Dragons' Children

Chapter 1

Hi everyone! The sequel is finally here! To those who didn't read Dragon's Prince, I strongly advise you to do so. I hope you'll enjoy this one, I don't think it will be as long as the first one. Don't hesitate to review!

Life had changed on Berk, everyone agreed upon that. Whenever strangers would come on the island, it was the first thing they would notice, as for people of Berk they could see their village being transformed every day.

It had been four months since they discovered that the Dragon's Prince was Stoick's son and accepted flying reptiles into their tribes. And, according to most of them, it was for the best. Wild dragons would hardly attack anymore since the Red Death had been defeated, and whenever they would, the tamed dragons living on Berks would chase them away. Thanks to that, they didn't need to make almost constant repairs and they had good harvest for the next winter. Summer had been generous, and this autumn had given them a good amount of food as well. But of course, now that more and more Hooligans would tame and adopt dragons, the village needed to make changes in their organization and new structures. But that wasn't all. Being able to fly had made things really different, not only the Hooligans could now see the world in another way, but they could also go faster. However, that required learning how to ride them and getting to know them. Because dragons and had their needs and antics which puzzled humans often.

That morning, Stoick the Vast was the first one to face one of those weird behaviors. He had been woken up by an agitated Toothless: the Night Fury was running through the house, scratching the floor and some furniture, while growling, cooing and sniffing every corner.

"What is wrong with you?! Will you stop that?!"

Toothless looked at him for a mere second before going back to his frenetic search, or at least what seemed to be a search. Stoick was about to yell at him again when he heard his son waking up. The boy came downstairs, barely awake and yawning, it was still early, even though he had never been the kind to sleep late.

"Hi, dad."

"Hi. Your brother is acting weird."

"He is chasing a rat."

"Oh. He looks like a desperate kitty," Stoick huffed in amusement.

The boy couldn't help but giggle, it was true. Toothless continued to scratch, not paying attention to them, and Hiccup told him to be more careful with the house. The dragon listened, but didn't really stop until he got his claws on the poor beast who ended up in his jaws. He and Hiccup didn't stay home for long. He and his friends had work to do. He and Toothless went to the arena, or more exactly what used to be the arena. It was now what Fishlegs would call 'an academy'. Some people were already waiting for them, adults and children, as well as their dragons. Astrid, Fishlegs and Snotlout were here, only the twins were late. He and Astrid kissed, just like they did every time they would meet.

"Now that you're here, we can begin," Astrid declared.

"Without the twins?"

"We can't wait for them forever. I bet we'll be half-through when they'll join us."

They started the lesson, first they taught the villagers about dragons' habits, after that they made communication exercises with the dragons, and finally they practiced on flying. The twins joined them, complaining because their friends didn't wait for them. The new riders of the village were getting better and better, though they still needed some training. Hiccup was also learning a lot, but about humans.

It was difficult at times not to walk on his four, he would also forget that he shouldn't jump around and rub his cheek against people's face to show happiness, but that wasn't the worse. His biggest challenges were money and politics. After living in the wild, those sounded like nonsense to him and he couldn't understand why people would kill for pieces of shiny metals. There were also some people who didn't accept him well. Mildew for example, who absolutely hated dragons, and some people who were also against it. His uncle was also very distant with him, but not for the same reasons. Spitelout had nothing against dragons and acknowledged the good they had brought upon the tribe; however he couldn't accept Hiccup as Stoick's Heir. That was also something which worried him at times: could he really become the next chief as his father wished? He would always reassure himself by thinking that he still had time.

On counterpart, a lot of people here liked him, and other aspects of their lives were really interesting and funny in some ways. He loved the way they would dance and feast to celebrate something; he really enjoyed songs and tales, he liked the forge where it was so easy to create, and he loved reading. He made progresses at it, and he was learning to write as well. It was really much easier to be inventive with all those might at hand. Astrid had also taught him new ways of fighting which helped him to improve and he was now starting to imagine design for new weapons. He kind of liked the animation of the village, though at times it was over-bearing. In those cases he was perfectly free to go in the wild. He also liked the way they cooked food. And of course, he had made new friends and his bond with his father was growing stronger. His dad even got a Thunderdrum named Tornado. He also enjoyed teaching people what he knew about dragons.

In the end, Hiccup had a lot to do in that village, and it was for the best, because it would distract him from thinking about Thunder. Although his bond with his adoptive father had never been strong, he still felt sad for him, and it was the same with Toothless. He hadn't seen Calla or Thinpaws again, they would have to visit her, but there was so much to do here. He and Toothless hadn't travelled far from then island since his brother lost a fin. They were doing perfectly fine together now.

He was still flying with Toothless, explaining to Bucket how to keep balance on his Gronkle, when he spotted something on the beach, far from the harbor. Three human shapes were lying on the sand, and he couldn't recognize them. He called his friends and they went down to see who it could be. When the teens reached them, they were alarmed to see two men and a teenage girl completely soaked and hardly conscious. They had obviously went adrift, some pieces of woods adorned the sand. The teens were joined by their trainees and they went back to the village with the strangers. Those people were so exhausted they didn't protest a bit when they were hoisted on dragons' back. They were brought to Gothi who declared they weren't in danger, though they were dehydrated. Hiccup and his friends sat in the grass, staying close to the hut, and wondering what happened to those people. He took Astrid's hand in his and she returned the gesture with a little smile.

