The Gray Area (1/2) - A Viggo Love Story (HTTYD/RTTE)

26. Leaving the Edge

"Woah, little ruthless there, Sessa," Fishlegs spoke in shock. Taking her attention off of Snotlout he tried to explain, "he's just being a mutton-head; he's harmless."

Sessa immediately calmed her first anger. Realizing how easily it took her over, she sighed, "I apologize...I'm not used to having such strong emotions yet."

"Uh huh," Snotlout accepted, still obviously nersous to talk to her again.

Viggo gave Sessa a satisfied smile, "no need to worry; you have me to keep you out of trouble." Sessa smiled again.

Fishlegs raised a single eyebrows, smiling crookedly at the way Viggo looked at Sessa. But he remained silent, figuring it wasn't his place to comment. As Snotlout released another obnoxiously wide yawn, he entered the clubhouse, Viggo and Sessa following.

Inside, Hiccup was working with the Dragon Eye 2. Hearing the others enter, he turned around. He was just as shocked as the rest to find Sessa unharmed by the sun. Eyebrows raised, he smiled and observed, "well, looks like someone found thier soul."

"You say that like it's such a casual thing," Snotlout sighed and crossed his arms, frowning, "does no one else think this is the weirdest thing that has ever happened to us?"

"No, it definitely is, Snotlout," Hiccup assured him with a grin of amusement, "the rest of us have just already accepted that it's real."

Snotlout crossed his arms and pouted in frustration, then left the clubhouse. "Whatever, I'm going to sleep," he shouted over his shoulder, then he was gone.

Hiccup looked to Viggo with a half smile, "so how did you manage to split your soul."

Viggo grinned a bit as he recalled the unexpected kiss Sessa had given him just hours ago. "Unimportant," he responded, waving his hand as if to brush the topic away.

Sessa smiled as well, it was fun to have this secret. And she hadn't had fun in years. Once Hiccup left, Viggo and Sessa went to their corner of the clubhouse to sleep.

"You're sure you want to sleep right now?" Viggo asked in confusion as they stood by their things, "don't you want to enjoy the sunlight.

Sessa, who was now able to see in the shadows of the building, gave him a calm look. "I did enjoy it," she told him with a hesitant voice, "but, this doesn't change my purpose. I still see best at night, and I still want to save lives." When Viggo's face softened into a loving smile, Sessa raised an eyebrow, "what?"

"You have a good heart," Viggo told her gently, taking her hand into his own.

Sessa gave him a small smile, "well, it's your soul that makes it beat."

And suddenly everything became much more real. Viggo realized how true this statement was. It was his soul that kept Sessa alive now. It was a good feeling. But that bliss twisted into fear as he realized, this only made the both of them twice as vulnerable. Because if Sessa died, so would that portion of Viggo's soul. And vise versa. Life had surely gotten better, but also had just become much more complicated.

• • •

Everyone was sitting around the table to eat dinner that night. It was easier for the dragon riders to accept Sessa, since she was never their enemy. But even with Viggo now, they were all able to have conversation. Only Astrid was still quite indifferent to the idea. And no one mentioned anything about any of their plans involving the hunters; it was too risky with the x-hunter chief in their midst.

But during the light-hearted conversing, a terrible terror flew into the building. The small dragon landed right on Hiccup's plate of food, looking up at him with big bug eyes. "Oh, that's just.." Hiccup muttered as his food was scattered. The others laughed, even Sessa snickered lightly.

Hiccup couldn't help but smile in amusement, seeing all of his friends having such a good time. He shook his head and chuckled, unwrapping a letter from the terror's leg. But his smile fell when he read what was inside. Everyone else also frowned, watching the face of their leader go white.

Placing a hand on Hiccup's arm, Astrid asked in concern, "Hiccup, what is it?"

Hiccup only stared at the letter as he handed it over to her. Astrid gasped as she read it, "Stoick..!"

• • •

Everyone was leaving the Edge. The dragon riders needed to visit Berk immediately to check on their injured chief. And Sessa was ready to go back to her usual life, with Viggo of course.

Hiccup was in a rushed fluster as he packed up Toothless's saddle bag. The other riders were also moving quite quickly. But Sessa took her time. She frowned, realizing what it meant to have a soul now. Not only was she feeling empathy for the younger riders, but she knew now that rescuing lives would be more difficult. Before, her need for a soul was so intense that she could feel when one was about to leave another human's body through dreams. Though that ability wasn't completely gone, it had faded immensely.