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The dark waves crashing against the shoreline are the only sounds Hiccup can hear other than his and Toothless’ breathing. Thunder rumbles distantly, lightning flashing far out across the water., out towards Outcast island. The place where his dad is, trapped with no way out, all because of a war that’s mostly Hiccup’s fault in the first place.
“Don’t worry, Dad,” Hiccup whispers, to the empty ocean, “We’re gonna get you back, no matter what it takes.”
And he means it.
Even if he has no idea what he’s gonna do. Dagur already threatened to kill Stoick on the spot if there was any sign that he’s being followed or about to be attacked.
His dad could die here.
One wrong move on Hiccup’s part and he will. The potential consequences of a war have never been quite so real as they are right now.
Toothless whines softly, head lowering to nudge against Hiccup’s side.
“And Dagur’s not gonna get you either,” Hiccup adds, with more fierceness than he has a clue how to back up. Cuz he doesn’t have a clue how to back it up at all. This isn’t like the other times he’s beaten Dagur in their seemingly endless stupid war, that’s still carrying on over half a year later. This time Dagur actually has an advantage. He has all the advantages.
And Hiccup really really doesn’t understand what’s wrong with him. Not that thinking through all his mess of emotions about that are gonna change any of it anyway.
The tears come fast and burning, spilling down his cheeks, and Hiccup doesn’t bother trying to fight to hold them back. Wouldn’t be a point anyway. Not when it’s just him and Toothless, and the empty crashing waves that should hold some sign of his dad but don’t. Not when the last he might ever see of his dad while he’s still alive was Dagur’s gun at his head.
Toothless coos softly, shifting so his wings and tail are wrapped around Hiccup in comfort. It’s the most comfort he could really get at all right now.
And to think that only yesterday, he thought the biggest problem he was gonna be trying to deal with was the fight with Snotlout. That’s another mess that’s still going on and he really has no idea how to handle at all and he can’t take the time to think about that when his dad’s life is on the line.
So he stays here instead, staring out at the water through his silently falling tears, and wishes that just this once, having Toothless at his side would be enough to fix everything.
***
Morning comes far too fast. Hiccup’s trying to stumble around and function as though that’s even possible right now. He barely slept last night and couldn’t think about it anyway, even if he’d cared enough to try. Which he hadn’t.
At least they’re off school today. That there was literally a battle on the island last night is more than enough reason for everyone to get off and Hiccup will worry about all the chaos this is throwing into all of their grades later. Much later.
It certainly isn’t helping that being the head of the dragon riders means that now that his dad is gone, everyone is down at the Great Hall, demanding answers and talking about retaliations and Hiccup is supposed to do something about that. Somehow. Like anyone’s even gonna listen to him? But he’s stuck here anyway, trying to deal with it.
And of course, when getting out of that meeting that went absolutely terribly is when Hiccup’s phone suddenly rings.
It’s Fishlegs, who’s been out on patrol away from the island, in case he picks up something their cameras don’t.
“Hiccup!” he gasps, voice shaking, “Screaming! Coming!”
“Whoa, whoa, Fishlegs? Take a breath. What’s wrong?”
The fierce roar on the other end of the phone line more than answers that question.
“The Screaming Death is back?” Hiccup breathes faintly. Great. Like the day couldn’t get any worse? Ohh, he probably shouldn’t jinx it. It probably could still get worse.
“It’s eating it’s way to Berk!” Fishlegs practically wails.
“How much time do we have?”
“Not much. It was just off Dragon Island when I saw it.”
Okay, think.
“Just get back here right now. We’ll have to mount a defense together,” Hiccup says shakily, hanging up.
His other friends are all already gathered, having picked up on the seriousness of the situation by now.
Hiccup’s phone rings just as he’s hanging up with Fishlegs.
And it’s….
Oh.
Oh no.
Dagur’s number flashes on the screen.
What is It With You And Your Armada as Hiccup labeled him.
Cuz seriously, that night only a couple weeks ago when he’d seen the over a hundred ships incoming off Berk’s coast… Well, that’s when he’d actually decided what to name him. And don’t ask why he’s keeping the number because he has no idea.
