Hiccup calmly made his way home. The words of gobber running through his mind. "some sort of celebration." Hiccup knew it was about the two dragons but couldn't figure out why.
He opened the door to his house slowly. Peeking in to see where his dad was. As much as he wanted to know what exactly his dad had in mind he wanted to avoid him to stall for time. He cringed when the stairs to his room creaked. He squeezed his eyes shut to listen for his dad.
"Hiccup? Is that you?" A voice asked from another room.
"Dang it." Hiccup mumbled to himself. His father came out of the room from under the stairs.
"Ah, there you are boy. I wanted to talk to you. See what you think." Hiccup followed his father to the fur covered couches. They sat across from each other. Once comfortable Stoick started.
"I was thinking about what to do with the dragons. I think I'm going to invite the other clans to the island. The dragons will be put on display and at the end of the night they'll be killed. Showing them that they can't mess with us." Stoick laughed loudly. Hiccup felt sick. His father looked so proud of his plan. A huge smile on his face, stroking his beard, and the light in his eyes.
Hiccup didn't know how to respond to his friend's almost guaranteed death. His father was looking at him expectantly. Hoping for his son to be as overjoyed about the idea as he was. He didn't say anything when he noticed that Hiccup hadn't immediately jumped up happy as can be. He thought it was odd but knew that his son was an odd one.
Hiccup rose to his feet slowly, holding his stomach in his hand. His breaths were slow and shallow. He focused on getting up the steep stairs to his room.
Stoick watched in stunned silence at how his son reacted. When he heard the door shut he sat for a second before getting up to leave. He made his way down the streets. Politely waving or chatting with people while on his way to the smithy.
When he arrived he couldn't hear any loud pounding from the anvil or the hiss of metal being put into oil and water. He peered in to see the Forge had a fire going, which it did.
"Gobber, you in here?" Stoick called out. He heard some clanking from the back room. A moment later the large bald man in question came into view.
"Ie. I'm 'ere. Whatcha need Stoick."
Stoick found a stool and sat. He tried to find the words to express how he was feeling. Gobber leaned against the forge so he could see and clean the sword he was finishing. Gobber watched his long time friend massage his head. He could tell that Stoick was stressed out about something but couldn't tell what.
Stoick mumbled to himself about something Gobber couldn't understand.
"So what? Yuh came 'ere to talk to yuhself?" Gobber asked.
"No. I just don't know what to say. I told Hiccup about what I'm going to do with the dragons and he just stared at me. He even looked sick to his stomach. I thought he'd be happy about it. He was so eager to see them the night we caught them. I just don't know what to do." Stoick sighed. "Gobber, am I a bad father? Val would be so much better at this."
Gobber took his time to respond. He was in a tough situation with what he knew.
"'Yuh not a bad dad, Stoick. And maybe yeah Val probably would be doing better than you."
Stoick slouched in his seat.
"That makes me feel great. Thanks Gobber."
"That isn't what I meant and 'yuh know that. Yur doin' whatcha can. Not only do 'yuh deal with your own son, but everyone else's too. Your one person doin' a two person job. Even Stoick the Vast can't raise a kid properly without messin' 'im up a little. So don't be so hard on yuhself. And the other thing with the dragons. Maybe he's too young to understand, but I think no matter what happens, yuh gonna have to accept 'iccup the way he is. If it makes yuh feel better 'iccup's juss like yuh. Stubborn and willin' to fight for what he believes in. I would expect that you two will but heads. Sooner or later."
Stoick sat quietly. He allowed what his friend said sink in. He played with a small hammer on the table next to him. Lightly hitting it while Gobber finished the sword.
When he was finished, Gobber placed the sword on a rack and pulled up his own seat.
"Whatcha thinkin' about Stoick?" Gobber rested his head on his hand.
"I'm just trying to figure out how not to fuck him up any more than I have. I'm just hoping that I don't do something that makes him hate me."
Gobber sighed this time. There wasn't anything he could do or say. Telling Stoick about finding Hiccup and the dragons together would surely ruin the child's life. The exact opposite of what not only he but his father wanted.
"Like I said yuh just gonna have to accept 'im how he is. No matter what. Cause he might surprise yuh with something yuh never expected." He sat back away from himself. "Like he did me." He grumbled to himself.
Stoick got to his feet and rubbed his eyes. He took his leave through the door he came in from.
"Thanks Gobber." He called back. He walked around his village. The light from the torches lit here and there guiding him around. He pondered what Gobber said to him. It made him happy to know that someone else believed in him. Even if it was his best friend.
He returned home, quietly shutting the door behind himself. He went up the steep set of stairs to check on his son. He opened the door and peered in.
The bed inside was empty. He ran in, threw the blankets off the bed, looked under the bed, and looked out the window. He frantically ran through his house, looking up and down and inside things not even a mouse could fit in.
He ran outside and into the village again. He found Gobber's house and burst inside.
"Gobber!? Hiccup's gone. He wasn't at home. Where could he have gone? Where could he go?"
Gobber flipped over in his bed. Hazy and stunned from his friend's loud voice.
"'E's probably just with the dragons again. Relax." He yawned.
"With the dragons?" Stoick screamed. He rushed out the house, towards the arena's secret door to the cells.
Gobber slowly got out of his bed.
"You're a fuckin' idget Gobber." He scolded himself. He started out towards where his friend ran off to.