The Great Beyond

Chapter 58: The Return of Thor Bonecrusher (Reign)

              Burning afternoon sun shot through the windows, providing the perfect spotlight for my work. Metal parts practically sparkled under its harsh gaze, almost as though they were trying to make themselves appear less intimidating. Hiccup and I had been trying to slot this one part together in particular for the past few hours, but it almost felt like we maybe were missing something. We had such a wide array of parts, yet somehow, none of them worked together yet. Reaching the end of my rope, I tried one last combination, and when that didn't work, I set the pieces back down on the wooden table and slammed my head into my arms.

"Babe?" I called out. Hiccup's footsteps came running down the stairs, coming to a sudden halt right behind me. "I've tried everything I can think of. These pieces don't want to work together."

He gently reached over my shoulder, sifting through the parts I'd been working with. The two of us had been trading off working on this secret project the past few days. Ever since he'd let me in on what exactly he was working on, the progress had moved much faster, and it was actually starting to come together nicely—that was, until today. For whatever reason, the easiest part of the device proved to be the most finicky with what parts it needed.

"Uh, Reign?" I lifted my head from its hiding place and glanced back at him. "You're looking at the wrong part of the drawing."

Confused, I sat up straight and picked up our current plans, scanning my eyes over it several times before I spotted my error. Somehow, my gaze had drifted while I was working, leading to me trying to fit two completely different parts of the device together. Frustrated, I groaned and slammed the piece of parchment back down.

"I can't believe I missed that," I groaned. "How did I not notice that?"

A pair of hands grabbed onto my shoulders and pulled, getting me up from the stool I'd been sat in for far too long. Once I was out of the way, Hiccup grabbed the cloth we'd been using to keep the project hidden and threw it back over the parts, putting them out of sight to shift our focus away from work.

"You've been working on this for a while. I can't believe I'm the one saying this to you, but you should take a break." I chuckled and rested my head against his shoulder, taking in a deep breath to calm myself.

"I know. It just feels really good when I actually make something work."

The two of us stood there for a while, gently swaying to a song that wasn't playing. My mind started to wander, picturing the two of us in elaborate clothing with guests surrounding us for a moment. It had been a while since I'd thought about our wedding at all, but lately, it had come back to the front of my mind. Hiccup and I had put the last few plans we needed to solidify on hold for a while, not feeling up to thinking about a celebration for obvious reasons. Neither of us were completely back in the right mindset, but we managed to reach agreements on our last few details and send them back to Berk. A couple days ago, I'd started flying back and forth for fittings and designs for my dress again, and in all honesty, it provided a sort of comfort and sense of peace I didn't actually realize I needed. Thankfully, no one asked why things had come to a halt for a while, and they appeared to be ready to just pretend it never happened.

"Hiccup! Reign!"

The two of us jumped and the former whipped around as our door was thrown open. Snotlout stood in the entrance, shoulders hunched as he tried to catch his breath before explaining why he was in such a rush.

"There are some Outcasts here." Hiccup and I glanced at each other, brows furrowed in confusion. The Outcasts almost never came around. "They said something about some people holding Alvin hostage."