The sun's rays were just beginning to peek out over the horizon as several ships decked in Skrill designs arrived on the far side of Berk. An actual Skrill, its rider grinning maniacally, touched down on the beach and watched as his soldiers secured their boats.

"What exactly do you need us to do?" asked a soldier, turning to face Dagur as he wiped the sweat off his brow.

"Stay out of sight for now." Dagur replied, pulling out a black cloth from his belt. "And hand me the maps and law books. I need to double check."

"We've been double checking all week, don't you think-"

"I think you need to get me those law books and maps. We have got to make sure there is not a single loophole. The Hooligans will be looking for any way out. This isn't just a couple of kids, these are the grandchildren of the chief. Now give me those law books." Dagur glared at several of his men before they reluctantly handed over the books. "And the map. You're positive we found it on this island?" he asked, pointing to a circled island on the map. "Any farther east and it's not on our territory so you have to be certain it was this island and not another one."

"We've gone over this-"

"Well we're going over it again." Dagur snapped. "If we do one thing wrong, everyone in the archipelago will be, at the very least, not happy about having their time wasted."

"Why are you so certain that they won't all vote to declare war on us?" asked a soldier near the ships.

"It's a risk for sure but no one will want to spill the blood of their citizens over two little brats no matter whose kids they are." Dagur said, his eyes still scanning the law books.

A different soldier stepped up. "Why do you want them? The boy I can understand but the girl-"

"It's not so much that I want them. I want Hiccup to suffer for everything he's put me through, put us through." Dagur smiled; a few gaps in his teeth were noticeable on the right side of his mouth. "You saw the fuss he raised when he thought we'd taken the girl. Imagine the fuss when we take them both and there's nothing he can do about it."

Xxx

The door to the master bedroom flung open and the pitter patter of two small feet flooded the room. Finn leaped onto the bed by his parents' and sister's feet, jumping on top of Astrid and shouting, "Good moooorning! Daddy! Wake up!"

"Mmm no..." Hiccup moaned, burying his face farther into his pillow.

Astrid sat up on her arm with a smile, watching as Finn climbed over and pushed his father's hair away from his ear. "WAKE UP DADDY!"

"Oww Finn..." Hiccup whined but sat up. He twisted halfway around, unable to flip over due to Adrianna lying dangerously close to his back. He yawned and stretched, willing himself to wake up. He shook his head around, his bed hair flopping in all directions.

Adrianna giggled sleepily. "Daddy, you need a haircut."

Hiccup gave her a small lopsided smile. "No I don't. Daddies don't get haircuts."

"But you have so much! See?" The little girl pushed her hands into his hair and lifted handfuls of his dark hair off his head.

Hiccup smiled wider, which didn't reach his eyes. "Yep, I have lots of hair. But not as much as your mommy. You should see her hair when it is out of her braid."

"I know; I have seen it." Adrianna conceded. "It's okay to have lots of hair if you are a girl. But you aren't a girl."

"Oh, I am glad for that revelation. I wasn't sure for a minute there." Hiccup laid back on his pillow, smiling a little when Astrid whacked his arm with her hand.

"Daddy, do you have to chief today?" Finn asked from Astrid's lap. His eyes were fixed on a hairpin in his chubby fingers, its ends he pulled apart in fascination.

Hiccup breathed a laugh. "No, I don't chief today. I get to stay home with my family aaaaall day."

"Yaaaaaaay!" Finn shouted at the top of his lungs, raising his hands to the ceiling as he rejoiced.

Hiccup grinned and sat up, holding Adrianna in his arms. He kissed the top of her head and made eye contact with his wife. He had decided to take an additional day off since the previous one had been marred by the bittersweet memories the family had faced while going through Stoick's things. He was almost thinking about simply taking every day off until the twins' fifth birthday, which was now three days away. He knew it probably wouldn't be wise but Horst could handle the chief's duties for a few days, couldn't he? Better him than Gobber, that was for sure. Erick's sister still was legally named Magnus no matter how many times the Larsons had tried to change it.

Finn and Adrianna seemed to have decided to honor Stoick's memory by making the most out of their lives while they still had them. Adrianna still had frequent nightmares, which was why she was still sleeping in her parents' room, but Finn's delayed grief had caused him to be a bit unpredictable since he had finally accepted what had happened. Most of the time he was back to normal but once in a while, he seemed angry and irritable for no real reason. Not this morning, however. This morning he seemed positively ecstatic.

