"Wake up muttonhead!" Spitelout whispered to his son. As Snotlout got up he looked around the dimly lit room. The moon outside the glass window was the only thing offering light in the room. He saw the twins and Gustav standing against the large doors leading to the corridor, Dogsbreath and Mildew were standing behind his father who was impatiently trying to wake him up and Helga was crouched next to his bed. "Ok ok, I'm awake, calm down, I needed my beauty sleep," Snotlout told his father. The twins tried their best to contain their laughter while Mildew held his head in his hands while Spitelout rolled his eyes while motioning to his son to prepare for the plan.
As Snotlout got ready with the help of Helga, he noticed a few of the Jorgenson allies such as Hoark the Brave or Ack the Bold were also standing beside Spitelout and Mildew outside the room. Maybe they were helping the Jorgensons with the plan… he was furious that his father had not told him about the new additions to the group. As Snotlout strolled outside the room followed dutily by Helga, he saw the group team waiting. The twins quietly closed the large doors of the Accommodation Hall and then locked it, stopping the Berkians from foiling their plan. Unbeknownst to them a few of the Berkians had left the room completely undetected by the Jorgensons and their allies.
Spitelout waited impatiently for his son and his girlfriend to join the small huddle. "All right listen up, this an important mission for the name of the holy Gods and the good name of the Vikings. We all know the plan and the rendezvous point to escape so, do NOT mess this mission up. Am I clear boyo?" Spitelout told the gathered Vikings. All of them nodded and quickly sneaked away to do their part in the evil plan. "Watch out Hiccup what is yours is rightfully mine and I'm coming to take it back…" Snotlout whispered to himself.
"Hiccup calm down everything is going to work out fine." Astrid told her husband. "But what if the twins lied to us maybe it was an elaborate plan to lower our guard, to lead Zephyr out of the safety of the castle what if… what if?" Hiccup was broken from his rambling with Astrid's infamous death glare. "Stop doubting yourself Hiccup, you are the smartest knucklehead I know if things do go south I know you will come up with a plan to stop them… you never give up and it is one of the things I love about you, and Zephyr is safe in the Dragon Nest with Heather, Anna and Fishlegs. We will win Hiccup, I know we will because you made this plan, the same person who led us to victory against Dagur, Alvin, Viggo and Drago." Astrid told Hiccup while looking into his lovely green eyes.
"I just hope you are right…" Hiccup said, "I know I am." Astrid stated back. Zephyr was safely sleeping under the protection of Heather, Anna and Fishlegs and the whole nest of dragons on Dragon's Edge. Hiccup had ordered an increase of soldiers to be at the castle watching the Berkians in case things did go south. The docks had been secretly closed to stop the Berkians from escaping. Hiccup planned all this up in the small time they had known the plan. It was a simple defence and counter-attack strategy, they were to hide till the rouge Berkians attacked and then catch them red-handed and with the element of surprise they were sure to win.
Astrid looked at Hiccup pacing around the room along with Toothless and Stormfly with worry in her eyes. A dozen of the royal guards were hiding with them in Zephyr's room which was connected to Emperor and Emperess's room. Astrid subconsciously placed her hands on her stomach as she remembered the night before…
The moonlight lit the grass and flowers in the indoor garden at the castle. The dew drops slowly dripped down the grass which had recently been exposed to heavy rain which was a native to the 'Meridian of Mesiry'. Astrid was walking with no destination in mind, the moisture from the ground soaking into the fur of her shoes. Stormfly followed Astrid while being slightly distracted by the butterflies flying over the flowers. She was deep in thought when she heard a pair of footsteps behind her, her instincts kicked in and she quickly turned around on her heels while grabbing her axe, which never left her side and readied herself into her fighting stance to defend herself.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! It's us your best friends don't kill us!" Heather quickly screamed. Camicazi just rolled her eyes at the frightened state of her raven-haired friend as Astrid once again placed her axe on her back. "What are you guys doing here?" Astrid asked them clearly annoyed that her 'alone time for important thoughts' had been disturbed. "To find out what is wrong with you." Camicazi stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. The two friends had not been the only ones to notice Astrid's weird state of mind. She had started to space out during meetings or avoid talking to people as much as she could. Astrid's parents, Anna and Fishlegs had noticed too not to mention her very own husband Hiccup.
Not telling Hiccup that she was pregnant was harder than Astrid originally thought. Hiccup immediately noticed the change in her demeanour and tried to find out what was different. Astrid tried to play as nonchalant as possible but Hiccup could still see through her guise. In the end, she resorted to devoting herself to her duties as general so she could avoid Hiccup's inquiries. It was difficult to avoid him, especially since they were with each other for most parts of the day, but she simply couldn't risk spilling the secret until the end of the war. She had missed many of their late-night flights and she missed them but it was too big of a risk. And Heather and Camicazi were her best friends so it wasn't so surprising that they knew something was on her mind and wanted to find out.
