Author's Note: Back from Winter break, and thus back to the usual schedule… just in time for this chapter. As a side note, I got quite a bit of writing done this break as well. When Nothing Remains is finished, clocking in at over 160,000 words, just like this story. As for this universe, I got around to making sure the opening chapters of Living Anonymously are consistent with the extra chapters we just finished with. That involved a lot of rewriting.

On that note, the revised chapter count for this story is 37, plus a separate epilogue. As this is chapter 32, that means we're close to the end. Of this book, anyway. Next book starts right back up with the same plot threads, and a few new ones.

Speaking of plot threads… on with the chapter!

Fishlegs walked through the village of Berk. As per usual, he was deep in thought and the Vikings of Berk took no notice. Today was not usual, though, as FIshlegs was considering something that had been nagging at him. It had been bothering him for the last eight months, ever since Hiccup had blown up with a somewhat confusing speech that was delivered from in between two of the deadliest dragons on the world.

Fishlegs had watched as Hiccup voluntarily left his tribe, family, and island behind. He had watched in stunned disbelief as Hiccup had held up his father's ax while one of the furies melted it, right in front of Stoick. Hiccup was always sarcastic, but he sure had a flair for dramatic symbolism. Just like with the helmet he shucked in front of the whole village when declaring to the fury, "I'm not one of them", so with the ax. And his weird scythe-like weapon. Fishlegs had overheard Stoick refer to it as a weapon of a loner.

Looking back, Fishlegs wondered how long ago Hiccup had been preparing to leave Berk. He had built the weapon right after weapons training had started. That was weeks before the whole incident with the Night Fury and the Nest.

Fishlegs didn't sidetrack to geek out over the Queen dragon. He had done that in the weeks immediately following Hiccup's defection and had stopped obsessing over it only recently, as he now had no way to get to the nest and study the corpse. He was still focused on the question of how long Hiccup had been planning his departure.

That logically prompted another question, one much more intricate, one that hadn't occurred to Fishlegs before. What had Hiccup been planning?

Fishlegs was pretty sure the Night Fury being struck by lightning was a coincidence. So everything Hiccup did after that had to have been spur-of-the-moment. And that didn't add up. Fishlegs had seen a saddle on the other Night Fury. Where had it come from? Hiccup had clearly made the saddle and prosthetic tail it had been wearing, but when? And how did it get there, on the Nest? And why… because it couldn't fly on its own? But Hiccup hadn't flown it there.

Fishlegs stopped walking in the middle of the village. No one cared. He was devoting all brainpower to this new line of questioning.

Logic stated that Hiccup had time. Time to make a prosthetic fin and saddle, from scratch. That was something for which he would have needed to make plans and draw schematics. But most importantly, Hiccup would have needed measurements, and he would have needed to test the prosthetic, most likely repeatedly.

Hiccup had time, and he must have had access to a Night Fury. Logic said that if the dragon could not fly, and Hiccup definitely couldn't sail to another island, then all of the aforementioned measuring and testing had been done on Berk. Thus, he must have been in contact with a Night Fury on Berk, secretly. But no one else had ever seen it.

Fishlegs' mind was drawn to the night Hiccup had claimed to shoot down a Night Fury. No one had believed him. The presence of an injured Fury later suggested a course of events, a timeline. What if Hiccup had been the one to injure it? Shooting a dragon out of the sky could do it.

That implied Hiccup had been in contact with that Fury for over a month before things came to a head. A month! That was ridiculous. Hiccup managed to survive constant contact with a dragon he maimed for over a month? There had to be more. And Hiccup had said something about the dragons. Actually, Hiccup had confirmed Fishlegs' theory about shooting the Fury down, but now Fishlegs had logic behind it. That meant Hiccup had been sane and told the truth.

Fishlegs felt sick. Hiccup hadn't been crazy. What had he said? 'A dragon, of all things, saw my life and decided that I could use a friend. Because none of you cared.' As Fishlegs considered that, he realized that Hiccup wasn't exaggerating. No one had cared at all, except for Gobber. Hiccup had said that too.

There was something else in that speech. Hiccup had said, 'I let him watch through my eyes'. Like the rest of that speech, Fishlegs had dismissed it as crazy talk. However, if all the other points checked out, who was to say this one didn't, too?. Hiccup had said it twice, about letting the dragon watch through his eyes. That was intriguing on a level Fishlegs had never felt before. He needed to know more. The analytical side of him had to have more information than that. There was more, other things Hiccup had said that Fishlegs could have analyzed, but he held on to this particular piece.

