A/N: So I was literally sitting at dinner last night and my dad just looks up and says: "Oh yeah guys, you might wanna start thinking about what you'll do if we move to Florida after this school year. Because it's something that we might do."

I just looked up shocked from my food, I was like: "Wat."

So…apparently I gotta spend Junior and Senior year tripping around Florida trying to reestablish myself…so that's that.

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The Great Hall, once a place of merriment and socialism, was now empty and lonely-looking. There was no talking filling the gaps of silence, there were no Vikings around to create the melody of shuffling feet, and there were absolutely no interesting conversations floating around. The tables and benches were bare as the trees that they had first come from, for nobody was inside to fill the quarters. The only people in the vast Hall was the ragtag group of teenagers, and even they didn't do such a good job of creating a distracting conversation.

Fishlegs was sitting near the end of their table, anxiously waving his hands in wide gestures as he talked a mile a minute like he always did. Currently, he was preaching about all the ways that Meatlug could make herself useful around the house, even though just a few seconds ago it seemed he was going over the history of Berk. The person who had the wonderful luck of sitting by him was Ruffnut, who looked bored out her mind as she stared with wide eyes down at the table top.

Snotlout and Tuffnut were on the other end, trying to match each other in an arm wrestling competition. But so many fights and shouts of 'foul' had been shared that they were pretty much just sitting there glaring at each other silently. Accompanied with the fighting teens and the half-bored-to-death-one, the place was just filled with Fishlegs's useless chatter. And while Ruffnut was trying to turn a deaf ear like Snotlout and Tuffnut were doing, it was kind of hard when you were sitting right next to the person. His voice was right by her ear, which was ringing from the amount of information it was expected to soak in.

Finally, Ruffnut spoke up, her voice dull and flat. Fishlegs was right in the middle of telling them all about how Meatlug heated up their house last night pretty effectively. Whether or not he meant she had almost burned it down was beyond her, and probably beyond everyone considering that no one else was bothering to listen. So she showed her disinterest fully, speaking up as she kept her eyes down on the wood. "This…sucks." She sighed airily, shoulders hunching forward as a disgruntled expression swept over her features.

"Yeah, no kidding." Tuffnut growled, actually agreeing with his sister for once. The prospect was a surprising one at least, Snotlout and Fishlegs perking at the realization that the two weren't fighting. The stun of the moment even managed to quell Fishlegs's story, the boy not even trying to get their attention back onto him. "You'd think that with all this stuff going on, it'd make the place more interesting." He went on sourly, looking around the empty Hall around them. "But it's just boring now." The contempt in his voice was enough; both Tuffnut and Ruffnut didn't do boring.

Snotlout snorted in reply, leaning back with a shake of the head. His expression was creased with irritation and anger, both of which weren't uncommon in the boy. But still, there was a certain kind of change in him as well, which signaled that the emotions came from a deeper source than they usually did. "Everyone's gone all the time, and they don't even bother to tell us why." His jaw locked backwards with a trace of envy. "And then when we try and join one of the stupid 'search parties' they just ignore us." He blanked for a moment, unable to say anything out of fury. But then he raised his hands into the air wildly. "They refused my help! Mine!"

"It's just 'cause we're friends with them." Fishlegs stated, always the one to be irritatingly-logical. Snotlout turned his sharpened glare over towards him, but the boy didn't even react under the look for once. "Stoick doesn't trust us enough to let us out into the forest. He doesn't know how much we know, and if we do something like meet up with Astrid and Hiccup away from the others, then everything would fall apart, now wouldn't it?" The dark-haired teen opened his mouth to reply, but Fishlegs was already shaking his head. "Even if it's unlike Stoick to make himself so known, you can't argue that his suspicions don't come from out of thin air. We could just as easily be on Hiccup's side. We could know where they are."

"But we don't!" Snotlout snapped with an angered little shift in his chair. Fishlegs sighed, shrugging with a look that said: 'What-are-you-going-to-do?' But the answer only made the hot-headed Viking even worse. "It's stupid that we can't leave the village! This place is so boring!" As if to emphasize his words, he leaned over, grabbing one of the dirty plates they had used for lunch and throwing it as hard as he could. The group didn't look after it, only listening for the dull thunk as it hit the wall opposite of them. The boy huffed angrily, holding his head on his knuckles. "When Astrid asked for our help, I didn't think she meant that afterwards we'd be slowly dying of boredom!"

