Hey, friends. Sorry I'm a day late, some things came up.

Thanks to all ye who reviewed, it means the world to me!

Vvarden

Spartan10007

Little Did You Know

canadasam101 ("Stupid wuss" I love it haha)

Harkonnen28 (I do know what you are referring to)

QuiteARandomFan (The cake is a mystery cake, full of secrets and distractions)

Chief Otto passed away in his sleep a week later.

Haku had readied himself for the news, but it still struck something in him to hear of his father's death. Why, he did not know, seeing as how the Chief had never really been much of a father to him. In any case, there was a lot to be done, and the following days passed in a blur of preparations and rituals. They prepared the ship that would bear the funeral pyre out to sea, and gathered what objects and possessions the old Chief would be laid to rest with. Vahna and the other elders of the village oversaw all of the details concerning the body, and celebrations were held in honor of his life, according to his status as Chief.

It was late in the day, and the horizon was ablaze with orange light, fading into the dark blue cloak of night behind them. They sent off the ship from the western side of the island, so it seemed as though it would sail straight through the sunset. Vahna was speaking, but Haku didn't hear a word she said. His heart was heavy, but his spirit felt resilient, ready for the future. Once the old wise woman was finished with her speech, it was time. Taking a deep breath, Haku set the tip of his arrow alight, drawing back with practiced ease and letting it fly. His aim was true, the flaming arrow striking the base of the pyre. He listened as his sisters prepared their arrows and shot them out to the ship, then it was the turn of the older generation of men, his father's friends, to contribute. By the time they had all released their arrows, the ship was burning brightly, embers floating on the favorable wind carrying the vessel far out to sea.

It was majestic, and Haku felt truly grateful that his father's suffering was over. That maybe he would be restored on some other plane, as strong and, well, belligerent as he had been here in this life. All of the villagers walked back to the village together, where the dragons were waiting for their return. Haku wouldn't have had a problem with their presence at the funeral, but he knew his father would not have wanted it. So he requested that all the dragons stay behind, and they did so without complaint, picking up on the solemnity of the occasion.

The mood was subdued as they opened the town hall, but soon became joyous again when food and mead were served in abundance and the villagers could share their favorite memories of their Chief, if they had any. The dragons stayed out of the large space for the most part, though Shade enjoyed playing with the children who so loved feeding him sweets.

"You're going to get fat, bud!" Aeri called out to him, and he only offered her a toothless grin in response, before opening his mouth wide to catch another pastry. The kids thought it was great fun to test his reflexes, and he thought it was great fun to eat the food they tossed his way. Win, win.

Smiling, Aeri turned back to the party, looking out at the sea of faces she had come to know. Her eyes immediately focused on Haku, who stood tall even among the men in the crowd. He had ben handling the entire affair with dignity, and Aeri was proud to see him so gracefully acclimating to his new role. His official coronation wasn't until tomorrow, but that didn't seem to make a difference to anyone else.

Almost as if he sensed her gaze, he turned and met her eyes, a small smile playing on his lips. He was in the middle of a conversation with someone else, but they could have been the only two people in the room, as far as Aeri was concerned. Her heart knew what it wanted, but her head warned her off. At least, it tried to. You're in trouble. You know this can never be. He could never be with an outsider. He is the Chief, now. You are no one.

Which was partially irritating for Aeri. Because in all honesty, she had been someone back on Berk, not because of anything special she had done, but simply because of who her parents were. Even if she had stayed, though, and eventually became Chief, an alliance between the Hooligan Tribe and the people of Heimme would never work, because neither she nor Haku would ever consider leaving their people. You did leave your people, though… It mattered not. Fate was seemingly against them, yet… Her feelings for him had grown past friendship, and while she was somewhat afraid of what she felt, she couldn't not seek him out, she couldn't stay away from him.

Which was ultimately a problem, her head reminded her. Why? her heart argued. Why can't I stay here on Heimme, with the people I have grown so close to?

Because you don't want to.

Of course I do!

No, you don't. You don't belong here.

How could I not belong here after everything that has happened?

You know where you belong.

Aeri wanted to scream. But honesty was generally the best policy, and if she was truly being honest with herself, she had to admit that Heimme, while wonderful and fun and interesting, simply didn't have what she needed. Not that she knew exactly what she needed, but some part of her simply knew that whatever it was, it wasn't here.

She caught a glimpse of Maara heading towards her through the crowd, and did her best to clear her troubled thoughts from her mind. Now wasn't the time to be thinking that way, with everything that had been going on as of late.

"Hey, Rádgatá."

"Hey, Maara."

"This has certainly been an interesting week," the younger woman frowned a little, but after a moment the expression relaxed into a tired smile.

"And it's not over yet," Aeri replied, bringing up a hand to rest on Maara's shoulder comfortingly.

"I know. The party tomorrow will be even crazier than this one." Maara gestured out at the noisy throng of people. Someone, somewhere in the room had started singing, and more and more people were joining in, but neither young woman could make out the words, or for that matter the tune.

"It's a good way to let off steam. The death of a Chief is a difficult process for all involved." Aeri recalled stories her mother used to tell her about when her father had become Chief. Talk about a difficult process. The village had been in ruins, all of the dragons had been effectively brainwashed, and all hope had seemed lost… until the Chief had come home. But not their beloved leader, her grandfather, Stoick the Vast, who had always seemed so invincible. Hiccup, rather understandably, never spoke of his father's death, as it was a painful memory for both him and his dragon. But Astrid reminisced about the early days of her husband's chiefdom to their children, perhaps so that the memory of their father's greatness, and their grandfather's greatness, would not be forgotten. The very prospect of the Dragon Chief being forgotten was laughable indeed, but Aeri understood her mother's desire to remember and respect the past.

