Chapter Ten: Back to Surprise

Something seemed to be driving the Vikings to want to go home as soon as possible as they got on the ship. Hiccup didn't even have the time to assume his position on the deck before the ship was pushed off and the Vikings started rowing out to sea. Hiccup didn't even give the order for them to man the oars, they had a good wind blowing their sails and Whoshadow was flying around, giving them a good blast of wind on occasion.

"Dad, why are they even rowing? I didn't give the order." Hiccup asked Stoick.

"I think that they found their stay in Claudette's homeland a bit too awkward for them." Stoick replied. He wasn't wrong.

Hiccup had been gone for over a week now, and the egg still hadn't hatched yet. For the moment, Sapphire was watching over it as Toothless was running more drills with the humans, and Shadowrath and Cloudjumper were running drills with the dragons.

As Toothless looked to the sky, he felt a pair of phantom wings and a phantom tail preparing to take flight. He'd been in this human body for too long for his liking, and he longed for a flight. Sapphire and Shadowrath offered him their backs when he needed them, but it just wasn't the same as flying by his own wings.

I could turn back into a dragon now. The villagers know the routine by heart now… No, I promised Hiccup that I'd act as their Chief. He can't be gone for that much longer.Toothless thought. The villagers' schedules were now planned with military precision, and there has been no need for Toothless to throw any of them in a holding cell for Hiccup to sentence them. In fact, some of the villagers have told him directly that he was doing a fine job as a substitute for Hiccup. If only they knew how much he actually missed his real body.

Toothless examined the icy fortifications Aric and Brünhild had been working on. There were now two walls bordering Berk. They had bridges for the Vikings to use to travel from the land to the inner wall and then the outer wall. They held a complex network of tunnels for the dragons to fly through, so complex that the dragons and villagers had been ordered to familiarize themselves with them so they could get inside, lose a pursuing dragon, and escape with the pursuing dragon stuck inside. Hiccup and the others would have to do the same once they return and have a day of rest.

"Toothless, mother wants to know if you'll have dinner with us." Gustav said.

"Please tell your mother that I appreciate the offer, but I'd rather have the night to myself, please." He replied. Gustav's mother was a nice enough woman, but out of the families he had a meal with, Gustav's mother wasn't his favorite cook on the island. Besides, he received a word from a Terrible Terror that Hiccup was making his return trip and should be back at around sunset.

Toothless observed the Vikings training for combat and the drills taking place in the air for several hours, barking out criticisms where they were needed. He kept it up for several hours before he heard a voice on the wind. It was harder for him to hear with his human ears, but Midnightfire picked it up right away, and she was walking right next to her.

"Daddy, did you hear that? It sounded like another Night Fury, but it wasn't Momma or Shadowrath." Midnightfire told him.

"Hiccup can mimic our calls." Toothless stated. He sent Midnightfire out to see if it was really Hiccup when they heard the call again. He stayed where he was, and within hardly any time, Midnightfire brought back the word and Toothless headed for the docks to welcome the incoming ship. He waited at the top of them so he could keep the villagers from crowding the docks below. He could barely contain his excitement.

The ship docked, the people got off, and Toothless spotted Hiccup. Toothless faced the village and shouted: "THE CHIEF HAS RETURNED!" The other villagers stopped what they were doing and gathered by Toothless to await their Chief and those who've left with him.

The moment Hiccup locked eyes with Toothless, he found himself in a tight embrace with the dragon-turned-human. Hiccup laughed as much as he could in the constrictor-like hug, and then asked Toothless: "Did you miss me, Bud?"

"Of course, but your arrival means that I can get out of this body and into the skies!" He replied.

"You missed your wings more than me?" Hiccup questioned.

"Riding on my mate's back isn't the same as flying on my own."

"Well, from the looks of it, you did a good job of taking care of the village." Hiccup stated, by now the villagers were beginning to disperse.

"Yes, they told me that I filled your boot nicely. I worked them into a training routine, and they've behaved themselves. So how was the wedding?"

"Well, Toothless, we had a good time, but we figured that the extravagance of it may've been lost on you. Although Whoshadow seemed to have a good time." Astrid replied. Then she asked: "How's the egg?"

