41. Something's off

It was strange not seeing the group take off to the woods or dragons taking off from the academy. Gobber had really started to get used to the sight of dragons on the horizon. Seeing the dragons reminded him that Hiccup was finally back and was thinking of staying, even with the threat of Drago, Gobber never felt as happy as when he saw the group's dragons flying around.

From the start of the day something was off. He had seen Astrid on his way to the forge, Eret came in not long after asking if Gobber had anything for him to do, Gobber saw Fishlegs heading to the Meade hall and the twins were helping out their parents, he caught a glimpse of Snotlout trailing after his father. Only after he saw all of them in the village he understood - he had gotten used to not seeing them for the whole day.

He did see them go off to the academy in the afternoon and take off with their dragons, only to be back a few hours later. When Eret came back to finish his work, Gobber asked what was going on, as with the pair gone he thought the group would not do training on their own.

"Patrol," Eret answered while organizing Gobber's equipment. "It was supposed to happen early in the morning and late at night, but Stoick decided to change the time."

"Why?" Gobber couldn't help but ask.

"I don't know? Storm had given us times when patrol is most likely to help, I just think he doesn't trust them," he answered with a small disappointed smile on his face.

Conversation ceased after that, leaving Gobber deep in thought. Really patrol around the island in the middle of the day would not help much, vikings were all around the island in the day and could see any approaching danger. He decided to leave the matter alone, after all Stoick had his reasons.

Stoick was not having a good day. Something just felt off. Maybe it was the reluctance of Astrid and the others when told to follow his orders, maybe it was the fact that he felt like the Demons had turned the group to their side. Or maybe it was the fact that for the first time in a while he didn't feel like he made the right choice by changing the patrol times the Demons were set on.

At the end of the day he was the Chief and what he decided was final. Was he still not entirely sure of his decision? Was it still the one thing he could not stop thinking about? Sure, it was. But the Demons leaving so abruptly was strange, and their confidence in ordering his people around didn't sit right with him. "

When evening rolled around Stoick decided the only thing that would get those conflicting thoughts out of his head was a good tankard of mead. Maybe Gobber would be at the Meade hall and Stoick could vent to his friend.

Unfortunately Gobber was not there, but Spitelout was. And really Stoick wasn't going to complain about a wiling ear to vent his troubles to.

"You did the right thing," Spitelout said after Stoick finally got everything off his chest. "The two don't respect authority." He complained.

"The girl defiantly doesn't," Stoick agreed, he was already three tankards in and didn't plan on stopping anytime soon.

"She sure doesn't!" Spitelout growled and slammed his tankard on the table, "The other day she dared to tell my son that he was disrespectful and then threatened him!"

"What?" Stoick asked in astonishment, not having even heard rumors that that had happened, and considering that Snotlout complained about every small thing, it was strange.

"She did so after he accused them of trying to get power over Berk," Spitelout said with a sly smile.

Stoick was dumbfounded. The girl had threatened Snotlout? That was way out of line, Snotlout was the heir! Threatening him was like threatening all of Berk. But why hadn't Snotlout said anything, was he afraid of what the Demons could do if he had?

Stoick looked down at his tankard and pushed it away. He would need to talk with Snotlout tomorrow, to get the whole story. But Spitelout's words were like a confirmation to the Chief, who could not think of any reason why the Demons would threaten Snotlout, except if the boy had said something that was true and had a chance of exposing the Demon's true intentions.

Stoick left Spitelout at the hall and made his way home. He was drunk and it longer than expected to reach his home, his cold, lonely home. Stoick got into bed as soon as he could, wanting to sleep off his intoxication.

The silence made it hard for him to fall asleep, bringing forth another reason why he still tolerated the Demon's behavior. Hiccup. They were his only chance to get Hiccup back, his only chance to make Berk into something Hiccup would want to get back to. But he couldn't stop thinking about his tribe and his people. If he needed he would make the Demons leave and find another way to get Hiccup back.

He wasn't sleeping long when the first boulder landed on Berk, but he was still disoriented from the haze of sleep. Making his way outside proved troublesome, but he managed and left his home into the chaos that an invisible attacker brings. This. This is what he was afraid of. He was right, his mind screamed at him that he was right and that the Demons were responsible for this. He didn't bother to think about the situation more, after all, he had his answer to a question that was not asked yet. Right now, he needed to do something.

Gobber had a hard time thinking of any reasons that would explain Stoick's stupidity, when in the middle of the night Berk was attacked. An attack that could have been avoided if the patrol went out that night, Gobber knew that. The fact that the village was woken up from sleep didn't help their spirits, and by the time Astrid got the group on their dragons the attacker was gone.

Stoick was absolutely fuming by the time Gobber managed to reach him. The damage wasn't severe, a few boulders launched at the village, none destroying anything important. That did not matter to Stoick.

"I knew it," Stoick growled more to himself than anyone else, "I knew this would happen."

"You knew there would be an attack?" Gobber questioned while observing the Hooligans going back to their homes.

"I knew that they were up to something," Stoick clarified with obvious anger, he was tense, his fists tightly clenched by his side.

"Who?" Gobber asked with confusion.

"The demons," Stoick said with a glare directed at Gobber, like the smith should have already known.

"Hold on," Gobber told him with a hand on the Chief's shoulder. "What do they have to do with anything?"

