Looks like angst really is around the corner!

Chapter Seven: Return to Eel Island

Adrianna hadn't gone traveling in a very long time. She'd been off Berk a few times ever since getting her dragon but she and Lily weren't very adventurous. She had, at one time, found a small island with Erick in Berk's territory and the two of them liked to have picnics there on occasion but this was the farthest she'd ventured since her trip to Dragon Island three and a half years ago.

It was for this reason that she was having a bit of trouble deciding what to pack for her trip. After throwing in a few clean outfits and her winter gear, she felt like there should be more. But what was she supposed to bring on a trip with an undetermined length?

Lily stuck her head into Adrianna's room as the girl pondered what to do next. She walked in and sniffed her human's bag before placing her large head on the girl's small lap. Adrianna smiled and began to stroke it.

"Up for a change of scenery?" she whispered to her dragon. "You always did like exploring." Lily licked her girl's hand in response. Adrianna sighed deeply. "I really don't want anyone to die, Lily."

As her dragon cooed and licked the girl's hand, Hiccup stuck his head into his daughter's room. "About ready?"

"I think so." Adrianna replied, fastening her bag. "Are you?"

"Just need to get some food and water for the trip and then we'll be good to go." said Hiccup.

Adrianna pounded down the stairs with her heavy backpack slung over her shoulder. She watched as her father threw various food items into a small satchel before fastening it and tying it to Toothless.

"Maybe you should take some tea." the girl spoke up. "Just in case one of us gets sick."

"I'm not sure how much good tea'll do." Hiccup said as he tied a few more bags to his dragon.

"Well, the first symptoms are related to the throat and tea can soothe that." Adrianna grabbed a few boxes of herbs from a shelf. "Just humor me, dad."

Hiccup eyed the herbs for a moment before smiling. "I knew bringing you was a good idea."

"Well we haven't left yet. I'm sure I'll mess something up soon." Adrianna's cheeks reddened at the compliment as she handed the herbs to her father.

"No you won't." Hiccup shrugged off her comment. "What do you think, is this too much for Toothless to carry? He'll pout but he's stronger than he likes to admit."

"I think you're good." Adrianna tied a few things to Lily. "I guess we should go say goodbye."

Hiccup nodded. "Right again."

As the father and daughter walked out of the house side by side, the dragons looked at each other. Lily made a funny sort of growl low in her throat. Toothless returned it. They seemed to share a silent agreement that they both had a very bad feeling about this. And dragons are rarely wrong.

To say that Astrid had conflicted feelings would be a massive understatement. As she touched down on the cliff on which she and Hiccup had spent so much time, she hardly noticed Finn, Benen, and Erick dismounting and their dragons growling at each other in a friendly sort of way. Signa hopped between them and tried to make a game of grooming Thornado. Finn's dragon was not amused and gave her a warning snarl. This ended Signa's little game.

The Haddock matriarch looked out over the frozen ocean that stretched out as far as the eye could see and sighed deeply. She didn't like sending her husband and daughter on a journey like that. They were certainly smart and resourceful enough to be okay but something was nagging her about the whole thing. Maybe it was just nerves. She was going to have to step up and be chief with Hiccup gone.

Similarly, Finn was also feeling apprehensive about the whole thing. As the son of the chief, he'd always felt like people watched him more closely than his peers but this was a chance to make a difference. With both Hiccup and Adrianna gone, he was the face of the future. His actions now had to make his father proud, especially after all he had said half an hour ago. Hiccup had confidence in him. But did he have confidence in himself? Finn shook his head. This was too much to think about.

It was completely silent for a few minutes before Astrid, Benen, Erick, and Finn could see Toothless and Lily flying into view. The moment the dragons touched down and Hiccup and Adrianna dismounted, Astrid rushed forward and hugged her husband tightly.

"Hey," he said in a gentle voice, "it's going to be okay."

"You're way too optimistic for your own good sometimes." Astrid playfully smacked him on the chest. "You have no idea what's going to happen. What if you or Adri gets sick?"

"Since when are you the worrier in this family?" Hiccup kissed her forehead. "What if you or Finn get sick? We could talk ifs all day, Astrid, but we'd waste a lot of precious time."

