3. Spying
After about an hour of walking they decided to set up camp near the cove, Hiccup would have preferred the camp to be in the cove, but they didn't know if it was frequented by anyone. Sure, when he left only him and Astrid really knew about it, but he wouldn't risk being discovered by believing that it stayed a secret. Being near the cove was best if they wanted a convenient way to get both food and fresh water, and the fact that Hiccup still remembered the path to the village from the cove was a plus.
They quickly set up camp and told their dragons to stay in it, or they tried to, at least. Both Toothless and Shadow wanted to follow their riders, not really trusting them to be safe, even though both riders were wearing their dragon scale armor, had changewing skins at the ready and were figuratively, or literally in Storm's case, armed to the teeth. The riders had to spend about fifteen minutes talking and reassuring their companions that they would be safe before they could leave the camp without their dragons trailing behind.
They quietly moved through the forest with Hiccup in the lead. It didn't take long for them to reach the edge of the forest, a lot less time than in his teenage years, but he was a lot more accustomed to forest terrain than before. They stalled at the edge for a while, surveying their surroundings, looking out for the patrolling guards, who were lazily walking around the village. After one guard passed by their hiding place Storm gave a small nod to Hiccup, a silent agreement that Hiccup will lead them to their next hiding place.
The pair quickly donned their dragon appropriate helmets and moved without hesitation. They managed to reach their destination without a hitch, avoiding any rock covered surfaces, as not to let their metallic prosthetics make sound. They were hidden under a changewing skin, behind one of the statues that welcomed people into the Meade hall. Although it was after midnight Vikings were still periodically exiting the building. Considering it was mid spring and the weather was mostly warm, most of the drunk Vikings were finishing their conversations near the entrance of the hall, and that was very beneficial for the pair.
After hours behind the statue both had their heads above the changewing skin, both for hearing better and having the chance to breathe fresh air. They were still cautious, but having only their heads out gave them a chance that if anyone did notice them, they would be drunk enough to think that they imagined two floating heads, rather that two grown humans in bizarre clothing.
Tonight their spying wasn't giving them any hope, during their time five people exited the hall and only two had talked clearly enough for them to understand their conversation which was about fish. Not even about fishing troubles or food shortage, the drunk men were just talking about fish colorings and patterns. It was easy to say that they wouldn't be getting any worthwhile information that night.
It was an hour before sunrise when they decided to call it a night and get out of the village while it was still dark. Hiccup already had their path planned and was getting up when Storm grabbed his hand and pulled him back down. He looked at her startled, but she wasn't looking at him, she had her head angled so her ear was in the middle of the space that was left in the middle of the hall and statue. She noticed him staring at her and motioned for him to do the same, so he angled himself the same as her and listened. Firstly, he heard the buildings huge doors close, she must have heard them opening and that's why she stopped him, he thought. Secondly, he heard a voice that was still haunting his nightmares.
"It's a mess Gobber! What are we going to do? We have nothing!" the voice was slightly slurred, but unmistakably belonged to his father. Hiccup tensed and turned his head so his eye lined up with the empty space, all he saw was his father's and Gobber's backs. They were standing close together with Gobber's hand on Stoick's shoulder.
"We'll find something Chief, Berk has faced bigger threats – we have faced bigger threats before and won!" the smith basically shouted. The riders were both looking through the crack now, Storm had her hand on Hiccups shoulder gripping it tightly, mirroring the Vikings position, but while Gobber's hand was meant for comfort, Storm's was anchoring him to reality.
"I know Gobber," Stoick growled, "I just wish things were different, that we wouldn't have to deal with this!"
"I know Stoick, we all wish that things would be easier," The smith started descending the stairs, after a few steps he stopped, looking back at his friend he sighed, his voice barely hearable at that distance and it didn't help that he was also talking in a lower tone. "You also wish that he was still here, we all do, because he would've made things easier." The chief's shoulders dropped and he let out a sigh, following his friend down the stairs.
"Let's go get some sleep Gobber, we have a hard day ahead of us."
The riders waited until the Vikings reached a safe distance before taking their respective changewing skins and cloaking themselves with them. They retraced their path back to the forest and kept going until they were a safe distance from the village when they lowered their skins, but kept going to the direction of their camp without stopping. Hiccup was leading again, they both didn't want to draw unnecessary attention from any Vikings that might be wandering or training in the woods, so they had a silent agreement to not speak until they were back at the camp.
It took them longer to get back to the camp because the pair were both feeling exhaustion deep in their bones. Once back, their dragons wasted no time and were upon their respective riders as soon as they were in sight. While Toothless knocked Hiccup down and started slobbering all over him in excitement, Shadow was sniffing all over Storm inspecting her for any injuries. Hiccup's helmet was knocked off by the Night Fury's tongue and Hiccup was play wrestling with his dragon while Storm had taken off her helmet herself and was holding it in her right hand, she was standing calmly with her hands stretched out to the sides. She knew that Shadow wasn't going to be satisfied until he checked every inch of her so she let him sniff her in peace.
Once the dragons stopped, the group moved deeper into the small clearing that they were calling their camp. Storm took Hiccup's helmet from his hands and put it together with her helmet near their bags that contained food, clothes and other supplies. While near the bags she took some bread and cheese out, breaking both the bread and cheese in half and going to sit with Hiccup. She handed him the food and leaned back on Shadow, who was laying behind her, in front of Toothless, who was behind Hiccup. The riders ate their food while their dragons were playing together behind them, doing their best not to move too much so their riders could rest. The dragons didn't want to leave their riders after they got back, so even though they were bored they happily played with the rock they found next to them.
After eating the pair were relaxing, looking at the sky and passing clouds, gathering their thoughts. They rarely had time just to relax together anymore, having to deal with dragon hunters, Drago and now Berk. When they were younger, sixteen or seventeen, they would always find time just to be together as the family they are, exploring, playing pranks on each other, having fun. As they got older they discovered more dragons, more islands, more friends and allies, but they also discovered more dangers and made more enemies. As time went on it seemed that the only time they had together was always marked by danger and more than often threats of death.
But now, even on, supposedly, an enemy island, they enjoyed the time they had just to be near without having to fight for their lives. They knew they had to talk about what they heard in the village and plan their next course of action accordingly.
"So Berk's under threat of something, and they're trying to capture dragons why? I still don't get that." Hiccup broke the silence, still cloud gazing, Storm hummed also not taking her eyes from the sky, he continued. "And they're missing someone who could help them? What's that all about?" He turned to her, the confusion clear on his face, his sister also turned to him and chuckled.
"You really need some sleep if you can't put the puzzle together Chief," at that Hiccup scoffed in mock offence. "I think we have a common enemy with them, you remember last month I had an encounter with the hunters near Berk? It was a small ship with no dragons on board and a small crew, when I confronted them they said they weren't there to trap dragons, they were there to scout out an enemy island. At the time we thought they meant the Berserkers because they were the only island with dragons, but what if they meant Berk?"
"Berk was the closest island, but why would they – why would Drago target Berk?" Hiccup asked even more confused. The hunters scouting Berk made more sense, because the island was the only one for a while and them going near it to reach Berserkers was a stretch. Storm was also thinking about that, what use was Berk to Drago? Then realization dawned on her, her eyes widened and her hand shot out to grip Hiccup's. He looked at her and she only said one word.
"Johann."
