Hi guys a special treat for you all with a slightly long chapter, in honesty I wasn't going to make it long but so much to put into it. I will add one thing, the Ingerman males are all named after an animal followed by 'legs', you'll see what I mean when you read it. Anyway thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites, they exploded my inbox.

Chapter 4- A friendship born

It had been several weeks since Astrid discovered not only where Hiccup was living, and even she had to admit herself that the cove was beautiful, but also that Hiccup had done with the whole village, including her.

She couldn't help feel like she would miss him around the village, but knew if he was here still she would have ignored him like always and never know how he really felt.

But why does she feel like this for the little runt?

She shouldn't let it bother her.

She should be happy that they'll be less fires to put out and houses to repair now that he's not there to cause the havoc, it meant more time for her to train to become the fiercest shield-maiden Berk, no, the whole of the Barbaric Archipelago has ever known.

But that was it, she was training hard, she was trying not to let it bother her, she's even stopped having nightmares about Hiccups death.

But she wasn't happy.

It was like there was something missing inside of her, something she couldn't explain.

It was frustrating her so much as she pull her axe out from the scarred tree she used for target practice, she decided to call it quits early and head back home.

But as she got there she realized one important detail that would stop her from going home.

She couldn't get back in the house due to the roof caving in after a blue Deadly Nadder, crashed into it causing the whole thing to collapse, lucky enough her parents were out fighting while her little brother was safely in the great hall.

She had to admit it wasn't entirely the dragons fault as it had one of the nets thrown across it mid flight.

She remembered that it was all during the last raid they had a few days ago.

First one in weeks.

The first one after Hiccups banishment.

Everyone expected it to run smoothly since, according to them, the runt was no longer here to cause more trouble.

But it didn't run smoothly.

As their weapons and bolas got damaged, they sent them to the forge to be fix only to find Gobber rushing about like a mad man trying to keep up with the ever growing demands for weapons to be fixed.

But by the time he had managed to get through it all the raid was nearly over and most of the winter reserves we're saved this time but at the cost of the houses being left to burn or collapse.

This raid hadn't gone as smoothly.

And worse still, some took it to blaming Gobber until he retaliated back claiming he was one body short.

It was then they all shut up straight away, they knew who he was talking about. After that they all quietly left to start on repairs which left most of the day to do.

Astrid sighed as she watched them still doing it even today as Gobber yet again was trying to keep up with demands with stocking up weapons ready for the next raid on top of fixing tool and making materials available for those on repair duty.

'Could Hiccup departure be our downfall?' she thinks to herself before shaking the thought out of her head as she heads toward the great hall to find her family.

Unknown to her, a little further away, Fishlegs was getting hassled by Snotlout who had grown bored since his runt of a cousin was no linger there for him to bully, so settle on the next option.

Even though Fishlegs was built like a Viking, his demeanour says otherwise.

He was a gentle giant, he never used his fists to get his point across, but using his book smarts.

Unfortunately that never seems to work as Vikings, they don't use much on reading and as a result can be frowned upon, resulting in him getting bullied.

The reason he wasn't beforehand was because Hiccup was always the main target and no one else bothered with him because of his large size.

This is where Snotlout bullying comes to play.

Without Hiccup there, Fishlegs will be the one to get the full treatment that he got.

"Hey guppylegs where are you going?" Snotlout said with a smirk on his face as Fishlegs tried to quickly get away from the young Jorgenson boy.

But as he turned a corner, he was ambushed by the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston, who each grabbed his arms and kicking the back if his legs until he was kneeling on the ground and unable to move.

As Snotlout came around the corner, he saw his victim on the ground, held there by his two henchmen as he smirked before cracking his knuckles as he walked slowly closer toward the frightened boy.

Half an hour later Ingerman residence.

"I wonder where Fish is?" the tall brown haired young woman ask as she looked out of the window as the sun was ready to set "he should have been home hours ago" she finished worryingly as a large hand patted her shoulder as she turn around to her blond-haired twin brother who only smiled at her.

"You worry too much sis, that should be our parents job, not yours, he'll be home soon Hena. He's probably hanging around with his..." he pulled a disgusted look on his face as he finished his sentence "..friends"

Hena grimaced at Yaklegs as she knew what he was thinking. The twins never liked their little brother hanging around with those mutton heads, and the expression Fishlegs gave them every time they brought them up, showed he didn't want to hang around with them either.

In truth they liked it better when he was friends with Hiccup, the boy was never bossy, never tried to be intimidating and Fishlegs could be himself around him as they were both smart for their age.