Astrid swallowed thickly, eyes on her wedding ring. "Time..."

Hiccup gripped her shoulders and fixed a soft gaze on her. "Astrid, we're Haddocks. We're not going down that easily."

Astrid leaned forward and rested her forehead on his. "Not everyone has our resilience."

"I know." Hiccup's eyes quickly flitted to Benen and he suddenly felt like telling her about the elderly man's condition... but one look into his wife's worried eyes caused him to change his mind. "But we always get through the craziness life throws at us. We can get through this."

"What about everyone else? All those people-"

"We're the leading family of Berk. We'll uphold them as best we can." Hiccup kissed her gently but firmly. When they broke apart, he tenderly stroked her bangs and tucked them away from her sapphire eyes. "And we will be back. I promise." Astrid smiled and turned to Adrianna. Meanwhile, Hiccup approached his son. "I still mean what I said back there. You're young and you have a lot to learn but I know that you will be a great leader, Finn."

Finn awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Thanks, Dad."

"And the first thing you need to know," Hiccup said with a smile, "is don't slouch. No one looks up to a sloucher." he grasped the boy's shoulders and thrust them back. Finn straightened up, his eyes widening with surprise. "Now you look like a future chief. Even if you're not sure what to do or what to say, be confident in yourself."

"I will, Dad." Finn suddenly arranged his facial features in such a way that Stoick the Vast suddenly flashed before Hiccup's eyes.

"Help your mother whenever you can." Hiccup patted his son on the shoulder. "I have full confidence in you. No pressure."

"Thanks for that, Dad. The entire Haddock lineage depends on me. I think there's a lot of pressure." Finn's stance still exuded confidence but his eyes flashed with anxiety.

"Well, you are only thirteen." Hiccup playfully ruffled the boy's hair. "Don't grow up too fast."

"I'm really liking these mixed messages." Finn rolled his eyes. "Be a confident future chief and make me proud but also act your age and don't feel pressured." he said in a nasally voice that was clearly meant to sound like his father's.

Hiccup laughed. "Okay, you're right. But seriously, Finn, your mother is in charge. Do what she says. Help her in any way you can. That's all you have to do to make me proud, buddy."

"Oh." Finn smiled. "That I can handle."

Hiccup turned to Benen to bid him farewell. At the same time, Adrianna had just said her goodbyes to her mother and now faced Erick, who looked thoroughly miserable.

"I really don't want you to go." Erick admitted in a low voice that only she could hear. "I know you have to and I think you should... but I wish you could stay."

"I know." Adrianna reached out and took both of his hands in hers. He gripped them tightly. "I wish I could be there for you. But there are so many people who can stay and help the sick and my dad needs me."

"I just..." Erick sighed shakily. "I'm scared to death. My dad's always been there... I'm not ready for him to... to..."

"Shh." Adrianna lifted a finger and placed it on his lips. "That's not going to happen."

"You don't know everything, Annie." Erick said in a slightly muffled voice thanks to her pointer finger pressed against his lips. She quickly removed it. "Just come back as soon as you can. Every second counts."

"Of course I will." Adrianna squeezed the hand she was still holding.

Before Erick could say anything else, she lifted herself onto her tiptoes and nuzzled his cheek with hers. Erick's heart raced rather loudly as she paused for a moment before pressing her lips against his skin. His cheek seemed to burn when she returned to her normal height and fixed her eyes back on his own.

"I'll miss you, Blondie." she said with a spark of mischief growing within those beautiful green eyes.

She turned to Finn, who was watching Hiccup bade Benen farewell. He glanced over at her and raised an eyebrow as she walked over and leaned up onto her tip toes. Realizing what she was about to do, Finn jerked in a flailing motion with a yelp of disgust. "No- NO, DON'T EVEN-"

Adrianna pressed a big kiss on his cheek, to which everyone laughed and Finn nearly shoved her away. Hiccup effortlessly caught his daughter by the elbows as she stumbled and lifted her back to her feet. Finn aggressively wiped his cheek with his sleeve as he grumbled incoherently.

"You disgust me." Finn growled irritably.

"I can live with that." Adrianna replied with a shrug before turning to hug Benen.

