Lost and Found - A Snotlout Love Story (HTTYD/RTTE)

21. Uniting Over Blood

"I didn't know you guys were here!" Melanie exclaimed before rushing over to her siblings. She tackled them both into an incredibly tight hug.

"Well, that was the plan," Heather spoke with a laugh, "if you knew we were here, we wouldn't have had a chance to talk to Hiccup alone."

"Obviously," Melanie responded as she let them both out of her grip. She gave then both a warm smile before asking, "so what's this, 'good news'?"

Dagur and Hiccup exchanged a smile. Over the past month, Melanie's brother had been visiting quite a lot. Heather didn't as much, since she was usually in charge of the island when Dagur wasn't there. But it was no secret that something was going on. Melanie couldn't contain her excitement to finally find out.

"How about we go to the Great Hall?" Hiccup suggested. He then turned to the twins and asked, "could you get Fishlegs and Eret?"

"Your wish is our command, Chief," Tuff soluted with a determined grin, then raced off with Ruff to find the two other dragon riders.

Melanie grabbed Snotlout by the arm and started tugging on him. "Come on, slowpoke, let's go!"

"Hey! I'm coming," Snotlout insisted, giving her a playful glare. He then gave in and let her drag him to the Great Hall. Once everyone was there, Hiccup and Dagur began to take turns speaking.

"As you all know, Melanie has Berserker blood," Dagur started, hugging the youngest sibling to his side, "Heather and I, we can barely stand to be apart from her all the time."

"So I proposed something after the war with Drago," Hiccup continued. His eyes were glinting with excitement, "for years now, our separate tribes have been close; we protect eachother like we're one."

"And we figured it was time to make that a solid reality," Dagur finished.

Everyone was shocked, to say the least. Berkians and Berserkers uniting into one tribe? Not even in her wildest dreams had Melanie had an idea like that. But she was no less excited. "Really?" She asked hopefully.

"Really," Heather confirmed with a smile.

"But, of course, no final decisions will be made without the approval of both tribes," Hiccup went on.

"Hiccup," Valka began with a wary smile, "this is a big step forward; are you sure it's a good idea to take it on, so soon after the war?"

"Yeah, Berk is still a total mess, if you haven't noticed," Tuffnut pointed out with a shrug.

"I know that, and I've taken that into consideration," Hiccup explained.

Then Heather spoke up, "neither Berk, nor Berserker Island would be big enough to house us all. If we do this, we'll need to find a new island.."

The room went silent for a moment. Then, Astrid spoke uo with a frown, "Hiccup, this island has been our home for over four hundred years."

"I know, Astrid," the chief responded with empathy, "but this place, isn't it's people. We, the people, are Berk. Wherever we go, Berk will always follow."

Dagur then added, "we've already gotten the Berserkers to accept."

There was another long silence, then Fishlegs smiled and put in his opinion, "I think it would be an adventure; discovering a new island, building a new home."

"And it would be good for both tribes to build their new home together," Hiccup added on encouragingly. After a while of discussing, the decision was made. In two weeks, they would leave their old homes behind.

• • •

Melanie was in her smallish hut, packing up her few belongings. It felt just like old times, leaving one island for another. Only this time, she left as part of a pack. It felt good. Most of her things consisted of weapons, considering her small obsession with sharp objects and unique knives. She bundled up her last item, a yakfur blanket, and walked out of the home for the last time.

Outside, Bones was waiting. She grinned and stuffed the blanket into his over-sized saddle bag. Just then, a ball of flames landed beside the boneknapper. "Hookfang!" Snotlout yelled as he hopped off the fiery nightmare.

Melanie laughed as she saw that his back was on fire. Thinking quickly, Melanie tackled Snotlout to the ground. He landed with a thump on his back, his love staring down at him with innocent eyes.

"Mel, what are you doing?" He asked, groaning in pain from the fall.

"Helping," Melanie responded, "see? You're not on fire anymore."

Snotlout couldn't help but chuckle. She was right, though he found it funny how she decided to go about putting his fire out. "Thank you," he responded sarcastically, "next time, try water before you break my ribs."

"Oh, come on, I didn't break your ribs," Melanie rolled her eyes and giggled as she climbed off of Snotlout.

The two stood and Snotlout put an arm around Melanie. He took a look around the village; everyone was loading up their things onto dragons and ships. He gazed down at the excitement in Melanie's forest green eyes. He knew she wouldn't miss this place, she never missed material things like islands and houses. She was a free and wild soul; her home was the body she lived in, and the people she'd grown to love.