The Meathead island was slightly smaller than Berk and much greener. The residents seemed unperturbed by the sudden arrival of twenty foreign men and women on dragons. It was almost like this was a daily occurrence, worthy of a split second glance but rather banal compared to one's task at hand. The Meatheads had been the first tribe after Berk to incorporate dragons into their everyday life. While Berk seemed to attract a higher number of Deadly Nadders and Terrible Terrors, Brawn played host to a greater number of Gronckles and Zipplebacks. Perhaps it was a slight difference in the atmosphere. Perhaps it had something to do with the kind of dragon nip that was unique to the tranquil island. Hiccup might have been very interested in investigating these possibilities were he not still hearing his daughter's cries ringing in his ears even a half hour later.

The sun's rays cast an orange glow on the island that steadily brightened as it rose from the sky. Hiccup had been to Brawn once before when Stoick had gone through a bizarre parenting phase that required the boy to be within thirty feet of him at all times. During the trip, Hiccup had a run-in with a foreigner who had stopped at Brawn on a trading ship. The boy unwisely decided to attempt to use his limited Latin vocabulary to converse with the woman. He had received a slap on the face and, after a lot of discussion he couldn't understand, was informed that he had told her that he had expressed a desire to tackle her to the ground and beat her over the head with a fish. Hiccup had never been more embarrassed in his entire life and Stoick had spent weeks informing those who heard the story that his son didn't have any frightening fetishes that he knew of.

The residents of Brawn seemed to have forgotten that particular blunder. Hiccup was quite relieved; he didn't want Snotlout to hear about it. Kara emerged from her residence the moment the council had touched down. She directed most of the men and women to her Great Hall, where a meal had been prepared for them. She asked Hiccup and Astrid to stay behind for a moment.

"Our arena is located on the west side of the island. Our blacksmith has agreed to loan you some of our best weapons but he told me to tell you that if any of them get bloody, to clean them off before returning them." Kara grimaced a bit. "Since I imagine you'll be using some of them during the duel..."

Hiccup nodded once. "Tell him we'll do what he wants if that becomes necessary."

Astrid shuddered at the thought of having to clean her husband's blood off of anything at this point. Frederik emerged from the chief's house carrying a baby and motioning for them to be quiet. For a moment, Hiccup and Astrid watched as he gently continued to rock the newborn when he got to his wife.

"Our daughter, Sigrid." she whispered so that the baby would not awaken.

Hiccup was strongly reminded of the woman named Sigrid who had lived on Berk... Adrianna had cried at her funeral. He thought it was cruel of the gods to remind him of that of his little girl's compassion at a time in which he wondered if he would even see her again. He stifled the memory as quickly as he could but it left him with an ache in his heart.

"How old is she?" Astrid was asking as Hiccup came back to reality.

"Two weeks. Everyone was telling me to take it easy and send someone in my place to your meeting but I felt fine and it seemed so urgent." Kara paused for a moment, staring at her baby. "I'm glad I did. You should have gotten more support. The thought of my daughter being abused like that..." her voice grew shaky and she trailed off rather than finish her thought.

Hiccup reached out and put a hand on the Meathead chief's upper arm in what he hoped was a kind gesture. "We really appreciate everything you've done for us." he tried to convey how much he meant his words but he felt oddly dead inside, similar to how he had felt just after Stoick died. He wondered if it was his heart's way of dealing with agonizing emotional pain.

"If you sit around and let the Berserkers do what they want, you won't change a thing." Kara shook her head, gently stroking her sleeping daughter's cheek. "What they're doing, it's not right."

"Well... what I'm doing is pretty stupid." Hiccup admitted with a half smile. "But desperate times call for desperate measures." he paused for a moment to let his own words sink in. "After we eat, I want to get started with training."

Kara nodded. "I'm sure you do. My brother Sven is about your size. I thought it might be best if you start out evenly matched." she gestured to the Great Hall. "But first things first. After the meal, I'll take you to the arena."

Xxx

Kara wasn't kidding when she had said that Sven was Hiccup's size. The man was a little bit younger than the Hooligan chief but they were within an inch of the other's height. The Meathead had calm blue eyes, blonde hair, and freckles that dusted his face. He vaguely reminded Hiccup of a male Astrid but he knew that to voice this opinion was liable to get him a punch in the stomach considering the man's gangly appearance. The moment he caught sight of Hiccup, he excitedly bounded forward and extended a hand.

"I have heard so much about you!" he exclaimed with a big smile. "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, you're like a legend around here. I can't believe I'm meeting you at last!"

