Chapter 14: A Final Goodbye

Hiccup came to in a room of darkness. He felt the chilly air kiss his skin as he shivered. He sat up on his elbows and looked at his cell mates. Four were sleeping softly except for Tuffnut who lay on his back with his eyes on the rock ceiling. Hiccup sat up and felt his bones rattle. He was running on burnt fumes. His skin tender and burned from the rays of the sun, blistered covered his foot and hands, not to mention the pain flaring in his prosthetic leg. He ran his hands through his thick matted hair, never in his life had it been so long, almost passed his shoulders. He was even unaware of the scruff he had grown; it was a new thing for him. What Hiccup would have given for a hot bath and a razor.

Hiccup plopped down beside his friend, they had grown tired of talking; they had found comfort in sitting in silence. As long as Hiccup and Tuffnut were aware they had each other to rely on, this Hel was not as scary. They sat hungry, cold, and tired. Hiccup sucked on the damp rag and could not help but hear the dripping from the distant. Drip, drip, drip. On days like this, he blocked home away from his mind. It only made things worse, to think about the life left behind him. His wife and unborn child. Drip. His dragon. His friends and mother and Gobber. Drip, His own special place in Gobber's forge, full of designs and pictures and books. Drip. Drip. Drip.

It had not taken long for the other prisoners to wake up and get ready for the day. The men were ready by the time Calder had come for them. They made their way out of the cave, Hiccup had gotten use to the darkness and allowed his feet to carry him out by memory. It was today that five filthy, worn out coats had been waiting for them at their work area. Calder had said the weather had been getting worse, and they were no use frozen. Hiccup grabbed one and tugged it on. It was cold, but it blocked out the wind. Hiccup looked around the island and saw snow slowly falling down. Winter. As a kid, he remembered the first snow fall to be exciting, the thought of snow Vikings and Snoggletog and the fires he spent curled up beside his father; that meant nothing now. Now winter just meant darkness and coldness.

The rocks were getting harder and harder to extract from the caves. He took each one with caution of the walls above him. Every creak and crack scared him to death, one wrong move and the walls would come tumbling down around him. Aradynn had told him not to worry, he said they had not had a cave in all year, it was a tad comforting. Hiccup felt empty of hope and energy as he piled the rocks into the barrel and pushed it down to Tuffnut.

He was surprised to see Tuffnut already done of the rocks he had just given him. The male twin had been surprisingly energetic about his work lately, he chopped harder and quicker. Hiccup could see the sweat falling from his forehead. He dropped the wheel barrel and began transferring the rocks from it to the ground. Tuffnut had come over to help him.

Hiccup wiped the sweat from his brow and asked, "You have certainly been working hard."

"I guess I have gotten use to the job," Tuffnut said, "besides, the hard work keeps me warm."

Hiccup laughed, "I wish it kept me warm."

Tuffnut frowned, "Well, maybe you aren't working hard enough."

Taken back from the comment, Hiccup raised his head to look at Tuffnut. He seemed determined in his work, not even noticing the comment he had said. He picked up the pick axe and slammed it down onto the rock. Hiccup swallowed hard and wiped his hands. Tuffnut was probably just having a bad day or something. They had a lot of bad days lately.

The rest of the work day was exhausting like always. Soon enough, he found himself sitting at one of the dinner tables with his friends, sipping on the warm fish stew. It was the time of day he always looked forward too, the thing that kept him sane. Aradynn was leaning back on his chair and lifted his feet up onto the table. Scar had his arms crossed, intently listening to the conversation. Pavel was joyful like always, his smile lit up like a fire. Tuffnut seemed distant, but it was not surprising. All eyes were focused on Frey has he spoke his story.

"My father lost me in a bet when I was nine," he scratched his chin, "I was taken to live with a good family for awhile. A lot better than my drunken dad. They were nice to me and fed me, all I could ask of them really.

