Determination, Deliberation, and Dragons

It’s been a while, but I added to my HTTYD fanfiction shorts! I always liked the idea that Astrid and Heather had something going on, and thought it would be neat to show Astrid and Fishlegs missing Heather once she leaves with Dagur. 

****

It had been a few days since Heather had taken off on Windshear and left the Edge with Dagur. In those few days, Fishlegs had taken to hiking up to the top of a cliff that overlooked the Dragon Riders’ base.

“I like being able to see everyone from up here,” Heather had said when she brought Fishlegs there for the first time. “I can’t help but feel that, at some point, everyone is going to leave me. It’s… well… kind of nice looking down and seeing that it’s all still there.” At this, she had looked at Fishlegs meaningfully. “It’s nice seeing that you’re still here.”

The Dragon Riders hadn’t left her. Instead, Heather had left them.

Fishlegs looked out over the base. He knew why Heather had left, but a part of him wished that she hadn’t. He could see the topiary gardens and remembered the quieter moments he had shared with Heather there among the quiet rustling leaves. And there was the hanger, where he had figured out how to make Windshear a confident part of the team. And who could forget the dining area where Heather had shared her incredible cooking with everyone?

“Well,” boomed Alvin, clapping his hands together. “It sounds to me like you have some reasonable goals that don’t have to involve the killing of anyone. Honor doesn’t come from violence and war. Sure, I sent the Screaming Death to destroy Berk, but what did that get me? My favorite patch of cabbages was destroyed! And a man losing his cabbages just isn’t worth it.”

- 

"You've all been doing such a great job around the village," Hiccup told the group one evening after a training session at the Academy. "Because of you all, Berk is doing a much better job accepting the dragons than I would have thought. I swear I even saw Mildew smile at Toothless the other day. Mildew! Imagine that."

"Sorry to break it to you, H, but uhh, Ruffnut and I may have been standing behind you at the time and..."Tuffnut paused, twirling his hands in the air as he searched for the words.

Ruffnut finished for him. "We were totally trying to set Snotlout on fire."

"Yep. Good ol' mildew was just excited to watch the Snot-Man burn."

"We all want to watch the Snot-Man burn."

Snotlout glared at the twins and snapped his fingers, possibly as a signal for Hookfang to attack, though as usual, Hookfang grabbed Snotlout by the ankles and held him high above the ground.

Okay, so there was still room for improvement. A LOT of room for improvement.

Finally, Gobber said, “I’m older than you, Valka. I’ve been in this fight for a long time. I taught Stoick how to face down a Gronckle, and I was there for him when his father was killed. I trained Hiccup and the dragon riders. Well, not to ride dragons, but you know what I mean. I’ve done a lot during my time here. And during that time, I’ve seen people and dragons alike do awful things.

“And I’m tired. I really am. I’m getting older, and my back aches and my foot hurts. Fighting over all these years has taken an arm and a leg, literally! I don’t move like I used to. I don’t have the same bright-eyed optimism that your boy and his friends have. Part of me wants to lie down and take a nap and never wake up. I don’t know if things will ever be perfect, or if we’ll ever defeat evil once and for all.

“But I’m not in this fight to defeat evil. I’m in this fight for my friends, for the people I love. Tired as I am, I’ll never stop fighting if it means I can keep the people and dragons around me safe even if it’s only for a moment longer. I’m not fighting to win; I’m fighting because it’s right. Though, if we happened to win, I certainly wouldn’t mind.”

"I thought I’d be a Viking that future generations of Berkians could be proud of. But I’m not. I’m just a muttonhead.”

Snotlout’s mom put down her needle and the fabric she was working on. Looking directly at her son, she said, “Aye, you can be that at times. But you know what else you are? Loyal. Kind. Spirited. You’d do anything for those friends of yours. And you have. Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, they’re all alive today because of you. They’ve saved you countless times, and you’ve also saved all of them.”

***

Hiccup coughed. “Umm, Snotlout? That’s not how trade agreements historically work.”

“That’s because historically I haven’t been the one to make them.”

Gobber, who had replaced his hook with a gavel, hit the table. “Would anyone else like to represent Berk in our talks with the Uglithugs?”

“Gustav!”

“Anyone other than Gustav?”

***

Lego Star Wars has been amazing. If you're a Star Wars fan but haven't seen the Lego specials, I think they're worth checking out. They're so much fun.