The Waiting Game
Hiccup watched as the others became nothing more than small dots in the sky. He would have felt worse than he ever had before, except that Astrid always managed to keep a spark of love and hope in his heart.
He would wait there with Toothless, where he couldn't do any more damage. The others would warn Berk and fight Drago off, fixing his mistakes. Then, Astrid would come get him in a day or two, when it was safe for Toothless to return.
'Thanks for staying with me.' Toothless cooed as he bumped his nose into Hiccup's side. Toothless felt kind of bad that he was the reason Hiccup and been left behind. He felt terrible for trying to kill his best friend too. How could he have allowed that to happen?
"Hey, bud." Hiccup turned to his dragon companion. "I don't blame you, I hope you know that. It wasn't your fault that happened. It was mine."
Toothless snorted angrily. How could Hiccup possibly think that was his fault? He wasn't surprised though, Hiccup always thought the worst of himself.
"The others were right. My father was right. I brought this on you, I brought this on Berk." Hiccup sunk to the ground and sat cross-legged as he turned his gaze back up to where the others had disappeared. "If I had left when my dad wanted to leave, you wouldn't have been subjected to that. We could have been home, the people would be safe."
'You don't know that. Maybe we would be worse off, or maybe it would have worked out.' Toothless wanted to comfort Hiccup, but knew his whole meaning wouldn't completely get across to Hiccup, even though he was usually really good at interpreting what he was trying to say. 'Drago would be coming for Berk either way.'
"I made Berk a target just by coming out here. Why am I so stupid? Why can't I do anything right?" Hiccup put his face in his hands. He suddenly just wanted to be swallowed up in darkness and disappear from existence. Everyone would be better off without him, including Toothless and Astrid. Toothless would have a tail fin. Astrid would still be a successful warrior, she just wouldn't have him there to get her in trouble. He really did screw everything up. The world would be better off without Hiccup Haddock there to destroy things. He really wasn't any better than Drago.
'You did what you thought was right, that's all any of us can really do.' Toothless didn't like the feeling of despair he was sensing in his Hiccup. He was really good at reading his friend. They had an incredibly close bond, closer than any other human and dragon partnership. They were a team, they were one in the skies, they were the same. Toothless always felt like he could sense the shift in Hiccup's mood, and it was more than just smelling the scent of fear or adrenaline on any person. No, this was a special connection. The same thing that allowed Hiccup to understand him so well. Toothless needed to use that connection now, to get through to his human brother.
"Drago told me that we were the same. We both destroy things, so maybe he's right." Hiccup continued to tear himself down with his negative thoughts. Drago's words had been lingering in his mind, and mostly because they had very similar stories, but had each taken different paths.
'You have a good heart, Drago does not. Your intentions were good.' Toothless answered with a huff. 'Don't you dare compare that monster to yourself. Intent is everything.'
Hiccup raised his head to look at Toothless. "I hurt the people I love."
'But you meant to help them. They love you too, they'll understand and forgive you.'
"Dad hasn't been that mad since... since he found out I was friends with a Night Fury while we were at war with dragons. I, I don't know if he'll be able to forgive me this time."
'He was in the wrong last time. He was the one who needed your forgiveness. His mistakes caused you a lot of pain and suffering. You paid the price for that. Yet, you forgave him. He can't do any less.'
Hiccup leaned against Toothless, for some reason his heart felt just a little lighter. He knew Toothless was trying to comfort him. He knew what he would be thinking, about his dad and the battle with the Red Death. He allowed Toothless' warmth and loving friendship to push out the ache in his heart, and relaxed. Things would be okay. Berk would be okay, his dad was returning home. By the time he saw everyone again, maybe they would have had time to calm down and forgive him for all his wrongdoings in the past day.
Toothless purred and settled around his friend. They both fell asleep, on the outskirts of the battleground. The shimmering ocean and open sky in front of them as they remained on the edge of the island, where the others had taken off for Berk.
—
They were drenched in ocean water and shivering, their hands bound in front of them. They had been fished out of the water, marched up the docks leading to Berk, then forced to the Village Square.
The baby dragons had been restrained and tossed to the side, their eyes wide in fear. They didn't understand what was going on.
Now that the group were in the middle of the village as opposed to looking down on it in the dark as they flew, they could see evidence of destruction. There were spikes of ice and splintered wood from destroyed homes.
