After over a month stuck in bed, Hiccup was finally well enough to start working on regaining his ability to walk again. Thanks to a Berserker blacksmith and his own sketches, a new leg similar to his old one had been crafted.

With Astrid and Jorn's help, Hiccup was sitting on the edge of the bed, getting ready to stand for the first time in several weeks. Astrid sat behind him with a hand placed on his back, while Jorn stood in front with his arms out for Hiccup to push off of.

"Whenever you feel ready, Hiccup," Jorn encouraged. "This is not something we need to rush."

Hiccup let out a wry chuckle as he held onto Jorn's arms. "Nothing about this whole ordeal has been rushed. I need to get home."

"You got this, babe," Astrid reassured.

The Berk Chief inhaled deeply as he pushed down on Jorn's arms to pull himself up. He managed to stand upright for a few seconds before sitting right back down.

"You did so well," Astrid praised.

Hiccup shook his head. "No. I can do better."

Jorn looked down at his patient, he really didn't want Hiccup to push his body before it was ready, but he also didn't want to discourage him from trying again. "Only if you are sure about this. We can keep going if you feel like you can handle it, but like I said earlier, there is no rushing this."

"I'm sure," Hiccup replied, before taking another deep inhale and pulling himself once more. This time he managed to hold his position for a few seconds longer, before having to sit back down.

Over the course of the next few hours, Hiccup continued the exercise with periodic breaks until he could stand for half a minute. It hurt to do it and his legs felt wobbly, but that was to be expected given everything he had gone through.

"Okay, I think that's enough for now," Jorn said, looking at how exhausted Hiccup had become. "Why don't I head to the butchers for some supper and after we eat, we can try again. Or can we pick this up in the morning?"

Hiccup knew he should rest, but he was also tired of being stuck in bed. Berk had been without its leader for too long. There's no telling what his friends had done to the place in his absence. For all he knew, Snotlout had a statue erected of himself and placed it in the village square. The twins had probably been the cause of several fires. Hopefully, his mom and Eret were doing their best to control the mayhem, but it was a thankless job.

"Try again for a bit after supper, then rest," Hiccup finally answered, when he realized he'd taken too long to answer.

"Sounds like a fair plan," Jorn agreed as he picked up his satchel. "I'll be back in a bit."

As the days wore on, Hiccup steadily got better at standing on his own. His legs gradually got used to carrying his weight which led to being able to stand for longer periods of time and better balance.

After about a week of standing exercises, Jorn started encouraging Hiccup to try and walk. With the help of Astrid, Jorn, Dagur, and Mala, they kept him steady while he relearned how to walk. As time wore on, Hiccup was able to get around with relative ease and with little to no assistance.

Eventually, Hiccup reached a point in his recovery where he only needed a cane to help him get around. It was at this point, Jorn had deemed it safe for Hiccup to travel back to Berk.

Hiccup stared at the boat nervously, leaning heavily on the cane that the Berserker blacksmith had crafted for him. Oh, how he wished Toothless was still around. But the Night Fury had left shortly after the rest of the Hunters had their sentences carried out. It had been another heartfelt goodbye, but both of them knew, that Toothless couldn't stay any longer. He needed to get back to the Hidden World.

"You ready?" Astrid asked, placing a hand on her husband's shoulder.

The young chief looked down at her, staring at her stomach which was finally starting to show evidence of her pregnancy, then into her eyes. No, he was not ready to board the ship. He didn't want to sail back to Berk. If there was another way to get him home, he'd take it. But he didn't tell her any of that.

Instead, he gave her a small smile. "Yeah. I'm ready."

Dagur and Mala came up behind the younger couple, offering sad smiles.

"Where's Jorn?" Hiccup asked, expecting to see the Healer with them.

"He'll be here shortly," Dagur promised. "The boat's not leaving without him. He just had to get some extra supplies from Eldrik."

Hiccup sighed in relief. Good. It had taken a bit to convince Jorn to come back with them to Berk, but eventually, the older man relented, claiming someone needed to watch Hiccup to make sure he didn't get into any more trouble.

"Anyways," Dagur said pulling Hiccup from his thoughts. "I thought you should know that there's been a change in plans."

