Over Fen And Field
Toothless and Far-Flight walked at each other's sides while Sky-Dancer carried Hiccup and spoke with Moonbeam.
Toothless had just shared with his sire the news about the island that the pack would be given to be theirs always.
"What do you think about that?" he asked his sire.
"It is a good idea. Having a place where any of us could go to be with our own kind only is good."
He agreed, liking the idea of dragons having a land of their own. Not that he would want to leave for such a land himself. But he was not sure about his parents.
"Is that something you and dam would want?"
Far-Flight shook his head.
"We only want to fly the winds of life with you, Breath-Of-Sky, Moonbeam, Hiccup, and the rest of the pack. Edoras and the humans there are good and warm to us, but we are home wherever you all are."
Toothless purred in agreement, glad that his parents thought that way. Far-Flight's words, while warming, reminded him of a small difference within the pack itself. The adults were not as close to the humans as the fledglings and cubs are. Everyone was peaceful, but the young knew a different world from what their sires and dams had lived in before. The young did not know death and fear from the other kind and had not learned to hate or greatly distrust.
"So are we, sire."
Far-Flight nudged his shoulder.
"Your flight to the other human range sounds like a good one if it does not happen too late for Moonbeam."
"What?"
"You would not want her flying far with a big cub inside."
"True. Lightning flew well from the cold range, but she was very tired after those flights."
Far-Flight hummed in thought.
"The dam is most weak when the cub is still small and growing inside. She sleeps and eats much then, but she can fly more later in carrying the cub if she must. Then she sleeps very much before the cub comes out."
Toothless purred and glanced over his tail to his dam, Hiccup, and Moonbeam. The three of them were chuckling about something.
"They will both be well. We will be there for them. Life will be very different with the humans helping us."
"Yes, different and better," Far-Flight agreed.
Far-Flight then huffed and nudged his shoulder.
"This is twisted that our cubs will be the same age. I hope that you did your part well."
He spun on his sire and stared into narrowed eyes and a toothy grin. His sire was twisting his tail!
"Same with you, sire! I hope you flew well!"
He blinked and realized what he had just teased his own sire about doing. Specifically, making a cub with Sky-Dancer.
Far-Flight rolled his eyes.
"Not a problem."
Hiccup groaned softly, rubbing his leg as it started feeling sore and slightly throbbing. Again.
At least the view is nice.
Between the rushing river on their right, the forest and mountains far off on the left, and the content Furies around him, there was nowhere else he'd rather be. Toothless and Far-Flight were walking together and talking while Sky-Dancer had run off to find Breath-Of-Sky and Mystery, both of whom had run ahead in play.
His leg was very annoying.
"Are you hurting?" Moonbeam warbled and nudged his shoulder.
"A little, but I've felt worse."
Her ears fell.
"Will it... stop hurting, one day?" she warily asked.
He thought back to the amputees on Berk. Their experiences made it difficult to know how bad such an injury truly was; some of those people were proud of never showing pain, but others were constantly boasting about how much pain they lived with... probably as a way of showing off how tough they were.
"Eventually, I hope. Burning-Star said that losing the tailfin stopped hurting him rather fast. How bad is it for a dragon who is grounded?" he gestured ahead toward the other group of Furies.
Together, they stared ahead toward Wing-Of-Ice walking at Eyes-That-Shimmer's side. Nightfall was plodding along at his side while Snowflame and Windripper were off on their own somewhere.
"I do not know much about that. I remember that life was bad for hurt dragons in the hidden world," she sadly answered.
"What? Why?"
"They would fight much for food and mates in the hidden world. The ones that were grounded... could not move in that world and probably died. That fighting is part of why my sire and dam wanted to leave that place."
That makes... terrible sense.
"Well, we won't let that happen anymore. We humans protect our own."
"Your own?"
"Yes, anyone we care about is one of us. Even dragons, if I have any say at all."
She hummed.
"The humans of Rohan have shown us their soul-fires. We can trust them," she said.
"I agree."
They kept walking until Hiccup had to stop, rubbing his leg to sooth the strain. Without any prompting, Moonbeam stepped up beside him and crouched down with a beckoning nod to her back. This was the first time she had ever offered to carry him.
