Little Miracles

A Berserk Holiday

Chapter Six: A Berserk Holiday

Stoick awoke a little later than usual the next morning. At first he marveled at the fact that he had actually managed to sleep through the sunrise but then remembered that the day was Snoggletog and that he had all kinds of surprises for his little grandchildren. Not one to keep them waiting, he got out of bed and threw on some festive clothing. He then left his house, his arms full of gifts for his family. Gobber was hobbling toward the Haddock house as well, his arms just as full of toys and treats for the little twins.

"Bit of a late start, don't you think?" Gobber asked by way of a greeting, chuckling to himself.

"Overslept. First time in years too. Guess the gods don't want me to wake the kids before the sunrise. Probably for the best." Stoick shrugged as they arrived at the door to the Haddock house. He rapped his knuckles on it. "Happy Snoggletog! Anybody awake?"

There was no reply. The older men exchanged puzzled glances. Finn and Adrianna usually shrieked with excitement when they showed up no matter what day it was and Snoggletog was even more special. Stoick knocked on the door again but still there was no reply. He slowly pushed it open.

The main room was deserted, Snoggletog decorations still up and the twins' stockings full of untouched goodies. No noise came from upstairs.

"The house is super quiet, Stoick. Maybe we shouldn't go in there. You know they have a rule about the bedroom." Gobber whispered.

Stoick rolled his eyes. "Gobber, you are the sole reason that is an established rule to begin with. Everyone else in the whole of the archipelago has that rule understood."

"Well I practically raised the boy in the forge! I never thought I'd walk in on anything like that..."

"Ah, ah." Stoick held up a hand. "Spare me."

The men crept into the house. It was as if it had been deserted for at least a day. Praying that the family was still sleeping on the second floor, they walked up the stairs, noting that Hiccup and Astrid's bedroom door was open but the room was empty. Finn's bedroom door was wide open as well but no one was there either. And then they spotted Adrianna's room at the end of the hall, her door slightly ajar. The feeling of uneasiness mounting, they pushed open the door and stopped.

Hiccup was sitting down on his daughter's bed, his face ashen and a slip of parchment in his hand. He didn't look up at his father and friend as they walked in; he was staring at his knees, his eyes wide and his breaths coming in short gasps.

"Son?" Stoick strode forward and put a hand on Hiccup's shoulder.

Hiccup looked up at him, an expression the man had seen only once before etched into his features. It was as if he was back in the village square the day Astrid had been taken, the day Hiccup had nearly killed himself to get her back before the twins were born. One look at his son's face told Stoick that what had happened was very bad.

"He took her." Hiccup said in a weak voice, handing his father the parchment. "He has my baby."

"Where's Finn?" asked Stoick, trying to think clearly.

"Astrid took him to her mother's." Hiccup replied, his expression not changing. "She'll be back soon."

Stoick nodded and gently took the paper out of his son's hand. He read it over and handed it to Gobber, trying to keep his hands from visibly trembling. Something about the note seemed a bit off to him but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. For one thing, the pronoun "him" was hastily rubbed out and replaced with "her." For another thing, something didn't look right about the Skrill. Gobber angrily crumpled the note when he had finished reading it but kept it on hand just in case it would be needed later.