that. It was most likely that the village had some relation with Vikings at Greater Archipelago. The placement of each structures reinforced this idea. It was interesting to face against things that he often fought against years ago.
His main objective was to cover their retreat. Thankfully, there were not that many dragons around left. The giant torches were the problem, as it was intended to help spot dragons flying in the air. He snapped his wings and dove onto it; his signature shriek echoed throughout the village.
"KRAAAA!!!" BOOM!
The giant torch exploded, sending burning coal and oil all over the village. Charcoal flew back up to observe. The dragons had successfully escaped. Seeing that his job was done, the Night Fury headed towards the retreating raiding party.
The crowd was far enough from the island. Charcoal came close to them. He noticed that there were a lot of injured dragons there. "How many of you left?"
"Charcoal!" One of the dragons greeted him. "Finally! If only we have you sooner..."
"I was in another raid when Alpha told me to help." Charcoal informed them. "How many of you left?"
"There were 50 of us, now we're down to 10." A Monstrous Nightmare spoke. It was flying close to him. "Most of us were injured. I don't know how much longer we can fly."
Charcoal observed the crowd. 'This was all that's left?' He thought, horrified. The black dragon looked around, trying to find an empty island anywhere. He spotted one not far from there.
"We need to treat the injuries." The Night Fury declared.
The other dragons looked at him with incredulous expression. "What?! But-"
Charcoal simply glared at him. "Now." He growled, making them gulp.
The dragons flew to the empty island. It was a small, barren island. They landed at the shore. Upon landing, the dragons immediately collapsed, as they were all exhausted and injured from the raid. They were hissing in pain, as some had weapons embedded in them.
The Night Fury checked the dragons. From 10 that came back, only 2 were healthy. The two seemed to be the leader of the raiding party; a pair of Deadly Nadders. Charcoal moved to tend the injured, as he did not want them to die after their retreat.
The black dragon reached for a wounded Gronckle. It had a spear embedded onto its stomach. "I'm going to pull this out. It's going to hurt. Ready?"
The Gronckle hissed. "Do it."
Charcoal held the spear with his teeth, before slowly pulling it out. He wanted to be careful as not to leave the spear tip in its body. The rock dragon hissed in pain. "Grarrr..."
Once that was done, Charcoal dropped the bloodied spear. He looked at the two Deadly Nadders. "Close the wound. I'll help the others!"
The Night Fury reached for a wounded Monstrous Nightmare. It had several hatchets embedded on its body. "Turn over."
The dragon did as he was told. It laid on its back, ready to have the weapons pulled off from him. Charcoal used his mouth to pull the hatchets one by one.
The Monstrous Nightmare winced; thankfully, those did not seem to sink deep into its body. It was recoverable. Once it was done, the dragon looked at the Night Fury, admiration in his eyes. "Thank you."
Charcoal simply nodded. He looked back to the Gronckle from before. It was licking its own wound. He looked at the Deadly Nadders. The two were simply standing there, watching him. That confused and angered the Night Fury. "What are you doing?! We have injured here!"
"We're supposed to leave them behind." One of the Deadly Nadder replied.
"... What?"
"It will take time for them to recover." The other Deadly Nadder explained. "We need to fill up our raiding quota. Alpha will give us new dragons to replace the dead."
"AND YOU JUST LET THEM DIE?!" Charcoal exploded, making them cringe at his roar.
"Alpha will kill us all if we didn't fill up the raiding quota." The first Deadly Nadder meekly answered. "Wounded or not wounded. We're just trying to survive. He doesn't care about our condition; as long they're alive, they can do dragon raids. That's what he told us."
Charcoal simply stared. He could not believe what he had heard. He never really interacted with raiding parties, mostly since everyone had their role assigned with Furious. He never really allowed him to see them. 'Dad didn't care?' He thought.
"This is war." The other Deadly Nadder spoke to him. "Dragons die all the time."
Something in Charcoal snapped. He leaped to that Deadly Nadder and pinned it to the ground. The dragons around them were shocked; not expecting him to attack their own. He took a deep breath and let out a long, deafening roar. "KRAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
When that was done, the Night Fury looked at the Deadly Nadder under him with murderous expression. It was terrified. Charcoal was apoplectic that they dared to say such thing to wounded dragons.
"What the-"
The other Deadly Nadder tried to separate them. "Charcoal, wait!"
Charcoal snapped to the other Deadly Nadder. "SHUT IT!" He roared at them. "YOU ARE WORTHLESS IF YOU THINK LIKE THAT! Those dragons have mates and hatchlings, waiting for them back at their nest!"
He looked down to the terrified dragon under him. "And how dare you say that about them!" He roared. "They're your friends! Your comrades! They fought tooth and claw for this war! You're here acting like they're cannon fodder that can be replaced in a whim!"
"But-"
"Would you leave them behind if they were your family?" Charcoal challenged them. There was no response. Everyone was silent as they watched the interaction. "Or are you so much of a coward that you rather throw them to those humans and slaughtered like helpless prey?"
The silence was so deafening, nobody dared to breathe. Charcoal continued speaking. "You treat these dragons like they're expendable." He unsheathed his claws, bearing it onto its neck. "Maybe I should remind you that you're expendable too, hmm?"
The Deadly Nadder struggled, but Charcoal held them down. "Please." He pleaded.
Suddenly, Charcoal felt pain in his head. He was suddenly compelled to stop and jump off from the dragon. The Night Fury did as what he was mentally commanded. Once he done that, he shook his head, recovering from the mind control. He knew who it was; Furious had stopped him from torturing them.
"Charcoal." He heard Furious sternly thought to him. "Enough. Leave them."
Charcoal looked up to the sky. "Alpha, I-"
"Ssh..." Furious stopped him. "... do what you must. They are mine to deal with."
The Night Fury heard the two Deadly Nadders flying away. He assumed that they would be dealing with Furious next. Charcoal took a deep breath, before relaxing himself. He turned to look at the injured dragons, who were staring at him with admiration.
Charcoal did not say anything. He walked to a Gronckle that had a long ballista arrow pierced through its belly. It was a miracle that this dragon was even alive!
The black dragon took a deep breath. "I'm going to snap this one, so I can pull it from the other side." He explained to the rock dragon. "Are you ready?"
"... Yes." The Gronckle breathed out, wanting to get it over with.
Toothless was in a dilemma.
She had been living in Barbaric Archipelago for roughly a year. Charcoal was courting her.
