How to Train Your Dragon 1. Chapter 1

"Gobber, we need you out here. Now!"

Gobber turned from the small form in the corner of the room to see Stoic standing in the forge window, hammer in hand and his eyes grave, flickering with the light from the raised fires set. His friend looked worn, it was early morning and the village was experiencing the worst bout of raids that it had in years. Almost every night for the last month the village had been bombarded by dragons in numbers nobody knew existed. Stocks of food and supplies were dangerously low; they would be lucky to all make it through this winter.

"Leave her. We all have to make sacrifices for the village! She'll be fine"

It had been almost a year since Stoic had become chief but Gobber still wasn't accustomed to orders coming from his friend and he could see how chiefdom had aged the young man. When the great Chief Oswald had died, nobody thought that his young, burly son was ready for such a responsibility, what with his own child being so small and the recent loss of his wife, but he had proved them wrong when he single-handedly led the village though one of its most prolific summers in the three hundred years of vikings on berk. Stoic was celebrated by his village and held in the greatest respect. But everything had started to change when the dragons started to raid more and more, in numbers no chief could have been prepared for. Almost every night now was set ablaze by the onslaught of hundreds of dragons raining down on the island destroying homes and stealing all that they could. Many warriors had died trying to protect the village but it wasn't enough to prevent the beasts from taking their fill. Lack of food and livestock on Berk caused concern at the best of times, but the village was days away from the first snow of the winter when food gathering would be near impossible.

Gobber looked away from his tired chief to the small girl sat clutching a tie around her neck. Her head was down, her eyes clenched shut and Gobber could feel her squeezing his hand with her own. Did Stoic realise what he was asking him to do? Looking back at his friend he knew that he did. It was the same thing he had done every raid since Valka's passing. Gobber pictured his boy now, sat underneath the table of the chief's house holding on to the leg, listening to the screams and deafening roars that accompanied an attack. No six year old should have to face that alone, without a parent nearby to tell them it all would be ok. But Gobber knew that this time, his friend needed him to stand by his side to help him protect their home. Gobber nodded at Stoic in compliance and looked back to his daughter.

"I'll see you out there" Stoic muttered with a slight nod back

Gobber cupped the girls chin and gently lifted her face up until she was looking at him straight in the eye. They were blue, like his own, and sparkled with the threat of tears.

"Malie, look, I've got to go out and help protect the village for a while. What I need-"

As Gobber tried to rise from his kneeled position, he was stopped by small hands clasping onto his good leg, pulling him back.

"No, please don't leave me, I'll come with you, I can help!"

She ran over to the table and started to reach up on the tips of her toes to reach the small dagger resting on the edge.

"No, I need you to stay in here ok, and look after the forge, can you do that for me?" Gobber argued as he lifted her up and placed her on a bench at the back of the small room pulling her small winter cape around her.

Malie nodded.

"Stay right here and stay quiet," Gobber placed a finger over his lips causing the girl to mirror his actions.

I'll be back as soon as I can" Gobber explained as he kissed her on the forehead and enveloped her in a hug.

He stood up and grabbed an axe from one of the higher shelves in the forge. He looked back at the little girl and saw her big eyes watching him.

"I'll be back," he repeated before walking out into the battle.


	2. Chapter 2

Second chapter ready! I was genuinely surprised by the good reviews and number of follows that the first chapter managed to get as this is my first fanfic. Still! Any critique is welcome, I WANT TO GET BETTER! I have a whole story planned out for this fic. It's a sort of drama/romance/comedy kind of thing and I really hope that I manage it! Anyway, enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think.

Running out into the village centre Gobber wasn't surprised to see half of the village's buildings on fire, plumes of smoke rising up and blocking out the stars. Looking upward, he saw a couple of monstrous nightmares flying overhead carrying nets filled with sheep. There goes the last of the herd, he thought as he continued down through the village.

Charging through the vikings and dragons, Gobber headed down in the direction of the docks to reach the yak fields, taking down a couple of gronkles on his way. Here, Stoick and few other men were battling several nadders in an attempt to protect what remained of the herd. With his hammer, Stoick dealt a mighty blow to one of the nadders heads causing it to shriek in pain and erect its spines. The nadder retaliated by sweeping its thick, spikey tail around causing the chief to dive to the ground to prevent himself from being impaled. The nadder shrieked as it stood over him, wings spread, threatening to deal the last blow. Running toward his friend, Gobber saw the green gas accumulating at the back of the beasts' throat and drew his axe in time to hook the dragon's mouth and change the course of its blast. He felt the heat of the fire as the dragon scorched the ground just shy of Stoick's face. He continued by drawing back his axe and striking the dragons mouth, causing its teeth to break under the force. Whimpering, the nadder retreated and took off into the night.

"Oh, so you decided to start the party without me?" Gobber jested as he held out an arm to heave his chief to his feet.

"Believe me Gobber, this is no party, I've never seen anything like this," He replied bleakly looking up the hill to the burning village.

"What do you mean?" Gobber asked looking at his friend.

"There are dragons here that we've never seen before. We don't know how to bring them down,"

Joining Stoick in looking up at the warring village, Gobber saw what his friend was talking about. Here he could see several dragons that were unlike anything he had ever encountered. Every dragon they knew of was described in the book of dragons, but these, these were creatures that resembled no diagram, no description anywhere within its pages.

"What are they?" Gobber asked, confused. Why had these dragons never shown themselves before?

"I don't know, but we need to get them away from the village,"

Gobber nodded and after Stoick had instructed some of the men to get the yak into the stables, the two began to head back up to the centre of the village.

All that Gobber could think of was the little girl waiting for him back at the forge. He could picture her now, trembling in fear, clinging to her necklace. Often, whilst she watched him working in the forge she would declare that she was going to be the best dragon killer Berk had ever seen. Gobber didn't doubt it for a second. She was brave and strong and he knew that she would give even the Hofferson's girl a run for her money when it came to ferocity. For the moment though, she was still just a child and like any other, she was scared of the turmoil and the disaster that dragon attacks bought with them.

"I'm going to head to the catapults, stay here and make sure the dragons stay away from the food stores," Stoick ordered as the two reached the edge of town. Gobber nodded and ran back into the town to find total chaos. There were dragons here that he had never seen before. A short-necked version of a zippleback with 4 heads instead of two was taking on four vikings and winning, picking them up in their mouths and throwing them several feet in the air before they slammed back into the ground. Several smaller dragons about the size of terrors were zipping about the square at speeds he didn't know dragons could reach and a long necked, long legged dragon, pinkish in colouring with a severe grey stripe down its side and piercing white eyes was being forced into a corner by a group of viking men and women. Gobber watched as these vikings began moving toward the dragon to attack but before they were close enough, the dragon suddenly erupted into flame, the same way a monstrous nightmare would. Odin almighty, not another one of these, Gobber thought. He charged toward the dragon, axe raised, to help.

The fiery dragon began to attack the surrounding vikings with incredible speed and agility for a dragon so large. Using its wings as weapons it slammed several vikings into the surround buildings. The rest of them it attacked using fire. From its mouth it produced flames that remained suspended in the air stopping any viking from getting too close. This was unlike anything Gobber had ever seen. As he reached the dragon he ducked and slid beneath the suspended fire and rose using his momentum to smash his axe into the side of the dragon shoving it to one side.

"That did it" Gobber announced, as he realised that he had sent the dragon into a rage. The flames encasing its body grew hotter as the dragon reared onto its hind legs and spread its wings. He took several steps back as the dragon came back to stand on its four legs. Several other vikings came to help but the dragon ignored them as it growled, staring Gobber straight in the eye. It then proceeded to send out a colossal blast of fire from its mouth. Gobber dove to the side to prevent being burnt alive but the fire continued and set alight one of the surrounding buildings. Gobber knew that dragons as a species were cruel but within this dragon he saw something else, it was as if it had come straight from hel.

"Alright. BITE ME!" He taunted as the dragon reared again for another attack. Once again Gobber managed to evade it by diving away from the pillar of fire coming towards him. Their battle quickly became more elaborate, ignoring any other viking in its path, this new dragon followed Gobber as he lead the beast to the centre of town. It scaled buildings and scrambled over carts and wells in its hunt for Gobber.

The sun was starting to rise as the battling pair reached the top most part of the village where his forge was. Most dragons were beginning to leave with their haul and the pinkening sky was littered with the silhouettes of dragons. Their battle however, was not over. With his axe, Gobber continued to slash the dragon whenever he got close enough. The beast retaliated with blasts of fire, all of which were dodged by the one-legged viking. Many of the buildings around him were now engulfed in flames.

Gobber was suddenly distracted by a high pitched scream coming from the entrance to the forge. It was Malie. The building behind her was ablaze and she had run out into the square to escape the fire. Gobber could see that her face and clothes were covered in soot.

"Malie, run, get awa-" Gobber began to yell however this moment of distraction was all that the dragon needed as it sent yet another blast of fire in Gobber's direction. This time, he wasn't so lucky and didn't manage to dodge it in time. Instead the force of the blast sent him barrelling to the building behind him, his large form smashing through the wooden slats of the building. As his mind came back into focus, he tried to get up, but realised that his wooden leg had been burnt away and was now non-existent. He crawled out of the gap in the building to see the dragon approaching his daughter.

"No!" He screamed as he looked from Malie to the dragon. Screeching overhead from one of the dragons leaving the island caused the beast to look up into the sky at the rest of the raiding group. Malie was frozen in fear, looking up at the dragon towering above her and Gobber could see her knuckles were white from clinging to her necklace. He got up and began to hobble towards the dragon but was too late. After giving him one last cold stare, the dragon spread its wings and began to ascend into the morning sky and as it did, grabbed the small girl in his talons and lifted her with it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Next chapter is here! Took longer than I thought, sorry about that but it's nice and long. Thanks for all the reviews and follows, it amazes me that so many people are taking an interest in my little hobby. Like always, let me know what you think of this in the reviews! **

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-15 years later-

"Nice one bud," Hiccup called out as he sat up straight in his saddle, "I'd say that's a new record!" the pair were experimenting with the speed at which they could fly in and out between the sea stacks at the edge of the island. Toothless replied enthusiastically with a plasma blast into the sky that exploded and cascaded down into the water below. His rider smiled; the relationship between young man and dragon was stronger than ever five years since their first encounter and these days the two flew around the island as a blur of black and red almost constantly. Hiccup lay back and looked up at the sky, the sun was just rising but the stars were still shining weakly. It was unusually clear for this time of year what with winter only a couple of months away and Hiccup and Toothless were making the most of it, flying whenever they could.

Sighing, Hiccup's thoughts returned to his responsibilities in the village. Later this morning he had his first 'chiefing lessons' which he was not looking forward to. They were to consist primarily of following his father on his rounds through the village and although Stoick seemed excited at the idea of passing on the duty of leading the village to his son, Hiccup was not so sure, as chiefing meant less time for the academy and exploring new lands with Toothless. Hiccup signed again as the pair continued to glide close to the choppy water and crossed his arm over his eyes. Lately he had been bombarded with constant reminders of the responsibility he had to the village as the chiefs son, not only from Stoick but from the entire village. It still nagged in the young man's mind though that he wasn't right for the job, let alone ready for it. After all he was Hiccup, the boy who had spent so many years tripping and bumbling through viking life, never doing anything right, always in the wrong place at the wrong time. Defeating the red death and beginning the truce with the dragons had lulled the whole of Berk into thinking that he had the makings of a chief in him and sure he had the dragon academy but he still had trouble leading a handful of teens. The twins were always getting into trouble and Snotlout was still, well, Snotlout.

"Hmm, suppose there's going to be less of this when I become chief," Hiccup thought aloud as he sat up in his saddle again. Toothless responded with a sombre growl. "Don't worry bud," he said scratching the top of the dragon's head, "we've got a long time till that day comes," Hiccup looked up again at the horizon and the vast expanse of water in front of them and thought about how much there was to do out there, so much he had never seen or experienced "Come on, we'd better head back to Berk, I guess my dad will be awake by now," and with an adjustment of his prosthetic in Toothless' harness the two turned around and flew back towards the island.

Back on Berk, the pair landed just outside the Chief's house. The building was covered in a thin frost causing it to shimmer in the morning sun. Hiccup dismounted Toothless and gave him a quick scratch behind his ear then went to the food store behind the house to fetch a couple of cod for breakfast. As Toothless tucked in Hiccup looked down the hill at the rest of Berk and saw the village beginning to wake up. Several women were already dragging baskets of washing toward the stream and the men could be seen heading towards the docks for a day of fishing, a couple of terrors following, hoping to blag a free meal. Berk was so peaceful, maybe chiefing wouldn't be so bad.

"Hiccup!" Hiccup jumped and turned to see a flustered looking Fishlegs coming out of the mead hall trying to wave whilst carrying armfuls of paper scrolls. Following him was Meatlug who lazily hovered behind, a few more papers dangling from her mouth.

"Oh, hey there Fishlegs, what were you doing in there? And what's with all the paper?" Hiccup asked. Fishlegs trotted over to him red-faced and out of breath dropping several papers as he went.

"Oh Gods, I've been looking for it everywhere! I had it! It was in my hands, I put it back. I must have put it back, oh Odin what have I done with it?!" Fishlegs blurted barely taking a breath.

"Woa, woa, woa, calm down Fishlegs, what's going on?"

"The book of dragons, Hiccup, it's missing!"

"What do you mean missing?" Hiccup asked, confused. Who would take the book of dragons? It was only himself and Fishlegs who took the time to study it.

"Missing as in gone. Me and Meatlug had it last night and put it back at the academy but then when we got there this morning, it had disappeared," Fishleg exclaimed. Hiccup could see that his friend was getting seriously worked up about this.

"Fishlegs don't worry about it, I'm sure it'll turn up, somebody just probably wanted to read it," Fishlegs responded with an unconvinced eyebrow raise, "Ok, maybe not, but I'm sure we'll find it, errr, so what's with all the paper?"

"Well, now that Bork's book is gone, I was thinking we've got to start a new one," Fishlegs answered frantically, as he dropped several more scrolls.

"Erm, Fishlegs, as much as I appreciate your enthusiasm, I really thinking Bork's book will turn up," Hiccup answered as he bent down to pick up some of the scrolls, "I bet somebody's perusing as we speak, give it a day, it'll be back by tonight, and if not, we'll deal with it then," He gave Fishlegs his most convincing smile as he handed the papers back to him.

"Ok," Fishlegs sighed seemingly defeated. "Anyway, dragon training today?"

"Yea this afternoon, I've got a fun-filled morning of chiefing 1-0-1with my-"

"HICCUP!" The booming voice of the chief made both young men jump as Stoick slammed open the front door of the house. Standing forebodingly in the doorway looking down at them both, the colossal man looked displeased. Hiccup knew that Stoick didn't approve of the amount of time Hiccup spent with his dragon exploring and his early start was cold hard evidence for the chief that his morning had been spent elsewhere. Stoick would rather his son be more involved with the village and with the people he would one day have to lead. Hiccup mentally sighed as Stoick's eyes bore into his.

His gaze was then distracted by the scroll laden Fishlegs and Meatlug.

"Fishlegs? What are you doin?" The chief asked, confused.

"Ahhh, nothing Chief, just had a minor book of dragons situation but, er, it's all taken care of now," Fishlegs stuttered in reply before jumping on Meatlug "See ya later Hiccup," He said, almost apologetically, before flying off towards the academy.

Hiccup weakly raised his hand to wave his friend off.

"Okay, then son, time to get you chiefing" Stoick announced suddenly much cheerier. He truly was excited to begin teaching Hiccup about what it meant to lead Berk. He took so much pride in his village and his people, and he knew his son would make an excellent chief.

