Back to the village
Hiccups POV:
As I lay in my bed I felt the sun warmth of the rising sun gently caress my face through the window of my bedroom. I slowly opened my eyes and sat up in my bed before rubbing the sleep out of my eyes muttering the things that needed to be done today before I realized that today I had to go see the village since I did promise them and if I didn't then chances are it would come back to bite me later on. Knowing this I got up and got ready for the day by grabbing a towel and heading down to the hot springs for a morning bath to wake me up. As I walked down the stairs I couldn't help but start wondering about this cave I call home. If I do move back into the village what would I do with it since I put so much work into it and it wouldn't feel right to just leave it to fall apart. I shrugged and figured it was going to be a long time before I ever thought of moving back into the village if ever. As I left through the door at the bottom of the steps I absent mindedly rubbed Bidzills head as I walked past him before walking to the middle of the room and whistled signaling everyone that it was time for a meeting. Fortunately I had trained my dragons and animals to come immediately should I ever whistle like that. They all surrounded me as I said.
"Okay guys today I'm going to go back to the village for a visit." They all gave roars, barks or hisses at this. I raised my hands gently to calm them down. "Easy guys I don't like it either but I made a promise." They didn't look pleased at this. "Don't worry I won't be going to the village unescorted." I turned to Angel. "Okay Angel you fly to the village and stay hidden but keep an eye out for trouble." She growled before I turned to Shadow and Bidzill before kneeling down in front of them. "Okay boys you'll be coming with me to the village and stay at my sides the entire time should anyone act violent go for the legs since we don't need any bodies in the village." They growled at this before I turned to Snowflake and Wyanet. "You girls will be staying behind and keeping an eye on the pups." They growled in understanding at this before I turned to Toothless. "Sorry bud but we can't have you come with us since it could cause a ruckus in the village and that's the last thing we need."
He growled at this but other than that didn't protest as I turned to everyone else and gave them their jobs for the day which was pretty normal stuff like wood gathering, fishing, tunneling, looking after the young, guarding, etc. After that we just had breakfast before Diggs gave my wolf escorts and me a ride to the nearest forest entrance where we walked the rest of the way to the village.
When we arrived I saw it was mostly deserted meaning that everyone was up at the great hall eating breakfast still which is no surprise since I think most Vikings have two stomachs except my dad who probably has four. I let out a small chuckle to myself as I walked to the forge to see if Gobber was in. As I approached the forge I heard the sound of a hammer being hit against metal meaning Gobber was in there working on a weapon. As I got to the forge I noticed that it seemed to be closed since the service window and door was shut so I knocked on the window only to receive an annoyed reply of Gobber who said.
"Me shop is closed for the day so if you want a weapon repaired or made come back tomorrow." I smiled at the voice of my dear old mentor before saying sarcastically.
"And what if I just wanted to drop by and say hi to my old mentor?"
The sound of metal being pounded stopped before I heard the hurried sound of a foot and peg leg on the ground before the service window burst open showing Gobber with a shocked face which quickly turned into a happy smile when he saw me as he said.
"Hiccup! You finally came by the village lad." He walked through the door.
"I promised didn't I?" He chuckled!
"You've been gone for so long everybody's thinking you forgot." I chuckled!
"I never forgot but something did come up." He opened his mouth to reply but then took notice of the two wolves at my sides.
"Nice wolves lad." I smiled as I absent-mindedly rubbed the heads of my wolves.
"Thanks! I figured I'd bring these two instead of any of my dragons since they might have caused a panic."
"Good call lad! Now what's this thing that came up?" I scratched the back of my head.
"It's a bit of a long story Gobber."
"Well you can tell it at the great hall because a lot of people have been wanting to know what you've been up to and that includes me."
I smiled at him before we began our walk to the great hall with my wolves giving the occasional growl to Gobber when they felt he got to close. When we arrived at the doors to the great hall Gobber turned to me and asked.
"Well lad are you ready to face the village?" I gave him a nod before he pushed open the doors and much to my annoyance he walked right in front of me and yelled. "HEY EVERYBODY HICCUPS BACK!"
The second he said that everyone immediately turned their heads to the door where I was standing. A few seconds later I was swarmed and bombarded with questions but fortunately my wolves growls, barks and ripping Mulch's hook of to get them all to back off. Once everyone had calmed down I was able to find a seat and throw a bone to each of my wolves whom immediately lay down and began chewing on them. It was then my dad walked up to me causing my wolves to stop chewing and growl at him. I looked at them and rubbed their head saying.
