A/N: This was a really fun chapter to work on. Honestly, I feel bad, guys, that I've completely disregarded this project for four years, and I'm very eager to keep working on this now that I've finally regained the desire to keep on writing.

If there's anything you guys feel like I can do better, whether it has to do with pacing, characters, story, etc, feel free to leave a review, or even just pm me, I don't mind. Don't worry, I don't bite (hard). Happy Memorial day!

"Human speech"

Human thought

"Dragon speech"

Dragon thought

*One month later*

Roughly a month has gone by since Oscar was officially introduced to the village in the great hall, and miraculously not a single dragon raid since then. Ever since then, Oscar's time on Berk has been pretty routine. He'd wake up, wash himself, grab a small breakfast from the Great Hall, catch up with Hiccup at the forge, take a quick lunch during noon, go back to work until evening, clock out with Hiccup, have dinner, then go home.

On some nights, Oscar and Hiccup would stay up late to sneak out to the forge and work on their bola launcher. Well…it was more so Hiccup's bola launcher. He was the brains and handyman behind the whole project, Oscar was mainly there to help with whatever he could, discuss any potential flaws, or sit on the sidelines and practice reading one of many of Hiccup's books. Hiccup didn't mind though, enjoying the company.

Regardless, they're making great progress on the launcher. The cart has already been finished, and the framing that the launcher would sit on top of screwed into the cart was already set. All of the parts that will make up the mechanics of the launcher have already been finished, albeit with a few issues here and there. The next step would be to run through and correct any potential mistakes before finally putting everything together.

Oscar enjoyed working in the forge. After about a week since his initial introduction, he was tasked with helping out with making and repairing weapons directly. He has improved in energy and strength greatly, not necessarily gaining enough mass to be considered "strong," more so toned, but he's still scrawny compared to almost everybody else. Regardless, being trusted with handling heavier weapons and tools was a great change of pace from molding nails and screws, and doing basic housekeeping.

Oscar, Gobber, and Hiccup would often engage in sarcastic banter, crack jokes, listen to Gobber blabber on about his stories, etc. They'd occasionally joke around, finding ways to test each other's patience around the clock. Even though Oscar has managed to make friends before in his old village, those friends were more so acquaintances than anything else, individuals that didn't harass him as much compared to everyone else. Not feeling hated by an entire village, and being able to joke around with humans with such a light heart is a first time occurrence for him.

Well…there's still..a few issues in regards to the people. Not many people have been outright rude to him, but there are a handful that haven't been fond of engaging with Oscar. This doesn't bother him though, for he understands that he'd still be looked at as an outsider for at least a little while longer. But…everyone for the most part hasn't expressed any malice towards him except for those two.

There are two individuals that Oscar can already confidently say that he doesn't like; the short black haired boy named Snotlout, and some old man who goes by the name of Mildew.

Mildew has verbalized on multiple occasions how much he detests the idea of Stoick adopting Oscar not only into the village, but also into the family. He believes that giving an outsider the position of heir is an outrageous idea, and is convinced that the position would eventually get to Oscar's head. He doesn't really leave his hut often, but whenever he does see Oscar in the village, he would verbally harass him any chance he'd get.

Snotlout however was irritating in his own unique way. Oscar has learned that he is the son of Stoick's brother, Spitelout, therefore Hiccup's cousin….which he is proud of for some reason. It has become apparent to him that Snotlout is the type of person that would feel one micron of authority and let it go directly to his head.

Snotlout has, on multiple occasions, called Oscar names with an arrogant, fake cheery attitude, he has punched him during lunch time a few times unprovoked to, in his words, "keep him on his toes," and he's even stolen and hidden stuff from him a couple times, and all that in just a month. There aren't really many crazy stories, rather just a slow burn of Snotlout trying to gradually chip away at Oscar's sanity and self esteem. It's not a big deal to him though. If the worst of the abuse is only gonna come from two individuals once in a while, then Oscar can definitely handle it.

Right now, Oscar, Hiccup, and Gobber are all working in the forge as usual, Hiccup and Gobber having a sarcastic battle of wit, while Oscar is back to molding screws and nails. Since Berk didn't have a dragon raid for a little more than a month, the builders were able to catch up on their repairs. There weren't many new damaged weapons and gear arriving at the forge, unless it directly involved the twins of course, so work in the forge has slowed down considerably.

