Return to Berk
A few days later…
I soared through the sky, the wind whipping past me as I flew effortlessly above the clouds. In one hand, I held Moon in the grasp of my hand. She clung to me now, her small arms wrapped around my fingers. Originally, she had insisted on riding on my back like a dragon rider. I'd allowed it—just once.
Big mistake.
She wouldn't sit still. Kept shifting around and waving at birds. The inevitable happened: she slipped and fell. I caught her before she could hit the ground, of course. But the scare was enough to make her start crying—big, teary eyes and hiccupping sobs that immediately crumbled my stern façade. I scolded her, but only lightly. She seemed to get the message… at least for now.
Though I'd soon learned that tears were her weapon of choice.
Every time she did something wrong, she cried—knowing I couldn't resist. Every time I said "no" to something, she'd put on the pouty face, tilt her head, and speak in that sugary sweet voice. I folded almost immediately. Every time.
Sigh.
I glanced at her as she nestled into one of my fingers, now peacefully asleep. It had been so long since I'd seen Dad and Hiccup. I couldn't wait to reunite with them. A soft smile formed on my lips as I adjusted my flight path toward home.
Hours passed.
The familiar peaks of Berk came into view—but something was off.
Smoke.
Figures clashed in the distance. Shouts echoed through the air.
Fighting?
My brows furrowed. I descended quickly, the wind howling in my ears. As I got closer, the commotion halted. Everyone turned their eyes to the sky. They saw me.
Hovering there, my wings stretched wide, I took in the scene below.
And then I saw it.
A massive white dragon, longer than a longhouse, with rows upon rows of serrated teeth lining its jaw like some twisted sawblade. It resembled a Screaming Death—but even more feral, more monstrous.
The beast roared and lunged at me without hesitation.
My eyes narrowed. With one hand, I caught its head mid-charge. It squirmed and thrashed, trying to escape, but my grip tightened. The creature writhed in pain as I slowly squeezed. Gasps erupted from the villagers below. No one moved.
Then a familiar voice broke the tension.
"Let him go, please!" Hiccup shouted as he flew up toward me on Toothless.
I stared at him for a long moment. Then, with a grunt, I released the dragon. It tumbled through the air and fled, vanishing beyond the horizon.
I turned my gaze toward the crowd gathered below. My expression darkened.
What the hell had these idiots been doing while I was gone?
I descended, landing gently near the village square. The ground trembled slightly beneath my feet. As I set Moon down, a wave of shock rippled through the villagers. Their weapons raised reflexively, but their dragons backed away, sensing my presence. My power.
They knew they couldn't win.
I ignored them.
All eyes widened again as I put my hands down and Moon stepped forward from out of my hand. A child—here? With me?
Then they heard it.
Crack.
The sound of my bones shifting, limbs shortening, muscles relaxing. My body shrank as I returned to human form, steam rising from my skin. When it was over, silence fell. Mouths hung open. Eyes bulged.
"H-how… how is this possible?" one villager stammered.
"Erik," Dad said, stepping forward slowly. "How did you do that?"
"It's… a long story," I replied with a tired smile.
Without another word, he pulled me into a tight embrace.
"I missed you, son," he murmured.
"Me too!" a smaller voice chimed in.
We both looked down to see Moon, arms outstretched.
My father chuckled and bent down to pick her up. "And who might you be, little lady?"
"I'm not little!" she pouted. "My name is Moon."
"Is that so, Little Moon?" he said with a grin.
"Hmph. I'm ignoring you now," she huffed.
Laughter rippled through the crowd, though Moon remained stubbornly serious.
"Meanies…" she grumbled. Then turned to me with a pitiful look. "Daddy, beat them up!"
Everything stopped.
Every head slowly turned toward me.
Then to her.
Then back to me.
"HUH?!" echoed across the village.
"Long story," I muttered, scratching my head.
Dad raised an eyebrow. "Explain."
Sigh.
"How about we have a feast first? I'll tell the whole tale after."
Moon tugged my sleeve. "Daddy, are you cooking?" she asked, eyes sparkling.
"Of course, my little muffin."
"I'm not a muffin!" she pouted again.