He was promising so far. The dragon liked to flirt with her, and there were times where they would cuddle together instead of saying anything. She never realised how much she needed that, until Charcoal came to her life.
Toothless was not sure what to think of it. Here she was, being courted by a dragon serving in Dragon Rebellion. He did not really like talking about his participation in the war, but he did mention them from time to time.
There were touching stories amongst the horror. She remembered the tale of two dragons escaping captive from humans. While it was romanticised, Toothless knew the war was to blame. Such horrors would never happen if the war simply ended there and then.
There was also his learning pace. Charcoal was a natural; he learned many spells at astonishing speed. He learned everything most dragons knew within a month, before moving on to different branches within the field, such as medical spells. He knew a lot of spells within a year.
Charcoal was driven to become proficient in spellcasting; that was something she could respect. It was not easy to become proficient. But considering the effort he made, and how much he learned so far, Toothless was excited to see how far he could go.
Suddenly, Toothless heard flaps of wings outside. The female Night Fury was resting inside her nest, waiting for Charcoal. Few moments later, she saw him entering her nest. Charcoal looked utterly exhausted. His body was drenched in water. She wondered what happened to him.
Charcoal came close to her, before collapsing. "Harrr..." He breathed out. "Hi! I hope I'm not late..."
"You're not..." The dragoness mumbled as she got up from the ground. She came close to him, trying to find out what went wrong. She smelled tears and sweat from him, as well as dragon blood.
"I uh..." Charcoal mumbled, shuffling his paws. "Sorry, I didn't bring any fish this time. I'll bring double tomorrow! What do you think?"
Charcoal tried to be cheerful, despite his exhaustion. Toothless felt something shifted in her heart upon seeing him at that state. "Charcoal, what happened to you?"
The male dragon let out a long sigh. "Hrr..." He groaned a bit. "Give me some time."
They both stayed silent. Toothless nudged the exhausted dragon. "Come on. Get up. You need to get yourself dry. Did you tried to clean up dragon blood from your scales?"
The male dragon let out a long whine. "Haaarrr..." He stood from the ground. His legs were shaking. The male black dragon looked down and flamed his temporary bed. He circled around, burning the stone with his plasma flame. Once that was done, the dragon lay down on top of it. He felt relaxed to feel the warmth on his scales. "Hrr..."
Toothless came close to him. She moved under his wings and leaned onto him. The two dragons purred, feeling comfortable under each other's embrace. They were happy to be together again, even though they were still technically in courtship.
"Hrr..." The dragoness purred as she snuggled closer to him. Even though Charcoal was exhausted, she felt safe under him. The male dragon felt comfortable to have her snuggled on his side, under his wing.
They stayed like that for some time. Charcoal was recovering from his exhaustion. The dragoness was still curious to see him at that state. It was the first time he had ever gotten himself like that.
"So..." Toothless started. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Charcoal slowly turned his head towards her. His eyes were half-lidded, and his pupils were fully dilated. "... I just bailed a raiding party off from a horribly failed raid." He explained to her. "Of 50 dragons that came in, 10 managed to escape. 2 of them were the raiding party leaders; they don't seem to be doing anything. The rest were wounded."
Toothless softened her expression. Charcoal continued speaking. "For the first time in my life, I actually came to check on the raiding party." He admitted. "I had to treat their wounded. There's just... so much screaming and blood. I've done my best, but..."
The male dragon trailed off. Toothless was concerned. "... Charcoal." She softly spoke. "That's the reality of war."
Charcoal looked away. "... I know." He muttered, before closing his eyes. "My dad kept telling me about the horrors of war; he doesn't want me to join, all those years ago. I'm already used to it."
"... but what makes me angry is how those raid party leaders treat their dragons." The male dragon growled. He bared his teeth as he stared off to a wall. "How could they do this? Why did he allowed it to happen? Is this why he didn't let me see the raiding party after a raid?"
Toothless whirred her mind when she heard that. 'His dad?' She wondered. 'Who is he?'
"... I guess this is the consequences of my own action." Charcoal bitterly whispered. "I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. If I failed to do what I do, dragons would die. But after seeing how that raiding party treat their dragons..."
The dragoness decided to disregard the red flags. However, she felt like she needed to be careful with what she said. "... Charcoal." She carefully spoke. "Have you thought about leaving altogether?"
Charcoal snorted. "Retire?" He blandly responded as he stared at her. "More dragons would die if I went to retire."
"If they treat their soldiers like that, they don't deserve you." Toothless countered.
"Now you're suggesting desertion." Charcoal humorously replied. "I should probably arrest you for that."
The dragoness knew it was an empty threat. He loved her too much for that. She softened her eyes. "I mean, that's your choice. That's an option."
"... I can't leave this war. It's too important." Charcoal admitted. "I spent most of my life fighting humans. I know more about them than others."
Toothless recognised the symptom. "You mean you don't know what to do without it."
"Harr..." The male dragon exhaled his breath, before snuggling closer to her. "I have you."
The dragoness thought that was sweet. She had become his partner to lean on when he needed affection and advice. "Would your alpha approve of you leaving?"
"My father forbids me from leaving." Charcoal answered.
That surprised Toothless. "Your father is your alpha?"
"My father is the greater alpha." The male dragon corrected.
Toothless widened her eyes. "Greater Alpha Furious?"
"That's him."
That was a coincidence Toothless never thought possible. It took her some time to not react with that information. No one else must know of their relationship, especially her identity. It would put them in danger.
However, she mentally prepared herself, since Charcoal did not know who her father was.
She needed to tell him.
"You don't smell like son of alpha. They usually have this specific scent that showed their authority." Toothless commented. She paused, before carefully asked. "... your father did mark you, did he?"
"I've been washing my body away from foreign scents." Charcoal admitted.
Toothless scrunched her face. "Why would you do that?"
"Because dragons would know who I am." Charcoal explained. He was uncomfortable with the topic. "I don't like them knowing who I am. The first time I participated in raids, they'd taunt me for who I am. They treated me like I'm an authority - like some sort of fragile hatchling that need to be coddled."
Toothless could relate to that. Her own father used to coddle her a lot back then. He stopped doing that after she demanded him to respect her boundary. That was a few years ago.
"I don't like being treated like that. I wanted to be treated equally." The male dragon admitted. "So, I just... grab one of those 'soap' thing that human use and washed my body. I do this once every week."
They stayed silent for some time. Then, Charcoal decided to ask. "What about you?"
Toothless tilted her head. "Me?"