"I wonder what they were up to, though." Fishlegs said eagerly, not even paying attention to Snotlout's mounting anger as he leaned forward once more. But the others did seem interesting with this new point, turning over to look at him with expectant looks. When nobody spoke, he shook his head, backtracking with a hurried pace. "Hiccup and Astrid, I mean." He elaborated to the confused faces. "After all, Astrid looked pretty worried when she asked for our help, you know? And we didn't even see Hiccup. And come to think of it, we didn't see any of the Night Furies either, not even Toothless! And we still haven't seen them! They must be doing something really important."

"Astrid made it sound like it was pretty important." Ruffnut mumbled.

"And since the Village is so riled up about things, it makes sense that Stoick knows more than he's letting on." Fishlegs said, branching off of Ruffnut's comment. Before now, it would have been considered terrible, or totally unjustified for someone to have so casually accused the Chief of withholding information. But now it was the complete opposite; it was common knowledge that the island was in the dark now. And with the Chief hardly ever coming out anymore, it wasn't like they would get punished for what they said. "Obviously Astrid and Hiccup are trying to start something again.

"And we haven't even mentioned the whole ordeal about that female being back around here. The one that caused all of this in the first place? I'd guess that's what Stoick is so worried about." Fishlegs hesitated a moment, forehead wrinkling with a sudden sense of confusion. "But…why would Hiccup try and connect with her? For a second time, I mean. It's not like we didn't see what she did before, right? It makes you wonder what they have in their heads."

"What do they ever have in their heads?" Snotlout snarled underneath his breath.

Silence again, insufferable and boring as ever before. Fishlegs opened his mouth to reply to his friend, but then snapped it shut as he seemed to think better of it. Instead, he looked away awkwardly, seeming to be the only person to think his statements as thought-provoking. He was just starting to mull over the thoughts though, when all of a sudden, he straightened, his eyes widening considerably all of a sudden as he noticed something.

"Wanna go to the Ring?" Snotlout yawned finally, looking over to Tuffnut. "We could-"

"Guys, stop." Fishlegs hissed suddenly, whirling around to face the other teenagers around him. Immediately, they looked up with a trace of alarm, unnerved by the sudden interjection. Outside, there was a sound of footsteps coming towards them, shadows playing in the gap underneath the door as it signaled new arrivals. The teenagers sat stock still for a minute, watching the oncoming figures carefully as they tried to discern who it was.

There was gruff voice, rough in its tone and words as it spat out angry grumbles of discontent. Then there was another one, much more gentle and calm in its tone in comparison to the other. It took a moment for his brain to buffer, but when it did: "It's Gobber and Stoick!" Snotlout said, surprisingly the first one to catch onto what was going on.

Fishlegs looked over at Snotlout, taken aback at the sudden interest that seemed to come off the boy in waves. He opened his mouth to ask what it was all about, suddenly anxious as to what the odd light in his eyes meant. But before he could get a word in edgewise, Snotlout suddenly grabbed Tuffnut by the wrist, dropping off of his perch and yanking his friend after him. "What!?" Fishlegs exclaimed, getting to his feet with a risky glance towards the door. "Snotlout, what're you doing?" He hissed, trying to see what the teen was up to. When he didn't reply, Fishlegs shook his head rapidly. "Snotlout, get out from under the table!"

"Get down!" Snotlout whispered in turn, completely ignoring him as he hunkered underneath the oak.

"What?" Fishlegs repeated incredulously.

Ruffnut snickered at this, smiling now as she followed her brother's lead. The girl leaned backwards, slipping down neatly and crowding underneath the table top with the others. Fishlegs blanched, unsure on what to do as he looked from the door to back down at them, trying to connect the dots as quick as he could. Ruffnut rolled her eyes at the spacing that Fishlegs was going through, shooting him an irritable look. "Get down here!" She whispered fiercely, scooting backwards so that she, Tuffnut, and Snotlout were in a tight knot towards the corner. "Unless you want to get yelled at for standing there like we normally are!"

"I'm not going to-" He broke off, looking over once more to the doorway. Across the room, it was starting to open, Gobber and Stoick starting into the room. Cursing underneath his breath, Fishlegs ducked down rapidly, out of ideas or arguments. After all, Ruffnut was right when she said that he'd get yelled at either way. With the way that the Chief was so pent-up nowadays, it didn't really matter what he did, he'd still get punished. Might as well just follow the crowd's example and whatever they were doing. Safety in numbers and all that.

