The light from the heavy metal chandeliers spilt onto the rustic brown map laid on the table. The map of the Archipelago the map on which Hiccup spent nine years to make discovering new lands or buying maps from traders ultimately to join them into one big masterpiece… the map of the known Viking world, the map of Midgard. It had to be the largest map Stoick had ever seen, the light from the candles highlighted the metal pieces placed on the map representing the fleets, forts, and lands belonging to both Draconia and her enemies.

As Stoick slowly moved his hands over the outline of Old Berk he noticed the handwriting used to name the island, in fact all the islands were drawn and written by the same person… his son, he felt proud that his son was the one who had roamed to the edge of the world and had completed his dream of exploring the entirety of Midgard. Hiccup had told him that there were rumours among the traders of more land to the south and west but the journey was impossible due to the lack of islands on the way for the dragons to rest and that the weather was always one of Thor's wrath.

He looked from the map to see his son walking in with his daughter-in-law, the latter followed her husband on her Light Fury the same one the Berkians had thought had killed her. Both Astrid and Hiccup looked tired, it was obvious that Nuffink was the cause of that, but that didn't stop the couple from loving him or Zephyr for that matter. Stoick had been conflicted about Hiccup and Astrid getting married when they were eighteen or that they had had their first child when they were mere teenagers. But it had turned out all fine in reality it might have been the best thing to have happened to his son. He had become a stronger, and more confident man after marrying the love of his life. She had supported and given him advice at every turn even when all hope was lost. This made her the most important person in his life and was the sole reason he was so protective over her.

But today she wasn't going to be the one giving any advice, today was the day Draconia had found Grimmel's hideout, and Hiccup had a plan of attack. That was why they were here, the council had been informed of the new information and an emergency meeting had been called. One of the scouting rider teams had found the forsaken island while roaming in the enemy territory.

The meeting would open with Hiccup telling them the information the scouts had gathered, it would last for almost thirteen hours of meticulous planning and arguments between the members of the council before they had agreed and made the perfect plan, the plan to imprison Grimmel the Grizzly forever. Preparation would begin tomorrow at dawn and was to end by the second dusk from that day. All the soldiers, warriors, dragon riders, and sailors from every island under the Draconian Empire were to come to Helhiem's Island. It was an empty island with polished stones for dirt and once where a volcano stood, was now nothing but a crater. The land was bare and perfect for gathering the entire Draconian military, which could fill three whole islands with its soldiers, ships and top-of-the-line weapons. Helhiem's Island was almost the size of two islands and was situated closer to Grimmel's base than Dragon's Edge making it the perfect place to assemble Draconia's military might.

As the stars filled the now-dark sky, the council members left the meeting hoping to get some shut-eye before the big day. Stoick said his goodbyes to his son and followed the rest of the council members out the door and into the seemingly endless maze of corridors.

"What is it?" Astrid asked her husband. No one was left in the room, the chandelier was the only source of warmth and light in the room effectively showing the markings made on the map for the attack taking place in two moons. "It's nothing…" Hiccup responded, he seemed lost, his face carried a blank expression while he stared endlessly into the muddish-brown paper.

Astrid rolled her eyes at his response, before cupping his face with her hands, so that his head turned to her, and kissing him. His eyes blinked with confusion as his lips parted to carry an expression of shock. Astrid smirked, she was proud of herself, a kiss always seemed to bring her husband out of his dazed state.

"So, are you going to tell me what's on your mind or do I have to kiss you again?" Astrid asked. Hiccup chuckled while rubbing the back of his neck, "Sure, I'll tell you but a kiss might make me a little bit more enthusiastic to tell you." After he delivered his daily dose of a cheesy statement to his wife, he looked up to see her inches away from his face and had barely any time to react before her lips met his. As he returned the affection she slowly parted to look straight into his eyes, her love-struck expression quickly turned into one of seriousness. "So…?" She asked. Hiccup sighed and looked away while explaining, "I'm scared, I know I always say this but I still am, what if Grimmel knows we are coming the whole fleet would be at risk, or what if we lose then there won't be anyone to stop him from taking Zephyr or Nuffink, or if… It's just, it feels like Drago all over again and last time we lost so many people, friends, family, Bertha… I don't want that to happen again, I can't lose you or anyone for that matter…"

