Chapter Text
"This is Berk. A bit trampled and busted and covered in ice, but it's home. It's our home. Those who attacked us are relentless, and crazy, but those who stopped them? Oh - even more so! We may be small in numbers, but we stand for something bigger than anything the world can pit against us. We are the voice of peace. And bit by bit, we will change this world. You see, we have something they don't. Oh sure, they have armies. And they have armadas. But we? We have our Dragons.”
It was a dark and stormy night.
It had been only a few weeks since the Battle of the Bewilderbeast, when the armies of Drago Bludvist were narrowly beaten back by the forces of Berk. Progress on cleaning the village of icy shrapnel and repairing the buildings had been slow, frequently interrupted by mirth and celebration in honor of the new Chief. Tonight, though, Hiccup grumbled as he rolled over in bed and heard the wind howling and whipping against the walls.
Typical Berkian weather, he thought, unable to sleep. Annoyance showed on his face - tomorrow morning he’d have to help survey all the damage the storm had caused an already fragile village. The night passed slowly for him, and when daybreak came the rain had stopped. He rose from bed tiredly, tried his best to enjoy breakfast, and set straight to work. What else was there to do?
“Scaffolding’s been torn up around the main hall.” Spitelout began to the Chief. The second-in-command was already waiting outside Hiccup’s front door, and he started his morning briefing without hesitation the moment Hiccup’s tired face appeared. “Three houses we were almost finished with have been badly waterlogged, and two ships i’ port were capsized.”
Hiccup nodded, pinching the bridge of his nose. “That’s a… Pretty serious couple of setbacks.” He returned defeatedly, eyes lowering slightly. “But, we’ve got nothing else to do but work through it. Right?” He sucked in a breath and pushed himself to sound optimistic, face brightening as he clapped Spitelout on the back.
“Aye, Hiccup.” He nodded. And then walked away, ready to delegate orders - but turned back at the last minute. “Oh - there’s one more thing.” He pointed a finger out to the Southern beach. “A small ship ran aground over the night. One man aboard.”
Hiccup blinked and pulled his spyglass from his hip, holding it to his eye. He saw it in the distance, perhaps eight miles away. A dinghy rigged fore-and-aft, mainmast snapped like a twig and sails in tatters, resting in the sand. A bit of concern for this newcomer wandered through his mind - strangers often didn’t understand the ways of the Berkians on their first arrival. “Uh-huh. Where is he now?”
“He was unconscious. We took him to Mother Gothi to get looked at, and he’s probably still there.”
Hiccup snapped the spyglass shut with a satisfying click and returned it to his hip. “Alright. Thanks, Spitelout. You know what to get to. I’ll… I’ll catch up with you.” He offered a bit of a smile and watched as Spitelout retreated with a reverent nod - and, once he knew he was out of earshot, Hiccup let out an enormous sigh.
Being Chief was probably exhausting if you were prepared, and Hiccup wasn’t. He hadn’t given thought to his father’s lessons and advice about the proper conduct of a Chief. It had always seemed so distant, so intangible… He looked out at Berk as the morning sun began to cast its warm glimmer onto its buildings and wondered how he could have been so foolish as to really think things would last forever. He could be untethered by responsibility and commitment for all time, charting the archipelago with Toothless. He could visit his dad often and speak to him. There had been so much more for them to say to each other - so many more tiny kinks in their relationship he had wanted to iron out. There was no more time, now.
The last thing Hiccup wanted to do was help with construction. Spitelout would be directing people to scuttle the capsized ships, and bail water from the flooded houses, and construct new scaffolds around the main hall, and every second of the way decisions would have to be made, and every one would come to him. New Chief. He couldn’t take another second of it. He balled up his fists by his side - he just needed to find some time alone, with Toothless. He used to have so much of it.
Looking up once more to the Southern Beach, this time without the spyglass, he saw the ex-ship as a smudge in the distance. Maybe it was lucky, for him… Out of the way of everything else. A reasonable thing for the Chief to do, to investigate. More importantly, a reasonable thing for him to do all alone.
Hiccup turned and pushed into the house again, quickly striding to Toothless. “Up, lazybones!” Hiccup smacked his friend lightly as he walked by. “Who’s a good dragon? Who’s a good dragon? Oh, Thor, ‘course it’s you.” Hiccup bribed Toothless to wake up with baby talk and a small basket of trout. His friend was a lazy, lazy dragon in the mornings. Toothless flipped onto his back, green eyes lidded and an annoyed rumble coming from his mouth. A pause as Hiccup fell to his knee, puffing out his lips. “If you don’t get up, then I’ll eat all this trout myself. I swear.” Hiccup pressed. Still nothing. “Alright, then. I’ll see if Stormfly wants to come with instead, I’m sure—“
Suddenly Hiccup was pummeled into the floor, wind knocked out of him by the big black reptile. “Knew you’d come around.”
