I should add a note here regarding Hiccup, with this being a few years after HTYD2 ( 2 approaching 3) Hiccup is understandably a slightly different character as to who we saw in the films and series (for reasons to be made clear through the story) anyway he is now someone who knows how to handle some weapons and who is not afraid or as reluctant to resort to violence. So if he seems slightly OOC for this reason then that is why, but don't worry, I think I've kept true to his ideology as seen in the films and what not. Also the Epsi is based on the HMS Endeavour, just in case any of you want a real image of what Elsa's Royal Yacht looks like.

Yumikana The odd thing is I thought that too but I passed it off as me just being paranoid and over judgemental about it, oh well, cheers for informing me so I'll update that soon-ish so its not so bad.

Enjoy!

/.../

By the time Hiccup returned the sun was just beginning to peek above the horizon, and this far north that meant it had been at least 13 long hours if not more since the chief left to do what ever he had to do, meaning when the large and solid wooden doors to the Great Hall slammed open most Vikings were startled from their deep slumber after a hard nights drinking. Elsa who was just on the verge of dozing off herself looked up and rubbed her eyes, her vision cleared just in time to see three figures clad in charcoal black leather armor and accompanying, which made them appear rather terrifying, enter and march through the hall like they owned it, getting to the Chiefs table at the top they stopped and removed their masks revealing Astrid, Fishlegs and Hiccup, and from their faces Elsa guessed something didn't go right.

Hiccup meanwhile was fuming, as his scout reported Dagur and an accompanying fleet was indeed at Itchy Armpit and in Berkian territory, meaning the man had broken a term of the very fragile peace treaty that had been mediated by the Basheem Oiks and Lava-Louts after the two tribes messy and constant conflict grew in scale and brutality to the point it had begun to negatively effect many of the other tribes in the Barbaric Archipelago. "Hiccup?" Gobber asked with a rather dry sounding throat, probably brought on by the amount of alcohol consumed merrily the night before.

"Yes?" Replied Hiccup as he started to remove the bulk of his weapons from his body.

"Was it him?" Gobber asked carefully.

Hiccup give a silent nod before adding. "Aye, it was."

A Viking who was near by chipped in with a equally gravely voice as Gobber's. "Then we declare war!"

"No!" Shouted Hiccup to no one in particular as he leaned forward to rest his tired body on the back rest of a chair. "If Umea learns of a war between our clans an invasion is inevitable."

Another Viking near by laughed before making his own opinion heard. "We are already at war, Dagur's actions prove it."

The hall was silent enough to hear a pin drop as the Viking's waited for their chief to respond. "No, we have merely clashed. Eret! Snotlout!"

A heavily tattooed man not as large as the average Viking and snotlout made their way through the crowd and stopped a few feet behind Hiccup, the tattooed man spoke for them. "Yes Chief?"

"Fly to the Bahseem Oiks, inform them of what has happened and request another mediation between ourselves and the Beserkers for 6 weeks time, hopefully that will be long enough for us to cool our heads. You leave when you are ready."

The man give a respectful nod before commenting. "Then we leave now." Snotlout looked like he was about to protest the sudden departure but from the daggers sent his way by Astrid and the rest of the hall he was wise enough to stay silent.

"Excellent." Was Hiccups response. "Fishlegs, warn the alliance of what has happened by air mail, as for the rest of us, we are Vikings, do what we do best." There was a loud 'Hurrah' to that comment and the majority of Vikings fillied their steins once more, Elsa wasn't sure if it was for the fact they just wanted to get drunk again or if it was because they wanted to celebrate the fact they could be at war, to her each was as likely as the other.

As for the scene that just happened the Queen was half surprised and half relieved, she was surprised at how the Viking politics worked as it appeared that any one from the village could come and listen and even voice their opinion on decisions that effected them, but she was also surprised that Viking tribes would mediate for the other, she had just assumed they were too isolated and simple in the politics department for that to happen. As for her being relieved, that was due to how despite the stories told about the Vikings Hiccup was not rearing and jumping on the chance to declare war, meaning that maybe not all the Vikings hiding in the 'Forbidden Fog' only a few days sail from her country were blood thirsty savages.

With a tired sigh Hiccup stood up straight and turned around to face Gobber. "Gobber, can you please take reign for the day?"

