A/N: And here is the next chapter. This one is a bit more mellow because after the last one, I think the story needed a little breathing room. So here's a story about Hiccup needing a little breathing room! Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Opportunities

"-and then they both disappeared into the clouds, we could only see the shadows! It was extraordinary!"

Hiccup choked into his drink as Gobber slapped him on the back. He appreciated the man bragging about his fight with the Red Death, but did he have to be so physical about it? If Gobber kept this up he wasn't going to survive until the end of this intertribal meeting.

It was the first time all the tribes had gotten together since the peace with the dragons, and the Hooligans were taking advantage of it to extol the heroics of 'The Dragon Conqueror'.

"Then at the last minute, he lit the Beast's gas before it even had a chance to fire. It was a fiendishly clever plan, isn't that right Hiccup?" Gobber boomed.

"Yeah, it sure was," Hiccup managed weakly.

Gobber went on finishing the story as Hiccup just listened, glad that at least he didn't have to be the one to recount it. Again.

After the fourth or fifth time telling the story, it had gotten a little old. By the eighth, he was completely sick of it and had no qualms about passing that particular honor on to someone else. Fortunately, Gobber had stepped up. Unfortunately, as the person of the hour, he still had to be present for each retelling.

The other Vikings began congratulating him at the end of Gobber's story, and Hiccup found himself forcing a smile onto his face. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate all the attention. In fact, it was a pleasant change of pace being able to talk to all these people as equals instead of the screw up he had previously been seen as.

It was fun.

For the first hour or so.

But by now Hiccup was ready to jump out of his skin. Every single person wanted to talk to him, and every time they did talk to him it was always the same. They'd exchange pleasantries, ask about each other's tribe, and then Hiccup would be asked about the 'Red Death Incident,' as everyone had taken to calling it. Then either he or someone else would go into the story. People would 'ooh' and 'ahh' at the exciting parts, and then when the story was over they would stick around and chat for a bit about one menial thing or another. Eventually, they would leave to go socialize with other people, but every time one group of Vikings left, another was right there waiting to takes its place.

And the process repeated itself. Over and over and over.

Sure enough, as if on cue, a group of Meatheads began to approach them, causing Hiccup to inwardly sigh. He glanced around at everyone else talking and socializing with one another and couldn't help but wonder how they all did it. Astrid had been making conversation with people all day, being pleasant and welcoming the entire time, and even at that moment she was talking to Tantrum of the Uglithugs and laughing like she was having the time of her life. Her grin was clearly not plastered on like Hiccup's faux smile.

He could practically feel every fiber of his being begging for him to make a break for it, to run out of the Great Hall and not look back, but he couldn't seem to find a good opportunity. He was the son of the chief, and now he was also the hero of his tribe. He wasn't allowed to just leave, no matter how tired he was of talking to people.

He just needed a few minutes to himself, but as the group of Meatheads drew nearer, he knew that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Hiccup closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to enjoy the very brief pause in conversation while it lasted.

"Ah! There he is, just the person we wanted to see! We hear that little Hiccup here has quite the tale about a certain dragon the size of a mountain," one of the Meatheads said jovially.

Gobber beamed, oblivious to Hiccup's discomfort and excited to tell the story again. "Oh yes, it is quite the yarn. You see-"

Hiccup tried to steel himself for what he was sure would be another long and inescapable conversation (though he used that word lightly as he had been doing less and less talking as the night went on, content to leave most of it for Gobber). He glanced to his right to see if there was anything more interesting going on around him.

A little ways away he could see his dad talking with Mogadon with an anxious expression on his face. Interest piqued, Hiccup leaned towards them a bit to try and hear what they were saying.

"-stared about ten minutes ago. We're not quite sure what's going on since no one's been down to see, but the dragons are just making strange noises. I mean it's nothing too serious to worry about, they're not being destructive or anything, but I was just about to send someone to go look into it. You know, make sure everything's okay."