But how to find out? Fishlegs knew that Hiccup had notebooks, and he had left straight from the Nest. So, if he had written anything down, it would still be where he had left it. That would narrow the search down to only two places: his bedroom or the back of the Blacksmith's shop.

Fishlegs knew there was no way he was getting into Hiccup's room in the chief's house. He had to be discreet about all of this because Berk had changed in the last eight months. It had started when Snotlout became the heir, after a long and heated argument in the Great Hall. Though it didn't mean that much at the moment, as Stoick was far from retiring, it gave Snotlout unofficial power. Then Hiccup had been elevated among the villagers as the worst traitor since Alvin the Treacherous. Like Alvin, Stoick had banned the village from speaking about Hiccup at all. It was slowly becoming like he hadn't existed, except to betray them all, in some unspecified way. And, as he thought about it, that didn't sit well with Fishlegs. Because, despite anything else Hiccup might have done, he did find the Nest, and he did kill the creature responsible for the raids. Dragons were now a rare sight on Berk. Houses went unburnt, livestock grazed in peace. It was downright surreal.

Dragons actually hadn't been a rare sight on Berk on the few weeks following the events at the Nest. There had been a few in the woods, and they didn't bother anybody. But Astrid had led hunts for them and systematically purged the forests of Berk of any dragon that dared land there, or at least any dragon that didn't get away. Fishlegs hadn't seen a dragon except as a dot in the sky for months now. They had quickly learned to stay away from Berk. Which, to Fishlegs, reinforced yet another theory. The massive monstrosity had been forcing them to attack Berk. How he didn't know, but it was clear. If a few hundred deaths didn't deter them before, why would a few dozen now? Maybe because now they had a choice. Clearly, Astrid's hunts had warned them away.

On that note... Everyone had discounted Hiccup's parting words of slander against Astrid. She was unconscious for that and nobody dared breathe a word about it, but she was still obsessed with killing dragons.

In the last few months, she had started leading dragon hunts. At first, she went to the Nest. But there were no dragons there. Now, she led her hunts to random islands in what Fishlegs considered to be a very unhealthy obsession. He would have expected her to focus on protecting the village, as had been her apparent motivation up until recently. Or had it? She had killed that Terror in the arena...

Best not to think about that. Fishlegs forced his thoughts back to the present. He started moving again, heading towards the blacksmith's shop. But Gobber wasn't just going to let him look through Hiccup's stuff. Gobber had been keeping it undisturbed and had been successful because no one cared enough to insist he trash it. Fishlegs needed some way to get in there, grab anything interesting, and get out. So, he went to go find the twins.

He eventually located them in the fish storehouse. They were sparring using cod as swords. Strange, but that was normal for them.

"Fishy, what brings you here?" Tuffnut paused mid-swing, and his cod-sword flopped over in his hand. He took a cod to the face from Ruffnut.

"I need you guys to help me pull a prank." He really hoped they would help him. They hadn't been pulling many pranks lately. Actually, they hadn't been around the village much at all.

"A prank. Fishlegs pulling a prank? Count us in!" Ruffnut dropped her cod as she said this.

"So, what do you have in mind, Fish-meister?" Tuffnut was in too. Fishlegs sighed in relief.

"I need you two to distract Gobber. I want to go through Hiccup's stuff in the back room and take anything interesting to look at later. Actually, if you know a secret place I could hide this stuff, that'd be great too."

"Alright." Tuffnut looked at Ruffnut, who nodded. "On one condition. We know a good place to hide this stuff, but we want to look at it too. We're so bored, even Hiccup's notes count as entertainment now!"

Fishlegs didn't see any harm in it. No one listened to the twins anyway. "Deal. Let's get to work."

Gobber was unhappy. That was normal, now. He had lost his apprentice and felt terrible about the boy's defection and apparent insanity. So, he wasn't in the best mood when Tuffnut stopped by.

"What do ye need? I'm busy." He moved over to the counter, facing out of the window. He didn't notice Fishlegs coming in through the back door, and going into Hiccup's area.

Tuffnut looked shifty, but that was normal. Ruffnut not being nearby was a bit odder, if not unheard of. "I've got some weapons that need repairing. A lot of weapons."

"Alright, hand 'em over."

