Monday morning had to be the quietest thing Erick had ever experienced. No mother to knock on his door to wake him up, no Cliff to complain loudly that he'd left a dirty dish out, just silence. And it was the worst sort of silence.

Erick rose out of bed, his head throbbing. He dearly wanted to roll over and go back to sleep but he was probably already late for work. Allowing himself a minute to rub his eyes, wincing when he touched the sore one, and put his head in his hands, he felt the full weight of the previous night fall upon him.

He'd blurted out to the whole village that Adrianna's boyfriend was a cheater. He had then accused Hiccup of not caring about his own daughter. And now everyone knew about his moment of weakness at Troll Bridge.

The desire to go back to bed intensified. He did not want to show his face in the village after all that. He didn't want to face an angry Hiccup or, worse, an angry Adrianna. And Brandyn... gods, this was going to be a very, very long day.

Erick swung his legs over the edge of his bed and attached his prosthetic. He felt a bit shaky on it, whether from exhaustion or a loose screw somewhere he didn't know. He didn't particularly care. He wasn't going to be running all over Berk today anyway.

He expected someone to call out to him on his way to work but no one did. By the time he was pushing open the door, he was breathing a sigh of relief. The last thing he needed was the watchful eye of the village upon him as he went about his daily business.

"You're late." Horst said, not looking up from his work. "But it's fine. We've got a lot to do and Cliff's not here so if you could get on it right now, that'd be great."

"Right. Yeah." Erick sighed and sat down at his desk, immediately getting to work.

Two years ago, long stretches of silence were normal during the workday. Now they were agonizing. It wasn't as if Cliff was there every second of every shift, he'd been out sick a few times, but Erick had always known he would burst into the room within the week more boisterous than before. But now, sitting alone in the office and trying to focus on his work, Erick found himself missing the constant chatter that annoyed him to no end. The very idea of never hearing it again made his insides writhe. Cliff was loud, rambunctious, and full of bizarre stories that seemed to have no point at all but that was why Erick liked him. He made each day different and exciting.

Now he was holed up in the healer's. Okay, so he wasn't dying. He would be back in a day's time at most. But the sight of him sweating and convulsing, his skin pale and his eyes wide and fearful, wasn't about to leave Erick's head anytime soon. For one horrible moment, he had been terrified that his best friend was going to drop dead in that Hall before anyone could get him the help he needed. And if that had happened, all the chatter, all the stories, all the noise would be gone. Forever.

His thoughts drifted to Brandyn and he nearly broke the tool he was holding. That disgusting excuse for a human being had clearly hurt one of the people he loved most and, though Erick wasn't completely sure, endangered another loved one. He didn't care what Hiccup had said. He'd deserved a punch in the face. He deserved a whole lot more.

The sound of the office door opening nearly made Erick fall off his stool. It wasn't close to break time yet and he'd been concentrating on repairing a large rip in Thorein's saddle.

"Wha- oh." Erick whipped around and found himself face to face with Hiccup. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, avoiding eye contact. "Hi."

He saw Hiccup give him a half smile as he sat on Cliff's stool. "How's your eye?"

"Fine. Looks worse than it is."

"And your throat?"

"Pretty good. Bit scratchy but even that's going away." Erick stared down at his hands.

"Good, good..." Hiccup said somewhat vacantly.

Erick felt words bubble up within him but he clenched his jaw shut for a second before deciding to speak. "Look, Hiccup, I'm sorry about what I said. It was stupid and I don't actually think you don't care about Annie."

"It's all right." Hiccup said in a calm tone. "I think we both said things we didn't mean." he paused for a moment and Erick chanced a glance upward. Hiccup looked like he was contemplating something. Finally, he met Erick's eye. "Look, what I said about me being there to solve her problems... that's not exactly true. I've been doing a terrible job of it."

"I wouldn't say terrible."

"I would." Hiccup sighed; he looked emotionally pained. "She's not coming to me for as much as she did when she was little. I'm not saying she shouldn't figure a few things out on her own but... I don't know." he rubbed his eyes. "She didn't tell me anything about her and Brandyn. I had no idea he was that violent and I certainly would have put a stop to the relationship if I'd known."

"Of course you would. And you'd have done it in a much more mature way than I did."

"Ohhh no I wouldn't." Hiccup was smiling almost savagely. "If I'd known then what I know now, I'd have socked him too."

