7) Who said anything about running?

After flying around the isle for the hundredth time, Toothless's worry had escalated to pure fear that something had happened to his rider. It had taken too long for Hiccup to get away from the chief and he was still not anywhere in sight. Something must have happened that had delayed him and some part of him thought that those stupid ignorant Vikings had captured his best friend. His instinct told him that he needed to save Hiccup, but he forced himself to wait. He trusted Hiccup. His human knew what to do in order to escape and knew exactly how to leave without bring too much attention to himself, at least he did other places. This was Berk, so ordinary tactics might work as efficiently as they normally would. Still he decided to wait at least till the morning and if he hadn't shown up by then, there was nothing that was holding him back from retrieving Hiccup. He didn't care about the villagers, but if they had harmed his dear friend then there was nothing holding him back from taking revenge on them for whatever they had done to Hiccup.

Hiccup wasn't sure what to do now. Of course he needed to break out of this cell and get back to Toothless, but the question was what he was going to do beyond that. His popularity poll is at its bottom at the moment with both his father and the rest of the villagers. And for what reason, because he befriended a dragon and accused of stealing from Berk. They clearly didn't want him around now, just like they didn't want him around back in the day. So why did he even bother to try anymore?

"Hiccup?" a voice said, stopping Hiccup's train of thoughts. He turned to look at his visitor and was surprised to see Astrid standing in front of his cell. He blinked his eyes a few times before he said:

"Astrid? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same thing," Astrid said with a shrug. "Why did you return here after five years? It seems a little odd don't you think, that you wanted to all of a sudden steal from your tribe."

Hiccup didn't say anything, but thought over if he should tell her the truth or not. Dagur hadn't ordered him to keep his plan quiet, but the question was rather if she would believe him or accuse him for being a liar as well as a traitor. The bigger question was why did she care?

"Why do you care about my reasons?" Hiccup growled. "You know that I betrayed our kind and sided with the dragons. Isn't that enough for you? What more can you possibly want to know?

She looked taken back and took a step away from the cell, he figured she didn't expect this unfriendliness from him. It was interesting how things have changed between the two of them, but she didn't leave as he expected her to. Why would she continue to stay and question his reasons?

"Because it's you," Astrid said lowly, almost whispered. "There is no way you would willingly try and hurt your family and your tribe. Sure, you caused quite a mess back then, but you never tried to do it intentionally. You only wanted to help, which is why I ask you again what are your reasons for doing this?"

"In order to save my best friend's life and give him back his freedom," Hiccup stated bluntly. "I made a deal with a psychopathic man, who wanted to the sword for some reason I don't know."

Hiccup began explain the situation with Dagur and the Berserkers and how things had lead him and Toothless back to Berk. The more he told, the more Astrid looked wary about what he was really telling her was the truth. Of course he left out the part that he didn't really steal the sword and what they were really accusing him of was stealing a fake sword, since he could use their ignorance to his advantage when the time was right. Hiccup only sighed when he was done telling his story. It seems that he needed to do more convincing if she wanted to believe in what he was saying.

"Look, if you think I'm lying then you and I both know it is not possible," Hiccup explained. "I stink at lying Astrid, and everybody know its true. You would hear me getting all-nervous and stutter like an idiot. Besides what reason would I have to lie to you? I'm already sure that I'm going to be sentenced to death for my betrayal on my tribe and siding with a dragon."

She nodded and let her guard down, only slightly since she wasn't too sure about him yet despite knowing he was telling her the truth.

"Okay, so are you completely sure that you don't know why the Berserkers wanted the sword?" Astrid asked, moving closer to the cell. Hiccup moved closer to the cell bars, standing right in front of her now. He stared into her heart-striking blue eyes as she stared into his candle-warm eyes. However Astrid noticed that underneath those warm eyes, there was a strong determination and stubbornness similar to her own eyes.

"No," Hiccup answered softly. "However it won't surprise me if the Berserkers was going to use this as an opportunity to take over Berk and claim it as their own. Remember how deranged Dagur is, and after the last couple of years it is most likely that his deranged and power hungry nature have grown. So if you want my advice, you guys should prepare yourself for an attack from the Berserkers, especially now when thy will realized that neither Toothless or I have returned back with the sword."

