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Berk had changed a lot since she’d last seen it. Instead of a small village with a few wonky dragon homes, it had really flourished. Bigger, stronger looking buildings, built in perches and feeders for the dragons, just an overall more stable looking place.
Heather couldn’t help it, glancing back down at her right arm, where the wind had pulled the sleeve up. Over the past few years, she’d learned a lot. A lot about dragons and the wilderness, different viking tribes in the archipelago, but also about herself… and her soulmate.
The tattoo on her forearm was extraordinarily detailed, full of clues that had led her to her other half. The head of a hammer started just under her wrist, and rolled up scrolls burst out from behind it, outlining the handle. At the end of the handle were a familiar pair of wings that Heather had last seen on a helmet, and at closer inspection, the scrolls had tiny dragon stats written on them.
Her soulmate was definitely Fishlegs Ingerman. Which she wasn’t upset about, especially since she’d had a crush on him since she was sixteen, but she was still definitely nervous. They hadn’t spoken in years , not since she’d slipped out of the Dragon’s Edge at night to go exploring and had never come back.
Heather settled back and gave Windshear a pat. It was good to be back on Berk, even if it was different.
“Take us down girl,” She said, and the razorwhip landed on the edge of the pier. She dismounted and grabbed a satchel from Windshear’s back, then led her dragon off the dock as two more familiar figures came running towards her.
“Heather!” Astrid Hofferson yelled, crashing into her and giving her friend a fierce hug. When she pulled back, Heather realized she’d changed up her look a little. Her braid was neater, the bangs swept off to the side instead of hanging in her eyes. Her shirt was switched from blue to a warm red, and she even had some fur accents on her pauldrons and skirt.
“Welcome back!” Ruffnut teased, punching Heather on the arm. Like Astrid, she’s grown up in the past few years, and her neater clothing and hair certainly reflected that. Heather couldn’t say the same for herself though - her clothes had been repaired so much that she could barely see the original pattern on her shirt.
“How was your trip?” Astrid asked excitedly.
“It was actually really good,” Heather said. “I met a lot of people, learned a bunch about my tribe,”
“The village has been doing great,” Astrid said, waving an arm around. “But you can see that,”
“I can,”
“And we found Hiccup’s mom,” Ruffnut said, like it was the most common knowledge in the world. “Oh and Astrid’s getting married soon,”
“What?!” Heather asked. “On both those things,”
“We went after more dragon hunters and it ended up leading us to a secret cove where Hiccup found his mom. Instead of being carried off to be eaten, the dragon sorta… trained her?” Astrid loosely explained. “She didn’t train it like Hiccup trained Toothless. Her relationship with Cloudjumper is more dragonlike than anything,”
“Okay, so after he found his mom he proposed?” Heather asked. “How much did I miss?”
“Hiccup’s not my soulmate,” Astrid said, shooting a glare at Ruffnut that said ‘we’ll discuss this later’. “I’m actually Eret’s,”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Heather said, stopping in the middle of the street. “Arrogant Eret? The one you were angry about when you wrote to me?!”
Astrid nodded. “Our tattoo’s match each other… and we actually balance each other out,”
“Huh,” Heather said, shaking her head. “I thought you and Hiccup were soulmates though,”
“Hiccup’s soulmate is this princess from the south,” Ruffnut siad, once again giving away too much information.
“Ruff!” Astrid snapped, smacking the other blonde.
“You two promised to keep me updated!” Heather whined. “Why am I finding out about all this now!?”
“Shoulda come around more,” Ruff teased. “Unless you have any news you want to share…?”
“Ruffnut and Snotlout are soulmates,” Astrid suddenly chimed in, started off another round of yells and laughter as the girls reached the Hofferson house.
“You’re kidding me,” Heather said, but Ruffnut only shrugged.
“He keeps telling me that his tattoo means me,” She said, tugging at one of her braids. “But… mine hasn’t changed yet, so I’m kinda just leading him on?”
“That’s not what she means,” Astrid snapped. “She wants to let her tattoo develop before they commit to anything,”
“And I’m not going to take your thunder,” Ruff added, loosening up again. “Not before the wedding!”
“Okay, okay, okay,” Heather said. “That’s a lot of information. Ruff and Snoutlout are soulmates but they’re taking baby steps. Astrid is engaged to her soulmate who is actually not Hiccup, because his soulmate is a southern princess who I might meet later?”
“You’re definitely going to meet her,” Ruff said. “You can barely separate the two. They’ve been exploring so long I think they’re permanently attached at the hip,”
“And you arrived on Red Death Day,” Astrid added, dropping a basket on the kitchen table with a loud ‘thump’. “And you know what that means!”
“There's a party,” Heather sighed. “Can’t wait!”
The girls took the next few hours to get ready for the feast. Heather had her hair washed and the seasalt scrubbed from her arms and face by Astrid, who then handed her off the Ruffnut, who was actually pretty good with hair. The other girl pulled and twisted until Heather’s dark locks were pulled into a thick braid that started at her forehead and traveled back, with tiny braids down the sides. When she was finished, Ruffnut had even added metal charms to tie it all together.
Astrid and Ruffnut’s hairstyles were similar to Heathers, just a little different to fit their own styles. The three girls switched from their armor to nicer, looser dresses, ones that they wouldn’t wear unless it was a special even like this one.