"Easy guys!" They stopped growling but still kept their guard up. He looked at his feet as he said.
"It's been a while Hiccup. I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to visit." I simply shrugged.
"Would've come back sooner if I hadn't ended up with a detour to the Egyptian city of Alexandria on my way back from the Mayans." Everyone stopped what he or she was doing and turned to stare at me before Mulch asked.
"You went to an Egyptian city?" I turned to him.
"It wasn't intentional." Fishlegs then asked.
"How could you end up in a city that's said to be one of the greatest cities unintentionally?"
"Well I was on my way out of the jungle but got caught in a storm and tossed around a bit and got lost. We travelled a bit looking for a place where we could either get a map or help us figure out our location before we ended up in Alexandria." Gobber then stepped forward.
"What did you do in Alexandria that would take so long? I'm sure asking for directions wouldn't have been that difficult." I turned to him.
"Things got a little bit complicated Gobber." He raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Long story!"
"I've got time!" He then pulled up a chair. I was about to reply when the annoyed grunts and bleats of a sheep could be heard from the entrance.
A few seconds later Mildew passed through the small crowd that had formed around me and as soon as his eyes landed on me a scowl formed on his face before he asked my father.
"What's he doing here?" I merely turned to him and replied.
"I was about to tell everyone what I got up to while in Egypt Mildew." He glared at me.
"Well you shouldn't be here since all you ever bring is trouble." There were a few murmurs of agreement in the crowd. "Every time you've come into this village with one of those contraptions of yours it always ends in disaster and with those beasts of yours it will only bring more chaos." Then people began to yell out in agreement. "When are you going to realize how you're useless and will never-" He stopped when Gobber grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up.
"Utter another word and I'll run you through!" I knew it was time for me to intervene so I stood up and walked over to Gobber gently patting his shoulder.
"Easy Gobber. He's not worth it!" He nodded before dropping Mildew.
"You're nothing but trouble which shouldn't be in-" I cut him off.
"Shadow! Restrain him!" He did so quickly pinning the old man to the floor and growling at him in the face as Mildew shivered in fear. "You know hearing you call me useless is pretty funny since you're the useless one compared to me now after all I'm a dragon trainer, beast trainer, friend to an emperor and queen of great cities, blacksmith and so much more while you are just a pathetic old man who does nothing but complain and grow cabbage which you let go bad."
There were murmurs of agreement before I signaled Shadow to get off him and he did so hesitantly before he got up and once he did he immediately left the great hall. I smiled as I absent mindedly rubbed Shadows head in thanks. It was then I felt a hand on my shoulder so I turned and found it to be Gobber as he asked.
"You okay lad?" I nodded.
"Yeah just annoyed." He nodded before I smiled. "Now where was I before I was interrupted?" He chuckled.
"You were about to tell us about your trip to Egypt." I nodded before sitting down and telling everyone present what I did in Egypt.
1 hour later
I stood up and stretched before saying.
"And that's pretty much all I did in Egypt." Everyone was looking at me amazed. "Well is that all because if not then I'll be going for a stroll." As I began walking to the door Gobber stepped in front of me.
"Actually lad work at the forge has been piling up since you left so think you can help old Gobber out?" I smiled.
"Always!"
He smiled before leading me to the forge with my wolves not far behind. As we walked Gobber asked.
"So you planning to talk to your father today." I looked at him annoyed by the question.
"Not planning on it today and not planning on doing it anytime soon." He sighed.
"You can't stay mad at him forever lad and eventually you're going to have to face him." I looked down at the floor.
"I know but it's just so hard to forgive him after the years of torment I've gone through and how he did nothing but watch it happen."
Gobber gave me a comforting pat on the back as we reached the forge. As we entered my eyes widened at the sight of the large piles of weapons that needed repairs and sharpening before saying.
"Sheesh Gobber you weren't kidding when you said work had been piling up." He scratched the back of his head and let out a nervous laugh.
"Well after so many years of having you to work with I got so used to having you around I fell out of rhythm with working on my own."
"Nice to know you care." He chuckled before we got to work.
Work was pretty normal and it did feel good to be back in the forge with Gobber and his bad jokes. I enjoyed being in the forge with Gobber again since when I was a kid this place felt more like home then my actual home probably because nobody was yelling at me for some mess I caused. As I sharpened a sword Gobber said.
"You know lad I would have a lot less work to do if I had that recipe for that metal you use to make your weapons."
"First of all the metal is called gronkle iron and second of all why would you have less work to do?"
"Well stronger weapons means they'll take longer to damage meaning less work for me." I rolled my eyes.
