FORTY-FOUR: Return to Vanaheim.

The Council, Dagur, Heather, Cami, the Riders and Gustav were all collected in the Great Hall as Hiccup explained his plan. It was clear that Oswald know more about the dragons than they could guess and the fact Hiccup had found some symbols that looked like they were from the DragonEye and a drawling of a DragonEye lens they had never seen all convinced him that they needed to follow up the lead and return to Vanaheim.

"But what about Berk?" Spitelout asked pointedly. "And Johann? We still have made him pay for the attack on the Chief!"

"It's more important to stop Johann than run in blindly and just blow some stuff up!" Hiccup replied evenly. He had never had a close relationship with his uncle and had suffered at Spitelout's hands when he was younger-but the man would respect his Acting-Chief if Hiccup exerted enough authority. And in the war with Johann and Krogan, all the riders-including the A Team-looked to Hiccup's leadership.

"Even blowing stuff up has its place," Snotlout added.

"More often than you would think," Tuff added cheerfully.

"Dad is recovering and has woken from his coma...though he is still weak and needs to recover," Hiccup explained. "I have spoken to him briefly and he agrees that we need to move on this before Krogan finds Vanaheim and exploits it to his advantage." He paused. "If they find the key to the King of Dragons...or worse, destroy Vanaheim....then the whole of dragon kind may be lost!"

"But what if the Fliers attack again while you're all away?" Mulch asked suddenly.

"We'll face them down and deal with it!" Gustav said unwisely.

"If they attack, you may not be enough," Astrid commented dryly.

"I'm going!" Heather said firmly. "If we can find my father, then I have to be there..."

"Sis...there's no guarantee..." Dagur began placatingly but his sister glared at him.

"You went to Hiccup behind my back!" she snapped and Dagur the Deranged backed up a pace.

"In my defence, our brother did actually find a clue to where Dad may be..." he said quickly. "Um...little help here?" Sighing, Hiccup looked at Heather.

"I know how desperate you are to find Oswald...and Dagur, though he's much better at hiding it," he told her as the Berserker Chief gave a huff. "But we have to plan because if Johann attacks when Berk is undefended, we may not have anything to come back to." Gobber scratched his chin with his hook and sighed.

"Laddie...I mean Acting Chief Hiccup...if you can find a way of stopping Johann once and for all, you have to take it," he said. "We will still be here. Berk will still be here. And we're Hooligans, laddie. We never surrender!" Astrid glanced over to her husband and sighed: there was one problem.

"I will have to stay here," she said heavily. "Val needs me." Eyes flicking up, Hiccup opened his mouth to reassure her...and then realised she was correct. It was a long way to Vanaheim and there was no way he would risk his daughter on the mission. She was safer on Berk...and at the moment, she depended on Astrid for her most basic needs. Reluctantly, he nodded.

"I can leave you in charge of the Island," he said reassuringly. "Because I worry that they may be watching...and when we go, they may see if they can find a lever to force me to hand over my lenses..."

"Your Dad and Berk," she agreed. "I'll watch over them, Babe-and I can see how well Gustav and the A Team perform when I put them through their paces..."

"Oh Thor..." Gustav gulped as Snotlout gave his father a smug look.

"You're in for it now," he reminded his father. "She's very mean..." Astrid grinned.

"You wanna come over here and say that, Snot?" she asked sweetly. He leapt to his feet.

"NO! I mean...I can hear Hookfang...he needs me..." And he ran from he Hall, forgetting that Hookfang was curled up asleep next to Toothless and Stormfly by the fire.

"Will you be okay, Hiccup?" Astrid asked. "I mean, you're taking Snot, the twins and Fishlegs..."

"It's all fine," he said, though anxiety and a tiny sense of dread was growing in his stomach at being separated from Astrid once more. "I'll have almost the entire team plus Dagur while you've got the A Team and the whole of Berk. What could possibly go wrong?"

"Thor, did he really say that?" Cami groaned. "You know now that something terrible is bound to happen?" Hiccup shrugged.

