Hey, two things I want to clear up:

1- The riders time traveled from after the second movie but there won't be many interactions between future Hiccup and Stoick/others regarding Stoick's death, simply because I'm not good at writing emotional stuff and wouldn't be able to give that topic the depth it has.

2- The riders have their baby bodies but they did keep miniature versions of their clothes/armor and equipment.

When Stoick was awakened in the middle of the night by Gobber telling him about an explosion in the arena, he expected anything, from the terrible terror breaking out, to a full-blown dragon raid.

However, when he and the other vikings arrived to the arena, armed to the teeth, they found something he really did not expect.

The children, who should have been in the Great hall, toddling around in the circle of dragons. And mind you they weren't on fire or in the process of being eaten, oh no. They were yelling gibberish at the top of their lungs, trying their best not to look at the vikings, and overall acted like normal healthy viking children would act.

And the dragons weren't rampaging or trying to escape. Instead they were watching the children, looking a bit... surprised? Curious?

Stoick shook his head vigorously. No, dragons didn't have emotions! They were heartless beasts who took his wife and so many others. And these beasts were currently roaming free, way too close to his village.

"Chief, is it just me or are those dragons... not acting like dragons?" Gobber whispered in Stoick's ear.

"Well, are you just going to stand there or are you going to get them back in their cages where they belong?" Stoick growled back, loud enough for the other vikings to hear him.

Gobber just shrugged and followed his rule of fight now talk later. He let out a war cry and charged into the arena, followed by the others.

The dragons perked up at the yell but couldn't even process what was going on before they were showered with bola.

The fight was short if it could even be called a fight.

Stoic wrestled the restrained Monstrous Nightmare behind the metal door and made sure it was safely locked. He then growled and went to Mulch who was checking on the kids, to ask how the heck did they end up in the arena again.

"Chief, this is amazing! These kids are completely fine. No burns, bites, not even a scratch. It's like them dragons didn't even think about hurting them," Mulch called in amazement.

Whatever Stoick was about to say dissipated when he heard that. You could almost see the gears in his viking brain turning. Then a grin spread across his face.

"Everyone, go home and get something sleep. Tomorrow morning we'll meet in the Great Hall to discuss what happened here.'

Some of the vikings (the smarter ones who knew something wasn't right here) tried talking back, but one look from their Chief made them immediately remember how tired they actually were, and they quickly stalked back to their houses.

"But Chief, what about them?" Spitelout pointed at the kids.

Stoick grinned. "I suppose they'll have to stay at my house for now, since nothing seems to keep them in one place. That way I can keep an eye on them."

He could swear the children looked terrified at that sentence.

The future riders sat around the crackling fireplace in silence. Stoick was sat in a chair behind them sharpening his sword, sometimes glancing at them to make sure they were still there.

"Oh, this is all my fault. I'm supposed to be the reasonable one, but I ran out like a Snotlout and almost got us killed." Fishlegs whimpered quietly.

Hiccup waited for Stoick to start sharpening his weapon again before whispering back. "It's not all your fault Fishlegs. If Snotlout and the twins didn't wake the dragons up none of this would have happened. And I should have stopped you from leaving the Great Hall in the first place."

Fishlegs didn't look convinced but gave Hiccup an appreciative smile.

Stoick looked at them again and shook his head in disbelief. "I'll say, Hiccup was no heavy sleeper as a wee child," Hiccup looked up but quickly covered it up when he realised Stoick was talking about past Hiccup, "but even he would have tired himself out by now." He went back to his sword, still shaking his head.

Hiccup only now noticed how late it was and how tired he actually felt.

"He's right, we should get some sleep so that we're ready for whatever happens tomorrow." Astrid whispered.

The other riders didn't answer, but one by one fell asleep where they sat.

Astrid snuggled closer to Hiccup as he watched the dancing flames.

He was almost asleep when she asked, "So how are you feeling? You know about this whole time travel thing... And your father."

Hiccup froze and snuck a quick glance at Stoick towering over them. The chief looked close to falling asleep himself.

After a while Hiccup forced himself to speak. "I'm... not sure. It hasn't even been a year since he died, Astrid. Seeing him like this, safe and sound... There's just so much I want to tell him, and I have to constantly remind myself that it's not him. Not yet."

The last few words came out choked and Astrid wrapped her arms around him to comfort him.

"You know, if we're here once the whole Red Death thing happens, you should talk to him. You could try warning him about Drago and the Bewilderbeast. It might not change things, but it will definitely make you feel better," she suggested.

