Chapter 20

Hi everybody ! Next chapter is earlier, but I must I was writing the previous one along with this one as well.

Now, I know I said I would explain why the rogue family came to Berk in this chapter, but it would have made it way too long, so I decided to keep that for later. But I didn't forgot.

Thanks to everyone who reviews, it's always good to know what people think of the story, and constructive reviews are always appreciated! Enjoy!

A few days passed after the attack, a few days during which the five riders had some rest, but still took time to take care of their dragons and started to teach other villagers about them. Spitelout in particular was pushing his son to do as much as possible, for rest was for the weak. The dragons would stay in barns, resting, and it wasn't such a bad thing as it would give the villagers time to get used to the idea of living with dragons.

One thing that enthusiasmed the riders was that some Hooligans actually showed an interest in trying to tame some. They visited Hiccup a lot, watching over him and helping Gothi to take care of him. The boy hardly woke up during that time, only long enough to eat or drink and would hardly remember afterward. It would seem like a dream each time.

Astrid hadn't forgotten her conversation with Snotlout, he didn't have the time to tell her the truth when they spoke and she still wanted to know. She was pretty sure now that he didn't want Hiccup dead, he had saved him after all and his fear for him had been genuine. Yet there had still been something off with him. However, she didn't take time to continue their conversation, she had a lot to think about: reconnecting with her parents, healing Stormfly, watching over Hiccup and answering questions from the villagers. Some were still hostile toward her, but a lot of them showed themselves more comprehensive.

Quite surprisingly, Stoick was helping them a lot, making sure that Hiccup was taken care of, that nobody would try to attack him, he would also make sure the teens and their dragons weren't being harassed or hurt by villagers.

Those few days were long and fast at the same time. When Hiccup regained consciousness, none of the riders were here, Gothi had told them to go home. The shaman went to Hiccup as soon as she saw his eyes fluttering. She put a hand on his forehead and rubbed it gently. At first, when he saw the old woman above him, the boy tried to back away, but the shaman put another hand on his chest and spoke softly to him:

"Shh...Calm down, calm down. I'm here to heal you...How are you feeling, boy?"

"N...Not very well."

"Stay where you are, I'll check up your wound. Are you thirsty?"

He only nodded and drank greedily when she gave him water. She took care of his wounds gently, Hiccup freaked out a little at first when he saw the stitches on his belly. Gothi simply explained that it was only to heal him. When he was calmed down, she left him to search for more medicinal herbs. Hiccup was compliant all the time but he was feeling quite uneasy here. Sure that place wasn't as bad as the jail, and it reminded him of Millie's hut, yet it didn't mean he wanted to stay in a foreign house for long. He eventually got on his feet, slowly and carefully.

He took a shy step outside, but stopped as he saw two men sitting and talking together near the entrance. One had a bucket over his head. They hadn't seen him, he was about to get back inside when a sound attracted his attention: Toothless cooing at him. He saw his brother coming toward him and the young boy felt in security with him around. The two men noticed him and looked at the boy while he was petting his dragon.

"Hum...Are you feeling better, boy?" Asked the man with the bucket.

He was surprised to hear them speak to him and he recognized the man: he had bitten him when he was imprisoned. He would probably want his revenge, yet the man had a soft gaze.

"Yes."

"Your dragon wouldn't go anywhere," the other man said.

"It's my brother."

"Oh, I see."

"Are you hungry?" Asked the tall man with a bucket.

"Yes..."

"Okay, I'll get you something. Astrid told me you didn't like cooked things."

"Astrid came here?"

It felt like he had dreamed of her coming. Maybe it wasn't dreams.

"Oh yes, she was watching over you. Her mother eventually insisted that she had to go home..."

"What are you talking about?" Asked someone.

They all turned their heads to see Astrid's mother coming toward them. Mulch explained her shortly and Olga went to Hiccup, though she stayed at a safe distance from him because of Toothless.

"I still didn't thank you for saving my daughter. I would have never forgave myself if my daughter had been raped. I'll always be grateful to you."

"So you're her mother?"

She nodded in response. He could see now some resemblance between the two of them. She sat with Mulch and Bucket and Hicup stayed with Toothless, sitting against his brother's flank, stroking his head. His brother told him that their mother was better, but she preferred to stay in the forest nearby.

