Author's Note: So thank you for guys patience. It is much appreciated, and without further ado, here's the REAL chapter 30. Leading up to the fight now guys. Hold on tight.
And the second chapter of my new Crime drama is up if you guys were wondering.
000 (1 Week Later)
Ever since the confrontation with Snotlout and his gang, Hiccup had been ever vigilant of his surroundings. He and Astrid still met, and sometimes it was usually under the protection of their dragons. Hiccup had finished the rest of the repairs six days ago, when he finished the remaining houses, with Toothless' help, the remaining catapults, with his help again, but he mended the docks himself since they were in a more open area and could be easily seen. He even met up with the gang at dinner in the Hall. He and Astrid explained that they were having an affair ... a secret one and that no one could know about. Ruffnut already demonstrated that she could keep the secret, but it was more of a challenge with Fishlegs and Tuffnut.
Fishlegs was skeptical at first since he always followed the rules and knowing an affair of this scale, it was his duty to report to Arnbjorn, who was the stand-in-Chief. Snotlout already knew about it so there was no point in telling ... or rubbing it in his face that Astrid was with Hiccup. But he said that he was tired of being afraid of Snorre and his gang, and since they were more part of this confrontation, he was happy to back them up. Tuffnut said he didn't really care, and that he would be on their side since he wanted to see Snorre truly pissed off like when Astrid smashed his face against the table.
And on that note, Astrid had told Hiccup what happened when she confronted them that night over dinner with the others. Hiccup didn't believe it until he saw Snotlout and Snorre, with the rest of the gang, walk in and noticed the bruises on Snotlout's face, along with Snorre's, now partly disfigured, nose. They shot him looks, silently threatening him to get up and walk away from the table; Snorre and his gang with the looks more so than Snotlout, who just avoided looking at their table.
Astrid intertwined their fingers together, under the table, but in plain sight for Snorre to see, silently challenging him to do something about it. He could have easily done something about it. He could have called her father over and tell him about the affair; but he had taken Hiccup's threat seriously, even though he didn't admit, but the others new. He wouldn't do it since Snotlout's reputation would be tarnished forever since in the Viking society, other tribes and other people would think of him as weak that he couldn't protect 'his' girl from a person like Hiccup.
Hiccup commented about how ironic it was that he could use the image Snotlout was painting for himself against him.
It was also that night when he thanked Fishlegs and the Twins for having his back in that. He knew of the consequences that awaited them since the law dictates that any soul who has knowledge of a potential affair between a banished heir and traitor and a future Chieftess, they should report it immediately to the Chief or the husband-to-be. Since Snotlout knew, it didn't really matter, but if word got to Spitelout, Stoick, or even the Elder Counsel, they would all be in trouble.
Fishlegs, in his modesty, said it was the least he could do for his 'teacher' and now friend since he never had his back in the old days, even though they had a lot in common. He knew the only reason Snotlout, Snorre, his gang and the Twins picked on him was because of his small stature. Fishlegs counted himself lucky that he was bigger than Snotlout, but that didn't stop him from the occasional teasing.
He remembered one day when Hiccup stood up for him when he was thirteen and Hiccup was fourteen. He was still smaller than Snotlout and the others then, but when he saw Fishlegs under the teasing of Snotlout and the Twins, he stepped in. Naturally they turned their attention to him and forgot all about Fishlegs. Hiccup knew what he was getting himself into ... and he still did it. He could have ignored it, but he didn't. Because of that, Fishlegs felt rotten to the core for not being able to summon courage like Hiccup did for him all those years ago.
Which is why he decided to always stick by the man he should have befriended so many winters ago. He did apologize, many times that night and ever since that, about not being there for him. But Hiccup said he understood and that no one really would have helped him back then. He knew Fishlegs would have been in the eyes of tormentors if he helped him back then. So he didn't blame him at all.
Astrid looked away when he said this, and Fishlegs looked at him with an expression. In all his years, he never met a person as selfless, as caring, as compassionate and as courageous as Hiccup - from how he had the courage to return to his home after five years, if he had a home year at all, how he survived torture from the Romans, how he thwarted the plans of the Outcasts and Berserkers, and how he must have helped hundreds of people over the five years. The probability of there being another person like Hiccup, in his calculations was not in this lifetime, or any other lifetime for a while.
