I Own Nothing

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Chapter 23

Forging Things

Very early the next morning Hiccup and Toothless made their way through a driving rain to the forge. It was only a short distance to walk but they both arrived soaked to the bone.

"Boy I'm glad we didn't choose to sleep under the stars last night!" Hiccup laughed as he picked the lock. Gobber would not mind, or so he hoped.

"I could have handled it." Toothless said smugly as they entered and Hiccup took off his cloak.

"That's because you are a dragon and don't need to wear clothes and build fires to keep warm!"

"Are you sure it's safe for us to be in here?"

"Who's going to be stopping by at this hour in this weather? Besides, didn't Stoick say we were to be treated as guests?"

"Yes, but there are some who might disagree with him,"

"Well, if anyone tries anything, they might find they've bitten off too much to swallow." Hiccup grinned, "A forge is practically an armory with the addition of molten metal and it'll be a brave Viking who can withstand that breath of yours!"

"My breath is just fine, thank you! It's those Vikings that stink so much!"

He looked around. The last time he was in here he had not had much time to reminisce, as he had left shortly afterwards to avoid being seen and had been busy planning his escape from Berserk. "Same old forge. I spent more time here than I did in my own house, Bud." He lightly picked up tools and glanced over the tables. "Hmm. It looks a messier and shabbier than I remember, rather like the house. Wonder if there's a connection. And look at this, Bud," He pointed to a door that led to a small room. "I used to inhabit that when I was making my inventions. That's the room I hid my drawings of you in before running away. There's where Stoick and I had our last conversation the night before we left."

It was empty now. He'd made certain to clean it out before he'd left. All the designs of weapons had been destroyed, and so had the prototypes he'd built. He had not wanted anyone getting their hands on them and building them to use against dragons. Anything else that he felt he could do without he had hidden under the floorboards. He had retrieved them the same night he'd raided his father's house four years ago.

"Well, to business. There's a war coming soon, so we'll need new and sharp weapons…but first my prosthetic could do with a tune up." Toothless moved awkwardly to a corner.

"Think I'll take a nap."

"A nap? You just woke up!"

"What's your point?" Hiccup just shook his head and went about his business.

Getting the forge going was easy compared to the one at the Sanctuary. At the same time, since he was used to having a lot more tricks and contraptions it felt a bit like taking a step backwards, like he was using an outdated model. He had to remember, for instance, that Gobber's forge was not heated by a nest of Fireworms but required wood that had to be stoked and added to occasionally. Still, on such a dreary day it felt comforting to feel the warm heat and see the bright ruddy glow of the embers.

He swapped his prosthetic with a spare he had brought along and disassembled it. The springs needed replacing, it could do with some polishing, it needed some oiling, and the toe section had grown overused and dented. He decided it would be easier to just replace it altogether. He made some good progress on it when someone burst in.

Hiccup whipped around with a hammer ready to defend himself. It was Astrid, so he lowered it. That was a mistake, for she walked straight up to him and slapped him hard in the face.

"Ow!"

"That's for ditching us earlier!" She snapped.

"Hey, come on!"

"And this is for everything else!" She threw her arms around him, forgetting how sore his back still was until he screamed.

"Gah! Sorry, I'm sorry!"

"Do you know how to demonstrate your feelings without inflicting pain upon the recipient?" Hiccup asked through gritted teeth.

"Tell me about it!" Snotlout said loudly as he entered behind her. "She loves me so much she's always beating me, hitting me, punching me, kicking me—"

"We get the idea, Snotlout,"

"Oh. Well, she's been doing those things to me for years! Guess we all know who she loves most, huh?" He winked at Astrid knowingly, then flung himself onto a chair and put his feet up on a table as if he owned the place.

"Anyway," Astrid interrupted impatiently, "We were just at a meeting with Stoick, he told us you were back and were in here—"

"I hate having meetings this early in the morning," Snotlout groaned,

"—Are you here to stay?" Astrid asked eagerly,

"For the moment," Hiccup replied evasively. Astrid looked rather disappointed.

"Oh—well then—so where are our dragons?"

Hiccup was pleased. "Your dragons?"

"Yes, the dragons we rode here from Berserk on. Where are they?"

"I know what you meant and they'll be here later today." He and Toothless arrived yesterday to determine if it was safe and the rest had been told to come only if they didn't hear anything. They had not heard anything.

"Stoick also said we're at war with Drago now. Is that true?"

"Yep." Hiccup said glumly.

Astrid nodded with grim seriousness. Snotlout by contrast shouted "Finally! I get a real chance to prove my warriors mettle!"

"Yes, you can finally prove it now." Hiccup replied dryly, "But first you can move your feet; they're on the tongs."

"I don't take orders from anyone except the Chief!" Snotlout said smugly.

"Including his dad," Astrid whispered in Hiccup's ear. Hiccup responded by grabbing Snotlout's legs and pulling them off the table, much to her amusement.

"Hey!"

"I need the tongs."

"Well there was no need to go to extremes!" Snotlout rubbed his legs gingerly. "Sheesh, when did you get such a strong grip?"

"So, did Stoick say anything else at this meeting?"

"Yes he did," Astrid smirked. "He said he's throwing you a big dinner tonight."

Hiccup dropped the tongs on the floor. "He didn't."

