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Chapter Text

Fief Dingwall

The reminder that they were guests in Lord Dingwall's home was the only thing that kept Merida from putting her fist through Wee Dingwall's teeth when he asked for the fifth time that day if she was alright. Her mother would be proud. 

"I promise ye, Wee Dingwall, I'm fine," she said as politely as she could as they walked through the hallway lined with lit sconces and servants bustling back and forth about their day. 

"You just let me or me Da know if you all need somethin', right?" the lad asked, his large eyes hopeful and pitying as he regarded her. 

"I promise, I will," she assured him. Wee Dingwall, bowed over her hand and gave her a sloppy kiss on the back before turning and strutting off, his knobby knees jutting into the air with every step he took. Merida watched him go and waited until he was around the corner before rubbing her hand on her dress and continuing down the hall. The servants stepped out of the way when they saw her cloud of red curls bouncing towards them on her way to find the triplets. Many of their faces wore calm expressions as they dipped their heads to the princess, but a few held the same pity that Wee Dingwall's had. 

Of all the looks the red headed princess had received in the past month, it was the pitying ones that really bothered her. Castle DunBroch had been invaded by dragons a few weeks ago. The large, scaly beasts had descended in the wee hours of the morning, screeching had filled the air as dragon after dragon had alighted on the castle and stuck their heads into windows. Luckily, many on the castle staff had been able to flee early on. Poor Maudy had to be carried out since she'd fainted. A group of tiny, green dragons the size of cats had to be shooed off of her before Fergus grabbed her unconscious body and carried her out to the stables. Fergus had ridden with Maudy, while Merida and her mother doubled up on Angus. The triplets had ridden with them as well, all three boys armed with slingshots that they were loading with pebbles before firing at the beasts. Merida had discovered early on that the beasts' hides were tough, very few of the arrow's she'd fired from her window had actually lodged between the protective plates of scales. The dragons were encased in natural armor and pity the Scott that thought they could breach it. 

It was the summer season, so the fleeing clan had been able to camp comfortably in the woods and hunt for food, but they still needed shelter, and since DunBroch was currently leaking smoke from all openings, they collectively turned and retreated to the closest fief, which happened to be Dingwall's.

In the month following, they'd settled in the castle, learned how to live with Lord Dingwall's constant boasting about his fief and son and walls and tablecloths, and troupes had been sent out to investigate the dragon problem. 

It was safe to say that Merida was going a bit insane. Wee Dingwall had taken to following her around like a puppy, doing his best to ease the fact that Elinor had forbidden her to ride Angus alone because of the possibility of a dragon attack. The beasts had ventured out towards Dingwall castle occasionally but none had seen fit to attack it. Instead, they stayed grouped around and inside Castle DunBroch, claiming it as their own as if they had the right to strut in and take it. 

Even the twins seemed to be feeling the strain of limited mobility. With so many eyes on them, the boys hadn't been able to pull their usual amount of pranks, and now there were plenty of willing hands to help Maudy corral the errant princes. At any given time the three could be scooped up and placed in a tiny pen in the kitchen, under the watchful eye of the cook and the scullery maids. Merida had nearly laughed herself senseless when she'd gone in looking for a snack and all three had been locked in a staring contest with the cook's ugly dog, their three tiny faces screwed up into cranky pouts. 

Merida's one comfort, or curse on bad days, was that Wee Dingwall wasn't the only one around to keep her company. Young Macintosh and Young MacGuffin had both arrived a few weeks ago. The lords' sons were all in the habit of exchanging letters with her ever since what had been dubbed "the wedding incident". None of them had developed anything more than a friendship, but neither would be outdone by the other in efforts to impress her. Once it was known that Lord Dingwall would be hosting the King's family for a while, the Lords had demanded that their son's go and "do whatever it takes to help ease the princess's suffering". They proved to be a welcome distraction, though she was getting tired of finding Young Macintosh leaning up against different maids in alcoves. 

All of the young lords were out at the moment, off on a hunt that Merida had been expressly forbidden to participate in despite her insistence that Angus needed the exercise since he was just getting fat in the Dingwall stables. 

"A Princess is a symbol of her people Merida," her mother had said emphatically. "It's best for morale if people know that you are safe."

"But, Mum," Merida whined. She and her mother had gotten closer and Elinor had relaxed on the amount of rules she expected Merida to adhere to on a daily basis, but there were still times when the queen felt the need to tamp down her daughters more violent tendencies and explorative urges. "I'll have ma bow and Angus and the young lords, I'll be fine!"

"I won't hear of it now Merida," her mother had said. "If it could be avoided, no one would be going on this hunt, but it is necessary. It is not necessary that you attend. Stay here and be safe, for my sake if nothing else." Merida could only give in to the pleading look her mother sent her. Elinor seemed to have aged a bit in the past month. Merida knew that her mother had been up with Fergus long into the nights creating missives and calculating funds and how many weapons they could scare up as well as which men could be spared from the harvest. Fergus himself was sporting eye bags that could hold a dozen apples if need be. 

Merida snagged a tart as she entered the kitchen, the fifth place she'd looked for the boys that morning. Much to her enjoyment, the three were in their little pen and the cooks dog was nearly nose to nose with Hamish and the two were growling at each other, Hamish's kilt covered backside in the air as he kneeled to get on eye level with the minuscule mutt, Harris and Hubert mimicked him on either side. 

The dog's jaw dropped and his tongue lolled out when she approached and gave him a scratch behind the ears. She smirked at the boys' disgruntled expression when the dog showed his obvious favoritism. Merida dropped a piece of the blackberry tart into his mouth as a reward for liking her better. 

"I've come to let ye free, wee devils," she said, leaning on the gate. "Mum said we're to go see them when I found ye." The three regarded her with identical expressions of curiosity. "Don' ask me about it, I haven't the faintest idea what they need us for."

She opened the gate and let the boys march out in front of the dog that was rolled over at her feet presenting his belly for scratches. Merida gave him a brief rub with the tip of her shoe before shooing the boys down the hall and towards the great hall where she knew their father would be. 

King Fergus was bent over a map alongside Elinor and Lord Dingwall, who was looking most displeased with his arms crossed and his nose in the air. 

"I say we don' need their help, Fergus," he grunted.

"And I say we do, Dingwall." Fergus sounded much less jovial than usual. "We've not had any luck with the blasted devils ourselves and there aren't enough men to storm the castle and get the scaly bastards out, and we already know fire doesn't work! But I do know some men who can help!"

"Da," Merida interrupted. "What are ye talkin' about?"

"Dears, ye've come at the right time," Elinor left the bickering men behind and wrapped her three boys in a hug, which they struggled against. 

"Mum, what's Da talkin' about?" Elinor looked a Fergus with pursed lips. Even Merida could see that the queen was at odds with her father's plan but would back up her husband, even if the prospect was dubious. 

"Your father thinks he has a way to handle the dragon problem," Elinor said. "He says he has a friend that knows thing or two about dragons."

"Fer the last time, Elinor," Fergus said loudly. "He's no' my friend, just a man I know."

"In my opinion, we don' need nothin' from those barbarians," Lord Dingwall said snootily. 

"WHAT BARBARIANS?" Merida thundered at her bickering family. The three adults turned to the redhead with shocked looks on their faces while the three boys shared smiles at their sisters expense. 

Elinor was the first to recover. "Merida, a princess does not raise her voice in the presence of a Lord!" 

"Not like she ain't done it before," Lord Dingwall muttered. 

"Fergus, I don' think the children need to hear about this," Elinor hissed at the king. 

"They have a right to know," Fergus defended.

At this point, the boys were watching the adults' exchange like it was a game of catch, all the while keeping an eye on their sister's gradually shortening fuse as she fumed beside them. 

"Oh, for pity's sake," Fergus yelled, stopping the arguments mid sentence. He directed his attention to Merida. "We're talkin' of the Vikings, Lass."

"Vikings," Merida sputtered. "What do we need those gammy invaders comin' in for?" 

"Tha's what I said!" Lord Dingwall looked like he'd finally met another person with a working brain as he gazed at the young princess. 

"I have a plan and it involves the Vikings of Berk, so, like it or not, we will be following through with it," Fergus declared, slamming his fist on the table. Dingwall regarded him cooly, chest puffed out as far as his short stature would allow. 

"I'd show ye what I think of ye plan, but there are ladies present," he said, nose in the air, but his hand was still drifting towards the hem of his kilt.

"Silence." Fergus spoke with a finality that had all of them shutting their mouths. Hamish, Harris and Hubert each covered theirs so that not a peep would escape now that their father was in what was officially dubbed as his "King Mode". Fergus drew in a breath. "Berk is a Viking island, yes. I met a man from there years before you children were born, named Stoic the Vast. He had been blown off course on a voyage. We met in a pub and shared a drink and the stresses of being leaders of our respective clans." Merida really wanted to make a comment about how the Vikings probably elected a chief by who could beat the rest over the head with an axe the hardest, but she refrained. "I didn't believe him when he told me about his dragon problems. Apparently dragons raided his island frequently enough that he's spent most of his life fighting them off. Now that I've seen the beasts for meself, I'd like to both apologize and ask for his help."

"Why d'we have to ask the Vikings for help?" Merida said, throwing caution to the wind. "Let me back in, Da. I'll bring ma bow and sword and we can send the demons back to hell ourselves."

"No," Fergus answered bluntly. "I'll not risk my daughter when we know that our usual methods won't work." Merida fumed at that, but she knew better than to argue. "Besides," he continued. "I've already sent a letter." 

"You what?" Even Elinor joined Merida and Dingwall in their exclamations. 

"It'll be fine. Stoic's a good man. He's even got a lad a wee bit older than Merida. Mayhap he'll come along. Ye can be playmates!" Fergus looked excited by the idea while Merida looked at her father like he'd finally lost the last bit of sense that God gave him. 

"I'd rather kiss Angus," she said with a finality that left the room dead silent before she turned on her heel and stormed out. 

"She'll be fine," Fergus said knowingly to his wife. Lord Dingwall raised a bushy, white brow, but stayed wisely silent. "We'll be back in DunBroch soon enough, Dear. You'll see." 

Elinor got the distinct feeling that she'd be having a headache for the next few days. 

The Island of Berk

Berk hardly ever got mail by boat anymore. The Terrible Terrors were acknowledged by nearly the entire archipelago as the best way to send messages, even the clans that still didn't like dragons had to admit that the tiny dragons were very convenient messengers. With all this convenience, it was surprising when a man arrived on their shore with a missive clutched firmly in hand as he looked at the Deadly Nadder and Night Fury that greeted the very-obviously-a-foriegner. 

Astrid was off her dragon first, approaching the man with her ax at the ready. "Welcome to Berk, now who are you?" 

To the messanger's credit, Hiccup had to focus really hard to see his lip trembling. "I've brought a message for Chief Stoic the Vast from King Fergus of Clan DunBroch." The Scottish brogue was very prevalent in his voice and the two teens had to think for a moment to make sure that they heard him right. 

Hiccup dismounted. "I'm his son," he said moving forward as fast as his leg would go. "What's the message about?"

The man eyed him up and down skeptically before speaking again. "Castle DunBroch has been attacked by dragons, and my Lord would seek Stoic's assistance." Hiccup's eyes immediately brightened. 

"Really," he asked excitedly. "What kind? Any Deadly Nadders? Was there a Night Fury maybe?"

"What are those?" 

"You're kidding, right?"

Hiccup sighed when the man shook his head emphatically. "This-" he pointed at Toothless- "is a Night Fury. That-" now at Stormfly- "is a Deadly Nadder."

"I don' know about all that but there were a lot o' the beasties flying into the castle." Hiccup deflated and accepted the letter the man handed to him. 

"Alright, then, have some food from the Great Hall, we'll give you the Chief's answer before you leave." The man nodded and booked it away from the dragons as fast as his kilt covered legs would take him. Astrid watched him go with a glare. 

"I don't trust him," she said with her typical finality. "Scotts don't ask Vikings for help, ever. This is probably a trap."

Hiccup sighed. "We'll see what my dad thinks."

Stoic thought it was a dandy idea. 

"I haven't seen Fergus in years, that bastard," he thundered happily. 

"Dad, where did you even meet a Scott, much less the king?" Hiccup was actually genuinely curious about their relationship. Astrid was also curious but her scowl didn't budge an inch. 

"Oh, Fergus wasn't a king back then, just a leader of his clan. We met when I got blown off course during a voyage. You were mayhaps a year old then."

"Uh-huh," Hiccup rubbed away the headache he could feel coming on. If his dad wanted to meet someone, Hiccup would have to come, and Hiccup wouldn't be able to focus on the dragons if his dad was leaning over his shoulder telling him how a chief does things. He'd much rather just take the Riders. "So does this mean we're going to answer the call for help from you're friend."

"Don't be ridiculous, boy, Scotts and Viking's aren't friends. But, yes, I see it as a way to extend Berk's list of allies if we assist King Fergus with his dragon issue." 

"I still don't trust it chief," Astrid spoke up. "It seems a bit too weird. Dragons hardly ever attack castles or invade them if there's food elsewhere."

"It does sound strange, Astrid, all the more reason for you to come along as well. I can introduce both my son and future daughter-in-law at the same time! In fact, bring the rest of the Riders. We need to show these Scotts how Vikings do things, hmm?"

"That's not what I-" Astrid tried to backpedal and Hiccup enjoyed watching her fumble in the face of his dad's enthusiasm. 

"Now that that's settled, I'll go write my reply for the messenger." 

The engaged couple watched as Stoic "the Vast" Haddock, meandered down to the Great Hall, whistling happily as he went. 

"You sure they're not friends," Astrid asked. 

"I'm pretty sure they are," hiccup replied. "But I've seen him that happy when he's beating up people he hates too, so it's debatable."

"So does this mean I have to start packing?" 

