I don't know if anybody has noticed, but for my story I'm using (or at least trying) present tenses. This is because when I had my friend proofread the story, she pointed it out. Every. Single. Sentence. So, yeah, I'm using or trying to use the present tense in this story. My main point for this monologue is that if the writing is weird due to this, please tell me! I'm still very much used to writing in past tense.

Hiccup sighs as he kicks a pebble aside. He understands. Of course he understands. It's just that the war between Vikings and dragons is finally over after three hundred years of bloodshed. Now, every time a tribe decides to visit are they just going to hide their dragons again and again and again? No. Sooner or later the other tribes will find out, and when they do Hiccup will be there to show them how misunderstood the dragons are or die trying. Hopefully he would never have to get to the latter.

For now, he needs to hide the dragons. How exactly is he suppose to hide the dragons anyway?

"Life is unfair, isn't it Toothless?"

Said dragon croons sadly at his human. Admittedly, the Night Fury was going to devise an ingenious plan to escape from hiding and continue protecting Hiccup, but the thought of them separating, even temporarily, is still upsetting.

Toothless butts his head against Hiccup's leg as if to say "Don't worry!".

The teen smiles and scratches Toothless under the chin. Purrs and whimpers of bliss emits from the dragon at the gesture.

"Thanks, bud."

"What's with the gloomy face, Hiccup?"

The face of one Astrid Hofferson appears in his view. Behind her, the rest of the dragon riders look at Hiccup with the same inquisitive expression.

"Yeah, you look like Barf just barfed in your helmet." comments Tuffnut.

Said Zippleback looks absolutely offended, but it's Ruffnut who acts in his defense. Basically, she punches Tuffnut on the cheek and sends him flying to the ground.

"Cool, I'm seeing stars. Do that again!"

"Gladly." Ruffnut cackles.

Hiccup ignores the twin's antic and focuses his attention on Astrid. Might as well get the bad news over with.

"Dad said that I have to hide the dragons."

Astrid gasps.

"Wh-" she begins.

"What?! Why?" only to be cut off by Snotlout, whose eyes widen in panic.

Wow, déjà vu.

The gang openly gapes at Snotlout's concern. Even the twins stop their fighting in favor of giving him the who-are-you-and-what-did-you-do-to-Snoutlout stare. Catching himself too late, Snotlout deflects.

"Uh, I mean, not that I'm worried or anything. Hookfang is so clingy, there's no way he can survive a day without me!"

Hookfang bites down on Snotlout, engulfing him into his mouth.

"See?"

Astrid rolls her eyes.

"Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted, why are we hiding the dragons?"

Hiccup thinks back to the conversation, well, more like he listened and Stoick talked, and pulls a face.

"Mulch and Bucket saw some ships coming towards Berk. My dad's afraid that the dragons will freak them out, so he ask me to hide them as a precaution."

"Do we have to? I've just gotten to known Meatlug better." Fishleg proceeds to hug the Gronckle with a sad look. Astrid pets Stormfly on the head.

"Yea, I've just gotten to know Stormfly too..."

The twins look at their dragon solemnly.

"Barf..."

"Belch..."

Snotlout looks away, feigning indifference, but it isn't hard to pick how his eyes keep shifting back to Hookfang or how his brow hunches in worry. Hiccup slumps his shoulders in despair. Did his dad feel as bad as he's feeling right now when he told Hiccup the news?

"Unfortunately, yes. I'm sorry guys. This..." His dad's words come to mind. "This is for the good of both Berk and the dragons. If the visitors are aggressive then the dragons might get hurt in the crossfire."

"Ha," Snotlout spats, "Me and Hookfang can take them on any day!"

"Hookfang and I." clarifies Fishlegs.

"Whatever!"

It's now Hiccups turn to roll his eyes, a sarcastic comment on the edge of his tongue.

"Gee, Snotlout, why haven't I thought of that?"

"I know right?" agrees Snotlout, "Pfft, and you're suppose to be the smart one."

Hiccup pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"No, Snotlout. We need to get them to see that the dragons are good. Attacking them with said dragons will pretty much defeat the whole purpose."

Astrid pets Stormfly a while longer before turning to Hiccup.

"You must feel really bad right now, huh? I mean, out of all of us, you and Toothless have known each other the longest."

Hiccup looks at Toothless and Toothless gazes back.

