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The arctic wind blew sharply, biting through every layer of clothing Hiccup had on. But they’d made it this far, and now, with Berk within sight, he was certain they’d make it to land before the storm that’d been chasing them.
The Edge was three days from Berk by “normal traveling speed”, but Toothless could do it in less than a day, if they flew straight through with minimal stops.
Thus, the two of them were often chosen for supply runs since they could do it in the least amount of time. Of course, the flight back would be a bit longer, but a couple days roundtrip is still much better than a week or more.
Hiccup crouched low over Toothless‘s neck, trying to get under the wind as gust after gust tried to send them back out to sea, or bash them into a sea stack.
“Almost! You got this, bud. Com’on!”
Finally, the night fury had had enough of circling. He took off straight up, careening down at a dizzying speed toward the cliffs above the docks, but he stuck the landing.
“Well!” Hiccup gasped breathlessly. “That’s one way to do it.”
Toothless garbled a sarcastic response, keeping his wings flattened tightly against his sides so that they wouldn’t catch the stiff breeze.
“Oh ho, so you really think you could do better Mr. big dragon?” He sassed back. “It’s not easy being a mind reader and a tail y’know.”
A fit of coughing interrupted whatever else he had been going to say.
“Ugh. That’s getting really old.”
He cleared his throat and stomped his feet to get the blood moving. “Come on bud, let’s get out of the wind, and let Dad know there’s a boat unmoored.”
They set off for the great hall, heads down against the wind, and so Hiccup didn’t see at first who’s hand reached out to snag his arm as they walked through the square and up the big staircase.
Few would be out is such blustery whether, but some things still needed doing, and making sure his Dad knew there was a fishing boat adrift in the small bay was one of them. They represented too valuable an investment to be lost if it could be helped.
Turning mid-stride to see who it was, revealed the village elder, staff in hand, bundled in her wool cloak, her stern gaze fixed intently on him.
“Hi Gothi, it’s good to see you too”
There was snow mixed with the wind now, obscuring the ground, but not her quick, deft fingers. While writing was her preferred means of communication, there were a few hand signs everyone knew out of necessity, not just the ones who could read her writing.
Even without spoken words, her emphatic insistence was impossible to misunderstand.
“You want me to come with you right now?”
A nod.
“OK,” Hiccup replied reasonably, shifting a half step behind Toothless’ folded wing to shield his face from the blowing ice. “I’m on my way to talk to Dad in the great hall; as soon as I’m done I’ll be right with you.”
“No.” She stomped her staff on the ground. “Come. With me. Now. Talk later.”
Her eyes met his and she tugged again on his arm, this time not releasing it.
Hiccup sputtered. “wha? but, Gothi! I’ve got to go, Dad‘s expecting me.”
”Well, strictly speaking’ he don’t know you’re back yet,” Gobber put in helpfully. He stood at the top of the steps smoking a pipe.
“How long have you been up there?”
“Oh, an hour an’ a half or so. She’s been waiting for you to get back. I figured if there was going to be a show I wanted to watch it.”
“Thanks.” Hiccup said flatly. He wasn’t really mad, but he was beginning to be put out.
Toothless looked back and forth between all three humans, then he shook the snow off of his back and bounded up the steps. He warbled a goodbye over his shoulder as he slipped in the big oak doors towards the fire.
”I love you too bud! See you later.”
He gave up, his dragon had just abandoned him, (not that he blamed him) the icy air was stinging his throat with every breath, and his Elder still clung to his sleeve with iron grip.
Going anywhere indoors was better than continuing to stand out in this.
“Alright already, I’m coming,” he submitted to Gothi. “Gobber? Tell Dad there’s a loose boat just off the point.”
“That I will do, lad.”
Seeing that he’d decided to bend to her desires, Gothi let go and set off for her house, with the clear expectation that Hiccup would follow.
They moved at a brisk pace, hurried along by biting wind. Though he could have easily escaped, at this point Hiccup had given Gothi his word. As the next chief, maintaining integrity in the eyes of his people with important, so he was duty-bound to finish whatever her task was.
He wracked his brain trying to figure out what it could be. Everyone would have boarded up their windows and tied things down in preparation for the storm hours ago. She wouldn’t have waited on him to ask for help with something like that. And surely this was not the most opportune moment to address a training issue with her terrible terrors?
When Hiccup finally mounted the last stair to her mountaintop home she was already waiting at the top for him. Despite her small stature, it was an entire job keeping up with the short woman.
“Alright Gothi!” Hiccup put his hands on his knees, panting for breath. “I’m here. What do you need?”
Gothi smiled and stretched out her arms in a welcoming manner, then took two stoneware mugs from a cabinet.
“You want me to stay and have tea?”
She nodded, beckoning Hiccup closer to the fire crackling in her hearth.