"Yeah." Charcoal nodded. "Who's your father?"
Toothless took a deep breath, before moving away from him. The two dragons stood in front of each other. Acidic green eyes met forest green ones. The dragoness slowly answered the question. "My father is someone rather... infamous."
The male dragon raised his brows. "A rogue dragon?"
"No, not like that!" Toothless hastily defended. She paused for a moment, before revealing the information. "My father is Wodensfang... the Arch Alpha of Scandinavia and Nordic World."
Charcoal instinctively took a step back. His eyes were wide with shock. He was a controversial figure amongst Scandinavian dragons. From what he recalled, Wodensfang was infamous for sympathising with humans. However, the surprising part was the fact that he was still alive.
Toothless faltered when she saw that reaction. "I guess you heard of him."
"I've heard of him. Yes." Charcoal slowly nodded. "I didn't know he was still alive."
"Night Furies can live forever. " The dragoness elaborated. "At least, that's what my father told me."
The male dragon was about to retort, before stopping himself. Toothless looked hesitant. Charcoal thought for some time, before moving to slide underneath her wings. He rubbed his scales against hers. "Mrr..."
"Hrr..." Toothless laid down on the ground, allowing Charcoal to rest on top of her. The male dragon pulled himself closer onto her, making them purr in comfort. There was a long pause as the dragoness processed what Charcoal meant by that gesture.
It did not take her long to find out. "... I guess you're not mad at me?"
"No." Charcoal whispered, staring at her acidic green eyes. "It doesn't matter who your father is, or who gave birth to you. What matters is who you are as a dragon."
They fell silent. The female dragon simply stared at him. Charcoal wondered what she was thinking. The dragoness had her eyes glistened, as if she was about to cry. The male dragon was concerned. "Are you okay?"
"I- I'm fine." Toothless responded. Her voice wavered a bit. "It's just... dragons like to associate me with my father. I shouldn't be crying for this."
"Well." Charcoal hummed. He moved to lick her forehead. "If you were like your father, you wouldn't be here courting with me."
"My father would kill you if he knew." The dragoness mumbled under her breath. "He despised Dragon Rebellion."
"I think my father would do the same to you." The male dragon responded. He remembered the times when his father commented on Toothless. "He hates your father. He doesn't know who you are. He seems to think that you're a runaway dragon."
The two fell silent. It took them both some time to realise that their relationship might have put them both in danger. Not that they wanted to break them - they did care for each other. They needed to be careful when revealing their identity.
"I have a feeling our lives are already full of danger." Charcoal suddenly remarked. "Running away would just be a different kind of danger."
Toothless understood that reference. Charcoal was a soldier. She had heard of dragons that came to Hidden World, telling tales about the horrors of the surface. No other dragon faced more horrors than soldiers of Dragon Rebellion.
War changes dragons. Those who served came back forever changed. It was a miracle that Charcoal was still sane after serving for 8 years! She wondered how it was possible. Charcoal looked normal, as if he had never served at all!
'Some things just don't make sense.' Toothless thought. 'He's not showing any signs of trauma. Most dragon soldiers have some form of mental trauma after years of serving. How could that be?'
It was most likely that Charcoal had those traumas locked away in his mind. Some Light Fury with expertise in telepathy became therapists and mind healers for those who could not help themselves. Amber, for all her flaws, was a mind healer. They had sworn to help those in need.
'I might need to bring Amber here for mind analysis. She has more skills as telepath than I do.' Toothless grimaced. 'I need to look for messenger dragon that I can trust.'
"Hey, Toothless." Charcoal started, getting her attention. "I've been wondering... what does alpha dragon do, exactly?"
"Hrr..." The dragoness pondered that question. "An alpha dragon is a leader of a flock."
"But what about greater alpha, or arch alpha dragon?" The male Night Fury further questioned. "How does the hierarchy work?"
Toothless thought that was a good question. "A greater alpha dragon is the leader of dragons in a region, usually leading a large group of flocks." She answered the question. "Arch alpha dragon is one step higher - they rule over greater alpha dragons."
"But what do they do, exactly?" Charcoal responded, curious. "Are they chosen to lead? Did they prove themselves to rule the flocks?"
The dragoness paused at those questions. She pushed Charcoal away, before standing up. "Kind of." Toothless admitted, staring at the male dragon. "The selection is a lot more complicated, because everyone needs to agree to follow you."
Charcoal was confused by that premise. "And how is your father the Arch Alpha when everyone despised him?"
Toothless saw that coming. "There are a lot of reasons. The first common reason is fairness - my father can be trusted to do the right thing." She explained. "The second most common reason is protection. My father is very powerful - even his own dragons are afraid of him sometimes."
The male dragon raised his brows. "Afraid?"
"Yes."
"I don't think I've ever heard anything about your father." Charcoal responded, confused by that answer. "This is actually my first time talking about it."
"My father is a very kind and patient dragon." Toothless elaborated. There was a hint of sadness in her voice. "He wanted to end Dragon Rebellion and make peace with humans."
"You told me you don't really like him." The male dragon pointed out.
"I hate him for different reason." The dragoness admitted, before continuing her explanation. "There's a reason why dragons chose him. My father prefer diplomacy above all else - over a millennium of his rule, he only ever fights twice. The first when someone challenged his position; the second when I was kidnapped."
Charcoal thought that made sense; a father was usually protective of their young. However, he wondered what Wodensfang that made him feared so much. "Who kidnapped you?"
"It was a Buffalord greater alpha." Toothless answered.
The male dragon was confused. "But Buffalords are docile."
"Are. Ten years ago, they used to be very aggressive." The dragoness continued speaking. "I was two-year-old when they kidnapped me. They brought me to the northern part of Greater Archipelago for ransom. They want my father to step down."
"But... the northern part of Greater Archipelago is just ocean." Charcoal pondered, remembering his knowledge on geography. "There's nothing there. Dragons have no reason to pass through, unless they want to see serpent dragons."
"And why do you think that is?" Toothless challenged. "There was a landmass there. Ask any elders in Greater Archipelago and they'll tell you the same thing."
The male dragon widened his eyes. "You mean..."
"Ten years ago, my father flew out from Hidden World to save me. Alone." The dragoness continued telling the tale. "In just an hour, he took me back to his nest. The next hour, he sank the whole land into the ocean."
Charcoal found that disbelieving. "And the Buffalords?"
"He made an example of them." Toothless answered. Her voice was serious. "My father made sure that they can never become a threat ever again, including their future generations. He reshaped an entire species just because they kidnapped me, and it only took him a few hours."