Toothless made an annoyed sort of gurgle and nudged Hiccup in the middle of his back. "Yeah, yeah," Hiccup turned to his dragon and scratched the scaly chin. "We're leaving soon, bud."

The Night Fury did something that could be interpreted as raising his eyebrow skeptically. Hiccup turned back to his wife and immediately took her in his arms, kissing her so passionately she nearly melted. Finn felt the desire to express his disgust at this affection but he held back.

When Hiccup and Astrid broke apart, Hiccup immediately mounted his dragon and gestured to Adrianna to do the same. The girl immediately hastened over to her dragon and followed suit.

"We'll be back as soon as we can. Be as helpful as you can and see if you can find remedies to treat this sickness before Addie and I get back. But don't overexert yourself or you'll get sick too." Hiccup told them as Toothless stretched out his gigantic wings.

"I'll miss you!" Adrianna called as Lily copied the behavior of the Night Fury.

The dragons only needed to flap their wings twice to elevate half of the Haddock family far above the cliff. They turned and headed into the misty horizon, flying above the solid ocean in the frigid cold. Hiccup and Adrianna bundled up as best they could but both shivered at the first blast of freezing air on their faces. Astrid, Finn, Benen, and Erick stood in the snow and watched them fly away until they were completely out of sight.

"So where exactly is Eel Island?" Adrianna called as she and Hiccup continued to fly over the frozen ocean.

"Just a few more minutes and you'll be able to see it." Hiccup replied. "It's not far but it's in the opposite direction of the Bogs so that'll be an even longer flight."

Adrianna wrapped her furs closer to her body and shivered. She didn't like flying in such frigid weather one bit. "Won't the water be frozen over?"

"I thought of that." Hiccup gestured to one of the bags attached to Toothless. "You're about to get your first ice fishing lesson."

Adrianna paused for a moment. "Couldn't the dragons just melt the ice?"

Hiccup made a face as he considered this possibility. "Well... yes... I guess that would be a bit easier..." he coughed sheepishly. "But if we ever do need fish from deeper water, you're going to have to know how to ice fish."

"Point taken." Adrianna nodded. "I think I see it. Is that it?" she pointed to a distant shore to which they rapidly approached.

"Ahh yes, that's the one." Hiccup leaned forward. "Dragons tend to stay away so it should be deserted. But listen, this is important," he fixed his eyes on his daughter and waited for her to look back at him, "do not, under any circumstances, allow either of our dragons to eat an eel."

"I wasn't going to." Adrianna shrugged. "You always told me it was dangerous."

"It is. Don't do it." Hiccup held up a bag, the outsides of which he coated in leather. "Put the eels in this and then wash your hands. It's best not to expose them at all."

"Isn't that a bit paranoid?" Adrianna raised an eyebrow.

"It's being safe, Addie." Hiccup said in a rather firm voice but a tiny smile crossed his face for just a second. "I've only been here once about twenty years ago and it wasn't a pleasant experience. I just wish I could remember more about it."

"It's okay, Dad. You've been through plenty of perilous situations and it's the middle of winter. I mean, it's not like we're going to run into any dragons." Adrianna said as she began to descend upon the snow covered terrain below.

"Nah, you're right." Hiccup hopped off of Toothless and stumbled a bit. "Gods, I hate getting old." he said with a scowl. Suddenly he stopped and gave his daughter a very hard stare.

"What?"

Hiccup chuckled to himself. "Nothing, it's just... last time I was here, I was only sixteen. I never thought that the next time I would come here with my daughter..."

"Wow!" Adrianna raised her eyebrows. "You weren't much older than me."

Hiccup deflated with a frown. "Not helping, Addie."

Adrianna winked at him with a little smile before taking a good look around. "Where do you think we'll find these eels Camicazi was talking about?" she asked as she began to confidently walk in the general direction of a stream, stopping every few feet to peer at the eels through the ice.

"I'm not sure. The only ones I saw last time weren't striped, if I remember right." Hiccup stopped and put his head in his hands, his mind racing. "There was something else too. Something important."

"Well it was twenty years ago, dad." Adrianna beckoned him forward. "I'm sure it's not that important."

