Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“LISTEN TO ME, DAD! I DON’T WANT THIS! I WANNA TRAVEL, SEE THE WORLD, RESCUE DRAGONS!”

“AND I’M TELLING YOU, SON, THAT YOUR PLACE IS HERE, AS BERK’S HEIR! YOU WILL STAY HERE, OR I WILL HAVE YOU AND THAT DAMN NIGHT FURY GROUNDED UNTIL YOU LEARN SOME RESPECT!”

“YOU CAN’T CONTROL ME, DAD! C’MON TOOTHLESS-”

A slap echoed through the silent street, the small island of Berkians gathered out the front of their chief’s home, hearing him and the young hero having yet another argument. Astrid stood at the front of the crowd, hand over her mouth as she heard the slap, hiding her gasp of horror. She was one of the few that felt for Hiccup - Gobber looked shell-shocked, Fishlegs looked like he was about to throw up and Astrid’s parents were glaring at the chief’s door and staring at it in disbelief respectively. 

There was a moment of silence following the accursed sound, before Hiccup jumped out of the house, reddened cheek on full display to the gathered crowd. His eyes were watering, gathering tears threatening to fall. Toothless followed his friend out of the house, rounded eyes becoming slits at the sight that faced them. Apart from the Hoffersons, Gobber and Fishlegs, the gathered crowd were all sneering at the vulnerable hero, Spitelout even going as far as to huff a slight laugh at the sight of Hiccup, who’s eyes were searching the crowd for a friendly face. 

Astrid was horrified. 

Did she never notice that Stoick did this to his own Son? What kind of man- what kind of chief- what kind of father- would do that to one of his own. Well, someone that should have been one of his own. Astrid felt her resolve strengthen, lax hands tightening into fists as she marched towards Hiccup, grabbed him roughly (though not unkindly) by the arm and dragged him away from the judgmental eyes of those who never saw his worth and into the forest.

“Hiccup, I’m so sorry that he did that. I can’t believe him! The audacity-” 

Astrid grabbed her ax and started swinging it at nearby trees in anger, each swing more violent than the last. She didn’t notice Hiccup’s blank face, or how he shared a look with Toothless, his oldest friend, and made a plan.

Astrid let out a feral sounding scream, birds alighting from their perches as she gave her ax an almighty swing, burying it deep into the wood of a tall oak. 

Hiccup didn’t want to-

Look, he didn’t want to do a lot of things. 

He hated those screaming matches with his fath- with Stoick. 

He hated being stuck in the house as his fa- as Stoick taught him how to be a ‘proper Chief’.

He hated being kept out of the sky - the one place he felt he truly belonged.

He didn’t want to stay, but…

He just couldn’t bring himself to leave. And he wouldn’t leave - not if Astrid got even a whisper of a wind of it. She’d somehow talk him out of it, or even convince him to let her join. He couldn’t let that happen. Unlike him, she actually had a life on Berk, parents who cared for her and friends to support her. She’d be the perfect leader of the dragon riders - she’d have to be, whether he left or not, he’d be taken off the team. 

So, with the events of today, he finally decided to leave this place, that didn’t care whether he lived or died, only that he gave his leg to end the war between them and the dragons. 

Astrid leading him away was nice of her, he’d regret leaving her, he really would. She would be one of the only things he’d have to leave behind and actually miss. Maybe they could’ve been something, with the weird punch-kiss situation they’ve got between them, but Hiccup finally needed to do something for himself, to allow himself to heal from the hell that was his stolen childhood.

So, he waited until she was swinging her ax around, sharing a look with Toothless - he knew exactly what his rider was planning, and couldn’t be happier. He’d been trying to convince his partner to leave this hunk of rock for months, and it looked like his sire’s commands were the final straw. Toothless was prepared, Hiccup was prepared. They were leaving.

Astrid was trying to dig the ax out of the tree it was buried in when she felt a strike against the back of her head, blurring her vision and making her stumble into the shreds of bark lying on the base of the tree. She didn’t get much further, another strike meeting her head before she could recover, the last thing she saw was Hiccup mounting Toothless, before her world faded to black.

While he was happy that he had his dragon’s support in his decision to leave, the violence against Astrid wasn’t warranted. One strike would have given them enough time to leave, especially with how much she was stumbling around, but the stubborn dragon had given the blonde one last hit, grumbling himself as Hiccup scolded him. Maybe he’d underestimated the relationship between his dragon and… friend? Girlfriend? Acquaintance? Whatever, Hiccup climbed onto his dragon and they took off. With any luck, Astrid will wake up and think someone's kidnapped him and Toothless or something, give them more time to get away. 

With the frequency of his arguments with Stoick, he knew his housemate’s routine after a screaming match at the level they’d had - the Chief would have gone to the great hall, grabbed himself a tankard of some alcoholic beverage and bemoan his ‘wayward son’s’ stubbornness to Gobber or any other inconvenient listening ear. This meant Hiccup would be free to sneak into his room through his skylight and grab some of his stuff.

***

They’d left Berk an hour or so ago, clear weather helping the smooth journey. Hiccup hadn’t left a note, didn’t think he’d need to. Anything he’d say would inevitably just lead them to him - better to leave without a word, and stay away from Berk permanently. Maybe they wouldn’t even search for him. Stoick wouldn’t look, he would bet all his stolen savings that he would be the one to order a stop to the convoys looking for his missing son. Hiccup couldn’t help but hold out the hope that Gobber and Astrid would still keep looking for him, but… they were a part of his past now, and so was the rest of Berk and everything else he’d done when he was the leader of the dragon riders.

This is a new start, Hiccup sighed to himself. 

“Are ya ready, bud?” He asked Toothless, giving him a pat on the head.

“INTO THE GREAT BEYOND!”

Chapter Text

—{3 years later}—

“YEAH BABY!”

A black blur shot across the ocean, so close to the uneven waves they sent sprays of salty seawater in their wake.

“C’MON, BUD, UP WE GO!”

The figure flapped its bat-like wings, rapidly gaining height until the sea was a shining blanket, rippling in the sunlight as they danced among the clouds, barrel rolling their way through the white wisps, playing around. Soon, the figure dived again, whooping in joy as the wind whistled past, making the iconic screech of a night fury. 

The dragon smoothly pulled out of the dive, scales catching the sun as it flew parallel to the ocean. A small lump on the dragon’s back sat up, revealing a figure covered in a masterfully crafted leather suit, stained black and blending in perfectly to the dragon it sat astride.

“Whadda ya say bud, a few more tricks before we get to the meet?”

The dragon answered with a roaring trill, shifting slightly to angle downward, barrel rolling, dodging between invisible obstacles as its rider whooped and hollered in joy. 

This was where they belonged - up here, in the sky.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t to last. The fog bank rose up from the sea intimidatingly, ripples of grey-white folding out of the pair’s way as they entered the shipyard. The figure on the dragon’s back folded back over, once again blending in with its steed.

“Gently, bud, we don’t want them to know we’re here just yet-”

“-TOLD US ABOUT THAT GIANT EELS?!?!”

A startlingly familiar voice came through the fog. The dragon and its rider approached carefully, alighting silently on the mast of the ship the visitors were settled on.

“Well, that’s unexpected,” the rider muttered to his dragon, staring down at the gathered dragon riders, currently sans-dragons.

“Calm down everyone, the dragons will be back!”

Two guesses as to who said that.

“For now, we should focus on getting Johan’s stuff out of here before Dagur arrives.”

“Nice plan, Astrid, but you’re forgetting one tiny detail: How are we gonna get the treasure outa here without our very useful dragons?”

The sarcasm was Snotlout’s handy work. 

Nice to know he hasn’t changed a bit since Hiccup left , the rider thought to himself.

He watched soundlessly as the riders split up and searched each of the boats, his own eye catching on the Reaper , the one ship Johan had always warned him about anytime he went near the shipyard. Well, knowing Dagur, that’s where he’ll go.

The rider clicked his tongue, the black dragon taking the hint and alighting from the mast, disturbing the fog around them as they headed towards the hunter ship.

Yea, the rider knew what the ship was and who it belonged to. Hard not to, he’d encountered a few of the same likeness on his travels around and outside the Archipelago. Dagur wouldn’t know them, but Johan was never one for subtlety. He probably gave him the same warning he always gave Hiccup: Don’t go near it, or it’ll be the last thing you do.

So, wanna guess what Hiccup’s gonna do now?

As the masked rider, Hiccup had gained many experiences in the three years away from his isolated village. His adventures with the other riders were special, he won’t lie, and the allies he made during those times are still close to this day, but his experiences outside the archipelago had made him into a warrior, and he knew how to take care of himself. In the relatively peaceful barbaric viking islands, there was no guarantee that he’d be able to protect who he needed to should the issue arise. Now though, he was more powerful than he ever thought possible. Dagur had no idea what was coming to him - if he did, he wouldn't have broken out of prison. Now, though, it was just a waiting game. Waiting for Dagur to turn up so he could finally return him to prison or turn his ‘Brother’ into ash. Hiccup wasn’t as naive as he was three years ago, he wouldn’t let Dagur get away again.

Surprisingly, Dagur wasn’t the first person to get to the Reaper . No, that was Astrid. Hiccup shouldn’t be surprised, as leader of the dragon riders she would have grown accustomed to following her curiosity. If hiccup had the capacity at the moment, he would have felt pride. She truly came into herself as a leader and warrior.

He watched from the shadows of his dragon’s back as Astrid went down into the main body of the ship, managing to avoid all the somewhat-obvious traps laid out along the deck and at the bottom of the stairs. Silence from the surrounding ships, before-

“Dagur! Toothless, get down!” Hiccup whispered to his dragon urgently, carefully dismounting and crouching beside his companion, hand hovering over the cylindrical handle clipped along his thy. 

The pair watched as Dagur’s ten man party overcame the dragon riders, whose dragons were still nowhere to be seen, and locked them in what Hiccup reckoned to be a dragon-proof cage. The only one still out was-

“Astrid!” Dagur welcomed in his usual sing-songy voice. Urgh, Hiccup could smell the crazy from where he was.

“Did you miss me? Cause I sure missed you! Every day for the last three years, I’ve thought about you and Hiccup and his damned Night Fury. Speaking of my Dear brother, where is he?” Dagur finished sweetly, stepping forwards as Astrid flinched at eh mention of Hiccup, opening her sightline to her trapped friends.

“ASTRID!” called out Fishlegs.

“Sorry babe,” Snotlout hollered cockily, “They surprised us.”

Hiccup ignored his haughty cousin, he had bigger things to worry about, namely-

“What’s they you’re hiding behind your back, Astrid? It’s nice to share, you know!”