"Stoick also came once to check up on you. Beware, he is still upset to know that they named you like his son," Mulch warned him.

"I noticed. Why?"

"Loosing his son was incredibly painful for him," Olga explained. "His baby was taken by a Night Fury."

"I know, he told me. But it's only a name. Is it really that bad for him? If dragons had to be always so sad every children you kill from them, they would never be over."

"Dragons don't mourn maybe, but humans does, I know you were raised by dragons, but some took babies," Mulch replied.

"You're really like every human. I don't hate you, but you're often arrogant. Are you sad when you kill a baby sheep or yack? No, because they are not humans, but they are still cubs, and their mother are sad when you kill one. You can't hear them, but I can. Why should dragons think of humans as better? To us, you're just other animals, with strange homes and strange ways. You think you are better, but we don't think that."

They were all stunned to hear such a discourse. They never thought of what animals could think, to them, human's life was more precious, but they realized that other species had no reasons to think as such. Indeed, why should a dragon have more consideration for a human than a yack? Olga spoke:

"Alright, it's true that dragons have no reason to respect us more than animals. But we can't let them burn our house and take our children..."

"Yes, I know. We all kill to survive, I don't hate you for that. But don't hate us because we do the thing you do."

This left a silence again until Bucket stood up:

"Okay, I'm getting you food. Fish is okay?"

Hiccup nodded thankfully and smiled. Suddenly, he felt pain on the back of his head as something hit him.

"Ouch!"

He saw Gothi behind him with an annoyed look. Toothless tensed at first but relaxed when he saw this was the woman who took care of Hiccup all that time. She ordered him to go back in bed immediately, and Hiccup felt that he would have no choice in the matter. Olga chuckled and spoke to the shaman:

"You know, he could come into our home. You don't have much place in here. Bucket went to fetch some food for him, once he is done eating he can move in our house."

"Why not? Let him rest for a day more, I think he should be fine to walk tomorrow, but he can't push it too hard."

Olga nodded and went to fetch Astrid who was happy to know that her friend was awake now. When she saw Hiccup, she hugged him gently to avoid hurting him furthermore. He embraced her as well, relieved to see that she was fine. She explained him the progresses they made while he was eating and when she helped him to walk toward the Hofferson House. Toothless followed them, watched their surrounding carefully.

While they were crossing the village, all the people around turned their heads and whispered to one another when they saw the feral boy walking with his dragon, Astrid, Mulch, Bucket and Gothi. Hiccup entered Astrid's house with curiosity, wondering in what kind of place she lived. It was bigger than Gothi's hut but not that different from it. Egil wasn't home right now, but Olga greeted Hiccup warmly.

"Come, you'll sleep in Astrid's room. My husband and I prepared you a bed."

"Where is your husband?"

"Outside, hunting. However, I can't have your dragon inside."

Hiccup explained Toothless he couldn't come in, so the dragon simply went on the roof while the humans entered the house. In normal times, she wouldn't have allowed a boy she barely knew to sleep in her daughter's room like that, but Astrid assured her they slept at each other's side many times and that he never tried anything. She let her daughter show him her room.

"Here it is," Astrid told him, "we'll be fine here."

"Thanks...I'm happy to be with you again."

"Me too...I was really worried for you."

They both smiled at each other, and felt once more the same emotion they felt when they ran together in the green meadow. Hiccup lowered his head, blushing a little before speaking again:

"They did those stranges things to me, they call it stitches."

"It's normal, don't worry. I got some too."

She showed him her own stitches, though she hadn't been wounded as badly, some gashes had been quite bad. Hiccup didn't touch those but rubbed his head against her temple, and maybe it was because she was used to it, but Astrid found this quite comforting.

"How are the others?" Asked he.

"They're okay, they are taking care of their dragons. One thing we still don't understand is why they attacked us suddenly."

"I don't know, we should ask mother, she is in the forest."

"Not for now, you still need to rest. And I think the others will want to see you."

