Ten: Calm

Astrid awoke and her eyes slammed open, her brow furrowed and feeling panic grip her as she realised she was in an unfamiliar room. The grey stone walls gave little clue and as she moved, she winced, stitches in her side pulling as she sat up. Grimacing, she pressed her hand to the wound and felt a bandage wound expertly around the injury. And then she frowned: her head was pounding and she felt hung over from whatever drug Johann had fed her...

Her head snapped up and she peered around. Stormfly? Where was her dragon?

Grimacing, she forced herself to her feet, finding her boots and skirt resting on the plain table and pulling her clothes on. She swayed and rested a hand against the wall for a second before she turned to the plain door and cautiously opened it.

The first thing she saw was Stormfly, roosting by the door, her head down and sleeping and the girl felt a smile lift her lips. The dragon must have brought her somewhere safe when Astrid passed out-and as she looked around the grey stone houses and the familiar column in the centre of the Plaza. And the black hooded shapes that moved through the village with purpose, occasionally looking over and nodding quiet greetings to the familiar and welcome visitor.

"Astrid Hofferson!" The familiar voice caused her to turn cautiously and she met the light brown eyes of Throk, Queen Mala's right hand warrior and the most fierce guardian of the Great Protector-the Eruptodon dragon that protected the island from the active volcano. The tall, buff man bowed his head, the light catching his red hair and Astrid frowned.

"How did I get here, Throk?" she asked in a puzzled voice. He walked to her side and gestured to the sleeping Nadder.

"Your dragon," he explained. "She flew you here, unconscious and bleeding from a deep wound to your side. You were attacked and it seemed you had been drugged?" She nodded, stepping down off the step and glancing at Stormfly.

"She knew we needed somewhere safe-somewhere that Trader Johann doesn't know about..." she murmured.

"Trader Johann?" Throk's deep voice was puzzled.

"A travelling Trader," she explained. "He sails from island to island, bartering goods and exchanging gossip and some ridiculous tall tales..." And then her face hardened. "But it's all a lie. He is the one behind Viggo and Krogan. He is the man in charge-and he's been manipulating us, hiding in plain sight for years. And he still sails into every port, trusted and ignored and he can see our defences, hear our plans and count our numbers. When I told him what I had done, he tried to kill me because I've already done such damage to his operation."

The tall man nodded gravely.

"I think you should come with me," he suggested gravely. "We should get you some food to eat and then you need to talk to Mala. Maybe she can offer you a place to stay for the moment..." Sighing, Astrid shook her head.

"If I stay here, he will find me eventually," she murmured. "He's looking for me now-and Viggo knows where you are. I can't put you at risk." Throk walked at her side across the grey cobbled Plaza as he accompanied her to the refectory.

"Pardon me-I don't understand why you cannot simply return home to the other Riders?" he asked and then she stopped, staring up at the shape of the dragon on the column before she closed her eyes.

"Hiccup is dead," she said.

oOo

"I'm glad you're alive," Snotlout said, sitting bolt upright in the chair by Hiccup's bed. He had sneaked in while everyone else was out and had run into Stoick-literally. Rebounding and landing on his ass in the main area of the Chief's House, the stocky rider had looked up at his uncle and gulped.

"What are you doing here, Snotlout?" Stoick asked gruffly as Snotlout scrambled up and dusted himself down. He was good at landing on his ass-well, Hookfang wasn't the most well-behaved dragon though Snotlout wouldn't swap him for the world. Self-consciously, Snotlout rubbed his arm.

"I wanted to see how Hiccup was," he mumbled, wondering why he was sounding like an awkward teen all of a sudden. Stoick suddenly smiled and glanced over at his motionless son. He and Gobber had just finished washing and changing Hiccup and they had managed to get some water and thin gruel down him...but he was looking thinner and the wounds from his torture were still angry and inflamed.

"He's steady," he revealed, though there was a note of sadness in his voice. "You and your friends have been very good in visiting him, chatting to him and trying to cheer him up but he's still unresponsive and Gothi can't tell me what may happen." He sighed. "I'm sorry-you don't need to know all of that."

