The Dramatis Personae has been updated with another dragon name for known speices. This one is not new, just forgotten by an authoress who overlooked it when rereading her own work :P
It took all of the dragon riders, even Torgeir and Firestorm, to round up all of Sven's sheep. They had scattered far. Some even managed to cross the two bridges that connected the village to the rest of the island and one managed to fall down the well. Thankfully those inland were held up by helpful Gronckles and the one in the well was kept from drowning by Ringfire using her tail to keep its head above the waterline. Hiccup had to remember to thank Iggy and Buttercup for racing off to get the Whispering Death when they realized Sven's prized black sheep was in the well.
"How many did you get?" Hiccup heard Snotlout ask as Toothless hovered to drop the last sheep, the one from the well, into the rebuilt pen.
Hiccup frowned. "It wasn't a competition," he said as Toothless glided to land outside of the pen.
The sheep huddled together in the middle of the pen, but at least they were not bleating in fear. Although they could have been scared speechless. Hiccup was not sure. They did seem to twitch each time they caught sight of one of the dragons ringing the pen. Well, except for the black one. He just stared at Toothless.
"Hookie and I caught three," Snotlout continued as if he had not heard Hiccup.
Astrid snorted. "That was two. You snatched the third one from Fishlegs."
"Hey, all's fair in sheep corralling."
"It was not a competition," Hiccup cried.
To everyone's surprise, Gyda and Shadowfire began to cackle.
"What is so funny?" Astrid asked.
"Yeah," Ruff said. "We wanna know the joke too."
Gyda snorted. "It's a future thing," she said, wiping her eyes.
"You could stop laughing at us," Snotlout said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I'm not laughing at any of you," Gyda returned. "I just know what this turns into."
"What?" Fishlegs asked.
Gyda grinned but shook her head. "Hiccup, is there anything else you need from me?"
Hiccup frowned. "No. Why do you ask?"
"I needed to speak to Mrs. Thorston before Shadowfire and I begin our patrol."
Hiccup titled his head. He glanced towards Ruff and Tuff but neither twin reacted to Gyda's comment. In fact, Ruff seemed to find her fingers interesting and Tuff looked like his mind was elsewhere. Hiccup looked back to Gyda.
"I have no need of you," he said.
Gyda tipped her head. Shadowfire bowed to Hiccup before rising into the air and banking back towards the village.
"Who has patrol with Gyda and Shadowfire?" Hiccup asked.
"We do," Ruff said.
She looked to her brother, but he still looked as if he was physically sitting in the saddle but not with the rest of them at all. Ruff frowned. She shifted and kicked her brother. Hiccup shook his head when Tuff fell off Belch's neck.
"Ow. I am hurt. I am very much hurt."
"It wasn't even that far down," Ruff protested. "Besides you should have seen it coming. I didn't immediately kick. I paused for half a heartbeat at least."
Tuff grunted but stood. Belch lowered his head and Tuff climbed back into the saddle. Ruff stared at him eyebrow lifted.
"What's up with you?" she demanded. "You're not acting like Tuff." Her eyes narrowed. "You're not Gruffnut pretending to be Tuffnut are you?"
"What? No." Tuff looked towards Hiccup. "You need us anymore, boss man?"
Hiccup blinked. "Uh, no."
"Good. Come on, Barf, Belch. I've got something I need your help for."
"Hey! What about me?"
"You can help too."
"Better. Let's go."
Barf and Belch tipped their heads towards Hiccup before rising and heading back towards the village as well. Hiccup saw Fishlegs shake his head as if trying to remove something from his ear. Snotlout had his helmet covering his eyes. Astrid was pulling a Gyda and rubbing the bridge of her nose.
"Sometimes, I wonder about those two," Fintan said walking away from where he had been speaking with Sven and his wife.
Ever since the Flightmare's cleared Finn Hofferson's name many in the village had turned to Fintan for home and fence repairs. Hiccup did not understand why that caused Old Man Jorgenson to glare at Fintan each time Astrid's cousin was in the other man's sight. Hiccup made another mental note to ask his father when he and Astrid returned to the village later that day.
"We all wonder about those two at times," Fishlegs muttered. He looked to Fintan. "Do you need a lift back to the village, sir?"
Fintan glanced between Fishlegs and Torgeir and smiled.
"Torgeir, why don't you and Firestorm come back with us?" he asked. "I need both of you to help me with somethin'."
