I'm sorry I posted the chapter this late; I was very tired when I came home after school and fell asleep. Besides, I had to finish the chapter. But here it goes. Now, answers to the reviews:

MMM: First, Annabelle thinks this is a dream but she actually got to the Httyd world. Second, there is a way she can go back but she doesn't know that yet. Third, yes, Annabelle and Astrid will have something going between them since both have feelings for Hiccup. I hope it helps, thank you so much for reviewing!

Guest: I'm not substituting Astrid for my OC. I admit I kinda did that in the first version, I guess I just wanted something more than just Hiccstrid then, but after reading some other Httyd fics I decided it's up more to the characters than to me to decide about their love life. About RTTE season 4, I was indeed very excited about it, including all the Hiccstrid moments and everything. I can't wait for the next season, if there's another one. Thank you so much for your reviews!

Enjoy the chapter!

4. Parental responsibilities

BERK

It took a few minutes to get through the ocean of Vikings and get to a clearing. Annabelle helped Hiccup to pull levers of the contraption and in less than a minute the weapon was ready to use. Both of them looked at the sky and listened carefully, waiting for the Night Fury to appear. The stars were bright and they contrasted with the pitch black sky, so if the dragon passed by, they would spot it with ease because it will cover some of the stars.

"Come on. Give me something to shoot at, give me something to shoot at," Hiccup muttered, narrowing his eyes.

Annabelle was known for having a better sight of details than average people so this was a piece of cake for her. Suddenly, her eye seemed to catch a glimpse of a star which vanished for a split second and she spotted the dark dragon which could blend with ease in the night sky.

"I see it," she said.

"You see it?" Hiccup turned his head back up and scanned the sky with his eyes. "Where? I can't see anything in the dark."

"Just be ready. I'll tell you when to launch the trap," Annabelle replied. Hiccup did as told and got ready, waiting for the brunette to give the signal. She raised a hand in the air. "Hold... Hold..."

Ka-blam!

Both of the teens watched as a purple fire ball was shot at the tower closest to them, and it collapsed. The light of the flames illuminated the Night Fury for a split second as it tried to vanish again, but it was enough for both teens to see it.

"Now!" Annabelle shouted, pointing her finger towards it.

Snap!

Hiccup launched the bola and in the process he was knocked off his feet by the force of the catapult. As he pulled himself to his knees, the two of them watched as something was thrown off the air and fell to the woods with an ear-piercing screech.

"Oh, I hit it?" The teens looked at each other in shock before their lips spread into a smile and they both realized what had just happened. "Oh my Gods, I really hit it! I can't believe it, ha ha!"

"Yes, you did it Hiccup!" Annabelle exclaimed as both teens laughed in excitement and embraced in a hug. Hiccup was so excited that he somehow managed to spin the girl around for a few seconds even with the little strength he had, taking both of them by surprise as they looked at each other with wide eyes before he set her down. Maybe it was the adrenaline.

"This fixes everything! Did anybody else see that?!" Hiccup cried, before feeling a breath on is neck that sent a shiver running down his spine. He closed his eyes and turned around, pleading uselessly in his head not to find an angry Monstrous Nightmare behind him, which was exactly what he found.

"I guess you did," he replied sarcastically.

The Dragon growled, before snapping his jaws at the young man. Annabelle moved Hiccup out of the way in time and they broke into a sprint downhill, while they screamed at the top of their lungs with the Nightmare hot on their tails.

They ran through the plaza almost tripping over their own feet, desperately looking for a shelter. Being their only option, they hid behind a pole as the Nightmare shot a stream of fire at them. Annabelle yelped as her arms almost touched the fire, and she could feel it was as hot as the sun itself.

Taking deep breathes, they both took a peek over their hiding place, but there was no sign of the Dragon. She sighed in relief, but screamed when she turned around and found it just behind her, staring intensely at the girl with his big yellowish reptilian eyes. Frozen in place, she watched the Dragon open his jaw full of razor sharp teeth and braced herself for what was coming.

But it never came.

Annabelle opened one eye and instead of seeing the Dragon ready to finish her off, she gasped as Stoick fought it. He punched the Dragon several times before it shrieked in fear and finally flew away.

As the Chief turned around, the pole which had been burnt off snapped and fell to the floor. The head of the torch went rolling down the village, accidentally burning a trap and freeing some Nadders recently captured which flew away with most of the sheep in their paws.

