A/N: Ok, next chapter. I'm hoping it's ok because I didn't get much of a chance to read through it before posting. Mad week. Anyway, hope you enjoy it and please review. Also feel free to tell me which name for the new dragons you think sounds the best, Deadly Furies or Night Nadders.

Chapter 5

Hiccup walked into the Great Hall that afternoon to see Tuffnut asleep on one of the benches, snoring loudly. The few people who were in the hall were ignoring him, making Hiccup wonder if the blonde Viking youth had been there all day. If Toothless had been there he would have nudged Tuffnut off the bench and woke him up but as the dragon was still with Stormfly and the eggs in Astrid's stables Hiccup decided to leave Tuffnut to sleep until one of the others came in and decided to wake him up. Instead he walked over to the main table round the largest fire and sat down at the head to wait for the others. Valka was first to enter, carrying the book of dragons and with Cloudjumper following on behind. "There we go," she said placing the book down in front of Hiccup. "One updated book of dragons. Added a few bits to the other entries too."

"Thanks mom," Hiccup said.

"Have you seen the dragons since this morning?"

"Didn't get much time. But they seemed pretty happy last time I saw them."

Tuffnut gave a loud snore, making Hiccup and Valka look round. "Shouldn't someone wake him up?" Valka asked.

"Go ahead," Hiccup said. "I was kind of hoping Ruffnut would have realised he was missing and come looking for him." Cloudjumper was already heading over to the bench Tuffnut was sleeping on and gave the Viking a nudge, pushing him off the bench.

"I'm awake, I'm awake," Tuffnut said, his voice thick with sleep. "Where'd everyone go? Have they left already?"

"It's the afternoon," Hiccup said as Tuffnut and Cloudjumper returned to the main table. "The meeting hasn't even started yet."

"The chief's meeting? Oh man I must have passed out some time last night. Thought Ruffnut would have woken me up. Where'd she go?"

"No idea."

"Oh right, you were at Astrid's. So how's work on that heir going?"

"Tuffnut!"

"Don't blame me. It's your mom that's been going on about when you're going to make her a grandmother."

Valka gave a shocked gasp. "I have said no such thing!" she exclaimed.

"Ok, can we not talk about my love life," Hiccup said. "If Astrid comes in someone will get threatened with the loss of a limb. Most likely Tuffnut."

As if on cue Astrid came into the Great Hall and headed over to the main table. "Fishlegs has been out looking for you," she said to Tuffnut as she made her way round to Hiccup's chair to sit down next to him.

"So only one person came looking for me," Tuffnut said.

"Well someone had to do some work today. And anyway, Fishlegs volunteered just to avoid your sister and Snotlout."

"And now we have the answer as to where Ruffnut went," Hiccup said. "In future please direct all comments about heirs in her and Snotlout's direction."

Tuffnut made a disgusted face as he sat down. "I'd rather not think about that," he said. Fishlegs was next to come in, with Meatlug at his side, the dragon making an attempt to cheer her rider up.

"We should tell him," Astrid said. "I'm sure it'll cheer him up."

"What will?" Tuffnut asked.

"You'll find out soon enough," Hiccup said.

"I'm forever going to be alone!" Fishlegs exclaimed as he sat down. He laid his head down on the table and gave a small wail, while Meatlug licked her rider's hand.

"I'm sure there's a nice girl out there for you," Valka said giving Fishlegs's back a rub to try and comfort him. Over to two months since she'd returned to Berk the two of them had bonded over dragons and she'd started to think of him like a second son. She really didn't like seeing him upset.

"I've got some news that might cheer you up Fishlegs," Hiccup said as Eret joined the table.

"What kind of news?" Fishlegs asked.

"New dragons."

Fishlegs's head shot up as he straightened up, all upset about losing his chances with Ruffnut forgotten. "I'm listening," he said.

"New dragons? Does this have something to do with the migration?" Gobber asked as he joined the table. "And where's Toothless?"

"I will explain all at the meeting," Hiccup said. "Even though a few people already know."

"Can't I hear it now?" Fishlegs asked.

"When the meeting gets started. Best everyone hears it together. You can take a look at the Book of Dragons while you wait for everyone else to arrive though. Mom updated it."

Fishlegs's eyes lit up and he slid the book towards him to start reading. "Looks like that'll distract him long enough," Eret said nodding towards Fishlegs before he noticed Ruffnut and Snotlout come in. "Which is a good thing seeing who's coming in."