"Hraa..." The male dragon was both awed and afraid. "Remind me to not make your father angry."
"It takes a lot to make him angry." The dragoness assured. "He's very tolerant. He won't mind you as my mate if you got out of the war."
"I'll consider it." Charcoal ruffled his wings, getting himself ready to leave the cave. "Anyway, duty calls. Have a good night, Toothless."
"You too."
It was early in the morning at Berk. Inside the Haddock house on the second floor, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was sleeping on the bed. There were papers strewn all over the place, filled with all sorts of notes and information - things that he learned during his time.
After some time, the boy slowly opened his eyes. He sat up on his bed and noticed that the window was open. That was normal. Leaning outside, there were Vikings walking and doing their own activities. That was also normal. Nothing was out of ordinary.
However, there was something wrong. Hiccup noticed that the Vikings were tense. Almost all Vikings passing by had both axes and swords on their belt. It looked like they were preparing for battle.
It would not be surprising if Berk suddenly went to war. It did happen from time to time, and Hairy Hooligan Tribe had some blood feuds there and there.
Seeing that it was none of his concern, at least for now, the boy jumped off from the bed. He went out from his room and went down the stairs, heading to the living room.
When Hiccup walked into the living room, he noticed that Stoick had just entered the house. The door was still open behind him. He was wearing chief ceremonial outfit, which consisted of a long, green dress with a tight and large black belt around him. Notably, the man looked tired.
The chief noticed Hiccup walking down the stairs. "Hiccup."
"Dad?" The boy was curious. "What's going on? Why is everyone carrying sword outside?"
There was no reason for someone to carry swords when doing their activity. Typically, they carry axes around. Sword had no business when doing daily activities, unless they were practicing their swordsmanship.
Stoick straightened himself. "We're preparing to sign peace treaty with the Lava-Lout Tribe."
Hiccup remembered the Lava-Louts. The Hairy Hooligan Tribe and Lava-Lout Tribe had been at war for roughly a hundred years.
It was just last year that they both decided for ceasefire. Both sides agreed that the war had been going on for so long. It seemed that it was time for them to make peace with each other.
"They will arrive in a few hours." Stoick rumbled, staring at his son. "Everyone needs to prepare for the ceremony. That means you too, Hiccup."
"Okay." Hiccup nodded.
"I want you to stay with Gobber." The chief continued speaking. "Do not leave his side."
"I will." The boy nodded. He did not want to be the one kidnapped or poisoned by the Lava-Louts when something went awry.
"Good." Stoick nodded. Then, he lowered his voice. He looked pained when he spoke. "But if anything happens and you don't know where to go... run into the forest. You have Toothless on your side."
Hiccup widened his eyes. It was the first time his father ever mentioned her name. It felt strange that his father would trust him with a dragon. Then again, she had saved him few times before. "Okay dad."
With that, Stoick turned around and left the house. He closed the door behind him, leaving Hiccup alone inside.
Few hours later, Hiccup was standing at the harbour with Gobber. The harbour at Berk was right at the sea, hugging close to the tallest rocks that housed the Hairy Hooligan Tribe. The docks at the harbour were made of woods, and there was a ramp that went up to the village.
There was also an open hangar on top of the harbour, which served as an auxiliary for things to move in and out of the harbour. Vikings called them loading dock.
There were other Vikings there. Hiccup and Gobber was standing at the corner, somewhat far from where they would dock. Stoick was waiting for the ships to dock at the harbour, along with other Berkian Vikings. Spitelout was standing next to him.
Everyone was tense as they waited for the ships to dock. There were two longships and one kingship approaching them.
Once they docked at the harbour, six elderly men walked out from the kingship. Stoick was confused. He was expecting the chief to come out, not six elders wearing ceremonial outfit. He was not one to judge, however. He would have to welcome them, either way.
"Welcome to Berk." Stoick greeted them, getting their attention. He leaned to the side to see if there would be more coming out from the kingship. "... Where's the chief?"
"Ah." One of the elders spoke. His voice was silky and rough. "Our chief is busy integrating our new goods into our tribe. We recently got them from our expedition to another island weeks ago."
Stoick knew what it meant. Lava-Louts had pillaged a tribe and turned them into their slaves.
It was why Hairy Hooligans was at war with Lava-Louts. They tried to pillage their land for their knowledge and resource, but what they got was a hundred-year wars instead. It seemed that they were still on their way to pillage other islands instead of them.
The other elder decided to speak. "We are here to represent our chief. I hope that's not a problem?"
"None at all." Stoick grumbled. "I hope we can come to an agreement."
The same elder looked around the harbour. His eyes fell upon the scrawny boy, Hiccup. The boy stared back. The elder had a strange gleam in his eyes as he bit his lips. Hiccup decided that he did not like this man. He noticed that the other elders seemed to be interested in him.
The elder looked back to Stoick. "Oh, I hope we do."
For some reason, Stoick had a feeling that the meeting would go wrong somehow.
The Great Hall was located at the top of the village. It was placed inside one of the rock formations at the island, with tall gates made of stone and two statues sitting on the sides.
The placement was intentional; the structure also served as a safe place for those who could not fight during battle. For someone to reach the Great Hall doors, they needed to climb long stairs made of stone from the village square, which was located at the centre of the village.
Stoick, Spitelout and the Lava-Lout elders were climbing up the stairs. Hooligan and Lava-Lout Vikings were wary of each other. Everyone kept their distance as they climbed up towards the Great Hall.
Hiccup and Gobber were following them at distance. They were climbing the stairs at the Berkian side, where there was a lot more of their Vikings around. The boy was feeling uncomfortable at the silence. He looked at the blacksmith. "Gobber?"
The man looked down to the boy. "Aye?"
"I've been wondering..." Hiccup spoke in low, hushed tone. "What does Lava-Lout Tribe do?"
Gobber grimaced at that question. "Ah." He muttered, making sure that they were not being overheard. "Lava-Louts lived in a volcanic island, right in the middle of lava flow. They make gold from lava there. 'one of the biggest and richest tribe in the whole archipelago."
Hiccup leaned closer to him. The blacksmith continued speaking. "They got a lot of slaves mining those for them. That's how they got rich. They were our biggest trade partner back then before the war. But then, they tried to pillage us, and we fought back."
The boy wondered what the Lava-Louts were thinking when they decided to betray their trade partner. Hairy Hooligan Tribe had a long policy of maintaining peace with other tribes.