Hiccup caught the glare his father was giving him from the corner of his eye and looked down.

"Sorry, Dad," he apologized sheepishly, watching as the Dragons left with all the storage the village had for the winter. When he felt all the Viking's eyes on him, he added, "Okay, but I hit a Night Fury."

Stoick having enough already, grabbed the young man from the collar of his shirt and dragged him away.

"It's not like the last few times, Dad," Hiccup continued, Annabelle wondering if this had happened before, "I really actually hit it! You guys were busy and I had a very clear shot. If you want me to prove it, Annabelle was with me. I swear it. She saw it too! It went down just off Raven Point. Let's get a search party out there, and-"

"STOP!" Stoick interrupted. "Just, stop. Every time you step out, disaster follows. Can you not see I have bigger problems? Winter's almost here and I have an entire village to feed."

"Well, between you and me the village could do with a little less feeding, don't you think?" Hiccup said, and suddenly all the Vikings went self-concerning about their bodies. Annabelle chuckled.

"This isn't a joke, Hiccup!" Stoick yelled. "Why can't you follow the simplest of orders?"

"I just can't help myself," Hiccup said. "I see a Dragon, I have to just... Kill it. It's who I am, Dad."

Stoick sighed and put a hand on his forehead, before shaking his head. "You're many things Hiccup, but a dragon killer is not one of them. Get back to the house." Hiccup hung his head, knowing his father would never listen to him.

His father turned towards the blacksmith. "Make sure he gets there. I have his mess to clean up."

Annabelle was more than openmouthed. Stoick talked like it was Hiccup's fault the Dragons raided the village! What was wrong with that man? How could he put his job before his own son, his own family left?

Before she could say anything though, he walked away with a group of Vikings. She sighed, making a mental note to talk to him later and get some sense into the man. Turning around, she followed Gobber and Hiccup back to the house. Hopefully things couldn't get any worse.

As if to prove her wrong, she noticed the group of teens from earlier making fun out of Hiccup as he passed by and couldn't help the burning rage that shot up from inside her. Why couldn't they just leave him alone?

Deciding enough was enough, as she passed by as well she took the liberty to elbow one of the twins and stomp her foot into another guy with black hair, ignoring on purpose their cries and the glares she received. They had it well deserved.

Looking back up, she stayed behind as she noticed Hiccup and Gobber having an argument.

"I really did hit one," Hiccup insisted.

"Sure Hiccup." Gobber nodded, but it was clear he didn't believe him either. Was it that hard to believe? She saw it with her own eyes!

Well, considering he's constantly messing up and given his size, it's pretty hard to believe, a voice in her head pointed out.

Annabelle paused for a moment realizing that hadn't been a thought of her own. And to be honest, it sounded just as mean as Stoick had been towards Hiccup. Was it was she really thought of him? She shook her head, deciding it was best to leave those thoughts aside. It wasn't going to help her in any way.

"He never listens." Hiccup's voice brought her back to reality.

"I'd guess it runs in the family." Gobber shrugged.

"A-and when he does, it's always with this... disappointed scowl, like someone's skimped on the meat in his sandwich." Hiccup turned around and started to make an impersonation of his father. "'Excuse me barmaid, I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra-large boy with beefy arms, extra guts and glory on the side. This here, this here's a talking fishbone!'"

Annabelle covered her mouth, trying to stiffen her giggles. She had to admit that still in the situation they were in, that was very funny.

"Yeh're thinkin' aboot this all wron'," Gobber said. "It's not so much aboot wha' yeh look like, it's the inside 'at he can't stand."

Both teens gave him incredulous looks.

"Thank you for summing that up," Hiccup replied sarcastically.

"Look, the point is: stop tryin' so hard to be someone yeh're not."

Why didn't you tell him that about an hour ago? Annabelle deadpanned.

Hiccup sighed. He opened the door of his house, and Annabelle tilted her head in confusion recalling it had supposedly being burned down by a Dragon. Was the house fireproof or something, or did someone come and fix it while they were gone?

"I just want to be one of you guys." Hiccup said.

She looked at him with sad eyes as he entered the house. She knew the feeling, she knew how it felt to wish she was just like the others kids back home. For some reason they always had excluded her, save for the small group of girls that were her best friends.

