There was no point in staring at the sky forever, and Hiccup had his own duties to attend to. The others would be awake by now, and most likely awaiting him at the ring. He sighed, and turned away, looking at Toothless. The dragon tilted his head slightly, looking up at Hiccup with bright eyes. Hiccup was thankful for the dragon, for they had been through a lot together, and shared a bond and friendship few would understand. Without Toothless, Hiccup felt he would be missing a big part of himself, he could not imagine losing the other. Could he imagine losing his father? He shook his head, closing his eyes, and placing a hand over them.
"Stop that" he told himself, "everything will be alright."
Toothless tilted his head even more, questioning with his gaze, as to why his rider was talking to himself. Peeking through his fingers, Hiccup caught sight of this and laughed. He then made his wa to the other's side, and climbed back on.
"Lets go bud, the others are waiting" he adjusted the tail.
As soon as it hit the right position, Toothless was off in the air once more, and heading towards where they would discover their friends. Sure enough, they were all there. Astrid was petting Stormfly, who looked to be very pleased at being made over. Fishlegs was getting Meatlug to do small tricks, by feeding her various stones and such. He then broke into an all to familiar hugging session with the dragon, causing Hiccup to chuckle a little. His smile vanished a bit when he noticed Snotlout using one of his medals to create a light on the ground. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were staring at it, from their position by their dragon. All four heads moved in unison, tilting one way, then the other as it moved slowly from side to side. When it finally stopped, Tuffnut looked over at his sister, and they both gave a slight smile and laugh, before diving forward at the light. It only darted away, and left the two to ram helmets together. Snotlout busted into laugher, slipping from where he leaned against Hookfang, and falling over.
Hiccup rolled his eyes, they were an odd bunch indeed. All of them had their quirks, but they seemed to made a good team, as long as they could stand eachother long enough. Toothless spiraled down a bit, and landed, letting Hiccup hop off. Tuffnut looked up, pushing his helmet back into place.
"Hey, look who finally decided to show" he said.
"Ha ha, I have a perfectly good explination as to why I am late, unlike others most of the time" he tossed a glance in Snotlout's direction as he spoke.
The other viking caught it, as he stood up, and marched over to Hiccup, buffing out his chest in his usual mannor. Snotlout was always trying to seem bigger, better and badder then Hiccup, trying to outdo him and seem better at everything.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" he challenged.
"Oh nothing" Hiccup mused, turning to pet Toothless as he came over, "just if you spent half as much time on training as you do at looking at yourself in any reflective surface, you might actually become a good rider."
Snotlout gave him a dark look, stepping forward to say something, his fists clenched. Astrid moved in the way, keeping them apart. She did not feel like listening to Snotlout trying to manage a snappy comeback, or decide his fists would be good enough. She looked over at Hiccup, as the twins walked over with Fishlegs.
"So, what is this reason you kept us waiting for?" she asked.
"probably couldn't get his door open..weakling" Snotlout chided with a huff, turning away and crossing his arms.
Hiccup rolled his eyes again, "my father left earlier on Thornado...seems Alvin is up to something in the North, and has demanded a meeting with him."
Astrid raised an eyebrow, "why would Alvin want a meeting with your father...their like mortal enemies."
"Maybe he got his helmet stuck" Tuffnut shrugged, "I do it all the time when Ruffnut slams me into the wall...watch."
He lowered his head, and his sister grabbed ahold of the back of his shirt, quickly moving forward to the wall, and smashing him headfirst into it. The horns of his helmet getting stuck. Ruffnut moved away, dusting her hands off with a smile, which mirrored on her twin. Astrid sighed a bit, shaking her head slightly at the two of them.
"Oh boy" Hiccup sighed, shaking his head.
Fishlegs turned to him, and lightly tapped the tips of his fingers together. He swallowed, and looked like he was a bit nervous.
"D-did you say...North? As in, the northern seas?"
Hiccup turned his attention on him, "I guess so, all he would tell me was North...why?"
Fishlegs swallowed, "well, it may just be a rumor but..."
Astrid clapped him on the back, "spit it out already."
"It's a hotbed for Scauldrons and Sharkworms" he blurts out, then covers his mouth.
Hiccup's look turned serious, "you mean to tell me, my dad may be heading into waters that are crawling with deadly and dangerous dragons?"
"Oh he's dead" Snotlout smirked, leaning back against Hookfang again.
"Well, Scauldrons usually avoid conflict, but Sharkworms are another story...when faced with an enemy invading their habitat, who knows how they might react" Fishlegs said.
That was not helping at all, and only succeeded in intensifying Hiccups nerves about his father being out there with only a ship of men and Thornado. He knew his father was tough, and so was his dragon, but against Alvin and the added bonus of sea-monster dragons...
"Maybe Alvin didn't know they were there" Ruffnut shrugs.
"Or maybe he does, and so does my father" Hiccup moved back to Toothless' side.
"Where are you going?" Astrid asked.
"Where do you think, I can't let him go in to this alone" he hopped up on Tothless' saddle.
"Oh no you don't" says a voice.
They all look up to see Gobber making his wa into the stadium.
"Your father asked me to keep an eye on you" he says, "he had a feeling you'd find this information out one way or another, and go gallivanting off to 'save' him."
Hiccup sighed, sliding back off, "what am I supposed to do, sit around and wait till either my father comes home, or the empty battered ship just happens to wash up on shore?"
Gobber chuckled a bit, placing a hand on Hiccup's shoulder.
"You're a brave lad Hiccup, and wanting to protect your father is a noble thing. However, he is the head of the village, and can handle things on his own...he dosn't want you in danger, nor does he want you to have to come save him every time something happens" he says.
"So it's a matter of pride then, great.." Hiccup passed the others, heading for the opening.
Toothless lowers his head, slowly following his rider. Snotlout had not stopped smiling, finding joy in anything that made Hiccup angry or upset, it was like a unnofficial one up for him. Ruffnut was attempting to pull her brother's head out of the wall, kicking him when she was unsuccessful. Tuffnut laughed, sliding his head out of his helmet. Fishlegs looked down, before turning to give Meatlug another big hug. Gobber sighed, and shook his head.
"Lad's got a good heart, ant it's in the right place, but it may be his downfall" he says.
Astrid looked at the others, before taking off after Hiccup.
"Hiccup wait" she grabs his shoulder, "your dad is a strong and smart man...you need to trust him."
Hiccup turns to her, "I do trust him, it's Alvin I don't trust...he's up to something Astrid, and the way everyone is talking, I'm just supposed to sit around until he makes a move, which could be bad for my father, then what?"
"Then we make our move" she says, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We have faced him many times before, and all of them we have won" she smiles, "this is just another ploy to get at us, at you, and when the time is right, we will do whatever it takes."
Hiccup takes a deep breath, releasing the feelings that had built up inside of him. He was thankful for Astrid in many ways, this was one of them. She was level-headed, and always trying to think clearly and strategically. Toothless nuzzled his hand, and Stormfly gave a squawk, ruffling her wings. They both seemed to agree with Astrid, which made Hiccup smile and nod.
"When the time is right, Alvin won't know what hit him" he says.