Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD

Chapter Twelve – The Next Step

The feast was delicious, and the naming gifts were beautiful. Both Hiccup and Astrid knew that they would treasure the offerings, as they treasured their daughters naming gifts, for years to come. Yet the day did not end with the feast, and now that they were awake, both the chief and the alpha were filled with a familiar need to do something. There was always plenty to be doing.

Astrid, for her part, wanted to meet the freedmen, some of whom might choose to stay on Berk and become part of their tribe. They were scattered throughout the Hall and the trestle tables outside, invited to join the Vikings but sticking close together. Astrid went to each group in turn, graciously received congratulations and advice, and introduced herself personally to the freedmen.

Hiccup and Toothless left the Hall, waylaid several times by people offering thanks and congratulations or asking questions – mostly along the lines of "So what are we going to do with Adulfr?" Hiccup said, repeatedly, that the man's fate would be decided by the council, and yes, he had something in mind, and no, he wouldn't tell them what it was. Finally, they escaped into the open air.

There was a brisk, cold wind blowing, and the low sun was shining bright. Shading his eyes against the glare, Hiccup could see that Njord had whipped up an anvil cloud for Thor to hammer out lightning upon. The storm was on the horizon, though, and likely wouldn't reach Berk until the evening. Still, the sight of the anvil shaped mass reminded Hiccup of Gobber, and he sighed.

He could accept that his friend was gone, and life would continue regardless; but it would never be the same. Putting the thought out of his mind, Hiccup mounted up and they headed for the stables. The moment he and Toothless landed on the edge, all of the dragons within bowed to the Alphas. *Be at ease* Hiccup assured them. *You know you guys don't have to do that* he added.

*But we want to, Alpha-Hiccup* said Gravel, a grey Rock-Tail. His left foreleg was thickly bandaged, and Hiccup suddenly recalled seeing the name of his mate, Pebbles, on the list of dead dragons. He was about to give his sympathies when they were interrupted. "Hiccup! Thank goodness you're here" declared Ashildr, "Spirika wants to see you. She's injured, and it's not good."

"How 'not good' is it?" Hiccup questioned as he followed her. The injured dragons were being tended to by members of various tribes. Wounds were bandaged, and holes in wings were being patched up with cured hide left over from the yearly molting. The shed hide and scales were stored and used to make fireproof protective clothing for riders, some of the leather was traded, but with over a thousand dragons they had plenty of the stuff to spare.

She grimaced. "Very. We've done the best we can, with Aceso's help", she gestured to the Healing-Breath, who was moving amongst her flock-mates and exhaling her icy film onto their torn scales. The Colour-Changers were soothing frayed nerves, and Hiccup was grateful to them. "But in Spirika's case, and a couple of others, we've had to…you-know-what their wing" Ashildr continued.

Hiccup's stump jarred, and he stumbled. "Ah! I'm okay", he waved her off, rubbing the slightly swollen flesh. It was just a brief phantom pain. They reached Spirika, who was curled up in her nest looking sorry for herself. She had good reason to be; her chest was swathed in bandages, and her right wing was no more than a stump beneath them. "Oh, Spirika. I'm so sorry" Hiccup murmured.

She craned her neck to press her snout into his palm, and warbled hopefully. *Alpha-Hiccup…can you make me a new wing?* the Spike-Tail asked him. Everyone within earshot, human and dragon alike, turned to Hiccup. Their belief that he could do so was clear in their expressions. A small part of him wanted to deflect the pressure with sarcasm, but now was not the time.

"I can try" he answered, taking care not to commit himself and risk disappointing her. "If I design a harness attached to your wing, so it flaps…and you'll shed in a few months, so I can use your molted scales to fireproof the canvas…yeah, I think I can do it" Hiccup said more confidently, his brain already racing with ideas. "Keep your strength up; I'll get you back in the air, somehow."

Spirika trilled in relief. *Thank you, Alpha-Hiccup* she crooned gratefully, licking his hand as he scratched her jaw. *Congratulations on your new offspring.*

"Thanks, Spirika. You rest, heal; leave the wing problem to me" he smiled at her, and gave her one last pat before straightening up. Magpie regurgitated fish for her fellow Spike-Tail to eat. Spirika did so and settled down for a contented nap.

