By the time the fog was gone and they were able to see as far as their eyes could allow them, they were already at the doorsteps of their island. But Hiccup did not takes this as good news for the Roman ship was nowhere in sight, and neither was his dragon. He guided the router just as before while Fishlegs rowed. The wind had died down and it wouldn't move them anywhere near home. Fishlegs tried a few times to talk to him, but all in vain. Hiccup was lost in his thoughts. He wanted to apologize for boarding the ship, but the words wouldn't come out. He had been afraid; though he wasn't so sure anymore they had really seen the Sharkworms. Anyone else in their place would done the same, wouldn't they?

He looked at the bottom of the boat where his helmet was being used as a plug to keep it from sinking. It was not perfect, as some of the water was leaking in, but it would have to do for now. Then, as if the gods were having a bad day and just wanted to take it out on them, they released a heavy rain. In mere seconds they were drenched. Thunder made both of them jump and stare at the skies with fear. Had they actually done something to anger the gods?

Hiccup wouldn't be surprised if he did. He felt like he was failing everyone nowadays.

He failed Toothless, his dragon and even dare he say, his friend. His allowed his feelings to overtake him, make him lose sight of what he needed to do and gotten them into that problem. The boat too was his failure, not Fishlegs'. He should have contributed more instead of sinking into self pity. Said boat started to sink as they neared the island. Soon they were swimming the remaining of the way to their island. His gut lurched when he thought of Toothless' despairing. When they finally made it to the port, Fishlegs' holding on to an oar to keep afloat, the feeling only increased.

Gobber was waiting for them under the rain with a look full of anger and disappointed. His large and strong hands clenched in furious fist, his bushy brow so low that his eyes were almost covered by them, and his mouth in a very thin and tense line. A shouting Gobber was scary, but a silent one was even worse.

"Well?" he said trying not to explode until they tried to explain themselves.

The two boys stood before him soaking and still under the rain. Neither of them dared to answer for a moment. Fishlegs felt his mouth turn into a raisin as Meatlug sat next to him wondering what had happened while she slept.

"It was my fault," Hiccup said unable to meet his teacher's eyes, "we got lost and ended on the summer current. We found a Roman ship and boarded it and…"

"You what!" Gobber shouted, finally exploding. Roman ships were not that rare, but they usually left them alone if one was in short of company. Surely these kids were not stupid enough to try to take them on.

"We found a Roman ship and…" Hiccup didn't know what to say next, his heart was fluttering inside his rib cage trying to get out. He had never seen Gobber so angry at him.

"And you boarded a Roman ship! Why in the name of all Asgard would you do something so stupid!" his face started to turn a very angry shade of red.

"We thought it was fishing boat" Fishlegs added before anger gave away fully to disappointment. Gobber passed a hand over his face and sighed frustrated.

"What type of Vikings are you two trying to become?" he asked but didn't wait for their answer, "seriously, Hiccup you are going to become chief someday and you Fishlegs will become the head of the Ingerman clan. If you can't tell the difference between a Peaceable fishing boat and a Roman boat then maybe you should start thinking on finding someone that can take over your roles"

"I know, we…" Hiccup brought forwards the two helmets they had taken from the Roman ship, but Gobber wouldn't have any of it.

"No, you don't. You don't seem to fully realize your responsibilities because you spend all your time either sulking or dragon watching instead of trying to become better Vikings. You have stop all of this" he motioned to them as a whole, "and start acting like proper Vikings"

"Oh what is the point!" Hiccup shouted throwing the helmets to the ground and stomped away.

Fishlegs watched him leave with a gaping mouth. He had never seen anyone, especially Hiccup talk to Gobber that way.

"Come back here at once!" Gobber shouted becoming angry once again.

"No!" and then he ran off towards the village. He didn't need anyone to tell him he was a failure as a Viking, he already knew that, but at least he could try to listen to him for a moment.

"What is his problem!" Gobber knew from firsthand experience Hiccup was a little hard to understand, but this was just ridiculous.

"The Romans captured Toothless" Fishlegs said.

Oh… this was great, Gobber thought, if the kid had been sulking before now he was going to be inconsolable! Even he had seen how attached he had become to the little demon the past months.

