Washed Up

Stoick paced the docks. Hiccup and Toothless had been missing since the storm, and many of the dragons had been causing havoc in Berk. At first he figured Hiccup just wanted some time alone as he usually did, but because there was a storm, and Hiccup was never gone for this long, Stoick began to worry.

"I'm sure he'll be back anytime now." said Gobber, as he polished his hand prosthetic, which was now a hammer.

"I hope so..." Stoick replied, "...may Thor protect him..." he added.

He continued to look out to the horizon, the sun shining down to send lights on the water. Thornado disrupted the ocean's beauty by shooting our of the water, and landing by his rider's side. Stoick patted his enormous head, but continued looking on. The lagre, blue dragon nudged him as if asking for a fish, but Stoick merely stroked him.

Suddenly one of the boys of the village came running down to the docks, out of breath.

"Wartihog? What's going on?" Gobber asked as the eleven-year-old gasped for breath.

"I came to see Chief Stoick."

"Chief's in a trance right now, come back later."

"But they found Hiccup's dragon on the West side of the island!"

Stoick's head turned, his eyes wide. "You found Hiccup?"

"N-no. Just his dragon."

In an instant, Stoick jumped on Thornado's head and raced Westward. As they flew into a distance, Wartihog called off to them, "A bunch of men were taking him back to the village!"

By the time Stoick spotted them, they were already halfway through the forest. As they landed, he could see Toothless sprawled across the back of a Monstrous Nightmare named Hookfang, the dragon of Snotlout, a dragon trainer who worked with Hiccup.

Stoick ran over to the exhausted, black dragon, its green eyes only half-open.

"Where's Hiccup?" he asked in an almost demanding tone. But the dragon only leaned its head on Hookfang's back and fell into a deep sleep.

Stoick took a step back, realizing he would have to wait for answers. The caravan decided it was time to continue its journey, and it proceeded forward.

"Snotlout," he called to the dragon rider that was perched just behind the Monstrous Nightmare's head, "Take care of him."

"Yeah, sure." he replied as they vanished between the trees.

The Village

Hiccup liked the people of DunBroch. They were much more friendly and MUCH more polite than the people of Berk. Everywhere they went, someone would say, "Awrite*!" or "Afternoon!"

Merida, however, was not having as grand of a time. She always had to wait for Hiccup to limp his way through the village. Earlier she had introduced him to Angus, but he didn't like the idea of riding anything besides Toothless, especially when he wasn't wearing any pants. And to his surprise, none of the men there wore pants or any sort of leggings. When he asked Merida about it, she just laughed at him.

"Hah! Only the women here wear leggin's!"

They continued to walk through the busy streets, markets trying to sell their afternoon products, the sun beating down on everyone. Though no one minded because of the cool breeze sweeping in from the ocean.

Eventually they came to an environment that was familiar to Hiccup.

"Hiccup, this is Ailean**, the finest blacksmith of the kingdom!" introduced Merida, "He makes all the weapons fer th' castle. Ailean, this is Hiccup, the boy floatin' in th' ocean."

"How are ye?" he said. Ailean was a rather large man with arms the size of Hiccup's entire body. He too wore a traditional patterned kilt with a brown belt and large, blakc boots. Unlike the others, however, he was shirtless and covered in soot from the fireplace.

"Uh, hi." said Hiccup.

The man eyed Hiccup, but he kept a smile on his face. Then he turned to Merida, "How's that new bow workin' fer ye?"

Merida shrugged her shoulders. "Alright ah suppose. Still not the same as mah old one."

"Well, not much ah can do 'bout that. Which weapon is yer specialty?" he said to Hiccup.

Hiccup raised his hands. "Oh, I don't really fight."

"Ye don't? Then what do ye do?"

"Well..." Hiccup looked around the shop, eyeing all the materials and weapons, "I'm more of a blacksmith myself."

Ailean raised an eyebrow. "Oh, ye are, are ye?" he said looking at Hiccup's stature. Then he gave a smirk and took a step back. "Alrighty then. How 'bout a little test then? Why don't ye make somethin' here?"

Hiccup was a bit taken aback. Sure, Gobber trusted him to use whatever when he was alone in the shop, but this was someone he had just barely met and he would permit him to use all his equipment.