"What's going on?" Hiccup asked, unsure of what the older Chief was planning.

"It's not a big change," Dagur promised. "But I'm coming with as well."

"Wait, what?" Hiccup questioned. "Why?"

"Reports came back last night of Hunter activity," Dagur explained. "They are probably still after you. With Toothless gone, I figured you could use the extra assistance in case they try attacking our ships."

"Ships?" Astrid asked. "Plural? How many ships?"

"Relax," Dagur said, waving his hand around as if brushing off her concerns. "It's not the whole armada. Just five or six ships. That way we have strength in numbers. I'm not going to let them hurt either of you."

Hiccup opened his mouth to say something, but changed his mind when he realized arguing with Dagur would be pointless.

At that moment, Jorn showed up carrying a box full of various herbs and premade tonics courtesy of Eldrik.

"Sorry for being late," Jorn apologized. "Eldrik would not stop talking."

"Yeah, he tends to ramble," Dagur said. "Anyways, let's get moving. Daylight's wasting away."

Hiccup watched as Dagur and Jorn boarded the boat first and then his wife. He stood there, frozen, fearing gripping him tightly.

Mala walked up next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "What you are feeling is normal, Hiccup Haddock. Your fears are real and that is okay. It is understandable. What you went through was horrifying. Not knowing if you were going to live or die. You made it out though. You survived. Now here you are standing before another ship, quite similar to the one you were on. However there is a difference, on this ship, you are not alone. You have a wife and very good friends looking out for your well-being. Taking that first step is terrifying, but after that, it gets easier. So if you are going to do it, do it scared."

Hiccup looked over at Mala, her words ringing truth. "Do it scared." He took a deep breath and took the first step toward the boat.

Hiccup sat on the deck, leaning up against the mast, watching the night sky. It had been so long since he'd actually seen the stars, he didn't want to leave his spot. Sure he'd gone outside while he was recovering on Berserker Island, but that was usually during the day. Jorn figured the sunshine would do him some good.

The young chief was so focused on the stars, that he didn't realize there were two people standing by the helm nearby, discussing him.

"How's he doing, Jorn?" one of them asked.

"All things considered, he's doing better than I'd ever hoped for, Dagur," Jorn answered looking over at the Berserker Chief.

"That's good," Dagur said. "I've been worried about him. He hasn't been himself since he woke up. Then again he hasn't really been himself since his father died a couple of years ago. Just when he was starting to find peace from that, he had to say goodbye to Toothless and the rest of Dragon-kind. And now this. If Skade was still alive, the things I would do to make him suffer the way Hiccup had. Hiccup can't seem to catch a break."

Jorn looked over at Dagur then back down at Hiccup. "He'll be okay. I haven't known him as long as you have, but I get the feeling that from here on out, life will be easier for him. The Hunters will eventually give up in their search for the dragons and move on with their lives. There are so few of them left, that their heart's probably aren't really in it. Skade was the anomoly. He worked directly under Viggo, then Drago. He was their second in command. The thought of dragons being gone didn't really sit well with him and caused him to go a bit crazy."

"I was crazy once," Dagur pointed out. "Still kinda am, but I've got it under control. Also, got family and friends to ground me, but I never did what Skade did. I don't think I could have. Yeah, I talked a big game, but in the end, I was just trying to prove myself. My father was missing, I was thrust into the role of being Chief and had to prove myself as a leader. Went about it the wrong way, but I've more or less made up for those mistakes. Skade decided the best way to get what he wanted was to kidnap and torture Hiccup, instead of I don't know just talking to him."

"Well we don't have to worry about him anymore," Jorn promised. "And if we run into any more Hunters, we'll handle them with ease."

Dagur nodded and decided it was time to change the topic. "So how much longer until we reach the first destination?"

Jorn looked up at the stars and roughly gauged where they were. "A four days, if the winds and weather are favorable."

"Good," Dagur said. "Hopefully going there will help bring Hiccup some peace."

Author's Note: The "do it scared" speech is not really my own creation. I took the inspiration for it from a TikTok series called Hell's Belles by SeaYaLater. I tweaked it a bit to fit the story, but the quote "Do it scared", comes from her.