"What do you mean? Why not just sail the damn thing in there? Surely one of these stupid things could just guide us or something." Astrid put her hands on her hips. Hiccup looked at her confused.
"Where's the fun in that?" Hiccup asked.
"I'm not here for fun, Hiccup." Astrid scowled.
"Firstly, if you keep doing that with your face you're gonna get wrinkles. Secondly, what's life without a little fun? Lastly… uh, I don't actually have anything else. Let's get this boat in the air." Hiccup turned around and started to direct the dragons again as he walked to the front of the ship. "I'd hang on to something." Hiccup yelled.
The humans who were new found places they could cling onto. Wondering if they were in danger. On the other hand, the humans who'd been there just stood and waited.
They all heard Hiccup shout something and moments later the ropes all snapped against the ship in unison. The wood groaned as the flapping of wings grew loud. And then they were gently swinging. Hiccup moved from the front of the ship and began to climb the mast to get to the crow's nest.
The new humans were split between terrified and excited. The terrified ones clung on for dear life praying that it would be over. While the excited ones were hanging over the edge. Unable to believe the ship was flying.
Astrid stood next to Stoick with her arms crossed.
"How are you dealing with all this, Stoick?" She asked.
"What do you mean?" He looked down at her.
"With all this? With Hiccup? The dragons? I mean, how are you okay with this?"
"Something like this you must take in stride." He explained. "Something that I see a lot of leaders do is get stuck in their own way. If this is our path forward then I'm not going to resist it."
"What about all the people who've been hurt by them? They're not just going to accept this." Astrid argued.
"It's not only us who were hurt, you know. They've lost plenty." Stoick gave her a sad smile. "There's much you have to learn yet." Stoick walked to the banister and looked over the edge. Astrid tailed him. They were quite high up and moving slowly. "You can't quite see it yet. But what you don't know is that they were fighting themselves just as much as us. Hiccup and Toothless they stopped it."
A thud landed behind them. Toothless sat behind them with his head cocked. "Heard me say your name did you? Or have you been listening the whole time?" Toothless rolled his head back and forth. "I should have suspected."
"Wait what?" Astrid interrupted. "It shook its head. Is that supposed to mean something?" She looked confused.
"They can understand us, Astrid. Some more than others. If you can learn and understand them, you could have a conversation. But given they can't speak our language, Hiccup taught them some basic, yes, no, maybe, signals so we can at least ask some questions."
"I don't even know what to say."
"Shouldn't you be helping?" Stoick continued speaking with Toothless. "I'm sure your weight isn't helping." Toothless looked up at the crow's nest. Stoick looked as well. "I see." He chuckled. "Loves showing off doesn't he?" Stoick smiled. Toothless huffed. "Oh don't be mad at him. He deserves to show off a bit when he can." Stoick paused. "I suppose I should thank you." He looked at the Night Fury. "From what he's told me you've always let him be himself. He always wanted to share what he was doing with others. What he was reading, his drawings, anything he could share he tried. I wish I could say I made time for him. And I wish I had now." Stoick paused again. "We weren't very good to him. I'm lucky Gobber took him under his wing. Probably the only reason he'd have to look back I imagine. Early on at least. I'm glad you two found each other. Hiccup needed someone like you, so thank you." Toothless bowed his head.
The ship continued to slowly move forward, and the rest of the ride went smoothly. The ship was laid down in the black rocks on the beach and the dragon seemed to disappear as the ropes were released. Hiccup climbed down and met with the humans below.
"So when we go inside there's going to be a lot of movement since everyone is still getting around and settling back in. Many of them are going to be curious about you and are likely going to come up to us and investigate. They are people like us, but they are feral animals too. So if they come up to you expect them to poke you with their snouts and sniff at you. They're just trying to get your scent. Figure out who you are, what you smell like, cause they'll remember it so in the future they'll know, you smell like this, and you, that. Don't worry they won't hurt you on purpose. If they do get a bit rough, just push them away and they'll figure out to be more gentle. Just don't hit em'. If you do, you're on your own. I'm not going to stop them and neither is anyone else." Hiccup turned around and hopped over the banister, down onto the rocks below. Stoick rolled his eyes and dropped a rope ladder down the side and climbed down. A handful of dragons watched from a distance while dragons who had riders came to greet them. The humans couldn't believe they were watching Stoick play fight with a dragon nearly three times his size. Or watch as a couple of Gronckle and a Hot Burble flew down to Gobber just to fall asleep at his feet. In which he sat down to scratch and pet them. The other humans also began to join up with their dragons.
The humans watched Hiccup and Toothless become surrounded by a number of dragons of different sizes and shapes. They watched as Hiccup once again gave instructions to his people. And as one or two left, others would take their position until they were all dismissed and Hiccup rejoined them.
"Okay." Hiccup huffed. "With all that settled. A sleeping area has been chosen and will be cleared for all of you, and bedding is being brought up for you to use as well. I have to warn you it's not going to be the most comfortable sleep ever, but you'll be warm and dry. As I said before they're going to be curious if you. Just let them do their thing. Now follow me." Hiccup turned and entered a sizable hole in the mountain. As the humans followed they couldn't believe the sight. The dragons buzzing about like bees in a hive. Hundreds of them moving around all at once without getting in each other's way. As they climbed up the inside edge they could feel eyes on them. A number of dragons came to check them out as Hiccup had said. A few noticed that many would look to Toothless and Hiccup first to make sure it was okay.