, showing off his chest and wingspan, slapping his tail and growling at them. One of them, obviously seeing too much competition, ducked her head and flew off. The other two dragons came closer cautiously. Hiccup hid behind a rock and looked on.

"Whoa, bud," he whispered with a smirk. "Two girls at once; who's the lady killer? You are! Go get 'em!"

The two females approached his dragon, Toothless not moving an inch from his pose; wings cocked back, chest stretched forward, eyes half-lidded in a near-disinterested look as both females sniffed him insistently. One of them with ice-blue eyes began to rub against his wing, licking his dorsal fins and pushing her neck against his; Toothless didn't react immediately, though his tail stopped slapping the ground.

The other female didn't much seem to like the advances and attacked the first one. They went down in a tumble of wings and fins, circling one another, barking and uncovering their teeth as they wanted to bite each others' throat out. Scales flew everywhere at they went for each other's necks, and Toothless just sat down, looking on. After a while, when a few scars had been given, he gave a growl and both females froze, looking at him, before he blasted at the second girl. The female with blue eyes instantly crooned at the other one in what could be nothing but glee, and she loped up to Toothless, purring and rubbing against his chin.

Hiccup turned away when they began to lick each other insistently, crawling into the sparse foliage around on hands and knees; he really didn't want to see this. He and Toothless were close, but certainly not this close.

Huh, Toothless the lady-killer. Two girls fighting for the right to get humped by his bud; Hiccup felt a surge of misplaced pride as he navigated the rocky terrain to try to stay out of his best friend's way. He got back up onto his feet when he judged he was far enough awa- Erk, nope, nope, not far enough!

He walked away double-time has he caught site of the - er - proceedings from the tail of his eye. The roaring was telltale enough.

So he focussed on the rest of the island, trying to find his bearings. Years of flying all over the place had given him a good sense of distance and space; they'd flown East of the Dragon Isle for a good five hours, so they were not more than a day off from Berk. The shape of the island and the gritty, black rock told him it had probably been formed by a submerged volcano - a fact confirmed by the yellow, sulfuric beach and steaming pools of water pocketing the entire land-mass. There was little to no vegetation - the reedy plants he'd first scarpered into seeming to be the only plant able to survive the craggy rocks and toxic, sulfuric air.

And almost every inch of it was dotted in dragons of all shapes and sizes.

This island seemed one of many, too. He walked about, seeming to cause the many dragon pairs milling around none-too-much worry; he probably smelled too much like Toothless to give alarm. Some pairs were roosting, others were still in the process of fighting for their mates. Others still were returning from the sea, regurgitating food into a roosting partner's mouth. Some were feeding a rock-nest of newly hatched younglings, most of them with their eyes still sealed.

It made the whole spit-the-fish-back-at-you thing Toothless had done for him the first time seem sort of .. weird. It made him snort at the face his dragon would make if Hiccup asked whether he'd just thought the human was scrawny when they'd met, or whether he should call him 'dad'.

Oh, boy, dear god-father Odin - he was going to call Toothless dad. For different reasons.

Babies. The dragons came here to have babies.

He sat down on a rock as he huffed a laugh to himself. He couldn't help the wide grin that spread across his face as he thought of all the little ones coming back to Berk - oh, they'd have one for Spit now. And also for all the new recruits who were going to alight on Berk next Spring. They'd probably be old enough to pair off by Spring too, great timing for the training to begin. So many eager young dragons, meeting children for the first times, bonding, tumbling, playing and learning together.

Ah, he almost regretted giving Ætta that terror now, but there was no reason why she couldn't keep Hiss and chose herself another little one - one who would grow big enough to carry her, some day. A nadder, perhaps. Yes; certainly a nadder, just like her moth- er, aunt.

Another laugh escaped Hiccup as he ran a hand down his face. "Ok, Frigga, I give up," he called out towards Asgard, cottony clouds seeming to laugh at him as the sun winked in and out of sight. "No need to pile it on this high!"

