To jimster3644 - Thanks for the review, but truthfully if you don't like my stories, please do not read them. I write the way I like, and there are far more authors out there who write much more than I do. I have to congratulate you. For someone who claims, on their own profile page no less, to laze around and has never written a story before, your review is quite bold.

To all of you, I apologise. I had to get that out of the way to make it clear I don't tolerate attacks on my stories. I write the way I do because it allows me to get a lot across. I am also grateful for your patience. I have spent the last month or so writing various chapters and new ones for different fandoms for Christmas.

This and other chapters like this are my Christmas presents for all of you.

Merry Christmas all!

The Dragon Pirate.

Stoick was thankful to be back on his island. It had been a long month, going from one island to the next, while he tried to follow up the rumours and sightings of his son and that beast of his. The chief of the Hairy Hooligan tribe had been surprised when he went out into the archipelago to see if any of the other tribes had sighted Hiccup, because many of them had reported sighting the boy and the Night Fury.

Reports from merchants and travellers and fishermen alike described seeing Hiccup on the distinctive dragons' back, flying in different directions while staying out of range of the catapults and bolas every ship in Viking territorial waters carried as part of their usual gear to protect them from any dragon attack; the war may be over, but the long years of fighting and hating dragons was still prevalent in Viking culture, and it wasn't going to go away.

Stoick was just relieved to be back on his island. He had needed quite a bit of his political acumen to make sure everyone knew Hiccups' actions were not reflected on his own tribe, so then the other Vikings in the archipelago didn't take it the way he had. If a kid from one of the tribes flew a dragon and destroyed his own Kill Ring, he would take that as an attack. Viking politics were fickle, and in many ways, a brutal practice. Stoick was a long-term veteran of many battles speaking and yelling at the various chiefs of the different tribes as he was a dragon slayer.

Fortunately, he had proof to back up his claims he had nothing to do with the Kill Ring destruction taking place.

Stoick had invited many of the tribal chiefs to Berk so then they could see the damage to the Kill Ring. Keeping the Ring clear of any damage so then everyone could see the place as it was found was difficult, but it was one of Gobbers' better ideas when the blacksmith realised the dramatic mess of the arena would persuade the other chiefs he was being sincere, since a tidy Kill Ring would make it look fake.

Stoick had jumped on the idea immediately because he didn't want Berk to have every tribe as an enemy. That was the last thing he needed on top of everything else.

Unfortunately, not every chief believed him but luckily some of the more level-headed chiefs listened to the story of what had happened on the island with the dragon nest. Stoick was just relieved none of his people had made the stupid mistake of exaggerating it or making Hiccup out to be the villain of the piece, no matter what he was doing out there.

When his ship neared Berks' harbour, Stoick stood up straight and stretched, wincing as he did, cursing his current age. He was a strong and powerful Viking, and although he had nearly failed dragon training because of his impulsive attitude which changed when his mother was killed and he had nearly been killed himself, making him take the war more seriously, he was not immune to old age.

The dragon war and the never-ending chaos caused by the raids and the frequent hunts for the nest had aged him badly, and now with what was going on…. the political shifts of the tribes, the vacuum caused by the dragons losing that big one, trying to find Hiccup to make amends… Stoick wondered how long he had before something happened to him.

Stoick was starting to see there were fewer days ahead than there were behind, but truthfully when he looked back on his life he began to see he had accomplished very little, much like his own father who had lived like he had, always trying to hold the tribe together while keeping the dragons at bay.

Stoick didn't have a chance to dwell on the thought when he noticed that Gobbers' own ship was moored at the dock. The chief wondered how the blacksmith had gotten on; he had sent Gobber out around the islands near Nadder's Point to see if Hiccup had been seen around there, since Gobber had told him Hiccup had grown up with an interest of visiting other places, and indeed Hiccup had always been disappointed whenever Stoick had left to attend inter-tribal meetings in the past.

With a dragon, it wouldn't be difficult for Hiccup to visit those places now. In fact, with a dragon, it would be easier to visit new lands and places since dragons were much faster than boats or ships.

