so I've been rewatching Riders/Defenders and you know what I realized? I FORGOT TO TALK ABOUT THAWFEST! Four years of missed opportunities... I'm so mad lol

Anyway... I guess I can't fix it now... enjoy the rest of the story either way!


Addendum 5

Something unexpected has happened.

This past week, I've been sending our few remaining ships on trips to Dragon Island to bring everybody home, and today, with the last fleet came… the dragons. Those four that the kids flew on, as well as a dozen others. To my immense surprise, I didn't even try and shoo them away. Now, they're roosting around the village, catching fish in the waters around Berk and trying to interact with my people. The older Berkians have seemed to want to ignore them, but the young ones have quickly taken a shine to the flying reptiles. The others from Hiccup's generation even went back to the dragons they flew during the battle and seem to be bonding with them. Never in a million years could I have imagined Berk could look like this.

If only I could feel this way about Toothless… I truly don't know why, but his presence still unsettles me. Maybe it's the way he always just WATCHES, with calm, cool eyes that follow my every move. Maybe it's the fact that he's a Night Fury, and I can still only think of the reputation of that breed whenever I look at him. Maybe it's the way he never leaves Hiccup's side. Whatever the reason, I've been rather wanting to avoid coming into contact with him…

One day, I grew so uncomfortable, I told him to leave. "C'mon dragon. Get out for a bit. Go for a fly with your friends." He blinked at me, before shaking his head 'no'. Did he really understand what I said? "Why not? Don't you want a break from guard duty?" He responded with what looked like a shrug. "Well, then why don't you take some time out there?" He looked down for a moment, then stood up, poking his nose at Hiccup. "Hiccup's not going anywhere." Toothless shook his head again, making a crooning sound. He poked Hiccup again, then flapped his wings a little. "Hiccup can't fly with you right now. You'll have to do it alone for a while." Toothless looked back at me with a mournful stare, and shook his head one last time, laying back down. Could he really not bear to fly without my son? Was their bond that important? Or was there some other reason?

Toothless wrapped his tail around himself, and I studied it. When I captured him, I had noticed the strange saddle contraption he was wearing, but figured it was just designed like that because Hiccup was being Hiccup. When I found them after the battle, I realized that one of Toothless' tailfins (the one I had noticed was off color but hadn't made the connection) was gone. Had Hiccup rebuilt it? Could Toothless not fly without it? Was the saddle contraption made to control it all?

"Toothless?" The dragon looked up again. "Can you fly on your own?" He lowered his eyes, shaking his head. "Did Hiccup help you?" He nodded before turning away, clearly not wanting to talk about this anymore.

I sighed. So Hiccup had not only found a Night Fury and befriended it, but made a device that would let it fly when it couldn't on its own.

There's so much I don't know about my own son. But I'm going to learn as much as I can, starting now.

-StV