"Go home Fishlegs, I have already talked to your father about your training, and I believe he will have quite a few well chosen words in regards of your… whatever you trying to do here" and Gobber felt suddenly old.

Fishlegs hurried home for though his father was reasonable he was still a Viking and when he was cross, well, at such occasions Fishlegs knew better than to make him wait.

888

Stoick was not really listening to his son as he tried to explain how he and his friend came to board a Roman ship and how Toothless had been taken by them and by whom he thought was Alvin; which was impossible of course because Alvin was neither bald nor skinny. He also said something about a ripped notebook that taught you how to speak Dragonese, like anyone would care for that and how they needed to rescue Toothless as soon as possible before they hurt him.

Stoick's thoughts were more concerned with the chat he had earlier with Gobber. It worried him since Gobber saw the strengths of his son where most couldn't, yet even he couldn't deny that Hiccup was of the worst in the training program. He could not pick up a hammer, couldn't scream to scare a foreigner, build a steady ship, keep himself from being sit on during the game of Bashy Ball, he was not able to board the correct enemy ship and the list went on and on. The only thing his son was good at was sword fighting but even that needed work. The boy had potential but needed to be more aggressive.

He looked from his dinner to the Roman helmet Gobber had given him not long ago in the mead hall and wondered how his son, who was supposed to be really smart, ended up boarding a Roman ship. They looked nothing like a Peaceable fishing boat for Odin's sake! He looked at his son who had ended telling him of his dilemma and waited for his answer. In the past he would be shouting at him to start acting like the other kids, but he knew his kid was not like the others. Hiccup was worried, skinny, and small and as much as he hated admitting it, weak. And well, he was a good kid, but being good didn't always work for them. He hoped, as he had for a long time that he would grow somewhat out of this awkward stage, however things were just becoming worse and worse.

His concern for his dragon worried Stoick, and though he had seen the loyalty Toothless had for him, he knew it was too late for the black dragon. He was probably already on his way to Rome to be turned into an elegant accessory for dragons with pure black scales were very rare.

Black scales? Something picked at his mind about that.

"Father?" Hiccup asked after a very long silence.

"Son, you need to forget about that dragon. He is long gone" Stoick said using the gentlest tone he could use.

"You don't know that," Hiccup shook his head not believing what he was hearing. Toothless had risked his life for him many times before; surely his father could not ignore that.

"You need to become strong, and I mean that both as a warrior and a man. You need to get over that dragon. I will help you find another one. A nice Monstrous Nightmare if you like" Stoick tried to offer him a smile.

"I don't want another dragon!" Hiccup slammed his hands on the table and glared at his father, but of course Stoick wouldn't stand for it.

"Enough! You are the heir of this tribe! Lives will come and go for both dragons and warriors and you will see them all. When it happens, you can't and won't behave like this. You are smart son; you know that your role does not involve matters of the heart. You must become strong" he emphasized on the word hoping Hiccup would understand.

"But father…" the sad thing was Hiccup did understand, but he just couldn't come to accept it.

"What does a chief feel?" Stoick asked the question he had been drilling into his son for as long as either could remember.

"A chief feels no pain" Hiccup gave the answer without thinking, "but father…"

"Not pain, not fear, not those emotions men with weak hearts have. Be realistic son, as I know you can be, and accept that the dragon is gone"

"But he isn't!" Hiccup said flustered, had his father not been listening to him? "I heard them talking; they said they had this…"

"Talking? What in the name of Odin do you mean? How could you understand them?" Stoick stood up from his chair and walked around the table to reach his son.

"I have been learning some Latin," Hiccup admitted knowing what was coming. He too stood up, but could not look at his father. He felt his hands take his shoulders and made him face him.

"So you have been ignoring your training and instead learning Latin" Stoick's voice had dropped down to a monotone, enforcing his own rule about emotions.

"No, I…" Hiccup shook his head.

Stoick did not raise his voice, but when he spoke in that low and controlled voice, Hiccup felt he was in the wrong though he knew he wasn't "you will stop this nonsense; about that dragon, learning Latin and most important writing about dragons" he took hold of Hiccup's half of the notebook, "you will concentrate on your training and become a worthy heir to this tribe. I have spoken" and then threw the half of the notebook into the fireplace and then left the room for his own.

Hiccup waited until he was sure his father was not returning before he hurried to the fireplace to take the half of the notebook out, but found it gone.

