79Two weeks later
"Absolutely not!" Stoick boomed over the village square.
Everyone present turned to look at what Stoick was yelling at, only to see Hiccup finally up and about.
Well, not exactly up. He was in a wheelchair. And the image you have in your head is probably wrong. Viking wheelchairs were not ideal. It was a chair, and it had wheels, small wagon wheels at the bottom. It allowed for mobility, but the person sitting in it was at the mercy of those around him. Of course, since Hiccup had one leg still, he could kind of kick and scoot around, though it wasn't practical.
Hiccup had cleverly found a temporary solution, as he held onto Toothless' tail and had him pull him around.
Stoick stomped over. "You're not supposed to be up yet."
"Dad, please. I'm going stir crazy! I promise I'll take it easy, but Astrid said she's teaching the others to train their dragons, and I want to see how it's going…and I want to make sure the tail that Gobber's been working on is right."
"Who gave you the chair?"
"Gobber, obviously."
Stoick looked around for the man, wishing to glare at him, but he was over in the forge.
"It's okay, Chief," Astrid assured. "I'm making sure he's taking it easy."
"Oh, and I supposed you helped him into the chair too?"
"If by 'help' you mean 'picked up and put me in' then yes, she helped." Hiccup had tried to insist that he could do it himself, and he just needed her for balance, but Astrid could not be persuaded otherwise.
She had been doing everything for him, nearly smothering him when they were together. She had even helped him put his pants on this morning. It was humiliating.
If not touching.
Stoick pinched the bridge of his nose. "What am I going to do with you, son?"
"Uh, trust me to be responsible?"
Stoick glared at the three of them, not happy with the situation, but obviously understanding where they were coming from.
"Fine," he groaned. "But the second you feel tired, you're goin' back to bed!" He pointed up at the house. "And I better not see that butt out of that chair!"
"Yes sir!" Hiccup smiled, just happy to be allowed outside.
"Come on," Astrid beckoned. "The others are training down at the arena!"
Hiccup took hold of Toothless' tail. "Alright bud, let's show these losers how to really tame a dragon!"
"Slowly!" Stoick bellowed.
They did heed Stoick's orders and leisurely made their way through town.
Folks stopped and stared as Toothless passed, and then shouted greeting to him.
"There you are, lad!"
"Good to see you out and around!"
"Got yourself a fine steed for your wagon!"
Hiccup couldn't help but smile as the wave of well wishes washed over him. It had been a while since he was so thoroughly welcomed in the village.
Astrid felt it too. Though, she hadn't been locked away for the last two weeks. People were smiling at them, both of them.
The looks towards Toothless weren't necessarily friendly, but not hostile. Just intrigued.
Who could blame them? The injured son of the chief, the runt of the Hooligan tribe, was holding onto the tail of a Nightfury.
That was the fabled, mystical, elusive Dragon only heard about in stories.
And little Hiccup was playing with it like an overgrown kitten.
There were bound to be some looks of awe and confusion.
There was enough awe to be shared, however, as other village folk had seemed to pick out their own dragons to love.
Granted, no one else was riding one, but they were petting and scratching and over all trusting the dragons in a way that made Hiccup's chest swell. Mrs. Larson was hanging laundry on the line, and a Nadder was helping her do it. Ingmar was repairing his roof and a Zippleback was handing shingles up to him.
The best one was the rotisserie. Someone had rigged up a spit with a boar and a few chickens to roast over a sleeping Nightmare. The spit was connected to the water wheel at the mill to keep it continuously turning.
"Look my boy!" Said Axel, proudly. "I took a note out of your book and made a little gadget of my own!"
"Wow dad, that's great!" Hiccup said.
The man grabbed him up and out of his chair and into a tight, bone-crushing hug, slightly for the praise, but mostly because Hiccup had called him 'dad'.
—-
The three made their way down to the arena. Toothless nudged Hiccup's chair down the sloped entrance, and he rode down and entered with a cheerful "whoo!"
"Hey, look who it is!" Said Tuffnut, stopping Hiccup's journey with a boot to the side of his chair.
Hiccup cringed, preparing for the ridiculous nickname.
"Hiccup! The Dragon Master and Jorgenson Blaster!"
Hiccup barked a laugh.
"That's not funny!" Snotlout yelled back. "I'm telling you, I threw the fight on purpose! I could have willed myself to not pass out!"
"It's okay, Snotlout," said Hiccup. "I could never beat you again if I tried."
"So you're admitting it now? You're not even going to give me the satisfaction of a rematch?"