"How can you be sure?" Astrid said, raising one of her brows in suspicious manner.

"He may be deranged, but he isn't stupid. He would attack when you least expect it."

Astrid seemed to agree with his reasoning, which both surprised and warmed Hiccup, since she was probably one of the last people he expected to believe him. He couldn't help wondering why she of all people saw through his actions and saw the reasons behind it.

"What are we going to?" Astrid said. "We need to tell your dad and everyone what is going on?"

"Right," Hiccup replied sarcastically. "Just go and tell the chief of the tribe that his son, who is a traitor to both his tribe and Viking traditions, told you that Berk is probably going to get attack by a lunatic tribe. I'm sure he is going to understand."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Astrid asked frustrated. "You want to keep this a secret and let your tribe get in danger."

"What can I do? They wouldn't listen, let alone believe me. So what do you suggest me to do, put a knife to your throat and make them believe in me?" Hiccup exclaimed. "They wouldn't do it, no matter what the reasons behind it. You figure out how to make them listen, but don't involve me in it. They will listen to you if you don't mention my involvement, trust me I should know."

"But…" Astrid tried to argue, but Hiccup had already broken the connection by moving back into the shadows of the cell. He wanted to help, he really did, but there was no way his dad or the villagers were willing to listen and understand what he was saying, no matter how true and dangerous the situation could become. Besides he couldn't solve this problem like they would, knowing that it would only lead to death and destruction of their isle. So in order to save his home and his tribe, he had to do it his way, not the Viking way. Which was why he had already put a plan in motion by warning Astrid about the danger that is about to come. Hopefully it would give him and Toothless enough time in order to make this plan work.

"Stoick, are you okay?" Gobber asked his friend as they waited for the meeting to begin. Stoick hadn't said one word since the discovery of Hiccup's betrayal and it worried how he was handling this emotionally. Those two might not had the closest father and son relationship, but Gobber knew that they really cared for one and another. So he couldn't understand what was going on with that lad's head. What could have possessed the boy to go against every Viking tradition, take sides with the dragons and try and steal one of Berk's treasures?

The villagers were thinking the same thing and were whispering between each other about Hiccup's deceit. Of course they would whisper, knowing far too well that their chief would react badly if they ever said something regarding his son no matter how true it was. At least he used to, but right now Gobber was as sure as he would have concerning his apprentice and his best friend.

"No," Stoick said, staring ahead without looking at him or anyone else in particular. It was almost like he was watching into nothingness, the same way he did when he lost Valka those years ago. He guess now he really have lost everything after the mess Hiccup have made this time. He couldn't imagine what Stoick was going through right now. "I'm not okay and I'm not going to be okay until we get this matter solved."

Gobber sighed, knowing that Stoick wasn't going to change his mind once it was set on something, however he wasn't sure whatever was on his mind was the right thing to do. Still Gobber would stand by him, even if it was killing him on the inside thinking about what is going to happen to his dear apprentice.

The meeting started and everyone in the Great Hall was fighting about Hiccup and what his punishments should be. Most of them wanted him punished for death for both his betrayal and attempted theft on one of Berk's treasures. Some actually suggested banishment from the island, but no one seemed to agree about it. Neither Gobber nor Stoick voiced their opinion, but it was more out of respect and love for the lad that Gobber didn't say anything. Stoick on the other hand, Gobber wasn't sure why he didn't say anything, but he hoped that his best friend didn't give up on his son despite his faults and wrongdoings.

Suddenly Astrid appeared out of nowhere and stormed towards him and Stoick with this determined and defiant look on her face, like she was a woman on a mission. When she finally stood in front of the chief, she turned her gaze on him and said:

"We are possibly going to get attacked."

The whole hall went quiet and Astrid got everyone attention by her sudden statement. Stoick kept maintaining his stoic expression, but didn't waste time asking her why she assumed the isle was going to be attacked.

"Because I talked to Hiccup and…" Astrid tried to explain, but was interrupted by the crowd surrounded her. They could hear harsh words and curses directed towards Hiccup and the fact that Astrid had even talked to the traitor and thief was simply unheard off among Vikings. They never even considered listening to such a person who willingly gave up his family and tribe to be with dragons. However Stoick calmed down everyone by simply staring them down with annoyance and hidden fury. Gobber figured that his friend wanted all the facts before he was going to judge her statement.