The man give Hiccup a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Aye, don't worry about the town, I'll take care of it, as for ya self you get ya sel some rest."

"Thanks." With nothing more to say Hiccup left the Viking and approached Elsa who was sat a small distance away in the most isolated corner of the hall. "Queen Elsa, I believe I offered you an explanation for my sudden departure."

"You did." She replied, her voice was blank of any type of emotion and hard for Hiccup to read.

"Do you want it now or later?" Asked Hiccup, half hoping the Queen would say later so he could get some sleep.

Elsa thought about the question, she had a long night and would love to retreat to her quarters on her yacht, but she also needed to know about why Hiccup had so many enemies. "Now if you will."

Hiccup lazily pulled up a chair so that he could sit opposite Elsa. "Well, what do you know of the reputation dragons have in this part of the world?"

"Master Fishlegs has told me of how dragons were once thought of as mindless and blood thirsty beasts here on Berk, so I think it is safe to assume the rest of this archipelago does too."

Hiccup nodded at the conclusion. "Well, 9 years ago you would have been right for the most part, but not any more. In this barbaric archipelago there are now 2 dominant views of dragons, the first is that they are mindless beasts needing hunted till extinction, and then there is ours, that dragons can be friends and live peacefully along side ourselves. Now, what do you know of Vikings?"

Elsa wasn't sure if she wanted to say what she had learned from the history books or the stories she had heard regarding Vikings, but she also realised from her experience as a Queen that Hiccup would hear the truth, however bad that be. "I must admit our stories have painted yourselves in a bad light, telling of nothing but violence and horror."

Hiccup pondered this revelation for a short time, very rarely had he come across people on his journey's outside of the Archipelago that knew of Vikings, and when he did they often became distant and treated him differently if he told them of his Viking heritage. "I see. Well your stories would not be wrong, we are by nature violent people, we love a good brawl and we know how to hold a grudge, so when my town comes along and tells the rest of the Archipelago that we should befriend dragons and not kill them we earned ourselves a good few enemies, some tribes became our enemies just because we befriended the dragons, others for no other reason than we simply held a difference of opinion."

"And this is why so many people want you dead?" Asked Elsa.

"Partially." Replied Hiccup as he slightly shook his head. "When a Viking gains an enemy it does not always mean we are at war or want to kill one another, it's more of a scrap here or there and beating one's chest louder than the other in a bit of friendly yet at the same time not so friendly competition, truth be told most Viking tribes hate war."

"Oh."

"But, don't think we all play nice, there are those in our part of the world that are war mongers and jump on any chance to declare war, for example Dagur and his Berserkers..." Hiccup noticed the frown on Elsa's name. "Yes, they aren't called the Berserkers for nothing, anyway over the last 9 years this Dagur has declared war on us, or me to be more specific 4 times now, probably after today 5 times, his deranged fascination with declaring war on us stems just from Toothless alone. But getting back on topic, the reason why so many others want me dead is because they fear the alliance I have brokered with some of the other more friendly tribes, and they think I am trying to push my beliefs onto them."

"Are you?" Asked Elsa bluntly.

Hiccup give a reluctant nod. "In a way, to be apart of my alliance you can't trade to tribes who do certain things such as slavery, raid and pillage, or mindlessly kill dragons, and as 5 of the most prosperous tribes in this region are now apart of the alliance many tribes are being forced to adopt my morale's or face a severe lack of resources."

"But not your rule?"

"Now that is a grey area. With thanks to Umea being such a threat and my experience of combat on dragon back many in the Alliance want me to lead if a war with Umea breaks out, and some like the Bob-Burglars are pushing for Berk to become a central hub of commerce which would give me even greater rule over the area's trade, but I am reluctant to accept such responsibilities."

Elsa didn't know what to think about this, first of all it sounded like her nation could very possibly be about to get another neighbour from the sounds of this Alliance, and then there is the fact other tribes want Hiccup to become it's leader yet he is reluctant to take the mantle? She knew of people who would kill for that chance, in fact she and Anna were once nearly the victims of someone who would kill for that chance. "I understand then why that would make you a fair few enemies." She eventually replied after a small silence.

"Yes. Now if you do not mind I really need to get some sleep."

Elsa stood. "Then thank you for taking your time to explain Hiccup."

