𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠

Chapter 15 - The Return

Hiccup steered Toothless down to the camp and landed in front of Dagur, Heather, and Eret.

" Have any of you seen Astrid?" Hiccup asked, still sitting on Toothless.

" Who the blonde, she left like ten minutes ago," Dagur replied, Hiccup groaned.

" Was Stormfly with her?" Heather stood up and walked up to him.

" Yeah she was, what are you gonna do?" Hiccup smirked as the raven-haired girl handed him his helmet.

Hiccup got off Toothless and ran to his tent, quickly returning with a saddle and a few spare swords.

" What, are you doing?" Eret asked, Hiccup didn't answer at first as he climbed onto Toothless.

" I'm gonna go say sorry." Toothless took off and headed North, Eret watched his friend.

" Where are you going?" Dagur shouted after him, Hiccup didn't stop.

" I'm going home!" The Auburn-haired man yelled back, Dahur did a double-take.

" Wait, what!" Heather rolled her eyes and ran to her tent, Dagur and Eret just stood there shocked.

Hiccup looked down at the land below, he soon spotted Stormfly and Astrid.

" Astrid!" Hiccup flew down, Toothless landed in front of the Nadder and Berkian.

" Hiccup, what are you doing?" Astrid asked, Hiccup ran over to Stormfly and fastened the saddle to her back.

" I'm coming home." Astrid gasped in excitement and wrapped her arms around his neck.

" I can't believe you're coming home." Hiccup kissed her on the lips, Astrid melted into the kiss.

" Come on, let's go home." Astrid and Hiccup jumped onto their dragons, smiling as they took off.

~ Line Break ~

Hiccup and Astrid flew across the Southern Wastes heading North, back to Berk.

Stormfly bonded with Astrid perfectly, the Nadder working with the new rider, with Hiccup's help.

The night soon turned into day, as they flew over the cove, Hiccup looked down and took in a sharp breath.

" Hey, it's alright." Astrid flew Stormfly over to him and smiled sweetly, Hiccup smiled back.

The outer city of Berk could be seen sitting below the mountain, Hiccup gasped, as Toothless landed on a cliff.

Hiccup looked down at the city, it was an absolute mess, buildings crumbling and many of the towers destroyed.

The farms on the outside of the city were beyond repair and no crops grew in the fields, Astrid landed next to the Prince.

" It's awful isn't it?" Astrid asked him, jumping off Stormfly.

" I didn't want to believe you before." Hiccup answered, switching his prosthetic over.

" So what are we gonna do?" Hiccup looked at her as he stepped onto the ground.

" Dad once told me to protect everything the light touches, if I don't fight for it, then who will?" Astrid grabbed his hand and kissed him on the cheek.

" I'll fight for it." Hiccup looked down at her and smiled.

" What made you change your mind?" Hiccup chuckled and rubbed his head.

" I finally got some sense knocked into me and I have the bump to prove it." Astrid rolled her eyes and laughed.

" I don't see anything funny about this." Hiccup and Astrid turned to see, Dagur, Heather, and Eret landing on the ground.

" What are you guys doing here?" Hiccup turned to them, Heather pushed her brother forward.

" We, ah, thought you could." Heather hit her brother and stepped forward.

" What Dagur's trying to say is that, we're not letting you fight your uncle without back up." Heather and Astrid fist-bumped, Eret nodded.

" You brought the other dragons?" Hiccup asked looking back at a Monstrous Nightmare, Zippleback, and Gronckle.

" Well, you're gonna need back up aren't you?" Eret pointed out, Hiccup smiled at his friend.

" Wait, hold on a second, this is the place your fighting for?" Dagur stepped past Hiccup and looked down at Berk.

" Yeah, this is where I grew up, Dagur, this is Berk." Eret nodded with confusion.

" Talk about a fixer-upper, but, a bit heavy on the destruction." Heather slapped him again, as she and Eret stood next to Hiccup.

" Hiccup, we are with you till the end." Eret put a hand on his younger friend, Hiccup patted it.

" Follow me." Astrid walked away from the city, the four others looked at her with confusion.

" Where are you going?" Hiccup asked following after her.

" Thorsten farm, there's a tunnel leading from there into the main city." Hiccup blinked a few times, before him and the others followed.

                      ~ Line Break ~

Walking into Thorsten farm, was like walking back in time and for Hiccup it had a rather painful memory.

The last time he was here, he had purposefully run away from his personal protector and guardian.

The reason behind it was stupid and selfish, to say the least, it was something he didn't want to remember.

Astrid walked up to the barn door and knocked on it, a slider slid open and two sets of eyes popped out.

" Who dares to enter the barn of Thorsten farm?" Astrid shook her head, Hiccup snickered.

" Well, somethings certainly haven't changed in ten years." The eyes on the other side of the door widened, before the slide closed.

Several clinking and pulling sounds could be heard, then door flung open.

Two dirty blonde twins ran out and tackle hugged Hiccup to the ground.

" Hiccup it really is you, where have you been?" The twins squeezed Hiccup's torso tight.

" Ah, it's good to see you guys too, ah, air, " The twins released Hiccup and stood up, the Prince took in a few deep breaths.

" Look at you H, all grown up and quite the ladies man." Tuff leaned closer to Hiccup, who gave the male twin a weird look.

" Tuff, enough we need to use the passage." Tuffnut smiled and gestured for the group to follow.

The twins stood in a horse stall and pulled down on a cast iron hook, the wooden floor descended down into a very black hole.

" Alright, I'll run through and get Throk, he said he would try to get Fish and Snot," Astrid informed them, Hiccup looked over at her with concern.

" What?" Astrid asked, catching Hiccup's gaze.

" It's just that, if you get caught, they could really hurt you and this whole thing would be." Before he could finish Astrid crashed her lips into his, Hiccup melted into the kiss.

" Better?" Astrid asked, Hiccup smiled down at her.

" Better, but could use another kiss." Heather let out a squeal of excitement, Hiccup and Astrid separated.

" You two are as bad as mum, when she was talking to dad." Dagur commented, Eret hit him.

" Ah, alright, um, let's get my father's throne back." The twins snickered as they walked away to go find some weapons.

Astrid ran her hand across Hiccup's cheek and the Prince followed the lady to the tunnel.

" Just be careful." Hiccup told Astrid, as she walked into the dark hole.

" I promise, you keep the dragons quiet until I return." Hiccup nodded and watched Astrid run through the tunnel.

He wasn't just concerned, he was worried, but was sure things would work out in the end.