"Snotlout, I don't have my left leg." He gestured to his stump. "How is fighting you now even fair?"
Snotlout narrowed his eyes. "Fine, but once you can walk like Gobber, it's go time."
"Whatever," Hiccup rolled his eyes. He glanced around the arena, taking note of the assembled dragons.
Fishlegs seemed to be getting along really well with the Gronkle, as he scratched it and cooed at it.
The twins had taken the Zippleback, and they were taking turns throwing fish up and guessing which head would eat it.
The Monstrous Nightmare kind of lingered by Snotlout, but there wasn't much interaction going on.
"So," Astrid began. "We've been working on trust. I showed them how to form a loose bond with the dragon by holding out your hand and letting them come to you. Everyone managed to do it!"
"Great!" Hiccup praised. "So, have we thought of names?"
"Oh oh oh!" chirped Fishlegs. "Meatlug's so easy to get along with! He likes scratches here, here, and here!" Fishlegs demonstrated by scratching the Gronkle in several places before she fell over, rumbling. "See? He's nervous around thunder, and his favorite rock is sandstone."
"That's—amazing, Fishlegs! Glad to see you've bonded so well with your Gronkle."
"He makes it easy," Fish gushed.
"Well…great. Who would like to introduce me to their dragon next?"
"This is our dragon," said Tuffnut, casually. "This head is Barf, that head is Belch."
"No," said Ruffnut. "This head is Belch, that head is Barf."
"That's what I just said, Stupid!"
"Don't call me Stupid!" And they started fighting, slapping each other.
But, Hiccup watched in pleased fascination as the two heads each grabbed a twin and pulled them apart. It didn't stop the siblings from trying to hit each other, but at least they were out of range.
"Okay, Barf and Belch," he nodded. "That sounds about right." He kicked his chair around to look at Snotlout. "So, how's it going with the big guy? Make yourself a new buddy?"
Snotlout put his hands on his waist. "Hookfang isn't my 'buddy', Hiccup. He's my partner in battle. I'm training him to be the ultimate killing machine."
Hookfang simply puffed a tiny fireball at Snotlout, igniting his pants.
"Ow! Ow ow ow!" Snotlout went running for a bucket of water.
"I see we have work to do over here…" Hiccup muttered.
—-
After cataloging what he needed to cover with the other riders about training their dragons (especially if he wanted to keep them from burning the village down), it was off to the forge.
"What do you think?" Gobber held up the prototype leg. "I call it 'making my way downtown 2.0.'"
"Uh, kinda long name. What about 'Hiccup's leg'?" Hiccup deadpanned.
"I thought you liked naming contraptions."
"I do! But…this one is my leg. I don't feel right naming it, or any part of my body, for that matter."
"Most men would disagree, but that's your prerogative, I suppose." He hobbled over to the workbench where Toothless' tail rig was laid out, mostly assembled. "Now, I followed your surprisingly detailed blueprints and replicated the prosthetic tailfin you made. Real masterpiece, there!"
"Thank you, I learned from the best." Hiccup smiled.
Gobber poked him in the chest. "You tryin' to flatter me? You tryin' to butter me up?"
"No, no! Why would you think that?" He grinned.
"Alright you little bugger." He rubbed his head affectionately. "There's just one part of the tail left, and then all that's left is for you to heal." He held up the stirrup, and showed that the leg clicked into place.
"Wow, that's great!"
"At first, I couldn't get it to stay locked in, now I'm having a hard time getting it to unlock. Might cause a bit of a problem when trying to dismount!"
"Oh, I see. Can I work on it?"
"I was hoping you'd say that. Got lots of folks asking for work to be done. I didn't want to put this off, because it's a matter of you and Toothless getting around."
"I appreciate it so much, Gobber. I can iron out the little kinks. Gothi still says I have a month before I can try a prosthesis anyways."
"Lots of time to tinker, huh?"
"I have to. I'm going stir crazy. Astrid and I already redesigned our new house three times. I think we finally made a perfect design, but if I don't have another project, I'm liable to change it again."
Gobber laughed. "You're not able to walk around and you're already designing a new house? What's wrong with the old one?"
"It's on Spitelout's property. He wants it back. He jokingly said I could take the house and move it…which I'm starting to consider. Except I think it'd be funny to leave the giant bed there. That and the basement were the only things Snotlout wanted."
"I'd love to see the look on his face when he wakes up and sees a hole with a bed in it."
Hiccup stayed at the forge for the rest of the day. Toothless laid at his feet and he diligently worked.