Dropping down by the others, Fishlegs scrunched himself up as best as he could, not able to hide quite as easily as the others in the group. But all together, they managed to stuff themselves in the far corner of their table. Frankly, Fishlegs was thanking his lucky stars that they had chosen the table farthest back in the first place. Hopefully Stoick and Gobber wouldn't walk far enough to have a chance to spot them hiding away. And if they did, he had to start thinking of an excuse he could give that wasn't just a total bluff.

"Now maybe we'll be able to find out what's going on." Snotlout whispered.

"Or we could all get into trouble!" Fishlegs retorted sharply, glaring in the boy's direction. "This is a stupid plan, Snotlout! We're going to get caught all because of you, you know that, right?" Snotlout waved him off dismissively, visually throwing the idea away. Fishlegs fumed, cheeks puffed out with anger. "Snotlout, I swear." He growled. "If we get caught, I'm going to-"

"Shhh!" Snotlout hissed, awkwardly leaning around Tuffnut as he pointed toward the door. "Everyone shut up!"

The group did as they were told, not wasting a moment as they snapped closed like a clam. And just in time too, as the door swung open with a loud sweep, Gobber and Stoick coming inside. The Chief was leading the way it seemed, despite the fact that he had been the one complaining loudly only a moment before. Gobber was a few paces behind, shutting the door quickly behind them as he followed suit inside. The man was right in the middle of saying something, Fishlegs able to see the way that he was shaking his head as he moved. "…just saying that we might need to slow down and think a little bit more." He was explaining, his voice obviously showing that he had tried his conversation before.

"We can't stop, Gobber. You of all people should know that." Stoick growled, already turning to pacing back and forth before he even came to the center of the Hall. Gobber sighed airily at this, expression falling over his face that conveyed the message that he in fact did not know why they couldn't just stop. But Stoick didn't pause in his strides, looking down at the ground with a narrowed expression of held-in fury and anger as he growled underneath his breath for a moment or two. But then he sighed heavily, throwing his arms up into the air wildly. "I don't know why you dragged me out here in the first place." He said in a rush. "I have too much to do already."

"Yeah, but you're just doing the wrong stuff." Gobber sighed, only having a small bit of patience in his tone with this one. Stoick's steps faltered a little bit at this, but he did not stop. Tuffnut and Ruffnut exchanged twin smirks at this new twist, apparently finding some sort of interest in this new development. But Fishlegs only felt a small tremor of fear and nervousness. If Stoick was this angry right now, how would he react if he found out that they were underneath a table watching them? "Can't you see that it might be high time to stop all of this, Stoick?" Gobber urged, not bothering to be quiet since he thought that they were alone. That was probably why they had come here in the first place; everyone else would be out and about doing their forced-on chores.

"Stop what?" Stoick asked in exasperation.

"Well, we've been at it for too long." Gobber snapped, loosing tolerance faster than he could acquire it. His voice raised a little bit at this, and he took a moment to calm himself before starting over, controlling his temper level significantly better. He backtracked a little bit, a hint of a sigh in his speech. "Look, Stoick. Things have gone far enough. We're out there in the forest day and night every day, searching the same spots and calling for the same people who never show up." He paused a minute before: "I know that you're worried about Hiccup, but-"

"I'm not worried about Hiccup." Stoick snarled, immediately veering away from his set pacing to advance up towards his friend. Gobber didn't step backwards to his credit, but he did look away at once, as if unable to bring himself up to face what the Chief had turned into. Stoick glared sharply into Gobber's eyes, fists clenched at once at the subtle accusation of sentiment. "I'm worried about this village, Gobber. Do you understand? The village is my main priority, I am it's leader. And now that this Night Fury business might start up again, I have to make sure that we're one step ahead.

"It's not because of Hiccup, it's never been about Hiccup." Gobber closed his eyes at this, wincing away as if the words had hurt. But Stoick was relentless in his words, refusing to stop at the notion of heartache. "I am a Chief, Gobber, and that means that I can't pay attention to things like that." The man stiffened at this, but did not dare to interject. "The reason we're out in the forest and ocean searching every day is only because of the Night Fury. We're out there to find it, capture it, and then to make sure that it never comes back to Berk again. It had enough nerve to do it already, and we're going to make sure that it regrets it."

Stoick paused in his words, gasping unevenly for air. Gobber took the moment at hand, narrowing his eyes suddenly as he looked at Stoick rather oddly. It was the normal stare he used to always give the man when Hiccup either did something wrong or caused an issue. Back before Toothless came to the island, of course. It was the same look that said: 'It-Happened-Again-But-It's-Not-Your-Fault' only this time there was a definite sense of anger in his eyes.