Tuffnut pulled a dented mace from by his feet. Gobber couldn't see his feet, so he hadn't seen the mace. "One mace..." Gobber grabbed it and set it on a table behind him.

"One spear..." Tuffnut picked up a spear from by his feet as well and handed it to Gobber. Gobber put it on the same table.

"One dagger... One spear... One club... One mace... One club..." The list went on, as Tuffnut handed Gobber weapons. It was common knowledge that the twins had a lot of weapons, so it took Gobber quite a while to notice.

"One mace..." Gobber took the fourth mace by reflex, then stopped.

"Hey, this is the same mace!" He looked back. "These are all the same weapons!" He thought about that for a moment. Ruffnut wasn't around, and somehow weapons were magically moving back to Tuffnut. It didn't take a genius to connect the dots. He smiled. "Ye know what, I'm good with that. Ye've only got the four weapons that actually need repairin'?" It was more of a relief, to be entirely honest. A nice, harmless prank that meant Gobber had less work than he had been anticipating, not more.

Tuffnut nodded, confirming the smith's suspicions.

"Well, I'm just relieved I don't have twenty new weapons ta' repair!" Gobber laughed. "That was actually a good one! See ya later Tuff. And Ruff, I assume." He moved back into the forge.

Gobber never even knew that someone had been in the back room he kept untouched. All he knew was that the twins had finally pulled a prank on him that he liked. The joke was on them.

"You could have just told me we were coming here." Fishlegs had just popped through the rock entrance to the cove, with 'help' from the twins, who had needed a running start to shove him through. "I would have brought some grease." Apparently, the twins were spending time here now. He figured since only Astrid, Snotlout, and himself knew about it, it was pretty secret. Astrid and Snotlout were too busy to come looking.

"But that would have ruined the surprise!" Tuffnut sat on a large boulder. Fishlegs dropped the pile of parchments and notebooks. He had taken what seemed to be the most recent stack. Ruffnut sat on the boulder between them.

"You guys look at the parchments first, I'll start with the notebooks. We'll switch when we're done. Fishlegs picked up the first notebook and started flipping through. This one seemed to mostly be maps of various part of Berk.

There was silence for a few minutes. Then Ruffnut spoke up. "None of his inventions worked, right? Because some of these are really cool."

Fishlegs looked over. "None except the last one, apparently. We know that one worked." He moved on to the next notebook… and stared. This one was recent, as indicated by the Night Fury drawn on the first page. "Guys, come over here and look at this!" He felt like Ruff and Tuff were part of his search now, so he figured he'd share.

They moved to look over his shoulders. He turned the page.

A blank page, with just a few words. 'Here on Berk, the truth is dangerous. This truth, anyway. If someone is reading this by chance, there are two possibilities. Either I am still on Berk, in which case was I'd rather you put this down and forget, using that impressive Berkian skill of ignoring me, or I am gone, in which case feel free to read on.'

"The second one, right?" Ruffnut asked.

Fishlegs didn't bother answering, wordlessly turning the page.

There was a drawing of Hiccup, standing in front of a bound and wounded dragon. He held a knife up. There was a quote on the bottom of the page. 'I looked into his eyes...' The drawing was extremely well done, and it gave off an overwhelming impression of sadness. Hiccup had managed to convey a sense of regret even through charcoal lines. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were silent.

Fishlegs turned the page. There was Hiccup, cutting the ropes. Again it was incredibly detailed. There was another quote. '...and saw myself.'

"Geez..." Ruffnut didn't seem to have anything else to say. They recognized what the pictures were implying, but the way they were drawn made it impossible to not empathize with both the boy and dragon. It helped that they knew this had most likely really happened.

Fishlegs turned the page. On it was a very simple sketch of the Night Fury, from above. It carried none of the detail the first two did. There was a tailfin rubbed out. The quote was the saddest yet. 'But it was already too late.' The implication was clear. Fishlegs turned the page.

This picture was more detailed, like the first two in quality. It was actually two separate pictures; one picture of Hiccup offering the dragon a fish, and the other of the dragon, sitting on his hind legs as Hiccup held half of the same fish. The dragon seemed to be waiting for something. 'I gave him food so he wouldn't starve; he shared. After he had already swallowed it, much to my disgust.'

"Wait, seriously? We don't even like to share!" That was Tuffnut, sounding flabbergasted. "Ruff, the dragon's more polite than we are!" That was said in mock horror.