Then it changed after Hiccup was shunned away by Astrid and bullied by Snotlout and the twins, then was worse when their brother started to avoid him, something they were truly disappointed in Fishlegs for.

But what they never expected was Fishlegs to be their next target.

That was until the door slowly opened as both siblings looked toward who was coming in, only to look in shock at what they were seeing.

Their little brother, limping in, holding his right arm in his left, several bruises covering his bloodied and tear stained face.

Hena was the first to him as she gently dragged Fishlegs toward the nearby chair.

As she went to get a damp cloth and a few ointments, Yaklegs came up to Fishlegs with a mixed look of curiosity and anger, as he turned to look at his little brother straight in the eyes.

"Who did it?" he asked in a gentle sober voice, hoping he'll say who did this thing to him.

Fishlegs merely looked away from his brother, not wanting to say what happened.

But Fishlegs should know that his brother never gives up so easily as Yaklegs moves around to catch him in his brothers eyes again, looking slightly sterner than before.

"Who did it?" he asked again with less gentle tone and more frustration in it as Fishlegs shook his head.

"I-I c-can't" Fishlegs replied stuttering every word he said but was heard clearly enough by even his sister as she walked in with the damp cloth and ointment.

"Why not?" she asked calmly as Fishleg suddenly took interest in his feet as he started to explain why.

"B-because they'll make it worse for me"

It was at this point the twin Ingermans looked at each other and knew who he meant as they looked back at him before saying the same thing at the same time.

"Snotlout"

It was at this point that Fishlegs knew his sibling didn't need to guess as he sighed and slowly nodded.

Yaklegs then smiled as he gently laid his large hand on the chubby boys should, making him look up to him.

"We'll not say anything to mom or dad about this, now get some rest little bro"

It was at this point that Fishlegs was confused at his older brothers reaction to the whole thing as he looked to his sister who only nodded before he slowly got up after Hena cleaned his wounds up as head headed to his room.

As soon as Fishlegs was out of sight, their smiled faded to a scowl as they nodded before heading out of the door.

On the other side of the village

"Ha ha ha, did you see the look on guppylegs as I pounded his fat face in?" Snotlout laughed with delight as the twins nodded in agreement.

"Yeah! And the way he screamed as we kept hitting him was so satisfying" Ruffnut replied as she leaned on her brother for support from all the laughing as he laughed along as well.

"Yeah! We never got this sort of reaction out from useless, it was fun!"

Snotlout wipe his eyes as they watered up from laughing so much.

"I can't wait for tomorrow when we can do that to him again"

"Do what again to whom exactly?" came a voice from behind Snotlout while he was still wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Oh come on guys! I know you're dumb but surely you know it's Fishlegs we're gonna beat up again tomorrow" he replied but as he opened his eyes to look for Ruff and Tuff, he noticed, they weren't in front of him, or anywhere near him for that matter.

"Err guys?" he said as he turned around to see a pair of twins, but not the ones he was expecting, but ones he didn't want to see.

Hena and Yaklegs stood there, looking down at the cowering Jorgenson boy as they had their arms folded, glaring at him.

He gulped and tried to make a run for it, but was stopped by two strong pairs of hands as they lifted him up with ease before they walked up the highest hill in the village.

"Y-you can't do anything to me! I'm a Jorgenson! My dad will kill you!" he shouts trying to get free of their vice grips and failed as they ignored his ranting as he tried a different method.

"And besides what would getting the future heir of Berk do for you anyway? You tell my dad or uncle Stoick they'll just give me a slap on the wrist"

"It's why we're not taking you to either of them, or to any adults in question" Yaklegs calmly said as he and his twin smiled mischievously

At this Snotlout was confused as they climbed higher up the hill.

"Then why are we going up this hill then?!" he shouts as both of them carry on climbing in silence, only speaking once they reached the top as they stood next to an old fish barrel that has never been cleaned out, thus smelling awful.

"You upset our little brother" Hena said with no sign of emotion in her voice as Snotlout looked at her and was about to say that Fishlegs snitched on him until Yaklegs cut him off.

"He never said a word before you ask, we knew you'd do something like that Snotface" he then glared at the Jorgenson as he cowered from their towering height before they lifted him up higher so they he was just above the barrels lid while Snotlout struggled and squirmed to no avail to get free as they forced him into the barrel, closing the lid hearing the mumbled shouts from inside as they position the barrel on its side and directly into the path of one of the houses at the bottom of the steep hill.

The Jorgenson residence to be exact.

The twins positioned themselves behind the barrel as they readied to push it.

"This is a warning to you Jorgenson..." Yaklegs said as Hena carried the sentence on.

