Part Five
There were still stars in the inky purple sky. Berk was quiet, peaceful, still asleep. The darkened houses and deserted walkways lent a mischievous, sneaky air to the early morning departure.
A chill ran down Hiccup's back, not out of fear or cold, but from the sudden, thrilling surge of excitement at the thought that they were really doing it. They were escaping. When the streams of visitors and well-wishers knocked on the door later that morning, they wouldn't get an answer. The Haddock residence was safely locked, awaiting their return.
Toothless flattened himself as low to the ground as possible, then waited patiently while Astrid tried three different times from three different angles until finally managing to climb aboard. She sat for a moment, catching her breath.
"Wow, that…that was a little harder than…I thought it would be." Her face scrunched up in pain and she clutched at her belly. She had been doing this a lot in the past few days, Hiccup noted.
"I know that face," Hiccup said. "That's the pain face. Where does it hurt?"
"Everywhere."
"Everywhere? How can you hurt everywhere?"
"I'm pregnant, that's how. Everything's all mushed up inside me and every time I move, I get this pain shooting down both of my legs…"
"That's it, I'm calling it. Let's go, Toothless, turn her around."
"Nonono, Hiccup, it's completely normal!"
Hiccup stood there for a second, very confused. "It's normal to be in this much pain?"
"Hey, growing a little human inside of you isn't a walk in the meadow, but I told you I'll be fine. Let's get going already. If anybody wakes up and sees me on a dragon, the whole village might go up in smoke."
Hiccup sighed and rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Toothless."
….
It seemed like the skies had never been so clear, nor the sea so calm. Their sails billowed with the breeze and the waters remained gentle. Only the gods themselves could have produced such a day and Hiccup had already thanked them inwardly multiple times.
The item of business on the neighboring island was quickly attended to and suddenly they were back on their private cruise. It was early evening, but the two decided to head back to Berk anyway, looking forward to an evening alone under the stars. Besides, everything had been so smooth and wonderful on the way there, why shouldn't it be on the trip home?
Toothless was perched at the prow, tongue hanging out, snapping at any drop of water that dared detach itself from the waves rolling past the boat. It wasn't a large boat, just big enough to fit two people and a dragon comfortably with plenty of room to spare. There was a neat, sturdy shed-like pavilion at one end, which provided shade from the sun and shelter from the rain, the prospect of which seemed almost laughable at the end of this glorious day. This was where Hiccup and Astrid had been relaxing, lounging on piles of blankets, snacking on bread and cheese and speculating happily about their future, which was looking bright. Astrid rested against a wall, head and back propped with most of the blankets, her swollen bare feet in Hiccup's lap. She grinned, closing her eyes and breathing deeply as he massaged them.
"This…is…amazing," she said. "The boat, the weather, the food, the company…" she glanced at him long enough to give a wink before settling back into her soft nest. "Everything is perfect. Absolutely perfect."
Hiccup had been soaking in the healing effects of the atmosphere as well. He could feel the muscles in his back and neck loosening by the minute. All the worries and stress inside his head were clearing with every breath of fresh, salty air. He could think. He could rest. He could breathe. For the first time in months, he was completely calm.
Hiccup smiled.
"See? I told you everything would be fine." Astrid sent that classic self-assured grin at him, the one she used whenever she knew she was right. He got it a lot. "Admit it, this was a great idea."
Hiccup rolled his eyes. "This…was a good idea."
"No, not good, great."
"Ok fine, this was a great idea."
Satisfied with his answer, she snuggled into blankets and was sound asleep within minutes. Gently, Hiccup laid her feet down and pulled a blanket over her, then exited the low pavilion.
Toothless swiveled around, jumping down from the prow to give him an enthusiastic lick.
"Hey, bud," Hiccup laughed, returning with a squeeze. "What a day, huh?"
The dragon snorted, dropping to the ground with a huff. Hiccup sat down next to him, leaning back against his flank with his hands clasped behind his head for one last view of the darkening sky and some gathering clouds.
"More like what a whole nine months," he muttered, letting his eyes slide closed. "I'll sure be glad when this is over."
