"Well I hope that we can continue to help you out then." Stoick puffed out his chest. "Your dedication to this is remarkable. You should be proud of yourself for getting this far."
"Thanks." Hiccup blushed a little. "But I didn't do it alone and I've had plenty of help along the way. Including yours, so I should be thanking you really."
"My help? I don't know if chasing you down is considered help."
"Not that. But you did force me to come along with you basically any day I didn't have anything else to do. Made me sit through boring talks about livestock, and peoples fences. How many times do you have to tell someone that they can fix it themselves before they get it? I know it's not easy to do alone when the whole thing falls over and the sheep get out. But like two posts would be broken and you'd get called out.
But there were also important lessons like land disputes, injuries, or fires. There's always something on fire there. How? I live with dragons and have less issues with fire?"
"That's because they know how dangerous it is, son. Somehow after all this time humans don't understand that fire is hot. The only person who hasn't burnt something down is Gobber, and that's probably because he's around it all the time." Stoick pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Oh come now Stoick, we burned plenty of things when we were kids."
"Exactly. Kids. Some people I swear don't know that taking the fire out of the hearth is dangerous. Oh you were trying to light a candle with a log from the fire. Well your whole house is a candle now so now we have to deal with that."
"I do suppose that has happened before and maybe too often." Gobber admitted.
"We don't even get attacked by the dragons anymore and still somehow ended up with nearly as many houses burnt down." Stock complained.
"Somehow that is true." Gobber agreed. He looked over to Hiccup. "Your dragons gonna burn down stuff?"
"I'm sure it'll happen. Though I've never had a fire in our wood pile before, so there's that." Hiccup admitted. "So it sounds like they won't be the issue. Plus there are plenty of them who could help put them out. Feels like you'll need them. Though to also be fair the grass fire we set yesterday did almost get out of control."
"A grass fire is one thing but you know how Berk is. One starts up and three get taken with it."
"Not like there's much you can do about that though." Hiccup shrugged. "With the cliffs on one end and the forest on the other. Gotta pack them together and you can't really shrink down the farms without causing other issues. I remember it being a mess there but that's just how it has to be. And it would take so much effort to uproot the trees at the edge of the village that it isn't worth it." Hiccup paused to think. "Although with the dragons there it probably wouldn't be that bad to cut the trees down and uproot the trunks. I bet someone like Skullcrusher or any other Rumblehorn, or large species could do it by themselves."
"Hmm." Stoick pondered. "Expansion would be necessary if they come. I'll have to think about where to expand. Need to think about where we'd be able to defend if necessary. When I get back I'll do some surveying and find somewhere that we can use."
"So are we gonna put this deer on the fire or what?" One of the other humans asked. "Yeah. As much we like listening to you discuss all this, I'm pretty sure the Nightmare's stomach just growled." Another added.
yes." Stoick laughed. He stood up and dusted himself off. "Alright who's gonna help cut all this up for everyone?" A few from the group stood up and helped hold while Stoick cut pieces off. Soon the meat was divided and the dragons began to eat their portions, with the humans putting theirs over the fire. A calm came over the group. Some closing their eyes and others laying down. The smell of cooking meat and the sound of dragons munching and the crackling of the fire filled the air. Hiccup couldn't help but smile at the scene in front of him. Toothless pressed his snout into Hiccup's shoulder.
"Happy?" He whispered. Hiccup put his arm around his dragon's head and squeezed lightly. "It's good to see you this way." Toothless observed Hiccup a while longer. Glad that his mate could have this moment of rest before returning home and the chaos of it all. Especially with uncertainty hanging in the air. He didn't like the ominous warning they'd gotten and all the dragons sent out to check on it who hadn't returned. He worried that without the ability to control their hoard they could lose them in a fight. Their people's loyalty would only go so far when faced with something you can't fight against. He wondered if the people they'd sent off were trapped wherever they were. Being controlled by the Bewilderbeast they'd been warned about. And that they'd been told that it was being chased by something was another huge concern. From what he knew Bewilderbeast take total control of wherever they live. Immensely powerful and as big as they come. If it was running from something he couldn't even fathom what. The Nightfury sighed to himself. Whatever it was they'd have to be careful. He didn't want to get caught up in the middle of something that wasn't their problem and lose everything they'd worked for. Thinking about Hiccup losing everything put a fire in his belly. Anger rose up in him and smoke began to slowly billow from his snout and mouth. He was startled when he felt something travel up along his throat.
"Save your anger Toothless." Hiccup scratched under his dragon's chin. "You'll need it if we have to go to war."
"I apologize." Toothless whispered. "Started having a bad thought."
"It's okay bud. I'd rather you be angry than afraid right now. It's just that you're freaking them out." Toothless looked the humans who were all not staring at him but were keeping an eye on him.
"Probably think I'm about to go crazy or something."
"I think it's just a concerning sight for them to see a Nightfury with smoke coming from it's mouth and growling to itself."
"I suppose it would be. I apologize again."
"What were you even thinking about?" Hiccup asked.
"You losing everything." Toothless admitted.
"That won't happen." Hiccup said confidently.
"That's because I won't let it."
"I know."