"Planning to work miracles, I see" Ashildr smirked at him as he moved aside. Hiccup gave her a long suffering look and she grinned. "Oh, I believe you can do it. This is you, after all. Tamer of giants, conqueror of armies, ender of wars; making a prosthetic wing will be child's play" Ashildr remarked casually.

Rolling his eyes, Hiccup said "It'll be easier than defeating an army. Which reminds me; I want you and the other diplomats to put your heads together and see if you can think of ways to discourage people from trying this attack again. I have ideas of my own, but I want to see what you guys come up with." Ashildr gave him a half-serious salute and headed off to help her fellow Bog-Burglars.

Hiccup and Toothless visited the injured and bereaved dragons in turn, comforting their subjects. Then there were the six hundred or so dragons they'd rescued from the armada, so many of whom wished to join their flock. To be part of this strange but special pack where humans offered fish with gentle hands, and mended wounds; instead of denying food and causing pain.

If it were up to him, Hiccup would welcome all of them to the pack. Of course, not all of them could live on Berk; there wasn't enough room. There was more room on Dragon Isle and Outcast Island, though, and their allied packs might adopt some of the rescues as well. Until they figured out who would be going where, he and Toothless decided to not bring new dragons into the pack web.

*I'm more worried about these guys* Hiccup admitted, as they looked over the mass of cages holding the aggressive, broken dragons. *They're so young. Those hunters took eggs and hatchlings and tortured them for at least ten years to turn them into…this." He waved a hand at the imprisoned dragons. They'd been muzzled to keep them from attacking, and the sight made Hiccup feel sick.

It suddenly occurred to him… *If they can't use thought-speak because they were…because they grew up around humans, how come Urchin can use it?* After all, the Sea-Giant had a similar past…Hiccup was loathe to use the words 'trained' or 'raised' to describe this travesty. *Maybe if he learned to use it…so can they* he said hopefully. Leo, for instance, had made some progress.

*Let's ask him* Toothless insisted. They flew to Urchin's nest and went down a tunnel, emerging onto the ledge between his tusks. To Hiccup's relief, Urchin was actually there and hadn't swum off when they weren't looking. *Urchin!* barked Toothless, harsher than he'd intended. The leviathan dragon opened his eyes, which were full of fear and sorrow. *Are…Urchin, are you alright?*

*URCHIN OKAY. OBEYED ALPHAS. HELPED FLOCK. URCHIN…DO GOOD?*

*You did great, big guy* Hiccup reassured him, dismounting and walking closer slowly. *If it weren't for you, things could have been worse. But you look sad.*

The Sea-Giant whined, a sound that shook the air. *URCHIN CONTROL DRAGONS. URCHIN IS BEAST* he lamented. *SCARED. WRONG. BAD.*

*No, Urchin, you're nothing like Beast* Hiccup hastened to reassure him, reaching out to press his hand to the rough scales on Urchin's face. *You're not a bad dragon. You weren't even bad when you were called Beast, that was Drago's fault. He forced you to control dragons for bad reasons. We needed you to do it for good reasons, to help save everyone. Do you understand?*

Urchin shifted uncomfortably, the ice and rocks cracking around him. *URCHIN NOT UNDERSTAND. CONTROL DRAGONS BAD? GOOD? CONFUSED. STRESSED.*

Hiccup winced. Trying to explain the complexities of when it was and wasn't okay to mind-control people (which, ideally, should be 'never') to Urchin was not going to be easy. As he was trying to think of how to word it, however, Toothless took the much blunter approach. *It depends on why you're doing it. You weren't forcing them to attack – you had to do it to stop them being hurt.*

At first, Hiccup was grateful to his other half for helping to clear things up, until… *You should have done it to stop yourself being hurt. Urchin, if you had taken control of those dragons in the first place, the fight would never have happened* Toothless insisted. The Sea-Giant flinched. Part of Hiccup knew Toothless was right, but he felt like his friend was being too hard on the big guy.

"Bud, c'mon, don't you think that's a bit harsh?" he protested, frowning. "Urchin was just trying to do the right thing. You can't blame him for this."

Toothless snorted impatiently, tail lashing. *I'm not, but I'm still right and you know it. He didn't command those dragons to save himself or our flock and he should have!*

"Well maybe he couldn't! Those dragons aren't – their minds aren't working right. For all we know, he tried to command them and nothing happened!"