"Yes he did! And he said the entire village was going to be there! But that can't be too much trouble for the Dragon King, right?" She threw her arm around his shoulders, making him grimace. "Oh, sorry. But it's good, right? Everybody will get to see you up close! And Toothless too! Heck, we'll probably have every dragon there! Now everyone will get a chance to meet them and they'll become convinced dragons aren't evil!"

"That's…not exactly why I came back, Astrid." She reminded him of what he had sounded like when Astrid first came to the Sanctuary: overly and prematurely optimistic.

"Well, tough luck. You don't get to vanish for eight years and then return expecting to stay anonymous!" She punched him in the shoulder and went over to pet Toothless on the head.

"So," Snotlout said loudly, "getting back to the subject of girls, Hiccup, you must have seen quite a few while you were gone. Spill the beans!"

Hiccup snorted. "What? Do you think I might secretly have a harem of foreign women waiting for me to come home to them?"

Snotlout grinned. "Not a bad idea, if you ask me!"

"A girl in every village, eh?" Hiccup raised an eyebrow as he inspected a piece of metal. "Better watch it, Snotlout. Most women don't like it when the man goes about eyeing other women, and an angry woman is a dangerous thing." He eyed Astrid, who was clearly starting to steam and not because she was in a heated room.

"Oh, I could handle them."

"Sure you could. Like how you can handle Astrid." He added under his breath.

"I heard that!" Snotlout cried, "Like you're doing any better with the ladies!"

"Well I was offered the hand of a daughter of the Emperor of China. I politely declined. I didn't really want to get tied down to a girl I'd never spoken to."

"Was she beautiful?" Snotlout asked eagerly. Even though she had heard some of this already Astrid looked interested, but pretended not to be.

"Sure—but then, anyone with a dozen handmaidens and the money to buy the best clothes and makeup can look beautiful," He saw Astrid raise her eyebrows. "But then again, some people don't need the extra help to look beautiful,"

"True, perhaps." Astrid said dismissively, "Well I've got some training to do and I see you want to work on your forging, so I'll be seeing you later!"

"Training in this weather?"

"In any weather." She replied firmly. "I don't bother about weather since weather doesn't bother about me!"

"And you'll be seeing me too, babe!" Snotlout called,

"Do you ever wish you were blind?" Astrid asked Hiccup as she walked out. Hiccup put his hand on his own shoulder where she had touched him.

"Well she seems a bit informal today," he remarked.

"Yeah, I don't get it. She's never been like that with me!" Snotlout put his feet up on the table again. "Getting back on topic before she got us off topic, did you never have a girl during your time away from here?"

"Nope."

"What's wrong with you?"

Hiccup shrugged. "They just weren't my type."

"Well The Snotty boy here knows who his type is, and that's the one and only Astrid Hofferson! There's not a girl in the world that could hold a candle to Astrid!"

Hiccup privately agreed, but pretended to be nonchalant about it. "I guess, if you like that deadly, confident, divine beauty, Valkyrie type."

Now it was Snotlout's turn to raise his eyebrows. "Divine beauty?"

"That's what her name means, doesn't it?"

"Huh. I didn't know that."

"Perhaps, Snotlout, if you're so eager to win Astrid, you might want to consider finding out a few things about her first." Hiccup suggested, mentally reminding himself to do the same and to stop giving Snotlout these suggestions.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever…that reminds me. Did anything happen between you two while the two of you were on that island of yours?"

"Plenty of things happened. I was trying to get her to like dragons after all." And succeed, he could now say without any doubts or misgivings.

"You know what I mean!"

"Why haven't you just asked Astrid?" Snotlout gestured to his nose. "Oh, I see. Well, to absolve you of your curiosity, my answer is in the negative."

"How's that?"

Hiccup sighed. Sometimes he forgot he was speaking to people with a lesser knowledge of words. "No, nothing happened between us."

"Oh. Well, good. Because, Hiccup, while on the one hand, I would completely understand if something did happen between you two because I know Astrid's irresistibly gorgeous, if I find out you're trying to steal my girl from me, I am going to make your life more miserable than it ever has been!" Snotlout spoke with a comical yet evil look on his face. Toothless opened an eye at this.

"Your girl? Snotlout, if Astrid really is your girl, you two have the most one sided and abusive relationship I've ever heard of. And if you're trying to threaten me, it's not going to work—it's hard to intimidate someone who's considerably taller than you." Indeed, although Snotlout was nearly twice the size of his cousin, Hiccup towered over him. "Furthermore, Astrid is her own person. If she wants you, me, or anybody else in the world—heck, if she wants to elope with King Sweyn of Denmark, that's her decision, and not ours."

"Ha! You included yourself in that list! You do have an interest in her! I'll have to add you to my enemies list."

"You have an enemies list?" Hiccup asked, hoping to change the subject.

"You oughta know by now! You've had the number one slot for years!"

"I'm flattered." He finally found a moment for him to thrust the metal into the fire. "So where have you been staying? I heard about your fight with your dad."

Snotlout lost the playfully threatening attitude. "Oh that. Well, Fishlegs offered to let me room with him. Dad won't talk to me now."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Hiccup knew all too well what that was like. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Snotlout snorted. "Not unless you can get him to change his mind about dragons, which seems kinda impossible now."

"Hey, chin up. I'll bet just a week ago you would never have imagined changing your own mind about dragons, and look at you now…" He had no need to finish the sentence.

"Yeah, well, I should be going now. Leave you to your forgeries. I've oughta go see what my girl is up to!"

As soon as he was gone Hiccup looked indignant. "Forgeries?"