"Moonbeam, you really don't have to..."
"I want to help you with this. Please let me help," she grumbled.
"Well, if you insist..."
"I insist."
He gingerly climbed on her back. While she was about the same size as Toothless, she was leaner than Toothless and Sky-Dancer, which made being on her back feel different. But it was not as strange as when Breath-Of-Sky had carried him.
"You are not very heavy," she said as she started walking.
He laughed.
"Good thing I'm not like my father. He's so big and heavy that there's no way you or Burning-Star could carry him!"
She hummed.
"Burning-Star told me about the Viking humans he fought against. He said that the Alpha of that pack was very big and a good dragon-killer. That was your sire, true?"
"Yeah, that was him. I heard a story that he once knocked a dragon's head off its shoulders when he was only a baby, a cub."
She grumbled.
"Was the dragon a little-nibbler?" she asked.
A Terrible Terror? That would be funny in a morbid way if it was...
"You know, I don't remember what kind of dragon it supposedly was. It's probably just a story that makes him sound more impressive. Anyway, I'm nothing like him; I take more after my mother."
"What was she like?"
He sighed and closed his eyes.
"My father never talked about her, but I heard from others in the pack. She was more like me, wanting my pack to find another way instead of fighting and killing. She wanted peace with dragons, and then, one night, she was killed by one... carried away."
"That should not have happened," she whined.
"No, but it did. I don't think about that though. It doesn't change anything, and it's more important to make the world one she would have wanted to see."
Moonbeam stopped walking and briefly hung her head.
"True. My sire and dam would have wanted a world without fighting between our kin. I will help you make that world. It is better for both of us."
Then she started walking again while he gently scratched circles on her neck.
He closed his eyes and let his thoughts wander. What struck him the most about her was how far she had come from the scared and bitter person she had been. He had helped her to change and grow as a person by learning about and facing those uncomfortable parts of the past that had defined her, even though doing so had hurt at the time.
It seemed that problems with parents were the root cause of why so many people were messed up. His own desire to prove himself and his belief that he had to be like his father probably came from how he and Stoick had never really related well. Moonbeam's parents were killed by a grisly dragon hunter. Jumps-At-Fire's father apparently left her mother, and her mother in turn taught her not to trust anyone.
On the other hand, Breath-Of-Sky, Snowflame, and the Hobbits had loving parents or others in that role whenever they got in trouble. Even Toothless had others care for him when he was young.
Happy roaring got his attention as Breath-Of-Sky and Mystery bounded into view ahead. His younger brother was running at full speed ahead of Mystery. The Light Fury caught up to him, hopped on his back, and tackled him with her jaws around his neck.
"Help!" Breath-Of-Sky cried.
Mystery growled, refusing to let go. Toothless and Far-Flight bounded over to observe the play-fight.
"Get him, sister!" Moonbeam cried.
"Go, brother!" Toothless shouted.
Breath-Of-Sky suddenly bucked and jumped, slipping out from Mystery's grasp and spinning around to face her. He was slightly larger than her. Then he and she stared each other down, crouching down low and tails swaying.
He jumped at her, and she deftly hopped back, avoiding the strike.
"Too slow!" Mystery bellowed.
"I will catch you!" Breath-Of-Sky shouted back and jumped at her.
"You can try!"
They were again off, dashing among the trees.
Moonbeam then looked back at Hiccup while purring deeply.
"I hope that they like each other and will want to be more than friends," she whispered.
"How far away is that for them... if they do want that?"
She hummed in thought.
"A few winters still. He has good thinking and a warm soul-fire."
"So does she. You did very well with raising her. I... don't know how you did it..."
She sighed.
"It was not easy. I did my best, but I do not know if I did well as a... sister-dam."
"You did. You'll be a very good mom, no doubt about that."
"Still, I had help from others. She and I do not always... think as we should toward each other."
Toothless strolled over and stood beside them, rubbing against her shoulder.
"What are you both talking about?" he asked.
"I was telling Moonbeam that she's going to be a very good dam," Hiccup smiled.
Toothless nodded.
"Very true. She has a very warm soul-fire."
