DVP – IV – Preperations

"Hiccup," Stoick called out to his son as he took a step closer so he wouldn't have to shout to be heard over the sounds of the harbor and Vikings making ready for battle, "I need you to go to Gobber's smithy and tell him what has happened. He may have more ideas. We'll also direct any returning dragons and riders to you there so you can organize them, you know them best. I need sweeps of the island. Get groups moving along the coast to see if you can find any ships…"

It all came out in a bit more of a rush than Hiccup was used to his father speaking before trailing off at the end. It took Hiccup a moment to realize that his father was seeing him and making use of him because he was who he was. Determination straightened Hiccup's posture and squared his shoulders as he listened to his father's orders.

"Ravenscar Hollow and Wolfskull Cove would be the best places to start," Stoick continued, too lost in thought to notice the change in Hiccup, "Check the sandbar near Dim Hollow Cave too, if someone beached a ship there during the storm they'd have to wait until the tide rose to get it off again." Stoick paused and grumbled under his breath before continuing, "Look for places a camp could be made, you would know those places better than I would."

Stoick finished, looking at Hiccup for conformation about the last bit. Hiccup did spend a lot of time flying and before that he spent a lot of time roaming the forests, caves, and hollows the Meridian of Misery had to offer a young boy.

Hiccup nodded with a twitch of a smile appearing for an instant despite the seriousness of the situation. It was rare that anyone knew anything about Berk or the island that its chief did not. "You got it dad," Hiccup answered as he sung onto Toothless's back, "We'll have the whole island scoured by nightfall, if anyone's here we'll find them."

"Good luck son."

"You too dad."

Toothless snorted in agreement before surging into the air with a powerful sweep of his wings. The pair quickly rose above Berk, scanning for any dragons who were back. There were very few as many had to venture far abroad in order to find food and to not cross paths while hunting. Toothless called out to those back with a rippling roar that caused the dozen or so dragons to raise their heads in acknowledgement and answer with their own cries. Toothless replied and tucked a wing to head for Gobbers smithy as the other dragons took to the air.

"Thanks bud," Hiccup told Toothless, brushing a hand over the dragon's cheek below the ear fin in added, silent thanks. Toothless replied with a low purr that Hiccup could feel, but not hear.

Back winging, Toothless dropped to the beaten ground around the smithy. Used to be, Viking feet kept what little grass beaten down from their constant trips to get weapons and armor repaired. Now, both Viking and dragon feet kept the grass from growing as Vikings and dragons came to get riding harnesses and saddles repaired by either Gobber or Hiccup.

"Gobber!" Hiccup called out as he swung off of Toothless's back, "Gobber are you up yet?" Hiccup called again as he stepped inside the smithy. Since there were no longer dragon raids to worry about, the peg legged smith stayed up later into the night(usually drinking) and got up later in the day. It wasn't too big of a deal, the whole village got to sleep more than they used to.

"Not so loud…" Came the sleepy reply as Gobber emerged from a back room of the smithy where he lived. Gobber ran a hand down his face in an attempt to alleviate some of the sleepiness that clung to his face. He was also mildly hung over, quite a feat for a Viking like Gobber who drank regularly and in great quantities.

"What is it lad?" Gobber asked, his voice still rough from sleep as he poured a morning mug of mead.

Hiccup rolled his eyes with a half-smile at Gobber's solution to alleviate his hangover by consuming even more mead. Mentally shrugging such an observation off, Hiccup's smile dropped off his face as his eye brows drew together, "Dad sent me up to tell you to get the fires going and prepare for battle."

That certainly got Gobber's attentions.

The mug of mead stopped halfway to Gobber's lips as he turned his head to give Hiccup a puzzled look, "Has one of the other clans finally declared war then?"

It was no secret that several Viking clans would no longer associate with Berk, some to the point of open hostility, due to their friendship with the dragons. While not all the dragons had decided to make their home in Berk, those few were sometimes responsible for a few sheep disappearing from other villages. They dared not attack Berk since said village was under the protection of their own dragons.

"We don't know," Hiccup whispered softly, looking down as he shifted his weight on his artificial foot. Drawing in a deep breath, he recounted that morning's events to Gobber.

"It started this morning right after me and Toothless finished breakfast," Hiccup began, "We heard," He paused a moment, he hadn't told his dad about the scream, but his dad had been in front of the entire village and Gobber was not, "A scream and went to investigate. When we got there…" Hiccup swallowed as he looked back into the memory, "When we got there, we found that Riley girl who rides the really dark Monstrous Nightmare. She was just standing there, she looked like she was lost in thought or something. But, she was… She was…" Hiccup swallowed again as the image of Havvick's skinned corpse hanging in the tree flashing through his mind's eye, "She was staring at Havvick Hoar-Blood's skinned corpse!"

The last part came out in a rush as Hiccup shuddered and clenched his hands as he swallowed rapidly to keep breakfast from coming back up. Toothless nudged his head under his human's arm to try to comfort his human while the other dragons looked on, some shifting restlessly. They could tell something bad had happened if not exactly what.

Gobber stared at Hiccup in stunned silence for several moments, his hangover a bitter memory, "You're sure lad?"

"Yes," Hiccup replied softly as he ran a hand over Toothless's smooth scales for comfort.

"By Thor's Hammer!" Gobber swore vehemently. The smith half turned as he debated on what needed done first in the forge, "Hiccup, I'm going to need you to-"

"Hiccup!"

A thrill followed the call as Astrid and Twitch landed outside the smithy amid the dragons already gather there. Hiccup and Toothless turned to pair as Astrid swung from Twitch's back and jogged forward, a frown on her face and eyebrows drawn together with worry.