Hiccup already considered that. He was mulling that thought over since the moment he realised what happened.

He was very tempted to do it, and the fact that Astrid suggested it too made it even more appealing. But even though he wasn't a time travel expert he knew one wrong word could set off a chain of changes that would end badly for future Berk. He couldn't risk the safety of his friends and family for one last chance to talk to his father.

"You and I both know I can't do that. We already did a lot of crazy stuff today, I don't need to add causing a time paradox to that list. But thanks for saying that."

Astrid gave him a small kiss on the cheek. Anything more intimate would feel wrong in their baby bodies. "He would be proud of you, Hiccup."

Hiccup forced a small smile and felt his eyelids get heavier. Together he and Astrid fell asleep in front of the flickering fire.

As the sun rose the riders were awakened by a startled scream. Everyone bolted upright ready for a fight and looked around for danger.

All they saw was Hiccup staring at them from the foot of the stairs.

"How the... when did you-" Hiccup struggled for words.

"Whoa, when did Hiccup get all wimpy again?" Tuffnut asked in a sleepy voice.

Having just woken up, all of the other riders, including the older Hiccup, had to ponder that question for a bit. Then they started remembering what was going on. Ruffnut and Tuffnut opened their mouths at the same time and Snotlout slapped his hands over their faces with a loud hiss.

The door to Stoick's room burst open and the chief stormed out, sword in hand. "Hiccup, are you ok? What happened?"

Hiccup looked slack-jawed at Tuffnut trying to process what just happened. Then he slowly looked at his father and pointed at the future riders.

"What the Hel are they doing here?"

Stoick looked between his son and the children and then laughed and sheathed his sword.

"Oh, I see. You were already asleep when we came back last night. There was some trouble around the arena and I decided they'll be staying here from now on."

Hiccup blanched.

"Dad, no! Don't you see? We can't let them stay here, they're not normal."

Stoick raised an eyebrow, suddenly looking serious.

"I'm well aware of that, son. In fact, I think I know exactly what is going on here."

The future riders looked up, startled. Did Stoick really figure it out? Hiccup looked equally stunned. "You... you do?"

Stoick nodded, "I'm just about to head to the Great Hall to explain what happened last night. You should come too; the training will have to be postponed for... security reasons."

Stoick went out the door, not even surprised when the children followed on their own feet.

As soon as they arrived in the Great Hall, Hiccup was dragged to the side by Astrid.

Astrid watched them with concern. She remembered all too well how much she hated Hiccup at this point and this didn't look like the usual I-Will-kill-you-if-you-continue-to-be-better-than-me talk. If those two were working together against them... they'll have to watch their back.

The future riders were again lifted onto a table as vikings started piling inside. Stoick raised his hands to get their attention.

"Some of you may have heard about the dragons breaking out last night." Stoick began. Some vikings nodded, others started whispering amongst themselves, only hearing about it now. Vikings were strong sleepers after all.

"Rest assured the dragons are back in their cages and never got out of the arena." Stoick raised his voice to hush the whispering.

"We still don't know how they got out. What we do know however is that they," he gestured to the baby riders "were in the arena before any of us got there. The dragons did not attack them and didn't try to escape while they were there. So, who are these children? Well, I have thought hard about it, and I have found the answer."

Everyone went quiet and all eyes turned to Stoick.

"These children..." Stoick continued slowly, looking like he was enjoying keeping his fellow vikings in suspense.

Hiccup gulped and prepared his small legs for the run of his life. And then...

"They are a gift from Odin himself!" Stoick bellowed and everyone in the hall jumped at the sudden increase in volume, "He sent them to us with his lightning to reward us for our bravery in withstanding the dragons' attacks! The beasts fear them and as long as they stay in our village we shall be safe!"

There was a moment of stunned silence and then the vikings went wild.

Everyone started celebrating and crowded around the table with the baby riders. The sound of cheering and elated laughter drowned out the audible slap as two sets of Astrids and Hiccups facepalmed in unison.

There truly was no explanation for a viking's logic.

So, sorry for the chapter being short AND late. I'm dealing with some IRL stuff right now and I don't have much time for writing plus I've hit a blank spot in the story and know from experience it's not good to force-write content. This chapter was already a bit forced and didn't turn out very /
I wish I could say it's all fine now but the next chapter will probably come even later than this one. At worst it could release sometime in September.

I'm really sorry, but I'm just human and can't really control this.

Yami_nee out!