Chapter Text
"HOLD ON, TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup calls as they glide. Astrid and the Gang follow him, screaming aside from Einar. The Twins collide sloppily. Tuffnut clings desperately to Ruffnut as she kicks him.
"Let go!" Ruffnut huffed.
Snotlout weaves, wildly out of control. "Could've used some practice!" Fishlegs flaps his undersized wing-suit flaps, trying to stay aloft with the extra weight of Fishmeat in his backpack.
"I should've skipped breakfast!" Fishlegs screams. Einar dodges him with ease, scanning over the ships. Grimmel whirls the mounted harpoon cannon, taking aim at the squadron. But before he can line up the shot, Hiccup careens into him, knocking Grimmel from his position on the airship arm, sending him flying as the cannon spins on its gimbal. Grimmel tumbles, in mid-air, and grabs a rigging line, grasping desperately as it breaks his fall, leaving him swinging.
"Toothless!" Hiccup cries.
Toothless lights up, elated. He roars to dragons: " NOW !" The dragons break away from the soldiers below, taking to the air. On his command, Cloudjumper, Skullcrusher, and Grump race back toward the island. Dryad follows at Einar's request. Hiccup collides with a billowing sail, cushioning his impact. He sinks his dagger into the canvas. It tears as his own weight pulls him down toward the deck below.
Astrid and the Gang stick polished landings alongside him. "Perfect timing!" Hiccup praises. A hoard of soldiers rushes toward the group as they stand in formation behind Hiccup. Except for Snotlout, who is dangling from the rafters by his cape again. "Game faces!"
"Yeah! What are you waiting for? Get in there!" Snotlout cheers. The first arrow Einar loses begins the fight - landing square in the neck of its victim. The gang draws weapons and charges into the fray, meeting the soldiers head-on. Above them, Toothless struggles against the net that holds him, ripping his muzzle apart with a roar. Grimmel looks down, suddenly concerned, as Toothless aims. Grimmel leaps out of the way as Toothless' blast destroys one of the airship's arms, sending it spiraling. Grimmel clings to the falling airship and whistles a command to his Deathgrippers. Below, Astrid battles a soldier on a gangway. He parries her blow and corners her, raising his sword for the kill, when Hiccup calls to her.
"Heads up!" Hiccup cuts a nearby rigging line, releasing a sail boom that sweeps through and sends the soldier flying off of the gangway. Astrid beams at Hiccup.
"Thanks," she returns. Then she calls back, "Look out!" Astrid throws her ax toward Hiccup, who dodges as it whizzes past and takes out a soldier who was about to stab Hiccup. Relieved, Hiccup smiles back at Astrid.
"Thanks."
Einar refocuses his attention from them to the men he was fighting. His body reacted to his thoughts, dodging their swords and axes with the ease of a seasoned fighter and giving life-ending wounds with his own knife. The explosion sounds as Einar dispatches the last of the gang that was surrounding him. Stormfly takes Hiccup towards Toothless. They follow Grimmel and the Light Fury, and the remaining controlled Death Grippers follow them.
Einar gets back to the fight, back towards the others as they stay in tight formations.
A soldier yells a battle cry and charges the Gang. Tuffnut clocks him from behind, then hurls his war hammer to Snotlout, who takes out another soldier, then shouts, "Number two, coming through!" and tosses his hammer back to Tuffnut, who effortlessly uses it to knock out yet another.
"Surprise! Sorry about that!" Tuffnut says.
"Come on!" Snotlout rolls over the tussle and grabs the hammer, bringing it down heavily to smash the lock off of a cage, freeing the Goregutter within. "Yeah! One more freed, four to go! Try to keep up!" The Goregutter roars and takes to the air, passing Fishlegs and Einar engaged in combat on an upper deck.
"We've got your backs!" Fishlegs calls as he pushes his adversary off of the deck then, seeing his friends about to be attacked by a horde of soldiers below, grabs a line and hook, and swings down to their rescue, knocking over soldiers like a wrecking ball. He lands and eyes the damage, impressed. "Yeah! It's almost like we're a team!" Einar drops down onto someone's shoulders, before grabbing a support beam and twisting - breaking his neck. He throws his knife - another falls - as the line and heavy hook swing back, knocking Fishlegs to the deck and sending Fishmeat tumbling from his pouch.
Ivar the Witless raises his sword to the baby. "Aw. You brought a baby to a battle?" he teases.
"Un-uh. I wouldn't do that if I were you." he nods upwards. Ivaar looks up to reveal the Goregutter, roaring with rage as he flies in to protect Fishmeat. Einar pulls his knife free and glowers at the next enemy in his sight. The three trappers nearly shit themselves, but attempt to fight.
"Who first?" he growls, holding his knife tightly. Before they respond, Einar tosses his knife to change his grip and throws it into the chest of the one in the middle. Now weaponless, the other two take their chance. He dodges their attacks, rerouting them and using the sharp ends of his arm guards to inflict damage. He carries their blood as he pulls his knife free again. He climbs over the downed masts, using them to get to the next deck while Fishlegs regains himself and Fishmeat.
Tuffnut surprises a soldier, dropping to the deck in front of him, sword raised. "Fear the facial hair!" The soldier swipes impulsively, slicing through Tuffnut's "beard." It drops away from his chin in two halves, exposing Tuffnut's baby-smooth face. He gasps, horrified, then goes full Berserker -- screaming and chasing the terrified soldier across the deck past where Gobber and Ragnar are trading blows.