Reluctantly, Astrid revealed a cylindrical item, hesitantly handing it off to Dagur. 

Hiccup contained a gasp. He knew what that was! An old dragon hunter artefact, they’d been looking for it for years! Hiccup had encountered a searching party, saw what they were looking for and immediately decided that he wasn’t going to let them find it. He called it the dragon eye. From what he could tell, it held information about every dragon species ever discovered by the tribe on things called lenses , which slotted into the artefact. 

Well, it was nice to know where it was. Now to make sure Dagur doesn’t keep a hold of it.

Hiccup ignored Dagur as he threatened Astrid and the riders, instead keeping an eye on his men, two of which were guarding the cage the riders were in, the rest were on other boats, collecting all Johan’s treasure.

“Better now than never, bud, hey?” he whispered to Toothless, preparing to jump between the disturbingly close Astrid and Dagur.

3…2…1…

“Long time, no see, Dagur,” Hiccup quipped monotonously, successfully in between Dagur and Astrid, even managing to push his enemy back slightly with inferno, drawn and lit as he had jumped between them. 

“Sorry, brother, but I can’t let you leave with that artefact.”

“H- Hiccup?” Astrid muttered in shock.

Dagur just laughed.

“And what do you plan to do to stop me? We both know you don’t have the stomach to actually- ARGH!”

Dagur was cut off as Hiccup took a swipe at him, flaming sword catching him in a clean slice across his abdomen, making him drop the Dragon Eye in shock.

“Don’t have the stomach to do what, brother , use this?” He held up inferno, “to kill you?”

At Hiccup’s words, Dagur’s eyes widened. Hiccup, seeing this, gave a heartless chuckle and removed his helmet, revealing the scar going across his nose, from cheek to cheek.

“You know Dagur, you had three years to stew in your anger. I had three years to become a warrior. You won’t be getting away this time, brother .” All on the boat flinched at the venom with which he spat the title.

With a practised lunge, he caught Dagur across the cheek, causing him to scramble back, calling for his meagre troops to retreat. Enemy gone, Hiccup ignored his old clan-mates and picked up the Dragon Eye. twisting it this was and that, spotting the keyhole, just like the plans he’d stolen said there would be.

He turned to where Toothless was now slinking out of the shadows, causing the trapped teens to jump in surprise.

“Looks like we’re heading out to get the key next. The sooner we find out what’s so valuable about this artefact, we need to keep it safe,” Hiccup began to walk as he talked, meeting his dragon in the middle and checking all the straps on the luggage and saddle before carefully tucking away the Dragon eye and re-sheathing inferno, “Remind me to visit the wingmaidens, from what I remember they have a few good hiding places where we could keep this away from hunters. First, though, we need to track Dagur. With the stolen treasure he’ll be meeting with carpenters and the like to gather a new armada. Let’s just try to keep him away from the Dragon Hunters for now, that’s a team up from hellheim-”

“Uh, Hiccup…” 

Hiccup’s rant to Toothless was interrupted by Astrid, who was staring at him in shock, surprise and… anger?

“A- Astrid, hey, hi. Hi Astrid.”

Urgh, still couldn’t talk to girls. Or maybe it was the anger. Yeah, definitely the anger. He wasn’t still crazy into her or anything- oh, who was he kidding.

“Look, Astrid, I’m sorry for leaving like that, but you have to understand, I wasn’t happy on Berk! You and Fishlegs were my only real friends, even after I defeated the red death. It was almost always like it was before. Even the radical changes went back into old habits. Snotlout and his snide comments, the twins blaming all their failed pranks on me and getting me in trouble all the time. No one did anything to stop it, and my only break was my time in the sky! Astrid, Stoick was going to take that away from me, so I left. I’m sorry Toothless knocked you out, but I knew if you caught wind of what we were going to do you’d try to stop me or, gods forbid, try to join me-”

“For good reason, Hiccup, we were friends! I would have gone with you if I could, of course I would’ve. It was enough to make me think you’d been kidnapped. You never came back, Hiccup. You just left us!” Astrid finished.

“But Astrid,” Hiccup interrupted her with a self-deprecating smile, “You have a life on Berk. You always have. You belong there. I… I don’t. Da- Stoick made that clear enough the day we left. And I know what you’re going to say, but we shouldn’t go back with you. Stoick won’t be happy to see me and we have a lot to do now that we have the Dragon Eye-”

“I’m sorry Hiccup, you have to come back,” Astrid said, walking forwards and placing a hand on his arm  -something he allowed, surprisingly - and giving him an apologetic smile, “Stoick would love to see you. You won’t believe me but he was so broken when he thought you’d been kidnapped, he regretted everything about how you left things. When you didn’t come back, he was forced to declare you dead. He named me heir in your place - you can have that back, by the way,” At that point she smirked slightly at him, pulling away to start working on the cage door, reminding Hiccup that the other riders were still licked in the dragon-proof cage and were watching their interaction silently, jaws on the metaphorical floor.

“I really am sorry, Astrid, I can’t go back.”

Hiccup said, not waiting for Astrid to turn around before he hopped onto Toothless’ back and jolted into the air. He ignores the calls of his old riders as he and Toothless flew away, following Dagur’s trail.

Chapter Text

“Well, well, well. Mr dragon whispered ditches us again, for real this time! Honestly, why did anyone ever think he’d make a good chief?”

Astrid ignored Snotlout’s increasingly annoying voice, finally working out the lock and freeing the other riders. 

“Alright, dragon calls everyone! We need to catch that Night Fury and its rider, he has the only intel that can help us find and catch Dagur.”

With the quick brief out of the way, the gang was on their way, once again safely settled on their dragon’s backs.

“Ok, Hiccup and Toothless will be slowed down by they speed of the boat they’re tailing, so it should be simple enough to catch up to him and convince him to come back-”

“Er, Astrid?”

“What is it, Fishlegs?”

“I think we found Dagur!” Fishlegs pointed down to the sea below them, revealing a splintered vessel with ten men in the water below them, but no fiery red hair.

“How did he get here so fast?” Astrid let out a cry of frustration.

“Stormfly, track!” She called out, holding the scrap of fabric she’d managed to snag from Hiccup before he hightailed out to her Nadder’s nose, and off they went, heading west, away from the Archipelago.

After an hour of travel, Snotlout finally spoke up. 

“Shouldn’t we head back to Berk, let the chief and Gobber know what’s going on, gather supplies and prepare before continuing on this wild goose chase for a guy that probably doesn’t want to be found! Besides, if you can’t tell, we’re headed out of the Archipelago, which we shouldn’t be doing without the Chief’s blessing!”

“Astrid, you know I hate to agree with Snotlout, but he’s right. We don’t know who has Dagur, we don’t know where Hiccup is heading, and we could easily get lost out here in unfamiliar territory, just-”

“Hate to break it to you, fishy, but I think we just found him!” Ruffnut commented, pointing out an unfamiliar island below them, what looks like huts made of a light wood on one side of the island, and a wild forest on the other side. Through the spotty foliage, the team could see a small troop walking along the wooden paths consisting of a Night Fury, its rider, a certain flame-haired psychopath and an assortment of scaly-looking women. 

“We land in the woods, and approach the village slowly, we don’t know if these people are friendly or not,” Astrid commanded, guiding Stormfly into the woods.

The group landed safely, approaching the village slowly. When they finally had a sightline, they saw it-

“Is Hiccup… interrogating a prisoner?” Tuffnut asked in surprise.

“Well, that’s what it looks like,” Ruffnut replied, hitting her brother on the upside of the head.

Snotlout just scoffs, not yet seeing the state of Dagur on the platform he was trapped on. 

“Yeah, right, as if Hiccup the Useless could ever-” As soon as Snotlout’s eyes caught what Hiccup was doing, he blanched. 

Hiccup, blissfully unaware of his old team’s sickened looks, continued his job - getting as much information out of Dagur as he possibly could.

The small dagger in his hand was just going to help with that. 

Now, normally Hiccup blanched at the thought of torturing someone, but that wasn’t what he was doing. Dagur didn’t know it yet, but Hiccup had absolutely no intention of actually torturing for information, it was all a bluff as he leant closer, dagger getting painfully close to Dagur’s throat as he hissed at his old enemy and made very serious empty threats. 

He was lucky the Windmaidens understood that he wouldn’t torture someone - he’d had enough of having to do similar things to traitors in his brief stint in the Roman army to never want to do that again. 

Dagur didn’t though, and Hiccup would be lying through his teeth if he claimed the sight of the unadulterated terror in the Berserker’s eyes wasn’t a bit satisfactory.

“So Dagur, how’d you get out?” Hiccup asked, twiddling the dagger professionally, Dagur’s eyes fixated on the spinning blade as he answered.

“One of the guards gave me a key, and I fought my way out-” Dagur grinned slightly, taking his eyes off the blade to stare at Hiccup.

“Good, what were you planning on doing? And don’t leave anything out!” Hiccup continued to threaten, taking a pace away from Dagur and turning his back on the prisoner.

“Use the money to build my Armada - not that you can do much to stop me, brother, you may have destroyed my ship but I have more men loyal to me who’ll follow the instructions I left behind.”

Hiccup froze slightly. He has more men- before he spotted something shuffling around the treeline. A quick glance at the well-hidden Toothless told Hiccup it was the riders. He gave a sigh. They shouldn’t’ve followed him.

Waving over the guards, Hiccup explained that he had something he needed to deal with, letting them take care of Dagur and getting him back into custody of the Archipelago as Hiccup jumped onto Toothless and approached where the teens were hiding. 

“There’s no way Hiccup the Useless is gonna get anything out of Dagur,” Snotlout criticised, drawing the gang’s attention away from where Hiccup was questioning Dagur.

“Snot, you’ve seen how he’s grown,” Ruf countered, finger in the air like she was saying something important, “he doesn’t look so useless now, besides, you saw how he was with that blade-”

Ruf looked like she was about to start salivating at the thought of Hiccup fighting with his fancy firesword. Astrid rolled her eyes, staving off a blush herself, remembering how Hiccup had jumped in to save her from Dagur’s disturbing habit of getting into your personal space, and rescued the ‘dragon eye’ from the Berserker as well. 

Tuffnut scoffed.

“Yeah, right, sounds like someone is crushing on our one-legged vigilante.”

“Vigilante?” Snotlout asks, looking confused.

Tuf opened his mouth, but Astrid clamped a hand over it, not interested in the mini lecture that was sure to follow, which would only distract and confuse the rest of the group further. 

Ruf just looked offended at the thought of having a crush on Hiccup. Astrid didn’t sympathise, just sighing and rolling her eyes.

Then, Fishlegs tapped her on the shoulder, letting out a confused and alarmed squeak as he pointed back to the platform they were supposed to be watching.