"Yea..."

A somber silence envelops the group before Astrid speaks up again.

"So, what should we do?"

Hiccup looks at her in shock.

"H-Huh? Do what?"

Astrid raises a brow.

"Hide the dragons?"

Shock turns into flabbergast.

"Wait, you guys are going to help me?"

The teens flinch, with the exception of Snotlout, at Hiccup's dumbfound tone. Surely, it's not that hard to believe that they want to help him, right? Ok, so they weren't the nicest people to him...Fine, they treated him like dirt, but they've changed since then and they want to show him that. Astrid especially.

"Well, I did say we didn't I, dragon boy?"

"About that," said Snotlout as he turns his back to them, "Me and Hookfang-"

"Hookfang and I."

"Shut up, Fishlegs! Me and Hookfang have something to do, so, bye."

Astrid crosses her arms and glares a hole into the back of Snotlout's head.

"Really, Snotlout?! Hiccup saved Berk, and that includes you, from the Red Death. If it wasn't for him, you would have never met Hookfang either! Are you seriously just going to walk away right now?"

"..." Snotlout turns back around and walks straight to Hiccup with a scowl.

"This does not mean we're friends."

Hiccup grins. "I wouldn't dare think of it, Snotlout."

Things really had changed, thought Hiccup. The old Snotlout wouldn't even have considered helping Hiccup out in any way.

"Okay gang, here's what we'll do. We're going to round up all the dragons on Berk and send them to Dragon Island. Snotlout and Fishlegs, you guys are in charge of the Nightmares and Gronckles. Ruff, Tuff, you guys will round up the Zipplebacks and Terrors. Astrid, you and I will take the Nadders and are going to make sure there's no dragon left behind."

They all nod and mount their dragons.

"Hopefully we'll get the dragons out before the ships arrive."

Getting the dragons to leave Berk was as hard as Hiccup expected, the Terrible Terrors especially. For some unknown reason, they really hate Tuffnut. Everytime he approached one, the dragon would sneer and bite his nose, much to Ruffnut's pleasure.

"Is that all of them?" Hiccup asks.

The dragon riders are currently right above Dragon Island, scanning for any drifters. Behind them, the sky is starting to turn an orange hue.

"Yup, I think that's all of them." replies Astrid.

Hiccup nods. "Right, let's head back."

Just as they were midway to Berk, Fishlegs spots shapes in the distance.

"Um, Hiccup, by any chance are there three ships coming to Berk?"

Hiccup stops Toothless midflight.

"Actually, yea. How do you know that?"

Fishlegs raises a shaky finger westward.

"B-Because I see three ships!"

Hiccup's eyes widen and directs his gaze towards the direction of the chubby teen's finger. Indeed, there are three ships.

"Quick, get above the clouds!"

The teens obey without hesitation.

"We need to get back to Berk as soon as possible. Then we need to tell the dragons to fly back to Dragon Island."

"Aw," Fishlegs complains, "Do we have to?"

"Sorry Fishlegs."

A few minutes later, the dragon riders safely lands on Berk. They dismount their respective dragons and said their individual goodbyes.

Astrid exhales. "I'll miss you, Stormfly."

Fishlegs hugs Meatlug. "Daddy will see you soon girl."

Tuffnut pats Belch in the head. "Stay cool. Heh, cool. Get it? Fire brea-"

The Hideous Zippleback rolls their eyes before Ruffnut shoves Tuffnut into the ground.

"Ignore him, he's an idiot." Ruffnut then whispers to Barf.

"Just so you know, you're in charge."

Barf grins to himself in satisfaction while Belch casts his brother a curious glance.

Snotlout smiles at Hookfang. "Show the other dragons who's boss!"

Simultaneously, the teens takes a step back. Their dragons croon in both sadness and confusion. What are their humans doing? Astrid takes the initiative.

"Go on Stormfly! Fly to Dragon Island!"

Stormfly squawks. Well, obviously, she knows that, but why? Astrid furrows her brow.

"Come on Stormfly, we'll see each other again."

Astrid pushes the Nadder gently. Stormfly croons once more before taking a step back and reluctantly fly flies away. The other dragons follow her example, each with a croon of their own before flying away.

The young Vikings watch as their dragons disappear in the distance.

"Man, this sucks rocks." said Snotlout.

