CHAPTER 7: Ten years
It was a snowy day on New Berk for Hiccup and his tribe. Ten whole years had now passed since defeating Grimmel subsequently followed by him sending the dragons away to The Hidden World.
And it had also been five years since Alfa Yurlin came to power in the recently acknowledged tribe, the 'Ancients'. Word had inevitably got to the Hooligans and New Berk about the rise of Yurlin but they were more or less indifferent to the situation - it wasn't anything to be concerned about, in comparison to the fact Drago Bludvist was still alive.
Most importantly of all, Hiccup hadn't even read Yurlin's 'My Solution' book - that was how isolated he and the Hooligans were from the external affairs of their island in the central archipelago.
For Hiccup, Drago Bludvist being alive was the upmost regret to him above all else. That moment five years ago when word from the archipelago got to Hiccup that Drago and the Warlords were alive had made him ponder that night about his dad. He cried. Five years on though, despite the fact he was still regretful at Bludvist being alive still, he had gotten over it - mostly.
Because he was now a fully fledged father with two kids he absolutely adored and loved. As a dad, he had his priorities concentrated at home rather than external issues. The only external issue that was on his head was Drago Bludvist, but nothing else bothered him. He knew of Yurlin and the newly recognized Ancient vikings as a result, but he hadn't thought of them basically at all.
It was a particularly special day for Hiccup and his family because a day had passed since he reunited with his best bud, Toothless the Night Fury and Astrid with Stormfly on the seas near the Hidden World's entrance. Hiccup never thought he'd see Toothless again, and to him it was made all the more better by the fact he reunited with Toothless on a milestone anniversary of 10 years since sending the dragons away to The Hidden World.
Because of all of that, he was buzzed up more than usual, Astrid couldn't control him - any worries about Drago were out of the window. He was utterly excited, emotional, and thankful that for the first time in ten years, he not only got to reunite with Toothless, but he got to ride him - and his wife, Astrid, got to ride Stormfly again. Like the good old days.
"Who put a deformed apple in his soup?" Snotlout sarcastically asked, as all the Hooligans on their snowy island gathered up the wooden chairs and decorations after the pageant.
Snotlout, Eret, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, Fishlegs, Astrid and Gobber all watched Hiccup as he skipped and sprinted with the biggest smile on his face. Zephyr and Nuffink were stood with them all as they watched their Chieftan glee with joy like a kid.
"How's it feel knowing he's your dad?" Tuffnut asked Zephyr, to the chuckling approval of Ruffnut.
Zephyr wasn't having any of that.
"At least I don't have 'nut' in my name, at least my dad named me right!" she replied, which made not just her mum, Astrid, laugh, but everyone else.
Tuffnut couldn't respond to that, he was stuttering for a response but quietly conceded defeat.
Hiccup came back to the whole gang as he noticed them watching him - the only ones who weren't staring at him like he was crazy were Valka, Gobber, Astrid and the two kids.
"Hey guys, we should probably start getting the pageant stuff pulled down for next year!" Hiccup delightfully said, not acknowleding the confused looks thrown at him by some in the group.
"I really ought to have come along with you guys yesterday," Eret conceded, "I kinda wanted to re-live all of that, minus doing what you just did now, Chief."
"I already told you, we were just sailing on the seas because me, Astrid and the kids the night before saw Toothless and the Light Fury fly over our house, after the pageant collapsed in flames. It was spontaneous, alright?"
"You didn't even have the decency to tell us?" Fishlegs added, sounding quite upset that he never got the chance to potentially see Meatlug, "it's been ten years, and I miss her so much!"
"I'll make it up to you all. We'll all sail on the seas together nearer to The Hidden World's entrance and we'll see if we can find them again."
Valka walked up to Hiccup and patted him on the shoulder, before leaning in towards him.
"Just remember son, with Drago still alive, you have to be a bit more cautious about taking the kids off our island."
Hiccup completely understood what his mum had just said to him, but the upbeat energy from the emotional excitement after seeing Toothless again after 10 years had made his worries about going on the seas with Drago still lurking about completely dead.
"I've got it under control, mum. Drago doesn't even know we're on a new island, and hey, it has been ten years since we defeated him back on Berk. We've never had this much peace ever!"