"You're right. I mean if it were, I'm sure I would have remembered." Hiccup sauntered forward and look through the ice. "Well I see some eels but none like the one Camicazi described. We'll just have to keep going."

They walked in silence for a few minutes. Toothless and Lily didn't stray too far from their humans. Eels made them nervous and their people were about the only comfort they had in such a scary place. Lily in particular seemed the most anxious. Every few seconds, she would nudge Adrianna with her snout and snort, as if pleading with her to leave. Adrianna gently stroked her dragon and whispered that everything was going to be all right.

CRUNCH!

Hiccup's reflexes were as quick as ever as he immediately grabbed his daughter's arm and yanked her behind a large bolder. The dragons were startled for a moment before following them.

"What?" Adrianna hurriedly whispered as the sounds grew louder.

"Typhoomerangs." Hiccup hissed to her. "I forgot about the Typhoomerangs. This is where they're from."

"Really, Dad?" Adrianna muttered irritably. "Gigantic, eel eating dragons weren't worth remembering?"

"Twenty years, Addie!" Hiccup peered over the rock and spotted one of the beasts prowling around inches from where they had been standing just seconds ago. "You forget plenty of things in twenty years, especially when you have three people, four dragons, and an entire tribe to take care of."

"Yes, but wouldn't this have been information worth including in the Dragon Book?" she continued. "I thought Poppy would be more thorough."

"That old Dragon Book was probably missing a page or two, now be quiet." Hiccup mumbled.

They heard the crunching sounds and loud sniffling noises as the Typhoomerang slowly approached the boulder. Adrianna's heart began to race. She felt Hiccup place an arm over her as if that alone would shield her from a dragon big enough for their own dragons to ride. Lily and Toothless slowly inched forward to try to protect their humans. For several tense seconds, they stood there as the Typhoomerang approached.

"Okay, Addie." Hiccup whispered in such a quiet voice, she almost couldn't hear him. "If it attacks, get on Lily and go. I'll hold it off."

Suddenly, the Typhoomerang's giant head became visible over the boulder. Adrianna shrank down, feeling tiny in the presence of such a gigantic creature. Her heart was thumping in her ears and she was only barely aware of her father adjusting his body so that he was shielding her and Lily putting her wings around her. The Haddock girl had only seen a dragon that large once before but that was a water dragon. This one could probably torch them within seconds.

The massive head lowered over the two humans and dragons, sniffing them almost cautiously. Even Hiccup was beginning to feel a prickle of fear. If the Typhoomerang declared them enemies and tried to attack, it would be a miracle for his daughter to survive the encounter. But if he had to die to make sure that she did, he was willing. He could feel her small fingers gripping his right arm, could feel her breath on the back of his neck. As the Typhoomerang inched closer, he prayed that it wouldn't attack. The whole village depended on them. Heck, the Bog Burglars depended on them too. They couldn't fail.

Suddenly, the dragon reared back with a loud barking sort of noise. They all jerked in alarm but had no time to react before it lowered its head again... and licked Hiccup across the face. Toothless growled almost possessively and glowered at the Typhoomerang. Adrianna was instantly bewildered, as was Lily.

"Torch?" Hiccup let out a laugh and straightened up, gently patting the dragon's snout. "My gods, how long has it been? I can't believe you remember me!"

"Wha... wha..." Adrianna sputtered; her voice hadn't quite returned yet.

"Right, yes!" Hiccup seemed almost giddy with excitement. "Torch, this is my daughter." he enthusiastically gestured to her.

Torch immediately lowered his head to inspect Adrianna further. She took a few steps back.

"It's okay, Addie. He won't hurt you." Hiccup smiled proudly when the dragon looked between the two of them. "That's right, big guy. She's mine."

Torch seemed to understand this and nuzzled Adrianna's hand the moment she lifted it. Toothless growled at his fellow dragon in a way the girl had never heard him growl before.

"What's up with him?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at her father's dragon.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Probably jealous." he walked over and patted his dragon on the head. "Come on, bud, let it go."

Toothless looked up at his human and gurgled before resigning himself to pouting quietly. Lily, on the other hand, was a lot more open to trusting this new dragon. She inched forward and sat next to her human, staring into the face of the magnificent creature before her.

