Chapter 7 - Oh, Okay, We're Totally Busted

Helga's eye twitched, that noise was getting on her nerves. After Hiccup had woken her up, they had flown back to the Cove to drop off Toothless, she still was not completely sure she would ever get used to flying. Then they had made their way back to the village and into the forge. They were currently in Hiccup's back room, him at the desk and her on her bench slash substitute bed. At the current moment, her brother was doing absolutely nothing except roll his charcoal up and down his desk. It was the only thing she could hear, it was night and the village was silent.

She heard the noise again, and with it, her eye twitched for what felt like the hundredth time. That is when she heard the footsteps approaching, and although most of the adults in the village had a similar heavy gait, she could recognise that particular stride instantly, "Hiccup," she whispers, trying to warn him.

However, Hiccup had heard him coming as well, completely startled, "Dad! You're back! Uh, Gobber's not here so…"

"I know," their father answers softly, she could hear him squeeze his way into the room, "I came looking for you."

Oh, oh no, did he know? "You did?" Hiccup asks hesitantly and she could hear him shuffle more of his papers, no doubt covering images related to Toothless.

"You've been keeping secrets," is their father's only response, still in the soft tone of voice, one they really were not used to.

"Uh, I uh, I have?" Hiccup stammers over his words.

"Just how long did you think you could hide it from me?" oh the suspense was killing her as her hands started shaking, hoping to Odin in Asgard her father would not see it.

"I…I…I don't know what you're…" her brother continues, the tremor in his voice more noticeable.

"Nothing happens on this island without me hearing about it."

"Oh?"

"So…let's talk…about that dragon." Oh gods, he did, he knew about Toothless, what were they going to do?

"Oh, gods," Hiccup says helplessly, "Dad, I'm so sorry. I…I was going to tell you. I just didn't know how to."

That is when their father suddenly burst into laughter, the twins laughing nervously along with him, having no idea what was going on in that moment. "You're…you're not upset?"

"What?" he shouts back, "I was hoping for this!"

Wait what? Were they even on the same page? Helga was not sure what to think of where this conversation was going, "Uh, you were?" Hiccup asks, completely unsure of what was happening.

"And believe me, it only gets better! Wait til you spill a Nadder's guts for the first time! And mount your first Gronckle head on a spear!" it sounds like at this moment, he had knocked Hiccup into his chair. "What a feeling! You really had me going there, son! All those years of the worst viking Berk has ever seen. Odin, it was rough. I almost gave up on you. And all the while, you were holding out on me! Oh, Thor almighty! With you doing so well in the ring…we finally have something to talk about."

It had become quite clear that no, they were not on the same page and although he had no idea about Toothless, Helga could tell her brother was none too pleased about where the conversation had headed. Helga herself flinched during most of that rant. She knew he had not meant to hurt Hiccup's feelings, but she knew some of those things had. It also upset her that their father decided that the fact that Hiccup was doing so well in the ring was the only way he could have a proper conversation with his son.

The following silence was only cut once by the sound of their father shuffling forward on his chair before he realised that Hiccup was not going to say anything on the topic, "Oh. Here, I uh, I brought you something to keep you safe in the ring."

"Wow, thanks," Hiccup says, moving over to allow Helga to feel what it was, his very own viking helmet!

"Your mother would have wanted you to have it," their father explains, "it's half of her breastplate."

With that, Helga quickly removed her hands and applauded her brother for not outright dropping it. "Matching set," their father continues, and she hears as he taps his own helmet. "It keeps her close, you know. Wear it proudly, you deserve it. I'm sorry I can't offer you one as well Helga."

"No, dad," she says slowly, "it's fine really, probably a good idea I don't have any, uh, pointy things. You know, I might uh, prick my finger or something."

"Yeah, good point," he agrees, "I'm sure I can find you something else, something safe."

"Oh uh, thanks dad."

"Hiccup," he turns back to her brother, "you've held up your end of the deal."

Well, actually, he had not really, but Helga could not find it in her to dispute, and she could hear Hiccup let out puffs of air in uncertainty. He then exaggeratedly yawns, "So we should really get back to bed."

"Yes, good," their father says, standing from his chair, "Okay, good talk."

"Yeah, yeah, we'll see you back at the house. Great, thanks for stopping by…"

"I hope you like…"

"Thank you for the breast hat." Helga may have snorted quietly, maybe.

"…the hat. Well, uh…Yep. Good night."

As soon as he was gone, her brother let out a sigh. Helga herself waited until their father's footsteps faded, along with the noise of him hitting many loud metal things on the way, before speaking, "So um, that was interesting."

"Oh shut up you."

The following day was to be the moment of truth, did Hiccup want to be the top of the class? Well that was a tricky question. He wanted to make his father proud, more than anything, but not only did he know it would be under false pretenses, he also did not want to get the prize. Having to kill a dragon.

