The party, as raucous as it had been, slowly began to wind down as the sun set. The littlest began to doze off and the elderly exchanged dancing for sitting. A few musicians played on and a few people continued to dance, but for the most part, the celebrations were over. The only thing that remained of the party was the bonfire and a few logs encircling it. They served as benches for those escaping the nighttime chill with the heat of the flames. Hiccup was one of those people, the flames casting long and eerie shadows across his weathered face.

He couldn't help but blame himself for the Haggard situation. It had been up to him to protect his people all those years ago, and he had failed. The real question that troubled him was even more perplexing. How had Haggard survived being dropped in Arctic waters miles from any land? The cold alone should have been enough to do him in. Even if it hadn't, there was no way he could've swum back to land. His body would've given out from exhaustion first. Hiccup's brows furrowed, deepening the wrinkles around them. He stared at the kindling of the fire as if the answer would appear there.

Meanwhile, Hope was underneath one of the trees hung with ropes, leaning against the trunk. Destiny was in a similar position beside her, running her hand over a particularly large leaf she'd seen fit to pick up.

"I do suppose it's too late to request I be taken home, isn't it?" asked Destiny, not looking up at Hope. Hope said nothing, merely turning her head to face the horizon. Destiny took this as confirmation. "I was afraid that was the case. The celebration surely took the worry off my mind, but now I fear I may never see my parents or my home again. To remain here for the rest of my life would be a dreadful fate indeed."

"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way. I wouldn't mind as long as my family and friends were with me. Kind of like right now," said Hope. Her eyes roamed over the clearing, picking out faces. There was Magnus, sitting in the sand with Hellhound curled up around him. There were Valka and Astrid, moving supplies around. There was Stoick, slowly dozing off while leaning against a tree. There was Hiccup, staring into the fire as though he were hypnotized. "But do you think we'll ever get back to Berk though?"

"It is for the gods to decide, not I," said Destiny. She finally released the leaf, letting the wind take it up high and out over the water. "I didn't even have time to tell Mother. She'll be wondering where I am in a few days, and I won't be able to warn her not to come after me."

"I wish there was something I could do, Destiny, I really do," said Hope. She sighed and turned at last to face Destiny again. "Like you said. It's for the gods to decide now."

Destiny shrugged her shoulders and proceeded to climb the tree. Hope gave a faint smile and sauntered off. She went to the closest crate she could find. As she had suspected it was full of bedding. She snatched up the first blanket she saw and draped it over her arm. Stoick had fallen asleep at last, but it was getting too cold for him to be without a blanket. Hope placed the blanket over the aging man and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. She turned around to get more bedding from the crate and she almost jumped out of her skin to see Astrid behind her. Astrid laughed, a welcome sound in all the swirling thoughts of loss and grief, at her reaction.

"I didn't mean to scare you, but the look on your face just then was priceless," said Astrid through peals of laughter. Hope adopted and expression that was far from amused. Astrid's laughter faded and she wrapped an arm around Hope's shoulders. "I was just going to tell you that yo should think about going to bed soon. We've had a long and exciting day, but it's getting pretty late."

"Yeah, sounds good," said Hope. She hugged Astrid and looked back at the bonfire. Hiccup still sat there, mesmerized by the flames. "I'm just going to go say good-night to Dad, then I'll head off to bed."

"Good idea," said Astrid, joining Hope as she moved towards Hiccup. "He's been staring at that fire for almost half an hour. You'd think his eyes would've baked by now."

Magnus, still seated in the ring of warm Hellhound provided, scratched him behind the horns as he watched Astrid and Hope sit next to Hiccup. He wondered if maybe a family meeting of sorts was taking place. On the off chance that it was, he rose to his feet and collected Valka and woke up Stoick to go to the fireside. Derek came along, curious as to why everyone was going to the fire. Destiny followed him. Frigga followed her. Ruffnut and Eret followed her. Treetrunks roused her parents and followed them. Pretty soon the entire camp was seated around the fire, each one thinking that there was a reason for it. Hiccup, however, was simply confused.

"Uh, Astrid?" Hiccup asked her quietly. "Why did everyone suddenly gather at the fire?"

"I don't know," Astrid replied just as quietly. She scanned the faces again and again. "You should probably say something."

"Like what?" Hiccup asked again. Astrid shrugged. Hiccup, still extremely confused, knew he did have to say something. Anything. A rousing speech? Instructions? A hopeful speech? A tale? The more he thought, the more he felt he should tell about the events that led up to Haggard's attacks. He took a steadying breath and stood. A hush fell over the assembly. "How many of you heard about the Glacier Bay War?"

Hands were raised, but not all. Hope and Derek's were raised, though both had heard different versions of the story. Hope's had been a bedtime story of how her father had saved the tribe. Derek's had been a drunken tale, cursing the name Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third.