Hiccup nodded as he pulled himself onto his foot. "No problem, and before I leave when are you wishing to set sail?"

"Preferably today."

"Then come and knock on my door at mid day, I should be awake but just in case."

After Hiccup left the hall Leffe approached his queen. "Did you notice the hidden blades on the underside of his wrists my Queen?"

"Yes, what of them?" Other than being unusually decorated for weapons designated for battle Elsa didn't think much of them.

"They are the signature weapon of Assassins."

/.../

Midday

Elsa lightly tapped on the Cheifs door but after a getting no answer she slammed on the thick wooden door with clenched fists, listening carefully after knocking Elsa heard something that sounded suspiciously like something or someone tumble down the stairs, so with a raised brow she dared open the Cheifs door and peaking inside she found Hiccup at the bottom of his homes stairs and in a tangle of limbs. "Are you okay?" She asked.

Hiccup raised his head off the floor so he could see her. "Sure, just testing the floors comfort."

"Sure you are, so how is it?" She responded.

"Not too bad actually."

"Okay..." Elsa was going to leave the chief to get up on his own but she noticed his artificial leg was missing. "If you admit you fell do you want help getting back up?"

Hiccup give a slight chuckle. "Well, there is no shame in asking for help every now and then, so yes, my foot got caught in the dastardly floor boards and I fell... from the top step." Looking back at the stairs Elsa winced, the stairs were steep and made of hard wood, trying not to think of how painful it must have been to hit every step on the way down she approached the chief on the floor and extended a hand out, Hiccup took it and pulled himself back up. "Thank you."

Elsa ignored his thanks. "Where is your leg?" It was only after asking did Elsa realise how stupid the question was, he did just say he fell from the top step.

Hiccup replied as he turned to the stairs and prepared his body for the task of climbing the hazardous obstacle. "Up there."

Realising it could take the chief a small time to acquire his leg Elsa decided to offer her help once more. "I can get it for you if you wish?"

Hiccup turned his head to her as he pondered her offer, eventually he nodded. "If you would please."

With nothing to say Elsa climbed the stairs to reclaim the leg from the floor but getting to the top she was distracted by the numerous drawings that decorated the bedrooms walls, most of the drawings were picture perfect images of Toothless doing random acts, others were of Berk or different landmasses, and a rare few were technical drawings of some complex machine Hiccup was obviously working on, approaching one of the drawings that featured Toothless with a tree in his mouth and some patterns engraved in the floor she called down the stairs. "Did you draw all of these?"

"Err yeah, why do you ask?"

Elsa moved onto another image, this one was of Toothless and a mountain of a man engaged in a game of tug of war over some large fish, if the drawings scale was accurate the man featured could easily be a giant. "These are really good!"

"Err thanks... I guess?"

Hiccups response caused Elsa to frown, he sounded unsure of himself. "Honestly these are really good." Hiccup did not respond to this as he didn't know how, Vikings are not supposed to draw like he does so no one ever complimented his art. "Could I possibly buy a one?" Elsa asked with the hope of taking one back to show her sister just how big these Vikings are and what a dragon looked like.

"Just take a one..." Replied Hiccup. "But err just not a one with a large man in it please." He quickly added.

Remembering Fishleg's story of how Hiccup's father died during the battle against Drago Bloodfist... Bloodthirst? Elsa suspected that the giant was Hiccups father. "Is the large man your father?" From the silence Elsa regretted asking the question, it was obvious it was a sore point for the Chief.

Eventually however Hiccup did reply. "Yes, they are the rare few drawings I have of him as he was." Sure there was the wall of chiefs in the Great Hall but they often blemished out irregularities like moles or the random thinning of one's beard and added bulk to make them look bigger than they were, not that Stoick the Vast needed size added, if anything Buckett discreetly removed some size in Stoics portrait so that Hiccup didn't look quite as short as he was.

"Oh." Was all Elsa responded before selecting a picture of Toothless with an icicle frozen to his tongue and removing Hiccups leg from the floor. Once the Chief was reacquainted with his removable limb he informed Elsa he would meet her on her ship soon, Elsa was not sure as to how long 'soon' would be but she accepted his answer with out argument, after all he did just give her a picture of Toothless for free.

.

/.../

"Yes mother." Replied Hiccup with a roll of his eyes. "I've got the med-kit and vials."