"You probably have a day tops before he begins poking his head in your house and telling you to hurry up."

Astrid, pecked him on the cheek sweetly. "Well, at least we won't be alone, and I can focus on watching your back."

"Just my back?" he asked with a teasing smirk. 

"The rest of you's cute too, but I really like your back." 

"Fair enough, I like yours too." He leaned in for a kiss, a real kiss, but just as he closed his eyes, Astrid backed away smirking. 

"Of course you do," she said strutting off with Stormfly and leaving behind a pouty fiance and a very confused Toothless, who still had not figured out what his rider found so interesting about his mate's mouth.

Letter from Stoic the Vast

To Fergus, King of the Scotts,

It pleases me to hear from you. It's been a long time, I assume that both of our children are very grown up now. Indeed, we can assist you in your dragon problems. My son, Hiccup, has become very good at dealing with dragons, wild and domesticated. He leads our team of dragon warriors and his fiance, Astrid, is worth her weight in gold when it comes to dealing with these creatures. I am bringing the rest of our young warriors as your dragon problem seems very worrying. We will arrive soon, but be warned, our travel accommodations are very different than what you will be used to. 

Signed,

Chief Stoic of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe

Chapter Text

The Island of Berk

They were ready to leave for the Scotts in two days. The messenger had fled with Stoic's letter the night it had been written, promising to give the King a fair warning about the Vikings' dragons. 

"Man, do I really have to come along with this," Snotlout complained. "It's not like it's another Red Death, you know what I'm saying?"

"Yes, Snotlout, we know what you're saying, but I'm going and Dad ordered the riders to come with." Hiccup was nearly at the end of his rope with his cousin. For someone that supposedly didn't want to come, the burly Viking was sure quick about running back and forth with things to put in Hook Fang's saddle bags. 

Fishlegs waddled by with a basket of rocks for Meatlug, who was wagging her tail in the air and waiting for the treat. "I, for one, can't wait! Scotland is way different from Berk, there could be variations in the dragons there or entirely new ones! Oooh, Hiccup, we could classify and document a whole new dragon species!" He held his hands over his mouth and made a squeeing noise.

Hiccup sighed dreamily, "I hope so, Fishlegs. It'd be even better if we found another Night Fury, right Bud?" Toothless warbled at him before going back to playing tug-of-war with Stormfly using a ring of Gronkle iron chain wrapped in a yak skin. The skin looked a little worse for wear, but the chain underneath it was the only thing neither of the dragons would be able to break. Odin knows, they've gone through everything else.

"Well, I don't really care what kind of dragons there are," Tuffnut said while trying to get Barf and Belch to let him use their necks as a hammock. "I just wanna show these snooty Scotts what Vikings are made of."

"Right you are, brother dear," Ruffnut broke in, strutting into the training ring with her bag slung over her shoulder. "Imagine how embarrassing it was that they had to call us for help!"

"That would definitely be tres embarrassant!" Tuffnut smirked from his perch on the Zippleback's neck before they unceremoniously dropped him. "Ow!"

Hiccup ignored the fall, Tuff had definitely had worse and survived. "Ruff, where's Astrid?"

"She got waylaid by her mom and some other women, said they needed to discuss something with her before she left."

"How long is that going to take?" He really wanted to get everything organized before his dad got to the cranky part of getting ready for a trip. As of right now, Stoic had bounced over to Skull Crusher and was humming at the very confused dragon who'd never seen his rider act this way before. Hiccup knew from experience that the happy anticipation would turn to grumbling if Stoic was kept waiting too long. 

"Cuz," Snotlout said, throwing an arm around Hiccups shoulders and raising an eyebrow in a fashion that seemed suave in his head. "I say this to you because you're engaged and I occasionally care about you, don't ever ask a woman how long a chat is going to take."

Hiccup stared at his cousin, annoyed. "I'm assuming that this advice comes from your numerous girlfriends in the past?"

Snoutlout flexed a bit. "What can I say? I know how to treat a lady." His smarmy grin had Hiccup sighing.

This was going to be a long trip.

While Hiccup was dealing with the riders, Astrid was dealing with a far more deadly foe... The village women. They'd descended when she and Ruff had been heading down to join everyone else and dragged Astrid away so that they could deliver some last minute "advice". 

"Look, I appreciate it, but I don't think my role will be that big on this mission."

Her mother waved her off pulling out yet another piece of jewelry and holding it up to her daughter's face, they'd already rebraided her hair and put on her nicer set of armor. "Don't be silly, dear, you're going to be introduced as the future chieftess of Berk, we have to make a good impression."

"She's right," Astrid's grandmother chimed in. A stooped, wrinkled old woman who had kept a tooth from each dragon she'd killed in the past. She'd tossed out the full box when she'd adopted her three Terrible Terrors all a striking blue color. Two were currently perched on her shoulders and the third was puffing smoke from his nostrils while napping on her head. "These Scotts must see that the Vikings of Berk are every match their equals. My granddaughter will show them that the women of our tribe are strong and will produce fine heirs for the future of the clan!" Astrid sighed. Every conversation with her grandmother lately somehow wound up on the topic of grandbabies. 

"Hiccup and I haven't talked about that sort of thing yet," she said, hoping the conversation would go away. 

A tribeswoman chuckled. "Oh, Deary, it's so obvious to the rest of us that you two are already on your way."

"What?"

"You two are together so often," another picked up the thread. "You must have realized we'd suspect that you'd already made love."

Every gear that currently operated in Astrid's brain screeched to a halt. "WHAT!"

"No need to by shy, darling," her mom said, smiling sneakily. "We understand, you two are young and it's hard to resist these urg-"

Astrid cut her off. "Mom, I swear to Hella, if you finish that sentence I will gouge out my own eyes!"

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Astrid. Why, your father and I-"

"Argh, Hiccup and I haven't had sex!"

The collective of women looked at her, then at each other, and back to her again.

"Why not?" they all asked at the same time. 

"Is it because you don't want to?" one asked. "You know boys won't wait around forever, Hiccup is plenty handsome enough to find someone else."

"That's not it, I just- What? No he wouldn't!" He wouldn't find someone new, would he?

"Or maybe he's the one who's not interested?"

"What? No-"

"Astrid," her grandmother piped up. "Are you denying the future chief the right to reproduce?"

"No!" 

Elaine Hofferson looked down at her mother in law. "Do you think Gothi has something she can put in his food to get things going?"

"That's it," Astrid exploded. "I'm gone!" 

"But, Astrid!" Her mom followed after her.

Astrid mounted Stormfly faster than she ever had before and tied her bag to the saddle. "Bye, Mom, I'll see you when I get back!"

Her mother pouted a bit and the other women looked extremely confused as to why she was running away from their sex talk. 

"We'll pick this up when you get back then," her mother called as Stormfly began to take off. 

"No way in hel," Astrid muttered decidedly and flew off to the training ring. 

Hiccup looked relieved to see her when she landed in front of him. "You have no idea how glad I am that you're here," he said, arms open expecting a hug after she got down from the dragon. 

Astrid would have accepted it if her mother's talk hadn't been ringing in her ears. "Um, yeah, now we can go, right?" she said, not budging from Stormfly's back. Hiccup looked a bit confused at her less-than-affectionate response, his arms drooped sadly the longer she stayed in her saddle. Astrid couldn't help it! The conversation had left her freaked out! Not only did the entirety of the village think that the two of them were having sex, they expected them to be having it by now, shouldn't those reactions be reversed? The thoughts stayed with her the entire time they were taking off and drifting into the winds that would aid them on their way to Scotland.

It's not that she hasn't thought about it before, but they'd barely been together for a year, sure there'd been some kissing and maybe a bit of over-the-shirt touching on both of their parts, but they'd never really talked about what going all the way would mean. As bold as Astrid was, sex was an area that was foreign to her and she knew Hiccup wanted her to be comfortable, but what her grandmother said stuck with her like a bur. Was she really holding back from Hiccup? Would he move on to someone else if they didn't have sex soon? She looked ahead to where Toothless was spinning lazy circles in the air, Hiccup hanging his hands in the air in the ultimate expression of freedom. She'd always been struck by the easy trust between the two, even though she, more than anyone knew how hard won it was. It was almost like the two were parts that were separated their whole lives and now couldn't be more complete. That dedication to his dragon was what had drawn Astrid to him at first, the absolute faith in his partner, and the work he'd put into getting it.

She almost hadn't noticed when he'd started to put that level of faith in her. She'd just suddenly noticed that Hiccup left his back open with the explicit trust that she'd be there to guard it, and she'd somehow managed to not notice that she'd begun to trust him the same way. At least for a bout a year, then it got annoyingly obvious, and she'd decided to make sure he knew how she felt. No, this man wouldn't leave her just because she wanted to wait, he wasn't that kind of guy. No matter what the village women said, she trusted her fiance. Maybe she could try to get more comfortable with the idea, though? She shuddered as an image of the eager women popped into her head.

The thought that everyone had apparently been chatting about this left Astrid feeling icky, and as much as she loved him, really she did love him, she didn't want Hiccup to touch her right now. Was this what it meant to be the future chief's wife? Everyone knew all of your business, even your sex life? It took the entire night to calm her thoughts as they camped on a tiny little island just big enough for them and the dragons. In the morning they continued flying, until the water vanished in favor of jewel green trees nearly the same color as Hiccup's eyes. 

Every once in a while a villager saw them and even Astrid found Hiccups grin at the sight of them fleeing, arms waving in the air, as they shrieked to multiple gods a bit sadistic. 

"You enjoy that too much, future chief," she ribbed him gently. Hiccup gave her an exaggerated innocent look. 

"Nooo," he said. "I would never enjoy watching people run in terror when they see our awesome dragons fly over head."

"Just make sure that you focus on helping the Scotts get rid of the dragons and don't just try to freak them out with Toothless, will ya?" 

He saluted her with distinctly Hiccup-like sarcasm. "Aye, milady."

"Um, hey, so." Snotlout drifted over to fly just in front of them, turning a bit in his saddle so he could look between the two of them, was that hope on his face?

"No," they both said in unison.

"I didn't say anything," he yelled, letting go of Hook Fang's horns to raise his arms in exasperation. Beneath him, Hook Fang chortled. "Shut it you," Snotlout snapped. "So, I heard that there was a princess where we're going?" 

Hiccup groaned, of course that was why Snotlout had been so eager to go on this trip even though he'd been protesting the whole time. It also explained why he'd stopped trying to impress Ruffnut on the flight over. 

"Indeed, Snotlout," Stoic hollered from where he was drifting by on Skull Crusher. "Fergus's wife was pregnant when we met, told me she was a lovely lass, I got word a few weeks later that he had been made the King of Scotland and had had a baby girl."

"She single?" Snotlout asked.

"Snotlout," Astrid said, wrinkling her nose up at the thought.

"What? Oh, never mind, it's not like it matters anyway. I mean, who could resist all this pure, unrestrained, awesome vikingness?"

"Literally every person on Earth," Astrid muttered under her breath. Hiccup snickered. 

"What?" Snotlout held a hand to his ear. Astrid wasn't surprised that he hadn't heard her, his ego probably blocked out a few of his senses. 

"She said that the princess is not gonna fall for your "pure, unrestrained, awesome vikingness" so give it up," Hiccup yelled in Astrid's stead. "Also, if you get kicked out of the country for hitting on her, we aren't sticking up for you!"

"I hate both of you."

"Riders," Stoic bellowed. "Attention forward, we're approaching Fief Dingwall!" Hiccup flashed Astrid a grim, grim smile before flipping down his face mask in preparation for diving. Astrid nodded, brushing her fingers over her armor and ran her fingers over the axe handle that protruded over her shoulder. 

"Who the hell names their castle 'Dingwall'," Tuff asked.

"I know," Ruff yelled back. 

"Maybe it means something special in Scott," Fishlegs offered, flushing as he glanced at Ruffnut.

"Yeah, or maybe it doesn't," Snotlout yelled at him. 

Hiccup sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Well, they were about as ready as they'd ever be. He prayed to Thor that the Scotts were at least half as weird as them, that way they might all somewhat get along. Otherwise, this trip was going to be one big headache. Maybe he'd actually get some true alone time with Astrid, though? This time without his dad's knowing look when he arrived home after hanging out with her. He might just die for real if Stoic tried to give him "the talk" again.

"Riders, descend!" 

Toothless dove for the ground, the tell-tale whistle of wind ringing out behind them as they broke from their previously gliding pace. 

Fief Dingwall

"Ye said they'd be ridin' wha now?" Fergus asked the messenger for the fifth time. The poor man raised his head from the jug of warmed cider, his nose the color of ripe holly berries. He'd been caught in a thunderstorm on the way back from Berk and, thus, had returned two days later than anticipated with a head cold and a story that had to be a bunch of hogwash in Merida's opinion. 

"Dragons, Your Majesty," the man coughed. "I saw the beasts myself, the chief's son rides one called a Night Fury, seemed very excited to see the ones in yer castle."

"Clearly this man is not in his right mind, Fergus," Elinor chimed in with a concerned look at the ill man. "Your continuous questions don't help him either. I'm sure this is a fever dream." 

Lord Dingwall regarded the man over his crossed arms, the pout he had on his face distinctly showing what he thought of the tale.

"I agree with the Queen," he said dramatically before waddling over to stand beside the messenger. "This poor lad 'as clearly not been well, can't put stock in his story. No offense, friend."

The man ignored him. "Majesty, if I speak false, ye may strip me naked and stab a thousand needles into my ass, but I swear to you, the Vikings ride dragons!"

The room was silent for a moment, all of them taking in the sincerity behind the man's words. Merida, who was still pouting about being on house arrest, broke it.

"Alright, who's got the needles?" 

"Merida!" Elinor scolded.

"What? He's has to be lyin', Mum!"

The queen sighed. "Fergus, what did the letter say?"

