:::::::A/N::::::::

So, some news about this fic: I'm posting it on ao3! So far, about half of it is up, with edited and somewhat improved chapters. Or if you prefer to stay right here, that's just fine, too! Enjoy!

ALSO: very important: I heard that there are some website basically mirroring/stealing pretty much all fanfiction from this site. If you're reading this on a website like thebuystock, talkfictions, fictionavenue, thanfiction, etc, then this story has been stolen. So... please read on the original website (fanfiction .net) Thanks!

Disclaimer: HTTYD rights belong to Dreamworks & Cressida Cowell.

Thanks for reading!

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Tinker Trainer Slayer Spy

by Poetic Devices


It was like the battle with the Green Death just three years prior had never even happened. Hiccup, for all he tried, failed to find a way to speak to his father without having a conversation fall into silence... or grow increasingly awkward. Weren't father-son relationships supposed to mend with time?

Why is this even an argument, all I want is to have a little freedom. A chance to travel, see a few new places while I'm still young. Is that really too much to ask?

It seemed like Hiccup was never going to be able to get through to his father, no matter how proud he'd made the chief in the past. Killing the deadliest dragon known to man, changing Berk for the better, did any of that mean anything to Stoick? Or did the chief still have an inkling of fear that he might lose his son again if he let Hiccup go?

Whatever the reason, Hiccup firmly and resolutely believed he could take on a foreign place and a few foreign people.

And anyone would get sick of hanging around Berkians after a while.

But no, no sir, he had to stay put on Berk and see to formalities and all the trivial things that came with being the chief-to-be. It was the same exact conversation they had every other week. And they were having the very same conversation again today.

"Dad, come on, just listen to me? That's always ended in good things, hasn't it?" This earned an exasperated groan from the chief, but not a true reply. "I'm not actually in charge yet, so it only makes sense that I should be doing all the traveling I can before I'm the chief! Right? C'mon, you know I'm right! Y'know, before I have to stay here on Berk for the rest of my life? I really think it's necessary for me to learn about all those other places- the cultures, the people! I've even begun studying a couple new languages, I - "

"Now JUST a minute, son." Hiccup's rant was sharply interrupted by his father. The man could silence anyone with just a wave of the hand. Except Hiccup, of course, Thor give him strength. It took a bit more yelling to quiet the stubborn-headed young Viking.

"Look, Hiccup, I'm not saying it's not a good idea for you to go off on your own and learn to fend for yourself a little more, but I really do need you here to help me keep things in order. Especially since I've just gotten word that one of my old friends will be visiting Berk soon. A, erm, a distant cousin, actually. You've met him before."

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Seljast, chief of the Askr Gotar tribe on Askr Ey, right near Stenr Isle. You were only six or seven years old when he last visited. So... you may not really remember him actually, but he and I were close, close friends. He normally visited three or four times a year, but things changed. That's what I need to talk to you about, Hiccup."

"So what, your cousin's coming to visit and I just have to meet him? We get visitors from other tribes every other month, dad! Aside from the fact that you two are really good friends - or relatives, whatever it was you said - why should this visit be any different?"

Hiccup was trying not to let his voice rise to a shout. Was this really the only reason his father needed him to stay on Berk?

"That's not the only reason I need you here" Stoick continued as if he had just read Hiccup's thoughts. "I told you that Seljast stopped visiting for a reason. Well, that reason was his wife."

"What? What about his wife? Did she leave him for someone here on Berk?"

Stoick shook his head. "No, she was taken. Killed-"

"K-Killed? Someone on Berk killed your friend's wife?"

"...Not someone." Stoick brought his face closer to Hiccup's and lowered his voice, glancing left then right anxiously. He didn't want to be overheard.

"Seljast's wife was... was killed... by a dragon."

Hiccup's breath caught. Wincing, he answered after a moment's hesitation,"..Oh." That was pretty much all he could say.

"Thought you might understand. Now do you see? Son, you're needed here to keep this whole matter of the dragons under control. My cousin doesn't know we've got a bunch of... of tamed dragons flying around the island. Once he finds out, it's not unlikely he'll be angry. He might even feel betrayed, and then what of our friendship? Ties will be severed all over again. I am askingyou, Hiccup, to show him that the dragons are not what we used to think they were. It's a very important responsibility. Do it for me, son? For the tribe?" He stared hopefully down at Hiccup, not much shorter now than he, with a look only an eager father can give his only child. Hiccup let out a breath. He knew he could never refuse a task like the one his father had just asked of him. Looking back to his dad, he nodded.

"Okay, fine, you win. I'll do it." His father's mood brightened. "But, I'm sure you know what I'm going to ask from you now, right?" He shifted his feet and waited a few seconds.

Stoick looked very deep in thought. For an expectant moment, there was silence between father and son.