But what she'd seen of Hiccup until now made her think the ones who were wrong were the Vikings, not him. Hiccup was a guy with a good heart who didn't fit in well between all the others, who had such strong arms and big beards. However Annabelle knew that if they were so good-looking on the outside, they were completely rotten on the inside.

She sighed. "Way to cheer up the mood Gobber."

The blacksmith turned to the girl. "Wha'? I tried."

"Sure you did." Annabelle shook her head with a roll eye. "You gave Hiccup just what he needed. You were so supportive with him."

Gobber looked to the ground. "Well... Who says I was good at this? I try to do wha' I can, but I'm better at sharpenin' swords an' axes. At words, not so much."

"Yeah that's alright, but that won't help Hiccup too much. He already feels bad because what his father told him, and now he feels worse because of what you told him," she explained. "Maybe you were trying to help, but do you really know how did Hiccup feel?"

"Em... I... I guess not."

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "See? You can't just blurt things out to him, because he only has you to rely on. I wouldn't count Stoick as someone he could rely on, in my opinion. Hadn't you noticed the way Hiccup looks at you?"

Gobber gripped his prosthetic with his good hand as he remembered all the past years Hiccup had been helping him on the workshop. The boy had started when he was about... five?

The blacksmith smiled. He remembered the curious look in his apprentice's eyes when he was just a lad. He remembered how Hiccup would struggle to lift the slightest of tools because he wanted to help. He remembered the wonder in the lad's expression when they finished a sword or an axe, and how he would then tell him to go back to work. Gobber never really appreciated it until now.

Thanks to Annabelle's smile, the blacksmith realized he had stood quietly for a long while. He cleared his throat, thinking that a Viking wasn't supposed to be so soft before an outsider.

"Wha' woold yeh know? Yeh weren't there, an' yeh're not like him. Nobody's like him."

Annabelle felt the drastic change in the mood and quickly retracted her hand. "You're right. I wasn't there, but even if I've known Hiccup for just a day, I feel like he's different from others in his own way, just like he's different from other guys his age. Am I wrong?"

Gobber couldn't argue to that. If he was honest, Hiccup wasn't like anything he had ever seen. Except for Valka, of course. Gobber wouldn't admit it out loud, but the lad seemed to be just as smart as a full-grown Viking, maybe even smarter.

"...aye." He agreed after a long silence. "He's a natural with the tools at the workshop, an' he's always inventin' weird creations one woold say 'at are oot of this world. Sometimes even I coold not tell whether he was insane." He chuckled softly.

Annabelle smiled. Now they were getting somewhere. "I can imagine," she said. "I mean, he built all by himself the strange catapult from earlier, didn't he? Although leaving that aside, he also seems to take things more personally than others, considering the talk with his father. They have a tough father-son relationship, huh?"

"Yeh have no idea." Gobber nodded. Realizing what the girl said, he turned to her and raised an eyebrow. "Yeh know, I can't believe yeh an' Hiccup aren't siblin's. Everythin' yeh said so far it's pretty much as the truth."

She rubbed her arm and gave a shy smile. "I just pay close attention to things; it's not really big deal."

Gobber looked back at the house and turned to leave. "I better be goin'. The chief's gonna flip the tables at the Great Hall wonderin' wha' is takin' me so lon' if I'm not there in a few minutes."

He started to walk away, until a thought came to mind and he turned around to the girl. "Um... woold yeh keep an eye on the lad? Maybe I can talk to him later."

Anna nodded. "Sure thing."

Gobber nodded back and walked away. When he was out of sight, Annabelle entered the house and closed the door behind her, thinking she had done something right. It took her three seconds to notice how quiet the house was, which was weird considering there were two people here.

"Hiccup?" she called. After looking around and noticing the boy wasn't there, she started making her way towards the stairs and to the second floor. "Hiccup, where are you?" she asked, hoping to get an answer.

The girl opened the door to Hiccup's room but the young man wasn't there either. Panic gripped her heart as she entered the room and removed the blankets from the bed to confirm he was gone.

"Hiccup?!" Annabelle called once again as she ran downstairs almost tripping over her own feet. There was silence. She looked frantically around the room and she had no idea of how in the green Earth she missed the back door of the house standing just a few feet in front of it. She ran outside and paused a moment to think.

If I were Hiccup, where would I go and what would I do?

Thirteen seconds later she was running headed straight to the woods as if her life depended on it.

Try to find the Night Fury.