It was no matter to mount Toothless and glide slowly to the beach, the dragon landing on the wet sand with a thud. Up close, the ship looked even worse. The sailor aboard had been lucky to run aground when he did - this thing wouldn’t be floating much longer in this condition. She was about three fathoms long, and one wide. Large enough for a single person to comfortably make a long journey, but not much more. Hiccup walked up to the side of the it, peg leg sinking into the sand, and ran his fingers across the runic letters chiseled roughly in the hull, digits sinking into the carvings. He felt and read the words at the same time. “THE DRY ROT”, she was called. He tilted his head and regarded it with a confused smile, laughing softly under his breath.
“This ship is called the Dry Rot, bud.” He called out, looking behind him. “What a terrible name. Like if I named you Crash-Face.” He mused, sarcastic tone creeping into his voice as it often did. And then, throwing one leg up, he clambered over the railing, gangly body flailing a bit before he found his footing on the uneven deck. Toothless trotted up curiously and watched his friend.
Cargo had been tied down to the ship - Hiccup unsheathed his dagger and cut at the ropes tying down barrels and crates, opening them up. A crate of food, cured meats and dried fruits fit for a long voyage. A crate of utilitarian clothes. So far uninteresting - he leaned his elbow against the railing and rest his cheek in his hand, looking out at Toothless. Toothless gave a rumble of approval, stretching out his wings and looking just below Hiccup.
A trapdoor in the deck Hiccup hadn’t noticed. He was standing right on top of it. “Oh, thanks bud—!” Hiccup said with surprise, stepping back from it and casting it open. The inside of the ship was dim when he climbed down - there were candles all over, but they were long since snuffed out. It was the sole sailor’s living space. A hammock, a desk, a few books and scrolls, and another chest. He heard the wind whip up a bit outside.
“Looks like we just got a wanderer, bud.” Hiccup called out. “Nothing too interesting or frightening. Haven’t seen any weapons, so we probably don’t have a big scary dragon trapper on our ha—“
Hiccup interrupted himself when he opened up the last chest, his voice trailing off on its own. He tilted his head as he looked inside. He wasn’t surprised as much as he was confused, and he reached in. What was this stuff? He blinked at the first thing he picked up, turning it over in his hand. It was a flat construction of wood and fabric. There was cloth in the shape of two side by side diamonds, painted a drab orange color. Wooden rods held the shape tight. Connected to it, a spool of twine. He narrowed his eyes in wonderment and set it on the floor, returning to the chest to pull out more. One by one he pulled out dozens of artifacts and mechanisms he couldn’t fathom. None of them could serve any purpose he could understand… He took each from the ship and tossed them overboard to see them in the light. A menagerie of odd objects laid out haphazardly on the sand. Hiccup crossed his legs and sat before them, stroking his stubbled chin.
“Got any ideas, bud?” He asked, speaking up slightly to be heard over the passing wind. He was too engrossed in this new puzzle to see that Toothless, behind him, was more interested in gnawing on his own tail with his gums. The silence was all Toothless needed to speak to his rider. “Yeah, I thought so. I’m drawin’ a blank, too.” He tsked.
And he got to sit like this for a few minutes, and he thought it was lovely. He wondered for a moment how long it had been since he’d been able to stop and catch his breath like this. Days? Weeks? There was so much to process. Dad was gone. Mom was here. He was Chief. Astrid was… Astrid. Berk was in danger from increasingly powerful enemies.
The wind whipped up again, and Hiccup lifted a forearm to shield his face from it. He didn’t notice until it was too late that the item of wood and cloth, the first thing he’d seen, was whipped into the air. Toothless sat back on his haunches and followed it with his eyes but Hiccup yelped, awkwardly leaping into action to run after it. His gangly legs kicked up sand and his arms flailed as he broke into a sprint. It soared higher and higher, tumbling chaotically through the air, and the length of twine hung far below it. He could just reach out and grab it- He was just a few inches away, gaining ground - Curse his damn peg leg, sinking into the sand with his footfalls - Gotcha!
He held fast to the twine and felt a hard pull. But suddenly, serenity. His eyes were locked on the spot where he’d grabbed the twine, feeling the tug in his hand. Something felt different, unexpected. And Toothless, far behind, made a noise he recognized as ‘What’s that? I’m curious.’