….
It wasn't clear what woke him up first. All he knew was that there was a distant rumble and someone shouting over top of it. The rumble stopped eventually, but the shrill shouts grew louder until they were almost screams.
And they were screaming his name.
With a gasp, Hiccup sat bolt upright, causing Toothless to jump as well. There was no way to know how long they'd been asleep for sure, but it was apparently long enough for things aboard and beyond their peaceful haven to change drastically. And not at all for the better.
It was dark, the wind no longer a gentle breeze, but nearing a full-on gale. It thrashed their sails and churned the seas around them, tossing and battering the little boat like it was no bigger than a leaf. A flash and another rumble revealed that the storm was not yet at its worst. Roiling black clouds, heavy with rain and power and fury, were stacked up for miles with much more to come. They were headed straight for it with no alternative route.
They had been rash enough to test the hand of Thor…and now they would pay.
"Hiccup!" came the scream.
Astrid's scream.
He was up and by her side in the pavilion within seconds.
"Hiccup!" she said again.
"Hey, it's ok, I'm here." He brushed her hair away from her sweating face and took her hand, trying to appear more reassuring than he felt. "It's just a storm. Nothing we can't handle—"
"No, no, Hiccup, the baby! The baby's coming!"
Hiccup's gut lurched, making his heart nearly stop and drop into his stomach. Who needed to be struck by lightning when your wife dropped something like this on you?
"Wh-wha…WHAT?!" He yelped once he remembered how to breathe and jumped up, smacking his head on the low ceiling.
Astrid answered with a long, terrible, pained groan through gritted teeth.
"Ok," Hiccup addressed some invisible deity after an impressive string of Viking profanities, "all right, I know I said I'd be glad when this was over, but I didn't mean right now!"
"What're you talking—forget it. Hiccup, you have to help me!"
"B-but how?" He waved his arms around in panicked circles in her general direction. "Can't you just keep it in there until—"
"IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT!"
"Ok, ok, seriously stupid question, sorry, but w-what do I do?! I'm a dragon trainer, not a healer! I don't have any idea how to deliver —"
"Well, neither do I, so unless you can train Toothless to be a midwife in the next hour or two, you're it!"
Hiccup froze stiff, utterly shocked, wholly out of his element, entirely at a loss for words, actions and breath.
"Hiccup!" Astrid screamed again, bringing him out of it with a jolt. "Stop blinking and do something! And don't you even dare say 'I told you so'!"
"Wasn't planning on it…" he replied, kneeling to search the dark space for a lantern. "Toothless!" he shouted, snatching one and holding it out. "Gimme some light!"
Without hesitation, the dragon breathed the tiniest fireball at the wick, igniting it instantly and bathing them all in an eerie purplish glow.
"Ok, bud, I need you to signal for help. Plasma bolts. We can't be that far from Berk —"
The yell that came out of Astrid's mouth brought him down next to her like he'd been slugged in the stomach by an angry Valkyrie.
"What?! What's happening?!"
"I'M HAVING A BABY!" She dissolved into cries of agony and fear.
"Astrid," Hiccup shouted over the wind and thunder, taking her pain-contorted face firmly in his hands. "Astrid, listen to me! We can get through this! We can have a baby alone on a boat in a thunderstorm in the middle of the sea because…because we're Vikings!"
"Axe!" was the only word she could get out after another lengthy howl.
"Right, axe, you got it," he obliged immediately, hefting it up and placing it in her outstretched hands.
"We're…we're Vikings!" she yelled.
"That's it, that's it! We're Vikings!"
"Vikings!"
"Vikings!"
"AARRRGH!" The axe was hurled through the air, barely missing Hiccup's face before it embedded itself in the wall of the pavilion.
Uhhhhwhoooooa, t-too close!" Hiccup remarked from the other wall, which he'd smashed himself up flat against. "Way too close! Can you maybe at least try not to kill me—"
"HOLY THOR-HAMMERED, ODIN-SMACKING SERPENT OF HELHIEM, THIS HURTS!"