Torgeir looked towards Hiccup. Hiccup smiled and tipped his head. The young boy and his dragon had done everything asked of them. They had remained on the ground unless all the other dragon riders were in the sky. They had helped keep clean the lean-to Brynjarr and Fintan built for the dragons that now called the Hofferson's house home. Hiccup knew he could trust them to fly back to the village even if not all of the riders would going along.
"You and Firestorm are closer now than when you first started flying," Hiccup said. "Stay near to Fishlegs and Meatlug."
Torgeir beamed and Firestorm chittered happily. The Nightmare youngling bowed to Hiccup then looked towards Meatlug. Hiccup knew the dragon was waiting until Meatlug rose first but could also see from the slight bouncing that Firestorm was eager to fly. Hiccup blinked when Hookfang bowed to him and rose with Meatlug and Firestorm.
"Let's go, Hookie. I need food in my belly and to tell Mom that we won the sheep getting competition before we do our harbor patrol."
Hiccup's confusion cleared. He looked towards Astrid and she grinned. Hiccup smirked.
"Shall we?" he asked.
In response, Astrid tapped Stormfly's neck. The Nadder chirped, did a half bow towards Hiccup, then shot skyward. Toothless and Sharpshot cackled when Hiccup sputtered. Toothless rose and soon caught up to the other pair.
They stopped at Lorekeeper's cave, finding the Nightmare staring at the sky. The dragon turned and bowed to Hiccup.
[Alpha, I was about to ask a Tiny-fang to pass along a request.]
"Oh, what request?"
[I needed a moment of your time, my alpha. A storm brews in the north and it shall head this way.]
Hiccup blinked. "One of our kind had his skull fractured by a dragon and now wears a bucket on his head. Whenever a bad storm is coming, his bucket tightens. It was doing so at dawn. The worse the bucket tightens, the worse the storm. Dad suggested I come warn you all to settle in as it's likely to be a bad snowstorm."
[Sad that the male had to endure such an injury, but it is good the ancestors brought something positive out of it, if his bucket allows your kind to know of the storms.]
Hiccup hid his smile when Lorekeeper slowly had to pronounce the word, bucket. "Do any of you need shelter?" he asked instead. "We humans will likely bunker down in the Great Hall. There's enough space for all the humans and many of the dragons in there."
Lorekeeper smiled. [Those without a sufficient enough shelter are either staying with other dragons that do and allowed the company or are going to the Tiny-fireglow's cave. They have graciously allowed most of the nest to stay there.]
Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief. He had worried about the dragons but Lorekeeper's words put his fear to rest. They had places to go and would be safe until the storm blew over.
"When the storm is over," Hiccups began, "if any need help cleaning up or fixing their homes, have a Terror come to the village. We will all help."
Lorekeeper titled his head. [Will the humans' dens not need the same?]
"Probably, but we can hang out in the Great Hall until the village is back in order. We've done it before."
Hiccup grimaced when he remembered what the reason for the last time was. He coughed and rubbed the back of his neck.
Lorekeeper blinked. [I get the feeling that brought an unpleasant memory to the surface.]
"Eh, snow isn't the only reason our dens needed repair at times," Hiccup whispered.
Lorekeeper sighed. [The war?]
Hiccup jerked. "That and my overzealous attempts to help," he whispered. "I think I caused more damage than the dragons did."
His gaze lowered but he felt something rub against the top of his head. He looked up. Lorekeeper ran his chin across the top of Hiccup's head again, purring allthewhile.
[Younglings tend to cause more damage when trying to help, especially when they do not know how to, than any invaders to a nest,] Lorekeeper whispered. [That you wanted to aid your nest is admirable, my alpha. Just because you were not taught how does not mean you were wrong or that your actions were wrong. You were just untrained. Never forget that.]
"Thank you," Hiccup whispered.
"Hiccup, we better held out before the storm hits," Astrid said. "We still have that one task left."
Lorekeeper shuffled back then bowed to Hiccup.
[May the wind forever be under your wings, my alpha, Lady Alpha.]
"Yours too, Lorekeeper."
The dragons exchanged comments in the Old Tongue before Toothless and Stormfly flared their wings and rose into the air, heading for the tallest mountain on Berk.
Kirka: Ah, I see. Yes, Hiccup is still struggling to deal with his past and having Astrid there helps him greatly. Sad thing is, as this story deals with the past, more of those moments will arise and have to be confronted. Good thing is, each confrontation with his past wrestles that fear that whispers to him into submission and allows him to move on. Especially when Astrid is there to ensure he knows he is not alone and will never be alone ever again.