Three hours later
Roaring laughter filled the great hall as Vikings devoured plate after plate of food.
"What in Odin's name is this seasoning?!" one of them yelled.
"This is amazing!"
Dad approached, a tankard in hand, grinning. "Erik, you really are something. Now that you've returned with all this power… what do you plan to do?"
I leaned back, exhaling deeply. "The truth is… I pursued strength to protect the people I love. Now that I have it, I want to honor your path for me. I'll take my place as the future chief."
Dad's eyes softened. He clapped a hand on my shoulder. "I'm proud of you."
"Daddy!" Moon called.
We turned.
"What is it, muffin?" I asked.
"I want soda," she said bluntly.
"You've already had one. Soda's not good for you if you drink it all the time."
She pouted. Tears welled in her eyes.
Oh no.
"Daddy… please?" she whimpered.
I clutched my chest. "My heart…"
In defeat, I bought another soda from the system shop and handed it to her.
She squealed and skipped away, sipping happily.
I turned to Dad. He gave me that look and shook his head. I opened my mouth to defend myself when—
"Can I sit on your shoulders, Grandpa?" Moon asked sweetly.
"Of course, my little princess!" he beamed, lifting her up.
I sweatdropped as he proudly paraded around the hall with her riding high.
Sigh.
I sat alone for a moment, drink in hand.
"Hey, Erik."
I turned to see Hiccup approaching, smiling.
I returned the smile. "Hey."
He sat beside me. "How are you so tall now?"
"Must've hit a growth spurt while trapped in that realm."
He laughed. "Now that you're back early… what'll you do next?"
"I need to fix my motion sickness first," I groaned. "Can't exactly visit Dunbroch as a giant dragon."
"Good call. I was thinking of leaving Berk for a bit myself. A year or two. Want to come?"
I shook my head. "Definitely not. I'm tired. I want to stay home. Besides, if we both leave, Dad would flip."
Hiccup chuckled. "Yeah, you're right. I'll take a page from your book."
"Oh, by the way—did you and Astrid finally get together?"
His face went beet red. "N-NO!"
I laughed. He stammered and then ran off.
Still chuckling, I leaned back, enjoying the warmth of the fire and the joy in the hall.
A few minutes later, I stood and wandered around, looking for Moon.
Eventually, I found her lying on the floor, her belly bulging, eyes glazed over.
She was breathing heavily, one hand weakly clutching her soda cup.
"Sigh… when will this brat learn?"
I scooped her up and carried her off, smiling softly.
The Next Morning
Shake, shake.
My eyes blinked open to a disturbance. I sat up, rubbing the grogginess from my face, yawning as I glanced around the room.
"Papa, I'm hungry," came a small voice.
Looking down, I saw the culprit — Moon, blinking up at me with wide, pleading eyes.
Sigh.
I patted her messy hair and stood up, dragging my feet — and her — to the bathroom.
"After waking up, you have to wash your face and brush your teeth," I muttered, guiding her along like a sleepy zombie.
"Yes, sir!" she said brightly, snapping a salute with a grin that was far too energetic for this hour.
I shook my head, amused despite myself, as she laughed at her own performance.
Thirty Minutes Later
By the time we gathered around the breakfast table, Dad, Hiccup, and Moon were already devouring the food like it might disappear at any second.
"Amazing!" they shouted between bites, mouths stuffed and unapologetic.
I couldn't help shaking my head at the sight as I joined them and took my own plate.
"Daddy, can I get a soda?" Moon asked sweetly.
I looked up, raising a brow. "No. Soda's bad for you, and you just had one last night."
"But—"
"No buts."
She pouted, her bottom lip trembling slightly. Then she turned her head like a turret toward Dad and beamed. "Grandpa, Daddy won't give me soda."
"You—"
My father blinked. "Erik, I don't know what this 'soda' is, but if Moon wants it, you should just give it to her."
Sigh.
"Dad, soda is a sugary drink. It's unhealthy if you drink too much of it."
"Ah, I see," he nodded solemnly, as if I'd just revealed a sacred truth of the world.
Moon leaned in closer to me, her eyes going full sparkle. "But Daddy… pretty please?"