"Yea, Dad, can't wait," Hiccup replied nervously, trying to sound enthusiastic as his father came and stood beside him looking out at the took in a deep breath. "This is it, son," he continued, "Your first day as a chief,"

"Uh huh" Hiccup replied. Silence fell between the pair as the both.

The pair continued to look out at the village. Hiccup watched as vikings and dragons worked together seamlessly throughout the village. A viking without a dragon by his side was now considered abnormal. Even his father had a dragon to call his own now. Hiccup couldn't think of a more perfect match, rumblehorns were extremely territorial and not a dragon you'd want to be on the wrong side of if you cared for your life and Skullcrusher was no exception. Hiccup was suddenly distracted by toothless sliding his head beneath Hiccups hand.

"Ohhh no, no dragons today, I want this to be a classic experience," Stoick ordered. Hiccup sighed.

"Sorry bud," He spoke to Toothless scratching his nose lightly, "no dragons," he repeated. He then moved to the side of toothless and pulled a leaver in his saddle setting Toothless's tail to "solo flight" mode. This way he wouldn't need Hiccup to fly "I'll see you later" Toothless replied with a wet lick to Hiccup's face making him chuckle before Toothless set off into the sky flying up into the clouds.

"Ok Hiccup, let's go" Stoick announced.

After walking around the village with his father for several hours, Hiccup concluded that training to be a chief was just as dull as he predicted. Watching as Stoick sorted out petty arguments between vikings about fish payments and discussing battle strategies with Spitelout in the mead hall was enough to make the young man go insane.

"He could be here any day now! We need our men and dragons preparing for battle, patrolling at all hours!" Spitelout had barked as the men stood around the fire pit.

"No, Spitelout. He'll leave it till the last possible moment. When winter hits in a few weeks and only then will he attack. Need I remind you, he knows how this village works," Stoick had replied calmly whilst looking down at the maps on the table in front of him. In the flickering light of the fire Hiccup noticed, not for the first time, how his father had aged, lines had formed around his eyes that had not been there months ago. The village was expecting an attack from Alvin the Treacherous; nothing vikings on the backs of dragons couldn't handle but it wasn't the time for poor decision making. "For now, we need as many people as possible working on stores for winter," Spitelout had responded with a glare to the chief, but said nothing more on the subject. Hiccup had to admit he was impressed with how his father dealt with this particular member of the Jorgenson family. It would be nice to be able to shut Snotlout up every now and again like that. But the mundanity and responsibility being chief entailed was still enough to discourage Hiccup regardless of the perks.

As midday approached, the two were walking towards Gobber's shop to make their last stop and check on weapon supplies. With the impending attack, his mentor had been hard at work all hours to make sure the village was supplied with the best weapons. Whenever he could, Hiccup had been working with Gobber, helping him to produce gronkle iron and designing more intricate machines of war but Stoick had decided that his main priority should be ensuring that the dragons and their riders were battle-ready. Thinking back, Hiccup couldn't remember the last time he had spoken to Gobber, let alone worked with him. A couple of weeks maybe? He had seen him in the mead hall at meals a couple of times but he'd always sat alone and left before Hiccup got a chance to speak to him. Probably exhausted from the long days in the forge, thought Hiccup, he knew from his own experience that blacksmithing was both physically and mentally draining.

"So, son, what did you think so far?" Stoick asked, bringing Hiccup from his thoughts, as they walked towards the shop. Smoke could be seen pouring out the chimney and the distinctive sound of metal hitting metal heard. Hiccup could also just make out the sound of Grump, Gobber's dragon, snoring away.

"Er, yea, great. Informative," Hiccup replied looking down at his foot awkwardly, "but, erm, is this, going to take much longer just 'cause I've got to head down to the academy and sort out that book crisis,"

"Just need to talk to Gobber and Hiccup-" Stoick slowed and stopped a few feet from the shop as Hiccup continued.

"Yea, Dad?" Hiccup replied and turned to face his father, confused at his sudden change in tone. He stepped back over toward the chief who leaned over to his son and placed a hand on Hiccups shoulder and spoke quietly.

"You know that Gobber's not been himself lately," Stoick asked looking to Hiccup who nodded. "Erm, well, you see, he's sort of having an anniversary; a bad one" Stoick stuttered. A "bad anniversary", Hiccup thought, what was that supposed to mean, had somebody died? Hiccup looked at his father with a confused expression. Stoick sighed and ushered his son further away from the door of the forge.

"Look, he doesn't like talking about it and even less anybody else talking about it..." Stoick trailed off and looked away clearly debating on whether or not to tell Hiccup anything.

"What is it Dad? What's wrong with him?" Hiccup was beginning to worry, what was wrong with his mentor? Sure, nobody's really seen him in a couple of weeks but that's just because he's been working so hard, right?

"Well nothing's wrong with him, he's just...not particularly happy this time of year," Stoick answered. Hiccup could see that Stoick was becoming agitated talking about this. He'd never been the sensitive type, but clearly he was worried about his friend. Hiccup let his father continue.

"Ok, son, do you remember a girl named Malie? You and her were friends when you were young," Stoick asked as he sat down on a wooden bench a little way from the forge.

Hiccup shook his head and sat next to his father. He had no memories of anybody called Malie. Stoick sighed.

"Oooh, of course you do, little tiny thing, you used to play together," Stoick continued slightly more animated gesturing a height just above his knee. Hiccup looked at him confused. Where was this going?

"She used to terrify you," Stoick told him, now less enthusiastic and clearly displeased with his past son's lack of masculinity. Hiccup thought back, now that he mentioned it he did have distant memories of being chased by a little girl. He couldn't make out a face but had flickering images of her. He's always assumed it had just been Astrid or something.

"Yea, I kind of remember, why?" Hiccup asked, what did this little girl have to do with Gobber?

"Well, that little girl, was Gobber's daughter," Stock said calmly as he looked over his shoulder back towards the forge. Hiccup was surprised to say the least. Firstly, this must mean that Gobber had had a wife! He'd always assumed that Gobber had just never found the right woman. It wasn't uncommon on Berk for men not to be married, they outnumbered the women significantly and often young men would sail to neighbouring islands to find love and remain there. Secondly, Gobber had had a child with this woman, a daughter who had been his friend when they were young. Hiccup assumed that since she wasn't around now that she had fallen victim to a Berk winter or something before she'd had the chance to grow up.

"So what happened to her?" Hiccup asked, "Did she die?"

Stoick winced slightly at the mention of death. Only slightly and subtlety enough that most people wouldn't notice but Hiccup did. Death wasn't a topic the pair discussed often, mainly because of the possibility of it leading to discussions about Valka which were practically forbidden in the Haddock household. Stoick sighed.

"Well no, not technically," He replied.

"Not technically?" Hiccup prompted.

"She was taken in a raid by a dragon," Stoick began "It was this strange looking beast that nobody had ever seen on Berk and that hasn't been seen since. I saw it all, it lifted Malie right off her feet and flew away with her; the look on Gobber's face, it's something I'll never forget. For weeks he sailed out on his own, again and again, trying to find the island and get his daughter back, but eventually he gave up. It took a long time but Gobber started to get over it, but it still brings him down sometimes," Stoick paused "Gods, that was fifteen years ago now," he said.

Why had he never been told about this, Hiccup thought, he had never heard stores of dragons taking people before! Surely this would have been huge news to the village.

"Why does nobody know about this?" Hiccup asked.

"Gobber doesn't like to talk about it, he doesn't like people to know, I think he believes he failed as a father in some ways. Malie's mother died giving birth to her; Gobber was all she had and he'd left her that night, in the forge all alone. I'm ashamed to say I forced him into it," Stoick squeezed the bridge of his nose between his fingertips and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Woa, so did Gobber ever find any trace of her?" Hiccup asked, although he thought he already knew the answer.

"No, none," Stoick replied. Hiccup didn't reply. Something about his didn't add up. Dragons had never taken people before, never mind child. They'd always taken the largest things they could get their claws on, and now they knew why, to feed the red death. Why had the dragon taken Malie when he could have easily taken off with a full size viking to feed its queen. Maybe it had wanted her for something else.

"When was the last time he went looking?" Hiccup inquired, trying to piece this together.

"Err, about 8 years ago, give or take," Stoick replied, looking at his son, trying to figure out what he was thinking. It had been before Berk had discovered Dragon Island, Hiccup thought. It was a long shot, the longest, but maybe there was a chance the girl was still there. They knew now that dragons weren't aggressive towards humans if they didn't pose a threat to them. Maybe the dragon that had taken her just left her there. She wouldn't have been a big enough tribute for the queen and no other dragon would want anything with her.

"Dad," Hiccup asked, "do you think there's a chance that Malie is still there, on Dragon Island? I mean, who knows, she might have been able to escape, she might have been able to –" He was cut off by his father.

"Wooaa, Hiccup, do you really think a toddler could have survived for fifteen years on her own, on an island full of dragons?"

"Well, maybe, who knows, I mean we need to find out what happened to her right. Maybe if we go we'd find out what happened to her at least. It might finally give Gobber some closure even if we don't find anything,"

"No, no, no, no," Stoick answered standing up and facing his son. Standing in the way of the son, he cast a large shadow over his son. "I don't want you getting this in your head, Gobber will be fine, he just needs time," Hiccup looked up at his father and saw that he meant business. But if Gobber was unhappy and there was something he could do about it, what was stopping him?

"But Da-"

"No more, I don't want to hear anymore about this," Stoick ordered as he started to walk back toward the forge. Hiccup stood and followed behind his father "Gobber wouldn't have wanted me to tell you any of this but it's important that a chief knows about his villagers. The more information he has, the more wisely he can act," Of course, Hiccup thought, it's all about being chief. He rolled his eyes but said nothing as he and Stoick approached the open door of the forge.

Inside they were greeted by Grump who came over and lazily licked Hiccup's face who before he curled up in the corner and started to snore.

"Where do you think he is?" Hiccup asked his father as they entered the blacksmith through the large door. The building consisted of four rooms on this floor. The first was the main area where Hiccup and Gobber did all of their work. It had a large door in the front of the shop where customers would approach and a window in one side where Gobber would have once dealt weapons from during a raid. In here, weapons and tools littered the walls and in the centre was a large stone table with bellows attached to one side. In the middle of the table were brightly lit coals with a piece of red hot iron laying across them. Clearly they had only just missed him. The other rooms on this level were the weapons store, Hiccups work room (which was really just a storage cupboard he had received when he first became Gobber's apprentice) and another small room with a trap door and stairs in the ceiling which lead to the first floor where Gobber lived.

"GOBBER?" Stoick suddenly boomed, causing Hiccup to jump. There was no reply for a couple of seconds but the two heard a creak coming from the floor above. Looking at his father, Hiccup pointed to the ceiling and Stoick nodded. Stoick continued past the slumbering Grump, careful not to trip over his bulbous tail and made his way over to the trap door room. Hiccup remained in the forge and began looking at what Gobber had been making. He noticed some new maces hanging from a wall that Gobber had mentioned he'd been working on a few weeks back and walked over to them then began lifting them in turn to test their weight. Not his best work, Hiccup thought, the balance was off and the weight of it would have made it impossible to use in battle. Hiccup placed the mace he was holding back on the wall and looked through a doorway at his father to find him looking up into the trapdoor.

"Gobber, I'm here to talk weapons?" Stoick loudly spoke from the base of the stairs as he looked up into the room above.

"Stoick?" Hiccup heard Gobber reply, "oh, of course the weapons...I thought you were here to talk about, er ,well, something else," Hiccup watched as Gobber made his way down the wooden ladder. He was impressed and almost jealous of the agility the older man had even with his peg leg, Hiccup supposed that after that many years without a leg, he was bound to have adjusted to it. Hiccup looked down at his own prosthetic and twisted his leg to examine it better.

"Did you manage to get that squeak to stop?" Gobber asked Hiccup as he looked up to see Gobber and his father re-entering the forge. Hiccup noticed a difference in Gobber immediately. He was less animated than usual and his tone more sombre. He looked tired and as if he'd even lost some weight. Clearly he hadn't been getting on too well. Hiccup smiled at his mentor.

"Yea, tried that fish oil like you said, worked a charm," he replied calmly, the tone of empathy, obvious. Gobber replied with a weak smile.

"So, how are those weapons coming along Gobber," Stoick asked enthusiastically placing a hand on Gobber's shoulder as he came and stood beside him facing Hiccup before leading him around toward the store room. As he turned away Stoick glared at Hiccup, silently telling him to 'act normal'. But this wasn't the normal cheery Gobber that Hiccup was used to. Inwardly Hiccup scolded himself for not noticing this sooner.

"I bet we've about got enough now. Alvin won't stand a chance when he attacks," Stoick continued and then let out his characteristic booming laugh. This wasn't right, Hiccup thought to himself, acting as if nothing was wrong. Gobber and Stoick walked away from Hiccup toward the store room chatting weapons before Hiccup called out.

"Gobber!" The two older men turned at the same time to look at Hiccup. The look his father gave him...Odin he was going to pay for this later but he needed to talk to Gobber about this. Hiccup began walking over to his mentor and as he did, spoke.

"Gobber," he repeated, "Dad told me about Malie,"

"Hiccup!" his father hissed in response. Gobber looked like he'd been slapped in the face.  
"What?" he said weakly, clearly mentally winded by the mention of his daughter.

"He told me how she was taken by a dragon but Gobber I think we might be able to find out what happened to her, I mean, now we know that dragons don't attack humans who knows she might still be out there somewhere," He tactically left out the part where she might not have been eaten by a giant dragon for fear it might present the wrong tone.

"What?" Gobber repeated with slightly more volume turning to look at Stoick who was standing in the doorway to the weapons room with a guilty look on his face.

" Well, I just thought, maybe we could take Toothless and Grump and go and see if we could find out what happened to her, I mean, you don't know..." as Hiccup spoke Gobber turned to face him and clearly the man wasn't happy. His face had turned red and his forehead became creased as he scowled in Hiccups direction.

"No, this is exactly what I didn't want, Stoick, just leave me alone, I'm fine," Gobber spoke loudly in a tone that reminded Hiccup of being young, when he had been frequently lectured by the him about his inadequacy when it came to 'traditional blacksmithing methods'. Gobber turned around to grab Stoick by the arm and pull him towards the door grabbing Hiccup as well as he stormed pass.

"You'll have your weapons Stoick," Gobber almost yelled as he began to close the large front doors of the forge, "don't worry about that, just leave me alone," one the final syllable he slammed the door in the two men's faces.

"Urgghh, Hiccup," Stoick moaned as he turned and began walking in the direction of the mean hall away from his son "why? Why is it you always do exactly the opposite of what I say," Stoick stormed ahead of Hiccup who tried to follow before tripping over his prosthetic causing him to nearly fall.

"Baah, dam leg," he cursed before running to catch up with his father "Look, Dad, I couldn't say nothing, didn't you see him? He looked awful,"

"I know how he looked Hiccup," Stoick yelled at Hiccup as they approached their home, "I've seen the way he looked every year for fifteen years! The best thing we can do is let him deal with it, in his own time," He opened the door and walked in, Hiccup following closely behind.

"Even though you know there's a chance she could still be on that island?" Hiccup questioned "We need to go there and find out what happened" Stoick stopped and turned to face his son. His fingertips had returned to the bridge and his eyes were shut.

"Hiccup, that girl is not on Dragon Island, there's no way she survived all those years alone, it's impossible!" He spoke matter of factly.

"No. It's not, the dragons wouldn't have hurt her, they might have even helped her!" Hiccup argued.

