Ladies and Gents, I give you chapter five.

Meatlug, care to give the disclaimer?

Meatlug snores loudly, one of her legs twitching in reaction to her dream.

Uh, Meatlug that's your cue!

The dragon merely turns over and continues sleeping.

Okay, me again. I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.

oOoOo

Astrid could only stare at her chief in shock. Snotlout? Abused? No way!

"That," Hiccup began hesitantly. "That actually makes some sense."

Astrid looked at him incredulously. "Hiccup," she exclaimed. "I just caught that guy beating you with your own leg!"

Stoick's expression hardened and Astrid mentally beat her head against a wall, but it was too late to unsay it, so she forged ahead. "Now you're gonna sympathize with him?!"

"Astrid, think about it," Hiccup said imploringly, his eyes wide and pleading. It was a look that spelled doom for her.

Astrid sighed and crossed her arms. "Alright, convince me."

Hiccup smiled at her in that way that spoke of how happy he was just to be able to reason with some one, and Astrid almost shook her head. This was such a mundane thing Hiccup was so pleased over, he didn't have to smile like that every time like she'd just handed him a gift.

"Okay," he began. "First off, Astrid, do you remember Thawfest?"

"How could I not?" she said.

"Do you know why I lost?" Hiccup asked. Stoick was frowning again.

"I know you threw the race," Astrid said glancing shyly at the chief whose look darkened even more.

"Yes, but do you know why?" he prompted.

Astrid shook her head. He was beating around the bush again. "You threw it because you weren't acting like you."

Hiccup shook his head. "That is only a very small part of it," he said. "Just before the race began, you talked to me dad. You said that even if I didn't win, you would still be proud."

Stoick placed his hand on Hiccup's shoulder encouragingly. "And I am," he confirmed.

Hiccup smiled again and reached up to grab as much of his father's hand as he could. But his smile faded. "Just after that, I heard Spitelout and Snotlout holding a similar conversation, only, Spitelout wasn't being very encouraging. He told Snotlout that he'd better win or else."

Stoick's expression said 'I thought so.' He nodded. "I thought it was a bit strange when Hookfang passed the finish line first," he said. "I've seen how fast that Night Fury of yours can go when he's really trying. He's five times faster than that nightmare."

"That's not the only thing," Hiccup, said softly. "When I passed him, and Snotlout realized there was no way he could win, I turned back and got a good look at his face. I'd never seem him so close to tears. He was terrified, and this could not have been a simple fear of losing."

Astrid stared at Hiccup for a moment, feeling slightly blown away by his compassion. "And you never told anyone about this?"

"How could I?" Hiccup asked earnestly. "Spitelout and Snotlout can never learn that I threw the race or Spitelout will know that his son didn't get a complete victory. From there is anyone's guess..."

Astrid looked down and nodded. Hiccup was right. Now that she thought about it, it almost made perfect sense. It explained so much about his behavior; how, one moment Snotlout seemed to have redeemable characteristics and the next moment he'd have Hiccup cornered and helpless. He never went after anyone else, not because Hiccup was an easy mark, but because Hiccup was the root of all his problems, at least from Snotlout's perspective. She could see how easy it would be to blame Hiccup for the way his father treated him. The more Hiccup prospered in the eyes of the Hooligans, the less favor Snotlout had with his father, and things had been going swimmingly for Berk's newest hero.

But Astrid could not forget the way Snotlout had stood over a trapped and struggling Hiccup as he rained blows down on the smaller boy's tiny frame. That was not how honorable warrior's settled their differences.

"What are we gonna do about this?" Astrid asked. "We can't ignore the fact that Snotlout could really hurt Hiccup next time."

Stoick's eyes narrowed. "There wont be a next time," he said grimly. "Astrid, I'm giving you your first guard mission. Make sure no harm comes to my son. And Hiccup, if Astrid isn't with you, make sure your dragon is. Don't give him an opportunity to catch you alone."

"Okay dad," Hiccup said, sounding relieved. "But what about Snotlout? He's not in a good position either."

Stoick sighed heavily and rubbed his hand over his eyes wearily. "Any direct confrontation I could bring against my brother can only end in disaster," he said. "Your cousin would be under even more pressure, which would only make him all the more determined to strike out at you."

