Evening fell on Berserker Island but their spirits were not dulled. The victory brought by their chief and the teenagers from Berk had changed their fortunes for the better. They cleared up the best they could, making a large stone circle for a bonfire, makeshift tables and stools, boars being grilled and wine being served as they were all in a merry mood. The same couldn't be said for the teens, the presence of their mentors from Berk had them on edge. Frankly the only person among them that could feel at ease was Virgil.
Rune and the others sat together by a table with wine and food in front of them but they barely touched anything. The thought of what might happen, would they be dragged back to Berk? Were they going to be stopped from ever flying again? There were so many scenarios playing in their minds. The mood around their table was a polar opposite to the singing and dancing going on around. Virgil was concerned by the silence as he took a sip out of his cup.
"Are you guys okay?" he asked with concern.
Forde sighed loudly before giving him a response. "It's a long story"
"What's going on? Aren't you happy to see your fellow riders?"
"We're happy, believe us but…" Thyra said trailing off.
"But what?" he questioned.
"We didn't leave on the best of terms" Sten answered.
"Unlike everyone else that would look for the go ahead form their superiors before moving out like we did…" said Vyra.
"…we kind off left on our own. No warnings, no letters, just vanished one day" Rune said.
"Ooohhh" Virgil said with a little nod. "I understand it now. Don't worry, I think everything will work out fine" he assured them.
"We hope so" Thyra responded.
"Well for now you all should try to eat. How would the people feel when they see their heroes not eating? It may harm their mood" he added.
The group looked at how happy everyone was, the joy of being back home. They couldn't let their worries affect them.
"We'll try" Rune answered.
The team slowly began to make way through their food as they forced themselves to eat a bit. Not too much but enough to look like they were okay. As they ate their food, Heather walked to their table, her mood wasn't as joyful as the others and there was a sense of seriousness around her.
"Guys, Hiccup would like to see you all. You're excluded Virgil. This is, well, a Berk matter"
"Understood" Virgil answered.
You could feel the attention around the others. Sten let out a huge sigh as he got up, their nerves were on edge and an uneasy feeling loomed.
"Don't worry guys. Everything will be alright" Virgil reinforced.
Rune gave him a nod as they Moved into the crowd to find Hiccup and the others. Virgil was worried for them and his fingers began to fidget.
"Don't worry" Heather said as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "They'll be fine" she said with a little smile.
They walked away from the large group of partying Vikings and found Hiccup and the gang in the back of the whole celebration. Hiccup sat on stool with his elbows placed on his knees; his fingers were interlocked and placed on his mouth. Gobber and Valka stood on his right and left respectively. Astrid stood with her axe held up on her shoulders to the left of Gobber while Snotlout stood to the right of Valka with his arms folded. The twins stood in between two buildings with their backs placed on the walls and one foot placed on it as well. Eret also placed his leg on a building on the other side as he watched them walk in. The Moon glowed behind them, illuminating their hardened faces as the air around them was thick. The serious presence clouded them and the teens were very much intimidated. The five of them stood side by side in front of their chief ready for the worst.
Hiccup took a long hard look at his students as they bowed heads in guilt. The chief cleared his throat and was ready to speak.
"You know, when we taught this class, we saw the potential each and every one of you had. I and the others said that without a doubt you had the highest potential to rival or even succeed us as the best riders in Berk. But the stunt you pulled, abandoning home, having us and your parents worry was brash and totally uncalled for"
"We searched for you all, had to comfort your parents who had no idea why you left without a trace. The execution of such a plan proved how immature and unready you all were for the big world and backed my decision for keeping you on Berk for so long. You had us anxious, worried, annoyed, angry and if I had found you back then, I would've definitely had you all grounded forever"
"But yet… through all that, you all proved that though I had my concerns about letting you handle things by yourselves this entire situation has proven otherwise. That's why I would like to express…"
"..how proud we are of all of you!" Gobber interjected.
"Gobber" Hiccup sighed.
They couldn't believe their ears. All their heads went up at once as the hardened look their teachers had on faces had now softened. They looked at one another in disbelief, thinking that it must be a joke.
"What? I couldn't keep this up you know. I wasn't the best actor back in my day and I couldn't stop thinking of what Dagur told us" he said shrugging his shoulders.
Hiccup placed his hand on his face as he turned back to his students who were shocked. He ran his hand down his face before speaking.
"Just as Gobber said, we are immensely proud of you. Dagur told us of what you guys did. Refurbishing the Edge, rescuing one of their riders"
"Your skills in combat and tactics, your roles in the battle, leading out the Queen of Dragons. Those are very impressive feats" Valka added.
"I did have good reason to ground all of you till you grow a beard like Gobber's but then looking back at things. If you hadn't snuck away that night and come here, things wouldn't be as they were. So to every one of you, a big well done"
Everyone except the twins clapped for them as the five were flustered.