"Wings up in one hour," he said determinedly. "This may be the break we need to finally get ahead of Johann and beat him to the King of Dragons."

oOo

He had checked the saddle three times and made sure he was carrying spare tailfins, spare legs, weapons...everything he could possibly imagine he may need on Vanaheim to ensure that he came back to his family. Toothless could sense his concern as well and was crooning and warbling to try to reassure him that they would be home soon. The twins were saying goodbye to their parents and Snotlout was fetching extra supplies from the village storehouse-just in case they got trapped on the island once more. But Dagur seemed far more positive at the prospect of possibly finding his father.

"Are you excited? because I am puuuuumped! how far is it to this retirement island anyway?" he asked excitedly as Heather walked up, her double-headed axe slung across her back. "Hey, Heather? Are you excited to find good old Dad? Because I..." Leaing forward, Hiccup put himself between the Berserker siblings, turning to look seriously at the buff red-haired man.

"Look, Dagur-Vanaheim is an incredibly secret place. You cannot tell anyone about it," he told the Berserker seriously. Blinking at the stern tone, Dagur tried to rein in his enthusiasm...though he was finding it hard.

"Oh-don't worry-I'm great at keeping things to myself...anger, frustration, rage..." he reassured the one-legged Viking to an eye-roll. Heather growled in her throat.

"Are we going to have to put up with this the whole way?" she asked and Hiccup nodded.

"Look-Dagur is your brother and he is rather fond of you...no matter how weirdly he shows it," he began.

"Hey!" Dagur protested, his brows dipping into a scowl that formerly would have sent chills of apprehension down Hiccup's spine. But the Hooligan merely leaned towards Dagur.

"Work with me on this," he advised his former enemy. "Heather-you are both Oswald's children and you should both come on this mission. But I won't take either of you if you persist in this antagonism. I will have enough to put up with keeping the twins and Snotlout from doing something stupid without having to act as referee between you two as well!"

There was an awkward silence as the Berserkers and the twins and Snotlout-who had just arrived-all stared at him.

"Wow-that was astonishingly harsh," Tuff commented in a hurt voice.

"Yeah-what precisely ave we done to deserve this unwarranted level of vitriol and spite?" Ruff added snarkily. Hiccup folded his arms.

"Let me think...shall we start with messing with Snotlout so he ran off and I had to fly the full length of the Archipelago to rescue him from Wingmaiden Island when I was literally one island away from reaching Astrid? Or do you want me to recount every single instance over the last four years where you three muttonheads have generally disobeyed me, undermined me, done the opposite of what you have been ordered, blown stuff up, ruined plans, got me hurt...?" he snapped.

There was an even more awkward silence and everyone stared at the ground.

"No, Hiccup..." was mumbled from five sets of lips. He sighed and a huge part of him wanted to apologise...but for once, he would let them think about it. Thankfully, Fishlegs scuttled up, his big face filled with excitement.

"Hiccup! look at this!" he enthused and opened the diary at a page Hiccup hadn't scanned yet. The pair peered at a drawing of a giant skull, crowned with spines and half-buried. The auburn haired rider frowned, a thrill of enthusiasm running through him. He grinned.

"Wow, Fishlegs-I've never seen a dragon like that before!" he admitted as the others all gave a sigh of relief and turned back to their preparations quietly. Fishlegs was almost bouncing with enthusiasm.

"Ooooh-I know, right? Vanaheim! It's so full of mysteries and mythology. This is just a thread in the tapestry of its rich history..." Rolling his eyes at his friend's complete geekiness, Hiccup felt a warm glow as Stormfly swooped down bearing Astrid and her daughter to wish their father a safe journey. Leaping down, Astrid closed the distance to her husband in a couple of paces and kissed him hard. Only when she pulled back was he able to take a breath.

"Wow-gotta go away on life-or-death missions more often if I get more of those," he sighed and then grinned at her. "How are you, Astrid, Princess?" She smiled wanly.

"I hate this," she announced. "I know you have to go but I wish I was going with you. We've been apart so long and I just worry what you will get up to...who will be there to get you out of a mess this time?" Toothless gave a small growl and she leaned forward and petted him gently. "Yes, I know you will, Toothless," she conceded gently. "But I worry about Hiccup."

"You don't need to," Heather assured her. "He's our leader and we will make sure he is safe. He made the connection for Dagur and I...to give her our best shot at finding Dad...and I promise we will being him safely home. Right, guys?"

There were various affirmatives-not all of them enthusiastic-and Astrid frowned, handing Val to Hiccup. Bouncing his daughter in his arms, he pressed a tender kiss on the top of her downy head and sighed.