A couple of dragons beside him grumbled at him for being so loud, and he just gave a chuckling apology and sat down lower, on the rocky sand and sprawled backwards onto the warmth of it. He smirked up at the sky, and something bumped into him from the side, biting into his harness and pulling ineffectually. Apparently, some of these little tykes were already mobile.

Babies, family. He was surrounded by dozens of dragon families, all with new little ones to take care of. They'd come here almost without having a choice, following an instinct-driven compass to ensure the new generation. And somehow … he got the feeling this hadn't happened in a long time. He wasn't sure if the Red Death had anything to do with it, but all these dragons seemed almost frantic to find each other here again.

Nadders in the deep North didn't migrate to mate. They stayed together, and he'd seen nests and hatchlings during the summer. It also seemed such a strange time to have hatchlings; the middle of Winter. Maybe the Red Death had disrupted the breeding cycle. But it was all speculation. He'd speak to Fishlegs about it later, and they would compare notes. Boy would he be happy when they returned…

The growling and tugging at his side became more insistent, and he raised a head to look at the little marauder who was trying to drag him away as a conquest. It was a baby nightmare, a multitude of gem colours on its skin, vibrant red flushing up its legs and flanks. As soon as it noticed Hiccup's attention, it gave out an excited thrill and hopped about, flapping and falling over in that ungainly, baby way of moving around that tore an endeared noise out of Hiccup's mouth.

Boy he was glad these didn't hatch on Berk. He'd never be able to live it down, cooing at dragon babies.

"You're going to rip that," he told the baby nightmare mildly. "And then I'll be mad. You won't like me when I'm mad." The baby puffed out it's chest and tried to blow fire, a puff of smoke exiting its mouth and making it cough. Hiccup chuckled, much to the hatchling's offense. "That's how you want it, aye? Then here I come!"

The hatchling took off with an excited chirp as Hiccup took his time to stand - damned blistered stump, hurting like Helheim's teeth! - and then lumber after the little one in mock menace. A pack of tiny nadders, light on their feet already with their stubby little horns and big eyes, joined the fun, and quickly he was chasing around a tiny flock of baby dragons, all squeaking and tumbling and tugging at his boot when he didn't pay them attention for too long. The sun was setting by the time he fell onto his arse, panting laughter with exhaustion. The hatchlings gathered around him as if he was about to spew food for them.

"Sorry, you guys, I don't do the vomiting thing. It wouldn't taste as good as your mum's with all that acid, that's for sure." One of the babies began to butt his shoulder - a small gronkle, though small was relative - and another began whining and worrying at his chin. Hiccup rose with a sigh. "Let's go look for your mums, yeah?" he said, and the nadder baby ducked it's head into his neck, biting at - "No!" he said, startling it, and it cackled in worried protest. He pat it on the head, but quickly fingered Astrid's pendant to make sure it was alright. Thankfully, baby nadder jaws didn't seem strong enough to bend Gobber's work.

Belatedly, with a sinking feeling, he realised that he had a promise to keep to someone important back home. Two promises, and he'd almost broken the one where he'd always been there fore her, while the other one to be there before Snoggletog may be sitting on the cliff. Still, he couldn't exactly hop onto Toothless and head back, not when he was … busy. Ack, no thinking about it. How did Toothless do it, give a damn and actually giving him this self-satisfied leer whenever he came into the barn smelling of Astrid and harnessing his dragon friend for a night flight to get rid of … frustration. Eh, dragon sensibilities had thicker skin, apparently.

The tiny posse of dragon children that were tottering and playing around his feet were apparently leading him somewhere. They were also much older than any of the other dragon babies that were hatching around them. With a few chirps, they dashed ahead, the baby nightmare he'd picked up flapping a short distance before it too began ambling towards a group of adult dragons. Hiccup almost turned away before a familiar roar made him turn back for a second look. Hoark's nightmare and Fireworm both had their necks stretched as far as they would go to peer at him. Meatlug and Farthog were both snoring on one side, the gaggle of gronkle babies flying and tumbling towards them. Stormfly and Clover were intertwined in an array of colourful scales, licking and nursing at the nadder babies that had already returned to their nest.