Hiccup gave the man a weak smile and shook his hand. "You know, I'm really not that exceptional."

Sven eyed Hiccup critically for a moment. "What you're doing is exceptional. I have a stepson and I'm not even sure I could do for him what you're doing for your children."

"If you were in the same situation, I'm sure you would. You're from a good family." Hiccup patted the man's shoulder. "Now I don't know how much training you've done but I'm kind of hopeless at most of the bigger weapons."

Sven chuckled. "I know the feeling. But sometimes the lighter ones are all you need."

"Right." Hiccup said, picking up the nearest sword and barely glancing at it. "Dagur's right handed so... so I guess I'll fight that way too."

"Great. We'll both be fighting with the wrong hand then." Sven winked, putting the sword in his other hand. "Ready?"

Hiccup took a deep breath and nodded. Sven wasted no time in raising his sword and bringing it up to Hiccup's. The metal clashed loudly, a noise that startled them both, but they didn't let it stop them. The Hooligan chief felt slightly awkward holding the sword in his right hand but he knew that Dagur would never be willing to switch hands. Sven looked every bit as awkward but his eyebrows furrowed in determination as he blocked all of Hiccup's blows.

Both young men were excellent swordsmen and the fight went on for nearly twenty minutes. Hiccup had to duck to avoid Sven's blade multiple times but he soon began to predict the man's moves before he made them. They leaped, rolled, and ran around the arena, swords clashing so loudly their ears were beginning to ring. Finally, Hiccup found an opening. As Sven was dodging his previous swipe, he immediately jabbed the sword forward, causing the Meathead to fall backward. The Hooligan chief stepped over him and pointed the sword at his opponent's throat. He had won.

For the first time since arriving at Brawn, Hiccup was beginning to feel slightly confident in his abilities. He helped an impressed looking Sven to his feet.

"Not bad." Sven said gleefully, not caring that he had just been spectacularly defeated. "It's a good start."

"Yeah it is. But Dagur isn't a twig." a familiar voice exclaimed from the arena's entrance.

Hiccup turned to find Ruffnut, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Gobber, and Tuffnut walking in, all looking rather impressed with their chief's abilities. It had been Ruffnut who spoke and everyone silently agreed that she had a good point.

"He needs to fight someone with more experience handling different kinds of weapons." Fishlegs announced once the group had reached the middle of the arena. "A sword is only one weapon and as good as you are, you need to be familiar with just about everything. You never know what Dagur's going to use against you."

There was silence for a short while as everyone gave this some thought. "Let me try." Astrid spoke up, reaching into her satchel and pulling out a number of wooden axes. "I've been teaching Finn how to throw these. But you need them more than he does."

Hiccup eyed them cautiously for a moment before reaching out and taking a few. They were, thankfully, lighter than most axes but the weight distribution was about right. The others sat down on the edges of the arena while Astrid took a few steps away from her husband. Hiccup stood in the middle, unsure of what she was planning.

"You've got to learn how to hit a moving target." she declared, now hopping around and going in unpredictable directions. "And you have to learn how to dodge."

Hiccup had always felt like hitting his wife with weapon-like objects might be considered abuse if he had married someone other than Astrid. Never in his life had he appreciated her abilities more than he did as he chucked axe after axe at her and she leaped and rolled out of the way of all of them. After ten minutes of this, in which he had to run around and pick up the axes he had just thrown while dodging the ones Astrid had found, he had hit her seven times. She had hit him fifteen. Were they using real axes, he would have been killed within the first minute. All the confidence the bystanders had for the Hooligan chief seemed to seep out of them and waft away in the gentle breeze inside the arena. But this was nothing compared to how Hiccup was feeling.

"This is ridiculous." he growled as Astrid hit him for a sixteenth time. "How am I supposed to improve enough to kill Dagur in one day?"

"An attitude like that will get you killed." Astrid rolled her eyes, barely dodging yet another axe thrown by her husband. "Don't doubt yourself even for a second. A second is all it'll take for Dagur to rip you limb from limb."

"Well gee, thank you for the mental image." Hiccup deadpanned, grunting as he leaped out of the way of Astrid's axe.

"Focus, Hiccup!" called someone from the outside but the young chief was far too preoccupied to care who had spoken.

On and on it went. Hiccup could feel bruises begin to develop thanks to the force of Astrid's axes. She wasn't being easy on him, he was grateful for that, but he was beginning to become increasingly frustrated. Dagur would not be so merciful as to avoid hitting Hiccup above the neck as Astrid at least attempted to do. One collision with an axe would have taken off his head had the blade not been rounded off. Even so, his throat was now throbbing and he fell backward, hitting the ground with his hands first. He found breathing more difficult for a few seconds.

