Author's Note: As always, thank you for the reviews and favorites! Now, let's nudge things along.
Chapter 5
Hiccup
Gobber never did bring a shirt. Hiccup had to dart from house to house to avoid being seen half-naked by the entire village. He had barely washed up and dressed before his dad burst into their home.
"Hiccup!" he called up into the loft.
"Yeah?" Hiccup shouted.
"I need to talk to you, son."
Anxiety knotted in Hiccup's stomach: his father had never uttered those words without following them up with something painful. Reluctantly, he climbed down the stairs.
"Sit," Stoick said, motioning to a stool next to his chair.
Hiccup obeyed, eyeing his father warily.
"You're nineteen," said Stoick.
"Yes," Hiccup said, popping up to stand. "So glad we cleared that up. Now I'll be on my—"
"Sit!"
Feeling very much like a child, Hiccup sank back down.
"You're nineteen, son, and it's time you took the next step in preparing to lead this village."
"Um, okay?" Hiccup said. "You gonna fill me in on what that is, or is this one of those figure it out on your own things?"
Stoick sighed and rested his hands on his knees.
"I didn't want it to come to this," he said. "But you've been so busy with Dragon's Edge, that you've neglected something very important—someone important."
In the silence that followed, HIccup only stared at him stupidly.
"A wife!" Stoick bellowed. "A wife, son! To help you lead, to give Berk its heir."
"A what?"
"Don't tell me we missed that talk," said Stoick, rubbing a hand down his face. "An heir is produced when a chief and his wife—"
"No, no, no!" Hiccup said, bolting to his feet and holding his palms before him as if coaxing an angry dragon. "I got that part. What do you mean a wife?"
Stoick stood, towering over his son even after Hiccup had seemed to grow several feet in one year. He planted his hands on his hips before speaking.
"It's time you married, and since you've given no indication of getting around to it anytime soon, I'll be discussing an alliance with the Hysterics."
"Alliance?" Hiccup squeaked.
The chief regarded his son for a moment.
"Anything you'd like to say?" he asked.
Hiccup could only shake his head slowly—he didn't understand where this had come from, but he needed space, needed to jump on Toothless and fly for hours until it all made sense. Then he could talk about it. Maybe.
Stoick sighed.
"The Hysterics' representative will be here tomorrow," he said. "I expect you to greet them cordially and with respect."
Hiccup nodded, and his father sat, waving him away. Hiccup bolted outside, hoping to Hel that he wouldn't run into a certain blonde before he could disappear into the clouds.