"Hiccup… look at me." Astrid whispered to her husband who was clearly afraid. "Yes, this is the whole Drago fiasco all over again, but if I know one thing it is that this time we won't lose because we all have grown, all of us have become stronger, and smarter. We learnt from our mistake, we have a better plan, you made a better plan and we won't lose not with you leading us. Sure, we will lose a lot of people but we can't win if we don't. Hiccup people are going to die on both sides, and you can't blame yourself for that… you are going to lead us to victory with the least amount of bloodshed and that's why every soldier in the Empire trusts and believes in you, not because you ride a Night Fury but because you care." Astrid finished her speech and her husband simply nodded before hugging her. She too returned the embrace…

The preparations for the upcoming battle were over, the ships were all docked around the barren island of Helhiem while the soldiers and dragons were gathered around the tall stone platform on which Hiccup stood with his dragon. He looked around the island to see his wife smiling at him while his trusted friends nodded their heads to show their support, even his father had a look of pride, he looked past them to the soldiers gathered. There were many different soldiers with different armours, some wore black or brown or silver while some wore green. Each of them belonged to different tribes, but they were united by one goal and one leader.

"Uhh..H-Hi…" he swallowed once more before shouting, "Some of you here have already fought in many wars, while this would be the first for the rest of you. And that is why I understand if many of you are nervous, Hel I am leading this attack and I am nervous, but like my wife told me, It is okay. It is okay to be afraid to be scared because if we aren't then there is no meaning to life. Being scared to die and lose is what makes us fight for our place in this world. I can tell you without a doubt that every one of you here is afraid of losing, anyone who says otherwise is lying because if you aren't afraid to lose then there is no meaning in the life you are fighting so hard to protect."

He looked around the people gathered before continuing, "I know many of you don't understand what I am trying to say so let me tell you this simply being afraid to lose is okay cause if you are not afraid you aren't going to give everything to win. But being afraid doesn't guarantee our win, no it just means we will give our best to win. We will lose a lot of people today, friends and family. Many of us will return home with incurable injuries, but we all are here to fight for something I wanted since I was small. Peace. We are fighting for not only the freedom of the dragons but for the peace that comes with it. So I thank you all for supporting me and trusting me to lead us to victory. And I promise you I will do my best to earn that trust."

He swallowed hard, "May beat our enemies and lead our people to victory, may our warriors in Valhalla give us their blessing, For the Glory of Odin may we win." Everyone gathered cheered and started chanting war cries. His wife looked at him with pride and held his hands to silently show her support. He was glad he had her, if he hadn't run away with her that faithful night this world would be a very different place.

XXXX

Everything was quiet. Warriors from across the whole Archipelago gripped their weapons tighter as they moved towards Grimmel's Fort. Tiny snowflakes danced erratically in the sky, falling onto people's armour and weapons. Silence accompanied the anxious humans and dragons as they quietly sailed across enemy territory. It had taken them a lot of time to travel from Helhiem's Island to Grimmel's base since they had to get past his lookouts without being caught. But the loss in time had paid off. They had reached their destination without the enemy noticing, the snowfall providing a cover for the ships.

As Hiccup flew around the fleet, he noticed with satisfaction that everyone was busy with the last preparations. But they were ready; as ready as they could be. The catapults were hidden but ready to use. Hearing a commotion on the front side, Hiccup returned quickly to his previous spot at the front of the lead ship. It wouldn't be long now, he noted, his breathing becoming rigid. He sensed someone behind him and a familiar blonde appeared by his side a short moment later. They kept looking ahead in silence, so many words staying unsaid. "If… anything goes wrong-" She didn't let him finish, placing a gentle hand on his upper arm. "Don't," Astrid said sharply, "Promise me nothing will go wrong." All Hiccup could do was nod before he silently gave the order for the riders to mount up.

"Attack!" Hiccup screamed at the top of his lungs. He along with hundreds of dragon riders rained down from the sky towards the fort on Grimmel's Island. The Trappers quickly ran towards their weapons but it was too late. Each of them were met with fire and multiple explosions threw them off their feet. The aftermath of the first wave of the attack left many of the soldiers dazed and confused. The alarm bells were quickly set off as soldiers rushed to the catapults and ballistas. The aftermath of the first attack was horrific. As none of the soldiers had any time to react all of them had fallen victim to dragon fire. The island itself had been surrounded by Draconia's navy which stopped any of Grimmel's ships from leaving the docks and rendering them useless.

