Feelings of Estrangement

His hand rested on the wooden door as he stood frozen in place. The merry sound of laughter and the enthusiastic chatter of voices, slightly muffled by the front door, made their way outside. Hiccup stood, staring blankly ahead as he listened to his parents enjoy themselves by the fire, conversing like they hadn't spent the last twenty years apart. Hiccup was pretty sure he and his father had never spent a nice night together like that, talking so openly and care free. And he had been there for the past twenty years.

He had been about to enter the house, but had paused. He felt like an intruder. If he walked through that door, he would disrupt their good time. He would have to wait around awkwardly for them to finish up with their talking and it would be his fault that they went their separate ways for the night so that he could sleep downstairs, again. Although, at this point, he didn't understand why they didn't just share his father's room— which was originally meant for the both of them anyway. Though, Hiccup didn't much like the idea of being upstairs in his loft, while his parents either kept talking by the fire or retreated to their room, either.

He didn't feel like he belonged in this house anymore. If he stayed downstairs then he would be in their way. If he stayed upstairs when his mom finally stopped staying up there, then he would just feel... out of place. An intruder in his own home.

Hiccup let his hand slowly fall away from the door. He wasn't going to open it. He wasn't going to get in their way.

Upon hearing an especially loud burst of laughter from inside, Hiccup abruptly turned around and marched away, unable to stand listening to them anymore. He walked without a purpose, back into the village, not even sure where he was going.

He had at least gotten some rest earlier, when Astrid had taken him to Gothi's to check for any injury after everything that had happened that morning, and he had taken a nap for a few hours— which had been so refreshing. He could have stayed there longer, milking the aches and bruises from being thrown around, and the exhaustion, but he had been determined to get back to work. He hadn't wanted to take a nap or take the time to rest in the first place. It had also been uncomfortable laying around while Ruffnut was assisting Gothi with tasks, especially since he was the reason that she was there. At least he had been able to check in on Snotlout at the same time.

As Hiccup thought about how he could have been staying at Gothi's instead of wandering the streets of Berk, he found himself outside the forge, like he usually did when he didn't want to go home— which had been less often until recently, but he paused again. Eret was staying in his back room now. He was away on his errand that night, but it would feel weird to go back there. Hiccup would feel like he was intruding on Eret's space.

When he didn't have a home he felt he could return to, he at least thought he would always have the forge.

Hiccup stood there, indecisive, for longer than would seem appropriate had anyone been around. He resumed his blank stare that he had adopted while deciding whether or not to enter his own home. He was happy that Eret found a place on Berk, but now he was beginning to feel like he was being booted out of every place he ever felt like he used to belong. Or had he? Had he ever truly belonged in the first place?

The day had been a failure on his part, he thought. More destruction than construction had been accomplished to the village. He had lectured his friends and now they were upset with him. Snotlout was injured, although the healers had said that he would be just fine with a couple days of rest. Hiccup, himself, had sustained some minor injuries and he had been forced to rest for a couple hours under supervision so that he wouldn't sneak away and go back to work, which he most definitely would have done. He had wasted time. He had been laying down in Gothi's hut while everyone else was working hard to reconstruct what they had just... well, reconstructed.

Several families had been forced to return to the Great Hall to camp out for the night, right after they had managed to rebuild all the houses and clear out the Hall of overnight guests. Their progress had digressed. All of this under Hiccup's temporary chiefship. With a sigh, he looked up to the Great Hall. He couldn't go there either. He was sure the people up there wouldn't welcome him. Surely they were upset with him for their displacement from their own homes, for the second time in a couple weeks. Everything was a mess.

A soft coo of concern sounded behind him and Hiccup turned around to see Toothless and Heimdall. A small smile came to his lips as his two dragon friends came to greet him. He could always rely on Toothless. He would always have a place with his dragon brother, and Heimdall was a good cuddler and pleasant company as well.

"Want to take a walk to the cove?" Hiccup asked his Night Fury friend as he gave him a pet along his head.

'The cove?' Toothless tilted his head in confusion. It was late, shouldn't Hiccup be going home for some sleep?

"I... I just want to stay at the cove for tonight. You, me, and Heimy." Hiccup didn't expand on why. Toothless could tell something was wrong, but he wouldn't push Hiccup into telling him. Hiccup would, when he was ready. He always talked to his best friend. So, Toothless gave an affirming nod and walked alongside his rider. Heimdall walked on Hiccup's other side, guided by the touch of his hand.

The warmth of the sun felt nice as Hiccup slowly started to wake up. He could feel the fresh grass below him. The comforting closeness of two dragon companions. The gentle breeze whisking the scent of fresh water from the pond, drifting past him.

Opening his eyes, Hiccup took in the view of the beautiful cove. It was his favorite place to be. It was where he had met his first friend. Where he had met someone who accepted him without question, who was always there for him, would never abandon him, and who had become his family. Hiccup would always feel like he belonged in that cove. He would always feel welcome there. No one could take that from him.