They did this by making other tribes somewhat reliant to them. Betraying the Hairy Hooligan Tribe meant that they would never be able to trade with them again.
It was interesting to know how different things worked when compared together. Vikings on Berk were fighters and fishers. They gained wealth by selling dragon parts, and majority of Vikings there eat fish and meat.
Hairy Hooligan Tribe was the best dragon hunter tribe in Barbaric Archipelago. It should be noted that they were also the most progressive tribe in the archipelago.
Slavery had been abolished from the tribe years after its foundation. It was not good for them to have slaves, since there was always the possibility of revolt. Hiccup found it interesting that some tribes out there still practiced slavery despite the risk.
After climbing up the stairs, Hiccup and Gobber finally reached the top. The rest had gone into the Great Hall. Deciding to follow others, the two Vikings went into the Great Hall.
The Great Hall was packed with activities. There were Vikings around the place, talking amongst each other. The Lava-Lout Vikings were somewhat segregated with the Hooligan Vikings, mostly out of courtesy.
There were food stands around, serving the Vikings there. Hiccup and Gobber were standing close on one of the food stands.
Gobber leaned close to it. The stand was serving pulverized frozen milk inside a bucket. The man looked at it with incredulous expression. "What in Thor's mangy tits did the cook do to that milk?"
"It... looks like an ice cream." Hiccup commented, looking down at the batch.
"Ice cream?" The blacksmith inquired.
The boy leaned closer to smell them. "It's crushed frozen milk." He spoke, surprised with himself. "... that's it. It tastes better if mixed with honey."
"How did ye know that lad?"
"I read books." Hiccup answered, looking up to the blacksmith. "They have stuff about food from mainland. Ice cream is from the mainland."
"Hmm." Gobber stroked his beard, thinking. After some time, he shrugged. "Eh."
The blacksmith grabbed a tankard. He scooped up the ice cream and tasted it. The man smacked his lips, tasting the dessert. "... Mm. Not bad." He commented as he ate more ice cream from the tankard.
Hiccup noted that Gobber liked it. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed that a certain group of kids were eavesdropping through a door. The boy wondered what they were up to. It sounded important.
Seeing that Gobber was busy with the ice cream, Hiccup carefully walked towards the Viking children of his age.
"Sssh." He heard Astrid hushed Snotlout. "Be quiet."
Hiccup narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing?"
That got their attention. Tuffnut answered his question. "We're listening in to the meeting." He paused, before continued speaking. "Wanna join?"
"Tuffnut!" Snotlout hissed. "Why did you do that?"
"Quiet!" Astrid hissed at the brawny boy. "We're listening."
Hiccup did not answer. He approached them and leaned onto the door. He heard his father talking with the Lava-Louts. He could make out what they were saying through the door.
The meeting room served as a place for chieftain to handle diplomatic relations. It was the place where two or more tribes talked their politics. The place was large and clean, with a large, long table that served as their place to conduct their business.
Stoick was sitting on one side, and Spitelout sat next to him. At the other side, there were the Lava-Lout elders. All six of them were sitting at the opposite side of the Berkians.
There were papers and inks around the place. Those were drafts of the peace treaty and ceasefire extension. It seemed that they could not get an agreement.
Stoick looked down at the paper in front of him. He frowned. "This treaty is unfair. You are asking for our Vikings in exchange of it."
"Oh, but it is fair." One of the Lava-Lout elders spoke. "After all, you're the one that want to end the war."
"If I remember." Spitelout growled, getting their attention. "Your Vikings were the ones begging for it."
Before it escalated, Stoick spoke. "I cannot sign this because it is unfair to us." He declared. He pushed the draft over to the elders.
A different elder pushed forward a different draft of peace treaty parchment. "How about this one?"
The Berkian chief grabbed and read the content. The man scowled. "This is worse than that!" He decided. "You're asking 2 of our Vikings on every annual peace treaty signing!"
"Well, you can always refuse, and we can go to war again." The elder nonchalantly spoke. "If that's what you want."
"You have yet told me what's wrong with my draft." Stoick reminded.
"We don't agree with your peace treaty." The other Lava-Lout elder explained. "You're simply asking for us to become trade partners again. The war had been going on for a hundred years. We want something out of it."
"Alternatively." One of the elder drawled as he pushed forward a different draft of peace treaty. "This might be acceptable for you."
Stoick grabbed the parchment. He read the content. "... you want a boy?"
"There's this... scrawny boy that I saw at the harbour." The elder smiled as he recalled his memory. "Thin, unruly hair, green tunics, standing next to... who was it, your blacksmith?"
Stoick narrowed his eyes. "You are asking for my son."
"Ah, so it is your son." The elder brightened. "I want him. If you give your son to us, we will agree with the peace treaty."
The chief remained emotionless. Inside, however, he was seething with anger. 'How dare he ask for my son?' He thought. 'Does he know that it was a great insult to ask for him?!'
"I will not trade my Vikings away for this peace treaty." Stoick declared.
"So, we're continuing the war."
"No." The chief shook his head. "We should extend the ceasefire until your chief come here. This is something that should be discussed with your chief, not represented by the elders of the village."
"Even if we extend them for our chief to come, he will say the same thing." One of the elder pointed out. "We want something out of it."
"I stand by my point." Stoick decided as he pushed forward a draft for ceasefire extension. "Peace treaty should be dealt between chief of the tribe. This is too important to be represented by the elders."
The elders grumbled under their breath. After some time, one of them decided. "Very well! We will sign the ceasefire extension."
"For err..." The other elder whispered to another. "Two months? That's when he's done, is it?"
"Aye. The day after gold festival." The first elder mumbled as he grabbed a parchment.
While they were discussing ceasefire extension, Stoick was internally seething. He might need to prepare the village for war. He would never trade his Vikings for the peace treaty. Especially Hiccup.
"Hah! Traded like a yak!"
Hiccup and the others had pulled back from eavesdropping them. The scrawny boy was in shock and disbelief.
He could not believe that the Lava-Louts wanted him in exchange for the peace treaty. It was absurd for them that they wanted something out of the peace treaty. Don't they want to end the hundred-year war?
"I guess that fits you." Snotlout snidely remarked. "You know, being useless in the village."
"It might be something that you can be useful for once." Astrid commented.
"He'd probably trade you along with the Vikings." Ruffnut teased.
"Umm..." Fishlegs hesitated. "Hiccup, you'd probably die in a week in their slavery."