"Just that their travel accommodations would be different that what we're used to."

Lord Dingwall snorted. "Sounds like they want to frighten us for fun!" he spat. "Even I know of the hatred those foreigners have for the dragons."

Just then there was a loud commotion outside with people yelling and screaming, Maudy's distinct wail among them. Merida winced at the high pitch as it drew nearer until the woman herself slammed the door open.

"D-d-dr-dr-dr-dra-" she stuttered.

"Spit it out Maud," Fergus yelled.

"DRAGONS!!!" She shrieked back at him. Honestly, after this was over, Merida intended to introduce the idea that Maudy may need to find a nice place to retire soon to her parents. She had the feeling that they'd agree with her. The poor woman had been the triplets' nanny for four years, their entire lives, she deserved an early retirement if she didn't wind up in an early grave from stress. In the meantime, there were dragons approaching the castle.

"Arm yourselves," she yelled, pulling her bow out from where she'd hidden it under the table and racing towards the courtyard where the screams seemed to be centered. 

She'd notched an arrow by the time she'd left the door but the sight that greeted her made her pause. There was a man, a big man, bigger than her father even, standing in front of a mean looking dragon holding his hands aloft. His great auburn beard flashed in the fading light that glinted off his horned helmet. She knew that this man had to be a Viking. Every part of him spoke of strength, the kind of strength that lasted through generations, and was built on the purely stubborn decision to not give in to death. 

Behind him sat five other dragons each bearing a saddle and a rider, one bearing two. The messenger had been right then? The Vikings had tamed dragons? Maybe there was hope for DunBroch yet.

A small, black one caught her eye, sleek like a cat with bright green eyes. His rider wore a kind of armor that was equally dark with a mask that covered his entire face. This particular dragon hadn't reacted at all, choosing to instead converse with his rider in a series of coos and warbles. It was like the warriors didn't exist for those two. 

Without warning, the red haired man began to bellow, silencing the Scotts who were poised to fight, brandishing their weapons at the remaining hissing dragons who were being quieted by there riders.

"Silence!" the clanking of armor and the screaming seemed to vanish under the weight of the giant's authoritative tone. It was one that was meant to be obeyed without question from anyone. Even Merida almost lowered her bow. "I am Stoic Haddock, Chief of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe of Berk. I was invited here by King Fergus of Clan DunBroch." Slowly the rest of the weapons lowered. 

"Stoic?" Merida's father seemed to appear out of nowhere, sword in hand, gaping at the large Viking. "Good Lord, the lad was right!"

"I did warn you about the dragons, didn't I, Fergus?" Stoic chuckled. Fergus put away his sword and went to clasp hands with Stoic. Merida's bow lowered a few inches. 

"Tha's the second time in my life you've managed to surprise me!" Fergus said, grinning. "Come in, come in, I want ta meet this lad o' yours!"

"And I your lass, but the dragons must come too. They are protective of their riders."

Fergus looked hopefully at his wife, his fear of the beasts obviously vanishing in the face of a chance to chat with his old "notfriend". Queen Elinor only gaped at the group before looking at Lord Dingwall, who's mouth was hanging halfway down his chest.

"Are they house broken?" was all he said.

Once the soldiers had been talked down and everyone returned to their formal duties, the dragons followed the Scotts into the castle. Up close, Merida could see that two of the riders were women, both blondes. One sat next to a man who was obviously her twin on the necks of the two headed dragon, the other glared out at the warriors, her hand resting lightly on an axe attached to her back, her large, blue dragon squawked occasionally and tilted it's head this way and that to get a good view of the room. Despite the glare, and the dragon, Merida noticed Young Macintosh give the girl an appreciative once over. She snorted, already knowing that he'd be getting nowhere with the Viking woman. 

"I s'pose we should do this official like," Fergus said, earning a glare from his wife at the lack of tact in the words. 

"I suppose," Stoic replied, grinning. 

Fergus took his temporary seat on the wooden throne in the center of Lord Dingwall's Great Hall. The boys were huddled near the front by a still nervous Maudy, while Elinor sat next to him and Merida sat on the other side, dropping her bow to the ground with a huff and letting her cloud of hair act as a pillow as she slouched a bit. She really didn't appreciate having to cater to these Vikings that she'd heard so many bad tales about. Well, not this particular tribe, but Viking's as a whole. 

"Please introduce yourself to the court," Fergus said. Stoic nodded.

"I am Chief Stoic "The Vast" Haddock from the Hairy Hooligan Tribe of Berk to the far North East. I bring with me, our finest group of Dragon Riders, including my son and future daughter-in-law."

Merida wondered which was the son, the great Dragon Tamer. Surely it was the shorter one with the large red dragon? He had the arrogance she'd seen on Young Macintosh's face when he'd first arrived in DunBroch. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the rider of the black dragon dismount as Stoic spoke.

"I present my only son and heir, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, defeater of the Red Death, trainer of Dragons and Pride of Berk." Even Merida heard the bragging in his voice as he faces Fergus and presented his heir. With a name like that, the boy had to be the smarmy looking one she'd noticed earlier. 

To her surprise, the masked man stepped forward, removing his helmet to reveal a shock of messy auburn hair, similar to his father's, and bright green, intelligent eyes. To be honest, Merida didn't think he looked that bad. A few inches taller than Macintosh with a sharp jaw line and a demeanor that said he was calm under most circumstances and a faint smile at his da's excessive praise. He was a bit on the skinny side, but Merida felt that it worked for him. 

She didn't notice the leg until he'd finally came to a stop at his father's side. From a little below his left knee there was a metal contraption that served in place of a foot. There was a burning need in her to know what happened, but she quelled it in the face of his calm acceptance of their scrutiny. 

"Thank you for inviting us," he said, like his father, his words carried a weight, but it was to calm, controlled weight that Merida had seen her mum use to enforce her will. It was easy to see that he and Stoic were related, but that they were also two very distinct people. "We hope to help you return to your castle soon. In the meantime, I'd like to introduce my fiance, who will be acting as my right hand in this instance." 

There were definitely a few whispers at the fact that a woman would be in the thick of things when it came to the dragon problem, even Queen Elinor made a questioning sound, but Merida sat forward, surprised at the young heirs willingness to declare a girl his second in command. He'd only been here a minute and she already liked him more than the three young lords combined.  

 She wasn't exactly surprised when it was the statuesque blonde with the axe that strode forward like she owned the room. The torch light glinted off of her armor and the ring of bird skulls that decorated her belt, not to mention the impressive axe that was balanced across her back.

Hiccup waited for her to stand beside him, not behind him, before introducing her. "This is Astrid Hofferson, one of the best dragon trainers on Berk, and her dragon, Stormfly. Please ask Astrid or myself any dragon related questions. We also bring with us, Snotlout Jorgenson, Fishlegs Ingerman, Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorsten, and their dragons; Hook Fang, Meatlug, and Barf and Belch respectively." Each rider waved as their names were called. At this point the black dragon began to growl crankily and all the warriors in the room tensed up. Hiccup sighed.

"I didn't forget you, Bud," he said and motioned the dragon forward. Toothless loped over to sit by his rider's side. Merida noticed that one half of his tail fin was missing, replaced by a bright red prosthetic. "This is Toothless, my Night Fury." Toothless warbled a greeting at the room and everyone could see that he was indeed toothless. 

"That's the dragon we've been hearin' about?" Lord Dingwall asked, finally finding his voice. "Looks more like an overgrown cat if you ask me!"

With out warning, a set of fangs descended into place in the Night Fury's mouth with a decisive 'snick' and Toothless was in front of Hiccup, back arched and teeth bared as if he was about to attack. Everyone drew in a breath as the dragon snarled at Lord Dingwall.

Calm as anything, Hiccup placed a hand on the beasts head and whispered something that had the dragon calming and plopping down on it's hind to stare at the assembly of Scotts with a docile expression. 

"Right," Lord Dingwall grumbled from where he'd hidden behind another man.

Hiccup smirked, then bowed respectfully to Merida and her parents, and once again to Lord Dingwall, who'd stubbornly emerged from his hiding spot to face the dragon riders. "Thank you for your hospitality, we won't let you down."

Merida noticed that Stoic had watched Hiccup's handling of the situation with a keen eye, nodding once his son and Astrid had stepped back. Apparently, this had been a test for Hiccup of some sort. 

Now that the Vikings had been introduced, Fergus stood and proceeded to welcome them to the fief.

"I present my wife, Elinor, light of my life, and my daughter Merida, the pride of DunBroch, who, three years ago, helped defeat the dreaded bear monster Mor'Du and free her mother from a curse that had changed her shape." Merida thought it was ironic that her da didn't mention the fact that she'd been to one to inflict the curse. "And I also introduce you to the three princes, Hamish, Hubert and Harris." The triplets were watching the vikings with anticipation, and their faces fell when nothing seemed to happen.

"Are they the ones who left these near our dragons?" one of the twins asked, the male one based on the voice. He held up a collection of, most likely, irritated stink bugs trapped in a cup. "If so, I'd like to give them back and congratulate them on it." The boys' mouths fell open as the long haired, blond man regarded them with true respect. As one, they fled their spot at the front of the room and rushed over to the twins, who were both congratulating them.

"Right," Fergus said. "I will also introduce Lord Dingwall and the three young lords; Wee Dingwall, Young Macintosh, and Young MacGuffin." Lord Dingwall walked forward, pushing his belly out to make himself seem more imposing, but the ultimate effect was comedic. The young lords all walked forward when their names were called, respectively wearing expressions of curiosity, disinterest and an small, welcoming smile. 

The ten teenagers regarded each other, all with the same thought. That these next few days would be very interesting.

Elinor, of course noticed the considering looks her daughter was giving the dragons and their riders and the competitiveness that seemed to rise the longer the teens remained locked in a battle of introductions. All of a sudden, her headache was back.

"Thank you for your assistance in this matter, Chief Stoic, you've done us a great honor in fighting alongside us."

"The honor is all mine, King Fergus, I'm sure it will be a fight to remember." With that, both men laughed like old drinking buddies and Fergus called for ale and food. There was much planning to be done.

Chapter Text

Fief Dingwall

For the first time in Hiccup's life, he didn't feel like a human popsicle when he woke up. Granted, it was barely a few degrees warmer in the Scottish Highlands, but, man, those few degrees made one hell of a difference. Toothless still had the idea that Hiccup needed to be awake at the crack of dawn, though. 

"I get it, Bud," Hiccup groaned as Toothless batted at his head while lounging half on and half off the bed in the room Hiccup had been given. "I'm up." 

Toothless warbled happily while Hiccup got dressed and bounded over to the door, nudging it open with his head and happily bouncing out into the hallway. When they finally made it outside, Toothless barely waited for Hiccup to mount up before leaping into the sky. Hiccup didn't mind, he was used to it. In all honesty, Hiccup was just as eager to be in the clouds. 

Even if he learned a thousand words in a thousand languages, Hiccup would never be able to describe the feeling of flying on Toothless. The closest approximation he could come up with was that it felt like being absolutely free. Like a dragon. 

"Wanna free fall, Bud?' he asked. Toothless looked back at him with a gummy smile, his tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth as the ascended. "Alright let's do this!" He flicked his helmet visor down as Toothless went completely vertical and let himself fall back. Free falling was addictive in the best sort of way. He felt himself go weightless for an instant and then began to plummet, Toothless parallel to him in the air. He'd be okay, but the pair of eyes watching him from the fief wall didn't know that. 

Merida hadn't  been able to sleep after the excitement of the dragons, even staying up late and listening to her father tell his story of Mor'du to Stoic hadn't helped her sleep. Stoic had been impressed, even sharing some of his own dragon stories from the time before the riders. Merida noticed that he avoided matching her father's missing leg story with his son's. It made her curious. The other lords were almost eager to laud about their son's scars, even if it came from falling off a horse. 

Regardless, when she'd finally gone to bed, her head had been swirling with the thoughts of dragons and what this could mean for the history of her people. Would they be able to ride them? Or was it a quality on the Vikings possessed? Her sleepless night lead to an early morning wandering along the top of the walls of the castle enjoying the early breeze. She'd seen Hiccup and his dragon soar up into the sky from somewhere below her. 

The sight was breathtaking. Merida had thought that flying through the forest on Angus's back was thrilling enough, but riding a dragon seemed to hold an entirely new level of adrenaline rush. It was plainly obvious that the two activities were very different. Hiccup and Toothless flew through the air smoothly, performing barrel rolls and loops with an ease that spoke of many years of familiarity. 

Merida thought that the show would remain just that, a simple exercise to show off and practice. Hiccup seemed lost in his own world atop the dragon. And then he began to fall. 

"Gods, no!" Merida yelled as the Viking man plummeted. 

"He'll be fine," a feminine voice said behind her. "Toothless will never let him fall." 

Merida spun around to see the axe maiden, Astrid, regarding her fiance's fall to death with a fond smile. 

"He's goin' to die!" she shrieked. 

"No he won't," Astrid said calmly. "Just watch." So Merida did, she watched as the ground rose to meet the dragon and man, and watched the dragon flip and drift closer to Hiccup. Then she watched Hiccup reattach himself to the saddle and pull out of the steep dive. Just like that they were flying through the sky again, Hiccup holding his arms out and letting out a loud "whoop!" of victory that Merida heard plainly. 

"I got scared the first time too," Astrid said. "But I have faith in Toothless. Those two are closer than brothers, they won't let each other get hurt."

Merida regarded the Viking woman. Despite the early hour, she was dressed in armor and already carrying what could effectively be called an armory. There wasn't a trace of sleepiness in the other woman's eyes. 

"Yer up early," Merida said.

Astrid shrugged. "I'm always up this early, I need to keep my skills sharp if I'm going to be Hiccup's right hand."

Merida perked up a bit. "I was impressed that a lass like you would get such a job. That's a lot of bein' in the battle."