He was currently leaning against a small timber wall when Astrid came up beside him before she pushes down on his shield, "Stay out of my way! I'm winning this thing."

"Please, by all means," he answers, but she had already walked away.

Hiccup also steps away from the wall before turning to face his father above him. He looked more excited than Hiccup could ever remember seeing him. Standing next to him, instead of her usual place, was Helga. She was nervously gripping her cane between her hands, she knew how he was feeling on the matter and was just as nervous as him in regards to what was to happen this day. Hiccup returns his father's smile before letting it fall, having no idea what he was going to do.

He looked over to see the Gronckle heading his way, Astrid trying to follow it stealthily using the walls. Honestly, Hiccup had reached the point of giving up on the entire thing, letting Astrid take the glory, but then it was right in front of him. He could tell by the look in its eyes exactly what it wanted; a scratch. So he dropped his shield and axe, his helmet some how slipping off at the same time, and began scratching the dragon the way they all liked it. By the time Astrid came screaming over a wall to get the dragon, it was already laying on its side beside him.

As the crowd started to cheer, that's when she lost it, banging her axe on the ground and swinging it around angrily, "No! No, son of a half-troll, rat-eating, munge-bucket!"

It is at this point that his father called to the crowd with a "Wait, wait."

Deciding he need to get out of there, he tried leaving, "So, later."

"Oh, not so fast," Gobber says, catching him with his hook and moving him back in place.

"I'm kind of late for…" he starts, but suddenly has Astrid's axe against his neck.

"What?! Late for what, exactly?"

"Okay, quiet down," his father calls from above, "The elder has decided."

Astrid moves away from him in anticipation, Hiccup then looks up to face Gothi. Behind her is his father, looking excited and beside him, was Helga, looking even more nervous than she was before. He could see from the side of his vision as Gobber held his hook above Astrid, Gothi only shakes her head, causing the crowd to gasp and Astrid to seethe beside him. When Gobber moved his hook above Hiccup's head, he knew it was coming, but still felt his heart drop to his stomach as Gothi nods towards him. The crowd starts to cheer as he cringes turning to face a fuming Astrid as Gobber excitedly hops around him, "You've done it, Hiccup! You get to kill the dragon!"

At this point, the other teens arrive, Fishlegs hoisting Hiccup onto his right shoulder, all of them cheering. "That's my boy!" his father calls from the stand, though Hiccup could see that the colour had drained from his sister's face as she remained the only one in the crowd not cheering.

"Yeah, yes, I can't wait," Hiccup says monotonously, "I am so…"

…leaving! We're leaving," he says as he and Helga walk into the Cove, "Let's pack up. Looks like we're taking a little vacation. Forever."

"Must we really though?" Helga says hesitantly, "I mean, we can't survive out there."

"You're just scared of the ride," he says dryly.

"Now hold on just a…" and then she froze, because she heard it.

Hiccup did as well as he shouts, "What the…?!"

Helga had only heard the sound of the whet stone on the axe, but had no idea who it was as Hiccup continued, "Um uh, what are you doing here?"

"I want to know what's going on," oh gods it was Astrid. "No one just gets as good as you do. Especially you."

Helga pressed herself against the boulder beside her as she heard Astrid get closer to her brother, "Start talking! Are you training with someone? It can't just be your sister you're with out here."

"Ah, training?" Hiccup throws in, but is completely ignored.

"It better not involve this," Astrid continues and Helga could only guess she was referring to his harness.

"I know this looks really bad, but you see…" but he is interrupted as after hearing a branch snap nearby, Astrid threw her brother to the ground. He quickly gets back up, trying to regain her attention, "You're right. You're right. You're right. I'm through with the lies. I've been making outfits," what? "So you got me. It's time everyone knew. Drag me back, go ahead. Here we go…ow! Why would you do that?"

Helga swore she actually heard bones creaking in her brother's hand as Astrid twisted it, making him fall to the ground to escape. As he tried getting up, she kicked him back down, "That's for the lies," and then Helga heard a thump alongside her brother groaning in pain, "and that's for everything else."

Which of course, set off Toothless as he started roaring from where he had been hiding, "Oh, man," she heard Hiccup mutter.

Helga herself had tried staying far out of Astrid's way so as not to find herself on the other end of that axe. However, after hearing Toothless, she hesitantly took a step towards them. Astrid must have seen Toothless, because with a shout of "Get down!" it sounded like she threw herself and Hiccup to the ground. This upset Toothless further as he roars in response. Astrid was up and shouting, "Run, grab Helga and run."

Helga had no way to know what was really happening, but she could hear Toothless jumping at Astrid, though it sounded like Hiccup had knocked her out of the way. She heard the sound of Astrid's axe sliding along the ground, so Hiccup must have somehow mustered the strength to wrench it out of her grip before he went over to Toothless, "No! It's okay! It's okay! She's a friend."