She snickered.
"And you will be a very warm sire," she hummed and bumped his shoulder.
"Now we need to get Hiccup to be a sire!" Toothless grinned.
"Really? Will you stop?" Hiccup groaned.
Toothless smirked while Moonbeam laughed freely.
Hiccup checked the map and got confirmation of where they were. The huge delta on the right, the new forest along the mountains southwest, the stream that flowed down through the forest and into the delta, and the fact that they had left the Anduin behind days ago were all the proof he needed.
So this is the Mering Stream and the boundary of Rohan.
He put away the map and turned to the Furies at his side drinking from the stream.
"Yep, we will be in Rohan after we cross the stream!"
Toothless grumbled, stood tall, and looked around.
"The range does look more like Rohan. It is flatter and has fewer trees."
"How far now to Edoras?" Eyes-That-Shimmer asked.
He checked the map again and thought about their progress so far.
"We are over halfway there. Maybe five or six more days. We can follow the Entwash, this river up ahead, and then the Snowborne River. That will take us very close to Edoras while giving us fish and water."
"Good, we will do that," she answered.
Everyone settled down for an afternoon rest, though Snowflame and Windripper played some with Breath-Of-Sky and Mystery. Hiccup lay against Sky-Dancer's side under a wing and closed his eyes.
A pair of roars sounded and woke him from his nap.
Wait, who was that?
He flew to his foot as the other Furies did the same, though Sky-Dancer remained at his side to help him stand. They roared in greeting to the two Furies diving for them from the northwest.
Wind-Biter and Starlight touched down and immediately bounded over to Wing-Of-Ice and Eyes-That-Shimmer, who had their tails woven together. The newly-arrived pair stared in evident horror and shock at the visibly missing wing. Then, one at a time, they stepped over to Wing-Of-Ice and nudged his muzzle.
"Flame-In-The-Night told us, but it did not seem so... bad until now," Starlight whined.
"I have my kin with me. My soul-fire will be... warm," Wing-Of-Ice softly answered.
Nightfall stood up on his back and barked happily while flapping her little wings.
"Warm! Yay!"
Wind-Biter and Starlight hummed and then bounded over to Hiccup and Toothless. Both Furies whined softly when they saw his missing foot.
"You are hurt," Starlight sadly hummed.
"I'll be fine."
Wind-Biter stepped over to him, nudged his side, and then stepped back.
"Flame-In-The-Night asked us to fly here to our packmates. We will walk with them now so you and your kin can fly to Edoras," she said.
"Okay, we will. Is there any news for us?" Hiccup asked, relieved that they arrived to take over.
"Yes, there is. Flame-In-The-Night brought his... lost brother, Dark-Fire, back to the pack. He asked us to tell you that," Starlight grumbled.
So he did convince him to follow...
Hiccup frowned, remembering vividly how much Dark-Fire had expressed hate and bitterness. That Fury definitely had serious problems and a violent streak.
"I understand."
Toothless ruffled his wings and growled.
"Did Flame-In-The-Night bring him into Edoras?"
"No, he is making it stay in the mountains for now," Starlight answered.
"Good! If it tries to hurt us or our humans," Sky-Dancer snarled, not finishing her thought.
"What about the other dark wings: the two pairs, their children, and the other fledgling?" Hiccup asked, wanting to change the topic.
Starlight and Wind-Biter purred at that.
"We do not hate them. They are living more with the pack now, but they are still very afraid of the humans and stay out of Edoras," Wind-Biter explained.
"They just need time to get to know everyone," Hiccup nodded and mused.
Then he turned to his family.
"You all ready to go?"
"Yes, it will be good to see the rest of the pack," Far-Flight agreed.
Hiccup strolled over to Wing-Of-Ice and bowed to him, Eyes-That-Shimmer, Windripper, Snowflame, and Nightfall.
"Stay strong."
"You also, Hiccup," Wing-Of-Ice hummed.
Hiccup then went back over to his family. Toothless crouched down to let him climb on. Moonbeam, Mystery, Breath-Of-Sky, Far-Flight, and Sky-Dancer were shuffling in place, ruffling their wings.