"Get up!" Astrid shouted, pitching another axe at him, which hit him on the stomach. "I said get up!"

"Give me a second!" he called back, massaging his throat with one hand while trying to put his weight back on his foot and prosthetic.

"Do you think Dagur will give you a second if he knocks you down?" Astrid spat, lifting an axe above her head.

Something snapped inside of Hiccup. He grabbed both axes and threw them at Astrid's feet.

"You win!" he bellowed, finally getting to his feet. "All right? I'm hot, I'm tired, I'm beaten down. You win! Dagur wins. I don't know what I was thinking!" he took a few steps forward and kicked a different axe, sending it flying across the arena and narrowly missing Gobber.

Astrid's frustrated expression melted off of her face. "Hiccup..."

"No! Forget it! I might as well spend my last day on this planet getting my affairs in order!" Hiccup grabbed fistfuls of his own hair, yanking it so hard he could hear the strands snapping. It was completely silent in the arena as the young man took a few deep, shuddering breaths. "I can't do this." he mumbled.

"Yes you can."

Hiccup looked up at the distinctly male voice coming from the arena's side. Snotlout was standing up, giving his chief a hard stare.

"You're going to have a fighting chance against Dagur." he continued, striding forward and picking up an axe from the ground. "I might think your plan is completely ridiculous but you've had weirder ones before and they all seem to work out."

Was this really happening? Was Snotlout actually supporting him? Helping him? Hiccup was deeply touched but he knew that to say it would probably result in a fist in his stomach and with the bruises he developed there, he wasn't eager to irritate his skin any more. His former adversary tossed him the axe, which he caught.

"Your form is wrong." he said, coming too close for comfort. "Beginner's mistake. You want to shift your weight just right before throwing. Let me show you how to do it."

Xxx

The moment Astrid finally asked Hiccup to stop hitting her with the wooden axes was one of the biggest breakthroughs of the day. But axe training had only been part of it. Hiccup had clubbed Snotlout over the head with a rubber mace. Rather than be upset with the chief, Snotlout smiled and nodded in approval. Archery went exceptionally well since Hiccup had a natural talent for the skill. He had hit nine out of the ten targets placed in front of him. He was soaked in sweat and panting by the time he had run through every single weapon they had.

The sun was beginning to set when the previously silent Thorston twins bounded forward with unnervingly delighted expressions.

"You may think you know about all these weapons." Tuffnut began, melodramatically gesturing to the pile of used practice weapons. "But you're missing the most important one of all."

"His brain?" Fishlegs piped up, feeling a bit left out of the training session.

"No. Why would you hit someone with your brain? It wouldn't even bruise 'em! Plus you'd have to cut you head open first!" Ruffnut called, acting like this was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's... that's... that's not what I meant." Fishlegs muttered, looking very sheepish.

"What I was trying to say is that you're missing your body!" Tuffnut exclaimed, throwing his arms out in triumph as if expecting applause.

Six pairs of eyes rested on him and at least three eyebrows raised in confusion.

"You know, Tuffnut, I'm pretty sure I'm going to be bringing my body to the duel." Hiccup said, mostly to continue the conversation so he could see where the heck it was going to go.

"Oh well... yeah. Unless... what if you went as a ghost? How cool would that be?" Tuffnut turned to his sister, who looked just as excited about that possibility as he was.

"That would be awesome. Is there any way to make a ghost out of someone without killing them?" she looked hopefully at her husband who still looked dumbstruck at the suggestion.

"Guys, what... how... where is this going?" Hiccup stammered, more confused than he had ever been over the course of the day.

"Where indeed, Hiccup. Where indeed." Tuffnut gave him a very knowing glance as if he expected Hiccup to get the hint. Upon seeing his peer's abject confusion, he decided to be a bit clearer. "If you don't have any weapons, use your weapons. Like this." the male twin suddenly punched the female across the face. As usual, Ruffnut retaliated by throwing her brother to the ground. Both looked gleeful at their exchange of abuse.

"Well... I didn't think I'd be saying this today but the twins are right." Hiccup snapped his fingers. "Dagur probably won't expect that. Guys!" he called, turning to face the twins, who had now started poking each other. "I need you to teach me to think like you."

"And there's something I never thought I'd hear my husband say." Astrid muttered with an amused smirk.