"You were pretty harsh to them, babe," she commented in a low voice. "And while I know they are muttonheads and deserve it, maybe now was not the time to chew them out."

"If not now, when?" he replied, inspecting her face. "I need them on point, not messing around. We barely escaped Vanaheim last time...and this time I have a very bad feeling about this. I don't know what Johann and Krogan are planning-an attack on Vanaheim could destroy the balance in dragon species. What would the weak and dying do if there was no Vanaheim for them to go to?"

"Die where they were, like everyone else?" Astrid suggested.

"So why did it develop in the first place?" he asked her passionately. "There is something unique about a species that has a special place to go and die, where the old are granted rest and peace before their passing...a few peoples from distant lands do the same."

"But not Vikings," Astrid reminded him. "Life is hard and cold and difficult. We have our Tribes and our families and our dragons to warm us and protect us. But if it is necessary for them..." And she gently trailed her hand against Stormfly's horn. "...then it's worth protecting. I wish I was with you, babe-but I have checked and I am the only person lactating on Berk at the moment. There is literally no one else who can feed Val."

"I feel happier having you here, in charge and protecting the village and Dad," he admitted. "I mean, Gustav has come along really well but he's not Astrid Hofferson."

"Astrid Haddock," she corrected him and he chuckled.

"Must get used to that, Milady," he mumbled and kissed her again. "Gods, it's going to be a long trip without you."

"And a long wait for you to return, my love," she replied, gently smiling and resting her forehead against his. "Be gentle on them. They only want to help...and their craziness may be the difference between winning and losing. They are who they are-they can't be anything else. Let them be your friends."

"What would I do without you?" he murmured. She kissed him again and then retrieved her daughter and stepped back.

"Get off much sooner," she teased him. "Go. We'll be waiting." He swung into the saddle, clicking his prosthetic into the tail rig.

"Ready, bud?" he murmured and the Night Fury crooned and eager response. "Ready, gang?"

"YEAH!" Dagur enthused.

"Can we go already, now Princess Outpost has finished smooching away?" Snotlout snarked.

"You know I can hear you?" Astrid asked him sweetly. "I'll axe you to pieces if he doesn't come back in one piece and safe."

"Look-he's not in one piece now-his leg comes off..." Tuff pointed out.

"And it's always with the leg jokes," Hiccup grumbled.

"It's...that way..." Fishlegs pointed out helpfully.

"WINGS UP!" Hiccup yelled and the Dragon Riders launched and headed for the skies. Astrid hugged her daughter.

"Take care, my love," she murmured.

oOo

One thing Hiccup hadn't missed was the flights to various places with the gang, for the twins got easily bored and Snotlout started moaning even before Berk was out of sight. The fact that they were going back to a place where they had nearly been trapped forever didn't help either. And to make things worse, Dagur was also getting impatient.

"How much further is it to this retirement island? We've been flying for ever!"

"We've been flying for an hour at most!" Heather snapped. "No one said you had to come. But I'm not stopping until I find our father!" There was a frosty pause as Dagur drifted Sleuther closer.

"Heather-you're obsessed...and I know obsessed. I've been obsessed so many times...and I know how destructive it can be. So maybe...you can listen to me when I say...I don't want you to become so consumed with it that you sacrifice everything else for it. I almost did-and it almost lost me...you, the Tribe...everything. I like having a sister and don't want you to get killed...so I'm coming." And then he paused. "And maybe this is the only way I can clear my name that I didn't kill Dad..."

"I know you didn't," she sighed. "No matter how crazy you are, underneath all that is...well, a decent person, honourable in your own way. And not a patricide."

"Now I really hope we find something on this island of decomposing dragons," Dagur said as they flew on. The twins squabbled and then impressively managed to cook a small stew which they portioned out and handed round the others. Fishlegs and Heather had a long conversation about something personal that Hiccup couldn't catch-and then directed Toothless a little further away to make sure they had there privacy. Snotlout slept...and Hiccup realised his cousin had rigged his saddle with additional straps to ensure he was secure while he caught up on his beauty sleep...while Dagur instructed Sleuther to fly upside down and the Triple Stryke willingly compiled as his rider performed an eye-watering number of stomach crunches while flying along to try to get rid of 'that one little piece of fat I really can't shift'.