"What are we gonna do, daddy?" he asked, smiling widely and hopping off the bed.

"Well I was thinking we could go to a council meeting together." Hiccup grinned at the look of horror on his son's face. "Or we could go on a picnic."

"I think we should go on a picnic." Adrianna said thoughtfully, attempting to smooth out her wild hair. "Meetings are boring."

Hiccup ruffled her hair, effectively ruining her minimal progress at taming it. "Yeah I think so too. I just thought that if the council saw your big, sad eyes, they wouldn't make me go to so many of them."

Astrid pitched her pillow at her husband, whacking him on the arm. He merely rolled his eyes and threw it back at her. Finn and Adrianna exchanged looked. Grown-ups were so weird.

"If we're going out for a picnic, we should probably get the food ready now." said Astrid, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "Anna, you should get to work on that hair. You don't want to scare people away."

"My hair's not that bad." Adrianna protested, her cheeks turning slightly pink.

"Nah, it's cute." Hiccup affectionately tugged on a few strands. "You know, in that scary kind of way."

Adrianna frowned and immediately ran into her room so she could fix her hair in front of a mirror. Astrid chuckled and followed, figuring that one of them had to take mercy on the girl and Hiccup was too busy poking fun at her.

Picnic preparations didn't take long. Hiccup and Astrid packed the most basic ingredients into a basket and grabbed a spare blanket out of a closet. Their daughter's hair was now neatly brushed, her headband in place. It had taken a while to wrestle Finn into a different shirt (if it were up to him, he would wear the same shirt every day) but the family was finally ready to face the village.

Since Stoick's death, the people in the tribe were more likely to go out of their way to wave to the Haddocks as they passed by. Adrianna loved to wave back and sometimes compliment each person she came across but this seemed to annoy Finn quite a bit. He seemed to take each greeting as almost insulting. They were only being nice because now his daddy was chief and, in the distant future, he would take over. He didn't want to be reminded of that every day. He scowled and kept his eyes on the ground.

"Let's pick up some fresh bread before heading out to a field, okay?" Hiccup said to his family, who all nodded in agreement.

Finn shuffled his feet as he walked into the bakery. He was usually excited by the sweet smells around him but today, like every other day since Stoick died, he was feeling irritable. He barely noticed Olaf Larson who, since the cave-in, had been reassigned to the bakery. Paralysis had put an early end to his construction days but the man's skills as a baker were excellent. Adrianna had spotted Erick, who was helping his father by kneading bread, and excitedly joined in. Snotlout and Heather were waiting for an order and Hiccup and Astrid decided to talk to them while they waited. Olaf quickly placed the bread in the oven and noticed Finn in the corner of the bakery, a scowl still on his face.

"Someone's grumpy." the cheerful man said, wheeling over to the boy with a smile. "What's on your mind?"

"Nothing." Finn muttered, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Doesn't look like nothing." Olaf said, leaning forward and trying to meet the boy's gaze. "Is something bothering you?"

Finn met the man's gaze at last. Olaf's eyes were a very calming brown and the boy felt his defenses lowering. He bit his lip and looked down for a few seconds.

"I wish everyone would stop being extra nice to me." he mumbled, staring down at his boots. "And I wish daddy wasn't chief."

He had expected the man to be outraged that the chief's son had made such a statement but Olaf barely blinked. With a gentle smile, he reached forward and placed his fingers on the boy's chin, lifting it so they were facing each other.

"Well you don't have to be embarrassed about that. I lot of us wish your dad didn't have to be chief right now." he said slowly. "Why do you wish it were the case?"

"He's always busy. And everyone acts all funny around me and I don't like it." Finn sighed deeply and averted his gaze.

"Well now, that's a lot of feelings." Olaf patiently waited for the boy to face him again. "And let me tell you something else: feelings are never wrong. It's what you do with them that can be right or wrong. Has anyone ever told you that?"

Finn nodded. "Daddy said that once."

"And he's right." Olaf leaned back in the wheeled chair. "You know, I don't much like not being able to walk. And not just because it's tough to wheel around instead of walking. But because everyone always treats me funny too."