Astrid regarded her with sharp eyes, the muscles in her arms, already obvious, tensing further. "Berkian women have to be just as strong as the men, believe me, I earned my title."

"I didn' mean it like tha'," Merida groaned. "It's just, women around here don't get to do much like that. Though, me mum says that ladies have a different method of gaining respect." 

"She should talk to Hiccup then," Astrid said, looking back to where her fiance was soaring through the low hanging clouds. "He prefers to play diplomat as much as possible. It's always a trial to get him to fight somebody. He always thinks he can help them, or understand them."

"Sounds like a bleedin' heart to me," Merida said. 

Astrid cracked a smile. "He certainly is that, but he's also the bravest man I know. If it wasn't for that want to understand, Vikings would never have learned to be friends with dragons."

"How-"

"Good morning, m'lady," Hiccup's voice called. It was a bit muffled by his helmet but it was easy enough to understand him as he drifted closer to the wall. "Good morning, Princess Merida."

"Mornin'," Merida mumbled, too busy staring at the place where the prosthetic foot rested inside a contraption that was connected to the tail prosthetic.

"Did you want company, Babe," Astrid asked, rubbing a hand over Toothless's nose. 

"If you wouldn't mind." Hiccup visibly seemed to perk up in the saddle at Astrids offer. 

"Bye, Princess," Astrid said with a wave. "We'll talk again later, maybe at breakfast?"

"I'll save a seat for ya," Merida promised. 

Astrid nodded and, without further ado, launched herself off the wall, only to rise moments later on the back of her bright blue dragon and flying off into the sunrise. Hiccup gave Merida a half bow from his saddle before following behind her. In that moment, Merida understood a fundamental truth about the Vikings as a people. They were all insane. 

The way to Castle Dun Broch

"We'll enter from the west," Hiccup decided, pointing at the map tha was sprawled out on the table. 

"Why?" Elinor asked. She was attending the meeting for the purpose of keeping her husband in line, but she was genuinely interested in what this young Viking had to say. He'd been very respectful when they'd met in the hall earlier, bowing and referring to her as 'Your Majesty', a perfect gentleman. Hiccup was different from what she'd come to expect from the Vikings that had previously raided their towns on the coast. It was plain to see that he had both his father's and his companions respect. She hoped that Merida might be able to learn a thing or two from him while he was here. "It would be more direct to attack from the south." Fergus nodded along with his wife. 

Hiccup nodded to her respectfully. "It would, if we were attacking," he said. "As of now we have no idea why the dragons have infested the castle. The way you describe it, it sounds like they are building a nest. There's multiple reasons dragons would do so, but they hardly ever do so in highly populated areas. There must be something specific about Dun Broch that is drawing them in." The words were said without a hint of patronizing tone. 

"So wha' is today about then?" Fergus asked. Elinor knew he was anxious to get the winged beasts out of his home. Lord Ding wall was a... grating personality. 

"We're going to be observing mostly," Astrid chimed in. Hiccup didn't seem to mind as she took over laying out the battle plan, just giving her a look of adoration that had Elinor's heart melting for the young couple. She and Fergus had been that young once, she remembered the feeling of a new engagement and the happiness that came with looking forward to her wedding.

She wasn't sure what to make of this young woman who wore fierceness like a second skin. Her direct blue eyes were unnerving when she leveled them at someone, though Elinor had seen her laughing and leaning against Hiccup during breakfast while they talked with her daughter. Elinor had thought that her daughter was a fighter, a warrior before, but seeing this battle hardened Viking woman, Elinor understood that Merida's talents were pure athleticism and a desire to explore and learn. It was a love of life that lent itself to strength and fierceness. Astrid, however, bled loyalty and power. It was obvious that she was a defender first and a maiden second. Her eyes spoke of battles won and lost, and the few obvious scars that were visible on her arms, said that she had learned from her mistakes. Maybe that was why none of the men who'd interacted with her so far had challenged her right to be there. 

Astrid appeared to be the power to Hiccup's intelligence, the weapon to his diplomacy and the implementation to his strategy. They complemented each other the same way Elinor and her husband did. Each living wholly in their strengths and supporting the other. When they looked at each other, there was love and respect, when they looked away there was the mission. Elinor felt a degree of pity for these young people, barely twenty, who'd had to grow into leaders so soon. Her own daughter, nineteen now, was still attempting to cast off the wiles of youth and take her place in the realm of leadership. Elinor had to admit that Merida was growing into her role as a princess slowly but surely. She'd become more diplomatic in the past few years, and had begun to help Elinor more inside the castle. The people already loved their daring princess, but now they were coming to respect her decisions as well. 

"We'll fly in low," Astrid was saying. "According to King Fergus, this area is heavily forested. The trees will provide us cover to observe and analyze the situation. The twins and Snotlout will fly overhead and try to gain the dragons attention. Based on how the dragons react, we should be able to figure out why they invaded." 

"Isn't there a risk to the three riders if they do this," Elinor asked as Fergus nodded along. Lord Dingwall was pouting again after his decree that they ride in armed to the teeth and drive the beasts out had been shot down. 

"If they get shot down, we'll bury them with honors," Astrid snorted. "As it is, the twins probably have Loki's protection and Snotlout has pure dumb luck to keep him alive." 

Elinor's eyes widened at Astrid's dismissal of concern for her fellow riders. Hiccup caught the look and raised a hand in a calming gesture. 

"Your Majesty, this is nothing they haven't done before," he said soothingly. "Those three have been attacked by worse than dragons and survived. They'll be fine even with a few scorch marks."

"Very well." 

"We'll send a few warriors to meet you in the forest," Fergus said. "Ye can explain to them about the dragons. The young lords might well appreciate the outing as well."

Elinor covered her mouth to hide the smirk. As trying as the lords were, her husband obviously found their son's to be just as annoying. Maybe even more so with the way they followed around his daughter. 

Hiccup nodded gamely. "They're welcome to tag along."

Of course Merida asked to go, wheedling down her father until he reluctantly agree to let her accompany the dragon riders and young lords. The sight of her beloved Dun Broch through the trees was a balm that soothed her heart. The horses galloped quickly, Toothless beside them as he and Hiccup accompanied them there as was expected. The other riders were aloft, Astrid and her dragon, Stormfly Merida had learned, leading the group. The horses were spooked at the apex predator that accompanied them at first. But Toothless was just as confused by them, it seemed. They arrived at the forrest a bit after midday, meeting the Riders, who had already arrived. 

"Man," The female twin, Ruffnut, said while stretching her arms luxuriously. "That was the nicest flight we've had in a while. For once we didn't have to rush. I actually took a nap!" 

"I think Barf did too," her brother said, yawning. 

"Nah, too slow for my taste," Snotlout chimed in. "I prefer a more exciting pace." The last was said with a wink in Merida's direction, where she sat astrid Angus. She pulled a face, already deciding that this Viking was just as smarmy as Young Macintosh. Coincidently, Macintosh decided at that moment to offer her his hand to help get down, a suave grin in place. Merida looked at it pointedly, then directly into the young lord's eyes before turning and lowering herself down from the other side.

"Alright, guys," Hiccup began, rolling out a map onto the forrest floor. "The warriors that King Fergus sent along, you will be stationed here." He pointed at the area around the edge of the castle. "You'll need to watch the riders as they get the dragons' attention and catalogue the responses. Astrid and I will be observing from here along with the Young Lords and the Princess. Snotlout and the twins will be the distractors."

"WHAT!!!" Snotlout was screeching loud enough to send a few birds out of the trees. "Why do I have to risk my neck for this?"

"Sweetness," Tuffnut said before he and his sister butted heads. 

"The twins need supervision," Hiccup said. 

"Not from me, they don't!" 

"I'll put it this way, Snotlout," Astrid said, holding her axe up to his neck menacingly. "You do it, or I make you." 

Snoutlout seemed to ignore the danger he was in and instead focused on Hiccup. 

"You just wanna see me get lit up!" he yelled. 

"Now why would I want that?" Hiccup asked, smirk firmly in place. 

"Because... Because..." Snotlout seemed to run out of excuses. 

"Come on, Cuz," Hiccup said sweetly. "You're the only one I can rely on to keep the twins in line from the air. Plus, I'd never deny you the chance for glory."

Snotlout pouted, but it seemed that his ego had been soothed because he grumbled out a 'fine'. 

Once everyone was in position, the Riders took off. 

"So what is this supposed to do," Young Macintosh asked with an air of superiority that you'd have to be deaf to miss.

"We're going to watch for their reaction," Hiccup said. Astrid glared at the young lord. 

"Hoow does tha help us," Wee Dingwall asked. 

"Dragons that are nesting retreat into the nest and only a few defend it," Astrid explained. "Dragon's that are scavenging, ignore people and just focus on getting a meal."

"These can't be scavengers because there are a few dozen sheep and cows wandering around down there," Hiccup interrupted, looking at Dun Broch through a scope. "They are either nesters, or there's a third reason we don't know."

Young Macguffin mimed holding coins. Hiccup seemed to pick up what he meant. 

"That's a myth, actually," he said. "Dragons do hoard things but it's mostly food. Every once in a while one will get very protective of something inane, our wise woman's collection of Terrible Terrors are very protective of her herb pots, we don't know why, but gold really doesn't have much of an appeal."

"So we jus' watch an wait, then?" Merida asked.

Hiccup smiled, a charming crooked grin. "Welcome to the exciting life of a dragon rider," he said.

Through the scope, Hiccup could see that the outside of the castle was covered in dragons. he recognized nearly all of them, but they came in a variety of greens and browns he wasn't used to seeing on those breeds. A few terrible Terrors were drifting in and out of the windows and chittering at the larger dragons on the outside, like they were reporting. 

"It's amazing," he whispered to Astrid. "They've adapted to living in the heavy forests. I wonder why ours are so much more colorful though since we have less trees. Maybe it's a scare tactic, like poisonous flowers?" he knew his fiance was humoring him by nodding along as he gushed. He didn't mind. He did the same when she talked about weapons. 

Speaking of weapons, he glanced at her axe on her back. It was looking a bit worn around the handle, and the blade needed a good sharpening. Maybe he'd forge her a new one as a wedding gift. 

Snotlout and the twins were getting close. A few of the other dragons were watching them closely, it wasn't until the zippleback began trying to land on the castle that they all reacted. 

As one, the dragons turned away from the windows and coated the outside of the castle like a scaly, dappled cloak. They were growling and tensed, their wings spread and ready to take off. Toothless himself went on edge and began growling at the sight.

"There weren't nearly that many when we left," Merida gasped.

"So, more have begun flocking," Hiccup muttered. "But they aren't scavenging or building a nest." The sight confused him. He'd never seen a group of dragons react this way. It was like they were trying to protect the entire Castle, but why?

Hours later, Snotlout and the twins were covered in scorch marks and sitting at the fire they set up to camp by. They'd go back to the fief in the morning. Hiccup was going over the reports for the soldiers that had been watching. 

"Anythin' helpful?" Merida asked, coming to sit by him. 

He glanced up at her before going back to the reports, a furrow deepening in his brows. "They're trying to protect the castle from intruders. A few Terrible Terrors were zipping in and out and talking to the larger ones who couldn't get in. So there's something in the castle that they want but I have no idea what."

He sighed and leaned back looking at the assembled group. The soldiers were passing around a flask at the fire, while Wee Dingwall was getting talked at by the twins. Young MacGuffin was being coached on how to feed Meatlug by Fishlegs, and Young Macintosh was sitting next to a charred and pouting Snotlout while nursing a bruised solar plexus after Astrid punched him earlier for eyeing her breasts. Hiccup, as a good leader, should have stopped her, but he really hadn't wanted to.

"I'm afraid," he said, leaning back against Toothless and sighing. "We might have to go into the castle."

"Is tha' fear I hear from the grea' dragon trainer," Macintosh said snootily from across the fire.

"It's caution," Hiccup retorted glaring at the offending male. Merida felt like face palming at Macintosh's stupidity.

"Some dragon trainer," Macintosh continued. "Ye can't even go against a few beasties like tha'."

"Actually," Fishlegs said nervously. "It's never a good idea to go into a nest or a gathering like that. Wild dragons are territorial and often protecting young, so we try to avoid it when we can." 

Macintosh snorted. "Yer all scaredy cats," he decided just before an unearthly shriek rang out across the clearing they'd been camped in. 

The warriors all leapt to their feet, a little wobbly kneed from the drink, and pulled out their weapons. Merida Drew out her bow, as did the other Young Lords. The Vikings didn't take out theirs, but they were tensed in a way that said they knew what was coming. The dragons were wrapped around their riders protectively, all growling. 

A red muzzle pushed it's way out of the trees, followed by a long neck and an equally red body. It was the same kind of dragon Snotlout rode. A monstrous nightmare, if Merida remembered correctly from her conversation with Hiccup at breakfast. The beast glared at them with eyes the color of newly minted gold, and roared. 

"Drop your weapons," Hiccup commanded.

"Are ye crazy!" Macintosh demanded. "Kill the beast!" The rest of the men hesitated as Macintosh ran forward, sword drawn. 

The dragon waited until he got closed and extended it's neck to grab the sword in it's teeth. Macintosh finally looked properly terrified, but his face turned even more so when the beast lit itself on fire. He dropped the sword and scrambled back, falling on his rear, the dragon followed, intent on the kill. 

Merida saw Hiccup pull out a sword hilt and calmly walk toward the angry dragon. Toothless grumbled as he did, but didn't stop his rider. In a moment, the hilt extended into a blade outline, this got the dragon's attention. The great head turned to regard the new human, slitted pupils assessing Hiccup icily. Hiccup pressed a button and the blade burst into flame. He waved the blade around in mesmerizing circles that the dragon seemed spellbound by. It's fire extinguished and it's pupils expanded as it's mouth lolled open. Tt ambled over to Hiccup, drawn to the flaming sword. 