But what was Gobber doing here so soon? The blacksmith shouldn't be back so quickly.

One of the Viking crew members threw a rope to moor the ship to the dock, and with practiced ease, though he did it slowly because his limbs ached, Stoick jumped onto the dock with a light groan. "I'm gettin' too old for this," he whispered to himself as he straightened up and was instantly ashamed when he spotted Gobber hobbling over to him. If he was having problems leaping onto the dock, Thor alone knew how the hell Gobber was able to manage it.

"Gobber," he greeted, holding out his hand to grasp the blacksmiths' only remaining flesh and blood hand. He was always amazed by the amount of strength in Gobbers' arm, which was a result of pounding and lifting metal, and the thoughts of disappointment he still possessed that Hiccup had never become stronger out of his apprentice job at the forge resurfaced. Stoick immediately shoved them aside. "Wha' happened? Why're yer back so soon?"

Gobber's scowl told him it was not good news. "Tha' next time yer send me off ta look for Hiccup, don't make the teens come with me."

Stoick closed his eyes, already feeling a headache coming along. He had come to realise the teenagers were more of a headache than Hiccup had ever been, especially Astrid. While she was a great Viking in the making, Stoick honestly didn't like the way the girl lost her temper so frequently since Shield Maidens were meant to be more controlled than that. Astrid was a professional warrior, which was commendable considering how young she was, but she needed to work on her attitude and calm down. Anger on a battlefield was a great weapon in the right circumstances, but in times of peace or during missions it could mean the difference between life and death.

"Wha' happened?" he demanded, his tone a low, long-suffering whisper. His head was aching too much for him to start shouting his head off, and to be honest he was too tired to muster the effort to scream.

"We found Hiccup, or rather Astrid, Snotlout and Ruffnut found Hiccup on one of the islands near Nadders' point; the main island is surrounded by small islands. Anyway, the teens found Hiccup on one of the islands with his dragon."

"Where is Hiccup now?"

Gobber sighed. "Astrid, for reasons I don't get, decided to go out to look for Hiccup without bothering ta tell me," he growled, "I told 'em if they saw him, they were to keep watch on hi and come tell me. Instead, they must've attacked him."

Stoick closed his eyes and growled under his breath, cursing the current generations' stupidity. He opened his eyes again. "What was he doin' on Nadder's point anyway?"

"I found out he was working at the islands' forge. The blacksmith there told me he had arrived a short time before, hoping to get some money while he was working on his own projects. The blacksmith didn't know what he was making, but I reckon Hiccup was working on the prosthetic tail-fin of his Night Fury. That's not all; I asked around the town and found out he was frequently speaking to travellers and merchants, hoping to find out what was beyond the archipelago. He was also buying maps. I asked the sellers at the market."

Stoick stiffened. It sounded like Hiccup was trying to work out the best way to leave the archipelago. Time was running out. He needed to find the boy quickly before someone like Alvin caught him.

"I also found out where Hiccup was stayin' on the island," Gobber went on, "he must have seen us arrive and escaped before Astrid and those other stupid teens could capture him on the island; he must have left in a hurry, 'cause there were still things there on the bed. I brought some of it back to Berk. There're in yer house."

Stoick nodded, though he wondered if Gobber had brought them to him to stuff in Hiccups' former bedroom where he kept everything the boy had made and done over the years, he didn't care.

He had another thought on his mind. "What I don't get is this, what the hell was Astrid and the teens thinking? Surely they knew I wanted ma' son back?"

Gobber sighed. "I dunno, Stoick. I dunno what Snotlout and Ruffnut were thinking, or even if they were thinking at all. But Astrid….," the blacksmith said, shaking his head. "I dunno Stoick, there's somethin' about that girl that worries me."

"What d'ye mean?" Stoick asked.

"Astrid has a wicked temper. During the trip we took, Astrid kept throwing that stupid axe at the ship, but I could hear her muttering under her breath. I think she's angry with Hiccup for destroying tha' nest and killing that big dragon."

