A father can often tell when his son is upset, though for Stoic the Vast, it was more difficult a feet than one would think. He wasn't who you would call the greatest father, but he did his best to protect the village and his son, and that was all anyone could ever ask of him. However, even he could tell that the news he would have to break to his son wouldn't bode well, no matter the delivery. He found Hiccup in his room, at his desk, as per usual. The boy turned his head at the sound of his father's loud footsteps.

"Hey dad, what's up?" he asked casually, unawares of the weight Stoic was about to place on his shoulders. Stoic rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Hiccup, sit down," he began, "I've got something to talk to you about." Confused, Hiccup did as he was told and Toothless ran over to his bed. "Do you remember the DuBroch clan? You may not. You were so young when we first signed the treaty." Hiccup's eyebrows furrowed.

"I remember being used as a human punching bag by their princess. Yea." He rubbed his arm nostalgically. He did not recall their princess in the greatest of fondness. She wasn't as horrible as his cousin had been, but her methods of play weren't particularly pleasant. He remembered always practicing archery with her and acting as the dummy that balanced the apple upon his head. He remembered ducking and diving away from her wayward arrows as they would narrowly miss his head, let alone the apple atop it. She would constantly complain of his uncooperativeness and scowl at him in the most difficult ways. This wasn't to mention the times she enjoyed wrestling, only doing so because she knew full well she would win. Hiccup was never a very strong child. Actually, he had only begun to grow into his Viking charms just recently. However as a child, it couldn't have been easier for a young and very aggressive girl to beat him up. Though she always did it with a sweet smile, and always offered a hand once she had won. It was probably the only sweet gesture he had ever received from her; aside for a hug goodbye. That's what he got for being the chief's son; he was always left to entertain and the keep the company of the other children.

"Yes, Princess Merida," Stoic chuckled nervously. "Well, they're coming to visit again."

"What? No… why? Is there something wrong with the treaty?" Stoic raised his hands to assure his son.

"No! No. There's nothing wrong with the treaty. They just. The DunBroch clan just wants to try and strengthen it." Both men winced at the insinuation.

"Strengthen how?" Hiccup replied, his voice full of skepticism, as if he was slowly coming suspect the angle of this conversation. Stoic took a deep breath, trying to word his phrases carefully as not to bring the worst out of the situation. He had had a hard time saying no to the Lady Eleanor. She was quite the forceful woman and even as he was aware that Hiccup would not take the situation lightly, he couldn't turn the Queen down.

"They're bringing the Princess with them in hopes that the two of you could…"

"No. No. No. No!" Hiccup groaned, knowing full well how his father was about to finish his sentence. He leaned his head back and put his body into showing his discomfort."You can tell them I decline their offer."

"Well it's too late for that. They're already on their way!" his father exclaimed bashfully. He wasn't particularly fond of admitting how little control he had over the state of affairs.

"Oh come on Dad! An arranged marriage? Seriously?"

"It is not an arranged marriage. We're not forcing you to-."

"It's implied." The two men stared at each other intently for a moment, Stoic's eyes shifting about awkwardly. He knew his son was right, but there was little he could do about the situation for the moment being.

"Right well, that's all I had to say. I'll just be… I'll just be downstairs."

"Right, you do that." Stoic stumbled down the narrow staircase. The second Hiccup found that his father was out of ear shot, he ran towards Toothless and guided him to the window. He needed a midnight flight to clear his mind.

Time to himself did nothing more than agitate him further. He felt that he was right and almost nothing good came out of sitting about and thinking about how correct he was over everyone else. Hiccup couldn't think of how Merida could possibly react when his mind finally wandered to her. As he remembered her, she seemed to be strong willed and very hard headed. She would either take this as he was, or be horribly accepting of the idea. If the latter were to be true, then she would stop at nothing to marry him. At least, that what he could assume. It had been far too long since he had interacted with the princess, but their relationship reminded him too unkindly to that of the one he shared with his dear cousin Dagger. If what they shared was anything like what he had with his family, then he wanted nothing to do with it.

"Mother! We went through this! I'm not getting married!" Merida called out, clutching her four poster bed. Eleanor was practically dragging her daughter by her arm, struggling to get her out of the castle and onto the ship. They were to be in Burk in a few days and the Princess was creating a dent in their schedule.

"Merida, be reasonable! We're not forcing you to get married. We're visiting Berk and you're greeting the Chief's son!"

"I'm not going!"

"Merida!"

"Mother, of all the suitors. Berk's wee little lamb? The poor thing could barely hold himself up on his own two legs. I'd break him."

"Now Merida, we just want what's best. He could've changed," Eleanor prompted, giving up on forcing her daughter to move. "As nations of the seas, we must come together and to strengthen our bonds and forces. This is the best way to do that. Berk is a strong little village with a great amount of resources and skill. They slay dragons! They could be a great asset to us." Merida gripped to the pole tighter and Eleanor sighed. She walked over to her daughter, defeated under the circumstances. Regardless, she would have her go, but Eleanor simply despaired at the saddened look on her daughter's face. "Look dearie, you needn't marry the boy, but at least meet him? We've already agreed to go."