Fishlegs was understanding what this was. Hiccup might have normal journals, but this one was intended to tell a story, an important one. A picture was worth a thousand words. It was a story Hiccup couldn't tell anyone but wanted to. Fishlegs turned the page.

The next page depicted a dragon, the Night Fury, close up. It just showed his face, smiling in an unnatural grin. The dragon seemed to be imitating something not drawn. 'I called him Toothless; it turns out he does have teeth. The name stuck.' Fishlegs stared at the drawing. Hiccup had even detailed the definitely toothless gums. He turned the page. This was like something out of a childhood fairy tale. He had to know more.

The next picture was the happiest yet. It showed Hiccup sitting on a log, drawing in the sand. The Fury was watching intently from over his shoulder. 'I had no idea just how intelligent he was.' Fishlegs turned the page. The twins seemed just as enraptured as he was.

The next page made them all laugh. The dragon was holding a sapling that had been torn from the ground, and Hiccup was watching in amazement as Toothless drew all around him. 'I was shown a little just how much I didn't know, But Toothless is a terrible artist.'

Tuffnut snickered. "Still better than you, sis." Ruffnut elbowed him. She didn't want to ruin the moment. Fishlegs turned the page.

This was a close-up shot. On one side, the Fury with its head forward and eyes closed. On the other, Hiccup with his hand out and head facing the other direction. His hand was resting on the dragon's snout. 'We trusted each other.' Fishlegs lingered on this page. Then he turned the page.

There was a drawing of Hiccup... in pain? He was on the ground, holding his head. The Fury was apparently unconscious beside him. Fishlegs wondered if he had missed a page. He flipped back and forth. Nope. He looked at the quote. 'That was when things got weird.'

"What does that mean?" Ruffnut was entirely serious. "Did the dragon hurt him?"

Fishlegs didn't think so. It didn't make sense. He turned the page. But he accidentally dropped the book in his haste to find out what had happened. It fell open to the last page.

He picked the book up with shaking hands. He wanted to throw up. But he couldn't move. Ruffnut and Tuffnut didn't move either. They stared in horror at the last page.

There was a drawing, like all the pages they had seen. It was split into two images. On the left was Astrid. The picture was depicting the moment before she bisected the Terror in the ring. The panic in the small dragon's bulging eyes was clear, as was the cold and menacing way Astrid was hefting her ax. It was incredibly detailed, which made it so much worse.

The other side was even more detailed. And even more terrifying. It depicted Astrid walking away from the two halves of the dragon, a proud look on her face. It also depicted the dead Terror, in horrifying detail. Hiccup had spared nothing from being included. The blood, the guts, the pool of spreading bile. The Terror's dead eyes. Staring. The quote was written sloppily as if Hiccup had been angry when writing. 'The next time I ran into Astrid, Toothless could smell something new. A tiny, creeping thread of insanity. I do not doubt this was the tipping point. Astrid and the Queen are the same; they both execute Terrors for fun.'

Fishlegs broke first. He dropped the book and ran to a bush, proceeding to redecorate the immediate area with half-digested lunch. The twins might have eaten some disgusting things in their lives, but this combined with the sound and smell of Fishlegs puking was too much. They followed suit. None of them had seen that particular moment, and they had avoided looking at the aftermath. But Hiccup had seen, and he had blindsided them with that image.

Fishlegs was the first to recover. He stumbled back to the book, and hastily flipped it shut. "I think we've seen enough." He dropped the book onto the pile. He didn't want to look through Hiccup's stuff anymore. Neither did the twins, apparently. The joined him in sitting on the rock, staring at the closed book.

"He said Astrid was insane at the Nest. The dragon could smell it, apparently." Ruffnut was talking slowly, trying to process it. "We need to keep looking. Hiccup knew things, things the dragon could show him, things it apparently could tell him. And he might have put it in here." She was entirely serious now, and Tuffnut nodded. They had been looking for fun before. Now they understood what they were really doing. They, along with Fishlegs, were searching for the truth. Even if it was horrifying.

Fishlegs picked up another journal. He opened it cautiously and skimmed a few pages, then set it aside. It was dated way before the other had been. He picked up the last journal in the pile. It seemed to be small schematics. He flipped to the last page that had been drawn on, and saw something very familiar.

"Whoah, is that Hiccup's scythe? Cool!" Tuffnut liked this.

