Return from the Boar hunt

The men returned late morning, cold and worn from the hunt. Heather ran to her brother when she saw him limping and leaning on Eret. Ruffnut laughed at her brother and Snotlout.

Astrid saw Hiccup stumbling in after, face pale and clothes soaked, Toothless trotted behind him without notice by the guest, the initial intrigue of seeing a night furry fading.

Hiccup made eye contact with Astrid from across the room and gave a light smile, but when she rose to meet him, he shook his head and held his hand up, signaling for her to stay away. He approached the blazing fire in the middle of the hall, there, men came to shake his hand and discuss the hunt. He returned their jovial slaps on the back with handshakes and kind words.

Once he was as alone as he could get, he held his hands to the fire, hoping to warm up before grabbing lunch and heading home to change.

He flinched when Astrid's hand touch his shoulder.

"Astrid, we talked about this, we shouldn't be together outside of official wedding events or council meetings."

"Did you have a chance to talk to Gunnar about his gift?" Practically spitting the last word.

"It came up and I'm pretty sure he knows we're not happy about it - that make him very happy."

"Where is she now?"

"My house - I mean, our house. Not sleeping in my bed - well my old bed. Alone. While I sleep in my current bed. Alone. With Toothless to guard me. I thought you might have gone to the house while I was out to check on her?"

Astrid frowned at him, "Wouldn't going to your house cause the sort of suspicion you don't want me to cause?"

She watched him think about it, "I wasn't there. Did you talk to your sister?"

She folded her arms, "She thinks I'll need help around the house, you know for when you become completely horrid, like Gunnar."

He turned to her, all humor drained from his face, "I will never be like him. Kill me in my sleep if I become that."

His seriousness made her recoil. His features looked angry in shifting light of the fire.

A few people walked by, waving, but giving suspicious looks.

"Astrid," he whispered. "It does make me look bad if I can't stick with traditions."

She nodded. He turned to walk away, but made sure the back of his hand lightly, and covertly brushed against her.

000

A Visit with the Hoffersons

Hiccup still felt cold and drained in the early afternoon when he finally made it to the Hofferson's. He tried to get there after lunch, but he had to make sure cook had enough people to clean the boars and get them ready for dinner. Then, he discovered they were running low on mead, so he had to send Spitlout and some men on a mission to get more from an offsite storage houses. Although, considering the amount of people he saw stumbling around town, he wondered if more drinking was what Berk really needed.

At the Hofferson's, Leif greeting him warmly and lead him inside to the kitchen table, where Valka sat comforting Elie Hofferson.

"I knew you were coming by and I thought I could help." His mother explained.

Hiccup felt a tightening in his chest as he sat at the table.

"Son, I have to ask a favor," Leif folded his hands and leaned forward.

"Is this about the wedding?" His mind raced, he could tell from the distressed looking women and the anxiety on Leif's face something was wrong. Maybe the girl from Gunnar, people were probably talking and Astrid looked angry, that probably made things worse. He didn't even think about the embarrassment it was causing his future-in-laws. Or maybe they believed the rumors about him and Astrid. If that was it, he'd be annoyed to no end, all the effort to wait and no one believed him. Not to mention Mr. Hofferson scared him - just a tad – after their engagement Leif congratulated him then threatened to kill him if he slept with his daughter before the weeding. And it was not a light threat.

"No. It's about Ingrid. You see, chief, she doesn't look well."

Hiccup felt the tightening in his chest release a bit at knowing the problem, "I noticed."

"Her mother and I are concerned for her, this isn't her first pregnancy, if you didn't know."

Hiccup though back, "I do recall Astrid saying something before, but since it never came up again, I thought maybe it didn't work out."

"She's had two…" he hesitated to find the right word, "losses."

Elie wiped tears from her already wet face, and Valka squeezed her arm.

Leif continued, "We think Gunnar doesn't treat her well. And maybe you can do something to keep her here."

Hiccup folded his arms and sat back in the chair. This was the worst time for this to come up and the worse people to be involved in a problem- Gunnar, who he wanted to have nothing to do with, and his future in-laws, who he'd be stuck with till someone died. Although not the problem he expected, he didn't want this one.

"Mr. Hofferson -," He started.

"You know, Hiccup you can call me dad, now, even if the wedding hasn't taken place yet."

Somehow calling him that seemed wrong, he liked Astrid's parents, maybe loved them, but not like his own parents, "I've known Gunnar my whole life. I dislike him, but he's a strong chief, and trying to part him from what's his, won't work well for Berk."

Mr. Hofferson straightened in his seat, his tone becoming more authoritarian, Hiccup could see where Astrid got her bossiness from, "Vikings divorce all the time, I know it's not common here-"

"Has she asked for a divorce?"

"No, but-"

"Does she want to leave Gunnar? Who, no matter how horrible he is, is the father of her child."

"No, but-"

"You can't force her to do things she doesn't want to do."

Mrs. Hofferson's sobbed harder, "Hiccup, please, don't you remember Ingrid as a little girl? You were friends, even before you were friends with Astrid. Remember? How could you let that little girl suffer? Especially now as a beautiful grown pregnant woman?"