"I am too late…" he said to himself. Alvin wanted the other half and if he didn't have it to bargain with him, then Toothless was truly lost.

"Not necessarily," Thorch said before moving his claw to reveal the book barely touched by the fire, he took it out the moment both of them were not looking "you will need this to rescue that little pest, I presume?"

"Don't mind your father, if there is someone that can come up with an idea to get the young one back, that is you" Thornado said as he yawned, "go rest boy, you will need your strength"

"Thank you," Hiccup said tucking half of the notebook into his best.

Both dragons didn't say more and went back to sleep. Hiccup guessed they had been listening to the conversation from the beginning. At least someone was listening to him.

888

He dreamed of Alvin's bald head floating in the darkness calling for him to give him the other half of the notebook. When he refused he would show him Toothless in a cage with Roman soldiers holding spears all along his body. Hiccup would then give Alvin the half of the notebook, and then he would order the soldiers to stab Toothless. He woke up at least three times during the night because of that dream, thought sometimes it differed. Sometimes they were spears, other times swords, and other times axes and so on.

When he woke up the following day feeling exhausted he realized he hadn't felt so cold in the morning in a very long time. He realized he missed how Toothless would naturally warm the room. He wondered how Toothless had spent the night. They surely had him in a cold cage. He shook his head as he started to imagine the Roman soldiers holding sharp weapons. He had to concentrate on finding a way to help his dragon. Just as he was getting up he heard a dragon sing, something rarely ever heard. It was a tiny voice, but full of fury and hatred.

I will kill you big piece of waste

You who eat your own weight three times a day

I will kill you countless times in the most painful ways

You will watch me and my friends eat your flesh

I will kill you slowly and I will enjoy it

You will be covered in boiling honey

I will kill you slowly and watch you beg for death

You will be gutted and there I will make a nest

I will kill you and the pain will last a hundred years

You will be ripped apart by those you ate

I will kill, not now, but very soon, you can bet.

Hiccup spotted on his windowsill a Nanodragon, but not just any Nanodragon, it was the same one he had rescued from the fat Council. During the night he had licked the honey clean off his little body and left his pocket. Hiccup wondered for a moment why it hadn't left yet. He was happy he was able to at least help one of them, but dragons were not known for being very thankful.

"Took you long enough scrawny ugly boy with ugly spots on his face" said the small dragon about the size of a grasshopper as he turned from watching the sun rise to face Hiccup.

"The name is Hiccup," he said getting the feeling this was one of those snobbish dragons, "and they are freckles and I am not ugly"

"I do not care boy with a hairy whale for a father. You should be instead kneeling before me, the great Ziggerastica" the little dragon lifted its head in a very aristocratic manner expecting Hiccup to kneel right away.

Hiccup contemplated this for a moment. He didn't see anything great about this dragon. Ziggerastica looked like an ordinary Nanodragon, slightly taller than most but that was about it. He was about to tell it to scram as he had more important things to worry about when noted the light reflecting differently on its small red with black body. The small dragon shone mysteriously with the luminosity of the sun, something he had never seen a Nanodragon do before. Taking into account the way the dragon spoke to him, he guessed he might actually be someone important.

"Forgive my ignorance… ehm… great Ziggerastica, but I do not know who you are" he said kneeling before his windowsill so he would be eye to eye with the small dragon.

"Of course you don't stupid boy with a face like a haddock" the small dragon said condescendingly.

"Hey!" Hiccup was actually more offended by that comment "that was very rude"

"I don't care. You are ruder for not knowing who I am. You humans never take the time to look around and don't see you are all standing in my great Nanodragon Empire. If you are still here, is only because I allow it" the little dragon said with so much confidence that Hiccup took a moment to think about it.

"Oh" he imagined it was possible for the Nanodragons to have an empire among them. Since they were so small it was probably not rare they hadn't noticed. Though the idea of the Nanodragons having a saying over them, well, that was something else entirely.

"I am the ruler of this empire, everything you see and touch is under my power and you have been very lucky for saving me. For me, the great Ziggerastica never lets a favor go unpaid"

"Ehm… thanks?" Hiccup said trying to not sound rude, but he couldn't imagine anything he would want from the little creature.