"I thought he was never going to leave." Toothless grumbled. "Maybe now I can get some sleep."

Almost as soon as he had left Gobber came jogging in.

"'Iccup, ma boy! Jest like old times, eh? Haha, I've mist ya lad, and that's the hard truth of it!"

"Or maybe not."

Gobber came towards Hiccup to give him a big hug, but Hiccup moved away and gestured to his back. Gobber understood.

"Nice to see you too, Gobber," Hiccup smiled as Gobber attached his hammer appendage to his arm. "I'm still alive, as you can see,"

"That's very good news, lad," Gobber grinned, "So watcha workin' on?"

"Oh, just fixing my leg for starters,"

"I'm sorry ya lost it. Ah know wot that's like," Gobber gestured to his own peg leg, "Still, all in the past, we jest 'ave ta make the most o' it."

"That we do," Hiccup replied.

"Ya know, lad, I'm really glad you and yer father are talkin' again. Err…You are, right?"

"We've talked a little. It's a work in progress, but coming along, I think."

"Good, good. 'E told me 'bout what ya did on Berserk. I'm real proud of ya fer doing it, lad."

Hiccup blushed as he picked up a hammer. "Thanks,"

"An' ya finally got yer dad ta talk wid ya! Glad ta know you've forgiven 'im!"

Hiccup put down his hammer. "I never said that."

Gobber froze with his hammer arm raised. "What?"

"No, Gobber, I have not forgotten, nor forgiven, what has happened. Who can lose the memory of their own father throwing a spear at them?" He raised his hammer and swung it much harder than he needed to or perhaps intended to. "Or what everyone else has said about me when they thought I wasn't listening—or knew I was listening? Or the marks along my body that were put there by my own kinsmen and former friends?" He shook his head. "It's not that easy, Gobber. And while I'm willing to try again one final time, I have not forgotten and I probably never will. But I'm willing to work towards forgiveness. He asked for a last chance and he's getting it. Whether he ruins it or not is up to him."

"Well…ah suppose that's only fair…but don't worry! Stoick will make it work this time, an' so will the others!"

"I hope so…say, will you hold the tongs for me? There we go…I wanna get this done so I can walk properly." He gestured to his spare prosthetic. "This one's only adequate."

"Ya gotta show me all them tricks you've got in yer leg, and 'ow it all works, from one smith to another."

Hiccup would have liked too, but he did not get the time. The rest of Berk was stirring to life, and even though it was raining by the bucketful, there was still work to be done. Once he found out that Hiccup was in the forge Fishlegs rushed over and began to bombard him with questions concerning dragons and the plans and telling him how good it was to see him again. The Twins then burst in asking questions about how powerful dragon explosions could be and begging him for more fireworks. Then Stoick came in, happily told Hiccup about the dinner that night and would not hear of Hiccup skipping it. In the spirit of peace and harmony Hiccup kept his temper, though he was pleased when Stoick asked about what he was making and seemed to be genuinely interested in it. But as Chief he could not stay for very long. Other's came in to watch him work, though most were a bit wary of talking to him. But it was a wonder that he had managed to fix his foot by lunch time.

A little while after lunchtime the rain amazing let up and the sun came out, so Hiccup decided to take his new foot out for a test walk. Toothless was still trying to get some sleep, this time in the Haddock house. Hiccup decided to let him sleep or else he would be in a bad mood for that dinner.

It was amazing how the fast the weather had changed. Instead of being covered in dark clouds the sky looked like a robin's egg. The grass and leaves glistened with rainwater. Evaporating mist began rising from the woods. It reminded him of the first day he had showed Astrid the Sanctuary for the first time. It felt like a lifetime ago.

At one large puddle he tested to see how well his leg responded when stuck in mud. Along the muddy ground worms had emerged, which encouraged birds to perch in nearby trees, waiting for Hiccup to move away. Unfortunately for them, his leg got stuck and it took a few minutes for him to pull it free and wipe it off on the grass. Aside from the mud, his new foot seemed to work quite well, he decided.

As he walked he began to sing a little song to himself.

"My ancestor was a renowned jester

Who sang for a Chola Princess one day

My ancestor found that it distressed her

If, afterwards, she did not hear him say:

'I'd place a—"

An axe suddenly came flying out of nowhere, missing his head by inches, and buried itself into a tree to the left of him.

"I'm disappointed, Astrid!" he called. "If you intended to kill me that was a rotten shot, and if you intended to miss you still could've gotten it a few inches closer!"

She emerged from the trees grinning smugly.

"Maybe I didn't want to murder you by accident," She said, "did you think of that?"

"I'm grateful for your consideration, but I still think you could have done better," he replied with an exaggerated flourish of his arm.

"Well, Almighty Dragon King, if you're so smart, perhaps you'll show me how to aim better sometime?" She pulled the axe free and pointed it at him. "Or would I be too intimidating for you to handle?"

"Oh I would take you on right now, except that overgrown reptile of mine would be furious with me for risking more injuries."

Astrid's face fell. "Hiccup, why'd you let yourself get caught like that? You must have known they would torture you. Couldn't you have come up with another plan?"

He shrugged. "Maybe, if I'd had more time. But at least it didn't happen to you instead."

"To me?"

"Well…to any of you, I mean." He tried to sound nonchalant about it. "Anyway, it's past history now. What matters now is what comes next." He carefully sat down on a log. Astrid joined him.

"I knew it was you," she remarked.

"Say again?"