"All right, Torch." Hiccup strode forward and stood next to his daughter. "We're looking for a special kind of eel. Do you think you can help us out?"

Torch stared at his old friend for a few seconds before making a funny sort of growl and walking away. Just as Hiccup and Adrianna were beginning to think that the dragon had gotten bored with them, he turned his head and jerked it forward a bit.

"He wants us to follow him." Hiccup said, taking his daughter by the hand and walking behind the Typhoomerang.

Toothless made a noise in the back of his throat but decided to follow his human anyway. Lily seemed to have taken a liking to Torch. She hopped around excitedly, almost like she was a hatchling again, before going back and making sure Adrianna was still okay. They didn't walk very far before they got to a thick part of the woods. Hiccup and Adrianna had to duck under the snow-covered branches and Torch practically had to crawl so that he would fit. It was very dark and if it weren't for the flames both Torch and Lily contained in their mouths, it would have been impossible to see. After several more minutes, the trees thinned slightly and they found themselves in a small clearing with a stream going through it. It took both Hiccup and Adrianna a few seconds to realize that it was a stream at all. Eels of all kinds swam in large groups. So many eels passed through the stream that it wasn't even frozen over.

"Wow." Hiccup said, crouching down next to it. "That's just... wow."

"It's beautiful." Adrianna breathed. "And we won't have any trouble getting the eels we need." she turned to the Typhoomerang, who looked rather pleased with himself. "Thank you, Torch."

Torch made a low rumbling sound in response. Hiccup got out the leather satchel and within seconds, it was squirming with six pink and red striped eels, three for the Bog Burglars and three for the Hooligans. It had been refreshingly easy.

"I really wish we could stay, big guy." Hiccup stood up and stroked the Typhoomerang affectionately. "But we have to get these eels to the Bogs and as it is, we're going to get there late at night."

Nyssa, Adrianna's Terrible Terror who had been snoozing in an empty satchel attached to Lily, emerged and yawned widely. She then flew over and perched on the girl's head.

"Perfect timing." Adrianna said, lifting the reptile off of her head. "We should probably send a message back to Berk saying we have the eels and are heading to the Bogs."

"Right, yes. Good thinking." Hiccup handed her a slip of parchment and a bit of charcoal.

Adrianna hurriedly scribbled down her message to her mother and tied it to Nyssa's leg. She fed her dragon a bit of dragon nip before releasing her into the air and out of sight.

"We should probably get going." Adrianna told her father once Nyssa had disappeared.

"Yes. But feel free to come visit us." Hiccup gave Torch a last pat before mounting a disgruntled looking Toothless.

"Ready to meet Camicazi?" Hiccup asked his daughter, a tiny mischievous sparkle in his eyes.

"Absolutely. I want to see the kind of person Finn would practically drool over." Adrianna replied with a grin.

"Nah, he's not that bad. Though he needs to work on his game for sure." Hiccup shook his head with amusement before waving to Torch and flying through a clearing in the trees over Eel Island.

As the island finally dissolved from view, Hiccup began to wonder about what was going on at home. Was everyone okay? How was Astrid holding up? Was Finn being helpful? The questions kept him alert but very frustrated as he flew over the frozen ocean. When he saw Berk's shore to his left, he was tempted to fly over and check in on everyone but he resisted the urge. They were going to have to take care of the village without him.

This chapter was lighter than intended but the next one will tell you what's happening on Berk. At least it should unless EmmerzK gets busy again. I'm letting her update her chapter so I'm giving her some more time for her own writing. For this reason, this chapter and probably quite a few more will likely be delayed. I have no idea how long they'll take to write but I'll do my best to update once a week.

Guys, this is a bit off topic, but this series led one of my readers to become a Christian last Monday. I was given the amazing task of telling her what she had to do and it was probably one of the best moments of my, and likely her, life. To my fellow Christians, I just ask that you would pray for her as she starts her life as a believer and that she finds the support she needs. But this is the first time I've ever shared my faith with someone and it has assured me now more than ever that this series and all the work I've put into it has been worth it and it's part of what God wants me to do right now. I thank you all for reading and if anyone has any questions, EmmerzK and I are more than happy to answer them for you.

Don't forget to review!

~KateMarie999