Pain {Survivor AU}

A Few Friends Visit

"I don't want to face him." Hiccup groaned to his friends as he adjusted the fur cape his mother had pinned to his shoulders. "Especially if I have to explain you-know-what to him. He didn't even come to the funeral to pay respect!"

"Wait, you haven't heard?" Astrid asked in surprise. "We sent word out weeks ago of Kari's death and Heather responded just a day ago saying they hadn't even gotten a single letter!"

"Maybe the Terror didn't reach them in time?" Snotlout suggested. "Or someone stole the letter to prevent the Defenders and Berserkers from coming?"

"Well whatever the reason is, at least they're coming to do the treaty and pay their respects." Adrian said as he adjusted the silver Nadder brooch on cloak before Astrid turned it the other way. "Oh come on, it looked better when I fixed it!"

"She! Here they come!" Fishlegs hissed as the boats came close to the docks.

Eight dragon riders waited as some Berserker soliders tossed  a plank over the side of the lake ship with a Skrill and Eruptodon on the sail. Hiccup felt his gut wrench when he saw a familiar red head climb off the ship.

"Hold on! Gotta help my wife off the ship too!" Dagur yelled as he hurried back up the plank to help Mala off. Much to the rider's surprise, a heavily pregnant Mala was literally carried off the ship with Heather and Throk in tow, scolding Dagur and warning him not to drop his wife and heir.

"You didn't need to carry me off the boat, I can walk perfectly fine!" Mala scolded her husband as he carefully placed her back on the ground.

"Oh come on, you could hardly walk off the ship!" Dagur pointed out as he let her take his arm to walk her to the riders. "It's good to see you all again! And I see you have a new rider in your ranks!"

"It's good to see you guys again too. Though Stoick wanted to greet you himself but he caught a cold and Valka refused to let him out of the house." Adrien said with a nod. "Though...we actually have two new riders, not one."

"What do you mean? I see eight of you right here!" Dagur said looking confused.

"They lost a rider Dagur, I told you last night!" Heather exclaimed. "Or were you not listening to me because you were sleep deprived? I told you Kari was no longer a part of the riders!"

"She's right there, between the Thorston twins!"

"I...I'm not Kari, I'm Bella." Bella said raising her hand. "Though everyone at first thought I was Kari because of how similar I looked to her."

Dagur's eyes widened in surprise and looked to his sister for an explanation. "But...if she's not part of the riders...w-where..."

"Dagur... she's dead." Heather said softly and Hiccup wanted to bury himself in the snow. "They sent word weeks ago but we never got the letter."

"No...no she...she can't be dead..." Dagur whispered before his eyes narrowed. "Who killed her? Who killed my ex-wife? Who the fuck killed her!"

"The man who killed her is gone!" Hiccup blurted out, feeling himself close to tears. "And she died defending...me..."

"What?"

"She tried defending me! I was trying to talk some sense into this man called Drago Bludvist, who was building a dragon army and attacked a dragon sanctuary my mother was living in, but he tried to kill me. But Kari...Kari, being the selfless sister who always spent her life defending me, shoved me out of the way and took the blow for me. I-if it wasn't for her...either me or our dad would have gotten killed."

Just retelling this made Hiccup want to break down crying. His sister's ex didn't deserve to hear this, not after they separated on good terms with each other and went on with their lives- Dagur getting married to Mala and Kari living the life of a single and free woman as best as she could. If Dagur was going to get mad and attack him for being the reason why the girl he first fell in love with was dead, so be it.

"Dagur don't!" Hiccup heard Mala yell as he heard the Berserker chief storm towards him. He hung his head down as he heard the other riders move to form a wall around him, but heard Dagur shove right through them and stop in front of him.

"If you're going to be mad at someone, be mad at me. I deserve it." Hiccup said quietly. "It's my fault she's dead, it's my fault for letting this happened. If I hadn't tried to-" Hiccup was cut short when he felt Dagur grab him by the front of his tunic and throw his arms around him in a...hug? Why was Dagur hugging him?

"Don't you dare blame yourself for something you couldn't stop." Dagur said as he hugged Hiccup tightly. "It's not your fault, you were only trying to do what you do best and your sister did what she thought was right. If anyone is to blame, it's that Drago guy."

Hiccup felt like he was going to burst out crying in relief. He felt another pair of arms around him and saw it was Heather hugging him as well. He carefully put one arm around her and another around Dagur to enclose them in the hug.

"Come on, we have a treaty to do. You can tell us more about this later when you feel better." Heather said as they broke the hug. "And it's not good for Mala to remain on her feet for so long."

⚡⚡⚡

"Dagur?" Mala called to her husband as she walked to his table. "Are you alright?"

"Just peachy." Dagur replied hoarsly and looked down at his fourth (or fifth) mug of ale. "I'm fine Mala, I'm fine."

"No you're not, you're drinking excessively." Mala scolded as she sat across from him. "Look, I understand that you're upset over the death of your ex-wife. You two parted on good terms, remained friends, it hurt me as well when I learned she died, but it hurts me more seeing you like this."

"She didn't deserve to die, she had her whole life ahead of her. Heck when we divorced I told her that I hoped she'd find someone who loved her just as much as she did, and that they'd love each other long enough to have a family." Dagur said as his wife pried the mug from his hand and he dropped his head onto the table. "It's not fair Mala, it's just not fair! Her parents and siblings are suffering from her death, as well as her poor dragons!"

"Well at least Hiccup found someone to care for them. Striker seems to be getting along with his new rider." Mala pointed out, gesturing to the new dragon rider sitting a few tables away as he was scratching Striker under the chin. "We all learned to move on from a death of a loved one, you were able to move on from your father's death."

"This is different. How can I move on from the death of the first girl I fell in love with, betrothed to, married when we were enemies, later got divorced, and remained friends?" Dagur asked looking up at his wife sadly. "I know I'm being stupid crying over my ex-wife, but I have a good reason to."

Mala placed a hand on her stomach, feeling their child move. She recalled several weeks before when the two of them were trying to come up with a name for their unborn child. Boy names, they found quite a few that they liked, but for girl names they were a bit stumped. A small idea came to her just now. "Kari." She said softly as she placed her other hand on her husband's hand.

"What?" Dagur asked her.

"If the baby is a girl, and if the elders were right about that, what if we named her after Kari?" Mala suggested. "Our little girl named after a brave and nobel dragon rider who risked her life defending her family and friends no matter what." Dagur was quiet for a few moments, probably trying to process the information in his drunk mind before he nodded.

"I'll be able to keep this one safe at least." Dagur murmured as he gave his wife's hand a small squeeze. "And she'll grow up hearing stories about her namesake, and want to train dragons just like her and uncle Hiccup. I'm sure Kari would love knowing someone was named after her."