"Oscar, Hiccup," says Gobber, molding a hammer head for the sake of having something to do. "If you two want ta take the rest of the day off, ya can. Not much else to do, so let me handle this." He says in his usual cheery tone. "Don't ya worry about pay, ya'll still get a full day's of pay." This catches Oscar's attention, eager to relax for the rest of the day. He throws off his apron before patting Hiccup on the shoulder.

"Sweet! Come on bro, let's go find something to do!" Hiccup shrugs in response, not really knowing what he can do with his free time. However, right as Hiccup is about to take off his apron, someone approaches the window counter with a broken ax.

"Hey, my ax broke. Can I get a new one?" Says a borderline bossy feminine voice. Turns out that it's that blonde girl from earlier, Astrid. She's wearing her usual signature thorned skirt.

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Gobber walks over to address the young girl. Upon approaching her, he takes notice of the damage on her ax. It turns out, somehow a whole chunk of the ax head has chipped off. It looks almost as if a gronkle has taken a bite out of it, clearly beyond basic repair.

"Huh, I just sold my last battle ax about an hour ago. The only thing I have is about a couple of wood axes, which clearly wouldn't do. I'll have to make one." This displeases Astrid, who rolls her eyes in mild annoyance. However, she maintains her composure, understanding that it's outside of his control.

"That's fine. How about you have the new guy make me one? You know, so he can learn by example?" This intrigued Gobber, since ever since Oscar first arrived here, she's been nothing but distrusting of the young lad.

"You want him, a young lad with hardly any experience, to make your ax?" Gobber asks flatly, not at all understanding the sudden shift in mood. Astrid shrugs in response.

"Well, he does work here, right? With all the raids that have been occurring recently, it only makes sense that he gets some practice now while he can. We don't want an incompetent blacksmith, now do we?" Oscar rolls his eyes at her remark, not liking the way that she worded that.

Oscar sighs, having looked forward to enjoying the rest of his day. However, he then gets an idea. He knows about Hiccup's feelings towards her. He's seen how he stares at her. He understands that Hiccup's desire to one day take down a dragon is mostly driven by his desire to impress her.

Oscar shrugs as he starts making his way towards the entry door. "I don't know, I was just about to get off early, and Gobber is a bit occupied with other things," he says while glancing over to Gobber, giving him a subtle wink. He then nods his head towards Hiccup, rubbing the side of his neck immediately after to play it off as if his neck hurts. But Gobber, also knowing about Hiccup's feelings towards the young girl, was able to pick up on the message.

"Ohhh, right, on second thought, I might be caught up for a little bit, and I've already dismissed Oscar. But Hiccup can take care of it for ya." This causes Astrid to frown slightly, however she doesn't say anything in protest.

"W-what? Me? I mean-sure, yeah. I can do that," Hiccup stammers, being caught completely by surprise. Astrid nods before leaving her old ax on the counter, before walking off elsewhere.

With Astrid now gone, Hiccup turns his attention towards Oscar, glaring at him.

"Why did you put me on the spot like that?" Hiccup whines, his face slightly red from embarrassment from stammering over his words in front of Astrid. "You know her feelings towards me are neutral, right?" Oscar just stands leaning against the door casing with his arms crossed, a smirk on his face.

"Oh, come on now. I know how much you want to impress her. Look at it as…preparing a gift for her." Oscar says with a sly smile. He then walks over to Hiccup and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe if you pour all your heart into it, she'll be impressed enough to spark a conversation between you two," Oscar says in a borderline teasing tone before poking Hiccup in the stomach, making him squirm and smack his hand away. Oscar recently found out that Hiccup was quite ticklish, much to his amusement.

"It's not like I'm surprising her out of the blue! All she's doing is placing an order in," exclaims Hiccup incredulously, throwing up his arms in a dramatic, flabbergasted expression. "Literally nothing will come out of it, you're just trying to mess with me."

Gobber couldn't help but chuckle at the display, taking a swig from a mug full of mead. "I'd say ya listen to him Hiccup. Who knows, maybe what he's saying isn't too far-fetched. You two used to be amazing friends before." Hiccup groans, honestly not wanting to miss a potential day off over what feels to him like a set up.

"Yeah? Snotlout and I used to get along too. Look how close we are as friends," Hiccup responds dryly, rolling his eyes in annoyance. Oscar sighs, cooling it with the teasing.