"Huh," Hiccup said, moving forward cautiously, only to be greeted rather enthusiastically by the parents as well as the hatchlings. A part of him found it strange that the parent dragons weren't more aggressive towards him with all their newly hatched young out and about, but none of them were paying him any mind, and certainly not the dragons who were most used to him. He sat down beside Fireworm's flank, two other nightmare babies coming to sniff at him curiously as the one with red flanks flopped right in his lap as if it owned him.

A cry went up into the sky, and Hiccup's head jerked to it so fast his neck cracked. Two black shapes were circling the island, playfully batting at each other. Some of the other dragons ducked and covered their nests, but the Berk dragons gave a collective gaggle of roars, and both figures dove towards them.

The two night furies landed with the usual, flowing grace of black water. Hiccup didn't dare move up to his friend yet, peering at him to see what his reaction was, before noticing that Toothless was craning his neck and peering this way and that, the female night fury beside him apparently content to rest against his side and look around the area and dragons her partner had chosen as neighbours. Hiccup stood slowly, and Toothless roared and let his tongue loll happily the moment he spotted him. Bounding over, the dragon pushed him and nudged him with his head until he was standing right in front of the female who was backing away with some alarm and giving small yips and growls. Toothless growled warningly before he gave Hiccup another nudge,

"Bud, calm down!" he said with a laugh. "Give her a chance to get to know me, no? I remember one really skittish night fury who wouldn't let me touch him for hours on end!" Toothless gave a huff and an outraged look, and the other night fury gave what Hiccup had come to recognise as the dragons' version of a laugh - deep serial vocalisations with shining eyes and a cheeky grin. Hiccup smiled at her and held his arm out. She stopped laughing abruptly, backing away slightly with fearful, uncertain eyes, and Hiccup purposefully began rubbing Toothless' chin while he watched her. "It's ok. I don't bite. I really hope you don't either."

And it happened all over again, the timid, side-stepping approach, the bright eyes shooting from hand to face, the scaly nose - slightly smaller this time - pressing into his palm in an outline of warm, vibrant scales. She twitched her nose once she moved back, but instead of snorting and running away, she gave her nose a pensive lick, then licked his still-outstretched hand, proceeding to his face and armour.

"Arugh," he complained, trying his best to keep the drool out of his mouth as Toothless laughed at him. When the female was satisfied, she smacked her lips, as if evaluating his taste, then trotted off to find a free space - probably to nestle down and have a good nap. Toothless had a rather self-satisfied gleam in his eyes Hiccup didn't want to think about too hard. Then he had the audacity to puff his chest out and nod his head towards her, looking at Hiccup expectantly.

"Gotta say, you do have good taste." Toothless preened. Hiccup contained a snort by a hair. "I really hope the babies resemble their mother, because their dad, ho boy…" Toothless gave him an open-mouthed look of betrayal and then huffed at him, whacking him with a wing. Hiccup only laughed, following his disgruntled friend as they nudged each other, Hiccup helping out in what turned out to be a search for comfy rocks.

It was only fair that he helped his dragon friend build his nest. Toothless had been Hiccup's nest for five years.

=0=

This next bit contains torture. I'm not pulling all the punches.

=0=

Thuggory swallowed hard as he followed his father into Berk's prisons. He'd seen the cells back home, and to be honest, Berk seemed to have a much easier policy on its prisoners than the Meatheads did, because these cells looked almost hospitable next to theirs, treating their content with respect, at least. This cell in particular, however, made his stomach lurch with nausea as the smell of blood permeated the walls.

They hadn't gone easy on him, and for that he got a sadistic sort of pleasure he'd gotten entirely from his bloodline, he supposed. Still, it wasn't a sight he was going to relish for too long, nor was it one he was going to brag about to his children.

The curl of worry bloomed in his abdomen once again when he thought of Heather, her precious belly, and the very real danger they were all in.

