Chapter 25

Merida pov

I couldn't believe it, me, Merida of DunBroch was flying over the waters of the Archipelago with Hiccup. It's been months since the Red Death and the wisps. With the dragons no longer being controlled by the Red Death raids became a thing of the past and we began to train even more riders. It allowed us to keep any wild dragons from causing too much havoc and let Hiccup and I to leave DunBroch without worry. Though I think Hiccup used all that work as an excuse to avoid this trip. I practically shoved him onto Toothless to get him to go. It is worth it though, just to fly free with Hiccup.

"Are we there yet?"

Unfortunately, we are not alone. The boys just had come with us, and for the thousandth time, Dingwall asked that question.

Hiccup sighed "Almost you guys, it's coming into view. Remind me again why you guys are with me?"

I said "I wanted to see the Archipelago and your homeland"

And to support you if you needed it

MacIntosh said "Oh, come on Hiccup we could hardly call ourselves dragon riders if we never made a pilgrimage to the homeland of dragons"

I countered "Aye and this wouldn't have anything to do with my Mum telling you three to come along for my protection."

Dingwall stated "She gave us an opportunity and we took it"

I sighed at that. The moment I mentioned I was going with Hiccup she was worried for me. Mothers and their cubs I guess. I turned to see Hiccup looking up concerned.

"Something wrong Hiccup?" I asked

He shook his head "No, these clouds are looking kind of dark. Just hoping there isn't going to be thunderstorm"

MacIntosh exclaimed "Ha, Stormbolt would love that! Wouldn't you?"

Stormbolt chirped happily

"Well, we're here. The Isle of Berk, home sweet home" Hiccup sad dryly

The island came into full view; I have to admit the sheer size of this island was stunning. It's as if, the very stone rose out of the water to show off its glory. As we got closer, we could see the remnants of the village and the huge broken statues in the water. This place, even though it's been years you can still tell something horrible happened here. I shivered at the sheer thought that this is what could have happened to DunBroch. Everything, generations of work, burnt to ash. We flew over the village and landed on the outskirts. I think I can hear sheep in the distance.

Hiccup dismounted and gestured to pile of rotting wood "You see what's left of that house?"

That was a house?

"Yeah, what about it?" I asked

"…I used to live there"

We winced. Hiccup didn't need to see what was left of his house first thing he got here. Maybe Hiccup needs do this himself.

"You want a few minutes Hiccup?" I asked

He nodded at me and headed into what was left of the village with Toothless. As we watched Hiccup go into the village I saw something. Something I hadn't seen since our battle with Mordue, a spirit. If Hiccup hadn't shown me that book of his clansmen that one night, I wouldn't have known that this spirit's name was Gobber. As quick as he came, he disappeared around the rock towards Hiccups direction.

Dingwall whined "Out of all the islands we had to come to, it had to be a haunted one!"

MacIntosh agreed "Aye, there could be more of them"

I nodded "There could be a whole village worth"

MacIntosh gulped "Yep, I'm not sticking around." Both he and Stormbolt bolted into the air flying away from Berk

Dingwall called "Oi! Don't leave us behind" With their tails between legs, Dingwall and MacGuffin flew after him.

"Bunch of chickens" I muttered

Wildfire snorted in agreement as I dismounted

"Come on girl. Let's have a look around"

Hiccup pov

This stroll through the village wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It's weird; this place is familiar but also a lot different. Back then, the smell of smoke and ash clogged the air, and smoldering buildings were everywhere. Now, what's left of anything is being covered by growing plant life and the smell of spring is in the air, what passes for spring on Berk that is. With the dark clouds over head, this place has a certain somber atmosphere.

I remember all those times years ago. All those days I spent living on Berk, the good and the bad. I guess it was a good thing Merida made this trip with me. I don't know if I could have back here otherwise, wisps or no wisps.

"This place has changed, about as much as I have, Toothless. I guess nothing every stays the same" I said

"Well, not all things"

I jumped hearing something behind me. What I saw startled me even more. I saw a ghost, Astrid's ghost.

I backed away in fear. "Oh! Great Odin's ghost!"

She chuckled"Nope, great Astrid's ghost. Don't worry; we're not going to bite."

Not very convincing when she has an axe in her hand

"We?"