"Look, Astrid neither hates you nor loves you. If anything, she's neutral about you," Oscar says with a genuine smile, which only elicits an eye roll from Hiccup.

"Thank you for summing that up." Hiccup responds dryly.

"But," continues Oscar. "Being neutral with somebody is still better than being disliked. Just try to do a phenomenal job on her ax. Who knows, maybe she'll be impressed enough that she'll turn towards you for future projects? Word might spread, and you might eventually no longer be considered useless." Hiccup just stares with a blank expression, not knowing whether to feel flattered, or offended.

"You don't really think that, do you?" Asks Hiccup. Well, he more so spoke it as if it were obvious.

Oscar's teasing smile returns to his face as he heads back to the door with a little bounce in his step. "Debatable. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a day off to go enjoy. Bye~" And with that, Oscar heads out, leaving Hiccup in the Forge.

"Son of a-," and the door slams shut.

As Oscar skips out of the forge, it dawns on him that he doesn't really have anything planned for the rest of the day. His smile slowly fades as he slows to a walking pace, aimlessly wandering through the village as he ponders a way to spend the rest of the day.

He could go to the library and practice reading, but he's in the mood for something more exciting and adventurous. He doesn't want to try making friends, since he's still fairly new, and can't really get along with people if he's gonna keep everything about himself a secret. He already doesn't like Snotlout, so that's not an option. The twins may be pretty damn annoying, but they are pretty amusing. However…would it be a good idea for him to associate himself with them when he's only been on the island for about a month? Would he get extremely disliked for socializing with them? The saying goes, "a little bit of yeast ruins the whole batch of dough," after all.

*Thunk*

"Ow!," Oscar exclaims as he rubs his head in pain. He looks up to see that he has walked into a pillar. Upon examining the pillar, he notices that it's part of a small market that is owned by a middle aged woman. The store seems to sell clothes and jewelry, which sparks interest in Oscar, considering that until now, he's been borrowing whatever Hiccup has in his closet.

After rubbing his now sore head, Oscar decides that a good use of his time would be to go around shopping. He has been saving his money for the past month, so might as well indulge a little. Oscar reaches into his inner coat pocket to feel a wad of about 100 silver coins or so, the loose change that he currently has on his person. Maybe he might have enough to purchase a few outfits without having to go back home for more change.

Now with an idea of how to spend his free time, Oscar walks around over to the front of the small shop with an optimistic smile on his face, hoping to find something interesting.

As it turns out, Berk being a small island and all, doesn't really have a whole lot of shops. The merchandise of that one clothing and accessory shop didn't exactly have a whole lot of variety either. Oscar was able to buy himself a couple of outfits though. The first outfit was a pair of black fur boots, black pants, a black tunic, and a heavy black fur coat. He felt that he should have at least one all black outfit. His second outfit was a pair of brown fur boots, beige pants, a dark green tunic, and a heavy brown fur coat. He even got himself some wool socks, a black and and brown belt, and a few silk underwear.

Unfortunately, he managed to spend all of his 100 coins. Even though he didn't order a whole lot, just because he ordered silk underwear, the total came out to be much more than he expected, more than the 100 silver he had. He had to haggle for her to lower the price to 100 silver because he didn't feel like running back home just to grab more, and only out of sympathy did she accept his offer.

With shopping no longer being a good use of his time, Oscar is back to wondering how he can spend the rest of his day. He looks up to gauge how much daylight he has left from the sun position. He sees that the sun currently seems to be at its peak, signaling that it's most likely noon.

"Huh, guess it's about to be-," and as if on queue, the lunch horn goes off, signaling to everyone the time of day. Oscar's stomach grumbles at the thought of food.

He starts heading to the great hall, eager for a hot meal.

Upon entering the great hall, Oscar glances around to see if Hiccup is already there. However, he notices the other teens sitting together at a table, yet no sign of Hiccup. I wonder if he's still working on that ax.

Thinking that Hiccup not being here is most likely not a big deal, he walks over to the long table full of various different foods, ranging from vegetables, nuts, bread, berries covered in cinnamon, and meats. There was even a large pot of broth for those who were in the mood for soup.

Oscar grabs a bowl and fills it with broth, adding in some variety of diced vegetables, nuts, and a couple servings each of fileted fish and lamb chops. He also grabs a plate and fills it with some bread and cinnamon coated fruit.

