Hiccup frowned in a way that made it look like he was just waking up, feeling someone prod his side with a stick. "Is he dead?" he heard a boy ask, and he resisted the urge to sneer. The stick was taken away, if the lack of poking was anything to go by and he heard a familiar voice go "Get back, he's waking up!" Ah yes, the dragon conqueror. Slowly, he opened his eyes, finding her hovering over him with her axe drawn and her dragon behind her and he abruptly rolled to his feet, crouched like a wild animal as he snarled.

"This isn't Valhalla," he growled out, voice rough from the salt water he'd taken in. His upper lip curled, watching the other teenagers take some kind of stance. The big one backed away while the ugly-looking boy with the curled horn helmet - Hiccup vaguely recalled making an example out of him on the rocks - stepped to her side as did the twins. He patted himself down as though looking for a weapon but then he widened his eyes as though in realization that it was at least a foot away from him.

"What are you doing here?" Astrid demanded, keeping her axe pointed at him even as he didn't appear to have any weapons on him. He was an Outcast, she wasn't going to take her chances.

He took a deep breath as though steadying his anger before he brushed sand off of himself, cracking his neck. "I was...banished from Outcast Island." At their shocked looks, he continued, waving a hand to elaborate, holding his head high before he relaxed it. "I failed my mission. My fa...Alvin did as tradition dictated. I was to travel into the Wrath of Thor so that the Gods may take me, like they failed to do years ago, but apparently Thor had other plans last night. My boat must have washed up on Berk's shores for a reason."

Hiccup watched the confusion on their faces, the twins turning to look at each other with raised eyebrows and shrugging. Astrid half lowered her axe, her brow furrowing, and it seemed as though the boy with the curled horns - Snotface or something if he remembered correctly - was just as confused as the twins. "So why don't you just sail on out and go back to the Wrath of Thor?"

"Because his boat's been torn to pieces, you idiot," Astrid said, gesturing behind him where his boat did indeed lay shattered. It was a small boat, barely enough room for one person. She raised an eyebrow at it, tilting her head, once again pointing her axe at him. "You held our village hostage. Why should we let you live?"

Because you're too weak to kill me. "Because I know Alvin's future plans. I know everything that he's going to do." At her incredulous expression, he sighed and rolled his eyes, using his hands to elaborate. "I could help you. I don't expect you to trust me."

"Good. Because I don't." Astrid narrowed her eyes, pursing her lips together before she retracted her axe, keeping it to her side. "But it's not up to me whether nor not you stay in Berk. That's the chief's decision."

"Oh goody."

Stoick the Vast breathed deeply, closing his eyes as he stood at the entrance to the great hall. When the kids had come up from the beach with an unknown viking at axe point, his heart had nearly leapt into his throat. All he needed to do was look at the eyes and know who it was. He ran his hand down his face, fingers dragging into wrinkles around his eyes. His son had grown into a fine warrior, albeit his still rather small stature and the vast differences between the Outcast and Hooligan ways of life.

"Odin give me strength," he whispered into his hand, letting a breath out before he squared his shoulders and turned, opening the doors to the great hall and striding into the room like the chief he should be. His brother Spitelout, Gobber, and the other warriors were gathered around the hearth that sat in the center of their hall, the ones who had fought their entire lives by his side. He held his head high as he strode to the center and circled around the outside before he came to stop near where Hiccup was standing, his arms tied behind his back with thick rope.

Hiccup raised his head, looking at him with Valhallarama's eyes that stared at him defiantly. Stoick kept his expression as neutral as he could as he let his gaze wander - over the scars that littered his face, the dragon tooth necklace, the Outcast clothing - before he cleared his throat.

"Hiccup Horrendous Hadd-"

"Actually, it's Hiccup the Horrendous."

The chief winced a little at the title, coughing into his hand as he reminded himself that the young man in front of him wasn't his son. He didn't carry his full name. "Very well then. Hiccup the Horrendous, the council has been in discussion. Your claims of another attack on Berk are serious allegations."

"But they're the truth," the boy interrupted, his voice tart with disgust as though he couldn't believe they weren't taking him seriously. "I am...was...Alvin's heir, second only to his lieutenant, Savage. Whatever plans he made, I was informed of them and entrusted to carry them out. Until my attempts to kidnap and retain the dragon conqueror - my apologies, Astrid - were met with failure, I was trusted."

"You have no loyalty to Berk." Both father and son looked to where Spitelout had spoken up, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared down his nose at the boy, brow furrowed in a scowl. "We cleaned ourselves of you days after your birth and you were raised by our enemy. How can we be sure that we should trust you?"