"But then when I was fifteen, they could not afford to keep me no longer. They said, 'Frey, you're a man now. We can't be taken care of you no longer; we are not even your real mom and dad. You got to go out into the real world and find yourself a nice girl and settle down have some nice kiddies of your own and live happily ever after.' Yeah, as you can see everything turned out great."

Aradynn leaned forward, "So how did you get yourself into this mess?"

Frey grinned, "I was what you call smart mouthed. I was like a Pilgrim, really. Traveling around trying to find a home; spent a lot of my time out at sea. I then found myself at Warheads."

Hiccup jolted, "Warheads? You were at Warheads?"

Frey nodded, "Yes, the same son of a bitch who put you in here put me in here too. I did a few hands on jobs for him. He said he really liked me and was considering letting me stay in the tribe permanently. Let's just stay I did not like how he ran his village, I may have made a few comments and thrown a few punches and before I knew it Calder had me in his slimy hands."

Hiccup felt anger in his chest, "He tricked me. Now my tribe probably thinks I am dead, that's probably what he wanted. He probably took over Berk. Who knows what happened to my family and friends," his eyes traveled to Tuffnut who hadn't seemed at all interested in this conversation.

Aradynn reached out and punched Hiccup on the shoulder, "I'm sure your girl is fine, Hiccup."

Pavel leaned forward; "Girl?" his accent was strong.

Hiccup turned to him and smiled, "My wife, Astrid."

A look of curiosity filled his face, "As-trid?"

"She was beautiful. Blonde hair, blue eyes. The toughest Viking I ever knew."

Pavel's eyes lit up with concentration as he put the words together, "Beautiful blonde."

Aradynn reached over and grabbed the boy's shoulders, "Here, Pavel Boy, just picture someone as pretty as me with the hair of Frey," he reached over and grabbed Frey's pony tail sticking it in Pavel's face. Frey groaned with anger and pulled away.

Later that night, when they were all back in the cave, Hiccup sprawled out on the floor with his new coat wrapped around his shoulders. Pavel was staring at him. Hiccup said good night and before he could turn around Pavel reached out and grabbed his shoulders, "Beau-ful blonde?" he said.

Hiccup grinned, "That's right, Beautiful blonde."

Pavel smiled and curled into his own ball of comfort.

Astrid was suddenly awakened by a drawn out cry for help. It was hardly the crack of dawn; she quickly got up and wrapped her shawl around her cold body. She and her mother, who met in the hallway, exchanged worried glances. The yell had come from Ekon's room. Astrid pushed the door open, Ekon was up against the wall, his eyes squeezed closed, his breathes were staggered. Ingrid rushed in the room and grabbed her son by his shoulders.

"What is it, son?" she exclaimed, "Whatever is the matter?"

He muttered something unrecognizable. His bangs were covering his eyes. With his left hand, he slowly lifted a pointed finger. Astrid followed it and her heart sank. A limp figure, cold and like stone, was lying in the nest Ekon had provided. Astrid gently stroked it, and it limply flipped over to reveal Tara. She was gone. Astrid's shoulders drooped as she heard Ekon's whimpers.

"She's dead, isn't she?"

Astrid turned around to see her brother, his face hidden by his hands. He could not bear to look. She swallowed hard. She knew the little dragon was sick, and she was not the strongest one of the litter, but Astrid had been certain this baby dragon would make it. How could this have happened, why were terrible things always happening to the people she loved? She felt her heart break as Ekon rushed forward.

"I thought she was getting better! Oh Thor, this is all my fault!" his breathe staggered.

Ingrid tried to comfort him but he squirmed away from her grasp, "No!" he screamed, "this wasn't supposed to happen! I told you she was sick and you two didn't care! All you care about is that damn baby!" Ekon looked at his sister with rage. Astrid staggered backwards, her mouth opened but she could not think of any words.