"Sorry Gobber but I'm not giving you the recipe." He frowned and asked in a desperate tone of voice.
"Why not?"
"It means I'd have to train a gronkle for you to make the iron and that'll just give Mildew more to complain about. Besides I'd rather wait a while and wait for everyone to get used to me being around again first." He cocked an eyebrow.
"Good point!" It was then an idea came to me.
"Hey how about this? Every time I come back to the village I bring a few chunks of Gronkle iron for you to use."
"Now that sounds like a good idea Hiccup." I smiled at him before I remembered something so I looked at Gobber with a sly smile.
"By the way Gobber how's your rash doing?"
"A lot better now that the gel is getting on it but I could do without the complaints from Snotlout and the twins when they apply it."
I chuckle before I turned to the door only to find my father walking in. Once he was in I asked him.
"Here to pick up a weapon?" He turned to me uneasily.
"Actually I was hoping we could talk." I looked away.
"Sorry but me and Gobber have too much work to do right now." Gobber then took my shoulder and pulled me away from the grindstone before he said.
"Don't worry lad a small break won't hurt anyone."
But I could tell he really just wanted my dad and me to talk. I knew that Gobber wouldn't leave me alone on this subject so I gave in and said.
"Okay but not in here since it'll be hard to talk over the pounding metal." He nodded before we walked out with my wolves following. Once we had reached apart of town that was pretty much deserted this time of day we stopped but as my dad opened his mouth to speak I said.
"Before you say anything just know that if you try to convince me to move back into the village, spend the night or say that the way I was treated wasn't your fault I will punch you in the face so hard your father in Valhalla will feel it." His eyes widened at this before he sighed.
"I'm not going to try convince you to do anything Hiccup or say it wasn't my fault. What I wanted to say was I'm sorry for everything and that I'm proud to call you my son." I cocked an eyebrow at this. "After you left I looked back over the years and how I'd been treating you. I thought by letting you handle things yourself like being bullied it would help you learn how to take care of yourself. I never considered the pain you were in after those beatings until after Gothi told me about all your trips to get the bruises and broken bones tended to by her. I never should have just dropped you on Gobber but I thought if I did you'd at least be safer during the raids instead of with the fire brigade. I shouldn't have called you a disappointment and the worst Viking Berks ever seen but those words were out of anger and not how I truly felt. I know that there were times when I should've been your father instead of your chief and I am truly sorry for everything I did but if you want to take a shot at me I won't stop you." Looking in his eyes I saw his pain, regret and how sorry he truly was and at the end of the day he was still my father and knew he loved me so I knew it was time to forgive.
"I can tell you really are sorry so I'm willing to forgive but you have a lot of making up to do." He looked at me surprised.
"So you forgive me?" His voice was full of hope as I nodded.
"But first!" I then delivered a hard punch to his stomach making him fall to his knees in pain as he wrapped his arms around his stomach.
"Yep I deserved that." I chuckled before helping him up as he let out a breathless laugh. "You really have been working out."
"Had to do something in my spare time." After that we began our walk back to the forge.
When he could walk without difficulty we were in Town Square with the forge in sight that is when we parted ways with me going back to the forge and dad returning to his chiefly duties. As I got back to work in the forge I saw a group of five men walking towards the forge. I recognized them as one of the groups of slightly older villagers who used to insult or trip me for fun but the thing that bothered me the most were their egos since they were worse than Snotlout with their constant bragging and thinking themselves better than everyone. Once they reached the window the one in the middle walked up and said.
"Hey Hiccup how's it going?" I shrugged.
"Can't complain. Why?" He gave an arrogant smirk.
"Well me and the boys were just wondering if you'd be up for a friendly little duel." I turned to him and shrugged.
"Why not I could use a bit of practice against some real opponents." I saw them smile before the middle guy said.
"Be at the arena in one hour then."
I nodded before they walked off. Once they were gone I couldn't help but smile since I saw the look in their eyes and saw they still believed me to be weak and I was looking forward to proving them wrong.
1 hour later
I was standing in the middle of the arena shirtless with my armor resting against the wall with my two wolves guarding it and Angel blending in above the arena should something bad happen. Surrounding the arena were multiple villagers wanting a good view of the fight probably just to see the different ways I've learnt to fight. Sitting in front of the crowd on his chair was none other than my father who was looking at me worried probably thinks I still couldn't take care of myself. I remember how I had to convince him that I'd be fine and to not call off the fight when he found out. It was then the group of five walked in each wearing confident grins. Once they had reached the middle and were standing in front of me my dad stood up and said the rules such as no weapons, last man still standing wins, they were each to face me one at a time, etc. The winner would receive a token of their choice to commemorate their victory and I admit if it was a piece of my armor or a weapon I wouldn't care so much but then the male in the middle stepped forward and said.
