Fly On Your Own

Chapter 2

      Berk came over the horizon near the end of the next day, the waves beneath us sparkling from the sunlight. I'd nearly fallen asleep a few times, and pitched forward to the point where I nearly fell off Shriek once or twice. A sense of anxiety began to overtake me at the thought of how long we'd been away. I kept looking from my husband, to the dragons and back to the island.

"Reign?"

I looked back from the island to see Hiccup and Toothless beside me, the former studying my facial expressions intently.

"You have that look on your face," he observed. I scoffed at him and looked away, despite my doubts.

"No I don't."

"Reign, I know you." I could feel his gaze burning through me, forcing me to talk. I sighed and rolled my eyes, then turned around to stare at his green eyes.

"I feel bad about how often we leave— how often I leave. I feel like a bad mom sometimes, leaving Eret to do my job." Hiccup's eyes went wide, and he reached out to grab my hand.

"Hey, you are definitely not a bad mom. You just sometimes have to go out and save dragons— which is really cool, when you think about it. So Eret sometimes has to babysit. You're there the majority of the time." I sighed as he leaned forward and planted a kiss on my forehead.

We finally approached land, finding it buzzing with dragon and human life alike. Sure, things were getting a little overcrowded, but the dragons didn't have many other places to go once we rescued them.

"This is Berk." I turned my head to see Hiccup talking to the herd of dragons, giving his usual speech. "Your new home away from home. A stunning, one-stop, all-expense paid dream destination."

"Stop doing that," I scolded. "You make it more dramatic every time."

"So, settle in and let your worries melt away. The service here soars, the cuisine is fiery."

"What did I say about puns?" He made a face at me, causing us both to laugh.

"And the locals are as colorful as you get. Any run of the mill paradise boasts beaches and sunshine. Well, not us. We've got something no one else can touch. We, my friend, have dragons. Lots and lots of dragons."

"Maybe too many."

We landed alongside all the new dragons, and as we hopped off, Hiccup pulled me against his chest. I rested one hand on his black-scale armor, while the other wrapped around his waist.

"Gang, meet our latest Berkians." The large Crimson Goregutter roared, and villagers began to approach with large amounts of fish, feeding the malnourished creatures.

"Welcome to paradise, mate."

"Well, aren't you a beauty."

"Aw, you're welcome. You're welcome." I turned my head to see Snotlout marching around with pomp and circumstance, placing his helmet on another kid's head. "I took on, like, a hundred trappers. A thousand trappers."

"With burning undies," Ruff mocked with a cackle.

"My thick, full beard almost caught on fire." Tuffnut stroked the bit of his hair he'd tied in front of his chin to make it look like a beard.

"Ugh, just... Just stop."

"So, uh, Hiccup's mom, any notes on my bone-crushing assault, or was it pretty much perfect?" I nearly choked on my breath as the words escaped Snotlout's mouth.