Before Toothless could answer, they all heard a screaming call from Sapphire. Toothless' eyes went wide as he exclaimed to them: "IT'S THE EGG!" He, Hiccup, Astrid, their parents, and the newlyweds all ran for the Haddock house where they found the egg.

The embryo had developed significantly while Hiccup and Astrid were away. Speaking of the parents, they weren't too sure if they should get closer to the egg or stay back. Even Valka, who lived among dragons for twenty years wasn't sure of what was the best distance, so instead she went to pick up the first blanket she found for swaddling the baby. It turned out that the blanket she grabbed was the gift from Claudette.

A small crack showed through the soft shell, Hiccup and Astrid unconsciously took a half step towards the egg, and another crack appeared in the shell. Within a few tense moments, the shell suddenly burst with a thin plume of smoke escaping it; and the eggshell didn't exactly shatter, but it actually looked more like a closed flower bloomed within a split second. That didn't matter though, what did matter was that Hiccup and Astrid's baby had hatched.

As Valka bent down and swaddled her new grandchild, she declared: "It's a girl!"

"A girl." Hiccup said faintly. Valka smiled and nodded as she handed the child over to Astrid's outstretched arms. The child was adorable, but she had yet to open her eyes. So far the only draconic features the girl had were a series of colorless Stormcutter scales that circled her neck just like a necklace. Hiccup hoped that it would get some color as she got older; he figured that it would look nicer if the scales did.

"Wow." Hiccup whispered in the same awe as he had when he first met Aric.

"What should we name her?" Astrid asked. She took a seat on their guest cot.

"Could go with 'Hicca' after her daddy." Mr. Hofferson stated.

"You wanted to name me 'Camicazi', you have no voice in this!" Astrid snapped.

"Besides, she's no hiccup like I was." Hiccup added.

"You could name her 'Stormscales' since she has the scales of a Stormcutter." Valka suggested. Hiccup really couldn't blame her for trying; the name was better than his own.

"Anora." Toothless said, his face said that his thoughts were somewhere else, and his voice was distant.

"What was that, Toothless?" Astrid asked.

"Anora… It was my mother's name, and I always found it beautiful." He replied.

"It is a nice name. What do you think of 'Anora' as a name, Astrid?" Hiccup said. As he repeated the name, the baby cracked a smile.

"I think that the baby wants it. Anora Storm Haddock it is then." She replied. A moment later, Anora opened her eyes.

"Hiccup, look at her eyes!" Astrid exclaimed in a hushed voice.

"Wow, they're dragon eyes." He spoke. They were dragon eyes, but it was their color that Hiccup was taking note of. Anora's eyes were the perfect blend of Astrid's blue and Hiccup's vivid green, making Anora's eyes a beautiful mixture of their eye colors.

Midnightfire had gotten curious over the bundle in Astrid's arms and perched on Hiccup's shoulders to get a better look at the human hatchling, and she instantly found an unconditional love for Anora. So she pressed her snout onto Anora's forehead, making their bond

Berserker Island… Ever since Dagur had been stripped of his title, everything had taken a turn for the better. They were glad to've lost their tyrant of a Chief. Their economy had improved significantly, their farms were looking better, and no one was in fear of going into another needless battle just to satisfy the taste for blood of a deranged Chief.

If they could ask for anything now, it would be to renew their alliances. Ever since Dagur assumed the role of Chief, alliances were cut, as they didn't want to participate in Dagur's battles. They also wanted to get back on Berk's good side. They knew that while they were among the most peaceful tribes, they were still the most dangerous due to their dragons. Still, the Dragon Chief had no interest in renewing their peace treaties; however, they did establish an agreement to trade amongst each other just to keep them on good terms.

Yet, to their horror, they spotted a large grey dragon in the air. It was a Strike class monster; that much they knew, but what scared them the most was that when the massive beast landed, they found their former deranged Chief was riding it, and he had Skrills and Night Furies in his wake.

Dagur returned in demand for recruits and to return to his old position as the Berserker Chief, or he would destroy the village with one command for the Black Typhoon.

What choice did they have?

Dun, dun, duuuunnnn!

So what did you guys think of this chapter? Also, what do you guys think of the Black Typhoon's picture?