“Hey, guys, did any of you see-” Astrid hissed out, turning back to the rest of the group, only to see Hiccup standing behind them where they were messing about. 

“GUYS!” She hissed out.

“Well, if I wanted you to follow me I would have invited you to join me on the platform and allowed you all a go at Dagur before he was sent back to prison, but here we are.”

Hiccup looked very unimpressed, arms folded and a dark look in his eyes.

“Hiccup-” Astrid began, but to everyone’s surprise, it was Fishlegs that interrupted her.

“Look Hiccup, I get that you don’t want to return to Berk, but we need to report back to the chief and the council about what we found, and we’ll need to tell them about you. It would be easier on everyone if you just came with us, because Spitelout certainly won’t believe us,and Stoick will just think we’re lying. It would be cruel to tell them, raise their hopes, only for you to never return. Even if you only ever go back this once, just to say goodbye properly-”

Hiccup raised his hand, gesturing for Fishlegs to stop. He thought for a moment, before sighing and pinching his nose. 

“If I go will you all stop stalking me?”

A Chorus of ‘yes’s and ‘yeah’s, before Hiccup mounted Toothless once again.

“Alright then, I guess we’re going to Berk.”

Back to hell.

Chapter Text

The flight back to Berk was as quiet and awkward as could be expected, most of the riders just staring at Hiccup and Toothless as they flew.

The second hour into the flight continued on in the same manner as the first, just the flapping of wings and his thoughts to keep in company.

Approaching the third hour, Snotlout appeared to finally lose patience - honestly, Hiccup was surprised he’d lasted that long.

“So, what were you doing while you were, you know, away?”

Hiccup sighed. He had hoped to save story time for when he got back to Berk.

“A bit of this, a bit of that.”

The others were clearly not pleased with his answer.

“What, you don’t wanna tell us or something?” Ruffnut asked, somehow sounding offended that he wanted privacy.

“I was hoping to save story time for when we get back to Berk, actually,” he replied icily, “Not that I really expected any of you to respect me enough to leave me alone.”

Astrid looked afronted, opening her mouth to say something that would probably come out wrong, but Hiccup interrupted,

“Besides, not like you’re forcibly dragging me back to Berk, the place I clearly don’t want to be.”

“Look, Hiccup, I know you don’t want to go back, but just letting Stoick and Gobber know you’re alive… Berk hasn’t been the same without you, the dragons can be volatile, it’s like Berk is divided between those who want to get rid of the Dragons and those who want them to stay!”

Hiccup was slightly surprised by that, as far as he was aware, Stoick was confident enough in his own abilities as chief to control both the Vikings and their dragons. Apparently not.

“And that sounds terrible and all, but I have a life now, I’m happy, I live how I want. I just want to leave Berk behind, and I know you don’t like that, guys, but please… The thought of being chained down in Berk again just… no. I’m only going with you now to get you off my back. Once I’ve let people know I’m still alive, I disappear, and I don’t want you following me, okay?” He asked, looking betwen the riders around him.

Astrid sighed but nodded unhappily. Hiccup understood that she wanted him to stay, but that isn’t who he was anymore, she just needs to accept that. 

The rest of the journey continued in complete silence, not even the twins bickering between themselves, and Hiccup could feel their occasional stares, each one causing him to sigh. 

He leant forwards to pet Toothless, gaining a concerned warble from his dragon - of all the people around him, Hiccup knew Toothless would understand his dilemma the most, they’d been together, attached at the hip, for the few years they’d been away, and they’d only grown closer. Stoick probably wouldn’t be happy to learn that Hiccup and Toothless basically sleep together now, curling on the ground together limbs tangled like hatchling brothers - he’d basically banned them from even sleeping in the same room when the dragons had first come to Berk peacefully, and for the months after that too. Hiccup gave a mirthless chuckle, ignoring the strange looks he got from the others at the abrupt sound. 

What would Stoick think of his son now? Rogue dragon rider, an impressive slue of skills under his belt, his own weapons, proficiency in arial combat. A dragon in his own right, even with his own set of wings!

Hiccup was snapped out of his darkening thoughts by a slight growl from Toothless - barely audible over the wind, but their proximity and their attunement to each other made it impossible to miss. 

Hiccup subtly observed their surroundings, seeing the other riders adjusting in their seats slightly in his peripherals as his eyes caught the island the group was rapidly approaching - Berk. 

Time to face the music.

Stoick’s day was… well. His house was as empty as it had been since that day three years ago. His heart yearned for his son, and guilt crept through him at every waking moment - his last words to his only heir said in anger and frustration. 

Stoick sighed as he poked the food around his plate. He understood where Hiccup got his pull to the sky, Valka was like that, too. All she wanted was peace, and Hiccup brought it. Stoick had no doubt that if Valka could have what Berk now had, she wouldn’t leave the sky either. 

Stoick didn’t understand tha allure, the wind was loud and had a tendency to fly bugs into your face. He much preferred to keep his feet on the ground, where he had control of the environment.

Stoick sighed again, standing up and binning his food. As much as he hated the meat going to waste, he just couldn’t stomach eating right now. 

What’s more, he’d sent Astrid and the other riders out to catch Dagur, though the mission was more to get them off Berk and away from the political storm that was brewing since Hiccup’s- since Hiccup was taken.

With no one to help train and control the dragons, that duty fell to the other riders. Make no mistake, they were skilled, but Hiccup had this… way with the beasts that no one else on Berk understood or could replicate.

Spitelout was the one leading the more… anti-dragon group since Mildew’s betrayal, and unfortunately it had gained some traction. The only thing stopping their group from kicking the dragons off the island was him, Stoick, and he was being worn down. 

If the kids were on the island when it all went down, someone might get hurt - the riders were all close enough to their dragons, they would fight it. 

This mission was all he could do, and he’d made a deal with the council: if the Riders were successful the dragons could stay. He didn’t tell them, Thor knew that Astrid and the others were under enough stress these days, telling them could have breached the mission. He was confident that they would succeed - they hadn’t failed yet.

Stoick took one last glance around his house, before heading out the door: he had things to do, a chief never rests. Maybe the fresh air would do him some good, as well. 

Gobber’s days at the forge were often quiet now. He still hadn’t gotten used to it, in the three years since Hiccup had been taken. Gobber couldn’t help but still hold out a little hope: Hiccup had a chance of surviving, maybe he just didn’t know how to get home?

But Gobber’s rational side knew that Toothless had disappeared with him, and the only reason they wouldn’t have returned would be if-

No, Gobber, don’t think like that. Hiccup could still be alive. 

It was this feeble hope that led Gobber that afternoon, guiding him to sit in the back room he had given Hiccup when he’d first become his apprentice. All his drawings, all his tools, his notebooks, they were all where they’d been left, now covered in a layer of dust, the way they’d been when Hiccup had last used them. He’d taken no other apprentices, besides Snotlout, but he had no talent for smithing, not like Hiccup. Just as he was about to close up the workshop and head home, a call echoed through Berk.

The kids must be back! Gobber thought, rushing out of the smithy and following the small celebrations from the rider’s family and friends, and the select few other riders on Berk. 

Gobber could see Stoick’s figure walking over to join them, and the life-long friends stood together as they got to the front of the gathered group. 

“Have you found Dagur?” Stoick asked, getting right down to business - though he had yet to confirm anything, Gobber knew Stoick had a soft spot for Astrid, and that the Chief was planning on naming her his heir.

“Yes, Chief,” Astrid began, standing beside Stormfly, other riders gathered on a semi-circle, as if protecting something, which was… weird. Gobber tried to peak around the group, but the teens closed in more, Dragons also shuffling in.

“Well…” Stoick began, but when nothing happened, he continued, “Where is he?”

“He’s on his way back to Outcast Island as we speak.”

At the chief’s expectant look, Astrid continued, “We had… help.”

Stoick bristled slightly, and Astrid was clearly hesitant, so Gobber stepped in,

“What kinda help, lass?”

“Umm…” Astrid began, but a hand appeared on her shoulder, making her stop. 

Then, a familiar-sounding voice came from behind.

“It’s okay, Astrid, I’ll explain.”

The shieldmaiden sighed but moved to the side, revealing someone who the Hooligans hadn’t seen in years.

“Hiccup?!”

Chapter Text

Hiccup winced at the voice of his fa- the Chief.

Sure, he hadn’t expected a very warm welcome, but something about the way Stoick was looking at him, the frozen shock on his face and a distant look of guilt twisted something in Hiccup’s gut.

“Hey Stoick,” Hiccup said, pushing confidence into his voice as he raised his chin. He wasn’t a kid anymore, he’d fought, he’d killed, he’d done things he, perhaps, wasn’t proud of, but Stoick didn’t know that - none of the Hooligans did. And it would be better if it remained that way, if they stayed ignorant to what he had to do to survive those three years he spent with Toothless in the open sky.

“Hiccup?” Came a wobbly voice at Stoick’s side, coming from someone Hiccup was surprisingly happy to see. He felt his stern near-grimace soften as he caught his mentor’s eyes, giving a soft smile as he replied. 

“Gobber.”

“Where’ve you been, lad?” Gobber continued, taking a step forwards and approaching Hiccup like he was a ghost, reaching over to place a hand on his shoulder as the riders gave them some space, going to greet their own families.

Hiccup chuckled slightly, remembering some of the crazy adventures he and Toothless had embarked on in their years away,

“It’s a long story,” He placated after a moment, avoiding Stoick’s gaze, before looking around at Berk.

“Nothing much has changed then, huh?” He said, continuing his conversation with Gobber.

“Well, I wouldn’ ‘ave said tha’, ‘Iccup! Astrid’s the heir now, Snotlout is the Forge’s weapons tester, Fishlegs is a court scribe and a historian, and the twins…”

At that moment, the twins ran past, both carrying maces. Together, they jumped another Viking, throwing him one of the weapons as they both attacked with their own. There was no grace to the Twin’s swinging of their maces, and they quickly took back the third mace and rushed off to catch another poor Hooligan unguarded.

“Unsurprisingly, they’ve dedicated their lives to Loki.”

Hiccup cracked a smile at the long-suffering sigh Gobber released as they witnessed another Viking getting attacked by the twins, both starting the hike up to the Forge.

“What about you, Gobber?” Hiccup asked, relaxing slightly now that they were moving away from Stoick and the other Riders (who by now were getting back to their dragons and preparing to take them to the arena, and were noticing Hiccup and Toothless’ absence), “Taken on any new apprentices?”