"I knew you were the Dragon King before you told us. I figured it out after that dinner. I heard you using your forge and everything suddenly clicked."

"I thought as much. Some of your words and actions during those final days clued me in…but why didn't you say anything? Did you say anything?"

"To you or to anyone else? Because I haven't told anyone else, not even my parents." She was rather proud to say so and yet also ashamed to say so. She also saw no need to mention Fishlegs had figured it out, as technically she never told him. "It hasn't been easy, I can tell you, keeping such a secret from everyone and listening to people talking nonsense about you and wanting to correct them. But you probably already know that, don't you?"

"So why didn't you?"

She fiddled with the handle of her axe. "What could I do? Go up to Stoick and say 'Chief, guess what? I think your son is alive, rides a Night Fury, and lives with dragons.' At best they'd think I'd gone crazy."

"True."

"And you saw Stoick when he did find out. Aside from the…the part with the spear, I saw his reaction coming and I did not really want…I didn't want to be the one his anger was aimed at." She looked ashamed. "I've been wondering if I was just a coward who was just looking after my own hide…that's rich, isn't it, the Fearless and Peerless Astrid Hofferson is afraid to tell her chief the truth."

Hiccup shook his head. "Astrid, there's a difference in being a coward and being sensible. Look at me—I didn't dare tell anyone I was hiding a Night Fury on the island because I knew what would happen if I did! I kept my identity a secret as long as I could because I feared what would happen if I revealed it! And like you said, how could you tell him? Did you have any proof it was me?"

"No, I just had my suspicions which you pretty much confirmed. And I guess…I felt it wasn't my secret to divulge. I think I wanted to show you, or maybe show myself, that I could be trusted with something so important to you. I think I was using the situation to try to make amends for the past."

Hiccup sighed and shook his head again. "That whole visit was a mistake."

"Mistake, how? I thought it was a great week!"

"It was in some respects but…I shouldn't have exposed myself like that. I should have kept myself a mystery longer. Look what happened afterwards: there was that trap fiasco, which resulted in my identity coming out, then Drago shows up and kidnaps you, which gets me out into the open, then I get beaten up saving you, and now we've made the enemy angry and vengeful. And it's all because I showed up to that stupid meeting. I could have just let them sit around and debate the mysteries for days without end."

"Ok, when you put it that way, it sounds pretty bad—but there's some good that's come out of it too! You and your father are talking, you've come back home, and I've learned I really like flying! As for this war, don't worry about it. With all of us assembled and those dragons beside us, we'll have Drago whipped in no time! You blew up an entire armada with a few people and a handful of dragons! With a full size army it'll be a cinch finishing this!"

Hiccup chuckled. "Maybe we should just let him take the Twins hostage. Give him a week in their company and he'll be begging us accept his surrender!"

Astrid grinned. "Or how about Mildew? They'd surrender in two days!" Even though he had seen her smile many times, it still put butterflies in his stomach to see how beautiful she looked when she did.

Acting on a sudden impulsive he said "Astrid?"

"Hmm?"

"Would you—and I—I completely understand if you say no, but would you like to—err, get some lunch with me?"

She looked surprised. "Get some lunch with you?"

"Sure! I mean, you can think of it as two old friends getting reacquainted with each other…or…well, how about it? Do you want to get some lunch?"

"Hiccup, we've already had lunch today."

"Oh…yes, well, dinner then?"

"You're father's throwing that feast for you tonight."

"Oh right. I forgot about that. Breakfast, then?"

"I always eat breakfast at home."

"Lunch tomorrow then?" Hiccup asked frantically.

"Sure."

"Dinner tomorr—say again?"

"Sure."

Hiccup was taken aback. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." Astrid laughed.

"Oh, well, that's good, I guess, so then I'll—"

At that instant the downpour suddenly started up again and sent them both scurrying back to the village.

Fishlegs had gone to Mead Hall in the vain hope of finding Hiccup. Instead he walked into Hognose.

"Ah, Fishlegs, ma old pal!"

"Go away."

"Won't ya lend some silver to a friend in need?" Hognose's smile had more oil in it than a sperm whale.

"No."

"No? Very unkind of ya, after all I've done fer ya. Maybe ya need a reminder 'bout respect…" his face assumed an ugly and loutish expression. More accurately, his face reverted to its standard appearance. Yet despite this, he did nothing but crack his knuckles.

"Go away, Hognose. Find someone else to steal from—like Mildew. He's probably doing well considering all the bribes Snotlout's had to give him. Or try your friend Dogsbreath. He'll probably never come back to Berk, so his money's up for grabs—assuming he hadn't lost it all before he left."

"Take that back!" Hognose growled.

"Or what?"

"Or I'll bash yer 'ead!"

"I'd like to see you try."

Hognose suddenly lunged at him. Fishlegs grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him onto the ground. Hognose tried to get back up but Fishlegs punched him in the nose. People gasped but he did not hear them. He stared down at Hognose and shouted "From now on, leave…me…alone!" He walked over to a table and joined an astonished Snotlout.

Mildew leapt over to Hognose and began wailing "Oh lookee wat that man 'Iccup 'as done! 'E's turned our dear an' gentle Fishlegs into a common brute! 'E's gonna do the same ta all of us if we let 'im! 'E'll turn us all inta dragon lovers and enslave us!"

