Hiccup, still standing upon the stone step right out his front door as he had quickly saddled Toothless and attached the tailfin inside away from prying eyes and hurried out, stared. Toothless' brother, sister-in-law, and the sister-in-law's friend sat with the Changewing king, his son, and his warrior guards on the hill between the Great Hall and Hiccup's house. The Riders, their dragons, the mates of those dragons, and the Elder dragons of the nest stood in the plaza. The rest of the village was covered as every dragon from the nest found a roost wherever they could. Hiccup blinked as he saw that even Skysinger and Willowing's parents and siblings stood with the female Nadders and Skysinger's mate, Pinpoint, next to the smithy.

"Oh, my, Master Hiccup," Johann said. "You should have seen it. Your friends and their dragons were gathering in your village's plaza when the dragons that slept in the Great Hall exited. Then all of a sudden every other dragon here flew over and landed as you see. Why do you think they came back after being sent away?"

"I think they are still just jumpy after last night," Hiccup said. "They must see the entire island as their home now and the Speedstingers have just unsettled them. They may just want to make sure everything is okay. Wait here with Toothless. I'll be right back."

He hurried down the stone steps as fast as he dared. He withheld the grimace as every dragon he could see, even Skysinger and Willowing's parents, bowed to him. He knew he could not stop the dragons, Toothless had been adamant that he not try, but he did wish they would not acknowledge his rank with Johann and who knew watching. Johann was welcomed upon Berk for the trade he brought but he could not be trusted with the truth of the dragons. The man traded things for a living and always said that knowledge of current events was his greatest commodity. With the Thing slated to happen in the spring, Hiccup and his father wanted the other chiefs to visit, see the dragons, and then learn that the dragons were not animals and could speak and be understood from them and not from a merchant.

Hiccup placed his hand upon the top of Lorekeeper's muzzle and gently scratched the elder Nightmare. Lorekeeper purred.

"The man with Toothless does not know about the Common Tongue or the truth of this nest," Hiccup whispered. "We are not sure we can trust him with the knowledge."

Lorekeeper and the other Elders trilled something in the Old Tongue. Every dragon shifted out of the bow, but none left the village and all kept their gaze upon Hiccup. Lorekeeper then stepped closer, the top of his muzzle laying along Hiccup's entire frame. Hiccup wrapped his arms, as best as he was able, around the Nightmare's head. Lorekeeper purred. Hiccup smiled.

"You were all still worried?" he asked, in a whisper.

[Yes,] Lorekeeper replied.

Hiccup scratched Lorekeeper's jaw. "We are all fine and our food for the winter was unharmed."

Lorekeeper sighed in what sounded like relief. [Thank you for allowing us to return, Alpha.]

"You are all welcomed to stay, just know those humans that came right after we found those sheep, three of them do not know the Common Tongue. The fourth, the one who operated the ship, eh, water den, knows. He is the son of his flock's alpha and they have been allies to the humans long before the war ended and that monster faced justice."

[You make it sound as if you will not be here, Alpha.]

"The man with Toothless had to be rescued off his water den due to it being stuck in ice. He has to return and see if it was damaged in anyway. Toothless, Sharpshot, and I are taking him back. We'll return as soon as we know he is safe and his water den is free of the ice. There is to be a celebration for our victory just after mid-day. All the dragons are welcomed to attend."

[Thank you, Alpha. We shall let the other dragons know and tell them about the humans who will not be able to understand them.]

"Thank you," Hiccup whispered, loosing his hold upon Lorekeeper's head.

He blinked when Lorekeeper did not lift his head. Winddancer chittered at him and it sounded questioning. Lorekeeper trilled a reply that had the Elder dragons nodding. Hookfang chirped and Lorekeeper sighed but lifted his head. Hiccup was intrigued but knew he did not have the time right then to find out what that was all about. He had to get Johann to his ship.

[May the winds be forever under your wings, my alpha,] Lorekeeper said, [and may they swiftly bring you home.]

"May they forever be under your wings as well, Lorekeeper," Hiccup whispered before turning to his friends.

Astrid stared at him. "We are coming with you," she said. "Your dad thought this would be a great way to let Torgeir and Firestorm fly further from the island and learn how to work in a formation."

Hiccup grinned. He knew it was not the full reason the Riders were going. The Speedstingers did not only unsettled the dragons of the nest, they also unsettled the humans. While he had been able to convince his father Astrid and the Riders needed to stay when he searched for Johann before the invasion, he knew he would not get away with that after the battle. To ease their worry, he would go with it. The dragons would listen to the Elders and the Elders would listen to his father if need be.

"Mount up," he called before hurrying back to Toothless.

The flight out proved dull, even with Johann telling the Riders the same stories he told Hiccup on the way to Berk. Hiccup and Toothless shared a glance and Hiccup knew his brother had the same thoughts he did. Let the ship be in one piece. Let the ice melt quickly. Let the talkative man be on his way.

Hiccup praised every god he had ever known when the ship proved sound and the ice easy to get rid of. Soon, Johann was aboard his ship and though Berk had been the port of call he had been heading for, several requests given to him by many of the villagers meant he would have to change his plans and visit Berk when he had the items the tribe asked for. Hiccup did not mind that. One less person on the island that did not need to know about the dragons just yet.

The flight back proved fun. Each Rider and dragon pair took turns to help Torgeir and Firestorm learn more of the bond between them. The mates that flew along, also helped at one point when Hiccup had called for all the Rider and dragon pairs to weave in and out of dragons which were hovering. He wanted to know if it was possible and to also see if Torgeir and Firestorm, being young, would hesitate due to the flapping wings.

It was during that exercise that the Changewing queen and five other Changewings found them.

Kirika: Ah, okay. Hehe, I guess this is a case of modern technology not getting it.

Prince: Beautiful and destinied to be interrupted it seems