A/N: Hey, everyone. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I really hope it formats properly, because it was written entirely on my phone.
"Quiet!" Stoick shouted over the cacophony of Viking warriors. He turned on Astrid, demanding. "How d'yeh know that?"
"I-" Astrid hesitated, wondering if she should tell them.
"I've been to the nest! I told her! Leave her alone!" Hiccup yelled from above.
Several Vikings fired upwards again, and by Hiccup's cry of pain, they hadn't missed this time.
"Hiccup!" Astrid screamed, struggling harder against Silent Sven's arms. "Stormfly, help!"
"I'm- I'm okay," Hiccup said a moment later, his voice pained. Astrid nearly cried in relief.
"Reload," Stoick commanded roughly. "Tell us how t' find the nest!" He shouted.
"Why on Midgard would I do that?!" Hiccup replied, sounding baffled.
"If yeh don't, we'll shoot you an' your dragon out o' the sky and execute you as a criminal!" Stoick threatened.
"No need to resort to drastic measures!" Hiccup called sarcastically.
"You've no right to sound like them!" Stoick roared. He looked around wildly for something he could hold against the dragon rider, and his eyes fell on Astrid.
Astrid gasped as she was pulled roughly away from Silent Sven. "I'll kill the Hofferson girl! Tell us!"
"Like I said," Hiccup said, his voice now deadly serious. "No need to resort to drastic measures."
"Well?" Stock demanded.
Hiccup sighed. "Only... Only a dragon can find the nest." He said slowly.
Stoick's eyes widened. "Of course..." He breathed.
He turned to his warriors. "Get back to the' village. Ready the ships!"
"Oh, no..." Hiccup muttered. "Stop it, you don't know what's in there!"
Astrid's head snapped up as she heard a familiar squawk and her dragon landed on the edge of the clearing. "Stormfly... Stormfly, go!"
Her Nadder squawked again, this time in alarm as Vikings charged at her, some with nets and others with weapons.
"No!" Astrid cried as Stormfly fell, straining against the nets that held her wings against her.
Toothless dove toward them in an attempt to rescue either Stormfly or Astrid, but was forced to retreat as the crossbows were fired again.
"Stop!" Hiccup shouted. "Please, you don't know what you're up against here! It's like nothing you've ever seen, I swear!"
"Leave, spawn of Loki!" Stock yelled, throwing his warhammer in Toothless's direction.
"Missed!" Hiccup called a moment later for Astrid's benefit. "Don't go, please, dad I swear you can't win this-!"
"SHUT UP!" Stoick bellowed. Everyone froze, watching the enraged Chief. "You're not my son. My son is dead, and you-" He gestured vaguely upwards. "You're not my Hiccup!"
The dragon rider was silent for a long moment. Then, just loud enough to be heard, he muttered, "You just gestured to all of me."
Several Vikings gasped, and Stoick growled. "You're not him," He repeated.
"Fine," Hiccup said. "Don't believe me. I didn't want you to know anyway." There was a rush of air as Toothless flapped his wings, quickly accelerating out of sight.
Astrid cried as they dragged her and Stormfly back to the village. Both of them were tossed into the Dragon Arena for the night. Neither slept.
Her parents stared at her as she was led down to the docks, hands tied behind her with rough rope.
The other teens watched, solemn in the knowledge that they were only free because they hadn't been ratted on... Yet. Tuffnut, now sober, mouthed a 'sorry' to Astrid, wincing as she glared at him.
Gobber sighed as he watched the exchange, then gestured for the teens to board the ship as well.
"Why did yeh do it?" Stock asked, staring at Stormfly, who was now chained to the deck of their biggest ship.
Astrid held her chin up proudly. "I did it because we were wrong about dragons. Hiccup was right and you're a fool not to listen to him."
Stoick's face darkened. "That thing isn't Hiccup."
"Does it matter?" Astrid asked. "He's still right. Dragons, when not threatened or controlled, are amazing, gentle creatures."
"That's not true," Stoick said in a low voice.
Astrid shook her head. "I've seen it. He's right."
"How dare you," Stoick growled. "They attack my village, they steal our food, they took my family-!"
"Hiccup ran away, Stoick," Astrid snarled. "We drove him away!"
Stoick ignored her. "Set sail! ...For Helheim's Gate."
"You can't hide from the truth forever," Astrid said evenly. "Hiccup is alive and you've lost your last chance to convince him to come home."
"Astrid, stop!" Her father burst, eyes sad. "Just... Don't make this worse than it is."
Astrid turned to look at him, swallowing. "I didn't do this. It was you. All of you."
"We raised you to be a proud Viking shieldmaiden!" Ingrid Hofferson scolded from beside her husband. "What changed?"
"Only my perspective," Astrid replied honestly.
"Dragons off the port!" Someone shouted. Astrid's eyes widened as she turned with everyone else.
The dark blur sending up spray as it sped toward them could only be Toothless.
Astrid grinned. "Hiccup!" She glanced at the other teens, raising her eyebrows in a silent question.
Snotlout was the first to nod, followed by Fishlegs and then the twins. "I agree with Astrid!" Snotlout shouted. The others threw in their agreement loudly.
The Vikings began muttering and yelling as the teens made their way to Astrid's side.
Toothless landed lightly on the deck, the Vikings backing away as much as they could. "Stop!" Hiccup cried, dismounting and moving, -nearly falling as he did- in between the teens and his father. "Stop. You can't do this! You can't go to the nest!"
Stoick tightened his grip on his battleaxe. "Leave, devil."
Hiccup did no such thing. "Dad, please. You'll die! All of you will die!"
"Stop pretending to be him!" Stoick yelled.
"I am Hiccup!" The dragon rider shouted back. "The gods know you don't believe me, but I am Hiccup!"
"Prove it," Stoick snarled.
Hiccup stared at him. "Okay. How do I do that?'
"If you're my son, you'll kill that beast!" Stoick pointed at Toothless.
Hiccup laughed. "No. I told you, I can't kill dragons."
Stoick's eyes widened slightly. "No. My son died trying to kill it!"
Hiccup kept talking. "You said I would. I didn't. I was very extra sure that I wouldn't. I was right."
"Stop it..." Stoick swallowed. "Stop it!"
"You told me to train hard, that you'd be back... Probably."
"I said that... How d'you know I said that?"
"I told you I'd be there, maybe." Hiccup finished softly. "But I wasn't, of course. I'm Hiccup."
Stoick took a step forward, examining his son's face. "...Hiccup?" He asked thickly, seeing his sons eyes, the scar he'd earned the night Valka had died, his freckles.
Hiccup nodded. "Dad..."
A/N: So my hand slipped. :D I did not intend for Stoick to believe him yet, but they're writing themselves and it happened.
The reason I wrote this on my phone would be that dad took my computer away two days ago, and I haven't yet got it back. So, yeah... I would love to avoid writing on my phone again. :D