"I was going to tear Berk apart so that, someday, you could make your way back here and see nothing but death and remains." Drago was being incredibly arrogant, he was enjoying their pain, and he directed his words at Stoick. "Then I realized that maybe the people of Berk could be of use to me. I have such a large army of dragons now, and could use people who know how to handle them. Since Berk is full of despicable, dragon-loving people, I decided to give them a choice."
"What did you do to them?" Stoick asked. The houses were dark and they hadn't seen anyone. He had been fearing the worst.
"After showing them my power, I forced them all into the Great Hall. I'm giving them some time to decide what they want to do. Die, or join me."
"My people wouldn't stoop so low." Stoick said threateningly, despite his current predicament, he was still as formidable-looking as ever.
"Then they will die as you watch." Drago sneered. "Once Berk has fallen completely, all the other tribes in the area will follow. They'll be easy to conquer."
"Where does this stop, Drago?" Eret spoke up, deciding to ditch his plan of trying to stay out of Drago's direct attention. He was probably going to die anyway. He would be the first of them, since he had betrayed him. "What do you gain from conquering everyone?"
"I wouldn't except a traitor like you to understand!" Drago shouted. "I will be all-powerful. I will control everything and everyone."
"And what? That will bring you happiness?" Eret continued, trying to think about what Hiccup would say. Not that Eret had known Hiccup for that long, but he had a general idea.
"Why should I care about that? I'm not after happiness. I'm after justice! My people were killed, my home destroyed. We were wronged and we were shamed for our failure, because these beasts roam free! Now that I control them, there will be no more destruction from the dragons."
"But, that's what you just did, to Berk! You're making the dragons attack! Do you not see the hypocrisy?" Eret knew he was pushing his luck.
"Now Berk should know better than to be friends with the enemy. People can live free of dragons, if they obey me."
"So you're just using them so that you can control others?" Eret dared to continue.
"Enough! You sound like that stupid boy, Stoick's weakling of a son." Drago was losing his patience, this was his victory and he wouldn't be questioned by a traitor.
"Good. I've only know him for less than a day, and I already look up to him." Eret stood up for his new friend. "He's a better man than you'll ever be!"
Drago snapped and he whacked Eret across the face with the staff of his bull hook. Eret fell to the side with a gasp and lay still. "Where is the Dragon Master?"
The others were silent. Hiccup was their only hope and he was waiting with Toothless, for one of them to go and get him. Even if he wasn't their only chance of getting out of this, they wouldn't tell Drago where to find him
"I asked a question!" Drago raged. "Why wasn't he with you?!"
No one would meet his eye. Stoick was trying to come up with the best answer, but was saved from having to, by a loud sob. All eyes turned to Astrid, was she... crying?
"What is this? What's going on?" Drago asked, suspicious of the group of Berkians.
"Hiccup..." Astrid let out another sob. The others were suddenly very concerned about her. Had she been hurt? Why was the tough and fearless Astrid Hofferson crying? "Hiccup, he, he was my-"
"Where is he?" Drago asked again, low and menacingly, as he moved closer to Astrid.
"We were supposed to get married..." Astrid was really laying it on thick, but she had to convince Drago. She had already messed up once, trying to intimidate Drago into letting them go by telling him of the number of dragon riders on Berk. Instead, she had spurred him on. He had listened to her words and decided to attack the nest and Berk. This time, Astrid was going to say the right things, to protect Hiccup. "But Hiccup, he didn't make it."
Drago stood up straight in surprise. Had the Night Fury actually gotten him? He hadn't seen how it all had played out. But the boy hadn't gotten back up and the others had been fussing over him. Drago couldn't think of a reason why he and the Night Fury wouldn't be here now.
"Really?" Drago smirked and Astrid gave him the most intimidating glare she could muster while tears ran down her face. "Where is the Night Fury then?"
"You mean the one who killed our heir?" Tuffnut joined in, sounding disgusted. The others had all caught on to what Astrid was doing. Hiccup was their only chance of getting out of this and he was their friend and family. They had to protect him. "As if we could let the dragon live after doing that."
"I killed the Night Fury." Stoick spoke, allowing himself to appear haunted by what had happened. Although he hated the concept. He would never hurt Toothless and he would be devastated beyond reason if Hiccup had died. "My son is dead."
Drago laughed. This was even better than he had imagined. He had taken down the Dragon Master. It was a shame that the rare Night Fury was dead, but at least he had won.
