"So me an' Gobber went after you," Stoick said. "While Astrid and the others will be back on Berk, finding out from those trappers what we're up against."
Hiccup couldn't help but be skeptical. "Really? You think they'll talk?" Eret was hardly a friend to dragons, after all, and Hiccup had barely been given a chance to change his mind...
Stoick chuckled weakly. "Aye," he said. "They'll have Astrid to deal with. She'll get it out of them. She's…ah, persuasive, in her own way."
Stoick then groaned softly. He closed his eyes, holding a pair of ice blocks even tighter to his head.
Hiccup and Stoick, at that moment, were back in Valka's cave. Gobber was there too, as were all of their dragons, and all were watching the Berkian chief closely. Stoick was on his back with his head resting on an ice block, with another ice block on his forehead, with two more ice blocks pressed tightly to his head's sides.
Hiccup couldn't help but find the sight disconcerting. This was Stoick The Vast, Chief of Berk — a man who had broken rocks with his head, who had knocked out dragons with nothing but his fists! This was a man who almost never stopped, who almost never got sick or injured, who so rarely let himself stop for a rest.
Hiccup had sat on the ground at one side of his father, with Gobber sat on Stoick's other side. Their three dragons had formed a loose semi-circle around them, as though to protect them from anything that might lie beyond. All three dragons were on full alert; even Grump, just for once, was utterly awake.
Valka had supplied the ice but then had quickly run off with Cloudjumper, mumbling something about hatchlings. Hiccup wasn't sure where she'd gone, and right then he found it hard to care. It seemed far too fitting for her to have walked out on them again, after twenty years of doing exactly that.
"You and Toothless have been utter fools today," Stoick said suddenly. "You're the heroes of Berk, son. And you, Hiccup, are my heir. You can't just fly off by yourself in a crisis! What if you or Toothless had gotten hurt? Or killed?"
Hiccup blinked, unable to help being annoyed, and Toothless rumbled nearby.
"Well…heh…it did kind of work out, right?" Hiccup said. Then, in response to Stoick's disapproving glare: "I mean, you know, we found this nest. And Astrid and the others have the trappers. And hey, we even found Mother. That has to count for something, right?
Stoick snorted, before closing his eyes once again. "Aye," he said, with an air of resignation. "You ain't wrong."
"It still wasn't smart, though," Gobber said. "Some might even suggest it was poorly conceived." He shot a narrow-eyed look Hiccup's way. "Flying off is one thing. But alone? Without even your riders with ya?"
"W-well…hehe…I did have Astrid," Hiccup said, though he could feel he was grasping at straws.
"That was her idea," Stoick said flatly. "Not yours."
"Aye," Gobber said. "If ye'd had it your way, you and Toothless would have gone to those trappers by yourselves. What if ye'd gotten captured, lad? Or worse?"
"Well," Hiccup said. "Then I'd have just…uhhh…"
He looked to Toothless for support; he found the Night Fury looking down wide-eyed at the floor, his ears tightly back.
"I mean…guys, come on, it's Eret," Hiccup said. "Since when was that guy dangerous?"
"Since he started working for Drago," Stoick said. "That's when."
"Ya do know he nearly shot ya, right?" Gobber added.
Toothless let out an affronted bark, his posture tensing. Hiccup blinked, shaking his head repeatedly.
"Wait, he…what? When? With what?"
"When ye were gliding back to the ship," Gobber said, his arms now up high. "Eret got on a ballista and took aim. If it weren't for Astrid, he'd have…well, you get the idea."
Hiccup, now that he thought about it, did recall seeing some kind of commotion between Eret and Astrid. But he'd been too focussed on finding a place to land, and he'd been paying little to no attention to anything else.
" Never go alone," Stoick said. "And never assume an enemy is harmless. Even if they're a muttonhead like Eret. He could have had you, son!"
Hiccup swallowed; Toothless let out a worried croon.
"I mean…I'd have still had Toothless with me," Hiccup went. Now, he knew he was clutching at straws.
"Toothless is disabled, lad!" Gobber said, waving his hook around. "If anything happens to you, Toothless is downed! And a downed dragon…"
"...is a dead dragon," Hiccup finished with a sigh, a fresh guilt spreading in his chest.
All of a sudden, a large Night Fury head pressed into Hiccup's hand. Hiccup began to scratch at it rapidly, and Toothless' blissful purrs began to fill the space. Those purrs calmed Hiccup, and comforted him, evaporating the guilt away.