Though it sounded like Toothless could care less if she was a friend or not as he continued to growl and flap his wings. He eventually calmed slightly, Hiccup turning back to Astrid, "You just scared him."

"I scared him?" Astrid asks incredulously, slightly panting in fear as Toothless growls at her, "Who is 'him'?"

"Uh, Astrid, Toothless. Toothless, Astrid."

Toothless' only response is to snarl at her and Astrid does not even bother with a response as Helga hears her run away. "Da, da, da, we're dead," Hiccup says with fake excitement, Toothless then leaving, "Woah, whoa, whoa! Where do you think you're going?"

Hiccup had pulled Toothless into the air to follow Astrid, trying to reach around his sister without squeezing her too tight. She had convinced him to let her come with lines such as 'you are not leaving me here alone' so he let her under the condition she sat in front to make things easier. She begrudgingly accepted.

They tracked down Astrid easily enough as she ran through the forest, Toothless quickly grabbing her with one of his front legs, "Oh, great Odin's ghost!" she shouted, "Oh, this is it!"

As she screamed, Toothless dropped her on top of a tree before he landed on top of it, the tree bending to his weight. "Hiccup, dare I ask where we are?" Helga asks from in front of him, her hands grasping the saddle so tight, he could see her knuckles turning white.

"It's probably better you don't know," he whispers in her ear before turning back to Astrid.

"Hiccup," Astrid called, "Get me down from here!"

"You have to give me a chance to explain," he tried to reason.

"I am not listening to anything you have to say," she shouts back.

"Then I won't speak," he says, "Just let me show you. Please, Astrid."

Before long, she's climbing her way to Toothless and Hiccup reaches a hand towards her. Toothless growls lowly when she gets close, making her flinch, but in the end, she keeps going. She knocks his hand away from where it was still reaching for her and helps herself onto the saddle, "Now get me down," she demands.

"Toothless," Hiccup says, talking around his sister who had been silent since her last words, "Down. Gently."

As Toothless spreads his wings, they slowly start to rise, "See? Nothing to be afraid of," he says, for the sake of both girls.

Helga suddenly tensing in front of him is his only warning before Toothless shoots up into the air. Astrid was trying really hard to hold on as she screamed behind him and Helga was also screaming from in front as she pushed herself into his chest to stay grounded, "Toothless," he tries to reprimand, "What is wrong with you? Bad dragon!"

At this point, Astrid was pulling on his clothes and hair to get herself back into the saddle properly before she places one hand on his shoulder and the other on his chest wedged between him and Helga. He gives off a nervous laugh, "He's not usually like this, especially not with Helga here as well. Oh, no."

His last words were because Toothless tilted sideways and onto his back. This had both girls renew their screaming and he though he might go deaf being surrounded by screaming girls. Toothless then took them for dips in the water, which had him worried because Helga would have no idea when the water would be coming. "Toothless, what are you doing?" he shouts down at the dragon, "We need her to like us! And I'd much rather we didn't give my sister a heart attack."

Toothless then shoots them back into the air before starting to spin, "And now the spinning," Hiccup remarks blandly, "Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile."

His next trick of nightmares had him spinning while diving back down for the ocean, which was the last straw for Astrid as she squeezed herself against him to not fall off, "Okay, I am sorry! I'm sorry. Just get me off of this thing."

That appeared to be what Toothless had been waiting for as he stretches out his wings and calmly glides above the water. Now that the ride was much smoother, Astrid pulled her head away from his back to look around them. The leg she had around his waist was also moved back to dangle beside her. Helga, having noticed that things were okay again, also started to relax. Although she would not be able to have the same experience Astrid was about to have, Hiccup was glad to see she was no longer as scared as she was before.

Toothless brought them into the clouds and Astrid reached up with one arm to touch them before eventually throwing up both. Hiccup leaned towards Helga, whispering in her ear, "Reach up, I'll hold you, you won't fall."

She hesitated at first, but trusting he would not let her go, she reached up with both hands. When she first touched the clouds, she jerked back, but put them back up, "My hands feel like they're getting wet, but it's not a body of water. What…?"

"It's the clouds Helga," he whispers back, loving the fact that he could give Helga at least something to make up for what she could not see.

They continued to fly around, even going above the clouds and seeing breathtaking sights even he had not seen before. Astrid moved her hands to his waist as she looked around her in complete awe. They eventually reached where the clouds were no more, and they had the most amazing view of Berk from the sky. The lights glowing in the distance and everything was visible from the Hall to the Docks. He tried not to react as Astrid then wrapped her arms around him, placing her head on his shoulder. Helga appeared to be enjoying the clean air and the breeze upon her face if the deep breaths she was taking were any indication.