"Mastery of this fine art cannot be taught in a day, young grasshopper." Tuffnut said in an incredibly dramatic tone, throwing his arm around Hiccup. "It must be experienced. Feel the wind rushing through your hair as you leap forward to tackle someone to the ground." the man suddenly turned his face so that his mouth was mere centimeters from the Hooligan chief's ear. "Can you feel it? Can you smell it?"

"Okay... this is already getting very weird." Hiccup tried to shake the arm off but Tuffnut held on with a vice like grip.

"You have to think like a fighter." Ruffnut continued. "Think like one and you will become one."

Suddenly, before Hiccup had been given time to fully consider what he had gotten himself into, Tuffnut let him go and punched him on the chest so hard he stumbled backward.

"Ow! What... why would you do that?" he gasped, massaging his ribs.

"You have to think like your opponent! Don't let him surprise you." Ruffnut said simply, looking as unsympathetic as it was possible to be.

Hiccup wasn't sure if he could think like a completely unhinged person but he could see her point. And so, quick as a flash before anyone could react, he spun around and kicked Snotlout on the shin with his prosthetic. Snotlout let out an indignant yell as the twins burst into applause.

"You're learning so fast!" Tuffnut's voice was thick with emotion.

"Dagur won't know what hit him!" Ruffnut exclaimed excitedly. "Well... until he looks up and sees your fist."

Xxx

By the time the sun had set, everyone was exhausted. Kara had a feast prepared for them in the Great Hall, for which they were very grateful. Unfortunately, since Brawn was to be neutral territory, the Berserkers were required to be invited. And so, just as the meal was beginning, Dagur led his council through the Hall, all of them looking gleeful and excited about the next day's activities.

"You know, as last meals go, this one isn't so bad!" Dagur exclaimed after being uncharacteristically silent for several minutes after he seated himself a few feet away from where Hiccup was sitting.

Hiccup and Astrid glad that they wrote and ate with the opposite hand because it allowed them to hold hands almost all the time. As Dagur's words floated across the room, Astrid's left hand tightened around Hiccup's right. They knew that the Berserker chief was only trying to make Hiccup nervous. Though Dagur could not see his adversary's face, he knew he had succeeded when he saw the young man's hand tighten over his fork. Toothless gently nudged Hiccup's elbow, emitting a soft cooing noise in an attempt to comfort his frazzled human. His rider dropped the fork and immediately stroked his snout, trying to allow this small gesture to calm him down.

"Don't let him get to you." Gobber assured the Hooligan chief.

It was far too late to stop. Hiccup gritted his teeth and felt his appetite escape him. He heard the raucous laughter of the Berserkers seated behind him. His own council was tense and silent, allowing the dissonance of the hostile tribal members to permeate the Hall. When the agonizingly uncomfortable meal was over (punctuated by Dagur's loud, boastful comments about what he was going to do with Hiccup's family once he married Astrid), the Hooligans bolted out of the Great Hall like Terrible Terrors after a flash of light on the ground.

Kara had found numerous families willing to house the Hooligans during their stay. Fortunately for the Meatheads, Dagur and his men preferred to stay on their own ships. Hiccup and Astrid were to stay with Kara's family in Sigrid's bedroom. The baby's cradle had been moved into her parents' room for the night and a bed had been set up. It wasn't anywhere near as soft or comfortable as the one at home but it would have to do. The Meathead chief had even put a large rock in the room so that Toothless could sleep there. Stormfly opted to sleep in the sizable pen next to Kara's handsome male Nadder. Hiccup and Astrid might have found this amusing if they weren't so preoccupied.

The young couple decided to take a quick bath before going to bed, mostly to wash off the sweat they had accumulated thanks to the day's grueling activities. After they dried themselves off, they changed into their sleepwear in silence. They would be going to bed much earlier than they did at home but then again, most days didn't require them to rise at dawn. Even Astrid and Finn waited until the sun had risen to get out of bed. But there was no avoiding conversation as they realized that they were ready for bed.

Hiccup sat down, resting his head against the headboard. Astrid slid into bed next to him and put her arms around his chest.

"You can do this." she whispered, burying her face into his shirt and inhaling deeply. He smelled the way he always did, perhaps a bit cleaner, and she felt her muscles relax. "I know you can do this."

"Right." Hiccup breathed, feeling a tightness in his stomach. "I... I think I just want to go to bed."

Astrid nodded and gently let go of him so that she could blow out the bedside candle. The room was plunged into darkness and she felt her husband scoot down so that he was lying in the bed next to her. She lay down as well and felt his arm drape over her and pull her closer. If this was his last night he would ever have, Hiccup wanted to spend it holding the love of his life.