Fishlegs read some of what Hiccup had written. 'Need something light...fast...attack from multiple directions...Toothless suggested curved blade, like claws...' Fishlegs looked up.

"Apparently, the dragon helped design it." That was yet another shock to Fishlegs' system. The dragon clearly had some way to communicate with Hiccup. There were other notes, apparently explaining Toothless's reasoning. There was no way that was conveyed through charades.

"That may be the coolest thing I've ever heard. A weapon designed by a Night Fury!" Ruffnut was ecstatic. She dove into the loose parchments with vigor. "Let's go through the rest of this stuff, see if there's anything else cool!"

An hour later, they had gone through all the parchment, and every notebook but the one with the pictures. None of them wanted to open that book again. Hiccup had proven a good artist; good enough to be scary when he wanted to evoke a reaction. They all feared what they would find in the unseen pages. Best to avoid it if at all possible. Besides, if it only went up to Astrid's killing of the Terror, it wouldn't be much help now.

"There's almost nothing from after the raid he shot Toothless down. It's all failed weapons. The only thing from after is the saddle and tail schematics." That was Ruffnut. Fishlegs had been increasingly surprised by the twins' lack of nonsense during the search. It was entirely unlike them. It was the most serious he had ever seen them.

"And the other notebooks are all either maps or smaller schematics. No journals except the picture one. If Hiccup had a more recent one, he probably had it on him when he left." Fishlegs sighed. They had separated things into two piles; A large pile was composed of unrelated stuff, and a much smaller pile was made up of things of interest. The book sat on top of that pile.

"Well, if we want to know more we'll have to..." Tuffnut trailed off. He stared at Ruffnut.

"Ask him ourselves." Ruffnut seemed depressed by that. "As if we could ever find him."

Fishlegs saw another problem with that. "Even if we knew where to look, why would we? We'd be risking being outcast ourselves if anyone found out, and it'd be pretty obvious when we were gone for months on end. Wherever he is, it's probably really far from here by boat."

Ruffnut stared at Tuffnut. They put their heads together. Fishlegs watched in confusion. Finally, they seemed to reach a decision.

Tuffnut addressed Fishlegs. "Look, Fishlegs. This kinda shines a new light on Berk, doesn't it? Think about it. We're all reviling and hating someone whose only crime was...?" He seemed to want Fishlegs to answer.

"Well...hiding a dragon?" Fishlegs wasn't sure what they were getting at.

"Wrong. They still don't know about that." That was Ruffnut. "So what does everyone hate him for?"

"I don't know... there's no reason! He showed dragons were capable of being friendly, he found the Nest, killed the Queen! Then Stoick..." Fishlegs trailed off. He continued softly. "Stoick gave him an ax, and said to kill the crippled one because they raided us for three hundred years... that was Toothless. Stoick told Hiccup to kill his best friend. And Hiccup snapped. He told everyone exactly what he thought, and kicked himself out of the tribe, out of his own family. And he flew off." Fishlegs was horrified, but he still didn't get what the twins were getting at. "I don't know!"

"There was no reason. That's the point." Ruffnut's voice was soft. "Our entire tribe hates him... because he showed that what they were doing was wrong. And they didn't want to listen. They still haven't listened. Everyone heard what he said, about the Queen being the cause of the raids. But we still kill every dragon we can find. Astrid leads hunts for them. Snotlout is the heir. Stoick wants his own son dead." She seemed sad. "Why should we stay, when Hiccup left?" She stared at Fishlegs. "There's something wrong here. Something wrong with a village where the entire population kills without reason. Where the insane and power hungry are in charge. Haven't you noticed? You can feel it in the air, now. Before, it was necessary. We killed to survive. Now, we kill because it is what we have always done. And they don't care. We were all capable of seeing it, but no one cares."

Ruffnut noticed Fishlegs' look of shock. "We aren't stupid. Why do you think we spend time here now? With Hiccup gone, the village feels like it's missing something. Villagers have always done things this way, but now there's no point. Everything is different, and we were the only ones to notice. People are still preparing ships for the Nest hunt, for gods sakes! What are they gonna do with them? We know where the Nest is! There's nothing there!" Ruffnut was ranting now. "I didn't know what was wrong before, but now I do. This village will not change. They refuse to. We all had the truth shoved in our face, and Hiccup changed everything. And what does the village do? Revile Hiccup, ignore what he showed them, and keep doing what they've always done."

Fishlegs understood now. He had noticed something too but had dismissed it. "So what do we do? Try to get them to change?"