"Oh I can have some fun with this," Hiccup said under his breath. He didn't realise Astrid had heard him until he felt her punch him on the arm.

"Don't you dare," Astrid hissed. "Think of poor Fishlegs. He doesn't need the reminder."

"Right, sorry," Hiccup whispered back. He noticed the other council members were also making their way into the Great Hall and over to the table, all deep in conversation. The members of the council were pretty much the same as when Stoick had been chief, The only changes Hiccup had made was appointing Eret, Valka, Astrid and the rest of his friends members, replacing the few that had decided that with a new younger chief, there needed to be some new faces on the council.

Once everyone had sat down Hiccup stood up and everyone fell silent. He took a breath and cleared his throat, the thought of having to conduct these meetings still unnerving him a little. "Ok everyone, let's get this started," he said hoping he didn't start rambling. "First, the Bewilderbeast ice has finally all been cleared and put to good use. Let's hope it won't cause us any more problems as we've got something a lot bigger to deal with in the coming weeks."

"The ice has gone, the village has been rebuilt, what can we possibly have to deal with now?" Snotlout said.

"Something that came up this morning. Berk is going to be getting some new dragons soon." Hiccup gave a quick glance at Astrid, giving her the chance to step in and announce the news if she wanted. When she just smiled at him he turned back to the council. "Stormfly laid eggs this morning," he announced.

"Last night actually," Valka put in. "That was when Toothless came to find me to show me."

"So we're getting baby Deadly Nadders," Tuffnut said. "What's the big deal? We can handle them."

"They won't be Deadly Nadders though," Hiccup said. "The eggs, and so the dragons are part Deadly Nadder, part Night Fury."

"Oh my gods a whole new species of dragons!" Fishlegs exclaimed, a huge smile on his face. "This is like the best news ever!"

"Part Night Fury? That means Toothless right?" Ruffnut asked.

"Yes, it means Toothless is the father," Hiccup answered.

"And there was you claiming you weren't spending all night at Astrid's house," Spitelout said from where he was sitting a little further down the table. He'd given up his position as the Chief's Right Hand, in favour of Snotlout much to everyone's surprise, but Hiccup still wanted him on the council anyway. "Because really, what other opportunity would your dragons get to mate?" Spitelout continued.

"We could breed other hybrid dragons," Snotlout said. "Like a Monstrous Nightmare with a Gronckle."

"You are not allowing Hookfang anywhere near my princess!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "If she mates with anyone it'll be a nice dragon! With prospects!"

"There are plenty of other Gronckles on the island."

"No-one is breeding hybrid dragons. Berk isn't ready for the ones we're about to get. Which is why we need to be ready for when they hatch," Hiccup said. "Now, they should stay in the nest for a week or so after they hatch, which gives us at least some time to figure out what they can do and be prepared for it when they start flying."

"I can't believe we get to study a new species of dragons first hand!" Fishlegs said. "We need to think of a name."

"I vote for Deadly Furies," Snotlout said.

"Yeah, that sounds like the right sort of name for the offspring of the Alpha dragon," Ruffnut agreed.

"A name that would strike fear in the hearts of our enemies!" Tuffnut added.

"I vote for Night Nadders," Fishlegs said.

"Sounds like a much nicer name to me," Gobber said. Valka and Eret agreed. A whole debate started about what was the better name. Hiccup sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He should have known this was going to happen. He tried to get everyone to shut up, but they weren't listening.

"Everyone shut up!" Astrid yelled as she stood up. The table went silent.

"Thank you Astrid," Hiccup said before turning back to the table. "Listen, there's no point of thinking of what to name them just yet. We need to get Berk ready for the kind of havoc we're likely to be faced with when they arrive. The last thing we need is the village getting destroyed. Again."

The council agreed and the topic was dropped. The rest of the meeting went without another word about the new arrivals, or any other comments on what certain members of the council were getting up to at night, much to Hiccup's relief. He was even more relived when the meeting was over, wondering if there was ever going to be a time that he didn't dread them. "You're doing great babe," Astrid said taking Hiccup's hand as the rest of the council left the Great Hall.

Hiccup gave her a small smile, glad for the support. "I wish I could just take off somewhere," he said.

"Then why don't you?" Astrid asked.

"Toothless won't leave the eggs."

"We can at least try and persuade him. He might fancy a flight somewhere for an hour or so."

"I guess we could try."

Astrid smiled and led Hiccup out of the Great Hall and back towards her house, already thinking about how great it would be to finally take off somewhere, just the two of them, for the first time in months.