"Say it again, pond scum," Stoick hissed, twisting the man's fingers another turn. The other man screamed, but it ended in a cackle, his missing teeth making speckles of blood fly off his face to spot those around him.

"If you're so happy to hear it, I should have said it sooner - but then you wouldn't all have been stuck here, would you," he said with the same smirk of unadulterated, mad joy on his face. "Yes, I sent a bird off yesterday just before you traitors to your bloodlines got me. They know you're all stuck here like so many sitting ducks, with no dragons and more folk than weapons children, elderly, gravid women-" This last he directed at Thuggory in the sly, sleazy tone of satisfaction that precedes a man doing a horrifying act to an innocent just because he can. Thuggory's fist landed on the man's mouth twice before he managed to curb the urge to smash the rest of the man's face in. No one in the room even tried to stop him. He wiped the blood off his knuckles on the man's own clothes, not wanting to dirty his own.

"You find it funny, don't you, little shit?" Wolftooth said. Thuggory had never seen the UglyThug chief seethe, but apparently, he had a temper. Dogsbreath was there too, and Cami had been the one pressing the hot poker into the man's flesh with uttermost glee, speaking about something the man should remember next time he thought about raping an innocent little girl.

Sleet. What they'd planned to do to Sleet. For the love of Asgard, one of these bastards was her father - though apparently, not this one.

"I find it funny, too," Wolftooth went on, picking up a sword and toying with it as he moved towards the man who used to be his general. "You're being taken to pieces in a room far away from your home. Your wife and sons back home have no idea that as soon as I land in UglyThug again, I'm going to set fire to your hall, kill all of them and put their heads on pikes. Then I'm going to take your daughters and give them to my men - just as you planned to do."

"You wouldn't dare, you rotten scum," he hissed, more blood flying from his mouth.

"Ah, wouldn't I?" Wolftooth went on. "Have I gone soft, you think? Is that your opinion of me? Ah well, better rectify it then. And what better way than to punish traitors horribly and publically, aye? It's true. Your daughters should get their special treatment in the public square."

Thuggory shivered. He had no idea whether Dogsbreath's father meant that or not. It was against treaty laws, but no one was saying anything to protest, not even Cami.

"What I would like to know," Bertha asked, her voice almost suave, "is why. Good standing, good position, riches. You had them all. You threw it to the dogs. Why? You got bored one morning and thought it was a good idea to align yourself with a madman?"

"We wanted the dragon power to ourselves," the man finally yelled. "You bunch of incompetent idiots don't realise what you are doing here - giving up that boy's knowledge to these bastards when we had him in our houses and homes for years, teaching us, giving his knowledge to us. Why should he come back to Berk when we could have kept him there for our use?" He turned to Stoick with a bloodied sneer. "Don't think we don't know - don't think the whole archipelago doesn't know why the boy left. You all tiptoe about it like polite little faggots, but the truth is that Berk didn't want him." He gave that malicious smirk again, "his father didn't want him. So he came to us, and we should have kept him!"

"And you think he would have left UglyThung be after I was killed? You think Hiccup would have been taken to UglyThug? You truly are stupid." Wolftooth actually laughed. "Stoick, you hear this personal insult for your son and heir. What is the punishment you request?"

"Cut his leg off," Stoick said with a flat tone in his voice, as if he were commenting about the weather. Probably not even that, as yesterday's storm would probably warrant more feeling than that. "Maybe he'll become UglyThug's dragon trainer like that."

"I find I like that suggestion," Wolftooth replied, bringing down the sword he was handling once, twice, three times, without second thoughts. Even as the man's screams vibrated around the room. His threat to Heather and their baby rang in Thuggory's ears, and he couldn't master any pity, just disgust at having to witness this. "Now, Crocus my dear, what else do we need to know? Hurry it on, will you? If you're nice and tell us everything, we may be on time to stop the blood flow." The man's eyes turned wild, the whites showing all around. "Drip, drip, drip," Wolftooth went on playfully, holding up the bloodied sword to the fire, making the room smell of burned blood. "Your time passes."

