Chapter 3: Catch and Release

Happy Holidays Peoples! It might be a while to get some more chapters as exams stay coming around. And the same goes for my other story, Taking a Chance. For now, enjoy the latest chapter HTTYW: Howling Wind.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Balto or How to Train your Dragon. They both belong to their respective owners and this is just for fun, NOT for profit.

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(Stoick POV)

At the center of town stood the Great Hall. A fortress of a building originally made from wood, but has gradually been fused and modified with metal. Even with the reinforced iron doors and tree trunk support beams, the building seemed to shake from the noisy arguing from the meeting inside. Most, if all the citizens 20 years and older were gathered around the swimming pool sized fire pit to take part in the meeting. More than half of them were arguing about how much damage the wolves have been causing, while the other half were tossing out ideas and seeing what stuck.

After having enough of all the noise, I let out a huge and loud shout for everyone to "Shut the Hel up!" And as expected, everyone silenced themselves from my bellow and seeing the fire pit's fire reflect in his determined eyes.

"The situation before us has a simple solution. Either we finished them or they finish us! It's the only way we'll be rid of them! If we find their Main Cave and destroy it, then the wolves will leave. They'll find another home.

I glared at the big navigating map spread out on the table rounding the pit. Everyone followed my gazed and saw the proposed site of the Main Cave at the corner of the map that has been littered with X's and even sported a few slashes at the decorative wolves painted among the fog.

"One. More. Hunt. Before the blizzards really start to kick in with full force." I threw a dagger that most didn't even see that I concealed at the corner of the map that he was glaring at.

"Sleds can never come back during this time of year." A random villager pointed out.

"We're Alaskans. It's an occupational hazard. Now who's with me?" I threw up my fist and looked to everyone around. No one follows. The crowds shifts in restless silence. Head scratches. Eyes averted. Coming up with bad excuses

"Today's not good for me."

"I've gotta do my axe returns."

"I got to help untangle the sheep from the brier patches"

"Alright. Those who stay will look after Hiccup." Still no hands went into the air. People fidget, gave nervous murmurs and some even hesitated to raise their heads to look me in the eye, let alone raise their hands.

"I'm sorry, Stoick."

"I lost my last 3 sleds from those expeditions."

"I lost a toe from a zippleback out there."

"I lost my best sled dog to one of those stupid Gronkles."

"Come men! Are we Alaskans or Not!" The silence and murmurs of excuses continued. "Unbelievable. I'm still planning for an expedition. Anyone remotely interested is to meet here tomorrow. The thing adjourned." Citizens shuffle from out the door, leaving Gobber and me alone. Gobber gulps some mead from his tankard attachment goes to stand next to me.

"You know that no one is coming on another expedition until the winter ice melts, right?" Gobber detaches the tankard and offers some to Stoick.

"Yeah, but it was worth." I took a swig of Godder's mead.

"Then why are you still trying to get people to go out there with you. You know, one day you'll get yourself killed and leave me with Hiccup to look after."

There was a beat a silence

"How about this? Make the next possible hunt a surveillance expedition. Then you can actually bring Hiccup with you, so that he can get a feel for what the outer barrier of the nest is like."

"I'm serious about this Hunt, Gobber." I said starting to glare at one of my best men.

"So am I." Gobber took the tankard from Stoick and took a swig.

"He'd be killed before we even get within a mile of the range of the nest."

"Oh, you don't know that."

"I do know that, actually."

"No, you don't."

"No, I do."

"No you don't!"

"Listen! You know what he's like. From the time he could crawl he's been...different. He doesn't listen. He has the attention span of a sparrow. I take him ice fishing and he goes hunting for weasels and ... and trolls."

"Trolls exist!" He said defensively. "They steal your only the left ones. What's with that? Oh and you got to give Hiccup props on the weasel catching. Got rid of that infestation of them a few years back, remember?"

"Yeah Gobber, but that doesn't excuse the damages that he'd done in other situations." I stood up and started pacing in front of Gobber. "But when I was a boy..."

"Oh here we go."

"My father told me to bang my head and fist against a rock and I did it. I thought it was crazy and bleed more from my knuckles than a woman's moon-cycle, but I didn't question him. And you know what happened?"

"You got a headache and dislocated a finger or two."

"Yes, but that rock split in two. It taught me what a Man could do, Gobber. He could crush mountains, level forests, tame seas! Even as a boy, I knew what I was, what I had to become." I sat back down on the bench. "Hiccup is not that boy."

"You can't stop him, Stoick. You can only prepare him."

"You think I don't know that?" I sighed "I just don't know where to start is all."

"Look, I know it seems hopeless, but have some faith in him. You're got to remember that you won't always be around to protect him. He's going to get out there again. He's probably out there now."