Finn looked over at Erick, who was laughing at something Adrianna had said. Except his face looked a bit like Hiccup's did now. The smiles and the laughter never quite reached his eyes. Even Adrianna seemed to have noticed this because she gripped his hand much tighter than usual. She looked sad that she couldn't make her best friend truly happy. Finn turned back to Olaf, who was raising his eyebrows slightly.

"My dad died a year before Erick was born." Olaf continued, almost like there hadn't been a pause at all. "And after that, everyone avoided me for a while. And when they didn't, they were always extra nice. And you know what?"

"What?"

"I hated it." Olaf chuckled. "I hated it so much because I wanted everyone to just act normally around me. So I could get used to everything. And after a while, they did."

Finn stared at Olaf for a few seconds, his eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Is that going to happen to me too?"

"Maybe not now. But it will. One day everyone will get used to your grandfather being gone, your dad being chief, and me in this chair. But you have to give it some time. Things are tough now but they're not always going to be tough." Olaf patted Finn on the shoulder. "I wish I could talk a bit longer but if I do, you're going to have burned bread on your picnic!"

Finn smiled as he watched the man wheel back to take the bread out of the oven. He handed some of it to Snotlout and Heather and the rest to Hiccup and Astrid, who thanked and paid him. The boy couldn't help but notice that even his Uncle Snotlout was being more friendly and polite than usual. Olaf was right. Grown-ups were always right about things like this. Maybe everything would be normal again after all.

The Haddocks smiled fondly as Erick shrieked indignantly when Adrianna suddenly poured some flour down his shirt. He giggled a moment later and grabbed a handful of the white powder, pelting it at his friend. It hit her on the shoulder and before anyone could stop them they were running around the bakery trying to find out who could turn the other whiter.

"If you're going to play with flour, take it outside." Olaf said in a surprisingly calm manner. Hiccup supposed that raising five children had that effect on him.

Erick nodded and ran outside, Adrianna at his heels. Hiccup turned back to look at Snotlout when a loud horn sounded. Everyone in the bakery was still for a moment, all wondering why they were hearing the sound of the emergency horn, when they suddenly heard a bloodcurdling scream. Hiccup felt his heart drop into his stomach. He knew that scream far too well.

"Addie!" he cried, taking off toward the village square, the others at his heels and the cooling bread forgotten.

It was obvious why the horns had been sounded the second they arrived. Dagur the Deranged was strutting into the center of the square almost like he owned the place. His large fist was grasping the back of Erick's shirt, lifting the boy off the ground. Olaf cried out in anger at the sight of the brutality against his son. But Hiccup was focused on Adrianna, who was far too close to the Berserkers for comfort, her whole body frozen in fear. He couldn't blame her for being frightened; there was a rather dense crowd of Berserkers behind their chief, all staring down at her with horrible smiles.

"I'm looking for the chief!" Dagur called as several villagers ran for cover, convinced that they were under attack. "Where is Stoick the Vast?"

No one answered the question. Gustav emerged from just behind Hiccup and lunged for Dagur but Snotlout and Gobber, who had just arrived, grabbed his arms and held him back.

"Get your hands off my brother!" he cried, struggling against the men.

"Gladly." Dagur chuckled, sending chills down Hiccup's spine. "Once you get me the chief."

There was no denying Stoick's absence a moment longer. Hiccup stepped forward, praying that he looked confident.

"I'm the chief now." he said in a hopefully commanding voice. "Now put him down."

Dagur stared at Hiccup for a few seconds before he relinquished the boy. Erick immediately ran to Adrianna, grabbed her hand, and pulled her back behind Astrid and Finn. Hiccup continued to stare at Dagur, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the prolonged eye contact. Finally Dagur burst out laughing, the sound echoing around them in the silence.

"So you took my advice at last!" he chortled, his face contorted with mirth. "About time you grew some-"

"What do you want?" Hiccup interrupted, glaring at his adversary and noting, with a small amount of satisfaction, the gaps in his teeth.

"All I want is to take what is rightfully mine." Dagur said, shaking his head and pulling out a bit of parchment from his pocket and holding it up.