Gobber let out another sigh, but this one made Hiccup frown. Gobber sounded sad - not only that, he looked so much older than he did when they’d last seen each other. The rider couldn’t put his finger on it, but something about Gobber seemed more weary. Don’t get him wrong, he was happy to see his mentor again, and he expected that Gobber was happy to see him again too, but there was an air of sadness about the both of them, like Gobber expected that Hiccup wouldn’t be staying.

“No, Hiccup,” He turned to the ex-Heir, “It’s been lonely in the forge without you, toothpick - though I dare say you’ve grown up a bit…”

A pause. They both stopped in front of the Forge, looking at each other for a moment, “I’m proud of you, ‘Iccup. You’ve grown so much, and the stories the merchants tell of the Night Rider’s adventures!”

Hiccup felt himself stiffen. 

How did he..?

Gobber caught Hiccup’s eye, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“I knew it was you, lad, from the very first time I heard about yer bravery and valour in battle, freeing all those dragons. Don’t worry, though, I’m the only one who knows.” Gobber gave a saddened sigh, before walking into the forge.

“Yer father is still as stubborn as ever, and the village is doing well…” Gobber continued, back turned to Hiccup as he shuffled around some of the tool’s he’d left out in his rush to greet the returning riders.

“That’s… good,” Hiccup replied awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot.

If he was being honest, this was probably one of the most uncomfortable conversations he’d ever been in, and he grew up with his- with Stoick, and had been mistaken for a spy in his quest to gain allies in his time away from Berk. This was also one of the longest conversations he’d had in months - thankfully, most of his allies understood his preference to remain anonymous, and his other allies - like the Outcasts and Berserkers - he hadn’t seen in a while. Fortunately, or not, their conversation was interrupted by-

“GOBBER! SHARPEN MY AXE!” Came Spitelouts booming voice as he marched up to the Forge’s window, Snotlout trailing behind.

Gobber turned around, glancing at Hiccup to reveal a disgruntled and displeased face, before he addressed Spitelout.

“Ah, Spitelout, how’s one of mah best customers this fine evening?”

Hiccup smiled slightly - Gobber would never change - and remained where he was, out of sight, as Gobber finished telling Spitelout that he can’t help him today as the Forge is closed down for the next day or so.

Unsurprisingly, Spitelout didn’t take this information too well, but Hiccup tuned him out as he wandered around the blacksmith’s again, trailing his hand over the tools left on the work stations, eventually making his way to his old work room.

It was just as he’d left it - not that that shocked Hiccup too much, everything was tidy, the papers he’d left behind stacked neatly on their shelves. Curiously, everything had the layer of dust he’d been expecting, though he was half expecting Gobber to come in here and clean it. The Night Rider walked further into his old room, walking towards the desk and picking up one of the old designs he’d had to leave behind when he’d left those years ago.

It was the first design he’d made for Toothless’ tail, a bit worn from touching and folding over the years, but laid delicately on his worktop. 

“Gobber kept this place clean for you in the first year.”

Hiccup startled, whipping around at the sudden voice and almost drawing his sword, hand hovering over the hilt as he stared at Snotlout, who was leaning in the doorway.

“Snotlout, what-”

“Yeah, after a year he stopped coming in and dusting every week, even then I wasn’t allowed in here without his permission,” Snotlout said with a huff, “I would be sent in, every now and again, to check some of your old notes from your training, so I could properly test the swords and other smaller weapons Gobber made, but I was never allowed to move anything, and had to put things back where I got them. Gobber even yelled at the Chief once because he wanted to take one of your old notebooks.”

Snotlout had a wistful smile now, dodging Hiccup’s gaze by looking around the room. 

“How are you, Snotlout?”

Hiccup’s cousin snorted, and gave the one-legged viking a baleful look.

“Like you care, but life’s been… fine. Dad’s been more short-tempered recently, since Astrid was announced heir instead of me - though I’m honestly relieved.”

At Hiccup’s curious look, Snotlout continued, 

“I- We all saw that argument you had that day, the day you left-” Hiccup scowled at the reminder, staring at the ground by his feet as Snotlout went on- “And with how hard Astrid works, she barely has time to go out on stormfly anymore - not that I think the chief should be working the heir so hard anyways, but it looks like a lot. I can’t imagine not being able to just fly, especially now that I have Hookfang. It just… yeah.”

Hiccup looked up at that, staring at his cousin appraisingly. The staring must have gone on for a while, however, as Snotlout began squirming, before making his excuses and leaving. 

Hiccup sighed once the other left the stall, noticing for the first time that the yelling of an angry Spitelout was no longer filtering through the forge, replaced by the methodic clang of metal on metal. Hiccup smiled - this was what he’d been missing. Just… this , Gobber, being in a forge with someone who knew him better than his own father, that camaraderie, finally made him relax, steadily lowering himself into his old stool.

If only his life could have been as peaceful as this .

Chapter Text

Astrid finished reporting to Stoick in his house - and though she and the Riders were originally going to tell the whole truth, certain elements were more unbelievable than others, like the Hiccup’s new skill with a blade. With that decision made, Astrid allowed herself a smile as she walked away from the Chief’s hut, glad she’d decided to lie about what happened after Hiccup flew off. 

She had no plan for the rest of the day, but the thought of going back to her empty house filled her with dread, so she hopped on Stormfly and flew to the arena, luckily bare of any anti-dragon vikings. 

Without hesitation, she immediately began setting up some of the training gear they’d stored in the arena, making a training course for her to practise with her axe. 

And ohhhh, how she needed this - with each throw, she felt her anger and frustration at, well, everything melt away, leaving just her, her axe, and the targets. 

Tensions were building up on berk, as they had been for a while, between some of the more anti-dragon vikings on the island and some of the younger generations, like the dragon riders. Astrid knew Stoick had been under pressure from the council about ‘handling’ the divide, and she knew that something was up with the Dagur mission, something about how Stoick had put more weight to his words - She knew, somehow, that the results of this mission would affect the future of Berk, and it’s relationship with dragons. Maybe that was one of the reasons she was so desperate for Hiccup to return. Everything basically went up in flames between the more boar-headed vikings and the dragons once he left. 

Because, no matter how good any of the remaining dragon riders were, they just weren’t as good as he was. His bond with Toothless was just… special, and it was like the other dragons could tell that Hiccup was a true ally. They always calmed down the second he got involved, unless it was something the dragon couldn’t control like toothache, and even then they tried, visibly tried, just for Hiccup. 

Let there be no lies here, Astrid and the others were jealous of his ease with the winged beasts, but she could admit to herself that having him around would help ease things. Maybe they’d even be able to convince him to stay, if only to keep the peace he so selflessly created. 

Astrid stood, panting slightly, as she gathered herself for another run of the training circuit, a small frown forming on her face as she kept thinking about Hiccup. About how easily he’d moved with the sword. She felt another flare of jealousy, having trained her whole life and still lacking that seamless grace that Hiccup moved with as he had stepped between her and Dagur back on the Reaper. This was followed by a spike of attraction - and gods, did he look good while threatening to kill someone. He’d definitely aged well, as far as Astrid could tell, and his muscles were more lithe than mass, adding to his smooth movements-

Astrid spun too quickly on one of her throws, accidentally sending her axe into the wall beside the entrance, just where a curious-looking Hiccup was standing, barely flinching at the axe as it shinked off the stone he was leaning on, clanging gracelessly on the floor. Astrid felt herself blush as she turned to the wayward rider, who had his eyebrow raised in amusement. 

“You were doing well until that throw, looked like you were really in the zone.” Hiccup said, moving further into the arena, picking up the axe as he went. “What distracted you?”

Astrid went somehow redder, hoping that the heat in her cheeks from the work out hid her embarrassment. She tried to avoid staring at the other rider too long as he handed her axe back to her. She felt her breath hitch loudly as their hands brushed when she took it, somehow echoing like a rockfall in a cave over the rushing in her ears. 

“Th- er, thanks. How long have you, err, been there?” Astrid said, cursing in her head at the stutter. Hiccup clearly noticed, giving her a thoughtful look that she couldn’t otherwise decipher before answering.

“A little bit, though I’m not surprised you didn’t notice, like I said you were pretty into it.”

What followed was probably one of the most awkward silence you can imagine, Astrid slowly calming down from her work out in training, willing her still very present blush do die down, please, oh gods this is embarrassing , Hiccup slowly also going slightly red in the quiet of the arena, both just staring at each other, axe still in the air between them.

Eventually, a squawk from Stormfly as she shuffled in her place at the edge of the arena broke the two riders from their staring, Hiccup turning away and coughing into his hand forcefully, Astrid just ducking her head, blush turning her ears red with heat.

“So, err, I wanted to talk to you-” Hiccup began, cutting himself off the moment Astrid met his eyes.

Astrid’s brow furrowed, gesturing for Hiccup to continue, her own embarrassment dying down at the distraction. 

Nodding to himself, the lone rider continued,

“Yeah, umm, when I was interrogating Dagur, he mentioned that he had people who would continue with ‘his instructions’, which I’m going to assume means that we’re not gonna have a break just because he’s back in prison.”

Astrid blinked, then swore, rather violently, enough so that Hiccup backed away with an awkward chuckle, 

“Okay, we have to tell the chief-” The Hooligan heir said, immediately going towards the exit.

“Woah, wait, we? Like we we?” Hiccup asked, grabbing her arm as she almost marched passed, making her spin around to face him again. Her slight glare at his action made him recoil, bringing his hand back.

“Yes.” She replied tersely, turning on her heal and once again going for the exit, Hiccup freezing at the word, before hurrying to catch up to her, stuttering as he walked sideways, talking her ear off with excuses about why I really shouldn’t be bringing this kind of news to Da- Stoick, and This is a really bad idea , followed by Why don’t you just do it , and You don’t need me for this, I’m just gonna go-

The last comment finally got Astrid to respond, though it was limited to her grabbing his shoulder, and continuing to drag him towards the Chief's hut. 

Stoick was having a… day. 

Well, how else was he supposed to explain it? His supposedly-dead slash kidnapped son was actually alive, and had left voluntarily, and had only returned because he was also hunting Dagur - and don’t get the Chief into his questions about how in the hell Hiccup had even known about the escape.

So yeah, he was having an odd day. A day that was becoming steadily odder as Astrid essentially kicked his door in, marching a protesting Hiccup into the hut, before proceeding to explain Dagur’s back-up plan, or at least what Hiccup had found out from it. 

And wasn’t that interesting, how small the lone rider made himself look as he stood in the main room of the house. How silently he stood, even as Astrid kept giving him space to jump into the conversation with any extra details. But… nothing. It was as if Hiccup really didn’t want to be here, and Stoick was just about losing his patience with his wayward son.

It seemed so was Astrid, as eventually she fully turned to Hiccup, 

“You got anything to add?”