Erick's heart plummeted. "What do you know now?"

"It wasn't just cheating, Erick. I don't know much more but he really broke her heart. And he just left with no warning."

"He left?"

"House was cleared out. Only thing we've been able to piece together is that there was some sort of incident that happened before he took off. But none of us knows what it is, except Addie probably. But she's not saying a thing." Hiccup looked down for a moment before meeting Erick's eye again. "Is there anything you can tell me? I don't want you to betray her trust but I don't want her to keep suffering like this, like she always does and then me just watching it and unable to do a thing."

Erick was taken slightly aback. There was genuine anguish in Hiccup's eyes. A father is supposed to protect his children from pain like that but Hiccup, through one tragedy after another, couldn't do it the way most parents could. It wasn't for a lack of trying or a lack of love, he did both in abundance. But perhaps it was simply entering adulthood that made Erick realize that parenthood was truly heartbreaking. The evidence was right in front of him.

"I don't know much, Hiccup." Erick replied to his question. "I wish I did. But I think it would be better to hear it from her, anyway."

"Right." said Hiccup. "Sorry. Didn't mean to dump my parenting woes on you."

"It's okay." Erick waved away his apology. "But... I've got a question for you."

"Hit me."

"Ehh, just hitting Brandyn was enough." Erick flexed his fingers and Hiccup actually let out a small laugh. "Anyway, I've always wanted kids but seeing you like this... is it worth it?"

"Absolutely." Hiccup said immediately. "I loved Finn and Addie the second I saw them and so did Astrid. Nothing that happened to them or that they did themselves would ever change that."

"But it's been painful."

"Life is painful, Erick. You know that as well as I do." Hiccup straightened up. "It wasn't always miserable. For every time I've cried over those two, there's been about a dozen moments they've made me laugh or made me proud. You live for those moments, even when they're few and far between. Don't swear off kids on my account."

"Will do. Or won't do." Erick shrugged. "Well anyway, I'm sorry."

"Me too." Hiccup ruffled his hair before standing up. "I've got some work to do but I think we should start getting breakfast together again sometime."

"Sounds good."

Erick waited until Hiccup had vacated the shop before returning to his work. That was a lot less painful than he'd expected, considering their last encounter. Shouting at Hiccup truly was the only part of that evening he regretted. He loved Hiccup like a father, though perhaps nothis father. Olaf had been another story altogether. But as a surrogate, Hiccup had stepped up remarkably well considering his full schedule and all those different personalities under his roof.

Erick knew only one thing for certain regarding Hiccup: he wasn't going to let one argument ruin their relationship. And, from the way Hiccup had spoken to him just now, it seemed he had come to the same conclusion.

Xxx

As much as he loved his aunt, Cliff couldn't help but think that extended time in the healer's was pure agony. He'd drawn plenty of silly cartoons on a pad of parchment he'd found but without anyone to show them to, he might as well have slept all morning. He felt fine. His incident the previous day had been scary for sure but with a good night's sleep, he was ready to leave. Of course Mara would want him around for "observation." More like torture-vation. Hmm... not his best joke.

Lying on his back, his head dangling over the edge of his bed just because he could, he was seriously considering going outside running a few laps around Mara's to get out his excess energy. Before he had a moment to really think about it, someone knocked on his door.

"It's open." he called.

He was surprised, but quite pleased, that it was Taryn who emerged from behind the door and not some healer's assistant. Taryn was carrying a small flower in a pot and smiling awkwardly at him.

"I, uh... I just wanted to see how you were doing." she said, shrugging her shoulders. "And I brought you this. Kind of a... a get well soon gift." she paused, staring at him. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, counting the lines on the floorboards." said Cliff.

"Well you must be feeling better then."

She placed the flower, which was covered in prickles, on his nightstand and sat down on a chair next to his bed. Cliff flipped over so that the world righted itself and took in the appearance of his friend, his face reddening in embarrassment at having been in such an odd position when she arrived. Taryn's hands were covered in a white dust that Cliff suspected to be flour. Her hair was up in a messy bun that would have made her mother cringe. then eyed the flower for a moment before grinning.

"Thanks, Taryn. I know thistle make me feel even better in no time." he said with a wink.

Taryn snorted. "Wooooow." she said before dissolving into giggles.