"HICCUP!" Stoick shouted again, opening his eyes wide and slamming his giant hand down on the table next to them causing it to creak "have you learned nothing? A chief needs to make decisions based on the best interest of the village and the people in it. Going to Dragon Island and finding nothing, or worse finding the girl dead will only destroy Gobber even more! I don't want to hear any more about this, this is the end of it," He finished turning away and moving towards his bear skin covered chair where he sat and sighed loudly.

"But Gobber –" Hiccup began to press his point.

"THE END OF IT!" Stoick repeated loudly. Hiccup turned and quickly walked back out through the open door of the house before slamming it behind him. A heavy feeling of nostalgia washed over him, he hadn't fought with his father like that in a very long time. But how could he be so foolish! Clearly his method of letting Gobber 'deal with it' wasn't working. The man looked ill! Surely there had to be something he could do, even if it meant taking Toothless to Dragon Island and looking for the girl himself. His Dad had said himself, "being chief means making decisions based on the best interest of the village" and surely giving Gobber the closure that he needed was the best way to do this.

Hiccup decided then and there that he was going to make a decision on the behalf of the village. It was to be his first decided as chief-in-training. He was going to find that girl by any means necessary.

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**DUN DUN DUN! Hiccup is a badass. Hope you liked it! Next chapter we'll get to meet some of the teens and find out what Hiccup's plan is to find Malie...if she's out there at all?!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Next chapter is here! Thanks for all your interest and kind words, makes this writing thing a lot more rewarding. As always, remember to follow, favorite and review. **

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Storming down the stairs of the Haddock family house Hiccup's mind was already formulating a plan of action. He'd only need a day or so to search Dragon Island from top to bottom with Toothless, all he needed now was excuse to get there. His father would be watching him like a hawk after their little spat and doing everything in his power to stop Hiccup from trying to find out what had happened to Malie. Gobber was a mess, and if Hiccup could do anything to help his friend then he would. Finding evidence of what happened to his little girl would surely give him some sort of closure. His father had told him that Gobber travelled out to find Dragon Island again and again after his daughter was taken; surely this meant that some part of him, however small, wanted to know if she was still out there and find her if she was.

Hiccup started to walk down through the village to the academy where he would find Toothless. On days that the pair couldn't spend together the dragon would always be found there using his big green eyes to try and persuade another dragon rider to give him a fish or two. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself, Hiccup thought and smiled inwardly to himself, was that really an accurate description? As Hiccup slowed his pace and began to calm down, he looked around the village. It had been five years since the dragons had become a part of Berk and so much had changed. To his right were Gothi and some of the other women laughing and joking as they scrubbed their family's clothes in huge wooden basins accompanied by a couple of scauldrons who would help keep their water nice and hot. Further along, Hiccup came across a few more vikings who were setting off on a hunting trip to another island on the back of a pack of nadders. Their dragons were loaded with empty satchels ready for the spoil. The accuracy of the nadders spines had helped Berk's hunters so much to gather meat before the winter months and they could carry loads no viking could dream of.

Walking further down the village into the plaza, Hiccups step was interrupted by a group of terrible terrors running across his path towards the dragon stables that had been built about a year after the dragons had moved in. He followed the terrors between two houses and walked toward the edge of the cliff to look down at the monstrous building. It was set off a lower level of the island and jutted out from the cliff on wooden rafters. As big as at least 20 Berkian houses, it was easily the largest building Berk had ever seen and was kept safe too, by the fire prevention methods that Hiccup himself had designed. The terrors proceeded to leap off the edge and glide down to one of the entrances. Hiccup sat down at the edge of the cliff and dangled his leg and prosthetic over the edge. From here all he could really see was the stable roof but could watch the heavy traffic of dragons flying in and out as well as the vikings on lower levels of the cliff walking in and out carrying baskets of fish and straw.

Unlike Hiccup, when the dragons had moved in not everyone on Berk had wanted one sleeping at the foot of their bed so they had needed to find somewhere to sleep besides the tops of houses (there had been several pretty serious collapses). Hiccup had the idea for the stable after he'd woken up one morning to see the village in worse shape than after a raid. He remembered back to when he proposed the project to Gobber who helped him to begin planning to create such a place. For weeks they had designed and worked so hard to make it perfect and now here it was in front of him.

Hiccup sighed. There was so much he had to thank Gobber for. If it hadn't been for the years he had spent training him, this stable surely wouldn't be here. It was unlikely that the war would have ended in the first place if Hiccup hadn't been able to create Toothless's tail. But it wasn't just that. Gobber had always been the only one to believe that Hiccup wasn't as useless as he seemed. He had taken him on as an apprentice when Hiccup was about ten after catching him sneaking into the black smith to try and use the forge to 'improve' one of his toys. Clearly he saw some sort of potential in him, something his father had never seen up to that point. It took some persuading on Gobber's part but the chief had eventually given in and allowed his son to become the black smith's apprentice. And the rest is history, Hiccup thought.

"Waaaahooooooo!" Suddenly Hiccup heard the distinct voice of Snotlout as he and Hookfang passed overhead, flying towards the academy. Dam, he was going to be late for training. Standing up slowly Hiccup looked out again at the view, thinking again that he had to do something to help Gobber; maybe tonight he'd go and talk to him again, see if he could reason with him and get him to come to Dragon Island. He watched until Hookfang was a dot in the distance then turned and started heading down to the academy.

Finally reaching the academy, Hiccup entered through the stone tunnel and walked into the ring.

Hey guys, sorry I'm –" Hiccup began only to be cut short by a hammer flying in his direction. He quickly ducked down to avoid it smashing into him and stood up again to see Tuffnut and Snotlout fighting in the middle of the arena surrounded by a circle of the other riders and their dragons who seemed to be encouraging them.

"Oh Gods," He mumbled to himself putting his hand to his face and letting out an exasperated sigh. He looked up again to see Toothless bounding over to him. Hiccup smiled weakly as the dragon give him a friendly lick across the face.

"Hey bud, good to see you too. Do you have any idea what's going on here?" he asked Toothless, giving him a scratch behind the ear with one hand and gesturing to the group of riders with the other. Toothless responded with a contented growl. Hiccup looked up again at the group of vikings in the middle and started to make his way over to them, Toothless following behind.

"Does anybody want to tell me what's going on here?" he asked as he took his place next to Fishlegs in the circle of spectators. At this point Snotlout had his hand out behind him ready to accept another hammer passed to him from Ruffnut who did so with a huge smile on her face. Across from Snotlout, Tuffnut stood holding his gronkle iron mace, his face furious. That's strange, Hiccup thought, these two were supposed to be best friends.

"From what I've gathered, I think Snotlout might have asked Ruffnut out on a date?" Fishlegs replied, not taking his eyes off of the battle. Hiccup nodded, that would make sense. Tuffnut always became extremely protective of his sister when it came to potential suitors and if anybody he didn't deem acceptable tried to 'make a move' on her they would have him and 'Macy' to deal with. It had happened a couple of times when young men had come travelling to Berk from different islands to find wives for themselves. Tuff could have them running for their boats in a matter of hours if he didn't want them near his sister; years of tormenting Ruff had given him all the practice he needed to scare people away. It was sweet, in a demented kind of way, that he looked out for her this much. But now Snotlout was the potential suitor and Hiccup assumed that for Tuffnut, this kind of behaviour was the highest form of treachery. Hiccup watched as the pair ran at each other again, their weapons smashing together producing a metallic clang that echoed around the stone walls of the arena. They both held their weapons together pushing against one another with scowls on their faces.

"Er, don't you think we should stop this?" Hiccup asked, pulling his eyes away from the two young men and look around the circle. He was slightly concerned one was going to kill the other.

"Not yet," Ruffnut replied dreamily from the other side of Hiccup holding her arm out in front of him as if to stop him interrupting "I want to see how this ends,"

"Yea, I wouldn't mind watching Snotlout get his butt kicked by someone other than me for a change," Astrid added matter-of-factly. Hiccup sighed.

"Guess it's up to us bud," He said to Toothless before gesturing towards the weapons the young men were holding. Toothless let out a plasma blast which hit the mace and hammer that Tuffnut and Snotlout were holding respectively. They flew into the air and fell back to the ground a few feet away with a loud clatter. Both fighting vikings, suddenly weapon-less jumped backwards to avoid the blast before turning to face Hiccup and Toothless.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Snotlout demanded walking towards Hiccup pointing at him, "I'm fighting for the heart of my princess," he said more softly, turning to Ruffnut, grabbing her hand kissing it.

"Oh no you're not," Tuffnut said coming up behind Snotlout and tackling him to the ground where they began wrestling again.

"Agh, how romantic," Ruffnut swooned. Hiccup saw Astrid look at Ruffnut clearly in disgust.

"You do realise that's Snotlout don't you?" She asked he friend who replied silently with a nod without taking her eyes off of Snotlout who momentarily became distracted by Ruffnut's answer leaving him open to take another punch to the face from Tuffnut re-engaging their battle. Hiccup groaned in frustration. This was exactly the sort of thing that made him certain chiefing wasn't for him. How was he supposed to delegate for the entire tribe if he couldn't even control a hormone-educed spat between two best friends. He looked to Fishlegs who shrugged and then to Toothless who just looked at him confused. Hiccup knew he'd have to bring in the big guns.

"Belch, Hookfang," He called out gaining the attention of the two dragons that belonged to the fighting duo. Toothless added an authorative bark to Hiccup's command prompting the dragons to animate and grab their respective riders by their collars lifting them away from each other and off the ground rendering them powerless.

"Look," Hiccup began approaching the pair who were dangling from the teeth of their dragons, "this is important. Alvin could be here in a few weeks and we've got to be ready. He knows that we have the dragons this time and his main priority is going to be getting them down out of the sky. Our flying has got to be infallible if we want to stand a chance beating him. So please, can we use these few weeks we have left to make sure we're ready and train as hard as we can?"

"Urgh, you're such a buzz-kill, Hiccup" Snotlout groaned crossing his arms and rolling his eyes.

"He's right," Fishlegs interjected, shuffling forwards to stand next to Hiccup, "Stoick said that Alvin is going to come sometime before the sea turns to ice. That's only a couple of months away, by the way Hiccup," he continued his voice suddenly anxious, "any word on the location of the Book of Dragons?"

"No Fishle-" Hiccup began wearily

"The Book of Dragons is missing!?" Tuffnut suddenly exclaimed from up in Belch's mouth.

"Yea," Hiccup answered confused at Tuff's sudden interest in a book. He wasn't even sure if he could read, "it went missing,"

"Aww man," Ruffnut replied from behind Hiccup, clearly disheartened, he turned around to face her and saw her face fall "that book worked great as a hammer,"

Tuffnut chortled, "Haha, yea, sure did, I can hardly remember last night, I think a part of my brain died...awesome,"

"Wait so you guys have the book?" Fishlegs asked perplexed, looking from one twin to the other.

"Oh yea, we do!" Tuffnut remembered.

"Well, there you go Legs, the mystery of the missing book has been solved," Hiccup said to Fishlegs with a hint of sarcasm.

"Anyway guys," Hiccup continued, now addressing the entire group, walking around in the middle of the circle of vikings "we need to get serious, Alvin's got an entire army he's bringing to Berk, we need to be ready, my Dad's counting on us to lead the air attack,"

"We're ready Hiccup," Astrid said seriously walking up from behind him and placing a hand on his shoulder. He was lucky to have Astrid he thought, although their young romance had fizzled out, he could still count on her when it really mattered. He smiled as her as she continued forward and stood in front of him, hand on her hip.

"So what are we doing today?" She enquired

"Erm, yea so today's training," Hiccup began as he started to pace in front of the group in front of him, Tuffnut and Snotlout still hanging from the mouths of their dragons, "is all about manoeuvring and blasting. Me and Toothless here set up some targets last night around the island for you to hit whilst flying on your dragon in places where your they won't be able to stop and aim," As he spoke Hiccup moved round to the side of Toothless, jumped into his saddle and adjusted his prosthetic and put it in place ready to take off. The other dragon riders followed suit, jumping onto their respective dragons with Tuffnut and Snotlout being flung into the air and caught by Belch and Hookfang. As Ruffnut got to the same level at the two young men on her dragon's neck, she proceeded to punch her brother in the face before blowing a kiss to Snotlout. Tuffnut grumbled, repulsed, as he readjusted his hat.

"It's important that you are all able to hit a target whilst moving as staying still leaves you open to being attacked yourselves. So let's go" Hiccup announced as he and Toothless bound back out of the arena and took off into the cloudless sky followed by the four other dragons.

Finishing up their training and heading back to the arena, Hiccup concluded that despite their rough start, the exercise had gone better than expected. He smiled to himself, proud of what they had accomplished; the group had excelled working as a team, manoeuvring like pros and blasting all the targets set out no problem. They were definitely ready for Alvin and his men. Hiccup almost became excited about telling his dad the good news before he remembered that they hadn't finished their last conversation on the best of terms. It was so easy to forget what was going on in the village below when he was flying through the skies on Toothless. The way they moved effortlessly, gliding through the clouds made him feel like he was flying himself and made it difficult to remember that a world existed beneath him.

Hiccup and Toothless led the group through the opening to the arena and landed gently on the cold stone floor. The sound of talons and tails hitting the ground accompanied them as one by one each rider settled and dismounted their dragon.

"Good work today guys, Alvin doesn't stand a chance against us," Hiccup announced to the group as he and Toothless touched the ground.

"That's right he doesn't," Tuffnut affirmed before he and Ruffnut slammed helmets together in front of their zippleback. Hiccup chuckled, he'd never understand why they did that.

"Good run for you as well today bud," He continued to compliment Toothless quietly as he took his prosthetic out of his saddle, returned it to 'walking mode' and slid off to the side. As he dismounted, Toothless promptly and playfully moved around Hiccup bumping his back and knocking him forwards slightly out of balance. He proceeded to roll onto his back and looked to Hiccup expectantly.

"Ahh, ok bud, you earned it," Hiccup responded as he bent to his knees and began rubbing the dragons belly who growled playfully. As he scratched, Hiccup looked around at his friends, petting and treating their dragons. Only now did he notice the length of their shadows. He looked up and saw that the sky was turning red; night was drawing in. They'd been training for hours. He shivered as he started to feel the cold that came with Berk's autumnal evenings, although nothing like the winter months, this cold was dry and still, almost as if it anticipated the fierce storms that were to come. He considered starting to make his journey home. What was his return to the Haddock house going to be like, he thought. Not pleasant was the short answer. His hands moving over Toothless's belly slowed and he stared out into space as he thought more about the situation. He needed to help Gobber, but his dad seemed adamant that it was a bad idea to go looking for the girl. He sighed to himself, unaware that he was being watched by a certain blonde viking.

Toothless noticed his rider's distraction and brought him back with a lick to the face. Hiccup gave a feeble chuckle and gave his dragon a final rub to the belly before standing back up keeping his eyes and hands on his dragon.

"Is everything okay, Hiccup?"

Hiccup looked up at the sound of his name to see the concerned face of Astrid standing in front of him, her brow furrowed and head tilted to one side. She was accompanied by Stormfly whose face moved quickly from side to side getting a look at Hiccup with both of her eyes. Toothless proceeded to move from beneath Hiccups hands over to the other dragon and playfully nudged her beginning a play fight.

"Errr yea, Astrid, everything's fine why wouldn't it be?" Hiccup replied quickly, rubbing his hands together and walking past her towards the stables, avoiding eye contact. He knew he was a terrible liar and there hadn't been a time yet that this girl hadn't been able to get something out of him. Astrid turned and followed him as he walked away before grabbing his left shoulder and pulling him round to face her.

"You tell me," she replied sarcastically, "I know that look Hiccup, something's bother you,"

"Nope," he retorted, turning his face and looking down at the ground, "nothing's bother me, I'm just..err...just...you know, thinking about dragons and such,"

"Oh, yea?" Astrid said, with one eye brow raised as she crossed her arms and shifted her weight onto one leg.