Stoick nodded as he realised that the problem was. "She's jealous," he proclaimed as they walked along the dock. "She's jealous 'cause Hiccup not only managed to end the war so effortlessly while she spent much of her time training to be a good fighter, but he didn't really need ta' do anything."

"I don't think that's' how it happened, Stoick," Gobber pointed out as he hobbled along the uneven wooden planking. "It would've taken 'im ages to work on training that Night Fury; I doubt that dragon just stood there while he made tha' prosthetic, and he would need ta' build some kinda trust between him and the dragon. It probably took 'im a while. But," the blacksmith went on as they continued with their more pressing topic, "I am worried 'bout what Astrid might do later."

"Why d'yer say that?"

"Ta' be honest, I think she has her own plans where Hiccup's concerned, but she refused to give me the details."

Stoick growled. "Where is she now?" he asked.

Astrid yelled as she threw her axe against the trees of her favourite training spot. Each tree had deep cuts which were a testament to how many times she had visited the spot and practiced with her favourite weapon of choice since with an axe you didn't really need a sparring partner after you'd gotten the basics right.

The shieldmaiden didn't like working with others. It was hard to find people her own age who not only was at her level but also had her fierce devotion to ending the war. The other teenagers her age were idiots; the twins, while vicious, were also too stupid and slow on the uptake, Snotlout was a bragger who didn't take anything seriously, and Fishlegs was an oversized version of Hiccup.

Hiccup….

Astrid growled as she ripped the axe free of the tight cut it had made in the tree before she backed away and prepared herself for another throw, adjusting her stance accordingly. She hurled the axe at the tree again, throwing it with her anger-enhanced strength. Just thinking about the runt was enough to piss her off. Unknown to Astrid, Stoick was not wrong; she was jealous of the boy who had once been her friend, though, in truth she had never understood him when she had been a child, he had been a better friend than the other teenagers. But Astrid had spent the best part of her life preparing herself, training nearly every day and every single night to be the best, becoming stronger with each day so then she could become one of the best shield maidens in Berks history.

She had worked so hard, and what had happened?

A pathetic runt like Hiccup should not have defeated the dragons once and for all, ending the war. That honour should have gone to a proper Viking, someone like her. Preferably her. Not a boasting moron like Snotlout, or a thick idiot like one of the twins, and definitely not to an oversized chatterbox like Fishlegs, who wasted his time reading about dragons instead of practicing on how to kill the beasts. After all, what was the point of learning how to kill dragons if you didn't use it?

That was not all. Hiccup had learnt how to fly a dragon. When she had discovered the runt with the dragon, she had immediately seen an opportunity for herself. Although he hadn't excelled in dragon training, Astrid had always seen Hiccup as the potential rival (the other teenagers were too in to themselves, too boastful or stupid to really be rivals), and that was one of the reasons why she had made it virtually impossible for him to truly excel in the arena. Not that he did. Hiccup didn't seem to care about the training. He participated and he ducked and wove out of the way of the various dragons Gobber let out, but he didn't actually get involved besides just doing the minimum.

Astrid had been disgusted with the boy for his lack of participation, so she hadn't bothered with her plan to make life difficult for him during training once she'd worked out he was not going to do anything she or some of the other teens were doing. She'd had it all worked out. She would trip him up, knock him out of the way, set up little accidents as the training went along so then he was out of the running for the final exam where the Monstrous Nightmare would be killed. Astrid had planned long and hard to kill that dangerous monster, and she wasn't going to let anyone take it from her, not Snotlout and definitely not a runt like Hiccup. The Monstrous Nightmare was for her, and her alone. No-one else. A true Viking should have that honour.

But she didn't need to bother. Hiccup simply wasn't interested in the training. Why she could not comprehend. She saw him as a coward for refusing to do his part in the war which had been fought for centuries, and which his own mother was a casualty.

It had entered her mind Hiccup was not interested because he was deliberately trying to spite his father. It was an open secret Hiccup and Stoick did not get along, but then that was true with many of the children on the island since the parents needed to be harsh with their children in order to forge them into weapons to fight against their enemies.

