Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise; if you're on this site, you know the drill. Also, thanks are owed to athingofvikings, who gave me a much-appreciated sounding-board for a few aspects of my planned world-building for this particular crossover; hope you like it.
Feedback: Appreciated as always.
AN: I apologise for the delay compared to my usual update pattern; RL issues meant that I couldn't find as much time to write as I usually do, so I decided to delay a couple of fics while still getting other updates out there. After that, RL issues at various ends meant that I just didn't have as much time to write as I would have liked, but I hope to get back to a more regular pattern now.
The Dragon of Wanheda
Sitting awkwardly opposite her mother, Clarke wondered if the two of them would ever manage to find the right kind of dynamic for their relationship after everything that had happened since she originally left the Ark. Those last few moments on the Ark where her mother had encouraged her to try and take charge of the situation on the ground sometimes felt as though they had been an exchange between two different people, and Clarke was never sure when things had changed. Learning that her mother had essentially killed her father had been the biggest shock, but they'd been able to find some limited way to work together while trying to coordinate plans to bring the population of the Ark back down to Earth. Dealing with the immediate threat of Mount Weather had been a way to avoid having to face their other issues, but now that they had dealt with all the obvious 'threats' in this continent…
"So," her mother said before the silence crossed into 'awkward', "you found the Dragon Sanctuary?"
"More like I found a lost dragon that that led to me finding the rest of these guys," Clarke explained, even as she smiled at the memory of that first meeting with Griffin and Hiccup. "I'm not sure what Griffin was doing on this continent when the dragons mostly seem to stick to their own islands, but I found him… well, he'd had a bit of an accident around the remains of Arrow Station."
"Arrow Station?"
"It was pretty much trashed when I got there, and I didn't see any survivors, so I don't know if they just got lost or nobody survived in the first place, but Griffin… his wing had been pinned under some of the debris," Clarke explained. "I managed to get him to trust that I wanted to help him, he let me take care of his injury, and when the time came when he was ready to leave…"
"He chose to stay with you?"
"Even after his wing healed," Clarke nodded. "It was… I don't know, maybe it was a bit selfish of me, but it was… good… to have someone who just appreciated that I helped him, instead of…"
She hesitated for a moment, but then she nodded in resolution and looked at her mother. "Well, instead of complaining about the things I did recently that they didn't like."
"That's… fair," her mother said, a shameful expression on her face for a moment before she gave Clarke a thoughtful smile. "And that's where you met the others?"
"Hiccup helped me out when someone tried to go after me while I was still at Arrow Station, and he took me to their island so I could learn more about Griffin," she explained. "It's not exactly peaceful- there are these dragon hunters after Hiccup's group because he found this artefact that tells them all kinds of dragon secrets- but they don't… I can help out, but they don't make me feel… it doesn't feel forced, if you know what I mean?"
A part of Clarke didn't like how she had to say these things to her mother, but the rest of her knew that these kind of unpleasant topics had to be addressed if they were going to form any kind of relationship in their new world. From the moment Jake Griffin had died, things were never going to be the same between them even if Clarke had never learned the truth about Abby's role in what had happened, and everything that had happened since then didn't make it any easier for them.
"If it's not too personal, what's with the Viking theme they seem to have?" Abby asked, clearly trying to change the subject. "It's an interesting look, but… well, the rest of the Grounders developed their own culture instead of recreating the past…"
"I think… well, from what I've pieced together, I'm fairly sure they and other tribes are basically descendants of people who were at the Dragon Sanctuary when the bombs went off," Clarke explained. "They were able to survive because they were so far away from the initial fallout, but I'm guessing that there weren't enough resources for them to maintain their original society, so after a while they just… there was a whole Viking role-playing game opportunity at the Sanctuary according to Dad's booklet, so maybe someone decided it was easier to tell the kids that the game was the reality so they didn't know what they'd lost."
"That… well, it's not the most ridiculous theory," Abby conceded with a tentative smile at her daughter. "After all, we have thirteen whole tribes who don't really remember what the world was like before now when they were in the heart of civilisation; the idea of making it all a game could have had a certain appeal at the time."
"I've discussed it with a couple of others from their home village, but… well, what's the point in bringing it up?" Clarke shrugged. "If I told them the truth, even if they understood it they wouldn't actually be able to do anything about it, and it doesn't change the situation they're facing."
"That's… fair enough," Abby nodded in acknowledgement, before she gave Clarke a more serious look. "You're not going to be staying, are you?"
"Mom?"
"Once we've… I mean, once you're sure Pike isn't going to be a problem… you'll be going away with these riders, won't you?"