"Oh stab yourself in the head and we'll coat a fläskpannkaka with the jam that flows out of it! Has it ever crossed your pathetic one track mind that if I was so desperate to conquer Berk I would have done so already?" Hiccup was standing near the doors with his arms folded and soaking wet.

The hall fell silent and nervous.

Mildew picked Hognose off the ground. "C'mon, let's find someplace where there ain't no dragon loving traitors around." But Hognose stomped over to Hiccup.

"Where's Dogsbreath? What 'ave ya done wid 'im?"

"Nice to know you actually care about somebody."

"Where is 'e?" Hognose shouted.

"I have no idea. I haven't done anything to him. I know you don't believe me but that's you're affair, not mine. I wonder, though. Did he tell you anything about Adoncia?"

Hognose was scornful. "Who?"

"He really didn't, huh. Guess he wanted to have her body all to himself. She'd have had both of you if you had asked, you know. And used you both to drug your Chief. Nice and loyal bunch of guys you are, really."

Hognose snapped and tried to punch Hiccup in the head. There were cries and benches were knocked over as people leapt to their feet. But Hiccup dodged the movement and grabbed Hognose's arm.

"Trying to beat me up again?" he growled. "We're not children anymore, Hognose, contrary to what you might think,"

"Release me, Useless!" Hognose shouted. To his surprise, Hiccup did so.

"Wots the matter? Too scared ta fight back?"

"It's not worth the effort," He lowered his voice so nobody else could hear him. "You know, all I can really feel for you guys is contempt and pity."

"Pity!" Hognose shouted. So much for nobody else hearing him.

"Yes, pity. You may not know it, but both of you are people the entire village hates and would love to be rid of. That's a hard and lonely life, and I feel sorry for you two, because the people who are suffering the most from your efforts to be unpleasant are you."

Mildew and Hognose looked at each other, snorted, and walked out.

Hiccup sighed. "Well, I had to try." He turned around to face the crowd, and saw most of them looked rather impressed. But before anything else could be said, all of a sudden shouts and screams were heard coming from outside.

"What's going on?"

"Did someone shout 'dragon'?"

"Has the war begun early?"

Mildew came running back inside screaming "DRAGON ATTACK!"

"EVERYBODY STAY CALM!" Hiccup shouted before anyone could react. "It's not what you think!" and he rushed through the doors and into the pouring rain. A small flock of dragons had landed in the plaza. Toothless was already standing next to them and chatting with them, while the townsfolk of Berk were trying to stay dry and not start a fight, remembering the Chief's new orders. No fighting any dragons save in self defense—and no antagonizing the dragons to create a reason for self defense.

"So you made it!" Hiccup laughed as he approached the dragons, "lovely day for a flight, huh?"

"My amazing body won't light up!" Hookfang wailed.

"Where's Evictus?"

"He decided to stick with Grimm for the time being." The Snow Demon Midnight replied.

"Pity, because we could use a Timberjack right now." Hiccup put his hands on his hips and looked over the dragons affectionately. "No problems, I hope?"

"None in the Earth." said Persephone. Further discussion was interrupted by the arrival of certain persons.

To say that the dragons were happy to see their human friends again would be an understatement. To say that Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the Twins were happy to see their dragon friends again would be an understatement. Meatlug just about barreled Fishlegs over into the mud and began licking him, to both the disgust and amusement of him and the crowd. Barf n' Belch snaked over to Ruffnut and Tuffnut and bonked them on the head, apparently a sign of affection to the minds the masochistic and destructive pair. Hookfang was so excited he, despite his previous statement, unintentionally managed to set himself on fire after Snotlout had sat down on his back. Snotlout bolted straight for a water barrel and flung his rear into it, prompting the barrel's owner to complain that the water was ruined now. Astrid and Stormfly were more dignified in their reunion. Doubtless Astrid would have hugged the dragon around the neck excitedly, but others were watching and she would not permit herself to look as undignified as Fishlegs or Snotlout. So Stormfly simply nuzzled her in the stomach and she stroked the scales on the dragon's head.

For the rest of the Berkians, it was an unbelievable sight to see dragons and Vikings greeting each other like old friends. All of them had heard the stories during the past weeks, of course, yet many had always taken them with a grain of salt. And yet here they were. Dragons were in the center of the village and were not attacking anyone (except perhaps Snotlout, but even that was more amusing than dangerous). It was a sight nobody had ever conceived of.

Even Hiccup, the one who had made it happen, had often doubted he would ever see it. He was very relieved that it had. He also felt a strong rush of relief when he saw most of the Vikings were more surprised and curious about what they were seeing than opposed to it. He was even more pleased to see the dragons being introduced to the families of their riders. This did not include Hookfang. Spitelout had stormed away a while earlier with a scowl on his face. Snotlout was trying not to look upset about it, but Hiccup recognized the expression he wore. It was a disappointed one that came when you wanted to show someone something you found special and said person did not pay any attention to it. He had worn it himself many times while living on Berk.

After a while of watching Hiccup noticed Stoick had approached him.

"So!" Stoick said wistfully, "Dragons are on Berk now."

"I thought of asking Thornado to come along too, so you could ride him, but I wasn't sure if you would approve. I thought it would look bad to start on a note like that."

Stoick shrugged, as if to say that it was no matter. He really was more interested in Hiccup being on Berk again than having a dragon to ride. "So what happens now?"

"Now we'll need to get the dragons a place to stay,"

"Son, the plan is to have people riding them when we go into battle, yes?"