A quiet purr alerted Hiccup that Toothless had woken too. He turned his head to see one big, green eye peeking open. When Hiccup looked at him, the dragon closed his eye again, as if he was feigning sleep, causing him to chuckle softly at the Night Fury's antics.

"I know you're awake, bud." Hiccup reached over and patted his friend's head. The dragon let out a quiet groan, as if he were asking for a few more minutes of sleep. "Yeah, alright you lazy dragon. I don't want to get up yet either."

Hiccup was content to remain right where he was, for as long as he could get away with. He wasn't ready to face everyone back in the village, not after yesterday. It almost felt like old times. Where Hiccup would cause some kind of disaster and would be shunned from civilization, so he would seek out solace in nature, and eventually, find comfort with a new friend.

Thinking back on the past week, Hiccup wasn't so sure if he was meant to be a chief and leader. It was hard, and he didn't think he was very good at it. However, he had made a promise to his father, and he had people depending on him. So he would be responsible and do his duty.

With a groan of effort, Hiccup pushed himself up into a sitting position. He knew he had to get up and make sure things got done. It wasn't fair of him to expect other people to wake up and work if he didn't do it himself. That didn't mean that he was looking forward to it though.

"If you want to rest a while longer, I can just walk back." Hiccup told Toothless, knowing that the dragon had been working just as hard as him, if not harder. He didn't mind the idea of walking back to the village, that would give him more time to mentally prepare for another hard day of chiefing, when he really didn't have much confidence in how well he was doing. However, Toothless decided that he should get up too. He stretched, much like a cat, and stood up, although his eyes were lidded in a tired expression.

As the other two made the effort to get up, it became quite clear that Heimdall did not want to get up. He made a small chirping sound and curled himself into a tighter ball, indicating his reluctance.

"I don't want you getting lost out here." Hiccup told the blind dragon. Toothless cooed a response for the Hobblegrunt. "I guess there's not much he can do, down here." Hiccup indicated the cove walls. Sure, Heimy could fly, but he didn't do it that often unless there was another dragon to follow behind. Likely, he would just sleep and maybe wander around a bit until they came back.

Toothless gave an affirming snort, agreeing that the Hobblegrunt wasn't likely to get into much trouble in the cove. The Night Fury had no qualms with leaving him there for the day to explore the cove. He spent a lot of time babysitting Hiccup's new dragon friend or being followed around. As much as Heimy was growing on him, he was relieved to have a break from his constant shadow.

Hiccup gave Heimdall a pat on the head and mounted Toothless. The Night Fury didn't typically sleep in his saddle and rigging, but he had last night just in case they had to get up in a hurry for some reason. It wasn't ideal for the interim chief to be so far away from his people at night.

"I'll bring you some fish, later." Hiccup told Heimdall, who gave a little purr in acknowledgement but probably didn't actually understand what had been said. Hiccup wasn't sure why he waved to the blind and sleeping dragon, but he did, right before Toothless took off.

The short flight to the village of Berk gave Hiccup a taste of something he had been missing. He wasn't sure when he and Toothless had last taken a leisurely flight together— and by leisurely, he meant adrenaline-pumping, free-falling, racing through the skies, kind of a flight. He missed it, and he longed to be out there soaring through the skies with his best friend. Instead, however, they touched down gently in the center of the village.

"There you are." The friendly and familiar voice of Gobber was the first to greet the pair. "Should've known you two went for a morning flight."

"Oh, yeah, right. We went flying. Super early. That's what we did." Hiccup answered as smoothly as he could. He didn't want anyone to know that he had slept at the cove. Toothless didn't understand and gave a little, confused warble but quieted when Hiccup gave him a look.

Gobber raised an eyebrow at the fumbled response and the odd interaction between dragon and rider, but decided to let it go. Hiccup and Toothless weren't exactly known for being... normal. "Right. Well I got people started repairing the houses, figured that would be your priority for the day."

"Yes... that, yes. Thank you, Gobber." Hiccup forced his brain to go back into chief-mode.

"No problem." Gobber answered casually before putting on a more serious face. "You know I'm not one to get all touchy-feely." Gobber gave Hiccup a look-over, making the interim chief a little uncomfortable. "But are you alright?"

"Me?" Hiccup's eyes widened a little, in surprise or panic, Gobber couldn't tell. "Why wouldn't I be alright?"

"Because I know you, Hiccup, and after yesterday, I know you've been beating yourself up." Gobber explained and continued before Hiccup could protest, which he looked like he was about to do. "Let me guess, you couldn't sleep? So you and Toothless took a long, early flight because that's what you do when you're stressed— you fly away."

"I didn't fly away." Hiccup said with some exasperation, barely stopping himself from rolling his eyes.

"Look, it's not your fault. You had us ahead of schedule, you did good work. Things rarely work out the way they're supposed to, so something was bound to happen." Gobber tried to comfort Hiccup, but it only annoyed him.