His gaze followed the twine up, and there it was - two diamonds of orange cloth, floating on the wind, serenely bobbing side to side as gusts passed by. Vikings had no word for it, yet - it was a kite. Hiccup’s mouth fell agog for a moment, and then a vast smile spread across his face. Energy burst into his stomach and out of his voice like a beam of light.
“Wow!” He gushed, head darting between the kite and the twine in his hand, pulling it in. “Just… I-…. I just, Wow!” He buzzed and gesticulated with his free hand and turned back to the things scattered on the sand. Suddenly, they all made sense! He just had to…!
With a spring of excitement in each one of his steps, he set to work. This was no collection of random objects. This was an incredible, mobile atmospheric laboratory. He’d never seen anything like it before. The long metal spike with a curved end went through the spool, allowing him to anchor the line in the sand. The strange thing that looked like a long tube of cloth of two distinct colors clipped onto the line and could be hoisted into the air, spinning at different speeds as the wind picked up or slowed down. The two colors made it easy for him to count the revolutions in a certain time - a tiny hourglass helped with this. More and more of the objects because useful - some on the ground, some clipped to the line and hoisted into the air, and Hiccup had started taking notes on these experiments, these results, these fascinating data! He was already learning incredible things about the motions of the air, the dynamics and the shape of the wind. He’d never met this wanderer before - but suddenly, they were kindred spirits. They were learning in the same way about flight. Hiccup was doing what the wanderer had done many, many times before.
He felt free. He forgot, for a few minutes, about the terrible loads on his shoulders - of loss, of responsibility, of expectations. Toothless was right alongside him, helping how he could. He felt like he was flying again for the first time. He felt like the wind was his friend, and the sun was his guide. These objects weren’t strangers, and the air had a soul—
“I thought I’d find you here.”
Astrid’s voice came from behind him. She dismounted Stormfly, landing confidently onto the ground. Hiccup quickly made his excitement known. He turned on his heel, face bright, and began speaking suddenly, with great speed. “A-Astrid! You’ll never believe this!” He started, rushing to her and pointing at the diamonds in the sky. “It… It flies on its own! In the wind! I found it in the ship! There are just—! All sorts of devices here for measuring windspeed, and to see how the air moves, and to measure distances and heights with such accuracy! Look, look! With this - “ He reached for a tablet of runes and lines attached to a device that looked much like a spyglass - “I can measure the angle of ascent of this thing, and determine-“
“Oh, right. Nerd stuff.” Astrid teased.
Hiccup tried not to show how much that wounded him. He knew she only meant to be funny, to slow him down a little. He knew that she cared he was enjoying himself, but she didn’t care to understand why. Disappointment flickered seriously on his face for only a moment, and he pushed it away. A bit of a pause and he gingerly set down the objects he’d been handling. “…Yeah. Nerd stuff.” He responded, feigning friendliness.
Astrid smacked his shoulder playfully. “What are you doing out here? We need someone overseeing construction.”
Hiccup nodded, having prepared his response for this exact sentence in advance. “I thought I’d come and investigate the wreckage. See if I’d find anything important.”
Astrid nodded. “Well, a relief that you didn’t.” Another look of disappointment on Hiccup’s face, that he again pushed away. Astrid noticed. “Don’t be like that, Hiccup. You know what I mean. It’s just… Whoever came ashore clearly isn’t a dragon trapper for us to be afraid of.” She gestured vaguely to the ship. She was right - it didn’t have nearly enough spikes, or shields, or intimidating paintings on it to be a trapper’s ship. There was no need to investigate closely to know that. “Now, come on. You ought to come join us.”
Hiccup looked back to the orange diamonds in the air and felt a bit sick. And then he looked to Toothless, who looked a bit disappointed at the idea of stopping, too. Responsibilities had to be tended to, though. The people of Berk were his charge. “I’ll, uh… I’ll be right out. Let me just get this stuff put away nicely. See you in twenty minutes?”
Astrid leaned forward and pecked his cheek before rollicking off. “Go, Stormfly!” was all it took to leap into the air once more with her dragon and float back to Berk.
Hiccup watched her fade into the distance for a minute, and then looked up again at the serene orange diamonds in the air. He wondered if he would ever have time to devote to this sort of thing again. He was so torn - caring deeply for his people, but caring deeply as well for the pursuit of knowledge. Understandings of nature. He had much to learn from these strange objects - he patted Toothless on the side before devoting himself to tidying up this mobile laboratory. As he worked he sighed and tried to shake the feeling, knowing this wasn't an important pursuit. The Chief had better things to be doing by far. But he couldn't shake the thought, pressing at the back of his mind, and he wouldn't shake it for days.
He mounted Toothless to return to Berk. He could learn so much more, he thought, from the wanderer.