Hiccup had felt for a long time, even before his father's death, that he wasn't ready. Not to be Chief, to be a family man, to be the person who makes all the tough choices. There was still so much out there he wanted to explore! He hadn't discovered something new since Itchy Armpit, a rather large island that seemed to stretch for miles. It didn't seem right to abandon the village at such an early stage of his reign so he put it off, until now.
"We're finally doing this, Bud!" Hiccup grinned and let out a cheer. Toothless, at that moment, gained speed. "Woohoooo! This is a-mazing!" The pair weaved in and out of cliffs and boulders in the ocean and headed higher into the clouds. "It's been a while since we've done this bud, so let's take it slow." Hiccup unclipped himself from his saddle and pushed his hands against Toothless to haul himself up. His metal leg swung just as well as his fleshy leg and soon he was standing on the dragons back. "Okay bud, on my signal, 1...2-" Toothless cheekily knocked his rider off with a quick wriggle.
"Wha...ohhhh!" Hiccup fell head first towards the sea. Not exactly what i had planned toothless, he thought, but it will have to do. Toothless let out a sound that only a Night Fury could make and dived down to join in the fun. "Alright...gotcha!" Hiccup grabbed onto the leather harness and clipped himself back onto his ride. Together they spiralled down closer and closer to the tip of the ocean and then at the last second pulled back into a glide. Hiccup reached out his hand and touched the salty water, he loved that feeling. He sighed and then grew a determined look. "...it's time."
Meanwhile, back at the village, the twins had successfully put out the house fire but not without setting fire to themselves first. Astrid watched calmly as they ran towards the well, screaming and laughing and fanning the flames. They actually seemed to be enjoying themselves, Astrid thought.
After seeing everything was under control she jumped back on Stormfly and headed to Hiccups home to meet with his Mother, Valka. As expected, Valka greeted her with open arms. "Come in, come in! Right on time for a cup of warm yaks milk." Astrid resisted the urge to pull a face. Valka had lost around 19 years of being motherly and tried to make up for it in various ways, warm yaks milk was one of the favourites and Astrid had soon grown a distaste for it. "And a few chicken scraps for Stormfly." Stormfly perked up at hearing chicken and made a gurgling noise. Valka gave Stormfly a scratch on the nose and both girls laughed. "You never get tired of dragons!" "Valka-" Astrid began. "Oh no, call me Mum. After all, you are my future daughter in-law!" Astrid blushed at that statement, technically Hiccup hadn't asked yet but it seemed that the village assumed he had already proposed. With his new role as Chief he'd soon be needing an heir and well, that required a wife. Astrid had to admit she wouldn't say no to such a proposal, especially if Hiccup was the one who asked. That made her blush harder. "O-okay... Mum," she stammered. "That's my girl, now what did you want to ask me?" Valka smiled, rested her hand on Astrids shoulder and gently guided her inside the house. "I thought you might be able to tell me something about this-" Valka stared in shock at the item Astrid pulled out from her satchel. "Oh dear.."
Any clues yet as to what Hiccup might be doing? Do tell. And what has Astrid found?
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