"Something was bound to go wrong? That's your take on everything that happened yesterday?" Hiccup sounded disbelieving. "That's no excuse, and there were definitely people responsible for what happened, it wasn't some kind of anomaly."

"Sure, but you weren't one of those people responsible."

"I allowed Ruff and Tuff to head a project that involved explosives."

"You delegated and gave your friends a chance to prove themselves. It's their failure, not yours. You can't do everything yourself because something might go wrong if someone else does it instead. You took a chance and you trusted someone to help you. That's a good thing, I'm proud of you." Gobber said with a rare show of sincerity that completely baffled Hiccup, who was sure that he had failed.

"People's homes were destroyed. Snotlout was injured." Hiccup didn't know why he was continuing to insist that he be blamed for something, especially since Gobber's words were a comfort. Maybe he was just used to it— being the one who was blamed for things going wrong— so used to it, that it seemed wrong that he wasn't in trouble or being held responsible. It felt odd enough, that the only way to make the world feel right, was to try to take the blame for something.

Gobber gave Hiccup a sad smile, as if he knew what was going on inside Hiccup's head and was heart broken by it. He put a gentle hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "You handled all of that very well yesterday. Like a true chief would."

Hiccup looked at the ground, not sure how to take that kind of high praise. He really didn't feel very chiefly, so he changed the subject. "The twins call it Hiccup's Law."

"They what?" Gobber was a little confused by the change in subject.

"If something can go wrong, it will." Hiccup looked back up at Gobber with an amused glint in his eye. "The twins have started calling that phenomenon, Hiccup's Law."

Gobber couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips. "No offense, but I think they nailed that one."

"That's what Astrid said. And my dad."

"Speaking of Stoick." Gobber put an arm behind Hiccup and led him toward the forge. Toothless gave a parting coo from behind them as he left to see what was going on in the underground stables, having peace of mind that Hiccup was okay and in the hands of a friend.

They weren't far from the forge and once there, Gobber ducked inside to retrieve some rolled up pieces of parchment. He laid them flat across a cleared surface, revealing them to be Hiccup's technical drawings of some new dragon stables.

"Now, as much as I think you're really coming into your own as a chief." Gobber hesitated for a second, hoping he wouldn't offend his young friend, before continuing. "I can't put these plans into action without direct authorization from the actual chief."

"Oh, well he did tell me to work on plans for some improvements to Berk." Hiccup answered, though he remembered that during that conversation his father had told him that he would focus on the reconstruction while Hiccup focused on the improvements. They had been meant to work together on all of this, but Hiccup had offered to take over and his father had readily agreed. Now Hiccup was in charge of everything and his dad was hard to find, even though he promised to be available to guide his son should he need help with anything.

"And I would happily get started on these plans, but they require us to make a clearing in the woods, by the cliffside. If we're going to clear out that many trees and alter the tree line that much, I need Stoick's authorization." Gobber explained, albeit somewhat apologetically. Stoick wasn't exactly easy to track down nowadays.

Hiccup thought about the situation for a moment. It was this kind of miscommunication that had him and his father at odds before. They had both agreed, they worked well as a team if they put some effort into it and communicated. Hiccup wasn't about to make the same mistake twice and take action against his father's will. "I'll talk to my dad about it." Hiccup rolled up the parchments and held onto them. " I just need you to focus on rebuilding the houses that were destroyed yesterday. Once Eret and Fishlegs show up, we can get the rest of that ice out of here."

Just then Tuffnut came walking up to the forge to resume his temporary position as Gobber's assistant, devoid of his usual enthusiasm and chipper attitude. "And what about that giant Bewilderbeast tusk?"

The group of three turned their heads to look at the huge tusk that Toothless had blasted off of the Bewilderbeast, that had been relocated to the outskirts of the village so that it was out of the way— and that hadn't been an easy thing to do.

"Have you finally decided what to do with it?" Tuffnut asked.

Hiccup hesitated before answering as yet another thing was added to his list of things to do. He had put off deciding what to do with it until later, hoping to consult his father about it, and he still didn't want to address it. It was a debatable issue.

"I'll ask my dad what he thinks when I ask about these." He held up the rolled parchment.

"You already know my opinion." Gobber said.

"Yes, I know. It's an incredible resource." Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Wait, then I don't get it. Why don't we just use it then? It's way bigger than a boar tusk, which opens up way more options." Tuffnut's expression was one of confusion.

"Because if we use it to make arrowheads, tools, or even jewelry and we use those goods for trading— it only encourages people out there to hunt dragons for ivory, hides, teeth, and scales. There are already enough dragon hunters out there as it is, but at least they don't kill the dragons for parts." Hiccup explained.

"But we came by this tusk by accident." Tuffnut reasoned.

"Exactly!" Gobber said with enthusiasm. "No dragon was killed and we weren't aiming to get a tusk out of that battle."