"Well, what would I make?" he asked.

Ailean eyed around the shop, looking for a good weapon to test his knowledge.

"How 'bout ye make yerself a new leg?" Merida chipped in.

Both Hiccup and Ailean looked at Hiccup's stub at the end of his leg. Aliean smiled to show his approval, though Hiccup was a bit disappointed. He wanted to show his strengths as a blacksmith, though he had never made a prosthetic for himself. He had always made one for Toothless, but Gobber made his one and only. Though, judging by the looks on Merida's and Ailean's faces, he really didn't have a choice in the matter.

Merida watched closely as Hiccup drew out a plan and began measuring his height, the length of the prosthetic and so on. She had always enjoyed coming to watch Ailean work before since she was little, so she was a bit too excited to see someone else working.

It was a bit hard for Hiccup to work with a different environment than what he was used to, especially when he had to hop around or use a crutch. At times, Ailean would help in showing him where certain equipment was, but other than that, he stayed out of the way. As Hiccup worked, Ailean and Merida looked at his plans, a bit worried for the turnout. This was certainly a prosthetic like they had never seen before.

It was hours before Hiccup was done. When he finished, it looked only a bit like Gobber's, but Hiccup adjusted it so he would be able to stand and run better by having a flatter bottom.

"Ta-da!" He exclaimed, holding up his creation.

Merida clapped, still a bit excited from the whole process. Though Ailean was confused on the design.

"Why'd ye make it like that?"

Hiccup looked down at his new leg. "Well, I guess it just reminds me a bit of home." His eyes went distant as he remembered all his family and friends...and Toothless.

Ailean saw the look in his eyes, and didn't want to pry any more. "Alright, put it on, let's see!"

After struggling a bit, Hiccup managed to position his foot to stay on his leg. That was one of the few things it had in common with Gobber's version; it could come off easily.

"Right, now," said Merida, taking the crutch away and putting it outside the shop. "Let's see ye walk with it."

It wasn't that difficult for Hiccup. He had been using his old prosthetic for a while, so it only took a little getting used to with the new design.

Merida clapped her hands together as she did before, a bright smile shining on her face. Hiccup could help but smile back at her. As he continued to walk on his own, Merida couldn't help but feel a sense of pride for him. He was like a little puppy just learning to walk and bark.

"Yer amazin', Hiccup!" she exclaimed as she walked over and bent over to get a closer look at his invention. "What else can ye do?"

Hiccup shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever, I suppose."

She smiled, though this time with a devilish look in her eyes. "Alright then, how 'bout a request? I'd be willin' ta pay ye for it."

"Well..." said Hiccup, placing a hand on his neck, "I don't really have a place to work."

"Ailean will let ye work here. Won't ye Ailean?"

The blacksmith just shrugged his shoulders while smiling, and turned back to his work he was doing before the pair came to visit him.

Hiccup sighed, "OK, fine. What do you want me to do?"

Merida's face beamed, and in an instant, she grabbed his hand and bolted out the door back up the path they already walked. Hiccup nearly tripped, as the prosthetic he was using was brand-new. The princess dragged all the way back to the castle and into a room much like the one Hiccup woke up in. Inside was a bed and a fireplace with a fur pelt in between the two. The small desk sat by the window, covered in papers and a beautifully carved chess set. And all around were massive amounts of carvings that resembled bears. Merida dashed for a small chest at the end of the bed and started rummaging through it.

"Who's room is this?" Hiccup asked, looking at all the carvings.

"Mine." said Merida, still digging through the chest.

"Why do you have so many bear carvings?"

"It's a long story. Ah! Here it is!" and she pulled out a small, wrinkled piece of paper.

Hiccup noticed a small drawing on it, yet again with bears, though it had a very abstract design.

"Do ya think ye could make a necklace with this on it?" Merida asked.

Hiccup looked at her. She had a very hopeful look in her eyes, as if this was the only thing that mattered in the world.

"I...suppose I can." he replied.

Merida's face beamed up as it did back in the blacksmith's shop. "Thank ya very much Hiccup! Ailean can make a sword in a jiffy, but he never had such precision that you have."