"You're the queen! Can't you just call it off?" Eleanor shook her head and began to affectionately comb through her daughter's unruly hair with her fingers.

"Bit too late for that I'm afraid. We've made the promise and agreement to arrive in Berk, and that we shall keep."

Stoic had gathered most of the people around the docks. He had gone through the trouble of taking a bath and even attempting to mangle at his beard, which he soon decided to leave be. The Queen of DunBroch really made him nervous. Hiccup stood boldly next to him, an annoyed expression on his face. Just behind were the other Dragon Riders, all equally uneasy of the clan's arrival, especially as they had to hide their dragons at the academy; at least, for the time being. Before long, the crowd could make out the ships sailing towards them in the distance. The white sails floated through the foggy day and the few people awing at the immense ship could be heard from the back. The side of the boat was decorated with shields and detailed carvings, most often that of bears. The Celtic styled designs were very intricate and almost unnecessary on such a large ship. Hiccup fidgeted with the side of his armor, trying his best to give off a decent impression. The last thing he needed was to be pushed around by this princess again. He had grown and was fully capable of handling himself. At least, he hoped he was.

To be quite frank, he was as nervous as a person could get, and certainly more anxious than anyone in the village.

As the ship docked, the passengers began to descend. The first of the royalty was the Queen and King. The King was a burly man, who reminded Hiccup greatly of his own father. There were masses of bright orange hair that stuck out in all directions. The man walked with a limp, a plank of wood where his right leg was, and seemed equally, if not more so as awkward as Stoic. The Queen was a different story almost entirely. She was a tall and slender woman, made taller and more slender by her long flowing brown hair, streaked with a line of grey. Her manner of walking was elegant and kind as she held gently onto her husband's arm. The Queen was not as fearsome as Stoic had last recalled and less so to Hiccup who had only remembered her from his father's words. Soon following the couple was a set of triplets, all with bright orange hair like their father. It seemed the entire family had received the trait. The boys ran off the ramp frantically, winding back and forth until you could barely tell which was which. Not that it had been possible to begin with as they were all completely identically and equally as mischievous. Hiccup could tell right away that they would have to watch out for those too. They were too much like the twins, but with ten times the brain capacity.

There was only one other member of the royal family that had yet to leave the ship. They waited for a moment too long as nothing happened. The crew members looked confusedly at the beginning of the ramp, expecting the Princess to step out. The Queen looked more annoyed than she was perturbed by the situation and called for her daughter, hoping to be as discrete as possible. Eventually, Lady Eleanor marched back up the ramp, forcing a smile to the crowd as she passed again. Hiccup could just make out the irritated expression she truly gave off and through his fear, he was mildly amused. It seemed that the Princess was just as eager as he was at the idea of wedding. Finally, the two women stepped out into view and though the entirety of the entrance was strained, they managed to make their way down onto the dock. Merida hadn't changed much since Hiccup had last seen her, though her expression wasn't the usual smile he had once known. She looked to be as irritated as her mother as she was dragged across the dock to stand next to her family. What had really caught Hiccup's notice was the fact that her hair had easily out ruled that of her father's and brothers' combined. It was almost laughable that it grew to three times the size of her head and Hiccup stifled a chuckle. The Princess did not leave his amusement unnoticed and found the second to glare at him, which he was immediately taken aback by. This would certainly be an interesting meeting.

"Well she seems, nice," Astrid commented as soon as the Royal family was out of earshot. Stoic took no time in greeting them and showing them to their temporary home. Of course, she had meant her statement in the most sarcastic manner possible. Hiccup wasn't the only one to notice how she had glared.

"Yea, did you get a load of her hair?" Tuffnut sniggered, gesturing to his own head and exaggerating its size, then comparing it to Ruffnut's.

"The thing looked like it could eat you!" she added, grabbing her brother and using her arms as the jaws of an imaginary monster. The twins couldn't get enough of their own jokes.

"Guys, guys, is this really necessary?" Hiccup complained, hoping to calm his friends.

"He's right," Astrid chimed, "I mean, Hiccup has to marry her, let's not make things worse."

"I don't have to marry her. I just have to meet her. Our parents think that once we meet, we'll fall in love."

"Ha!" Snotlout snorted. "Fall in love with you? She'd have to be blind, deaf, and stupid." He doubled over laughing, and Astrid did the honor of helping him to the ground with a good kick, stomping the side of his face with her boot. As Snotlout apologized with a stubborn tone in his voice, Fishlegs walked forward.

"Hiccup, you have to admit, she's a bit, scary."

"Yea, you're telling me," he huffed.

"Are you really going to go through with it?" Astrid asked, stepping off of Snotlout's face. "I mean, what are you going to do? Could you really say no to your dad like that? He's the chief. And she's the Princess. It sounds like a pretty big deal." Once again, Hiccup could always rely on Astrid to point out the most obviously painful aspects of any situation.

"Thank you Astrid," he announced, indicating that he wanted her to stop talking.

"What are you going to do?" Snotlout repeated. They all looked to Hiccup for his answer.

"I… am going to go meet the Princess of DunBroch."