Hiccup laid in the snow, half way covered up his feet. He could barely make out the sounds of confused and depressed Vikings from the village below the cliff his house stayed on. All he could do was look in the air, hoping the dragons would come back as if it were all just a sick joke to prove how much the dragons meant for the village. Neither had he heard the horn blow nor the panicking voices approaching him, calling his name. A hand took a grip at his shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts. Turning around, he saw Astrid standing there, but what caught his eye were the Vikings running towards him.
"Where did our dragons go?!" They all asked him all at once. Obviously not caring about the horn blowing several times in a row. The Vikings crowded around him, asking him questions of dragons as he sat in the freezing snow, looking up at the brawny Vikings yelling in his face. It almost felt like a flashback for him. A flashback, back in the days when he was practically a nobody. One time after working with Gobber, he headed home to get some rest. Unfortunately, on his way back, he walked past Snotlout and the others, trying to avoid their insults as he passed by. But that only made it worse. They had crowded around him, Snotlout and the twins with some other Vikings passing by, looking down at the smaller body of his while telling things he already had heard so many times. The word runt.
Thankfully, Hiccup sighed in relief, finding himself breathing in a relaxed form as he heard his father's voice yell from the top of the Great Hall, calling every Viking for a meeting. He lay there until everyone was gone from his sight, and ran towards a cliff to look over the horizon. The question that replayed over and over again in his head was; why weren't the enemies hiding their fleet? He took out his spyglass, not even bothering to ask himself why he had it with him, and looked in the direction of the approaching fleet. His eyes inspected the crest, and somehow he couldn't recognize it properly, but a familiar face showed up in his vision, making his eyes widen in pure shock and disbelief.
Berkian's were talking and talking, almost driving their chief mad by their questions. He had enough to worry about, now that the dragons had left for an unknown reason, making them vulnerable and enemies spotted on the horizon, also unknown. "Quiet down!" Stoick bawled, feeling a headache grow.
"What are we going to do?!"
"Why did the dragons leave?!"
"Snoggletog is ruined," Vikings yelled, all in each other's mouths, trying to be heard.
"Snoggletog is not ruined! The dragons may have left, and war may lie upon us, but we're Vikings! There's nothing we can't do! We'll win this fight even if that means dragons or no dragons. Now who's with me?!" Stoick announced, getting tons of agreements and cheers in response, telling him they're all in.
"What's the plan?" Hoark asked from the crowd, speaking up for the villagers.
"Find out who's attacking, hide in the woods and take them by surprise. Women and children will be sent to the safest place on the island until everything is over," The men cleared the hall to prepare the defenses and weapons and the women and children stayed behind. Out in the crowd he got a respond from the grumpiest Viking on Berk, shocking both Gobber and Stoick to their eyes were sure to fall out.
"Hide them in my cabbage field, they'll be safe there," Mildew said as Stoick passed by him with Gobber shortly behind.
"I don't have time for this Mildew!" Stoick roared angrily at him, making his way to the doors.
"Believe me! No one will even guess they're there!" Mildew pleaded, hoping his chief would accept his offer. Stoick hesitated before approving on his suggestion and commanding the women and children to get supplies and leave for Mildews place. All he needed now was to find Hiccup.
Hiccup climbed down the cliff, hoping to find his father among the crowd of Vikings leaving the newly announced meeting. He ran towards the steps to the Great Hall, looking around in hope to see his father's face.
"Hiccup!" He heard his father yell. Looking around, he found his father standing at the top of the stairs. On instinct, he ran up the stone steps, meeting his father half way up. "Where did the dragons go?!" Stoick asked, looking almost a bit too much shocked and worried for Hiccups liking.
"I-I don't know!" Hiccup stuttered in response.
"It doesn't matter right now. You get your friends to Mildews cabbage field and stay out of sight until this is all over. Right now we need to find out who we're up against," Stoick was about to walk off but Hiccup stopped him.
"Dad! I know who we're up against, and they're getting closer!" Hiccup practically yelled over the loud voices around him, panicking as he thought of what may happen next and what their enemies may be looking for on Berk.
"Then who is it?!" Stoick took a grip of his shoulders, expecting an answer.
"I-It's…Alvin and the outcasts," A few villagers had stopped to listen, and after hearing the name of Alvin, everything went deadly silent. Stoick's eyes widened in shock, but shortly after turned to pure hatred. For a moment, he looked out at the horizon to see the ships were with the statues, closing in faster than they had expected.
"EVERYONE, TO THE WOODS!" Stoick yelled, commanding everyone to take cover. He turned back to his son, seeing the somehow scared look getting hidden behind a brave one. "Get your friends, I'll see you later," He embraced his son in a tight hug, hoping it wouldn't be their last one. They let go and ran away to get the people of Berk to safety.
It was still daylight on Berk. Also making it harder for the Berkian's to take cover. They would have to take them by surprise once the sun settled down and the moon showed up. Hiccup ran towards the docs to see the outcasts only a few feet away from the docks. By the looks of it, the outcasts would be invading Berk in only a few minutes.
He ran back up to the village searching every corner and every house that belonged to his friends in hope to find them, but it was all empty. The town seemed like a ghost time just without the smokes and midnight contrast in the background. Simply, you could just call it a desert.
The only thing he could hope was that they were already at Mildew's place hiding from the outcasts. He hesitated, wanting to search a little more, but then ran as fast as his peg leg would help him run towards Mildew's place.