He then looks around for a place to sit by himself, settling for the table that Hiccup would usually sit at. Upon taking his seat, he begins to enjoy his food peacefully, dipping his spoon into the soup and scooping up a spoonful of vegetables and a mix of almonds, walnuts, chestnuts, and hazelnuts. He swallows it down, enjoying the pleasant taste.

As Oscar enjoys his food, his peaceful solitude gets interrupted as someone takes a seat across from him. He looks up from his bowl to notice that Erik, the young boy that was the first to try to break the ice with Oscar, has sat down with him.

"So how are you enjoying your first month of Berk?," he asks with his mouth full, as he starts to tear into a piece of fish. Oscar rolls his eyes, groaning in disgust. He has learned to be a pretty easy going, careless person, but one of his few pet peeves was talking with your mouth full.

"Don't speak with your mouth full, I can barely understand you." Oscar says, taking a large bite out of his fish.

Erik quickly swallows before repeating his question for Oscar to hear. "I said, how's your stay in Berk so far? Made any new friends? Found an interesting hobby? ….Met any fine ladies?" Erik finishes with a wink, followed by a teasing raise of his eyebrows.

Feeling annoyed, Oscar reaches over and flicks him on the nose, causing Erik to yelp and recoil back, holding his nose. "There are only two options on this island that are within my age. One of them doesn't seem to care enough to even try to get to know me, and the other one is…well," Oscar picks up his mug of water, and takes a slow gulp from it. "Let's just say that she's about as bright as an unlit candle."

Erik chuckles at Oscar's sarcastic joke of who's undoubtedly Ruffnut, while Oscar finishes the vegetables and nuts in his broth before gulping down the rest of the soup.

"But you're missing out. The older ladies are where it's at, eh, eh?," Erik responds teasingly with a raise of his eyebrows. Oscar just stares at him for a few seconds, thinking about slapping him, yet resisting the urge to do so.

"Kid, aren't you like 10?," Oscar retorts in mild disgust, wondering exactly who's child this is. On second thought, he doesn't even remember his last name.

"Hey, I'm 9!" Erik argues defensively, as if that makes a big difference.

"That doesn't help your case. Also, shouldn't you be more focused on not wetting the bed than on women?" Oscar of course meant that as a sarcastic retort, however, he must've been right about something because Erik's face instantly heats up as he blushes a bright red.

"H-hey, I haven't done that in a while!" Oscar raises his eyebrows, stifling a chuckle.

"And I wasn't being serious. Thank you for the blackmail ammunition. I'll save that knowledge for later." Oscar however, isn't really the type to hold anything against someone. He's just messing with him to see his reaction.

"No, please don't! I-I was just joking!" Erik pleads, scared that Oscar would actually go around telling people. And to make matters worse, Oscar merely shrugs with a smirk on his face.

"Relax, finish your food, I'm joking." Oscar is now currently ripping the meat off his lamb chops with his teeth, having already finished his fish. After cleaning the bones of any meat, he takes one bone, bites off the end of it, and starts sucking the bone marrow out. Erik though couldn't help but frown at this.

"Ugh, you actually like that stuff?" Erik asks in disgust. However, Oscar doesn't see the problem, enjoying the creamy taste.

"Yeah, you've never tried it?" Erik only shakes his head. "Well, it basically has the consistency and taste of butter, with a meaty aftertaste. Very high in protein, fat, and nutrients." He then removes the last bit of marrow using his mouth, doing the same to the other bone. He then starts to gnaw on the end of the bone subconsciously, forgetting that he still had a plate of sweet berries.

"Which family do you come from?" Erik suddenly asks out of the blue. Oscar stops chewing on his bone, not having expected the question.

"Um…I'd rather not talk about it."

"But I just want to know what tribe you came from," Erik persists, not reading the fact that the question deeply troubled Oscar.

"I'd. Rather. Not. Talk. About it." Oscar says through clenched teeth, hoping that Erik would get the hint. However, he doesn't let up.

"Come on, at least give me a name," Erik begs, not realizing that Oscar's voice was wavering as he was fighting back tears. Having had enough, Oscar slams a fist on the table before standing up, yelling at Erik.