“Hiccup? What’s wrong?” Astrid asks, frowning.
“Dagur,” Hiccup breathes, heart pounding, hand clenched around his phone like that might be enough to ground him and make the number go away. “He’s calling.”
“He has your number?!” Snotlout yelps.
“He did say he would be in touch,” Astrid points out, “I think you’re going to have to take the call, Hiccup.”
Like hearing Dagur’s laugh and voice doesn’t literally make him queasy with fear now? Like it doesn’t literally haunt his nightmares? But she’s right. He doesn’t have a choice.
Hiccup draws in a shaky breath, waits until practically the last ring before he hits answer. Still feels like he’s sealing his own doom by doing this.
“What do you want Dagur?” Hiccup demands. He’s impressed his voice comes out as steady as it does.
“Ohhh, you answered!” Dagur cackles, like there’s anything funny right now, “I was beginning to think you weren’t going to answer the phone and that would be really, really annoying –
“What do you want?” Hiccup repeats again, doing everything he can to not let his voice shake as much as it keeps trying too.
“I already told you, brother. What I’ve always wanted.” Dagur sounds more angry than smug now. “Your Night Fury. So, you have until tonight to deliver him to me on Outcast island or there’s a lot of interesting ways I can think of to kill your – “
Hiccup hangs up.
His chest is heaving and hands are shaking and he can’t make any of it stop.
He doesn’t quite mean to throw his phone onto the grass but he wants to get as far away from the words from any of it as possible, as though that’ll do anything to change their meaning.
“Uh, whoa, be careful with that phone,” Tuffnut supplies, going to pick it up for him.
“What did he say?” Snotlout asks, scowling fiercely.
“I have until tonight to turn over Toothless or my father will have no chance of…” he trials off, squeezing his eye shut and taking a few moments to just try to breathe.
Dagur’s going to kill him. He was serious about that threat. He’s actually going to kill his dad. It’s not something Hiccup can push.
Toothless coos softly next to him, eyes wide and worried.
And obviously turning over Toothless is an option he’d even think about.
So that means…
The dread settles cold and gnawing in his gut.
Ruffnut snatches the phone away from her brother, handing it to Hiccup. He takes it with a mumbled thanks, only half paying attention. At least the thing isn’t broken. He shoves it in his pocket, operating half on automatic and mostly just not operating at all.
Okay, he has a few ideas of a plan and if it doesn’t work, then – then it’s gonna be an end to all of Berk and his dad and –
No, it’s got to work.
“We’re going to get him out,” Hiccup says finally, looking determinedly to the others.
“It’s a trap,” Astrid argues, frowning, “If you fly anywhere near Outcast Island – ”
“I know. I – I’ve got that handled. I think. You all need to pick up Fishlegs and find a way to lead the Screaming Death away from Berk.”
“What about your father?”
“I’ll handle that.” And hope this isn’t the work mistake he’s ever made, but when it comes to Dagur, it feels like all Hiccup ever does is make mistakes.
This is the only way they have a chance of ever coming out of this.
***
Working with Alvin is the last thing Hiccup wants to do but they don’t have another option right now. Even if him riding Toothless behind Hiccup is uncomfortable to the point of barely being able to tolerate this at all. Sure, maybe Alvin’s agreeing to help them right now but that doesn’t mean Hiccup’s forgotten how much of Berk he already destroyed when he planted the Screaming Death there. People died from that. And… that’s not to mention everything that happened when he captured Hiccup and Toothless. But they don’t have a choice right now so he struggles not to think about it, even if he can barely stop.
Alvin explains what happened with him and Stoick and Hiccup’s just trying really hard not to think about how much it reminds him of the fight he and Snotlout are having right now. Things could get just that bad and…
Snotlout might be infuriating but that doesn’t mean Hiccup wants them to end up fighting so violently that his cousin is kicked off the island, that they’re enemies forever, that… and all of that could happen if he doesn’t find some way to make this right.
But first, he’s gotta focus on saving Stoick.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! We can't just fly over the island, Alvin. They're going to be expecting us!” Hiccup exclaims, as the Outcast tries to direct Toothless forwards anyway.