"How about..."

"Yes, I also have a spare tail fin."

Valka crossed her arms, slightly irritated at her sons attitude. "Fine, be like that and forget something."

The Chief sighed and turned around from equipping his short sword. "I'm sorry, you've just asked me the same question three times now."

Valka nodded, of course she had, last time Hiccup went on a little adventure he forgot almost everything except his dragon and his leg. "Well from past episodes I believe you need asked the same question 3 times."

With a shake of his head Hiccup turned back around, picked up his leather wings and then turned back to Valka with a hopeful look in his eyes, Valka sighed before taking the leather and beginning to latch it on his back to complete his flying suit. "Mother, I know we have been avoiding this conversation, but if Dagur does anything."

"I will stop a war from being declared, do not worry, and yes, I will have Astrid send Snotlout for you."

Hiccup give a brief shake of his head. "No, Snotlout is without doubt one of our best riders and one of the better fighters we have so he will be needed here, send Gustav and one of the recruits." Hiccup turned his head so he could see Valka bob her head in recognition of the orders, and then waited for her to pat him on his arm to tell him that his suit was complete. "Well I believe that is everything."

Valka shook her head and chuckled. "No, what are you forgetting?" Hiccup frowned as he tried to think of something. "Starts with 'F''"

Hiccup smacked a hand to his face, how could he have forgotten that. "Flame sword."

"Uh hu."

After grabbing the flame sword from his weapons cache he then give one final look around his house. "And now I have everything." With no reaction from Valka he left his house but returned a few seconds later. "Forgot my mask."

Valka didn't say anything but the amused look on her face said a thousand words.

/.../

"Gobber, Mother, Astrid, see you if I return." The three Vikings staying on Berk give a knowing nod of their heads and without any more words Hiccup turned and climbed the plank up to the Arendellian Vessel, Toothless close behind him, after crossing the border of plank and ship he and Toothless were greeted by the Snow Queen. "Welcome aboard the Epsi Chief Hiccup."

"It's a pleasure to be aboard." Responded the Chief.

Artios approached from doing what ever it was he was doing but stayed silent as his queen responded. "None-sense, the pleasure is ours, now are you ready?"

Hiccup had barely managed to finish saying 'Aye' when Artios begun to bellow orders, and then all of a sudden people started flooding the deck from the ships lower levels, the Chief of Berk was amazed at how many people the boat was hording but when he thought about it he shouldn't have been surprised, the usual Viking long ship was 16 meters long by 4 beam, this ship was almost 30 meters long and twice the beam so in theory it could probably hold four times the amount of people if needed.

"Is Toothless going to be alright?" Asked Elsa, dragging Hiccup from his thoughts.

The chief looked to his dragon who appeared slightly distressed, so he approached and scratched under the dragons jaw in hopes to help ease his friends tension. "Yes, he will be fine." Hiccup replied when Toothless begun to settle.

"Are you sure?" Asked Elsa cautiously, if Toothless was not 'fine' she did not want a fire breathing dragon that supposedly had the power of mjolnir behind its fire on her ship, or anywhere near it for a matter of a fact.

"Yeah, he is just a little wary of all the funny looks your people are giving him, when your people get used to seeing him and stop staring he will calm down."

"Hiccup, we do not have dragons, my people will find it hard to stop starring any time soon."

Hiccup gesuted with his head to Elsa right. "I mean when they stop starring like that, and you have warned your crew about him right?"

Elsa turned to see a bunch of sailors stood in a small group all quietly chatting and starring at the black dragon. "Scallywags help lessen the sails or I'll have you scrub the lower decks!" Shouted Artois to the group before turning back to Hiccup. "I told them myself this morning, and I'll make sure they stare less from now on."

"Toothless will appreciate it, thanks Captain." The man nodded his respect before leaving to make sure everything was going as smoothly as a possible, leaving just Hiccup and Elsa. "Queen Elsa, do you mind if we occupy the bow of your vessel?"

"Sorry?"

"It's just he doesn't like being cooped up in one place for so long, so being at the front of the ship where the masts wont get in his view of the horizon will keep him somewhat happy."

"Oh, right, yes please take what space you need." With permission from the Queen Hiccup followed his dragon to the vessels bow and begun to unclip the bags attached to Toothless saddle. "When you are finished I will take you to your quarters."

