Hiccup guided them through a quick lesson as they flew, and before they knew it they were touching down beyond a small rise just out of sight of the village.
"I can do this... I can... I don't want to do this..." Hiccup chanted miserably to himself. He sounded like he was whimpering to the others, but they didn't need him to translate his words for them to understand his meaning.
"Calm down, Hiccup, it's not like you have to do this alone." Astrid said confidently, leaning over to punch his shoulder.
He stared at her as he rubbed his arm. "Astrid, have you... Ever had the entire village... Laugh at you? It's not fun."
"Of course she hasn't!" Snotlout snorted. "She came out of training with the highest score! People respect her."
"Snotlout, shut up." Astrid glared at him. "Let's get this over with."
Hiccup took a deep breath as he pulled the hood of his cloak over his head. "Let's move," He said, urging the dragons forward.
Stoick and Gobber walked behind the dragons.
"He's grown so much..." Stoick said wistfully.
"Yes, he 'as. Ye should see the place he's been livin', these past three years. Built 'imself a cozy little cabin." Gobber told him.
"He did?" Stoick wasn't sure whether to be pleased with the boy's accomplishment, or saddened because his son had grown up without him.
"Aye, an' he camoflauged it so well I couldn' see it till 'e went inside."
Stoick sighed. "He's going to want to go back there when this is over, isn't he?"
Gobber nodded. "Lad was fairly against leavin' in th' first place."
There wasn't much more room for talk, because then they reached the crest of a hill and the village came into sight.
Hiccup whimpered, fighting the urge to tell Toothless to turn around and take off into the sky. He really didn't want to do this. He was really, very, very, extra sure that nothing good would come of this.
The alarm signaling dragon raids went off and then there was a horde of Viking warriors running towards them. The dragons and their riders stood their ground and the Vikings slowed to a halt about ten feet away, gawking.
They stood there, staring at each other until a shieldmaiden pushed her way to the front and spotted her daughter sitting on a Deadly Nadder.
"Astrid Hofferson, WHAT do you think you're doing? Get off that dragon RIGHT NOW!" shouted Ingrid Hofferson. Her command was soon shadowed by the orders of the other teens' parents.
"No, mum, I won't. Stormfly is my dragon, and I won't let you hurt her." Astrid replied calmly. Ingrid had by then spotted the Chief standing behind the dragons.
"Stoick! What is this madness, what's going on?" She shouted, hefting her battle axe.
The Nadder squawked nervously at the weapon, opening her wings halfway in an attempt to appear larger than she was.
"Drop your weapons." Stoick ordered. "It's safe, don't worry. I'll explain everything in the Great Hall." Muttering nervously, but trusting their Chief, the warriors did as they were told, and dropped their blades before trudging to the Great Hall.
Everybody was intensely curious as to who could be sitting on the black dragon that could be nothing less than a Night Fury, but no one would hazard a guess. Nobody had a cloak like that.
The dragons were the last to enter the Hall, and Stoick closed the great doors behind them.
"Alright, well... I guess I have some explaining t' do." He announced. There was silence as everyone waited for him to continue. "As you all know, my son was carried off by a dragon three years ago." The warriors nodded, wondering what that could possibly have to do with the huge creatures the teens were riding. "The dragon... did not kill him." Stoick continued slowly, smiling gratefully. "My son is alive."
Apart from a few exclamations of surprise, there was a shocked silence. "How do you know?" Someone called.
"Gobber recently took the teens on a fishing trip to the nearby island of Villany, where my son was found in a hidden grotto of his own making." The Chief explained. "This will come as a shock to you, but Hiccup wasn't taken against his will. He shot down a Night Fury three years ago, befriended it, and ran away from Berk."
Everyone began talking loudly, trying to make themselves heard by the Chief, and shouting questions in all directions. "Where's Hiccup now?" "How did he survive?" "What does that have to do with these dragons?!"
Hiccup was one of the few who noticed the dragon's agitation with the sudden noise. Without thinking, he yelled as loud as he could in Dragonese. "STOP!" It came out as a roar, and effectively silenced the Vikings.