"Whenever you need to use this favor just shout my name three times and I will come to your aid" the little dragon said, "but beware that it will only be once and then you will no longer be worthy of being in my presence, not that you ever were"

Hiccup didn't try to defend himself again. The little beast would just not listen, but he also wasn't mean enough to tell him he didn't think the small dragon would be able to do anything for him. He just nodded to Ziggerastica.

"Very well boy that resembles a talking fishbone" then took his leave.

What a rude little creature that was, but at least he had gone without much fuzz. When he was coming down for breakfast he heard his father shout.

"HOW DARE SHE!" he ran the rest of the way down to find his grandmother placing a cup of her famous calming tea before her father. Stoick took it and drank it in one gulp before he glared at a paper he was holding, "Bog Burglars! Hear me here son! The only good Bog Burglar is a dead Bog Burglar!" Stoick forgot for a moment that Astrid was also a Bog Burglar.

Hiccup was very worried at once. He hoped that paper had nothing to do with Astrid. He took his chance to read it once his father slammed it on the table to drink a whole jug of Gothi's calming tea.

It read like this, with capitals and exclamation marks in every line.

HOW DARE YOU KIDNAP MY NOBLE HEIR!

YOU COWARDLY, GIGANTIC PIECE OF DRAGON DUNG LEFT IN THE RAIN FOR THREE DAYS!

YOU ARE WEAK AND PATHETIC AND IF YOU WISH TO LIVE YOU WILL RETURN HER TO ME WITHOUT A SCRATCH!

I SWEAR TO YOU VAST PIECE OF IMCOMPETNCE THAT IF I FIND YOU HURT HER YOU WILL REGRET IT!

YOU THINK YOUR PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A TRIBE CAN HANDLE A WAR WITH US?!

YOU WOULDN'T EVEN LAST HALF A DAY!

RETURN HER TO ME AT THE MOST IN THE TWO WEEKS TIME OR PREPARE FOR BATTLE!

Bertha, Chief of the Bog Burglars

"If she wants war, I will give her war!" Stoick shouted as he ripped the letter from Hiccup and crumbled it in his large fist, "I will teach that Burglar that to insult me is to ask for death!"

"Did you not read the whole thing?" Hiccup said, "She thinks we got her heir, and we don't" and didn't mention anything about Astrid, he felt some relief.

"The boy has a point," Gothi said handing Stoick another jug of tea.

"This is what I was trying to tell you yesterday. I heard the Romans say they would take the heirs of the tribes and then put us against each other so we would all go to war before they killed those who remained and then take all of our tamed dragons. They want an even bigger army"

But Stoick wasn't really listening, "If those excuses for Shield Maiden even dare to get near our island they are going to regret it! I will have every single one of our warriors rip them apart like Thor's thunder!"

Hiccup couldn't believe it, just the day before his father was telling him not to let his emotions get the best of him and here he was demonstrating the exact opposite. His rage reached a new level as he jumped at top of the table so he could be in eye lever with his father who was surprised for a moment by the move.

"Will you listen to me for just a moment?" Hiccup said through greeted teeth, "there is no point in starting a war with the Bog Burglars because we don't really have their heir. What we should be doing is looking into the other tribes and check if their heirs have also disappeared. If they have, it means the Romans are indeed trying to pit us against each other"

The words made sense and part of Stoick's brain knew it too. Indeed, he had not had the heir of the Bog Burglars kidnapped but his ego and pride were much larger and the feeling only grew when he stared at the crumbled letter in his fist.

"You are nothing but a child! What would you understand about war!" and then marched off to get the warriors gathered and prepared for battle.

"I can't believe him," Hiccup said jumping off the table before his grandmother handed him a cup of calming tea. The last time she remembered brewing so much was when Valhallarama found she was with child.

"Don't be mad at him. He is a prideful man and you know that. Once he calms down he will see reason" or at least she hoped.

"But it might be too late by then," Hiccup sighed, "I need to think of something soon"

"And I believe you will," she said with a gentle smile, "but you must eat first and then go to your training. Knowing you, something will give you an idea"

"I really hope so" he said before he dug into his breakfast and quite a few more cups of tea. He had the feeling he would need them for the rest of his day. He couldn't be more right.

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I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Feel free to leave a comment or review, they are always welcome.