"It's been a long time since we had a chat Hiccup"

I turned to see Gobber leaning against the ruins of a building sipping from his goblet attachment. This situation would have surprised me a lot more if I hadn't met those wisps.

"Yeah, I'm actually surprised you're still walking around with the prosthetics"

Gobber shrugged "I'm still trying to find the dragons that ate my real limbs on the other side. Besides you're one to talk, metal leg."

Astrid said "It's about time you showed up Hiccup. He's been waiting for you longer than we have"

Astrid gestured to the edge of the village. I saw another spirit walk over to me. Someone I had hoped I wouldn't see until Valhalla. Well, at least he didn't have disappointed scowl on his face.

"Hey….Dad"

Stoick said "Hello, Hiccup. It's been a long time"

I said "Yeah, you guys are looking pretty….lively. Look, I can guess why you guys are here. You guys likely blame me, and hate my guts, so…"

Dad interrupted "We don't blame you for what happened, Hiccup."

Those words dumfounded me and I couldn't help but ask "What?"

He sighed "Hiccup, before you returned to Berk all those years ago, we were already dead. When everyone in the village reached the other side we were shown Berk. We saw you fight the Red Death. You and your dragon were able to do what the whole village couldn't."

Astrid said "When you were fighting it, I told them Hiccup. That we found the nest and we didn't say anything to protect Toothless."

Gobber continued "At first the tribe was pretty angry, thought you betrayed us to the dragons by leading it here. We couldn't stay angry with you though."

Hiccup "Why? You guys died because of me."

Astrid said "We saw you hobble up through the village with a crutch and Toothless, you tried to find who and what was left. All that…pain on your face. We may have lost our lives that day Hiccup, but you, lost everything else."

Stoick "You became a boy without a people, without a home."

Gobber burped "Well, that and you did avenged your entire tribe, lost your foot as a result, gave the entire village a proper funeral, and you suffered for five years because of your guilt. We ran out of reasons to be mad at you."

Stoick said "For generations, Vikings thought the dragons were mindless beasts. Hiccup, you proved us wrong. You proved that there could have been peace between our races, so that no one else needed to die."

At the sound of a branch snapping, Astrid brandished her axe and yelled "Hey, I don't know who you are, but we're trying to have a private conversation here."

"It's alright. You can come out" I said

Of course it was Merida and Wildfire that came out from behind a building. I'm not even surprised.

"Sorry didn't want to interrupt" Merida said as she walked over with Wildfire

Gobber said "Another Nightfury, well now, this is a surprise. Though not as big of a surprise as a girl being within arm's reach of Hiccup. So, who might you be?"

"This is, my girlfriend"

Gobber snorted "You got a girlfriend?"

"You know you could try not to sound so surprised at this."

"Who could? No ever expected you to get a girlfriend" he countered

I rolled my eyes "Anyway this is..."

Merida said "Merida, of DunBroch"

Gobber cocked his head "A Highlander? "

Da interrupted "Hold on moment. Merida of DunBroch, the Princess of DunBroch?"

"Yes, I am the princess of DunBroch" she said proudly

I have to admit, this was the first time I saw the three of them dumbfound at something.

Gobber turned to them "I'm not sure which is more baffling. That Hiccup got a girlfriend, or that she's royalty"

I continued "Merida, this is Gobber, the blacksmith I trained under. Astrid my…"

"Crush" Merida smirked

I cleared my throat "Yeah, and this is my father, Chief Stoick"

Astrid walked up to Merida and looked her up and down. She finally said "She looks like she could take Snotlout out, I like her already. She probably fit right in with the tribe." Da and Gobber nodded in agreement.

Gobber smiled slyly "Aye, and if the two of them get hitched, she'll be the third living member of the tribe."

I said "Yeah, I suppose you're...wait, what?! What do you mean third living member?!"

Dad laughed "That's the good news Hiccup!"

Gobber exclaimed "Your mother is alive!"

"WHAT?!"

Astrid confirmed "Yeah. We haven't found her in the years we've been dead and none of our ancestors have seen her either."

Dad said "So she has to be alive."

"What? Where is she?"

"Ah, well, we have no idea." Gobber admitted

"We might have of if you didn't spend so much time in Valhalla Gobber." Astrid continued

"Hey, we get all the fights and food we could ever ask for. Why wouldn't we do all that?" He countered

Dad interrupted "Val's whereabouts are unknown, but you'll find her, I'm sure of it."