Tuffnut laughed scornfully. "Right. Hiccup stood with a Night Fury on either side of him and said dragons could be friendly. That should have been the best proof ever! We have no proof except for the little we got from Hiccup's stuff. We still don't know much ourselves! We kinda know what he figured out, but we have no proof. Just a really cool picture book. And Vikings aren't big readers." He shook his head. "We can't change Berk. They don't want to change. Ruff and I are masters of chaos. In other words, masters of change, disorder. This place won't change. We don't want to live in a place like that."

Ruffnut shook her head. "We're gonna get a boat somehow, and leave. We were already planning to. We've had eight months of feeling weird in the village. Thorstons sometimes just disappear; no one would worry." She grinned. "And now we have an actual goal. Find Hiccup, and get him to tell us everything. It must be the coolest story ever!"

Fishlegs thought about that. About the disturbingly insightful ranting of Ruffnut. About what they had said. "Wait. Wait until I can tell you where to start looking. You'll never find him if you just sail off. And when I find something... I'll go with you. Because you're right."

Tuffnut shook his head. "For us, it's normal. Mom will wish us luck, and no one else will care. But if you disappear, you're gonna have a lot of trouble coming back without a lot of questions being asked. You sure you can handle a first-class interrogation? Sometimes Stoick shouts for an hour straight!" He shivered. "Ruff, remember the time we hid his ax? He wouldn't let us leave until we told him where it was. He yelled himself blue in the face!"

Fishlegs considered that while the twins reminisced. What would he do if they found Hiccup? Would he really come back to Berk? Back to a place that looked in the near future to be ruled by Astrid and Snotlout? "I don't know. But I don't care. I'm going with you, once we figure out where to go."

Ruffnut and Tuffnut grinned. "Fine. How are we going to figure out which direction to go?" Tuffnut seemed to think. "Johann, maybe? He might have heard something."

Fishlegs was once again astounded. That was exactly what he had been thinking. Johann was due any day now. Actually, he was a bit late. "Yes, actually. Exactly what I was thinking." It might have been a plan relying totally on Trader Johann, which was never a good idea, but it was still a plan.

Fishlegs was by the docks. Ever since he and the twins had decided to leave Berk to find Hiccup, he had been ready to go on a moment's notice. He had all his money, some food, and his hammer on him at all times. He also had Hiccup's notebook. It had been two days. He found himself loitering by the docks more and more. He was currently watching the ships being prepared for the Nest hunt.

That had been a shock. He hadn't known Ruffnut was serious. What were they doing? He saw Astrid overseeing something further down the dock.

Snotlout put his full future authority behind her, and that gave her a lot of unofficial power. No one had ever respected Hiccup enough for him to have the unspoken authority that was technically his right when he was the heir. Not that he had cared.

Fishlegs was torn. On the one hand, he was scared stiff of Astrid ever since finding out she really was insane. It was extremely hard to see, but he noticed some very subtle signs, now that he knew where to look. Unhealthy obsessions, rapid mood swings, cold rage for no reason. All things he knew from his few interactions with Dagur. He shuddered. Yeah, he was really scared of Astrid now. On the other hand, he did want to know what they were going to do now that the Nest was known and empty. He conquered his fear and approached her.

"Uhh, Astrid? What are you doing?" He tried to make his tone as prompting and sincere as possible.

"Making sure the boats are watertight. Don't want to lose any on the search." She was twirling her ax and was still looking at the boats.

"But, what is there to search for? We know where the Nest is." Astrid whirled in anger. Then she smiled. Yeah, that wasn't creepy at all.

"There are still dangerous dragons out there. Night Furies, for example. We'll hunt for their nest, wherever it is, and destroy them there. Hopefully, we can wipe that species out entirely." Astrid was smiling as she explained. "There aren't many of them, by all accounts."

Fishlegs, armed with the knowledge that dragons were probably something more than animals, was understandably horrified by Astrid's genocidal plans. But, as he was already hiding so much fear at the moment, it didn't show in his voice. "Oh. Well, I just wanted to know where you were going to go. Cool. Well, see you later!" He scurried off.

Fishlegs was in his room, working on something he just couldn't get right. How would he keep his parents from worrying, but not tell them where he was going, or what he was doing? He looked at his latest attempt.