Astrid cried out as she struggled against her restraints. "You did this!"
"I take it that you'll be choosing death, over joining me?" Drago laughed again at the young, blonde woman. "Perhaps you'll be reunited with your loved one soon." Drago turned away from them, he was finished with them for now. "I want them held separately from the rest of the tribe. Lock them in one of the houses and have it guarded at all times!"
Some of Drago's men acted immediately and forced the group to stand and start walking. "Come on, move!"
They were led to one of the houses that had remained unscathed and were forced to enter. Eret had been half-dragged and he stumbled inside. Drago's men didn't bother to untie their hands or light a fire, they shoved them inside and shut the door behind them. Several guards were posted around the entire house.
They all stood there in silence for a while, inside the dark house of some random member of Berk. No one quite knew what to do and all of them were restless.
"So, have you always been able to act or did you get lessons?" Tuffnut broke the silence of the dim room. He was looking at Astrid. "I would love to know who your teacher is."
"I don't have an acting teacher." Astrid mumbled as she walked closer to Eret to inspect his face, although it was hard, since her hands were tied together.
"I'm okay." He said quietly.
"Wow, pure talent then." Ruffnut said in an admiring voice. "By chance, would you be willing to play a role in our next prank? This opens up so many new avenues for us."
"Guys, should you really be talking about pranks right now?" Fishlegs asked incredulously. "Berk is under siege!"
"Calm down, Fishy." Snotlout sat down on a chair and leaned back. "Hiccup isn't actually dead remember? He'll come flying in and save the day like he always does."
"You can't be so sure!" Fishlegs sounded a little panicked. "He and Toothless, against an army of dragons and people? I don't even want to calculate what his chances of success would be!"
"Hiccup's smart." Gobber commented. "And clever."
"Hiccup will come through." Astrid said quietly.
Stoick remained silent. He was beginning to feel very guilty for this whole situation. He had been hard on Hiccup. He had pushed him into learning how to be a chief, but as soon as there was a threat, he had taken over the situation without conferring with his son. How was Hiccup to learn if he didn't give him the chance? If Stoick had taken a moment to discuss things with Hiccup, explain who Drago was, and talk plans, then maybe Hiccup wouldn't have taken off in the first place. Then maybe they would be prepared and safe right now. Stoick sighed, he had really failed his son.
Valka moved to stand by his side, and leaned her head against his shoulder. She didn't know what to say to comfort him, so she offered her silent companionship. Stoick seemed to appreciate it. She had so many questions based off of all the things the others had said, but didn't think now was an appropriate time to ask them. They all seemed to believe in Hiccup, though. So, she would believe in him too.
—
Hiccup woke up shivering, despite Toothless' blanketing wing, and his stomach aching with hunger. He didn't know when he had last ate, but he had been so exhausted and emotionally drained the night before, that food hadn't occurred to him before falling asleep.
He sat up, the movement waking the drowsy Night Fury. Toothless yawned and stretched like a cat, causing Hiccup to chuckle as he moved to stand and stretch too.
"So, we should catch some fish or something." Hiccup suggested and Toothless was suddenly wide awake at the idea, his tongue flopping as he bounced with excitement, eliciting more laughter from Hiccup. "Oh, are you hungry?"
Toothless cooed and bounced some more. He was always hungry for fish, and also, he was starving from his previous, overactive day of flying and battling.
"Alright, let's get something to eat." Hiccup mounted Toothless and as soon as his prosthetic snapped into place, Toothless was off.
Hiccup quickly adjusted the tail fin and started moving with the Night Fury, working together to glide over the water and go fishing.
—
The pair felt much better after getting some food in them. After they had eaten, Toothless lounged on the ground, belly up, and purred contentedly, while Hiccup tended to the fire they had built, aimlessly poking it with a splinter of wood, probably from a destroyed catapult or ship. He was starting to get bored and anxious as he sat there, unable to do much of anything and knowing that the people he cared about faced a great enemy. He wondered, had the others been successful? Was Berk okay? Had Drago been defeated?
Unable to sit still any longer, Hiccup stood abruptly. He needed to keep his mind busy or he would go crazy. As he stood, Toothless perked up at the sudden movement, a questioning look on his face.
"I just need to find something to do, to occupy my mind." Hiccup explained. "You can keep resting if you want."