Hiccup turned from unlatching the bags. "Thank you for the offer, but I will sleep up here with him if that is alright?" Hiccup had slept in the same room, next to or even on his dragon now for 9 long years and he was not about to change that now.

"But surely you will freeze in the cold night air?"

Hiccup smirked as he turned to unlatch the last two bags. "I'm a Viking Queen Elsa."

Elsa frowned, what is that supposed to mean? "And that means?"

With the last bag unlatched Hiccup turned back around. "It means the cold has never bothered me."

"Oh really?" Asked Elsa as she discretely caused a cold gust to blow past them, the Viking barely flinched.

"Okay, I'll admit that breeze had a little chill to it but yes."

Just 'a little chill' thought Elsa disbelievingly, most she knew would have become a shivering mess after that little exposure to cold air. "Very well, but should you require a bed please don't hesitate to ask." Hiccup briefly thought about telling her about Viking stubbornness issues -meaning he would probably not ask after saying he was fine on deck, but he thought better of it because if she knew of such issue she would probably demand he slept in a bed. "And please make yourself as comfortable as possible, this is going to be a long journey and it is in all of our interests if you are at peak performance."

"Will do thanks." After a quick nod and good bye Elsa left the dragon rider with his dragon. "Well bud, guess we should take her advice huh?" With a huff Toothless spun on the spot before laying down on the deck, usually he would have torched the ground to heat his stomach and help digestion but the dragon doubted Hiccup would appreciate the boat he was sailing on being burned down mid ocean. "Yeah, I'll be joining you in a minute, but first guess I should give them a heading huh?"

After giving Lume the heading Hiccup returned and leaned back against his dragons hide, after last night it did not take him long to join his dragon in the dream world even with the small nap between sunrise and mid day.

/.../

A few hours later.

Elsa opened her eyes and sat up straight on her bed, after leaving Hiccup she went to get some well deserved sleep after not getting any the night before, so being awoken by some loud scratching noises was not appreciated, after quickly pulling on some suitable clothes she found her way to the ships deck.

"Heave!" A voice was heard before ten or so men begun grunting and pulling some long rope, on the other side of the rope was Hiccup and Toothless.

"Okay bud, our turn!" Hiccup could be heard soon after.

Toothless who was stood directly above Elsa's cabin give a strong tug on the rope at the same time as Hiccup and the sailors who had the other end were all pulled off their feet, Elsa didn't know whether to be angry that she had been awoken by Toothless' claws scratching the deck in a friendly game of tug of war, or be relieved that her sailors had from the looks of things started to accept Toothless' presence, or even be disappointed that ten of her men had just been defeated in a game of tug of war by a not so large dragon and one medium sized Viking.

"More!" Shouted Artios unaware of his Queens presence and soon after another three men joined the sailors team.

This time when Toothless and Hiccup pulled the men managed to resist being pulled off their feet but they still lost.

"More!" Shouted Artois's again. With another three men the competition was enough for Toothless and Hiccup to eventually be defeated, but not after a fierce and long drawn out battle for victory.

With the game over Hiccup sat back once more against his dragon to catch his breath but stood quickly when he noticed Elsa approach. "Queen Elsa." He managed to speak between breaths.

"Making friends?" Elsa asked and the chief give a nod as a response. "That is good to hear."

"Yes." Artois somehow approached unseen. "It seems a friendly game or two has done wonders for the crews opinions on our new guests."

This revelation was oddly relieving for the Queen as she didn't know what would happen if the crew failed to accept the Dragon, yes she could force them through orders to work with it and treat it kindly but that could cause all sorts of problems she didn't want to think about. "And who's idea was this game?"

Hiccup wafted a hand in the air as Artois replied. "That would be Chief Hiccup Ma'am."

"Oh." If it was a random crewmember Elsa would have ordered them be rewarded for their good thinking with a small financial bonus. "Well, good thinking Chief Hiccup."

Hiccup havening finally gotten his breathing under control replied. "It's a game we have on Berk that helps dragon-human relationships and I thought it could have done us good here, luckily for me it seems to have worked. Anyway if we are to be on a boat for however long I really would appreciate it if you would drop the title, I know I've asked before but..."