*But it did!* Toothless snarled, frustrated. *I know he could command them because he commanded the Three-Tail that was about to kill me!* He glared up at the Sea-Giant, wings spread and fangs bared. *You took control to save me but not yourself, and that's bad, Urchin! You can't just not protect yourself from bad humans! What in the name of the Moon were you thinking!?* he roared.

"You're making it worse!" Hiccup yelled at him.

*STOP!* Urchin wailed, *ALPHAS NOT FIGHT! ALPHA'S LOVE!*

Hiccup and Toothless jumped out of their skins. They stared at Urchin…and then at each other, slumping as the fight went out of them. "What are we doing?"

*Being stupid?* Toothless answered, whining apologetically. *I'm sorry, Hiccup. You too, Urchin. I just don't want you to let yourself be hurt* he explained, even as he padded over to nuzzle Hiccup. *You're part of our pack. You matter.*

Hiccup took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. *Urchin, listen. You trust me and Toothless, don't you?* he asked the Sea-Giant, who looked worried.

*URCHIN TRUST ALPHAS ALWAYS.*

*Okay. So if we tell you to control dragons, you can trust that we have a good reason for it. Or if you have to control dragons to protect yourself, or the flock, that's okay too. It's only bad to control them to hurt people.* Even as he said it, Hiccup knew this might be too simple, but the Sea-Giant wasn't one for nuance. *Do…do you understand?* he inquired cautiously, hoping that Urchin got it.

There was a long pause. *CONTROL TO PROTECT SELF AND FLOCK. GOOD. CONTROL TO HURT. BAD* Urchin recited at last. Hiccup sighed in relief.

*That's right. Attaboy* Hiccup praised, giving him a hard scratch on the lips. It was one of the few places the Bewilderbeast would actually feel his touch. Then he remembered what he'd wanted to ask Urchin in the first place. *Urchin, can I ask you something?* The Sea-Giant indicated that he could. *When you were…growing up, how did you learn to think-speak?*

Urchin somehow managed to look puzzled. *URCHIN HEAR DRAGONS THINK-SPEAK. URCHIN LEARN. URCHIN…LEARN TO CONTROL* he explained, rumbling in discontent. Not wanting to distress him further, Hiccup and Toothless bid Urchin goodnight and went to attend to their duties before retiring to bed. (1)

Early the next morning, Toothless-Hiccup led many of their subjects out to the home of Whirlwind, to give the lost Air-Giant a proper funeral. The sight of his and his mother's mutilated corpses were hard to look upon, and Hiccup felt his anger at the flyers grow stronger. Yet even in this dark moment, there was a glimmer of hope, like the new dawn breaking around them. For deep in the tunnels, they found a clutch of eggs, and took them back to be kept warm.

Later that morning, Astrid left Helena and Finn in the care of her parents, and called a council meeting. The core riders, tribal chieftains, Eret and Nicole gathered in the Great Hall to discuss what should be done with their prisoners. All of them had dungeons full of hunters, pirates and knights; naturally, each of them had quite different ideas on how to deal with this surplus of war captives.

"They should be executed, every last one of them!" Mogadon slapped the table with his palm. "They came with intent to conquer and held us hostage, they attacked your island, killed some of your people and dragons – they must pay!"

"Not to mention that half-troll Adulfr almost killed Stoick and wanted to kill Hiccup" added Dagur. "I'm on board with the executing thing. Why don't we have the dragons do it? You know, for the poetic justice, irony, whatever."

Hiccup spoke up sharply. "No" he refused, "I won't have the dragons used as weapons and definitely not as execution tools. It isn't even a solution!"

Tuffnut remarked, "Seems like a pretty good solution to me. We won't have to feed 'em, y'know, cos they'll be dead, justice is served, everything's good…"

"No, everything is not good. Adulfr didn't just round up a bunch of thugs and stick them on a ship; he had knights, warriors, and they're not just for hire, whoever they're sworn to must have sent them to bolster his forces. Whoever they've sworn fealty to is going to notice when they don't come back, and what do you think they're going to do when they find out we had them all killed?"

There were uncomfortable glances all around; that much hadn't occurred to them. "It's not just them. All of those people will have families somewhere. Adulfr made them fear us. He made them believe we were a threat to be stopped at all costs. If we execute them, we will be proving him right."