Thuggory dragged himself into the guest hall later, more shell-shocked than he would have liked to admit. As he crept into the main room, shuffling his clothes off and throwing them into the fire, boots and all, he shivered with more than the cold. He slid into bed, curling up around his lovely wife's body, his head on her belly and his arms curling around her protectively. The child inside her gave a happy, jaunty little kick like it always did when his dad gave his mum a tummy rub.

That man's threats still rang in ears like trapped bees, like so many punches to the head leaving him reeling.

"Hmmm, hey," Heather muttered sleepily, her hand falling to his hair with practiced ease so that she didn't even open her eyes as he looked up at her above the swell of her augmented breast.

"Sorry I woke you, darling," he replied, keeping his voice even. He gloried in the nudge she gave him at the endearment, even if she continued caressing his head after. "Late meeting. Go back to sleep."

"Mkay!" she replied happily, and he sighed in relief at her oblivious return to sleep. It made him want to shudder, her knowing what had been said in that room. It just wasn't going to happen. Ever.

It had been Madfoot's turn next to join the 'fun' party. Thankfully, the heirs had been dismissed. Gods in Asgard how was he going to stand it when he couldn't get away after the first one? No wonder his dad drank so much.

Thuggory sighed, closing his eyes, trying to forget the looming threat with all his might. He held Heather in his arms, cradling her tenderly - his family was all here, in the circle of his chest. And they were all in danger.

His little baby nudged his arm again, and Thuggory felt himself relax as he smiled involuntarily. A little foot, unmistakable shape. The little boy - it was a boy no matter what Cami said - was already a fighter, like his dad.

He'd protect them. Even if Fanghorn didn't come back on time. They'd be safe, even if he died in battle and never knew his son, they would be safe. Thuggory let himself relax into sleep with his son's foot nudging his palm through Heather's belly, the smell of their combined skin in his nose.

=0=

"Hop to the market, one two three, get a bunch of apples, three times three; then the man will ask for pay, but you'll say you have no hay, and run away, run away four five six!"

Ætta watched as Dartbolt hopped around on the chalk-drawn grid Aunty Astrid had thought her with all the different numbers and runes on it, her much taller friend tottering slightly to hop short steps. Ætta knew she was littler than Dartbolt, because her sister Dartfoot was her friend, and they were the same age, and Dartbolt was Dartfoot's BIG sister. That meant she was bigger. So the grid Ætta drew was a little small for Dartbolt.

But Dartfoot couldn't count, and Dartbolt could, and Aunty Astrid had been teaching her for the past five months! She could count to ten and write her name and Uncle Hiccup's name!

"I want to play too!" Darfoot said, puffing out her cheeks. And it was only fair, Ætta thought, because her poor friend wasn't playing because she didn't know how to count, and it was sad to sit down and watch other children play. Ætta knew that - she had been closed in nana's house for so very long until Uncle Hiccup had come and rescued her!

"I know another game!" Ætta said; Aunty Astrid had taught her this one, then she'd gone into the other room to be angry at nana, but nana had only laughed. So she threw a rock at the grid and began hopping on the steps one after the other, irrelevantly of the runes or numbers in them as she sang the tune Aunty Astrid had started to teach her, and which then nana had thought her the rest when Aunty Astrid strangely refused to continue. Ætta had almost been upset at Aunty Astrid, but then nana had told her that her aunt only wanted to sing this one with Uncle Hiccup.

She didn't really understand, but she supposed it was a mummy and daddy thing.

"Throw out the old clothes get in the new, fill up the chest and put on the stew!" Tottering on one foot, she picked up the stone and tossed it again. "Give him the sword and give her the ring, braid up her hair behind earrings. Wait from the fruit to fall to the grass, after Thor's hammer knocked on the glass!" She stopped where she was, looking at the other two girls, "we can sing it together! My nana taught me this one!"

"I like it!" Dartfoot said excitedly. Ætta got off the grid and gave her the stone, and then she began singing the ditty and clapping her hands, Dartfoot and Dartbolt following uncertainly until they learned the tune.

They had been playing the new game for a while when one of the older boys, with his baby nadder still with him, came up to them with a wave.

"Um, hello," he said, and he sounded a bit silly, looking around like he wasn't sure who he was speaking to. His nadder was not as big as Aunty Astrid's, and Ætta held up a hand to it. It came to give it a sniff, but it moved away with disinterest.

Humph, she didn't much like nadders, she decided - she prefered a pretty neigh furry, like Uncle Hiccup's.

"Have you seen Hilda?" the new boy asked. "Snotlout wanted all the ones who still have dragons to go to the front of the hall, next to the doors. He has something important to tell us."

Ætta instantly felt sad, remembering Hiss, and the fact that he wasn't there. But Aunty Astrid had promised that Uncle Hiccup would bring them back, and Uncle Hiccup always kept his promises.

Still, Ætta supposed that it was ok to worry about Hiss, the same way that Aunty Astrid was worried about Uncle Hiccup. She had promised Uncle Hiccup to take care of Hiss, so that meant she could worry about him.

"I haven't seen her since a while ago, she was with her mama," Dartbolt replied. "Does Snotlout want us now? I still have my little-est terror."

"No, he said in an hour. What are you doing?" the boy asked curiously.

"We're learning hopping games that Ætta is teaching us," Dartbolt replied. "She learned them from Astrid, Master Hiccup's promised!"

"Oh!" the boy replied, and his cheeks went red for some reason. He must be feeling as hot as Ætta then. "Can I play?"

"Yes," Ætta shrugged, "Aunty Astrid used to play with Uncle Hiccup, so boys can play too."

"Aunty, Uncle?"

"Aunty Astrid is my Aunty," Ætta replied, thinking it was sully that he did not understand, "and so Uncle Hiccup is my Uncle, because he married Aunty Astrid."

He blinked at her, and Ætta wondered whether he was teasing her, and whether she could punch him. Uncle Hiccup hadn't liked it, but he was an adult. Maybe she could still punch not adult people when they teased her?

There was a loud booming noise, and many people made frightened noises. Dartfoot hugged Dartbolt and hid her face, and Ætta really wished Hiss was there, or nana. All of her cousins were with their mamas, but her own mama was feeling unwell, so she was not allowed to stay beside her.

"What's happening!" the boy asked, sounding like boys usually did when they were asking for something and trying to look taller. It was unfair, really, that all the adults had to be so tall, and they had to be so short, but no one was telling them what the big noise had been.

"Just the wind, lad!" a big man with a big beard said as he passed by, petting the boy on the helmet. The nadder gave him a sniff and then sat down, and the boy sat down next to the dragon.

"The wind is still strong," he said sadly. "I hope Master Hiccup's ok."

"Why wouldn't he be?" Ætta asked, feeling offended for her Uncle. "Uncle Hiccup is the best dragon rider ever. He and Toothless are heroes, my nana says so. And he promised Aunty Astrid something, and he hasn't done it yet, so of course he'd come back."

"But the storm was really big this time, and my dad was saying that maybe the sea took him," the boy replied sadly.

"That's very silly, what would the sea do with Uncle Hiccup?" Ætta replied.

"I … I don't know," the boy answered, sounding thoughtful. Ætta smiled.

"See! So the sea wouldn't need to take Uncle Hiccup. Let's go ask Aunty Astrid, she will know for sure!"

"Ok!" he asked, instantly standing up. He took her hand, and she began dragging him towards the last place she'd seen her Aunt. sure enough, she was still there, sitting on a bench at the table with many tall people around her.

"... you sure you're ok with that, Snotlout?" she said, turning towards a very big man with a big horny helmet. The boy next to her gave her a nudge and told her to be quiet, and Ætta understood that it was because the adults were talking. they usually didn't like it when they were interrupted.

