Hello, everyone!

Whew...it's been a minute. I've hit a huge writer's block for the most miserable month ever, but I'm sure that will be resolved far before the posting schedule gets close to where I'm stuck. But besides that, things have been going well, and I hope they are for you, too!

On that note, I want to thank NomexGlove, Samateus-Taal, Silverleone, Athnay, VigoGrimborne, MysteryWriter175, Lightbrightfury, Echolotal, Zerac, and CallMeUrmo for your wonderful reviews! I enjoyed reading them so much!

Additionally, I'd like to thank my awesome betas, Crysist, Dragon Crusader, Anticept, kwizjunior, and Reclusive-Shadows for all of your help!

With that, I hope you all enjoy, and I'll see you in two weeks!

Chapter 7

Astrid

I practically had to drag Hiccup and Toothless to Town Hall to get some breakfast. They spent the whole time giving each other amazed, frightened, even grieving looks, murmuring to each other in thrumming dragon-tongue punctuated by stiff, anxious growls and snaps from Toothless, and comforting purrs from Hiccup. Stormfly found us and squawked scoldingly at me. She still seemed to think I was 'her' fledgling human, no matter how many people and dragons reassured her that I was the older one. Haugaeldr was with her along with Hookfang.

Snotlout, however, wasn't with his companion.

This morning had been...awkward. Of course, we all assumed Snotlout would not be the heirーbut the Chief had never outright gone and said it like he'd done this morning. Giving me Chiefly duties was an honor, but at the unwilling stepping-down of Snotlout…

It didn't seem right. I didn't like any of this awkward side-stepping around the matter, but who was I to tell the Chief how and when to make his final decision?

Part of me fluttered with excitement that it was me he chose, of all people. The girl who had betrayed him when Hiccup was a dragon, who had earned months-long punishment, who had challenged him, Stoick the Vast, to a fight...who had done everything I ever could to make it right, to bring Hiccup back to us.

I had done what I could to step up, to fix my wrongs, to bebetter. I had done it because it was right. I had done it because all of Berk, and especially Hiccup and Toothless and the Chief, needed it or everything would all fall apart. And with those first shaky, terrifying steps back into leadership, the shadow of my past failures haunting me with doubts, I had become more and more confident in myself and my own ability to lead.

It had been the most natural thing, something that left me...fulfilled. Happy. Excited for the next day. I worked myself to my limits and pushed others to do the same and, together, we thrived. It was never about ambition, even as I imagined a bright future in my most private, self-centered moments.

So for the Chief to seemingly pick me over Snotlout, who made everyone know that he expected the torch to be passed to him…

"Where's Snotlout?" I asked Hookfang as we walked up the hill to Town Hall.

The shy Nightmare cringed. He glanced at Town Hall and then back to me pleadingly.

I sighed. Well, might as well get it over with.

We strode into the building, which was much more empty than usual. Hiccup and Toothless were still lost in their discovery. Haugaeldr had also joined their conversation, his ever-focused eyes sharp and cunning. He had Hiccup's sandbox strapped on, and every so often, he glanced down at it eagerly. They hardly even noticed it when I glanced around the room, found Snotlout sulking at a corner table, and led us right over to him.

He saw us coming, pretended not to see, and stared at his plate in front of him. He refused to so much as glance up even as I stood right next to him and waited for an acknowledgment.

"Knock it off," I said, whapping his helmet. "We're getting breakfast, and then we're going to talk."

"Ow!" Snotlout complained, shoving his helmet back into place. "Just leave me alone!"

Hookfang stepped forward and curled around the table so that he could rest his head on the seat next to Snotlout. He peered big-eyed up at him and burbled something, his voice arcing in pitch. It was like a whine I'd often hear from Stormfly.

Snotlout looked skyward in exasperation, groaned, and scratched his dragon behind the horns. "I know, I know, sorry for leaving you..."

I turned back to the others, who had finally realized who I'd led them to. Stormfly eagerly sat beside Hookfang, hoping for scratches of her own. Hiccup grimaced. Toothless lifted a brow at me as if to ask, Why are we doing this, again?

"Well, time for breakfast!" Hiccup said with fake cheer, rushing off to get some food. Before he followed his other half, Toothless' eyes flicked to Snotlout, who was now mumbling to Hookfang and reluctantly petting Stormfly as well. Haugaeldr settled down right at the tableーa sort-of alarming habit from a dragon, but he was pretty weird, anyway.

