"There is someone outside looking for you. Say's they need to talk."

"Oh, okay." Hiccup quickly stood up and started walking towards the door. "Oh, did he say who he is?"

"Say's his name is Eret."

Cami laughed, it seemed a little forced to Astrid. "Oh, it's just Eret. You made me think it was someone important."

"Eret is a friend of mine." Hiccup explained. "He's probably just here to update me on Drago."

Hiccup and Cami continued on but Astrid and Stoic locked eyes and she could tell he was just as suspicious as she was.

"I never said it was a man." Stoic whispered to her.

"I think Hiccup knew he was coming." Astrid supplied. "He seemed to be waiting for someone."

Stoic nodded as they followed behind Hiccup out of the Great Hal. A couple of people were calmly waiting and talking to each other. It took Astrid a minute to spot the new arrival, she only noticed him because of the tattoo on his chin, otherwise he looked like a typical Viking. Tall, dark hair, bulky arms; the standard Viking look. He saw them coming out and she could see him smile.

"Hiccup!" He called out as he tried to make his way over only to be held back by the Vikings that he was just talking to.

"No, no. It's okay, Eret is a friend of mine." Hiccup announced. The Vikings let him go.

"Eret," Hiccup locked arms with Eret. "It's good to see you."

"You too. Good to see you haven't gone and gotten yourself hurt again."

"Oh, he did." Cami popped out from behind Hiccup. "Got a nice sword slice right on his side here."

Eret gave a big sigh as he shook his head. "Are you atleast taking care of it?"

"I can assure you I am taking care of my son." Stoic stepped forward to stand behind Hiccup. It was obvious Stoic wanted a proper introduction to his son's friend. However, Eret just looked between father and son for a second, obviously surprised.

"He's your dad?" Eret finally spoke.

"Yeah." Hiccup nodded.

"This guy?"

"Yep."

"This mountain of a man?"

"I told you, didn't I?"

"But you're so….you, and he's so…."

"Ah, tha's what we all thought." Gobber hobbled over to Eret, as if he could sense Stoic getting angry. "I've known both of 'em for a long time and I can assure you, they're both stubborn idiots."

"Hey!"

"Really, Gobber?"

"Wha'? It's true." Gobber shrugged off the Haddock men's annoyed faces and introduced himself to the newcomer.

"Gobber the Belch, Berk's finest Blacksmith."

"Eret, son of Eret. I've been looking for Hiccup since he went missing a week ago." He gave Hiccup a pointed look.

"I know, I know. I should've sent a message, I'll do better next time." Hiccup didn't seem all that sorry. "Eret, this is my dad. Stoic the Vast, Chief of Berk, Head of the Hooligan tribe."

Stoic nodded at the man.

"Dad this is Eret, son of Eret. A fellow dragon trapper and close friend. We work together to stop Drago."

"I'm basically Hiccup's right hand man." Eret puffed up proudly.

Cami poked Eret's arm. "Don't let Thuggary hear you say that."

Hiccup mumbled something while rolling his eyes.

"Speaking of, I'm not just here to check up on you." Eret took a serious tone. "Dagur is looking for you."

"Dagur?" Stoic asked in concern.

"Why? Did something happen?" Hiccup didn't seem too surprised by the news.

Eret shrugged. "Don't know. He just said he wants to talk to you and Heather."

"I don't know if that's a good idea. We haven't had a good relationship with the Berserkers since Oswald was killed." Stoic said in his quiet voice, which wasn't actually that quiet.

"Now you say that! You forced me to play with Dagur growing up but now he's bad news?" Hiccup looked annoyed at his dad.

"You have to admit he's not very trustworthy." Astrid interrupted. She never actually met Dagur but the stories were more than enough to convince her he's no good.

"He used to be yeah, but he's calmed down. Went from trying to kill me to viewing me as a brother, then trying to kill me again, then deciding he's my brother again. We're in a good spot right now." Hiccup nodded along.

"Or, it's time for him to switch back to wanting you dead." Smirked Cami.

"You're not helping." Hiccup deadpanned.

Eret butted in. "It really doesn't matter because he's already on his way."

Stoic squinted his eyes. "How?"

"What?" Eret looked at him in a bit of shock.

"You only just arrived and confirmed Hiccup is here. Why would Dagur already be on his way?" Stoic glared at Eret who's eyes went wide.

