Thirty-Three: Plans

Stoick had yelled at the twins and told them to go and get cleaned up and reunited with their family and had then stomped off. He was clearly concerned that someone had helped Mildew escape and through the evil old man was almost certainly on his way to Outcast Island, his liberator was probably still on Berk. And though Stoick knew there was opposition to his decision to allow the dragons to help Berk, the fact that people were willing to ally with a traitor was a bitter blow. Throughout his life, Stoick had dedicated his entire being to the welfare of Berk. He had prioritised the villagers above his family and especially above his son: his desire to protect his people and provide what he considered a suitable heir had caused him to disown and reject his own son. He paused and glanced back at the tall, lean shape, leaning close to the black dragon, a smile lighting his features. Hiccup was a remarkable young man-not a Viking but a Hooligan to the core. He would do what he needed to protect the Tribe and the girl he loved.

But there were people in the tribe who eyed the young man with hostility, men who muttered about treason and who stopped speaking when the Chief came within earshot. And for the first time, Stoick was scared of his people-not for himself but for his son. Hiccup had done something...amazing. Notwithstanding his astonishing feats in defeating Snotlout and Thuggory, his courage in facing the village with his dragon and his daring offer to protect the village...because he believed it was the right thing to do.

And he had ridden on a dragon! Now that had been the most amazing, incredible and frankly disorientating experience of his life...because he was Chief Stoick the Vast of Berk, a premier dragon killer and a man who had never wavered in his convictions. Well, he was wavering now...not in his belief dragons had taken his wife, Valka, when Hiccup was only a few months old or that those responsible should pay...but maybe...not all dragons deserved to die. Maybe...and he doubted his own senses as he thought it...maybe some dragons were not dangerous and could be...allies.

He blinked and shook his head. A few months ago, he would have condemned his son without a thought, automatically believing the worst of the stubborn, brave, determined young man instead of listening to him. Hiccup had endured everything with remarkable bravery and a lot of sarcasm and when he could have gone, he chose to stay. He shook his head. One thing was for certain: the Tribe was divided and Stoick would need all his years of strength of character, diplomacy and old-fashioned shouting to ensure that they remained under his control. And as he thought it, his eyes slid down to the brooding, discontent shape of his brother and he sighed.

He would have to watch his brother closely-because he couldn't trust that he wouldn't try to kill his son. Pausing for a long moment-until Spitelout turned away-Stoick resumed his trudge down the village, silently wondering if Gobber still had his stash of mead in the forge...

oOo

"Do you think they'll come round tonight and demand we train them a dragon?"

Hiccup was parked by the fire, staring into the flames with Toothless at his back and Astrid at his side. He aimlessly toyed with a bowl of stew and Astrid watched him with a small smile on her lips.

"I didn't make it-if that's what you're worried about..." she teased him gently and he started, eyes widening.

"I-I wasn't...if that's what you're..." he mumbled but she grinned broadly.

"Sometimes, you're easy to tease, babe," she smirked. "Look-the twins will be with their family and I can't see their parents letting them out of their sight anytime soon. I mean-they were exiled on Eel Island for almost three months in all and I'm sure they'll want a good meal, a warm bath and a comfortable bed..."

"Probably two of those," Hiccup admitted. "Vikings and soap...not a happy match, most of the time..." He smiled. "If they want a dragon, I'll take them to see if a dragon wants them...no guarantees..." Astrid slid her arm around his waist and felt his arm gently wrap around her shoulders. She relaxed against him, her head resting against his shoulder.

"You know, you say it's all about trust...and I have a sneaking suspicion that they may be better than you realise at that," she noted, feeling him twist slightly to look at her. "They have the closest bond of trust between them of all of us in the village..." she explained and felt his breath hitch. She tightened her arm around his warm shape. "Except maybe now..." she added.

"They've certainly got an instinctive understanding and they trust each other implicitly in a dangerous situation...though they do mess around and fight each other constantly..." Hiccup murmured.

"Sure they're mutton-heads but..." Astrid began and then bit her lip. There was an awkward moment and then Hiccup nodded.