Fishlegs shifted uncomfortably, suddenly realizing that they weren't supposed to be here. Something could definitely go wrong, and he was suddenly feeling terrible in sitting into this conversation. He straightened, turning around and leaning over to poke Snotlout's arm. The boy had been engrossed in the scene in front of them, jerking with surprise at the touch. He turned, throwing Fishlegs a look. 'We shouldn't be here.' Fishlegs mouthed silently, eyes widening considerably at this.

Snotlout shook his head, looking back with a frown as he chose to ignore his friend.

"You can't pay attention to things like that?" Gobber repeated, voice tinged with not only disbelief, but a small hint of anger as well. Stoick sighed heavily at this, giving something that closely resembled a roll of the eyes as he turned away. But Gobber would have none of it, stepping forward and clapping a hard hand on the Chief's shoulder, spinning him around and forcing him to look his way. "This 'thing' is your son, and I don't think you're so blind to the idea as you like to think."

"Are you calling me a liar, Gobber?" Stoick asked in shock.

"No, I'm just saying that you're not thinking things through as much as you're supposed to be." He pressed relentlessly. "I think that revenge enough isn't as strong a motivator as other things." He paused, a little awkwardly. But then he shook himself out of the feeling, voice firm as he pushed himself along. "If it was just something like bringing back the Night Fury, you wouldn't be this obsessed. You're worried about Hiccup, Stoick, and that's fine to admit. But-"

"I'm bringing down a beast that's a threat to my village." Stoick snapped, breaking through his speech at once, not even pausing to let the man finish his unspoken thought. "I don't need another reason."

"You do when you put it over the needs like farming or hunting! Or blacksmithing! Or-"

"Gobber, I'd suggest that you stop right there." Stoick growled, suddenly growing dangerous as he glared at his friend. Fishlegs shifted uneasily, swallowing thickly at the new look in the man's eye. He'd never seen the Chief like this before, and it was more than frightening. Gobber's mouth went into a thin line, but he didn't object to the advice. There was a pregnant pause, in which Stoick looked as if he were sorting though mountains and mountains of thoughts, going through them in an angered haze. But he finally managed to start talking once more, getting over his mental hurdle. "This is the last time we're going to have this conversation." Stoick hissed finally.

"Then is this the part where you admit that I'm right?" Gobber demanded sourly.

Stoick fumed, but did not answer him outright. "The Night Fury is our number one priority." He said adamantly. "It's our number one priority, and it'll stay that way until it is found. Nothing you say or do will change my mind. It'll surpass food, work, and labor, because if that thing isn't found and killed, then the entire Village is going to be wiped out, those other jobs won't even exist anymore. So until the beast shows itself, we're going to keep up the searches. Is that understood?" It obviously wasn't a question.

Gobber didn't reply for a moment, staring with a disgruntled look Stoick's way. It was clear by the look on his face that he thought this conversation would have turned out a lot better between them. But it didn't seem to be changing anything. He sighed softly, looking down towards the ground with a small shake of the head. "So…we find the Night Fury." He said simply, stating the option with a hard edge. Stoick perked at this, turning over and looking at Gobber with a grudging sense of interest. The blonde shrugged uselessly, gesturing an expression of exasperation. "What then? Don't you think that the people searching should know what to do?" He paused, before elaborating. "You haven't told them yet."

Stoick faltered for a minute, looking almost lost. Fishlegs frowned deeply at this, both surprised and disappointed. Before now, Stoick would have called a Village meeting with everyone, sitting them all down and plotting out their plans for both attack and defense. But now he was just obsessed with…what was he obsessed about anyway? Fishlegs found himself unable to answer the question. Was he upset about losing Hiccup, or maybe losing control of the Village? Maybe both? He couldn't land on it.

Undoubtedly, Fishlegs knew everything about Berk. He knew the history front and back, the traits of every Great Viking, and all the neighboring islands in alphabetical order. And alongside those trivia pieces, he knew that a Chief's son was always drilled into with moral, physical, and mental rules. Knowledge from books, sightings, and as well as numerous complaints from Hiccup, he knew that children up and coming for the role of leadership were trained from the very beginning.

And it was no overstatement to say that since the very beginning, Stoick was considered to be an already perfect Chief. After all, who else could pop a dragon's head clean off its shoulders at birth? And it seemed to Fishlegs that the ideal picture of perfection was always displayed by the Viking warrior. So when had it started to waver? And when had it flat lined into something like this?