"Ahh, Yes. Fair question." Eret sputtered under Stoic's suspicious gaze. "Well, you see, me and Heather had been looking for Hiccup when we heard there was a stranger on Berk. And he matched Hiccup's description so she went to tell Dagur and I came here. If Hiccup wasn't here I would have gone back to the ship and we would've looked somewhere else."

Stoic nodded while continuing to glare at the man, not fully trusting his story.

"So," Hiccup put himself between Eret and his dad with an awkward laugh. "When do you think Dagur will get here?"

"Probably tonight or tomorrow. Dagur didn't want to get too far away from Heather in case she ran off. Again." Eret chuckled.

Hiccup started leading Eret up the stairs. "And you guys say I'm the one whose always moving around."

"You are just as bad as Heather." Eret retorted.

Hiccup gasped. "I am not."

Astrid watched as the two continued up the stairs. She looked to see Stoic and Gobber were just as surprised as she was.

"Well," Gobber started. "It's nice ta know Hiccup's made a friend." He then hobbled off to put a few of the men on lookout for Dagur's arrival.

"I don't know about him." Stoic confided in her, still eyeing Eret. "I don't trust trappers, and if he's the one Hiccup's told us about then he worked for Drago. Maybe he still does?"

"Hiccup trusts him, so-"

"Aye. My son has always been too trusting." Stoic shock his head sadly. "There's still so much for him to learn."

Astrid kept her mouth shut as Stoic made his way up the stairs. He has a right to be suspicious, as she knows Hiccup is hiding things from them, but Hiccup isn't as trusting as Stoic thinks he is. A part of her was sure Stoic had his reasons but after getting to know Hiccup and seeing how Stoic talks to Hiccup she's not sure how much she believes that. Astrid told herself that he just needs time to get to know Hiccup as he his now, like she did, then he'll come to trust Hiccup's judgment too. She was sure of it, even if she had to make him see it herself.

Astrid turned back inside just to have Ruffnut pounce on her before she even walked in.

"WHo iS thAt!?" Ruffnut wheezed in Astrid's ear while squeezing her arm to the point it was starting to go numb.

"Hiccup's friend Eret." Astrid supplied with a wince, trying to free her arm from Ruffnut's jagged finger nails. "He's here to check up on Hiccup and-"

"I call dibs!" Ruff yelled at her before running off to, literally, throw herself at Eret. He didn't even try to catch her, not that Ruffnut cared. She crawled over and wrapped herself around his leg. Eret tried to shake her off to no avail.

It's not the first time she's seen Ruff go boy crazy but it's still just as weird. At least her antics caused the women that had been surrounding Hiccup and Eret to retreat, for now. Her eye's then caught a glimpse of Fishlegs in the corner. He looked sad and defeated, heartbroken that Ruff is going nuts over some other guy. It's true that she's gotten like this before, but it had been a couple years and the two had grown very close. He must of thought she would at least have some decency.

Astrid shock her head. Even if Ruff and Fish had started dating she knew Ruff would ditch him for the first hot guy that walked by. While she felt sorry for her friend, she also thought Fishlegs should have known better. Ruffnut was not the type of person to commit herself to one guy if she though there was something better. At least he's learning this now, right? And with Ruffnut so obsessed with Eret she won't have to keep an eye on him, Ruff will do it for her. And she'll actually do a decent job!

It's obvious Eret is one of the dragon riders from this morning. Astrid thought. At the very least there are two dragon riders here, that just leaves one left. Maybe laying low in the woods? Keeping the dragons under control?

The thought of dragons hiding out on Berk made her skin itch. An uncomfortable feeling like ants running over her arms, legs, and chest. It would be the same as finding out Outcast were hiding on Berk! Her body wanted to jump into action, to exterminate the threat! But her mind knew better. Astrid looked to Hiccup. He looked happy introducing Eret to the others, so relaxed and calm. Even with the news that Dagur was on his way Hiccup continued with the party with no signs of concern. That was enough to put her mind at peace, for now. But one wrong move from Eret and Astrid would be having a little talk with him.