"But doesn't it seem... a bit disrespectful? That Bewilderbeast was being bullied into attacking us. He's still alive and you just want to make things out of something that was a part of him?" Hiccup questioned.

"We make things out of boar tusks. We use animals all the time." Tuffnut justified.

"We hunt wild animals and raise livestock for a purpose. When we slaughter one, we use the whole thing. Nothing gets wasted and we only slaughter as needed. When people kill a dragon for resources, they leave the body behind and take only the parts that they think are worth something and that's disrespectful and wrong."

"The Bewilderbeast is still alive though, so wouldn't it be a waste to not use it?" Tuffnut was actually quite the debater when he wanted to be, although in this instance he was just trying to understand.

"In a way, I guess. But should Berk gain such wealth by distributing goods made from something that came from a dragon, especially when we stand for peace? We don't know what will come of such actions." Hiccup continued to argue the cons. "What if people want more? If we can't continue to provide it, they'll go out and get it themselves."

"We can just keep it all for ourselves. I've never had the opportunity to work with so much ivory. Do you know what I could make with a chunk of that?" Gobber asked with the same enthusiasm.

"No, what?" Tuffnut asked curiously.

"...I actually don't know, but I want to find out."

"I just want to ask my dad what his opinion is first." Hiccup tried to placate them so that they would give him the time he wanted to figure things out.

"I think your dad will want to do whatever will help Berk prosper, and after all the destruction and rebuilding, we're kind of hurting for supplies." Tuffnut commented casually. "Spoils of war."

Hiccup thought on that. He was pretty sure that Tuffnut was right about what his dad would say. They had burned through a lot of resources lately and trading highly valued ivory goods would certainly help Berk to get back on their feet and flourish again. They would get there eventually anyway, but this would certainly help move things along and prevent them from going through a rough patch.

Not only had homes been destroyed— there had also been a loss of storage houses, ruined food, broken weapons, lost livestock. With everyone so focused on rebuilding, almost everyone was eating in the Great Hall every night, which was a strain on supplies if people couldn't occasionally provide their own food for themselves. No one on Berk went hungry or was denied food, but they were getting behind on their fishing and hunting and they were slaughtering more and more of their livestock. Trading goods would help them get back on track.

Hiccup didn't necessarily have a set stance on the issue, he could see the pros and cons for each side of the argument. He just wanted to make sure people were aware of both sides. He didn't have a problem with his dad wanting what was best for Berk either, of course he didn't. However part of him was worried about what his mom would think, of them using a dragon tusk for wealth. She was already against his dragon stable plans, so why wouldn't she be against this too? If Hiccup had to ask his dad about both things, he just hoped his mom wouldn't be there for the conversation.

He had been all over Berk, had even flown over the forests. He had gone into his home, to the docks, out over the waters surrounding their island, and turned up nothing. Hiccup could not find his mom and dad anywhere.

He also felt kind of bad, it probably looked like he was just enjoying a day of flying with Toothless when he was actually stressing out about finding his dad— hopefully alone and not in the company of his mother. He didn't know how this talk would go if his mom was there.

By afternoon, Hiccup decided that looking for his parents, more specifically his dad, was a lost cause. He might just have to face them at the end of the day, while they spent their time together around the fire, at home. Hiccup was hoping that wouldn't be the case. If he had to talk to his dad then, his mom would definitely be involved, and on top of that, he would have to go home and interrupt their time together and awkwardly hang around until they left him to sleep downstairs.

With a sigh he finally stepped into the Great Hall, his stomach having been growling for the past couple hours. He would have a quick meal and then make up for the time he had wasted looking for his dad.

"Hiccup!" A loud, hearty voice exclaimed as he walked through the Hall. Hiccup immediately turned toward the speaker, startled and surprised.

"Dad?"

"Where have you been all morning? Gobber said you had something to talk to me about." Stoick was eating a late lunch and talking to a few other Berkians who took their cue to leave so father and son could talk.

"I... was looking for you. Have you been here this entire time?" Hiccup sat across from his dad who scooted some food over to his son.

"I've been walking around, seeing all the hard work you've put into repairing the village. Everything is looking great. Everyone had a lot of good things to say about how you've been handling things." Stoick commented, ignoring his half-eaten meal in favor of paying attention to his son.

"You've been here this entire time." Hiccup looked exasperated for a second before registering what his father had said. "Wait, they do?"

"Of course they do! The village is mostly repaired and everyone has been taken care of, why shouldn't our people be proud of you? I'm proud of you too." Stoick was beaming at his son, he knew Hiccup would be a good chief someday and he was proving it now.

"Things got kind of messy, yesterday." Hiccup admitted with some shame.

"Ah, yes. Gobber told me about what happened." Stoick took on a stern expression and Hiccup was suddenly sure that the pride was about to be replaced with reprimand. "He told me they had to force you to see Gothi to get some rest. I understand wanting to oversee everything and to be working alongside the people, but if you don't take care of yourself than you're no good to your people."

"I just wanted to fix some things first." Hiccup tried to explain.