"...mess with our brother and you mess with us!" and with that they pushed the barrel with all their might as they watch from the top of the hill as the snot-barrel accelerated faster and faster down the hill as it hit its mark.

*Crash!

It smashed right through the Jorgenson door and into the living room right in front of a eating Spitelout who by this point was wearing him mutton stew all over his head and most of his body as he looked down to see his oldest son at his feet, dizzy from the ride and smelling like a six month old kipper.

Meanwhile up on the hill, the twins were satisfied with their work as they hear a variety of colourful words coming from the Jorgenson hall as they headed back to their own home as they both thought the same thing.

'Mission accomplished'

Unaware of a one armed one legged blacksmith hiding around the corner, looking very impressed.

"Oh ho ho ho, Hiccup will ave a right laugh when I tell him about this"

A few days later in the cove

From around the forest surrounding the cove all that could be heard was the sound of a childs loud laughter coming from there itself.

What could be seen was Hiccup, on the grassy ground rolling all over the place as he held his sides while an uncontrollable laughter came from his mouth and tears running down his eyes.

Gobber himself was chuckle after telling the young boy what happened to his cousin, but he was chuckling for two reasons.

That with that incident still fresh in his mind, it only got funnier the more he thought about it.

And the other was that, in a long time, Hiccup was laughing sincerely, something again the boy hasn't done in a very long time.

It used to scare him, thinking Hiccup would never genuinely laugh like this again. He can see for himself how much life was coming back to him every time he visits, and even physical changes too.

Since Hiccup spent most of his time chopping trees, gathering stones, fishing,foraging and hunting, his body has taken to it very well, showing small signs of muscle and a few bits of scarring.

Now many would think a ten year old boy living out on his own, surviving in the wild, especially someone like Hiccup. But Gobber would tell you wrong for several reasons.

For one, because they're Vikings living in a war against dragons, all children at a young age are taught to know the basics of survival, in case the worst happens. By this they are taken to the forests by a supervised adult and camp out for several nights at a time, where upon the adult teaches them how to make shelter, build a camp fire, without burning half the trees down, a mistake the twins learnt the hard way, gathering fruits and berries and finally fishing.

These things are the first things they're taught and as they got older, they learnt about trapping live animals and by the time they're around fifteen, fighting dragons.

Hiccup was taught the basics with his friends at that time and, despite his lack physical form, did pretty well.

But after he was abandoned by them all, he was taught about traps by Gobber, who being the village blacksmith, had to keep fixing them, so took Hiccup under his wing, as his apprentice, to show him how a trapped fully worked by 'learning on the job'.

A lesson Hiccup always figured with Gobbers teaching methods.

But nonetheless it came in handy, he only hunted small prey like rabbits and squirrels but with that plus the berries he gathered and the lake right in the cove, Hiccup was able to survive.

The only thing that ever worried Gobber was larger animals, like boars, wolves or dragons, being this far out of the villages perimeter, he worried for in case Hiccup gets attacked.

But from what Hiccup showed the old blacksmith intrigued him even more.

Around the walls of the cove were wooden stakes with the sharpened tips sticking upwards in case a boar or wolf tried jumping down from the top.

The entrance itself was also spiked but this one folded down and can only be lowered and lifted in a diagonal angle via a rope attached to it.

Hiccup admitted it was only temporarily until he got enough materials to create a better security system, to which Gobber suggested crossbows but Hiccup thought that through knowing if they all fired off he'd have to keep reloading them every time.

Gobber thought about how the lad had developed so well in only a couple of months, so much so that he didn't notice that Hiccup had stopped laughing and his facial expression changed from happy to serious, until he look straight at his a few seconds later.

"Somethin' on yer mind lad?" Gobber asked with concern as Hiccup stood up, walked back to Gobber by the fire pit and started to poke it with a stick, making the flames flicker.

"I'm just mad Gobber, I mean yeah, I get why they would bully me, being a runt and couldn't fight back even if I wanted to" he then looked from the fire towards Gobber "but why Fishlegs? Are they that determined to bully anyone who thinks beyond others?!" he started to bang his fist upon the ground in anger as Gobber watch on with sadness "I know he avoided me, but when times when it was just him and me, we used to talk about certain books we were reading and out own points of view on them. But I know that if he tried to hang around with me, he would get bullied as well, so..." he shrugged his shoulders as he finished off his sentence "...I didn't hold it against him"

Gobber knew there was a reason why the two smartest kids in the village never hung out, so only one got bullied instead of both.