It seemed the awkwardness was broken in an instant. Cliff's grin widening, he decided to chance another pun.

"All I've been able to do is stare out the window. Wish I could leave. I'm really lavender weather outside!"

Taryn laughed at this joke as if it was the funniest thing she'd heard in years. She had to be the best audience he'd ever had.

"Sorry..." she wheezed. "I just... I didn't know you were such a pun master."

"Why, Taryn, I am the pun master! Punsational! Punlarious! And possibly punintentional!"

Taryn laughed again. "You need to get yourself looked at again. I think your irony levels are a tad high."

It was Cliff's turn to howl with laughter. Prim, proper Taryn just told him a joke? And not just any joke, one this bad had to be celebrated.

"You are full of surprises." Cliff said once his laughter subsided. "I didn't know you shared my love for bad puns."

"I'm not serious all the time, Cliff." Taryn said. "Everyone's got a sense of humor, don't they?"

"I wonder about some people." Cliff sighed dramatically. "Maybe they forgot how to laugh. A depressing existence."

"My brother was a goofball. Both are. Were." the smile melted off Taryn's face. "I'm sorry, I just... it's been almost two years now."

"Oh." Cliff wasn't expecting the mood to evaporate so quickly.

"No, it's all right. I'm fine." Taryn shook her head. "I shouldn't bring the mood down while you're still recovering. That's not fair to you."

"It's fine. I liked Curt. I mean I didn't know him super well or anything but everyone liked him and Aud." Cliff looked down at his pad of parchment for a moment. "You can talk about him if you want. I'm all ears."

"Maybe some other time." Taryn said with a tiny smile. "But for now, I want to hear more of your punterical jokes."

"You sure?"

"Yep." Taryn leaned forward.

"Okay. If you're ready for it. Knock knock!"

Taryn's smile widened. "Who's there?"

"Dishes."

"Dishes who?"

"Dishes a very bad joke."

With that, Taryn and Cliff told each other increasingly ridiculous jokes until Mara told them off for laughing too loudly. By the time Taryn left the healer's Cliff was sad to see her go. It seemed that there was more to Mama Taryn than even he knew.

Xxx

Astrid wasn't paying much attention to the eleven-year-olds she was teaching some basic flying maneuvers. This resulted in Fishlegs preventing two girls from ramming their dragons into each other in midair. But even then, Astrid couldn't tear her mind away from the previous night. So, when she finally completed her lessons for the day and assisted various villagers with random tasks Hiccup wasn't able to get to, she went deep into the woods, her favorite axe strapped to her back. She thought best while she was mutilating trees.

The whir of the axe and thunk into the tree's bark made her smile in satisfaction. She already felt better. After a few practice throws, she began to put her arms and shoulders into each swing. Soon, one of her axes split a smaller tree cleanly in half. But she wasn't paying enough attention to be proud of this accomplishment. Her mind was solely on her daughter.

Breakups were hard, no doubt about that, but Adrianna had not only cried until she could hardly breathe but had also burned everything Brandyn had given her. This couldn't be normal behavior. Paranoia over the twins' emotional states was usually Hiccup's forte. Still, something was deeply troubling about this. She didn't like seeing Adrianna suffering any more than Hiccup did, though she was far less vocal or emotional about it. But when Hiccup had spoken to her at breakfast that morning, he didn't seem at all concerned. They barely broached the topic at all and when they did, Hiccup had insisted that she'd surely cried it out and would be okay in no time, with enough love and encouragement from them. Astrid couldn't help but think it was downright bizarre that she was the one worried about Adrianna and her husband wasn't.

Sometimes, Astrid wished that she could approach parenting with the same softness and tenderness that so many mothers seemed to take naturally. Granted, she didn't look her crying toddler in the eye and tell her to suck it up, but she certainly didn't feel like letting her cry all over her shoulder either. The truth was that she and Adrianna were so fundamentally different that they both had to make compromises. For a while, they would go out and practice archery together and Astrid quite enjoyed listening to the strange and creative ideas her daughter would share with her on these occasions. Then puberty set in and Adrianna had gone from being a starry-eyed child to a hormonal wreck. Finn hadn't been a picnic either but at least he had ended up quite a bit like his mother.