"Hiccup's right" said Astrid, "I know they wronged our tribes, but we're alive, thank Odin, and their intimidation attempt failed. Having them put to death would just come back to bite us; and besides, enough people have died."

"But then what are we to do?" Brunhilda demanded. "We cannot keep them imprisoned, or even put them to work; there are too many mouths to feed, and we have to get our tribes and our dragons through the winter."

"We could ransom them" suggested Heather, "if we find out who they're vassals to, or who let Adulfr hire them. Eret, do you think you and your crew could fly out and demand the ransoms from the lords these thanes are sworn to?"

Eret nodded. "Oh, easily. Of course, the tricky part will be convincing them to actually pay the ransom. In my experience, the people with coin to spare are even less willing to give it up than the ones with no coin to spare" he remarked.

Beside him, Nicole snorted in agreement. Their first encounter had been memorable, to say the least; the two captains had sized each other up, but the way they acted and spoke made it appear like they were flirting. The passive-aggressive jabs came to a head when Cateline challenged Eret to a duel for Nicole's honour, and then Safira challenged Nicole to a duel for Eret's…sword.

"How much coin should we demand, then?" wondered Ramshorn. There was a brief period of heated debate, but eventually they decided on a hundred silver coins per head for the vassalised thanes, to be distributed to the families of the deceased, with any spare being kept in Berk's coffers. As for the hunters…

Fishlegs reasoned "First we should find out who they work for, if anyone. Demand the ransom from their boss, not their families. Odds are…the families won't be able to pay" he pointed out. The gulf between rich and poor was a great one indeed, especially on the mainland. The tribes of the archipelago, on the other hand, were enjoying a boon of prosperity in trade of dragon goods.

"Nah, I bet they can afford it" interjected Snotlout, "probably been hoarding coin from hunts since they started. But if whoever we demand the ransom from really can't cough it up, then I say we take it straight from Adulfr's coffers instead. If the ass managed to gather a new, bigger armada in just three years then he's gotta be rich, and his gold should now be our gold" he insisted.

Heather scoffed. "More likely he wasted all his gold on that fleet, made his allies waste all their gold, and convinced them, 'once I have my revenge you can slay the dragons and be rich…again! Mwahahahaha!'" she cackled.

"Aww, sis, you've been working on your maniacal laughter! It sounds great!"

"Thanks, bro."

Ragnar spoke up. "Lady Heather has a good point, nonetheless; you would have to demand the ransom from his tribe, and with so many hunters to account for, there's no way they could afford it and still have coin to spare. Perhaps they'd be able to pay the ransom for Adulfr himself, but not for all of his men."

"Never mind demanding a ransom for Adulfr" Snotlout said bitterly, "He's the nithingr behind this whole mess; if anyone deserves to be executed, it's him."

Hiccup scowled. "We already agreed we're not executing anyone, Snotlout. I gave my word that Adulfr would be left alive" he reminded the man tersely.

Snotlout dismissively replied "Yeah, but you also said you were gonna let Urchin blast that fleet to bits, and we all know you were bluffing."

As her husband glared at Snotlout, Astrid came to his defence. "That's not the point and you know it. He gave his word, and the gods don't look favourably on oathbreakers" she insisted. Hiccup gave her a grateful nod of thanks.

Snotlout scowled. "You know, we wouldn't be having this conversation if you'd just finished the asshole off when you had the chance."

"What, you think I didn't try? He was knocked out, I wasn't about to stab an unconscious person. What do you take me for?"

"Well what about on deck?" Snotlout demanded, ignoring Hiccup's question. "He was right there, Toothless could have taken him out!"

"In front of all his men, and prove he was right about me – I don't think so. He'd have just become a, what's the word, martyr. It would've made things worse."

"Fine. Fine. I get why you didn't kill him then. But we are talking about the warmonger who got my dad killed, Gobber killed, almost got several people in this room killed – including you and Toothless!" Snotlout all but yelled, "and you want to let him live? This is our chance to avenge everyone who died because of him. Adulfr has wronged us, and the people of Berk will demand retribution!"

"The people of Berserk demand retribution too! Right, Heather?"

"Don't drag me into this!"

Hiccup sat back in his chair and calmly retorted, "Executing Adulfr is not going to bring them back, or fix the damage he caused. And avenging, getting revenge, is what led to this fiasco in the first place. It's a vicious cycle, and it has to stop."