Hiccup could feel his heart rate pick up. This could be the opportunity he had been waiting for. He carefully sidled out of the group while everyone was busy listening to Gobber recount the sudden appearance of Toothless at the Final exam, and headed over towards his father.

"If there's a problem with the dragons, I can check it out," Hiccup said quickly, trying to hide his excitement at the prospect of getting out of there.

Stoick started at his son's sudden appearance. "Oh, Hiccup! Um, you don't have to bother with that. It doesn't sound like a difficult problem to deal with, and I don't want to force you to leave the party. Besides, it sounds like Gobber's getting to the good part. You should probably get back over to-"

"No!" Hiccup all but shouted. "I mean, really, I don't mind. I do know the most about dragons out of everyone here, don't I? I'm prefect for this task," he said, silently pleading that his father would say yes. He needed to get out of here. Now.

Stoick regarded him for a moment before sighing. "Oh all right. Just try not to take too long. We have guests to entertain after all."

But Hiccup was already headed towards the exit. When he pushed open the door and the cool summer breeze hit his face, he could practically feel the stress and discomfort of the past few hours melt off of him. He took a deep breath and just relished the silence.

His tranquility didn't last long however, because in the distance he could hear the squawking of some dragons. Invigorated by the night air, he headed in that direction.

As he approached the group of clearly agitated dragons, he saw the problem rather quickly; in the middle of the group was a large barrel of eels.

"What the…?" he said to himself as he got closer. Everyone in the village knew to keep eels away from dragons, and none of the tribes would have any reason to have a barrel full of eels.

"I wonder how that got there," said a voice off to his left. Hiccup swirled around and came face to face with a familiar pair of blue eyes.

"Camicazi! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in the Great Hall with everyone else?" Hiccup asked, slightly relieved to finally be able to meet up with her. He had been so busy entertaining the other tribes, he hadn't had much time to spend with his best friend.

"Gift of the Bog Burglar. We're quite good at sneaking out of places," she said nonchalantly. "Now, unless I'm very much mistaken, dragons don't like eels very much, so we might want to get that barrel out of here."

Hiccup looked at her shrewdly. "You put that there, didn't you?" he asked, for the first time that night with a genuine smile.

Camicazi returned it with a smile of her own. "Well, I figured, since you're just a boy, and can't escape from crowds like I can, I would have to give you another opportunity to get out of there," she said as she began to lift the barrel.

Hiccup rushed to help her. "What makes you think I wanted to get out of there? Maybe I was having fun," he asserted. At her look, he added, "You never know, it could happen."

Camicazi rolled her eyes. "Oh please, you had a look on your face like you were experiencing extreme torment."

"Hey, I was smiling," he insisted.

"You smiled more when we were being chased by Romans through Fort Sinister. Even before you somehow managed to snag that crown, you still looked like you were having a better time than in there," she shot back.

They reached the beach and paused to dump the eels back into the ocean. "Yeah, well, I didn't have to make small talk with the Romans," Hiccup grumbled.

Camicazi wiped her forehead. "Well, your dad won't be expecting you back for a little while, thanks to my brilliant plan-"

"That's stretching it a bit."

"-so, what do you want to do?" she asked. As she gestured down the beach a ways, Hiccup could see their dragons, Toothless and Evan, waiting for them. "We've got dragons and time to kill. So what will it be?"

Hiccup closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Honestly, Camicazi, I just want some peace and quiet for a little bit."

Camicazi just nodded. "Okay, I can do that," and with that she suddenly let out a shrill whistle and their dragons started trotting down the beach towards them.

"Oh yeah, you're off to a rousing start of being quiet," Hiccup deadpanned.

"Oh hush you," she said as their dragons came to a halt beside them. Camicazi simply sat down and leaned against Evan's side. "Well?" she said, gesturing to Toothless, who was in a similar position.

Hiccup followed suit and leaned against his own dragon. For a few moments, both of them just stared out toward the ocean, listening to the waves lap against the shore.

"Camicazi?"

"Yeah?"

"…Thank you."