I could feel the pressure. Stay strong. Don't fall for her weak tactics. Just ignore—
"Erik," Dad said softly. "I think one a day isn't that bad…"
I turned to glare at him. He wouldn't meet my eyes. Traitor.
I looked back at Moon, who was clearly holding back a triumphant smile.
Sigh.
I opened the system shop and bought a soda. "Here, you little rascal."
She squealed in victory and popped it open with gusto. Hiccup and Dad leaned closer, curiosity lighting up their eyes.
"Want to try?" I asked flatly.
They nodded like overgrown children, and so I bought two more and handed them over. They mimicked Moon, popping open the bottles and sipping cautiously.
"Hm. Not bad," Dad said, tilting his head thoughtfully.
"Wow! It's amazing!" Hiccup grinned.
One Hour Later
I walked beside my father through the village, watching as the townspeople waved and greeted him. Every so often, a villager approached with a problem — a broken roof, a missing goat, a leaky well. My father listened carefully and issued orders with ease.
"Go ahead and take Moon with you, Hiccup," I said as we stopped near the village square. "Show her around — and don't do anything dangerous."
He nodded earnestly.
"That's you too, Moon."
"Yes sir!" she chirped with another salute.
I exhaled through my nose. I could only hope they followed orders.
As Dad and I climbed the steps to the village hall, I glanced over my shoulder. The village was alive — dragons swooping overhead, Vikings shouting and laughing, and the twins causing some kind of mischief near a vendor stand.
It was chaotic. But… peaceful, too.
I smiled. "This isn't so bad."
We entered the hall, only to be greeted by chaos of a different kind. Tables were out of place, torchlight flickered across the floor littered with food scraps and empty mugs.
My mouth twitched.
I turned to look at Dad. His mouth twitched too. We both sighed in unison.
We stepped over the mess and made our way to the far table facing the corridor. As we sat, I turned to him.
"So… how does this work?"
He leaned back and folded his arms. "Villagers used to come to our house with their problems, day or night. So I made a rule — they can only come here, to the hall, during the day unless it's a real emergency."
"Makes sense. But… how long do you stay here each day?"
"Seven hours."
"What?! Why?!"
Dad groaned. "Because every time I fix one issue, they bring me three more. And it doesn't help that your brother and his friends like to cause chaos."
My eye twitched. That sounded about right.
Creek.
We both turned as Gobber entered, holding a stack of papers. Behind him, stretching down the stairs and into the square… was a line. A long line.
My eyes widened.
"Fuck," I whispered.
Six Hours Later
I was mentally crumbling. Every single villager seemed to have the same problem — missing animals, shattered fences, collapsed roofs. And yet, somehow, each explanation took ten minutes longer than it needed to.
"Chief, I was just eating breakfast, and it was deli—"
"Just tell me what happened!" Dad bellowed.
The villager flinched. "A dragon crashed through my roof…"
Dad clenched his fists. I sympathized.
Wait... My eyes slowly widened.
I'm the next chief. I'm going to have to deal with this every day.
"Shit," I muttered under my breath.
"Erik," Dad suddenly said, cutting off my spiral. "I think you've seen enough. Come here. Let's see what you can do."
I stared at him. Then sighed.
"Alright."
He stood, and I walked over to the chief's seat and sat down. It felt too big, too heavy. Gobber stood at attention beside me.
"Next," I said.
Gobber nodded and called out. A villager came rushing in, panic in his eyes.
"I looked away for one second — oh, my precious babies, where could they be—Chief, you have to help—"
I raised a hand. "Please, just summarize."
"My animals broke through the fence and escaped."
I turned to Gobber. "How did that even happen? Let me see the layout of his enclosure."
Ten minutes later, I was staring at what could only be described as… sticks tied together with hope and spit.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Give me a coal pen and paper."
One Hour Later
Gobber had gathered every villager with an animal complaint. I got to work — sketching blueprints for reinforced fences, chicken coops, dragon stables, and more. With my crafting skill maxed, it was easy.
When I finally finished, my hand ached, but I felt strangely proud.
I leaned back in the chair, waiting for the next person to enter.
Suddenly, a scream echoed behind the doors — getting closer.
I shot upright.
The doors burst open.
"Chief!!!"