Small talks and murmurs could be heard throughout the Viking camp. It was currently night time. The tribesmen were resting after a long day of hard work, doing repairs on the ships. The Vikings were gathered around multiple campfires. Talking and socialising among themselves, trying to cheer up themselves, in an attempt to forget about their troubles for the moment as they ate the rations they had with themselves.
Astrid and her friends were also gathered around their own campfire. Talking among themselves and eating the rations they were given. While the gang chatted among themselves, Astrid was mostly quiet. She'd respond if any of them asked her something directly, but didn't make any attempts at conversation herself. She was aimlessly fiddling with her food, lost deep in her own thoughts.
"Astrid." The sudden call from Ruffnut snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked at her friend, and found her staring at her with concern in her eyes. "Are you okay?" Ruffnut asked as she put her hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine, Ruffnut. Nothing to worry about." Astrid said and focused back on her food.
"Are you sure Astrid? You've been very quiet the whole day." This time, it was Snotlout.
"I said I'm fine." Astrid replied, sounding a bit angry this time.
"Hey, give her some space, man. She's been through a lot already." Tuffnut told Snotlout.
"Guys, can we just talk about something else? I'm not in the mood to discuss anything related to this." Astrid said.
"It's okay Astrid. But if you need someone to talk to, we're always here for you. We understand your situation." Ruffnut told her.
"No, you don't understand!" Astrid snapped at her. "None of you do! You can never understand…." Astrid nearly broke down in tears as she said the last part. Her voice weakened as she finished her sentence.
Ruffnut placed her hand back on Astrid's shoulder and pulled her in a hug. She gently rubbed her back in an attempt to sooth her as she held her against her body. The others decided not to say or comment anything. Astrid whimpered as she tried to hold back herself from breaking down.
"Hey, it's okay. Don't give up now. We don't know what the future holds for us. The only thing we can do is wait and see what it brings upon us." Ruffnut told her.
"Yeah, Hiccup has always had a crush on you and you two were such a perfect couple. I doubt even gods can keep you two apart." Fishlegs said.
Astrid slightly blushed at the mention of that. Suddenly they all noticed four Dragons flying over them. The other Vikings were alarmed for a moment, but they all calmed down as the Dragons flew towards the inner area of the island.
" Huh? That was a bit weird." Snotlout said.
"Oh shut it Snotlout. It was probably nothing. At least nothing that should concern us." Ruffnut said in an irritated tone.
And with that, they turned their mind away from it. But little did they know, the arrival of these Dragons really wasn't a normal thing. Because, with those Dragons also came four unlikely guests.
(Meanwhile with Hiccup)
Hiccup was inside his bedroom. He sat on Toothless's bed. The said Dragon was also laid on the same bed, with his head lying on Hiccup's lap. A big bandage was wrapped around Toothless's neck. Hiccup gently rubbed Toothless's head as the Dragon seemed to relax under this gesture.
Hiccup slightly smiled as he watched the calm on Toothless's face. But then the recent memories flooded his mind again. Hiccup leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. To be honest, he regretted his behaviour towards Astrid. But he just couldn't let go of her betrayal. Hiccup closed his eyes as a single tear rolled down his left cheek.
After some time, Hiccup finally left Toothless's side. He went downstairs and poured himself some water. Hiccup then chugged down the entire mug in one sip and put the mug back down on the table. Hiccup gripped the edge of the table as memories of the past flooded his mind. Squeezing his eyes shut, he shook his head in an attempt to ignore all these mixed feelings forming in his mind.
"Hiccup?" The sudden draconic call snapped him out of his thoughts. Hiccup looked back and saw Luna entering the room.
"Oh, hey Luna. I thought you were sleeping." Hiccup said, trying to sound cheerful.
"I couldn't sleep. How is Toothless?" Luna asked as she walked over to Hiccup.
Hiccup let out a sigh. "He's coming around. The wound is deep, but not too fatal. He'll be back running, before you'd even know it." Hiccup told her and gave her a smile, as if trying to reassure her. Luna paused for a few moments before asking her next question. "How are you handling all this?" Hiccup fell silent at the question and looked down.
"I, I, I don't know… how to, how to take all this….. Oh gods, I should have done something." Hiccup said.
"Hiccup, it isn't your fault." Luna said.
"But it is my fault! I should have done something. Anything. I should have protected him. I, I let someone close to me down again." Hiccup almost shouted. He collapsed down on the floor, but managed to drag himself to the table and leaned against one of its legs. But before the situation could get any worse, Luna came beside him and nuzzled him. Hiccup seemed to calm down and seeing this, Luna spoke,"Hiccup, it's not your fault. Neither I, nor Toothless blame you for what happened to him. Please, stop killing yourself over it. You did protect him. You saved him from an inevitable death."
This seemed to work as Hiccup slowly calmed down. But just then, they heard loud banging on the front door and gesturing to Luna to get to a safer spot, namely Toothless's room. Hiccup got up and made his way to the door, but not before grabbing a knife from the kitchen. He cautiously approached the door. He took a deep breath and was about to open the door and attack whoever was on the opposite side of the door, but then suddenly the person on the other side called out Hiccup's name. Hiccup immediately recognised the voice and his eyes widened. He dropped the knife, and quickly opened the door, and what he saw on the other side, proved his suspension to be true.
"Dagur, Heather, Thugg, Cami!" Hiccup said out aloud in joy. Infront of Hiccup, stood four of his closest friends and allies. Dagur Oswaldson or more famously known as Dagur the deranged, chief of the Berserker tribe. His sister, Heather Oswalddottir. Thuggory, the heir of the Meathead tribe. And Camicazi, the heiress of the Bog-Burglar tribe.
"Brother!" Dagur yelled out and enveloped Hiccup in a bone crushing hug that lifted him off the ground.
"Dagur,... Can't…. Breathe…" Hiccup managed to gasp out.
Dagur put him back on the ground and backed away a bit, letting the others to greet him.
"Guys, I, I am really glad you all are here, but why did you come here? No offence. I'm just curious." Hiccup said.
"Oh, well, we were planning to come and visit you for a while." Camicazi said.
"Yeah. We all sorted out our work and other stuff and came straight here." Thuggory added.
"Yeah. But brother, I gotta ask you something. On our way here, we saw a whole bunch of people and ships on the beach of your island. Who were those people?" Dagur suddenly asked.
"Yeah Hicc. And not to mention, you look terrible. What happened? As far as I know, you don't allow anyone other than your allies on this island." Heather said.
Hiccup took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself. He knew he couldn't hide anything anymore from them and they needed to know about the current situation. So, Hiccup said,"They're people from Berk."
"WHAT!?" All four of them practically screamed out at the shocking revelation.
"Berk? You mean our Berk? The home island of the Hooligan tribe?" Camicazi shot out her questions, one after another. Hiccup just nodded in confirmation.
"But what in the name of Helheim are Berkians doing here?" Heather asked.
Hiccup took another deep breath and sighed and then told his friends about everything from the beginning. He told them everything, from the Berkians coming to his island for the first time to the gang secretly coming to his island to his time with the gang, especially with Astrid, to the events that had transpired just a day ago. At the end of the story, Hiccup was close to tearing up again as all the feelings he had been trying to seal away were once again flowing through his mind.
Thuggory put his hand on Hiccup's shoulder as all four friends did their best to help Hiccup and reassure him that it wasn't his fault. They themselves were saddened after learning what their dear friend had to go through. Once they had settled down and sent Hiccup back to his room to get some rest, the four friends discussed what to do to fix this situation. And finally, they agreed upon something. They decided to meet the Berkians.