Author's Note:

Hello everyone and welcome to Chapter 9. This one is the first of a double update. Its just Stoick and looks a bit at pre-first movie.

I own nothing.


Memory Voyage

The journey to Outcast Island was long and pensive for Stoick the Vast. The wind was with him as he travelled and there was little for him to do but make sure that the boat stayed on course which left him with plenty of time to think.

His thoughts largely remained on Snotlout as he relived different memories, both good and bad, of the boy. He noticed that many of them also included Hiccup and, excluding recent months, very little of the other teens. In fact now that he thought about it he realised it was very rare for either of them to have spent time with any of the others, of course as young kids they'd often been around others their age but he could see that things had changed when they were about five. This was when Spitelout and Helga had died and he took the orphaned Snotlout in, his nephew had closed himself off to others because of his grief and this had probably started to push them away. When he'd eventually started to return slowly to normal he'd grown very close to Hiccup and they became more like brothers than cousins, this only served to push the others away further as they had reached the stage where they were beginning to learn from their parents that Hiccup wasn't 'normal' so as they began to turn away from him they turned away from Snotlout to and Stoick felt a great deal of guilt as he saw that he'd been ignorant of his son and nephew's isolation from others at the time.

He looked out over the ocean as his mind wandered away from Snotlout's relationship with the other teens and onto the day the bodies of his brother-in-law and his wife returned to Berk on board Bucket and Mulch's fishing boat. He remembered it all vividly.


He'd actually been awaiting Bucket and Mulch to return as they had been overdue and had been one of the first at the docks when he saw the ship come in. He'd been looking after Snotlout since Spitelout and his wife had gone on a long hunting trip together around some of the other islands and he had his hands full with his duties as chief and two active five year olds to keep an eye on so he took them to the docks with him.

At first everything appeared to be fine but when he gave a cheery wave to the approaching vessel it wasn't returned. Instinct told him that something was wrong and a feeling of unease came over him, gesturing for Hiccup and Snotlout to stay back he went to meet the ship further up the docks alone. As soon as she was tied up he boarded and noticed that Bucket was pointedly looking away from one end of the ship while Mulch just looked at Stoick sadly and gestured to the stern where two bodies lay.

They were recognisably Snotlout's parents but their wounds were devastating. Massive axe cuts had opened their chests and it was obvious that they'd been struck by several weapons several times, their clothes were saturated with dried blood and their faces had been smashed by some blunt object which deformed their features. Spitelout's helmet was still on though it was caved in and one of its horns was snapped.

Hearing gasps from behind him Stoick turned to see Gobber and several other Vikings standing there staring at the bodies. Stoick ordered them to find some large cloths and some carriers to cover and move the bodies before quickly disembarking. As they hurried to do their task he noticed Snotlout sneaking forward trying to see what was going on and Stoick quickly intercepted him to prevent him from seeing the bodies of his parents. The boy grumbled in protest as he led him away and pulled a sulky expression when Stoick knelt down in front of him a serious look on his face.

"Snotlout, there's something you need to know."

At the tone of his voice Snotlout's pout rapidly turned to worry which only grew more intense when several Vikings ran past carrying the cloths and carriers. Stoick struggled not knowing exactly how to tell the five year old before what had happened and there was a stab of pain in his heart when Snotlout asked with all the worried innocence of a child, "Did I do something wrong Uncle?"

"No Snotlout," Stoick quickly answered, "you haven't done anything wrong." He heard Hiccup come up beside him and he wished that he didn't have to be the one to break the news to both of the boys, "You know how your parents went on a long hunting trip?" Snotlout nodded and Stoick continued, "And you remember how they weren't due back for a few days yet?"

Snotlout nodded again before his face suddenly lit up, "Are they back now? I knew daddy would be done far quicker than he thought!"

Stoick's heart ached at the look of mixed hope and pride on the boy's face knowing that he was about to devastate Snotlout with what he had to say.

"Stoick?"

He looked around at the voice to see Gobber standing there with several Vikings who were carrying the covered bodies behind him just as Snotlout spoke pointing at their burden, "What are those?"

A look passed between all the adults and Gobber quickly signalled the men to move on but as they began to hurry away something shifted and tumbled out from underneath one of the covers falling to the ground with a clatter. Before anyone could make a move Snotlout had picked it up and was staring at the battered helmet of his father, "This is daddy's helmet." He looked at the adults and Stoick could see him slowly working it out, "Why is daddy's helmet here, where is he?" When they didn't answer Snotlout spoke again with tears coming to his eyes, "Where is daddy?" He looked once more at the two covered bodies and Stoick knew that he'd realised what had happened. He hurried forward just in time to hold the boy back as he tried to run towards the bodies screaming as he did so, "DADDY, MUMMY!"

Stoick scooped the boy into his arms even as Snotlout began kicking and beating him with his fists the boy screaming and crying as he did so. Hiccup hugged his father's legs as Gobber and the other Vikings hurried away leaving them alone as Snotlout's screams became sobs as he buried his face into his uncle's chest.


The first glimpse of Outcast Island pulled him back to the present and he reckoned that it would be late afternoon before he reached it placing him well within Dagur's deadline. By the time he got there the Vikings in the other ship should be in position ready to spring the ambush and he hoped his plan would work. As the wind pushed him onwards he prepared himself for his part and prayed that it would all work out.

PS-So there we are and I hope you enjoyed that chapter even if it was more of a filler than anything else but we should get to the action next chapter.