"MY MOM HAD AN AFFAIR WITH SOMEONE FROM AN ENEMY TRIBE, AND I'VE ALWAYS BEEN PUNISHED BECAUSE OF IT, OKAY?" Oscar shouts out at Erik, a single tear sliding down his cheek. However, unbeknownst to Oscar, his little outburst has caught the attention of everyone in the great hall, causing everyone to stop their conversations and stare at Oscar in silence.

Oscar, realizing what he just did, glances around at everyone in embarrassment, sitting back down to start gnawing on the second lamb bone for marrow. The Vikings in the room mutter to themselves briefly about what Oscar said, but soon get louder as they return back to their initial conversations as they mind their own business.

Even though what Oscar said was nothing more than a half truth, and he wasn't always much of a good liar, his outburst held enough conviction that Erik fully believed him, and now realizing how much Oscar's past upsets him, chooses to press the matter no further.

An awkward moment of silence falls between the two before Erik breaks that silence. "I'm sorry," he says in a quiet, sympathetic voice.

Oscar sighs, taking a sip of water before placing his mug down. "Sorry for what?"

"For digging up old wounds."

Another brief moment of silence falls between the two, before Oscar responds to him. "It's okay, I forgive you. I shouldn't have responded the way I did anyway."

It was at that moment that Snotlout, apparently now bored of his group of friends he was sitting with, decides to get up and try to annoy Oscar. He walks over to their table, noticing the plate of caramelized cinnamon fruit, and then grabs the plate, arrogantly eating the fruit one by one in front of Oscar.

Upon noticing Snotlout reach for his plate of fruit, Oscar was about to reach over to stop him, yet quickly decides against it. He decides to just let the situation play out, curious to see where Snotlout will take the interaction this time.

"Whatever, I don't care. You can get as fat as you wish," responds Oscar, going back to gnawing through his lamb bone like a toothpick.

Seeing that his attempt to aggravate Oscar wasn't working, Snotlout puts down the plate and walks around the table.

"What are you doing?" Says Erik, annoyed with Snotlout's antics. However, Snotlout ignores him, walking over to behind Oscar.

Oscar, already knowing what's about to come, because it already happened several times in the exact same fashion, waits for him to stand directly behind him. And then, he quickly lifts up his arm to block the punch that was inevitably gonna come. And with great timing too.

Snotlout goes to throw a punch at Oscar, but this time as hard as he can. However, instead of punching Oscar in the head, he ends up making contact with the point of his elbow, right where it connects to his forearm. A sickeningly loud "pop" could be heard as he dislocated his middle knuckle connecting his finger to the rest of the hand. A few seconds go by as Snotlout contemplates what just happened, before -

"OWWW!" Snotlout yells as he starts pacing around, clutching his right hand. "Ow ow oh, oh Thor that hurts!" Snotlout complains, as he feels his hand starting to feel more hot, the pain increasing. In panic, he grabs the dislocated finger, and aggressively yanks on it, another popping sound being heard as he manages to relocate his knuckle back in place, eliciting even more pain. "OH, NOW YOU'VE DONE IT!" Snotlout then reels his arm back and goes to slap Oscar across the face.

However, Snotlout telegraphed the slap SO much that it could be seen from a mile away. Logically, Oscar brings his hand up to try to stop the smack, although with the now sharpened lamb bone still in his hand! All the subconscious gnawing that Oscar did has sharpened the edge into a fine point.

Oscar manages to effortlessly stop the smack. However, he loses the bone he was chewing on. He looks around to see where it has gone, but doesn't find it. He then looks over to Snotlout, who now has the bone embedded in his palm. Oscar's eyes instantly widen into an expression of pure concern.

"...AHHHHHHHHH," Snotlout screams out as he clutches his hand, unsure of how to react.

As Snotlout managed to dislocate his finger against Oscar's elbow, everyone in the great Hall stopped whatever they were doing to turn their attention towards the chaos. Some of them were laughing, others were murmuring amongst themselves about how much of a problem Oscar was turning out to be. But most of them were fed up with Snotlout, and believed that he most likely deserved it.

As for the table where Snotlout was originally sitting at, Fishlegs had a look of pure shock and horror, the twins had dumb smiles on their faces, and Astrid just shook her head in disappointment and embarrassment.

As Snotlout tried, and failed at retaliating towards Oscar with the failed slap after popping his finger back in place, Snotlout's dad, Spitelout, rushes over to the table, furious.