Hiccup seemed to have a debate in his head, opening his mouth slightly before closing it again. Just as the vikings in the room were about to just tell him to spit it out already , he finally opened his mouth and spoke, a surprising quiet confidence to his words as he shared his knowledge, looking exclusively at Astrid as he spoke.

“From my interrogation of Dagur, the one you interrupted, I learnt that Dagur had people to carry out a back-up plan, just as I told Astrid. What I suspect is that on his trip to the ship graveyard, he met up with some allies to set up a plan of action behind him, so that if he was caught, like he thought he might be, there would be people to carry out his plans in his absence, before assumedly freeing him again. As Astrid also told you, it seems Dagur it going to try to build another Armada - with the gold he was going to get from the graveyard. With that gold lost, I think their plans would have been set back slightly, though if I know Dagur, he probably wasn’t going to pay whoever he was getting the new ships from. From there I don’t know his plan, but to be safe we should make sure Dagur cannot escape again, because we know there’ll be another attempt, at least. Monitoring some of the regular shipping lanes would be good too, just in case we catch wind of the trade or manage to catch the trade in action. We could make the most of our trader friends, using them to get information on where the deal might be going down - I have a feeling Johan will be interested in helping us in this endeavour. From there, as I said, I cannot be sure, though if we manage to stop the armada before it’s built that’ll definitely put a dent in Dagur’s revenge plan.”

Stoick and Astrid just stared at Hiccup in slight shock as he finished, the latter with an adorning blush. The attention was beginning to get to Hiccup, who began shifting around and making muttered excuses as he walked out of the house, slowly followed by Astrid, who bid the Chief farewell, and all of a sudden the hut was quiet again, leaving a lonely chief to ponder the future.

Chapter Text

The following week was busy, to say the least. 

Hiccup was back on rota again, mostly partnered with the twins because they messed around the least when they were on patrol together (Astrid said it was because they respected him or something, but the day the twins respect someone for anything is the day ships fly). Unfortunately, this meant he had very little time to slip to his allies and inform them of what was happening. It also meant he couldn’t check on his enemies - Drago could be anywhere by now, not that he was having much luck tracking him since the spring, and the Grimborn brothers were known to lurk around the edges of the archipelago, he didn’t want to run into them around recognisable figures like the other riders, though he doubts they’ve interacted with the Hunters at all, as central as Berk is in the archipelago. He didn't even want to think about Grimmel. If the man was anywhere close to Berk then they were in deeper trouble than Hiccup could deal with on his own.

Luckily, about a day or so ago, he got a terror mail from Mala, with some extra information they’d ‘retrieved’ from Dagur before sending him back to Outcast Island. This included where he was hoping to get the new ships from and some of his allies, who may or may not be in on the back-up plan (sadly, that was something they couldn’t get Dagur to tell them before shipping him back). It wasn’t too much, but it was a start - and now they had names, people for his traveller contacts to keep an ear out for. 

For the most part, things had been peaceful, especially with the dragons. Despite this, Hiccup was definitely noticing some tension between the Berkians. The most issues seemed to occur around Spitelout - not that anyone was particularly surprised by this, it was a poorly hidden secret (at least to Hiccup) that Spitelout was a lousy husband and a shit dad, it followed that those poor relationships carried over to his interactions with the dragons - but nothing anyone did seemed to make things any better. The only dragon that seemed to spend any extended period with him without fireballing someones trousers was Kingstail his Deadly Natter. Luckily for Spitelout, Hiccup's other work kept him from properly looking into that relationship, but rest assured it was on his list.

"HICCUP!"

And with that, the Night Rider's break had officially ended, and he rushed towards the source of the call.

Upon approach, he could see Astrid and Snotlout trying to mediate an issue between two dragons and an unrelated berkian. Before he could get any closer, Gobber hobbled over, drawing Hiccup's attention as he spoke.

"'Iccup, thank Thor! Astrid can't get them to calm down, Snotlout is trying to mitigate collateral damage but several stalls have already been damaged-"

"Yeah, I can see that," Hiccup interrupted, and indeed he could. The shattered remains of at least three carts lay in a surprisingly neat pile off to the side of the conflict, Hookfang working to get the last few pieces into the pile while Snotlout hurriedly helped nearby sellers pack up their things and move out of range. "What… happened?"

Gobber nodded before continuing, eyes drifting back to where Astrid was focussing the dragons on her,

"The dragons were getting rather territorial, the Zippleback was being a bit rowdy, and the Gronkle's owner was running a stall. The Zippleback damaged the stall, the Gronkle got involved, and their tussling knocked them both into Philla's stall, she reacted, and it spiralled from there…"

Hiccup nodded in understanding, letting out a tired sigh as he stood to the side for a moment more before moving forwards.

"Astrid, go help Philla, I'll take care of the dragons. "

"Hiccup-" Astrid took one look and one look at Hiccup's expression and didn't complain. "Yeah, okay. Be safe. "

The only confirmation he gave was a slight nod, complete focus now on the still irritated dragons before him. Something told him that this might take a while.

***

Spitelout Jorgenson was, by all definitions of the world, an Arsehole. Yes with the capital A, it was that serious. Not that he was aware of that, he was as oblivious to the hatred of those around him as he was his own behaviour, which was both impressive and concerning to observers in equal measure. All this to say, he wasn't a good person, and people knew it. The other Berkians saw how he treated his son, how it effected the poor boy, how he took it out on his cousin in the early days, before he left and the heirdom was up for grabs.

It was just… no one ever said anything, or did anything about it. It was an unfortunate habit of the village, that they believed that things like that weren't their business - it was up to Spitelout how he treated his family, and his family to sort him out if he was doing it wrong. The problem was… his family never did anything against it, and so neither did the villagers. Snotlout Jorgenson was left in the basement of his parents house, with a door that locks from the outside, and the only person outside the twins who seemed to know anything about it was Hiccup. At some point, Snotlout was so scared of Hiccup saying anything about it he distanced himself, and he was never proud of how he acted, keeping Hiccup away like that, with violence. Every day he had felt more and more like his father, and it made him sick to his stomach.

One day, though, Hiccup left, and with it, so did Snotlout's hope of getting away from his father. Hiccup might not have known this, but if he'd had the choice, he would have left with the former heir in a heartbeat. He'd hoped that message had come across in the little chat they'd had in the back room of the forge, but he'd seen how Hiccup had interacted with Gobber, and they were close… it didn't take a genius to see he was out of practise with socialising.

What Snotlout was in awe of, besides the baddass fighting skills and cool-arse sword, was his ease around dragons. I mean, they'd been at peace for four years, for goodness sake! Snotlout had handled his fair share of Viking-Dragon disputes and petty grudges around the village, but somehow Hiccup's whole… everything seemed to calm the dragons down. He couldn't help a wave of envy that enveloped him as he watched from the sidelines as Hiccup steadily, confidently, approached the Zippleback first - the instigator, apparently, Snotlout didn't know, he only got there in time for Astrid to place him on clean-up - raising his hand, the same way he taught them to, twisting it to the side slightly. The way the Zippleback seemed entranced by his every move… it was like watching Hiccup work all those years ago again, except his moves were clearly more practised than before he left. And Snotlout couldn't help but think, even as the Zippleback started purring in Hiccups arms, just what did Hiccup do during those years he was in the sky?

"These beasts are out of control, Stoick! We need them off our island… Just how far are we willing to let them destroy our livelihoods for the sake of friendship?" Came his father's voice, and Snotlout couldn't help how he tensed at the sound. That was the tone he used when he thought he was winning an argument, and anything other than total agreement would lead to a rage, one that he would inevitably have to deal with in the privacy of their home, away from the prying eyes of the other riders - and now Hiccup. Hiccup, who noticed. Hiccup, who was currently glaring rather intimidatingly at Spitelout…

This wasn't going to end well.

"I can see what you mean, Spitelout, very out of control, very wild," Hiccup interrupted, Zippleback still purring into his arms as it's eyes closed, slumping further into Hiccup's embrace. Surprisingly enough, Hiccup didn't show any signs of strain from basically holding a dragon up, slowly lowering it to the ground and continuing the petting. With his back turned, Hiccup didn't see the sneer that Spitelout sent his direction, but Snotlout did. He couldn't help but shiver. That sneer was never good. If Hiccup were anyone other than he was, and wasn't as close to a dragon, then Snotlout would be worrying more. Luckily enough, he knew that his father's dislike for dragons, and their common reaction to him coming anywhere near them for expended periods meant they had a healthy habit of avoiding each other like the scourge.

Hiccup's reply brought a chuckle from Gobber's lips, which earnt him a look from Stoick before he turned back to his brother.

"From what I can see, Spitelout, Hiccup clearly has this situation handled. Snotlout and Astrid obviously got here in time and brought Hiccup in as back up. I can think of nothing to say except commend them for their quick thinking and diplomacy skills, as always."

That kind of thing was more common, as of late, the chief complimenting them on their efforts to calm down the dragons. It wasn't strange, not really, but it felt… well, it was weird for Snotlout, is all. He doesn't get compliments much, not from his own family and rarely from Astrid or the other riders, so getting that kind of endorsement from the Chief was a bit much, especially the first time it happened.

Snotlout had thought he was dreaming or something, but one look at his scowling father, from where he was behind the chief, told him all he needed to know - in all his dreams of approval, it was his father's, and he was always smiling with pride, chest puffed and declaring 'that's my son!' .

Predictably, Spitelout scowled at the chief's words, turning and gesturing to the pile that Snotlout stood by, not at all surprised that his father didn't meet his eyes.

"Not fast enough! Thats the tenth major incident this month, we can't keep doing this Stoick!"

Snotlout looked around, converned as the gathered crowd started nodding along. He met Astrid's eyes, and saw the fear behind her determined facade. This could go very wrong, very quickly.

Snotlout hadn't forgotten about the ongoing Dagur problem, if the village was divided, fighting him would be ten times harder, especially if the Armada he promised was as strong as he claimed. From the looks of things, the riders and the Chief were quickly loosing support, and they'd end up fighting ship-on-ship like before. With the lack of preparations that had for naval warfare… it wouldn't end well. As much as Spitelout disliked it, they needed the dragons to fight whatever Dagur was sending at them, otherwise there might not be a village for the dragons to destroy.

Astrid openned he mouth to object to Spitelout's words, but Hiccup spoke first.

"And why might that be?"

Confusion wracked the audience, and to be honest, Snotlout also had no idea where Hiccup was going with this.

"What?"

Eloquent as always, dad.

"It's simple really. They don't feel safe."

Everyone was still, not even Stoick trying to interfere. Hiccup, it seemed, was completely at ease with the situation, not even turning to look at Spitelout.

Snotlout's father scoffed, prompting Hiccup to continue.