Hiccup sighed, "I've thought about it,"

"And in two days the Owl Guts and Bog Burglars will be arriving. It would be good for the sake of harmony and diplomacy if they had some riders too."

"I've thought of that too. But you do know we'll have virtually no time to train anyone."

"Some is better than none. Hey, where are you going?"

"To the forge. We've gotta get weapons and gear ready and frankly…I want to get dry!"

Stoick went after him. "What's this I've just hear about Hognose?"

"He doesn't like me or dragons. What of it?"

"I heard he tried to fight you and you refused to fight back. On the one hand, that was noble of you, but on the other hand, people might not respect you for that."

"I think they will, Stoick. And you misunderstand something. I'm not finished with Hognose yet, but—" his face broke into an evil grin "fighting is not the only option,"

"Oooh, I see." Stoick grinned, "That reminds me. I never did punish Mildew for taking part in that bribery business. What would you suggest?"

"Well we can't banish him for it. I'm sure everyone else would bless us, but he'd probably go straight to the Berserkers and tell them everything he knows. He might do that anyway, now that I think of it—"

"I'll set a watch," Stoick promised, "Mildew will not leave this island,"

"And I'll set a watch too. But since we can't banish him and the crime doesn't warrant death…how about you make him clean my old room?"

Stoick grinned again and ruffled Hiccup's wet hair before he returned to his Chief duties. Toothless came over to Hiccup.

"He seems pretty happy to have you back, you know,"

"I've noticed," Hiccup replied as he put his hair back the way he liked it.

"Is he off the hook yet?"

"We haven't even been here a day, Bud,"

"Look, I know he tried to kill you, and I for one am still furious with him for it, but you know something? You tried to kill me twice, remember? And look at us now,"

Hiccup said nothing.

Mead Hall was packed that night. The curiosity of seeing Hiccup up close safely and the prospect of a large free meal made showing up a foregone conclusion for everyone.

Hiccup, against his will, was made to stand with his father at the front of the hall, where he could be seen by everybody, which made him feel very self conscious. He wished he had his mask on now. It made him feel a bit more secure when facing a large group, instead of feeling like a caged animal, which was how he felt now.

Stoick gave a loud speech about how by running away his son had ironically become the very son he'd wanted: strong, a fighter, and a leader. It earned a lot of praise and good laughter from the crowd but left Hiccup feeling uncomfortable. It was one thing to take the spotlight himself and use it to get his point across, as he had that afternoon, but to be put in the spotlight and have no control over it made him uneasy and remember the years before he left. He clearly recalled the night he'd shot down Toothless when his father had, hardly for the first time, carried him through the village and shouted at him in front of everybody. In the speech his father was giving now he was aware Stoick was not intentionally trying to make him uncomfortable, indeed he was probably oblivious to the fact that he was, but that did not make him feel any better.

He was greatly relieved when Stoick stopped and hoped that they would get something to eat soon. He was getting hungry. It was only then that he realized that he was expected to say something now. 'Sheesh, they might have told me they wanted me to make a speech!' he thought in annoyance. He did not want to be there. He would have much preferred going for a flight on Toothless or spending some time with Astrid.

"Hiccup," Stoick said loudly, making his son jump. "Would you like to say a few words?" Hiccup tried to mouth to him 'no' but Stoick either did not understand or declined to let him off the hook. So Hiccup reluctantly stood up and joined his father. All eyes were on him. Nobody knew what he was going to say. Everyone was eagerly waiting to hear what he had to say. The anticipation built the longer he remained silent.

"Well, honestly, I'm more talkative when I have a full stomach. How about we get something to eat?"

The immediate reaction was supportive and appreciative.

"I was kidding, actually, everyone! All right, then…" uncertain of how to start, he looked down at the floor, balanced on his prosthetic and swung his other leg a little.

Well I see you got Mead Hall fixed up—just so we're clear, I had nothing to do with that!" Nobody really laughed, "all right look, I imagine everybody here knows how it's been in the past. You haven't liked me much, I haven't liked you much, and it's nearly gotten a lot of us killed more than once…but that can be all in the past if we allow it. Your Chief, Stoick the Vast, has asked me to give Berk one last chance for a happy life." He stopped balancing on one leg and looked up. "I am willing to do so if you are.

"But, as you all know by now, I come with a price, as does anything on this earth. Peace comes with a price, as does the homes we build or the crops we harvest. And my price is dragons. The creatures Vikings have fought with for over three centuries. Neither side has been blameless; we all know it and I see no need to go into it further. But like me, there are many dragons I know who are sick to death of all this needless fighting and hatred and just want to have a place they can call home and live amongst those they care about! And I think, deep down in each one of you, you all want the same thing too—"

"Ah don't!" Mildew shouted, only to have Stoick tell him to be quiet.

"Well, most of you, anyway. There are always exceptions—I would know. But why do you cling to the ways our ancestors lived by instead of pressing forward when the chance was offered? One reason is simply we fear change—and rightly so, for we all like the comfort of familiarity and get worried when we don't know what's going to happen. But change has to happen. It happens whether we will or not and there comes a point where we've got to go with it or be lost forever. Another reason is that bringing in dragons disgraces our ancestors and our traditions—well first of all, I would respectfully ask our ancestors to make known their displeasure if this does indeed offend them. As for going against traditions with something new—our traditions were once new, were they not? In every tradition, someone had to be the first to implement it. So why can't we now begin a new tradition of peace with dragons? Are we less worthy than our ancestors that we cannot make up our own minds about this? To live for the past is a good thing to do, yes, but the past is done. It's what's to come that matters more, I think. Maybe we owe our ancestors a lot, but don't we own our descendents something more than the life we were born into? A life of fearing every dragon raid, fearing starvation, forever building new homes, watching our loved ones being burned or carried away?" He glanced at Stoick as he said this.