Frustrated, Snotlout turned to Fishlegs and all but pleaded, "C'mon, you're on my side with this, right? You keep saying I should have closure for my dad's death. Getting rid of Adulfr will give me that closure. I'm almost certain of it."

With the expression of one who really didn't want to get involved in this argument, Fishlegs cautiously replied "You do deserve closure, Snotlout….but Hiccup does have a point. He gave his word, and having Adulfr put to death would make him – all of us – no better than the ones who attacked us."

At this point Astrid intervened. "That's enough. Hiccup, I understand your reasons for not wanting to execute Adulfr; but unfortunately, Snotlout has a point as well. The villagers won't be satisfied unless he faces some sort of punishment for his crimes…so what did you have in mind?" she questioned.

Hiccup took a deep breath to centre himself. "I won't stoop to Adulfr's level by having him killed for vengeance; and since no matter what we do, he'll resent us, I feel it's best that we keep a very close eye on him. So I propose that we make him face the people he's hurt and deal with their ire head on. Make him rebuild the houses. You want poetic justice, Dagur? How does taking a man who hates dragons and forcing him to help take care of them sound?"

"It sounds like thraldom" Nicole declared before the red-haired chieftain could reply. "It sounds like you want to let a dangerous criminal roam your island, giving him opportunity to escape or plot against you or cause more harm. They say to keep your friends close and enemies closer, but this is a bit extreme."

"Extreme would be having him tortured, or something" Hiccup countered, "and it's not enthralling him, it's…more like extended community service." At their dubious expressions he continued, "He'd be watched all the time; by the dragons, the villagers. If he tries anything, back into the cell he goes. And it wouldn't be permanent – just until his tribe can pay off the ransoms. Because you're right", he said to Ragnar, "they couldn't pay the weregild (2) off all at once, but they could in yearly increments. We'd be holding Adulfr hostage."

"Oh, yeah, just like he held us chieftains hostage!" Dagur interjected, scornful. "So much for not stooping to his level. I expected better from you, Hiccup. Pirate lady has a point; you'd be giving him the chance to escape, or worse, try to kill you again. And speaking as someone who has tried to kill you in the past, I can understand the temptation. You're very annoying, sometimes. Like now."

"Thanks, Dagur" Hiccup said sarcastically. "You guys remember what happened on the ship, right? When I was trying to talk him down, I told you why he did all this. It wasn't just that I killed his father; by doing that, I cost him his chance to prove himself. Hauke made him feel worthless, and I think he's been trying to convince everyone – including himself – that the opposite is true, ever since."

"So, what are you saying, Hiccup? That you spared him because you feel sorry for him?" Heather questioned, brow furrowed. The others looked sceptical.

Before Hiccup could reply, Snotlout shook his head and declared, "No. It's because wolf man reminds dragon man here of himself. Isn't it?"

Hiccup calmly answered, "True, but he reminds me of you, as well."

"What? How dare – I am nothing like Adulfr!" Snotlout cried angrily. "If anyone has something in common with him it's you!"

"You're not wrong. The only son of a chief, born a runt, desperate to prove himself…"Snotlout nodded along with a satisfied smirk on his face until Hiccup continued, "to a father he dreaded disappointing, who told him caring was weakness, that he had to tear others down to build himself up, and who punished him when he didn't meet expectations. Sound familiar?" he asked.

Snotlout glared at him. "Yeah. It sounds like how your dad used to be" he countered, though he knew perfectly well what Hiccup was getting at. "Do you remember what I said? That his excuse for starting a war is shit. It's a terrible excuse, for something that has no excuse. I can't believe you're falling for it!"

"I'm not falling for it" Hiccup retorted, still calm. "You're right; it is a terrible excuse. It's an immature excuse. He's been throwing a tantrum cos he didn't get his own way. So yeah, maybe I do see myself in him. Maybe I'm tired of people telling me it's the right thing to kill my enemies, when I know there's a better way. I'm going to help Adulfr, because he is what I could have been."

Hiccup's proclamation was met with silence, as Snotlout's protests died on his tongue. Finally, someone spoke. "If I didn't know any better, I'd call you a naïve fool" Dagur remarked, "but if anyone can get through to Adulfr, it's you."