"A chief can't do everything on his own, Hiccup. For the most part, people understand that. What happened wasn't your fault, anyway. So don't beat yourself up. Nothing happened that can't be fixed. Things happen, people make mistakes. Not even a chief can prevent everything bad from occurring, we both know that, don't we?" Stoick's expression softened again as he reassured Hiccup.

"I guess we do." Hiccup agreed softly, but Stoick could tell that there was more that Hiccup wasn't saying.

"I seem to remember you promising to let me know when something is bothering you. What is it?" Stoick waited as Hiccup sighed, obviously not wanting to open up. There were actually a lot of things bothering Hiccup in that moment, and all of it just kept building up. His parents, his friends, the mistakes he'd made yesterday, but Hiccup didn't want to make his dad feel bad about spending time with Valka. It would sound selfish anyway, if he complained about them, especially after he had given them the time they had wanted to get to know each other again.

Stoick was still waiting for an answer, having learned to be patient if he wanted to get through to his son. Hiccup finally looked up to meet his father's eyes, deciding that he needed to say something or his dad wouldn't let up. So he used his arm to clear the space on the table in front of him, pushing the plates of food aside so he could unroll the technical drawings he had been carrying around all morning.

Stoick raised an eyebrow at Hiccup's unexpected actions. He had thought that his son was about to admit to some kind of inner turmoil that had been eating at him, as was usually the case.

"What's this?" Stoick finally gave in and spoke up first as Hiccup placed some utensils on each end of the unrolled parchment to prevent the paper from curling in on itself again.

"You told me I should come up with some plans for improvements, since there are a lot more dragons on Berk now." Hiccup answered simply, hoping his dad wouldn't insist on going back to the previous topic.

"...and this is what is bothering you?" Stoick sounded slightly skeptical.

"Gobber says plans can't go forward without your approval specifically. So, until then we'll just continue to keep the dragons in crowded stables." Hiccup continued to avoid his father's line of questioning.

"Right, this is what Gobber said you wanted to talk to me about." Stoick was slightly disappointed, knowing what Hiccup was doing. His son had done it plenty of times before, bringing up another topic to distract Stoick from the difficult topic at hand. It was Hiccup's way of running away from a conversation without actually running away. Stoick had thought that they had come to an understanding after the war with Drago, that they would communicate with each other better. Apparently not.

"So I was thinking that we should build some stables further away from the village, right here along the cliff's edge, down by the tree line. That way the stables are within sight and quick walking distance, but it will allow some of the nest-dragons the space they need to feel more comfortable. Some of them are a little skittish around people and maintain some wild dragon-like habits." Hiccup dived right in to his explanation, ignoring the somewhat disappointed expression on his father's face. He wasn't sure why his dad was looking at him like that, maybe Valka had gotten to him about not liking the idea of stables for her dragons. "I figure if we build some stables along the cliff side, it will make the nest-dragons feel more free and they can slowly adapt to life here. Then, a little further inland we can build a few regular stables. We would have to cut into the tree line a little, which is why Gobber wants permission from you."

"That's a lot of stables." Stoick looked more closely at the drawings in front of him.

"There are a lot of new dragons." Hiccup responded. "We can't let them build the habit of roosting on rooftops and buildings. The dragons of Berk nest in stables, they're trained to, which prevents a lot of issues in the village. Our dragons are trained, they aren't wild. If we let dragons remain wild and do whatever they want, then all those problems return that we sorted out a long time ago, when we created the Dragon Academy. I can't make an exception for the nest-dragons, or more problems will arise. This is the best I can do, giving them stables further out and near the cliffs. They'll have to adapt to life here eventually. Or, I guess, some of them might not want to stay, but that's their choice to make. Accepting Toothless as their new alpha means life on Berk."

"Berk isn't a dragon nest, it was built for Vikings." Stoick stated, remembering the rules he set up for Hiccup when he agreed to let dragons share their home. "You've done a good job of getting us all to live together peacefully. So, I'll give the go ahead for these plans, but let's not cut too deep into the forests, we do still need to go out there to hunt and gather herbs after all."

"Yeah, of course. I took that into account, it really doesn't cut into the tree line too much." Hiccup agreed.

"Well, if that's settled, then I need to go and-" Stoick started to get up.

"There's actually one more thing." Hiccup interrupted his dad, needing to take care of one last issue.

Stoick lowered himself back into his seat, a curious expression on his face. Was Hiccup going to finally confide in him? "What is it?"

"Well, there's the issue of that giant Bewilderbeast tusk." Hiccup said. Stoick blinked in slight surprise, having somehow forgotten about that huge thing. "There is some debate over what we should do with it."

"It's an incredible resource. I'm surprised people aren't already claiming chunks of it." Stoick didn't know what kind of debate there could be over so much ivory. It would bring them some needed wealth as they rebuilt and recovered from their war.