"Rádgatá?"

Aeri flashed Maara a quick smile. "Sorry. Just got lost in thought."

"What were you thinking of?"

Hmm. How to answer. "I… was thinking of when my tribe lost its old Chief, and transitioned to the one we have now. It happened before I was born, but the memories live on."

"Do I detect a story coming on?"

Aeri laughed at that. "No. Maybe someday, but not tonight." Maara looked a bit crestfallen, but perked up when she heard someone calling her name.

"Sorry, Rádgatá, I'm being summoned. I'll see you later!" With that, the younger woman was gone, swept into the crowd. Aeri, suddenly tired, backed into a corner, thankful for the shadows it cast over her. Memories of her childhood were welling up, and though she tried to suppress them, she couldn't banish them completely. After a while she gave up, letting time wash over her, seeing Berk and its inhabitants as though they were actually before her, not lost to her.

The next day, Haku was named Chief. The ceremony was relatively brief, which was fortunate, because Aeri was having a difficult time paying attention. Something had shifted in her, and she was struggling to figure out what it was without anyone noticing that she was behaving oddly. Despite her inner turmoil, the sun was shining, the Horrible Horrors were singing, and everybody else was happy.

Afterwards, the villagers bustled away, preparing for the next big feast, leaving Haku with a group of well-wishers. He thanked them all genuinely, listening to the advice of the elders and crouching down to listen to little Luvia's heartfelt encouragement, accented by high-pitched squeak squeaks from her tiny Horrible Horror.

Once they were all satisfied, Haku sent them off with a smile, then looked around. The village was busy, prospering, and though he knew he could take credit for none of it, it still warmed his heart to know that his people were happy. Heavy footfalls sounded behind him, and he turned to see Kova approaching.

"Hey, friend," Haku greeted the purple dragon, who bobbed his head up and down excitedly.

"No, I'm sorry, I don't think I can go flying now, I have things I need to—" The Flashfang turned away from him, and Haku's heart fell. But the dragon didn't move to leave, and he realized that Kova wasn't ignoring him. He was watching something, and as Haku peered out towards the mountain, he could see a distinct black shape circling the peak. Rádgatá.

"Oh, you want to go flying with them." Kova turned back to nod once. Haku couldn't deny that he wanted nothing more in that moment than to hop up on his dragon and fly after her, but he knew he had a duty now to oversee things in the village. Rádgatá would have to wait.

"You can go, if you want, but I have to stay here. They just made me Chief, it wouldn't look very good if I just up and left the village to chase after some girl," he explained to the dragon, though Rádgatá was anything but some girl. Kova snorted, as though also disagreeing with the label. But the dragon didn't leave, instead, he followed Haku around as the new Chief visited around the village, making sure everything was running smoothly.

High above the island, Aeri laid back on Shade's shoulders, lost in her thoughts. After a time, Shade warbled at her, asking her what was wrong, and she sighed. "I don't know what's wrong with me, bud. Everything was going so well…" she trailed off. "I just can't help but feel like maybe I don't belong here. Maybe this isn't the end of the road for us, you know?"

She felt his rumbled response. "I'd say we should just leave, but I haven't the slightest idea which direction to go in, and it wouldn't be right to just abandon these people after bringing such a dramatic change upon them. No, we can't leave. And I don't want to leave! I wish I knew what the gods want from me. Odin, I need a sign!" The last part was a desperate shout. But no lightning flashed in the sky, no face appeared in the clouds to tell her her destiny. The sun kept shining, the wind kept blowing, and far below, the tides continued to come in and out.

For the next few weeks, all was right with the world. Well, most everything. Haku, for some reason, couldn't get a single moment alone with Rádgatá. There was so much he wanted to tell her, one thing in particular, but every time he'd get remotely close to her she'd be moving in the opposite direction, even when he thought he was being sneaky. His frustration built, and a few times he got close to snapping at innocent bystanders when she would evade him yet again. And her dragon was nowhere to be found! Sometimes he'd catch a glimpse of a shadow, a presence that even in broad daylight seemed to be insubstantial. But Shade seemed to be playing the same game as his rider. It was even worse when Maara would come home at the end of the day, chattering about how she had gone flying with the pair, not noticing Haku's irritation.

Aeri, for her part, felt bad about avoiding Haku, but she needed time to think. Her feelings for the new Chief were too strong to be ignored, and that spelled trouble. Despite her previous assertions (to herself) that she didn't care about social conventions, the truth was that she knew better, and knew that ultimately, they could never be together. The thought pained her, but she truly believed it was for the best that she kept her distance. Hopefully that would be enough to discourage him, to make him realize that anything between them was no more than a foolish dream.

So she and Shade spent more and more time on the eastern shore, fishing and relaxing in the sun. Aeri figured that it was better to let the village run itself, to become independent of herself and her dragon. That way, when the time came for them to leave, they would not be missed. At least, that was her hope. Life was seldom so simple, but what other choice did she have?

So distracted was she, and so preoccupied was Shade with keeping her spirits up, that neither of them noticed that they were being watched. Every time they took off alone for the beach, their movements were carefully observed.

The rat-faced man grinned in the shadows of the forest. When he got his hands on that girl, she was in for a world of hurt. And when the Captain got her hands on the dragon, well… the girl wouldn't be the only one wishing she had never been born.

It was almost time to put their plan into motion. Currel waited only for the signal to strike. Heimme's days were numbered. And then… those simple peasants would burn. Dragons or no dragons, one little village was no match for the wrath of a pirate queen and her fleet.

Uh oh.

Just a friendly reminder... the return to Berk is approaching, so be patient! All of your dreams will come true (maybe...)

Review! :)