When it was close enough to touch, Hiccup deactivated the sword and pressed a second button, releasing a stream of green gas around himself that smelt a bit like sulfur. Another click and the cloud exploded, leaving the dragon blinking in a dazed and confused fashion. It seemed completely relaxed now. Hiccup took the opportunity to move closer, palm outstretched. 

"He's gonna do the hand thing," Fishlegs whisper squealed behind Merida.

Hiccup held his palm out waiting, after a moment the dragon extended it's muzzle and met Hiccup's palm. Hiccup ran his hands over the great head, scratching here and there. The dragon reacted to the touched like a kitten, purring and chuffing happily. Hiccup kept up the attention for a few minutes before guiding the dragon back to the woods. It left easily enough and Merida exhaled thankfully, unaware of when she'd started holding her breath. 

Macintosh was still sitting on the ground where he'd fallen, mouth open in shock. Hiccup walked over staring down at the Young Lord with an irritated expression.

"Regarding the dragons," he said coldly. "When I give an order, you follow it to the letter. These aren't mindless beasts like you might assume. They are intelligent and when dealing with them human logic doesn't apply. When you face a dragon, you are at their mercy, and you play by their rules, understand?"

Young Macintosh nodded slowly. 

"Good," Hiccup said. "We should get to sleep now." He reached down and helped Macintosh to his feet before heading back to lay down next to toothless who had returned to his relaxed snoozing from earlier now that the crisis was averted. 

Chapter Text

Fief Dingwall

It took two days to come up with a plan that everyone agreed on.

"The Riders will distract them from the air and the soldiers will draw out the rest on the ground," Stoic said with a finality that begged someone to disagree with him. 

"Tha's a lot of risk for the men," Fergus replied, glaring at the map with the intensity of a man trying to set the parchment ablaze. 

"Risk?" Tuffnut, piped up from where he was lying underneath the table. "We're the ones the dragons are gonna try and barbecue!" 

It was late, and while Hiccup would love nothing more than to go to bed, they had to get their plan finalized. The dragons had been in Dunbroch for at least a month now and showed no signs of leaving. The council chamber was awash with torchlight that stung his eyes and cast a glow over the assembled riders, lords, Queen Elinor and the princess, and the lords' sons. Their return yesterday had been greeted with question after question from those assembled, but the prevailing understanding, was that they'd have to go into the castle to find the root cause. Planning had begun early the next morning and had continued ever since. 

"We'll train the soldiers on how to deal with the dragons," Hiccup butted in, desperate for an end to the long day. "The more mobile breeds will be dealing with the obvious targets, by that I mean the Riders-" he pointed the assembled vikings in various stages of sleepiness, even astrid was yawning-"that'll leave the smaller ones like the Terrible Terrors to chase after your men, and those are easily distracted."

Fergus grimaced and glared at the map some more before sighing. "Very well then."

Hiccup sighed, glad to finally be getting somewhere. "Great, in the mean time, we'll need a guide inside the castle. Someone who knows it in and out and can spot if something is out of place."

Merida, who'd been lounging on a window sill in the corner with her fist propped up on a knee and smushed into her face, was suddenly a lot more interested.

"I'll do it!" She hollered. 

"Absolutely not!" The queen said firmly. 

"But, Mum-"

"No, Merida," her mother growled. "I know how much you love DunBroch, but this is suicide!" 

Hiccup coughed. "Your Majesty, if I may?" he waited until the queen shifted her glare to him before continuing. "Merida may be the best candidate. Out of everyone we've met here, she's very respectful of the dragons, and am I correct in assuming that she knows DunBroch in and out?"

"... Yes," Elinor muttered, eyes still narrowed at the future chief. 

Hiccup didn't flinch. "Toothless and I will be the ones entering the castle, Merida is an ideal size to avoid loosing speed and risking getting caught."

"She's the Princess!" Elinor snapped. Merida groaned as her mother threw out her title again.

"And she's also very capable," Hiccup returned. "She's been respectful to my Riders, asked intelligent questions about our dragons and has proven herself to be an excellent bowman and horsewoman." 

Merida thought back proudly on the four fat rabbits she'd shot on the night of the Monstrous Nightmare. 

"I think I agree with the lad, Love," Fergus cut in.

"Fergus-!"

"Merida has proved herself, dear," he continued. "Many times in fact. I know her strength better than anyone. She'll do fine."

Merida chose the moment Elinor's expression showed a hint of surrender to try and plead her case again.

"Please, Mum," she said, approaching her mother and taking one of her hands. Elinor regarded her daughter with a mixture of sadness and fear and love. "I can do this. And I trust Hiccup. You didn' see him with the dragon, he knows what he's talkin' about."

"I can't loose you, darling," Elinor mumbled, reaching out to tuck a stray curl behind her daughter's ear. 

"You won't," Merida promised. 

"I assure you, Your Majesty," Hiccup said quietly. "Toothless and I won't let anything happen to your daughter." 

Elinor regarded him and the rest of the tired assembly. They had accomplished more in a week to save her home than she and the lords had been able to in a month. These young people were strong, as strong as their chief, who held her gaze firmly, nodding along as his son declared that he'd protect her eldest child.

"Alright," she said, giving in. 

"Thank you," Hiccup said with an open expression that made her hate and appreciate him all the more. There wasn't a speck of dishonesty in him, was there? Nothing to caution him that maybe he shouldn't volunteer the young princess, lauding her with truthful praises that would encourage her to follow him into battle. He simply saw someone he deemed capable and reached out his hand, waiting for their returning one regardless of the protests. He'd be a terrifying chief, she decided.

The meeting ended soon after Elinor's acquiescence. Hiccup was the second-to-last to leave, though he didn't realize it until he and Fergus were the only ones left in the room. hiccup had been so focused on reviewing their plans one last time, decided what the soldiers would need to learn over the next few days, that he hadn't noticed the room slowly emptying out. 

He awkwardly wished the king goodnight and moved over to the door, hoping to find Toothless before crashing into his bed with a vengeance, but stopped when the king gave a gruff cough.

"Beware, Lad," Fergus mumbled while Hiccup faced the door, shoulders tense. "I trust my daughter, but if she gets hurt in any way, Dragon's will be the last o' your worries."

How could Hiccup respond to that? He'd volunteered the heir to the throne of Scotland for a mission that had no guaranteed chance of success.

"I'll protect her with my life, sir," he said quietly. 

"See that you do," Fergus growled before striding out of the room, the weight of power and strength that seemed to pour off of him wrapping around Hiccup with a tight grip. It was an air he was used to feeling from Stoic. He prayed to all the gods that they'd succeed and that the king of Scotland would have no reason to come after him with an ax.

Astrid watched the king leave the war room wearing a steely expression that set tension coiling in her gut. She'd tucked herself into an alcove when the meeting had ended, hoping to walk back to the rooms with Hiccup, maybe go for a relaxing night flight. Instead she saw everyone but her boyfriend leave, up until the broad shouldered, one legged king exited the room with the look of a man that had made a final decision. Astrid moved silently, slipping back into the war room and closing the door behind her. 

"Hiccup?" She called to the figure leaning against the table, shoulders slumped in the dim torch light. "Babe?" She placed a hand on his, pleased when his hand flipped over, long fingers twining with hers.

"You okay?" she asked. Hiccup sighed loudly.

"I'm just tired," he grunted. Astrid studied him lovingly. 

Hiccup had grown a lot over the years, shooting up and broadening, looking more like his father, like a warrior. But he'd also grown mentally. Astrid had seen him turn his brilliant mind from inventing to battle strategy and diplomacy with an ease that shocked her. Yes, he still invented things, odd things that sometimes didn't work, but he'd also done so much for the village when it came to trade and the dragons. While Astrid knew she was the best warrior of her generation, one of the best in the village, she knew that Hiccup could do things that she couldn't, things that the village actively demanded from him now that Stoic had begun dropping hints about retirement. Hiccup bore it well, though she knew that it sometimes put a strain on him. He often exceeded their expectations, though he was still impetuous at times. 

The Hiccup in front of her, though, was one that only she got to see. The one that was tired and needed to be held together so that he didn't fall apart. The one that finally began to buckle under the stress and decisions Stoic was foisting onto him as a test. She was aware that Stoic's unusual silence regarding Hiccup's decisions during this trip was part of a right of passage for chiefdom. She could see the bags under his eyes from the last two days of planning and negotiating and arguments, and longed to have the ability to wipe them away like magic. As his right hand, she was his support and his weapon. As his fiance, she could be his comfort, the way he was for her.

"Come here," she whispered, tugging on their joined hands until he stood and leaned into her. Astrid shifted their positions so that he was leaning against the table, almost sitting on the polished oak surface, resting against her body, his forehead buried in the junction between her neck and shoulder. She wound her arms around his shoulders, playing with the hair at the base of his neck. Slowly, Hiccup wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her to him like a life line.

They stayed like that for a while, silently bathing in the others presence. 

"I love you," he whispered, so quietly she almost didn't hear it. 

"I love you too."

His arms tightened against her. "I'm really not cut out for this chief thing."

"You're doing fine," she reassured him. 

"It doesn't feel like it." There it was, the insecurity that sometimes attacked him. 

"Babe, there's no one else I'd rather follow or see lead."

Hiccup snorted, but didn't say anything, relaxing his grip on her enough that she could wiggle a bit. 

Astrid stroked his hair absentmindedly. "You know, everyone in the village supports you, right?"

"Cause of dad," he said into her shoulder.

"No, my mom was all ready to dress me up before we left, saying that I had to represent the women as the future wife of the chief. She and my grandmother can't wait until you and I get married and take over for Stoic."

"They're proud of you," he said, raising his head to look at her, green eyes intent on her face.

"They're proud of both of us," she insisted. "They never stop talking about you, they think that it's a blessing that you chose to ask for my hand."

"Really?" A slight smile was creeping over his face. 

"Really," she said grinning. "Mom can't wait for grandkids, and Grandma keeps saying that they'll be the future prides of Berk?" 

"They know that might not be for a while, right?" Hiccup joked. "Our wedding is still months away."

Astrid blushed. "They, uh, actually think that we already got a, um, head start on that part of marriage."

"... What?"

Astrid threw her hands over her face, groaning loudly. "Oh my gods, it's so weird, but all those times we go for flights around the island, they think we're having sex! And, and not only that, but they talk about it with the other village women. Now that I think about it, there's probably a bet on when our first kid will be."

"Astrid," Hiccup chuckled. "It's not that big a deal." He peeled her hands off of her face.

She glared up at him. "So you have no problem that the village is discussing your sex life?"

He shrugged. "The village has been discussing my everything since I was born, I'm kind of used to it by now."

Astrid flushed, remembering the Before Dragons period of Hiccup's life. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"Don't think about it so much. We're fine as we are, what they think doesn't really matter right now. There's no rush." He cuddled her closer, rubbing a hand between her shoulder blades. 

Astrid enjoyed the warmth for a few moments, holding herself as closely as possible to take in everything that was Hiccup, his smell, the feel of his hands, callused from working for Gobber, the way their bodies fit together, perfectly aligned.

"Kiss me?" she asked. 

Hiccup grinned. "Anything for you, Milady."

Hiccup kissed the way he flew, reckless and sure. Astrid should be used to it by now, but the way Hiccup was able to make her insides feel mushy always caught her by surprise. They stayed that way for a few moments, their movements practiced but still fresh, until Astrid pulled away, leaning her forehead against his. A tugging sensation built in her stomach somewhere near her spine. An instinct that she didn't have a name for, but understood none the less. 

"What if I said," she began slowly. "That I might be ready now?" 

Hiccup's green eyes widened comically. "Really?" he asked. She nodded, pleased at the way his cheeks warmed and pinked beneath her hands. His face lit up and the smile he sent her was filled with the same love and adoration she felt for him. Gods, she loved this man. 

In typical Astrid fashion, she made the first move, pulling their lips together and pouring every ounce of love she had into it, knowing that he'd receive the message. Hiccup fumbled for a moment, but found his place when she prodded the seam of his mouth with her tongue. Panting filled the council chamber alongside the crackle of sparks as the torches began to burn down. 

Hiccup groaned and pulled away, leaving Astrid wondering through the haze why her mouth was suddenly cold and lonely. "Astrid, are you absolutely sure," he whispered, like they were kids sneaking around after stealing cakes from the Great Hall. She pouted at him, wanting that mouth back on hers as quickly as humanly possible. Without speaking, she leaned forward and sucked on his bottom lip, just hard enough to get the message across. 

Hiccup made a noise that she'd try and identify later and pushed the two of them off the table, lifting her up in the process. Astrid took the opportunity to wrap her legs around his hips and start biting his neck. 

"Well, we can't do this here," he grunted while she worked on a piece of skin beneath his jaw.

"Your room," she whispered, not noticing that her voice had gone husky and soft. 

"What about Toothless," Hiccup whispered back.

"He'll live." 

Hiccup nodded firmly and the two began the long process of sneaking back to his room, avoiding Viking Scott and Dragon alike.

When Toothless got back from playing with Stormfly, the door was locked. He warbled at the lock, annoyed, until another sound drifted from the room. Low groans and grunts filled his ears and sent him into guard mode. Delicately, he sniffed at the crack under the door, looking for the scent of blood. Instead a very different smell hit his sensitive nostrils with the force of one of Stoic's punches. His Rider was mating. 

Toothless scrunched his nose up in distaste for the humans' activities and fled down the hall, rubbing his nose with one paw as he went trying to get the smell out. He'd sleep with Stormfly tonight. He was a bit insulted that Hiccup hadn't had the decency to tell him that he'd be occupied tonight. Stormfly would probably agree with him. 