"I agree" nodded Astrid, "so reforming him will be your responsibility, Hiccup. But unless it's necessary, I don't want him out of that cell" she insisted, "And if he tries to kill you again, execution is back on the table. I won't tolerate another attempt on your life" Astrid told Hiccup – and by extension, Toothless. The two of them shared a look that spoke volumes, and nodded solemnly.

Astrid looked out over the table. "We have heard the proposal to ransom the knights and hunters, and to keep Adulfr Haukeson imprisoned here on Berk until his tribe pays the total of the ransom for himself and his men. Any opposed?"

Nobody raised their hands – not even Snotlout. "Then it's final" Astrid declared firmly. "Which only leaves the question of what we're supposed to do with all those dragons…Hiccup?" she turned to her husband expectantly.

He sighed, dragging a hand down his face. "I wish we could help them, teach them to think-speak…but there's too many of them, and they're too aggressive. We can't keep them here, and I don't want to…" Hiccup hesitated, "y'know. But I'm not exactly keen on the idea of letting them loose into the archipelago."

"Well, who said it had to be the archipelago?" Nicole interrupted. "Seriously, Haddock, I thought you were supposed to be good at thinking outside the box. My crew and I can take them back to the Mediterranean…where it's warm…and release them into their natural habitats. Or better habitats. They might not be able to talk with their minds, but they'll still be able to fend for themselves."

Hiccup nodded. "That's probably the best solution. Thanks, Nicole" he said gratefully. She winked at him cheerfully. Astrid called an end to the meeting, and suggested her fellow chieftains, Eret and Nicole would want to make plans to move on before winter set its grip onto the archipelago.

When the others had left the Hall, she turned to Snotlout and Fishlegs, and remarked, "So, I hear you two have something you wanted to tell us?"

The two of them glanced at each other, nervous. "Uh, well…this is going to sound crazy, but…you remember when Fishlegs got hypnotised into, uh, thinking he was somebody else, and I kind of got a crush on his alter ego?" Snotlout asked awkwardly. "Funny story, but" –.

"Oh, no you don't!" Ruffnut exclaimed, "not this time! I let you turn my beautiful, perfect figure into this grotesque bulge, carrying your spawn, and your side of the deal was that I'd get to break the news when you two half-trolls finally got your acts together!" she snapped at them hysterically. "You ready? Snotlout and Fishlegs have been courting in secret and I'm their surrogate!"

For a few seconds after her proclamation, the six of them just stared at each other. Their dragons stared at them. Finally, Astrid commented "Oh, is that all? I thought it was gonna be something else." Both Snotlout and Fishlegs spluttered.

"What d'you mean, 'is that all?'…Wait. You're not bothered by this?"

"Uh, no? Why would we be? Besides, we'd kind of already guessed. You two have been spending a lot of time alone together these past few years."

"We just didn't say anything cos we figured you'd want to tell us yourselves, when you were ready" explained Hiccup. "Y'know, there's no law against you guys being a couple. We are allied with the Bog-Burglars, after all. Astrid could annul your marriage to Ruffnut and marry you to each other" he pointed out.

Astrid continued, "And if anyone gives you a hard time for it, they'll have us to answer to." Hookfang, Stormfly and the other dragons were supportive as well.

"Aww, you guys" Fishlegs beamed at them. He glanced at his partner and questioned, "Do you want to tell them, or should I?"

Snotlout shook his head. "No…I'll do it. Okay, so the truth is, we knew about the laws but…I was too ashamed. I've been – not, y'know, in love with Fishlegs for ages, more like…uh…"

"Fondness" the other man supplied, "Really strong, close, touchy-feely…"

"Yeah, yeah, and it just sorta grew…after my dad, Fishlegs understood, y'know? Cos he'd been there. But I'd always thought that if the village found out I was…like that…they'd treat me different. As in worse. I'd lose all my respect, I wouldn't be a real man, I'd be the village pariah. Kind of like you were", he said to Hiccup, "only worse. No offence" he added, somewhat as an afterthought.

"None taken" Hiccup shrugged it off, "but I think you were worried over nothing. If anyone thinks there's something wrong with you for being a rasser, they're the ones with the problem. It's nobody's business what you do in bed, long as no-one's hurt. People are just different. I know that, better than most."