Hiccup did not know what to say. He was upset at the fact that he was even considered. He was upset with how the others behaved. It reminded him for the reason why he did not like the children of his age. They were always mean to him for no reason at all!
The scrawny boy decided that was it. He turned around and walked away, going to the main room and heading out from the Great Hall.
While walking, he did not notice that Gobber went off to follow him from behind.
Later that afternoon, Hiccup was walking down the forest path. The boy wanted some time alone by himself.
The forest was peaceful; birds chirping on the trees, small critters running around the place, and there was nothing disturbing him. It was the place he often went off to when he wanted some time alone.
The boy arrived at his destination. It was the clearing where he played Maces and Talons with his father together a year ago.
The game board was still there, along with the table and bench. Hiccup often cleaned them to prevent rotting and Toothless often came there to play with him. His father rarely visited the place, so it became his sanctuary whenever he went to the forest.
Hiccup sat on one side of the bench. The boy let out a sigh. He pondered what he had heard few hours ago. It was unbelievable that they wanted Vikings in exchange for the peace treaty.
It reminded him to the fact that some places around the world were more barbaric in terms of standards and traditions than others.
"Hiccup?"
The boy looked up. Gobber had come in from the forest path. He walked towards him. "Ye okay?"
"... no." Hiccup confessed. He did not want to lie to Gobber about the topic.
The blacksmith grimaced. He sat on the bench at the opposite side of the table. The man leaned towards the boy. "Ye wanted to talk about it?"
Hiccup looked down at the game board. "... I heard the chieftain meeting."
Gobber raised his eyebrow. "Ye listened in, eh?"
"The others heard it too." The boy shrugged, still staring down at the game board. "The Lava-Louts wanted something for the peace treaty. They wanted Vikings for them. They asked for me for the peace treaty."
Hiccup looked up to Gobber. "I'm scared." He confessed. His voice wavered. "I don't want to be a slave."
Gobber hardened his expression. "Stoick wouldn't let that happen, lad." He firmly spoke to him. "He cares too much for ye. He won't trade any Vikings for that piece of paper."
"But then, the war will start again." The boy replied. "The war had gone for too long. No one is getting anything from this. They want to get something out of the peace treaty. Dad ended up signing ceasefire until their chief come here. The elder said that they'd say the same thing."
"Ye don't know anything about the Lava-Louts or their chief, lad." Gobber argued. "They'd talk about this. Ye won't be traded off."
"No!" Hiccup exclaimed. He looked at the blacksmith. "You don't understand. There's something with that elder. He looked at me like I'm sort of- a yak to be traded off! I just don't understand why he want me."
Gobber darkened his expression. He knew why. He had seen the elder looking at Hiccup. It was something that nobody should ever experience.
"You're not gonna be traded off." The blacksmith firmly spoke. "It's an insult, lad. They won't risk a war by askin' you to become their slave. Their chief won't allow it."
"Their chief will say the same thing."
"And how would ya know that?" Gobber argued.
"Because." Hiccup leaned closer, speaking in hushed tone. "I think the Lava-Lout chief is a puppet for the elders."
The blacksmith blinked. "Puppet?"
"Their chief is not really the one that make the decision in their village." Hiccup explained to him. "It's the elders. The elders tell the chief what to do and the chief will follow them without question. They're puppet to the elders."
Gobber found it absurd. "But... that's not how it worked!"
"Gobber, no tribe would delegate something this important to the elders." The boy explained to him. "The chief would come to deal with it. The chief can have their second-in-command deal with their new slaves. Why does it have to be the elders? Why can't they just postpone it until the chief have free time?"
The blacksmith had no answer to that. He simply stared at the boy.
"It means those elders are the ones really in power." Hiccup argued. The boy was shaking as he explained his reasoning to the blacksmith. "Not their chief. This treaty is important. They wouldn't delegate something this important to someone else."
"Yer overthinking this, lad." Gobber commented.
"Gobber!"
Hiccup and Gobber turned to look at the source of the new voice. It was Spitelout. The man was running towards them from the forest path. "Spitelout? What are ye doing here?" The blacksmith asked.
Reaching them, the Berkian second-in-command took a deep breath. He looked at Gobber. "The Lava-Louts wanted a tour around the village." He explained. "And they're approaching the forge."
Realising the issue, Gobber stood from the bench. He looked at Hiccup. "Yer coming?"
"No." Hiccup shook his head. "I don't want to see them."
"Alright. Stay put." Gobber ordered. He looked at Spitelout. "Stay with him. Chief doesn't want him alone."
"Okay." Spitelout nodded.
With that, Gobber took off running to the village.
After the blacksmith left, Hiccup and Spitelout stared at each other. It was an awkward silence. They did not know what to say. Hiccup decided to break that silence. "Do you want to play?"
The Berkian second-in-command looked at the table. There was Maces and Talons game board on it. It did not seem to be a bad idea to play with him until Gobber came back. He knew how to play the game. He often played with Stoick back in the early days before the man became the chief.
"Aye." Spitelout replied as he sat on the opposite side of the table. "Let's play."
Gobber ran all the way back to the forge. The blacksmith quickly entered through the back door and opened the window. He saw the six Lava-Lout elder and Stoick standing there. They looked surprised to see him. It was most likely that they had been there for some time.
"Hello there!" Gobber jovially greeted them. "Yer here for the tour?"
"Yes." One of the elder nodded. "Let's see what you have."
"Uh..." The blacksmith fumbled around as he began rearranging the weapons. There was a table right in front of the window. "Most of us here use axes, warhammers and swords. We got standard stuff as well, like bola or hatchet."
"Alright." One of the elder dismissed him. "We've seen enough. Let's move on to the next one."
The elders began walking away. Stoick quickly came to the front and asked the blacksmith. "Where's Hiccup?"
"He's in the woods with Spitelout." Gobber answered.
Stoick was not sure to trust his son with his second-in-command. However, he could not leave the elders. "Alright." He responded. "You're coming with me. Help me with the tour."
"Aye."
Hiccup and Spitelout played the game for few hours. The man and the boy were focused on the game. It was the twentieth game of their session. Notably, the man looked frustrated. Hiccup seemed to be enjoying the game.
That was to be expected. Spitelout had yet won a single game against him. He was not even close to winning the game against him.
The man thought that Hiccup was better than Stoick at Maces and Talons. Usually, he would win a few games out of twenty against the chief. He did not win at all against the boy.
He wondered if the chief held himself back when playing with him. He did not like imagining that.