They flew over Berk, taking in the sights before taking back to the higher skies. Astrid looked all around her again before she finally starts speaking, "Alright, I admit it. This is pretty cool. It's amazing. He's amazing."

As if to prove her point, she reaches down to pat Toothless, "So what now?" she suddenly asks, and he can only sigh, "Hiccup, your final exam is tomorrow. You know you're going to have to kill a…" she hesitates before whispering, "…kill a dragon."

"Don't remind me," he says.

He would have said more, but then Helga suddenly tensed in front of him. The last time she did this, Toothless…and his thought is interrupted as Toothless suddenly dives down making all his passengers scream in fright. What in the name of Thor? "Toothless, what's happening?"

However, Toothless continued to fly, moving shakily from side to side, Helga was moving her head back and forth, a sign she was listening to what was happening around her, "Whoa! What is it?" he asks both of them.

He did not need a response however as dragons start flying around them, "Get down," he says.

Helga is pressed right down against Toothless, her arms around his neck as Hiccup presses himself against her, with Astrid pressed against him. More and more dragons appear around them, Toothless dodging them as they did, and Hiccup noticed that each of the dragons were carrying either livestock or large fish. As the fog started to clear a little, Hiccup could see they were surrounded by dozens of dragons, each carrying something. He could understand now why Helga was so distressed, she could probably hear nothing but the beats of all these dragons' wings.

"What's going on?" Astrid asks behind him.

"I don't know," he answers quietly, "Toothless, you got to get us out of here, bud."

Toothless just shrugs him off and continues on his way. Hiccup just observes the dragons some more before finally commenting on what he had seen, "It looks like they're hauling in their kill."

"Uh, what does that make us?" Astrid stammers out.

Hiccup does not answer as he watches one head of a Zippleback notice them and taps the other head to show it. However, it appeared the dragon, and its two heads, cared very little about their presence as all the dragons suddenly dive down. This causes Hiccup and Astrid to lean back, but Helga, having been practically hugging Toothless' neck, manages to stay where she was.

Toothless and the other dragons were now weaving themselves through sea stacks, and were doing an amazing job not crashing into them amongst all the fog. Further and further they flew into the fog until finally, they came across a large volcano, sitting dauntingly on top a rather small island. They had no time to really observe it as the dragons flew into a hole in the side of the volcano, making their way into the centre. It was filled with dragons, they were flying everywhere and many were sitting on ledges observing what was going on around them. The place was dark and ominous, and Hiccup turned his eyes back to his sister, who was more distressed than he had ever seen her. All she could hear was the dragons, she could probably now also smell the ash, and she had no way to know what was even going on.

"What dad wouldn't give to find this," he says in awe.

Toothless flies them up to a ledge where they could look down on what was happening. Hiccup then observed as the dragons dumped their load into the pit below them, "It's satisfying to know all our food has been dumped down a hole."

"They're not eating any of it," Astrid adds.

Helga, realising they were no longer moving, sits up, "What's going on?"

He was about to answer, but then he notices a Gronckle fly in with what appears like nothing to throw down, so he simply presses a finger to his sister's lips as a sign for her to stay quiet. He and Astrid then watch as the Gronckle regurgitates one of the smallest fish ever and drops it into the hole, scratching its face afterwards.

That's when it happened, a large growl started coming up from the hole, causing Helga to wrap herself back around Toothless in fear. Then out of the pit rose the largest dragon head he had ever seen, as it swallows the Gronckle whole, he gasps and for the first time, considered his sister lucky for not being able to see.

"What is that?" Astrid whispers in fear behind him.

All the other dragons tremble and hide in fear as the head sinks back into the fog below. However, it sticks back up and Hiccup can see its nostrils flaring, it could probably smell them. "All right, bud, we got to get out of here…" he says to Toothless, "now!"

Thankfully Toothless reacts in time, jumping into the air just as the giant dragon clamped its jaws where they had just been. It tries to follow them, closing its large jaws down on an unfortunate Zippleback as all the other dragons are flying to get out. Astrid was holding him tightly from behind, and he wrapped one arm around Helga as she shook in her seat in front of him.

What in the name of Thor was that thing?

A/N: the end is just over the horizon, I can practically smell it

So this chapter ended up longer than I had intended, but I didn't really want to cut that last scene in half, it just would not have worked. My back is killing me, but hey, when you're on a roll, you're on a roll.

Did you know, that at this point in the story, it's just shy of an hour. It took me 7 chapters to get about an hour into the movie, and now I have about 40 minutes of movie left to write. My point, I really have no idea how many chapters left to go and yet I know we're nearing the end. It feels weird is all I'm saying.

So until tomorrow, hopefully, I shall leave it here.

Seza, out.