"No...he's my cousin and I want to know," Snotlout said suddenly, his blue eyes candid. "I came here to spend time with him because he would do it for me, the muttonhead. I know he would really want to be out flying Toothless and feeling free amid the clouds...but he's here, so sick and I feel terrible that he was captured and we couldn't get him back quick enough to stop this happening." And then he jumped as Stoick rested his huge hand on Snotlout's brawny shoulder.

"Thank you, Snotlout," he said and there was definite approval in his voice. "I'll leave you with him."

So Snotlout was here, sitting gazing at his sick cousin, his leader, his friend...and struggling what to say. It was no secret that he and Hiccup hadn't been close for a long time, that he had bullied and beaten his little cousin-though Hiccup was in fact a few months older than Snotlout, a fact that had galled Snotlout for the longest time for no apparent reason. Hiccup couldn't control the fact he was older, smaller or smarter and he certainly never bragged about any of those things, as Snotlout would have. Instead, he was lively, full of energy and inexhaustibly curious. He would always help and worked hard in the forge while Snotlout had been focussed on training, winning Thawfest and any other competitions between him and his peers for his own glory and throwing his weight around. Spitelout, his father, had encouraged his son to bully and undermine his cousin, made Snotlout the perfect buff Viking son to exacerbate the differences between what Stoick and Spitelout had as Heirs and had spent years trying to persuade the Chief to replace his son as Heir.

Stealing a glance at the motionless shape, Snotlout sighed. He did feel ashamed for how he had behaved towards his cousin, especially since Hiccup had included him when he had trained dragons and headed to Dragon Island to save the village. Seeing his little cousin with the dragons and how calm and in control he was, Snotlout had been shocked and astonished. And a little jealous as well when he got over the shock of the battle. In his heart, he knew that Hiccup was far better at riding and training dragons than any of them, his skills in the saddle and his willingness to share his revelations and his tricks with them far more generous than any of them would be. And Snotlout knew he had been a very difficult subordinate and comrade for much of the time.

He leaned close.

"I'm glad you're not dead," he repeated, "because I need to say this." He took a deep breath. "I-I'm sorry, Hiccup. I'm sorry you're here, so sick. I'm sorry I've been a pain. I'm sorry I treated you badly when we were younger. I'm sorry."

Hiccup lay still, the slight rise and fall of his chest remaining rhythmic and slow.

"You know, after the deal with Alvin and the Screaming Death went down, Astrid sat me down and told me about Alvin and Stoick, how they used to be friends and how Al disobeyed orders and ended up outcast. And though I hit on her-and she hit me pretty hard-she managed to make me understand how similar we were. Except you aren't your Dad. I was a pain-and I've carried on because I always think I know best. And I don't, I really don't...but I'm trying." He clasped his hands. "And I'm sorry about you and Astrid as well. I mean, I kept imagining she would want me when it's pretty clear that she's been yours for years-even if you didn't have the nerve to do anything for years!" He rolled his eyes. "Gambling. What was I thinking?" he muttered.

The soft sounds of Hiccup's breathing was the only reply.

"Yeah, I know," Snotlout sighed. "And I'm gonna continue supporting you when you wake...and maybe try to be less of a muttonhead...though my Dad does go down to the docks and bludgeon himself over the head for fun so I may not always succeed." He sighed. "And if you don't wake, Uncle Stoick may make me his Heir and that would almost certainly doom the Tribe..."

Toothless gave a small warble, raising his head to look at the stocky boy. Snotlout rolled his eyes.

"Toothless misses you as well," he added. "Hookfang, Windshear, Meatlug and Barf'n'Belch are keeping him company. Fishlegs has taken him flying. And I know Toothless misses Astrid and Stormfly as well...because she left. I think she's gone on some kind of vengeance quest against the Hunters, Viggo and Krogan. I think she thinks you didn't make it. And I know we need to find her...if we only know where she is..."