Astrid believed in that philosophy. Indeed, she had promised herself any children she had would be taught how to be unfeeling against the weak, taught only the strongest survived.

She also believed strongly that only the strongest survived in any war. You were not likely to win by being soft. But in truth when it came to Hiccup, Astrid was not sympathetic. If anyone deserved a beating it was him, and no-one could dispute that. Astrid would never forget the damage her former friend had caused with those stupid inventions. What did he expect when they had gone wrong?

Astrid stomped over to the tree and with all her strength, she ripped the blade from the tree trunk, checking the metal to see if it was damaged in any way. She didn't want to go anywhere near the forge. She'd had enough of Gobber. She was tired of his stupid stories which he had told and repeated endlessly, again and again, exaggerated each time so then they weren't boring or because the older Viking was losing his mind, but she didn't care. But on the way back, she had noticed his frowns in her direction as they returned to Berk.

Astrid began to wonder if Gobber had worked out her reasons for going out alone to find Hiccup. Astrid was a soldier, a shield maiden, trained to be a warrior. Her reasons for training so hard was to become a warrior, to lift the cloud that had been drawn over her family when her uncle was frozen to death in terror of that weird dragon years ago, but also so then she could end the war. Astrid had dreamt many times over the years of single-handedly ending the war, but now all of those dreams were thrown off the cliff thanks to Hiccup.

Ordinarily, she wouldn't have cared or given much thought about Stoick's orders if they were bizarre, but truthfully Astrid didn't care if the chief wanted his son back. She wanted to kill him and that beast and finally reclaim the lost honour her family had lost.

Astrid flung her arm out while holding onto the axe to hurl it again when she heard someone behind her. "Astrid, I wanna have a word with you," Stoick's deep rumble said.

The young shield-maiden went stiff, surprised the large Viking had managed to creep up behind her. Either she had not been paying attention to Stoicks' lumbering stride, or he was quieter than she'd thought. Turning around, Astrid took a moment to study the chief. He looked haggard and fed up, and it was bleeding into the way she was being looked at. Stoick was looking at her with a serious ferocity that put her in mind of how he had been during the war.

"Chief," Astrid greeted without giving anything away.

"I want to know wha' happened at Nadders' point, Astrid," Stoick began without preamble or subtlety. He was too tired to care about leading the discussion to where he wanted it to be. "Gobber told me yer left 'im on the main island and went off with Snotlout and Ruffnut to track Hiccup down, WITHOUT telling 'im," Stoick growled out, emphasising the without with none of his deep accent.

Astrid wasn't sure how to feel. On the one hand, she was furious Gobber had told the chief about what had happened, though really she'd expected it for a long time since Hiccup escaped her when she'd cornered him and his beast. But on the other, she was nervous about what Stoick might do. She was young and strong with youth on her side, but Stoick had experience, so if it came down to a fight between them both, Astrid was certain she would lose.

But she wasn't going to go that far. She genuinely respected Stoick even if she saw many of his decisions in the last few months as questionable.

"I was going to tell Gobber, chief," Astrid said, hoping the chief didn't see through her lie. She had not planned on telling the blacksmith anything about her plans. The only reason he'd found out was that she was still too dazed from her minor injury at Nadders' point. "But there wasn't any time. Hiccup could have been on any of those islands, and he must have known we were there. By the time I told him, it would have been too late for Gobber to do anything."

Stoick eyed the girl, wondering if she was being sincere. When he had heard she was in this part of the island which she had taken for herself to practice her axe hurling, Stoick had taken in her stance. The girl was too angry, she was hurling her axe without any regard to her own safety or taking notice of anything nearby. That worried him because the girl was more alert than that. He was starting to wonder if her little tale was indeed sincere. The girl's temper was beginning to worry him more, and it made him worry about what she might do if her temper got the better of her one day.