"Sorry, in your town I would agree but in front of my people I must maintain formalities, it would not be proper of me to drop them as doing so could cause rumours."

Hiccup give a understanding nod. "All-righty then, maintain formalities."

"Yes." Elsa turned to Artois. "Has there been any problems in my slumber?"

"Nothing Chief Hiccup couldn't handle."

"Oh?"

Hiccup recognising the request for more details decided to entertain her. "Just a Thunderdrum that lost its way, nothing to be worried... about" Hiccup frowned as men started to flood the port side of the ship, he could hear some gasps and disbelieving voices uttering something about 'sheer size' and a 'skeleton', realising what they were talking about Hiccup looked to Artois. "Artois, it is time to change heading, head south around the island but keep within 300 meters of the shore."

"Understood Chief Hiccup."

Turning back to look at the Queen he noticed she was looking at her men. "They are staring at the skeleton of a dragon I was forced to kill 9 years ago."

"The red death?" Asked Elsa remembering the story.

"Aye." Hiccup responded as he followed Elsa to the side of the ship to look at the dragons remains. "It give me no choice, it was it or us."

Elsa was too distracted by the size of the skeleton to hear what Hiccup had said, the skeleton was huge and much larger than any ship she had in her navy, and this scared her, if a dragon could get this big just how much bigger could they get? Could there be dragons the size of mountains? or even bigger in the depths of the ocean? It also scared her to realise just how little she knew of the world she lives upon.

"Queen Elsa?"

Elsa blinked and shook her head to try and clear her head. "Sorry, yes?"

"You looked a little zoned out."

The queen nodded in admission to the claim. "I was thinking, just how much bigger than that can dragons get Chief Hiccup?"

Hiccup's response sent an unusual chill up Elsa's back. "Quite."

"Are they dangerous?" She asked. "Should I be worried for my kingdom?"

"Have you worried about dragons in the past?" He in return asked of her.

"No?" Stated Elsa as much as she asked to clarify.

"There is a reason you don't have dragons Queen Elsa, what that reason is I must confess that I do not know, but for generations your nation has been dragon free and I see no reason why that will change."

Thinking about it Elsa had to agree with Hiccup, dragons in her kingdom only existed as fabled creatures in story books and would have continued to be so had she not dared venture into the forbidden fog. It was at this moment that Toothless decided to head-butt Hiccup in the back wishing for attention, so the Chief turned and give his friend what he so desired - a scratch under the jaw. "But." Started Elsa after watching the chief scratch his dragon. "That is not to say dragons will never travel so far south."

"True." Agreed Hiccup. "But the simple truth is this Queen Elsa, inherently dragons are not mindless beasts, they think, they have complex emotions, they care for things, they are intelligent and they understand it is better to live in peace then at each others throats, so if you want to be safe from dragons then be ready to accept them, yes you may have a few bumps in the road and a few extra house fires but it is far better than starting a war with them by shoving sharp weapons in their face to scare them off or control them." Hiccup watched Elsa as she approached Toothless and scratched the other side of his jaw, meaning she was stood directly opposite him. "The best course of action you can take is to educate your people, tell them to let a dragon be, to not hunt them, do that and your people will be safe."

"And how am I supposed to educate them without knowledge of them?"

Hiccup smiled at her. "Look down." Elsa did as asked and looked at Toothless head, his eyes were closed and he was releasing soft sounds from deep within his throat signifying his bliss at their combined scratching. "You have the most feared and arguably the most dangerous dragon in existence purring softly in your hands. You already know enough to educate your people."

"But... you have already domesticated him."

Hiccup laughed and shook his head at the absurdity of the claim. "No, Toothless isn't domesticated, he is as wild as the day I shot him down."

"But he lives in your house, eats out of your hand and you have a saddle on him, surely that is a clear indication he has been domesticated."

With a shake of his head Hiccup replied. "No, a domesticated animal does not have the choice of who its owner is or how it is supposed to live, where as Toothless can do what he wants and he can leave when he wants, but most importantly he has chosen to live with me."

Elsa frowned. "But if he was in the wild and I approached him?"

"You approached him without much trouble last night when I went for my throw." Countered Hiccup.

"But..."

"When your man approached with his hand on the pommel of his weapon did Toothless seem domesticated then? Do you think he would have hesitated to rip your man limb from limb if he was threatened? No, if Leffe drew his sword on Toothless and attacked he would not be alive right..."