As much as Toothless enjoyed lounging around, it was Hiccup's company that kept him there, and he knew that his friend could use his company as well. The Night Fury chose to trot contentedly behind his friend as he began wandering through the wreckage from the battle.
Hiccup took in his surroundings, observing, as they walked. There were a lot of abandoned weapons laying around. Some of them he had never seen before; Drago must have travelled far and found people from distant lands. As someone who did forge work, they intrigued Hiccup.
He bent and picked up a damaged sword with a curved blade. Hiccup liked swords, and he was really good with them too. They were his weapon of choice, but he didn't like the shape or feel of this one. He swung it around for a moment, testing it out before tossing it aside.
Toothless sat and watched as Hiccup picked up various weapons and messed around with them before abandoning them. He tilted his head in interest, his gaze following the movements. It wasn't long before Hiccup's attention was no longer captured by the weapons, and he was pacing around the area.
"I'm bored." Hiccup finally turned to Toothless. "And I keep thinking about Berk!"
'Dad had a plan to keep Berk safe.' Toothless nodded his head.
"I hope everything worked out." Hiccup suddenly had doubts. Drago had a Bewilderbeast and an army of dragons, what chance did they have? He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts so he wouldn't be lingering on the possible outcomes. His gaze landed on a bow and a quiver of arrows. "I'll practice my aim. That'll keep me occupied."
Taking his time, seeing as he had plenty of it, Hiccup set up a target from the wood pieces of a broken catapult, then walked the distance back to Toothless who continued to watch. Once in place, Hiccup tested out the bow and nocked an arrow. Adjusting to this particular bow, with a draw that was stronger than what he was used to, helped to keep his mind busy. For a while. Eventually it got to the point where shooting at the same target for so long, began to get old. Hiccup was already a rather decent shot. His aim had improved a lot from when he was younger. But then, he was actually capable of pulling back the string of a bow now, even with this bow, so that helped.
Toothless noticed as Hiccup's mind started to wander back to his worries regarding Berk. He kept staring off in the direction that the others had left, the day before. The Night Fury, feeling somewhat responsible for Hiccup being stuck there with him, away from the others and unable to help them, wanted to help distract Hiccup, so he wouldn't be so stressed. That would be his goal today, he decided, to help Hiccup to not linger on his worries.
Approaching his distracted friend, Toothless nudged Hiccup in the back, sending him stumbling forward. Hiccup let out a sound in surprise before catching himself and turning around with an indignant expression.
"What was that for?" Hiccup dropped the bow and the now empty quiver, and put his hands on his hips. Toothless did a play bow, much like a dog that wanted to play, then bounded away in answer. For a moment, Hiccup just watched his dragon prance away, playful and energetic as usual. He had an idea of what his friend was trying to do, and a smile slowly spread on his face before he decided to join in, allowing himself to be distracted. He welcomed it. He was going to be stuck there for a day or two, waiting to hear back from Berk. His mind was likely to keep conjuring up the worst case scenarios if he allowed himself to think. Playing one of Toothless' favorite games of catch-me-if-you-can, was definitely the better alternative.
—
Toothless considered the day a success. He had roped Hiccup into activity after activity, all day, and his friend had smiled and laughed. However, now, it was starting to get dark as the day ended, and they were in for a long night.
They had been well rested from the previous night, having fallen asleep easily, exhausted from a day of flying and battling. The two had slept long and deeply, only waking because their need for food had suddenly outweighed their need for rest. But things were different that night. They were mildly tired, but not exhausted, and their restless minds wouldn't allow them to sleep as easily as the night before.
Hiccup and Toothless walked cautiously through the debris left behind from the battle, and toward their campsite from the night before on the edge of everything, near the icy shores. They had ended up a distance away from it and had wanted to return for the night, but everything looked different in the dark.
The moon illuminated the icy landscape and caused the wreckage and debris to cast long shadows. The wind from the shores caused ripped flags and broken pieces of things to sway. During the light of day, these things had gone unnoticed. Now, they stood out more than ever.
As they continued to walk, something fell and cracked in the distance, causing Hiccup to jump and Toothless to twitch his ears. In the silence that followed the sound, Hiccup paused for a moment, almost expecting to hear something else. Cautiously, they continued to walk, more alert than before, but the sound of creaking metal slicing through the quiet still had Hiccup immediately stepping closer to his dragon companion. It suddenly occurred to him that they could be flying instead of walking through an abandoned battlefield. Why put himself through all of this? They could be there already.
