They were met by Stoick, Gobber, and Silent Sven. Hiccup frowned as the dragons shifted to a hover. The snow fall was not heavy but the very edge of the village and the sea beyond were obscured. A pale light existed but it was much like the dim light that emerged during Devastating Winter when the sun barely lifted beyond the horizon. Still, Hiccup was able to tell all three men were highly mad about something.

"Son!" Stoick bellowed. "Did any of ye see Sven's sheep?!"

"They're out again?!"

"Aye!"

Hiccup groaned. "Alright, gang!" he hollered to the ones with him. "We have to find those sheep! They won't survive the coming storm and we will need their wool soon!"

"Son!"

"It has to be us, Dad! We can fly and spot them from the air!"

"You're not going without us, Hiccup!"

Hiccup smiled as all of the other dragons and their riders, except for Torgeir and Firestorm, rose to join him and the others. Right behind them were the mates of the dragons.

"Let's go!" Hiccup yelled.

The dragons shifted back to flying and banked for Sven's farm. He heard his father yell, but the wind took the words. Hiccup focused on the task on hand instead. Whatever his father had to say, it would wait until the sheep were safe again.

"Hiccup!" Astrid called as Stormfly came along side him and Toothless. "Where are we going to take the sheep?!"

"The Great Hall! Storm's too close to get them back to Sven's!"

Hiccup glanced at her. His heart and mind warred with each other over his next thought but he knew she could handle it. He trusted her. It was time to show it.

"Take part of them and scour one side of the island! I'll take the other half and scour the other. We can finish quicker!"

Astrid stared at him then smiled and Hiccup felt his heart twitch at the brilliancy of her smile. She looked over her shoulder.

"Fish! Ruff! Tuff! Windwalker! Winddancer! Boulder! Sugar and Spice! Follow us!" She turned back, winked at Hiccup, and tapped Stormfly. "Come on, girl, let's go west."

Stormfly squawked. She closed her wings to drop under the line of flight. Those Astrid had called dropped with her. They banked west as one formation. Hiccup watched, pride in all of them causing a smile but pride in Astrid caused the thing within him to purr. He turned away, knowing they had to find the sheep and get everyone safe before the storm hit in full. He looked over his left shoulder.

"Everyone else, follow us! We're going east!"

It took the better part of an hour to actually find a single sheep. Thankfully finding one meant finding several more. Hiccup offered mental praise to the gods that sheep were herd animals.

The dragons had no issue swooping down and gripping the wayward sheep. They had done that plenty of times when raiding for the fallen queen. The sheep, not knowing they would not be eaten, bleated in fear. Hiccup frowned.

"Lorekeeper!" he called over the winds. "Take those back to that mountain my father was standing in front of! He'll get them safe! Then get the dragons with you safe as well!"

[Alpha, are you sure? That will take away part of this flock!]

"I'm sure! Sven's herd is not all that big! We're fly over once more and then find Astrid and the others!

[As you wish, my alpha!]

Lorekeeper roared and the dragons that carried a sheep banked in a half circle back towards the village. That left Snotlout, Hookfang, Gyda, Shadowfire, and the two of the nine Gronckles that hovered over Hiccup, Astrid, Toothless, and Stormfly back in the crevasse.

"One more fly over!" Hiccup yelled. "Then we find Astrid and the others!"

They found Astrid with just Stormfly, Fishlegs, Meatlug, the twins and Barf and Belch. Toothless came alongside of Stormfly.

"Sent the others back with some sheep!" Astrid yelled.

Hiccup nodded. "Same! How many?"

"Four!"

"That leaves three!"

"Hiccup, ones the black sheep! The shadows and the low light-"

"We'll find it!" Hiccup said. "It probably fell in the well again!"

Astrid laughed. A strong cross wind had the dragons fighting to stay airborne. The snow fell harder. Hiccup growled. They were running out of time.

"If we only had some light!"

Toothless shifted to a hover. Hiccup blinked as his brother shot a ball of purple fire only for it to denotate above them. The purple spread.

[Two sheep to our right,] Meatlug called.

"We got them," Snotlout cried tapping Hookfang's neck.

The dragon banked sharply and dove. A strong wing buffeted Hookfang and Hiccup heard the dragon hiss in annoyance. The sheep, spooked, scattered. Hiccup's heart froze as one tripped and began to slide to the edge of a cliff. Toothless shot forward. He dove just as the sheep went over. He followed. He snagged the sheep. His wings flared. Hiccup clicked the tailfin without thought. Toothless fought the winds and rose. He landed, sitting the sheep down. Hiccup patted his brother's neck.

"Well done," Hiccup said.

The sheep bleated but it did not sound fearful. The other that had been with it ran over, nuzzling against it. Hiccup blinked, realizing that one was bigger than the other and the one Toothless had saved was the smaller of the two.