He squeezed Hiccup's hand and then turned to the door. But as he tried to turn away, he realised Hiccup was tightly gripping his hand.

oOo

Hands tight around the edge of the saddle, Hiccup felt Toothless accelerate into the clouds and for once, he felt a shiver of anxiety. With his leg missing, he didn't have the security of being clipped into the saddle and tail and images of falling on that first flight and when the Red Death's tail struck him him flashed through his mind. Body clamped around the Night Fury, Hiccup felt his heart rate accelerate and he was astonishingly tense...but then the wind rushed through his hair and past his face and he lifted his head and closed his eyes, feeling the freedom and the sudden sense of weightlessness as Toothless soared and dived, riding the air currents like the perfect aeronaut he was.

"How'm I doing, bud?" Hiccup asked him, his hands cold against the wind. He felt rather than heard the rumble the dragon made in reply and Toothless angled his head slightly so that Hiccup could see the green eye peer at him. There was a flick of the ears that had Hiccup smiling, the feeling of familiarity washing over him. "Yeah-I know but in my defence, I have been imprisoned and tortured for the last couple of weeks..."

There was a sad warble and Hiccup rested his cheek against the black scales of Toothless's neck.

"I know, bud," he murmured. "I know you were scared. I know you would have fought them, even giving up your life to get me free...but I had to protect you and the others. I was scared I would never see you again...and that almost broke my heart, bud, because you're my best friend." He sighed. "You're the one person I can always rely on. You and Astrid. You were there for me when I lost everything. And I need you both to be myself once more."

Toothless cooed.

"Yes-and Stormfly as well," Hiccup smiled as they swooped tight around the sea stacks and zoomed low across the waves. Hiccup felt himself hunched and he moved his foot to adjust the tail apparatus. "I know where we find Viggo and Krogan, we'll find Astrid. I just know it."

Toothless gave a croon that sounded distinctly unimpressed but the Night Fury accelerated forward, zooming over the deep grey-blue sea, the white-capped waves rearing up at the rider amid the cold breeze, ominous purple and iron-grey clouds scudding across the threatening sky. Hiccup closed his eyes as the lightning flashed, the brilliance visible through his eyelids.

"Hold on," he murmured. "Hang on Milady. I'm coming..."

And then Toothless pulled up and Hiccup had to hang on tightly with his legs as the Night Fury back-winged furiously, a growl vibrating through his body. For before them hung the unmistakeable shape of the Skrill, lightning arching around his grey and purple body, his yellow eyes locked on the auburn-haired rider and the Night Fury.

There was a pause as the two dragons faced one another, growling and glaring until, with an explosion of lightning, the Skrill attacked...

oOo

Nodding, Mala sat back as Astrid finished explaining her story and looked over at Throk. Her right hand man was looking as grim as ever and the Queen of the Defenders sometimes wondered if he would do better allowing himself to express the caring person he was under his flinty exterior-but Throk was traditional and his role as her first protector was serious...and so was he. Then she looked back at the Dragon Rider standing in front of her, her back straight and chin raised proudly, for all that her tunic was damaged and her side bandaged from a knife wound.

"I grieve for your loss," Mala said. "Hiccup Haddock was a most remarkable man and a true friend to dragons. Without his intervention, we would not have our New Protector and our island would have been destroyed. We will tender you whatever aid you require in your personal quest to avenge his death."

Astrid blinked. She had intellectually rationalised that Hiccup had died, that his life had ended because he didn't receive the antidote by the deadline that Gothi had given and she had grieved for him at the sunrise by which he must have perished...but hearing the words spoken by another, hearing the word 'death' in Mala's clipped tone just brought the reality home. She realised that she had probably clung onto the tiny sliver of hope, against all reason and probability, that Hiccup had found a way to cheat Hela once more. And that, in truth, was why she left. She didn't want to see him dead, didn't want to lose that tiniest hope that one day, she may see him once more. And though she said the words, though she emotionlessly carried out her vengeance, she realised that she still clung onto hope.

And when Mala said he was dead, that hope wavered catastrophically.

She bit her lip and nodded, willing herself not to betray the wave of despair that hit her and took a deep breath. "Thank you," she said. "I just need some provisions and maybe a couple of weapons...because I cannot let them get away." Throk frowned.