It was for the same reason Astrid looked away, with shame in her eyes. Even after all they'd done to him, and failed to do for him, he still forgave them. She didn't know his feelings towards Snotlout, but it seemed that he still held hope that he and Snotlout could look past their differences and finally act like how cousins are supposed to.
Hiccup had noticed her action and knew what it was about. He gently laid his hand over hers under the table. She looked at him and he shot her an understanding smile and the message was all there in his eyes. She thought he might be hiding the blame underneath all that kindness and compassion because it wasn't him to hold a grudge against anyone.
That just confirmed what she knew when she first kissed him. There was no other Hiccup in this lifetime like the one she was in love with.
The Twins even apologized ... after a few threatening stares from Astrid. Hiccup did say it wasn't necessary for them to, but in a small show of guilt, the Twins apologized for what they did to him out of the bottom of their hearts ... how deep their hearts could go anyway. They then the spent the rest of their dinner with Astrid filling Hiccup in on what had taken place in the Arena during his work. Hiccup was impressed with the progress they had made, and made it evident of how happy he would be when he returned the next day.
And that's what they had been working on for the past six days. He had been explaining more about dragons, Fishlegs listening intently and noting down everything he said about dragons. He told them that he was planning on re-writing the Book of Dragons with all this knowledge and Hiccup was more than thrilled of that idea. This was a huge step in the direction of understanding what and whom dragons truly are.
He even talked about the Flightmare during one lesson. Fishlegs and the Twins were expecting Astrid to lose it but were surprised to find her understanding and agreeing with Hiccup. They were about to ask why, but they found out when Hiccup explained the Flightmare's defense strategy. And sadly, on many occasions, the Flightmare finishes off its attacker. Hiccup explained it was to make sure that it wouldn't run into the predator or potential threat again. Of course, Hiccup didn't start talking about the dragon without asking for Astrid's permission first since he knew it was a delicate topic. He even told her to stop him if she felt the lesson on the Flightmare went on for too long.
On other days Hiccup took them out to practice flight maneuvers over the forest, over the sea and had even made a flight course in the area of the sea stacks for them to get a feel of how their dragon flew and to prepare for sudden gusts of wind in those areas. He was ecstatic to see how well they had even bonded with their dragons. He noted Stormfly's and Astrid's bond nearly rivaled his and Toothless' bond. That's how he saw it anyway.
Astrid saw differently. She knew no other Dragon Rider would even have a bond that comes remotely close to what Toothless and Hiccup have. The Night Fury is always be his rider and best friend, always on guard with the situation, giving his opinion, controlling the other dragons; to a certain extent and comforting Hiccup on the few times he got exhausted.
She also knew the lengths the dragon went through to make sure no one interrupted her alone time with Hiccup. The dragon would place himself in front of the one of the large doors where the dragons were kept while Hiccup and Astrid did their business inside. However, they always had a spectator. Stormfly was always in the same room if they ever found themselves making out in the Arena. The reason was because if they were to walk out, they would do it with Stormfly and any passerby would think they were keeping the dragon calm to teach her whatever. Only the dragons knew their little and dirty secret.
However today was going to be different.
"Come on bud!" Hiccup yelled as he and Toothless worked to catch the others. Today's exercise was evade and run. Astrid, Fishlegs and the Twins' goal was to avoid getting caught by Hiccup until the sun had set below the horizon. They could fly anywhere near and over Berk. That's a huge distance but it doesn't really matter when a certain man is riding a Night Fury. They had started the lesson two hours ago, and there was only one hour left till sunset ... and Hiccup still hadn't found any of them. But he remembered seeing two green tails dive between the sea stacks and into the forests near the coast. However, he did let loose a growl of frustration when he didn't catch any sign of the Zippleback.
Snotlout wasn't with them because he had a few lessons with Arnbjorn and the Elder Counsel and a few sparring matches with Snorre and the others later in the day. Hiccup had offered for him to come along, but he just walked past him without saying a word. Hiccup took that as a definite 'no'.
"Don't worry. We'll find them" Toothless encouraged.
"That's what I said an hour ago" Hiccup deadpanned. This was more annoying than he thought. He had clearly underestimated the skills of Fishlegs, Twins and their dragons.
"The goal was to avoid getting caught by us, yes?"
"Yeah. That was their goal" Hiccup said as they glided over the sea and towards the cliffs of Berk. These cliffs were known to have many hidden caves, but they all led to one cavern.
"They don't necessarily have to fly. They could be hiding anywhere, and those caves in the cliffs would be a good bet as any" Toothless said. Hiccup looked to the cliffs and face palmed himself.
