Happy Friday, friends. I've been feeling pretty down, so I haven't been doing a lot of writing, but I'll keep updating regularly. This story and all of you are the only things keeping me sane right now.

Congrats to Nixxon Mysterio on being the 100th reviewer!

Colinou: The shadows are biding their time... but when they strike, it will change everything. Again.

SilverStorm5: I've been really tempted to go back to Berk, but I don't have a good enough reason to do it now, even though we all want more Toothless/Hiccup/etc. I appreciate your patience, trust me, the wait will be worth it.

Spartan10007: Yeah, Haku! Too much dang mead. I guess we will just have to wait and see if there are any consequences to his little talk with the trade ship "sailor"...

QuiteARandomFan: Without revealing anything, I'll just say: Virtual cake for you!

Vvarden: You're right. I, too, have a bad feeling they won't discover the threat until it is too late.

Guest: I'm all about cliffhangers these days! This chapter doesn't have one, though, so I hope it eases your troubled spirit.

Thanks again to all of you who review. It means the world to me.

The ship left Heimme a week later, having supplied the villagers with enough provisions and gossip to hopefully last until the next trade ship arrived. Women flaunted exotic fabrics, men foreign weapons, and children new toys.

Maara wandered the streets of the village, lost in thought. She had become increasingly distracted as of late, and she couldn't figure out why. Stopping, she looked up and realized she was outside of Elama's house. For a moment she debated with herself, before hesitantly approaching to knock on the door.

"One moment!" a muffled voice called. Maara waited, scrunching up her toes in her boots. Finally, the door opened, and Elama was revealed, looking frazzled. "Oh, Maara. I'm glad you're here." She ushered her inside, and it took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the darker interior of the home.

"It's your father," Elama was saying, and immediately Maara snapped to attention.

"What?"

"He's… not well," the woman said, looking worried.

"Well, he was 'not well' before," Maara pointed out.

"Now he's very not well."

Despite the less-than-ideal relationship she had shared with her father, Maara couldn't completely eradicate the concern that crept up at Elama's words. "Take me to him."

Elama guided her to the back of the house, pushing open a door. Inside, Elama's mother and one of her aunts were seated next to a bed. They didn't appear quite so anxious as Elama, but one look at her father told Maara everything she needed to know.

The man stared, unseeing, at the far wall, his gaunt frame slumped into the pillows. His skin was ashen, his graying beard unkempt.

"How long has he been this way?" Her voice was high with the emotions battling in her chest.

"A few days, now."

"Why did no one come for me, or Vasara, or Haku?"

"We didn't want to concern you if it was just a temporary phase."

"This doesn't look… temporary to me."

"No, it doesn't." Elama's aunt was watching her with a kind expression on her face, and Maara realized her hands were shaking. Clenching her fists, she resisted the urge to shout.

"How long…?"

"It's hard to say, dear. But perhaps you should go and fetch your brother and sister."

"Yes, I will… do that." Maara backed out from the room, her heart beating hard. She couldn't look away from her father's blank face.

"Go, Maara," Elama said softly, and she went.

Once outside, she took a deep, shuddering breath. Oh, gods.

Haku was standing outside of the forge. Rádgatá and Vasara were inside, both women hard at work on a large plate of metal. He had no clue what it would be used for, but it was interesting to watch. Shade lounged nearby, dozing off in the sun.

"Haku!"

He turned to see Maara running towards him, her face pale. "Maara, what is it?"

Inside the forge, Vasara and Rádgatá had stopped hammering and were listening to what the younger woman had to say.

"It's… I… Elama says for you and Vasara to come. Now."

Haku's expression turned grim. "Father."

Maara nodded unhappily, and inside Vasara was quickly peeling off her apron, shooting Rádgatá an apologetic glance. "We'll be back… probably." She realized her hands were shaking, and she clenched her fists as she began to follow her siblings.

"Vasara!" The blacksmith turned around in time to see Rádgatá open her arms and embrace her tightly, letting go after a brief moment. The kind gesture surprised Vasara, and suddenly tears welled up in her eyes.

Aeri, seeing this, placed her hand on the shorter woman's shoulder. "I'm here for you all. I know that whatever happens, you will have the strength to continue. Now, go." She gave Vasara a small smile, and the blacksmith nodded once, blinking hard, before turning and running after Haku and Maara.

The three of them walked side by side, not speaking, not rushing. They all felt cold despite the warmth of the sun. Maara and Vasara were honestly afraid, but both sisters were primarily concerned about their brother. If something happened to their father, Haku would become the official Chief of Heimme. He basically was, if not in name then in deed, but the title could be as much of a burden as the responsibilities he was already carrying out.

They arrived outside of Elama's home much too soon. Haku approached first and knocked once, in moments the short woman was pulling open the door and gesturing for them all to enter. Time seemed to have no meaning in the gloomy house, lit only by a small window high up on the wall and the fire in the center of the room. Elama guided them to the back room, and each of them sucked in an involuntary breath at the sight that greeted them.

The fact that she had already seen her father like this didn't make it any easier for Maara, and she reached out for her sister's hand, finding it without looking.

