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Chapter 18

•••Astrid POV•••

"Heather right?" I asked. The raven haired girl nodded.

"It's nice to meet you, uhm." Heather looked to me for my name.

"Astrid, it's Astrid. It's nice to meet you too." I replied. Tuffnut popped up in between us pushing me away. I got my axe ready to kill Tuff but Fishlegs stopped me.

"What kind of Dragon is that?!" He asked pointing to Heather's dragon.

"She's a Razorwhip, her name is Windshear." Heather explained.

"Oh oh oh! It's because she shears through the wind when she's flying." Tuff said.

"Yeah, I guess?" Heather replied.

"I've never seen dragon species like these before, where did you find them?" Fishlegs asked attempting to touch Dagur's dragon. Dagur and Heather both smiled.

"Ever been outside of the archipelago?" They asked. I shook my head.

"We've only ever left the island once, I'd never even imagine going out there. The chief always said it was safer to just stay here." I replied. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"You guys are really missing out. There are islands littered with new types of dragon species and people with such diverse cultures! It's one of the most beautiful sights you'd ever see." Heather explained. It kind of made me jealous how often Hiccup and these two got to explore islands we've never heard of or seen before. The sun started to set and everyone started retreating for the night. Heather and Dagur insisted on sleeping in the arena, so I just left them and walked back to my house. On the way over I stopped and looked over at the chief's house. There was the faint sound of laughing.

"Gross! You know that doesn't wash out!" Hiccup said standing and wiping dragon saliva off his suit. He flicked some at Toothless but he jumped wiped it off.

"Isn't it a little late for playtime?" I asked sarcastically. Hiccup laughed, not surprised at my presence.

"Every time is playtime." He joked. He looked to me and smiled.

"Wanna join?" He asked. I nodded and he helped me into the roof of the hut. Toothless jumped on me immediately and rubbed his head against my chest.

"Hey Toothless. So your dad is cool with him being here?" I asked Hiccup. He nodded.

"He changed his mind after he saw Toothless save me. He's still skeptical about dragons but I think he's warming up." Hiccup explained.

"So does that mean you'll be staying on Berk?" I asked. Hiccup squirmed awkwardly.

"I...don't know. My home has always been Dragon's Edge. But now that it's gone." Hiccup silenced himself. We were silent for a few minutes after that.

"Maybe Dragon's Edge was your home. But Berk can become your new one. This can be your home." I said.

"Maybe." Was all that he said. He later drifted to sleep on my shoulder. I smiled sheepishly and laid him down gently on Toothless. Toothless purred in response.

"Can you take him to his room? He's had a long day." I asked. Toothless nodded and I helped lift Hiccup onto his back. He slowly descended into the window of Hiccup's room. I climbed down the house and headed to my own to call it a night.

•••Hiccup POV•••

"Are you sure you can't stay any longer?" I asked helping Heather tie supplies onto her saddle.

"No, Dagur has his 'chiefly duties' to get to and I'm going to find Viggo." Heather replied. Dagur groaned.

"But I wanna go with you! I don't want to do stupid Chief-y stuff." Dagur whined, resulting in a smack to the head from Heather.

"You should come with us Hiccup. Help us find Viggo and defeat him." Heather suggested. I smiled but shook my head no.

"This is my home Heather. My real home. I can finally live with my dad, just like I always wanted to." I replied. Heather pulled me into a bear hug and wished me goodbye and good luck before leaving with Dagur. I turned back to Stoick who had a sort of shocked but happy face.

"You're staying?" He asked. I nodded.

"If that's alright." I said.

"Stoick you can't be serious! Your going to let him bring all his dragons into our village! They'll kill us!" A Viking screamed out.

"Yeah! How do we know that he won't betray us! You said your son was dead years ago!" Another screamed. Astrid readied her axe aiming to attack one of the Vikings. More Vikings started to join in on bickering with Stoick causing a scene to break out.

"Silence!" Stoick yelled. The Vikings all retreated but continued staring at me with hatred.

"I know you are all scared. The dragons have been our enemy for years. But it wasn't because they wanted to be." Stoick turned to me.

"Change their minds, son." He said. I nodded and stepped forward.

"You've all heard of the dragon's nest. You've all probably been searching for the nest for years. Well, I found it! And inside the nest was the Queen of dragons." An audible gasp spread throughout the Viking crowd, but I continued.

"The Queen was forcing the dragons to raid villages and bring her food! The dragons could resist her, or fail her, because they would have been eaten. Your raids stopped three years ago, am I right?" The Vikings in the crowd all nodded or silently agreed.

"That's because Toothless defeated her. He challenged the Queen and won. Stopping the raids on your village. Not only that but these dragons saved your village from Viggo! You all saw Viggo and his men. These dragons protected you! Dragons have protected me all my life. They accepted me, a random human baby into their pack."

"Dragons are not as bad as you made them out to be. They are kind, intelligent creatures that just need to survive. If you still don't believe me and want me gone. Then I guess that's good riddance." I said. There was awkward clapping from the twins standing in the crowd that wasn't really helping the silence. Stoick finally broke the silence by speaking.

"My son is right. These dragons have protected us more than we know. We've hunted them and killed them for 400 years. I believe now, we shall settle for peace instead." The crowd actually started cheering. Actual full on cheering. They accepted the dragons, and they accepted me.