When all of us had gotten our meals and returned, Snotlout's shoulders were drooping. I sat next to him while Hiccup and Toothless settled across next to Haugaeldr.

We endured a tension-choked silence for less than a few seconds before Toothless rolled his eyes and let out a garbled growl. Hiccup gave him a wide-eyed look, practically begging him not to force his translation.

"Yes, Toothless?" I asked him pointedly.

Hiccup sighed, looking just as defeated as Snotlout. He looked at his cousin. "He, uh...well, he said, 'Stop moping like a hatchling and tell us what's bothering you.'"

Snotlout scowled into his meal. "Isn't it obvious?" he said.

"We can only assume, since you're not telling us," I told him.

Snotlout's angry look deepend. He stabbed his spoon into his porridge.

Hiccup met my eyes, and there was a strange, almost regretful glimmer in his gaze. He faced his cousin. "Snotlout," he said. "I know the way Dad treated you yesterday and today upset you. Honestly…" he glanced down at his hands, spooning his own meal back and forth across his plate. "...he used to do the same thing to me, before...well, everything. I...I really hated it."

"Easy for you to say now," Snotlout grumbled under his breath.

Toothless' eyes narrowed and his ears flattened to his skull. Haugaeldr, who had been in the process of taking off Hiccup's sandbox, glanced sharply up at him.

"Hey," I said in a voice usually reserved for scolding Stormfly. "If you haven't noticed, we're trying to make you feel better. Blaming us isn't fair."

"Well, I think the way I'm being treated isn't fair!"

"So you take it out on us? On Hookfang?" I said. That hit the spot; Snotlout winced with guilt, one of his hands reflexively resting on his dragon companion's nose. "If you have a problem with the way the Chief hands out duties, then bring it up to him. Not everyone else around you."

"But it isn't just him!" Snotlout exploded. "You do it, tooーall of you! And especially you!" he said, pointed his spoon at a very, very offended Toothless. "And now, everyone's made up their minds that I'm not important! Even the twins get jobs over me!"

"Fake jobs, Snotlout," I corrected him.

"Whatever!" he said, throwing his hands up. "Either way, I'm not an idiot! I see your not-so-secret looks between each other when I bring up who'll be Chief next. And I see how none of you think I'm important enough to do it!"

Toothless half-hissed, half-garbled something. Hiccup shot him a scolding look and, again, didn't translate for him right away.

"Well? Out with it!" Snotlout demanded.

Hiccup hesitated. "I think we're all just tired from our long flight yesterday," he tried to ease his cousin. "We should just eat our breakfast andー"

"What did he say?" Snotlout growled, staring defiantly at Toothless, who had mastered a calm, scornful look to perfection.

Hiccup seemed to pull into himself. "He said...'Everyone treats you like you're not important because you spend all your time trying to fill another human's footsteps. You need to do something important to be important.'"

Well...damn. I couldn't help but grimace, suddenly regretful that Hiccup had translated. Toothless was always more blunt than he wasn't, and almost never softened his blows; valuable when needing honest advice, but in this case?

The Chief's nephewーand second-in-lineーstared at Toothless, his pale face blank with shock and rage.

The chair clattered to the ground. Hookfang yelped and scrambled to his feet. Snotlout turned on his heel and walked away.

"Snotlout," Hiccup desperately tried to do damage control. He stood up. "Hold onー"

"Save it, dragon-boy," Snotlout hissed, his voice dripping with scorn.

Hiccup flinched, taking a step back, his wide eyes suddenly distant and far away. Toothless lifted his wings, showed all of his teeth in a dangerous glint against his dark scales, and snarled.

Silence fell.

The fearsome challenge echoed against the walls. Wide eyes, dragon and human alike, swung in our direction. Not a soul moved.

It had been years since a dragon had directed such a sound towards a human and meant it.

Though he was a blockhead, Snotlout was no coward. He stiffened and halted mid-stepーand then stalked straight out of Town Hall, trailed by Hookfang and dozens of stares.

I whipped around, my blood rushing to my ears and my mouth dry. "What was that?!" I hissed at Toothless.

Toothless' leer softened. He turned to his other half and went still, pupils narrowing.

Hiccup's hand had gone to his heart, the fabric of his tunic clenched between bloodless-white fingers. His face was as pale as Snotlout's had been, like the dull gray of an overcast sky.

My frustration left me as quickly as it had come. "Are you okay?" I asked, taking a step closer and putting a hand on his shoulder.