"I am so stupid for not realizing that" he said, reaching back down to hold onto the front of the saddle.
"You just realized that?" Toothless remarked with a grin.
"Then why didn't you say anything about it?"
"Because I haven't been in the air for this long in a long time and I wanted to enjoy it" he replied. Hiccup rolled his eyes with an unamused expression and directed Toothless to one of the many cave entrances. He easily flew into the small space.
"You know what to do, bud" Hiccup said, patting his friend's head. With a nod, and slowing down, Toothless let out an echo blast. Hiccup saw the purple blast make its way along the edges of the wall. He's seen it many times before but he was amazed every time he witnessed it.
"I got a reading back. There are two figures, but judging by the size of the dragon, it's Meatlug" he informed.
"Where are they exactly?"
"About one hundred metres from where we are and closing fast" he said.
"Okay slow down and let's move on the rock face" Hiccup said. Toothless opened his wings to catch enough dragon before it was safe enough for him to jump onto the wall of the cavern. With his sharp claws and strong limbs, Toothless easily clung to the side of the wall on all fours. Hiccup also readjusted himself correctly and held on as he and Toothless moved in slowly, careful not to make a sound. But soon enough, they heard Fishlegs' voice running through the cavern. Hiccup learned that Fishlegs always talked to Meatlug. He wished he could actually speak Dragonese and understand her, but Hiccup said that with lessons, and in due time, he'd pick up on their language. It took one and a half years for him and Ripper to pick on the language after making it out.
Pretty soon, the two targets were in sight. Meatlug was busy eating a few rocks that seemed to have been picked out and Fishlegs was busily writing in the Book of Dragons. It seemed that they had been there for quite a while. "Let's sneak up on them, bud" he said, looking at Toothless. The Night Fury turned his head back and immediately knew what Hiccup was thinking. He started climbing up fast, without making a noise, until he was right over them. They were sitting on a ledge big enough for two dragons to land on.
"I'm quite surprised Hiccup hasn't found us yet" he heard Fishlegs say, and in a brief moment of cockiness, "If he hasn't found me then he surely won't find the others" he said.
"Oh, that's about to change" Hiccup muttered quietly, smiling. They were right above them now, Toothless holding onto a stalagmite, looking down onto their targets. He did get a brief scare when some dust and some pebbles fell from the stalagmite and onto their targets, but they were too preoccupied to noticed it.
"And ... now!" Hiccup said and Toothless let go, falling to the ground and landed right in front of Fishlegs and Meatlug.
"Ahhh!" Fishlegs screamed, jumping to Meatlug for protection, dropping his pencil and the Book of Dragons.
"Found you" Hiccup stated. "Now follow me. I'll have to lead you back to the sea stack permanently. And if you try any sudden movements, Toothless will take action" he warned nicely. Toothless let out an all too smirk huff in their direction.
"That was not nice. You scared him half to death" Meatlug complained, giving her rider a lick.
"By the way, sorry for scaring you Fishlegs" Hiccup said, raising his hand in apology.
"Oh no ... that's quite alright" Fishlegs said in a high tone as he gathered his things, hopped on Meatlug and took off, with Toothless in tow. As soon as they were out of the caves, Fishlegs began flying towards the sea stack that they designated as the location that they would be if Hiccup caught them, or the place they would meet up once the sun had set. Hiccup didn't have Toothless fly directly behind them. Instead, he flew him in a thin layer of cloud to hide in case the Twins met up with Fishlegs. He knew Astrid wouldn't be dumb enough to do that ... not until it was past dusk. It was harsh, but it was true.
Fishlegs landed on the sea stack where they had to stay. It was a relatively small sea stack surrounded by other, taller sea stacks. He didn't see where Hiccup disappeared to, but now that he was caught, he could get back to writing more information in the Book.
Hiccup, meanwhile, was circling around the sea stacks looking for a specific place. "There!" he whispered to Toothless. The dragon looked to where his friend was pointing and saw a dark patch on one of the sea stacks that was closest to the one Fishlegs was one. It was perfect for Toothless to land at and camouflage himself.
"Good thinking" he said as he dived in and landed perfectly against the rock. Hiccup carefully released his safety harness as he slowly moved himself to Toothless' front and this allowed the Night Fury to fold his wings over the saddle, blending in perfectly with the black rock. Hiccup looked more closely at the rock from his position and noticed that it was scorched really badly. But in this case it worked to their advantage.