"You're angry."
Spitelout looked up from the game board. Hiccup was staring at him with inquisitive look. "What?"
"You're angry." Hiccup repeated himself. "It makes you pick the wrong move. You need to be patient with this game."
The man blinked. He was frustrated and angry at the game. That one was obvious to him. However, what surprised him was the fact how Hiccup reminded him of Stoick when he pointed it out.
The chief was smart, but also playful at times. There was also something twinkling in his eyes - something that he often saw in Stoick when he was enjoying something.
Those characteristics reminded him of Stoick. Spitelout reminded himself that Hiccup was really Stoick's son. There was no denying it.
"Spitelout!"
Hiccup and Spitelout looked at the forest path next to them. It was a male Viking from the village. He looked tired. "What do ye need?" Spitelout asked.
"Spitelout." The Viking gasped his breath. "The cook! The kitchen! We're out of milk and the Lava-Louts are still touring!"
The Berkian second-in-command paled. He quickly stood from the bench. "Let's go! We need to get the farmers milk the yaks!"
The Viking nodded. With that said, the two men ran through the forest path. They left to the village, leaving Hiccup alone at the forest clearing, with the unfinished game of Maces and Talons.
Several minutes passed. Hiccup returned to the game. Looking at the board, the boy let out a sigh. Spitelout was competent playing the game on the first few matches, but he let his emotion influence his action halfway there.
It was real shame. Hiccup had been enjoying the game on the first few matches.
Hiccup suddenly heard flaps of wings. Toothless came and landed into the clearing. The boy brightened upon seeing her. "Toothless!"
"Hrr." The female dragon happily purred. She walked to the opposite side of the table. Upon reaching the place, she sat on her hindlegs. The dragoness looked at Hiccup with expectant look. It was obvious why she came there. She wanted to play Maces and Talons with him.
"I'll get it ready." Hiccup spoke as he began rearranging the game pieces. "... thanks for coming. I need a bit of distraction from my problems."
"Hrr?" Toothless tilted her head, curious.
"It's just..." Hiccup paused, before continued rearranging the pieces. "We have another tribe called Lava-Lout Tribe coming into our island. We've been at war with them for one hundred years. Last year, we signed a ceasefire. We're supposed to sign the peace treaty today, but..."
The black dragon tilted her head the other way. "Hrr."
Hiccup seemed to pause. After some time, the boy continued speaking. "They wanted something out of it." He explained to them. "They wanted our Vikings. Lava-Lout still practice slavery, so it's kind of obvious why they wanted our Vikings."
Toothless stayed silent. Hiccup continued speaking. "But then, one of them asked for me."
The black dragon reared in surprise. "Krr?!"
"I don't know why, but they want me as a slave." Hiccup muttered as he finished rearranging the pieces. The boy looked at the dragon. "Snotlout and others looks happy to know that. I just don't want to be a slave."
The black dragon growled, displeased that someone dared to try enslaving Hiccup. She did not like how his peers treated him either. "Krr..."
"Anyway." Hiccup started as he looked down at the Maces and Talons game board. "You're white piece. You go first."
Several hours later, Gobber and Stoick were standing over a cliff, overseeing the ocean. There were two longships and a kingship heading off from the island. After given the tour, the Lava-Louts decided to return to their island.
They had promised that they would come back with their chief. The ceasefire had been extended for another year, since they could not reach any agreement when the representatives came.
While they were watching, Gobber decided to speak. "Ye know, Hiccup overheard yer meeting."
"Huh?" Stoick looked at him with surprise.
"Aye." The blacksmith grimly nodded. "He thought their chief would've told ye the same thing next year. He said their chief was a puppet."
"Puppet?"
"Those elders were the ones making the decision." Gobber continued speaking. "At least, that's what yer son told me. They wouldn't send anyone less important than the chief themselves for this sort of thing."
Stoick thought that made sense. It did not change anything, however. He would not be trading any of his Vikings. If the Lava-Louts insisted on that deal, they might need to go to war again.
Going to war again was not really a good idea, but there was never any good choice to begin with.
"STOICK!"
Stoick and Gobber turned around. Spitelout was running towards them. Upon reaching him, the man spoke. "Stoick! We're out of milk! The yaks aren't making any!"
"Johann will be coming in a week. Winter won't set in for some time." The chief rumbled as he stared at the man. "We're good, for now. Don't bother with the milk yet."
"Yes! I'll tell the cook." Spite responded, before taking off running into the village.
It was then Gobber noticed something. "Wait." He muttered. "If that's Spitelout, who's with Hiccup?"
The two Vikings looked at each other, horrified upon realising that fact. They both immediately took off running into the village, heading off into the forest.
Hiccup and Toothless had been playing for hours. They were at their fifth game on their session. The boy felt proud that the dragon was improving. She proved to be a formidable challenge in the game of Maces and Talons. There were times when she came close to defeating him.
"Hrr..." Toothless purred as she stared at her piece. The dragon tilted her head, before looking up to the boy. She looked like she wanted to tell him something. "Hrrm."
Hiccup looked up at the dragon, before looked down at the pieces. There were not that many pieces left, but he discovered something interesting. They had been repeating the same manoeuvre five times in a row.
Their Viking Chief pieces were surrounded by each other's pieces, and they kept moving their pieces back and forth to prevent others gaining advantage. Notably, there was no Hunter pieces left anywhere.
"Huh." The boy blinked. "... it's a stalemate."
Toothless looked surprised. "Hrr?"
"It's a rare condition where there's no way for us to continue." Hiccup explained to her. "We keep moving back and forth several times already. Also, this is the 81st move of this game."
The dragon seemed to be confused by that conclusion. She simply stared at him, waiting for his explanation.
"They say that all checkmates are usually done less than 50 moves. Going beyond 50 move means stalemate." Hiccup explained to her. "It's an actual rule in competitive Maces and Talons game. It's there to stop people from playing indefinitely. There's also the 75-move rule, which is like 50-move rule."
Toothless looked at him with deadpan expression. It was new information to her. "Krr..."
"We're playing this casually." Hiccup continued speaking as he inspected the game board in front of them. "There's no rule like that in this match. I guess it's best to call it a draw."
Toothless huffed. She looked away, pouting for not winning against him. She was close, but it was not enough. Hiccup gave her an apologetic look. "It's better than losing. I didn't win, either."
The black dragon glanced at him, before looking further away. The boy let out a sigh. "Okay, I give up. You win."