Only when the Green Death (that's what the Twins started calling it, and the name caught on, "cause it's green and Hiccup almost died") made her dinner time call, did Hiccup realize how busy he had been. Excited, he scooted across the forge to watch.
The Green Death surfaced from the water, dumped a load of fish on the cliff next to the forge, and then retreated. She climbed up the slope to the volcano and slipped inside, retiring for the night. It never got any less amazing to watch this behemoth dragon at work. She had submitted to Toothless' call, and now she was almost docile.
The rest of the village came alive then. Dragons swarmed the fish, while vikings started heading back home for the evening. Yes, the old queen had definitely found her place in the village, and life on Berk was peaceful.
For like a week.
Because of Hiccup's condition, Astrid and Hiccup and Valka and Stoick had switched houses. There was no way to get Hiccup up the stairs, and no way to get their bed down the stairs. So switching for a month was the compromise they came up with.
For the two weeks of their marriage, Hiccup and Astrid had shared the largest bed on Berk. One the size of a room. Now, they were sharing Hiccup's old bed, that was teen sized.
Neither of them complained, as it was nice to be close, especially as it started to get colder.
So here they were, fast asleep in the main room, holding onto each other as they softly snored.
Before dawn had broken, horns and bells started blaring. All the signs of a raid.
Astrid bolted up, immediately awake. Toothless, who was on the floor nearby, also popped to wakefulness.
"Babe," Astrid shook Hiccup. "Babe!"
"Hu-huh?" He blinked rapidly.
"There's a raid!"
He scoffed, turning back over. "You're having a nightmare."
"I'm serious! Listen!"
He paused, then heard the shouting as well. He sat up quickly. "A dragon raid?"
"Couldn't be, right?"
"We need to get out there!" Hiccup beckoned Toothless over and climbed onto his back.
"You're not supposed to be flying!" She chastised.
"I can't! But we need to move! Hop on!"
She obeyed, climbing on behind him and taking hold of his waist, before Toothless took off bounding outside.
Stoick was at the square, with several vikings surrounding him with torches and weapons. There were several dragons around, but not raiding. Rather, they were waiting for instructions to help.
"What's going on?" Hiccup asked, trying to get his father's attention.
Instead, his mother answered, coming up to their side. "A raid. A viking raid. About two dozen ships."
Hiccup swallowed thickly. Leave it to these neanderthals to declare a war right after one was finished.
"Can we tell who?" Asked Astrid.
"Outcasts," said Valka. "Led by Alvin the Treacherous. He's had a beef with your father for years."
Hiccup beckoned Toothless closer to Stoick, listening to what the man was saying.
"Bucket and Mulch will take the elderly and children to Thor's beach. The rest of you, gather weapons and prepare to board those ships."
"But chief, we don't have enough ships in our fleet to take them on."
"Dad—" Hiccup tried to speak up.
"Not now Hiccup." Stoick held up a hand. "It will have to do. We'll simply have to designate people to steer and push off so we can board multiple ships at a time."
"Dad!"
"Not now, Hiccup! You shouldn't even be out of bed! We'll handle this!"
Hiccup understood his father's worry, even if it was unfounded. He started to formulate his own plan, then snapped his fingers. "Of course, it's so simple."
"What's simple?" Asked Astrid.
Hiccup leaned down to talk to Toothless, "take us to the cliffside."
Toothless complied and bounded over to the grassy edge. From here, they could see the little lights on the ocean from the ships. Hiccup slipped off the saddle and sat on the grass still covered in dew.
"What are we doing?" Asked Astrid, crouching next to him.
"Getting a front row seat." Hiccup smirked. "Toothless, sorry I can't help you fly there, but I think our new friend can help with our problem. Try to tell her to frighten them first, and then start smashing. This isn't a buffet."
Toothless yipped and wagged his tail. He did an excited little circle before bounding off towards the forest. His call echoed, blasting out over and over and farther and farther away.
"Wait, you don't mean…" Astrid pointed towards the mountain.
"Yep."
Stoick came running over. "Son, what is your dragon up to?"
"Oh, you'll see."
The ground started rumbling. People began shouting in fear, and some who realized what was happening, in premature victory.
The Green Death burst from her volcano with a fireball and an echoing roar.
"Oh, nice entrance!" Hiccup complimented.
The dragon leapt from the volcano and into the ocean, creating a great wave.
Gobber joined them at the cliffside, spyglass in hand. "They're panickin'. Probably wettin' themselves."
Stoick rested his hands on his hips. "Now why didn't I think of that?"
The lights on the water shifted, and some went out as the wave hit them. Distantly, they could hear the invaders shouting.