Indeed, the other teens soon heard of him getting better and all went to visit him, each telling them different things about how the days went by while he was recovering. Hiccup listened to them all and asked some questions as well. Though he was really happy to see them and to know they were fine, he was still glad when he and Astrid were finally left alone and could enjoy some times together again. Astrid took the time to explain him some things about how the village worked, only simple things, to avoid overwhelming him.

The next day, Fishlegs came to the Hoffersons' house. He was pretty impatient to show Hiccup the village, he promised himself he would do that along with Astrid. Hiccup couldn't see Toothless anywhere, he was probably gone fishing or hunting, or maybe he went to check on their mother. He followed the two and though he was uneasy because of every people looking at him, he was reassured by his friend's presence. Also, people were looking at him but they weren't trying to hurt him. How strange it felt to be in a human village in plain day, with no fight...Astrid showed him the Great Hall and explained him everything they would do in there. They also showed him the well and the seamstress's shop.

"We will have to make you another shirt by the way, yours is really worn out," Astrid pointed out.

"Why not?"

"Hey, the bakery is close by, I need to go there," Fishlegs stated.

"Bakery?"

"Yeah, we'll explain you..."

Astrid suddenly stopped talking, she had seen Hookfang in the sky, and it reminded her of something.

"I'll let you guys go alone, I have somehting to do as well, I'll try to do this quickly."

She left them and while Hiccup wished to held her back, he knew that Astrid wasn't one to be stopped when she wanted to do something. So he and Fishlegs just ent their way as they had decided. While the two boys went at the bakery, Astrid went to find Snotlout, who was landing with Hookfang. They had taken a flight to see whether or not his dragon was fine with flying. He jumped down and started to stroke Hookfang's head before seeing Astrid walking toward him.

"Hey, you came to check on us?"

"There is a conversation we never finished," she reminded him.

"What?" Then he seemed to remember. "Oh, yeah...I'm telling you, there is nothing wrong."

"Come on Snoltout, you saved his life so I believe you when you say you don't want to hurt him, but you have been acting weird nonetheless. So what is it?"

The boy bit his lips and looked everywhere, as if he wanted to find an issue to this. He stopped petting Hookfang, instead he was rubbing his hands and neck nervously. What the hell could be so wrong with him? Maybe he did like Hiccup but was torn between his affection for his cousin and the title he coveted. Yes, that seemed like the most logical thing.

"Tell me, I won't leave until you do."

"Drop it, Astrid."

"No, I'm not. Tell me what the problem is! I know there is one!"

"No, you'll mock me!"

"I won't, I swear you. Now spill it, you perfectly know me, I won't back away. You won't be able to hide it forever, and you should really do it while I ask nicely."

He paced a little around, twitching his fingers. To be honest, she had rarely seen him like this. It was quite rare, but for once she really didn't want to hit him, he had saved Hiccup's life, he deserved gratitude for that. Eventually he sighed and turned to her.

"Fine…I'm worried that if he doesn't accept to be Stoick's son…And if people don't accept him as the next chief…Then it will really be me who will have to do it."

"Wait, but you…"

"I don't want to be chief! I said it, now I said it: I don't want to be chief!"

This stunned her, she gaped slightly, she wouldn't have expected that in a billion year: hearing Snotlout, the kid who was so arrogant and so proud of his future status, say that he didn't want it! Snotlout seemed somehow amazed as well, as if he didn't believe he finally said it.

"But you always seemed to be happy to become chief."

"I used to be, it seemed so great...but the more it goes, the more I hate it. It seems cool to be chief, but it's not, you have everyone looking at you, everyone expect everything from you! And it's so difficult, you just can't do a mistake! Some times ago Stoick and my father started to explain me how many things I'll have to do and watch for and...I realized I don't want to be Stoick's heir. I'm fine being a big warrior, going to adventure and quests and battles, but chief…I know everyone says it's an honour and my dad…My dad would kill me if he could hear me."

"That's why you pretend to be happy about it…You don't want your dad to know you have no wish to do this…"

He nodded and went on:

"I won't lie, at first, when I learned he was my cousin, I thought that he would indeed stole my title and I was scared. And I didn't know what to do. But, after that, I spent all the night thinking and I understood it was maybe a chance for me. For years I wondered if I wanted to be chief or not, and when I started to imagine someone as chief, I...I realized it felt better."