"Let's put it this way: When the dragons first started staying around the livestock, how did the sheep and chickens react?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued, "They were scared. They were stressed, and they kept trying to get away and escape the situation. That's because they're docile prey animals, they wouldn't attack, so they run away. Dragons are predators, though they still have predators themselves. Therefore, when they're threatened they lash out, attacking either the danger itself, or something that triggers them to actually fighting rather than just being alert."

Spitelout scoffed again, clearly disbelieving of Hiccup's words, crossing his arms as he looked away, turning to the crowd. "Is anyone believing this? How would you know that?"

Hiccup finally turned to Spitelout at that, standing from his place next to the sleeping Zippleback and walking forwards, into the centre of the incident.

"Spitelout, what do you think I've been doing the last three years away form Berk?"

At his uncle's shrug, Hiccup continued, "I've spent all day, every day, around dragons. Studying them, living with them, helping them, saving them, when necessary. For the last three years- actually, no, since I lost my leg, and even a bit before that, my life has revolved entirely around dragons, and the past three years have given me so much time to just learn to understand them. It doesn't take an expert to see that these dragons don't entirely feel safe around berk, not with the war still fresh on their minds, the trauma from the weapons you all used to hurt them still mounted above your fireplaces. Dragons are forgiving creatures, but how many of you have bonded with your dragon beyond that of casual friends? How many of you have refused to change, are still ceaselessly violent, both with each other and towards the dragons whenever they do something that a dragon normally does, that doesn't fit with the prefect pets you all expect them to be? They have fogiven you, but they don't trust you. At least most of them don't - enough so that you're still having issues with it, even all these years later."

Hiccup finished, turning quickly and moving towards the Gronkle, who was calmly waiting for his attention, petting it and whispering assurances quietly. Slowly, the crowd started to disperse, seeing as Spitelout had nothing to add, or argue back.

Snotlout couldn't help a small grin at his father's expression: one of disbelief, jaw hanging slightly in surprise, completely stunned by Hiccup's reply. Indeed, he was far from the twig who let himself get beat on by everyone on the island, and he'd grown beyond even Gobber's imagination, if his incredulous expression was anything to say about it. Snotlout, though… he could see what Hiccup meant. He was close to Hookfang. Before Hiccup left, Snotlout didn't see the worth in bonding properly with Hookfang. Some part of him didn't believe that the dragons were here to stay, and it just wasn't worth it to get close if he knew it would be ripped away from him. When Hiccup left though… well, the dragons stayed. And they continued to stay, and the riders got closer, despite their roles in the village pulling them in different directions… they were their own little family. They argued sometimes - well, a lot, and it got worse when they were in intense situations - but just as Snotlout let himself get closer to Hookfang, he felt a camaraderie with the other riders. The rest of the village though, they were still distant from their dragons. Enough that even he was noticing. In flight, the riders and their dragons were like one, one team, one body, each melded perfectly to their companion. Their dragons slept in their rooms, and the odd sleepover in the training arena, where they all dogpiled, was becoming increasingly more common, what with the tension with the more… unfriendly villagers.

It seemed Astrid was coming to this realisation, too, that the distance with the other villagers to their dragons was more of an issue then they all realised, and they shared another look, this one deeper than the first. They knew they wouldn't be able to fix this, not now. It was too deep, and something was going to combust. This thought weighed deeply on Snotlout. He'd hoped, foolishly, that the dragons would get to stay forever. He should never have gotten close- his gaze was drawn back to Hiccup, the one connected to the sky more than any of them. When that was threatened, he left. Snotlout wished he had that confidence, wished he could just leave without fearing the consequences of a return. Maybe… just maybe… when Hiccup left again, he'd be kind enough to bring him alongside.

Hiccup, however, noticed none of these thoughts, nor the slowly thinning crowd, still busy comforting the Gronkle, whispering… something. Snotlout's envy had twisted into something else… something warm. It felt comforting, like his mum's hugs on the days his father wasn't around, and they could just sit together in silence. Whatever it was, it was new, and the feeling only grew as the Gronkle also slowly started purring, drifting off slightly. With the final draqgon taken care of, Hiccup moved to join Astrid, talking to the Gronkle's owner in similarly quiet tones.

Yeah, Snotlout thought, When he leaves again, I'm going too.

Chapter Text

Fishlegs hadn't had many opportunities to talk to Hiccup, now that he was back.

What could he say, he was busy. The Berk tours were constant, talking to the children of the village about their history, and his apprenticeship under Gothi took up most of the rest of the little free time he got. He and Meatlug hadn't gotten an opportunity to really fly in months. It's one of the reasons he was actually excited about Dagur breaking out of prison.

Everything after that was kind of a blur really, arriving at the ship graveyard, getting caught by Dagur, and then meeting Hiccup again. Hiccup taking the Dragon eye- wait… Hiccup took the dragon eye.

And-

Well, Hiccup's been busy on Berk since he got back, Astrid immediately putting him on rotation with the rest of the riders. Back on the reaper he'd mentioned some kind of key he'd need to get. If Fishlegs was thinking correctly, the key would activate the aretefact in some way. What Fishlegs wanted to know, though, is how Hiccuo knew so much about the Dragon eye, despite clearly only having seen if for the first time in Dagur's hand.

Fortunately for Fishlegs, he was currently in the prefect place to look into information like the dragon eye: the great hall. All scholarly vikings on berk knew about the library in the back of the great hall. It wasn't massive, but it held quite an impressive collection of books on most topics, and the librarian was happy to help you find whatever you were looking for. Unfortunately for Fishlegs, he was also currently leading a tour of the aforementioned great hall. It briefly mentions the library, but doesn't include a separate tour of it. The boy took a brief look out the doors as he continued with his tour, noting with great relief that his session was nearly up, and he wouldn't have to do any more today.

He was distracted once again by the arrival of Hiccup, speak of the devil. He tried waving, but the other rider seemed to be rather intensely focused on something, if the cylindrical object in his hand was any indication. What surprised Fishlegs most, however, was that Hiccup knew about the library… maybe it shouldn't surprise him that much after all, actually. Hiccup was the chief's son, is the chief's son, and was his heir. On certain evenings, Astrid could be found in the library, pouring over old treaties and other tribe's customs. Presumably, Hiccup would have had to do something similar..? Not for the first time, Fishlegs found himself wishing he'd paid Hiccup more attention before they started dragon training. There's so much about the boy that he felt he should know. Like his favourite colour, or food, or even what books he likes to read. Fishlegs himself was only told about the library properly a few weeks after the Red death's defeat, when he decided to become a scholar. How long before that did Hiccup get to explore the books on offer, both fiction and not, which ones did he enjoy?

"Mr Ingerman, when will Chief Haddock's portrait be added to the wall?"

And he was abruptly brought back to the present, out of his (unfortunately common) thought spirals, and back to his job. That he was supposed to be doing. Dang it, he was so lucky the tour was almost over. Just some questions from the kids and he was free to follow Hiccup into the library and really get to know him.

***

Luckily, the kids really didn't have that many questions. Through the tours, he'd added more information according to questions people had asked at the end, and it finally seemed to be paying off. Ushering them out the hall, he packed up the last of his books and headed to the library. He'd been meaning to go there at some point anyways, bring some of the current berk's history books back to swap them out for more wider archipelago history.

Just as he was getting distracted by which books he should get next, a blur of motion at the edge of his vision caught his eye. Recoiling, he squeaked out in alarm, the books in his arms tumbling to the floor as he rushed to protect his face. Let it be known that being raised around the twins gave one some pretty… odd reactions to being surprised.

A light chuckling could be heard as the books fell silent, and Fishlegs slowly unfurled to reveal Hiccup, still in that incredible armour of his, book in one hand, doubled over as laughs escaped him. Their eyes caught as Hiccup looked up again, the bizarity of the situation bowing them both into a laughing fit, wide grins splitting their faces as they ended up sat together on the floor, papers littered around them.

"Hi-Hi-Hiccup! What-" Fishlegs couldn't get much more out, still melted in mirth.

"'M sorry, Fishlegs"- the smile was audible in Hiccups voice, despite having gotten control of his laughter-"You just- Hahahaaaaa"- well, mostly.

Eventually, they both calmed down, tears streaming down both of their cheeks as they wordlessly worked together to gather Fishleg's scattered books and place them neatly on the one table in the small library. There wasn't a lot of space for them, Hiccup's own materials were sprawled out, a hand-drawn and suspiciously accurate map, books on the archipelago's islands and known tribes, as well as dragon species. Fishlegs couldn't help but lean into the table, trying to get a better look at what Hiccuo was doing before he'd been interrupted, eyes drawn to what looked like a duplicate copy of the book of dragons, right next to their original copy. The scholarly boy didn't get to see much more than that, as Hiccup quickly closed his copy and placed it directly over the map. Focus shifted, the two teens' eyes met again as the lingering mirth faded and an awkward silence drew in. Hiccup, it seemed, wasn't going to be the one to start talking.

Very well then, Fishlegs could handle it.

"Sorry for startling like that, I just saw you out the corner of my eye and-"

Hiccup let out another chuckle at that, though it died quickly as he offered an apologetic smile, still not replying.

"Yeah," the blonde boy continued, an involuntarily tired sigh making it's way out as he massaged his temple. "Living around the twins would do that to you."

"Yeah…" came Hiccup's quiet voice, eyes studying the details of his copy of the book of dragons, fiddling with a well-worn corner as he continued. "Didn't expect you to come in here. Last time I was-" he cut himself off with a short cough, eyes darting to the door as he readjusted, the sound of his prosthetic clicking ringing out in the near-silent room "-before I left, I was the only one to really know about it." A beat. "Scholar then?"

Fishlegs only nodded, and the two stood in silence, neither sure how to continue the conversation.

Hiccuo grew tired of the silence eventually, cutting through the tense atmosphere with an explosive huff as he sat back down, moving his book (because if definitely wasn't a berkian one - he could swear he saw a glimpse of a dragon that could shoot liquid amber instead of fire, and had a hypnotic song. They'd never encountered something like that) from it's place over the map, once again consulting their original book of dragons and some of the other documents littered around him. Charcoal pen in hand, he seemed to jump right back into what he was doing.

And Fishlegs… well, he had nothing better to do. So, he stood there, watching carefully as his once-friend (were they really friends? Fishlegs hardly knew him, they didn't spend much time one-on-one, not before they made peace with the dragons, and afterwards it was always painted with an underlying tension, a power differential, Hiccup the teacher and the other teens the students. Did they count as friends?) took careful notes, handwriting a surprisingly neat print in an even more surprisingly unfamiliar script. Actually, now that he looked closer, the writing, in both the other book of dragons and on the map was a mix of words he could read and things he definitely couldn't.