"Ok, ok, uh…cursing is good, I think," he spluttered, spitting out anything he could think of that sounded remotely helpful. "Things are moving along just fine, uh…yes. Yes, everything's…we've got this, Astrid, just hold on to me and—"
She reached, grabbing his hand as the two locked eyes. In hers he saw the shadow of all possible fears rolled into one, and on her face the expression of every kind of pain imaginable. Her chest heaved and her entire body quaked. The sweat and tears glistened on her face for a few seconds in the light of one of Toothless's shots. It was almost more than he could bear in that moment, and if he could have, he would have taken it away from her and laid it on himself.
But he couldn't.
All he could do was be there. All he had to offer were words.
"I…I can't do this," she whispered after a small sob. "Hiccup, just…I c-can't…"
A tear of his own slid down his cheek as he bent to gather her upper half in his arms. She clung to him, clutching handfuls of his shirt as she buried her face into his middle.
"Yes, you can," he whispered in her ear. "You might not think so right now, but you can weather the storm. Both of them. I know you can."
A deafening clap of thunder rolled over their heads as if to add emphasis and he held her tighter leaning over her protectively.
"I know because you're Astrid Hofferson Haddock and you're the most ridiculously amazing and strong person I've ever met. I've seen what you can do when you get it in your head to do something. There's no stopping you from getting what you want and…and I know without a doubt that you want this baby."
She didn't reply.
"Will…will you believe me? Will you trust what I already know?"
She was still for a moment, then gave the slightest nod of her head.
"You're almost there, Astrid. You're so, so close and it'll be over soon if you just remember what I—"
He was drowned out by yet another clap of thunder and an unearthly howl so frightening and primeval it chilled him to the core. It was time and they both knew it.
She heaved herself up on the palms of her hands, teeth clenched and eyes squeezed shut. Hiccup hurried to her feet.
Appearing to have reached some innate, deeply buried reserve of female strength, she growled and began to bear down, falling into an intense sort of rhythmic trance. Hiccup had never seen such an alarmingly, astoundingly beautiful sight in his life. She was strong, but he never knew she had anything in her quite like this. There was nothing more he could say to her or encourage that she wasn't already doing by herself. He pressed her knees back and stared, breathless and awestruck as over and over she forced everything she had, every single bit of strength and stamina and willpower, every bit of Astrid into each push.
Sweat and tears of his own streamed down his face. He shook nearly uncontrollably from empathetic pain and sheer fright of the fierce animal his wife had transformed into. But he swallowed it, determined to see this through with her to the very end, whatever end that may be…
And then, during a startling, miraculous lull in the storm outside the boat and the one within their little shelter, came a tiny cry.
….
Gobber stood on the end of the dock, lantern in hook, straining to see over the waves and through the solid wall of rain. Having been informed of Hiccup's errand the day before, he was a little wary of the young chief leaving his wife alone even for a day, but had nearly died when he realized he had taken Astrid with him.
Almost every hour since the discovery, he'd vigilantly made the trek to the docks. Standing there like a sentinel guard dog, he waited patiently with a hunting horn on his belt, ready to call for help as soon as he saw their sails come up over the horizon.
As the day turned to night and the hours wore on, he became more and more convinced that something was wrong and gave up taking breaks altogether. He watched the thunderclouds roll in, growing nastier and darker by the minute, and his heart sank. A small boat like theirs wouldn't have much of a chance of making it through that beast of a storm unscathed, if at all.
Odin help them, he prayed in desperate hopes that the gods would have mercy on that little family riding somewhere beyond on the back of an angry sea.
He began to lower his head, but stopped as he witnessed a streak of purplish-white shooting up into the sky where it burst and hung there for a while before fizzling out. It was far away and somewhat faint, but evidently powerful. Powerful enough to illuminate the clouds and make them glow brighter than any bolt of lightning ever could. Powerful enough to be seen like a beacon for miles. Powerful like dragon fire…
"Toothless," he whispered to himself as it dawned on him. "Et's a signal. That'll be Toothless sendin' up a signal or I'll eat my hook!"