When she heard that, she realized she didn't know Snotlout at all. He was scared, he didn't want to deceive his father so he couldn't tell anyone that he was actually afraid and not willing to be the tribe's Heir. So the only way he found to try to overcome that was to act as if he was proud and all, to hide all he was really feeling. Now she remembered all the time she heard Spitelout and Snotlout talking and she realized his father was actually expecting a lot, more than the other parents. Even Maka who was softer and more comprehensive was pushing her son to be the best.

"Now mock me if you want, but don't tell my dad…"

"I won't mock you, I understand."

Now this time, it was his turn to gape at her words. She went on.

"Even if it's an honour, it's also a big charge. I don't know if I would be able to handle it either. I would be totally excited, sure, but that would be also scary, I guess."

"Really?"

His relieved face made her momentarily forget all the dislike she had for him, it seemed like an enormous weight was taken off of his shoulders. If she had been totally honest with him, she would have told him she would have been much more excited than scared to be chief, but Snotlout didn't need to hear that. Plus she was only half-lying, she would indeed be aware of all the responsabilities it implied and she would have probably be a little afraid too.

"Yeah, and don't make me say what I didn't say, I'm not scared easily, but when it comes to big responsibilities…Well my mother always said that those who weren't a little scared when it came to the well-being of their tribes are fools. I don't know if I would be a good chief either."

"Same for me! I would be okay to speak my mind in councils, but having to decide of everything and handle every problems around…That's not what I want."

"And you hope that with Hiccup back you won't have to be chief, nor to admit to your father you don't want this."

"Yes. But is it only possible?"

That's something she also asked herself: would the Hooligans accept Hiccup as their Heir? They accepted him to live in their village, it was another matter to accept him as their chief. And would Hiccup want this?

"I don't know...We would have to tell Stoick first. What will he say?"

"I hope he won't be mad," Snotlout mumbled.

Though Astrid was about to say that he woudn't get mad knowing his son was alive, she realized he would probably get mad at them for not telling him the truth. Yet it would have meant betraying Hiccup. They were definitely not out of the woods yet.

While Astrid and Snotlout were talking, Fishlegs was bringing Hiccup to the bakery, telling him how his parents almost made him the baker's apprentice before changing their mind to make him Gobber's apprentice intead. Svala, who was preparing the bread, seemed quite surprised to see the feral child enter here in spite of the new situation. Fishlegs smiled to her as if to show her there was nothing to fear at all. He also made a gesture for Hiccup to come, he could see his friend wasn't really comfortable.

The dragon-boy was smelling this strange odour. It wasn't a bad smell but it was a little smothering, and he wondered what it was for. He could see the fire in what seemed like a strange mini-house, and the warm strange things the woman would take out. He started to feel the need to get on his four but resisted, he had to behave more humanly in the village. He looked at the woman who was watching him with some wariness, yet her presence made him uneasy. He turned to Fishlegs and asked what the warm strange things were:

"What is that ?" Asked Hiccup.

"It's bread."

"Bread ?"

"Yes...You never ate any ?"

He just shook his head. He didn't remember Millie having this, or maybe once or twice, but he didn't pay attention, and anyway he wouldn't eat her human food, never. Svala huffed in surprise, though she immediately realized it was logical.

"Well, let's fix that," she tore a bit of bread before giving it to Hiccup, "here, eat this."

Hiccup looked at the piece of food and felt torn between wariness and curiosity. He took it and sniffed it.

"...Thanks."

He chewed on it slowly, it tasted strange, not bad, but strange. He never tasted anything like this! Humans had strange ideas when it came to food...Yet he had to admit this was creative.

"It's good, thank you."

"Do you know how we do it?"

He just shook his head and she and Fishlegs started to explain him. Though it still seemed weird, Hiccup was really curious to know more. He was starting to like Svala too, she was a nice woman, and she reminded him of Millie, sturdy, tall and motherly. After that, they went to the forge, where Gobber was waiting for Fishlegs. The two boys entered but Hiccup stopped moving when he saw Stoick inside. The chief had came for talk with his friend, both Gobber and he were surprised when they saw Hiccup coming along with him.