Most of the gang sighed before walking off - Ruffnut and Tuffnut in one direction, Snotlout in another, Fishlegs in his own. Eret, Valka, Astrid and the kids remained put with Hiccup in the middle of the village as hundreds of Berkians deconstructed the pageant stage and decorations as Snoggletog came to an end.
"Yeah, it doesn't sound like they're particularly happy with us for seeing our dragons again, Hiccup," Astrid said.
Hiccup scratched his beard and looked across to the gang as they walked away. If he'd have known he'd see Toothless and the Light Fury again beforehand he'd have happily took them along.
"I'm not spiteful, Astrid, you know that. Mum, you know that as well! I still think, 10 years on, the dragons are best in The Hidden World, but we should definitely try and see them...I don't know, once every year, two years, three years, what do you guys think?" Hiccup asked, leaning towards Zephyr and Nuffink.
"EVERY DAY!" Nuffink yelled.
"Now now Nuff, we're vikings, we're gonna have to be a bit realistic here! as apart of our annual Snoggletog festivities, we'll try and see them once a year!"
Astrid and Valka weren't sure how likely it was for them to come across the dragons again. It was a very long sail away from New Berk to The Hidden World's entrance in the ocean and Hiccup hadn't even drafted out a map from New Berk to the entrance. The only thing he knew was which side of New Berk to sail from to go to The Hidden World, but the exact sailing path wasn't mapped out.
Plus, with New Berk being as tall as it was, it was a slow and irritable process of having to be lowered down the sides of the island via wooden contraptions built with thick rope rolled under big brown handles which were rolled upwards or downwards by vikings manning them to either take someone up to the island or down to the shores of it.
"I dunno, we'll make it work!" Hiccup added.
"Listen kids, why don't you both uh, go and help Gobber sort out the pageant decorations to pack away for a minute?" Valka said, patting the two kids on the shoulder as she sought a talk with Astrid and Hiccup.
Gobber was one of Hiccup's best friends and so was one of the only few vikings he trusted with his kids - as a close partner and friend to his dad, Stoick the Vast.
"Aye, I can train you both in the ways of the deconstructin' viking! only with yours truly!" Gobber declared.
Zephyr and Nuffink wanted something to do, so they were more than happy to tag along with Gobber, who felt like an uncle of sorts to them given how close he and their father, Hiccup, were. Gobber walked off to the pageant stage with them as Valka tended to the group.
"As much as I'd have loved to come along with you all yesterday, I...feel like it might've been a risky move, Hiccup."
"Drago isn't here, he's ten years older now and sooner rather than later mum he won't be around for much longer - besides, his Bewilderbeast is in The Hidden World, we saw him when me and Astrid flew into it ten years ago."
"Never put your guard down, son. Never put your guard down. It's still the case that Drago is alive and we've known this now for the past five years, I just hope for the sake of the kids you don't become too lax."
Hiccup took in what his mum was telling him. He absolutely despised and loathed Drago for what he did to his dad, and he was still a dangerous man even if he was presumably in his older age now. Hiccup, as brightly upbeat and excited as he was right now from seeing Toothless yesterday, was never going to let his guard down.
"You know what I think?" Astrid said, jumping into the conversation, "I think we should start pulling our weight around here and taking down these Snoggletog decorations."
She threw a fist into Hiccup's back.
"OUCH! Astrid, that was totally uncalled for, what gives?" Hiccup asked.
"A good Chieftan listens to his mum's advice, and then a good Chieftan helps his village in tidying up."
Hiccup thought that made sense. It seemed like Valka had just wanted to clear the air with him about Drago and about how important it'd be to keep the safety of Zephyr and Nuffink at his upmost priority as it always was. He was in the mood to help out the village by tidying up and scrapping the Snoggletog stage from last night, the decorations, and that incredibly uncomfortable metal dragon costume Hiccup himself wore for the pageant.
"In that case...let's not waste our time anymore, happiness about seeing dragons again aside, we've gotta get tidying!" Hiccup declared.
It was now night time on the elevated terrain of New Berk, towering over the seas shaped like a giant floating asteroid from a distance on a boat. The Berkians were in their Great Hall which they had built on the island shortly after the dragons had left for The Hidden World ten years ago.