Astrid had backed off when it came to her daughter's relationships. She didn't want to be an overbearing mother, especially since Hiccup was already quite adamant about keeping her safe on a physical and emotional level. Still, after all that, Adrianna had gotten her heart broken. Something deep within Astrid, maybe it was woman's intuition, knew that there was something distinctly not right about this. It wasn't an ordinary breakup and Brandyn's disappearance certainly wasn't going to make the problem go away.

It was as she struggled to yank her axe out of a particularly stubborn tree that Astrid caught sight of a dragon flying far above. She watched the dragon circle a bit, certain that it was familiar, when its rider leaped off and plunged downward. The dragon, a Monstrous Nightmare by the look of it, shot down next to its rider, who definitely wasn't wearing a flight suit. Astrid's stomach clenched. This felt like an exceedingly bad idea, especially when the rider began to rapidly approach the ground without mounting their dragon again.

"What are you-" Astrid muttered, dearly hoping that she wasn't about to witness a tragedy (and wishing Stormfly weren't off hunting somewhere). Then the rider came into plainer view. It was a woman with a long, blonde braid. "Oh my gods..."

Her axe forgotten, Astrid bolted toward the trees where Adrianna was about to land if she didn't mount Lily again soon. It was only just as she got to a clearing that she saw her daughter flying away less than fifty feet from the ground. A few more seconds and there wouldn't be a second Haddock heir.

"First Hiccup, now Adri..." Astrid muttered savagely to herself as she stomped toward the village. "Dumb enough that he does it with that stupid suit."

She found her husband nearby, chatting with Horst. Tact not being her strong suit, she marched over and grabbed his arm. "I need to talk to you."

"Okay." Hiccup managed to say before she yanked him nearer to the woods. "What is it?"

"I just saw our daughter free falling." Astrid gestured toward the sky. "Without a flight suit."

Hiccup shrugged. "She's been flying since she was ten. I think she knows what she's doing."

"Are you... are you even listening to yourself?" Astrid sputtered, surprised by his callousness. "She's in serious danger!"

"I free fell plenty before I made my suit. I'm sure she's skilled enough not to get herself killed."

Astrid gaped at him. "Why am I the one worried about this when you're usually the one who panics?"

Hiccup breathed a laugh, which made Astrid's jaw clench in irritation. "It's not that, I just think she needs to cope with what happened any way she feels is best, short of actually hurting someone."

"She could hurt herself."

"I'll talk to her about it this evening." Hiccup said, his arms up in a placating gesture. "Okay? I'm sure there are a few safety measures we could instill before she gets her own flight suit."

"I'd feel better if she didn't do this until she has her own." Astrid's eyes darted upward just in time to see her daughter zooming high above the village.

Hiccup glanced up and waved. Adrianna apparently didn't see this gesture but he didn't seem to mind. "I will take care of this. To be honest, free falling can be a bit addicting. But it's also safe if you're paying attention to what you're doing." at Astrid's glare, he faltered slightly. "I'll let her know she needs a flight suit. All right?"

"Okay. Whatever. Well I've got stuff to do. See you." Astrid walked away without another word, leaving her bewildered husband staring after her.

In the next few hours, Astrid tried to take to heart what Hiccup had told her. But she couldn't help but feel deeply uneasy. And if she had to be the one who worried for her child's safety this time, so be it.

Xxx

After a long day at the forge, Finn liked a bit of time alone. Extroverted as he was, interacting with Gobber and various customers all day still wore him out quite a bit. It was as he was deciding to have dinner alone tonight when he caught sight of his sister curled up on the couch with her nose in a book.

"Oh. Hi." he said awkwardly. He wasn't expecting company. "I thought you were working."

"Canceled. Kari isn't feeling well this evening so her dad decided to stay home with her."

"Okay." Finn said, shrugging. "I'm going to make some stew. You want any?"

Adrianna looked up at him. "That sounds good. If you don't mind making extra."

"You should know by now that I am entrenched enough in this unmanly hobby to be willing to make extra stew for you."

"Look at you, using big words." Adrianna quipped. "I see my vocabulary is finally rubbing off on you."

Finn stuck out his tongue at her before walking over to the kitchen. Just as he passed Adrianna, he caught sight of something on her neck. His eyebrows furrowed and he stopped walking.