"Should we be concerned that this Trader Johann is aware of your mission?" he asked thoughtfully and Astrid sighed and nodded.

"From what he said, it is clear that he is the commander of Krogan and his Fliers as well as Viggo and the remaining Hunters," she said. "They will know I am after them now...if they didn't before..."

"More pertinent, he may strike at those you care for," Mala added as the girl pressed a hand to her side.

"Coward," she breathed and then she breathed out. "I trust the Chief and the Riders to protect the village, Mala. And the enemy has so many fewer ships and soldiers now..." Mala sighed.

"I would not have believed one single dragon rider could inflict such damage...but I am aware of your abilities and those of your dragon," she said. "And while I cannot condone your desire to wreck bloody vengeance-it is not the Defenders' way-I can understand your anger at the murder of your Betrothed." Astrid bit her lip again.

"He may come after you," she warned the Queen. "Viggo knows where you live and that you are our allies...I should go..." Immediately, Throk stepped forward, her eyes serious.

"The Defenders stand by our allies," he told her. "We will protect you while you need it and we will fight at your side." Astrid sighed.

"I would just be grateful for some provisions and a few weapons...especially bows and swords...so that I can finish it," Astrid told him and then sighed. "But I would be grateful for a safe place to stay tonight..." Mala lightly rested a hand on her shoulder and smiled at her.

"Stay as long as you want," she told the Rider. "We are here for you-in memory of our ally."

oOo

"Pssst! Are you awake?" Tuffnut popped up beside the bed and poked the motionless Hiccup. Lying still and peaceful, his breathing slow and easy, Hiccup didn't move. Undeterred, the male twin leaned until his mouth was right by the patient's left ear. "I SAID...CAN YOU HEAR ME?" he bellowed at the top of his voice. Toothless looked up from his slab and growled at the male twin.

"I think they can hear you in Jotunheim, Niflheim, Muspelheim and Asgard!" Ruff nut told him, popping up the other side of the bed. "And maybe even in Gothi's hut..."

"Agh!" Tuffnut ducked down behind the bed, looking around worriedly. "Is she here?" His sister chuckled. Gothi had been after Tuff for days, since he foolishly asked her if he could try to wake Hiccup up...well, bet the Elder than he could wake Hiccup when no one else could. And while Ruffnut had no doubts that her brother, left to his own devices, almost could wake the dead-except the Glorious Dead who had been cremated-Hiccup wasn't dead and it didn't seem fair to make him deaf as well as whatever else Viggo had left him with. To Ruff's mind, it didn't seem fair anyway. Hiccup had already given up a leg for the village, been ostracised, struck by lightning, been captured, tortured, hunted by dragons and bounty hunters, shot off his dragon and pestered and annoyed by the gang for the entire time since they had first trained dragons and through it all-though sometimes clearly extremely exasperated, he had remained their friend.

Quietly, she took his hand, feeling the warm skin with the callouses from his work in the forge but no motion and she felt a thrill of disappointment. Snotlout had been full of tales that Hiccup had squeezed his hand and Stoick had been dismissive because his son remained unconscious...but Snotlout had been really convincing for once. So she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the skinny shape, feeling the gentle rise and fall of his chest.

"Thanks for being such a good friend,' she murmured in his ear. "Thanks for saving us. Thanks for making sure we got Barf'n'Belch back. And thanks for always making sure we are part of the group-no matter how crazy we are."

Tuffnut wrapped himself around Hiccup's other side, making sure he was safely wrapped between the twins.

"Thorston sandwich," he added, his tone more serious. "We're here for you, Hiccup And we need you back soon, my friend. T is really missing you. I mean, he's the cutest dragon in the world-obviously-but he's not eating properly and won't fly with anyone after that one time with Fish. He needs you. We need you. The village needs you. And Astrid needs you-because she believes that you're dead."

"Come back to us, Hiccup," Ruff murmured, tightening her hug. "Come home."

Toothless gave an affirmative croon as the twins continued their hug and unseen to them, his lips, very gently, tilted up in a smile...