Ingrid gasped, "Ekon Hofferson, you calm yourself down right now." she grabbed his arm again but he pulled away and bolted out of the room, slamming the door behind him making Astrid blink. She returned to the sight of the dead dragon. Ingrid touched her arm softly, "He's just upset. He didn't mean any harm."

Astrid nodded, "I know..."

Ekon was running as fast than his feet could carry him. He passed people who were muttering offenses at the way he pushed his way through them. He climbed the hill to the Chief's old house and burst through the front door without knocking. Valka sat with a shocked look at the table. His chest puffed with anger as the warm salty tears poured from his eyes. Valka had seen the look of despair on his face and rose from her chair. Ekon ran to her and hugged her. Taken aback, Valka stood in shock before wrapping her arms around the crying boy.

"Tara's dead," he cried.

Valka gasped, the dragon had just seemed to be getting better. She held his shoulders and sat him down in a chair. She got him some tea and sat down beside him. Ekon cried to himself as she did so. She let him cry silently for a minute or two before he sniffed and wrapped his hands around his stomach.

Ekon wiped his eyes and looked at her, "It's all my fault."

Valka pursed her lips, "You must not blame yourself. There is nothing you could have done to prevent it."

"No, it really is! I took her flying on Toothless yesterday. It must have been too much for her, I killed her!" he cried.

Valka shook her head and took his hand, "You hold your tongue." Valka took his hands away from his face and held them firmly. His lip was quivering and he looked away from her. Valka searched her mind for something, anything to say to the heart broken boy. Something suddenly struck her; she never got the chance to raise Hiccup. By the time she was with him again he was already an adult. As she looked down at the crying boy she tried to imagine what it would be like to be a real mother. It was hard.

Valka shook her head. She reached over and took his hands from his face. He wanted to look away, but the sternness in her eyes stopped him. He swallowed a shaky breath, "Why do bad things keep happening?"

Valka took in his question; she was almost at lost for words.

"I do not know," she whispered, "I lost my home, my husband-" something caught on her throat, "my son."

She continued, "I do not know why bad things always happen. I know how much you loved Tara, and you cared for her so well. She would not have made it as far as she did without you.

"Tara was one of the strongest dragons I knew. Not physically, but she had the will to live and you and I both saw that. Maybe it was just her time to go, but I suppose she is far off in Valhalla with Stoick and Hiccup."

Tears fell down her cheeks, "And the three of them are smiling down on us. Tara would want you to be strong and go on without her, do you understand, Ekon?"

He sniffed loudly and wiped a hand across his face, "Y-yeah." after a moment he sighed, "I want to bury her."

Valka's lips curled into a smile, "then let's get started."

Ruffnut was in the arena practicing her knife throwing skills. She had a lot of extra time on her hands and spent most of it learning new tricks and abilities she would have learned if she had payed any attention to Hiccup and Astrid's lessons from years ago. She was getting stronger at almost everything, and she was good at it too. The crush Snotlout and Fishlegs had on Ruffnut had been long forgotten, and the three of them were back to being friends. Although, Ruffnut still liked to be by herself once and awhile.

Or with Eret.

Something had changed between them. It was not the girlish crush she had formed from him the first time they met, it was something different. Her days seemed brighter with him around. It was like she could suddenly see what was in front of her and stop looking in the past. When he was not around, she almost felt like something was missing. Ruffnut was not sure if she was ready for a relationship, she was not sure if Eret even liked her in that way. She liked to take her confusion out on the targets in front of her.

Eret walked up behind her startling her. He placed a hand on her shoulder causing her to turn around with a knife high in her hand. He let out a yelp of shock and backed away.

"Gods, don't you know not to sneak up on a girl with a knife?" she rolled her eyes.

The smile on her face faded when she saw his face. She had come accustomed to this face and knew exactly what it meant.

"Oh no," her eyebrows knitted together, "what happened now?"

He moved closer and sighed, "Ekon's little dragon died. We are having a funeral for her soon."

Ruffnut shoulders slugged, she had heard so much about that little dragon and Ekon must have been crushed.