"So how long do we have to wait here?"
"Till..."
"Hey Fishlegs! You got caught?!" he heard the familiar voice of Tuffnut.
"Till that happens" Hiccup said as Toothless made some adjustments for Hiccup to get back onto the saddle and they started crawling on the vertical stack, slowly moving around and making sure the Zippleback wouldn't hear them coming. Toothless was a master at sneaking. He did the whole round of the sea stack without once making a noise that could have alerted Barf and Belch, and soon the Zippleback was in their sight.
"Where were you hiding anyway?" Ruff asked. Good, they were distracted.
"I was hiding in the cave system to the north of here" Fishlegs, glancing up at her.
"Did you see where he went after you came here?" Tuff asked.
"I do" Hiccup said. The Twins turned around and saw a Night Fury, like a bat, holding onto the side of the stack, and it almost looked like he was smiling.
"Really? Do you know where?" Tuff asked. Fish closed the book and slammed it against his forehead while Ruff slapped her forehead with her hand and Hiccup gave an eye-roll, as did Toothless. Before Ruff could say anything, Toothless fired a plasma blast next to Bard Belch, leaving a scorched mark on the ground, signalling they've been caught. "Oh you're Hiccup. I keep forgetting ever since you got became good-looking ... no offense" Tuff said.
"Non taken" Hiccup replied before taking off in search for Astrid. This would be a challenge ... and he's grown to love any challenge that involves a certain Valkyrie. He knew she wouldn't go down without a fight. He was expecting no less. But he was looking forward to wrangling her which, as you know, meant bodily contact and they both loved how they always end up ... and he only had about thirty minutes to find her before she won the challenge.
He decided to do another round of the island. He started with the village first. He did a quick, but thorough search, looking for an azure coloured Nadder. No such luck. The search just took them four minutes. He had twenty six minutes left. His next area were the forests of Berk. He knew she wouldn't be able to head underground, so he did a quick skim over the trees, looking for any sign of blue but found no trace.
Toothless even kept his ears open, listening for distinct wing flaps and trying to pick up her scent. "Let's try the beaches" he said. The forest took them six minutes in total. He had twenty minutes left. He wasn't going to lose this.
Toothless did a quick run over the beaches at a high altitude, looking below, trying to see Stormfly's distinct blue colour and listening for her wing flaps. Still no such luck and time was running out. "Come on. We searched every nook and cranny on this island and we still haven't found her" he stated as they flew above the sea. Hiccup looked towards where the sun was setting and knew he only had five minutes. After the beaches he had searched the cliffs again and even did a flyby of the sea stacks but still no Astrid. He let himself fall on the back of his saddle and stared up at the cloud covered sky... wait.
"You've got to be joking" he muttered. He sat upright and looked around the sky. He could see the sun, but the sky had layers of cloud in specific areas and even though he flew above the cloud two hours earlier, he never did so for the rest of the challenge. And if she was avoiding him, she wouldn't have to be right above him to see him. If she noticed a black dot in the sky, she would have turned the other way almost immediately. "Let's break through the crowds Toothless" he said and angled the tail-fin upwards. He only had four minutes until the sun was completely down ... but now the odds were in his favour.
The skies were darkening which meant it was a Night Fury's playground now.
000
Astrid had been having a relatively boring day. She had flown close to the land when they started the challenge and now had taken to flying way above the cloud cover. She used the tactic to keep an eye on Hiccup from a safe distance. She had been speculating that he would come up above the cloud cover and find her, but that never happened. And she was only five minutes from victory. She didn't knew what happened to Fishlegs and the Twins after observing them from her high altitude. But she thought that since Hiccup didn't even think of checking up here, he wouldn't be doing that when only four minutes were left.
She took the time to admire the darkening sky, watching the dark blue, purple colours shower the night sky with faint orange from the setting sun. This was a nice feeling and she could enjoy it even more once the four minutes were up.
That was, until Stormfly shifted a bit. "What's wrong girl?" she asked, petting her head. Stormfly gave out a squawk and Astrid could tell she was on alert. But then she heard it. Out of the corner of right ear, she heard the distinct sound of Night Fury approaching. She didn't need to look.
She just needed to get out of there.
"Stormfly!" she yelled and her dragon went into a dive, just as she caught a black blur zoom past her and spread out its wings.