The panicked shout of "Dragon!" Interrupted Hiccup and without pause the rider turned to find the problematic dragon, Toothless loyally by his side. The dragon in question was an old gronkle that had simply become curious about the odd looking ship and flew out to investigate, it landed at the bow and Elsa's men were wise enough to stay back and allow the Dragon Expert to handle it.

Elsa followed Hiccup but the rider stopped before reaching the dragon that was curiously sniffing some of the cannon balls situated on the bow for quick access to the forward cannons, turning to Elsa he spoke. "A wild dragon Queen Elsa, I can prove my point that wild dragons are not as mindless as you think, or you can prove the point to yourself."

"Are you suggesting..." Elsa gulped as Hiccup nodded, yes she wanted to believe that dragons were not the violent beasts from the story books but could she approach the wild dragon with the hopes it would not hurt her on the words of Hiccup alone? She wasn't sure and Hiccup could tell this.

"We can approach it together if you want?" Elsa was silent for a moment as she considered it, the dragon had massive teeth and a maw that could probably cut her in half if it wanted, yet sniffing the cannon balls it looked almost harmless. "What if it attacks us?"

A large huff from the black dragon to her side give her the answer she needed, but Hiccups response also helped. "She won't." Hiccup sounded too confident for Elsa to doubt him.

"Okay, together."

"Together." The man nodded in agreement before taking a slow step towards the dragon at the same time as Elsa, but when she was keeping her eyes solely on the dragon he kept his eyes on Elsa to make sure she didn't do anything dangerous. "This dragon is a Gronkle, they are possibly the most friendly and trusting dragon you can come across, it's good dragon to start with." The dragon hearing Hiccups voice closer than before turned to face the duo and sniffed the air.

"You make it sound like I am going to approach more than just this dragon." Elsa replied as she took another slow step towards the dragon so that they were now less than two meters from it.

"You make it sound like you don't want to." Responded Hiccup.

Elsa supressed nodding her head, this was to prove a point and no more so she decided to not respond to that. "So now what?"

Hiccup give a shrug. "I don't know, what did you do last night to gain Toothless' trust?"

"What do you mean you don't know?" Hissed Elsa.

Hiccup chuckled. "Okay I do know, I just want you to tell me to prove you already know of what is required, so I'll ask again, what did you do last night to scratch Toothless?"

"I held a hand out but it was Toothless to touch my hand." With a nod from Hiccup Elsa held her hand out towards the Gronkle and stopped breathing as she watched it take a step forward and nuzzle her hand softly, when she realised it wasn't tearing her hand from her arm she let her breath free.

"Congratulations on bonding with your first wild 'wild' dragon." Commented Hiccup as he also extended his hand to touch the dragon.

"That can't be all there is to it." Disagreed Elsa.

"Nope, that's all there is to it." And without saying anything more Hiccup moved closer to begin scratching around the left ear, Elsa seeing how the dragon happily reacted to the scratching soon followed Hiccup's actions and scratched the other ear.

"Queen Elsa." A voice of one of her servants eventually came from the silent crowd that was watching them. "Dinner is ready."

"Oh." She looked away from the dragon for the first time since she started to approach it. "I will be ready momentarily." Turning back she looked in the chiefs direction who was now scratching not just the Gronkle but a rather jealous looking Toothless too. "Chief Hiccup, would you care to join us on the Captains table for dinner?"

The chief shook his head. "I'm sorry but I can not, it is almost time for Toothless's sunset flight and feast. Maybe some other time?"

Elsa felt a pinch of disappointment, it would have been nice to have a fresh face on the captains table. "Tomorrow?"

"Aye, tomorrow then." With a nod Elsa turned to leave for the captains table leaving Hiccup with the two dragons.

/.../

So you may have noticed the nod towards assassins creed and may think this story is going to involve Assassins, Templars and what not, don't worry it's not, its just I think the hidden blades go well with how I have thought out Hiccups combat/fighting technique.

Oh, and I like most others celebrating Christmas / new year aren't going to be very active for the next few weeks, so if I'm quiet for a while its not because I've abandoned this, more like taking some time off visiting family and friends, so expect my next update to be late by a week or two.

Cheers for reading!