The Green Death submerged under the water, and seemingly disappeared.
"Oh, she's fun," said Gobber.
The rest of the town who had gathered in the square, were now watching from the cliffs, still with weapons and torches in hand just in case, but just watched in awe.
The great beast burst forth from the ocean, right in front of the armada, and blew another fireball into the sky.
At that point, Toothless returned from his trip, panting.
"Just in time to see the finale, bud." Hiccup scratched him heartily.
Toothless enjoyed the scratch, but didn't relax completely. He kept his eyes on the battle below, and prepared to intervene.
But the Green Death only dove back into the water and retreated.
Whole ships were on fire, but those that could move had turned and were making a hasty retreat from Berk's waters.
"Well, that was fun." Gobber shrugged. "I think I still have time to sleep before I have to be in the forge."
Slowly, carefully, the Green Death emerged once again, but this time right in front of the cliffs. Close enough to touch.
So Hiccup did. He reached his hand out and touched her, scratching her hide, though it probably felt like a tickle of a gnat. "Who's a good girl? Who's a good girl!? Who's a force of nature? It's you! It's you!"
The Green Death made an almost happy chuffing noise.
"Hey dad, do we have any boar or deer carcasses in the food storage?"
"What? Are you telling me you want to give her a treat?"
"I think she deserves it!"
So, they gave her two boars and an elk, before she retreated back to the volcano to sleep. Those were supposed to be food for winter, but considering she stopped a seemingly unbeatable raid, no one was too cut up about it.
Seeing the giant dragon in action like that, seeing that she could be reasoned with and persuaded to help gave Hiccup some ideas.
Another week later, he decided to try to experiment.
He was good with that, afterall.
When the Green Death made her morning tribute of fish, he called out to her. "H-hey Green! How's it going?"
The Green Death looked at him, this tiny toothpick of a human, balancing with two other toothpicks holding him up.
"I have a favor, if you wouldn't mind?"
—-
Astrid awoke to rumbling. A different, much closer rumbling. Hiccup wasn't in bed, and she had a horrible feeling that he was responsible.
She burst from the house, stumbling down the steps.
Hiccup was right there on the grassy hill, using crutches instead of the wheelchair.
"Hiccup?" She squawked.
"That's good, yep…keep going…that should do it!" He was talking to the giant, giving directions like one would to builders.
The Green Death had a talon in the cliffs bordering the Great Hall. She had burrowed a hole through one side and out the other, exiting on the hill behind the chief's house.
"W-what?" Astrid asked.
"I had a different idea for our house, you're going to love it!" He gushed.
"H-H-Hiccup?!"
"Alright!" He called to the Green Death. "Just one more thing!" He leapt on Toothless' back and rode him across the square over to their old house.
"You can't be serious," Astrid drawled.
Apparently he was, as he pointed at it and said, "alright, pick this one up!"
Toothless barked what was probably a translation.
The Green Death squinted her several eyes and tilted her head. Then slowly reached over the entirety of the village with her dizzyingly large leg.
Gods this dragon was enormous.
She pinched the house with her claws, crushing the sides, but lifted it up anyway.
Then Toothless pounced back to the hillside, where Astrid stood.
"Alright, set it down here, gently!"
The Green Death tilted her head the other way, and swung the house over, and dropped it none too gently on the grass.
"Careful!"
The beast lifted her head to the sky and gave a head pounding rumble.
She was laughing.
"Alright, that's enough from you!" Hiccup chastised.
Now, Astrid spotted the dead elk on the grass, and watched as Toothless tossed it up to the beast, who chomped it up with a sickening snap. Then she retreated to the ocean once more.
After a minute of shocked silence, Astrid yelled, "what the hell was that!?"
Hiccup seemed to just now notice her. "Oh! Morning honey! I came up with a new idea for our house! You're going to love it!"
"You already said that."
"I did? Oh. Well, I was too excited! Did you see that?! She did exactly what Toothless told her! She likes red meat, so giving her a treat encourages her to listen to Toothless!"
"So I saw…"
He pulled out a blueprint from under his arm. "Okay, so I took your basic floorplan, but I had an idea. What if we built into the cliff? Look, I added this launchpad, and it connects to a stable for the dragons—"
Astrid stood on her tippy toes and kissed him, restarting his brain.
"Babe," she giggled. "I'm happy for you. I'm happy you're inspired, but please…can we work on getting you standing on two feet first before you start renovating the village?"
He smiled at her. "I suppose I could take it easy."
And that's a wrap! Thanks for reading!