"Yeah," he said tonelessly. "But hey-at least we're alive and not exiled." He laid the stew aside and sighed. "And I have no idea how to beat that dragon." Astrid lifted her head.

"I have every confidence in you, babe," she assured him, poking the stew and stealing a mouthful. "Hmm...needs a bit of seasoning..." Hiccup's eyes widened and he snatched it back from her, hastily taking a mouthful before she could 'improve' it.

"No," he protested. "It's just fine...mmm..."

"Was that a comment on my cooking, Hiccup Haddock?" she asked him sharply and he cradled his stew protectively.

"Possibly, Astrid Haddock," he replied warily. "Do I have to do push ups as well?" Her hand snared his tunic and pulled him closer.

"I have another punishment planned for you," she promised him and he sighed.

"Sleeping on the floor? Washing down Stormfly? Teaching your weapons class?" he asked and she stared up into his emerald eyes, seeing the humour.

"Hmmm...why would I give away my pillow, reduce the time I can spend with my dragon and...well, I've just got them almost trained...?" she replied smugly. "No, I will expect you to obey your wife and try not to get yourself killed..." He leaned forward and kissed her gently.

"Hmm...one order I may have no trouble obeying...or trying to obey..." he mumbled.

"Now come to bed, babe," she ordered him.

"And that's another," he murmured with a small smirk.

oOo

Dawn was still warming the cold sky as Hiccup checked Toothless's saddle and knelt by the tail-fin gears, delicately massaging whale-grease into the clockwork. The grass was stiff with frost and his breath was coming in small clouds as Astrid emerged from the house, her axe strapped across her back. Frowning, he looked up at her: she was dressed warmly in a long sleeved tunic with fur-lined hood, her usual leather skirt, skull belt and leggings and boots in place.

"I'm ready," she said and he stared, then shook himself.

"Astrid-I was going on Toothless," he told her.

"With me," she corrected him. He rose to his feet and stared into her face finding what he expected: anxiety in her azure eyes. "Look-if I let you go, anything could happen to you and..." Her voice halted as his hand gently found hers.

"Stormfly can't go," he told her gently. "She was under the command of the Chief and the risk is that if she goes back, she'll be lost once more."

"What about Toothless?' she asked but his fingers laced with hers.

"He seemed to be immune," he pointed out. "And if he's willing to go, he must be confident that he can resist her..."

"Then he can take us both," Astrid said firmly. "Look, I'm not letting you go without me!" He leaned close to her.

"I'll be fine," he assured her. "And you..." She gritted her teeth.

"I have to do this, Hiccup," she cut in sharply. "I am Fearless Astrid Hoffer...Haddock...and I will not let that dragon control me. I will not let what happened stop me!" She paused and her voice softened. "Besides, if anything happens, you'll want me there with you!" His emerald gaze slid over the axe slung over her back and he paused.

"Not sure your axe will be able to stop that monster," he pointed out gently but she lifted her chin fiercely.

"If anything happens, babe-I am going down swinging!" she promised proudly. "I am a Viking and I will stand with you to the end!" Hiccup leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers.

"And there's no one else I want with me," he admitted. There was an irritated warble. "Well, apart from you-obviously...useless reptile..." he added, extending a hand to rub the dragon's head. Then he stepped back, gesturing to the waiting Night Fury. "Shall we, Milady?" She smiled.

"Why, thank you, sir," she replied playfully and clambered aboard, wrapping her arms around his lean shape as he leaned forward and rested a hand on the top of Toothless's head.

"Okay, bud, let's..."

"Hiccup!" The Chief's voice boomed down the freezing Plaza and the young Viking groaned, hanging his head and waiting for Stoick to trot down to greet them. "Ah...making an early start, Good!" he managed, his eyes twinkling and Hiccup sagged.

"Yup," he managed. "Though the start's getting less early the longer we wait..." Stoick's eyes widened at the sarcasm and then he clapped his son hard on the shoulder.

"That's the spirit, son!" he boomed. "Um...take care!" Hiccup glanced at him.