"It's just that... should we use it? If we distribute goods made from dragon ivory, that might create a demand. We could be influencing people to go out and hunt dragons down for tusks, claws, scales, or a number of other things." Hiccup voiced his concerns.

"Are a lot of people concerned about this?" Stoick hadn't thought about that.

"Not really, like you said, most people are eager to get their hands on it. Mostly Gobber." Hiccup admitted. "I just want to think things through before making a decision."

"It's good to consider a situation from all angles, Hiccup, but, I think you might be thinking about this too hard. Who can even tell if something is made from boar or dragon tusk anyway?" Stoick brought up. They traded some goods made from boar tusks, so what difference would it make if it happened to be dragon tusk this time?

"Well, the size of whatever is made from it would give it away. Boars don't get that big." Hiccup answered.

"Sure, but we don't have to trade all of it. We could benefit from using it as well." Stoick was thinking through their options. "Or we can just keep the good stuff for ourselves and trade all of the goods we make out of boar tusks. Either way, I think we shouldn't let it go to waste."

"Okay." Hiccup agreed a bit reluctantly.

"Hiccup, we didn't come by the tusk in a morally ambiguous way. We don't waste resources on Berk." Stoick tried to explain the situation to his son better, knowing how high his moral standards could be.

"No, I get that." Hiccup quickly assured his dad. "I was just..." Honestly, Hiccup was concerned about what his mother would think if everyone on Berk started hacking pieces off of the Bewilderbeast tusk. He almost mentioned his concerns to his dad, but didn't want to risk offending him by voicing his doubts about his mom.

"What, Hiccup? You can tell me." Stoick urged, knowing Hiccup had been holding back about something this whole time.

"Nothing." Hiccup shook his head and gave his dad a small smile. "Chiefing is exhausting, that's all. I can see why you often come home at the end of the day with a headache. There are a lot of decisions to make that I never really thought about before."

Stoick chuckled. "You get used to it over time. This has been good for you, getting a taste of it. I bet you've learned a lot."

"Yeah, so much." Hiccup nodded, glad to have distracted his dad again.

"I'm proud of you, Hiccup. You've done good work." Stoick finally got to his feet. "I need to go meet up with your mother. I gave her some time to be with Cloudjumper. Those two have such a strong bond, I felt bad taking so much of her time away from the beast."

"She does love that dragon." Hiccup agreed. He could understand that, although he couldn't help a twinge of envy at the affection the Stormcutter had kind of stolen from him for the majority of his life.

"I'll see you at home tonight." Stoick said in parting, heading for the Great Hall doors with a skip in his step at the thought of meeting up with Valka. Hiccup flinched at his father's words, not having expected them to cut so deep. His parents hadn't even noticed that he had never come home, had they?

Hiccup slowly rolled up his technical drawings and got to his feet. He had to get things moving on the construction of the stables and let Gobber know that he had permission to work with the ivory. Besides, keeping busy kept his mind from going to dark places.

Today seemed to be a day of finding people and relaying messages. Hiccup found himself headed to the forge once more, to search out Gobber. It would be best if they could start construction on the stables that day. As Hiccup neared the forge, he could hear Eret and Gobber chatting.

"Hey, guys." Hiccup greeted as he walked up. Gobber and Eret responded with their own greetings while Tuffnut looked up from his task of decluttering the work surfaces. The twin wasn't particularly happy to be working while Eret and Gobber talked.

"Hiccup! I'm happy to report that the ice has been successfully removed." Eret boasted with a proud grin.

"That's great, Eret!" Hiccup praised. "Good work. The Quakens worked well, then?"

"They had that ice broken into pieces in no time at all. We could have had all of that ice cleared days ago if we had gotten those Quakens here in the beginning." Eret said, not noticing Tuffnut's look of disdain.

"It got done in the end." Gobber commented. "Fishlegs directed the Quakens back home. We definitely don't have room for them here."

"Well I'm glad I don't have to worry about the ice anymore." Hiccup said in relief. "And soon I won't even have to worry about these."

Gobber took the rolled up, technical drawings as Hiccup handed them to him. The old blacksmith rolled them out again. "So Stoick gave you the go ahead, then?"

"Yeah, he did. But we have to be careful not to cut too far into the tree line. So we have to strictly follow the plans." Hiccup indicated the border of where the stables were to come to an end on the drawing.

"Okay then." Gobber said with enthusiasm. "I'll make sure there are plenty of nails and supplies here. You should send these plans to the carpenters. They just repaired the last of the houses, so they can get right on this."

"I'd be happy to get those into the right hands." Eret offered, indicating the technical drawings. "I want to meet more of the people around here and if I can help out with this, then perhaps the men will stop looking at me so suspiciously."

"They'll accept you eventually, Eret." Hiccup tried to assure him. It was a good idea though, to give Eret some more responsibility. Besides, Eret had more than proved himself. Hiccup rolled the parchment back up and handed it to Eret. "But I think that's a good idea. Help them with this, and I'm sure they would be more than happy to work with you about getting your own house built."

