Chapter 31- Conversations

(Author's Note)

Hey guys, how are you? well? bad? I hope they are well and if they don't I hope they get better.

I'm here at the beginning of the chapter to let you know that I have an editor.... YES you didn't misread, I have an editor and he's doing a fine job. at the moment I have already posted some edited chapters, those with a "•" are reviewed and edited by the Legendary HangerBaby. applaud him because he's doing a good job.

I'm very happy to get where I am, I never thought that something I did for fun would last so long, all thanks to you. thank you so much for everything. here the Chap and until the next Chap, I'm going to sleep now. bey bey.

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Break Line

A month after the day Zagreus, Astrid, and Alduin discovered the Nest of Dragons, Stoick and the Vikings who had gone with him returned from their journey to discover the Nest.

Everyone is wearing sad expressions due to the loss of some of their companions, the boats that made it back to Berk were all damaged either in the hull or the sail. It's because of these damages to the boats that delayed their return to the island.

Stoick leaves the biggest boat that has just arrived with a grim and cold expression, as the leader of the tribe it is your responsibility to the safety of his people and even though he does not speak or show it, Stoick felt sad and guilty for the deaths that occurred.

Gobber catches up with Hiccup's father and helps him with the loads he is carrying, the Blacksmith seeing his longtime friend's disappointment and anger and asks him trying to lighten his mood.

"I trust you found the nest, at least?"

"Not even close!" Stoick says calmly but the tone of his voice can tell the anger he felt at the complete failure of the journey, to which Gobber responds sarcastically.

"Oh, excellent."

Stoick sighs and tells his friend right away. "I hope you had more success than me."

"If by success, you mean the end of your parenting woes, then the answer...yes!"

Gobber says excitedly remembering Hiccup's exploits in the Arena, the young Hiccup who was thin and fearful is becoming increasingly stronger and fearless with his fancy strategies and quick thinking, Stoick looks at the Blacksmith without quite understanding what he meant.

But before he could say anything about it he was interrupted by some Vikings walking towards the boats to help them and as they passed they commented on Hiccup to Stoick.

"Congratulations, Stoick! Everyone is so relieved." Said a brown-haired Viking named Phlegma.

Starkard: "Out with the old and in with the new, right?!" A man with a large black beard split in two named Starkard added shortly thereafter.

"No one will miss that old nuisance!" "The village is throwing a party to celebrate!"

And then two more Vikings said.

Stoick feared the worst due to the phrases that could be misunderstood and looks at Gobber and asks in a calm tone of voice even though he is scared.

Stoick: He's gone?

And no one could blame him for fearing for his life, his son was his only memory of the love of his life and even though he didn't like his way very much, he still loved and cared about him, even though he was the leader of the tribe. and he needed to be cold and strong all the time he still kept love inside him. Gobber senses Stoick's fear and responds quickly.

"No, no. He didn't leave the tribe, he really changed and he's no longer the smallest and weakest in the village."

The leader of the Hooligans is relieved to hear that his son hasn't run away but what Gobber said next surprised him, his son had become strong?

"Hiccup?"

"Who would've thought, eh? He has this way with the beasts. Even though he's not endowed with such a strong and resilient constitution, Hiccup manages to make up for it all with strategy and his inventions, who would have thought in an old friend? your son will be a great leader in the future, he has a good head on his shoulders!"

Gobber proudly praises Hiccup's achievements as his own and then seems to remember an important detail, with an even more proud smile on his face if that's even possible, he tells Stoick.

"And most importantly my friend Stoick, maybe in the near future you will become a grandfather!"

Stoick looks incredulous at so much information about his son and asks Gobber to make sure he heard correctly.

"Gobber…you mean Hiccup…."

"Yeah, he finally got a girlfriend and you know yourself Stoick, they're young and reckless so it can go like it did to you, I think you better talk to him about it later."

"But now let's go to the Arena, as you arrived today so this will be the decisive training to decide who will kill the Dragon, it will start in 30 minutes and guess what... it will be Hiccup against Zagreus, now I want to see which one of the two will have the honor of killing your first Dragon!"