"Toothless-let's go," he said and the Night Fury gave a long-suffering warble and then flung himself into the air, his two passengers hanging on fiercely as he arrowed high up into the cold sky, the sun at their backs as they soared away from Berk, the island disappearing amid the mist. Astrid's body was warm against his back as Hiccup instinctively leaned as the dragon easily soared, arrowing out towards Helheim's Gate. The wind was icy against his face but he barely felt it, all his mind focussed on the problem that was the core of the issue: how to destroy a dragon the size of a mountain. All reason told him that it should have hide over a foot thick, muscles as hard as iron and bones probably as durable as rock. It was pretty much impregnable.

But he had seen Toothless toying with a Terrible Terror that had stolen his fish. In truth, the Night Fury had already polished off about twenty fish so he was not really hungry...but he hadn't been prepared to allow the cheeky little dragon to get any ideas above its place. So he had fired a tiny but hyper-accurate plasma blast that had perfectly slid into the little dragon's open mouth and ignited some of the flammable gases in it's body. The little dragon had shuddered, smoke pouring from its nose and mouth and collapsed, wounded but not dead.

"They're not fireproof on the inside," he murmured as they breached the bank of fogs around Helheim's Gate. Toothless grumbled, his big green eyes looking worriedly at the sea stacks. "I know, buddy. But we either do this or we spend the rest of our life getting up every few nights and fighting off dragons and trying to prevent people getting killed and homes burnt. And I...I want more than that. I want to explore, to fly on you all over the Archipelago. I want to settle down and enjoy my time with Astrid. And maybe one day..." He paused and Astrid tightened her arms around him. "Maybe one day...a family."

And when he spoke the words, he felt a curl of shame. He actually had a family, a father who was sort of acknowledging him now and who said he wanted Hiccup as his son again. He had a sort-of uncle who was also his mentor and his boss...and a real uncle who hated his guts and wanted him executed. But he had a family. All Astrid had was a distant relative who had wanted nothing to do with her...and Hiccup, the young man who had loved her from when he was about ten.

"I have you," she murmured quietly. "And the riders. It's okay, babe. I understand..."

"I will always be here for you," he replied as the dived down and began the slalom through the fog-swathed sea stacks. The cold, clammy air clung to them and sounds were muffled to an eerie quiet, with even the sea almost silenced. The leathery flap of Toothless's wings was loud as they finally soared up, the stench of sulphur acrid in the air as they burst out oner a black sandy shore, the cone of the volcano looming ahead, the reddish glow at the top of the cone menacing. But this wasn't the middle of a raid and there were a few caves and ledges where dragons were basking...until they saw the black intruder. Instantly, the dragons drew back, looking scared as they soared up and flapped through the low tunnel. Up ahead, the red glow was getting brighter and the heat was starting to cause sweat to prickle their necks. Both could feel that Toothless was tense as they soared into the huge cavern, keeping high and close to the walls.

"The Chief is down there-in the pit," Hiccup murmured, leaning over and looking down into the smoke-swathed depths. "It could get its head and neck up...but can the whole dragon get out-or is it too large?"

"What are you thinking, Hiccup?" Astrid asked as they perched on a high ledge, peering down into the pit.

"Maybe...maybe the dragon is in there because it got in here when it was younger and smaller and now can't get out?" he murmured. "Maybe that's why it has to control the other dragons to feed it? So maybe...maybe if we can entomb it and cut it off from its food supply, it will die..."

"Or break out and coming looking for itself?" Astrid asked in a sharp whisper.

"I never said in was a great plan," the auburn haired Viking admitted. "But it's a possibility..."

"You know-when Toothless stopped the dragons during the raid-they didn't come back here," Astrid pointed out thoughtfully. "They headed in the opposite direction. Perhaps you could gradually free all the raiding dragons and then it would starve anyway, without having to take such risks..." Hiccup's shoulders slumped.

"Of course, you're right," he admitted. "But I can't see the Tribe waiting for many months while we free the dragons a dozen at a time-because there are hundreds and hundreds of them-we saw that when we were last here. Sooner or later, one will get through and someone will be hurt or killed...and then the war will reignite..." Astrid opened her mouth to argue...and then she closed in again.