Xxx

Astrid woke up quite suddenly, unsure of what had awakened her. She slid her arm across the bed, a spark of confusion forming in her mind. There was usually a warm body curled next to her, his arm thrown over her waist. There had been one hours before when she had fallen asleep. She lifted and twisted her head to Hiccup's side of the bed, surprised to find it empty. Flipping over and searching further showed his form sitting on the edge of the bed, his elbows resting on his knees, face in his hands. She could see the goosebumps on his bare arms but he didn't seem to care. Astrid sat up and slid over to him, sliding her arms around his waist and resting her chin on his shoulder.

"You should get some more sleep..." her groggy voice murmured in his ear.

Hiccup lightly shook his head. "I can't."

"Hiccup..." she whispered, pushing his bangs off his forehead. "You have to..."

"I can't beat him."

Astrid stopped, anger growing inside her. "What, are you just going to give up?"

"No!" Hiccup cried in exasperation, his head shooting out of his palms. He looked at her incredulously, offended that she could even imply something like that. "Astrid, look at us both. Statistically I cannot do it-"

"You're not Fishlegs. Stop with the statistics-"

"Astrid, I can't... I don't..." Hiccup panted, the emotion clear in his voice. Astrid put off her upset expression and rested a hand on his chest. He continued in a voice just above a whisper, "I don't want to die."

Astrid shook her head, but he couldn't stop. "It's not fair! I just want to be with you, raise my children and I can't! Trista tried to steal Addie from me and I just barely got her back. Now Dagur is going to take both of them from me! I can't just..."

"Shhhh..." Astrid pulled him around to face her.

Hiccup shook his head against her hands. "They're not even five! I'm going to die on the day before their birthday and they're going to grow up without me! They just lost my dad, they can't afford to lose me too!"

"They won't!" Astrid pulled his chin up to look in his eyes. "They won't. You are going to beat Dagur. You are going to be there for our children. They won't grow up without you."

"You don't know that..." Hiccup rasped, his eyes filling. He sniffed loudly and looked down at his hands. "My worst fear, my biggest nightmare is my children growing up without a parent. I had to go through that and it was the worst thing that ever happened. And you, even with both parents... the way your father treated you, it was like he wasn't there at all." he looked back up at her, tears running down his face. "I just... I... I can't bear the thought... I just want them to be safe but I never wanted to die to make it happen, to make them live the rest of their lives without me..."

"Hiccup, stop..." Astrid pushed his head into her shoulder as he cried, rocking him back and forth.

"I'm supposed t-to train Finn to tame dragons, to become chief one day, t-to teach him how to shave. I'm supposed to ch-chase boys away from my baby girl l-like every other father does. I'm supposed to walk her d-down the aisle... I can't be there for any of their finest most p-precious moments in life because of this. I... I'm supposed to be there for them!"

"Please stop..." Astrid whispered, holding a hand on the back of his head. Her throat constricted with every second he cried, every future moment they so badly wanted to have with their family, that they should have with their family. "You will be there. You can't beat him if you tell yourself that you won't win."

"I'm not saying I'm not going to try, Astrid..." he mumbled from her shoulder. "I'm going to try with my every breath... but it's going to cost my very breath."

"No. Stop saying that..."

Hiccup sat up and held her face in his hands, his own wet, red and splotchy. "You need to tell them everything I ever wanted to. You need to teach them everything I always dreamed to..."

"Stop it! You're not preparing me to give them your final words because there will be no final words!" Astrid cried desperately, shaking his arms. She blinked, tears streaming down her face. She pressed her lips to his in a wet kiss, stroking his cheeks with her fingers when she pulled away. "Your final words... won't happen now. You will die of old age, you will live long enough to carry your grandchildren around the island. You will teach Finn how to shave and fight, you will walk Adrianna down the aisle. You will, Hiccup, because I'm telling you to."

Hiccup shook his head a little bit. "You're stubborn, but even you can't claim the future as if you know it."

Astrid leaned closer with a determined expression. "I will not be a widow." Hiccup gulped at the word, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat. "You're not going to leave me so easily. And not even Dagur can test that."

Hiccup's eyes welled up again, his brain wishing to believe her, but his heart remaining unconvinced. The odds were high—he would lose his family, his children, his wife... he would lose all of Berk to Dagur and he had been chief for less than a month. He had already lost his father... he couldn't do this.