"What if we went straight for Snotlout?" Astrid asked only to knock her own idea down with her next statement. "Nevermind, he's too stupidly loyal to ever give his father away."

Stoick nodded. "That is another aspect of this problem. If I could find a way to get the boy out of his father's influence..."

Astrid glanced at Hiccup just in time to see his face light up, and his eyes widen slightly. She knew that look. That was Hiccup's 'I have an idea,' face.

"What are you thinking Hiccup?" she asked.

Stoick glanced sharply at his son.

Hiccup looked at both of them. "It might only be a temporary solution," he said. "But why don't we do just that? Get him out of his father's way. Keep him busy, perhaps even off the island."

Stoick nodded. "Its a good thought Hiccup," he said. "I can keep my brother busy in a similar way so the two will rarely ever cross paths. But you're right about it being a temporary thing."

"I'm sure we can think of something better in the next few weeks," Astrid said.

The three shared a smile. It felt good to reach a solution to a complicated problem, even a temporary one. Their bit of peace was shattered however, when the door burst open to admit a pair of rambunctious dragons. Toothless and Stormfly squirmed inside at the same time and bounced excitedly over to their riders. Stoick stood up and roared for silence. The dragons froze and the happy warbles and squawks gave way to silence. Toothless shook his head and snorted dismissively, but both dragons seemed to put a cap on their exuberance.

"Hey girl," Astrid said to Stormfly. "Did you have fun today?"

The Nadder crooned happily in response and rubbed her large head against Astrid's shoulder, but they both turned to watch Hiccup and Toothless. Their greeting was quieter and did not take any words. Hiccup rubbed the black dragon's head, when the dragon pushed his head onto his lap in a gentle demand for attention. But it didn't last long. The dragon's nose twitched and he pulled away to nose at Hiccups leg, right where he'd been cut by the leather of his own prothetic.

"Oh," Hiccup said. "You smelled that did you?"

Stoick stepped forward. "Hiccup," he said. "He only does that when you're bleeding. You never told me exactly what happened."

Astrid stood up abruptly. "Stormfly has been on the ground all day," she said hastily. "I'm gonna take her flying."

Stoick nodded at her gratefully. "Have a good flight."

Hiccup turned pleading eyes on her, begging her silently to not leave him alone for this. Her heart almost melted, but she shook her head at him and smiled. You'll be just fine, Hiccup. Stormfly followed her eagerly out of the house, and Astrid grabbed one of her lower crest horns and swung herself up onto the dragon's back. She took off at once. "Take us to the clouds Stormfly!"

oOoOo

Stoick closed the door after Astrid and turned back to look back at his son. "Hiccup, how long has this been going on? And don't tell me this just started either."

Hiccup closed his eyes, his fists bunching against the top of Toothless's head. He seemed to gather his strength. His eyes opened again, but remained focused on his dragon.

"I was eight years old the first time Snotlout hit me," he said quietly.

oOoOo

This evening was quite the eye opener for Stoick the Vast. As Hiccup told of every instance of abuse he'd received from not only Snotlout but at times the twins as well, Stoick came to truly appreciate Hiccup's strength. Despite being small and weak, Hiccup fought tooth and claw, every single time, making their fun come at quite a price. Then Hiccup very reluctantly explained the most recent of those injustices and even more reluctantly pulled up his shirt in the back to let his father see the bruises. Hiccup wouldn't have shown his father the cuts and abrasions on his leg, but Toothless threatened to sit on him and he finally pulled up his pant leg and let his father change the bandages.

Then they ate dinner in front of the fire, and ever so slowly, Hiccup came to lean against his father's broad shoulders. He fell asleep that way and Stoick was more than happy to carry his little son to bed. Toothless followed him up the stairs and settled on the stone pad that was his resting place. Stoick gently eased his son down onto the bed and undid the buckles on the prosthetic, placing it nearby. The single furry boot came next, and he drew the blankets up to Hiccup's chin.

The father nodded in satisfaction and turned to see the dragon staring at him. "He's not out of danger yet Toothless," he murmured. "You'll have to keep him safe for me, again."

The dragon blinked once, and gave a little nod. Certainly, there was no dragon out there that was a match for this Night Fury, Stoick thought. He left and the dragon settled down to sleep.