In Lieu Of A Tail

4. Things Are Coming Together And Falling Apart

Hiccup awoke to darkness. He found it very strange and reached up to the pitch black. His fingertips brushed the leathery material and it retracted from his touch, revealing daylight.
The boy was nudged from behind and he turned to see a pair of acid-green eyes staring at him.

"Hey Toothless, did you sleep well?" The dragon crooned in reply. "Good."

Hiccup sat up from where he had been laying, running a hand through his hair in a gesture that would someday become his signature tell of 'Oh Gods what am I going to do'.

"Oh Toothless." He mused. "What the Hel am I going to do now?" 

The dragon considered the question and, finding no answer, nuzzled the boy in a reassuring gesture. Hiccup looked up and met the Night Fury's eyes, who responded with his trademark 'toothless' grin, before waving one of his wings and doing what could only be described as a chuffing laugh. Hiccup rolled his eyes and sniggered.

"What? You think we should wing it?" He joined his dragon in laughter.

***********

The door closed in a sound that seemed foreign to the silent house, it was too loud. Stoick's steps were heavy, just like his heart, they echoed throughout the empty house and broke the silence once again. He collapsed in his wooden chair at the table, unprepared to do anything and fully aware he would not sleep easy.

He removed his helmet and hugged it to his chest, praying to Freja and Thor and anyone listening that this was just a bad dream. But he knew it wasn't, because dreamers always wake up, they wake up and find that everything is as it should be. They wake up and check on their little boy who is safe and sound in his bed, then their wife comes and tells them to get back to bed, that little Hiccup is fine, and that neither she nor Hiccup are going anywhere.
But he never wakes up, he remains in the nightmare he long ago accepted as reality, but it is worse that before, because he couldn't protect the last piece of his dear Valka he had left – the son that he swore to keep safe. The son he promised wouldn't meet the same fate as his wife.

He finally lets the tears fall, the tears he locked away while people were around. Vikings don't cry, at least not when people could see them.

The door creaked open, and he looked up, for a moment thinking that it was his son, that Hiccup was alive, and that he would have some silly excuse for not being around all day. But it wasn't.
It was Gobber, who said nothing as he closed the door behind him and walked over to Stoick, embracing him and also beginning to cry. 

The two hard-as-iron Vikings sobbed over their loss, and neither one thought the other was any less of a Viking for it. They cried in the dark together until late in the night, and before they departed they had a silent agreement that they would avenge the boy who they both cared about so much – no matter the cost.

**********

Astrid refused to cry – if she cried it was real, it was very late when she finally fell into a very restless sleep. The next day she went straight to the forest, axe in hand, to train – the only distraction she could think of.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut wandered her way unexpectedly, and Tuffnut was almost beheaded by Astrid's axe. Ruffnut turned to yell at her before she noticed the young warrior's eyes, red and watery. She knocked her brother out with a fist and went over to the exhausted girl, embracing her in the way a sister might hug her younger sibling who has fallen over, Astrid collapsed into Ruffnut's arms, crying all the tears she just couldn't hold back.

"I love him, and I'll never tell him! I miss him so much, Ruff, and I was so cruel to him!" She whimpered into Ruffnut's shoulder.

"I know, I know," Ruffnut whispered, "I won't say everything is going to be okay, because it's not. But I will promise that we will all help you avenge him." 

Ruffnut knew now wasn't the time to tell her that Hiccup loved her too, and that he always had, she knew it would only make Astrid feel worse, so she stayed silent. They knelt together in that small clearing, surrounded by battered trees with an unconscious and drooling Tuffnut nearby for a long time, until Astrid's tears ceased, replaced by a determination that would guide her to become a warrior who would be more than a match for any dragon. When Fishlegs told her it must have been a Night Fury, she vowed to destroy every one that she found.

AN: I'm sorry that it has been almost a week! I had to find the right words. I hope you enjoyed this part, please comment and let me know if I made any mistakes, thank you for reading!