"Yea, it's kind of what I do," Hiccup replied his voice dripping with dishonesty. By this time a couple of the other riders had noticed the two and stopped paying so much attention to their dragons and began looking over towards the pair.

"Look Astrid, can we just drop it," Hiccup asked her, almost whispering to avoid having anybody else hear them. He backed away from her slightly, raising his hands, palms facing her. He couldn't tell them about Gobber, it wouldn't be right.

"No Hiccup, I want to know what's going on," Astrid replied confidently and to Hiccups dismay, loudly as she proceeded to walk towards him slowly. Hiccup looked to Toothless, over Astrid's shoulder, hoping to make a quick get away, but he was otherwise engaged with Stormfly.

"Errrr," Hiccup mumbled. At this point the other riders had made their way over to Hiccup and Astrid, their curiosity getting the better of them.

"Yea Hiccup what's going on?" Snotlout asked brashly, looking Hiccup straight in the eye, "Something you're not telling us?"

Oh, great, Hiccup thought, rolling his eyes, now this guy knows. By this point the group had pushed him up to the side of the arena. He could feel the cool stone wall through the fabric of his shirt.

"We want to know!" Ruffnut announced as her and her brother practically bounced on the spot in anticipation. Fishlegs stood next to them, fiddling with his hands, not asking out loud but clearing waiting for some kind of statement. Hiccup rubbed his face with his hand and sighed again. He would have to tell them, they'd not let him leave without some kind of explanation. Curse Astrid for this. They were going to find out sooner or later he thought to himself. If he went off for a day to Gods knows where without any explanation and at the consequence of a very angry looking chief, they'd know something was up.

"Look," He began, nervously rubbing his hand through his hair, "I'm not supposed to tell anybody about this, Gobber doesn't want anybody talking about it,"

"Gobber! Is this about why he's been such a total downer lately?" Tuffnut asked as he absent mindedly stuck a finger in his ear and began rooting around. Hiccup looked at him wide eyed; even Tuff had noticed his mentor's attitude lately, was he really that blind that he hadn't seen it?

"Oh, eh, yea it is actually," Hiccup replied slightly stunned. The group didn't reply, prompting Hiccup to continue.

"Well, it's sort of a, sensitive, time of the year for Gobber," He continued.

"Sensitive? Ha," Snotlout jeered, "And he calls himself a viking,"

"Coming from the guy who cried the last time Hookfang got a cold," Astrid remarked causing the whole group to snigger. Snotlout looked down at the ground and mumbled something unintelligible.

"Anyway," Hiccup paused before continuing, "I don't know if you guys knew this but Gobber had a daughter,"

All eyes were on him as the five jaws around him dropped. The bucket of fish Fishlegs had been holding fell to the ground in a clatter that filled the silence.

"W-what?!" Astrid stuttered

"Yea," Hiccup replied, "I know, big deal right?"

"Huge deal," she agreed.

Suddenly the sound of Snotlout's laugh filled the air causing the group to jump.

"Gobber had a daughter!" He jeered. Hiccup looked at him confused as he continued to laugh, bending over and slapping his thighs. The sound echoed around the walls of the arena and even the dragons were stopped; suddenly distracted from their own interactions and looked over at the young man before starting to make their way over to the group.

"Why, why, why is that funny Snotlout?" Hiccup asked frowning as Toothless came and stood next to him.

"Well can't you imagine it," Snotlout replied between bouts of laughter, he leant over Hookfang's snout and banged his fist against his nose "That face on a girls' body, haha, she would have been a sight for sure," He let out another chortle and stood up straight again, wiping a tear from his eye "Maybe it's for the best she's not around anymore, am I right?" As he spoke he elbowed Fishlegs, trying to establish some kind of camaraderie but he just stepped away awkwardly.

As Snotlout continued to laugh, Hiccup heard Astrid sigh. He looked from Snotlout over to her and caught her as she pointed to Snotlout and yelled:

"Stormfly, spines!"

The deadly nadder then proceeded to send a tail-ful of spines at Snotlout which forced him across the floor and pinned him to the stone wall instantly silencing him.

"Good girl," Astrid praised her dragon as she rubbed her on the nose before looking up at Hiccup and continuing, "anyway Hiccup, what were you saying,"

"So yea," Hiccup said, his attention returning to his story, "The reason that Gobber has been so down lately is because about his time fifteen years ago, his daughter was taken by dragons,"

"Dragons took her?" Fishlegs queried looking confused, "But that doesn't make sense. Dragons have never taken anything but sheep or yak, why would they take a person?"

"That's exactly what I'd been thinking Fishlegs," Hiccup replied, "I can't see why a dragon would take a human, let alone a child, it just doesn't add up. And on this note," he took a deep breath, let's see what his friends thought of his plan "I was thinking of taking Toothless and going to Dragon Island, see if there's any sign of what happened to her,"

"You don't think she's still alive out there somewhere do you?" Astrid asked sceptically.

"Well who knows right? Dragons have never taken people before, and we know now that they'd never harm someone unarmed, someone who wasn't a threat. Who knows what happened to Malie, maybe she's still out there," he gestured out of the gates and to the ocean beyond it.

"Hey guys!" They heard Snotlout shout from his position on the wall, "Can someone get me down?"

"I don't know Hiccup, the chances of somebody that young surviving for that long are pretty small," Fishlegs argued, all of them choosing to ignore Snotlout's request, "I don't think there would be anyone to find out there,"

"But we have to try right," Hiccup insisted, "You've all seen how Gobber's been. If there's any way we could help him..." he trailed off as he looked around from viking to viking all of them looking discouraging.

"Hiccup, I don't know if you'd do Gobber any favours leaving to go and find his long lost daughter, it might just get his hopes up and devastate him even more when you don't find anything," Astrid pointed out. Hiccup sighed. Maybe they were right, but it didn't feel ok with him to just sit and do nothing while his friend was unhappy.

"Yea and can you imagine a more miserable Gobber?" Tuffnut asked

"Erghh," Ruffnut snorted.

"Yea ok, maybe you're right," Hiccup acknowledged looking at Toothless then back to his group. The sky was now a deep blue with just a thin ring of colour between the ocean and it, night was practically here and he needed to get home.

"Just don't do anything stupid," Astrid joked, smiling weakly at him.

"Yea, ok," Hiccup replied dropping the subject, "anyway guys, good going today, same time tomorrow?"

The group arranged to meet the next day and one by one left the arena until only Hiccup and Toothless were left. Snotlout had been grabbed from the wall by Hookfang who had continued to take the boy in his mouth and flew off. The twins had returned the Book of Dragons to Fishlegs and he had put it back in place before they too left.

"You're a good person Hiccup, I know you just want to help Gobber, but sometimes things just can't be," Astrid had said from her saddle on Stormfly when the two of them were alone. Hiccup looked up to her and smiled. She really was a great friend to have.

"Yea, thanks Astrid, night" he replied before she took off and left through the tunnel.

Hiccup sighed as she left and turned to his dragon

"What do you think bud, should I just let it go?" He asked. Toothless responded with a tired purr.

"Okay bud we'll go home, I just need to-" Hiccup trailed off as he saw Toothless' ears prick up and his eyes widen.

"What is it bud?" Hiccup asked but as he did the sound of busy buzzing wings reached Hiccup's ears. Sounds like a gronkle he thought, it was probably just Fishlegs forgetting something. He turned and started to walk towards the pens to close them, locking away some of the obstacles and targets that had been used in today's training. As he finished pulling the final leaver and putting the final barricading logs in place with his back to the arena he heard the sound of a heavy dragon thumping to the ground. That didn't sound like a gronkle he thought, that sounded more like...

"Hiccup," He heard Gobber's familiar voice, "Will you help me?"

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**I loved writing the interaction between the characters in this chapter. Next chapter will be up as soon as pos! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys, I'm back, sorry for the delay! I was re-reading my story and was really unhappy with how the fifth chapter was written so I went back through and sorted it out. Here's the result:**

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"Hiccup," Gobber repeated once he'd jumped down off of Grump and walked up to Hiccup. He began shuffling on the spot and fiddling with his left arm's mallet-appendage as he looked at the young man in front of him apprehensively and asked again, "Will you help me find my daughter?"

Hiccup looked at his mentor, wide-eyed. Could this actually be happening? Surely this was far too easy. After watching Gobber's reaction to the mere mention of his daughter today he'd assumed it would be more difficult than this to get him on board. Clearly some of what he had tried to say had gotten through. I knew it, Hiccup thought to himself, there was a part of Gobber that still believed she was out there and that there was a possibility he could find her.

"Well?" Gobber prompted, eyes open wide in anticipation.

"Errr," Hiccup replied gathering his thoughts, "Great, I mean, yes sure, of course Gobber," as he spoke Hiccup became more and more enthusiastic, gesturing with his arms and smiling widely.

Gobber responded by charging at Hiccup, quickly closing the space between them and lifting him off the ground in a hug. Gobber danced around holding Hiccup to his chest as though he were a rag doll.

"Thank you, Hiccup, thank you!" he exclaimed.

"That's. Fine. Gobber." Hiccup managed to say between jumps, "But. Could. You. Put. Me down?"

Gobber placed Hiccup down in front on him and stepped back leaving his good hand on Hiccup's right shoulder.

"Thank you Hiccup," Gobber said again, smiling appreciatively. Hiccup smiled back. This was great Hiccup thought, smiling back and nodding slightly, look at how happy he is.

As Hiccup continued to look as his mentor the look on his face suddenly changed. His face became conflicted before his smile hastily morphed into a frown. Hiccup's face followed suit. Gobber took a step back, his brow furrowed, as he let go of Hiccup's shoulder and he returned to fiddling with his mallet.

"Gobber, are you okay?" Hiccup asked apprehensively though he already knew what was coming. Gobber sighed and looked at the stone ground.

"Do you really think there's a chance she could be out there?" Hiccup paused, if he was completely honest with himself, he really wasn't sure what they were going to find. Initially, it had seemed obvious to him; living with dragons on Berk for the last five years had given him all the evidence he needed to know that dragons wouldn't have hurt Malie without knowing first that she was a threat. But now his confidence was beginning to waver, dragons wouldn't have been the only threat out there for a toddler. She'd have to learn to survive pretty quick to keep herself watered and fed. She'd have had to battle the elements and fend for herself in a world entirely new to her, a world that was most likely to be covered in giant reptiles, ten times bigger than she could ever be. But there was still a flicker of hope in him. The chances were slim, that was a granted, but who's to say that she couldn't have done it? Vikings were known for their vigour and durability, and this girl had it bucketfuls if she was anything like the rest of the viking women on Berk, especially with her father being none other than Gobber the Belch. Hiccup looked back at Gobber and spoke as honestly as he could.

"I don't see why not," He began with a shrug of his shoulders, "I mean, we know _now _that dragons don't attack people that aren't a threat and no offence Gobber, but I don't think Malie would have been able to do much damage,"

Gobber winced slightly as Hiccup said his daughter's name; he assumed that after years of avoiding this topic, it must have been practically taboo in his mind.

"And you don't think she...but what about the red d-" Gobber began, but was cut off by Hiccup

"I don't think the dragon who took Malie would have taken her to the red death. My dad said she was tiny," Hiccup mirrored what his father had done earlier that day and gestured a height in front of him about his waist height. Gobber closed the gap between them and pushed it down a couple of inches. Gods, she had been small, Hiccup thought, it's a shame she went missing, there might have been somebody on this island who was tinier than me. "Exactly!" Hiccup exclaimed referring to the height Gobber had just mimed, "if a dragon turned up with something like that they would have been eaten themselves,"

Gobber remained silent, looking thoughtful. Hiccup moved to put one reassuring hand on the man's shoulder.

"Trust me, Gobber," he spoke

"Okay, Hiccup let's do it," He replied, his tone warming. His excitement was beginning to show. "You know," he continued as he turned away and started walking back towards his dragon, gesturing with his arms as he spoke, "my family have always been pros when it came to dealing with dragons, my great, great, great grandfather was Bork the Bold himself!"

"I know Gobber," Hiccup groaned as he began to follow on behind Gobber, turning to Toothless and rolling his eyes; he'd been told this story about a million times before.

"Ah well, then you know that he knew his way with the hideous beasts," He said shortly as he turned towards Toothless and looked at him through narrowed eyes. Toothless just looked back at him, wide eyed and curious.

"Ha ha, ha," Hiccup fake laughed, "okay Gobber, remember we're friends with the dragons now,"

"All I'm saying Hiccup is I'm sure that any daughter of mine would have been able to protect herself from any dragons she ran into," He continued, turning away from Hiccup again and walking towards the exit of the stadium, Grump shuffling along behind him, his belly barely off the ground his thick tail dragging along behind him "had she needed to," he added for Hiccup's benefit, turning and gesturing to him with eyebrows raised. Hiccup chuckled to himself, Gods, here we go, he thought.

"Even I, Gobber the Belch, have never fallen foul of one of these monstrous creatures," the man continued as he proceeded towards the exit of the stadium, "sure I've lost an arm and a leg, but how can you call yourself a viking if you're not missing a few limbs?"

"Here, here," Hiccup replied from behind Gobber.

Hiccup and Toothless followed Gobber a few paces behind and watched the man as he continued his speech about the supreme vikings he was descendant from. Hiccup smiled to himself as his mentor become more and more animated, it had been a while since he'd seen this side of him and Hiccup was happy he was here to help him. As they exited the stadium tunnel, leaving the arena behind him Hiccup looked out onto the ocean, the sun had truly set by now and Hiccup looked up into the sky to see a black starless night. The pair and their respective dragons walked out onto the cliff just outside of the stadium. From this spot, the ocean looked especially intimidating; black and still with nothing but the reflection of the moon, peeking out from between clouds, on its surface. The frozen air whistled past Hiccup's ears as he looked out off from their exposed perch, yep, snow was only a few weeks away. He took in a deep breath of cold air as his eyes drifted across the ocean to look at Berk, a good half mile away by foot, but just a couple of minutes journey by dragon. Since Berk had started flying, the small spindly pathways on the island, including the one to the stadium were seldom used; only the vikings determined to remain soil-bound would ever use them. Namely, Mildew.

He was the only viking on Berk still opposed to living with the dragons, as if perpetual war, loss of food and the constant rebuilding of houses was preferable. The man was constantly cursing the dragons' existence and complaining to the chief about the danger they possess. Of course Stoick didn't share Mildew's opinion but as he'd told Hiccup many times before, 'a chief must be diplomatic, he must listen to his people' so the crooked old man would turn up to every village gathering and express his views leaving the entire Hooligan tribe to sign and roll their eyes as he nattered on about dragons, and the threat they still pose.

"So, when do we leave?" Gobber asked brightly as his speech came to a climactic finish.

"Errm," Hiccup replied, he wasn't sure when they'd be able to leave, it would only take a day to begin the search on Dragon Island and that was probably to the best place to start. As he began to think, Hiccup remembered he had another 'Chief-training day' planned for tomorrow with his dad.

"How about we leave for Dragon Island tomorrow morning?" He asked.

"I was supposed to spend the day working on the weapon supply, but," he sighed as he rubbed his bristly chin with his hand, "I think the chief will understand. Okay, Hiccup, tomorrow morning, I'll meet you in the plaza at dawn," And with that he turned and began the process of getting onto his (now-snoozing) dragon, hooking his peg leg into a stirrup and swinging the rest of his body round.