"Bringing some company, lad?" Asked Gobber

"I wanted to show him the smithy, he doesn't even really knows what it is," then he turned to Hiccup, "don't worry, you can come in."

Though he knew that Stoick was now an ally from what Astrid told him and his father, some bad memories would still make him cautious. The man looked at him and sighed:

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna beat you or anything."

"You already did."

"You were considered as an enemy back then. Things changed."

Still cautious, Hiccup took some steps in and started to look around.

"Well, I wasn't expecting the Dragons' Prince in my forge," Gobber admitted to Stoick.

"Neither did I, but there were a lot of unexpected things," his friend replied.

"What's a prince?" Asked Hiccup.

"Uh?"

"Prince. I never asked the others. You often called me like that but I don't know what it mean."

The three Hooligans were a little surprised at the question, then Gobber bursted into laughter. Hiccup tensed slightly at this and frowned.

"What? I just don't know..."

"Ah don't worry, kid, I'm not mocking you! I'm laughing at ourselves."

"Oh..."

"So you really know nothing about smithing? Well, first of all, be careful about what you touch. Fishlegs, explain him before returning to your work."

"Yes, sir!"

He took Hiccup by the arm and started to tell him about all the precaution to have in a forge while showing him every corner of it. Though it seemed a little complicated, Hiccup felt drawn to that, there was fire, warmth, yet it wasn't all closed, there were many openings. Plus, it seemed like it was possible to craft any kind of thing with everything there. In nature, even simple things could be difficult to create, here it seemed like anything was possible. Gobber and Stoick were watching the two boys:

"He is getting used to that quicker than I thought," Stoick murmured. "Maybe that boy will finally be human again just as Gothi said."

"Yeah, in the end we were right to listen to her. Mildew is gonna hate this."

"Strangely it doesn't bother me," the chief said with a smile.

It was the first smile he had in days, and Gobber was happy of that. Then, Stoick asked him something:

"Why did you laugh?"

"I don't know...We called him prince all the while and he doesn't even know what's a prince...It was really stupid if you think of it, dragons don't have any."

"Oh, you know it was just a nickname."

"Yeah, but it just shows how many illusions we can have."

That was something true, indeed. The two boys approached again, Fishlegs showing some drawings to Hiccup. He was done explaining the safety rules here, so he wanted to tell him more about his work.

"See, that's how we design things first."

"Design?"

"Yes, you can't just make an object like that, or maybe if it's a very simple one. You have to draw it first to have a better idea."

The two men looked at Fishlegs with some amusement, the boy seemed elated to explain his job to someone. Then, Stoick looked at Hiccup and he frowned: the boy was pale, and he looked a little dizzy.

"Kid, are you feeling alright? Aren't you supposed to rest?"

"Oh, Gothi said he could go out a little as long as he remained careful...Hiccup!"

The dragon-child had suddenly collapsed and his head would have hit the ground hard if Stoick hadn't caught him in time. Fishlegs saw with horror some blood appear on his shirt: his wounds had reopened.

Stoick immediately put the boy on his shoulders and carried him toward Gothi's hut, followed by Gobber and Fishlegs. They would be here soon, the old woman lived nearby. They walked quickly, Stoick could feel the boy's blood wetten his shoulder. He barged at the woman's door and opened it before she could. Gothi would have been angry if she hadn't immediately seen the unconscious boy. The man put the boy down on the bed.

"Take off his shirt, it will be easier," the shaman ordered

Stoick nodded and ripped it off, it would avoid him to move the wounded kid too much and the cloth was so old anyway that it would hardly be a loss. Gothi started to tend to his wounds and a loud bang was heard at the door. Gobber opened it to see Toothless roaring in worry.

"Stay out, you'll put a mess in the house!" Gothi shrieked.

Fishlegs tried to calm down Toothless who was trying to come in, sickly worried for his brother while the two men were trying to block his way. Eventually, they allowed him to come in, only restraining him enough to avoid him doing any mess in the house. Toothless sniffed his human brother, and moaned in despair. Gothi petted his snout and the beast looked at her in disbelief, as if her boldness was incredible to him. Yet he turned back his attention to Hiccup once more.