They were eager to fly, and so was he.
"Let's fly."
They roared aloud in joy, leaped for the sky in a storm of wings, and turned for the north, flying in eager flight over fen and field toward home.
They agreed to keep flying into the night. The bright moon high above in the cloudless skies filled the land below with light. Over small streams, hills and plains of grass and rocks, and along the White Mountains.
Hiccup's thoughts kept drifting to what he knew would happen before too long; he would console two likely heartbroken Furies, face one possibly murderous Fury, and meet Adney again and finally decide what to do about her. Of course, he knew what he probably wanted, but it was the going about that which was hard.
He wasn't sure which of those would be the most difficult.
Edoras was aglow with the normal lights of torches high on the walls where the night guards were on duty. The simple, straw-thatched homes were mostly dark since so many people were away. Even so, the city faintly glowed on the hill that rose up from the plain.
Hiccup sighed and smiled, thankful that the fighting was all over now and that they were home. The small city with simple homes and simple people with simple lives and in which he had lived for nearly a month was dearer now than Berk had ever been.
Well, we're back...
They angled for the slope where the pack always slept. Surprisingly, a pair of the Furies were still awake and flew to their paws as soon as they returned and landed. He was able to tell them apart from everyone else from the color of their eyes.
Flame-In-The-Night and Snowfall bounded over to them.
Maybe they're awake because they were waiting for us.
"Alphas!" Toothless greeted them.
The Alpha pair settled down before them and purred in greeting.
"We are glad that you are back. Starlight and Wind-Biter found you, yes," Snowfall hummed.
"They did. They're walking back with everyone else."
"Good, we are watching Storm-Chaser for them," she said.
She stepped closer to inspect his leg; she warbled sadly, so he reassured her with a chuckle.
"I'll be fine. I only lost a foot. Others lost more..."
Even in the darkness, he could see everyone else hang their heads, humming softly.
He looked over to the sleeping Furies, wondering if he could distinguish them in the darkness, which he could not without seeing their eyes.
"How are they? How are Wing-Of-Ice, his family, and our daughter?" Flame-In-The-Night warily asked.
"They are doing much better. Well, Wing-Of-Ice is doing much better. His mate and daughter are with him, and Snowflame is walking with Windripper."
"Good. Having more warm packmates here would help much," Flame-In-The-Night sighed.
Hiccup idly nodded, thinking that there was probably something specific bothering the Alpha. There would be plenty of time to figure out what that was.
"We want to meet everyone in the pack when they wake up, but right now we must talk to you two Alphas alone," he then said.
"We will go to sleep. Come Breath-Of-Sky, Mystery," Sky-Dancer hummed.
The fledglings followed her and Far-Flight over to the rocks where the pack was resting. Toothless and Moonbeam walked at Hiccup's side with the Alpha pair following them a short distance away from the pack.
What he was about to tell them had the potential to change a lot. The Furies having an island all to themselves would change much about the Fury-human relationship. He knew that it was a good thing, everyone needed a place of their own where they could find safety when needed, but he also wondered how many of the Furies in the pack would be interested in the offer.
Then they all sat down in the peaceful darkness. Even in the dark, Hiccup could tell that Flame-In-The-Night looked troubled, his normally-proud head hung. It was not hard to think of a likely reason why. His discouragement probably had something to do with his lost brother.
"What did you want to talk about?" Snowfall asked.
"Did you see something strange in the sky a few days ago? Something like a very big shadow?" Hiccup began.
"Yes, we all did. Everyone, even the humans, saw it," Snowfall hissed.
"That was the... Enemy's soul-fire. He is gone now. The war is over, and the humans and Elves won the fighting. We are all free."
"The Alpha of the living shadows is gone?" Flame-In-The-Night warily asked.
"Yes, it is gone and dead."
"That is very good!" Snowfall purred.
Hiccup nodded.
"We met with Aragorn after the last battle. He will become the new Alpha of many human ranges in Gondor. He said that he wants to give the pack a gift: a big island."
"What?" Snowfall barked in surprise.
"It is far south and across the White Mountains. The waters have good fishing, and there are no humans who live on that island. He said that the island would belong to the pack only and that no humans would be allowed on it without the pack's approval."