"You want to travel" he finally grumbled, looking down as he tapped his bearded chin with an enormous finger. "Hiccup," Hiccup's heart leapt as he anticipated what his father would say next. "I'm... I'm sorry, son."

Hiccup's heart quickly sank back down, past his chest and down to his feet.

"I think your plans will have to wait. Even after Seljast leaves, there's still so much I need you to do here. You've got to take on more responsibility now that you're at a decent age to assist me in my duties as chief. That title will be yours one day. One day soon, I'd wager. You need to be prepared. You understand that, don't you?" He looked away from his son. It broke his heart to say it, and Hiccup could see just as well as Stoick could feel it. He never liked to disappoint his son, but as always, the village came first. He knew that Hiccup would hate his answer, but it was for his own good. And the good of the tribe.

"I understand. I'll do as you ask... chief." Without really meaning to, his voice took on a cold, formal tone when he said his last sentence. He gave a brief nod to his father, then turned on his heel and walked mechanically away, in the direction of the forge instead of the stables.

Stoick felt bad for the boy. He was the chief, but he was a father, too. He watched for a few more seconds while Hiccup marched sullenly off, up the hill and away from him.


"Oi! What in Thor's name has got yer undies inna bunch, lad? Ey ey, I think it'd be in everyone's best interest if yeh'd put down that hammer! You look like yeh're abou' ready to kill someone." Gobber the Belch had slammed open the door to the forge, only to find his apprentice already there, and better yet, working through a fit of anger well-suited for a Viking. The boy was beating a smithing hammer down over a small lump of metal, which was slowly forming into something not even Gobber could figure out. He had witnessed similar cases in the past; Hiccup would come in after having a chat with his father, grab something heavy, and start pounding out chunks of metal into all sorts of weapons and contraptions. Nevertheless, he'd never seen Hiccup in such a state as this one.

Clang!

The hammer beat down on the metal again with a ringing that made Gobber's old ears hurt.

"What's gotten into yeh teday? Don't suppose you were talking to the, ahem, chief, were yeh?"

Hiccup, not even glancing up to look at Gobber, grunted in confirmation and wiped the sweat that had gathered on his brow with the back of his hand. Gobber shook his head in annoyance and turned to head back out, knowing full well that he wouldn't get any time to focus in the forge with Hiccup in such a huff. But before he could so much as put his peg leg through the doorway, Gobber heard Hiccup sigh, and knew an angry rant was about to follow.

"I was talking to my dad about an hour ago," Hiccup started. "I asked him about when I would finally get my chance to leave Berk and do some real traveling."

"Aye, I remember yeh tellin' me about yer plans. Don't forget you still need to take that scroll on Latin home teday, I don' want it in my forge around all the fire and such."

"Yeah yeah, I know." Hiccup brushed away Gobber's interruption as he struck the metal again. Clang!

"Anyway, my dad told me that he couldn't let me leave the village. Not for a while. I need to stay here and 'carry out my duties as the chief-to-be.' Can you believe him?! Doesn't he understand that I don't want to stay cooped up on this island for the rest of my life? I need to explore the world, learn things! I know that doing something like that could better me for the future. But no! I have to hang around this stupid island that I could literally circle around on foot in fourty-eight hours! I just..."

Gobber nodded understandingly. "I get it, lad. You need some time to be on yer own. And ye can do that. Just make more time for you and Toothless to go flying! Have some 'Hiccup time' up in the air, no one to hold you back. Ye know wha' I mean?" He smiled warmly, thinking he had found the solution to the problem. Of course he hadn't.

"No, you don't understand either" Hiccup answered heatedly. "That's not freedom. Well... it is, sort of, but it's not freedom freedom. Not from Berk."

"Aye... but, but Toothless-"

"Every time I go flying with Toothless, I know that I'm going to turn around at some point and come straight back here. I want to know how it feels to leave this all behind and head off to face something unexpected. Something exciting. Don't you get it, Gobber? That's what I want. Just a little bit of freedom." With those words, Hiccup set down the hammer and, using a pair of tongs, took hold of the hunk of glowing, shaped metal out of the hot coals. Water hissed and steamed as he lowered the metal into the water barrel to cool.

Once the metal cooled, Hiccup lifted it back out and set it down on the nearest workbench. He put away his tools quickly and neatly, threw off the dirty smithing apron, then passed Gobber as he slipped out of the forge without another word. The door slammed shut on his way out.

Weary and ready to go home, too, Gobber decided to take a moment and see exactly what Hiccup had created. He stepped towards the workbench and lowered his head for a clearer view. The chunk of iron had been pounded and shaped into what looked like a... bird's feather?

He'd be damned if he knew what that business was all about, but he let it be. The man shook his head and shrugged, muttering something to himself as he hobbled out of the forge. He didn't so much as give the metal feather a second thought.