Chapter Text

Flying would have been an amazing experience... If they could get off the ground. Merida sighed as she and Stormfly practiced bounding around the nearby meadow for the fifth time that morning. Hiccup and Astrid,of course, seemed oblivious to her suffering. As soon as Astrid had told her that she could try riding Stormfly on her own, the viking lass had been plastered to her fiance's side. The two of them looked disgustingly happy leaning against a tree while Toothless snorted on the ground beside them. 

Merida would have thought that after yesterday's planning session Hiccup and Astrid would have been more stoic and focused than ever, instead he'd been stumbling and goofy all day, starting with breakfast. 

Merida had decided to join the Riders that morning rather than sit next to her mother's silently fuming form. After last night, she wasn't willing to push the queen in any way. Things were relatively quiet, everyone trying to finish waking up, until Hiccup and Astrid arrived. The two dragon riders stumbled down to breakfast, a giggling mess of touches and smiles. Merida startled at the smile on Astrid's face but shrugged it off and joined them at the table. The way the leaders of the group were acting was odd for sure, but Merida wouldn't have known that this wasn't normal behavior if the rest of the riders hadn't been staring at them, more specifically Astrid, in absolute fear. 

"You two alright?" Fishlegs asked delicately.

"Yeah," Astrid smiled brightly. "Why wouldn't we be?"

"Dear gods," Snotlout blurted. "She's happy in the morning, we're all doomed! Ragnarok is starting!" 

Astrid's smile turned into a threatening glare in a heartbeat. "What, Snotlout, I can't be happy?"

"Not in this reality!"

Merida was really beginning to believe that Snotlout had little to no common sense. 

"There's only one reality, Snotlout," Hiccup muttered, with the long-suffering sigh of someone who was used to dealing with the insanity.

"Actually, there's many," Snotlout retorted self-importantly. "I've done extensive reading on the subject. In fact, I'm pretty sure there's a reality where dragon's aren't real and we're just a story oriented toward ten year olds. People probably write fan stories about us in that reality. And if we're gonna be really far fetched, Hiccup can even have fangirls there, not as many as me though, am I right?" The whole table stared at him in shock and confusion, spoons of porridge raised halfway to mouths. 

"That... actually would be possible, theoretically," Fishlegs said quietly, stuffing his spoonful into his mouth and mumbling around it. "If you think about it. There is a book I read about-"

Hiccup cut him off, face bleak at the way the discussion had turned. "Fishlegs, please don't make me question my existence this early in the morning."

Fishlegs shrugged. "Alright, after lunch then?" 

Astrid slumped onto the table. "Kill me," she muttered. 

Snotlout cheered. "She's back! Ragnarok is canceled, everybody!" 

Hiccup rubbed his fiance's back comfortingly. 

Beyond the fiasco at breakfast, Merida noticed the two being much more careful with each other. Astrid would stumble and Hiccup would be there in an instant asking a million whispered questions that Merida heard in passing. Astrid didn't show signs of being ill or injured, but as many times as Hiccup asked if she needed to rest you'd think she was on her deathbed. Through it all though, Astrid kept smiling off and on and Hiccup returned each affection-filled glance with a dopey smile that could have sweetened the whole army's morning tea. Merida had an inkling of why they were acting this way, she'd heard enough castle gossip to put two and two together. Merida was happy for them. 

"Welcome to Dragon Training," Hiccup yelled cheerfully, his hair a complete mess of twigs and leaves and brandishing an armful of tiny dragons that squawked just as cheerfully. Astrid looked to be in much the same state but the dragons she held were noticeably less enthused at being there. Merida wasn't sure where they'd managed to find the little monsters, but apparently Hiccup felt that they were necessary for the day's training. 

"Wha' are they goin' to do wi' those beasties?" Merida heard a guard whisper behind her. "Spit roast em? They'd hardly be more than a mouthful."

"Trust me, my man," the male twin, Tuffnut, said, popping up out of nowhere and wrapping an arm around the unsuspecting guard's shoulders. "You do not wanna underestimate the Terrible Terror. The little dudes do not play nice with others." He shuddered, his helmet clacking at the movement. 

"Yeah," his sister joined in on the other side. Said guard was looking a bit uncomfortable with the attention from what the castle staff had dubbed as The Twin Terrors. Merida snorted at his discomfiture. "My brother over here speaks from experience. Like, when we were in dragon training, he got tackled in the face by-" Tuffnut slapped a hand over her mouth.

"We don't speak of that day." 

"Uh, yeah we do," she griped, shoving the hand off her face.

"Yeah, but not to them." 

"Focus guys!" Hiccup yelled. Merida's head whipped around quickly enough that her hair smacked her in the face, much to the amusement of the twins. 

"I'm gonna divide you into groups and assign you a rider and a dragon." Hiccup directed. "They'll show you how to keep them distracted and lead them away. Over the next few days we'll move on to bigger dragons." They went down the rows, numbering soldiers and picking the dragon rider to go with them. When the men were finally sorted, Hiccup turned to Merida. 

"You're with me and Astrid. We're gonna be practicing flying." 

They didn't practice flying, they practiced running. Running and bouncing and walking while on the back of a dragon that was clearly as bored as the princess was. 

"Can we try something that's actually useful, perhaps?" She asked Astrid after the fifth lap around the meadow on Stormfly.

"This is just to get you used to the movement," Astrid said again. "Dragon riding is a lot different from horse back." 

"I got tha' on th' first round," Merida groaned. As much as she knew she was being a brat, she was desperate to move forward. Dun Broch must be a mess by now. There was an itch under her skin that longed for her home. Her room. Her horse's stable. Each day the itch got more difficult to bear, spreading out from her heart like a virus. 

Astrid must have noticed the pleading beneath her words because she sighed and called for Stormfly to halt. 

"If you feel okay with Stormfly, I guess you can move on to Toothless. You'll be flying with Hiccup anyway."

"You aren't comin' into the castle then?"

"I'm... Not the best trainer. And I'm a lot more suited for fighting in the air than in tight spaces." Astrid looked like the admission pained her. Merida imagined that it did, since the viking lass seemed to excel at everything she did, but maybe there was another reason. 

"Are ye worried about him?" 

The girl's expression tightened. "Always," she muttered. "But I've seen you in action, I trust you to have his back." 

Merida blinked. It felt oddly nice to have the older girl's trust. Like she'd earned a pat on the head from a particularly difficult instructor. 

"I'll do my best." 

Toothless was marginally less bouncy, it was more like bounding than Stormfly's incessant, birdlike bouncing. Toothless worried her a bit. He'd allowed her on his back, which was good, but every time she shifted he'd glare back at her. Merida was used to animals, her da' had had dozens of dogs, and wolves weren't a rare sight around Dun Broch. Not to mention the dozens of falcons they kept for hunting. She knew how to deal with animals, predator and prey alike, but dragons were another story. They were some of the biggest creatures she'd ever seen, and while Toothless was much smaller than Angus, she almost feared a fall from his back more. She was so busy studying the creature, that she didn't notice that Hiccup had been talking to her. 

"What?"

"I said, you're doing pretty well. Think you wanna try flying now?" 

Merida and Toothless both perked up at the 'f' word. 

"Of course!"

Hiccup gave a signal to Astrid and both dragons converged on the center of the meadow. 

"Hold onto me," Hiccup instructed her. "If it gets to be too much we'll stop."

Merida snorted. "I'll be fine. How hard can it be?" 

Toothless gave her an appraising glance over his shoulder while Hiccup groaned. "You shouldn't have said that."

"What'dya mean?" 

"Just hold on." 

As soon as he said that, Toothless shot off the ground and into the sky, streaking away from the earth at speeds Merida had only dreamed of. Merida shrieked as the meadow disappeared beneath her. 

"Slow down, ya bawface!!!" 

"I'm clearly not the one in control here, your highness," Hiccup replied in an almost bored tone. "You'll have to ask the dragon. You did challenge him after all." 

She caught Toothless's eye over Hiccup's shoulder. The dragon was giving her the smuggest look she'd ever seen, worse than young Macintosh. Fear was quickly replaced by rage. The dragon thought she'd just give in, did he? 

"I'm not apologizin'," she muttered mutinously. "Do your worst." Toothless gave her a surprised look that quickly turned calculating. Merida felt Hiccup stiffen in the saddle before quickly leaning forward and commanding her to tighten her grip while he did the same. Merida followed his orders just in time for Toothless to start barrel rolling. 

She shrieked as the sky and land twirled around her in a nauseating dance and eventually vanished, only to be replaced with clouds.

"You. Useless. Reptile," Hiccup yelled while Toothless merely chortled in response. Merida felt an instant of weightlessness as the spinning stopped, but it only lasted a moment before they were plummeting down towards the ground at a speed that made her ears pop and her stomach protest. 

"Merida," Hiccup yelled in a warning tone as the freezing coastline, about a mile from Fief Dingwall, made an appearance through the clouds.

"No!" 

The water was drawing closer. "Merida," Hiccup yelled again.

"Not gunna!"

"I hope you enjoy freezing water then," Hiccup shouted, turning to look at her under one of his arms, still clutching the saddle for dear life.

"Fine," she grumbled, common sense finally beating out her pride. "Ye win, ya great beast!" 

Toothless pulled out of the steep dive and began coasting. Toothless gave his great huffing laugh and turned around to coo at the both of them gleefully, tongue lolling out like a puppy. 

"Well," Hiccup grunted, stretching his arms out in front of him. "Good news is, Toothless likes you. Bad news is, I have no idea where we are."

Merida was about to answer when Astrid's voice rang out over the sky. "Oh my Thor, you should have seen your faces!" 

Merida and Hiccup swiveled in their seats, spotting the lumbering form of Stormfly and Astrid flying close behind them. 

"You gonna point us in the right direction or just make fun of us?" Hiccup asked. His tone was cranky but his face was nothing but fond as he looked at the Viking lass in front of them. 

"I'm deciding," Astrid replied with much the same expression. 

 Merida and Toothless rolled their eyes. "Would ya give the honeymoon phase a rest?" she asked loudly. Both Vikings' faces went red, though Astrid's was accompanied by a sly smile. 

"This way," the blonde called, wheeling about and directing them back to the fief. Toothless followed her at a leisurely glide. 

Hiccup was quiet for most of the ride, but his blush still hadn't faded when the meadow came back into view. 

 "Is it that obvious?" he asked quietly. 

"Plainer than the nose on your face, lad," Merida returned, cocking an eyebrow. "Don' worry though. I doubt anyone else has noticed so far."

Hiccup slumped forward in defeat. "Thank Thor," he muttered. 

Merida studied the boy in front of her. The entire time she'd known him, it seemed that he'd been taking charge of many things involved in the taking back of DunBroch. She'd only seen him take time to himself to fly alone with Toothless, not exactly a selfish pursuit as the dragon needed to fly and was entirely grounded without him. It was odd that this Viking knew the same struggles she did, the idea that you weren't just your own person, but the country's as well. 

She gave him a brief squeeze around the middle. A sign of sympathy and solidarity.

"I won' tell any one," she said. 

Hiccup turned to her, flipping up his face mask. He gave her an unreadable look for a moment before offering a timid smile. "Thank you."

The meadow rose up to meet them gently as they landed. 

When the final day of flight lessons arrived, Hiccup felt a bit sad. Merida had turned out to be a natural flyer, excelling at the maneuvers he and Astrid taught her. As they finished up their final test flight he found himself observing the Scottish princess. She looked like a child, chasing Toothless and Stormfly through the waist high grass. A very dangerous child, he amended when she launched herself at Toothless and managed to bowl the dragon over.

"I guess I should tell you," he yelled, causing the princess to stand up so suddenly her hair smacked her in the face. "You passed your training with flying colors."

Merida rushed over. "Does that mean," she gasped.

Astrid flung an arm around Hiccup's shoulders. "Yep, we head to DunBroch in two days. The soldiers are ready as well, we've just got to take tomorrow to gather supplies and we'll be ready to go."

Merida's eyes welled up with happy tears. "Thank you!" She launched herself at the Vikings with all the force of a full-grown gronkle, enveloping them in a bone cracking hug.

"We'll get you your home back, Merida," Astrid said gently, awkwardly reaching around to pat the princess on the back. "I promise."

 Packing went quickly and soon enough, Merida was bidding her mother farewell and setting out into the pre-dawn to saddle Angus. Fergus joined her after the saddle blanket was finally settled across her horse's wide back. 

"Hand it over, lass," he said quietly, indicating the saddle in her hands. 

Merida handed it over but couldn't stop herself from complaining a little bit. "I've been saddlin' Angus for a while, Da."

Fergus ignored her and began tightening the girth before moving on to the collar. Merida rocked back and forth on her heels and gnawed on her lip as her father worked on the tack and getting Angus ready to go. Just as the silence was getting unbearable, Fergus spoke. 

"My father," he said quietly. "Saddled my horse for me before my first battle. He told me tha' he saddled my first horse and he would do it once more." Merida had no idea what her father was trying to get at, but when his voice sounded so melancholic she felt that it would be best to let him finish. "For the longest time, I though' it meant that he wanted to do somethin for me in case I died. A last act of love." He held out his hand for the reins, which Merida swiftly handed over. As the bit went between Angus's teeth he continued. "Now I see what he meant." Angus was ready and Fergus stood in front of her, his much larger frame dwarfing his daughter's body. 

"Da?"

Fergus cupped her face in his hands and leaned down looking her in the eye. 

"My daughter, I saddled your horse when you were a child, I saddle it again now that you are a warrior. Go with my blessing, and return victorious."

Merida felt heat prickle behind her eyes as they filled with tears. "I will, Da. I promise." 

Fergus gave her his famous "Bear King" grin. "I know ye will, lass." 