Stormfly stayed in a dive until she and her rider were below the cloud cover and flying in a random direction. They would win as soon as the tip of the sun vanished below the horizon ... and it was almost there. She looked behind her to see a black dragon also break the cloud cover and sped towards them. "Come on Stormfly! We can win this!" she yelled as she made a sharp turn to the left. She had to be captured or cornered into a location where there was no escape ... and Hiccup very well knew that. Fishlegs was cornered. The Twins were technically cornered since they couldn't try and run as Toothless would have had them in less than a second. Stormfly was in the open sky and there was no way to corner her. Astrid and Stormfly were too smart for that.
"They're heading towards the last sea stack!" Hiccup said.
"What do you propose?"
"You know exactly what it is" Hiccup said.
"You're really crazy for suggesting that"
"Do you want Stormfly rubbing it in your face that she beat you?" Hiccup changed his wording. Toothless' eyes widened at that outcome.
"You're right. Let's do it" he said, breaking off the chase and heading west. Astrid looked behind her and saw that Hiccup wasn't chasing her anymore. She then looked at the horizon and saw that it would be mere seconds before victory was hers. "Yes!" she yelled, but her celebration was short lived as she again heard that shriek across the skies. She looked to her left, and before she knew it, she was free falling into the ocean while in Hiccup's arms.
Ten Seconds Earlier
Hiccup had Toothless break off their chase by heading upwards, speeding up to try and get in front of her, which was easy enough for Toothless. He made a sharp right turn and began to level off at Stormfly's level. Hiccup laid his body flat against Toothless' back and when they were just a second away, Hiccup got onto his feet, while Toothless expanded his wings to catch as much air as possible to create a sudden stop. With the sudden force pushing him forward, and thanks to his planning, he tackled Astrid off of Stormfly, while, due to the sudden and substantial drag, Toothless began to free fall as well, for a short period though. He quickly got underneath Hiccup once he saw him with Astrid in his arms. While keeping one hand behind Astrid's back and holding her close, he let his other hand reach for one of the reins and and he quickly placed his foot in the pedal and got the tail-fin back out into gliding position.
Once he was certain, Toothless was stable enough to glide, he removed his hand placed it under Astrid's knees and held her close.
"We've got to stop meeting like this" he said, breaking the silence with a grin. He shouldn't have said that.
"Ow!" he yelled as Astrid landed one on his right shoulder.
"Why would you do that!?" she yelled. "We could have died!"
"No we wouldn't have. I had everything under control" he replied calmly.
"You tackled me in mid air ... forget mid air, while we were in a chase ... you tackled me!" she said, still not believing he could have pulled a stunt like that.
"Toothless and I knew what we were doing. We wouldn't have done that if we thought it was dangerous" he said. Sadly she wasn't having any of his confidence.
"Well what am I supposed to think or feel when some maniac tried that against me!?" she yells at him, giving another swift and hurtful punch to the shoulder.
"Gods, woman! Would you stop that!?" Hiccup shot back. As the two carried on with their argument, Stormfly pulled alongside Toothless.
"Your rider was insane to pull off that stunt" she said.
"Yep ... he was. I love and hate that amount him. But you shouldn't worry. We had it all under control" he said smugly.
"Really? Tackling my rider off of me and hurtling towards the ground while you hope you get back underneath him is called being in control!?" she squawked at him.
"We did. If you can't handle we that we won this challenge, then that's your problem"
"You seriously think I'm mad because you think you won this? I'm mad because you put my rider's life at the line for trying to win this challenge. And for you information, we already won it" Stormfly replied.
Hiccup and Astrid both stopped their argument when they noticed the frustrated and annoyed growls that their dragons were directing at each other.
"What are they arguing about?" she asked.
"Oh, about the stunt that I pulled and who won this challenge" he answered.
"Well it's clear that you took this challenge way too seriously and couldn't handle losing to me, so you had no choice but to pull that insane stunt just and try and win" she concluded, folding her arms and looking straight ahead. Hiccup, coughed in mock offense.
"Uh ... I think it's clear who won here. The rules were to capture you before the sun went down and I did" he said.
"The sun went down after you tackled me off of Stormfly" she said.
"No no no no. I captured you with one second to spare" he said.
"You didn't capture me. You tackled me off my dragon"
"Then what do you call this?" he said, gesturing to himself holding her in his arms. "If this isn't captured I don't know what is" he exclaimed.