Hiccup was brought from his daze as cannon fire from Viggo's ships tore thru Grimmel's ships. Each of Grimmels ships were now slowly sinking, the trappers couldn't have done anything if they wanted. Hiccup, Valka, Astrid and Dagur each let different groups of dragon riders to attack the fort while Mala, Atali, Alvin, Camicazi and Stoick either led the ground forces or covered the ground forces' attack. Grimmel had rushed into battle with his own Deathgripper flock protecting him.

Hiccup had learnt that when a dragon was under the influence of the Deathgripper Venom it would not be able to listen to an Alpha Dragon's orders. So he didn't ask Toothless to order them to stop instead they were now flying towards the flock of enemy dragons ready to fire. As the plasma blasts hit a few of the Deathgrippers Grimmel's attention turned to the Night Fury and his rider. He smiled as he met Hiccup's gaze. A sharp whistle escaped his mouth, and in an instant, the entire flock of Deathgripers was after the duo.

As he tried escaping the red and black dragons, he flew around the fort to see the Draconian soldiers already storming through the gates of the fort while fighting the Trappers. The riders led by Astrid had successfully taken down one wall of the fort while Dagur and Heather had destroyed the catapults and weapons on the remaining walls of the fort. Cannon fire and boulders slammed into the docks, ships and barracks, slowly turning them into rubble. Alvin and Stoick led the warriors on foot, together ramming through any opposition, and to think they had been enemies. Valka, Mala and Atali were freeing the trapped dragons who in turn helped the Draconians fight against the Trappers.

But Hiccup had his own problem, he had to get rid of these Deathgrippers, without hurting them more than he already had. He quickly guided Toothless towards the sky. He partially closed his eyes to avoid the smoke, ash and dust from entering his eyes. As they flew higher, Hiccup looked back down and swallowed. Not because of the five Deathgripper flying straight towards him but because of the view in the background. The fort now had no walls, the concrete and dirt ground were hidden behind the bodies of the fallen as the dirt soaked in the blood. The fight itself was brutal and inhuman. Swords were pushed through the opposing warriors' stomachs or even necks. The arrows stuck out of the fallen warrior's bodies at different angles, showing the brutal fight they had been in. The water around the island itself was dancing hazardously, mimicking the scene on land. The water was no longer the blue you would find in the Nordic Seas but was mixed with blood, wood, and dead bodies turning it into a dark evil colour.

Hiccup gulped and quickly ordered Toothless to turn around and fly towards the quickly approaching Deathgrippers. As the scorpion-like dragon was just a few feet from him, he separated from Toothless and jumped onto the lead Deathgripper he pulled out his knife and cut the harness holding the venom, effectively freeing the dragon, he then swung from the Deathgripper to the next one which was flying down towards Toothless, Hiccup repeated the process four more times before grabbing onto Toothless's saddle and flying up into the clouds just before they met the cold ocean. With adrenaline coursing through his body he guided Toothless towards Grimmel.

Astrid zoomed past some of the trappers at supersonic speeds, her Light Fury, Stormfly fired multiple plasma blasts at the trappers who were frantically running away, and looking for cover. The surprise attack had worked better than any of them could have wished for. She was proud that her husband had been the one to come up with the plan in between all the arguments the other council members were having. He was brilliant at this, leading them, and protecting the tribe, even though he was scared and would never take complete credit for anything he did, he was a brilliant chief, an amazing husband and a father. He just needed the right push to become confident, which Astrid had become really good at doing, and once he was confident he could do things even the greatest Viking Chiefs in history were incapable of. For Thor's sake, he tamed the most dangerous dragon to ever live into a house cat.

Astrid quickly guided her dragon to fly alongside Heather who was leading the Twins, Fishlegs, Gustav and Anna on an attack to help the ground forces. "How's things going with the newbies?" Astrid asked with a smirk that was hidden behind her mask. "Better than I expected, who knew I would be glad when the Twins were blowing stuff up." Heather replied with her own smirk. "Yeah, who knew, not me 'cause everyone just shouts at us when we do it, right sis?" Tuffnut replied, "Yeah everyone nowadays is such a buzzkill." Ruffnut replied.

"Okay, that will be que to leave… Stay safe Anna!" Astrid yelled as she flew higher up towards one of the towers in the fort. The plasma blast destroyed the base of the tower making the whole thing come down in a cloud of dust and rubble. Grimmel grew frustrated as some of the smaller pieces fell on his head. He massaged his head just as he turned around to see Hiccup and his Night Fury land. Grimmel quickly pointed his crossbow at Hiccup while he stood with a defensive stance, holding his Inferno.