Finally, after a flight that seemed far longer than Hiccup recalled it, he heard Fishelgs eagerly call out "There it is!"

The entire group were suddenly alert-even Snotlout, who Hiccup could have sworn was snoring mere seconds earlier. The familiar lumpy, precipitous shape, crowned in a jagged mountain of white stone and swathed in cliffs populated by the motionless-for now-Sentinels came into view, closer and closer. A chill of adrenaline ran through the auburn-haired Viking as he took the lead and they approached the island.

"Okay gang-here's the plan," he called out to them, pleased to notice they were paying attention for once. "We land and look for Oswald and then cover ourselves in fruit..." There was a pause as Dagur and Heather both looked up, mildly concerned.

"Much as i appreciate a good fruit-bath now and again, I really don't see how its going to help?" the Berserker Chief commented as Hiccup sighed.

"To escape, Dagur-to escape!" he said urgently.

"The Sentinels prevent intruders getting into Vanaheim...and stop sick and dying dragons leaving," Fishlegs explained. "But they are blind so they recognised us by scent and prevented us from leaving. We fooled them last time by covering ourselves in fruit."

"So those statues are REALLY dragons?" Dagur's voice was shocked-but Fishlegs was in full 'lecturing' mode now.

"Don't worry! they're not going to bother us on the way in...maybe in the way out..." Heather leaned close.

"Are you sure?" she hissed and he gave a broad grin.

"Positive," he reassured her as they flew over the bank of motionless Sentinels...but as they were just passing, they heard a grinding noise the the nearest Sentinel's blank eye opened. In an instant, the stone dragons, all of them decorated in some way with little patches of lichen and moss from they long vigils, flew as one at the Rider in a tight phalanx.

"Er, Hiccup?" Fishlegs said, suddenly sounding worried, Their leader narrowed his eyes as the Sentinels used their wing blasts to throw the approaching dragon back. Toothless gave a furious roar and the other dragons responding, struggling to remain in the air and stable as Hiccup turned his head to reassure his friends.

"Aagh! Ride it out! They remember our scent from last time! They know we're not sick dragons! They've..."

"Adapted! Yes-I know! It's so fascinating!" Fishlegs gushed even as he and Meatlug were buffeted mercilessly. The dragons growled furiously as the Sentinels approached and they were echoed by the stone dragons, who attacked again. With a yell, Dagur was blasted from Sleuther but Windshear swooped down and Heather grasped him, soaring up and depositing him safely back on Sleuther.

"You know, I kind of like having a brother as well," she called as her Razorwhip flipped round and launched a volley of silver spines at the stone dragons, which merely shrugged them off. Dagur glared at Fishlegs.

"Hey, Fishlegs! You know what else I find fascinating? Not getting killed!"

"Oh dear-we clearly aren't getting in here-time to go home!" Snotlout pointed out as the twins screamed and yelled and accelerated towards the ground. The Sentinels tried to blast them back but they were going too fast. Watching them for a second, Hiccup's face lit with a grin.

"Follow the twins!" he shouted and they all swooped and accelerated downwards as fast as they could, passing safely through even the Sentinels' powerful wing blasts. They all landed hard in a heap but Hiccup was impressed. "Great thinking, guys!" he congratulated them. "You knew new the gust of air from the wing clap would slow us down just enough so we wouldn't be smashed to bits!" Sharing a glance, the twins shrug.

"Yeah...let's go with that..." Ruff muttered, still rubbing her head.

"Slow down...exactly what we had in mind," Tuff agreed and then looked at his sister. "Did we?" She shook her head.

"Nah," she replied as they all picked themselves up and began to walk towards the interior of the island.

oOo

Back on Berk, Astrid was filled with nervous energy, hating that Hiccup was on a mission without her. She knew he was the best leader they had and the most intuitive-and certainly the best person to interpret any clues that they may find. Astrid knew she was literal and not prone to abstractions and seeing connections that were obscured by time or language but she hated not being with Hiccup. Before her flight and his exile, they had performed a lot of solo missions and she hadn't been concerned...but now, everything was different. He was her husband, they had a child and they had finally sorted their life out together...more or less. The dangers seemed so much more magnified and real to her.