"You're right," she conceded reluctantly. "I know half the tribe would rather attack the dragons than watch them protect us anyway! And that would be fatal."

"Not even mentioning the fact that Dad will eventually lose patience and head out to find the nest once more...and if he finds this dragon, if he tries to break into the mountain to kill it..."

"Oh Thor," Astrid murmured, imagining the Tribe running towards the Chief...and getting squashed like bugs. It was a ridiculously likely outcome because they were Vikings-and that meant stubborn, headstrong, aggressive...but not always blessed with a clear consideration of the possible consequences... "That would be a disaster."

"And there's another problem," Hiccup murmured tonelessly.

"Another one?" she asked dryly, her head still rolling with the vision of the Tribe being incinerated by the giant dragon before they could even get near.

"The Outcasts-and Snotlout. I know Snot will want his revenge...and he may have found an ally who shares his desire to crush us in Alvin. The sooner we can end the raids, the sooner we can concentrate our efforts on watching for and readying for an Outcast attack."

"I bet Spitelout let Mildew out," Astrid growled. "And he will help his son and that traitor Mildew attack Berk. Thor, he probably fancies himself as the next Chief..." Hiccup gave a short laugh.

"And so does Snotlout...but can you see Alvin the Treacherous giving away the chance to humiliate and enslave Berk and my Dad? I'm sure he's promised all sorts of support to Snot...but I guess when they arrive, Alvin will crush any opposition," Hiccup said grimly. "So we need this done."

Astrid stared at him and then burst out laughing.

"What?" Hiccup asked in a hurt voice.

"Babe-our Tribe and all the Vikings in the Archipelago have been fighting this war for three hundred years and you are impatient over a few days in finishing it?" she sniggered. "Hiccup-you never cease to amaze me!"

"I-I do?" he checked, a small smile lifting his lips. "Of course, I can only do it because I have a super-fierce wife...who believes in me when others don't." Her arms tightened around him and her words were filled with pride.

"I know you'll find the answer. You worked out how to help a dragon with a broken tail fly again. You can do this." Nodding, he peered up at the roof of the cavern, the frozen basalt of the lava chamber jagged and brittle. He glanced around...and then they heard it: sniffing. A giant set of nostrils was scenting the air-and recognising the alien smells of one Night Fury and two Vikings. "And it's time to go. The Chief knows we're here-and I don't fancy becoming a snack."

"Tried it-definitely not fun!" she remarked. "Let's go, babe!" Her tone was urgent and Hiccup leaned forward-but Toothless was already launching, his wings flapping hard as they arrowed directly up, through the tunnel into the gloomy sky and away. Hiccup leaned down and snagged a handful of rock and stowed it in his saddlebag as they zoomed away.

"Hmm-that rock is brittle and the tunnels should be easy to collapse," he murmured. "All we need is something that will make a big enough explosion..." He paused and Astrid moved.

"Something like Zippleback gas?" she realised as he nodded.

"But we can only get the gas if someone bonds with a Zippleback," Astrid pointed out. Hiccup grinned.

"Not someone...sometwo," he said.

oOo

"Are you sure this a wise idea?" Stoick asked Hiccup as the twins paraded into Berk with their newly-bonded Zippleback. They had already named their heads Barf and Belch and were arguing over which was more awesome. Hiccup was rubbing the bridge of his nose and fighting a pounding headache as the volume of yelling increased.

"Honestly? No-but it does make some things easier, what with at least having them both in the same place," he pointed out. "Could you imagine the twins in separate places on separate dragons? Thor, that would be impossible. Most of Berk would be blown up in a week!"

"As opposed to only half of it," Stoick retorted gruffly. "You realise they're your responsibility now?" Hiccup sighed and nodded.

"Though I'd rather be responsible for Loki and the Frost Giants," he muttered. "Because they would be less destructive!"

