"What was it?" Fishlegs asked. "Given it came from the sea it must have been a Tidal class dragon. So, which one? Scauldron? Tide Glider? Sand Wraith? Or even one we haven't met yet. Thunderdrum? Shockjaw?"

Hiccup watched as all the human visitors glanced at each other and then turned to him. Old Wrinkly lifted an eyebrow and now knowing who the man was, Hiccup recognized the gesture as something he did as well.

"Tidal class?" Old Wrinkly asked. "That man who requested my help with a project that would keep his people safe actually went through with his classification of the dragons?"

"Ye met Bork da Bold?" Gobber asked.

Old Wrinkly's gaze shifted to the blacksmith. "He gave me the name of Bork the Very, Very Unfortunate."

"Aye, dat be his name 'fore he made da Book of Dragons. Well, da old one. He earn da title Bold 'fter dat."

"I see," Old Wrinkly said. "Either way, yes, I met this man. He showed me this book he was creating too. I laughed at his repeatedly saying the dragons were extremely dangerous and warned him that killing them on sight would result in worse retaliation. He thought me daft but still used a stonemason from my nest to build his shelters."

"Shelters?" Gobber asked. "I no nothin' 'bout dem and I be his descendant."

Hiccup, because he was watching, saw the minute widening of Kaja's eyes. He frowned wondering what could startle her about Gobber's bloodline.

"Your ancestor feared the dragons," Old Wrinkly said. "He feared the raids." Old Wrinkly sighed. "We had already tried to aid this place with those raids and were turned away with a threat of death. When Bork crashed upon my island, I must admit I jumped at the chance to aid him."

"Aid'm wiv wot?" Gobber asked.

"He wished to borrow my stonemason as, at the time, she was wildly known as the best of her trade. Bork wanted to create several underground shelters so his tribe, and any others who wanted to, could hide in them while the raids were going on."

"Bork wish us ta hide?" Gobber asked. "He be knowin' no Vikin' worth 'is hammer would hide while a battle be goin' on."

Old Wrinkly shrugged. "Fear makes people do things they would normally not do," he said softly. "I suspect he remembered who he was trying to entice to willingly hide, or his fear lessened. As soon as the last shelter was finished, he paid my stonemason and returned here. We don't know what happened to him, but those shelters are still on the islands he placed them."

"He presented da old Book of Dragons ta da chief at da time," Gobber said. "Earned 'imself da title the Bold then and all dat happen 'fore be forgotten by da tribe."

"What happened before that the tribe forgot?" Kaja asked, her eyes narrowed.

Stoick sighed. "Ye nare need to point that out, lass," he said. "I, and all on the Council, realized wot happened 'n how we did the same as them."

"Dad?" Hiccup asked.

Stoick rubbed his forehead. "Bork be somewhat like ye, son. He got the blame fer many disasters 'fore he made that book and we Hooligans learned how to fight the raiding dragons."

"And so, he did something for the tribe and they stopped treating him poorly," Astrid said, and her tone was ice.

Hiccup spun in his seat. He reached out, cupping her cheek and not caring who was watching. Normally he and Astrid kept most of their relationship private. Well as private as they could when anywhere from four to six dragons stood watching them at all times. Still, right then, it did not matter that his father, his mentor, and many of his friends were watching. He did not care that the original Dragon Rider and three who followed Old Wrinkly's path sat across the table and could see. Hiccup learned over and gently caressed Astrid's lips with his own.

He knew why she was getting mad. The tribe had poorly treated another who was different than they and did not learn from their actions since they did the same thing with Hiccup. While Hiccup loved that she defended him and spoke out against anyone trying to belittle or harm him, he did not want her mad and upset. She should never be anything other than happy.

"Ugh," Snotlout groused. "Can we just let them finish talking so Hookie and I can go flying before Wingblaze needs him to watch the fledglings?"

Hiccup sat back, resisting the urge to glare at his cousin. The teen was right. Their visitors deserved being allowed to finish their tale. He faced Old Wrinkly, though he kept Astrid's hand firmly in his own. He would give them the attention they deserved, even if he wanted to continue kissing Astrid. The desire to kiss her, touch her, hold her, was getting extremely stronger as the days wore on. The want to have her in his arms every night as he fell asleep and every morning as he awoke loudly screaming at him since the severe weather kept them indoors, sometimes for several weeks at a time, as winter reigned.

Old Wrinkly chuckled, even as Yngvarr and Brynja rolled their eyes. Kaja was grinning. Hiccup lifted an eyebrow as Old Wrinkly, gaze firmly upon Hiccup, drew Kaja's hand to his lips and pressed a kiss against her knuckles. Hiccup grinned and tipped his head. His ancestor understood what he was doing even if Snotlout voiced his complaints about it.

Kaja snorted but continued her part of the tale.

If someone asked her how she believed her day would have gone when she awoke, Kaja would not have said in a boat being pulled along by a pod of sixteen water dragons Elder Haddock called Sliquifiers. She would have not said, rushing off to find a childhood friend who needed her with little to no knowledge of why or the extent of trouble he was in.

Elder Haddock had not even said how he knew his grandson was in need of aid even though Kaja knew the man had approached her great aunt. Her teacher had been calmly shuffling around the hut, checking the inventory of her healing supplies, when the knock on the door came.

"We be here."

Kaja lifted her gaze, finding an island much bigger than the one she lived upon. While she knew most would stare at the island itself, her focus landed on the dragons arrayed along the shore the Sliquifiers were heading for. Kaja felt a cold sense of dread wash over her. She had never seen one, but the legends gave detailed descriptions of Night Furies. Her mother often used the dragons as a means to quell her and her siblings' antics. If they did not behave, if they did not come inside when called, if they did not do as Mother wished, a Night Fury would swoop down and carry them off. It seemed one or more had carried Hiccup off. Kaja felt the dread turn to anger. How dare they harm her friend?

"Ease yourself."

Kaja shifted her glare to Elder Haddock then flinched, remembering the man was a magic user who did not care that his tribe, for the most part, feared and was disgusted by his very existence. Hiccup's grandfather just smiled and patted her arm.

"Things are not as they appear, lass. Come, we are expected and welcomed though I have a feeling convincing one amongst them that we are here to aid will prove interesting."

Kaja could only blinked and follow Elder Haddock ashore. She froze when one of the sleek, black-scaled dragons growled at Elder Haddock and the man responded as if it was a greeting.

"Yes, old friend. Thank you. She is with me. She is his intended. Now, let's go see if your son will allow us to tend to him."

The dragon actually lowered and raised its head as if it understood before all turned and headed into a cave Kaja only now noticed. Elder Haddock looked back towards the water.

"Thank you, my friends. Come along, Kaja. Young Hiccup awaits us."