"What's that?" he asked, leaning forward to inspect a mark on her neck. Adrianna tried to put her hand on her neck but Finn pushed it out of the way. "Is that a bruise?"

"It's nothing." Adrianna put her book down and got off the couch. "Don't worry about it."

"It's in the shape of a thumb." Finn crossed his arms. "As is the one on your wrist that I noticed yesterday."

Adrianna was momentarily speechless. She averted his gaze, instead looking at her wrist. "I... it's not a big deal. I'm fine."

"Did Brandyn leave those bruises?" Finn asked, his voice more timid than he'd intended.

"I... he's gone, it doesn't matter."

"Did he leave them?" Finn repeated, his voice much stronger.

Adrianna didn't respond. She instead looked down at her feet.

Finn felt his blood curdle. "I'm going to kill him."

Adrianna shook her head. "No. Don't. You'll just make it worse."

"For who?"

"For you. You're the heir and it wouldn't look good if you-"

"Pounded the guy who hurt you into the ground like a pancake?"

Adrianna's mouth quirked into a tiny smile. "Pretty much."

Finn crossed his arms tightly. "This isn't about me. He never should have touched you, let alone hurt you. What was going on that he ever left a mark, especially on your neck?"

Adrianna didn't respond, instead keeping her eyes fixed on her feet.

"You shouldn't be defending him. Hey, look at me." Finn sauntered over so that he stood directly in front of her. He waited for her to look up at him to continue. "I know more than anyone that abuse makes you do crazy things. And it always matters."

Adrianna flinched at the word. Finn didn't like speaking it either, gods knew he hated going into detail about his time as a slave, but it had to be said.

Adrianna swallowed, rubbing her bare arms. "You think he was abusive?"

"I don't know for sure but I know when something's wrong with you. What happened?"

"Other than the feud between him and Erick, and him cheating on me with Dana?" Adrianna asked bitterly.

Finn sighed. "If I'd known, I'd have knocked his teeth out. I worked with him every day, I should've noticed something."

"Well, he was a good liar." Adrianna muttered.

"That doesn't matter! Whatever he was doing, it wasn't right. He's a big guy, he could really hurt-" Finn stopped suddenly, his heart performing a horrible sort of belly flop against his ribs. "Did he... do anything else?"

"No."

"Don't lie, Anna."

"It doesn't matter what he did because he's gone! I drove him off myself!" Adrianna blurted out, looking angry for the first time since they had started talking.

Finn slowly blinked. "How'd that happen?"

"That's why there was blood on my sleeve. I took a dagger with me to tell him to leave. He fought back. That's what happened." Adrianna said firmly.

"Did you stab him?"

"No." Adrianna bit her lip for a moment. "I slashed his eye. There was a lot of blood, some of it got on my sleeve."

"And the floor of the house." Finn said, realization dawning on him.

"I guess. Why, did you go over there?" Adrianna looked slightly nervous.

"No. Mom and dad did and they said there was blood. Signs of a struggle. You did that?" Finn couldn't decide whether he was proud or horrified that his five foot three inch sister had singlehandedly driven off a guy that size.

"Yes. I told him to go and he fought back and I cut him and he left. That's what happened, okay?" Adrianna said, her voice trembling. "Just... please don't tell mom and dad about this. I just want it to be over. I don't ever want to think about him again and if they fuss over me, it's all going to come back up."

Finn held up his hands in surrender. "Okay! I'm not going to go blab. I mean if they ask I'm not going to lie-"

Adrianna frowned. "Finn-"

"Let me finish," Finn interrupted. "If they ask I'm not going to lie but I will also tell them that you don't want to be heckled."

"Assuming they listen to you."

"If I don't want to be heckled about slavery then it shouldn't be any different for you."

Adrianna looked up at him in surprise. "You seem to bring that up a lot lately."

Finn shrugged. "Just because I don't want to talk about it doesn't mean I don't think about it s great deal."

Adrianna hummed in agreement. "I can understand that."

"Look at us, seeing eye to eye," Finn smirked, turning into the kitchen. "You'd almost think we were twins!"

"Ha ha." Adrianna drawled, plopping into a chair.

Finn cheerily pulled pots and pans out of the cupboards and began making their stew. He felt more relaxed now that he knew the story. Everything made sense now. But because his back was turned, he didn't see his sister slump in defeat with a guilty frown plastered to her face.