I looked up at the wolves carved into to the wooden support beams as I let Gobber's words settle in my head.

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(Hiccup POV)

I walked through the snow covered forest, going back and forth between looking at where I'm going and checking my drawn map of the island, covered in X's. I look at the map and saw that the travel should end at the other side of the tree. Once I was around the tree, I looked up from the map and… nothing. I add another 'X' to the page, then scratches my pencil over the whole map in frustration and snaps the book closed before putting it in my vest.

"Ugggh, the spirits must hate me. Some people lose their knife or their mug." I said at I climbed over rock, just wandering around. "No, not me. I manage to lose an entire wolf that's bigger then me."

So mad at myself, I hit a low-hanging branch and just my luck it snapped back at me in the face. I rubbed my eyes until my vision cleared and we it did, I saw that the next rock in front of me split in two. Further up there was a trail of wolf tracks, I climbed off the rocks and crouched to have a closer look. I wasn't an expert in tracking but I could only hope that this was the tracks I've been looking for. I followed the trail that and started to see dips in the snow where the wolf was collapsing at it fled. Before I knew it I saw none other than a downed black wolf, its body and legs tangled in a bola. It appeared dead and I couldn't help but beam with pride as I approached.

"Woah! Oh wow! I did it. I did it. This fixes everything. Yes!" I threw my fist in the air as I planted a foot on the fallen Night Fury. "I have brought down this mighty beast!" It suddenly shifts. "Whoa!"

I stumbled and sprung back, rattled & terrified. I took a dagger from my belt and turned its blade toward it. I creeped along the length of the weak, wounded wolf, dagger poised to strike. As I reached the head, I find the Night Fury piercing eyes staring coldly at me. I flinched at the intensity of his stare, but continued approaching it with its unnerving, unflinching stare. With the wolf safety tangled in the ropes, I knelt next to the wolf and readied my dagger.

"I'm going to kill you." I muttered to myself. "I'm gonna cut out your heart and take it to my father. I'm a man. I am an Alaskan. I am an ALASKAN!" I raised the dagger above my head, determined to prove his Viking- ness. I hear the wolf's labored breathing that broke clenched concentration. I opened an eye, uncertainty leaking through. The wolf holds the stare with desperation. I saw something profound in his stare, before he closes his eye and it lowers its head, accepting his fate. I clenched my eyes shut and tried to go through with it, holding the dagger up... going back and forth… fighting myself... until finally lowering it with a frustrated sigh. I took a closer look over the wolf's rope burns and patches of fur missing from the hit.

"I… I did ... I did this." I choked out the words as if saying would make both the wolf and I would be punished by the gods for saying such a thing out loud.

He turn away not being able to look at the wolf anymore and made a move to leave. But I pause and glance back at the wolf, its chest heaving and tongue starting to lop in and out as he struggled to breath. I felt being pulled by a force of guilt before checking over my shoulder to ensure that no one is watching then hurries back to see the ropes around its chest was stopping it from breathing properly. From there I had no choice but to cut the ropes. Focused on the ropes, I couldn't see the Night Fury's eyes shoot open and watching my every move, as I hurriedly saws through the bola ropes and carefully avoid my fingers and the already injured wolf. As the last rope falls free, the Night Fury suddenly pounces in me in a flash of ink black fur and pins me to a tree a couple of feet away. It claws were digging into a clothes, but not breaking the skin. Looking like it's about to kill me, as it snarled and bared its teeth, each one seemed the size of my fingers. I was paralyzed with fear, not able to make out the difference between my breathing and the wolf's as his ruffles my hair and brush my face in cloudy puffs. I focus shifts to the Night Fury's eyes, its unnaturally green canine stare boring into me. I could visualize him tearing me apart with ease, and felt in would happen in a few seconds. However as I looked deeper into its eyes I spark of something, a familiar profound feeling. I felt entranced as he stared into my eyes and stared into his. My felt myself slowly relax, so much that I didn't see that the wolf stopped snarling and both of our breathing slowed. (*1) As we looked into each other's eyes, I saw twinkle of something blue swirl around its eye. And the next thing that I knew, that same hue of blue flashed before my eye and everything went black.

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(*1) "… And then they kissed." I'm just kidding. I'm not into shipping Hiccup with Toothless. It wasn't until after I wrote Hiccup and Toothless' first interaction that saw it could almost be seen as a romantic scene if Toothless was replaced with someone like Astrid.

AND THERE IT IS! MY FIRST CLIFFHANGER!

I'll try to have not make the wait too long for you guys this time, but with exams coming up, that's going to be pretty hard to make a solid promise on.

That's it for now. Thanks to all those who reviewed, every bit helps. Don't be afraid to check some of my other stories. And if you're new to this story, please leave a review and let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is accepted, but no flames please.