"Why would Hiccup tell you that we might get attacked?" Stoick asked. "Unless it him who sends one of those beasts to raid us again."

"NO!" Astrid argued quickly. This surprised Gobber that the lass actually tried to defend Hiccup. He never got the impression that those two were very close when they were younger, especially not before he left after the Nadder incident. It was strange the way she defended him like they were close friend maybe even more. Sure, the boy had a major crush on her back in the day and it was no secret, but Astrid had never shown any signs she felt the same, let alone that she cared about him as a friend. So why would the Viking prodigy defend the village screw-up?

"He wouldn't do that. He might have caused a lot of trouble five years ago, but he did try to help us despite the fact that he kept on screwing up. Which is why he wouldn't intentionally try and hurt his home and tribe just because his tribe didn't like him."

"Then who is supposedly going to attack our island if it isn't him or the dragons?" Stoick grunted. Gobber could tell that Stoick was getting impatient and wanted to get over with this nonsense and get back to what they were going to do with Hiccup.

"According to him, it is the Berserker tribe," Astrid said determined. "They were the ones who forced him to steal the sword. They wanted him to acquire the sword for them and he wasn't sure why, but he figured that it wasn't good considering that they are all crazy."

"If he thought they were as crazy as he claimed them to be, then why would he agree to do it in the first place?"

However the moment Stoick asked her that question, she became suddenly quiet and didn't say anything else, which only confirmed Stoick's suspicion about Hiccup and his devil companion. That his son had taken a deal in order to save himself and his dragon, and betrayed his tribe and home in order to save his skin.

"Hiccup knew what he was getting into when agreed to take the deal with the Berserkers and what trouble could happen, which is why we will not heed his warning and continue this meeting about his punishments for the crimes he has committed on our soil." Stoick decided and turned to meet the gaze of the rest of the villagers.

"But chief…" Astrid tried to argue, but was immediately interrupted when Stoick turned to look at her with impatience and fury.

"Enough!" Stoick bellowed. "We shall not discuss this matter any further for whatever reason you find sensible in this case. Are I'm making myself perfectly clear lass?"

Astrid continued to keep the defiant expression on her face, not wanting to give in to the chief decision regarding Hiccup and the possible threat. However she turned her gaze away and grumbled a short 'yes' and Stoick dismissed her from the meeting. The lass disappeared in the crown of people and into the shadows, but Gobber noticed that she didn't leave the Great Hall. Instead she went towards the basement and Gobber knew that she was going to see Hiccup again, but he didn't do anything from stopping her since she was probably what he needed right now. A friend.

On a ship nearby the isle of Berk, the chief of the Berserkers, Dagur the Deranged stood on the front deck gazing at the island. It has already been days since he had sent Hiccup and his dragon to retrieve the sword and has yet to return back with it. That sword was essential piece in his plan to overthrow the Hairy Hooligans and take over their island and make it a part of the Berserker territory. The sword of Berk was a symbol of power for the chieftain; if he possessed the sword he would achieve both power and fear from the Berkians and other tribes. Then he could continue overthrowing other tribes till the Berserkers was only and greatest tribe left. However in order for that plan to work he needed the sword and the only one who could retrieve it without suspicion was that foolish heir of Berk. Of course it had taken him by surprise that Hiccup was no longer a part of the tribe based on his attitude and avoidance of the island. For a moment he wasn't sure if he managed to convince the fool to do it, there was the option to threaten and force him to do it, but Hiccup seemed like the type who would rather die than give in that easily despite his fear of him. But when he managed to capture not only Hiccup and his dragon, it was almost too easy to make him steal the sword. However they were taking too long to retrieve an unguarded sword.

"Any sign of them?" Dagur asked his first in command impatiently. The older man shook his head and told him that they have not seen any sign of the young Viking and the dragon. Dagur began pacing, thinking over what he had to do since he didn't have the sword yet. Dagur figured that the passive method to take over Berk didn't work, so he decided that he was going on the offensive. He began to grin sinisterly, finally he and the rest of his tribe was going to have some fun.