He blinked several times, as if waking from a dream, and settled his eyes on mine. "I-it's nothing," he said softly. Toothless crooned. His brother relaxed from a wide-legged stance I'd hardly noticed he'd taken.

Though I wanted to press the issue, I hesitated and nodded. What had...?

Dragon-boy. The nickname that, for years, had immediately been followed by a hiss from Toothless and Hiccup sternly saying: Don't call me that. He'd only begun to put his foot down afterー

Shame and sudden, dreadful realization blasted through me. My mind flew backwards, memories from five years ago forging to the front of my thoughts. Memories of the very few times I had witnessed Drago Bludvist speak to Hiccup.

Gods, I was an idiot. Peace had pulled a blindfold over my eyes, making me forget how hard we had fought for it. How close we came to losing it.

And the price we had paid for it.

The rest of breakfast passed without much to say between all of us. When we were done, Haugaeldr eagerly threw the sandbox on the table and began chattering away. This caught Hiccup's interest, at least, although I could still tell that his mind was wandering. Even Toothless was distracted, looking out the door where Snotlout had gone every now and then.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

We were a team. We had to work together well. All of our success so far had depended on just that. If something like this got between us...between Snotlout and Hiccup, of all people...it would be nearly impossible for us to work cohesively.

But, as much as I hated admitting it, Snotlout had a point. I thought of yesterday, when I'd given everyoneーeven the twinsーa task. Everyone, except him.

I would give Snotlout some space, I decided. Then I would come up with something for him to do, and not just some pity-task that you gave a child who wanted to feel older. Something valuable.

And then I would smack him upside the head for stooping so low, for purposefully stomping on a very clear boundary, for hitting where he knew it would cut deep out of nothing but spite. For five years, nobody had used the insult dragon-boy to imply Hiccup was something less...or something worse.

I wasn't about to have our team torn apart because of it.

o.O.o

The next morning, I rose just as the last stars were winking out. Stormfly grumbled and complained when I woke her, but got up nonetheless.

The sun was just inching on the horizon, a magenta-orange streak against ocean-deep blue. The air was chilly, frosting with each breath and spiraling into the black above. I welcomed the crisp, clean air that seemed to swell in my lungs. It kept me awake and alert; much better than a warm summer morning, when it was easy to doze off in the sluggish languor.

First we went to the dragonery, where the messenger-dragonsーusually Terrorsーresided. There was a basket for new messages into Berk and dozens of outgoing baskets for specific places and even people. All of them had their own bright, unique patterns painted onto them, which was at least something the dragons could understand. There was one incoming scroll in the basket specifically for the Chief or Hiccup and Toothless. I almost left itーand then remembered my new responsibilities.

I plucked it out of the basket, broke the wax seal, and unfurled the message. It was crumpled where tiny Terror claws had gripped it. Stormfly bustled in and got a good sniff of it.

Hiccup,

Me and the big fella are dropping in for another visit in the next week or so. We need some food, clothing, supplies, and as much alcohol of any kind as possible. Tempy is bored and in another one of his rebellious moods. I'd bet the rest of my grog he'll follow us. And I keep my grog even from the lads. Make sure you clear anything important from his bay.

Eret

I threw my head back and groaned. Not because of Eret's visitーbut because of who was coming with him.

The Bewilderbeastーnicknamed for his childish temper, although he could hardly help it at the timeーhad a bad habit of trying to climb up on the island to play with our dragons.

"Looks like your third-best friend is visiting soon," I told Stormfly. She cocked her head. "Tempy?"

At that, she gaped a huge dragon-grin and bobbed up and down in excitement, babbling excitedly. I grinned, already resigning myself to being saddle-sore for days after the visit, and furled the paper up to give to Hiccup later.

Next, we checked in on our supply chain. We went to the docks, taking note of how many fishing-teams had flown out. Then we checked in on our flocks of sheep, who scrambled away from Stormfly at the first whiff of her. The meat-drying and meat-salting for the winter was coming along well, and all of our storesーnow dug underground, directly into the stones with the help of magic-sharp dragon clawsーkept our stocks cold and dry. I picked through them, grabbing the occasional moldy citrus-fruit and grimacing at such a waste, and let Stormfly have a taste. She always insisted on trying the "new" food, and every time, she gagged and spit it out. Today was no different.

By the time we left the final store, the dawn had brightened into morning and plenty of people and dragons were awake. Dragons preened each other or were washed and oiled by their human companions to remove ticks, scale-mites, and other parasites. It seemed like every time we passed another flying dragon, Stormfly cried Hello!, one of the only dragon-words I was sure I knew. They returned the greeting in kind, and if any Vikings were astride them, I waved.