"Still, you're right, it did work out," Stoick said. "You'll need to get used to this sort of thing, you know. When you become chief, I mean."
Hiccup swallowed a second time. Toothless settled down next to him, letting out a soft chuff
"Uhhh, I will?" Hiccup went. "What sort of thing?"
"Disobedience. Mutiny," Stoick said, as though they were the most casual concepts in the world. "People thinking they know better than you, doing their own thing." He dropped one of his ice blocks and waved his hand over his head, gesturing at nothing in particular. "We're Vikings, Hiccup! Chains of command? Rigid discipline? People always doing what they're told? Pah! That's not for Vikings! That's for…for Romans!"
Stoick snorted, even as he picked his discarded ice-block back up.
"So…uhhhh, I'm not in trouble?" Hiccup hazarded.
"Oh, you're in trouble," Stoick said, though there was little bite to it. "Not for that, though. You're in trouble for not taking your riders with you, and for disappearing for hours before that."
"And for missing work," Gobber added, waving his hook some more. "Again."
"Yeah, uh, sorry Gobber," Hiccup said, looking down at his feet. "I guess I got kinda sidetracked, huh?"
"Well, I'm sure you'll make up for it. Yer always do," Gobber said, heaving himself to his feet. "Now, one of us ought to get back to Berk. And it ain't gonna be you, Chief," he then added, as Stoick made an aborted attempt to sit up.
"But I'm the Chief, Gobber!" he said, trying with a large groan to sit up again. The ice-pack on his forehead slid down to his nose; he grumbled and knocked it away. "I'm needed there, I…get off me, Skullcrusher!"
Skullcrusher had just nudged Stoick back down, his head pressing lightly into Stoick's chest. He snorted, not moving an inch, his views on the matter plain to see.
"Guess you're outvoted, Dad," Hiccup said, suppressing a grin. "Thanks, Gobber,"
"Ah, don't mention it," Gobber said. "Come on now, Grump."
The blacksmith marched off, his peg-leg thumping against the rocky floor, and his usually-sleepy dragon obediently trotted along behind. Skullcrusher snorted again and then withdrew, his point made beyond all doubt.
"So. Son," Stoick said. "Why did you run off this morning?" He looked at Hiccup levelly, without trying to sit up again.
For a third time, Hiccup swallowed hard.
"Well I…uhhh…it was such a lovely day!" Hiccup said, his voice going just a little too high. "There were so many sights for me and Toothless to see, and—"
"It was the 'chief' talk," Stoick said. "Wasn't it?"
Hiccup looked away. Then he nodded.
"Hiccup," Stoick said. "Do you…not want to be Chief?"
Hiccup opened his mouth to reply. Then he closed it, every possible answer seeming to die in his throat.
"Well, son?" Stoick said quietly. "Do you?"
"I…I mean…" Hiccup went, a proper answer still failing to form. "I just…I have no idea, Dad. Really. It's just…it's a huge honor, I know! But it's such a big thing, and…I don't think I'm ready for that, and—"
"It's Toothless, isn't it?" Stoick said.
Hiccup met his father's eyes for just a moment before nodding. "That's…a lot of it, yes."
Toothless nudged at his cheek; Hiccup stroked and scratched the dragon's head, suddenly feeling desperate for the contact.
"Go on, son. I'm listening," Stoick said.
"It's just…he can't fly on his own, Dad," Hiccup said. "And I know Astrid could do it, but…he's my friend. My best friend. I can't stand the thought of not having time for him."
He lapsed into silence. That silence then stretched. Hiccup couldn't help but want to fill it, but he hadn't the slightest clue what to fill it with. Skullcrusher then marched over to Stoick, the discarded ice block firmly in his mouth; he deposited carefully back on Stoick's forehead, before slowly turning away.
"Well," Stoick said. "Skullcrusher and I manage, do we not?"
"Well, yeah, but…"
But it's not the same, Hiccup wanted to say. Skullcrusher was a stoic and distant dragon — a fitting dragon for his father, in many ways — and he and Stoick were simply not as close as what Hiccup and Toothless shared. His father was simply not going to understand this, no matter how hard he tried to; of that, Hiccup was convinced.
"Just think about it, son," Stoick said. "That's all I ask. Think about it. You're the pride of Berk. You brought us lasting peace. Who better to lead Berk into a new age?"
"I'll...uhhh…I'll think about it, yes," Hiccup said, wishing he could think about anything but.