"I'm fine… There's nothing wrong, I'm just tired from all the work of keeping the Berkians from any trouble and the war with Hiccup and now the coup led by the Jorgensons is stressing me out as well as Hiccup." Astrid said. To be fair it was the partial truth. The war, Berkians, the coup, Hiccup's parent's relationship, the dragon training program and her mission to rebond the relationship she once held with her parents was just too much. To add to the mess the problems never seemed to end and she tried her best to help Hiccup and spend time with Zephyr but it just exhausted her. It surprised her that Hiccup still smiled and made sure to goof off with Zephyr at the end of the day even after doing twice the work she had done, and therefore she obviously blamed it on her pregnancy.
"Stop lying to us Astrid yeah we know both of you are doing a lot for the Empire but that isn't the reason why you are acting this way so spill… or else we might have to force it out you." Camicazi said with a smirk plastered on her face. Astrid looked at her best friends and then at her dragon who had now diverted her attention from the butterflies to the dragons of Astrid's best friends. She knew she couldn't lie her way out of this one, and the two weren't going to stop asking her until they found out. "Astrid you can trust us, we can help you with whatever problem you are facing." Heather said softly while slowly coming closer to her friend. Astrid bit her lip and thought over it one last time before gulping and saying, "I'm pregnant." Astrid was never one to beat around the bush. She remembered the time she had told Hiccup she was pregnant…
It had been a hassle trying to figure out how to tell Hiccup. Astrid knew for certain he'd be surprised. After all, they'd agreed - if it happens, it happens. But she never thought that she'd be with a child so soon after agreeing to that, so when she waited for him to walk through the door that day, she did so with knots in her belly. Preoccupying her sweaty palms with cleaning dishware and hid her anxiousness as she heard the front door swing open. Releasing her bated breath, Astrid spoke first, "How was your day?" She remembered hearing him respond in his typical manner, but couldn't think of what he'd said exactly. Her mind was far too muddled to pay attention to anything aside from the heavy beat of her own heart. At some point when he'd finished speaking, he'd approached her position from behind, grabbed hold of her waist, and kissed the side of her head. "What about your day?" He asked. She could hear the smile on his lips, without even turning to look at him. She'd acted solely on impulse, wanting to get the words free from her lips before she chickened out. So, rather unceremoniously, she'd said it. "I saw Grilda." She paused, letting her head dip. "And… I'm pregnant." She remembered the feeling of his grip tightening around her waist, and it had taken all the courage in her to finally look at his face…
The shocked expressions of her best friends mimicked the ones she had seen them wear the time she and Hiccup had told them they were expecting Zephyr. "YOU ARE WHAT?!" Both of them shouted. Astrid cringed at the sheer volume of the question. She was sure the exclamation was enough to wake Odin from his 'Odin-sleep'. "Keep your voice down!" Astrid quickly told them while moving her hands up and down to show her point. "You are what?!" Heather whispered once again.
Astrid then told them about how she found out that she was expecting another child and the reason why she hadn't told anyone and kept the news to herself. "So please promise me you won't tell Hiccup. I don't want to stress himself even more than he already is." Astrid begged. "We won't tell him but honestly Astrid I think you should tell him sure he will worry but this is Hiccup we will worry about you even if you are not pregnant." Camicazi told her. Heather and Camicazi, after a lot of arguing and I mean a lot, had convinced Astrid to tell Hiccup. Astrid had returned to her bed to find her husband asleep with Zephyr sprawled on her chest with strands of her auburn hair between her lips. The view in front of her blue eyes brought a smile to her lips.
As Astrid's mind came back to the present after a trip to the previous night, she looked at her husband worried and pacing up and down the marble floor. She couldn't help but think that he looked more handsome than ever before, the way the moonlight shone on his face highlighted his jawline and the light drew shadows on his armour highlighting his muscles and making his forest green eyes glow in a somewhat eerie way. Astrid walked up to him and looked him in the eyes, his eyes looked so deep and far away while being so close to her. She couldn't help it she slowly closed her eyes and placed her lips on his.
Hiccup took a few minutes to realise what happened but once his mind caught up with what was happening he kissed Astrid back with equal passion. All the worry, all the doubts left his body as soon as her lips touched his face. Hiccup knew Astrid has and always will support him, she trusted him, and that trust she placed in him was what he needed to boost his confidence it was what made him make decisions, she was his backbone. Every choice he had made for the past eight years was to protect and support her and it had worked out pretty well till now.