Sitting at the same table as Spitelout, Stoick sees the developing chaos unfold, and gets up in case he would have to intervene.

"Snotlout! What have you done? You!" He then directs his attention towards Oscar. "What have you done to my son!?" Before Oscar could even have a chance to try and argue his case, Spitelout aggressively grabs him by the collar and brings his fist back as if readying to punch him. That was until Stoick quickly heads over and pushes Spitelout out of the way.

"HEY!" Yells Stoick, sizing Spitelout up as if to dare him to try something again. "Don't you dare lay your hand on my son like that ever again, do you understand?!" The way that Stoick spoke to Spitelout was etched with pure rage, appalled that not only would someone dare attack his heir in his presence, but an adult harassing a CHILD no less.

"Your son?!" Retorts Spitelout, gesturing towards Oscar. "That OUTSIDER is a menace! Did you not see how he broke Snotlout's hand?! And he even went as far as to stab him!" Spitelout then gets in Stoick's face. "Someone ought to teach that young man a lesson!"

Having enough, Stoick grabs Spitelout by the collar and forcefully sits him down at the table so he can loom over him. "No, your son was the one who swung at Oscar, TWICE. My son logically put his hands up to defend himself, TWICE! It was your idiot son who got a bone of all things stuck in his own hand!"

Despite Spitelout being forced into a seat and Stoick looming over him, he still tries to argue against him. "Yeah, a bone that your son sharpened! It's as if he knew this was gonna happen and planned accordingly! He should be imprisoned!"

"And if he knew this would happen, then that's a problem, isn't it?" Stoick speaks through gritted teeth, signaling that there's no longer any room for argument.

"Can you two stop arguing and somebody help, this really hurts!" Whines Snotlout, fighting the urge to cry as he clutches his left hand.

Stoick pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration. "If you want to help him, take him to Gothi. Meanwhile, I'll talk to my son." With that, Spitelout gets up and aggressively grabs Snotlout by the arm before storming off through the great hall doors, but not without glaring at Oscar.

The entirety of the hall was awfully silent, enough that one could hear a pin drop. Once Spitelout has left with his son, Stoick gently guides Oscar out of the Hall. Oscar is already frantically thinking of a way to defend himself, worried that he'll get severely punished.

"He was the one who attacked me! I didn't mean to hurt him. I forgot that I had the bone in my hand, I was gnawing on it for the marrow, and then-" but Oscar gets cut off by Stoick.

"Stop!" Stoick shouts, shutting Oscar up so he can explain the situation. "Just…stop." He sighs, rubbing his forehead before continuing. "I'm not mad at you, you're not in trouble. You've only been here for a month, and already Snotlout has given you more trouble in the past month than he gave Hiccup in half a year. It was clear self defense, and I don't fault you for it." Stoick sighs, Oscar letting out a sigh of his own in relief.

"With that said," Stoick continues, rubbing the back of his neck. "Most of the village saw what happened, and I wouldn't be surprised if thoughts about you were mixed. I do suggest that you wander off in the woods, or to the forge, home, I don't know, go do something. Stay out of sight for the rest of the day so I can think of a way to deal with this, alright?" Oscar stares blankly for a few seconds, completely shocked. He wasn't expecting Stoick to be so understanding. He swallows aggressively, his throat feeling dry from this emotional shipwreck, before nodding. He then starts walking off over to the woods to at least do some exploring. He then suddenly stops, realizing that he's left his bags of newly purchased clothes where he was sitting.

"Don't worry about your bags, I'll bring them home for you," Stoick says, knowing exactly what Oscar was concerned about. Oscar nods before walking off again. "Also," Stoick interrupts, making Oscar stop in his tracks and turn towards him. "Please stay out of trouble." Oscar nods before running off, heading into the woods.

Stoick didn't tell him that he needed to go to the woods. Oscar could've easily gone home, or worked with Hiccup in the forge. It wasn't like he was banished from the village or the house or anything. Stoick was only trying to protect Oscar from any potential harassment or attacks. Remaining unseen for the rest of the day is just a way to buy time until the smoke settles.

Oscar wanders through the woods, replaying the events in his head. He appreciates that, despite the end result, Stoick was willing to vouch for him, and even covered for him to give him an opportunity to hide and let him sort things out. If the same thing had happened back at his old village, he would've either been imprisoned for a week, or the chief would've arranged to have the same kid beat him in retaliation.