"Yer had two friends wi' you, Astrid," Stoick bluntly pointed out. "Yer could've sent one of 'em off, or both of 'em, and they'd have told Gobber. Anything could've happened, Astrid. Yer could've been injured, and Gobber would never have known about it. What would have happened then, did you stop to think about that?"

"It was Hiccup, chief," Astrid stated like the fact it was Hiccup meant she would never have been hurt, inwardly she cringed since she was essentially channelling Snotlout. "He wouldn't have raised a finger to hurt me."

Stoick raised a bushy eyebrow, wondering if this girl realised just how stupid that comment was. "Yet yer were injured, Astrid," Stoick pointed out without any kind of hesitation; he wasn't going to allow this girl to think that just because she trained and worked hard, things could just be ignored. "And it could've been serious. Very serious. Yer not leavin' this island again for a while; yer actions not just endangered your own life, but you also dragged two others with yer. Wi' that Night Fury o' his, Hiccup could have done a lot of damage ta all of yer. From now on, Astrid, the next time someone tells yer to do something, yer do it!"

Stoick turned and walked away, leaving the girl to her own thoughts. But as he left, he heard the familiar shriek of rage coming from the girl.

Gobbers' concerns about the lass had just been confirmed though Stoick had already gathered as much by the time he'd made up his mind about what was going to happen now with her. Astrid did have her own agenda where Hiccup was concerned, and Stoick did not like it.

Meeting up again with Gobber, Stoick went into his house to see the collection of objects Hiccup had been preparing on taking with him. They were waiting for him on the kitchen table. Gobber had just piled the lot on the table without bothering to put them into any semblance of order.

Stoick used his fingers to move everything around the table to take it all in, and as he did he saw a small number of journals similar to the ones Hiccup had used when he had lived on the island. There were also a number of leather rolls neatly wrapped up to make them as small as possible for easier packing, and there was a small selection of warm clothing and materials needed to make them.

"He was obviously using Nadders' Point to collect as many supplies as he could," Stoick said, but truthfully it was stating the obvious. The problem was he had no idea what else to say.

Gobber nodded. The blacksmith had reached the conclusion himself when it was confirmed by the Nadders' Point blacksmith Hiccup had worked in his forge for some time.

Stoick picked up a strange metal object. It was some kind of pulley, but it was quite lightweight. He turned it over in his hand and looked curiously over at Gobber. "Wha's this?"

"I dunno, but I think it's part of the prosthetic Hiccup rigged up for that dragon," the blacksmith replied, "there weren't that many pieces when I took a look in the room Hiccup rented on the island. Don't ask me how it works, I haven't a clue."

"Did yer find anything else?"

"Well, I went over to the smaller island to see for ma self where the Night Fury was being hidden. There were little holes in the ground. Hiccup must've dug 'em to keep everything safe and secure in case anyone went there by chance."

Stoick closed his eyes and reopened them again. He was trying to think about what his sons' next move might be now, but he couldn't work it out. "Yer said when I got back Hiccup had spoken to the merchants and travellers and collected maps. D'we know where he might go next?"

"No. The Nadders' Point chief questioned the merchants and the market sellers who had frequent contact wi' Hiccup. They remember him being extremely selective about the maps, saying he favoured buying small maps but ones which were extremely accurate and detailed. When we found out he was on Nadders' Point, we met a merchant whose route takes him beyond our waters to the east and close to Gaul. He said Hiccup had been asking him questions and making notes in a journal. A few more travellers told me the same thing; Hiccup would speak to them, make notes, and that was it."

"What kind o' notes?"

"They not in any o' these journals. I checked," Gobber said, "but from what the merchants and travellers described, Hiccup was interested in the things they had seen and what was out there."

Stoick nodded, more than aware of how curious Hiccup was about other lands even if he had never actually realised just how much. He wished he had some of those notes, that way he might get an idea of what his son was planning to do, but it was not meant to be. It was almost as though Loki himself were helping the boy with his escape. He shook his head.

"I spoke to Astrid," he said, changing the subject. "She said she was gonna speak ta' yer before she headed out ta' that island, but she was hurling that axe o' hers too hard when I found her. I worry she wasn't tellin' me the truth."