She played with one of her braids, "That sucks. That really sucks."

Eret nodded sadly, "Yeah. Will you go with me?"

Confused, Ruffnut paused, "Go with you?"

"To the funeral," he said, "I just thought maybe we could go together, so we didn't have to go alone."

A silence filled the space between them. Ruffnut raised an eyebrow, "Sure I guess so."

For only a moment. Eret looked down to her with a look she did not know. At some point, snow must have started falling from the sky for Eret had snowflakes covering his eyelashes and dark hair sticking out sharply. The muddy arena was suddenly covered in fresh naked snow. It seemed where they stood was untouched by any other force, and it was just him and her. His face was hard with a frown; it seemed to soften just a tad as he leaned down closer to her. Ruffnut felt a snowflake fall on her nose, her heart raced as Eret traced her shoulder blade with his cold fingers. He exhaled, causing the heat of his breath to warm her frozen cheeks. Then he did something funny, he touched his nose to hers. For a moment, she seemed paralyzed; she wanted to pull away but the harder she tried the closer she got to him. When their lips were only inches away, she broke the spell and backed away from him.

"I'll see you at the funeral," and she left him without another word.

Ekon made his way to the edge of the forest. Waiting for him were a small group of people. He looked around, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Eret, Ruff, Astrid, his mother, Valka and Gobber stood around a casket. Ekon looked at it, it was hand crafted, and he looked inside to see Tara so peaceful. He found comfort looking down at the small dragon. Her scales were no longer dull, her body calm instead of shaky. Her once unsteady features seemed so peaceful. Ekon bit his cheek as he walked up to his sister.

He gave her a sad look, "I'm sorry what I said about you and the baby. I didn't mean it. I was just upset," he said softly

She pulled him into a hug and rested her chin on his shoulder, "I know. I know what you must be feeling right now. I'm so sorry, Ek."

Ekon released her and looked at the others, "Thank you all for coming, it would mean a lot to her. She would want to be remembered."

Eret raised his chin, "And that she will be. That cheeky little dragon."

Gobber rested a heavy hand on Ekon's shoulders, "She was one of a kind, wasn't she?"

Ekon smiled at the man. His mother took his other shoulder and kissed him softly on the cheek. Ekon turned to her.

"I'm proud of what you did," she held his chin; "You are a kind, loving boy, Ekon. Just like your father."

Astrid's eyes lit up, her mother rarely mentioned their father.

Eventually, Ekon picked up a shovel. He and Fishlegs and Snotlout dug a deep hole. It was much harder now that the ground was practically frozen. They threw their shovels aside and lifted the casket into the hole.

Ekon wiped his forehead and looked at the tiny dragon one last time. He supposed it was time he said something. A final goodbye.

"When she was born, I remember bringing her to Hiccup. He didn't think she would live, he said she was too small." he licked his lips, "But I guess that didn't matter to her, because, she kept moving forward, even when she should have stopped.

"I guess, it was just her time to go, and I am glad she is not suffering anymore."

With that, Ekon lifted his shovel and covered the hole.

As the group of people made their way back into town to have some hot mutton, Fishlegs noticed Astrid waddling along quietly. She was deep in thought. Fishlegs let the others go past him and walked next to the girl.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked her.

She seemed a bit dazed. When she looked up to him, he could not help to notice her hand on her stomach for the first time.

"Ekon never got to meet my dad," she said. "He was only four months old when my dad died. I remember him, sort of. Little glimpses of things from the past."

Fishlegs let her go on.

She looked straight on, "my baby will never get to meet his father either. But maybe he will turn out okay, just like Ekon did."

Fishlegs smiled, "So you think it's a boy?"

She grinned, "Shut up."

My beta said this was her favorite chapter I wrote so far. I don't know, I kind of like it too.

So what do you guys think? Boy or Girl? Leave a review telling me what you think and add a baby name if you want.

See you next time!