He smiled and patted Hiccup on the shoulder as Hiccup looked up to him with green eyes as he spoke.

"Well lad, it looks like Fishlegs is getting the brunt of it now. He could use a friend"

Hiccup paused for a few seconds before looking towards the fire, then to the cove before smiling as he looked at Gobber.

"If he wants a friend Gobber, bring him with you next time"

Gobber raised his eyebrows in surprise as he looked at Hiccup with concern.

"Are ya sure lad?" Hiccup quickly nodded, sure in his own answer "then how would I get him ta come with me, I can' just say 'come with me Fishlegs, Hiccup wants to be friends with ya' the village has ears, and a bunch of cluckin' hens inside it"

Hiccup merely chuckled as he stood up, walking over to a red flower on the ground as he gently picked it up and smiled.

"Have faith in me Gobber, for I..." he turned around towards an intrigued Gobber with a serious look on his face before smiling once again as he finished his sentence.

"...have a cunning plan"

Six days later in the village

It had been over a week since Fishlegs twin siblings took it upon themselves to teach Snotlout a lesson about bullying him, to which Fishlegs was grateful for, it left him feeling all alone.

Snotlout, Ruff and Tuff avoided him like Zippleback gas, not wanting to endure his siblings wrath once again.

As for Astrid, she avoided the group all together suddenly, spending more time either at her home or in the forest.

It seemed to Fishlegs that he had no friends to call his own as he sat outside his home watching the daily activities go by.

Then his thoughts turned to Hiccup. He wondered what he would be doing right now.

Fishlegs had to admit that even he couldn't go even a week by himself in the forest without cracking and running back to the village, and yet Hiccup's been gone for over two months an, according to Gobber, he seemed to be handling it all too well.

Upon remembering Hiccup however, Fishlegs looks down as he starts to feel guilty.

He knew the others were bullying Hiccup and he knew he was alone, he wished he could have done something to prevent that and even have been his friend.

But he didn't. Why? Because he was scared of getting the same treatment as him.

But now it seemed that since Hiccups departure, it happened anyway.

Sure his family love him to bits and make sure he's protected. Something Hiccup never got from his own family.

But now he wished he could turn back clock and be friends with him, at least then with their combined brain power, they could withstand anything.

But he knew you couldn't change the past and so just sigh sadly, unaware of Gobber hobbling over to him with a curious look on his face.

"Hey there Fishlegs, why the long face?" he asked as the large boy lifts his head up to look at the blacksmith with a frown.

"Hey Gobber, I was just thinking" Fishlegs replied in a dull tone to which the old blacksmith picked up upon.

"'bout what exactly?"

Fishlegs shrugged as he replied back to Gobbers question.

"What Hiccup would be like if he had one friend that had his back, would the events still happen the same? The banishment I mean"

Gobber pondered that thought for a moment as he scratched his rough chin.

"I would say yes Fishlegs, but it would mean a lot to him to know he has one friend" this made Fishlegs feel more down than ever as the words hit him hard.

"I wish I wasn't such a coward and just have been friends with him"

Gobber however was thinking of the plan he and Hiccup made up and decided to put it into motion as he laid his real hand upon the large boys shoulder as he smiled.

"The past is the past lad and we can't change it, only learn from it. I tell ya what, how about tomorrow ya come with me in ta the forest, I saw some new plant life tha' might interest ya" at this Fishlegs looked up suddenly beaming.

"N-new plant life?" he stuttered as Gobber smiled and nodded causing Fishlegs to quickly stand up with excitement as he went rushing of in the direction of the forest.

That was until he we grabbed by a hook on the back of his brown tunic.

"Woah there lad, I'm not going out there till tomorrow! Got too much work ta do today, but meet me at the forge at sunrise and bring some food with ya, we'll be out all day" with that Gobber lowered the large boy as he hobbled off back home leaving Fishlegs on the spot before rushing in to his house to tell his mom about tomorrow as he headed to his room to get prepared.

Meanwhile Gobber chuckled as he made his way back with one thought on his mind.

'Hiccup ya cunning git'

The next day several hours into the forest

"Are we there yet?"

"No fer the twelfth time Fishlegs I'll tell ya when we do get there" Gobber groaned as he trekked through the heavily dense forest, remembering his way towards the cove.

They met up outside the Ingerman residence at sunrise and made good effort walking through, of course they stopped every hour to take a break as Fishlegs wasn't used to walking this long.

Throughout all that time, Fishlegs wouldn't shut up about everything he saw, from the bark of a tree to even the age of a pile of rabbit droppings.

It was driving Gobber batty and would have ended a lot more worse if he didn't realize they were at the entrance to the cove.