“I’m well aware of that,” he replies, rather unconcerned.
“And how do you know they haven’t already seen us by camera?”
Ugh.
Alvin’s help or no, there are still so many ways this could be about to go terribly.
“Because I know this part of the island had no security.”
“What makes you think that hasn’t changed?”
“I’ve got a man on the inside feeding me information,” Alvin insists, “And we’re not flying over the island. We’re flying under it.”
Uh…
Okay.
Sure, just gonna hope this isn’t some kind of plan to drown him but Alvin is probably not trying to get himself killed so Hiccup’s gonna try to trust it.
***
They win the battle.
Hiccup hardly knows how it happened when they came so close to losing everything here. But the Screaming Death reunites with its mother and they fly away, hopefully not to go start eating some other islands.
And then Dagur leaps out of the sunk-in pit that was once the Outcast’s dragon arena. He’s about to fly at them, with some weapon raised that Hiccup barely even has the chance to see when Alvin comes out of nowhere and punches him, knocking him flat on his back.
“Remember me?” he sneers, looming over him.
“Oh no,” Dagur breathes.
For the first genuine time since all this started, since maybe Hiccup’s ever known him, Dagur actually looks scared.
It’s – it’s probably awful that right now, all he’s feeling is pure relief that Dagur isn’t the one who won here today.
“You took over me island,” Alvin says, as he drags Dagur away by the front of his shirt, “And now you’re gonna answer for it.”
Technically, yeah he does have the legal right to put Dagur on trial for whatever he did against the Outcasts, if anything the Outcasts do can really be called legal. Berk could also just as easily try him but… well, they don’t really have much of a prison system there and it’s more than likely Dagur would just break out and then he’d be right with Toothless, and –
“Hiccup? Brother?” Dagur calls back, something like desperation coloring his voice, before he’s dragged from sight.
Like – like he’s actually expecting Hiccup to intervene.
Like –
Why is this moment, that one, where he suddenly wonders if Dagur really did mean ‘brother’ as something more than mocking? But it’s – it’s not like that ever stopped him from… anything.
For a moment, Hiccup’s just frozen, staring after them.
Espeically from the smugness in Alvin’s eyes because he knows that look but if Dagur is free, then Toothless is never gonna be safe. His dad and friends and the rest of Berk never will be either.
“Idiot,” Snotlout says with a snicker, “Like we’re gonna help him?”
Hiccup doesn’t think it’s funny.
He just… doesn’t want to think about Dagur at all right now. Maybe – maybe he won’t have to anymore. Not if this nightmare is finally over.
He and Toothless are finally finally free.
***
It’s not until they’ve flown back to Berk that Hiccup actually has the time to take a moment to talk to Snotlout like he should’ve from the start. He was being so awful. He was so focused on trying to be a good leader that he forgot what it meant to be a friend and despite what his dad might’ve said about his future as leader of Berk… he still finds being a good friend more important.
“Hey, uh, Snotlout… can I talk to you?” Hiccup asks, shuffling up to him.
“Sure,” his cousin shrugs, even if he’s eyeing him almost cautiously, “If you’re gonna tell me I was being reckless after all, I already know that – ”
“No,” Hiccup hastily cuts him off, “I already told you what I thought about what you did that day. You saved us Snotlout. That – that might have been reckless, but sometimes reckless can be courageous. And we really needed that. What I was going to say is… that I’m sorry.”
“Obviously, you – wait, what?!” Snotlout yelps. “Are you messing with me again?”
“No, I – You needed a friend, Snotlout. And I was just trying to be your leader.”
“I…” his cousin is fumbling, like he has no clue what to say.
“I just needed to say it. You don’t need to say anything if you don’t want to. If you’re still mad at me for what I did, that’s okay. I get it.” Best way out he knows how to offer him. And it makes him feel maybe the tiniest bit better over harsh he was being with him. But only a little. He just… feels awful about all of that. There’s got to have been a much better way to show Snotlout that he needed to stop crossing the line, even if he doesn’t know what it would’ve been. Just anything but what Hiccup chose to do in the end.
