Day 8: hugging

The shores of Berk were covered with blood and ice, it was a horrific sight and if Heather hadn't been exposed to the cruelties of the world at such a young age she probably would've felt sick seeing so many dead bodies. Both sides had lost many brave warriors but in the end, Drago and his Dragon Hunters were defeated. Heather pulled her axe out of her victim's chest praying for the gods' forgiveness as his blood splattered onto her face. Looking around she watched as Berkians and Berserkers either gathered together to celebrate or helped injured vikings to a healer. Clutching her axe closer to her chest she tried finding Dagur but it was getting increasingly difficult to see past the Berserkers that had swarmed her asking if she was okay and if she needed any help. She could feel the anxiety building up inside her but it quickly dissipated when she heard her brother's deranged laugh, releasing an audible sigh the raven-haired female smiled at the other warriors reassuring them that she was fine. Despite the victory Heather still couldn't feel entirely at peace, so many people had died or had been badly injured and there was no way of knowing if her friends were alright unless she went looking for them. Of course, she knew Hiccup and Toothless were fine, it was kind of hard to miss the night furry's amazing display, but she hadn't seen the others yet.

"Come on girl, let's go find the others," Heather said, running her hand along Windshear's back before climbing onto her dragon.

Landing in the village she was immediately met with the twins and Snotlout running over to her asking who had the worst injuries whilst shoving their bloody and bruised arms in her face. Heather jerked back in surprise, nearly falling off of Windshear when she reared back, her growls making it clear she was irritated with the three Berkians.

"Hey! Will you three muttonheads give her a second to breathe," Astrid yelled as she walked over to the group.

"You doing okay? I mean this wasn't your guys' battle but you still chose to come help us even with little information we gave you," the blonde said, wiping away the blood coming from her nose.

"Yeah, Dagur and I are still alive. How is he doing, I heard about Stoick," Heather replied looking over at Hiccup who was talking with Gobber and some women she didn't recognize.

"He hasn't really had the chance to think about it, none of us have. It's definitely going to be difficult, and I just know he's going to blame himself. But he's got us behind him so I believe everything's going to be okay." Heather nodded in understanding, she knew how it felt to lose someone you love.

"Wait, where is Fishlegs? Wasn't he with you guys," Astrid asked, turning towards Snotlout. He glanced at the twins hoping they had an answer but they just shrugged their shoulders and went back to comparing cuts.

"Look, I'm sure he's fine; he has a fire-breathing beast with him," Snotlout said, arms crossed over his chest and an expression on his face that said 'Please don't make us do anything.'

"And what if they got separated," Astrid retorted, glaring at the dark-haired man in front of her. She would never outright admit it but after Stoick died she was terrified of anyone else meeting the same fate. She guessed Snotlout felt the same way when he quickly gave in and started yelling at the others to go looking.

As the group flew over Berk there wasn't much conversation so Heather had nothing to distract her from the nagging thoughts that something bad had happened. Astrid must have noticed because she moved Stormfly closer to Windshear and put a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "He's going to be okay Heather, he's a dragon rider after all." Heather gave the blonde a small smile before her attention was drawn to the sounds of a dragon growl and a human scream.

"Let's land down there and continue on foot," Astrid instructed, pointing to a clearing in the forest. The five rides walked towards the sound, their dragons following close behind.

"I swear if Fishface went and got himself into trouble I'm going to kill him," Snotlout grumbled, his worry seeping into his voice.

"I thought we didn't want him dead," Tuffnut joked, but the others ignored him, not being in the mood for joking.

As they approached the sound they saw Meatlug standing on her hind legs while using her front ones to claw at a hunter who had climbed into a tree.

"Hey girl, I think he learned his lesson," Heather said, walking over to the gronckle and petting her on the back. Meatlug went back down on all fours and began shaking with excitement as she nuzzled up to Heather before trying to nudge her deeper into the woods.

"I think Fishlegs needs help," Ruffnut said matter of fact watching as Heather was pushed away by the frantic dragon though she didn't make a move to help.

"Well what are you waiting for, follow her!" The others turned to look at Snotlout bewildered by his willingness to help. "What," he asked, his face flushed from embarrassment.

Meatlug stopped by a tree where Heather Assumed the hunter had dropped his weapon taking notice of the spear on the ground. "Oh, hey Heather." Looking up the berserker saw Fishlegs hanging upside down from one of the branches.

"What in Thor's name happened," Heather asked relieved that he was unharmed and honestly finding his situation a tad bit funny. Stifling her laughter Heather climbed up to where Fishlegs was stuck while he explained that Meatlug and he were following a hunter when he accidentally flew into the rope of an old swing and it tied around his leg.

"Alright brace for impact," Heather said not giving the blond a chance to ask what she meant before he fell head-first onto the ground. Fishlegs was alerted to the presence of the others when he heard them laughing, he didn't mind however to him that meant everyone was safe.

"You just had to make us worry didn't you," Snotlout teased punching his friend in the arm. Fishlegs smirked at the shorter man shoving him back. Heather smiled down at the display before jumping out of the tree and landing next to Astrid. As happy as she was she just couldn't stop her mind from nagging her with the possibilities of a problem until she was able to wrap her arms around him and vice versa. Astrid gave her friend an understanding smile and nudged her toward the plump viking, "Go ahead, we won't judge. Well, at least I won't."

Without a second thought, Heather ran into Fishlegs' open arms, her added weight almost knocking him over but neither of them cared. Their arms tightened around each other, forgetting all their cares as they laughed and he picked her up, spinning her around.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Heather whispered leaving a peppering of kisses along her boyfriend's face. Pleasantly shocked when he responded with a small but passionate kiss on her lips.