"Is that your baby?" he asked the bigger sheep.

The sheep looked up at him and bleated again. Hiccup smiled.

"We'll get you home. I promise."

"I thought there were only sheep out here!" Ruff suddenly yelled.

"There are!" Astrid called back.

"Then what are those two huge things there?!" Tuff yelled, pointing at something standing just out from the treeline not all that far behind Hiccup. "Are any of the yaks loose too?!"

"No!" Hiccup called. "They're probably bears!"

"Bears sleep in the winter, Hiccup!" Snotlout yelled.

"Some bears will come out of their sleep during winter and winter is not fully upon us!" Gyda hollered.

"Ruff, Tuff, you two and Barf and Belch, scare them off! We have one sheep to still find!"

Barf and Belch flew over. Both heads roared. The things did not run.

"Do not roar at me!" a voice bellowed louder than the wind and the dragons.

"Dad?" Hiccup questioned, head tilted in confusion.

Stoick and Gobber walked up. Stoick placed his hands upon his hips. Hiccup dismounted and walked to meet his father halfway from the trees. He knew that somehow he had mess up again and was likely to yelled at. Maybe the wind would keep the others from hearing it.

"Ye all shouldn't be our here."

Hiccup blinked. His father's tone was not mad. He sounded scared. Hiccup lowered his gaze.

"Sorry," he said. "I failed you again."

Stoick reached over and placed an arm around his shoulders. Hiccup heard the other dragons land. He then heard as each rider dismounted and walked closer.

"Ye didn't fail me, Hiccup," Stoick said. "None of this was yer fault. We have to go back."

"Which way?" Gobber yelled in order to be heard as the winds got stronger.

"Follow our tracks!"

"Wind's blown them away, sir!" Gyda yelled.

Hiccup heard Fishlegs start to shiver. Then heard the twins and Snotlout shiver as well. When Astrid began to shiver, Hiccup wanted to repeatedly kick himself. She was cold again. His friends were cold and he had been the one to order them out into an oncoming snowstorm. He had failed them no matter what his father said.

He resisted the urge to reach for Astrid and pull her into his arms. He did not deserve to. Not anymore. She said she felt safe with him, but it seemed he had led her to more danger than she should ever have to face. The thing within him roared at him but he was not sure if it was because he did not try to alleviate Astrid's shivering or because he had been the one to cause her to be in this position to begin with.

He heard the dragons conversing in the Old Tongue. He blinked then smiled slightly when all the dragons encircled them. Toothless, Meatlug, and the three Gronckles had to rise to their hindlegs. Shadowfire stayed on all fours. Toothless was behind Hiccup with Stormfly at his side. Shadowfire stood behind his mother to Stormfly's left. Barf and Belch stood behind their rider to Shadowfire's left. Hookfang was behind Snotlout and Gobber to the Zippleback's left. Meatlug and the other Gronckles completed the circle. The dragons extended their wings.

[Step back against us,] Shadowfire said, lifting his head and looking down at the exact middle of the circle.

Hiccup and Astrid moved back against Toothless. Gyda leaned against her son's foreleg. Stoick looked at Hiccup but moved back against Stormfly. The other teens and Gobber stepped back against whatever dragon was nearest to them. Shadowfire then spat white-hot fire straight down. The snow hissed into steam but enough of Shadowfire's attack resisted the snow's attempt to put it out. Warmth began to eat away the cold Hiccup felt. At least the cold on his skin. Knowing he had put his friends, his bride-to-be in danger, left everything within him frozen.

Toothless warbled and Hiccup recognized it as questioning something. He looked over only to find his brother racing away from the circle. In the swirling snow, he watched as Toothless crooned to the two sheep. The smaller one bleated and started towards the circle. The bigger bleated but the smaller one gave a reassuring noise. At least Hiccup thought it was reassuring. It severed to get the bigger one following. Toothless walked with them, wing extended to keep the snow off of them. The sheep entered the circle, moving to stand right behind Hiccup so they could be close to Toothless as the Night Fury resumed standing and spreading his wings. To Hiccup's surprise the black sheep walked under Barf's wing and butted against Ruff for a moment before walking around the circle and stopping next to the other two sheep.

Hiccup blinked when his father placed an around his shoulders and looked down at him with pride in his gaze.

"Son, yer dragons are really somethin'."

Hiccup smiled. He did not think he deserved the pride his father was showing but he agreed about the dragons.

"Yeah, they are, dad."

SnowBriar: That's okay. Life comes first, my friend. Always. The story will be here when you get time.

Kirika: Hehe, it was a sweet chapter. Too bad Hiccup still gets knocked down by his own fears so easily, as seen in this chapter.