Oscar sighs, kicking a rock in frustration as he continues forward. Despite his anger and frustration towards Snotlout, his annoying antics, he felt kinda bad for what happened. And despite his concerns and worries he felt towards Snotlout, he also feels good about what he did. His mind is like a ship going through a storm, all over the place, unsure of what to feel. Oscar yells in emotional distress before picking up a rock and chucking it through the trees.

With his heightened senses resulting from his hybrid nature, he can hear what sounds like the rock bouncing off of what sounds like boulders, followed by a splash. Oscar was walking for about 2 hours aimlessly, having covered quite a bit of distance. He knew that Berk was a small island, but he was still fairly deep in the woods. The sound of rock hitting rock, followed by a splash. Splash? He listens closely to his surroundings, yet doesn't hear any running water, not even waves so he's clearly not close enough to the beach yet.

Oscar decides to start running in the direction in which he threw the rock. Perhaps he might find something interesting.

After jogging for about 5 minutes, Oscar finds what looks like a cave made up of boulders stacked and leaning against each other. He slows his pace, breathing heavily as he catches his breath. He slowly walks up to the entrance, peering inside.

Upon walking through the entrance, he notices that it leads to a small cliff with rocks conveniently stacked in a way that one could climb down them, and then back up. At the bottom is this large, round clearing with a lake, and a couple small trees. Oscar's eyes widened in awe, thinking to himself that he just found the perfect hideout. This small area looks completely untouched, as if no Viking has ever thought to venture out this far.

Oscar looks into the water from the rock edge to gauge how deep it is. He sees that the edge is fairly shallow, becoming deeper the further out he looks. He gauges that, if he were to have a quick running start, he'd jump in a section of the pond that would be about roughly 20 ft.

Not giving it another thought, Oscar quickly strips out of his clothes, and tosses them off to an area of dry ground by the bank of the pond. He takes a few steps back before running to the edge and leaping into the water, creating a large splash as he does a cannonball. He sinks down to the bottom, then pushes off the ground to come back up for air, whooping and laughing in excitement, enjoying his time of solitude.

He continues this for about an hour, swimming and wading through the water, enjoying the sun shining on his skin. He enjoys the sounds of nature, of the cool water moving around in synchronization with his movements, the sound of birds chirping.

He eventually glances up at the sky, noticing that the few clouds present in this day were starting to get tinted a mix of yellow and orange, the sky doing the same. He can't believe that it's evening already, his surroundings starting to gradually go dim.

Wanting to take advantage of the little sun he has left, Oscar wades over to the bank of the pond and gets out of the water. Since he didn't foresee himself discovering a pond, he uses this limited time of daylight to sun dry. He walks over to a nice looking boulder with a flat top and lays on it, staring up to the sky. He closes his eyes, enjoying the warmth coming from the sun, feeling himself slowly drift into a nap.

After a few minutes, Oscar snaps his eyes open, an idea popping into his head. He's in an area that's completely secluded, all by himself. There's no sign that anyone has ever been here, so there should be no issue.

Oscar gets up and runs over to grab the clothes that he tossed earlier. He glances around to see where he can hide his clothes for the time being. I doubt anyone will come, but if I'm not gonna be here, it's better to be safe, Oscar ponders. After some searching, he finds a couple boulders in the corner that are leaning against each other, a small opening in between them with a casted shadow. He'd be able to find his clothes in there no problem, but the average person would have a hard time spotting them in there at a glance.

Oscar gets down on his knees and tucks his clothes through the small gap. Satisfied, he glances up at the sky, seeing that there's still some daylight left, awed by the beautiful sunset painting the sky red, orange, and yellow.

Oscar then glances around to make sure there's nobody who could potentially be watching him, straining his hearing to only hear the sounds of nature. Satisfied upon knowing that he's all alone, he transforms, turning into an adolescent night fury with light hazel eyes that shimmer in the sunlight. He spreads his wings wide before leaping off the ground, flapping his wings down, carrying himself off. He gains altitude, flying away from the direction of the village, heading towards the ocean.

He flies high in the air, enjoying the feeling of the wind breeze through his scales. He then slows his pace and banks to the side, doing a lazy barrel roll into an angled dive. He allows himself to fall, his wings flared out just enough to prevent the iconic screech of a night fury flying at high speeds.

