The Lost Pride of Berk (How To Train Your Dragon Fanfiction)

Part Three

"You're sure about this?" Hiccup asked Astrid as he started to put on Toothless' saddle. She began to put on Stormfly's as well as she talked to him. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Good point, I've got nothing against that." He replied. "But maybe we should take just Toothless." He suggested. Astrid turned toward him and glanced at Toothless, Stormfly's saddle hanging him her arms. She smiled and shrugged. "Okay." She tossed the saddle aside and went to pet Toothless. Relieved she didn't start an argument, Hiccup continued to synch the saddle.

"So how far away is Herode?" Astrid asked. She wondered if Hiccup really knew where he was going. He stood up straight as he thought. "Usually a few weeks ship voyage. In...that direction." He pointed South.

Astrid did the calculations. "So it'll take us a few hours on Toothless. Well that's better. It won't be any warmer there, will it?" She asked, really hoping it would be. "Uhh, I honestly don't know." He told her. He'd finished putting on Toothless' saddle and he sat against the dragon, staring at the roof.

"Aren't you excited?" Hiccup looked to the side as Astrid sat next to him. He nodded. "Of course I am, it's just, Rose will be asking about everything here...I don't know if I'll want to tell her much." Astrid smiled and leaned on his shoulder. She knew he was just afraid that Rose wouldn't be the same as she was, he was nervous. And who wouldn't be?

"It'll be a great family reunion." she assured him, and Hiccup looked at her with his lips pressed, as if disbelieving her. But she nodded at him. "You'll see."

Hiccup started to think Astrid really was more excited about the trip than he was. The closer he got to it the more afraid he was to face his past. But he couldn't really explain why. He'd lost Rose once before, but that wasn't going to happen again, he knew it. Something just didn't seem right about it all, he didn't know why he had this edge about it.

***

The trip wasn't awful, just four or five hours of flying against strong winds, and towards the sun. Astrid kept her head behind Hiccup most of the time, and neither of them spoke.

The "village" of Herode was no village at all. It was a huge city, surrounded by log walls, and guards walking along the tops of the posts, watching below for threats. Toothless, Hiccup, and Astrid were no threat, but a Night Fury must have seemed like one to them. All the guards watched like hawks as Hiccup instructed Toothless to land on the bridge in front of one of the large iron gates. Nobody on the inside of the city was panicking, which Hiccup found to be a good sign.

Toothless began to walk toward the gate, but jumped when some of the guards began to shout. "Whoever you are, take your Night Fury and go!" One ordered. Toothless began to growl, but at Hiccup's hand, he suddenly stopped.

"You're not even going to ask who we are?" Hiccup called. Some whispers were exchanged through the guards, but no one answered. "All right," Hiccup mumbled, and he got off Toothless. Astrid watched the guards closer.

"I am Hiccup, son of Stoick, and chief of Berk." He claimed with a bow. An uproar of murmurs came from the guards and many rushed out of their sight. Hiccup assumed they were going to open the gate for them.

Among the guards was one woman, and she was the most memorized by this "chief of Berk." He never noticed until she called out to him, "Hiccup? The brother of our princess?" Hiccup jerked his gaze from the gate and up to her, suddenly smiling. The lady guard instantly turned and ran. They heard her yelling something as she went before her voice faded. "Find Briar Rose! Her brother is here!"

Just then the large gate started to swing outwards, and Hiccup ran back to Toothless, lifting Astrid down and leading his dragon into the city.

All of the citizens looked at Hiccup as if he were a God, some people were on their knees bowing to him. This wasn't just chiefly respect, it was worship and praise.

Astrid couldn't believe the way Hiccup was being treated. Everyone seemed to already know him. This Briar Rose really must be quite something if she's bragged about him this much.

The crowd suddenly began to part, leading towards a huge castle at the back of the city. A little blond girl came running out one of the tall red castle doors...just a toddler. She looked just like Rose did when she left Berk. She just stood there watching the strangers.

At first Hiccup was looking at the people around him, but when he looked ahead and saw the girl, he stopped dead in his tracks. He knew that couldn't have been Rose, but from this distance he could have sworn....she was even wearing one of Rose's old dresses...

Suddenly an older blond girl came running out of the same door, and Hiccup took a step backwards. She wore a pink dress with a lighter pink drape over her shoulders. Astrid had never actually seen girls wear dresses before, not in Berk of course. She figured this was a very rich city, and if this was Rose, she must be really spoiled.

"Bel!" The girl yelled. The sea of people before her went dead quiet, she didn't notice them or the strangers either. Hiccup started to think that could be Rose too...she looked so grown up.

The older girl talked to the child for a minute, sent her back inside, then finally turned toward the crowd, her arms crossed. At first she scanned the citizens with a confused expression, and when she reached the center of the crowd, her jaw and arms dropped at the sight.

The girl took a slow step down the stone stairs in front of the castle. She studied the three visitors, but none as thoroughly as Hiccup. It took two more steps before she started to sprint toward him. Of course now they knew who each of them were looking at. Hiccup ran too, and when they met he still had to kneel to hug her. Rose was always pretty short.

Everyone in the crowd cheered, but you could hear Rose crying over everything. Astrid put her hands over her chest, savoring this sweet moment. Toothless nudged her and she pet the top of his head while they watched the two.

Before they could even finish their greeting, a terrifying looking woman came out of the door of the castle. She had an all black robe on, and it looked like she had horns on her head. Astrid thought maybe it was a helmet. She was carrying the little toddler. "Briar Rose?" She called.