"We had no storm recently," Fishlegs pointed out, "so what happened to them?"

"Maybe they got attacked, or maybe the ship got an accident," Astrid suggested.

"The girl is pretty," Snotlout pointed out.

That was true, although she had been in a bad state on the beach, they had seen her fine face and her jet black hair. She seemed to be their age, and it made them feel even more concerned.

"You have absolutely no chances with her," Tuff declared. "However, I bet I'm her type."

"And how would you know that? You haven't even spoken to her."

"She is a girl, you're Snotlout. I, on the other hand, am an expert into things girls like," he boasted.

Both his sister and Astrid huffed at that.

"I already told you, girls don't like stupid horror stories or insects…" Ruff sneared.

"No, I mean songs and poetry."

"Trust me, Tuff, no one like your poetries," she growled.

Snotlout laughed while Tuff pouted a bit, but it was quite true. Recently the boy had decided to become a poet as well as a warrior, but he was much better with a mace than verses. They saw Stoick approaching.

"Son, I heard you found some people?"

"Yeah, Gothi said they should be fine. They were on the beach."

"Did you speak with them?"

"No, they could hardly keep their eyes open."

"I'm not even sure they understood that we put them on dragons' back," Astrid said.

The strangers were awake quite soon, and Stoick entered along with Hiccup and Astrid to see how they were doing while the others left to take care of some chores, knowing they couldn't crowd Gothi's hut anyway. There was a bald and sturdy man, the second one had short black hair and was thinner, and the girl was very slim with bags under her green eyes. She was pretty but she looked tormented and afraid.

"Good morning to you. You got lucky, my son and his friends saw you down there," Stoick explained.

"Thank you, thank you very much for that. We…We're merchants, our boats got attacked by pirates, we were overwhelmed and we barely got the time to get away."

Those people were obviously tired, yet, Hiccup wasn't sure he wanted them here. Berk was his territory, and he didn't like strangers to come here. But maybe it was stupid. Merchants and travelers would come here and stay for a few days, sometimes they would take a bed in the tavern, and they wouldn't cause troubles. Yet, there was something about them…He couldn't put his finger on it, but he was a bit tense. The girl with black hair looked scared and lost though, and it made him feel bad for her.

"I'm Stoick the Vast, chief of the Hooligans of Berk. What are your names?" Asked Stoick.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm rude. My name's Viggo, and this is my brother Ryker and my niece, Heather."

"You can't imagine how thankful we are," said the man named Ryker.

"Are you gonna pursue those pirates?"

"Once we'll get better, you can be sure we will. They almost killed my daughter," he growled while putting a hand on the girl's shoulder.

Astrid noticed immediately the way the girl shuddered at this contact. Why was the girl reacting like that at her father's touch? That wasn't normal, she would never mind when her father would do that. Maybe the girl was still shocked? She remembered how she didn't want to be touched after being attacked by the Outcasts who tried to rape her; maybe the girl went through something similar? Some girls couldn't bear touch from anyone after that. She went to her.

"Hi, my name is Astrid, and this is Hiccup," she said while showing the boy who was staying in the background.

"Heather. You're the one who found us?"

"Yeah, I don't know if you remember the dragons?"

"So I was indeed on a dragon's back? That wasn't some kind of weird dream."

"No, we have dragons here, I don't know if you heard of that."

"So that's not a legend? You do have dragons on Berk?" Asked the one named Viggo.

"You didn't believe it?" Asked Stoick

"We heard of it, but there are so many false rumors, some are just ludicrous," Ryker explained. "when you're a merchant, you must be careful with that."

"Well, you'll see it's true, we do have dragons. I can assure you they are tamed, and we wouldn't tolerate them to be killed."

"We would never do that to our saviors and host," Viggo solemnly declared. "Your laws will naturally be ours."

The young girl shivered and Astrid asked her if she was hungry. She simply nodded, and she went out to get them something to eat. Hiccup was still not speaking a word, staying in the background to observe them. Viggo chose that moment to look at him but didn't utter a word either. Stoick asked them other questions while Gothi was giving them some water and Hiccup just listened. They came from an island south, buying and selling furs and clothes when they got attacked. Astrid came back to announce that Munch and Bucket were offering them shelter. The family gladly accepted and took the food which Astrid fetched them gratefully. Hiccup went out and rubbed his cheek against his brother's head.

"Something bothering you, I can feel it."

"Those people, I'm not feeling that well with them."

"Neither do I. They had a strange smell on them."

"I didn't catch it."

"I did, and I can guarantee you I never smelled that before, but I don't think it's good. It was heavier on the men, the water couldn't wash it away. It wasn't like that with other strangers."

"That's also my feeling."

"Hiccup?"

Astrid was coming toward them, she was confused at Hiccup's behavior. He was usually ready to help people, his behavior toward the family puzzled her. When he explained her what was going on, she shrugged.