"And that brings me to the final reason for why some of us are opposed to dragons, which is they'd rather avenge their loved ones. But I've said it before: it won't bring them back. And look at my example if you want to see what the lust for revenge does to people and ask yourselves: has it been worth it?"

He looked around the hall. "I know it won't be easy to integrate dragons on Berk, but I believe that, given some time and effort, it can happen and I believe that Berk will be better off for it. I guess what I really mean to say is this: there is a madman and a monster out there, and he is going to come for us no matter what we do now. Sticks tied up in a bundle are stronger than they are when separated. Please, everyone, let me show you that dragons and humans can be friends and allies in the fight that's coming and in the peace that follows it, and together we can forge Berk into a greater place than it has ever been before. My…father has asked me to give Berk one last chance and I have agreed. I now would ask Berk to give me one last chance." He looked around again for reactions.

There was silence at first. Then Astrid jumped up from her seat and shouted "Aye!" A loud chorus of 'ayes' followed her. Hiccup looked as though he was breathing for the first time since he had started speaking.

"Well, that's…very encouraging. But you know, I'm still a lot more talkative when I've got a full stomach. How about something to eat?"

The immediate reaction was supportive, appreciative and humorous.

Unfortunately, he did not get a full stomach. It seemed everybody wanted to talk to him now, so much so that he could barely get a single bite. Astrid sat next to him, but he knew any chance of a private conversation with her had to be put hold. For her part she made no mention of that afternoon. Fishlegs squeezed himself into the seat on his other side and began pelting Hiccup with questions about Gronkles and Meatlug. What was her favorite food, how much sleep did she usually get, how large would her saddle have to be, was her shot limit 6 like others, should he ever try to give her a bath, what was the fastest speed she'd ever reached, and so on and so forth. Hiccup tried to answer what he could over the loud noise of other questions being asked. Now everybody wanted to know everything about him and the places he'd been. A number of girls were also trying to sit nearby, giggling and blushing every time he looked over at them and even when he did not.

For Astrid the noise level got so annoying that she eventually went to sit with her parents, where it was a bit quieter. Hiccup watched her go and made eye contact with Olaf Hofferson. He responded by giving Hiccup a very icy glare. Hiccup quickly turned his attention back to his own table.

The dragons were also besieged by the curious townsfolk, especially the youngsters. They wanted to climb on them, sit on their backs, play with their tails, pet them, and play with them, among other things. Unlike the King, however, the dragons was enjoying the attention, especially Toothless, Hookfang, and Stormfly, though Toothless had to keep an eye on them to make sure no one reacted whenever a human used the word 'pet'. This especially applied to him, for a lot of kids were begging their parents for a pet Night Fury of their own.

"I thought I told you to make it clear I am nobody's pet!" He growled at Hiccup, but Hiccup could not hear him as a slightly inebriated Gobber was shouting in his ear.

"And then I says to 'im: 'I betcha can't do that widout the iron!'" Gobber laughed loudly, "Ha ha, oh man, that's a pretty good joke, huh?"

"Sure Gobber," Actually Hiccup had not heard a thing except for the punch line, and what he had heard made no sense at all to him. He abruptly excused himself and fought his way over to get some seconds, even though he already had a full plate. In doing so he nearly walked into Spitelout, who gave him a fierce scowl and stormed over to his table.

Spitelout sat with his back towards everyone else and moodily crammed bread into his mouth. He was so disgusted he didn't even want to be there. His family had gone over to the enemy, his son had once and for all given up on his chance to become Chief, and even worse, the man with the strongest claim to the Chiefdom had returned and had the strength now to support his claim. As he swallowed he saw Snotlout carefully sit down next to him. "Dad? We need to talk."

"Go away."

"Oh come on, do you think I really meant it when I said I was on Hiccup's side?"

Spitelout paused. "Wot?"

"It's all an act, Dad!" Snotlout lowered his voice, "Look, it's obvious that Uncle Stoick is going to hand the reigns over to Hiccup, right? And with Hiccup in power that means dragons are coming to Berk, right? So if I side with Hiccup and become one of the first dragon riders on Berk it puts me in a very powerful position, right? I make myself Hiccup's second in command and then, when a tragic accident occurs to Hiccup, which easily could happen given how much he loves flying, who better to follow him than his reformed, loyal and trusted right hand man Snotlout?"

Spitelout thought it over. "That's pretty clever, actu'ly."

"It's a part of politics, dad. Go with the crowd in power and tell them what they want to hear." Snotlout said smugly. "And you know riding a Monstrous Nightmare is a pretty prestigious thing."

"Hmm."

"Dad, out of curiosity, what is it you've got against dragons so much? I get why Uncle Stoick hated them so much, but Mom wasn't killed by one, so what have you got against them?"

Spitelout shrugged. "I've always disliked 'em. They've done Berk a lotta harm in the past."

"But Hiccup says they were forced to!"

"Does that make 'em less guilty fer doing it? Why didn't they stand up fer themselves? 'Sides, I was raised ta kill 'em, not befriend 'em. Ah liked fightin' 'em. An' I don't like bein' told all I grew up wid was fer nothin'!"