"Uh, about my Dad, Gobber," Hiccup replied as he hopped up into his own saddle, "Probably not the best idea he knows about where we're going. He's not exactly on board with me leaving Berk for my own pleasure he's more 'Son, it's time you start taking some responsibility for Berk, you need to be here, as the future chief it's your responsibility yada yada yada'," He spoke with his best impression of his father's accent puffing out his chest and attempting 'vast' as best he could.

"Don't worry Hiccup, I won't say anything to him, we'll be back before he realises we're gone," Gobber replied reassuringly gently slapping Grump on the top of his head to wake him up. But Hiccup was pretty confident that Gobber would say anything to ensure they would be leaving as soon as possible. Hiccup nodded eagerly in reply and the two took off on their dragons and headed toward the village.

The journey back was silent except the slopping of the waves below them and the gentle buzzing sound of Grumps small wings. The rush of cool air blew across Hiccups face and exposed arms making him shiver.

"Really need to start working on that armour bud, before I freeze out here," he spoke out to Toothless. His plan was to create some sort of armour for himself for when he flew with Toothless. He needed something thick to keep him warm but not too heavy as to slow them down. Normal yak leather was too bulky for a whole suit, it wouldn't work, and wool...well Hiccup didn't exactly weave or knit. At the moment he had to make do with his green flannel tunic which was slightly worn and tied with a leather string at the front, it had big loose short sleeves which we wore with his fitted pants, a leather belt and one large furry boot. On top of this he wore his riding vest not dissimilar to the first one he'd made. He'd grown out of that within a year of making it and gotten through several more as he grew. Safe to say he wasn't the scrawny fifteen year old boy he'd been back then. Although still seemingly skinny compared to the monstrous men on Berk, he was now taller and leaner than anybody could have predicted. Years of blacksmithing with Gobber and riding on Toothless had toned him and given him a core strength that was uncommon in men his size.

He felt Toothless flapped his wings gently and effortlessly every now and again as they flew towards the island. It was a cold, dark night and they flew close to the ocean where it was warmest. Hiccup looked up towards his home. He really couldn't deny it, Berk was beautiful at night. Huge fires blazed inside the mouths of his ancestors in the ocean surrounding Berk. Formed from miniature islands themselves, they were raised in the hope of protecting the Hooligans from evil spirits and the like (not that Hiccup actually believed in evil spirits). Small flickering lights came from the village itself, through the windows of houses and lanterns twinkling like stars. Even a tiny torch could be seen at Gothi's house on the peak of the island. The archipelago stood raged in the ocean, a collection jagged mismatched cliffs and plains which had been decorated with the adaptive wooden buildings that littered it. From the Dragon racing stands high in the west and the stables, carved into the cliffs on the east.

Hiccup looked over to Gobber to catch him smiling. He was pleased that he'd been able to make him so happy and excited about the prospect of finding out what happened to his daughter but the part of his mind that spoke with his father's voice, kept asking, was it all going to be for nothing? The look on Gobber's face...he was so excited. But what if his Dad was right, maybe they weren't going to find any trace of Malie, maybe it was all for nothing. Even worse, they might find something that would be better left unfound. It would kill Gobber. Doubt swirled in Hiccup's mind and he began to feel sick as the pair approached the cliff side of the village and silently began to glide down over the village towards the main square.

Both riders dismounted their respective dragons as they landed in the top most part of the village outside the great hall and Hiccup's house.

"See you tomorrow then, Hiccup," Gobber spoke cheerfully as he headed towards the forge, "Got to be well rested"

"Yea, night Gobber," Hiccup replied as he and Toothless began to turn towards their home. Hopefully his dad was asleep by now and there wouldn't be a repeat of their argument today.

"And Hiccup," Gobber began, recapturing the young man's attention. He looked back to his mentor.

"Yea," Hiccup prompted.

"Thank you, for everything, I don't think I'd have had the courage to do this if you hadn't said anything and, er, um," Gobber stuttered, clearly he was uncomfortable. Just like his father, and all viking men, he had a hard time expressing himself.

"Don't mention it Gobber," Hiccup cut him off, saving Gobber and himself from the awkwardness that was bound to follow, "Night,"

Gobber replied with a slight nod and turned away towards his shop.

"Come on bud," Hiccup spoke to Toothless, "let's go rest up, we've got a long day tomorrow,"

* * *

**Let me know what you think. Next chapter is on the way! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Woo! Next chapter! We're actually getting somewhere now. Let me know what you're thinking in the reviews, I'm seriously interested in what everybody's got to say about my little fanfic. **

For Hiccup, mornings were often extraordinarily early. Every day, before the sun had even had a chance to rise, the sound of Toothless thumping around on top of his roof waiting for them to go flying would drag him from his dreams. This ruckus would be accompanied by flecks of dust and sometimes more substantial bits of rubble falling onto him from the ceiling making the process just that much more unpleasant. Each night, Toothless would sleep in Hiccup's room with him, on an enormous piece of grey stone which had been dragged to the upper floor of his house by Stoick and Gobber when Toothless had moved in not long after the red death incident. The dragon's tendency to blast the ground he slept on before lying on it had make it kind of necessary seeing as the house they lived in was rather combustible. So every morning Toothless would scramble through the hatched door installed into Hiccup's ceiling and proceed to make as much noise as necessary to get his rider out of bed and on the move ready for a morning of flying. And each and every morning Hiccup would comply, although being woken up like this every morning wasn't exactly pleasant, it was vastly outweighed by the thrill and excitement that was promised during a morning flight.

And this morning started out just the same. Hiccup's slumber was indeed disturbed by the crashes and banging that Toothless brought about. Peeking out from underneath his woollen cover, Hiccup saw the minute particles of dust swirling in the air, accentuated by the delicate light of a morning minutes from the sun's rise coming through the wooden slates of his room.

"Okay Toothless!" Hiccup hissed in a whisper to the dragon on the roof before pushing his cover back and sitting up onto the edge of his bed, wiping his eyes with his knuckles and morning stray hairs out of his face. On today of all days he had to ensure his dad wasn't woken up whilst he was sneaking out. Of course Stoick wouldn't know where he was planning on going but he was never particularly happy when Hiccup chose to use his mornings 'galavanting on that dragon' as he so kindly put it. Plus, Hiccup's terrible skills of deception would more than likely betray him if they got the chance.

"I get it, I'm up. We can go flying,"

Toothless peered his head into Hiccups room through the trap door and looked at him with his giant green eyes with his head tilted slightly as the young man pulled his prosthetic from under the bed and attached it. Hiccup then wandered to the end of the bed and grabbed the leather riding jacket hanging from it and donned it too.

"Okay buddy, all set," Hiccup stated in another hushed whisper as he ran his hand through his hair trying to control it in any way possible before he began walking towards the door. Opening it, as quietly as possible, he listened out for the sound of his dad's snores coming from his room downstairs. They came slow and even, good, Hiccup thought, he's dead to the world, this shouldn't be any trouble. He strained his ears as he continued to shut the door behind him, wincing internally as it creaked slightly. He heard the soft thud of the hatch in his ceiling close again behind his door as Toothless pulled his head out and made his way down to the front of the house.

Creeping down the stairs Hiccup limped slightly, trying not to put too much weight on his prosthetic. The thin piece of metal on the wooden floor would cause every other step to creak which echoed around the downstairs room. Hiccup's house was like many on Berk, the downstairs primarily consisting of one large communal room that was used for cooking and such. Of course, not much of that was done here by either of its occupants, they tended to eat all of their meals in the great hall. In the centre was fire pit used to keep the house warm. On one side of it stood the colossal chair that was his fathers and on the other a small more comfortable couch covered in furs. Looking at his father's large chair now, Hiccup was reminded of his future and it reoccurred to him, like it had many times, that one day that would be his seat. He pushed the thought out of his mind and looked away. Around the room, shelves were scattered covered in a mix-mash of crockery and weapons. A house without a woman's touch, it was lacking in the comfort department, not that Hiccup particularly minded.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs and let out a small sigh of relief Hiccup heard his father's snores suddenly stop. Standing dead still, he waited. After a few seconds they started up again, booming through the house. Close one, Hiccup thought to himself. Whilst waiting for the courage to start walking again, he began to notice the evidence of his father's frustration from last night. He hadn't been able to see when he'd come in on account of it being so dark, but now with the sky beginning to wake up once again, Hiccup saw furniture strewn around the room as well as coals from the fire scattered slightly where his father had kicked them from the pit in the centre of the room. He felt a surge of guilt, it had been a long time since Stoick had been this upset with him and it wasn't like Hiccup to go against the will of his father, particularly when it came to something un-dragon related. But this was important, Hiccup reassured himself.

Finally making it to the front porch Hiccup was greeted by Toothless giving him a soggy lick across the face. It was freezing out and the wet on Hiccups face instantly became cold, giving him a chill. Rubbing his face with material he grabbed from the shoulder of his shirt he grimaced.

"Toothless, eww," He exclaimed jumping back. Looking out down into the village, he noticed again how the mornings were becoming ever colder. Frost covered the village and glowed slightly. As he made his way down the wooden steps of his house, watching the trickled of vikings moving around the square, he was eventually greeted by the satisfying crunch of frost grass under his foot.

"Hey buddy, you ready for today," he asked enthusiastically reaching over to Toothless and scratching the top of his head. Hiccup chucked to himself as Toothless instantly calmed and closed his eyes as Hiccup continued to move his hand to behind his dragon's ear.

"Come on then," he continued as he stopped scratching and made his way to the side of the house where he had built a kind of dragon stable consisting of a small area, about half the size of his room, raised off the ground with a large piece of stone, not unlike the one he had for Toothless' bed. It was sheltered by a wooden roof that jutted out from the side of the main house with small lanterns hanging from the arched entrance as a source of light. This was the place where Hiccup kept all of Toothless' flying gear as well as a stash of fish for meal times. In recent weeks though, Hiccup had added a desk and some make shift stores for tools and materials. Since Gobber had started using Hiccup's work room at the forge to keep his ever growing collection of weapons, he'd had to move out due to lack of space. Although, Hiccup thought to himself now, if they were all anything like the ones he'd seen yesterday, they weren't going to be much help in battle.

Hiccup got out a couple of fish and tossed them on the ground outside the shelter for Toothless to start eating before they left. The dragon tucked in immediately and as he did, Hiccup grabbed his harness and tail, walked out and began saddling his dragon.

"Hiccup!"

Hiccup looked up from what he was doing to see Gobber half way across the plaza hobbling over towards him with Grump shuffling at his side, saddled and ready to go. Hiccup placed one of the pieces of leather he was using into his mouth to free his arm to give Gobber a wave.

"Are we all set, ready to-" Gobber continued to call before Hiccup hastily let go of what he was doing, spit the leather out of his mouth and placed a finger over his lips, hinting for Gobber to keep it down. All that was standing between them and the sleeping chief was a couple of thin wooden walls. Gobber mimicked Hiccups gesture to show his compliance and continued across the square silently. Hiccup was just crouching down placing the wires down Toothless's left side when he heard Gobber speak again, only now from directly behind him.

"Okay Hiccup, big day, let's get going," He said excitedly in a hushed tone. Hiccup stood up and turned around to see his mentor rubbing his hammer appendage with his hand eagerly. Gobber was clearly excited, his eyes were wide and smile bright.

"Yea, nearly there," Hiccup answered as he moved towards Toothless's tail and started fitting it together. Hiccup looked towards Grump as he worked and saw Gobber's saddle laden with pouches and weapons.

"You really think you're going to need all that?" Hiccup asked nodding his head towards Grump's saddle, his hands still busy with Toothless' tail. Gobber turned to look at his dragon and shrugged as he turned back.

"You don't know what we're going to come across on that island Hiccup, it's been years since anybody's been there, who knows what we're going to find," Gobber replied. He was right, even Hiccup wasn't sure what was going to be there. Most of the dragons that they'd freed on the day he'd lost his leg had come to Berk. They'd returned there a few times after that day but only really as a stop off on other journeys. And even on those occasions it had, at first glance, seemed completely abandoned although sometimes they'd see small puffs of smoke rising out of one of the caves or the odd tail poking out of the volcano that sat in the centre of the island. Perhaps a new colony of dragons had taken up home there, boulder class maybe, considering the living conditions.

"Anyway, are you ready or not?" Gobber continued impatiently.

"Yea Gobber, just give me a second, just need to finish loading Toothless up," At this point he started filling the small satchels attached to Toothless' harness with supplies; a bit of food and water in one, and his sword prototype in another. It was something he'd been working on for a little while now. On one end was a retractable blade which he'd modified so that each time it was extended it would be covered in a layer of highly flammable monstrous nightmare saliva and at the other end was a compartment that released zippleback gas. All he had to do to use either end was press a switch in the centre of the contraption to generate a spark that would either ignite the blade or the gas. It was still in early trials though. The last time he'd tried to use it had blown up in his face. Using the spark caused the whole pellet of gas inside the handle to explode.

Gobber paced back and forwards for a few minutes as Hiccup finished up with Toothless. The sun was rising now and the village was beginning to light. The tops of houses were tipped in an orange glow and the frost of them beginning to melt. More and more people were leaving their houses and starting their days of work.

"Okay, Gobber I'm ready," Hiccup announced as he finished up and hoisted himself up into his saddle and adjusted his prosthetic to fit into Toothless'. "Are _you_ ready?" He added sarcastically.

"Alright let's get going," Gobber replied choosing to ignore Hiccups sarcasm as he stopped pacing and turned to start walking towards his dragon. Mid-stride though, he stopped.

"Wait!" he said turning to face Hiccup again as he looked around himself, patting the pockets on the front of his pants and shirt, "I had it right here..." He trailed off as he turned and hobbled quickly over to Grump and started unpacking him, searching hastily through his packs and satchels, flinging weapons and bags of food over his shoulder, looking desperately for something.

"Wait there Hiccup," He said raising a hand to Hiccup, "I'll be back,"

And as he spoke Hiccup watched as the stout man half ran, half limped back towards the forge on the other side of the square.

"Wonder what that's about," Hiccup asked Toothless rhetorically before he began double checking all of the harnesses and his prosthetic from his saddle. As he was finished up Toothless suddenly started moving around underneath him, jolting forward. Hiccup grabbed his handle on his saddle to stop himself being flung backwards.

"Woa, what is it bud?" He asked.

As he composed himself he looked up to see Astrid's face not far from his as she stood in front of Toothless, one hand on her hip, her face stern. Toothless behaved excitedly as she scratched him on the top of his head but her eyes didn't leave Hiccups. She blinked slowly and her face relaxed.

"So," she began nonchalantly as she took a step back and started walking around one side of Toothless, "where are you off to on this fine morning," she asked.

"Er, you know," Hiccup began, "just off for a morning of flying with this guy here," He said nervously patting Toothless.

"Oh really," Astrid replied as she walked along side his dragon, her fingers trailing along his scales, "so you'll be back in time for your _extremely important_ chiefing lessons?"

"Errr," Hiccups voice had risen about ten octaves. Keep it under control, he thought to himself, you need to do this for Gobber. He coughed quickly, trying to mask his key change. "Yea, yea, I guess so,"

"So I suppose," Astrid continued before pausing, "you won't be needing all of THIS!" as she spoke she grabbed the satchel from Toothless's harness containing a whole days worth of food.

"Oooh, that," Hiccup said trying to brush her off, "well, I'm a growing boy, you know, need my protein and what. Not. Um," His words trailed as he looked at Astrid. Holding the bag of food out in front of her with one eyebrow raised he could tell that this wasn't working. He sighed loudly.

"Okay Astrid," He took a deep breath, "me and Gobber are going to Dragon Island to see if we can find his daughter, or, at least what happened to her, so yes I will be missing my lesson with my dad but please don't go in there and wake him up, this means so much to Gobber and he's been looking so upset lately, I really think this is for the best," he spoke quickly, too quickly, it made him feel like a criminal.