The Alphas glanced at each other in eager surprise.
"What do you think about that offer?" Hiccup asked.
"It is a good idea. It might help much with a problem we have now. We might be too many for this range, and the newest in the pack might not want to be here always," Flame-In-The-Night whispered.
Toothless grunted in confusion after glancing at Hiccup and Moonbeam.
"The new dark wings that were in the Enemy's range. They do not trust humans as we do. There is also less food here now," Snowfall answered.
"Less food?" Hiccup asked.
"It started after the many humans went away with the horses. Food became more of a problem here, and more of us have been flying further or catching wild prey or fish. But there have been more days we went hungry. We do not think all of us can stay here," she explained.
Hiccup frowned in thought about the practical problem. Limitations on available food were unavoidable when the people being provided for were hungry dragons. Everything had been fine before most people rode away to Gondor and war. But, war inevitably brought shortages in resources. It was also possible that Rohan in its current condition could not provide for the needs of the entire pack, now even larger than it was before.
Great, one more problem to follow up on tomorrow...
"How far away is this island?" Snowfall asked.
"A couple days of flying."
The Alpha pair again conferred with each other, clearly very interested but also worried about something. Snowfall then stepped forward.
"Do you know where this island is?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Can you show me on a picture-map?"
"I can."
"Good. I will fly for that place tomorrow so that we know what it is like."
Flame-In-The-Night nuzzled her neck.
"And I will stay here with Free-Flight, the rest of the pack, and... Dark-Fire."
Several soft growls sounded after the mention of that name.
"Where is that one?" Toothless growled.
"He is staying in the White Mountains for now," Flame-In-The-Night answered.
"What if he... does something bad?" Moonbeam wondered.
Flame-In-The-Night clawed at the ground while snarling.
"I explained to him that we would hunt him down if he kills or hurts any humans. He must sleep in one place where we can find him every night. If he is not there..."
Hiccup did not ask about the consequences, nor was anything else said. What he had heard sounded very harsh and terribly understandable under the circumstances.
I suppose that is a fair arrangement. It's necessary, but it probably doesn't make Dark-Fire want to be part of the pack.
"If I may ask, why did you think that he can be trusted at all?"
Flame-In-The-Night grumbled and avoided looking at him.
"Something feels different about him now. It happened just after the big shadow-thing went up in the sky. He is more quiet and sad now, almost like an angry fire was burning in his soul-fire but is not there anymore."
Hiccup thought about it and what that might mean. Perhaps it was possible that Sauron had been giving Dark-Fire more strength and anger. If so, then that anger would be gone. What was left in its place?
"He has one chance to show that he can change and not clutch hate in his claws and thinking. If he fails and shows that he is false... I will do what I must... for the pack and the peace," Flame-In-The-Night calmly said.
Toothless then yawned widely and pawed at the ground.
"We are very tired. We flew much to get here this night."
Moonbeam hummed and nodded in agreement.
"Yes, we should sleep now, and we can meet the rest of the pack in the morning."
Hiccup silently nodded, feeling very exhausted also and finding it difficult to remain on his foot. But there was another reason he wanted to delay meeting the rest of the pack.
There were two meetings that he was not looking forward to. Lightning certainly already knew what had happened to her older brother, but she would definitely have questions that deserved answers. That meeting would definitely hurt a little, but far worse was going to be the meeting with Dreamcatcher and Tail-Hunter.
He did not want to think about what would happen in that meeting.
Toothless, Hiccup, and Moonbeam bowed and hummed to the Alpha pair and then departed, walking in silence together.
"Can we stop at my house first? We should drop off the bags, and I can grab a blanket," Hiccup proposed.
They wordlessly turned together, and then Moonbeam hummed in curiosity after nosing at his shoulder.
"Where will you sleep? Will you sleep in your den or with the pack?" she asked.
"I'd rather stay with you all, if you don't mind. The leg can be... troublesome..."
She warbled and looked away from him.
"I will help you however you need."
He laughed softly and rested a hand on her neck.
"You've done so much for me already."
"And I will do more! That is what family and kin does for each other," she huffed.