And then he looked closer, at loose sheets of notes. They looked older, more worn, with clear folds. On one sheet was a semi-familiar insignia, and what looked like a sketch of a symbol of some kind.

Now, while their time on the Reaper was brief, they certainly spent enough time stuck in that damned cage to become unfortunately familiar with the insignia dyed into the sail of the dangerous ship. And the cage itself… Fishlegs was a scholar, through and through, had been since he was young. Of course he studied that metal. He was slowly trying to convince Astrid to let him go back out to the ship to get a sample to bring back, just so that they could be familiar and prepared with the metal, in case they encountered it again. From the little he had gathered from their time on the ship, it was dragon proof, highly resistant to even Stormfly's magnesium fire, one of the hottest flames of the rider's dragons (except from Toothless, and of course Meatlug - lava, hello?). The way it had just absorbed the fire, not even hot the the touch mere moments after being heated, was fascinating. That all led to the conclusion that it was dragon proof - all the more important for them to know about how to escape it. Maybe Hiccup knew about it? He seemed familiar with the insignia. Maybe he knew whose ship it was?

"Hiccup-" the sudden noise prompted the Viking in question to tense, looking up quickly. His gaze was more intense than Fishlegs has ever experienced, and he's Astrid's second and interacts with the Chief on a near-daily basis. "Err- yeah, umm… do you know anything about the dragon-proof cage we were stuck in, back on the Reaper?"

As soon as he finished asking the question, he regretted it. Impossibly, Hiccup got tenser, sitting up more as his eyes darkened and he broke eye contact, instead glaring down at the insignia on the page beside him.

"Yes."

The word sent shivers down Fishleg's spine. The virtiol it was spat with was enough to freeze him in place, and he felt as his heartbeat increased. Suddenly, he wasn;t sat in front of Hiccup, the boy he grew up with. No, he was stood before a warrior, someone- something- dangerous, who befriended the most dangerous dragon his tribe had ever heard of, who had survived travelling with said dragon for three years, who wielded a fire sword and by the gods was he skilled. This was a new Hiccup… and Fishlegs didn't think anyone had noticed how different he was now.

I mean, obviously, he was more confident than before he left, he and Toothless were somehow more attached at the hip, and he had a fire sword- but… they others didn't notice the other things. He flinched, more than before, at almost anything unexpected. Well… maybe it wasn't flinching, but he was prepared, as soon as he noticed something unexpected, a practised tenseness. The only thing Fishlegs could think to prepare it to was Toothless himself, always ready even when relaxed. If someone unexpected walked too quickly into a room, even if they didn't look over, they were ready for it. And there was something more distinctly other about the one-legged teen now. He seemed to hear things before the others, didn't have as much trouble seeing in the dark as the others. He was almost… more. If anything, it seemed like his time with only Toothless for company had… improved him.

"Sorry Fishlegs-" the blonde was jerked from his thoughts, back to the library behind the great hall, back to Hiccup, who was sat in front of him, slumped over in exhaustion, a lazy hand rubbing tiredly at his face. Fishlegs must have been more lost in thought than he'd planned, because the tension from before had fled like a bad dream, disappearing into obscurity as Hiccup gathered himself to finish his sentence.

"Yeah, I, uh. I'm familiar with them. They're dragon hunters, they stick to the outside of the archipelago, so you haven't interacted with them before. They're a nightmare to deal with if you don't know how to handle their equipment or tactics. Best bet? If anyone runs into them, avoid them at all costs, and let me know about it if I can. I'll set them straight."

"You'll… what?" Fishlegs didn't know what else to say. Because that's another thing that's different about this Hiccup… he's had adventures that they could only dream of. He's done more good than anyone on Berk could comprehend, and had dealt with enemies by himself, without other riders as a support system. So… he can say things like that. Fishlegs didn't think he'd ever get used to it.

Hiccup shrugged.

"Wouldn't be the first time we've… interacted. I'd rather it be me that any of you anyways."

If that hadn't broken Fishleg's heart, the small smile Hiccup sent him afterwards would have cracked it clean in two. As the younger turned back to his work, Fishleg's once again found his voice.

"You never did tell us what you'd been up to…" He tried to add confidence to his words, but both he and Hiccup could hear the concern there. Gods, every moment in this room reminded Fishlegs of just how young they both were. Hiccup was barely 18. 18!!! And as much as he didn't deserve to feel protective of the other rider, he still felt like Hiccuo leaving was his fault. Like everything that happened to him while he was gone was his fault. All the pain, all the enemies, all the days where he ached for someone, because he wasn't meant to be alone… that was Fishleg's fault.

I mean, not actually, Fishleg's wasn't dumb enough or self-centred enough to believe that he could have done anything to stop Hiccup from leaving. He was well aware of the fact that there is very little he could have done, and despite his nighttime fantasies, he wouldn't be the thing that kept Hiccup here. If anything, he wouldn't have gone with the younger rider, just to make sure he had someone at his six. Fifteen-year-old Fishlegs would quail at the thought of leaving berk, but nineteen-year-old Fishlegs, now Fishlegs… he would jump on the back of Meatlug the instance Hiccup showed signs of wanting to leave, and he would go with him. No more isolation, no more taking care of injuries by himself - Fishlegs was confident enough in his ability to care for most regular injuries these days, and Hiccup couldn't be that bad either, seeing as he still has the same number of limbs on him as when he left, and there didn't appear to be any additional issues besides the flinching-

"Ah, um… well. Heh-"

And regular, awkward Hiccup was back. It was incredible how quickly he could jump between these versions of himself, like skins, or masks. Fishlegs was almost in awe of it. A light red dusted the younger's cheeks as he reached a hand up to ruffle his hair, struggling for words as he went.

"Funny story, actually, I was just-"

A loud noise from the great hall made them both jump. Well, Fishlegs jumped. Hiccup just tensed up again, hand immediately dropping to his thigh - presumably to a hidden weapon on some kind. After a moment of silence, the pair shared a look. Just as Fishlegs was getting ready to shrug it off, voices started drifting into the library.

Now, that was unusual in and of itself: the library was well insulated, meaning it was both suitably warm, and also an incredibly private place for people to have conversations or sit away from the usual hubub of the great hall. To hear voices though…

"Hide!" Hiccuo whispered, folding the map over, and artfully mussing up the other loose sheets into a rough pile, something about seafaring placed on top of the pile. Smart - normal vikings don't look too closely to travel routes, good to stay inconspicuous. Fishlegs nodded, placing some of his own books over to help cover some of the more… suspiciousdocuments Hiccup had had out. Table reasonably messy, and all important documents covered, the Hiccup darted behind a bookshelf right into a dead-

There was a small cubby, not visible from the main library, but provided a nice escape plan.

"How-"

"No time, Fish-" Hiccup said harshly, quickly darting behind the larger teen and shoving him into the cubby, "hide first, ask questions later!" With a final movement, Hiccup slid some books out of the way as he slid in beside Fishlegs, crouching comfortably in his spot as gesturing for Fishlegs to join him as three or four Vikings made their way into the library.

"What is this place, Spitelout?" A familiar voice called out, the first to walk in if they were hearing correctly.

"'S the library, Phlegma. Hardly anyone knows about this place, and there ain't any hiding places, neither, so we're secure," called Spitelout, who was apparently gentlemanly enough to hold the door open for his guests. Fishlegs had to muffle a whimper at the mention of hiding places, but managed to keep it down.

Someone else let out an unseemly snort. "Looks like someone's left their ship routes out!" Came Hoark's voice, followed by the sound of paper being lifted. Fishlegs didn't need to turn to see how effortlessly still Hiccup had gone. Luckily, whoever was snooping was interrupted.

"Oh, leave the Viking's maps alone, Hoark!"

Was that…

"Starkard is right, we have more important things to do than look at some fishing lanes."

Hoark grunted, the sound of paper falling back into place followed by the sound of four fully-grown vikings fighting over the few chairs placed around the table. Soon, though, everything settled down, and whatever they were doing, they'd better get it done, because Fishlegs' thighs was starting to get very sore. (Look, he might be an experienced dragon-rider, but that meant next to nothing for this kind of endurance stress position - he couldn't even shift without alerting other Vikings of their presence)

The silence continued far too long, and it seemed like Starkard agreed.

"Well? Get on with it, Jorgensen! Unlike you, I have work I need to get done today. Someone is sure to notice me gone sooner rather than later, so if you could hurry this up-"

"Yes, yes. We all know how very important your work is. Don't worry, this'll be brief." Spitelout replied frustratedly. The only response is a collection of huffs, and another shuffling sound. If he were to hazard a guess, Fishlegs would assume that the others had folded their arms.

"Spitelout, what did you want to talk about?" Plegma asked. She was a very no-nonsense viking, and was prompty answered.

"Those blasted dragons, o' course!" He started. "As you well know, our last plan to eradicate them from our island fell through, and with Hiccup back… we need something, and fast. Something that will completely break down the relations between Dragons and Vikings, once and for all."

"If I know anything about you, Spitelout," Hoark intoned, "Then you already have a plan."

In his mind's eye, Fishlegs pictured Spitelout wearing his signature cruel smirk.

"Of course I do, mostly at least. A few finishing touches and not even Hiccup will be able to stop us! For now, I have need of you all. Gather all our supporters throughout the village, tell them about the new plan, I'll spread the word when it's official and assign roles. For now, I need you all to follow our first back up."

"The one with the dragon root?" Starkard confirmed, seemingly in thought. "Well, that would certainly exacerbate things…"

"Indeed. I approve!" Phlegma agreed, a creak following her announcement.

Hoark made no attempt to reply, but he, too, probably agreed. Not a moment too soon either, Fishlegs wasn't too sure how much longer he could hold his position.

As soon as the vikings left, door swinging closed behind them with finality, Hiccup sprung to his feet and made his way - surprisingly stealthily, for a guy with a metal leg - to the table, shuffling through the papers laid on it with an organised urgency. Clearly, this wasn't the first time Hiccup had spied on an enemy-

Wait, enemy? Where did that come from? Fishlegs was pulled out of his surprising thoughts as he stood, carefully to avoid any more painful muscle cramp, taking great care to massage his aching legs as he slowly made his way to Hiccup.

"How on midgard are you not cramping up right now?" Fishlegs asked, a hint of jealousy flavouring his tone as he sunk into one of the still-warm chairs.

Hiccup once again, shrugged in response. Neither commented, and remained in silence as they both digested what they'd heard.

Typically, Fishlegs was the one to break the silence.

"Hiccup, we have to do something, right?"

Hiccup looked up, scrutiny making Fishlegs squirm as the silence stretched.

"We?"