"That doesn't mean we're letting you go just like that. I don't want other students flying out on their own to prove themselves like you did. At least without our blessing and a real ceremony" Hiccup added.
"I believe a few sparring rounds with me and Eret should suffice" Astrid said with a wicked smile.
"Please anything but that" they pleaded collectively as they went on their knees.
"Its either that or we let the twins stay on Dragon's Edge for two weeks and let them play every single prank they could imagine on you all" Hiccup offered. As the twins laughed deviously.
"In retrospect, the training matches don't look like a bad idea" Forde said.
"We'll take the rounds. Anything but dealing with the twins for two weeks" Thyra pleaded.
"I think they've made their decision" Valka chuckled.
"Such a shame, we had a few tricks we wanted to try out on them" said Ruffnut.
"You know what they say Ruffnut. Not everyone is built to handle what we're capable off" Tuffnut said.
"Agreed brother"
With the tension diffused, the mentors and their trainees mingled together and headed back to the feast to catch up on lost time. Though they had only been away for a few weeks, so much had happened between them. Fishlegs met up with them in the feast as he opted to ditch their meeting and catch-up with Heather. Virgil was relieved to see his friends in good spirits when they returned. The teens faced questions from everyone on various topics like what it took to renovate their huts and buildings on Dragon's Edge, how it felt taking on hunters on their own for the first time to how Rune got to the nest of the Queen and led her to battle.
They talked for hours as their celebrations ran into the night. The boys got in on the wine as they danced and laughed for hours, of course they didn't get as drunk as their graduations day but they were still tipsy nonetheless. Their dragons also had a wonderful time, meeting old friends, indeed it had been a while. Toothless and Sandstorm raced each other around, the Stormcutters had a civil talk, The Nightmares caused some chaos here and there while the Nadders looked to steal pieces of chicken of tables. Meatlug, Barf, Belch, and Rampage watched on as Hothead gave them a full display of all the fire types he possessed.
As things began to cool off late into the early hours as Dagur led the men in song, Rune sat at a table alone. Forde had dozed off while Sten and Virgil lent the crowd their voices in song. What a time it had been. From being a scrawny kid in school to becoming a hero in here, how life had changed since his death. Who would've thought? While immersed in his train of thought, Vyra say next to him, tapping his shoulder lightly to get his attention.
"Hey, V. What's up?" he said with a warm smile.
"Nothing much, I saw you all alone and decided to check up on you" she sadi playing with some of his hair.
"Well, Hiccup's gone in for the night and Forde has apparently slept off" he said as his friend let out a loud snore.
Vyra chuckled lightly as she rested on his shoulders.
"I've missed this. The past few days have been so exhausting, everyone was always serious. It's nice that we could let off some steam"
"Yeah"
"More importantly, we finally have some time to ourselves" she said taking ahold of his hand and locking fingers together.
The two looked at each other as smiles spread across their faces.
"You know… now that we've defeated Dane and all. You can't walk around the same way you used to"
"What do you mean?" Rune said with some confusion.
"Look at all that you've done. If not for you none of this would be possible. You came up with the plan to get the Queen of Dragons to help the Berserkers in their battle. No one would've thought of that. You led her to battle and turned the tide of the war singlehandedly. Every Berserker here owes you that." She explained.
"Well…
"Not only that but because of your heroics Dagur declared this day a day of remembrance, named and all to forever mark this triumph. You're a hero Rune and your fame is going to spread to all the villages far and wide. The hunters will be weary of the one who rides the brown Sand Wraith, the Brown Blur. The world is going to know who you are and what you can do. You're already becoming a legend"
Rune never thought of it that way, but the way Vyar put it, it did sound like that.
"You know what, I never thought of it that way"
"Of course you didn't. You can be simple minded at times, but have no fear, Vyra's here" she said with a little laugh.
"Right" he chuckled.
"Now that you're building an image for yourself, there are certain things you can and cannot do. We don't you tarnishing the image and legacy you've started for yourself. Promise me you wouldn't do anything rash without consulting me first?"
"Okay" he said with some nervousness.
"Great" she said before placing a light kiss on his cheek.
"Rune Yakkerson, the Brown Blur. Master of dragons, rider of the Sand Wraith, the stories that will be told" she said with excitement.
"And the one who conquered such a man's heart? Vyra Hofferson. I'll be the wife of a legend. How cool would that be. I've got to find a title for myself"
Rune let her talk all she wanted. He guessed maybe the wine had gotten to her or something. Right now, he couldn't care any less. His eyes began to close slowly as the watched the others sing into the night. Fatigue had begun to set in after such a long and eventful day. Training sessions to look forward too as a punishment and others individual goals to accomplish, things were far from over on Dragon's Edge. In fact, some could say that this was just the beginning of events to come.