Hiccup groaned “Aw, com’on, Gothi, you know I don’t have time to sit down and just relax, I’ve got work to do!” He ran his hand down his face in mild exasperation.
She gestured at the blizzard raging outside her window, and raised an eyebrow.
Hiccup sighed. “Okay, fair point. But I need to talk to dad about my plan to stop Viggo, and the moment this lets up I’ve got to— hey! ouch!”
Gothi whacked him lightly with her staff and pointed forcefully to the seat by the fireplace.
“Okay, okay, I’m coming,”
As soon as Hiccup sat, Gothi shoved a steaming mug into his chilled fingers. He had to admit, the warmth felt good.
She settled herself on the opposite bench, contendedly sipping her own tea.
The herbal brew tasted good too, warming him from the inside out. He glanced at the window. It was impossible to tell time of day in a blizzard.
Gothi stamped her staff on the oak floor.
He cleared his throat. ”Yes Gothi?”
“Tell me,” she signed
“Tell you what?”
“All,” She gestured to him, the orange terror dozing on a rafter, towards the great hall, and then the wider ocean in the direction of the edge. “How?”
“You…want to know how we’re doing? Everything?”
She nodded.
Hiccup let out a tired sigh “that’s quite a lot…”
So he told her.
He told her about the dragons they’d rescued and rehabilitated in the last three months. He told her about raids on dragon hunting parties— the successful ones and the disasters. He told her about the every-day mishaps, injuries and pranks that were part and parcel of life on an outpost inhabited solely by Viking young people. (Not all of the above involved the twins.) He told her about new resources they’d discovered, and islands charted.
By the time he was finished, he could drink his cooled tea, instead of cautiously sip it piping hot.
The orange terror had come to sit on Gothi’s shoulder and there were two more asleep in his lap.
Hiccup found he felt calmer than he could remember feeling in weeks
The storm created the illusion of being in a world to themselves: up on the cliffside, in Gothi’s cozy home. No responsibilities pulling him in different directions, actually, no possibility of getting anything done whatsoever at this point, not until the wind and snow let up. Somehow it felt easier to let the work wait when the choice wasn’t up to him.
A hint of a smile crossed Gothi’s wizened face.
”Better?”
“Better than what?”
The elder mimed clearing her throat and coughing, then pointed to him.
“Better? You?”
“Gothi, I’m fine! I never—” He stopped mid sentence.
Somewhere in the middle of their conversation, he had stopped coughing.
“Actually? Actually, I do feel better. Thanks” he eyed his mug and drained the last little bit. “I don’t know what you put in this, but it helped.”
She smirked at him.
“Okay, fine.” He sassed back good naturedly. “You were right.”
Gothi raised her eyebrows at him.
“And…?” He wasn’t sure what she meant now. One of the terrors woke up and started soliciting chin scratches.
She mimed his cough again, then held up her thumb and forefinger a pinch apart, and then held her hands far apart.
She pointed at him and raised an eyebrow. “You?”
“Does it hurt to cough a little or a lot?” Hiccup guessed. “Honestly Gothi, I’m fine, it’s a little annoying is all.”
She shook her head and repeated the motions with her hands and fingers. Looking around on her work table, she picked up an intricately carved bone with notches halfway down its length.
Holding it up, she gave him a questioning look.
“Coughing, fingers, a calendar… oh! How long have I had a cough?”
”yes!” Gothi nodded vigorously
”Oh Thor, I dunno,” Hiccup scratched the back of his neck while staring at the ceiling.“Um, I guess it’s been couple weeks? Everyone had a bit of a cold last month. Mine is just holding on a little bit longer. It’s nothing, really.”
Gothi was unimpressed, and Hiccup needed no translation for the look she shot him at that.
He swallowed, ignoring the, slight scratchiness that was creeping back.
“I know I know! It’s just that there’s never any time to just rest, as soon as I was up I— yes, I’m aware that you’ve made me take time today. But there’s a blizzard!…”
She let him dig his hole a little deeper before rapping him with her staff for quiet.
“Ow! What?!”
Gothi pointed at him.
“Me.”
She nodded, then pointed to his empty mug, her bed, the fire, and back to him. Stomping her staff for emphasis, she glared at him.
”I need to drink tea, and sleep enough, and stay warm?”
She nodded emphatically. Gesturing to one of her terrible terrors, who had hopped out of Hiccup’s lap and was now trying to pull straws from her broom to add to its collection of nest materials in the corner, Gothi frowned and shook her head.
She gestured to the one sitting placidly on her shoulder, and the one he held that was still asleep. She smiled.
Hiccup sighed, “be like them, not like the yellow one, don’t work myself too hard. Right?”
She nodded, and gave him a stern look that said she expected to be obeyed.
“Yes, Gothi” Hiccup said meekly. “I’ll take better care of myself.”
She nodded approvingly, and poured them both another cup of tea, whilst the storm raged on outside.