"I know," Astrid replied lightly, almost mockingly so.

"What?" Hiccup replied shocked, "how do you know?"

"After everything you told us last night and what I can very clearly see here," she gestured towards the bag of food and the now snoozing Grump a few paces behind her, "it's been pretty easy to piece together. You're a good guy Hiccup, but it makes you kind of predictable," She finished with a shrug.

"Alright Astrid but you've got to promise you won't say anything to my dad, at least not until we're far enough away," He pleaded.

"Not a problem," She said returning the satchel of Hiccup's food to its rightful place.

"Ah great," he replied, letting out a sigh of relief

"Because I'm coming with you," Astrid finished her thought, placed two fingers in her mouth and let out an ear splitting whistle. Toothless winced from underneath Hiccup who placed his hands on both sides of his head.

"No, no, no," Hiccup retorted nervously, "you can't come. We need this to involve as few people as possible,"

As he spoke he saw Stormfly flew from overhead and landed next to her rider who jumped up to pet her dragon on the nose playfully.

"Hey girl," she said quietly greeting her dragon whilst Hiccup clenched his fists and pursed his lips in silent frustration.

"Look Astrid, I really think it should just be me and Gobber, I really don't know what we're going to find out there and if it isn't good news, do you think he's going to want an audience? Just stay here and keep my dad distracted. Try and keep his mind off the fact that his clueless son has taken his grieving friend off to find his needle in a haystack. We'll be back tonight, I'll deal with him then, but now, I've really got to do this for Gobber"

Finishing he looked toward Astrid whose face was blank. She looked down and pursed her lips, clearly wanting to argue back, but she knew he was right. If they did find something unsavoury, the last thing Gobber would want was an audience to his grief.

"Fine," she said defeated, "But for the record you're not clueless," She closed the distance between them and punched him on the arm before running back to her dragon and getting up onto her saddle.

"Be safe," She warned him as Stormfly squawked and stretched her wings.

"When am I not?" Hiccup answered back sarcastically as the girl and her dragon took off and headed off in the direction of the arena.

He watched as they flew away but was pulled from his gaze by an out of breath Gobber finally returning to his dragon.

"Got it," he announced.

"Got what?" Hiccup asked. Gobber mounted his dragon then rummaged around inside a pocket on the breast of his shirt and pulled out a long piece of string with a small curved dragon's tooth attached at the end. It looked old and well worn. The thick leather string was frayed and slightly dusty looking. It looked as though it had once been black but time had turned it into a murky grey, brown colour. The tooth itself was chipped and discoloured with yellowing stains covering it, the tip was rounded as though it had been sanded down.

"What is it?" Hiccup continued.

"This is a zippleback tooth that I took from the dragon I killed back when I completed my training, when I wasn't much older than you. It's part of a pair. After winning the competition to kill the beast, I took two of its teeth, one I kept for myself, and the other I gave to the love of my life," he clutched the tooth in his hand and looked down at it. He scratched his head nervously with his hammer before continuing "when she was dying after giving birth, she gave hers to me and made me promise I'd give it to our daughter. And so I did. She loved that thing," He was smiling now but still looked down at the pendant in his hand, "wore it every second of every day, even slept in it. When I last saw it, it was in worse condition than this if you can believe it. Anyway, if we find her, I think it'll help her to remember me...she might still have the other one" He looked up at Hiccup, as if asking for reassurance.

"It's a good idea Gobber," He replied, "now let's get going, it's about an hour of flying time to get to the island and then we'll have the whole day to search,"

Gobber nodded and gave Grump a kick to each of his sides to wake him up.

"Come on Grumpy," He announced as the dragon beneath him began to flap his little wings and they began to hover upwards. Toothless followed suit, spreading his gigantic wings and leaping up into the air as Hiccup adjusted his prosthetic.

What Gobber said made Hiccup think: 'help her to remember me'. It hadn't occurred to him that she wouldn't remember Gobber. It had been fifteen years since this girl had last seen her father, who knows if she would know him at all, after all she had only been a child when she was taken. If they did find her, how would she react seeing him again? And how would Gobber react to having a child who doesn't know him? Only one way to find out, Hiccup thought to himself as the two men and their dragons started to pick up speed flying towards the sunrise.

Flying out across the open ocean Hiccup sat low in his saddle looking out towards the long horizon. Dragon Island was directly east of Berk so all they had to do was follow the sun. Of course, it wasn't going to be that easy. The weather had taken a turn for the worst and thick, grey clouds filled the sky, blocking out the sun and casting them into dingy grey light. Only the occasional ray stealing through the gloom would direct them towards their destination. Keeping his eyes forward, Hiccup could hear the sloshing and churning of the ragged waves beneath him. They were flying close to the ocean in an effort to keep warm and stay safe, flying above the clouds in weather like this was dangerous, especially for Grump; his small wingspan meant he'd be dragged about by the raging winds higher up. But even this close to the ocean, the strong gusts of air were making it difficult for them to fly straight. Keeping a firm grip on Toothless' harness, Hiccup glanced over to his right to see Gobber sitting just as low in his saddle, his hand clasping tightly onto the rein in front of him. Gobber noticed Hiccup looking towards him and gestured his hammer hand out towards the horizon.

"Lovely day for flying," He called loudly over the whistling wind passing between them.

"The best," Hiccup called back smiling before continuing, "We're not too far now, should be there soon,"

Gobber nodded and returned to looking forwards across the ocean, as he did Hiccup noticed that still hanging from Gobber's hand was the zippleback tooth. The string was tightly wound around his fist and the tooth sat on the back of his hand, flapping slighting in the wind. This better all be worth it Hiccup thought.

As they made the rest of their journey, Hiccup thought back and tried to remember more of Malie. All he'd been able to come up with so far were flickering images of a little blonde girl that he'd known. Crouching around to sit hunched over Toothless, he places his forehead against the front of his saddle and closed his eyes trying to remember. He'd always assumed that it was Astrid but as he continued to think, small pieces of memory started to fit together. He thought he could remember playing in the forge with her, much to Gobber's annoyance, and a part of him thought he could remember them talking about their mothers. Hiccup frowned as it occurred to him fully. They'd both never known their mothers. It was comforting to think that he hadn't been alone when he'd been so small. She'd been there with him, in the same boat.

Hiccup suddenly felt Toothless rumble softly beneath him and he looked up suddenly to see the outline of Dragon Island directly ahead. They approached and made their way through the heavy fog that constantly surrounded the island, hiding the jagged rocky shore and gargantuan sea stacks, where many a Berkian ship had gone missing in the past. These twisted rock towers that rose out of the ocean were disorientating and as they flew past them, Hiccup was reminded of how small and powerless he really was, even with Toothless by his side. He arched his neck back as they continued to advance and looked at the island itself. Comprised of a giant volcano, it stood high above the ocean with its open peak as jagged as dragon's teeth with plumes of dark smoke rising out that seamlessly merged with the dark clouds above. The fractured sides of the volcano were littered in caves and cliffs that looked as though they would lead to Hel itself. Around this peak stood many others all curved inwards and pointing towards the summit as if trying to grasp at it. The blackness of the volcanic stone was emphasised by the blazing light that glowed out of the mountain's mouth and the thick streams of golden lava that poured slowly down its edge before reaching the ocean where the combination of intense heat and the icy cold would explode into piercing hisses and screams.

Hiccups left leg tingled, it had been a while since he'd been to Dragon Island, and his memories weren't exactly fond. The place did look abandoned though Hiccup wasn't sure if that was necessarily a good.

"Where do we land?" He heard Gobber yell over through the fog between them. Hiccup looked down they were approaching solid land.

"There!" He shouted and pointed down to a small cliff at the base of the island, out of the way of the lava flow which parted and ran down either side of it before falling into the ocean.

Hiccup adjusted the position of his prosthetic and the dragons landed before both men dismounted. From here they could hear the fizzing of the lava and water combining and feel the heat coming from the magma river behind them. The smell of smoke and ash was thick in the air and Hiccup had to rub his nose to stop himself sneezing. He watched as Gobber turned his back to him and looked up at the impressive mountain towering above them. His head then fell and rubbed his eyes roughly with his hand. Hiccup understood what his friend was feeling. Looking up at the volcano, it seemed like an impossible task. There would be hundreds of nooks and crannies in this place to look. Lucky they had a pair of dragons.

"So I'm going to need to know what Malie looks like" Hiccup mentioned to Gobber as he walked up to stand beside him in an effort to try and keep his spirits up. It worked.

"Ah Hiccup, she'd beautiful, looked just like her mother," Hiccup continued looking up to the mountain but could hear Gobber's smile in his voice "Biggest blue eye's you've ever seen, and she knew how to use them too, don't think I ever said no to that girl,"

Hiccup chuckled in response.

"Well, let's get going then Gobber, this mountain isn't going to search itself. Me and Toothless will fly up higher and take the top caves, you and Grump the lower. We'll meet back here just before sun down," Gobber nodded.

"Thank you Hiccup," He said grabbing young man's forearm before he had a chance to turn around back to Toothless. Hiccup took Gobber's in return, looked his mentor in the eye and nodded before letting go and returning to his dragon. He took off on Toothless and headed towards the mountains peak, they would start their search there and work their way down.

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Next chapter will be a big one, we're finally going to find out what happened to Malie. Also am I being an idiot but has the option to place thick black lines above and below the story gone? I can't seem to find it. **


	7. Chapter 7

**New chapter is ready finally and I think it's my longest one yet! Sorry about the wait! Let me know what you think in the reviews!**

Hiccup and Toothless began to scale the cliffs surrounding the volcanoes peak, circling the main mountain flying swiftly and silently over the ridges and shards of rock jutting out from the main mass as they made their way upwards, looking for any kind of entrance. Being so close to the mouth of the mountain, smoke surrounded and engulfed the two. Keeping his face close to the saddle in front of him to avoid inhaling the poisonous gas, Hiccup could smell the burning rock; the scent of it was thick in the air and the clouds of ash could be tasted in his mouth as they made their way down to his throat and lungs, slowly suffocating him. He could feel the heat rising from the mountain and even see it in a wispy haze above the mountains edge when he looked quickly around Toothless' neck to the ground below. There was no sign of life anywhere. This place is surely inhabitable, Hiccup thought to himself before quickly realising what this would mean. Eyes beginning to stream, he decided to look up from his saddle, through the fog, and up towards the peak. They would have to find somewhere to land soon and begin their descent down through the mountain. Not too far ahead of them, through squinted eyes, Hiccup could just make out the shape of a large dip in the rocky face against the grey sky. It looked as though a large bite had been taken out of the mountains edge.

"There bud," He exclaimed, leaning in his saddle to push Toothless towards the gap in the mountain, "that could be our way in,"

As they approached from above, Hiccup could see that the gap did in fact bore straight into the side of the volcano. Looking down into the depths of this gaping hole, Hiccup couldn't see a thing. It was pitch black and surged within Hiccup a feeling of dread. There was no telling what was in there. But before he had the chance to talk himself out of it, Hiccup took in another short breath of the fumy air causing him to cough and splutter. They really didn't have the time to be picky about where they landed; they needed to get out of this.

Hiccup leant forward and urged Toothless into the cavern, Toothless firing a plasma blast as they entered creating a purple wave that illuminated their path. In the brief moment of light, Hiccup saw the jagged walls of the cave and noticed the elaborate patterns of holes and tunnels littering them. When he'd last been here with Astrid, he'd never really noticed the architecture of the volcano, of course, they'd been more concerned with the giant dragon trying to eat them.

The pair, now just inside the shelter, hovered facing into the darkness, the flapping of Toothless' wings the only sound as they powerfully beat up and down, churning the hot air in the cave. The tunnel was large enough for Toothless to fly through as far as could be seen so Hiccup decided to stay on this path. Hopefully this would lead them to one of the large open spaces within the mountain; one like he'd had found himself in years ago, and hopefully, this would be somewhere they could start their search.

Beneath Hiccup, Toothless growled quietly, his head quickly moving from side to side as he looked around the tunnel before them. His eyes darted from one wall to the other, as if he could hear something but wasn't yet able to figure out its source.

"What is it Toothless?" Hiccup asked his companion, leaning to one side as he did to get a better look at the dragon's face, "What can you hear?"

Toothless responded with a short snort, as if shaking it off. Okay, Hiccup thought to himself, raising his eyebrows as he sat back up into his saddle and looked again into the pitch black tunnel ahead, that was weird. He couldn't hear anything, at least not with _his_ ears, maybe Toothless was just remembered what had happened the last time they'd come to this volcano. Hiccup's stump tingled and he shuddered at the thought.

"Don't worry, bud, we'll be fine in here, it doesn't look like anybody's home, we'll be in and out" He comforted, not taking his eyes off of the pit of darkness before them but he wasn't sure if it was the dragon he was talking to, or himself.

With a quick shift of Hiccup's prosthetic, they were off, charging down through the tunnel into the blackness, Toothless' occasional plasma blasts leading the way.

Even after what seemed like an eternity of criss-crossing through several different tunnels and making random decisions about whether or not to turn left or right, Hiccup and Toothless were still aimlessly travelling through the labyrinth that was the top of the volcano. The tunnel they were in now was almost pitch black, the only light coming from Hiccup's sword which, to his delight was working perfectly and hadn't blown up yet. He held it out in front of himself above Toothless' head and watched it flicker as they moved swiftly through the tunnel illuminating the small crevices and smaller tunnels branching off from this one. This place was huge, Hiccup thought to himself, this was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Hiccup sighed and lowered his sword slightly before changing the position of his prosthetic.

"Okay, bud," he spoke out to Toothless, "let's take a quick break,"

The pair dropped down to the floor beneath them and Toothless gently landed with a slight bounce. Hiccup hopped down out of his saddle and quickly began to stretch out his muscles. He'd been sat on Toothless for hours and everything had seized up. Toothless did the same, slowly stretching out his wing to their full span and slowly closing them then moving onto his legs.

Putting his lit sword down on the floor in front of him, leaving it lit to work as a sort of camp fire, Hiccup moved to rummage through the packs on Toothless' saddle. Finding the right one, he pulled out a plump Icelandic cod and chucked it in front of his friend for him to enjoy.

"There you go buddy," He said as he smacked his hands together in some effort to get the fish smell off of them, "you earned it,"

Toothless tucked in right away, taking the huge fish and swallowing it whole before thanking hiccup by butting his head against Hiccup's shoulder. Hiccup chuckled and moved his hands to scratch Toothless' neck.

"You're welcome bud,"

As he spoke, suddenly Toothless' good temperament suddenly disappeared. His pupils dilated and ears pricked up, vibrating softly as he let out a low growl. He moved his back to Hiccup, who had picked up his sword again quickly and was straining his ears in an attempt to hear what his dragon could. Toothless hissed and opened his wings wide as if trying to shield Hiccup from something but his head still twisted and turned in all directions as if looking for the source of the sound. He began to slowly move in a circle around Hiccup keeping him close and acting defensively. Hiccup raised his flaming sword up high searching the walls of the cave for any sign of what was making Toothless act like this. Clearly there was some kind of threat. The sound of Toothless' continuous growling echoed through the chambers and Hiccup's heart raced as he looked between his dragon and the holey walls. He felt like he was being watched. The place was like a giant sponge; the walls had been formed by bubbling magma and had set in such a way that made the mountain awkward to manoeuvre. While some of the pockets, like the one they were in now, were wide and spacious enough to work as tunnels through the mountain, others were cramped and looked just big enough for Hiccup to crawl through. They seemed to all be connected to another or several others also, forming tight passages through to other parts of the volcano.