'Mom and dad, I just want you to know I'm fine. I'm not dead, and I haven't been kidnapped or anything. I left of my own free will, and I promise to come back someday. I don't know when that will be though. I left with the Thorston twins. No, they didn't trick me into going. I found out what they were planning on doing on their trip, and asked if I could come. I can't tell you what we'll be doing, I've been sworn to secrecy. I will be back. Love, Fishlegs.'

It wasn't very good, but it covered the essentials. Right now he was trying to figure out a way to make it more reassuring, without giving any more detail. He was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Fishlegs!" It was Ruffnut, screaming from the doorway. "Johann's finally here!" Fishlegs jolted to his feet, and raced to Ruffnut, still with everything he needed to travel on him. He left the note on his desk.

An hour later, the boat was finally deserted enough that they could actually talk to Johann. But before they did, he started on his sales spiel. Fishlegs wanted to get right to the point, but Johann still had one other customer, Mildew. Mildew and Johann were haggling now. Fishlegs wasn't sure why Johann wanted any of Mildew's cabbage, but he was arguing fiercely over how much cabbage was worth a new plow. They settled on an amount, and Johann sent Mildew away with his plow. He turned to Fishlegs and the twins.

"Obnoxious bugger, but his cabbage is still food, no matter how revolting." He noticed the three. "Ah, master Fishlegs!" He eyed the twins. "And you two. I've got my eye on you."

Tuffnut and Ruffnut were in that strangely serious mood again, judging by the lack of taunts and jokes. Fishlegs only saw this side of them when their trip was involved. It was almost scary how different they could be when things were serious enough.

"We aren't here to prank or steal. We have a much more important goal." That was Ruffnut.

Trader Johann was taken aback by their serious tone. He had never seen this side of them. "Well, what are you here for?"

Fishlegs took over. "We're here to ask you some things. First, have you heard any odd rumors lately?" He cleared his throat. "Maybe about a boy with dragons?"

Johann looked confused. "Err... no, can't say I have."

Tuffnut slumped. "None at all? Nothing unusual involving dragons at all?"

Johann seemed really confused now, as he stared at the defeated-looking teen. "No, the strangest news by far is what I've heard here. And that is almost nothing." He looked shrewdly at Fishlegs. "It feels like something is being left unsaid."

Fishlegs squirmed. He hated lying. He was saved by a shriek. It sounded like his mother... and that was when he remembered he had left the note on his desk. "Oh no." He looked at the twins. "Guys, we're out of time. We need to go now, or I'm never going to be able to leave. I think my mom found my note, the one I was working on." Johan stared as the twins grinned.

"Fishlegs, you've been ready to go at all times. You didn't think we'd do the same?" Tuffnut hoisted his mace and a discrete bag at his waist. "We're always ready."

Fishlegs turned to Trader Johann. "Johann, I promise to explain everything, including some stuff no one else knows. But only if you take us with you. We need passage anywhere but here. Like, now." He thanked his family luck that he still had Hiccup's notebook, the picture one. He didn't want to leave that behind.

Johann raised his eyebrows. "Why, master Fishlegs, I'm not really in the practice of taking passengers..." Fishlegs stopped him there.

"We don't have time to argue. Things are happening that you aren't aware of, and we're willing to pay whatever you want."

Johann considered Fishlegs, who looked desperate but determined. Then he considered the twins, who were acting more serious than he thought possible. It was possible that they might be running from a crime, but while he would believe that of the twins, Fishlegs' presence made that unlikely.

Johann was a trader, and a collector of information. The part of him that needed to know everything there was to know wouldn't let him disregard Fishlegs's promise. Besides, he could always sail them back to Berk if he needed to, no harm done.

"Okay. You can explain later, and we can discuss payment then. Right now, I think you need to hide." He rushed to a pile of cloth. "Hide under here. I was going to shove off in an hour anyway, and Stoick knows that. It won't be suspicious." Fishlegs and the twins jumped behind the cloth.

Johann headed the searchers off, dissuading them from searching his ship without ever saying that he did not know where the missing teen was. He was confirmed in his suspicions that there was something more going on by the fact that Mrs. Ingerman didn't know where Fishlegs was planning on going. In an hour he cast off, and once he was out of sight of Berk, he rounded on the three teens. "Someone needs to tell me what I just roped myself into!"

Author's Note: The book was actually hinted at very obscurely a few times in previous chapters, in case anyone thinks it's a random plot device (well, it is, but I needed a catalyst. At least this one is logical).