"I know," agrees Fishlegs, "I miss Meatlug already."

Yea, nope. There's no way Hiccup's dad felt as bad as Hiccup does right now. Ruffnut narrows her eyes at Toothless.

"Wait, what about your dragon?"

"Toothless? He can't fly without me so telling him to fly to Dragon Island is out of the question. I was thinking of hiding him in the Cove."

"What's the cove?" asks Tuffnut.

"Wait, is it the place where I first found you and Toothless before you guys kidnapped me?"

The teens give Hiccup and Astrid a bewildered look.

"Wait. Who kidnapped who now?" questions Snotlout.

Hiccup rolls his eyes at Astrid.

"First of all, you followed me. Second of all, we did not kidnap you. I distinctively remember you getting on Toothless on your own."

"Yea, after you two had me dangling from a three story tree."

Hiccup opens his mouth to argue, only to have no comeback.

"...Point taken, but that was the dragon's idea."

Okay, maybe one comeback. Toothless whacks Hiccup on the head with his tail. Astrid looks on unimpressed.

"Uh-huh."

"What? It was!"

"Um, guys, the cove?"

As interesting as this is, it really is, someone needs to keep the group on track. Usually it would be Hiccup and then Astrid, but they're currently out of the question, so the task is given to Fishlegs. Hiccup coughs into his fist before turning around so that he could face the rest of the teens.

"Right, the Cove! Well the Cove-"

Hiccup stops mid-sentence with his mouth hanging open.

Squawk

Great, Astrid misses Stormfly so much that she's starting to hear voices, or squawks in this case.

"Hiccup you're going to catch flies." comments Astrid.

"Squawk!"

Astrid's eyes widen. No, it couldn't be...could it?

"Stormfly?"

She turns around. The Nadder, glad to finally have her human's attention, flaps her wings happily before giving another squawk.

It totally could.

"Stormfly!"

Without warning, Astrid practically flies to her dragon and attacks her with a hug. The other dragon riders, upon noticing that their dragons are also there, proceeds to do the same thing.

"Meatlug! I miss you so much, girl!"

"Barf!"

"Belch!"

"Hookfang! Uh, I mean, Hookfang, bad dragon! Why did you come back?"

"Yea," breathes Astrid, "Why did they?"

Hiccup smiles at the scene in front of him before looking at Toothless.

"Well, dragons are loyal creatures."

Toothless gives Hiccup a gummy smile.

"Wait! Where are we going to hide the dragons? I mean, I'm happy that Meatlugs back, but the ships could come at any moment now."

Hiccup gives a sideways grin.

"Look like you're going to have some Cove-mates, bud."

Toothless grunts in displeasure.

After the dragon riders drop their dragons at the Cove, and with Hiccup promising to get Toothless an extra large basket of fish tomorrow, they start to head to the port.

"I wonder what they'll be like?" Fishlegs asks.

"Pfft, I bet that their just a wimpy bunch of sissys." replies Snotlout.

"Or maybe they're gigantic Vikings with two heads and four arms!" exclaims Tuffnut.

"With a battle axe on each!" exclaims Ruffnut.

Hiccup silently laughs to himself.

"Good to see ye could make it lad."

Gobber greets the young heir as Hiccup walks up just behind him, Stoick, and Spitelout. The rest of the teens stray a few feet away.

"Hey Gobber, Spitelout, dad."

Stoick sighs in relief, glad to see that Hiccup didn't hold a grudge at the whole hiding the dragons thing.

"You're just in time, Hiccup!"

Hiccup was about to ask what he was in time for when a large shadow looms over him. The shadow of a ship to be precise. As the ship comes to a halt, accompanied by the sound of squeaking wood and whooshing seawater, a dead silence overwhelms the inhabitants of Berk. Then, like a flash of lighting cutting through the sky, a deep voice bellows out.

"HELLO! We are the Jolly Islanders and we come in peace!"

Yay, my first cliffhanger! Uh, I mean, BOO cliffhanger.

Ok, so this chapter has some major foreshadowing for future Reform fics *wink wink*. Also, I'm currently looking for a beta (if someone could explain to me the process that'll be great too). Preferably a grammar Nazi because I'm not good with grammar, but whether you are one or not, if you're interested please don't feel shy :).

Stay tune for the next epi- er, chapter.