The thought was a sad one, and Fishlegs found himself suddenly wishing for the calming sense of organization that they used to have. Nowadays, they just either blundered around the forest or lounged around the village, for they weren't permitted to do anything else, really. Fishlegs closed his eyes, trying to picture Stoick the way he had been before all this mess, before his pride was wounded and his self-assurances tarnished. But he couldn't picture the Chief in any other state than the one that haunted around the village now. He couldn't picture him being the leader of Berk anymore.

The only thing that came to mind with the word leader was…Hiccup.

"They're supposed to bring it back to the Village." Stoick said finally, his words jarring Fishlegs out of his mental stupor. The male was speaking with a firm tone now, and for a moment, Fishlegs wondered if he had regained his footing somewhat. But his hopes fell away as he saw the same distant look on the man's face, his eyes unfocused, as if he were thinking of something entirely different than what he was having right at hand. "Then we can deal with it." He said shortly.

"That's all?" Gobber scoffed. "They'll want more than that, don't you think?"

"Well, that's all they're going to get." Stoick hissed. "Make sure they do it."

"…and Hiccup?" Gobber asked after a beat of silence. "And Astrid, and Toothless?"

Stoick took much longer with this reply. The Chief ducked his head for a moment, Fishlegs imagining the words punching through his skin and inflicting some kind of pain. Like the Zippleback did: inject venom for pre-digestion. He grappled for a moment, weighing, debating…or maybe he was just too angered by the idea of his son that it took a while for him to get clear thought through.

Surprisingly, Fishlegs felt Snotlout stiffen at his side. Since they were so close together, the reaction was more than noticeable. The boy twisted around awkwardly to look back at him, concern flashing in his eyes as studied the weird response. It wasn't like Snotlout to get emotional, and it certainly wasn't like him to show it when it happened. Snotlout was always either angry or nothing at all, there was no middle ground. So it was a shock to Fishlegs, who was the only one to make note of the change, to see that he was quite beside himself. He sat against the leg of the bench, tense and rigid as he watched Stoick intently, waiting for the answer. What was he worried about? Astrid?

…Or…maybe Hiccup?

"The same for them." Stoick growled finally. "Anyone you find, you bring them back to me. I can deal with them later."

"Stoick, you can't be serious!" Gobber exclaimed, eyes widening out.

"They disobeyed orders, Gobber, the whole lot of them!" Stoick snapped angrily. "They plotted against the island, and if they come back, then they'll face the consequences." The order was clipped, short and sweet. Except it wasn't sweet at all…not really. "I can't give them excuses and still be fair. I'm Chief, I treat everything the same. The kids that ran away are just as much a danger as the dragon. And the sooner we find them, the better."

Gobber scoffed, halfway between a noise of anger and laughter. "'The kids.'" He growled, looking up and fixing the man with a furious stare, just managing to hold himself back from yelling it looked like. "You mean your son." He snarled.

Stoick only held his gaze, voice quiet as he asked simply: "Are you going to carry out my orders, or not?"

Gobber sighed, suddenly looking sad. "Yeah…yeah I'll carry 'em." He said in a small mummer. "…But I won't support 'em." Stoick looked surprised at this, caught off-guard as he looked Gobber up and down with something close to shock. But Gobber didn't look him in the eye once more, not able to do anything of the sort by now. Fishlegs felt his mouth drop open with surprise and horror, already knowing what was going to happen, and yet not wanting to believe it all at the same time. "You're on your own for now." Gobber said, already starting to turn back towards the exit of the Hall.

"W-What do you mean?" Stoick asked suddenly, looking stumped.

"You know what I mean." Gobber sighed, still walking out on him. "I'm just done. If you won't listen to me, then I'm not even going to try anymore." He leaned over, grabbing the door and starting to open it. The crack let in a shaft of light, and the teens all bustled backwards like scared animals, terrified at the prospect of being found out at this point in time. Because none of them had realized how far any of this could have gone, and it had quickly and clearly gotten out of hand.

Gobber paused, hesitating at the threshold of the door. He twisted around, looking back towards Stoick with a disappointed look. "I've tried to help you." Gobber said. "I've tried to persuade you, and I've tried to get you to see what you're doing wrong. Now, you know that I'd do anything for you. I'd…follow you wherever you went, or do whatever you'd want me to do. But…I just can't. Not with this one." Regret was laced thickly over his voice, but it was as steady as a beat of a drum. "I'll do what you ask me to do…but I'm done. I can't try and persuade you anymore. I'm sorry."

Stoick was silent, letting the words of rejection sink in. Then: "If that's your choice."

The reply was immediate. "It is."