The blonde was startled by the word, eyes widening in surprised. Why was that what Hiccup chose to focus on? Of course, 'we'. Fishlegs had always trusted Hiccup as their leader. He would follow the Night Fury rider, no matter the plan.

"Yeah, we. You're our leader, Hiccup. The others and I… you're our leader. Even when you left…" a pause, Hiccup's mellow surprise scraping at Fishleg's heart, "It wasn't the same." A sigh. "Things have been… tense since you left. The more anti-dragon Vikings have been getting steadily more vocal. I'm honestly not surprised about this-" he gestured vaguely towards the door -" because some part of me a was expecting it to happen earlier. We've been trying to find ways to combat it, bring the unity you worked so hard for… but nothing we've tried has worked."

Hiccup gave a look of contemplation, nodding absent-mindedly. "I might have an idea. It's not a full plan, not yet… but we'll need all the riders. And privacy. And time. And I have a feeling we're not gonna get that here on Berk."

"The only way all of us would be allowed off-island at once was if we had a mission-" Fishlegs worried, before his eyes caught the mischievous glint in the other rider's eye.

"Leave that to me, Fish. I might need some help with this dragon eye after all…"

Chapter Text

"Stoick, we need to talk-"

The Chief in question looked up from his paperwork, seeing his son stood in the doorway looking determined. As usual, Toothless followed him as he made his way further into the room, door closing softly behind him as he continued speaking at his father.

"When I met up with the other riders, I found an artefact. I know what it is, and what it does. The problem is that we need a key to activate it. Luckily enough for us, I also happen to know where to get the key. The issue is that I'll need some help getting it-"

"WOAH! Hiccup, just- slow down for a second there, son. What artefact?"

The way Hiccup froze at the interruption was almost comical, Toothless taking a moment to look, unconcerned, between his rider and the chief, before rolling his eyes and shuffling away to lay down. His action seemed to pull Hiccup out of his stupor, though, and the rider responded with a huff and eye-roll of his own. There was a beat of silence.

"The, err. The dragon eye. We told you about finding it, right?"

"Astrid may have mentioned it. She said she found it on a ship that contain dragon proof cages." Stoick gave a sigh. "How can you be sure that this… thing isn't a danger to us or the dragons?"

Hiccup looked up sharply, and oh gods Stoick hadn't noticed how strangely unconfident he'd been since he'd walked in until it was suddenly gone. His son shed the nervous layer like an old snakeskin, shoulder pulled back proudly, posture straight. And Stoick was made startlingly aware that Hiccup had inherited his height.

"Because I interrogated the Dragon Hunters about their missing artefact myself, and none of them mentioned any harm it could do unless you try to break into it. All it is is a vessel for knowledge. It cannot bring harm to dragons without a hunter to use the information it presents."

Stoick pondered this, trying his best to ignore the threatening air emanating from his child.

"Why not just destroy it, then?"

For a moment, Stoick felt monumentally stupid. Hiccup gave him a blank look, and Stoick nodded, somewhat sheepishly in response.

The chief gave another tired sigh, giving a judging look at the paperwork still on his desk before shoving it to the side, leaving the sheets in a semi-neat pile as he fully focussed in his son.

"What's this key?"

Hiccup's grin was a tad too feral.

***

"Thank you for coming on such late notice, councillors! It has come to our attention that our… Dagur issue isn't over, and his involvement in forces outside our archipelago may open us up to unknown threats." The chief's words unsettled everyone present, whispers and shuffling bodies echoing around the near-silent hall.

"Did the riders not succeed in their mission to bring Dagur back to prison?" Came Spitelout's voice. He looked… smug. It was clear he was trying to hide it, though, the up-twitches of his mouth giving it away. No one had ever accused him of being sneaky, in any capacity. His question though… it felt like a trap.

"… Yes, they did, Spitelout, however, that doesn't mean-"

"Then why is Dagur still a problem for us?" The councillor looked more irritated now, but he still radiated a sense of glee. Stoick narrowed his eyes, but before he could answer, Hiccup interrupted from his place to the side of the room.

"Because we still don't know who helped him escape."

The announcement of his presence caused a wave of unease in the group, interrupted by currents of surprise.

"Stoick, what is the meaning of this?" Phlegma asked, clearly alarmed at the sight of the dragon-rider. Before his father could reply, Hiccup raised his hand. The ensuing silence was absolute, you could hear the gulls cawing from outside the great hall. All the councillors were focussed on the ex-heir, commanding the room as he met each of their eyes as he spoke,

"I am here because I have a proposal. There is an artefact, that me and the other riders retrieved on their journey to find and secure Dagur. I call it the dragon eye, and it contains a wealth of knowledge on dragons, both those we know and new ones we've never even heard of. The people who created this artefact, who claim it to be theirs still… they are dragon hunters."

Hiccup paused, seemingly trying to find the right words to continue, as Gobber broke into the pause.

"How does this relate to Dagur, Hiccup?"

No one missed the grateful look the rider gave his old mentor.

"It's relevant because I don't think it's a coincidence that the first place Dagur went when he escaped prison was the place where the Dragon eye was lost to. The people who made it… they're meticulous, well documented, I don't think it was a coincidence that they lost their ship to that yard, or that they haven't been to retrieve it either. There had to have been a plan there, a plan that's existed for longer than anyone could have anticipated. It's relevant because this isn't just a Dagur issue anymore."

Hiccup visibly hesitated.

"I know the dragon hunters… personally. The second they find out where their artefact is, we'll be a target."

"What are you proposing, son?" Stoick said, apparently not bothered that Hiccup kind of hijacked the meeting.

"I'm proposing that we get ahead. We need to meet then in their field, learn as much as we can about dragons, especially the ones we have befriended. We need a step up in this, because it will become a war. The only way we can do that? By activating the dragon eye."

Uproar in the room, councillors shouting left and right, complaining about the dragons, complaining about having to fight, arguing that they should just give the dragon eye back, or destroy it before the hunters could figure out who had it. People reasoning that getting involved with the hunters would be suicide, they wouldn't survive as a village-

Hiccup just stood, watching the chaos unfold. Stoick didn't try to stop the arguing, simply studying his son. His grown son, who had aged years and only a day all at once. He commanded a room, he was smart and tactical, but he… visibly struggled with talking to people. And for now he seemed all to eager to let the council or Berk squabble amongst themselves. There was no intent to stop them in his eyes. There was even some amusement. Perhaps that wasn't so strange — they were all grown adults here, and yet they were stood, facing each other on opposite sides of a table, yelling and throwing cups and on shit, someone was climbing over the table-

"ENOUGH!"

Stoick's yell echoed through the room.

"We are all adults here, let us not again dissolve into bickering like children! Hiccup-"

Hiccup jerked in place, having been abruptly removed from his current train of thought. He let out a hum as he quickly looked around the room, gaze darting randomly from person to person before returning to his father chief.

"Are you certain that activating the Dragon Eye will help us prepare for the dragon hunters?"

The rider nodded resolutely, meeting his eyes with a fierceness in his gaze that almost sent Stoick stumbling. In that moment, the Berkian Chief knew that even if the council didn't approve the mission, Hiccup would still go, by himself, and that he wouldn't come back.

"Then, all in favour of sending the riders of Berk on a mission to retrieve the key, say aye!"

For one terrible, heart-stopping moment, there was a weighted silence through the hall.

"Aye!"

Gobber's cry of support was expected, and Stoick couldn't stop himself from sending a smile to his oldest friend even if he wanted to. Unfortunately, that was not the stick that broke the dam of silence. Time seemed to stretch, until-

"Blast it all, we need to do something. The boy is offering a solution to this new problem of ours, a way to get ahead of enemies we don't know yet. I say aye!"

***

Hiccup tensed as Starkard's voice echoed through the hall, and his vote was followed by a slue of other councillors providing their support for the mission. Stoick was visibly pleased by the result, declaring that the mission was approved, and dismissing the other councillors.

The dragon rider, though, was suspicious. He vividly remembered Starkard's support of the dragon root plan, how he was against the dragons. He wouldn't be agreeing to send the riders away to benefit berk, to get ahead of their enemies- Oh.

oh, hoho. He was good. Dragon root, Hiccup knew, was rather potent. It's seeds were fine, for the most part — they were surprisingly good in a stew, not that Hiccup would ever put his dragon through that again — it was the actual plant that caused issues. Like the Roman Catnip for the felines of the Mediterranean, it seemed like the smell, the taste, possibly just the presence of dragon root had an effect on the mood and or behaviour of most dragons. Gronkles, interestingly enough, were entirely immune, and actually enjoyed the aforementioned stew as a rare delicacy. Hiccup had yet to find a reason for their defence against the plant, or any other dragons that shared a similar level of protection against its effects.

The lack of protection against the root was the main reason for its popularity with dragon hunters, and Hiccup had no problem believing that, at some point, the riders on Berk had encountered the plant. How else would these other Vikings know what it was? Hiccup himself hadn't encountered it until he'd been on the mainland, and even then it was a rare occurrence until he began having regular tiffs with Hunters.

The attraction, wild reactions, and weird behaviours dragons exhibited around dragon root, even when in smaller amounts (especially in plant form. When it was distilled into a tincture to coat hunting arrows, it was slightly less potent — ideal for making dragons slightly more docile and easier to capture), meant that if even one of the dragons, trained especially, started acting strange, more aggressive or affectionate or territorial, it would tip the other riders off that there was root on the island. If, however, all the effectively trained dragons on the island were conveniently elsewhere…

Well, then the root would have time to grow, maybe spread too. They might have an infestation on their hands. It would take an age to exterminate a growth like that, especially in these sunny months: prime dragon root growing time. By the time the riders got back, it might be too late to do anything… they could be forced to flee the island, and the anti-dragon Vikings would win. Stoick wouldn't be able to do anything about it, the evidence of their wild nature undeniable in the presence of the root.

The peace he'd lost a limb for, that he'd killed a dragon for, would be ripped to shreds because a couple of Vikings couldn't let sleeping dragons lie.

Hiccup had to stifle a growl in his throat, sure that such an animalistic noise would startle the few that remained in the Great Hall (during his time away, he'd developed more… dragonish tendencies while Toothless developed more human ones. The first time he growled in front of a human, they jumped five feet into the air and almost threw a spear at him, before gathering the rest of his tribe and running him and Toothless out, calling him a demon — which, rude — and the first time Toothless had chortled at something, Heather had looked at the pair so quickly, her braid had whipped her in the face, prompting more of the unsettling laugh from the dragon, and wheezing amusement from his rider). Well, it looked like he had some Dragon Root crop to find and raze before they left on their 'mission'.

Good, Toothless was starting to get bored with all this nothingness going on around here.