Under Pressure

Chapter Seventeen: Reunion

It would be nearly a day of sailing before Finn and Adrianna would arrive on Brawn. The day Oona decided that Hiccup was well enough for visitors, the children were summoned, as were the other chiefs. Since the chiefs were arriving on dragons, the nasty business of changing the law wouldn't take much time and they would be long gone by the time the twins arrived.

As chief of the Berserkers and the Hooligans, Hiccup felt that he deserved the option of hosting the meeting in the healer's house. His stump had mostly healed but he still limped quite a bit and he needed to stay in bed most of the day. He was hoping he would recover soon because being bedridden was very boring, especially without the twins (though the Thorston twins did provide a little bit of entertainment).

There were ten chiefs crammed into the small room and crowding around Hiccup's bed. The Hooligan and Berserker chief had already drawn up an official document stating that any child born outside of his or her parents' home island is a citizen of both his or her parents' home and the island on which he or she was born. The vote was, as required by law, unanimous and all ten chiefs signed the document into law. Now this situation would never happen again and the archipelago would likely face a quieter period of time without any violent tribes to stir up trouble. There would be disagreements, certainly, but no wars anytime soon. At least not until someone's offspring proved to be a deranged sociopath. And the odds of that were miniscule. Or so Hiccup hoped.

"You do realize that you just changed Inga's nationality, don't you?" Astrid asked with a smile when the last foreign chief finally left the house.

"Oh yeah. I guess that makes her half Meathead, doesn't it?" Hiccup chuckled. "Well if they're as friendly to her as they are to me, she'll fit in pretty well."

"I'm glad you think we're friendly." Kara sighed deeply and sat down on a chair propped up against a wall.

"That reminds me, Kara, do you want a new tribe?" Hiccup asked quite seriously. "Because I do not want any more people in mine. It's hard enough with the people I've got."

"Can you do that?" Kara asked, getting out the law book and flipping through it.

"Yeah. It's a clause underneath the duel one, which I think is on page 12." Hiccup pointed to the law in his own book, which he had just gotten out. "If, however, the victor does not seek acquisition, as an alternative, he may designate an assignee to officiate the tribe."

"And you think I would want it? I just had a baby!" Kara exclaimed, shaking her head vehemently.

Hiccup shrugged. "It was worth a shot. Is there anyone here that you think would make a good chief? I'd almost consider appointing Snotlout but something in my gut tells me that it wouldn't be a good idea to give him that much power. And I don't think Fishlegs would want to do it. That and if he died suddenly before Helga turns seventeen, Ruffnut would be chief."

Everyone paused to allow that statement to sink in. There was a collective shudder.

"What about my brother?" Kara suggested. "He's a year younger than me, already has an heir, and he's a really good leader. He could whip those Berserkers into shape in no time."

Hiccup furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't know Sven very well but the Meathead had been undeniably helpful. He had even come by a few times to check up on how Hiccup was doing. He came from a chief's family... everything seemed to click.

"If you can vouch for him..." he said slowly, his mind racing.

"I can. Our father taught him well, just in case something happened to me." Kara smiled. "Now that I have my daughter, it doesn't look like he'll ever take over here. Why waste all that training?"