"Toothless?" Hiccup whispered, suddenly feeling like making any kind of sound would draw unwanted attention to themselves, though the logical part of him told himself that there was nothing there to gain the attention of. "Do you think... that people died during that battle?"
Toothless grunted loudly, he supposed it was possible, even likely. That was what happened in war and there had been a lot of destruction and explosions.
"Shhh!" Hiccup slapped a hand over part of Toothless' mouth, causing the dragon to blink in surprise before rolling his eyes. If there were dead there, they couldn't exactly do anything, because they were dead.
"How did I not realize how creepy this place was before? There we were, just skipping though an abandoned battlefield without a care. What if we disturbed someone's final resting place?"
Toothless huffed, Hiccup's hand too small to effectively hush the dragon. They were safe there. Everything was fine. Hiccup was being silly.
"What if something's out there?" Hiccup was getting carried away. It was finally starting to sink in, where they were, what had happened there. Hiccup had seen battle before, but this had been on a whole other level. Now that he was letting his mind linger on it, his imagination was starting to get the better of him. Were they sharing this island with Drago's fallen warriors? Had they passed by a body today, without even realizing it? Hiccup shuddered.
Something akin to a moan echoed around them and Hiccup was suddenly hyper aware of any and every sound. All of which, probably had logical explanations. He moved even closer to Toothless, weary of his surroundings. His surroundings that, now that he was getting a look at it in the dark, were incredibly eerie. Broken weapons of war, splintered wood, abandoned shields and personal weapons. Pieces of ripped clothing? Dark stains of... something.
"I don't want to stay here anymore." Hiccup whispered as he was pressed against Toothless' side.
Toothless took a step back and looked Hiccup in the eye. What had gotten into his friend? They had been at war before. Hiccup had seen death, he had seen his enemies fall. Why was it getting to him so badly right now?
"Remember back on Dragon's Edge?" Hiccup was still whispering. "I never really thought about the aftermath of our battles with the dragon hunters because we always left after succeeding in our cause. But, we've been messing around here, all day. We played games! I should have realized how disrespectful that was."
'We meant no harm.' Toothless tried to assure Hiccup, but then the sound of some debris falling over in the wind caused Hiccup to jump and gasp. He hopped onto Toothless' back, he did not want to stay there any longer. The dark made it all so much more creepy.
"Let's spend the night inside the nest, okay?" Hiccup leaned against Toothless' neck so he could continue whispering.
Toothless still thought Hiccup was overreacting and being a little silly, but he didn't want Hiccup to be frightened or uncomfortable, so he agreed and took flight.
—
"It's way less creepy in here." Hiccup commented as he took in the familiar surroundings of the nest, although it was less awe inspiring without all the colorful dragons and the alpha. "No debris, no discarded weapons of war, no possible corpses here to haunt my dreams."
Toothless huffed. 'You're ridiculous.'
"If graveyards don't creep you out, then you're the weird one." Hiccup countered at Toothless' long-suffering expression. "Have you ever heard of draugrs?"
Toothless hadn't, but he rolled his eyes anyway.
"Well, you wouldn't have. Berk doesn't have a graveyard, we put our dead on ships with everything they'll need in the afterlife, and set it afire with burning arrows."
Toothless tilted his head to the side. That sounded like a nice farewell, although he wasn't eager to experience it.
"Although, Gobber once told me there was such a thing as a water draugr... I refused to go near the shore for months after that."
'You need to stop listening to that crazy human's tall tales.' Toothless shook his head.
"To be fair, I was like, nine at the time."
'How old are you now?' If Toothless could raise an eyebrow, he would have. But he did his best approximation of that expression.
"The abandoned battlefield was freaking me out, oh fearless one." Hiccup quipped. Just then, a fluttering sound broke the silence. Toothless jumped like a scared cat and Hiccup drew his sword on instinct. Hiccup gave Toothless an incredulous look. "I spoke too soon."
Toothless responded with a growl as he tried to salvage what was left of his dignity. So the spooky stories were getting to him, whatever. He took up a defensive stance as Hiccup lit up his fire sword in order to shed more light on the shadowy parts of the nest.
The fluttering sound came again and something landed clumsily in front of them. Toothless growled in warning, but Hiccup held up his hand to indicate that he should back down. Toothless listened.