Stoick is still digesting all this and accompanies Gobber to the Arena to see his son in action.

Break Line

Near the Cliff of Corvo, in the valley hidden in the forest.

Zagreus and Astrid were fighting each other with only their bare hands, Alduin just watched from outside with a bored expression as he saw this scene dozens of times.

The blonde girl used alternate strikes using her hands like claws and pincers, she was wearing a serious expression as she tried to land a blow against her boyfriend, Zagreus on the other hand was apparently relaxed as he dodged Astrid's blows and retaliated only when necessary to not be pushed back.

Demigod decides to end the fight when he realizes that Astrid's body was almost at the limit and knowing his girlfriend well he knows she won't stop for it, but Zagreus doesn't want her to get too hurt and end up losing the progress they made to train.

Because even though he has an ability to heal using Chi, the Ability would regenerate the broken muscle fibers and it would prevent the body from creating stronger fibers, so using this ability after intensive training would alleviate the pain in the body but it would also make all that. useless training.

Zagreus uses a claw-shaped left foot strike to pull Astrid's right leg off balance and he ends the fight with a punch to her face. His girlfriend had closed her eyes waiting for the impact but only feels the winds ruffle her hair, when she opens her eyes and sees that her boyfriend hasn't finished the blow she sighs with relief for not getting punched in the face and disappointment for not having hit him even a blow.

The Young Dragon notices his girlfriend's disappointment and with a smile on his face he says.

"Don't be so sad, Astrid! You've become so much stronger this past month and you have a lot of talent and room to grow."

'[Eye of the Wise]'

[Status]

[Name: Astrid Hofferson]  | Age: 15]

[Titles: Best Viking of Your Generation, Tough, Group Leader.]

[Perks: Viking, Strategist, Innate Leader]

[Race: Human]

[Skill: [Bad Mastery Weapons (Level 2)], [Blade Mastery (Level 2)], [Tiger Style (Level 2)] [Mantis Style (Level 1)], [Leopard Style (Level 1)], [Tame (Level 1)].

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Zagreus reaches out to the fallen Astrid while looking at her [Status], the blonde girl stands up and balances herself while gasping for air, she smiles at her boyfriend and says calmly and slightly disappointed.

"Yeah... but still... I couldn't hit you!"

The Demigod just keeps smiling at his girlfriend, and at that moment a group of Dragons of the Terrible Horror race flies towards them, more precisely, they fly towards Alduin who was silently eating his handful of fish.

Alduin being Alduin growls at the little Dragons coming towards him, one of the Terrible-Terror manages to grab a fish with his mouth and tries to drag it away to eat but Alduin sees this and quickly takes the fish back and then eats in front of the little dragon while teasing him.

The little dragon even though its stature is not one of the majority still maintains its pride and prepares to release its breath of fire at Alduin who notices the obvious movements and waits for the right moment to attack back, with a smug smile on his face that Alduin launches. a tiny, almost harmless plasma ball in the little Terrible's open mouth.

The Terrible Horror swells up like a balloon and then quickly deflates as smoke comes out of its vents, Astrid seeing this the whole situation starts laughing before stepping closer and saying.

"Huh. Not so fireproof on the inside, are you?"

She laughs at the hungry looking little dragon and catches a fish near Alduin and throws it to the Terrible Horror in front of her.

As the fish was not that big, the Terrible Terror manages to swallow it all at once, he is staring at Astrid and after a few moments of hesitation the dragon descends to approach the blonde girl and flies towards her while snuggling in her arms and doing cute noises. *Purring*

Astrid couldn't help but find it cute, she sighed as she looked at Zagreus and stroked the Terrible Terror's head in her arms.

"Zagreus, all of this is still a little unbelievable to me, it's hard to believe that everything we knew about them is wrong. We've spent ages fighting and killing each other and now, with a little empathy and patience, can we sort it all out? had you not shown me all this, I would never have believed it was possible!"

"Sometimes the answer to something is so simple that it seems impossible at first glance, but the hardest part is getting started and the rest becomes easier."

They keep talking a little longer until Astrid realizes that the time to go back must be close, today's practice was important for Zagreus so she quickly reminds him and after a few goodbye words to Alduin they head to the Arena.