Gobber was in no doubt. "I don't think that girl had any intention whatsoever with comin' to get me, Stoick. I think she deliberately disobeyed my orders, whether 'cause she thinks that just because she's one of the best of the current generation o' warriors among our tribe, or because she is arrogant, I dunno. As I said, she has an agenda where Hiccup is concerned."

Stoick frowned, not liking where this conversation was leading. He wanted Hiccup back on Berk with the tribe where he belonged. He was the heir of the Hairy Hooligans. In truth, Stoick would've liked Hiccup to come back on his own, and that way they might be able to heal the wounds but because of his decision to actively hunt him down, the boy was making it increasingly harder for anyone to find him.

In an ideal scenario, Hiccup would return on his own without that beast of his controlling him, and he could settle down and marry a girl like Astrid and cement his place among the tribe. But after seeing Astrids' display and hearing the way she'd yelled in rage as he'd left, he worried for anyone who tried to court her.

"I've got an idea of what that agenda is, Gobber," Stoick said grimly, hoping desperately he was wrong. But one look at his old friend told him that the same thought had occurred to Gobber as well. Astrid wanted to kill Hiccup. "What I can't work out is why," Stoick went on.

"Well, the Hoffersons lost a lot of their prestige when Finn froze in horror when he faced that dragon," Gobber said, "and Astrid did become obsessed to the point of madness to train up to become the best."

Stoick hated being reminded of what he had needed to do, as a Viking chief, to the Hofferson clan. A clan who was one of the most loyal and the strongest of all, barring his own and several others. But he knew what Finns' disgrace had done to them, and what kind of pressure they'd put on Astrid as a result. The chief had witnessed first-hand how Astrid had trained long and hard, knew how far she had pushed herself to be the best so then she could slaughter as many dragons as she could before she herself died during the war. But now the war was over, Astrid must really hate Hiccup for taking those opportunities for greatness away.

He told Gobber as much before he added, "I've also barred her from leaving Berk to go after Hiccup."

"I hope that works, Stoick, or else we may have a problem," Gobber said grimly. Stoick wondered what his friend meant, but the blacksmith was closed off.

Hiccup blew out a breath as he finished digging the trap with Toothless' help. He climbed up the rope ladder and when he reached the top he brushed off the mud and soil from his hands and turned to Toothless who was looking at him with interest. "C'mon bud, push those logs into the hole," he said to the dragon, who obediently pushed the sharpened logs into the hole. Hiccup looked down at them and sighed again, knowing he'd have to climb back down there when he had already climbed out, but when he'd climbed out he had been trying to get out of the way so then one of those logs wouldn't crack his skull open.

Climbing back down the rope ladder, Hiccup slowly moved one of the logs into a point in the pit, and with a hammer, he'd acquired from Nadders' Point and began to hammer the sharply pointed log he had spent the day before cutting down and sharpening each one into a point. The logs weren't that large nor were they too heavy for him to lift, but the hard part was hammering them into the ground.

After another hour he was finished with that part of the trap, and he climbed back up the ladder and with Toothless' help he moved the grille in large and covered it with a layer of leaves before he shovelled dirt over them before covering them with more layers of leaves.

The trap was basic but it was effective. Hiccup had seen the hunters of Berk dig similar traps in order to catch plenty of game over a large period between raids without needing to expend hours and hours wasting time relying on just hunting one animal when the entire village needed feeding, but those traps were enormous and covered a large area, but this one was much smaller.

Hiccup walked away from the trap, ignoring the small pile of moss-covered rocks that was near the trap. He ignored them because he had placed them there, but the island was full of them, just like any other island in the archipelago.