The party continued along, through the day, into dinner, and it was well into the evening now. As she suspected anywhere Eret went Ruffnut followed, much to his annoyance, even though he stayed by Hiccup's side most of the time. He was gracious about it, simply making a face when she would wrap her arms around him and shove her away. She almost felt bad for him by the end of the night. After talking to him a bit he seemed decent, maybe a little bit of a show-off but nowhere near as bad as Snotlout so she's okay with him. And he had plenty of stories about him and Hiccup. It was nice to finally get some insight into Hiccup's life, and it was even funnier to see Hiccup stuttering out an explanations for his past's actions.

"You really know how to get into trouble, don't you?" Astrid smirked at Hiccup after Eret finished telling a story about the time they, somehow, got stranded on a ghost ship.

"What can I say, I have a talent." Hiccup shrugged.

The Vikings around them laughed, one even gave Hiccup a slap on the back before going their way to find food or to listen in on someone else's stories. The background was a buzz with the rest of Berk partying, at some point people had even started playing music.

"Oww." Hiccup rubbed his back. Astrid laughed into her hand to muffle it but Hiccup heard and gave her unimpressed look.

Suddenly a plate of food was put in front of Hiccup.

"Doing the rounds and it looked like you could use more food." One of the younger mead maidens said. She gave Hiccup a wink and sauntered away, swinging her hips as she moved.

Seriously?! I'm sitting right here! Astrid mentally screamed, a sour look on her face.

It was the fifth time someone came by to flirt with Hiccup. A part of her wanted to get the girl in trouble for giving out free food, but it's a party and it's not like Stoic isn't good for it. For Hiccup's part he either didn't realize they were flirting with him or was just confused by the whole interaction. Astrid already hated any kind of flirting (you can blame Snotlout for that) but never realized how annoying it was to hang around someone who's constantly getting hit on.

"Oh, goody. Eel." Hiccup complained while poking his food.

"You don't like eel?" Astrid asked.

"Who actually likes eel?" Hiccup chuckled.

"I do!" She shoved his shoulder, laughing along.

"Then," Hiccup reached over her to grab one of her leftover plates. "I'll trade you my eel for your side of radishes." He slide his plate in front of her.

"A deal where you get the short end of the stick? Fine by me!" Astrid smiled and started to eat the deliciously cooked eel in front of her.

"The short end? I've tasted leather that was better than eel!"

"You've eaten leather?" Astrid gave him a playful smile.

"No! Sometimes my hands are full and I need to use my teeth to hold stuff. Oh what? Like you've never done that!"

Astrid laughed at him and went back to eating. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him smile back before popping a radish into his mouth. One after another he flicked them into his mouth mindlessly as he talked to the others. She couldn't help but watch him curiously while he even threw one in the air to catch in his mouth. The other's didn't notice as Snotlout was daring Eret to arm wrestle him, for the eighth time that night.

"Why do you eat them like that?" She finally asked.

"Like what?" Hiccup gave a confused look.

"You, like, flick them into you your mouth." She grabbed a meatball from Fishlegs's, uneaten, plate and tried to copy what Hiccup does.

She missed. The meatball bounced off her top lip, rolled across the table, and fell onto the floor. She froze, wide eyed, hand over her mouth. She looked over to Hiccup who's lips were pressed in a thin line but she could still see the amused look in his eyes. They looked at each other for a second before both started laughing hysterically. Astrid laughed so loud and for so long her stomach began to ache. After they both calmed down a little they looked up to see Eret and all the other's looking at them as if they both grew two heads. She wanted to laugh again but tried her best to hold it in. She refused to look at Hiccup knowing he was doing the same. Really, it wasn't even that funny.

She heard Hiccup stifle a laugh, which made her laughter harder to hold in. Next thing she knew she was laughing again. She couldn't remember the last time she laughed like this. Tears started forming in her eyes she was laughing so hard! She was vaguely aware that Hiccup had leaned onto her from his own laughter. Head thrown back, hand on his stomach as his body tilted into hers while she had to hold onto the table to not be knocked over by her own laughter.

"What?! What happened?!" She heard Snotlout yell.

"I think they finally lost it." Tuffnut said mournfully.

Hiccup was somehow able to wheeze out that it was nothing, but since the two of them were still laughing the group didn't believe him. She waved them off, wiping the tears from her eyes and trying to get herself under control. It really wasn't that funny so it was pointless to explain what happened.