Toothless looked at him with a smile. She gave him a toothless smile. Hiccup was happy to see her happy. The boy suddenly remembered why they were playing in the first place. His smile faded, which made Toothless curious.
"Sorry." Hiccup mumbled as he moved to rearrange the pieces. "I just remember the problem with Lava-Louts."
Toothless decided to stop playing. She stood from the ground and walked around the table. The dragon nudged the boy, displaying concern of his wellbeing. "Hrr..."
The boy stopped rearranging the pieces. He leaned onto the dragon, resting himself there. "I just... felt like my dad would trade me for the peace treaty."
Toothless widened her eyes in surprise. Hiccup continued speaking. "The war had been going on for a hundred years. I think of all the lives lost during the war. If there's no peace treaty, there could be another war. People will die. Nobody wants that."
The black dragon sat on her hindlegs. She grabbed the boy and pulled him into a hug. Toothless let out a long, loud purr as she held him into her embrace. "Hrr..."
Hiccup hugged the dragon back. He rested his body against her, feeling the warmth of her black scales. The boy was happy that the dragon really cared for him. "Having you here made me think." He mused. "What would it be like if humans and dragons were at peace together?"
Toothless snorted. She let go of him. Hiccup balanced himself, before looking up to the dragon. "It's just something to think about." The boy spoke as he shrugged his shoulder.
Suddenly, the dragon perked up. She stood on all four and lowered herself. Toothless nudged the boy, as if trying to get him onto her back. "Hrrmph. Hrr..."
"You want me to get on your back?" Hiccup asked.
Toothless nodded. The boy was confused. He wondered why she wanted him to get on her back. It was strange. Hiccup then remembered the times when he was in danger. The dragon was there to save him. It was most likely that there was a danger somewhere close by.
"O- Okay." Hiccup spoke as he climbed onto her back. The boy struggled a bit, and Toothless lowered herself even further. Once he was sitting on her neck, Toothless stood on all four. "Now what?'
"HICCUP!"
Toothless snarled at the direction of the forest path. "KRAAA!!" She spread her wings, ready to take off.
Hiccup was shocked to see them there. "Toothless, wait!" That stopped Toothless from flying away; she was ready to take off in a second. The boy realised that Stoick and Gobber were running towards them. They had their weapons ready.
Gobber was about to throw a bola until Stoick stopped him. "STOP!" He shouted. "Hiccup is on her back!"
Toothless bared her teeth. Her eyes were slitted. "Kraaaooo..." She hissed as she stalked to the side, moving to a more open area. The dragon was angry to see them.
"Calm down, Toothless." Hiccup whispered as he pressed his chest down onto her neck. "It's just my dad and Gobber."
"Stoick, that's a Night Fury!" Gobber exclaimed, staring at the dragon with fear and awe.
"I know." Stoick replied, not taking his eyes off from her. "Stay still. Don't move. She'd take off if we come any closer."
It came to a standstill. Gobber and Stoick had their axes ready. Toothless was angry; ready to fly away with Hiccup on her back.
The boy was confused. The black dragon listened to him, but she looked like she wanted to take him away from them. Deciding that might be the case, he held the dragon tightly. He trusted Toothless.
"Hiccup." Stoick carefully spoke. "Get down from her."
Few seconds passed. There was no response. The father continued speaking. "If you don't get off her, she will take you away."
"Krr..." Toothless growled at them.
It was then Hiccup understood. Toothless did not want him to be traded for the peace treaty. It was most likely that he would become their slave if he was traded away. She most likely did not want that either.
She wanted to take him away from the place, somewhere where he would not become the slave of Lava-Louts. However, at the same time, if she did take him away, he would be leaving Gobber and his father.
It was tempting to get down from her. However, he did not want to become a slave. Hiccup felt conflicted. He decided to stay put on her back.
"... Hiccup." Stoick carefully spoke once more. "How much have you heard about the meeting?"
"You signed ceasefire until next year instead of peace treaty." Hiccup answered.
That meant he heard everything. Stoick grimaced. "What do you think?"
"The war had been going on for one hundred years." The boy answered. His voice wavered. "You're going to trade me away. I don't want to."
"Oh... Hiccup." Stoick softly spoke. He lowered his axe. "Did you know why Hooligans and Lava-Louts were at war?"
"... they wanted to pillage our village?"
"Yes. And they wanted to enslave us." Stoick explained to him. "Our tribe is known for our fighters and dragon hunting skills. They wanted to enslave us because they knew how valuable we are to them. They wanted us because of what we can do."
"I declared that I will not trade any Vikings for the peace treaty." Stoick declared. "Including you."
"But the war was going on for one hundred years." Hiccup pointed out. "No one is getting anything out of it. Everyone wants peace."
"You can't say everyone wants peace when we know what we'll lose." Stoick firmly spoke. He was angry that Hiccup said such thing. "We can't stop fighting because we are defending ourselves."
Hiccup stayed silent. The chief exhaled his breath. "... you are too young to understand, Hiccup." He continued speaking. "This is the cost of freedom. We fought so we can freely be ourselves."
"But... that means we're going to war again."
"We're Vikings. It's an occupational hazard." The chief replied. "If it's war they want, then it would be war. This is not the first time we were at war, nor it will be the last. The ceasefire will last until next year. We have time to prepare."
Hiccup stayed silent. Stoick wondered what his son was thinking about. After some time, the boy spoke. "Do you Viking Promise to never trade me away?"
Viking Promise was a simple honour promise. "Aye. I Viking Promise to never trade you away."
"... can I leave anytime I want?"
Stoick hitched his breath. "Leave?"
"If you break the promise."
The chief slumped his shoulder. The thought of his son leaving him on a dragon greatly saddened him. "Yes." He decided. "You can."
Hiccup slowly moved to get down from Toothless. However, she hopped to the side, preventing him from getting down. The Night Fury was glaring at Gobber, who had a bola still on his hand. The dragon was growling at him.
Stoick noticed the problem. "Gobber." He hissed. "Drop the bola."
Gobber did as he was told. Once the man dropped the bola, Toothless became relaxed. She lowered herself and allowed Hiccup to jumped off her. The boy slid down from the dragon and stood on the ground.
Once that was done, the dragon took a step back and flew away without a word, leaving Hiccup standing there.
Stoick quickly rushed to the boy. He quickly pulled him into a hug. "Hiccup." He whispered. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
Hiccup slowly returned the hug. The boy and the father held their embrace, as the blacksmith watched them with awe and wonder.