Heather was wearing one of Astrids, which was a nice warm red with silver and black embroidery. Astrid wore a dusty blue with gold and silver, and Ruffnut was wearing a peachy-orange color that looked surprisingly good on her.
The sun was setting as the girls left Astrid’s house and made their ways up to the great hall. It was already full and they could hear music and laughter from inside.
Vikings were dancing, talking or eating, some doing all three. Even though the Red Death Battle had been hard and Berk had lost a lot, the mood was still light. Everyone inside was having a good time.
Astrid was quickly swept off to dance by Eret, who smiled at Heather and Ruffnut. Soon after, Ruff and Heather made their way towards the tables, grabbing food as they went.
“Heather? You’re really here?”
“Oh, hey Fishlegs,” Heather said, smiling as she recognized the blonde man. “It’s been awhile,”
“I-it has,” He said. “D-do you want to dance?”
Heather sent a look over the Ruffnut, who’d somehow started a fight with her brother already. She shrugged and took Fishlegs’s hand.
“Sure,”
The music picked up into a bouncy song as Fishlegs and Heather started to dance. As the song got faster, the more comfortable the two got, and soon they were laughing and not really caring where their feet were going.
Heather saw Eret and Astrid dancing, as well as an excited Snotlout and slightly less excited Ruffnut. Their dancing was actually normal compared to Hiccup and the redheaded girl he was swinging around. Those two were laughing loudly, heads tipped back as they spun. Even though they danced past everyone, Hiccup didn’t even notice Heather was there. He was just too enamoured with his partner.
Fishlegs and Heather kept dancing and spinning, but were eventually split up as Ruffnut and Astrid grabbed their friend and headed back towards the tables.
“Heather, wait!” Fishlegs called, and Heather looked back. Both of them were sweaty from the dancing, but it just made their skin glow under the firelight. “Meet me outside later - the beach where we first met,”
Heather nodded and smiled, but was whisked away before she could see Fishlegs glance down at his arm.
Heather spent the rest of the night trying to catch Fishlegs again, but something or someone was always in her way. She talked to Astrid’s parents, Stoick and his wife Valka, Gobber, the rest of the dragon riders (except for Hiccup, who never left the dancing), but wasn’t able to get the blond viking alone.
It was close to midnight when Heather was able to slip out of the great hall. She ran down the hill and through the village, heading towards the beach she’d washed up on the first time she’d visited Berk.
She turned down to run between two houses and stopped dead, hand flying to her mouth to stifle her laugh.
Hiccup Haddock - not so little Hiccup Haddock now, but still the same nerdy adventurer - was pinning the redheaded girl up against the wall, furiously kissing her as she clawed at his hair and wrapped her legs around his waist. He’d shoved her skirt up a little, and the two were so engrossed in each other they didn’t notice they’d been caught.
Heather couldn’t help herself - she coughed loudly, then laughed as Hiccup and the girl broke apart and jumped.
“H-heather!” Hiccup yelped. “Nice to see you! Uh, hi?”
“Hi,”
The redhead cleared her throat a little bit, crossing her arms and sending HIccup a look. He jumped again, then gestured from her to Heather.
“This is Meri- Princess Merida of Dunbroch, she’s uh… uh-”
“His soulmate,” Merida said, voice thick with a scottish accent. Her hair was also in a viking style, but Hiccup had basically torn the braids out, so the curls just framed her face. “It’s been nice ta’ meet you, but if you donae mind…”
“Carry on,” Heather grinned, then walked past them, leaving a blushing Hiccup and smirking Merida. She’d have to get to know that girl better. She seemed like fun.
The way down to the beach was short, but it didn’t stop Heather from running into Astrid and Eret making out on the way back to his house (they got distracted halfway there) or even Ruffnut dragging Snotlout down by his collar into a haystack.
Heather just bit back a laugh and kept walking, finally making it to the wooden staircase that led her out onto the beach. The full moon reflected off the water, making it glitter as it lapped at the shore.
Fishlegs was waiting, hands nervously shoved in his pockets, muttering something to himself as he stared out at the ocean.
“Hey,” Heather whispered. Fishlegs turned, a smile breaking out across his face.
“You came!”
“Of course I did,” She said. “Did you think I wouldn't?”
“N-no,” Fishlegs stuttered. “I’m just nervous,”
“About what?” Heather asked, even though she knew exactly what he was nervous about.
“This is my soulmark,” Fishlegs breathed. “I think it’s you,”
He rolled up his sleeve and bared his right forearm, showing Heather a tattoo that was completely different and yet mirrored her own.
It started with Heather’s horn at his elbow, with a razorwhip tail curling up and out of the opening. Behind the tail but still inside the horn were bunches of heather plants, making the tattoo look fenimie despite the danger of the dragon tail.
Heather grabbed Fishlegs’s hand, then ran her fingers over the tattoo, marveling at the detail. She met his eyes and smiled, then pulled her own sleeve up and let him inspect hers. The couple stood there for who knows how long, just examining the other soulmate tattoos in the moonlight.
“Fishlegs,” Heather whispered.
“Yeah?”
“I’m glad it's you,” She said, then tilted her head up and caught him by surprise when her lips connected with his. Fishlegs stiffened, but melted into the kiss and Heather smiled.
Berk had changed, but Heather wasn’t too opposed to sticking around and exploring it.