"They come from a different island, maybe it's a smell of a plant or something we don't have around."

Hiccup translated to his brother but Toothless wasn't convinced. He was a little more hesitant, maybe Astrid was right; before he came to humans, a lot of smells they carried were puzzling him because he didn't know much about them. Maybe he and Toothless were indeed overreacting; some merchants who came here also seemed strange at times because of what they would carry on their boats. Yet, he couldn't wipe this feeling away.

"I don't know…"

"Hiccup, we can't just throw them away because of a bad feeling. Keep an eye on them if you want, but be a bit more courteous. You're the chief's son, you can't behave like that toward strangers, even if you're the Dragons' Prince."

"I know, I know." He turned to Toothless and translated what she just said. "What do you think?"

"About the strangers or about you being the chief's son?" He didn't wait for him to answer. "I don't know about them, I wouldn't trust them so soon. But if the humans want them around, be it. However, we should keep an eye on them. As for you being the chief, I already told you: if you could make me and Thinpaws do what you wished, you can perfectly lead those humans."

"He'll keep an eye on them too. He also says that I should be able to be chief."

"I think the same, but you already know that. You shouldn't be so worried about it, I'm pretty sure it will come naturally to you. Plus, I would prefer to see you being chief than Snotlout, and he feels the same."

He knew that, his cousin told him already how he felt about being chief and he could understand, yet it wasn't really reassuring. If he wasn't able to be chief, the next candidate was an unwilling person. Astrid pressed her side against his and he put his head against her shoulder.

"Come on, I don't know about them, but if there is something wrong, we can fight."

"You're right…I'm supposed to find Fishlegs at the forge, but I would rather go in the woods with you."

She couldn't help but giggle a bit and went in the forest. Toothless didn't follow them in here, he knew when a couple needed to be alone. Hiccup and Astrid would only cuddle, kiss and whisper, but Toothless would still leave them alone. It wasn't as if he needed to be constantly at his brother's side, it never was the case. He also liked to be alone at times, or spend times with other dragons. It wasn't the same as before though, since he couldn't fly alone, he couldn't go in the sky with his dragon friends as freely as he used to. The others would join him on the ground however, so he wouldn't complain. He was alive, it was the most important. He went to tease Stormfly who was sunbathing in the grass.

Meanwhile, Fishlegs, who was supposed to go to the forge, was going back toward Gothi's hut. Gobber wouldn't be happy about it, but he had a good excuse. He wanted to see those people again, the girl more especially. He couldn't help but redden a bit at this. He crossed their way as Stoick was escorting them toward the village. The bigger man was helping the young girl to walk properly.

"Chief, hum…I was thinking that maybe I could lead them for you…Hum, where are going?"

"Well, that was thoughtful of you. They're going to Munch and Bucket's house."

He left Fishlegs with them and the boy dutifully escorted them. He noticed how the girl seemed nervous at the sight of dragons flying around. Gathering all his courage, he spoke to her:

"Don't be scared, they won't hurt you."

"It's so strange to think that you're riding them. You have a dragon?" Asked she.

"Yeah, a Gronkle. She is very kind if you want to see her."

"Of…Of course, if my…My father allows me."

"I'll stay with you, I know we're hosts here, but I'm not used to have my little girl around dragons," Ryker said half-jokingly.

"Of course. I'm Fishlegs by the way."

"Viggo, Ryker and Heather. It's very kind of you, I would be curious to see your dragons as well. You must be brave to ride them, I don't know if I would dare myself."

"Oh, it's not that hard…We're here."

He didn't even have to knock, Bucket opened already and invited them in. Guessing they wouldn't want to be crowded, Fishlegs decided to leave. Before he did, Heather gave him a tiny smile. Butterflies invaded his belly, and he clumsily said goodbye. He felt impatient to show her Meatlug. Inside, Munch did his best to be inviting while reminding Bucket to give the family some space. They had a room they didn't use anymore, it belonged to Munch's father when he was still alive. Once alone, Viggo made sure the two men wouldn't hear them.

"Well, brother, I must admit you're a good actor," he told Ryker.

"A genuine praise, how rare it is from you."

"I can't really say the same about you, Heather. It's okay for now to act like a scared doe, but you'll have to do better and very soon."

"I will, I swear," she said with resignation.

"But why did you give them our names? We should have taken fake identities."

"The best liars always say the truth. They don't have our family name, and at least there are no risks for us to make a stupid mistake." He sighed and rubbed his shoulders. "I think that boy has a crush on you, Heather. You'd better use it."

"Do I have to seduce the chief's son too?"

"We'll see. He wasn't what I expected, we'll need to observe him a bit, and that other girl, the dragons' Princess. I don't know if it was that blond girl from earlier or another, but we have to find her too."

"We will. I'm pretty sure they'll be proud to show their little prodigies."

"Let's hope so."

It was going well, everything was fine. They just had to wait some days, if it all went as well, it would be easy. Viggo was almost impatient, that boy wasn't what he expected at all, and he somehow liked when something surprised him, it felt challenging. All in all, he was pretty sure this would be very interesting.

Well, don't hesitate to tell me what you think about it.