"Make the beast leave, it will do more damages than anything."

And the three spent at least five minutes making the dragon leave the house. Eventually, Toothless remained outside, but wouldn't leave the doorstep. Fishlegs went to warn his friend of what happened, Astrid would probably be mad at him for not being more careful with Hiccup! Meanwhile, the two men were still in the hut with the shaman.

"That dragon is persistent, we have to admit it," Gobber declared.

Stoick didn't answer and went to the elder. The boy was hurt but he would probably survive.

"Can you keep him there?"

"It would be better if he could be brought again to the Hofferson House."

Stoick nodded and was about to say something, when suddenly something caught his eyes. He hadn't noticed it earlier but when he did his attention was picked on: on the boy's shoulder was a strange mark which he could perfectly see now that he was shirtless. He crouched at the boy again and examined it closely, it looked quite like the one he possessed…In fact it looked like…

His eyes widened, his breath stopped and he felt like a bucket of cold water had been thrown over him. The thought which struck his mind was way too hard, too crazy to handle, it couldn't be...

"Stoick, what's wrong?" Asked Gothi.

The chief looked at his shoulder and again at the boy's birthmark, trembling. Gobber and Gothi also looked at it, wondering why Stoick suddenly seemed like he had seen Helheim unfold before him. Gothi was the first to understand, then Gobber.

"Stoick, this mark..."

The chief's breathing shuddered and his eyes just couldn't leave the mark. Gobber looked at it as well, gaping at it. Gothi continued her work, keeping her mind straight, remembering that she had to heal that boy first. Gobber touched his friend's shoulder but got no reaction.

"Stoick? Stoick, you know that this could mean..."

His entire body shook and he left the hut hurriedly. When he was out, he felt his lungs burn, as if he had been unable to breath. A stone seemed to be in his chest, while his body was shaking. Gobber got out and wanted to speak to him but Stoick just raised his hand to stop him from talking. This boy was...Could it be? He needed answers...The only persons who could have some were the teens who befriended him. He had to find them!

He searched for the teenagers and found them easily as they were going toward Gothi's hut once they heard about Gothi's hut reopening. He went to the little group and Astrid froze when she saw him. Something wrong happened. The others noticed Stoick as well and got the same reaction.

"You, if you lied to me, it's time to say it, and be careful: I won't tolerate any other lie."

"We didn't..."

A look from the chief stopped Fishlegs immediately. Astrid got the courage to speak:

"What are you talking about?"

"Who is that boy, for real? And this name, Hiccup, did you really gave it to him, Snotlout?"

The whole group froze again: they were aware they would come to that eventually, yet it didn't mean it was easy. Snotlout and Astrid looked at each other, they spoke about it this morning and it was happening now. The twins would usually try to say something, but right now they were both speechless.

"No," Snotlout confessed. "I didn't."

"Then who?"

"He told me...That when the dragon took him, he could already say his name and that's why he kept that one," Astrid explained. "This name was given to him by his true parents."

It didn't have as much of an impact as seeing the birthmark, yet Stoick felt upside down again upon hearing this, it only confirmed what he understood. The chief's head went a little dizzy. That feral boy was his Hiccup...His son was alive! His son had been alive all this time! He had mourned all these years, and his son was alive! Stoick didn't know if he was shocked or full of joy.

"The dragon who took him was a Night Fury," the young girl continued, "she found him in the middle of a fire during an attack. She took him because she feared he would die and then she kept him as her own cub."

"Since when do you know?"

"We didn't guess immediately," Astrid answered promptly, "well, I didn't guess immediately, but when we came back to Berk, Snotlout said that he had the same name as his cousin, and we understood. It wasn't a long time ago. We feared you wouldn't believe us, and he didn't..."

"He didn't what?"

"He didn't want us to tell you."

This left Stoick stunned and hurt. Why? Why wouldn't his son tell him that he was alive? Yet soon enough the answer was clear: he had cursed after the boy, chased him, imprisoned him and his friend, threatened and beat him...Oh gods, what had he done?

Finally! We know why Snotlout was weird! Oh and Stoick knows about Hiccup, but that's only a little detail I guess. Lol!

Don't hesitate to review!