Stoick nodded in thanks. "Now, some of you are wondering how my son survived for three years by himself. I'll let him tell that story, if he wants to. Hiccup?" He motioned for his son to come forward.
Hiccup took a deep breath and slid off of Toothless. As he walked over to his father, he pushed his hood back to reveal his warm green eyes and familiar copper hair. It was very unnerving to have all eyes on him, especially after spending so long with only a dragon for company.
"Um... Hi?" He said. "What my Dad said... It's, um, true. I... Shot Toothless down with my... Bola cannon, in a raid. I, um, tried to... Tell you all, but... You just laughed at me. So I went into the trees alone to... Kill, the Night Fury." Hiccup smiled and glanced at his dragon. "Instead, I made a... Friend."
The hall was silent until someone burst out in cackling laughter. It was, of course, Mildew the Unpleasant.
Hiccup fidgeted uncomfortably, glaring at the floor for a moment, then he started growling under his breath. Mildew's laughter died as he wheezed for breath. "You expect me to believe this is your scrawny son, Stoick?" He pointed at Hiccup with his gnarled staff. "Returned from the dead, eh? Look at him! Can't even speak proper Norse! Face it, Stoick. Your precious son is dead."
Stoick glared at Mildew, daring him to say more. When he didn't, he opened his mouth to speak, but Hiccup beat him to it. "You just gestured to... All of me, Mildew... I'm... Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the... Um, the..." He had to stop to think for a moment, then he brightened, having remembered. "The third... I am Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. My father is Stoick the Vast, and my mom was Val- Valhallarama." He grinned at his father, who was smiling proudly back. "I may not remember how to speak Norse much, but... I can speak... Dragonese."
"Prove it, Hiccup." Mildew spat.
Hiccup glared at him for a moment, before turning to Toothless, grinning deviously. "Toothless, I really don't think anyone would mind if you drooled on that horrible smelly man with the staff..."
"Good, 'cuz I really wanted to do that," Toothless smirked. The crowd parted nervously to let him past as he trotted over to Mildew. He stood over the cowering old man, staring him down, then very deliberately spat on his chest, making sure to show off his teeth, before traipsing regally back to his rider.
Hiccup grinned cheekily in response to his father's raised eyebrow. "Good boy, Toothless! Here, you get a scratch for that." Toothless immediately went from wary beast to eager puppy as he leaned into his rider's ministrations.
Mildew didn't have anything to say after that.
"Toothless, he taught me to speak Dragonese. After I ran away. And... I helped him fly again. When I shot him down, he lost a... Tailfin." Hiccup explained. "I ran away... Because I was sure that... Nobody would miss me. And... Then Astrid came and found my home. She almost killed Toothless. But I guess that's fair... I almost shot her with my bow for it." He grinned at her. "And then..."
"I thought you were dead, Hiccup! I thought he killed you, that's the only reason I fainted. People don't usually come back from the dead." Astrid defended herself, blushing slightly.
Ingrid took one look at her daughter's face and realization dawned on her. She shared a look with the Chief and he nodded slightly.
The lovestruck teens were oblivious to their parents' plans, however. "Sure, Astrid." Hiccup said, rolling his eyes. "Anyway," He turned back to the warriors, "They convinced me to come here, because... I found the, um... Nest."
For the second time that day, the Mead Hall erupted in chaos. Hiccup visibly flinched this time as some of the Vikings began crowding him, asking questions.
Then the teens were there with their dragons, holding the crowd back, and he relaxed a bit. Stoick called for silence. "Now, I know the first thing we want to do is go rushing off to take the nest," There was a murmur of agreement. Nobody wanted the raids to continue. "But, my son claims there is a dragon there the size of a mountain."
"Then why haven't we ever seen this monster?" Someone shouted.
"It doesn't raid the village." Hiccup answered quickly. "The... Red Death forces all the smaller dragons to feed it... Or be swallowed whole."