"This is getting annoying" Stormfly spoke to Toothless.
"At least you don't have them on your back" Toothless said, gesturing to the two bickering riders.
"How about we call it a draw since we don't know who won?" Stormfly suggested.
"Agreed". He glanced back at Hiccup and Astrid who were still arguing. Clearly Hiccup didn't hear him. He could just roll over and have them free fall while catches them but he'd be pissing three of them. He then saw a large see stack that had a few trees, grass and bushes growing on top of it, and decided to stop there. Without any warning, he angled his body downwards, with Stormfly following and they came to a halt.
"You just can't admit that you would be a sore loser" she said, jumping out of his arms.
"Me? A sore loser? Then why don't you take the higher road and give me the victory if I'm a sore loser?" he asked, and gave a smirk when he knew she wouldn't do that.
"Just admit it. I won" he said, taking a step closer.
"Guys ... Stormfly and agreed to a draw. It's over!" Toothless said.
"No it's not bud" Hiccup replied as he and Astrid had a stare down. "So, what would have been the prize?" he asked.
"Whatever the winner wants" Astrid replied with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes.
"And what does M'Lady want as her prize" Hiccup conceded to giving her the win since he would also be a winner in this ... technically.
"You" she said as she grabbed him by the front of his leather armour and smashed her lips against his. His hands immediately encircled her waist and pulled her against his chest as they gave way for their tongues to take control. They were moving about until Hiccup tripped on a branch and fell onto his back on the remarkably soft grass, but the small interruption wasn't enough to deter them. They locked lips as soon as they recovered and Hiccup took this chance to roll them over, and immediately disengaged from the kiss and moved onto her lower jawline, nibbling at her ear lobe and planting kisses along her exposed collar bone and moving onto her neck.
"Do you surrender?" he asked; his voice in an incredibly husky tone.
"Ne-N-Never" she moaned as she smiled and gasped at the sensations he was creating for her. She wrapped her fingers around his neck and kept him close, allowing him to continue his onslaught of kisses, nips and nibble on her neck, collar bone, jawline, ear lobe, cheeks and lips. Toothless and Stormfly watched with curiosity. They tilted their heads to any specific sounds their riders made or even just trying to see how it would be from a different angle.
"Why don't they just..."
"Don't ask. Apparently it's complicated" Toothless said with a roll of his eyes before looking back at the two. However, when he turned his head to the left just to see if there was anything else, he spotted a few black dots on the sea, and a bit of smoke coming from a few of them. "Hiccup" he called, turning to his friend but just bore an unamused face when he saw that he hadn't stopped kissing his mate. "Hiccup!" he called more loudly this time.
"Ugh... what?" he groaned, reluctantly pulling away from her sweet lips and looking to his friend with annoyance. Astrid also sighed in frustration at the interruption and titled her head back to look at their dragons.
"I think there're damaged ships down there" he said, gesturing with his head and looking out to the sea again. This got both Hiccup's and Astrid's attention as they got up and walked over to the ledge where their two dragons were. They were right. They could make out dark figures on the water, and with whatever light was left, could see smoke bellowing up from them.
"Should we go help them?" Astrid asked.
"Yeah. But be careful. We don't know if they're the fleet from Berk" Hiccup said as he hopped onto Toothless.
"You're telling me to be careful after you tackled me from in mid-air?" she asked.
"You're never going to let that go are you?" he asked, an annoyed smile on his face.
"Nope" Astrid replied, sounding the 'p' and shooting him her signature smile. Hiccup merely shook his head, annoyed smile still on his face, and took off after her.
000
It was another failed expedition to find the Dragon's Nest. Thankfully they hadn't lost any people; he thanked the Gods dearly for that. But they had lost a few ships, which meant that the remaining vessels needed to accommodate more people. And, unfortunately, the food and water supplied the sunken ships had had gone down with them, which meant fewer rations for the rest of them. It didn't help that some of their ships were still smoking.
"Well, at this rate, we'll reach Berk by sunrise" Spitelout spoke as he came to stand beside his brother-in-law.
"Thank you, Spitelout" he nodded. Spitelout nodded in return but still stood beside him.
"You really think that boy can change the way we think about dragons?" he asked.
"I don't know, Spitelout. Depends if people are willing to allow change to happen" he replied, turning to face him.
"And are you willing to allow that change to happen?"