As he falls towards the ocean, he levels out, gliding through a collection of sea stacks near the water, weaving through them at a leisurely pace. After he clears the stacks, he looks up at the sky, admiring the beautiful glow in the sky as the sun sets, the waters illuminated around him. He lets out an excited, jovial shriek, followed by a blast of hot plasma that detonates in front of him, flying through the dissipating flames, enjoying the warmth against his scales.

Oscar's been through hell and back. He's had a traumatic past, has understood lost, and is now coping with the death of his biological father. Sometimes even he wonders where he stands in this war, whose side he should be on, what's in store for him. His identity has always troubled him, not sure if he should hate his parents for bringing him into this world, unsure whether or not he should feel disgusted by himself.

But right now, one thing is clear. He now has a home, a loving family, and a few good friends. Despite how the course of his day went, he has a father that would vouch for him, and always back him. It may not be safe for his secret to come out, but Oscar is content knowing that he is loved.

For once, Oscar feels like he belonged. This is home.

Haddock house: 1 AM

Following the events that unfolded between Oscar and Snotlout, opinions about Oscar were fairly mixed. A few individuals were only relieved that at least somebody was willing to finally stand up to the arrogant teen. Some not fully knowing the situation assumed that whatever it was, Snotlout was most likely at fault, and didn't hold any malice towards Oscar. There were also several who didn't fully trust Oscar that assumed he may have instigated the situation, and only grew to distrust him even more.

Stoick's days were pretty stressful as is, supervising potential raid preparations, ensuring that the village ran smoothly, and the battle plan meetings in regards to the dragon nest. This whole Oscar/Snotlout fiasco has only added more stress to his already aching head. Not to mention making sure the twins didn't do anything stupid.

Hiccup was currently up in his room fast asleep, having finished Astrid's ax in the forge, having to stay after hours in order to ensure that it was properly crafted and ready for her. He was a bit concerned for Oscar upon returning home late only to realize he wasn't there, but after Stoick filled him in on the situation that happened earlier, and his proposal to stay out of sight until the smoke settles, Hiccup understood and assumed, well rather hoped, that Oscar was fine.

Stoick on the other hand was worried. He did tell him to stay out of the way for the rest of the day and to avoid trouble, but he wasn't expecting Oscar to still be out this late. Did something happen to him? Is he hurt? Will he be back by the morning? He wasn't sure, and it really bothered him.

Maybe he will be alright, Stoick tries to convince himself, his eyes feeling heavy as he lays in his bed, yet feeling too anxious to fall asleep. He seems like a tough kid after all.

Stoick knows that he needs to get some sleep, for he has arranged a meeting for tomorrow to address the situation that happened between Oscar and Snotlout. Despite the fact that he wholeheartedly believes that what happened with Oscar was nothing more than self defense, there are still some individuals that want a trial to be held for Oscar. Stoick doesn't like the fact, but as the chief of the village, he feels an obligation to uphold the wishes of his people. Much to a few's displeasure, he addressed that he would be the one to give the trial since he was a firsthand witness and also the chief of Berk. There were a few that silently disagreed with the proposal, assuming that he would be biased because it was his own son after all, but nobody dared to try to challenge him.

Feeling his eyes flutter sleepily, he tries to close them again in an attempt to fall asleep. However, after a few minutes, he starts to smell the stench of smoke. His eyes shot open as he sat up in an instant, hearing an eruption of flames coming from the village. Soon after, he hears the raid horn go off, signaling that they are currently under attack.

Stoick gets up and quickly gets dressed. He pulls on his boots, puts on a heavy coat, and grabs a heavy hammer and shield, readying himself to fight. He groggily opens his bedroom door and walks towards the front door. He steps outside, only to notice men and women left and right swarming out of their homes with various weapons and shields, letting out war cries as they run towards the chaos. Houses are gradually catching ablaze, illuminating the village in an orange glow.

He looks up to the sky, an expression of a mix of rage and worry. Another dragon raid has begun, and Oscar isn't back home yet.

A/N: So guys, that's the fifth chapter. This is kinda a set up for how the rest of the story is going to go, as well as a set up for the development of my OC. Feel free to leave an honest review, hope you guys enjoy this story, and happy memorial day! Till next week (or two), take it easy guys!