"Don't you see?" The Chief yelled, his hands raising in anger and frustration. "They left, and a day later this occurs!" He continued yelling while gesturing towards the destruction.

"You think they were behind this?" Gobber asked, disbelief clouding his voice.

"Of course they are!" Stoick shouted as Astrid joined them.

Gobber looked at her and got a small shake of her head, no trace of the attackers then. Stoick didn't even notice as she approached, too caught up in his rage. The Chief continued shouting, even though Astrid and Gobber where the only ones left near him.

"They planned all of this! I knew we couldn't trust them!"

"Chief, why would they do this?" Astrid inquired in a calm tone, trying to defuse some of the anger Stoick felt.

"I don't know! They have their motives!" Stoick shouted. "They are no-good liars, I never should have trusted them, all they bring is conflict and danger!"

"Chief, if we were on the patrol times that Storm suggested we would have seen this attack coming," Astrid tried to explain.

"They never lied before, why would they start now, with an attack that didn't even do any real damage?" Gobber added.

"I said I don't know!" Stoick yelled again, throwing his arms up.

Astrid shared a frustrated look with Gobber, Stoick was just spouting nonsense and they both knew it. Gobber looked at the fuming man, the angry frown marring his face, the clenched fists by his side. Stoick was furious about something he could not prove, he was grasping at straws and coincidences to prove what he believed to be true.

"They had no reason to do this," Gobber tried reasoning again. Stoick turned his hateful glare towards the smith.

"But I know they did," he stated and left Astrid and Gobber on the steps to the Meade hall.

The smith sighed at his friend's stupidity. What Astrid said was true, a late night patrol would have noticed the attack coming and it could have been stopped. Gobber knew that Hiccup wouldn't do this, , and while he didn't know Storm as well as he did Hiccup, Gobber was sure she wouldn't have tried this kind of thing either.

"How can he believe that?" Astrid questioned quietly. Even with no one else but Gobber around she didn't dare question the Chief loudly.

"I hope he's drunk," Gobber remarked with an eye roll. Really, his friend was acting unreasonable.

"Yeah, I mean they wouldn't do something like this," Astrid said, she crossed her arms and looked over the damage. It wasn't much, but it was obvious, luckily no homes were destroyed.

"They are honest people, those two want what's best for Berk," Gobber commented, he looked at Astrid who seemed to be deep in thought.

Gobber found it strange how the girl seemed to defend the pair after such a short time of knowing them, but considering that the pair were nothing but themselves, it was easy to see how Astrid could get close to them and feel protective when they were wrongfully accused.

"They do, especially Hiccup," Astrid said absentmindedly. Her eyes widened and a panicked look crossed her face. She turned to look at Gobber fearing the worst, but the smith didn't even catch her slip up.

"The lad will be heartbroken when he learns that his father thinks he set this up," Gobber said while gesturing at the damage. Astrid looked at him for a moment longer, she blinked a couple times before getting the courage to ask.

"You know?"

"Know what?" the smith asked, confused. Astrid double checked their surroundings and leaden in to the man.

"That Hiccup is back?" she quietly asked him. Gobber awkwardly rubbed his neck and turned to her.

"I do," the smith said, then his eyes narrowed. "How did you figure it out?"

"Toothless," she explained simply. "How did you?" She questioned with a tilt of her head.

"Lass, if I didn't recognize his voice after so much time we spent together, I would be worried," Gobber joked.

Astrid left after a while, she had decided to send the other on patrol through the night, and it was her turn to survey the island. Gobber appreciated the girl thoughtfulness, another attack would only rile up Stoick more and that would not be good. Gobber decided to go to sleep and try to talk to Stoick in the morning.

The morning came faster than expected, but Gobber didn't mind. Catching the Chief while he was still in his home was a priority, because when Stoick left his home it was hard to find the Chief, and with the repairs that needed to be seen to it would be harder than normal.

Gobber managed to get Stoick while he was one foot out the door. The smith pushed him back inside his house and told him to sit down while he himself remained standing.

"What was that?" Gobber demanded while Stoick looked at him with confusion.

"What was what?" he asked, he frowned "I should be asking you what is this?" Stoick gestured to himself and the smith.

"Last night," Gobber clarified as he crossed his arms, "You were adamant that Storm and her brother were responsible for the attack, even though they weren't."

"So you're on first name basis with the demons?" Stoick asked with distain. "And I stand by what I said."

"She told me her name without being asked," Gobber smiled. "You never answered why do you think they did this."

"They left and a day later the attack occurs, and the attacker wasn't seen!" Stoick explained. "They probably used their dragons to drop the boulders on the village."

"What?" Gobber asked after a moment.

"I am certain they used dragons to drop the boulders onto the village, it would explain everything," Stoick slowly reiterated.

"It would explain nothing," Gobber countered, "If they wanted to destroy Berk, fire from their dragons would do the job better than a few rocks. Stoick, think this trough, before you sever the only connection you have to Hiccup."

The smith left after saying his piece. He saw that Stoick was desperately holding on to his belief and bringing up Hiccup would, hopefully, make Stoick rethink everything with a clear head. Gobber knew that if Stoick accused the pair of doing this, he would never see his son again, because Hiccup would be too heartbroken to even look at the man.