"May I just ask, what is this for?"

The brightness in her eyes died down. "Well, its fer me mum. She used ta have one a long time ago, but when she gave it to me, ah...lost it."

"You lost it?"

"Aye, I did."

He wasn't very convinced with Merida's tone deceiving her, but he shrugged it off.

Hiccup looked back at the drawing. "Well, I've never made a necklace before, but I'll be sure to give this a shot."

The bright smile returned to Merida's face, though it disappeared again when her mother strolled in.

"Oh, hello dear." said Queen Elinor to Merida, who thought the floor was more interesting than her mother's eyes.

"Afternoon, your Majesty." said Hiccup, trying to break the tension between the family members.

"Evening is more like it now," started the Queen, "In fact, it's time for dinner, which is the reason I came to get you two."

"Alright, mum. We're coming." Merida said, still not looking at her mother's face.

The Queen hesitated for a moment, then nodded to Hiccup and left. Hiccup looked at Merida with a questionable look, his eyebrows furrowing slightly.

"Are you angry with your mom?"

"What? No, Ah'm not. Why do ye say that?"

Hiccup shrugged, not wanting to get in an argument. He had a feeling he'd lose anyway.

"Well, shall we go then?" Hiccup said, gesturing to the open door.

Merida nodded, and the two of them went downstairs.

Plan

Stoick paced the Great Hall with quick strides as he did when waiting at the docks. Toothless had awaken and was better, but there was no way for a dragon to tell him where Hiccup was, if he even knew at all. The black dragon only looked out to the sea as the chief had done before, calling out to his partner. Occasionally he would sniff around trying to catch a scent on the wind, but it was no use.

"You wanted to see me?" asked Gobber, walking into the Great Hall after pushing the gigantic doors aside.

"Gobber! Yes, I need your help."

"With what?"

"I need ideas on how to find Hiccup. No matter what I think of, there's always something in the way."

"Why not just organize a search party? We could sail out for a few days, come back, sail again-"

"No, that would take too long, and the men would get restless after one trip."

"Then we'll take Toothless with us. He found the Dragons' Nest for us before."

"But he knew where it was before."

"He might know where Hiccup is."

"No," said a small female voice. "He hasn't got a clue."

Astrid walked in, leaning on the edge of the giant fire pit in the middle of the room.

"That dragon never stays at the same shore. He's constantly moving from coast to coast, trying to listen for Hiccup. If we're trying to get to him as soon as possible, taking the dragon might be slower than just taking a search party."

"What do you suggest?" asked Stoick, looking earnestly at the blonde.

"Let Toothless find him."

The chief and the blacksmith looked at each other, confused.

"But you just said we shouldn't take him!" piped Gobber.

"I know," said Astrid, "but I said we should let Toothless find him. Alone."

"Astrid, you of all people should know that Toothless can't fly on his own, and he won't let anyone besides Hiccup sit on his back."

"Hiccup made a tail that he could operate on his own last winter."

"Right, but the bloody dragon smashed it!"

"But the designs for it could still be in Hiccup's work-space. You could make a new tail for him and he could find Hiccup the same way he found his helmet!"

"Alright," said Stoick, "say he makes a new tail for him, and the dragon goes off, how will we know he'll be coming back with Hiccup?"

The female viking stood there for a moment, her eyes narrowing.

"Well," she continued, "Toothless won't stop looking till he finds him, and if he does, Hiccup will ride him back home."

"But what if there's trouble where Hiccup's at?" Gobber interrupted.

"Then Toothless will help him out, or Hiccup might send him back to get help from us."

Gobber looked over at Stoick, an eyebrow raised as the chief ran over the entire conversation in his mind again. After a few long moments, he turned back to Gobber.

"Find those designs and get that tail ready as soon as possible, and tell me when you're done."

Gobber nodded, and started off for his small store. Once he was gone, Stoick walked over and placed his large hand on Astrid's shoulder.

"Let's hope this works." he said.

"Yeah..." she replied quietly, then looked out to the open doorway. The sun had gone down and the lights outside flickered from the wind.

Hiccup... she whispered.

*A scottish greeting with the English equivalent of "Hi!"

**A Gaelic name meaning "rock" or "noble"