“You weren’t wrong,” Snotlout blurts out, sort of scowling in what looks like an effort to hide how he’s actually feeling, “That I was being reckless. I could’ve killed Astrid. I could’ve messed up a lot of stuff.”
“But you didn’t,” Hiccup tries offering, gently, “So… uh, keeping all that in mind, we can…”
Um.
He has no idea how to say this.
How to apologize to Snotlout for being so mean to him, without telling him what he did was okay because it wasn’t but while also trying to make him feel better because what Hiccup did was totally uncalled for, too.
“Why are you always so… this?” his cousin asks, now actually scowling.
“Uh.” Nervousness that once always accompanied being in his cousin’s presence comes rushing back full force. “So… what?”
“Nice,” Snotlout snaps, “Perfect. Everything you do always works and is always what everyone wants. And I’m just Snotlout.”
Hiccup blinks.
Then blinks again.
“Snotlout, I – I’m not perfect. I – ” Why would anyone ever think that? There’s got to be no one on Berk who’s screwed stuff up more than Hiccup himself.
“You won the war,” his cousin bursts out, “Your dad is the chief and everyone worships you, and – ”
“And none of what I did I could have done without you or the other riders,” Hiccup replies firmly, “Or Toothless.”
The Night Fury purrs softly, and Hiccup pauses to pet him.
“And I make plenty of mistakes, Snotlout.” He’s probably gonna regret being this openly emotional with him later but he can’t just not say this, when his cousin is so obviously really hurt. “This entire war with Dagur… that was really my fault from the start.”
“Well, you’re right about that,” his cousin offers, “But in the end, everything you do always works. And you have the metal leg.”
Hiccup blinks. “Why are you saying that like it’s a good thing?”
He huffs. “Duh, isn’t it obvious?”
“Uh, no, Snotlout, it’s not.” He’s never been so confused, actually.
“Everyone who sees it knows you’re the one who killed Red Death. And that you’re the one who tamed all the dragons.”
“Okay… but you know it hurts all the time, right?” Hiccup asks, a bit incredulous. Maybe not all the time, but often enough to be absolutely miserable, even if he’s gotten used to it. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t have pain killers on hand all the time for the moments the phantom limb pains become a thing – except that that’s the one kind of pain that pain killers barely help with because they aren’t even real pains in the first place. It’s hard, unimaginably hard, and Snotlout’s talking about his lost leg like it’s a good thing?
“That’s not even the point,” his cousin grumbles.
Hiccup sighs. “Look, it’s not about who we can or can’t be better than, Snotlout. We’re a team. We all have to help each other. You saved my life at the end. I would have died if not for you. And you could have died doing it, but you still had the courage to go through with it.” His cousin could’ve been shot there, if Dagur or one of the other Berserkers had reacted faster.
Snotlout is quiet for a long pause. “You – you really mean that?”
“I do,” Hiccup promises, “I – I didn’t need to be so harsh, with the suspension and all that. Really.”
His cousin just looks at a loss.
Hiccup keeps talking, because he really needs to get the rest of this out. “I just want to say that… Alvin talked to me about what happened between him and his dad. They used to be friends, kind of like us, and… Well, I don’t want us to ever go that far.”
Snotlout’s face is openly vulnerable in a way it rarely is. “It won’t,” his cousin says finally, some of his usual attitude returning, “Cuz you need me on the team, right? Or you’d be dead before you knew it.”
Hiccup laughs, even if it’s strained. “You’re not wrong about that.”
Toothless grumbles worriedly, nudging against his side. “Now…” Hiccup trails off. “I guess it’s time to get back to school?”
“School? Really? That’s your first thought when we should be having victory parades and stuff? At least definitely some kind of celebration that has something with my name on it?” Snotlout asks, “Wow. You still are boring. Did I ever tell you that?” For once, though, the tone is more teasingly than it has been in a long time.
Hiccup laughs. “You’ve told me that plenty, Snotlout.”
But it feels like something’s settled between them, like maybe – maybe their years of conflict can actually really get better from here. It’s a nice feeling, something he’s going to tentatively hope for.
