Camicazi POV

"His preferred weapon is the axe. His favorite food is mutton. He ..." I listed the plethora of information I had learned from Gustav before I was interrupted by mother.

"Cami! I recognize and appreciate how thoroughly you completed your interrogation. Now, what did you learn that is of immediate importance?" Bertha asked.

"He came here because his tribe found new maps that showed our island. The map wasn't detailed so Gustav was sent here to map the island more completely. His village is to the west, half a day's flight by dragon which, after seeing how fast he flew, would be about a weeks sail. His village is roughly triple the size of ours in the amount of people that live there. There are six other 'designated' dragon riders and they have been riding dragons for several years. As for weapons and armor, he said 'We have so many we have been melting them down'." I reported. Mother and Signa, our holy woman and, regrettably, the advisor to the chiefess, were silent.

"Is there no way he could have exaggerated these claims?" Bertha asked.

"No. He knows better than to lie to me." I stated with pride evident in my voice.

"This is unsettling news to be sure, chiefess. However, in times of uncertainty we must rely on tradition to guide us. Now that the boy has given up all the information he holds, he must be prepared for the ceremony." Signa grandiosely recommended.

"The ceremony? You can't be serious. He is a prisoner of value. What if his tribe comes looking for him? We are not prepared to fight six dragons." I protested.

"Freya will defend us from ..." Signa started before I interrupted her.

"... Dragonfire? I don't go to all of your sermons but I have never heard you claim that before now. What might save us, should they choose to come here, is if we hand Gustav over to them in good health." I elaborated.

"Cami. That's enough." Bertha scolded, obviously thinking this over. "He will be prepared for the ceremony. Since Camicazi captured him, she will take honor of being his sentinel for the ceremony." Bertha commanded.

"I, Wha_." I started.

"That's final Camicazi!" Bertha boomed. "Now, Signa, I believe that concludes the business for today. If you don't mind I would like to have a word with my daughter." Mother stated. Signa nodded and promptly left.

"Mom, we never found his dragon. If it decided to fly back to his island then it would be arriving soon and we could have dragons over our heads tomorrow. How can you not see..." I yelled as soon as Signa was gone.

"I do." Bertha stated, shocking me. "You are right. He is a prisoner of value and we should be preparing to hand him over and not for the ceremony. But one thing you have to learn before you take my place is that you only have as much power as your people give you. Almost everyone on the island follows Signa's new religion. If I go directly against her I will be called a blasphemer and if I am not immediately overthrown I will lose the peoples respect.".

Hiccup's POV

"Easy dragon boy." Astrid breathed into my ear after I chained kisses down her neck. I hung my head and gave a frustrated sigh.

"This is getting harder and harder Astrid" I stated, giving her a pleading look.

"I can feel that." she stated with a coy smirk.

"What! No. I meant doing this but not being able to ... move forward." I explained. Astrid gently pushed me off of her and took up position cuddling my side.

"Hiccup, you know why we can't. One, I'll probably get pregnant, which I don't want yet. Two, if I get pregnant, you can bet your manhood that you are marrying me before I start to show and if that happens you will have to take over as chief." Astrid explained, barring me from moving on top of her again. I gave out another frustrated sigh.

"Why were the gods so cruel to make you so beautiful then?" I asked.

"Just beautiful?" Astrid questioned.

"And strong and smart and ..." I continued, inching my face closer to her's with every word, before Astrid interrupted me.

"Able to see through your obvious flattery, Haddock" Astrid stated, pushing me back on the bed. I sighed again. "You forgot one Hiccup." she added, worming her hands down my body.

"Um ... fierce?" I guessed, trying and failing to keep composure with her hands on their current path. She shook her head gently.

"Talented" Astrid corrected, tugging at my pant string.

I slept well despite the fact that Astrid, once again, refused to even share the same bed as me. My romantic life had become a bitter sweet mixture of pleasure and disappointment. I knew that I should be grateful that I had a romantic life at all but, in a way, the nighttime visits from Astrid were just a painful reminder of what we were unable to do.

I got dressed for the day, preparing myself to put on the charade that Astrid and I were 'just friends'. I left the house already in a bad mood only to have a monstrous nightmare crash land on my doorstep.

"Fanghook? What are you doing here?" I stated has I stroked his snout. The dragon was obviously exhausted and also riderless. I moved around his head and saw, what appeared to be a spear, stuck in his teeth.

"Hiccup! What's going on?" Stoick asked, emerging from the house after he heard the sound of a crashing dragon.

"It's Fanghook. He came back without Gustav and he had this stuck in his teeth." I stated, offering the spear to my father.

"You told me you were sending Gustav to an uninhabited and safe island. You didn't tell me you were sending him to meet with a new tribe?!" Stoick boomed, accusingly.

"No! The Dragon Eye didn't say anything about people living on that island. It was supposed to be a safe island." I defended.

"In any case, I need you to gather everyone in the great hall." Stoick asked, probably suspending a lecture about sending untrained 'Gustav's' to unmapped islands for later.

"What exactly is going to be the topic of this town meeting." I asked, finding Toothless and hopping on the saddle.

"It won't be a town meeting. It'll be a war council." Stoick stated.