Gobber went down first before turning around to see Fishlegs frozen in place, scared to go down.

"A-are you s-sure its safe?" he said stuttering with a squeaky tone in his voice which only made the blacksmith roll his eyes as he walked on through.

"Very safe lad, now come on! You'll like what you see" Fishlegs gulped as he followed Gobber through the entrance and stopped once again as his eyes adjust to the bright sunlight coming from the sky, only to freeze in amazement at the beautiful sight right in front of him.

He had never seen all this beauty in one spot before as he looked from right to left before raising an eyebrow at the one thing that was misplaced from all this.

Wood and stone buildings stood next to a cave like it was attached to it, one looked like a forge, the other a half built house made out of mainly stone and wood.

He was about to wonder who lived here until a lone figure came out of the forge, looking sweaty and sooty from working in the heat, but even that he recognized the lone figure easily.

"H-hiccup?"

Hiccup could only smile as he got closer to the pair before nodding at Fishlegs.

"The one and only"

Before he knew it he was being lifted into the air by a tight hug from an excited Fishlegs as he swung him around as he laughed.

Hiccup however was finding it hard to breathe since his lungs were being crushed.

"Legs...need...air" he managed to get out as Fishlegs realized what he meant before putting him down.

"Sorry Hiccup, I'm just happy to see you" he shyly said, feeling a little embarrassed for his actions to which Hiccup waved it off as he breathed in some fresh air into his deflated lung.

"No need to apologise Legs I'd do the same if I had the strength to lift someone up" he chuckled.

"Y-you would?" Fishlegs questioned to which Hiccup nodded as he gestured for the two to come sit by the fire pit.

Gobber didn't even have to think twice as he sat down by the fire, noticing a few fish lightly roasting above it to which he took one for himself.

Fishlegs hesitated at first until he noticed how relaxed Hiccup and Gobber were as he followed suit and took a seat next to the fire too before looking around in amazement.

"I see you like my home" Hiccup said as he watch the large boys eyes wonder all over the place before landing them upon Hiccup and nodded.

"Gives me what I need to survive and to think of things I always wanted to do"

Fishlegs, was surprised at how calm and happy Hiccup was, yes he heard it from Gobber about it, but to see it for himself.

He couldn't help but feel jealous of Hiccup for this. But was still happy for him.

The three spent several hours chatting away about what had happened in the last few months, how Fishlegs got the full brunt of Snotlout and the twins bullying until his sibling butted in and scared them, how he felt alone after that and wished he'd have stood up for himself and have been Hiccups friend all along.

Hiccup had to smile about that, he always wanted to be Fishlegs friend but knew what would happen if he did, he couldn't let Fishlegs go through that too.

Hiccup then decided to carry on the conversation about, the book of his grandfathers taught him about survival and using your own unique strength to you own advantage, which explained the buildings and wooden stakes around the cove.

Fishlegs was impressed by the whole thing, that Hiccup was able to work freely on whatever he want to do without someone putting you down.

Fishlegs himself had a dream of having his own rock garden, a place where he could relax and plant seeds, but didn't want to in case people laughed at him.

This gave Hiccup an idea as he smiled making the other two confused.

"Say Fishlegs" he said as he looked around the large cove before looking back at him "I don't need all this space for myself, if you want to, you could make you own rock garden here and come by any time to work on it"

Fishlegs, to say the least, was taken back, they only started talking for a few hours and Hiccup was already giving up some of his home so he could have his dream come true.

"R-really? You're letting me build a rock garden here? B-but why?"

Hiccup gave a genuine smile towards Fishlegs as he gave him his answer.

"Because in all that time I was in the village, you never once said one bad word against me or even physically abused me"

"Yeah but I never stood up for you, I watched as they did all those things to you and never intervened" he protested, only making Hiccup shrug.

"But you never hurt me Fishlegs and that's the main thing" Hiccup countered, confusing the large boy.

"But still Hiccup, are you willing to give up your space for someone like me?"

There was no doubt in Hiccups mind as he stood up and held out his hand towards Fishlegs as he still smiled.

"It's what friends are for"

Fishlegs slowly stood up before looking at Hiccups outstretched hand and then to his face as he saw it right there and then.

Hiccup was being genuine about his actions. He wants to share his space with him and even offering a hand I friendship.

A wave of confidence surged through Fishlegs as he smiled and nodded before lift his hand to grip Hiccup as the two shake hands making Gobber tear up from all these heartfelt emotions he was seeing before him.

And for the first time in a very long while, both smart kids finally have a friend they can truly trust in.