Hiccup and Gobber inched forward and peered at it. On it was a map of the archipelago, carefully labeled with each island and the territories belonging to the tribes. A tiny island on the outskirts of the Berserker territory was circled several times.

"Recognize it?" Dagur asked, stepping forward with an unpleasant gleam in his eye.

"I don't know what you're talking about. But if you're trying to sell it, we don't want it." Hiccup said calmly.

"Oh I wouldn't sell this island for all the money in the world. Perhaps what we found there will refresh your memory." Dagur reached into another pocket and withdrew some folded black cloth. But, instead of at Hiccup, he threw it at Astrid, who picked it up curiously. "I admit it has probably been a long time since you've seen it. But I'm sure you recognize it."

Astrid picked up the cloth and unfolded it. It was foul smelling and covered in sand; it obviously hadn't been washed in... she gasped as she realized what it was.

"Hiccup..." she breathed, color draining from her face.

Her husband turned to look at her... and his jaw dropped. Astrid was holding up a pair of black pants with a very wide waist. He vaguely remembered watching her strip them off as she leaned against a boulder, mere minutes before giving birth to the twins on an unfamiliar island... a Berserker island. Hiccup began to silently pray to every god he knew of that Dagur didn't know what this meant. But the look of delight on his adversary's face told him all he needed to know.

"I've got plenty of witnesses who will testify that we found those on our territory." Dagur continued. "Meaning that your children belong to me."

"They're my children and they belong to me." Hiccup snarled, beginning to tremble with rage. "Now you had better get back on your ships and go home because you're not taking them."

"Oh I think we are." Dagur chortled gleefully, reaching back and taking a book from one of his soldiers. He opened it to a marked page. "Our tribes have had these laws in place for three hundred years. You wouldn't want to contradict them."

As Hiccup read the words on the page, his heart seemed to freeze. Written in faded ink was the most horrible thing he could possibly read: every member of the archipelago is a citizen of the tribe of their birthplace.

For a moment, all was silent as Hiccup and Gobber read and reread the words on the page. There were no loopholes, no excuses, no arguments they could make. This was a law established hundreds of years ago and there was nothing they could do about it. All was silent except the faint noises of Hiccup's heavy breathing, his brain working overtime to try and think of a way to get around this, to save his children from whatever fate the Berserkers had planned for them.

"They're not going." he said in a shaky voice, stepping back and putting out his hands to shield them. "They're staying here."

"I think you'll find that the law is on my side." Dagur stepped forward, causing Hiccup to take another step backwards. "This will be much easier for everyone if you just hand them over."

"Law or no law, you're not taking them." Gobber snarled, stepping in front of the twins to protect them some more.

But Dagur kept his eyes focused on Hiccup, a horrible smile twisting his features. "You know, you shouldn't worry too much about it. All this fuss about producing an heir is so tiring, I'm sure your son would make a fantastic Berserker chief with the right training." he said, looking down at the small boy who was scooped up by Astrid seconds later.

"I told you, you're not-"

"And the girl..." Dagur continued, turning his cold gaze on the smallest Haddock, who shuddered and hugged her father's leg. "She's not much use to me." he leaned in so that only those standing closest to him could hear what he said. "But some of my men have certain... needs. And she'll satisfy those needs quite admirably. I believe she'll make a wonderful toy for them to play with."

All the color drained from Hiccup's face. Astrid gripped her axe, dearly wanting to chop the man in half, and Gobber growled furiously. Adrianna, who didn't understand why the grown-ups had acted this way, tightened her hold on her father's leg.

"Over my dead body." her father hissed, reaching down and picking her up, holding her so tightly that she could barely breathe.

Dagur let out a cackle and stepped back, his guffaws echoing in a way that made Adrianna shiver. "That's a bit extreme, don't you think?"

"You had better get off of Berk now before we throw you out." Astrid said in a low voice, her grip on her axe tightening.

"See I thought you might react this way." Dagur took a step back. "That's why I came fully armed." the soldiers withdrew weapons of all kinds, leaning forward as if eagerly anticipating a battle. The chief whistled and the Skrill suddenly emerged from just out of sight, letting out a roar and glowing with electricity. "It's up to you, Hiccup. You can hold onto your little brats and let my soldiers and my dragon decimate your village and slaughter a good number of your people or you can hand them over and let us go on our merry way. Your choice."