They left as dawn was breaking, though Merida was a little sad that she wasn't able to tell her brothers goodbye, as they were probably still abed. The dragon riders scouting ahead while the soldiers moved forward in an orderly fashion. Merida was surprised to see the young lords among them, all looking quite subdued. Apparently, they had joined in on the dragon training. Young Macintosh looked quite determined as they rode forward. They ate in the saddle at noon and continued to the forest a few miles away from DunBroch, where they would make camp. 

"Finally, I thought you guys would never get here!" Tuffnut's voice cut through the evening air easily as the Scotts joined the Vikings in a fairly even copse of trees. Oddly enough, Tuffnut and Ruffnut were the only ones that looked relaxed. Snotlout looked grumpy and Fishlegs was staring at the twins with a disappointed expression. Hiccup and Astrid though, they looked more furious than Merida had ever seen them. 

"Wha's goin on?" she asked. 

Hiccup answered. "Merida, I am so, so sorry. I had no idea that these two mutton heads would even-" 

"Hey, Boss man," Ruffnut cut him off. "My meathead brother and I had a pretty good idea! We could use these guys."

Merida was completely confused. "Who are you talkin' about?" Then she heard a sound, one that made every muscle in her body clench and her blood run cold. A giggle. 

"No," she said looking at the saddle bag attached to the zippleback the twins rode. One by one, three curly, red heads popped out of one bag, giggling the whole time. 

"You brought the boys?!" Merida shrieked. 

Even the wild dragons were scared out of the trees at the sound. 

Chapter Text

If Merida thought the triplets would listen to her now that there were dragons involved... She was sorely mistaken. Odd as it was, the only ones they seemed to actively listen to, were the Viking twins. 

"Sis, I feel like we just became parents through adoption," Tuffnut said while toting Hamish around on his shoulders. The giggling boy was all too happy to hang onto the helmet horns while they swayed around the snoozing dragons and soldiers. Ruffnut looked like she was trying to teach the other two boys to make a snare that would grab a human leg.

She nodded as she taught them the proper way to twist the rope for the knot. "I know right?" 

"They're supposed to be in bed," Merida fumed, Hiccup making a similar face from his bedroll near Toothless. The triplets didn't listen to him either. In fact, he'd been the target for a few of their earlier pranks, the dart lodged into the wooden section of his prosthetic a testament to the fact. 

"Would you two Yak Brains go to sleep already," he said grumpily. 

"But we're not tired," Ruffnut whined. If Astrid could have shot daggers out of her eyes, Ruffnut would be lying in a pool of her own blood just then. 

"We're fighting a whole nest of dragons tomorrow," Hiccup reasoned, tone deceptively inviting. "Either go to sleep, or I’ll let you two deal with Snotlout for the rest of the trip." That seemed to give them pause. 

"Fine, fine, Bossman, we'll go to bed, but we won't be happy about it," Tuffnut declared. "Hey, kiddos, if you go to be now, tomorrow I'll tell you about Chicken and how she helped us destroy a bunch of dragon trappers." The boys telepathically talked it over amongst themselves for a moment before snuggling into a shared bedroll by the Zippleback. Ruff and Tuff lied down on either side of them and tilted their helmets over their eyes. Soon enough, snores were heard. 

Hiccup and Astrid sighed. "Finally." 

Merida gave the twins a last scathing look before turning to the Viking leaders. "I have to ask though, Is Chicken a..."

"It's a chicken," Hiccup said with finality. 

"Ah." Now she wanted to know the story. 

Setting off the next morning wasn’t a pleasant experience. Oh, convincing the boys to sit three to a saddlebag along the back of a dragon was easy enough. The unpleasantness lay entirely in the angry glares being aimed at the young Vikings astride the Zippleback. Tuffnut and Ruffnut both seemed to ignore the looks just fine, but Merida and the rest of the Vikings, particularly Hiccup and Astrid, noticed more than one Scott finger the hilt of their swords where they rested on the belts of their patterned kilts. The DunBroch warriors, singled out by the bolder stripes in their kilt patterns, seemed to have a particular fondness for stroking the deadly pieces of sharp metal.

“Your father is going to kill us,” Hiccup whispered to her while loping alongside Angus on Toothless.

“So long as the wee beasts are back in their rooms when we return,” Merida hissed, glaring at the curly red tops. “I promise it won’t be you all that get murdered.” It would be her most likely. That’s how the story usually got spun in instances like this.

Hiccup frowned at his own twin troublemakers. “I promise they’ll be fine. Ruff and Tuff may not look it, but they can get serious when the it counts.”

“I’ll hold ye to that,” Merida grumbled. Hiccup took to the skies to join Astrid and the others while the Zippleback plodded along in front of the earth bound group. It was part punishment, part to ensure the young princes’ safety. The Zippleback didn’t seem to mind much, as it continuously nosed the slightly terrified horses, obviously curious about these not-yaks, but Merida took sadistic glee in the hyperactive, antsy boredom that permeated the riders that were stuck on the ground for the next few leagues. The crew of warriors, horses and single dragon rode through the fog blanketed hills and moors in equally peeved silence, the object of their quest not making itself known until the predawn light had settled into a warm sunrise.

As DunBroch rose on the horizon, the riders plummeted from the sky, alighting in the forest with silent ease far enough away that the nest didn’t stir, though the outer walls and towers still crawled with it’s moving tapestry of scales and wings. Once the horses were stopped and a makeshift corral had been erected, Merida collected her bow and accepted Hiccups help in mounting Toothless. With practiced ease, Hiccup signed to the Scotts, signals they knew well now thanks to their dragon training. As one, the soldiers dispersed into the trees, taking out small pieces of mirror and large pots and drums. A few already had their shields positioned on their arms to bang their swords against.

Hiccup pulled up alongside Astrid, who leaned down from Stormfly for a brief, but fierce, kiss, much to the disgust of Snotlout, who gagged loudly in the background.

“You guys know the plan,” Hiccup said, more of an affirmation to his fiancé than a question. Astrid nodded. “Wait for us to get into the clouds, then give ‘em hell.” He smirked at the Shield Maiden.

“Go get ‘em, Babe,” Astrid said, her own smirk in place as she turned to wrangle the rest of the riders into position. Fishlegs and Snotlout nodded briefly to Hiccup, the seriousness or the early morning stopping them from making any comments as their leader prepared to fly into the air. The twins gave them a brief salute, pausing only for a moment in their act of tying the triplet princes to the saddle of the dragon. The small boys mimicked their new heroes as their legs were secured to the leather contraption that wrapped around the chest of the dragon. Hiccup had called it a carrier basket, used for when they needed to transport things, and it had previously held the twins’ bedrolls. “We want them to come along for the ride, not die, obviously.” Tuffnut had said when proposing the idea the night before. Once the boys were settled, slingshots and basket of ammo at the ready, the twins mounted their dragon.

“Ready for take off boss man!” Ruffnut shouted at Hiccup.

“If my brothers get hurt,” Merida warned. “I’ll deal with you myself.”

The twins looked at each other before looking back at her and shrugging.

“That’s fair,” they said in unison.

“Riders,” Hiccup called. “Mount up!”

“Oh, this is so exciting! I can’t wait to see what’s happening in the castle!” Merida heard Fishlegs muttering excitedly to his dragon as he mounted. She turned to look just in time to see the lumpy beast give a full body wiggle, tongue lolling out in excitement. She snorted softly. Those two definitely suited each other.

“You ready,” Hiccup asked. Merida set her chin in a mulish expression, eyes on the dragon studded castle in the distance.

“Aye,” she whispered, strapping her bow to her back and pulling up the hood of her cloak.

Hiccup flicked down his helmet. “Let’s go, Bud.”  Silent as death, Toothless rose through the trees. They were far enough away that the dragons in Dun Broch didn’t react, and soon enough, they were hidden amongst the clouds hung low and heavy with unshed rain and blanketing the sky in cotton-like whorls, leaving no patches of blue.

Merida waited with bated breath. The clouds dampened everything around them, even her own breathing. It would be easy to forget which way was up in a place like this. Hiccups solid presence, and the even beats of Toothless’ wings reverberating between her thighs kept her grounded.

There was a dim noise below them, crashes and clanking that Merida could barely make out. Then there was a voice, sounding as if it was right below them.

“Riders, attack!” Merida felt Hiccup tense.

“Astrid?” She asked. He nodded

“Get ready.” He leaned forward and she tightened around his torso.

The first set of roars chilled her bones as they began to plummet, streaking through the clouds leaving nothing behind but a shriek of wind. The battle had begun.

Hiccup heard Merida whispering a prayer as they dodged between flying dragons on their way to the tower. The name Morrigan being whispered behind his ear over and over as he deftly directed Toothless. The nesting dragons, for their part, flew around in panicked streaks of green and brown, with the occasional red or yellow thrown in. The riders were doing a good job of stirring them up while the Celts on the ground, lead by the Young Lords, made enough noise to keep the lower flying dragons confused. Hiccup saw Wee Dingwall and Young Macintosh reflecting light off their shields to lure some of the dragons in their direction, while Young MacGuffin would fly out of the trees banging a sword against his shield to stun them. It was a good system, though Hiccup was sure that the halls of Valhalla were echoing with MacGuffin’s clanging. How strong was that guy?

“There!” Merida pointed at a window near the top of the tower, relatively clear since it’s protectors had fled to join the fight.

“Hang on,” Hiccup yelled before angling Toothless to zoom straight into the slim opening. They managed to just barely avoid crashing, and found themselves in a storage room. Merida dismounted, Hiccup following a tad les gracefully.

“Welcome to Dun Broch,” Merida said with false cheer as she took in the shambles the room was in. “Let me show you around.”

They went room by room, checking for dragon activity and anything that might be out of place. The shrieks and shouts coming from outside set Merida’s teeth on edge as she walked from room to room of her home, bow outstretched. When they came to her parents’ room she gasped out loud. The tapestry she and her mother had crafted was ruined! The thing was still in one piece mostly, but there were soot stains and punctures here and there and the corners were charred into oblivion. She could barely make out the outline of the girl and bear in the center beneath all the stains. Some sharp claw had sliced through the center, severing the legs of the bear.

 “I’m sorry, Merida,” Hiccup said quietly, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“’S not your fault,” Merida grit out, tearing her eyes away from the sight. “Let’s keep going.” Toothless cooed at her apologetically and wound his head beneath her palm. The cool scales against her fingertips brought a bit of comfort, but not much.

They picked their way through the castle carefully, Hiccup fending off the small dragons that had stayed during the attack. Toothless seemed to take a great deal of pleasure at tormenting the small ones that resembled puppies more than anything. The mews were empty as was the weaving room, its looms deprived of their cloth and threads, and a few knocked over. The great hall was a mess, her father’s various pieces of bear décor gnawed on or disintegrated. Merida didn’t think her mother would mind too much about that. Merida’s room had been mostly untouched, but it reeked of dragon and what Hiccup called ‘monstrous nightmare gel’. Finally, they reached the last place there was to look, the kitchens.

The sounds of scuttling greeted them before they entered the room. Merida paused and tensed. Hiccup drew out his sword while she pulled the arrow all the way back to her cheek, waiting for his signal. When he nodded they crashed into the room. the sight that greeted them was… Not expected.

A scaly, green tail was being herded out of the larder by a group of Terrible Terrors that looked about as exhausted as Maudy on her worst days. They were so tired, they barely hissed as Hiccup and Merida looked into the pantry, following the tail. Inside was a small dragon, one Hiccup had never seen. Merida had, though. She’d seen it on tapestries and paintings, in books painted and inked by monks stooped over desks for hours on end. It wasn’t the same dragon. But its form was similar to the ones she was familiar with; a long face with a slender nose, horns sprouting from the top of its head, heavy set hindquarters and arms that would eventually be muscular, claws that looked like vicious hooks, and kitten fangs that would soon descend to either side of it’s snout. Before she’d seen a real dragon, this was the only kind she’d thought existed. The kind that was drawn in stories. And here it was wagging its rump in an attempt to dislodge a Terror while it stuck its tongue into the empty jar of marmalade.

“It’s a baby,” Hiccup muttered, watching the tiny thing warble at the other dragons. It was true, the wee thing only came up to Merida’s knee, no bigger than a dog. And, like a dog, it bounded over to them when it noticed others in the room. Verdant scales refracted light as it slid to a stop at Merida’s feet.

“It’s a babe,” Merida agreed. “But how did it get here?”

That’s when she noticed the shell. Bits of it were scattered around the kitchen. The outer layer looking like rock, the inside resembling the smooth plane of a chicken egg. The dark gray pieces were flung to all corners of the room, but a large chunk sat in the fireplace.

“Did it fling them about?” Merida asked, flicking the hem of her dress out of reach of the young dragonling that was beginning to bat at it.

“Dragon eggs explode when they hatch,” Hiccup murmured, kneeling on the floor to get closer to the infant. “I’ve never seen one like this.” Toothless nosed at it, rolling the baby over onto it’s back. It let out a squawk like a giggle and rolled over before running around between Toothless’ legs. Just like a human toddler.

“What do we do with it?” Merida asked, putting away her bow. Hiccup shrugged.

“We take it outside, I guess,” he said. “And pray to all the gods that we don’t get flambéed on exit.”

The baby, growing bored of Toothless, ran back to Merida, cuddling up against her ankles and looking up at her with imploring eyes as green as it’s scales. Merida shuddered.

Those eyes. They were strange. They pulled her in and seemed to wrap her in nostalgia. In those eyes, she saw the moors. She saw the rivers and the cliffs, the oceans beating against sheer rock, thistle that grew in abundance on hillsides. She saw DunBroch and it’s forests, and Fief Dingwall and it’s fields of grass. She saw the mists and thunderstorms of her country that shook the trees and washed the earth into newness. She felt like she was drowning and flying all at once.

            Hello… a voice whispered, ancient and young at the same time. I’ve been waiting for the two of you.

"Hiccup," Merida asked, wonder and a trace of fear lacing her tone. 