Then, without warning, Hiccup heard a noise from directly behind him. The sound of a scuffle then a pebble falling to the ground in a series of taps which echoed around the tunnel dramatically. Hiccup spun around and looked up towards the source but only caught a glimpse of a pitch black shadow moving within the holey wall before he was encased within Toothless' protective wings. The gust of air it produced extinguished Hiccup's sword and the force of being encased made him drop the hilt which fell to the ground with a clatter.

His mind catching up to what had happened, Hiccup found himself trapped in a dark scaly prison; the only sound he could here being Toothless' loud aggressive barks that rang through the tunnels.

"Bud, let me out!" Hiccup exclaimed frustrated as he tried to push his way out of his entrapment.

Toothless stopped growling and slowly opened his wings. Hiccup climbed out of the cocoon and quickly got to his feet before turning to his dragon. He was still looking around the tunnel nervously, his teeth bared and eyes in cold slits. The tunnel was almost pitch-black, but in the dim light Hiccup could just make out a gleam of his sword a few paces away, the steel still glowing amber slightly. He picked it up and placed it back in his belt, ready to be used again.

He then walked back towards where he had seen the shadow, his metal prosthetic causing a metallic clang to sound through the passage with every other step he took. Toothless remained close behind him and nudged him in the back, whining quietly.

"Shh, bud, it's ok," He comforted as he put one hand out behind his to pat the dragon quickly as he approached the wall. Looking up into the tunnels and he leant over and stuck his head into one of the rock bubbles, procuring a hiss from his dragon and another nudge to the back of his legs. Had he really seen something, he thought to himself, or had it just been the flickering of the light from his sword. Surely something was in here with them, or Toothless wouldn't have been acting so weird. Moving around on the wall to stick his head in and out of the smaller crevices that were within his reach he looked around inside each one into the crevices adjoined to it, looking for any sign of what had been in there. Maybe a boulder class?

After a few minutes of finding nothing of interest, he pulled his head out of a pocket and looked back at Toothless who was sitting on his hind legs, his eyes wide with worry.

"Well whatever it was it's long go-"

Hiccup stopped speaking. He could see looking up just past Toothless' head and through a maze of tunnels, a tiny flickering orange dot. It was far away, but the way that the bubbles in the walls had lined gave him a clear view of whatever it was. He rushed around his dragon and approached the opposite edge of the tunnel. The direction of this weird dot was through a pocket high up on the side of the wall, he'd need a boost.

"Toothless, help me up," he said not taking his eye off the orange flicker and gesturing to his dragon to help him. When Toothless didn't respond, Hiccup spoke again.

"Come on buddy, I'll be fine,"

Hiccup heard what sounded like an agitated sigh before feeling his feet lift off of the ground as Toothless raised him to his target. Sat on Toothless' head, who was now balancing on his hind legs, Hiccup could just reach the cavity in the wall he'd have to climb through to head towards the light. He climbed in on his hands and knees. It was going to be a bit of a tight crawl.

"Okay buddy, I'll be right back," he said as he turned his head back to face his dragon "just, stay here," he said gesturing with one hand to his dragon who cocked his head to one side.

Hiccup turned and looked ahead of him. There was a lot of wall to clamber through before he got to his target.

"Ok," he whispered to himself reassuringly, "let's go,"

Clambering through the tunnels was rough. The spaces were tight and would have been difficult for anybody to climb through, let alone somebody with one leg. Thanks Gods he was so skinny, not many vikings would have been able to squeeze through these kinds of spaces. In his mind he couldn't help but picture Fishlegs in his position. He wouldn't be able to fit one of his gargantuan arms through some of these spots.

After gaining many, many scratches to his face, hands and knees, Hiccup finally came out into a wider space. It was shadowy and the ceiling was low but ahead of him was source of light, a warm glow that lured him forward. Taking tentative steps one at a time through this short tunnel Hiccup walked towards the opening ahead. Stepping out of the mouth of the tunnel, Hiccup shielded his face with his arm waiting for his eyes to adjust to the light. Once they had, he looked around himself.

In an instant he knew that this was it; this was the place he had been trying to find. In front of him was a cavern; a huge cavern, twenty times the width of the tunnel he'd been in with Toothless and it was glowing with a golden light. He was surrounded by stalagmites and stalactites which rose intermittedly from the rocky ground beneath him and jagged ceiling high above him, making the cave look as though it were covered in dripping paint. Looking up above him the open space was surrounded by walls covered, like almost all he had seen in the volcano, by smaller bubbles and holes leading into the walls of the mountain, but between these holes were giant cliffs and ledges, not unlike the one he found himself on, in all kinds of mismatched shapes all pointing towards this giant void in the middle. This had to be the centre of the volcano, he thought to himself. Ahead of him was a cliff that was lit against an orange back drop, he slowly began to approach it, unsure of how safe his ledge was. Edging towards it, he looked around himself. Fleft to right he saw that the ledge he was on encircled the whole circumference of the volcano but was jagged and uneven. Some parts wide, some parts incredibly thin all of them dark and mysterious, covered in boulders and stoney silhouettes. The edge of his ledge was slowly approaching and Hiccup could hear the bubbling of magma way down below his feet and feel the rush of warm air flow past his face up towards the opening that was somewhere way above. Smoke in thick plumes, flowed up through the middle of the cavern but not too thick that he couldn't see the other side of the enormous cave. The smell of it was burning his nostrils but he continued his approach.

Arriving at the edge, he took a glance down at what was below him. There, hundreds of feet under his feet, was a large pool of bubbling orange goo. The sudden bright light colour, contrasting the surrounding shades of grey, caused Hiccup to shield his eyes again quickly before moving his hand out of the way and squinting down at the lava. Around the edge of the pool, a thick crust had formed but large heavy bubbles occasionally burst through, re-revealing the thick magma beneath. The centre of the pool bubbled furiously, like a boiling pan of water, but unlike water, was more gelatinous. It was intimidating to look at.

"Woa," Hiccup said to himself, impressed.

He then shifts his gaze to follow the smoke up towards the top of the pit and as they do they become fixed on the orange light he had seen from within the tunnel with Toothless. On the other side of the cavern, on a platform a few levels higher than his, was a fire, glowing through the foggy plumes and brightly shining, the only source of light other than the magma. Hiccup squinted his eyes as he tried to get a better look but the distance was too great. He had to get over there, he thought to himself, it could be Malie. As soon as this thought popped into his head though however, his mood depleted. He'd been in this mountain for hours and there'd been no sign of life anywhere. The place was barren. There was no way a child would have been able to survive here all these years. The overwhelming surge of guilt came over him as he thought of Gobber, now probably traipsing around the base of the volcano, and coming to the same conclusion. Maybe bringing him along had been a bad idea. He thought bringing his mentor here would have given him some kind of closure but now that it was painstakingly obvious his little girl wasn't here, he could only imagine the pain it would be causing him.

Judging that it was safe, Hiccup took a seat on the ground a few feet from the edge of the ledge looking into the chasm. He tried to think about what he was going to say to Gobber. Gods, this was going to be difficult. His dad had been right, this whole idea had been a waste, of course no child of five was going to be able to manage out here, what had he been thinking?! Hiccup sighed and moved his hand to rub the back of his neck looking down into his lap.

After a few more moments of internal debate Hiccup decided it would probably be best to go and find Gobber now and see how he was doing. He could suggest that they continue the search together or maybe spend the rest of the day looking for his daughter somewhere slightly less depressing. Hiccup stood up smoothly and took one last look out at the huge open space in front of him. He looked back searching for that orange light but it was gone, maybe it had just been a stray dragon or something, he thought to himself before shrugging and turning around. Looking as his feet as he did, he was thinking about Toothless, hopefully he hadn't run into whatever had been making those sounds.

Suddenly, Hiccup heard a soft swish and the gentle pat coming from up in front of him and quickly looked up from his feet.

Looking up, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. About twenty feet in front of him, stood just covered by shadows in the mouth of the tunnel he'd exited minutes ago, was a figure; a human figure. It was crouched, as though they had just fallen from one of the many holes in the ceiling but slowly rose to stand. This was Malie Hiccup thought, this had to be her. His heartbeat began to race, but not from excitement, from fear.

Even though she stood shroud in the gloom of the tunnel, he could see the light of the volcano gleaming off of her eyes. Eyes, that shot daggers at him through a huge mop of unruly curly hair. Everything about her screamed wild. Hiccup froze as the two continued to look at one another; she was clearly sizing him up. The way she stood was animalistic, her shoulders hunched and head low but her feet stood in a wide stance and in one hand she was holding some kind of stick. Hiccup squinted through the dim light to try and get a better look at her. Taking a breath he took a step forward keeping his arms held up in front of him with his palms raised, try to communicate that he meant no threat. She flinched as he moved but did nothing else. As he moved closer, he saw her expression start to change; the aggressive expression on her face melted into something else. Curiosity?

Slowly getting closer, he noticed that she was quite small, very thin, and surprisingly, shoeless. He watched as she started to nervously bounce the stick in her hand and look him up and down. He stopped. He didn't want her to scare her off. Standing up straight he decided to give her a cautious smile. She cocked her head to the side in response, but her expression remained the same.

Hiccup waited for a moment to see what she would do. So far no words had been spoken but he wasn't really sure about how much Nordic she would remember after being away from civilisation for fifteen years. Now closer, he saw Malie as she took a deep breath and stepped out from the cover of the shadowy tunnel and into the orange glow he was already basked in. She didn't take her eyes off of his and Hiccup stared straight back. Her expression still said confusion but there was a still an air of vigilance. Her eyes were bright blue, they stood clean and bright against a small dirt smudged face that was partially covered with thick curly strands of her long blonde hair. Looking at her hair, there was so much of it, loose, reaching all the way to her waist, it was the most striking thing about her, clearly she hadn't cut it since she'd been lost.

And then he saw it, dangling around her neck; a long piece of frayed string, with a huge yellowing Zippleback tooth hanging at its end. Just like the one he'd seen Gobber pull from his pocket earlier that day.

Gobber! In the few moments he'd been stood in front of his daughter he'd completely forgotten about the man. He needed to get Malie to him. Hiccup decided to speak.

"Malie your fa-"

Before he could finish his sentence he heard from behind him, the sound of his mentors incoherent yells. They echoed up through the cavernous volcanic chamber behind him making it almost impossible to tell its source. Instinctively he turned around to face the large chamber as Gobber's yells continued to wail through the tunnels. He turned his face back round to Malie automatically to check her reaction but her confused expression remained where it was and still, she was still looking straight at him as if she hadn't heard Gobber at all. Looking at her confused, wondering why she hadn't reacted, Hiccup heard Gobber's yells interrupted by an ear-splitting roar that had him covering his ears with his hands.

This got a reaction from Malie. Her face suddenly jumped from confused to dread to anger. She stood motionless for another second and growled at Hiccup before she started to run, full pelt, towards him.

He tensed and squinted his eyes shut, expecting to be rammed into but instead felt the a small breeze as Malie ran quickly past him towards the edge of the cliff where she proceeded to dive straight off the edge.

"No!" Hiccup yelled as if to warn the girl who had already jumped to her fate. Amongst the sounds of Gobber's yells and the screeching of a dragon he half ran, half scrambled to the edge of the ledge to see where she'd gone. But there was nothing. There was no trace of what had happened to her. He carefully leaned further into the volcanic pit and tried to see whether she had gone to another ledge below them but there was nothing, no ledge for her to jump to, just a long drop down to the magma. Surely the sound of that dragon hadn't made her suicidal? Where had she gone?

Another yell from Gobber pulled Hiccup from his thoughts and he quickly backed away from the edge keeping his eyes on the drop below as long as possible for any sign of Malie before turning around and running back towards the tunnel and the gap in the wall through which he'd come. He needed to find Gobber. It sounded like he was in trouble.

Hiccup dashed back through the series of tight holes in the wall and made his way back to Toothless who was whining impatiently. He dropped from the pocket in the wall he had been pushed through earlier and fell onto his hands and knees awkwardly before getting back to his feet and quickly settling himself set into Toothless' saddle. From this tunnel, they could still faintly hear Gobber's cries now accompanied by loud crashes. They'd have to find him quick, hopefully the dragon he'd encountered hadn't hurt him yet.

Hiccup and Toothless half ran, half flew deeper into the mountain as the tunnel they were in got tighter and wider leading them down towards the lower levels of the cave system. As they travelled the caves got lighter and lighter as they got closer to the base of the mountain and the pool of magma that filled it. It was a couple of minutes before they managed to reach Gobber. When they got to him thought, they found that he was on the other side of another series of pockets in the wall. Thinner this time, Hiccup could half see through the overlapping gaps that Gobber had his back turned to them and was slowly backing away from something. Something that had set itself on fire; Gobber's back was dark against a flickering back ground and as he came closer to Hiccup, the young man could just make out the tips of flames that encased the dragon before his mentor. Monstrous nightmare, Hiccup thought to himself as he hastily gestured again to Toothless to give him a boost up so he could climb through the hole.

Reaching the gap and climbing through the gaps in the wall, Hiccup came out and quickly took in his surroundings. Gobber was just a few paces in front of him but he hadn't turned around. Instead he had locked eyes with the dragon in front of him that was snarling and hissing. Woa, Hiccup thought, not a monstrous nightmare. This thing wasn't like anything he'd seen before. Its body was about the size of Toothless' but this dragon had a long neck and four long legs. It's face was thin and smooth with two small curved horns on either side of it between which was the start of a series of ridges that ran all the way down along the creatures back to its tail which was also possessed several lethal looking spikes. It's wing span was huge, and currently opened up in rage. The dragon was also on fire, covered in a layer of flames, just like a nightmare, but the most striking thing about this beast was its eyes. When a monstrous nightmare set a light to itself, its eyes would remain their golden with a thin black pupil and they would simply catch fire like the rest of its body, but this dragon, it's eyes were block gold with no pupils to speak of. They were engrossing to look at and caught Hiccup's attention immediately.

"Gobber!" He called forward towards his mentor, they needed to get away from this wild dragon, it wasn't safe, "We need to get out of here! Listen, I found-"

Hiccup was cut off by Gobber's gruff voice that spoke eerily calmly.

"No Hiccup. We need to stay right here. This is the one. This is the beast that took my daughter away from me,"

And on his last word he charged forward his clubbed right arm raised to attack the dragon. He let out a mighty yell as he hobbled as fast as he could towards the beast which raised its head and let out another monstrous roar before running forward to meet its attacker.

Before the two could meet though, Hiccup watched something, in a blur so quick he didn't quite see, swing from the ceiling above the pair and smash into Gobber sending him skidding over the floor before crashing into the base of a stalagmite causing it to crumble and fall on top of the viking.

Without stopping to think, Hiccup charged over towards his mentor and started to lift him up from under a small pile of rubble that he'd formed smashing into the rock. This girl was strong, Hiccup thought to himself, as he continued to lift the giant semi-conscious man to his feet.

"Gobber, wait, calm down," He urged to Gobber in hushed tones as he wrapped his arms around one of his mentors dragging him upwards. Looking at him now, it was clear he had already taken a beating from this dragon. All over his skin were patches of burns and bruises. Scratches covered his forearms and one side of his face where he had scraped against the floor. His clothing was tattered and his club appendage looked partially melted.

"No Hiccup," Gobber spoke in disjointed breaths, "This. One. Must. Die. It. Took. My. Malie,"

As he spoke his last word he managed to find his feet again and looked back towards the dragon in front of him. Hiccup looked too and saw Malie standing defensively in front of the dragon who was now calming and had extinguished, exposing its grey, pink scales. The girls' arms and legs were wide as she stood protectively between Gobber and the reptile behind her as if waiting for another attack.