In the end, Astrid had to yell at them to make then stop messing around and listen to Hiccup-and as they all headed down to the Arena, Hiccup wondered what he had gotten himself into. What was worse, Tiril's younger twin siblings, Brit and Odd-Knut, had bonded with an adolescent pink and green Zippleback so they had hastily been inducted into the class. Having five members of the Thorston extended family as dragon riders was trying Hiccup's patience-for the younger twins were only twelve and looked up to their older cousins enormously...meaning they copied everything the older pair did. And Ruff and Tuff were wild, headstrong and immensely irritating. But they were also daring, determined and strong and when they listened, they swiftly got the hang of controlling the Zippleback.

In between lessons, Hiccup and Astrid flew their dragons and ran the rota for patrolling...which proved interesting, since Tiril kept wanting to accompany Yaklegs while Gustav was quite happy to fly with Hilde, who was a blessing for the beset leaders, for she was steady and reliable. Fishlegs was willing to do whatever was required-even patrolling with the twins, though he was unable to control them any better. Only Brit and Odd-Knut were exempted from patrolling because of their age-and the fact that Puff and Blast, their Zippleback, was only a youngster as well.

They had fought two more raids and prevented any serious damage or injuries, though Hiccup was finding the strain difficult to cope with. Astrid could see him withdrawing the evening before the raid, more aware than ever of the potential consequences if they failed and making plan after plan to cover every possible eventuality. She had done whatever she could to be with him and try to get him to relax-but he had lain awake more often than not, waiting for the first sounds of the attack and leaping up with Toothless to lead the defence. They were always first in the air, driving back the vanguard and allowing the others to join him until Toothless had to exert his influence and drive them back. And as he predicted, after the third raid, the villagers were almost expecting the protection and grumbling that they were being woken to help against the raid when they had dragons to protect them.

Exhausted, Hiccup had sleepwalked through the day after the third raid, repairing the pile of weapons that seemed to have managed to get damaged despite the fact that no one had actually fought a dragon and accepting a long slug of mead from Gobber's flask and as he had grimaced, his eyes had focussed on the canister. Quietly, he turned the metal over in his hands, brows dipping in surprise.

"Gobber?" he murmured. "Did you make this?" The blacksmith nodded and took another long swig.

"Simple technique, laddie," he muttered. "Yer jest need tae pay attention ter the details..." Hiccup sat up straight and suddenly very focussed.

"Show me," he said suddenly.

oOo

Spitelout was in a foul mood, swigging his mead and munching through a leg of mutton while his wife bustled around and his daughter brooded. Else hadn't spoken with her best friend, Hilde, since the other girl had revealed she had a dragon and was siding with Hiccup and Astrid. And though they had been friends for years, Else wouldn't forgive such betrayal. So she poked her meat dispiritedly.

"I don't see how people can just accept them," she grumbled. "I mean-they're dragons! The things we've fought for centuries. And we're following that...outcast! How could she?" She stared at her father. "Why aren't more people protesting?"

"Because they're getting results," he told her. "Even our allies are becoming more half-hearted in their grumbles because they are aware their homes aren't getting damaged and the store-houses are standing unraided."

"But he's going to be given Snotlout's place as Heir!" she protested.

"Which was his originally anyway," her mother pointed out.

"And it should have been Snotlout's anyway," Else growled. "He..."

There was a rustle and a piece of paper was pushed under the door. Dutifully, Gerda fetched the paper and handed it to her husband. he peered at it-then handed it to his daughter, since his reading skills were not the best. Spitelout was cunning, overbearing and blessed with an unwavering sense of his own rightness-but he wasn't the brightest, though he was a dangerous and amoral enemy. Else frowned and then her face brightened.

"It's from Snotlout," she said in an excited whisper. "He is allied with Alvin the Outcast leader-and they have a plan to come back, overthrow Stoick and take over the village...with Snotlout as the new Chief!"

"They're our enemies," Gerda murmured, though her husband ignored her.

"Lass-that's excellent news," he said cheerfully, peering at the crabbed runes on the paper. "When are they coming?"

"He says they are preparing...but their allies here will lead them in," she read. "But the plan is to attack after the next but one raid." She looked up, her eyes shining. "He said they're attacking in a week-and when they come, Hiccup and Stoick and that bitch Astrid will all pay for what they did to my brother!"