"Gather up the entire armada," Dagur commanded to his crew. "We shall attack Berk and bring the isle to the ground!"

His entire crew yelled out in war cries and they were all riled up to finally achieve their goal in conquering Berk.

Hiccup wasn't surprised that Astrid's attempt to convince his dad and the rest of the tribe went down the drain, literally he might add. However he reassured her that he appreciated the effort, but there was nothing she could do at the moment. It was nice that someone believed him, even though he had no clue why she believed him or why she was willing to fight his case.

When she left to meet up with the other teens, Hiccup used the opportunity to plan his escape from this disgusting cell that simply smelled like sweat and blood. If there was one thing his dad and the others forgot to retrieve from him before they locked him up, it was the fact they shouldn't have armed prisoners. He still had his equipment and his weapons on his attire, but then again they wouldn't have been aware of since all they saw was just strangeness with him in the first place. However he wasn't going to think about his dad or stinky Vikings instead pulled out a small piece of metal that could fit the locking mechanism on the cell. One of the tricks that he had learned during the last five years was lock picking. Though not exactly an expert on the area, but he was good enough to pick the lock of an old cell like the one he was standing in now. The only thing was that it was going to take some time, but based on his current situation he didn't have that time. So he had to learn to hurry up picking the lock or else he would be banished or worst executed for his crimes by the time he figured out to get out of his cell.

"You can do this," Hiccup murmured to himself as he put the metal piece in the keyhole. "It was just like that time when you were captured by rough pirates. Of course this time it is a lot easier when your hands and feet are not tied behind your back and on a swinging ship."

He twisted and picked with metal piece, then leaned closer to the lock to listen if he could hear the sound of the cell unlocking. At the first few attempts nothing seemed to have worked, but after a while he heard a small click sound. He pulled out the metal piece and pushed the cell door open.

"Well, that was easy," Hiccup stated as he rose up from the ground and walked carefully out of the cell. He looked around to see if anyone else was in the basement, but the fates seemed to be on his side when he discovered that he was alone. He brushed the dust off his outfit and rechecked his weapons and equipment. Then he looked down on the 'borrowed' boot. There was no way he was going to keep that boot when he was going to escape Berk, especially since it was the cause he was caught in the first place. So he took off the boot and threw it back into the empty cell. Surely Snotlout or Tuffnut would find their missing boot sooner or later, even though he would put his bet on that they would find it much later. He checked if his prophetic had been in anyway damaged because of his fall or misused it by wearing the boot, but nothing seemed to be wrong however he probably should check it later when he had better time to check it out. Now it was time to break out and escape this sturdy island.

In order to get to the basement you have to open a hatch that is placed on one of the floorboards. And when you get down to the basement there are only jail cells, no windows or secret passage doors that could be used for any escape. So Hiccup's problem was that the only way to get out of the basement was the exact way he and the Vikings had entered earlier, which was in the Great Hall where all the Vikings were gathered to discuss his punishment. Sure, he didn't know if they were still there or not, but he couldn't take any chances that the Great Hall was left abandoned because of what time of the day it was. If he were right, which was most likely in this scenario, the Vikings would stay at the Great Hall until they had reached a decision. So how was he going to get past the entire village without being spotted and put back in the cell he had just escaped from?

"He should be executed for both of his crimes!" Mildew exclaimed. "He dared to take those beasts' side, betray his own tribe and tried to steal one of Berk treasures. That tells us that he shouldn't be allowed to live if he can kill us if he was only banished and branded as an outcast. He managed to survive the last five years away from the isle, so how isn't he going to be able to survive after the banishment?"

Many of the Vikings murmured and got riled up in Mildew's argument, despite the fact that no one in the village liked or could even stand the old man, but he wasn't wrong about what he said. They had no clue what was going to happen if Hiccup was just banished from the island and if he did chose to attack the island with the help of those devils, they would be vulnerable since he knew exactly how they operated when they fought dragons. He did have dragon training before he left and they all knew Hiccup was a clever lad, he could easily use their faults to his advantage and wipe them all out.