In this light Hiccup could see her more clearly. Her hair was still a matt of blonde curls lying over her face but amidst them he could now see the occasional braid woven in. He also noticed her clothing; consisting mainly of dark red and pink dragon skins, she wore what looked like a normal viking shirt (except for the material), tied with a piece of string at the top, with a layer of bindings acting like a corset around her torso and a similar pattern around her wrists too. Her legs were also covered in wraps of the skins all the way to her ankles leaving her small dusty feet exposed. They must be freezing Hiccup thought quickly. Poking out from the bottom of her corset bindings was a large, torn sheet of dragon skin that acted kind of like a skirt but it was asymmetric, starting very short at her right hip and finishing just below her left knee. The long weapon that she held was a bone, about the length of one of her arms, it was decorated with strings and teeth wrapped around it that rattled together as she moved.

Malie was staring daggers at Gobber and the dragon behind her growled and paced impatiently back and forth behind the girl. Looking at the mysterious dragon he noticed a wiry piece of string hanging loosely at the base of its neck. It looked like a rein to him, something that could be held onto whilst flying. The dragons' eyes had now turned from block gold to block white and they stared in his direction.

Hiccup heard Gobber next to him let out an exhausted sigh and his stance instantly became less threatening.

"Malie," he said quietly.

Malie was still standing defensively in front of her dragon, her club raised slightly, ready to attack if necessary but at the sound of her name she flinched and her arm lowered. The pink dragon behind her still paced and hissed. Hiccup watched as Malie's face began to soften from anger and rage to confusion again, as it had when he had first seen her. She stood up straight and turned her back to the two men in front of her to look up at her dragon. She raised her hands to it and the reptile obediently moved its head in between them. She pulled the dragons face to hers and murmured something to it. The dragon instantly calmed and seemed more at ease though still shot looks towards Hiccup and Gobber with a stare that made them feel uneasy.

Malie turned her face to look at the two men, then paused, before turning her body all the way round and beginning to walk towards them slowly. She moved like an animal, her posture kept low and strides long.

Hiccup could feel the awe radiating off of the man next to him. He looked briefly at Gobber to see a single tear running silently down the side of his bristly cheek. This was what he had been waiting for for fifteen years, the man was finally seeing the daughter he had lost so long ago.

Malie stopped a couple of paces away from the pair and stood up straighter, shifting her gaze from Hiccup to Gobber again and again before settling her eyes on her father. She was about half a head shorter than Hiccup was and now close up he could see she wasn't as skinny as he'd originally though, she was toned, the bindings around her legs and waist proved it.

"Gobber is this. Her?" Hiccup asked softly, although he knew the answer.

"Malie," Gobber repeated simply.

Malies head eyebrows knitted as she tried to place the man before her. Hiccup could see that she recognised him but most of the memories had been lost over time.

She took another step towards him and raised her hand, hesitating slightly before she moved it to his cheek experimentally. Gobber's large hand encased hers on his cheek and held it there for a moment before bringing it down to hold with both of his hands. Malie didn't seem to notice, she was still looking deeply into his eyes, searching her memories for this man. After a few seconds it all clicked. Her eyes opened wide and her mouth turned up at the corners as she spoke.

"Dad?" She asked quietly with a slight accent, as if she hadn't spoken in many years.

Gobber nodded and was taken by surprise as his daughter swiftly dropped her club which clattered to the ground echoing around the chamber and wrapped her slim arms around her father's neck and pulled him close. Gobber hugged her back engulfing her with his massive arms as Hiccup looked on smiling. He couldn't believe they'd done it.

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	8. Chapter 8

**Newest chapter finally here! I've been getting so much positive response so thanks for all of that! ENJOY!**

Hiccup couldn't believe that this was all really happening. Next tohim stood his mentor, finally reunited with his daughter who had been missing from his life for fifteen years! Still holding his daughter, Gobber spoke over her shoulder.

"I can't believe I've got you back," he whispered.

Their reunion was cut short however when the dragon Malie had fought to protect came up behind her and nudged its snout into her back lightly, before quickly shuffling back a few paces. Looking behind Malie and towards the reptile now, Hiccup was surprised by how its temperament seemed to have changed. The dragon that had seemed so frightening and aggressive just moments ago, now seemed timid, even nervous, but by no means had it let down its guard. Hiccup had seen this look in Toothless before, when the pair had travelled to new viking inhabited lands where the people weren't so used to the idea of riding the plague of their skies. The dragon hadn't taken its eyes off of Gobber, its eyes that had begun shining gold where the rest of its body remained extinguished. Maybe it was some kind of defence mechanism, Hiccup thought to himself, something to do with the dragon's emotion, similar to how Toothless' pupils dilated where he was scared or angry.

Hiccup was quickly drawn from his thoughts though when he heard a quiet giggle. The dragon's nudge had startled Malie and she let go of her father. Now standing wide eyed facing her Gobber, she smiled and clasped onto his giant hands excitedly before pulling him forward a few steps towards the pinky, grey reptile behind her. She let her father's hand slip from hers as she continued to was backwards, not keeping her eyes off of his as she walked to meet her dragon. Gobber's hand remained where it was, still grasping at Malie's phantom hands. His expression hadn't changed, he still looked completely gobsmacked. And quite rightly so; for him, his daughter had been brought back from the dead. Hiccup walked up to stand on a par with his mentor and tapped his thick arm lightly, bringing him back to reality.

The pair watched as Malie walked quickly towards her dragon. As she did, she ran her hand through her hair and moved the curls obstructing her face back. Hiccup heard Gobber gasp.

"Just like her mother," he almost whispered.

Hiccup had to admit she was beautiful. Although her face was covered in a thick layer of soot and dust, he could still her features. Her face was heart shaped, but slightly gaunt, her cheekbones visible high on her face. He presumed food wasn't exactly flowing here on this heap of rock. Her nose which was long, thin and had the slightest hint of a point at the end. It reminded Hiccup of Gobber's although it was nowhere near as pronounced. Her lips were full and stretched into a smile that had lit up her face. But her most striking feature was her eyes. They were huge, full of excitement and exactly the same shade as Gobber's.

Turning around at her dragon's side she placed one hand between the beasts' face and touched her forehead to its face. She whispered something incomprehensively quiet and then began to guide the dragon towards Hiccup and her father. She was excited, her eyes darted between her father, and the dragon; she wanted an introduction.

Now a few paces ahead of the pair of men, she let go of her dragon and then turned and gestured to it with one hand, leaving another to scratch the reptile's chin. She took a deep breath and her brow furrowed with concentration before she stuttered out her dragon's name.

"F-F-F-Freya" she said, this word just as accented as her first, as she looked expectantly at her father.

This was interesting; Hiccup thought to himself, she'd named the dragon after a god. It was probably one of the few names that she'd remembered after being taken from Berk. Hiccup remembered from his own childhood being bombarded with the tales of Freya, Thor and Odin.

Gobber remained motionless, his eyes hadn't moved from his daughter's, still confounded at her mere presence. Her face became confused and her attention quickly moved to Hiccup as if after some sort of explanation to her father's weird behaviour.

He replied with a shrug, before nudging Gobber's shoulder with his own, trying to bring him out of his daze.

"Oh, oh, yes," Gobber stuttered as he came back to, "Errr," He looked to the dragon and nodded nervously, before grabbing Hiccup roughly round the neck and pulling him in close under his arm and announcing

"Hiccup,"

Malie smiled and slowly repeated nodding towards Hiccup.

"H-Hiccup,"

He gave her a smile from Gobber's grasp and nodded at her.

Their introductions were interrupted suddenly by a night fury's whine. Hiccup's head swivelled in the direction that he had left Toothless just in time to see a blur of black and red free itself from the holey wall and come charging towards the group barking. He was heading right towards Malie and her dragon.

"No Toothless!" Hiccup began but he was too late.

Toothless pounced on the girl and the pair proceeded to roll across the cavern and slam into the wall closest to them before he began attacking her. Hiccup and Gobber charged over to the pair, Hiccup reaching them first.

"No Toothless," he yelled, grabbing onto Toothless's neck to no prevail "They weren't attacking us! They're frien-"

As he continued to watch the tangle of Night Fury and wild girl beneath him he heard Malie scream and then started to...giggle? What? Hiccup thought to himself. Hiccup let go of Toothless's saddle which he had started to cling to and took a few steps back. They were playing?

Malie was lying with her back to the ground as Toothless stood over her playfully batting her face and torso with his paws. Her legs were bent and the soles of her feet met Toothless's belly as she tried to push him away off of her. Obviously this wasn't going to work, he was too heavy, but he played along, gently beating his wings to lift himself up as if she had kicked him off of her. She clambered up as he sat back on his hind legs and she threw herself onto his snout, wrapping her hands around his face as he tried to lick her face again and again.

Gobber had stopped to stare and Hiccup took another few paces away from the wrestling pair to stand next to him. Watching for a moment, he was suddenly struck in the back of the head by Grump's dangling legs who flew over his rider and Hiccup to join the other dragon. His buzzing stopped whilst he was still in the air and he skidded to the ground and rolled onto his back in one fluid motion. Malie was quickly distracted from Toothless's licks as she bound over to the knobbly dragon and hastily began rubbing his belly. Grump's tongue lagged and his leg began to kick as she playfully ran her hands all over him scratching every inch of the dragon's underside. Toothless, suddenly without play-mate bound over towards Hiccup playfully, teeth retracted and his own tongue hanging outside of his mouth as he bumped his rider excitedly. Hiccup responded by enthusiastically scratching his dragons scary face but he remained stood by Gobber, watching Malie with Grump.

"They...know her," he gasped under his breath, not taking his eyes off of the reunion. Toothless bounced back over to Malie who opened her arms wide to greet him on his return and wrapped them tightly around his snout before being lifted high off of the ground, Toothless balancing on his back legs and tail. Grump had gotten up and stood watching the scene with a dopy look on his face, his boulder tail wagging wildly from side to side. Malie giggled, as did Hiccup at the sight, as Toothless's face warped into a cheesy toothless smile before carefully placing her back on the stone floor.

Hiccup walked over the reuniting group and stood next to the excited Toothless. He placed a hand gently on the top of his dragons head and patted it gently as he watched on as Malie began reintroducing Grump to Freya. They acted like old friends, excitedly barking at one another and flapping their wings. Hiccup watched Malie hop excitedly on her tip toes as she watched, her hair flying back over her wide smiling face; it was amazing but Hiccup had to admit he felt a slight pang of jealousy. This girl had lived amongst the dragons for as long as she could probably remember; her whole life had been this, learning their secrets and discovering all about their true natures long before anybody on Berk even considered it. She even knew Toothless. The dragon was practically bouncing under his fingertips and before Hiccup knew it, the dragon had raced off again and started getting reacquainted the new members of the group.

Hiccup chuckled as he watched Toothless interacting with the dragons which caught Malie's attention. She turned to him and smiled sweetly as if to express her gratitude on allowing her to be reunited with some of her long lost friends. She walked over to Hiccup slowly until she was standing in front of him. She smiled, her blue eyes burning into his as if trying to say something in words she'd forgotten long ago before taking one of his hands in her. Hiccup noticed how warm it was, especially since they were in the middle of a cave, miles away from the sun. It was like she'd had her hand stuck in the lava, but it wasn't uncomfortable, just weird. He put it down to the excitement.

"Hiccup," she repeated

She let go of his hand and Hiccup looked back at the man still stood a few paces behind him. Gobber's mouth was wide as he continued to gawk at his daughter. After all these years he could finally see her face and know she was safe. He caught Hiccup's eye who smiled and raised his eyebrows at him, as if that could express just how crazy this all was. Gobber walked over to the young pair and smiled at Malie widely before encasing her again in his iron grip hug. Hiccup chuckled again as she watched Malie's face as she was engulfed. It seemed that she wasn't as comfortable with this contact as she had been with her dragon friends. She looked at Hiccup over her father's shoulder and giggled herself.

"I can't begin to tell you how long I've waited for this day," Gobber expressed as he let go of his daughter. She responded with a smile.

"I missed...y-you," she replied slowly, taking her time to carefully say each word just right.

"Ha haaa," Gobber exclaimed excitedly slapping his knee with his good hand, "now onto Berk. We're taking you home!"

The excited yell from him startled the dragons who came over to their respective riders.

"Berk?" Malie said looking slightly confused. She squinted her eyes and paused as her dragon came and placed it's snout on her shoulder lightly. It's eyes had now returned to the block white colour. She raised her hands and places her small delicate fingers over its snout reassuringly.

"Berk," She said more confidently, recognising the word, "Island of Berk!"

Gobber laughed again in euphoria before erupting into an excited monologue.

"Yes! The island of Berk, your home, the place where you come from. You remember, well of course you do. Ah, this is great," Gobber carried on but Hiccup drifted off looking at Malie whose eyes were wide watching her ecstatic father.

Hiccup was so excited for the man, this was it; this was what he had waited for all of these years. He was so happy that he'd been able to help him find his daughter. Looking at him now, there was a huge smile on his face; a smile that Hiccup hadn't seen in some time, a mixture of extreme joy and pride. Toothless came and stood next to Hiccup nudging his side. Hiccup glanced down at his dragon who's mouth was open in a toothless smile. He nudged the dragon back playfully.

His attention turned back to the father and daughter in front of him as Gobber finished.

"So you'll come back, with me...with us?" He exclaimed placing a hand on Hiccup's shoulder and pulling him closer.

Malie smiled looking between the two men, before smiling and nodding excitedly.

"Yes," She replied slowly.

The three left the cave lead by Malie, who seemed to know the volcano inside out. Beckoning them towards her, she showed the two men through tunnel after tunnel, each one getting further and further away from the golden glow of magma, becoming darker and more sinister as they made their way. The walls returned to the holey drippy forms that Hiccup had seen upon first entering the cave and the light was minimal casting dark shadows over the group. Ahead of them, all he could see was blackness, he could only hope that Malie knew exactly where she was going.

Each member of their group was flanked by their corresponding dragon, Hiccup decided to step back and let father and daughter spend a little time catching up. He watched as they walked along next to one another, each with a dragon to the other side of them. Hiccup couldn't help but watch the girl in front of him. The way she moved was different to anything he'd ever seen even though it was almost pitch black. She was so light on her feet, taking to her tip toes from time to time as she strolled about the caves seeming as comfortable as she could have possibly been. When the cave got tighter she'd casually brush her hands over the walls and stretched up to the rocky ceiling above them to touch them lightly, as if it was some habit she'd picked up. She continued to speak to her father in her strange accent, letting him provide most of the conversation as her Nordic was still pretty rusty, replying with the odd 'yes' or repeating a word she recognised. Hiccup was surprised at how much his name was popping up; it seemed Gobber was filling her in on the events of five years ago when dragons had finally found peace on Berk. Hiccup also noticed her dragon. Although it continued to playfully budge her from time to time, it still didn't seem entirely comfortable. It wasn't uncommon. From his experience meeting all kinds of new dragons over the past few years it had been commonplace for a dragon to be cautious around humans for a while and surely he and Gobber were the first one's that it'd seen in years.

Suddenly, Hiccup felt a breeze fly down the tunnel past them. He looked ahead of them to see a light. Finally, he thought. After what seemed like an eternity in this mountain he was ready to see the sky again.

He followed behind Malie and Gobber as they walked out into the open air shielding his eyes briefly to protect them from the sudden change in light. Moving his hand away from his face, Hiccup saw that they'd come out onto a completely different side to the mountain. Here, there were no dusty cliffs, no clouds of ash and no unfriendly looking rock forms. Instead they stood on a pebbly beach at the base of the volcano. Turning his face around to look back up at the cliff face, Hiccup noticed just where they were. They had just exited the tunnel that, at his father's command, had been smashed into the side of the mountain; and from where the red death had made its dramatic entrance years ago. