Chief And Dragon
Whilst all of the other Vikings and Dragons were more then content to lounge about in the celebrations after the Chief's Birthday Ceremony, drinking, feasting, singing and wrestling, the Chief himself had other plans. Gothi had fallen asleep in a quiet corner, smothered by her litter of Terrible Terrors, the newcomers snuggling up to her. Mulch and Bucket were spending half their time chatting to each other and the other half bonding with Seacatch and feeding him ale and fish. Gobber had drank more than his fair share of ale and snoring loudly against Grump's slumbering form.
Like an over excited birthday boy, Stoick was going to try out his best present. Hiccup had promised to make a saddle to accommodate Stoick's size and Skullcrusher's form soon. But the Chief could not wait that long, plus Stoick knew the lad had sneaked off somewhere quiet with a certain young Shield Maiden. The Vast chuckled to himself, his Hope and Heir had done good and he deserved a well earned break. The Pride of Berk had really outdone himself this year, finding a Dragon for his Chief, a fine specimen indeed Stoick had thought to himself, as well as new Dragons for Gobber, Gothi, Mulch and Bucket, and squaring off and defeating Dagur the Deranged in armed combat. Hiccup was now doing he wanted to do and now Stoick was going to do he wanted to do.
Stoick led Skullcrusher to the clearing where he, Hiccup and the other Dragons had first arrived at Berk that very day. Chief and Dragon faced each other, and the Viking raised his large weathered hand, the Dragon stepped forward and touched the hand with his horned face. Barely containing his excitement, Stoick leapt onto the Rumblehorn's back.
'Up Skullcrusher,' the Vast barked with glee.
No sooner was this said, the Dragon bolted upwards so fast, the four hundred pound Chieftain was almost left behind. Hiccup wasn't lying about speed Stoick thought with surprise, keeping a firm grip on one of Skullcrusher's armoured plates to prevent himself from being blown off the huge airborne reptile. With the wind gushing into his face, the Chief was definitely enjoying his new gift. And they was only getting started.
Elsewhere on Berk
In a secluded canyon away from the Village, a fire burned in the darkness near the lake. It was only a small fire, but it was enough to illuminate to the two slumbering Dragons and their awake Riders. Since those two faithful meetings with Toothless, Hiccup and Astrid had decided that this canyon was their place, like the Twin's Soggy Alone Place. It was where both Vikings had met Toothless, and where it could be said their relationship had been born. Hiccup had finished his duties and moral obligations for his Chief, as well as his most recent adventure in finding a new group of Dragons, so he was finally spending a few quiet hours of peace with his Lady. The two shared a buffet and a couple of bottles of ale.
'Finally, peace with the most important woman in my life,' the Haddock stated, placing his arm around the Hofferson's waist.
'Most important woman, you say,' the Shield Maiden, snuggling into the side of her Champion, feeling warm and comfortable in his hold.
'Well Milady, if I said most important person, we'd have to start an argument between Toothless, my Dad and yourself,' he chuckled. 'If that was said, you would be punching me hard and the whole of Berk would be hiding in fear from two of the deadliest Viking warriors in the Village.'
'Good point,' Astrid responded with a chuckle of her own and a light punch in her man's shoulder. 'Still, I'm amazed you beat Dagur one on one.'
'You thought I wouldn't?' this said cocked eyebrow and a smirk.
'No of course not. . . . .what I mean is. . . . .well you know what I mean,' Astrid stuttering as she panicked. 'You've changed a lot Hiccup. . . . .which is great. . . .but I was concerned you might not beat him and might not come to Berk. . . . . to me I suppose as well.'
Hiccup smiled as the Shield Maiden stuttered in search for an explanation, amused that his old awkwardness had rubbed off on her. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her in a deep kiss, silencing her babbling. Astrid muffled her shock at his interruption, before relaxing and pushing herself into her Champion's lips. Eventually after a few minutes of intense making out, both came up for air.
'Nice to know you care about me Milady,' Hiccup chuckled, pecking the Hofferson on the lips and pulling her into a warm embrace. 'Still I was amazed myself I was able to hold my own against Dagur. I would have avoided a fight so not to provoke hostilities between us and the Berserkers, but when Skullcrusher led us there and I saw what they were doing to Grump, something twisted and snapped inside me, and I knew I had to attack Dagur and save that Dragon. I went berserk. It frightened me a bit, what if I did to someone I care for? Sometimes I think that I might go too far that I might not come back again. End up being no better then the people I'm fighting.'
Astrid lifted her head up and looked at her boyfriend's face. His features were twisted in concentration, and his green eyes were an intense star into nothing as if he was in deep thought, in conflict with himself. She shuffled closer to him, playing with his hair, making a small braid, as she thought of an answer.
'You may think like that Hiccup,' she said. 'But you are so much more then Dagur or any other madman out there. I know because I've seen you and I've seen how much you care for other people. So what I'm trying to say Babe, I know that you'll never "go too far" and "not come back again", because you've always been different from other Vikings, and that seems to have more advantages then we all thought,' she finished her statement and pecked Hiccup on the cheek.
'Did you just call me Babe?' said Hiccup, looking at Astrid with a smile.
'Yep, its your new pet name,' Astrid gave a cheeky grin.
'I like it Milady,' Hiccup smiled, both Vikings meeting in another kiss.
In the sky above Berk
Stoick had not meant for Skullcrusher to ram that sea stack before. Since freeing Thornado, the Chief had not trained and ridden a Dragon personally since, so the Vast was a bit rusty on the matter. What he could not deny was he was impressed when the Rumblehorn had crashed through the sea stack, knocking it clean over and shaking it off without a second thought and a bellowing roar. Hiccup made a good choice, he had definitely outdone himself this time Stoick thought to himself. The pair had been flying for an hour and a half and it had been a thrill. Skullcrusher was everything Hiccup had described him as. Fast, the Chief had almost been left behind when the Dragon had taken off. Powerful and tough, the recent event involving the sea stack had proven that. Intelligent and great sense of smell, the pair had found an old fur cape that the Chief had lost a few days back. Not to mention the series of shots the Rumblehorn had made, turning rocks into rubble and trees into burnt stumps.
'You really are something else,' Stoick stated, leaning forward and looking in the Dragon's eye. 'What do you think big guy?' Skullcrusher met his Chief and Rider's gaze and gave him a toothy grin and low growl in agreement.
'Well to know we agree on something already,' Stoick chuckled. 'How about one more tour flight around your new home before we call it a night.' He received another grin and growl of agreement.
To state that Skullcrusher was a great birthday present for Stoick the Vast was an understatement, he was an amazing birthday present for Stoick the Vast. The Chief of Berk smiled to himself and gave the Rumblehorn a pat on the side of his head. He had received more then just a new Dragon, he had received a new friend. The two friends flew over Berk for another half hour before they landed home. A fine ending of the birthday of the Chief of Berk.
Sorry the wait guys. There are times when I put loads of ideas and effort in chapters, and then I'm stumped for the next chapter because I've ran out of ideas. I'm thinking of keeping Stoick alive in my future stories post-HTTYD2 since I did not agree with his fate in the movie and that he had so much more to contribute. Until then I hope you enjoy this story as well as my others. :)