"Those wolves of yours are going to look good at my sides when I beat you Hiccup."
Hearing this my blood boiled before the other four laughed and backed away to give us some space as I glared daggers at my new opponent. It was then my dad yelled.
"BEGIN!" Signaling the start of the battle and when he did the groups' leader stepped forward.
"Don't worry Hiccup I'll make-"
I cut him off by giving him a hard and fast punch to the face and as soon as my fist pulled away he fell backwards unconscious. The fight with him didn't even last one minute and by the looks on the faces of everyone around the arena they couldn't believe it. It was hard to tell if they were in shock by how short the fight was or by how strong I had become. I decided to break the silence and simply said.
"Who's next?" At this everyone started to cheer before two men came in and dragged the unconscious body of my fallen opponent out of the arena as the next man stepped up.
Five minutes later
Everyone was cheering me as the last of the five fell unconscious at my feet after a strong punch to the stomach followed by a hard kick to the face. After the leader of their little group went down the other four were all to eager to test their strength against me. Sadly for them none of them lasted more than a minute. You ask me they just needed to learn how to take a punch. As a token of my victory over each of them I took their helmets as mementos since they weren't carrying anything else I could take that wasn't an article of clothing on their body. Besides the helmets would look good hung on the wall of my trophy room. After I had put the helmets in my bag and got my armor back on which got a few groans and wines from Ruffnut who asked me to leave it off I decided I should go grab some lunch at the great hall.
Once I had sat down for lunch my wolves took their places at my sides where I tossed each of them a chicken leg while I had a chicken leg and some bread. As I chowed down I listened to everyone chat and talk but unfortunately it was mostly about my fight and how I had taken those guys down so easily. I even heard one guy say maybe I should be called 'One Punch Hiccup' since I could take an opponent down with one punch so easily. After I settled in however it wasn't long before I was once again crowded but this crowd was mostly villagers who were impressed with my skills. All saying what an amazing fight it was and how I should start sharing my training secrets with them or teach them some of the moves I used in the arena. I sighed in annoyance not liking all the attention but fortunately neither did my wolves that proceeded to growl and snap at some people making the crowd thin but not completely disappear. Unfortunately the group that didn't disappear consisted of girls who spent their time either staring at me or flirting with me. Ruffnut who was sitting next to me was staring at me and much to my discomfort was stroking my arm as she said.
"You know I'm more than willing to forgive you for all the gel I've had to rub on Gobbers rash if you take me out for dinner." I simply glanced at her.
"Never happening!" But she just smiled.
"Never say never Hiccup." It was then Gobber came up before he pulled her away.
"Speaking of your punishment it's time for you to start rubbing." She looked at Gobber annoyed.
"Isn't that rash of yours healed yet?" He glared at her.
"It's nearly there and would be done by now if you and those two pains you suffer your punishment with didn't skip your punishment for three days when you hid in the forest during the time which you were meant to rub on the gel."
Before dragging her off as she said it wasn't her fault. I was grateful Ruff was gone but not even a minute later another girl took her place and went on about how a special guy like me needed a good wife who could cook for me and take care of me when I got home from a long day. I knew this girl and how her mother was one of those housewives who helped with the wounded after the raids and it wasn't long before another girl interrupted her saying how what I really needed was a wife who could help me in battle and training. It went on like this for a while and it reminded me of the feasts with the Mayans but Gukumatz chased off the Mayan girls so it wasn't that much trouble. Unfortunately Gukumatz wasn't here so I had to deal with these girls since I couldn't have my wolves chase them off without getting complaints from their parents. Lunch pretty much continued like this with girls flirting with me and telling me how they'd make good wives in the future. By the end of lunch I was ready to scream so loud I'm pretty sure Odin would come down from Valhalla and tell me to keep it down.
I walked down to the forge with my wolves at my sides once again and unfortunately some of the girls still following me. It was then I saw people heading towards the dock. I pulled one of the people heading to the dock aside and asked.
"What's going on?" She smiled at me.
"Trader Johan is arriving at port."
Hearing this I was grateful that I brought a few gold coins from Egypt and some nightfury scales with me to trade as I joined the crowd who were rushing to the docks. Once I arrived Johan was in the middle of laying down his gangplank as he sighed and said.
"Berk my favorite of all the islands I travel to."