"That would be great." Eret accepted the plans from Hiccup. "As grateful as I am for you lending me your backroom, a house of my own sounds amazing." He stepped out of the forge. "If you need me, I'll be hard at work."

The former trapper walked away to get started on his task. Tuffnut huffed from within the forge. With Eret off to do another important job for Hiccup, that left Tuffnut to keep doing boring chores for Gobber.

"I have some good news for you." Hiccup turned back to Gobber with a smile.

"I get to use the ivory?" Gobber asked with excitement and Hiccup chuckled.

"Yeah, we're going to use the Bewilderbeast tusk." Hiccup gave his mentor the answer he had been hoping for. "But I need you to make sure it gets used fairly. There's plenty to go around, but no one gets to hoard it. I'm going to have all requests go through you."

"I can do that." Gobber agreed. "I'll have my assistant put together a list so we can keep track of who has how much of it. But I want a big chunk of it for my efforts."

"What exactly do you want to do with that much ivory?" Hiccup asked with amusement.

"I'll figure something out." Gobber answered vaguely.

"Okay, sure, but mostly because I'm curious as to what you're going to do with it." Hiccup was going to let Gobber have a chunk of it anyway. He could do whatever he was planning, but also make some good arrowheads out of it for the armory. "Maybe, make sure Tuffnut gets some, if he wants it."

The two glanced back at Tuffnut who was sulking as he cleared off the work tables of wood shavings and leather scraps. He didn't look happy to be there, especially after hearing that he would have to do paperwork for Gobber.

"Yeah, I'll make sure he gets something nice for his assistance." Gobber looked between Tuff and Hiccup. When he next spoke, it was nearly a whisper. "Everything alright with you and your friends?"

Hiccup merely shrugged, not particularly wanting to get into things while Tuffnut was within hearing distance. "I'm going to make sure everything is going smoothly and see if anyone needs help with anything."

Hiccup left the forge, not particularly knowing where he was headed. He supposed there were a lot of things he could check on. Mostly, he just wanted to back out of another uncomfortable conversation. So he made his escape, allowing things to build up even more inside.

Strolling through the beautiful forests of Berk, the moon shining overhead and seeming to make everything glow, would normally be a pleasant time for Hiccup. He liked being in nature, but was finding it hard to appreciate the scenery around him as he ate his measly, late dinner of a chunk of bread while he walked to the cove. He hadn't been able to find Toothless and when it came to returning home for the night, he couldn't even bring himself to walk up to his house. Instead, he just headed straight for the trees and the cove beyond.

As he walked on instinct for the cove, knowing the path by heart, he could hear the sound of voices and saw a warm, orange glow seeping between the dense trees. There were people out there, and it seemed as if they were having a campfire. After pausing for a brief second, Hiccup decided to go closer so he could see who was out there. He didn't want to be seen, though, because they might question what he was doing and he didn't want anyone to know that he was staying in the cove now.

The voices got louder, the closer he got. It seemed odd that they weren't talking merrily and with camaraderie, as most people did while spending time leisurely around a fire with friends. It was as if the group were talking conspiratorially to each other, in hushed voices despite the remote location of their hang out spot.

Hiccup froze, a cold and hollow feeling spreading through his gut as he recognized the voices. They were his friends. Or, the people he had thought were his friends. Fishlegs, the twins, and Snotlout. Hiccup recalled that Snotlout had been cleared by the healers to leave his bed earlier that day, although he had to take it easy. Were they having a bonfire in celebration of that? They hadn't told him that they planned to hang out, and obviously, they hadn't invited Astrid either.

"-can't believe that you liked that guy." Snotlout said in disgust.

"What can I say, he's a good looking guy. I just didn't get the chance to get to know him, but now that I do know him, I can honestly say that there is nothing appealing about Eret." Ruffnut said Eret's name with disgust.

"I missed a lot while I was stuck in bed." Snotlout stated. "I didn't think Hiccup was the type to toss his friends aside for someone new."

"He gave Eret another big, important task today. Now I'm stuck having to keep working as Gobber's assistant." Tuffnut complained. "I do not envy Hiccup's former apprenticeship in the forge."

"Gobber's not a terrible guy to work with." Fishlegs defended their mentor.

"When you go from your dream job in demolition to assisting a guy who gives you dumb chores, it sucks." Tuffnut replied. "And Hiccup didn't even ask me where I wanted to work, he just stuck me there because Eret was doing other things and couldn't keep helping Gobber."

"I thought he would put us back together after a day or so." Ruffnut agreed with her twin. "Sure, we were fighting, but Tuff's my brother. We don't hold grudges for long and we do everything together! I'm still helping Gothi, and she makes me do some weird things."

"I thought you liked weird?" Snotlout asked.

"I only took that job so I could check on you, stupid." Ruffnut huffed.

"Really?" Snotlout asked.