"I… I don't think I can stay," Clarke admitted, looking apologetically at her mother even as she was relieved that someone else had brought that up. "It's not that… I still care about everyone here, but after everything that happened… I can't be the one everyone looks to for a solution to their problems all the time…"
"Clarke, I… I didn't mean for you to feel like-"
"I get that you didn't know what we'd find when we got down here, but…" Clarke trailed off, lost for anything better to say that wouldn't sound like an accusation. "It's just… I tried to protect everyone and it led to everyone turning to me for a solution all the time, and then everyone seemed to feel like they had the right to complain about how I was doing it…"
"Which isn't something you have to worry about when you're with them," Abby said, a faint gleam of tears in her eyes as she looked at her daughter. "And… you're happier where you are."
"It's… I can help out while I'm there, but Hiccup and the others… they respect my input without making me feel like I'm needed," Clarke said, hoping her words made sense. "I helped them protect an important artefact from dangerous men, but nobody's tried to put me in charge; I've… well, even if I have some good ideas, I can just be a healer to them…"
She wasn't sure how to say what else came to mind as she spoke, but the warm smile on her mother's face was enough to assure Clarke that she understood what her daughter wasn't able to say right now. Their relationship would never be exactly what it was, but Clarke had spent years basically training to succeed her mother as the Ark's chief medical officer; that kind of respect didn't go away because of one bad decision, no matter how terrible it had been.
"Clarke," her mother gave her a reassuring smile, "I get that I haven't spent much time with Hiccup and his friends, but I don't think you could ever be 'just' anything to anyone who spends any time with you. I admit that we probably don't have the best precedent, since everyone pretty much knew everyone on the Ark to some degree, but the way those four all look at you…"
"We're just friends, Mom-"
"But they all like having you there," Abby said, still smiling warmly at her daughter. "We're all still struggling to find a balance with the Coalition… and you're going out there, making friends and making an impact on people just by… being yourself."
"It's not…" Clarke began, before she shook her head with a sad smile. "I want to say that doing that shouldn't be so hard, but I guess we learned when we got down here that it can be that difficult if we're not careful."
"And you managed to make friends without needing to be the one in charge."
"That's… do you ever think maybe that's been our biggest problem?" Clarke said, looking uncertainly at her mother, the idea coming to her basically as she spoke. "We spent so long thinking we'd be in charge when we got down here because we didn't believe anyone else had actually survived, and when we found out that there were other people down here we just… it's hard to get over that."
"Yeah," her mothered nodded back at her, before she gave a more probing look. "Still… that's what we have to face later. Right now, if we have the Commander coming here, it's all about making sure everyone knows what we're trying to do."
"And you're sure Pike's not going to do anything?"
"He's still making it clear he resents the Grounders for what happened to the rest of his group, but ever since your friends spoke with him Bellamy seems to be speaking up in favour of our alliance," Abby observed with a slight smile. "Jaha's still talking about his own new cult, but whatever the deal is with that 'City of Light' idea he had… well, people seem to be more interested in the dragons now."
"Yeah, they're pretty incredible," Clarke smiled. "Toothless is apparently the smartest dragon that they know of, but the others aren't exactly stupid. It didn't take long for Griffin to realise that I was talking to him when I gave him his name, Stormfly's pretty good about following even Astrid's more specific instructions, and Barf and Belch… well, their riders might be eccentric, but it's not exactly easy to coordinate anything when you have two heads."
"I can imagine," Abby said, her smile broadening for a moment before she gave Clarke a more serious look. "Just so we're clear, I am glad to see you again, but if you like where you are, you didn't have to-"
"We do," Clarke cut her off. "Maybe you're right and this isn't my place any more… but you are still all my family, and I'm not going to leave until I know everything's safe."
It was strange, but hearing that her mother didn't expect her to stay was so refreshing to hear that Clarke wondered if she should feel ashamed at how pleased she was at that news. This obviously wasn't going to be a permanent goodbye, now that she had made the Ark aware of the existence of dragons and knew how to get back to her old camp herself, but feeling as though she had the freedom to come and go… it made all the difference.
Hiccup wasn't sure how he should feel about the way he and the other Riders had basically ended up in charge of security for this particular upcoming meeting. It wasn't as though anybody was outright forcing them to do it, and he got the impression that Astrid in particular rather enjoyed the task, but the fact that both parties involved were so distrusting that they felt safer with some relative strangers taking on this kind of job…
He wondered if he should assume that they were only really being tolerated because nobody had any issues with his people at this point, but he had to admit that he appreciated how many of Clarke's people had at least expressed an interest in dragons so far. Even the people who clearly just thought of the dragons as well-trained animals were at least showing them due respect, and the twins were enjoying the chance to show off their own experience without just blowing things up. Stormfly looked a little on edge off to the side, and kept glancing off in the direction of TonDC (where had that name even come from?), but the Nadder showed no sign of rejecting Astrid's order.