The two of them were able to calm down, though both were still chuckling a bit. Astrid elbowed his arm to try and get him to stop, he returned her elbow to the arm with a kick to her leg. This set off a small fit of giggles. Hiccup had to bite his fist while Astrid just covered her mouth. The rest continued to stare as if the two would drop dead in a minute.

"Geez, how much mead have you guys had?" Fishlegs asked. It was the first time he's spoken since Eret showed up.

"I've only had four mugs." Astrid replied, out of breath. Admittedly she wasn't much of a drinker but she could handle a few mugs. At parties she'll usually have about five or six before she would decide to call it a night, and that would only get her buzzed.

"I think I've had six." Hiccup admitted, still chuckling.

"That's not too bad for you." Eret shrugged. "Just don't get into the double digits."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "What are you? My mom?"

"Hey. Don't argue with me over this! You know how you get when you're drunk." Eret raised an eyebrow at him.

Ruffnut threw herself over Eret shoulder. "Ohhh! I wanna know what drunk Hiccup is like!"

Eret groaned and simply lowered his shoulder so Ruff slide right down his arm and onto the floor.

"It is pretty funny." Cami supplied while sipping on her own drink.

Eret ignored her. "Dagur will be here any minute and I don't need that kind of chaos in my life."

"Oh yeah, I forgot he was coming." Hiccup went to take another sip of his current drink, Astrid snatched it away before he could.

"Well, you don't want to be dealing with Dagur while you're drunk. Right?"

"Actually, I've found that's the best way to deal with him." He tried to grab the mug from her but she held it out of reach.

"Okay, that is a blatant lie." Astrid said.

"Alright, you caught me." Hiccup put his hands up in surrender. "There is no good way to deal with Dagur."

"Wow, when did you two become a couple?" Snotlout said, sounding bitter.

It was obvious he was trying to fluster them, then Astrid got a wicked idea.

"Hm, how long has it been since we've been together, babe?" Astrid leaned into Hiccup and batted her eyes.

For a moment Hiccup was shocked into silence, and was that a blush growing on his face? But, he caught the smirk on her face and realized what she was doing.

"let's see?" Hiccup slung his arm around her, pulling her closer while he pretended to think. "I though we had always been a couple."

"Yeah, don't you remember Snotlout?" Astrid asked as she rested her head onto Hiccup's chest. "We've been engaged since we were born."

The two smiled pleasantly at Snot while the others sniggered around him, his face contorting into an angry scowl. Snotlout huffed for a moment as if he had something to say, then turned around without a word and stomped off. They all laughed after him, Tuff and Ruff even added a few insults to his injured pride. Astrid let out a big sigh, she felt a little relieved even though she knew this wouldn't stop him from flirting with her. It was still nice to have him finally realize he's been rejected, that she'd happily choose Hiccup over him.

The laughter died down and everyone went back to their conversations. Astrid was trying to get Fishlegs to talk to her, as he went right back to moping as soon as the laughter stopped, but he barely replied to her. Giving up she switched to listening in on Tuff, Eret, and Hiccup's conversation when she realized she was still leaning into Hiccup and he still had his arm around her. Surprised by how comfortable his chest is Astrid stayed there, wondering how long it will take Hiccup to notice. As the conversation continued Astrid joined in a couple of times, but he didn't seem to realize he was still holding her. She couldn't tell if he was actually playing it cool or if he really didn't notice she was practically laying on him.

"Dagur the Deranged," Someone called out. Astrid had to look over Hiccup to see Hoark standing on a table. He continued his yelling. "Chief of the Berserker tribe… is here."

Murmurs ran through the party. A few Vikings spit out their drinks in surprise.

"Oops." Hiccup winced. "I think we forgot to tell everyone he was coming."

"Were we suppose to do that?" Cami asked.

Hiccup started to stand so Astrid finally moved for his side. She saw him freeze for a moment, eye's going wide as he stared at the table for a second. His face started to go red but he quickly turned his face away and awkwardly moved through the crowd.

Ah, so he just didn't notice. Astrid mused as she stood up and followed after him.

The crowd of Vikings parted for Hiccup, the mood now tense and full of concern. By the time they reached the docks they had a large group following them, mainly the warriors who were always prepared for the worst with Stoic leading them, torch in hand.