"Ahem." The couple broke up to see Camicazi smirking at them with Dagur, Alvin and Mala standing behind her. Astrid was about to say something when they all stood up and trained their attention on the twins entering the room quietly. "Snothat and Helga are in your room." Ruffnut said. Hiccup nodded, now all of this would be over in a few minutes and the Berkians would be a problem of the past.
Snotlout quickly followed Helga into Hiccup and Astrid's room. It didn't shock them that the room was as big as three of the houses back on Berk. Everything on the island was either bigger or more advanced and sometimes both. As he followed his girlfriend towards a set of curtains separating the bed from the living space, he saw a portrait of Hiccup with his wife and daughter. Snotlout was filled with pure anger it angered him that the girl of his dreams was married to his loser of a cousin. It surprised him even more that Astrid had no objections to being with Hiccup. Both openly displayed their affection for each other and supported each other and were always helping the other out much to the surprise of the Berkians.
They slowly moved the curtains to reveal an empty bed… wait, EMPTY?! "What the…?" Snotlout whispered to himself. He immediately tensed at the feeling of cold metal at the back of his head. He slowly turned to see Hiccup holding his sword at his throat while Astrid mimicked the action towards Helga. Their dragons were growling behind them ready to strike at a moment's notice. "Well, well, well, look who we have here if it isn't our little Snotface." Camicazi taunted. Dagur snickered and stepped aside to reveal the twins smiling at the success of their mission. "You two, how could you? How could you betray us? Both of you are traitors, no, all of you are." Helga screamed at the people gathered. Snotlout hated to admit it both they had lost, they were outnumbered by a lot. He slowly raised his hands after dropping his weapon.
"Traitor? No, you are the traitors, Hiccup welcomed you into our home after all the bullying, after all the abuse, he forgave you and gave you a second chance when you lost everything and when we didn't owe you a single coin. If anyone is a traitor it is you." Astrid replied. "A dozen guards entered with Spitelout, Mildew, Ack and Hoark in handcuffs, "My lord we caught these men in the corridors leading to the North Side of the castle." One of the guards addressed Hiccup. The North Side of the castle was a room where all the plans, ideas, secrets and information from spies and traders were kept for the war. If Spitelout had taken those plans and information to Grimmel the Draconians would have received a major blow. "Take them to the dungeons along with the rest of the Berkians, we don't know whom we can trust, not even the twins know all the people who are involved in this betrayal so it will be better if we keep them all there until we know whom we can trust." Hiccup told the guards.
The guards nodded tying the angry Snotlout and Helga and leading them to the dungeons. Toothless nudged Hiccup's leg seeking affection. "Yeah yeah, you were amazing bud." Hiccup chuckled. "Is it only me, or was this a little too easy?" Dagur asked. Camicazi was about to agree with him when Eret and Valka burst thru the door. "What happened? Is Zephyr okay?" Hiccup asked confused as to why his mother was distressed. He had asked Valka, Eret and a few dragon riders to act as lookouts over the castle to see if any of the Berkians were running away while Viggo and Alvin were posted at the docks. "No son, I don't think she is in any trouble but when we were looking out for any Berkians leaving the castle we saw an entire fleet of Dragon Trappers coming towards our island… Grimmel is here." Valka told her son with fear in her eyes. Just to confirm her accusations a cannon shot was heard seconds before they saw a blast hit the cliffside. The horn was blown immediately, guards were running up the castle walls while the Dragon Riders were leading the villagers into the castle. Viggo and Alvin deployed the warships to counterattack and stop the advancing fleet.
Hiccup was pissed, no he was furious. "Oh, they have done it this time." Hiccup seethed out and looked at Astrid. She nodded and smiled showing her support. "All right listen up, Atali and Mala help the ground forces with evacuating the villagers and defending the castle walls. Dagur go help Alvin and Viggo with warships. Cami, Mom and Eret you all are with me we will lead the Dragon Riders." Hiccup quickly ordered his people. They all nodded and quickly mounted their dragons and flew away to do their duty. Astrid quickly kissed Hiccup as he mounted Toothless, "Stay safe, I need you Hiccup." She looked worried and Hiccup chuckled to himself and smiled at her, "Ah you know me, I have a knack for surviving anything… I'll come back, I promise." He told her. "Keep him safe Toothless." Astrid whispered to her husband's dragon before mounting her own.,"I love you, Astrid." Hiccup told her, she smiled at him, "I love you too." With that, she flew away to follow Camicazi and her mother-in-law. "She is something isn't she bud?" Hiccup asked Toothless. Toothless answered with his signature warble before lifting off to follow his mate. Hiccup sighed he knew this was going to be a rough fight but he was going to win this not for himself but for the dragons, his daughter and his wife. Because that's all he had that's all he wanted to have.
"Come on bud, let's try this one more time!"