"Look, even if we're still figuring stuff out between us." Ruffnut paused and Hiccup assumed she was gesturing to those in the love triangle. "I still care about my friends."

"Can't say the same for Hiccup." Snotlout grumbled. "How could he just toss you guys aside? After we let him be our friend? Without us, he would only have that Night Fury. He would still be alone and friendless."

"I don't know, he got Astrid on his side before we even knew about Toothless." Fishlegs said thoughtfully.

"Okay, fine. It would be Hiccup, Toothless, and the traitor, Astrid." Snotlout gave in. "To think I used to like her. She's been on Hiccup's side all this time. She always sides with him."

"Well, she's going to marry him, so she should be." Fishlegs defended once again, feeling a little guilty about their topic of conversation, even if he was upset with Hiccup.

"Ugh." Snotlout sounded disgusted.

"There have been times that she has sided with us." Tuffnut pointed out. "But she regretted it later."

"I'm pretty sure the power couple have already worked through all of that past drama." Ruffnut said dismissively. "Suddenly those two are the prime examples of what a Viking should aspire to be, while we get left behind. If you're not good enough, then you don't have a place in Hiccup's superior presence. Now its him, Astrid, and Eret. We don't have a place in their new, little group."

"How did Hiccup manage to turn the tables on us like that?" Tuffnut sounded almost in awe. "It's ingenious, actually. Befriend your enemies, become better than them, and then cast them aside. Loki would approve."

"Are you glorifying Hiccup's actions?" Snotlout sounded disbelieving. "There is nothing good about that. And who says he's better than me?"

"We weren't ever his enemies." Fishlegs quietly objected.

"It was easier to slack off and ignore him on Dragon's Edge." Snotlout continued. He felt very offended on his friends' behalves. He had woken up and been stuck inside. The twins and Fishlegs had been very supportive of him, and yet Hiccup and Astrid hadn't bothered to stop by to visit him. Then he heard about how his friends had been punished and he felt indignant about the whole thing. Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and even Fishlegs had been his friends as for back as he could remember. Astrid had always brushed him off and Hiccup had only joined the friend group five years ago. Snotlout felt a certain loyalty to the three who were with him now. They had even arranged for him to come out for a campfire, so he could stretch his legs and get some fresh air. "I hope he doesn't become chief for real, anytime soon."

There were a couple of hums in what sounded like agreement. Nobody spoke up on Hiccup's behalf. Nobody stood up for him or mentioned how hard he had been working lately. They were all content to let Snotlout's last comment hang in the air, uncontested.

Throughout the whole conversation, Hiccup had been taking slow steps backwards without even realizing it. His heart was racing, his breathing irregular, his stomach a swirl of anxiety and despair, his eyes were wet. He felt betrayed, almost as bad as when his dad had disowned him, but not quite. He couldn't imagine something cutting him as deep as that incident, even if it had felt like a long time coming, back then.

The firm trunk of a tree stopped Hiccup from backing up any further, startling him from his depressed trance. The group of his former friends started chatting again, moving on to more pleasant topics. They still didn't know he was there, and Hiccup didn't want them to. He slowly turned away and walked deeper into the dark woods, no longer caring if he even made it to the cove.

Hiccup felt like all of his hard work hadn't meant anything. He had been bending over backwards to help his people and to make things right. Sure, his father had told him that the people were happy with him, but that didn't mean much when his own parents and friends were tossing him aside like he was nothing. If the ones closest to him could turn on him like that, it surely wouldn't take much for the rest of the tribe to follow.

It wasn't like Hiccup hadn't worked hard for his people during worse times than this. He could persevere and do his best while everyone around him hated him, he was practiced at that. Even if all he had was Toothless and Astrid, and maybe even Eret and Gobber, that was still more than he had back then. He would keep doing all that he could to make Berk a better place for his people and the dragons.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I appreciate every follow, fave, and review!

Review Responses:

Silver Sentinel: Snotlout doesn't always think through his actions and Hookfang is pretty easy to rile up. Hiccup did speak out loud, but his words had an extra meaning for Hookfang that the people didn't catch. Hiccup didn't want to punish his friends and he wants to trust in them, but they made things hard for him. He did what he had to be honest, even in the TV shows I think Hiccup's friends can be insensitive and out of line. It's about time they realize that they need to treat him better. Hiccup doesn't usually do anything about their behavior and just takes it, but he needs to start standing up for himself more so people stop taking advantage of his kindness and forgiving nature.

Animation Adventures: Yeah, sorry if it was a disappointment to you, but I promise that everything I have written is leading up to something more. Everything that has happened, has happened for a reason. I'm not just writing random drama, it all has a purpose. I think Fishlegs and Snotlout tend to clash on occasion and I can see things escalating between them. The twins will get a chance to prove themselves and the team will start acting like a team again at some point, but for now, I'm leading to a bigger plot line. I haven't ever watched Steven Universe, but I did like the name Amethyst for Eret's dragon. I hope you continue to read and follow the story, and I appreciate the reviews!