She patrolled after the Riders had left and then put the A Team through their paces, running exhausting and exacting drills and being as hard on them as she had been when she had first chosen them as her Auxiliary Defence Unit. To her delight, Spitelout was sloppy and overconfident-as his son tended to be-so it gave her a welcome excuse to chew him out, make him repeat the exercise and 'drop and give me twenty'. The team were grumbling and exhausted but she could see Gustav was thoughtful after the lesson and she knew he had understood the lessons she was trying to teach.

Returning home, she fed her daughter and played with her a while, noting that Valkana was starting to follow her face and try to hold her head up. The big eyes were wide and myopically peering at her, echoing a sleepy Hiccup and her own lips stretched in a smile at the memory. And then, magically, her child mirrored the motion and her little face lit with a brief smile.

"Baby," she murmured, her eyes wide with joy as she realised what she was witnessing. But as soon as it came, it was gone, replaced by a frown and the look of concentration that heralded an urgent diaper change. Kissing her daughter and feeling the suddenly very full diaper, she sighed and rested Val down to change her.

"They grow up fast," her mother commented, seeing her swiftly remove the dirty rags and wash her daughter down, then pat her dry with fluffed sheepskin before putting on a fresh diaper. "You know, if you do it this way it will be better," she added, moving forward to demonstrate...but Astrid's head snapped up in anger.

"I am fine, thanks Mom," she said sharply.

"But I'm just offering my expert advice as someone who raised children herself..." she said defensively.

"And you weren't there when I needed you, were you?" Astrid snapped.

"You ran away, Astrid," her mother told her, the tone reproachful.

"It was that or being married off to some fat, old merchant off-island because I had shamed you!" Astrid spat. "And I didn't hear you speaking up for me, Mom. You stayed silent as he basically called me a whore and a shame upon our house."

"And I don't like that you brought that stranger to Berk and treat her as you should me!" Ilsa protested. "She is from another Tribe and she's not even been a mother..."

"Yet she took me in when I was pregnant and alone with no prejudice or agenda and she supported me," Astrid told her. "She saved my life when I was buried in the snows and had been attacked. She welcomed me when I returned with my child-and she knew I had been effectively exiled from my home...so she left her Tribe and came with me to help look after my daughter while I did my duties as a Dragon Rider."

"But you are a mother, Astrid-and only you can be Valkana's mother," Ilsa told her simply.

"Yes-but not all the duties a mother is even have to be done by the actual mother," Astrid snapped. "Look at now. I have stayed here on Berk because I am the only one who can feed Val...but I am also patrolling and am in charge of defences if we are attacked! I don't have to change Val every time or do all the washing or-Odin forbid, the cooking. One day, I may be the Chieftess of Berk and if I am, I will be Hiccup's Second-in-Command and General, not a brood mare and house-slave!"

Ilsa stared at her daughter in shock. "Is that what you think of me?" she asked in a hurt voice and Astrid stiffened.

"You are my mother and you are my benchmark of what the role should be," she told her stiffly. "But I have never been that person. You raised three children, Mom-but I am the only one alive today. Gerda and Bjorn died when I was little in the Eel Pox outbreak of Devastating Winter when I was six and I recall how sad and empty you were. You were a good mother-but even then. my Dad was training me to be the warrior of the family...especially since Uncle Finn died and our House was dishonoured. I could never be the wife you are and will never be the mother your were. But I have my own ways and I have had to get along because I was rejected by you." Ilsa blinked.

"I never meant you to feel I didn't love you," she said and there was defeat in her voice. "I just wanted what was best for you..."

"And I know what is best for me," the younger woman sighed. finishing typing the diaper in place. "Especially where my heart is concerned. There was never going to be a wedding to Camicazi. Hiccup knows his heart as well-he just didn't want to disappoint his father until there was no other option. But I knew he would come for me. I know he will always come for me." Ilsa nodded and blinked back tears.

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "I do love you as well, Astrid. I just was so shocked...and then when you came back, your father was so angry and then...you left." Astrid sighed and lifted Valkana in her arms.

"Do you want to hold your grand-daughter?" she asked and Ilsa's eyes widened.

"C-can I?" she stammered as Astrid gently placed the wiggling bundle into her arms.

"I think you've certainly got the right and the experience," she admitted as her mother looked, entranced, into her daughter's eyes. "And you've fallen in love with her..." A smile tugged Ilsa's lips that Valkana mirrored.