I smiled as Johan went and did his salesman pitch before I boarded but had my wolves wait on the dock before I began going over what Johan had. I really didn't see anything of interest and was going to leave until I heard Johan say.
"Sorry lad but I'm afraid I can't sell that to you for such a small price."
I turned around and saw Johan talking to a young boy who I think was about six years old who was looking downcast at a small toy dragon he had in his hand. I remember the feeling every time my dad didn't get me a gift for my birthday so I walked up to Johan and asked.
"What's going on here Johan?" He turned to me and smiled.
"Oh nothing to concern you master Hiccup just a small boy who can't afford a toy he wanted to buy." I turned my attention to the boy who had tears welling up in his eyes before I pulled out an Egyptian coin.
"Will this be enough to pay for the boys toy? It's solid gold and from Egypt."
"Of course master Hiccup." I gave Johan the coin before he turned to the child. "Well lad you should thank Hiccup here because he just paid for that toy of yours."
Before walking away to tend to his other customers. As I watched him walk away before I felt something grab my leg before I looked down and saw the small boy hugging my leg with the toy he wanted in one hand and a big smile on his face as he said.
"Thank you Mr. Hiccup!" I just petted his head.
"No problem kid."
Before he ran off with his new toy while I continued to browse but I did wonder who that boy was since I don't recognize him. I shrugged and continued to browse and by the end I had some new books for my library since the other stuff Johan had I could either make for myself or already had.
After that I went back to the forge to finish up the weapon repairs before I left to go home. As I worked more than a few girls came by to talk to me but luckily Gobber shooed them away saying the forge was not a place to talk but a place to work. I always gave him a grateful smile when he did and he gave me a nod in reply before we'd get back to work. It wasn't until a young woman with blond hair came to the window and I knew she wasn't here to flirt since she was twice my age by the looks of things so I walked up to the window and said.
"Hello and what can I do for you today?" She just smiled.
"You've already done something for me today and I just wanted to thank you for it." I was confused by what she meant since I'd never seen this woman.
"What did I do?"
"You bought my son that toy he wanted from trader Johan."
"That boy is your son?" She nodded.
"Yes me and my family are visiting relatives here on Berk. My name is Alva Hofferson." My eyes widened.
"You're a Hofferson?" She nodded.
"Yes I believe you know my niece Astrid. Her father is my brother-in-law and he's told me a lot about you Hiccup so I hope to see you again."
Before walking off as I stood there in shock at the revelation of who the mother of the child was since I didn't even know Mr. Hofferson had a brother. I eventually shook off my shock before I got back to work in the forge.
Four hours later
I was done with the village for the day and I had to say it wasn't so bad. Besides the little issue with Mildew, the girls constant flirting and the group I fought demanding a rematch when they had each come to. On the brighter side of things I got some new books, helped Gobber get back up to date with his work in the forge, brought a smile to the face of a child, got to release some steam while gaining new trophies and talk things over with my dad. All in all it wasn't a bad day so I could go home with a smile and come back to the village with little urge to hurt anyone. Right now I was at the edge of the forest with the helmets I won and the books I bought from Johan in my bag. In front of me was my dad and Gobber who were there seeing me off since it would be a few days or weeks before I came back to the village. I looked at them and said.
"Well as promised I came back to the village for a visit and now it's time for me to take my leave." Gobber walked up.
"Come back soon lad and bring back a few chunks of that gronkle iron you promised." I smiled at him and nodded.
"You got it Gobber." He then pulled me into a hug.
"Gonna miss you lad."
"Going to miss you to Gobber." Once he let go I turned to my dad.
"Come back soon Hiccup and again I'm sorry for everything." I gave him a nod before turning around and going into the forest. After that it wasn't long before we got to the forests tunnel entrance and were on our way home.
When we got home everyone of course greeted us. While my dragons and animals greeted me, As for Shadow and Bidzill their families who were more than happy to have them back home greeted them. Not much happened after the greetings other than me sorting out the new books and hanging up the helmets on the wall in the trophy room. After that I told everyone what had happened in Glacias' cove so she wouldn't feel left out. After filling them all in I knew one thing and that my trips into the village won't be easy in the future between the girls flirting and chance are after the fight I'm going to be getting more challengers wanting to take me on which leaves me to wonder what else the future holds for me and my family of dragons and animals.
AN: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and will give me positive feedback on it because it might be the last for a while since I'm going to start work on an actual crime novel now that I've completed my writing course and I hope that my work will be published one day after it's completion. So until the next chapter there is a new poll up so please vote for what you want Hiccup to do next and have a nice day.