***
There’s a couple days of just rest and trying to clean up before they do have to go back to school. Hiccup can still hardly believe that the wars are over.
There’s an actual real chance of peace for the first time since – ever, really.
First the dragon war, then the Outcast war, and now the Berserker war. All of them are over.
Now they have an actual future to look to. It’s a weird feeling. Cuz they’ve never been dragon riders without war before, either.
“It’s gonna be so boring now,” Ruffnut comments, one day after school when they’re back in the arena together to take their dragons out flying after school.
“I know. I miss all that chaos and awesome fires and the impeding feelings of death….” Tuffnut looks way too gleeful and sort of daydreamy at once. “Sorry, got carried away there for a moment.”
“I don’t know how you could say boring. I think this is amazing! Finally some quiet. Time to catch up on all our schoolwork,” Fishlegs says.
“You and Hiccup are both boring,” Snotlout deadpans.
“And you’re muttonheads,” Astrid cuts in.
“Hey, guys,” Hiccup interjects, mostly just amused, “All this means is a chance to think about the future, right?”
“Uhh…” Tuffnut trails off uncertainly, “Is that a riddle? I can’t tell if that’s a riddle.”
Ruffnut shrugs cluelessly.
“Why would it be a riddle?” Hiccup asks, completely confused.
“Cuz we don’t do the thinking thingy. Nuh-uh,” Tuffnut insists.
“It would probably do you some good if you actually started,” Astrid cuts in.
“Boring,” Ruffnut deadpans.
“We can study dragons more!” Fishlegs cuts in, excitedly, “There’s so much we can learn and we’ll finally have the time to do it.”
Hiccup nods, his own excitement rising. “And… I’ve been thinking, maybe we can try flying out to other islands. Try to get them introduced to dragons. But… that is probably gonna have to wait for summer.” He’s kind of disappointed about that but they could use some peace and quiet on Berk before they go out looking for more places to help.
That has him thinking again about Heather. They’ve barely heard from her at all, since the beginning of their own war with the Berserkers. He thought she wasn’t around before but now it’s even worse, with her just showing up at literal few month intervals to a drop a comment that she’s okay, and then she just vanishes again. Maybe… maybe they’ll have the chance to try and track her down now, too.
“We should do that,” Astrid agrees, “Even if our role as dragon riders isn’t really the same anymore.”
Yeah, that’s… true. Because they’re still a group but they don’t have a role, other than just being friends. That isn’t all bad but it’s different.
“Anyone have any thoughts on what they wanna do in the future?” Hiccup asks, “I mean, other than going to other islands to see if we can teach them about dragons too, maybe. If any of you want to do that, of course.”
“’Course we’re going,” Snotlout says. “Let you get all the glory?”
“Is he serious?” Tuffnut adds.
Hiccup can’t help smiling again. “Just wanted to be clear on that.”
“I think I’m gonna make weapons,” Snotlout decides, “Or something else great. Because whatever it is, trust me, it will be great.”
Astrid rolls her eyes. “I’ve been thinking for a while, since we’ve already done so much for Berk’s security. I might as well join. You know, after I’m out of high school.”
“We’ve always known what we’re gonna be,” Ruffnut calls, with far too much glee.
“Should I ask?” Hiccup asks dryly.
“You should,” Tuffnut crows, “Because we will be full agents of Loki!”
“That is not a job,” Astrid says flatly.
“Uh, who wants a job?” asks Ruffnut.
Hiccup laughs.
He thinks he can get used to this. This… peace. It’s a nice feeling, to actually be able to think about the future. Uh, at least, they’ll have a future to think about once he catches up in schoolwork.
Toothless purrs, nudging against Hiccup’s side.
“You’re safe, bud,” Hiccup murmurs, turning to cup his dragon’s head in his hands, “You’re finally safe.”
Toothless licks him and Hiccup hugs him tightly.
Maybe he’s safe only here on Berk, but at least he has Berk to be safe on for the time ever, and that means everything right now.
He wishes he could get Dagur calling for him out of his head.