"Look-she's smiling!" she gasped. Astrid nodded.

"She did it earlier," she sighed. "And I wish Hiccup had been here-because he would be so excited. But he's away, doing what he has to...and we are here, watching over Berk for him." She smiled. "So while we're here, anything you wanna share with a new mother?" Sitting down on a stool by the fire, Ilsa watched her daughter pull up her chair and pay attention as she threw her mind back to those long-ago days when her children were young.

"Well, the first thing I need to share is..."

oOo

Vanaheim was pretty boring as islands went: rocks and grass, a few small patches of trees but pretty much no signs of dragons. Fishlegs spotted a couple of very old Gronckles, aimlessly chewing a few pieces of nice sandstone with worn down teeth, their motions weary and sad and he blinked back tears. Automatically, Hiccup patted him on the shoulder as Dagur and Heather walked ahead, eager to find some evidence of their father's presence. By now, Snotlout and the twins were hanging back, moaning quietly and Hiccup decided to ignore them: he knew that they would be doing exactly what he expected and he relied on Toothless to warn him if something actually important was happening.

"Trying to feel positive here but it feels like we've been walking in circles...for ever," Dagur complained, his eyes scanning the new valley they had found themselves in. "More rocks. I mean, I thought we would find some more dragons, at least..."

"Wait I found something!" Fishlegs said eagerly, his eyes focussed on a slim sapling. Moving his fingers to loosen them for a second, he pulled a slim, circular cross-section tooth from the trunk. "Hmm...interesting." He sniffed it. "Piquant" And he licked it. There was a chorus of "EWWWs". "Tangy as well."

"What?" Dagur asked, exasperated.

"I've never seen teeth like this before...maybe Sharp Class?" he said and looked over to Hiccup, who was examining another tooth he found on the ground.

"There are more over here..." he commented as everyone found themselves a tooth. Tuff pricked his finger.

"OW! I am very much hurt..." he whinged.

"Tuffnut-we don't know if this dragon is poisonous or not...so you could have just poisoned yourself..." the auburn-haired Viking told him gruffly. Tuff paled.

"Really?" he asked worriedly as Fishlegs opened his mouth to reassure the male twin.

"Definitely!" Ruff told her brother, grinning. "This could be your last hour...so any last words?" Tuff gave a loud wail.

"Why? Why, Thor? Why...did I prick MY finger and not RUFFNUT'S?"

"GREAT!" Dagur huffed as Heather tried not to laugh. So besides finding a bunch of dragon teeth, the diary has led us to a dead end...again!" He folded his arms and huffed. "I know this was another wild yak chase..." But Hiccup was frowning, turning the tooth over in his hand as Toothless walked away from him, peering up the steep slope.

"You know, I feel we're missing something..." he murmured as Toothless growled loudly and bounded up the rocks to stare at the top of the cliff. Alerted by his dragon, Hiccup stared up worriedly-and then his eyes widened.

"Er...guys...you might want to see this..." he managed to get out, his head spinning at what he was seeing. He flipped the diary open at a page he had inspected closely earlier...to reveal the picture to the others-the exact match of the huge dragon skull crowned with huge bony spines that was rising dizzyingly above them. It was, in fact, forming almost all of cliff towering above them, with what looked like a huge, broken fossilised tusk laying along the ground by them. In fact the remains of the dragon were covering most of this half of the island. Fishlegs's jaw dropped as he looked at the picture.

"Oh my Thor," he breathed. Dagur stared at him.

"Oh my Thor...what?" he snapped. Fishlegs turned to him, his eyes wide.

"The skull!" the husky rider squeaked.

"It was in the diary, Dagur," Hiccup explained to him, a smile lighting his face as well. This was what he lived for, the adventure of discovering new dragons. Heather suddenly walked forward.

"It means Oswald was here!' she realised.

"And possibly still is!" Fishlegs added. But Hiccup was staring at the enormous skeleton and the breath froze in his throat...because he knew the answer to this riddle.

"This creature, this unknown dragon is huge," he murmured. "And there is only one creature that could be this large." Fishlegs nodded.

"You say it!" he squeaked.

"Say what?" Snotlout grumbled. Hiccup pointed at the enormous skull.

"That belongs...to the King of Dragons," he said.