Stretching and smiling into the rushing wind, I took a mental tally of our morning tasks. We were pretty far ahead. "You ready for breakfast, girl?" I asked Stormfly, patting her neck.

We jerked forward, Berk blurring around us. I was still a little dazed when we landed at Town Hall. Stormfly barely waited for me to dismount before barging in and rushing for one of the many fish-filled containers set out for the dragons.

It was still fairly early, so I was surprised to see Hiccup, the Chief, Toothless, and Haugaeldr at a table.

"Hey!" I greeted them after I'd gotten my meal. I grabbed the letter and set it down in front of the Chief and Hiccup. "I got a message from Eret. He'll be showing up soon...with Tempy."

Toothless groaned. Hiccup choked on his meal. "We're using his bay to dock our ships for the winter!"

"I know," I said. "I'll work on relocating them to the western side of the island. With winter coming soon, they won't be useful for us, anyways."

The Chief nodded approvingly. "I was about to say the same," he said. "Listen, Astrid. The boys told me about what happened yesterday."

I stiffened, but tried to keep my expression calm. "I'll handle it," I said. To Hiccup, I went on, "he had no right saying that to you."

"You shouldn't have to handle it," Hiccup reassured me. "I think there's...more to it than just what he said." He glanced at his father, somewhat forlorn. "I'll talk to him. But thank you, Astrid."

"If you say so," I said, brows furrowing. It was probably more of his business, after all; I would back down if he asked me to. I still planned on having some words with Snotlout, though. He'd been rude to me, too.

Well, I guess that was it, then. With nothing more to say on the matter, I said, "So, have you guys thought about the news from yesterday?"

Toothless perked up and nodded excitedly. Hiccup chuckled and garbled something at him. Which reminded me of another thing.

"Oh, and how's your Book of Dragonese going?" I asked.

Thwack.

Haugaeldr had the sandbox open on the table and was strapping something to his paw before I could even blink. I stretched out my fingers, which had been inches from being crushed, and looked at them with new appreciation.

"He's got a lot of ideas," Hiccup summarized it all. He nodded to the sandbox as Haugaeldr began drawing different combinations of lines on them. "He's already trying to think of how to transcribe dragon sounds, almost like composing music. But...this whole thing with the Night Furies…"

"You want to go find them," I said. If they're still there, I didn't dare add when Toothless was listening. I had never seen him so...young-looking, eyes huge and excited, bouncing in place like Stormfly always did. I knew nothing about his upbringing, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that he had not been around other Night Furies in a long, long time.

Hiccup nodded with the same enthusiasm, although his eyes were still almost regretful. "He hasn't heard anything about Night Furies since he...ended up in the north. We have to go look for them. But it means that the Book of Dragonese might be put on hold."

Haugaeldr raised his lips to show teeth and narrowed his eyes in a dragon scowl. He barked something at the two.

"He wants to wait until the book is done," Hiccup explained. His expression flattened. "He's got this whole schedule planned out, where if we pay the small price of giving up sleep, food, bathing, and rest, we can get it done in a few weeks."

I took a sip of water. "So take him with you."

All four of them stared at me. Toothless' ears dropped and his eyes widened in dawning horror.

Haugaeldr outright screamed in excitement, leaping into the air and zipping in excited circles. That, of course, riled Stormfly up, who leapt into the fray and began a game of chase with him.

"It just makes sense," I said. "The map shows those mountains are at least a week's worth of flying away. And that doesn't even count the time searching the place. It would be a lot of time spent just flying and resting on islands. Besides, you'd get bored or worry yourself to death eventually."

Hiccup hummed thoughtfully, tapping his fingers on the table, eyes distant with new calculations. "That does make sense…"

Toothless gave me a look of deep, deep betrayal. I shrugged helplessly.

Haugaeldr fluttered to a landing beside us, Stormfly in tow. He clucked at Hiccup and Toothless, wriggling his rump. He pointed his nose at the sandbox for emphasis and flared his wings.

"Now you've done it," the Chief laughed. He sobered, and then asked, "But I must be honest. With news of Grimmel still out in the world causing chaos, I don't like the thought of you two going alone. Especially when Grimmel's last known location is so close."

"But that's why we should hurry there," Hiccup said. "What if we find them before he does?"

"And then what?" I asked. Very carefully, I suggested, "Bring them back to Berk?"

Through Hiccup, Toothless said, "We don't know, but we must find them before he does. And we can fly faster when it's only us."