"But Dad, think of what Berk could accomplish using dragons! Drago is trying to raise an army of them; wouldn't it be sensible to have our own army to counter him? Besides, Dad, look around you. Everyone else is starting to adjust and if we keep going against it we'll be the outsiders soon. It would be more helpful to my chances of becoming Chief if you at least pretended to accept dragons."

Spitelout considered this. "I guess fer the moment…but when yer Chief, we lose them dragons, alright?"

Snotlout nodded.

"That's better, son! Ya know, now that I know what's up, why don't ya move back in tonight?"

"You mean it?"

"Course! We need ta make some plans!" He clapped his son on the back and led him outside. Hiccup and Fishlegs watched them leave.

"Looks like he bought it." Hiccup remarked.

"How long do you think he'll be able to keep up the charade?"

"I don't know. I don't even know how long it'll have to be kept up."

"He won't like it if he finds out he's been deceived by his own son."

"Snotlout knows that. He knows what he's doing." So Hiccup hoped. "Why does everyone in my family seem to have problems with their relations?"

"I don't like it, Hiccup. I mean, I'm glad they're speaking again, but this could easily backfire and blow up on all of us."

"I know. But have some faith, Fish. Less than two months ago my father tried to trap me, disown me, and kill me. Now…" he spread his arms out and left the sentence unfinished. "We just have to hope that Spitelout will go through a similar conversion."

"Yes we will. He already seems a bit different. I mean, he used to be so crafty and always calculating how to make Snotlout chief, but ever since the kidnapping he's seemed kinda lost…"

"Fishlegs, being captured and faced with an uncertain and probably painful future does things to people." His arm began to twitch again. "Maybe he suffered a bit more in those cells than he's let on,"

"Maybe. Say, it suddenly occurs to me: where's Hognose? I don't see him anywhere."

"He's in Gothi's hut covered in bandages last I heard."

"What? What happened?"

"Well it's just possible that he found a carelessly dropped note saying in a moderately easy to crack code that there was some incriminating evidence that could get the Dragon King banished from Berk that was buried under a rock in the middle of what turned out to be a field of poison ivy—maybe?" Hiccup spoke with a completely straight face.

"You didn't!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Fishlegs grinned. "Of course not. But surely Hognose would know better than to go into a field of poison ivy?"

"You'd be surprised at how many people can't identify most plants without making an effort. And like Dagur and Alvin, he was given a piece of information he felt he could not afford to ignore. But I don't know that, of course."

"Of course, Hiccup. Say, do you mind if we call you 'Hiccup' now?"

He had been wondering when someone would ask that. The truth was he still did not like his name much. It was Hiccup, meaning a mistake, Horrendous, which was synonymous with terrible, and Haddock, which was a species of fish. Essentially his name meant a mistaken and terrible fish. Very flattering indeed, and it was rather disturbing that he was the third man to have such a name. But he sensed it would be hopeless to convince people to stop using it now, especially as he had never chosen another one. So he said with an air of resignation "Go ahead."

"Can I call you it now too?"

"No, Bud. So Fishlegs, why did you of all people take Snotlout in?"

"I was really impressed with how he stood up to Spitelout. I also thought, seeing as how we're all trying to make amends with you, maybe I should try to be a better friend to Snotlout too. He'll need to meet me halfway, of course, but he needed some support and I decided to give him some."

Their attention was then diverted as Ruffnut and Tuffnut came into the hall. From the way they walked, with their heads up high and an air of great importance about them, one might have suspected they were carrying the crown and staff at a king's coronation. Ruffnut carried a sack under her arm. Tuffnut was holding what looked like the most appalling piece of raw dough ever made.

"Hiccup!" Ruffnut announced, "In honor of your return, we are here to make you our famous pepper cake!" A loud moan of disgust went up but she ignored it. "You'll have to wait a few minutes, however. Tuffnut has to put the cake in the kitchen's oven and bake it first. This way it'll be nice and hot—and I'm not talking about just the dough!"

Astrid approached them. "What's in the bag?"

"The last of that exploding powder we used on the Berserkers. We're going to end tonight's celebration with a few of those fireworks! Hiccup, we'll need the metal stuff, so if you could kindly—"

Hiccup took the bag from her and tasted the contents. He paled. "Um, Ruffnut, this isn't powder. It's pepper!"

"Pepper? Are you sure?" She sniffed it and sneezed. "Yep, you're sure. But wait—if that's pepper than what happened to the…"

Everybody froze, and then in one accord their heads turned towards the kitchen.

"Oh dear…"

Everyone instinctively dove for cover beneath the tables, and not an instant soon. A split second later a loud explosion in the kitchen sent Tuffnut flying towards them and blew the kitchen doors of their hinges.

"Oh, I am hurt! I am very much hurt!" Tuffnut cried as he smashed into a table. "And yet…that was…amazing…" he fell unconscious with a big lopsided grin on his blackened face.

For a moment everyone was too scared to know how to react and worried how Stoick would react. Then Hiccup burst into the loudest and longest laugh anyone on Berk had ever seen. It was so hearty that he was reduced to a heap on the floor and tears flowed freely down his cheeks. Ruffnut joined in, so did Astrid, and before long nobody could stand up because their sides hurt too much. And while the doors would have to be rebuilt later on, at least nobody won't have to eat the Twins pepper cake. That in itself was grounds for rejoicing.

Stay tuned for more on Saturday the 15th