It had been only two short weeks since he had left Nadders' Point after that confrontation with Astrid, and in that time, he'd travelled to a few more islands before he'd decided to settle on this little island for a short amount of time so then he could plan his next move. Hiccup had originally planned to just leave Nadders' Point and free as many dragons still being held in captivity by the various Vikings out there, and give them a chance for some real freedom, but…. He just wasn't sure. He had the feeling that he was tired of travelling endlessly, sleeping on one island after another without giving himself the chance to properly see it with Toothless before moving on with his quest. He still wanted to free the dragons and stop the Vikings from their endless quest for genocide.

His resolve was just as strong as it had been when he'd visited Nadders' Point and it was just strengthened when he had seen Astrid again.

Hiccup shook his head and snorted when he thought about Astrid. He should have known Astrid would never have passed the opportunity away to make him pay for "stealing her honour" by winning the war, but truthfully he found he couldn't begin to care about her feelings about what had happened with the war. It wasn't his problem. In fact, if he knew Astrid, she was probably hacking trees again with that stupid axe of hers, yelling for the gods to hear and give her the chance the hunt him down and hack him to pieces.

Stupid bitch.

Hiccup wasn't stupid. He knew why Astrid was so determined to get to him, and it had nothing to do with his father either. She had wanted to take him back to Berk so then she could deal with him on her own terms. It wasn't likely to happen, of course. For instance, Toothless was with him, but there was a huge distance between him and Berk now. Even Astrid with her blowhard manner couldn't bridge that gulf.

For the next few weeks, Hiccup took the time to properly explore the island (And fly Toothless whenever the Night Fury became a bit too restless, but he always made sure to ride the dragon at night; the island he was on may have been remote, but he didn't want to take any more unnecessary risks), but there weren't any dragons on the island like there were on others. It seemed even the dragons found this part of the archipelago to be uninteresting and unimportant.

After he'd finished exploring the island and with it as his temporary base of operations, Hiccup took Toothless out on a flight, for the first time it was during sunset. They began to make a habit of that, leaving at sunset and flying above the clouds in order to enjoy the skies above the island before it grew dark.

As they flew through the air, Hiccup patted his dragons' head. "Are you okay with travelling with me, Toothless?" he asked, before he began babbling his head off. "I mean, are you okay flying a tiny, reckless dragon lover like me around?"

The dragon crooned and sent him a look through narrowed eyes, the expression saying "Are you joking?" and Hiccup chuckled. "Sorry, bud. It's just…. I wondered if you'd prefer staying around here-hold on, what's that down there?"

Toothless' head moved back around so fast Hiccup thought for a minute the dragons' neck would break from the movement, but the dragon growled and his ear plates flattened as he took in what was below. Night had just fallen and they could see the running lights of a few ships on the sea, dangerously close to their island.

Hiccup watched them suspiciously, noting just how close they were to the island, and he wondered just how close they had actually gone to it. If they had just come for water and some basic provisions he wouldn't be worried, but he hoped they hadn't gone anywhere near the part of the island he and Toothless had taken as their own. If they'd found the camp, then who knew what might be missing?

"Toothless," he whispered at the Night Fury, "take us down….slowly. And whatever you do, don't whistle!"

The Night Fury gave him a look that seemed sulky as if annoyed his friend and rider believed he would be so stupid to give himself away, but he obediently took them down with Hiccup automatically working on the tail-fin in order to guide them in. The moment the dragon and his rider touched down, they both saw for themselves the campsite had been gutted.

"No!" Hiccup snarled in anger, and he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He'd been afraid of this, of somehow by chance someone would stumble on his island, and since he had basically poked a stick in the dragon nest and drawn attention to himself, nearly every tribe was after him for his secrets or for his head - it didn't matter which since what came first…

For ten minutes, Hiccup and Toothless went through the camp, mentally reviewing what those ships had taken from the camp. When he had finished, Hiccup jumped back onto Toothless and tied himself back into the harness. Once he was ready, Hiccup drew on the enlarged wooden handles wrapped in soft fur he'd used to replace the old ones for longer journeys.

"C'mon, bud," he growled, hoping he didn't subconsciously channel his father, "we've got a hunt to take care of."

With that, Hiccup and Toothless leapt into the air and flew after the ships.

Please tell me what you think.

Happy Christmas.