"It's a dragon?" Hiccup said with confusion as the Hobblegrunt, blinded by a tree snare, his mom had introduced him to earlier, came into sight. Toothless stood down completely as he realized the newcomer wasn't a threat and Hiccup sheathed his sword and put it away. "I thought all the dragons had left with Drago."
Toothless cooed at the Hobblegrunt and it made a croaking sound in return before slowly approaching Hiccup. It could sense that he was nearby. Hiccup reached out and gently started stroking his scales.
"Did you hear us coming?" Hiccup asked. "Getting lonely in here by yourself?"
The Hobblegrunt purred, it's sound a higher resonance than Toothless'. It liked attention and it liked Valka's human friend. Hiccup was nice.
"I saw all the dragons leave with Drago." Hiccup started talking as he thought. "I even saw the injured ones follow him. They were completely under his Bewilderbeast's control. Even the ones with broken limbs or injured wings followed."
Toothless growled. Only a monster took advantage of the injured and disabled, the casualties of war.
"But, you can't see." Hiccup's mind was racing. He jumped and turned to Toothless, startling the Hobblegrunt for a second. He wanted more head scratches and bumped his nose into Hiccup for more attention, but Hiccup couldn't stop his train of thought at this point. "You couldn't see me, bud. When you were in that trance, it was like you couldn't see anything. Your eyes didn't focus on me, but the Bewilderbeast forced you to go after me."
Toothless tilted his head to the side. What was Hiccup trying to say? It was true, his vision had slowly blurred as the new alpha took over his mind and when he came to, he was blind for a second. Toothless didn't remember everything, he hadn't been in control, or really even conscious, but he never wanted to be in that situation again.
"You didn't hear me either." Hiccup continued. He started pacing, ignoring the Hobblegrunt, much to its dismay. "Because the Bewilderbeast was completely in control of your mind and your movements. You didn't need to see, because he was seeing for you, in a way. But... what if you already couldn't see?"
The Hobblegrunt snorted, he couldn't see, so could he have more head scratches now? He continued to be ignored. Toothless thought maybe he was catching on to what Hiccup was building up to.
"This Hobblegrunt didn't need to be able to see in order to fly after Drago and his alpha, yet he is still here. What if, since being blind causes you to focus more on your other senses, that focus helps keep the alpha out?"
Toothless cooed in realization and he nodded. That was indeed a possibility. He looked to the Hobblegrunt. 'Well?'
However, the Hobblegrunt just started nuzzling up against him, since Hiccup obviously wasn't going to pay attention to him right now. The blind dragon purred and shook its head, completely oblivious.
'Not too smart, then.' Toothless observed. Most dragons weren't as sentient as him, anyway. Although, the tamed and trained dragons of Berk tended to be more aware and a bit more intelligent then the instinct-driven, wild dragons.
"We haven't heard anything from Berk, and I'm starting to worry. I didn't know what to do before, but now? I think I have a plan." Hiccup stopped pacing and turned back to Toothless. "A crazy plan."
'That's more like it.' Toothless quoted his blonde, human friend. He liked seeing that spark of life in Hiccup. It had been missing from his eyes in the past day, but maybe Hiccup could move on from all this. Maybe he could learn to forgive himself and the ones who had torn him down. Toothless had hope, and he would do whatever Hiccup asked of him.
"We're going to have to work together, Toothless. We can't fight each other for control, like we did before." Hiccup looked down in shame for a moment. "That was my fault, buddy. I'm so sorry."
Toothless cooed and nuzzled Hiccup's side. He forgave him. It was partially his fault too. Flying, for them, was a team effort.
"That won't happen again." Hiccup's determination returned and he placed a hand on Toothless' nose. "We have to be a team. You and me, together, as one."
—
A/N: Thanks for reading! I really appreciate the feedback, follows, and faves. I hope you are all doing well and holding up! If you're looking for another Stoick survives story, try checking out "Smacked" and "Stepping Forward" by KN Hudson.
—
Review Responses:
HowlingLeo: Thanks for the reviews and for reading!
Vanpelt: Stoick has made a lot of mistakes and is still making them, but I think he is trying to change for the better for Hiccup. Change can be hard. I actually really like Stoick, he is trying to be a better father. I do agree that both he and Valka aren't the greatest parents, but they can work toward bettering themselves. I think you might like a few scenes I have planned for later. And thank you for the compliment! I have put a lot of thought and time into this story.
R37uy: Thank you so much for the kind words! I'm glad you are liking it so far.