"I'll ask Hiccup if he has other plans for me when he's back," the big man answered, and Ætta punched the boy triumphantly, pointing towards him. The boy rubbed his elbow, but he smiled back. Even the big man knew that Uncle Hiccup would be back soon. "But I don't think he'll have a problem. I don't have a dragon, and the ground forces are pretty set. I'll go to the safe haven; I've recruited a few of the young ones who still have dragons to come with us. They're too small to fight, but they can help protect."

"Good call," Astrid nodded, patting the bigger man's shoulder and looking back down at all the different papers. "Ruffnut, I'll need you on Flat-Fart. It's one of the only dragons to stay behind. Droplaug agreed to take Woodnut. But I want you to know one thing: you are to play it safe, hear me? That babe's too young."

"I'll do the boring thing, no problem. Fishlegs promised to come down for me in Helheim, and I'm too scared to see if he actually would."

"It'd be awesome…" A man who looked like her replied, and the table laughed. Ætta didn't understand why. She didn't really understand anything of what they were saying, speaking about busy-workers and arm-nadder. She began to creep forward, pulling the boy with her until they were under the table, many legs around them making her feel safe. She sat down, and the boy sat next to her, looking a bit more worried than she was. She wondered why, and tried to listen to what the adults were saying better.

"Stoick asked us to take care of all the guests - that goes without saying. However, allies or not, I propose we blind-fold them on the way to the safe place. We can't let outsiders to Berk know. Cami, would your women have objections?"

"Oh, none of my women will be going there. They'll be on ground forces, the lot of them. At least Sting came back, that rascal… But I think the women from Freezing will probably go there, and the ones from UglyThug for sure. Sleet, you have no problem, right?"

"What's a blindfold?" Ætta asked. The boy took his belt and put on his eyes. Oh! They were going to play hide and seek!

"There's the problem of the animals." Oh, that was nana! "We either start carting the lot now, and see what we can do for eggs and milk, or else we may not have time to save them. And I don't see those beasts be merciful to their own kind."

There was a bunch of grumbles. So the sheep were being naughty to other sheep?

"Let's give that until tomorrow. Hopefully, Hiccup will be back by then. With Toothless' help, it will be easier." The boy grinned at her when Aunty Astrid spoke. She gave him a smile back.

"And if he isn't?"

"Then we'll just have to go it the old way and lug the lot ourselves," Aunty sighed. "Very well, I need to ask Stoick a few things. I will meet you all again here in an hour."

The other people around the table began leaving, Aunty Astrid remained sitting there, and Ætta peered up at her from under the table. She was rubbing her forehead. Uncle Hiccup did that sometimes when he was thinking, and now Aunty Astrid was doing it too. Two very tall men came up to the table before she could pull on her Aunty's boot, and their big feet stopped there. One of them was the big man who had spoken before, she realised.

"Astrid, listen," he said in a low voice, "They've been noticing some movement on the South-West coast. Thunk came in to report it to Stoick a few minutes ago."

"What sort of movement?" Ætta blinked as her Aunty almost sounded scared. Aunty stood up, and Ætta looked at the boy sitting beside her, who returned her gaze with wide eyes.

"No one's docked or landed - there are only one set of prints. But they're pretty sure something's going on down there. All the tra- … the ones we know of are accounted for. They're thinking there's someone else."

"That is … really bad," Aunty replied worriedly. There was noise on top of their heads, as Aunty Astrid moved some things around on the table. "Did Stoick set up patrols?"

"Yeah. We're spread out a little thin though." The other man was talking now, and Ætta didn't know his name.

"Who's that?" she whispered to the boy beside her, who seemed to know everyone.

"It's Tuffnut," he replied. fiddling with his tunic and looking a bit nervous. Ætta took his hand in hers, because she was beginning to feel scared, too.

"Very well. Just tell Cami I said that, Tuff, and she'll know what I'm talking about," Aunty Astrid said. Ætta had no idea what she had missed, but Aunty sounded brave again, and Ætta felt better.