"What's going on?" She demanded with a nod to Gobber in greeting as she waited for Hiccup to answer.

Hiccup sighed, not wanting to repeat the story yet again but knowing he would have to, "Toothless and I heard a scream after we finished breakfast and when we investigated we found Riley where she found her father's skinned corpse."

It all came out in a quick rush, if he got it over with quickly perhaps it wouldn't feel as horrible to talk about as it did. Like with medicine, if you swallowed it quickly hopefully it wouldn't taste as bad. Hiccup didn't think that actually worked but it was always worth a try.

Astrid looked a mix of horrified and confused at the same time, "Who?"

"Riley," Hiccup answered, "Havvick Hoar-Blood's daughter."

Comprehension dawned on Astrid's face along with fresh horror as she gasped and her hands flew to her mouth, "Odin's beard…"

Hiccup shuddered himself as the image of the skinned corpse hanging in the tree flashed through his mind before he pushed it forcefully from his head and focused on other things. Toothless. Flying. Astrid. His Father.

He blinked, thinking of his father reminded him what else he needed to do. What he'd been ordered to do, he thought with a twinge of pride that he instantly felt guilty for. What right did he have to feel pride that he father was using him for his abilities when he was supposed to be looking for Havvick's killer?

More dragons and riders were beginning to arrive by then, his old classmates among them. Word must have already been passed to most of them as most of them looked grim and a few pairs of people here and there looking to be talking and sharing the horrific news.

"Lad," Gobber stated, getting Hiccup's attention, "Did your father say anything else? Any other instructions?"

"Yes," Hiccup answered, "He wants patrols around the island looking for ships and searches across the island to see if we find any camps. He thinks maybe someone that doesn't like us landed in the storm. Do you have any ideas Gobber?"

Gobber stroked his chin as he thought it over, "With the different kinds of fire power it may be an advantage to keep one of each type of dragon in a group."

Astrid nodded, "A Monstrous Nightmare would be good for lighting ships on fire since it has a tendency to splash over things."

"And a Hideous Zippleback would be useful if they've holes up in a cave," Hiccup added with a nod, "The gas would spread though the cave and then they could light it."

"Nadders would be good for chasing them in the forest as agile as they are," Astrid put in next as she and Hiccup bounced back and forth, listing said dragon breeds' advantages.

"The Gronkles would work good on any camps, all they'd have to do is land and smash everything to pieces!" Hiccup added on.

He and Astrid grinned at each other before looking to Gobber to see what he thought of the idea. He looked a little stunned at their rapid back and forth banter before nodding, "Aye, all good points. So groups of four then," He nodded, "Hiccup, I'm going to need you here at the forge…"

Hiccup hesitated, his dad had told him to organize the flyers plus he had been counting on Toothless's speed and agility since the pair of them would have been able to cover ground faster than any one group, "Dad wanted me to organize the search parties-"

"I can do it," Astrid offered, making both man and boy blink at her. She shrugged, "They'll listen to me as well as they would either of you."

Hiccup thought about it before nodding, "I'll speak to them first then help Gobber and leave the rest to you."

She nodded in agreement and gestured outside with a rueful grin, "Then you better get moving."

At least half of the dragons who had riders had returned and words was being passed around in a buzz of whispers. Frequent glances were cast at the smithy as they waited for something to happen. Hiccup glanced at Astrid and nodding in agreement, he sucked in a bracing breath and composed himself, trying to imagine what his father would say as he stepped outside.

"Everyone! One of our own was slain this day, Havvick Hoar-Blood was discoveries by his daughter this morning murdered on our island!" A string of angry murmurs ran through the group at that, "We must find out who did this to one of our own!" A handful of shouts were given in agreement followed by growls of amusement among the dragons, "I want all of you to break into groups of four with at least one of each kind of dragon in each group, that gives you all a variety of fire power for each group!" Nods of agreement were given in the crowd, "Patrols need to go along the coast, they should look for any sort of beached ship or where some could have landed! Ravenscar Hollow and Wolfskull Cove should be searched especially well along with the beaches near Dim Hollow Cave! Sweeps over the island should also be made! Look for camps or signs of people that should be there!" Hiccup pause, "Good luck and may the gods watch over you!"

A shout went up from the assembled Vikings as they began to break off into their groups. Hiccup turned back to Astrid and Gobber to find them looking at him oddly, "What?"

"That was… Very moving Hiccup," Astrid told him with a faint smile as she walked by him heading outside, squeezing his shoulder and kissing his cheek as she passed.

"Well," Gobber said, his voice a little rough, "Let's get to work then."

I'm alive! Who missed me?

Yes, this was a bit of a filler chapter wasn't it? I felt like I wasn't showing enough of the original HTTYD crew with the chapter I had... So it became chapter five and is over half written. I also wanted to show how Hiccup has grown a little bit(in my opinion).

There are a couple Skyrim references in there since Skyrim pwns my life a lot... Cookies to anyone who spots them!

The 'By Thor's Hammer!' and 'Odin's Beard!' lines I totally pulled out of my love of Thor and The Avengers movies... Tome Hiddleston is totally awesome and I giggle like a teen schoolgirl at the pictures of looking grinning evilly... Totally hot.

Also, the same computer that had it's hard drive replaced? The second computer? Yeah, totally having issues. I have determined I'm taking my shotgun and mayhaps my rifle to it when I get my new one. *evil laugh*

Good news? Chapter five is half done! Now leave a review! It makes me happy! :-D