"Boys," the Chief sighed. "We don't even know if they're there. But we do know that Grimmel has been nearby in the past year. Night Furies are a spectacle; sightings from even years ago are news. I worry that someone will spot you, and word will travel fast to Grimmel. Besides, for all we know, they flew somewhere else long ago."

Hiccup and Toothless deflated, forlorn expressions identical. I had a feeling this argument had already been told to them once before, and they definitely didn't like it better hearing it the second time.

"It's more than anything we've heard in five...no, six years, if you count when...when I was a dragon," Hiccup said. He looked down at his hands, studying them like they were some interesting dragon scales he'd picked up off the ground. "I remember being a spectacle among dragons, too."

Toothless nodded. "I have never seen or heard of Shadow-Blenders in all my time here," he spoke through Hiccup. "All dragons who even know of Shadow-Blenders are surprised to see me in the north. I promise you, King, I will keep us both safe." Haugaeldr piped up and he rolled his eyes. "Although I'm not sure about Haugaeldr."

"The point is," Hiccup went on, "If it takes years to gather such a small amount of new information, when will the next time be when we hear something?"

"I just want you to think about it," the King said. "I won't force you. But this is a journey that will easily go into the winter. We wouldn't hear from you for months. What if something happened to you? What if Grimmel found you?"

"You said you never believed any of his stories," Hiccup accused.

The Chief looked evenly at Hiccup, brows low over his eyes. "I once said the same of Drago Bludvist."

A stone sunk in my gut. Hiccup and Toothless stiffened, the both of them inching a little closer to each other. They turned to each other, meeting each others' eyes.

Long lines drew across Hiccup's face as he found something in Toothless' stare. He turned back to us, and suddenly he was so...sad. He put a hand on Toothless' forehead, and his brother looked up at the Chief, his eyes dim with the same strange sorrow.

"Dad…" Hiccup said after a long moment. "We need to find them."

"Hiccup," the Chief groaned.

"Drago had a Night Fury cloak," Hiccup interrupted him, his voice tight. Toothless winced, leaning into him, looking away.

The Chief silenced. I bit my lower lip.

"Did you recognize it?" I asked Toothless softly.

He shook his head with a small croon.

"He doesn't know for sure," Hiccup said, keeping close to Toothless as his head lowered. "But...his mother's scales once looked like it."

The Chief let out a long breath. "Very well," he said, defeated.

The two seemed caught between shock and delight, but at least they perked up.

"And I'm coming with you."

"What?" Hiccup, Toothless, and I yelped.

The Chief's expression had hardened with determination. "I'll not have you go off into danger alone. Not again. Never again." He turned to me. "Astrid. I wanted to wait for this, but this is too important. For the time that we are gone, you will be acting Chief."

I could only gape at him, sure that I was dreaming, or hallucinating, or had heard something wrong. Taking on extra responsibility was one thing, but...this?!

"B-but," I stammered. "IーI don't even know everything, and I've neverー"

"I know," he said. "And I'm sorry." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and turning back to the table. He met Hiccup's bewildered stare. "I know you will not be the heir," he said softly, "because you will be a dragon. But…"

Hiccup's face sunk. "I'm sorry, Dad," he said.

"No." His voice was firm. "You've done nothing wrong, son." The Chief straightened up, seeming to shake off his ghosts. "We've all known this for years now, but I...waited. We don't have that luxury anymore, and Berk needs to train a Chief to come after me." He turned to me. "What do you say, Astrid?"

My heart raced like a Gronkle's wingbeats. I was vaguely aware of my hands clenched tight together, fingernails digging into my skin.

The Chief's heir. Me.

It would mean all of Berk would be my team, instead of just my friends. It would mean working with the other villages to keep everyone safe. It would mean keeping the peace, once guarded like an unsteady flame in a windy night, only now gaining strength enough to provide warmth. It would mean seeing past it, watching the storms from afar, preparing to shelter it. Preparing to make hard decisions. To make sacrifices.

I glanced at Hiccup. He smiled at me, though it was small.

Looking into those bright green eyes, once so haunted, it all seemed so fragile now. Our place in the world. Our way of life. Humans and dragons, together, for the first time in history.

But together, Hiccup and I, we could make it last.

"I…" I said, my mouth dry. I took another drink of water and drew in a breath, centering myself. I lifted my eyes to his and forced steadiness into my voice, no matter how hard my body shook with anxious excitement.

"It would be an honor, Chief."