Waving the lantern in the air for the nightly watch to see, he put the horn to his lips and blew a long, clear note. It was almost comical how fast he pivoted and dashed lopsidedly up the path, however, he didn't get far before a crowd came running down the opposite way, almost overtaking and trampling him.
"A signal," Gobber wheezed, gesturing out to sea. "Toothless's bolts! They're in trouble!"
The group rushed past, spinning him around like an off-balanced top as they hurried to the ships. Gothi was among them as well as Snotlout, the twins, Eret, Fishlegs and several other burly villagers to handle the oars.
"Whoa, hey, wait for me!" Gobber called.
….
Toothless drooped in the hammering rain after sending up another plasma bolt. Though he fired them intermittently, they were weakening as his energy and firepower drained. Behind him in the shelter, huddled in damp blankets, Hiccup cradled a pale and violently shivering Astrid. In her arms, wrapped in the shirt off Hiccup's own back was their tiny baby girl.
After seeing to Astrid and the baby, Hiccup had run out to take down the sails. It wouldn't do much to ease the tossing of the boat, but it was at least something to keep them from being altogether blown off course until help arrived…if it did at all.
Their situation was looking grim. Hiccup was sure he had never felt so frightened and sick in his entire life, though he bottled it up under a stubborn lid of denial in an effort to keep calm and be available for Astrid both physically and emotionally. Denial that he could possibly pass out at any minute. Denial that they were in such a mess in the first place.
Breathe, he told himself. Keep breathing…
"One more, bud," Hiccup said aloud to the dragon. "Gimme just one more blast and then you can rest."
The dragon slowly turned his head skyward, throat glowing as the fire built up inside him. Then with a loud whoosh, the final bolt shout out of his mouth into the stormy sky, shimmering feebly before going out. With that, Toothless flopped down with his head and shoulders through the door of the shelter.
Hiccup gave him a thankful scratch. "Thank you, bud. You did everything you could."
Toothless returned with a low, exhausted rumble.
"M-maybe you and Toothless should f-fly out and look for help?" Astrid mumbled.
Hiccup shook his head, wrapping his arms tighter around his family.
"I'm not leaving you two here alone. There's absolutely no way."
The three were quiet for a long time, wondering what kind of fate they were destined for. They no longer had any say in it as it was them against the elements now. But Hiccup promised himself that whatever happened, he would do every last thing he could to ensure that Astrid and the baby would have a fighting chance. Even if it meant losing his own life in the process.
Astrid rested her head against his chest, peering down at the little sleeping face peeking out of Hiccup's bundled shirt.
"She's beautiful," she murmured.
"Yes, she is." Hiccup couldn't help but smile. "That's all from you, m'lady…"
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Toothless raise his head suddenly, ears pricking up and nostrils flaring.
"What is it, bud?"
The dragon got to his feet, scrabbling out to prop his front legs on the boat's side.
"I'll be right back," Hiccup said, trying not to jostle his wife and child as he unwrapped himself.
What he saw when he joined Toothless made him sob with happiness and relief. Charging to their rescue was none other than one of Berk's finest ships, filled to the brim with familiar faces and bringing with it hope and safety.
Before long, strong, friendly hands were lifting Astrid and the baby into the bigger ship while a few others tethered the smaller boat to it for towing home. Toothless climbed aboard eagerly, snooting and snuffling about for fish or anything else anybody might have brought with them.
And then it was Hiccup's turn. Reaching up, he found Gobber's arms and they lugged him over the side like he weighed nothing at all. Somebody threw a blanket around his bare torso
"Glad t'have ya back, chief," said Gobber, whacking him between the shoulder blades. "Ya look a fright, though, I'll tell ya that."
"That's because…" Hiccup's vision began to spin and he staggered forward a step, taking a fistful of Gobber's shirt in both shaking hands. "That's b-b-because… Gobber, I just…I just d-delivered my own…" he slurred disbelievingly before collapsing in a dead faint.
"Yup, that'll do et," Gobber said, catching him under the arms.