Break Line

Gobber's Forge, Hiccup's Workshop

Hiccup is finished getting dressed and getting ready for the fight in the Arena, he is wearing his usual attire under a simple leather armor, wearing two wristbands on both arms and in his right hand was his shield and in his right hand there was the Ax his father had given him, both were more easily handled than before due to their great growth in the sense of strength.

And at the very moment his father Stoick the Vast enters the room and Hiccup seeing that his father was back is happy and smiles but thinks he's here by Gobber so he says.

"Dad! You're back! Gobber's not here, so..."

Hiccup doesn't finish his sentence as Stoick interrupts him when he says it.

"I know. I came looking for you."

The Tribe Leader of the Hooligans says while looking at his son who grew up this past month, the change wasn't that big but when we see Hiccup now with the old one we notice the big difference even though his height has changed only slightly.

"You did? Why? Do you need me to do something for you?"

Hiccup looked confused at Stoick who just remained serious and then said.

"You've been keeping secrets."

"I. have?"

"Just how long did you think you could hide it from me? Nothing happens on this island without me hearing about it."

Hiccup remains genuinely confused by his father's claims and is trying to remember what he had done wrong that his father may have found out but nothing comes to his mind. (I was like that, every time my father asked me something ambiguously, I kept thinking:

"What the fuck did I do that my dad found out this time?" Haha ha )

"When you were going to tell me about my daughter-in-law, Gobber told me you guys seem very close and in love!"

Hiccup sighs in relief that it wasn't as bad as he expected but is still nervous that he has never had this kind of conversation with his father.

"Dad, it happened all of a sudden and you were on the journey, so you decide to wait and introduce her to you!"

Stoick nods in response to his son and he scratches his head uncomfortably as he asks.

"Son, I... I need to talk to you about this. It's time to explain to you about Birds and Bees what happens is..."

"No no no, you don't need to explain it to me dad! I already know how it works, by the gods!"

"Errr… good then, it's a relief not to have to talk to you about this, I remember having this conversation with my dad and it wasn't really comfortable for me! But I need to remind you that it's better to make love later of marriage, the feeling and the feeling may be good but what comes next may not do you any good to have such a responsibility anytime soon!" (Bro, writing about Stoick talking about it made me laugh a lot, omg!)

Hearing Hiccup blushes with embarrassment and memories come to mind of the kisses he had with Tuffnut, he waves his hands in front of his face in denial as he says.

"Dad, please. I already know about this, we talked about it and decided to take it slow!"

Stoick laughs at his son's embarrassed actions and laughs lightly, he is happy and proud in a way never before seen of his son, Stoick sits on a bench next to him and says.

"Well, we finally have something to talk about. How about I tell you how I met your mother and how I fell in love with her..."

The pair of father and son had an intimate family moment for the first time in their lives, Stoick told his story that involved a lot of adventure and recklessness while Hiccuo commented and asked in some parts.

Soon the Leader of the Hooligans realizes that it's time to take his son to the Arena, but first decides to deliver a gift to his son.

"I...brought you something. To keep you safe in the ring.

Stoick holds up a Viking helmet and gives it to Hiccup, he had a smile on his face as he handed the helmet to his son and it looked like he had long dreamed of that moment.

Hiccup did not expect such a gesture from his father who was usually colder and more distant due to the difference between them, and his reaction was not great due to the surprise of the situation and he could only say.

"Wow. Thanks."

"Your mother would've wanted you to have it. It's half of her breast plate."

Stoick says pointing to the helmet in Hiccup's hand and then immediately points to his own helmet as he says.

"Matching set. Keeps her close, y'know?" Wear it proudly. You deserve it. You've held up your end of the deal."

Stoick said in a tone that exuded his son's seriousness and pride, he stands up and happily says.

"Come on, son! Today's fight will be decisive, you against the boy Zagreus and we can't be late!"

Stoick the leader of the Hooligans who has just had a truly special conversation with his son, happily guided his son to the Arena while asking him questions and giving him hints about the upcoming fight.

Break Line