Vasara squeezed Maara's hand, offering her what little comfort she could. Their father looked like he might already be dead but for the shallow movements of his chest. He was so diminished from the memories she had of him from her childhood, always bigger and louder than life, and now…

Haku felt like he couldn't breathe. He had known in the back of his mind that this would come, but he had managed to keep it from his thoughts. Now reality was confronting him, and it was quite unpleasant. His father was going to die. Just like Lyse had died, leaving him to run the village. He would no longer be the Chief's son, he would be the Chief. The thought filled him with a savage desperation, and sucking in a breath he turned and strode out. He knew he was leaving his sisters on their own, when he should be there for them, but he couldn't stay in that room a moment longer, seeing their father as a near-corpse.

He passed Elama and her mother, who both looked alarmed, and he realized somewhere in his head that his expression must be rather forbidding. Throwing open the door, he escaped into the sun, feeling detached from the world he knew.

So he ran.

He found Kova and took off, not caring where they ended up, just needing to be away from the village. The villagers— his people— could not soothe the ache in his heart, the sudden loneliness he felt confronted with. Suddenly he felt like he was going to be ill, high up over the island, so he guided Kova to the mountainside, somehow finding the ledge he and Rádgatá had landed on so long ago. He wished she was with him. The realization was sudden, but not surprising. With a sigh, he hopped from Kova's shoulders, making sure to dismount on the side without the cliff.

Standing on the edge, he gazed out at his home. The island he knew so well. The forest, the farms, the village in the distance. They would soon all be his responsibility, his alone. Crouching, he leaned back until he was sitting on the rock, sliding his legs out to dangle over the edge.

"AAAAAAARGH!" he screamed out to the sky, unable to voice his emotions, to ask the gods why.

Kova, having sensed his human's distress, made himself comfortable. They were probably going to be here for a while.

Haku dropped back against the rough surface, the air whooshing out of him as his head softly smacked the rock, and closed his eyes.

That's how they found him. Shade landed soundlessly on the wide ledge, nodding at Kova as he waited for Aeri to dismount.

"Haku?" she called softly, sliding from Shade's shoulders. Haku was laying down on the rock with his lower legs hanging off the edge, his eyes closed.

"How did you know I was up here?" His response was quiet, weary.

"Maara came and found me, told me you'd left. I just had a hunch I'd find you here."

"Good hunch."

Sitting down, Aeri scooted over until she was almost touching him, then lowered her back until she was lying on the rock as well. Together they gazed up at the clouds, as the breeze pushed the fluffy white formations over the island.

She wondered if she should speak, unsure of what to say, then decided that he would talk when he was ready. And he did.

"I just… I just don't understand the gods sometimes. Actually, ever. Which I guess is the point, but still. I wish I knew what they were up to. Sometimes I feel like they're laughing at me, sometimes I feel like they're punishing me. I'm not the person I thought I was going to be. Things are so much different now than I ever could have imagined… and I don't know what to do." He swallowed hard, fighting back the tears he felt pricking his eyes. "I don't want to let anyone down, I never wanted this…"

I don't want to be Chief. The words echoed in Aeri's mind, and she found herself voicing her father's response.

"… we don't get to choose who we are born to become."

"That's easy for you to say, Rádgatá! You did get to choose." Haku was frustrated at her, once again envying her freedom.

Something snapped in her. "And now I see that I made the wrong one! I denied what was in store for me, Haku, and I have to fight not to regret it."

Her words were like ice. "You regret everything?"

"No! That's not what I—"

"Then what do you mean?"

"I mean that I was born without a choice. And I took what I saw as my only opportunity to escape what I thought was a fate worse than death… And now having come damn close to death, more than once, I can say that what was meant for me back home was really not so bad!"

What would be worse than death? Haku felt a chill pass over him. "Were you going to have to… marry someone?"

"Marry some— no, I wasn't. I mean, eventually, but that's not what I was so afraid of. And my fear was selfish! I am selfish, the most selfish person I've ever encountered. I don't know how to change, I can't change what I did, and now the only thing left for me to do is try to redeem myself wherever I can."

"So that's all we are to you? A chance to redeem yourself?"

"No! Haku, would you stop twisting my words? I don't regret a single moment I've spent here. I don't regret the promise I made, I don't regret anything I've done here, I don't regret knowing you. Okay? I simply regret my own childish, selfish actions. I regret that while I have somehow managed, mostly because of Shade, to help you and your people, I left others behind. Who didn't deserve to have to cope with my absence."

Haku's mind was blown. Rádgatá had never revealed so much to him. And glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, she looked upset. But before he could ask her why she had left, she sighed.

"Look. I didn't come up here to fight with you. The opposite, actually. I'm your friend, Haku, and I'm here to support you in any way I can."

Just friends? His heart sank.

"The gods aren't laughing at you, or punishing you. You're a natural leader. You care for your people and you do what's best for them. You put their well-being above your own…" she paused. "I've said it before and I'll say it again. I know enough about chiefs to be able to say that you will make a good one, if not a great one."

They were still lying flat on their backs, and Haku nearly jumped when she reached out and took his hand in hers, squeezing it tightly. Her words were powerful, but somehow, that small gesture, simply twining her fingers with his, put him at ease. He felt calm, and resolved to fulfill her expectations of him, regardless of the price. If she thought he could be Chief, then he would do it. Hel, if she thought he could move the mountain, he'd find a way to do it.

"Thank you, Rádgatá," he said softly, turning to look at her face.

She returned his gaze, only inches away. If only… he thought, but he didn't want to ruin the moment. So they stayed that way, feet hanging over the edge of the cliff, feeling the sun warm their skin and their closeness warm their hearts.