"Look Spitelout ... I never liked dragons. They took my wife away from me and for a time, believed they turned my own son against me. But after seeing and hearing what Hiccup has been through and seeing how the others are bonding with their dragons ... that's left me thinking that, just maybe, change might not be a bad thing" he answered. Spitelout was about to open his mouth to reply but was cut short.
"Dragons by the starboard bow!" a man yelled and soon, the bells were ringing across the ships and Vikings were getting ready for an attack, arming themselves with spears, bows and arrows, swords, maces, axes, battle axes, war hammers; the lot. They weren't going to go down without a fight. Stoick unsheathed his own sword and ran forward to the bow and saw two silhouettes against the night sky. "Take aim!" he yelled. Their archers had their arrows at the ready. They were all waiting for the Chief to give the word.
"Ready!" he yelled and the archers took their aim. Stoick looked more closely, wondering why he could only see a Deadly Nadder but not the other one. It was as if it blended with the night sky... wait.
"Hold your fire! Hold your fire!" he yelled, turning around to his men and women and waving his arms.
"What are you saying? The dragons are coming to attack us!" Spitelout yelled, grabbing Stoick by the wrist.
"That's Hiccup and Astrid on their dragons. Would you have me shoot down two of our own?"
"You mean one of our own" Spitelout reminded him with a stern scowl. Stoick knew who he was referring to. He pulled his arm away from him and continued to shout orders to stand down. The cautious men and women, kept their weapons at their waist and only sheathed them once they saw that it was only Hiccup and Astrid once they had landed on Stoick's ship.
"I'm guessing you didn't find the nest?" Hiccup asked as he got off Toothless.
"Not even close" Spitelout replied. "Why don't you just help us and tell where they're Thor-forsaken rock is?"
"Like I said before, I don't want all of you to die" he said, before turning his attention to his father. "Did anyone die?"
"Thankfully no. But we lost a few ships and a few others are damaged. That's why we're moving slow" he explained.
"Did you, by any chance, see what dragons attacked you?" Hiccup asked.
"There were Monstrous Nightmares, Deadly Nadders, Gronckles, Zipplebacks; the usual lot" said Stoick. "Why do you ask?"
"No reason, just wondering. Anyway, do you need help getting back? Stormfly and Toothless could help tow the damaged ships back to port faster" Hiccup suggested. Stoick looked to the damaged ships they had and back to the dragons who were sitting there obediently.
"Are you two alright with making rounds?" he asked.
"Not a problem, Chief" Astrid replied as she came and stood beside Hiccup.
"Spitelout, order the damaged ships to prepare ropes to be towed by the dragons" he ordered. Spitelout gave a nod to Stoick, and a scowl in Hiccup's direction before heading to arrange the ships for the fast journey home.
"Dad, could we talk to you?" Hiccup asked him. When Stoick looked at the two, he was surprised to find them looking concerned and they were checking over his shoulder, giving the impression that it was only for him to hear. He nodded and moved them to where the dragons were and blocked the view of them to the others.
"What is it?"
Hiccup gave a look to Astrid but she nodded in confirmation, silently telling they had to do this. "Snotlout knows" he said quietly.
"What!?" Stoick nearly yelled but clamped his hand over his mouth before whispering it loudly.
"Snotlout knows. So does Snorre and his gang" Hiccup confirmed.
"And how do they know this?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well..." they both started to blush.
"Well ... long story short, sir ... my father invited Hiccup over to dinner after he remade our sword for the ... wedding, and he stayed behind for desert and..."
"We were in her room ... making out, and apparently Snotlout climbed up to spy on her but saw us on her bed and, well yeah" Hiccup said, the both of them blushing profoundly. Stoick simply shook his head and rubbed his face in exasperation.
"See what happens when you're not careful!" he said to the both of them, but not loud enough for the others to hear. "Okay, I know Snotlout will tell his father about this incident and will bring it to my attention and most likely the Elder Counsel as well. So I'll prepare myself for that but you two have to keep your relationship a private affair now. Perhaps don't even be in contact with each other once we get back since that might show there's nothing happening between the two of you" he suggested.
"So we have to keep our distance from each other?" Hiccup asked, just for clarification.
"Don't worry. I'll inform the both of you of when you have to not see each other. Remember, this is for your own benefit" he said. The two young adults nodded their heads in agreement. "Now, get onto your dragons and help tow our ships to port" he said. The two of them immediately hopped onto their dragons and flew to the ships that had to be towed first.
'Things just became more complicated' Stoick thought.