Hiccup

Hiccup awoke to find himself still at his desk, a line of drool indicating where his head had been. He'd spent the night up late working on his project again. He was almost beginning to forget what a comfy bed feels like. A growl signalled to him that he wasn't the only person awake now.

"Hey bud," he said to the pitch black Night Fury who had walked up to nuzzle him, "you are in a good mood." The dragon returned a toothless grin as it began bouncing around the room, its signal that he wanted to go flying. Hiccup took an uneasy first step on his prosthetic leg (even after two years the first step in the morning still affected him) and went to change into a clean shirt. He pulled on a muted green shirt as well as his favourite fur vest before making a descent down his staircase. He was in a hurry today because for the first time in weeks the academy had the day off and that meant today was his chance.

He'd asked fellow dragon rider and by all accounts the most beautiful girl on Berk, Astrid Hofferson, if she would explore a new island with him and it was there he planned to make his move. He just had to say three little words and he'd been working up his nerves for the last week. But the thought still spooked him, even though they weren't officially dating, they had been close for the last two years since they'd faced off against the Red Death. He was still worried that this small act might destroy the friendship they'd worked so hard for.

His heart gave a lurch as he opened the front door to find Astrid already waiting for him. The blonde warrior was dressed in her usual studded skirt and skull emblazoned shoulder pads. She did however have a new vibrant blue shirt on today that couldn't help but draw his eyes to her...

"Eyes up here Hiccup," She said sternly as she noticed his wondering gaze.

"Oh hey... hey Astrid," he said as he fumbled for composure. He found himself rubbing the back of his neck as he gained his wits enough to ask, "So are you ready to go flying?"

Astrid broke into a rarely seen smile and after a short wolf-like whistle her Deadly Nadder Stormfly landed out of nowhere. "I thought you might ask. Where are we going?"

Hiccup had been planning this for weeks, months even. Whilst he and Toothless had been out on their evening flights they had stumbled upon a new island, one unlike any other he'd encountered before. To summarize in one word it was picturesque, with sandy beaches covering three sides of the island and a flat cliff top on the fourth. He could barely contain his excitement as he told her "Well I thought we'd take a nice flight past the eastern isles to show you someth-."

Ding! Ding! Ding!

He let out a groan as he was cut off from the sound of the warning bell, used to announce the approach of incoming or returning ships. Within second the two seventeen year olds and their dragons had climbed the hill top that the Haddock residence sat upon. A quick glance through the his spyglass showed three ships, Trader Johanns, a longship with a fresh plain white sail and his father's ship. He let out a silent curse, as the chief's son he was expected to greet his father at the docks, which would seriously delay his date... is it a date? I guess it is. He thought to himself.

"I'm sorry Astrid but I'm going to have to welcome my dad. But I promise we'll go out straight after. I promise." He stammered, hoping she wouldn't be too upset with him. It was generally not a safe idea to be on Astrid's bad side. She'd probably toss him through a wall or push him off a cliff face.

To his surprise she just nodded with a knowing smile, evidently she was in a good mood. "It's okay Hiccup I get it. But don't think that'll get rid of me, I'm coming along too." He wasn't going to complain; any extra minute with her was worth it, so without further comment he lead Toothless into take off and they both glided down towards the shipyard.

Hiccups breath caught as the ship docked. He and Astrid had been standing in the late morning sun for the last half an hour as they waited for the ships to come in to shore. Beside them stood Gobber, the town's one armed one legged blacksmith, Stoick's right hand man and Hiccup's mentor. The old blacksmith was large, pot bellied and broad shouldered with arms like tree trunks from decades of working iron in the forge. But although the man's appearance could be intimidating, with his peg leg and assortment of prosthetics for his arm, he was friendly with a sarcastic humour. Both Gobber and Hiccup had come to the conclusion early on that his father had taken a prize on his journey and thus explained the presence of the transformed Outcast ship.

As Stoick's flagship finally came to rest along the creaking timber jetty Hiccup straightened his back and squared his runty shoulders. His father would be the first one to set foot on land by custom and his heir would be the first one to greet him, followed by the acting chief if they were not one and the same.

But it wasn't his father who appeared first but his first mate Spitelout Jorgenson. A brief look to Spitelout and the lack of his father's presence was enough to convince him that something was wrong. Spitelout dropped down to the wooden platform of the dock and immediately conferred with Gobber the crippled blacksmith. They exchanged a worried glance towards Hiccup before Gobber hobbled over to explain the situation.

"I'm sorry lad. But somethin's 'appened." it was only then that the boy noticed tears forming in the old blacksmiths eye. Vikings didn't cry, it was a matter of principle. It must be something bad by the way the blacksmith was tearing up.

"Gobber, I need to know. Did... Did something happen to my dad?" he realised his voice was trembling but he received a nod in reply.

"They came upon an outcast ship on the return 'ome. T'was in the fog near Dragon Island and the bastards had boarded Trader Johann's ship. They were in the middle of executin' the survivors. Your father came to their aide but whilst fighting them he was stabbed in the belly.

"e's still alive but unconscious, they're taking him directly to Gothi." Gobber added quickly before the teenager could think the unthinkable. As he spoke Spitelout and three other Vikings carried their chief out of the longship's hold on a large makeshift stretcher. The sword had been removed and a rudimentary bandage had been wrapped but it was still obvious he wasn't doing well. His scale-mail armour was dyed red with blood on his abdomen and his face was a ghostly white.

As Hiccup ran over to check on his father he noticed two more Vikings haul out more human cargo. Between the two burly men was a boy with dark shaggy brown hair and a strange garb. The boy's hands were bound securely behind his back.

"Gobber why did they bring an Outcast to Berk?" the boy seemed paralysed with fear, his face ashen, but seemed to jerk around at the sound of Hiccup's voice.

"I don't think he is one son. But Spitelout says we're taking him to the dungeon. Apparently he's the cause of all this." Gobber gestured towards Stoick before following the procession up through the town. Hiccup felt something push into his palm, probably Toothless trying to console his master. To his surprise it was a human hand and it took him a second to realise it was Astrid. This would have been the highlight of his week any other day but not today. He snatched his hand away, ignoring Astrid's hurt expression as he stormed off after his father. He knew she meant well but at the moment his blood was boiling. He was overcome with a strange emotion, one he'd never felt before. Anger: Anger towards the brown haired boy.