Under Pressure

Chapter Twelve: Worst Nightmare

The Meathead island was slightly smaller than Berk and much greener. The residents seemed unperturbed by the sudden arrival of twenty foreign men and women on dragons. It was almost like this was a daily occurrence, worthy of a split second glance but rather banal compared to one's task at hand. The Meatheads had been the first tribe after Berk to incorporate dragons into their everyday life. While Berk seemed to attract a higher number of Deadly Nadders and Terrible Terrors, Brawn played host to a greater number of Gronckles and Zipplebacks. Perhaps it was a slight difference in the atmosphere. Perhaps it had something to do with the kind of dragon nip that was unique to the tranquil island. Hiccup might have been very interested in investigating these possibilities were he not still hearing his daughter's cries ringing in his ears even a half hour later.

The sun's rays cast an orange glow on the island that steadily brightened as it rose from the sky. Hiccup had been to Brawn once before when Stoick had gone through a bizarre parenting phase that required the boy to be within thirty feet of him at all times. During the trip, Hiccup had a run-in with a foreigner who had stopped at Brawn on a trading ship. The boy unwisely decided to attempt to use his limited Latin vocabulary to converse with the woman. He had received a slap on the face and, after a lot of discussion he couldn't understand, was informed that he had told her that he had expressed a desire to tackle her to the ground and beat her over the head with a fish. Hiccup had never been more embarrassed in his entire life and Stoick had spent weeks informing those who heard the story that his son didn't have any frightening fetishes that he knew of.

The residents of Brawn seemed to have forgotten that particular blunder. Hiccup was quite relieved; he didn't want Snotlout to hear about it. Kara emerged from her residence the moment the council had touched down. She directed most of the men and women to her Great Hall, where a meal had been prepared for them. She asked Hiccup and Astrid to stay behind for a moment.

"Our arena is located on the west side of the island. Our blacksmith has agreed to loan you some of our best weapons but he told me to tell you that if any of them get bloody, to clean them off before returning them." Kara grimaced a bit. "Since I imagine you'll be using some of them during the duel..."

Hiccup nodded once. "Tell him we'll do what he wants if that becomes necessary."

Astrid shuddered at the thought of having to clean her husband's blood off of anything at this point. Frederik emerged from the chief's house carrying a baby and motioning for them to be quiet. For a moment, Hiccup and Astrid watched as he gently continued to rock the newborn when he got to his wife.

"Our daughter, Sigrid." she whispered so that the baby would not awaken.

Hiccup was strongly reminded of the woman named Sigrid who had lived on Berk... Adrianna had cried at her funeral. He thought it was cruel of the gods to remind him of that of his little girl's compassion at a time in which he wondered if he would even see her again. He stifled the memory as quickly as he could but it left him with an ache in his heart.

"How old is she?" Astrid was asking as Hiccup came back to reality.

"Two weeks. Everyone was telling me to take it easy and send someone in my place to your meeting but I felt fine and it seemed so urgent." Kara paused for a moment, staring at her baby. "I'm glad I did. You should have gotten more support. The thought of my daughter being abused like that..." her voice grew shaky and she trailed off rather than finish her thought.

Hiccup reached out and put a hand on the Meathead chief's upper arm in what he hoped was a kind gesture. "We really appreciate everything you've done for us." he tried to convey how much he meant his words but he felt oddly dead inside, similar to how he had felt just after Stoick died. He wondered if it was his heart's way of dealing with agonizing emotional pain.