"I heard it," he replied. 

The baby dragon wiggled in place again, long forked tongue lolling out as it grinned up at them. Outside the roars of dragons and shouts of the warriors quieted. As silence filled the kitchen, Toothless seemed to come to a decision. Elegantly, his neck arched and he bowed his head to the smaller dragon, warbling gently. 

"Merida," Hiccup whispered in awe. "I think this may be a Dragon King." 

Chapter Text

The baby dragon chortled, the sound ringing in the ears of the young adults like a bell, clear and high but deafening. 

A King... It said. I am no such thing. Kings are of Mortals and Men, Dragons have no need of such. 

"Then what are you?" Merida asked, her fingers twitching for her bow. The dragon regarded her with its jewel gaze for a moment. 

I'm not quite sure myself. Was the jolly reply. The forked tongue waggled between its fangs and lips as it seemed to laugh at itself again. Strangely, the effect was more comedic than scary, especially with it's eyes all scrunched up in laughter. I suppose I shall find out sooner or later.

"It has to be an Alpha at least," Hiccup mumbled to himself. The baby sniffed at the marmalade jar again before its attention was caught by an urn of something that might have once been butter, but had since grown rancid. As soon as the tongue dipped into the mixture the small beasty was retching and gagging, all the while scraping at its snout with it's paws. Toothless made a short series of barks that Merida had learned to translate as laughter. Finally seeming to shake off the taste, the baby went in search of more treats. 

All this talk of Alphas and Kings... It sighed, rifling through the remaining jars of the pantry. I am what I am, Dragon Rider. Be I dust in the wind or a Dragon Alpha, as you say, all will be revealed in time. For now, I am me, and you are you, and I have something that I'd like to say to the both of you. 

It was a wee bit difficult to take the words seriously when the only part of the dragon they could see was a shiny green behind as it wiggled in the doorway of the pantry amidst the clinking of jars and baskets. 

Hiccup side eyed Merida as the cheerful eyes and grinning snout came back covered in what was probably her father's good dandelion wine. It lapped at the golden droplets and peered at both of them before stomping over and sitting on Hiccup's foot expectantly.

Well, get down here. We don't have all day! Hiccup knelt as best he could with his toes trapped. Soft green eyes met ancient, grassy pools and there was a churning in Merida's belly as the mood shifted to something far from cheerful. Hiccup's eyes widened as the dragon began to speak, it's voice seeming to grow heavy with authority. 

Mm... The dragon hummed. You indeed have a great destiny, one fraught with trials. Your path will twist and turn, Young Rider, in ways that even I cannot predict. There will be decisions you must make, ones that will impact not only your kind- It looked over at Toothless- but all of Dragonkind as well. 

Hiccup tensed. "What kinds of decisions?" 

The dragon shook it's small head, the scaly nose nearly brushing Hiccups as it did so. I cannot say. But heed this advice; you have seen the world as both a dragon and a human. A time may come to choose between them, when it does, consider carefully who you are, and where you belong. 

Hiccup nodded respectfully. "I will." 

In a final act of affection, the infant dragon grabbed Hiccup's face between it's paws and licked a stripe from his chin to his forehead, batting its paws together and laughing at the messy trail left behind. Merida snorted into her fist as Hiccup groaned, trying to scrub the goop off but only smearing it further. Toothless decided to take an opportunity to deliver a lick of his own. 

"Toothless!" Hiccup huffed, trying to flatten the cowlick running up one side of his head. "You know that doesn't wash out!" Merida was too bust letting out loud guffaws to notice that the dragon had turned its attention to her. 

Shining Princess with the Fire Hair... It said, plopping down in front of her. 

She stifled her giggles. "Wha' is that?" 

The trees of this land, whose roots my egg slept between for decades, call you that. The dragon tilted his head. I see why they say so. They whispered much to me, about you and your journeys and explorations in the forests. They speak of you as if you were one of their own seedlings. 

Merida felt a bit of a haze crawling over her brain. It was too much at once, the dragons-one that talked, even-and now the trees... She wanted to sit, maybe nap, for a while, just until things began to make sense. 

"The trees talk?" Hiccup asked for her. The dragon seemed to smile fondly.

Aye, they do, he whispered. They tell such wonderful stories. 

Wha' kind of stories?" Merida asked, her voice whisper-soft. The dragon turned to her, excitement pouring off of his small body the same way the dandelion wine had. 

All sorts, it squeaked. The rise of winds and the whispers of creeks, the way humans shape the land. Hoes that till the soil and scythes that cut through grain. Living, dying, the birth of new lands in oceans far away. The way the earth breaths when no one is looking. It sighed dreamily. I'd like to see it for myself now that I've hatched. 

"D'they say anything about me?" Merida asked, her mouth growing dry with trepidation. 

The dragon regarded her with a gaze filled with warmth. They say, 'thank you'. 

"Thank you?" 

He nodded. Thank you for growing with them, and climbing their trunks. Thank you for riding amongst them and telling them stories of the humans. Thank you for loving this land as much as they do. And thank you for saving them from the evil that had taken root in the heart of the Turned Prince. His soul is at peace amongst the tapestry of their roots and vines, and they will help him rest.

"You speak of Mor'Du," Merida asked. 

"The bear?" Hiccup asked. The dragon only nodded. 

"Is that all you had to tell us?" Merida wanted to know. 

This is all you must know, the dragon agreed before beginning to waddle out the door. On instinct, the two young adults-and dragon-followed them. I do apologize about the castle though, I hadn't known that my birth would cause the dragons to descend. Apparently they hold me in high regard. His tone was almost jovial as they made their way to the doors that opened the Great Hall into the expanse of the Highlands. 

Merida looked around, at the disintegrated chairs and charred stones before coming to a decision. "What was broken can be mended," she said firmly. "No lives were lost, though some few's pride may be a bit bruised." 

Said like one who will be a grand Queen, the dragon agreed. 

"We'll help as much as we can," Hiccup agreed. "You'd be amazed at what dragon's can do when they're trying to be helpful, right, Bud?" Toothless raised his head and warbled in agreement. 

The dragons' leaving was a sight to behold. As soon as the baby waddled out the front doors and into the sunshine, the collection of winged predators bowed simultaneously, their fanged snouts touching the ground. The collected Vikings and Scotts were staring at them, dumbstruck. He turned around to look at the young adults one last time. 

Goodbye my friends! He called. May I see you again once your paths have been traveled. I look forward to your stories. 

 "Goodbye..." Merida came to a sudden realization. "Ye never told us yer name!" she yelled. 

You did not need to know. With another ageless giggle, the baby dragon leaped into the air, steadier than Hiccup had ever seen a baby dragon fly. As one, the assembled dragons leaped after it, the air turning into a whirling canvas of greens, reds, golds and a few blacks. 

"Well," Hiccup said, his shoulders shrugging as the stress seemed to bleed out of him. "That is the oddest thing that's ever happened to me."

Merida nodded. "Aye."

"Hiccup!" Astrid landed next to them, her face covered in streaks of soot, but she was mostly uninjured, as were the other riders. "Babe! What happened in there?" She cupped Hiccups face between her hands as the others began joining them in front of the Great Hall, the Young Lords booking it over and looking the slightest bit worse for wear. "The Dragons, they just stopped, they didn't move or roar. They all just went blank, like..." She seemed to run out of words, instead waving her hands around as if that could explain everything she couldn't say. 

Hiccup took hold of her waving hands. "I know, and trust me, we'll explain everything."

It took a week to get the castle repairs started. Another to air out all the rooms and clear the debris. The Riders and their dragons helped with that. Hiccup and Toothless carted out tarps filled with broken chairs and brick, as did Astrid and Stormfly. The twins and Snotlout helped rebuild and keep an eye on the boys, while Fishlegs, who for some reason was incredibly popular with the serving women, helped them cart in numerous sheets and clothes that needed to be washed and mended. Meatlug was happy to accept the washing stones as treats for lugging the giant bundles too and from the river. 

Finally, almost two months after the Dragon Riders arrived, Dun Broch was looking more like the castle Merida had grown up in, more like the home she'd always adored. Even Stoic the Vast seemed impressed once the wooden beams had been replaced and the loose stones had been moved back into position. 

"Fergus, I'll have to hand it to you," he said, covered in grit and grime from the work. "I's a grand hall, it is." 

Fergus was all too happy to boast. "Generations of the Dun Broch clan have lived here, my friend. I couldnae let it fall to ruin in my time. For that, I owe ye a debt, and a feast."

Stoic chuckled. "Oh ho, ye don want to say that to a Viking, Man." The two laughed like long time buddies and began wandering the rest of the castle, Fergus pointing out the various bear trophies that had been preserved and Stoic, speaking of the dragons of his home. 

Eleanor watched the exchange from her mending table, set up in the far back of the hall. It was nice to see her husband banding about like a boy with someone he considered an equal. In Dunbroch and the surrounding lands, there were few that matched him in size and strength. There were even fewer that understood the burden of leadership. Eleanor often wondered if he felt a bit lonely. Well, she supposed, if her husband found friendship in the large Viking, she could learn to like with the dragons that constantly flew in.

There was one place in the castle that she hadn't gone to look over, the library. Imagine her surprise when she made it up the stairway and found young Hiccup flipping through the stacks of volumes, setting the charred and unreadable ones aside while the rest went back on the shelves. 

"Young Lord Haddock," she said. It had taken her a while to find a term of address suitable for the lad. Finally she'd settled on referring to him the way she did the other Young Lords. "I'm surprised to find you here." 

She wasn't really. If their was one thing she'd learned about the young heir it was that he valued knowledge over strength. It didn't surprise her to see him surrounded by books filled with stories, algorithms and the history of the Celts. It also seemed appropriate to see him scanning the pages as if he understood their language. What surprised her more was that his dragon was nowhere to be found, until she saw a small pile of tomes shift and a dust covered snout poke its way over the volumes. Toothless had decided to lounge in the sunlight afforded by the library window it seemed. 

"Your Majesty." Hiccup closed the volume and bowed politely. "Please call me Hiccup."

Eleanor considered it. "Very well, and you may refer to me as Eleanor, please." The smile that split the boys face was equal parts shy and understanding as he nodded. "Have you found our library to your standards?"

He scanned the rows of books with a fond expression, tracing his fingertips over the green cover in his hands. 

"Speaking plainly, Lady Eleanor, my standards for a library are three books on a shelf. This is way better than anything I could ever imagine."

 Eleanor chuckled. "Well then," she gestured broadly. "Peruse as much as you like. I'm sure you'll find something interesting." 

"Actually, Lady Eleanor,"he said, glancing back at the pages as he did so. "I don't read Gaelic. I just like the way the words look." 

Eleanor couldn't help herself, she laughed loud and long, clutching her stomach as the giggles rolled through her body. 

Hiccup was wide-eyed when she managed to stifle the snorts enough to look at him again, Toothless also leaving the sunbeam to see why the queen had lost her mind. 

"Come 'ere then, Lad," she chortled. "I'll show you what they say."

The castle was fixed. Well, for the most part. Maudy nearly cried when she was told the Vikings were leaving and the boys would be back in her care. It was time to say goodbye to their new friends. Merida, Fergus, the Young Lords, the Queen and the soldiers that had accompanied them to the battle all waited on the end of the bridge that lead to the Great Hall to see them off. 

"We'll miss all of ye," Merida said, hugging Astrid and Hiccup in turn.

"We'd stay longer if we could," Hiccup promised. "But we've been away from Berk a bit too long." 

They looked grand, Merida thought. Each of them lined up in front of their dragons, armor back on, set to fly off into the early morning sunrise. It was a shame she couldn't go with them. 

"Write some, would ye?" she asked. 

Hiccup held up the book he and her mother had created that was a sort of alphabetic translator for their two languages. "I promise, that won't be a problem. I could use the practice."

"Before you leave." Eleanor bustled her way into the ring of young adults. "I've brought a little something for ye." She handed Hiccup a medium sized book, bound in soft green leather with a brass clasp holding the pages together. "This is a wee gift for you."

Hiccup ran his hand over the cover, awestruck. "Thank you, Miss Eleanor." 

The queen nodded. "I'll expect a full analysis once you can read the whole thing. As for you"-She turned to Astrid-"I've brought you a little something as well." She placed something in Astrid's palm, a small dagger with a soft blue stone set in the pommel. The leaf shaped blade shimmered as Astrid tilted it one way and then another. 

"It's gorgeous, Your Majesty."

"I thought you'd like it. It's not much, but it was the only thank you I could come up with in time." Eleanor hugged the young couple good bye.

"Uh, what about us?" Tuffnut's voice broke the spell. "We got shot at! Don't we get presents?" Snotlout looked like he was about to say the same thing. 

The queen chuckled. "I've prepared things for you as well."

By the time they settled in the saddles, Snotlout had a new axe, Fishlegs a collection of herbs, and the twins received pots of paint in green, yellow and red. The triplet princes came to offer up their slingshots to their new friends as well. Ruffnut cried while accepting hers.

"I'm gonna miss you little beans," she hollered while hugging them close. Tuffnut started bawling as well mumbling something about giving the third sling shot to Chicken. 

Stoic was the one to put an end to the sobfest. "Riders, prepare for take off!" 

"I offer you ma' thanks on behalf of ma' clan and my home," Fergus called, joining his wife and daughter at the end of the bridge. "If ever you need a favor, clan Dun Broch will be there as fast as the wind can take us!" The soldiers all let out a war cry in agreement, raising their weapons in a salut to the Riders. 

"We'll hold you to tha', Friend," Stoic called. As one the dragon's leapt into the air, the Night Fury leading the charge. Whoops of freedom and farewells seemed to last long after they faded from sight, rising through the clouds. 

Merida smiled. Someday, she'd see those dragons and Vikings again, maybe at her coronation, but for now, home was waiting.