"And of course we won't treat you any different. We're your friends, muttonhead" Astrid rolled her eyes at him. "Look, you don't have to decide right now. But if you want to be together officially, with Ruffnut as your concubine to keep it proper…all I'm saying is, the offer's open" she told them.

Fishlegs smiled shyly, but happily; Snotlout was fighting to keep a grin off his face. "Thanks, Chief. Astrid." He cleared his throat. "We…we'll think about it."

The decision was made. The prisoners were interrogated about their lords or employers; at first they refused to co-operate, but changed their tunes once it was clear that doing so was the fastest way off these devil-accursed islands.

Adulfr was informed that he would be imprisoned on Berk until the ransom for himself, his men and anyone who refused or had no-one to demand it of had been paid. He was not pleased, but managed to shelve his pride long enough to beg – ask – demand that Skadi be returned to her wild home. "I don't want her trapped on an island of bloodthirsty dragons, or stuck in a cage" he declared.

Everyone not native to Berk started making their way home. Klaus bid Magnus and Brannild a reluctant farewell; he wished he could stay, but his own family were waiting for him. The Crashing Tide's crew set out to deliver the ransom notes; and at Hiccup's request, show the various lords a letter he'd written explaining the truth about Adulfr's grudge against him. He hoped it would help.

The Tempest's crew headed back to the Med with a couple of salvaged vessels, carrying the surviving speechless dragons. "Don't worry; we'll take care of them" Nicole assured Hiccup. He believed her; she had helped to protect his wife and son at risk to herself, if he hadn't trusted her before he would now.

Ragnar, Mikel and Ingrid were returning to Smoking Bay on Torch. Isak, on the other hand, would be flying with his new dragon, Frelsari. Hiccup and offered to help them form a mental link, so they could talk to each other properly. Isak and Frelsari agreed, so Hiccup forged the link, well practiced at it by now. "It should be permanent, hopefully" he explained, after rider and dragon had said hello.

Toothless and Frelsari looked up at the sound of footsteps. Two of the freedmen were hovering nearby, having frozen when the dragons spotted them. Hiccup beckoned them closer and they approached hesitantly. "Hi, Sigurd, Onarr" he greeted Adulfr's former thrall and Sigurd's best friend. "What brings you over?"

Sigurd cleared his throat and explained, "We've been hearing so many tales and rumours about you, Lord Hiccup, most of which are, forgive us, rather hard to believe. They're saying you're immortal, that you can hear dragon's thoughts and bestowed upon your people the same gift…please, we mean no disrespect, we were only curious whether there were kernels of truth to these stories."

Hiccup blinked. "I'm not a lord" he denied immediately, "and I'm not immortal, either. As for hearing dragon's thoughts…that part's true. Well, sort of. I can only hear their projected thoughts, it's not like I'm reading their minds…I just gave Isak here the ability, so he and Frelsari can talk to each other" Hiccup explained, gesturing to the Icelandic man and his black-and-purple Fire-Scale.

Onarr looked like he was struggling not to voice something. "But how?" he blurted, "I'm sorry, but how is that possible? These people keep saying you and your dragon are heart bound, but what does that even mean? Why do you have this gift, or curse, or whatever it is?" he demanded. Then his eyes widened, and he hastily backtracked. "No, that was – out of line, I'm sorry, please don't " –

"Whoa! Relax, I'm not offended. You're freedmen now, remember, you're not going to be punished for speaking out" Hiccup reminded him. "Look, I…it's complicated, okay? I can't tell you everything. I shouldn't really be telling you anything. I can understand dragons because Toothless and I are heart bound, and we're heart bound because we're soulmates. That's all I know for certain."

Sigurd looked intrigued, Onarr looked sceptical, and Isak looked bored. "I could let you hear thought-speak, if you like" Hiccup offered the two freedmen. "If that's alright with you" he added to Toothless, who rolled his eyes at his rider.

*Sure, why not? Thanks for asking me before offering to do it* Toothless responded, sarcasm clear in his tone and the hood of his eyes. Hiccup winced. *Sorry, bud* he apologised. Toothless forgave him graciously, and then reminded him of an idea he'd had. This was an opportunity to test it out…

Onarr and Sigurd discussed whether or not they should take him up on the offer. The latter wanted to try it, and Onarr reluctantly agreed. "Alright. We'll let you do it, sir. I mean, uh…" Sigurd trailed off, unsure how to address him.