He rolled his eyes as he kept walking.
"Well, I did kind of promise to help you with the cub when that happens, so... we can call it a fair trade."
"Yes, a trade."
They arrived at the simple house, and Hiccup stared at it. He felt a very strange fondness for something that was so plain. It had belonged to someone else before him. The wood in the walls and on the floor was old, and the roof was thatched with straw. It only had a couple small rooms, one for sleeping on a straw mattress and the other for storage.
The structure perfectly summed up the lives of the people of Rohan: simple, practical, and enduring. At least, it did so for those who resided in the more permanent structures. Most people were nomadic, following the various herds.
He started working on the saddlepacks and all the other ropes Toothless was wearing. The only man-made thing that stayed on was of course the automatic tailfin.
Everything was then taken off and stored just inside the house. His peg thudded on the wooden floor as he grabbed a blanket.
As fun as it had been to sleep on the ground on his adventures in the wild, there was nothing wrong with wanting the simple comfort of being able to sleep with a blanket.
He closed the door and stepped outside into the moonlight.
"Feel good, bro?" he asked.
"Yes, having all the carrying stuff off is good," Toothless answered while rolling his shoulders.
"Good, let's go. I can barely stay on my feet."
"Do I need to carry you?" Moonbeam worried.
"No, I was joking. I'll be fine."
Hiccup had wrapped himself in his furs-blanket and was already asleep under one of Sky-Dancer's wings. She had also curled up slightly around him, just to keep him a little warmer.
Toothless could not remember her ever doing so for him when he was a young cub, he could not remember much from that young age, but he knew that she must have done so. She was a very warm dam.
Satisfied that his human brother was asleep and well, he looked around at everyone else he could see among the pack. The Alpha pair and Free-Flight were together; Hunts-In-Deep-Waters, Lightning, and their new cub were curled up in a pile; his own sire, dam, little brother, and Mystery were on their usual rocks, the new family of Dances-In-Shadows, Sun-Spark, Dancing-Flame, and Hidden-Star were resting on rocks down below; and Bagronk was on his own on the ground not far from the Alpha pair.
His soul-fire was chilled though when he saw Dreamcatcher and Tail-Hunter. They looked at peace as they rested, but he was sure that their soul-fires had to be filled with a cold wind. How many days had it been since they were told the truth that their mate or sire was never coming back?
Lastly, he saw Jumps-At-Fire asleep on the edge of the pack's sleeping space. Despite the truth that they had both made mistakes with each other, he understood why so much of her life and her thoughts were twisted. He did not hate her, and he wanted her to be happy and free of the past.
Has anything changed for her? I should ask tomorrow.
Then he turned to Moonbeam and nuzzled her, hearing her warm purring of peace and swaying their tails together.
One of her eyes flicked open and fixed on him.
"My dear toothless mate," she hummed.
He snorted softly and whispered to her.
"Did I tell you how warming it is to see you being kind to him?"
"He is my kin, and I want to help him since... I hurt him."
He nuzzled her nose.
"No, you did not hurt him. I do not blame him for my losing a tailfin, and that grounding happened when we were fighting. What you did is not even like that. He and I are alive because of you."
They said nothing more, closed their eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.
Hiccup walked at Snowfall's side up the slope and to his house just after dawn. She offered her shoulder to lean on as they went.
Life all around was quiet and still. Even the wind that normally swept down the golden plains was calm now.
He opened the door to the house, retrieved his map from the supplies, roughly sat down, and smoothed the map out on the ground for her to see.
"So, you will fly straight south over the White Mountains until you find the ocean. Follow the shore further south and past more mountains inland, but don't stop at any human cities; they don't know you dragons yet. You should see the island. Does that make sense?" he asked.
She purred and nodded once in understanding.
"Yes, I can see that flight from the picture. How long do you think the flight will be?"
"It's about the same distance in the sky from here to Minas Tirith, so maybe two days for you to get there and the same to get back."
"That is not bad. I can fly that for the pack."
He nodded.
"Before you go, did anything happen here that I should know about?"
She stared evenly at him, as if wondering how to answer that, until she huffed and stared off toward the sunrise.