"Do you think you have won, little chief?" Grimmel asked, "No… You haven't you may win this battle but I will win the war, I will once I kill your precious Toot-a-less, without him you are nothing, without him you will lose." Grimmel mocked. "Actually, I am pretty sure there won't be a next time, look around Grimmel your men have lost, Surrender!" Hiccup yelled. "I doubted myself, but not anymore, I am who I am today because of me, Toothless, Astrid and the others just helped me along the way. I am the reason the three-hundred-year war with the dragons is over and I am not going to let you destroy everything I have worked so hard for. My friends and family have supported me and have helped me complete my dream and now I truly have something to protect so I will tell you this one last time Grimmel. Surrender or die!"

In response, Grimmel fired his crossbow which Hiccup deflected with his sword and ran towards his enemy. Grimmel brought his sword around just in time to block Hiccup's attack. While grunting Grimmel pushed his attacker away while blocking the quick attacks Hiccup made. Hiccup raised his sword and struck downwards towards Grimmel's head but his sword met the ground as Grimmel ducked away quickly. Hiccup was expecting this and he quickly put all his weight to his right hand while moving his legs in a sweeping motion knocking Grimmel off his feet. Grimmel quickly regained consciousness after the fall just to feel the warmth from the firey blade against his neck.

"You lost, Grimmel now give up." Grimmel looked up to his enemy with defeat, but he wasn't going to lose without taking Hiccup down with him. "I might have lost but let's see how you do without your best friend." Grimmel told him while removing a poison dart from his pocket and aiming it at Toothless. Just as he was about to throw it at the dark beast, he felt the feeling in his arm fade away. He looked down to see Inferno plunged through his heart. "You really have grown." Those were the last words Grimmel ever said.

Hiccup fell to his knees looking at the now lifeless body belonging to Grimmel. The look on Grimmel's face the lifeless colour in his eyes was exactly the same as the one Drago had made when he had been killed. The only other person he had killed with his own hands and it turned something inside his heart. Hiccup looked down at his hands, the same hands that had been responsible for two deaths, he knew it was necessary but he still felt guilty. Toothless let out a worried warble as he nudged Hiccup, effectively bringing him out of his dazed state. "It's alright Toothless, we won, you are safe, the world is safe, thank you, bud for everything." Hiccup let his head rest against Toothless's just before he was forced onto his back as his dragon licked every inch of his face "You know that doesn't wash out…

XXXX

Everything was back to normal the fallen soldiers were given a proper Viking funeral they mourned their losses and celebrated their win. The warriors had returned to their respective islands. The relationship between the Hooligans and Draconians had become so good that few of them had even shifted to Dragon's Edge. Gobber had gone to Bog Islands to be with Camicazi and Fishlegs with Heather, the latter two were engaged, and that happened fast. Stoick was now still trying to rebuild his tribe to what it once was and had met another woman around his age but was taking things slowly. Valka and Eret were both where still in love and Nuffink had started to talk a few words and followed his elder sister everywhere.

Hiccup sighed as he looked into the sunset and then down to his wife, who had her head rested on his shoulder with a smile on her face. Life had been tough for them, they had many hard times and some good ones too, they made friends, and lost some. They had defeated their enemies and befriended a few. Hiccup had roamed the world and had a loving family something he never thought he could have done on Berk. Astrid looked up to see her husband's relaxed face, she smiled as she had done everything she had dreamed of doing. Sure she had wanted to be a shieldmaiden but that was only because of her parents, she had run away with Hiccup who had given her everything she wanted. He had given her freedom, a family and love, everything she ever wanted. She had been the luckiest person on Midgard to have met Hiccup, and because of him, she had become who she is today, a daughter, a sister, a dragon rider, a warrior, a friend, a queen, a wife, a mother, and a runaway.

XXXX

Hello guys, I am happy to announce that this is the longest, and final chapter of this story. This is my first fanfic and so I am glad that many people have taken a liking to this story, so thank you all. I am also really really happy to say that this story has crossed the 10k mark which is crazy. As I have said, this is my first fanfic and I am glad it is finally complete after almost three months, thirty-seven words and thirteen chapters later. I will be posting new stories so stay tuned for that. And once again thank you all for the support, it means a lot. Do leave your comments on how I can improve my writing or how you felt the story was. Once again...

THANK YOU ALL FOR READING 'THE RUNAWAYS OF BERK'.