The moment after he said that, lightning streaked across the horizon and the sound of thunder boomed across Berk.

Gobber sighed "Looks like our time is up."

Gobber stated "Best of luck to you Hiccup. Try not to mess up this relationship like you did with your inventions."

"See later Gobber." I smiled

"It better be later. I don't want to see you there too soon now" He said as he faded away

Astrid smiled "Good to you've cheered up. I got tired of seeing you mope around for five years. See ya later Hiccup" Just as Gobber had, she too faded away. That left only Dad.

Da turned to Merida "Will you look after Hiccup for me? He gets himself into more trouble than he's worth sometimes."

"Of course." She answered. Dad nodded in thanks and turned to me. For the first time in my life I was without words. No quick remarks, no witty comebacks, I'm drawing a complete blank.

"Dad, I don't know what to say"

Da smiled back "Hiccup, always remember. I am proud, to call you my son."

Merida pov

Just as Stoick said those finally words to Hiccup he faded away like the rest of his kin, leaving only the four of us here. The air around Hiccup seemed different. He didn't feel like he was the same person as I met on DunBroch. The words his kin spoke, maybe those words will let Hiccup have some peace.

"Are they gone? Is it safe?" I heard

Dingwall, it's always Dingwall

Way to ruin the moment boys

I turned to see them cowering behind some buildings. I walked over to them "Of course, its safe you chickens, come out."

As they came out, Dingwall claimed "It's not that we're scared you know"

MacIntosh continued "It's just that you can't hurt a ghost"

"Uh huh, sure"

MacGuffin asked "So what happened?"

"Long story short, Hiccup made peace with his kin" I replied

MacIntosh said relieved "Ah that's excellent news. Don't want, angry ghosts hanging around."

"Yeah, but we're not going to be leaving for a sometime" I informed

"Why?"

I smiled "Because Hiccup's mother is alive. One of you will have to fly back to DunBroch to tell them that I'm going to stay here."

MacIntosh exclaimed "What? Why does one of us have to go? Why not you? You need to go back. King Fergus will skin us, if you don't come back"

I countered "I'm going to stay here and help Hiccup look for his mother"

Dingwall gulped "Oh, they're not going to like this."

"You can draw sticks to see who goes."

I walked away from them to let them decide, but Toothless and Hiccup weren't there anymore. They must have walked off when I was talking to the boys. I turned to Wildfire "You know where they went?" She nodded and led me to the edge of the village. Hiccup was standing there, looking over the ocean with Toothless. As I walked up to him, I asked "Are you ok Hiccup?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm ok. I never thought….I never thought that they wouldn't be angry at me, or that dad would actually say that he was proud of me." He admitted. The clouds began clear up, letting the sun shine on Berk.

"This feels good, like a new beginning."

I smiled "Speaking of beginnings, I told the boys they'll have to begin the journey home to tell Mum and Da that we're going to be out here for a while to search for your mum."

"You didn't have to do that Merida."

"No, we should find you mother. It wouldn't be right for you two not to be together."

"Thank you, but it's not going to easy. Vikings don't take well to those from DunBroch"

"A journey full of danger; where the adventurers travel on a perilous quest for a loved one. Sounds like something from a story book."

"Yeah, but we're going to need a base. So, let's rebuild Berk."

"Yeah, it'll be perfect. Maybe we'll make a big castle. The view will be great on this island."

He nodded "I just hope we find her the Archipelago is a big place, the land beyond that is even bigger"

"We will find her Hiccup. No matter how long it takes."

He smiled at me "I love you, Merida"

"I love you too, Hiccup" I smiled back

Toothless and Wildfire chirped up

"We love you guys too" I said

They nodded, please with his answer

"Well, we're not going to get any work done standing around" I said

We walked back into the village. Hiccup is right; this is a new beginning, for us both.

I just want to say thanks to everyone that been following this story and being patient with me for my slow uploads. Honestly, half way through the story, I wasn't sure if I could have finished this. Some parts have been difficult make, but it's been worth it. I've tried my best wrap things up, to give Hiccup and Merida some peace of mind.

With Hiccup knowing his mother alive, it leaves a chance for me to do a sequel in the future, but at this present time, I don't have a good idea for one.

Again thanks for following and the support.