They were all congregated inside the hall, munching on their fruits, vegetables, and meat. Voices in the hall were bouncing off each corner as the brown oak popped out on each wall of the structure. The scent of cooked meat was enough to get the vikings irritable until they started eating.
Hundreds and hundreds of Hooligans were sat inside the hall as dozens of conversations went on at the same time. Hiccup, Valka and Astrid alongside Gobber and Zephyr with Nuffink were sat on an elevated part of the hall - they were on a wooden platform of sorts. They had a clear view of the entire hall. It was built specifically for Hiccup's family, as the Chieftan.
This platform was very similar to the Great Hall back on Old Berk, the platform Hiccup stood on that night when he summoned the tribe in the middle of the night to reveal his plan to leave the island, directly after Grimmel had threatened him and destroyed his house.
Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, Fishlegs alongside Eret were all sat on their own wooden table not too far away from the elevated wooden floor Hiccup and his family were sat on. Usually they'd be allowed to sit with Hiccup but Hiccup considered Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Snotlout in particular to be too immature, disruptive, and just all around annoying to be able to sit with comfortably whilst eating dinner.
Eret was the 'sane' one keeping them in check on the table.
As Hiccup sat inbetween Zephyr and Nuffink, all he could see briefly was a whole set of fruits being pelted directly over his wooden bowl. Zephyr and Nuffink were having a food fight of sorts.
"HEY GUYS, DON'T DO THAT!" Hiccup said, putting his hands on both Zephyr and Nuffink.
"Zephyr told me this apple was poisonous and that she poisoned it!" Nuffink claimed, drawing an audible gasp from Zephyr.
"YOU LITTLE LIAR!" she replied, "you threw something at me behind dad's back, I don't let anyone throw anything at me!"
"Okay guys, just drop it...we're eating, we don't throw food at eachother on the table - let me tell you both, aspiring to be Snotlout is the last thing I'd ever consider," Hiccup said.
"YOU THINK I DIDN'T HEAR THAT, HICCUP?!" Snotlout yelled, his voice producing the loudest echo which caused a few heads of the other Hooligans across the hall to turn towards him.
Hiccup simply sighed and nodded his head. Valka could be heard chuckling.
"It's funny isn't it, Hiccup?" Valka said, as she was sat on the other side of Zephyr, looking at Hiccup, "even when you was a babe you'd do the same thing, it runs in the family I suppose."
"I threw my dignity at one point but surely I never threw food as a baby?" Hiccup questioned.
"You absolutely did, Hiccup - I remember it all even now. But you were a lot younger than these two."
Hiccup was genuinely intrigued at the fact he used to have foodfights as a little baby/toddler - he perceived it as being just normal behaviour for anyone at that age, but he didn't want to fully embrace the idea he ever did that.
Everyone continued eating their night meals in the Great Hall of New Berk. The large wooden doors of the hall slowly opened both at the same time, and incoming through them were at least four+ vikings making their way through it.
Escorting them from the front were a couple of Hooligans who were keeping watch of the edges of New Berk and the seas from above. As the group of vikings made their way through the opening middle of all the tables in the warmly lit hall, audible gasps gradually built up from one table to the other as the identity of these four vikings became in the open.
Hiccup and Astrid and everyone on the front noticed the commotion and the group approaching them. The two Hooligans escorting the group looked at their Chieftan as they carefully led the vikings through. More gasps could be heard as the consistent gasps caused more attention to be paid to the source of them.
It was as if the hall had been paused.
"Chief, we've uh...we've got a few visitors here who wanted to come and see you," one of the Hooligans said, as Hiccup looked at the two Hooligans.
"Did you let them come up through our manually built wooden lifts on the edges of the island? who are they?" Hiccup asked, with all eyes in the hall on him.
And then, as soon as the two Hooligans moved out of the way, the sight of the vikings hit him like a bomb, so much so that his eyes widened, he too gasped, and he slowly arose from his wooden chair in shock. The four vikings he was looking at in the middle of the hall he thought he'd never ever see again after evacuating to New Berk.
Dagur the Deranged, Alvin the Treacherous, Atali, Heather and Mala, had all returned the favour as their own gasps could be heard at seeing Hiccup, for the first time in over ten years - with a beard, with his own children - to them, Hiccup looked completely different to when they last seen him.
But they came here for a reason.