"Wow, not everybody's heard it. Alright, I think it's about time I fixed that. Most of you fought by my side in that dark time. My children were told this tale as a bedtime story for years," said Hiccup. All eyes were on him. Even the dragons came toward the fire to listen. It all started fourteen years ago, with an ordinary gathering of the clan leaders to draw up treaties. One of these clan leaders was Haggard. He had just become chief after the sudden death of his father. I had never met him before that day. He was quiet. He spoke not one single word until it was is turn to sign the treaties."

Derek knew all too well Haggard's thoughts about the treaties. Ridiculous, he called them. Over and over. Haggard would rave and rant about how he disliked the idea having to share his resources or come to another tribe's aid should anyone on the outside choose to attack them. He lived by the 'Every man for himself' mantra, and thought every single one of the tribe's should too.

"He read the treaty and laughed. He thought we were kidding. We couldn't seriously be asking him to invest time, money, and resources on people who needed it. I was particularly surprised, because I'd been very good friends with his father Lars. Lars had been one of the greatest chiefs I'd ever known, present company excluded," said Hiccup,casting a glance and a smile at Stoick. Stoick gave a hearty laugh and continued. "We tried to talk him into signing, promising that the agreement went both ways. He scoffed at the idea. He told us, in no kind terms, that he didn't need our help and we wouldn't be getting his I gave him a final warning. Failing to sign the treaty would make him an enemy to all of the other tribes. I couldn't stop my people from doing what they would to his, and neither could any of the others. He took that as us questioning his authority. And if there's one thing Haggard the Cruel hates, it's having hi authority questioned."

Derek nodded in agreement. He of all people knew the backlash of doing so on a personal level. Weeks without food, pretending he didn't exist half of the time, and beating him senseless the other half. Hope saw Derek's face and took his hand. She thought it was because he'd been Haggard's prisoner. She of course didn't know that Derek had been living with Haggard's cruelty far longer than that.

"Haggard declared we had three days, and then he'd be bringing the full force of his tribe to our shores. War was upon us. We had no choice but to counterattack. We lured his forces away from the other islands and towards the Northern Bay," said Hiccup. Hope remembered that. She'd watched the ships passing the island and thought they were like a fancy parade. "There at the bay, we fought the Outlanders. With the combined efforts of the warriors and the dragons, we managed to subdue Haggard's forces. I tried to speak with him, make one last effort to secure peace. He wouldn't let me speak. I told him I'd let him go free if he called off the war. He told me if I let him go and he ended the war, he'd go after Astrid and Hope every day for the rest of his life."

Hiccup felt the weight his choice all over again. He hadn't wanted to kill anyone, and still didn't. Especially if there was any other way. But that day, all he loved was on the line. It was Haggard, or his wife and daughter.

"I didn't want his blood on my conscience, but as a father, I had to do everything and anything to protect my family. That's how he left me with no choice. Toothless held him as we flew out over the bay. I didn't want to kill him, but it was the only way. We dropped him in the bay as far from any land as we dared go. That was supposed to be the end of it," said Hiccup. He sat down, his tone and expression becoming more sombre. "How was I to know that he'd survive? How was I to know that he'd cause all this?"

"Okay, I think story time is over now," said Astrid, quickly rising to her feet. Hiccup's face morphed from forlorn and haunted to it's usual cheeriness. "We should all be going to bed. We've had a long day, and we wouldn't want to spoil the day's celebrations, now would we Hiccup?"

"No, of course not," said Hiccup. Hope gave him a quick peck on the cheek and led Magnus off to the crate of bedding. "Good night, kids."

"Night, Dad," said Hope, silently worrying that her father was blaming himself unjustly for all of this. "See you in the morning."

Astrid watched as the people all formed their own smaller fires and beds. When they were alone by the bonfire, she turned to face him.

"This isn't your fault, do I make myself clear?" asked Astrid. Hiccup gave her a guilty look and Astrid placed a hand on either of his cheeks. She shook her head and kissed him as tenderly as she could. When she pulled back, she pulled his head down so she could lean her forehead on his. "No, this isn't your fault. You didn't know he was going to live. He shouldn't have. And it isn't your fault."

"Sure, Astrid," said Hiccup. Astrid furrowed her brows, punched his shoulder and pulled him forcefully into a hug. Hiccup didn't even bat an eyelash. "Then why do I feel this way?"

"Because, you like to beat yourself up about everything," said Astrid. She let go of him and took his hand instead. She pulled him down next to her on the make-shift blanket bed that she'd made earlier and kissed his cheek before pulling him down onto his side with her. He have her a wistful smile before kissing the tip of her nose. Astrid smirked. "Get some sleep, you crazy old man."

But Hiccup didn't get to sleep. Instead, he waited until Astrid dozed off and then woke up Toothless. He had been sleeping next to Magnus and Hope, where he had likely been keeping watch.

"C'mon, Bud," said Hiccup, strapping the saddle onto Toothless' back. He gave Hiccup a somewhat confused look. Hiccup stroked Toothless' nose in response. "Don't worry, Bud. We'll be back before any of them get up. There's just one small thing I need to take care of first."