Hiccup unfolded his arms and hung his head. He remembered, when he started working with Gobber, Ingrid, who was only a year older than Astrid, would come by the shop. Even though he did metalwork, he occasionally needed to sew some leather or fabric, a skill he didn't have. One day Ingrid came by, noticing him struggling to thread a needed and showed him. The next time she stopped by, she noticed his sketches strewn about in the back and commented on his artistic skills. After that she'd stop by the shop a few times a week to give him sewing tips in exchange for drawing lessons. They weren't best of friends, but they got along and she never made fun of him, looked down on him, or though him strange.

However, as they got older, after Toothless she stopped talking to him. He and Astrid became inseparable during waking hours, but when Ingrid saw them she didn't seem to want to be around. He figured it was a sister thing he didn't understand, and maybe, she just didn't want to be seen with her sister's dorky friend. Astrid mentioned she disliked dragons. And maybe she actually disliked Hiccup - she did after all, chose to marry Gunnar, one of the worst people he ever knew.

"Could we wait till after the wedding to focus on this? You have another daughter, who is getting married and needs attention."

"Astrid has been getting attention! You've always given it to her." Elie sobbed, "If you wait, Ingrid might go back and we may never see her again."

"And if Gunnar doesn't want a divorce? This is going to be a huge mess, you know?"

"Hiccup, sometimes thing worth doing aren't easy or clean." Valka said.

Leif and Elie exchanged looks, which was odd, because even though they were always together, they never seemed to get along or be in sync. "Elie, take Valka upstairs and show her Astrid's wedding dress. She hasn't seen it yet," Leif ordered. The women left.

Once alone Leif said, "You have a whole tribe to watch and beyond that you have to keep allies happy and enemies in check."

"I can see where Astrid gets her astute empathy from."

"Not I, she and I learned that from her mother. And from Ingrid. And maybe she gets her sensitivity from being around you."

"Not sure if you're insulting me with that."

"I wouldn't do that. I respect you - I wouldn't ask you this if I didn't. And I wouldn't try to understand your position if I didn't – do you understand mine?"

"I do." Hiccup felt his insides twisting from the back of his throat to the center of his gut. There was a time when he had one problem at a time, now it felt like he had ever problem in Berk. What was one more?

"I'll do what I can."

"Thank you, son." Mr. Hofferson put his hand on the younger man's shoulder.

"Can I ask you something unrelated? Since we're trying to understand each other."

"Yes."

Hiccup felt odd asking this question, but for a moment being with Mr. Hofferson reminded him of being with his father, "You were once known as the best hunter in the village, but when you hunted and killed things – did you ever feel bad, for the animals?"

"You know you're like Elie and Ingrid. Astrid won't admit it, but that's why she noticed you. You never kill dragons, you always talk of peace, I see you eating fish usually, not meat – but like my other girls, your sensitivity is actually what makes you tough, it makes you stand up the injustices others would let slide. That's why I came to you for help."

"Yeah, but back to the hunting – "

"Hiccup, I never disrespected the animals I killed. I used ever part of them – meat, skin, bones – they would have died someday and this way they serve a purpose after death. People call hunting a sport and talk about how I was great at it. I didn't do it for greatness, I did it because it is what had to be done. The tribe needed to eat."

Hiccup nodded, "Because of Toothless, I-"

Leif put up his hand, "I understand, we killed the dragons because we didn't understand them and sometimes we wasted their dead bodies. But a hunter understands why he kills. You don't have to believe this or agree with me. That's just how I see it. A killer just kills and moves on like it never happened."

"It's something to think about…" Hiccup started to get up just as Valka and Elie returned to the kitchen.

He figured if he was going to get through being chief he needed to keep delegating, "Mom, talk to Fishlegs, tell him to review Berk's divorce laws, and, if he can, find out about divorced in the Brawler tribe. Also, see if you can find their marriage contract, we should have some record, if Stoic wrote it there is a clause offering Ingrid a way out of the marriage if she is ill cared for. Dad made a point of having that in contracts where someone married outside of the Hooligans."

"Sounds like something your father would think of," Valka smiled.

Hiccup looked at the Hoffersons. "You will need to work on getting Ingrid to stay, if she won't do it for herself tell her to do it for the baby. And if you talk to Gunnar convince him to let Ingrid stay, use the excuse that you will be able to care for her here and the trip back might harm the baby. Don't let him suspect she won't ever go back. We keep this a secret."

His future-in-laws looked unsatisfied. He could tell they wanted him to confront Gunnar, but he knew his sadistic cousin would probably do the opposite of anything he asked. Hel, if he knew Hiccup was trying to get Ingrid away from him, he might do worse to her.

When he finally walked out of the house, his clothes still felt damp against his skin. He decided he finally had to go home, where another Gunnar caused problems waited for him.

Thank you so much to the folks who left kind reviews.

To guest: Thank you. I will keep this at a T rating.

If anyone noticed the prologue is gone, its because it is a flashback and I thought about it and decided it stays better in its spot later in the story. If you miss it, you will see it again and if you did read it won't spoil anything big.

For those who like Heather and Ruffnut, they will have a decent girl talk part in the next chapter (which I'm muddling through) and I hope to post it in a week.

If you have time, please follow, fav, or review and let me know what you think. Thanks!