Einar finds Ivar the Witless, smirking softly as he corners him - a hunter and his prey. The man goes ashen. "You - you!"
"Oh?"
"You're Einar... Einar the Eerie."
"And you're -" he impales the man to the hilt of his blade, twists, and drags it upwards, "- Dead."
Ivar falls lifeless and Einar shakes out his hand. Blood spatters across the wooden deck.
"Einar!" Gobber shouts in a warning. He finds the Hobbgobblers destroying the deck and calmly walks off the damaged wood, just before the dragons splinter it under their sea of jaws. Even his father can see the vacantness in his eyes, taking a step away before Einar turns to find another adversary.
He climbs up a mast and crouches, notching an arrow. It flies straight and true into the flesh of his target. Suddenly, the ship jerks to the side, hard. He bangs his bad shoulder into the mast before looking. The flagship was now careening into a battleship - beginning a chain reaction.
For longer than he should, he remains in his position. He fires no arrows, and simply rests above the battle and looks over the calm and rushing sea with one single thought.
He would never get a view like this.
Dragon cages slide across the pitched deck, colliding and furthering the chaos. Griselda and Chaghatai become trapped in one of them. Einar jumps from his perch, opening one of the last cages. The Thunderclaw rubs against him before taking off. Freed dragons take to the air. The Rescue Team has succeeded. The battle is won. Astrid leads a cheer, "YEAH!"
He raises his bloodied hand to his mouth, whistling shrilly. Dryad comes from the smoke, followed by the rest of their dragons. He hugs his dragon, sighing. "Let's go, girl." They take to the skies. As the group heads toward New Berk - Hiccup and Grimmel were still in the air -, they just remain there for a moment. Dryad coons softly, understanding his turmoil.
"he'll understand," He whistles softly. Dryad gives a coon of agreement before they turn and fly in the other direction of New Berk. Back to Old Berk.
--
In the fray of leaving dragons, Eret missed Einar. He understands that his lover would be reasonably upset and heads towards the ship. However, the cabin was empty. He frowns but begins to take off his armor. He dresses in his regular wear and then looks for a clue as to where Einar is.
All he finds is the book pulled out of its place on the shelf and a misplaced paper inside of it. He goes to fix the paper but stops at what was on it.
Dear Eret,
This letter is the last you will hear from me. With Toothless claiming his place as the King properly, Dryad and I have relieved ourselves of our duty as his guard. He will live safely in the Hidden World, away from humans. We will be looking for a new adventure, like before. I am sorry, but a goodbye in person would not have allowed us time to leave before Toothless called the dragons to go.
Please know I love you, and I will always love you. I cannot ask you to leave your new life, one that you are happy in, for me. I will remain safe, and help dragons go toward the Hidden World as I see them.
One day, I hope to return with a semblance of what I am to do without my herd. Until then, please keep an eye on my father, Hiccup, and Valka for me. Mostly my father. Regretfully, he is now alone in my absence. He has not yet overcome his grief from Stoick, and his love for his friend still shines ever bright. Make sure that Hiccup takes care of himself. He is still the reckless kid I knew before all of this. I fear they all are, but Hiccup will react harshly when he learns I have gone. Valka will try to care for him, but she will need an eye on the worst of her days. Acclimation to tribe life has been turbulent and we were able to face it together before.
I love you, Eret, son of Eret. I wish we could have had our hut on the beach. A wedding.
Einar.
Eret blinks back his tears. There is no way Einar has gone.
He shoves the letter harshly into his pocket and goes to find Einar in the tribe. He asks around. No one has seen Einar since the battle. His stomach sinks when he finally gets to Hiccup and Astrid, a bit manic in his movements.
"Have you seen Einar?" he asks, breath short.
"He called the dragons to the boat. That was the last I saw of him," Astrid frowns. "I thought he was with you?"
Eret's hands shake. This feels like a bad dream.
"He's gone. He left."
"What?" Hiccup breathed, looking towards the horizon.
"He said he... he left with Dryad before Toothless called the dragons to go, so they could get away," he explains. "I - I should have..."
Astrid comforts him, "He has always been unpredictable, Eret. No one knew he would leave."
"We should have seen the signs," Hiccup scoffs. "He was quiet again. He was almost like... like he was when we defeated Drago."
"When is he coming back?" Astrid asks.
"No clue," Eret sighs. "He said he would though.
----
It takes three days for Eret to completely accept the news. He sits on the cliff overlooking the water. Beside him, a fire crackled. In his hands was the library of dragonic life. He thumbed over the worn-out and overstuffed cover before he placed it in the flames.
"Happy?" Eret breaths. "I burned your book. No one will ever know what you did about dragons." he reaches for the small dagger resting in the soft grass. "I... I know we never talked about it - hell every time it came up you shut it down. But I was... Damnit, Einar I was going to marry you someday."
----
Einar crouched on the tree branch, watching the Berkains below. He watches the wedding with a soft smile. His eyes caught on Eret, who was standing with the rest of the Gang. He touches his hairpiece gently before he makes his way over to the huts.
Finding Eret's wasn't hard, as he had scouted the night before. He breaks in, leaving a single scale of Dryads.
He was just out the window when Eret returned, and he listened to his old lover for a moment.
"I wish you'd just come home."
Einar leaves.