"How do you women do that… it's like you have this weird… mind-talk thing…"

The two men moved away, and Ætta decided it was time to talk to her Aunty, before someone else came to steal her attention away. She let the boy's hand go, and scrambled up to stand next to Aunty Astrid, pulling on her skirt and furs.

"Aunty!"

"Goodness!" Aunty Astrid blinked down at her, then gave her a smile, though it looked more tired than usual. Ætta didn't like that - her mummy often looked tired, and now she was ill.

"Aunty Astrid should go to bed," she said sternly. Her Aunty didn't look impressed and she folded her arms.

"And that is something that I am going to say back at you, little lady. Now how long have you been … you two been under there. Gustav, you should know better."

The boy came out, his cheeks looking all pink again as he spoke to her Aunty, and he was holding his helmet sheepishly. The small nadder that was with him trotted up, as it hadn't fit under the table with them.

"But everyone's up," Ætta replied. "And … is something scary going to happen, Aunty?" She folded her arms, happy to feel her dolls tucked into the belt of her tunic. They made her feel better when Uncle Hiccup wasn't near.

Aunty looked at the both of them, her hand absently petting the dragon. Then she sat down and lifted Ætta into her lap. "Maybe it is," she replied as she pulled the boy over too. "And when it does, I want you both to make me a promise."

Ætta held her little finger out right away. Aunty Astrid's was bandaged, so she was very careful when she hooked her own to it. Aunty Astrid was tough though - she only smiled, although the bandage meant she must have an ow.

"I need you two to obey all the adults. Gustav, Snotlout called you all to meet in a while; please make sure you listen. Hiccup isn't back yet, but if- when he is, he'll need us backing him up. And we're counting on you and Baldr, alright?"

"Of course!" the boy replied, puffing his chest out. He looked like he was going to fall over forwards. Ætta giggled at him.

"And you will go with your mama and aunties, alright?" Aunty Astrid continued, turning to her. Ætta nodded. "I will be busy, and so will Uncle Hiccup. Aunty Droplaug will be telling people where to go, so if you get lost, you go to her. You know aunty Droplaug, yes?"

"Yes," Ætta nodded. But Aunty Astrid wasn't smiling still. And Uncle Hiccup had told her that sometimes, you had to smile at someone. Then she noticed a wooden pendant and fingered it. "Is this new, Aunty? I've never seen it."

"No," she replied with a sigh. "It's Uncle Hiccup's. I'm keeping it till he's back. I still have to finish it, see?"

"Oh!" Ætta took her dolls out of her belt, bringing her Uncle Hiccup doll forward. "Then can you make one for him too?"

Aunty Astrid looked at her dolls for a moment, especially the part where their hands were tied. Then she nodded, but she didn't smile, not really. Ætta she knew she was right when she spoke to Uncle Hiccup last time. He had better come home soon. Aunty Astrid always got so sad and lonely when he went away.

"I'm going to smile at you, Aunty," Ætta said, folding her arms sternly while her leg wiggled, so she kicked it because she felt slightly nervous. But Uncle Hiccup had told her this, and she wasn't going to let him down. "Uncle Hiccup said that sometimes you have to smile at someone to pick up almonds, and other times to pick up these," she touched Aunty Astrid's mouth at the corners. Her Aunty blinked at her, and then the corners of her mouth went up and she smiled. Ætta smiled back happily - Uncle Hiccup was always right.

"Thank you, sweetheart," she said, and Ætta preened, so happy that Aunty Astrid loved her too and that she'd made her smile. She gave her a big hug, and Aunty hugged her so very tight, too. Ætta snuggled into her chest, listening to hear heart for a few moments, until Aunty Astrid sent her with the boy to play with Dartbolt and Dartfoot again, she skipped happily and giddily away. Maybe when her mama felt better, she could ask her to spend more time with Uncle and Aunty. Like that she'd smile more too.

=0=

The joys of little children. And of wake up calls. And yes, baby night furies. Foxy and I have agreed that Toothless has more than enough game, and letting it go to waste is a criminal offense.