"And besides," Stoick said, "I will need to retire some day. And then, who else could it be? Snotlout ? Pah!"
Snotlout was Hiccup's cousin, and so was next in line for the Chiefhood after Hiccup. He'd once been thought as being likely for the role, back when Hiccup had been Hiccup The Useless, but those days were long since gone. Snotlout even seemed to be glad of it, judging by his complete lack of complaints about it —and Snotlout complained about a lot of things.
"I mean, Snotlout would be…not great," Hiccup allowed. "And…well, I can't think of anyone else who has a claim, but…"
But he couldn't bear leaving behind the simple joys of being with his best bud — the first person who'd believed in him, the person who'd given his life meaning — in the air or on the ground. Nor could he bear losing the freedom of the skies, losing the freedom to be at Toothless' side. Being chief meant endless inanity, endless stupid requests and stupid problems, endless grinding work to keep the village happy and fed.
It was the world of Stoick the Vast, not the world of Hiccup.
But Stoick The Vast was laid low, clutching ice-packs, his head showing little sign yet of getting better. And in the light of flickering torches, which the dragons had helpfully lit, Hiccup couldn't help but see the gray within Stoick's bushy red beard.
Stoick The Vast was getting old. And age, ultimately, caught up to all.
"I will think about it," Hiccup said weakly. "It's just…I don't know if it's me," he said. "You always knew who you are. Just as Astrid always did. But I…I only even started to know five years ago. When I met Toothless."
Toothless crooned quietly, nosing into Hiccup's cheek. Hiccup leaned into it and wrapped an arm around his head, holding the dragon close.
"But Astrid…she always knew who she was," Hiccup said. "She knows now. She was always...a Viking. A proper Viking. And sometimes, I think…I think she would be a better choice to be…oh," he went, trailing off.
Stoick the Vast, Chief Of Berk, had started to snore.
Hiccup sighed. "Well then," he said quietly. "Good talk."
Hiccup, all of a sudden, didn't want to talk. He didn't particularly want to think. He wanted to be up in the air with Toothless, to get away from the sheer madness that had been this day.
He rose to his feet, leaning on his bud, who already seemed to know what Hiccup had in mind. Skullcusher in turn laid down by Stoick's feet, curling around his rider as much as his inflexible armored body would allow him to. He looked up at Hiccup reassuringly, his expression making it known that no-one and nothing would be getting to Stoick without his say-so.
Hiccup nodded his head silently in thanks. Stoick The Vast continued to snore.
"Well, bud," Hiccup whispered. "Let's—"
That was when Valka walked back in.
She came in silently with her dragon companion almost right at her heels, talons clicking against the hard ground. They took in the sight before them and went still, like animals caught snooping in others' territory. That this was their lair hardly seemed to matter, just then. It almost felt like they were intruding, to Hiccup. And Valka and Cloudjumper, it seemed, felt it too.
Hiccup stepped towards her. Cloudjumper darted in front of her. Then Valka, with her staff, eased him away.
This was his mother: the mother who had abandoned his father — abandoned him — for twenty long years. This was the mother who'd chosen to live with dragons, to stay away from Berk, while war waged and while people — human and dragon alike — died under axe and claw and flame. This was the mother who had explained herself in ways that made no sense, in ways which just begged more questions, who seemed utterly oblivious to the pain she'd caused…and to the danger which, by her inaction, she'd placed all of them in.
Hiccup pointed to her. Then he pointed to himself. Then he pointed to the cave entrance, where she and Cloudjumper had just come through.
He saw his mother's hesitation. Then he saw her nod, hesitantly and shakily, her staff gripped tightly in hand.
Hiccup turned without a word. He wasn't surprised when she fell into step behind him. Nor was he surprised when their dragon friends went to follow, side-by-side as though by unspoken agreement.
But this was between Hiccup and Valka, not the dragons.
Hiccup turned around. He raised a hand and shook his head, stopping Toothless in his tracks. Valka did much the same with Cloudjumper. The dragons obeyed, padding away and then settling down close to each other, looking almost mournfully at their two humans.
"Thanks, bud," Hiccup said quietly.
He and Valka began to walk once more. They exited her little cave-space and then kept on walking, out into the nest's maze of tunnels, neither yet saying a word.
But they knew what was coming. Both of them did.
Answers, Hiccup thought. His mother owed him answers, for all of this. He needed to know. He needed to know why. And he needed to know now.