"Why?" He gasped, his eyes closing tight. Astrid's arms closed around him as he cried. "Why does it have to be this way? Why?"

"Shh..." Astrid pressed him close to her chest, letting him cry. She gently trailed her fingers through his thick hair in the hopes that he'd relax and calm down. Hiccup tightened his hold on her waist, pressing himself closer to her as if it would solve their problems. He didn't want to leave her a widow when they'd been married less than ten years. He didn't want to leave his babies fatherless when they weren't even five years old. He didn't want to abandon his tribe without a chief, his friends leaderless, Toothless riderless...

The force of his body pressing against hers began to strain her stomach and back muscles in her attempt to stay sitting. Astrid finally stopped trying and slowly lay back on the pillows, letting Hiccup lay on top of her, his face buried in her chest, his tears soaking into her nightshirt. Whether she continued to stroke his hair for minutes or hours, she didn't know, but it was a long time before his breathing finally slowed, the tense muscles in his neck and shoulders relaxing.

Astrid threw the blankets from her side of the bed atop them as his skin felt chilled. She knew that he needed to sleep as much as possible in order to gather his strength for tomorrow. He wouldn't sleep long at all if he was cold.

Tomorrow.

The word buzzed through her consciousness like the static makes one's hair stand on end before a lightning strike. Goosebumps formed on her arms and she felt cold. She tightened her hold on Hiccup's back, willing and praying to the gods to keep him alive tomorrow. There was so much more they had to do.

She just wanted more time. She wanted one more romantic date to tell him how much she loved him. She wanted one more race on Toothless and Stormfly to pass the time. She wanted one more dinnertime meal to spend with her family, the four of them together. She wanted one more training exercise with the team together with Hiccup as their leader. She wanted one more... one more...

But she had learned years ago that sometimes, no matter how hard you want something, no matter how big or small, how relevant or important, you don't always get what you want. No, life had better plans to throw at its victims. She and Hiccup had their fair share of curve-balls, of wrenches thrown into their life plans. They had hoped that after everything with Trista had blown over, life could return to normal.

No. That was wishful thinking. And now, Hiccup's life waned in the balance for their wishful thinking, their hopeful dreams and aspirations of a simple, normal life. They were Haddocks. Their lives would never be normal. Their lives were shaped and molded by the struggles they faced.

Now the only question was... if Hiccup's dreaded expectations, his worst fear, came true... how would she ever tell her children that their daddy was gone? How would they ever move on? How would they cope? How would the lives of her little ones be shaped by the loss of their father, their hero?

Astrid didn't know. She couldn't fathom a day without Hiccup by her side. He was her rock in the hardest of storms, her security blanket, her best friend. She didn't know what she would do without him, let alone how to deal with facing their children every day...

She prayed for an answer. She grappled in her mind for a way out of this, a way to save her husband from uncertain death, to save her children from a fatherless life... sleep finally overtook her in the early hours of the morning.

But she still had no answer.

Xxx

Smoke. Heat. Screams. Metal clashing. A horribly familiar laugh.

Hiccup couldn't see anything through the thick smoke. He could hardly draw breath as he felt his home burning around him. The cries of children echoing in his head, of his little girl sobbing and calling for him, of his little boy's labored breathing and whimpering as his strength finally gave out and he fell victim to the raging fire. His wife began to wail with the realization that they no longer had a son, that their daughter would surely be the next to fall. The little girl screamed his name over and over but his body would not move. He was powerless to help, powerless to protect his family, his village.

He fell to his knees, shutting his eyes tight and putting his hands over his head. The screams, the licking flames, Dagur's triumphant cackle... everything echoed inside of his mind, bleeding together in a cacophony of noise.

And then, as suddenly as it had started, everything went quiet. Except it wasn't completely silent. It was like the sensation he had when he lay upside down in his bed as a child. The steady, soothing heartbeat inside of his head, calming the senses. His mind became blank as the sounds could no longer reach him. He finally relaxed.

A hand gently rested on his shoulder. "That isn't going to happen, son."

It was a voice he had heard more times than he could possibly count. A voice that had always assured him that there was hope even in the darkest moments. But it was a voice that could no longer reach him. A voice that was impossible to hear again... yet there it was.

Hiccup lifted his head and stared at the speaker, the features blurred thanks to the tears that slipped down his face. But there was no denying the speaker's impossible presence.

Even so, he had to be certain.

He took a deep, shuddering breath. At first the word wouldn't come out of his mouth. He hardly dared hope that this was real. But his voice finally returned to his throat.

"Dad?"