Hiccup hadn't been entirely comfortable with the situation himself when Astrid proposed it, but he had agreed that it would be best to stick to the plan of introducing the dragons in stages to the wider population of this Coalition. Satisfied that she'd made the right impression on Bellamy and Pike to keep them cowed for the moment, Astrid had gone to meet Commander Lexa in a more 'official' capacity, introducing herself to some of the Commander's ruling council as a kind of ambassador and inviting them to come to the camp and meet with Hiccup more directly. She'd taken Stormfly to get close to the main city, but it was felt that revealing the dragons too early on would have given the impression that they were trying to force an alliance, so she'd instructed the dragon to fly back alone. Stormfly had been uncomfortable about the order, but she had gone along with the cue, even if she kept looking anxiously over towards the gate.
"They're coming!" a voice called from the camp's basic lookout tower. Stormfly obviously perked up at that news, but when Hiccup waved at the other dragons, Toothless led them to the previously-discussed position. The Coalition as a whole would be introduced to the dragons when the time was right, but for the moment it was best to keep that particular secret until they were sure everyone would take it the right way.
"OK," Clarke said, walking over to stand beside Hiccup as they moved towards the gates. "Are you sure you're… OK with this?"
"I've had a few treaty negotiations back home," Hiccup nodded at her. "I can do this."
"Thanks," Clarke smiled back at him, before giving him a more awkward nod. "And… well, I know this is a bit more than anything you were probably expecting when this started-"
"Hey," Hiccup placed a hand on Clarke's shoulder. "You're our friend, Clarke; we're not going to just ditch you because things get rough."
Clarke seemed like she was biting back the urge to say something in response to that, but instead she settled for reaching over to return Hiccup's shoulder-touch with her own before the camp gates began to open. Hiccup's gaze immediately shifted to Astrid's distinctive blonde hair and dark blue top amid the dark leathers of the other members of the group, but he also recognised the Commander walking just a short distance ahead of Astrid, even if she was now wearing some kind of black face-paint. He could see various other people in similar attire gathered beyond the gates, but there were only around a dozen guards walking in just after the two women. The scale of the potential numbers was intimidating, but Hiccup had to hope that it was just the Commander following some kind of protocol and it wasn't intended to be any kind of actual 'threat'.
"Hiccup," Astrid said, stepping forward to greet him.
"Astrid," Hiccup nodded back, hoping that the current formality was the right approach in this situation.
"Commander," Astrid said as she turned back to Lexa, adopting what Hiccup recognised as her usual formal approach when dealing with a situation where she had to be diplomatic. "Allow me to present Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, leader of my own group and commander of our… special forces."
"Greetings," Lexa said, stepping forward to extend a hand towards Hiccup.
"Hello," Hiccup said, still hoping he was doing things properly as he shook the offered hand. He'd obviously been instructed in diplomacy in his role as Stoick's heir, but when he was dealing with a different culture there was always the risk of committing some social error he wouldn't be aware was an issue until it was too late. "It is an honour to meet you, Commander."
"The same," Lexa replied, her lips twitching in a slight smile as she silently agreed with their decision not to acknowledge their previous meeting. "I have heard many things about you."
"Good things, I hope?"
"Interesting, at the very least," Lexa said, glancing over at Astrid as though acknowledging the source of those stories before she looked over at Clarke. "It is good to see you, Wanheda."
"…Thanks," Clarke said, still clearly uncomfortable at her title even if she accepted the situation. "So… how do we do this?"
"Yeah, and can we get this sorted before that Jaha guy starts pitching his City of Light crap again?" Tuffnut put in as he walked over. "'Cause I gotta tell you-"
"City of Light?" Lexa looked sharply at the male twin, her already focused expression having somehow become even more intense. "Someone in this camp is involved with the City of Light?"
"Is… that a problem?" Hiccup looked uncertainly at Lexa, unsure where this sudden shift in attitude had come from.
"For many reasons," Lexa said, reaching up to stroke the back of her head. "I have heard many things about the City of Light from the past Commanders… and few of them are good."
"The past Commanders?" a dark-skinned woman looked sharply at Lexa. "This is that old?"
"If I am right…" Lexa said, her tone almost becoming more grim with every word, "this threat may go all the way back to the first Commander."
Hiccup had no idea what this meant for any potential alliance, but from everything Clarke had told them about Lexa, if the Commander was this worried about something it would appear that they should have been more concerned about ex-Chancellor Jaha's recent activities.
And just when I hoped this could be an interesting holiday for all of us after everything with Grimmel…