"But what? How?" Astrid splutters.
"Well, let me see, she starts: When he came round to check on you he knew exactly where he was going as if he'd been in our house before; he cared rather a bit for your health, wasn't as intimidated by me as most people are the first time they 'meet' me, he has the same bright green eyes, a combination of his father's deep green and his mother's bright blue almost-green eyes; Hiccup seemed to have some fascination for dragons in the months before he was taken; oh and of course when I told The Dragon Master you used to have a crush on Hiccup and showed his some of your sketches, he was nearly speechless and shaking like a little boy. So yeah, kinda obvio-".
"WAIT WHAT" Astrid yells interrupting, "YOU TOLD HIM THAT?"
"Oh yes, and let him see a few of the sketches you did of him, y'know the ones on the back of the drawing of you that you did? The one by the end of the stairs you did a month or so after his funeral?" Ingrid grinned.
"Ohhhh Thorrrr" Astrid groans, putting her head in her hands and slumping back down onto the bed.
"He was so shocked at that realisation he barely said another word, surprised he made it home without walking into something he was in such a world of his own. I must admit it felt good to have guessed correctly and played him out like I could in my youth" she grinned.
"Everything alright?" Astrid's Dad calls from downstairs.
"All good" Ingrid yells down before turning back to Astrid "And with before with how I knew, I didn't even mention how you asked for him when you knew he was knocking, and then even let him into your room, so I knew he was someone you already knew."
"Is it *that* obvious the Dragon Master is Hiccup?" Astrid asks, still bewildered.
"Only to me" Ingrid chuckles, "I haven't told anyone else. He has kept his identity a secret behind that imposing black-leather mask of his for a reason, and so it's gonna be his decision when he reveals himself".
"Oh thank you" Astrid put down her soup bowl and hugged her Mum quickly, not quite sure why she was so glad about it.
Having been left on his own and not having anything else to do that afternoon, Hiccup left Toothless in his house and he wanders up the streets of Berk in the lessening light. Convincing himself to stop outside the chief's hut was easy enough, but to convince himself to knock? An entirely different prospect.
After about a minute of standing by the door, going over again what he wanted to say, The Dragon Master knocked on the chief's door. The knock goes unanswered, so his hand lifts up to knock once more, but he hears someone walking up behind him.
"I'm afraid I'm not home right now" Stoick says, "At least not quite yet" he chuckles.
After exchanging a brief greeting, Stoick goes onto tell him about his strenuous day. "All the boats that went off the south of the island came back empty", he sighs. "Though fortunately, the ships in th' East had a larger haul than usual, and even some of those southern species too, so at least there ain't much worry on food".
"Is there any way I can help?" The Dragon Master asks.
"No, no, we'll manage" Stoick waves off before suddenly frowning. "Besides, we have to talk over some more pressing matters", making the Dragon Master look at him nervously.
"Like when we are having the feast celebrating our new alliance", His tightly furrowed mustache widening to a slight grin once more, allowing the Dragon Master a deep sigh of relief.
"Come, come sit with me for a while" he invites, unlocking and opening the door to his house. The Dragon Master sees as the chief looks fondly onto the small, intricately patterned key, before stepping inside
He steps over to the fireplace, kneeling down to light it, "My son, Hi-" he starts before getting a lump in his throat. "My son made this key, he was apprenticed to the Blacksmith - Gobber. You remember him? half his limbs missin', 'built like a Norse god'" he snorts, "and a singed, wiry moustache?" He stares into the growing flames for a moment- "He was a good boy, was my son. I still remember how he looked, standing over his draw'rin, always buildin' or designin' some new contraption..."
Still standing besides the doorway, The Dragon Master comes to a realisation and blurts out to Stoick, "Your son is an idiot".
Stoick jolts, spins to glare at him, and in a deathly quiet whisper, asks "What did you just say?"
"Your son is an idiot" Hiccup repeats, tears beginning to brew in his eyes, "A terrible son, a poor excuse for a Viking. A scrawny runt who went and got himself snatched by dragons." Stoick stands up heavily and says in the same deathly quiet tone, "Get Out".
But the Dragon Master keeps going, "It's his fault he got taken, not Astrid's. He ran off into the dark during the raid, you shouldn't have blamed Astrid", Stoick had grabbed down a ceremonial sword from over the fireplace on a nearby column, and yelled "GET OUT!"
"I understand you are angry with me for the things I've just said" The Dragon Master says, tears streaming down his face under his mask. "But let me tell you this: He is very much alive".
This stopped Stoick straight in his tracks, moments from when he was about to gut the Dragon Master and throw the corpse out his door out of the door.
"Wh-what?" Stoick asks, a glimmer of hope re-entering his voice for the first time in months. Then the Dragon Master walked towards a dark corner where he stood with his back to the frozen Stoick, and undid his helmet, letting it drop to the floor. "And your son didn't try to come back for so long. Unthinking that his apparent death would have such an effect on his village, unknowing that though he was commonly a laughing stock, he was never an outcast. He didn't even think his own father would want him back. He thought he'd be at best sacrificed for what he'd done in the few long weeks after he got kidnapped. He. Never. Came. Ho-ome." Hiccup stumbled on the last word, turning around as he did so and stepping forward into the light, revealing himself to the chief. To his father. "H-hic-hic-hiccup?" Stoick stared breathlessly at the same tousled locks and scrawny build he recognised of his son, and he stepped forward silently, approaching Hiccup. He got within arms reach, knelt down and lifted up Hiccup's chin gently. There it was, the scar from the fateful night of his mother's abduction.
This was indeed, *His* son.