"Other than the food problem, nothing bad has happened. The five new dark wings do not know what to think about humans and want to stay on their own more than we do. They do not want to do work for humans."
"That's fair of them. It will take time," he agreed.
She grumbled and flicked an ear.
"Between us, I do not know if my mate is correct about Dark-Fire. My mate's thinking might be twisted by the want for his lost brother to be different."
"We'll find out eventually," he shrugged.
"Yes, we will. I will tell Dark-Fire to fly here today. You should be careful with Dreamcatcher. She is not well..."
"What do you mean, be careful and she is not well?"
Snowfall shuffled in place without meeting his gaze.
"She has not said much since we told her what happened. I do not know what she is thinking. If you talk to her, keep your brother with you."
With that warning, Snowfall stepped away from him, flung out her wings, and took flight straight off into the south. He watched her flying off until she was only a dark dot in the sky.
Alright, that's one task down. Next... probably meeting Lightning, Dreamcatcher, and everyone else. Great.
The rest of the pack was starting to come awake when he returned. He noticed that Hunts-In-Deep-Waters and Lightning, Hunts-Golden-Light proudly sitting on her back, were standing before Far-Flight, Sky-Dancer, Toothless, and Moonbeam, all of whom were awake.
"Hiccup! Come here!" Lightning cried.
He stumbled down the ridge as fast as he could, ignoring the slight pain in his stump. He shuffled up before her, and the first thing he noticed was that the cub looked like she had added a few inches in length over just a couple of months.
"Lightning, how are you?"
"Much better now that I heard more about my brother. Your parents were telling us how... Wing-Of-Ice," she sniffled, "is warmer now that his mate and young are with him."
"Yes, he's doing much better. They'll be here soon."
Her eyes narrowed as she grumbled and stepped closer, staring at his peg.
"You lost a paw."
"I could have lost much more. I'll be fine."
Hunts-Golden-Light suddenly had enough of peacefully sitting on her mother's back, and she hopped to her paws, trilling and gurgling happily.
He smiled and strode over to her, and she did not shy away from him. Rather, her tongue hung out from her jaws.
"May I?"
Lightning glanced back over her shoulder and hummed in consent. He scooped up Hunts-Golden-Light and then held her with a hand around her flanks, his other hand on her back, and her chin on his shoulder as she purred. She was clearly fond of him and remembered being held in the past.
"Oh, you remember me, don't you, you furious little cub," he chuckled.
She mewled and whipped his legs with her tail.
"Unholy offspring of lightning and... not death himself," he whispered in her ear.
Then she licked his chin, which made all the adults chuff in amusement.
"You are kin to her," Lightning hummed.
He held Hunts-Golden-Light for a while until she faced her mother and mewled softly. That was probably a sign she wanted to go back to her mom, so he stepped over to Lightning and carefully set her cub on her back. Hunts-Golden-Light mewled again in protest at being put down.
"She's really playful and friendly," he chuckled.
Lightning purred, gently bouncing her cub on her back.
"Yes, she remembers you from before. She does not do that with other humans."
"Would you let her?"
"Well, I trust you more."
Fair enough. I was part of her coming into the world... still can't believe I was there for that.
While helping Lightning in the birth had been very, very awkward, even though Haerfara did most of the hands-on work, seeing Lightning with her healthy and happy cub, both back then and now on her back, made it more than worthwhile. He had no doubt that he was going to help others in the pack in that way.
He stood by, idly watching as Lightning kept asking Far-Flight and Sky-Dancer questions about her brother. She grew more relieved the more she heard.
He eventually noticed that Flame-In-The-Night and Jumps-At-Fire were standing together far away on the slope and speaking very animatedly. They finished when she visibly huffed and turned away from him, stalking down the slope on her own.
What is that about? Hopefully she isn't causing trouble.
Toothless and Moonbeam then strode up to him.
"Do you need food now?" Toothless asked.
"Not right now. Maybe later. Why do you ask?"
Toothless nodded.
"We should meet Dreamcatcher and Tail-Hunter," he said.
Hiccup took a deep breath to steady himself for what was to come. This had to be done sooner rather than later.
"Yes, we should, together."