The next afternoon arrived slowly, but it finally arrived. I climbed onto Toothless's back and we flew over to the camp. I wasn't afraid of anyone seeing me anymore; they all had.
We landed in the camp. Everything was still there, but it was empty. Puzzled, I jumped off Toothless and started wandering around the tents.
"Hello?" I called. "Astrid? We're here."
I noticed that the coals of their campfire were still smoking. They hadn't been gone long.
I knelt down by the fire, perplexed. There were still crumbs of bread around the fire pit. They had left in a hurry.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some leaves of underbrush rustling, but I couldn't see anyone. The rustling stopped.
I sat back. "Come here, Bud. Looks like we have a little wait," I said. Toothless came over. I scratched him under the chin. He flopped down and rolled happily on the ground. I smiled as he began to purr.
"You really love that dragon, don't you?" Snotlout asked, stepping out of the underbrush.
I looked up at him. "Yeah. Yeah, I do."
Toothless sat up and began to coo. The Monstrous Nightmare came out of the woods on the other side of camp. Snotlout stiffened. He watched, frozen still, as the Nightmare came closer to him, sniffing. I saw Snotlout's jaw clench, then relax as he continued to stare the dragon in the eyes. "I've never noticed how majestic he was," Snotlout breathed. He reached out his hand, still hesitating.
I slowly came to Snotlout's side. I guided his trembling hand toward the Nightmare's snout. He made contact with the dragon, and a smile spread across his face. He even laughed a little as he felt the Nightmare nuzzle against his hand.
I backed off. "Where are you going?" Snotlout blurted out nervously. I just smiled as I watched him relax a little again.
"You're not so bad," Snotlout said to the dragon. "You're okay."
He sat down, and the Nightmare settled next to him. Snotlout cautiously stroked the dragon's wing.
Astrid, Fishlegs, and the twins came into the camp from the side of the waterfall. Barf and Belch came running up to the twins. The heads tried to go around a tree in different directions, causing the dragon to fall to the ground. Ruffnut and Tuffnut ran to the Zippleback and began stroking it's heads.
"Well, look at that," Astrid said wryly. "They found some fellow nuts."
"I'll have you know that 'muttonhead' is our preferred term," Tuffnut shot back at her.
Stormfly ran over to Astrid. "Hey, girl," Astrid said.
The Gronkle buzzed into camp, looking confused. "Aww, look at the Gronkle," sighed Fishlegs. "He has no one with him."
We all stared at Fishlegs.
"Oh," he said, quietly, looking scared.
The Gronkle saw him and landed, trotting over. Fishlegs looked at me for directions.
I nodded. "You'll know what to do," I said. Fishlegs slowly turned back to the Gronkle. "Hey," he said quietly. He reached out and touched the Gronkle. The normally fierce-looking creature started licking his face. Fishlegs laughed. "Awww."
"I have to hand it to you, Hiccup," Astrid said. "We all thought you were the worst viking Berk had ever seen. Turns out, you were just the opposite."
"Thanks, Astrid," I said. "But I don't think so."
"Why not?"
"I'm an Outcast. I'm not wanted on Berk. I'm not one of them. They're afraid of the dragons, so they fight them. I don't fight everything I'm afraid of." I drew a shaky breath.
"N- no, I- I don't- I don't fight…" I sank onto my knees and covered my face with my hands. I could hear the others turning toward me in concern.
"I do fight. I fight what I'm afraid of. I've become what I've been fighting." I looked up at their confused faces. "Surely there's another way… I need to get out of this. I've made a mess." I groaned. "I made a mess out of everything. Everyone was fighting against monsters. And now I'm one of them. I'm everything I've always hated. And I don't know how to fix it." I slumped my shoulders hopelessly.
"There's a way out," Astrid said. "There's got to be. We're right here with you. The question isn't how you fix it, it's how we all fix it, as a team."
I looked at the sun slowly sinking. "No. There… there isn't that simple an answer. Not yet. But I'm going to end this. Soon. Starting tonight. I won't… I won't be in your way any longer." I jumped onto Toothless's back and we shot up into the air.
"Hiccup, wait!" Snotlout called. I halted Toothless and we hovered, turning around.
"Come back," Astrid begged.
"I… I'll try. But no promises. Please. I have to do this." It hurt to look at the others, their faces turned upward, silently pleading with me. "I have to make things right," I said.
"Be careful," Astrid said, blinking away tears.
I nodded. "I will," I whispered. Toothless and I turned away. The other dragons rose up and followed us. I had to figure something out… fast!