"Enough!" Stoick interrupted the riled up crowd. He knew what they were saying was true, but a small part of him wanted to fight for his son and try to give him a less harsh punishment. However every time he thought this he remembered his son's deceit and that Night Fury, and he would quickly discourage the idea of saving his son. Though he didn't want to admit it out loud, he was actually confused and hurt by Hiccup's actions and just didn't know what to do. He didn't want to kill his son, but if the village decided it he had no choice than to fulfill their request. If it were best for the tribe, then his personal feelings would remain quiet. "If you all get quiet, we shall vote now about the punishments."

Gobber gathered everyone closer to the round table and Stoick began speaking out:

"Everyone, who wants to banish Hiccup raise their hands!"

Only a few hands rose up, but it was certainly not the majority of the village. Stoick felt slightly downdraught, he had really hoped that more people would care about Hiccup enough to spare his life, but he couldn't argue with Mildew's point.

"Alright, everyone who wants to execute Hiccup raise their hands now!"

Over half of the entire village raised their hands and they exclaimed and got riled up about this was the best for the tribe. Stoick sighed and noticed that Gobber looked like someone had broken his heart in two; oddly enough that is how Stoick currently felt about killing his own son. His and Valka's only child and now he had to take that life they had created together. It felt so wrong. How could the gods decided that he was going to both lose his wife and his son just because of those horrible creatures? Did they hate him that much to take away everything he cared about?

Stoick turned his gaze slowly around his people to read their reactions. Some looked uncomfortable while others looked more hurt and angry, but it was one face that caught his attention. The person was standing by the doors where one of them slightly open and looked rather sadden by the decision. That was something he didn't expect from anyone of the villagers other than possibly him, Gobber and Astrid. It was then he realized who exactly was standing there looking straight at him with those forest green eyes similar to his own. Hiccup stood there for a second before he dashed out the door. Stoick blinked his eyes for a couple of moments before he roared and told the crowd that his son had escaped. Then he ran out of the Great Hall after Hiccup.

No matter how many times he told himself that his punishment wasn't a big shock, Hiccup had been taken back on how many wanted him dead for just being with a dragon. However what had just saddened him the most was the fact that his dad didn't even try to help by lessen the punishment. Sure, he and his dad have never been close. There was no surprise about that, but he hoped that his dad actually cared enough about him to fight for him. Guess he was wrong about his dad after all.

He ran down the hill once again, but this time there was no one stopping him from escaping this place he called home. From a shot distance behind him, heavy feet followed after him and were trying to catch up to him. The only advantage he currently had was that he was in the lead, but he wasn't going to be in the lead for long when his dad caught up with him.

"HICCUP!" his dad bellowed after him. "YOU CAN'T RUN FROM THIS?"

Hiccup stopped a small distance from the edge of the island. Then he turned around facing his dad and the rest of the villagers.

"Who said anything about running?" Hiccup grinned at his dad, before he ran straight towards the edge and jumped. His dad and the rest of village gasped in shock and yelled after him, meanwhile Hiccup pulled out his flying suit and soared in the air. He looked back up at the edge he had just jumped off from and noticed both his dad and Gobber was standing there watching him stunned by ability to glide in the air. Hiccup moved his body and began fly circling the isle to find Toothless. He roared his dragon call and it didn't take long before his dragon appeared and moved underneath him, so he could land and steer the dragon. Toothless seemed very pleased to see him and Hiccup was more than happy to see him too.

"It's good to see you too, Bud," Hiccup said while rubbing Toothless left side. "Now's time to straighten up this mess and protect our home."

Toothless agreed and they began to fly away from the isle of Berk. If they were going to save their home from the Berserkers, then they were going to need backup, a lot of backup.

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Here's your new chapter, so I hope you like it. This story is soon coming towards an end, just a couple of more chapters then this will be my first long written story that is finally completed. So you could say I'm excited for that to happen since I'm very busy with school and writing on my other story. Writing fanfic is kind of like a job without payment, unless you consider acknowledgement as a payment, which I do.

Next chapter would probably be here next month, since I will be busy with updating my other story as well as trying to complete a story for a couple of readers of mine who has waited for updates on my stories which is currently is on hiatus. I feel obliged to give them something since I wouldn't update those stories for a long time yet.

So I thank you for the reviews, favorite and followings, and please continue doing so. Hopefully I can update this story as soon as I can. Until then...

xXrebelgirl07Xx