"Just call me Hiccup. It's fine. Actually…Isak, why don't you have a go?"

Isak stared at him. "You want me to…Hiccup, I can't do that. I don't have this, this ability that you have" –

"But you do! I just gave it to you. Look, I'm not special. Just because I was the first human, maybe in the whole world, to hear thought-speak, it doesn't mean I have to be the only one. And I'm not. If you can hear thought-speak, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to use it, or let other people hear it…and if you can, if people besides me can share this amazing gift, it, it could…"

*It would change everything* Toothless finished for him.

With an exasperated sigh, Isak protested, "I don't even know how!"

"Look, all you've gotta do is put one hand on Frelsari, the other hand on Sigurd, and project an image of Frelsari into his mind. Then tell him what I told you. You've got to believe it can happen, intend for it to happen. Will it to happen. That's the secret. That, and keeping an open mind. Isak, please. Just try it."

"…Fine. But I'm not going to touch his forehead. We're total strangers."

"I don't think it will work otherwise."

"I don't think it will work at all" Isak deadpanned. He turned to Sigurd, and reluctantly placed one hand on Sigurd's forehead, the other on Frelsari's snout. They closed their eyes and he focused, trying to project his dragon's image into Sigurd's mind. "Can you see him or not?"

"With my eyes closed?" Sigurd felt the need to clarify. "Uh…sort of? He's really blurry, though."

At a nudge from Toothless, Hiccup asked "Mind if I help? Just relax, okay, you guys look like you're constipated." Before they could protest, he pressed his fingers to their foreheads and focused on strengthening the very shaky connection. "What are you doing?" Isak demanded, unsettled by this violation of personal space, in more ways than one. "Haddock, get out of my head!"

"You didn't mind before! Isak, you can do this. Focus on what you want to happen. Sigurd, keep an open mind" Hiccup advised.

At last, Sigurd declared "I can see it…the dragon, in my mind." Hiccup stepped back and crossed his fingers on both hands. This could work. It had to work. Please let it work. Isak repeated what Hiccup had told him. Then Sigurd gasped and stumbled back, putting a hand to his forehead.

"Oh, my…that felt very strange. It felt like…like…"

"Like a thread's been pulled taut in the back of your head?" Hiccup suggested.

"Yes, exactly" he nodded. "So…did it work?"

"Only one way to find out. Frelsari, say something."

*Like what?* the dragon inquired. Sigurd's jaw dropped. "I – I heard him! Your dragon, he spoke!" he exclaimed, eyes wide in amazement. Onarr's expression turned from sceptical to wondering as his friend begged him to try it himself.

"It worked" Hiccup whispered. A huge grin spread over his face. "It worked! YES! Isak, that was brilliant!"

"Thank you. Now let go."

"Sorry!" Hiccup released him. "Got carried away. But it worked! I was right!"

*You know if it hadn't worked, you and Isak would have looked stupid, right?*

"Yeah, that did occur to me" he admitted blithely, still grinning. "Toothless, c'mon, we've gotta tell everyone!" Hiccup leapt onto his dragon's saddle, and the Night Fury took to the air, both of them whooping in delight.

Isak looked at Sigurd and Onarr. "What do you think of the Dragon Whisperer?"

Sigurd hesitantly replied, "He seems…"

"Strange" Onarr finished bluntly. He flinched a bit, but passed it off as a shrug.

"Indeed" Isak nodded, "but I think that man is going to change the world."

(1) I felt like this could be a plot hole so I wanted to address it. Basically, dragons have the innate ability to understand thought-speak (and by extension human speech), but they have to be taught how to do it themselves by adult dragons, either from exposure or lessons.

Adulfr's dragons were raised by humans (with a very loose definition of 'raised') and didn't encounter think-speaking adult dragons until they were large enough to fight, by which point it was too late. With Urchin, there were adult dragons already there since Drago was building up his army even before finding Urchin, so he was exposed to thought-speak.

(2) Weregild = man price, if someone was injured or killed the victim / family of the victim would demand payment from the perpetrator. It was either that or killing the guy themselves, which usually led to bloody feuds.

Aaaaaand done! Thanks for sticking with me this far, guys. The series has come a long way, huh? And there's much further yet to go. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to plan out the last four stories of the Heart Bind Saga. See you later!