"I would've preferred to have handled this quietly and send the Berserkers on their way, but I guess a little more man power isn't a bad thing." Stoic told them as they waited to greet the crazed Chief.

"I'm sure Dagur will be on his best behavior." Hiccup tried to sound hopeful, but he sounded just as unsure as the rest of them.

They stood at the entrance of the dock, waiting for the Berserkers to finish tying down the boat. The night was too dark to see anything other than the torches that line the dock. Astrid could only hear the Berserkers talking and walking across the wooden boards. It took a minute, but finally someone made their way up the dock and into their torchlight. It was a girl about her age with dark black hair and green eyes almost as bright as Hiccups.

"Heather!" Hiccup greeted, arms stretched out.

"Hi Hiccup." She smiled widely as she made her way to hug him. "Did you get taller?" She asked when they pulled apart.

"You ask that every time we see each other." Hiccup laughed.

"Because you get taller every time I see you! Stop growing already!" She slapped his arm playfully.

"You're just made caz I'm taller than you now." To make his point, Hiccup used her head as an armrest.

"Ohhh, you better watch it or you're gonna lose that arm."

The two shoved each other, laughing. Astrid was completely dumbstruck. Was Hiccup… flirting? And this very pretty girl was obviously flirting back.

"Yay! Heather's here!" Cami came running up to her and grabbed her in a hug. "Finally some decent company." Cami shot Astrid a smirk that made her blood boil.

"Aww. Poor Cami! Is Hiccup not being a good host?" The girl, Heather, patted Cami's head.

"Excuse me? Cami is being a poor guest! She's hardly spent any time with me." Hiccup huffed good naturedly.

"Well, maybe you should be more interesting." Cami's taunt caused Heather to laugh a bit.

"You two are terrible." Eret moved into the group. He looked at Heather for a second and a small smile grew on his face. "Hi."

"Hi." Heather laughed with her own playful smile.

Ruffnut ran into Astrid, her hot breath blowing into her ear. "Who is this? Who does she think she is?"

Astrid rolled her eyes. Of course, Ruff thinks just because she 'claims' a guy that means he's hers. Whether he likes her or not.

"If we don't put a stop to her," Ruffnut whispered. "She'll take both our men."

Astrid turned to Ruffnut. "Hiccup is not my 'man'." She hissed quietly.

"I said nothing about Hiccup." Ruffnut grinned wickedly.

Groaning, Astrid shoved Ruffnut over and turned back to the group just in time to hear Hiccup introduce his dad.

"Oh. Wow. Yeah." Heather nodded in surprise. "You are just as Hiccup described. Though I am still surprised, because I thought he was just exaggerating."

Hiccup threw up his hand in annoyance as Stoic looked the young woman over.

"You look familiar?" Stoic stroked his beard, thinking.

"Do I?" Heather started. "I guess I just have one of those faces." She laughed his comment off. "Oh, Look! Here comes Dagur."

"Well, that's concerning." Hiccup stated as they watched the procession making it way up the dock.

"Dagur has never cared about formalities." Hiccup explained to her.

"Yeah, he'd more likely pull some kind of surprise attack to 'keep you on your toes'." Heather rolled her eyes. "If he's doing this much it must be something important."

The procession was close enough that Astrid could make out some silhouettes. At the very front was a burly, wild looking man. The closer they got the more insane the man she assumed to be Dagur looked. His hair was a tangled mess and his bear looked ruff and uneven, a bright red scar covered almost half of his face. Astrid never officially met him but she did remember seeing him around Berk every so often and he always gave her the creeps. It didn't help that Stoic was tense and ready to pounce at a moments notice. The last time Dagur had come to Berk he almost destroyed the village because of Snotlout. Thankfully Snot decided to stay behind at the Great Hall, to 'protect the villagers'.

"Hiccup, Heather, Hooligans." Dagur started, arms out, as soon as he was in front of them. She saw Hiccup and Heather make a confused face. Hiccup with one eyebrow raised with a half scowl and Heather with her eyebrows scrunched together with her lips pursed.

"And others." He thoughtlessly waved towards Eret and Cami who looked unimpressed. "I have come here today bearing news!"

Dagur was quiet for a second, a mischievous look on his creepy mug as he looked over everyone. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and, out of the corner of her eye, she could see Stoic clench his fist.

"I have become… A FATHER!"