"Fine." Stoick answered, voice short.

Silence. Then the slam of the door as Gobber left. The bang echoed throughout the Hall, and it was plunged into the quietness that was there before anything else happened. Stoick stood there, still as a statue as he stared emptily at the door. The teens sat, pressed close together now as they held their breath. They all stared at Stoick with the same look of horror, shock, and disbelief on their faces. It went like that for what seemed like ages, though it couldn't have been longer than a few minutes. But finally, Stoick squared his shoulders, seeming to brace himself before marching out the way that he had come.

The kids watched numbly as he left, and it wasn't until the last of his footsteps had faded away outside did any of them move. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were the first, wriggling out from the tightly-knit group and struggling back up to their perches that they'd had before. Fishlegs and Snotlout followed suit, albeit slower. And even once they'd all taken back their seats, it was still a long time before anyone dared to break the silence.

Ruffnut was first. "Welp," She said, looking around at them with a blank expression. "I guess it's not as boring around here as we thought."

"Yeah." Snotlout growled, his anger sounding forcing and rounded. "Now that we finally know something."

"Guys." Fishlegs said softly, changing his gaze from one person to another. They all turned to him, subdued for once as they waited for him to speak. He swallowed nervously, eyes flickering over to the spot where both men had come and gone. They'd only been inside for a few minutes, and yet it felt like it had lasted a year at least. "Do you realize what this means?" He demanded finally, voice cracking somewhat as it raised an octave or two."

Nobody spoke, Tuffnut and Ruffnut giving out synchronized shrugs of the shoulders.

"Gobber and Stoick are best friends." Fishlegs snapped. "Even the Red Death itself couldn't tear those two apart! And now they're splitting up! Because of this! Even if we don't know what's going on fully, this is enough to show us that it's something terrible!" He was on his feet now, head reeling as he came to the conclusion. "This is bad. This is really bad. We need to…we should…maybe we could…" He blanched, unable to finish his sentences as his brain went haywire. "Maybe…well…ugh! What do we do?"

"What can we do?" Tuffnut snorted, looking away.

"Well, we have to do something!" Fishlegs protested.

"What?" Snotlout retorted, anger suddenly becoming livid once more. The boy faltered at this new tone, looking back at the burly teenager with wide eyes. Snotlout looked ready to burst, and yet calm at the same time. It was clear by the way that he held himself though that he was struggling to swallow all of this, just like everyone else was. "Stoick doesn't trust us, we're not allowed the leave the Village anymore, and all our dragons are being used for Search Parties most of the time. Face it Fishlegs: there's nothing that we can do."

He opened his mouth to argue, but then realized that there was nothing he could say. Snapping it shut and sitting down heavily, Fishlegs stared sadly down at the table top, shoulders heaving downwards. "…I hope he knows what he's doing." He murmured sadly after a moment, staring down at his lap, where his hands rested limply. "…because I don't think Hiccup can know how bad it's gotten over here."

"He knows what he's doing." Snotlout stated firmly, uncharacteristically firm. "He's Hiccup."

"Yeah…but…we have no idea what's going on out there either." Fishlegs whispered.

Silence.

Then: "Well whatever it is, Hiccup had better deal with it soon." The comment came once again from Snotlout. The other teens looked over at him, automatically glancing towards whoever made an attempt to speak up. But Snotlout didn't meet their gazes pointedly, just like Gobber and Stoick wouldn't when they were talking. "Because we need him back here." It was possibly the first time that Snotlout had ever outright declared his need for his cousin. Of anyone's need for his cousin.

"We need a lot of things." Ruffnut scoffed, trying to lighten the mood with a joke.

But Snotlout shook his head emptily at the poke. "No." He said. "We need a leader."

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

A/N: Little piece of Berk, because I felt like I've been neglecting it for a while.

Hopefully this is good! It's Saturday night at 11:08 PM. The only time that I possibly have for updates XDD 'Cuz tomorrow I gotta study for three tests all in the same week, so that'll be bunches of fun.

If you haven't read my profile yet, I would suggest you do so. Because it rings really true. I don't know if it's just the transition phase, or just because it's an intro kinda thing, but I'm swamped right now at school. I've got homework and band every night, so I've kinda got a full plate. So bear with me, seriously. I'll still update, but I'll probably only do it like once a week. And that update will go to the most-reviewed story. So…yeah…

Anyway! Thanks for reading! And hopefully it'll be really good! ;)

Sorry for the delay guys, I really am. Trust me: nobody is more upset about this than I am XDD