"Alvin is going to attack Berk three days from now." Hiccup paused, tilting his head. "I'm sorry, make that one, considering two have already passed in my travels from being tossed around in the Wrath of Thor to my landing on the shores of your village." The council of warriors started speaking in quiet, hushed tones to each other. "He prefers to attack under the cover of darkness, leading the village into a false sense of security. The weaker they are in defenses, the easier the pickings." The vikings continued to talk in low voices, much to Hiccup's irritation. Walking around Stoick, he approached the center of the bricks around the hearth, twisting his arms in a way that brought his hands around from behind his back and slamming them down, making a noise loud enough to draw attention back to him as he snarled. "Your new ways of living with the dragons have made you soft! Weak! If the way I rounded your people up within an hour is any indication, you need better defenses before tonight's moon or I swear by Odin's beard, every last one of you will fall to Alvin's axe and might!"

There was a hand on his shoulder and he stiffened before he relaxed marginally, glancing to his right to see Stoick out the corner of his eye. The firelight made it difficult to read the man's face, but he could see the grim expression clear as day. The chief glanced back down at him before letting his gaze flick away before he made eye contact, looking out over his warriors. "We will make preparations for an invasion," Stoick announced, earning a few cries of disapproval. "I'd rather take my chances. We can't be caught off guard like we were last time." He turned his head to look at Gobber. "Is our weapon's stock up to scratch?"

"I've been busy with the dragons' monthly checkup for the last couple of days, but we are good and stocked. A might better than last time, if ye'd believe."

"I should hope so. That display was absolutely pathetic," Hiccup muttered under his breath, earning himself a nudge from Stoick. He frowned darkly - it was almost as if the man believed he was going to be his son again. Gobber made a face in his direction before he smiled sweetly.

"Spitelout, start devising strategies of our defense and offense. I want each and every one of you to pay attention. If we keep being attacked like this, we'll soon gain a reputation of being the weakest clan in the Barbaric Archipelagos, and then we'll have villains on our doorstep left and right!" Stoick leaned down and pulled Hiccup's hands up by the rope around his hands, undoing his bonds. Watching the boy rub his wrists, he stared down at him. "S...Hiccup. For now we'll trust your word, but Astrid and the others will be keeping an eye on you."

"Fantastic. Being babysat by a bunch of teenagers." He rolled his eyes, raising a hand to rub at his shoulder where it was stiff from being in the same position for a while. He paused, looking over his shoulder at Stoick. "Alvin was going to attack from the southern shore. Just so you know."

Astrid, Fishlegs, the twins and Snotlout sat on the steps outside the great hall, a rather uncomfortable silence between the five of them. Occasionally one of them would look up at the doors, wondering what was going on inside. The council had gone in looking so serious.

"Hey, you don't think they're gonna kill him, do you?" Tuffnut asked from where he reclined back against a rock with his sister, arms crossed behind his head as he stared up at the sky. White clouds drifted overhead, thin and not quite as thick as they were with snow in the colder months.

"I heard my dad say they should be getting rid of him like they should have years ago, whatever that means. So probably." Snoutlout shrugged, idly picking at his nose.

"He was born here in Berk." Astrid's voice was soft, the sound of her sharpening her axe only heightened by the quiet that fell between the five teenagers at intervals, ignoring the way her friends looked at her. She hadn't told them what he'd told her, not yet. "You know the tradition. The runt is called a hiccup and tossed to the Gods of the seas."

Before she could continue, the doors to the great hall opened. One by one, the council members filed out, talking in hushed whispers among each other. Astrid caught Gobber grumbling under his breath about smartass kids and slid from her rock, looking up to the doors.

"Hiccup."

The Outcast turned to look over his shoulder at Stoick as the vikings filed out, waiting until the hall was completely empty bar the two of them. He watched as the man's years started catching up to him, keeping a neutral expression on his face as he watched Stoick cup his hands together, looking away for a moment before he glanced back at the boy who should have been his son. The boy he should have raised.

"I have nothing to say to the likes of you."

Stoick felt his breath catch in his throat as those words left Hiccup's mouth, dark green eyes narrowing in the firelight which seemed to flicker in them. His brow drew together, a small sigh leaving him. "Son...please, hear me out." Even as Hiccup turned away from him, Stoick continued, keeping his voice steady. "Your mother and I wanted nothing more than to keep you and raise our son."

"Then why did you follow tradition?" Hiccup's fingers flexed into fists at his side, quelling the rage that he felt as best as he could. "What kind of man thinks the laws are more important than his own son?"

"A chief." Stoick lifted a hand to rub his temples. "Hiccup, I'm not sure what kind of laws the Outcasts uphold, but things are different here on Berk. A chief is expected to uphold laws and traditions and put his village ahead of himself."

There was silence between them for a few moments before Hiccup turned his head to look over his shoulder. "If that's the case then I'm almost glad I washed up on Outcast Island. Thor knows what I would've ended up like if you had kept me."

The resounding quiet that tore through the hall as Hiccup's footsteps echoed on his way out rang in Stoick's ears, waiting until the doors closed before he leaned down onto the bricks of the hearth, hanging his head.

"I did this."