V.
No one ever struggled to find Stoick the Vast. No one. The enormous red-bearded giant stood over seven feet tall, stepped gallantly across the village like a majestic grizzly bear, and spoke with a confident and natural cadence which demanded respect. Though initially he appeared a fearsome and gruff warrior, the gray in his thick, well-groomed red beard attested to his years of astute leadership. Even simply standing in the center of the village near the smithy, Stoick was an easy and brilliant beacon to spot, and Hiccup and Astrid from the skies quickly located him and landed their dragons in the street. Immediately Toothless and Stormfly turned to one another, beginning a game of chase, while Astrid and Hiccup ran up toward the Hooligan chief.
Stoick glanced up from his conversation with Gobber the blacksmith. As soon as he noticed Hiccup approaching, his hairy face broke into a wide grin. "Here he is!" Stoick bellowed jubilantly. "Itching to tell me something?"
Hiccup cringed, remembering precisely why he had run away and avoided the dragon racing games earlier this morning. Trying to push aside that issue, Hiccup said, "Itching? Yes, but not for the reason you think."
"Just wait until we make the announcement to the entire village!" One of Stoick's beefy hands grabbed Hiccup's back and pulled his son along after him. Astrid, puzzled over the entire encounter, shadowed respectfully behind the two of them.
"Look Dad, we'll talk about this later, okay? I – I met a group of people when, when we were flying –"
"Nothing unusual there," Stoick said, only half paying heed to Hiccup's voice. He appeared too busy celebrating whatever announcement he planned to make to the village. His green eyes danced with anticipation of his own plans. "Now, the first rule of –"
Hiccup pulled away. "Dad, listen. This was different. These people – these people said there's this – this Vigilante who's building a dragon army –"
"Dragon army?" Stoick asked, suddenly completely engaged in his son's words. He grabbed Hiccup roughly by the shoulders and stared the young man deeply into his eyes. Hiccup immediately felt uncomfortable. "You said," Stoick ascertained, chewing on each word as he spoke, "that this attacker was leading a dragon army?" Contrasting to the start of their conversation, Stoick now spoke in a low voice, hoping to avoid anyone overhearing them. His words came out as a near-ominous low rumble. Like thunder in the distance.
"Yes, that's what I said," Hiccup answered. Then he paused. Something in Stoick's intonation threw him off. "Wait. Do you know this person? Or something?"
"Follow me," Stoick said. "We're going somewhere private."
Astrid glanced questioningly at Hiccup, and he shrugged. Now that Stoick had taken the wheel on the conversation, it appeared his girlfriend would have to wait and hear the news some other time. No other way to suddenly invite the young blonde woman into the conversation, not now that Stoick had demanded privacy. She watched as Hiccup was half-pushed, half-dragged up the hill to his father's house. The door slammed quickly shut, leaving the two alone.
The floor of their log-built house shuddered as Stoick marched across the room, heading toward the end of the building where the unlit fireplace, dinner table, and chairs rested. Hiccup followed wordlessly. Stoick leaned down and sat himself slowly, heavily, into his chair, then stared off into distant memories through thick, furrowed eyebrows. Hiccup lingered around the chief for a while before he spoke. "It was many years ago," he murmured, "so it could be a coincidence…"
"What is it, Dad?"
"Years ago there was a great gathering of chieftains. We were meeting together to discuss the dragon raids, which were becoming increasingly worse and threatening the livelihoods of many tribes. While we were there, a mysterious figure, covered head to toe in armor, face obscured by a mask, entered the building. She carried no weapons and spoke softly, barely above a whisper, and we had to lean in to hear her words."
Stoick sighed.
"She warned us that the dragons could not be overcome. That no matter how long and hard we fought them, we could never win. But she also said she could control them. She alone. She claimed she could separate the two worlds of Vikings and dragons, cutting the two species off from each other completely. She told us she alone could free us from the threat of the dragons, if we all stepped aside and followed her lead."
"That sounds completely crazy," Hiccup cut in, laughing nervously. "How would you manage that? Build a wall between the humans and dragons?"
"We laughed, too," Stoick said solemnly. No laughter etched the lines of his memory-scarred face now. "Not a single chief could believe that one person could manage to control all the dragons, let alone separate the two species completely. But then she turned around, headed to the door, and said, 'Then see how well you do without me.' Suddenly the roof top burst into flames and from it countless dragons descended, burning the whole to the ground." Stoick's eyes widened, and had he been standing, probably would have staggered and fallen back. "I – I was the only one to survive."
The house fell silent.
"If that is the same dragon rider," Stoick concluded, glancing up at his wide-eyed son, "then we must prepare for war."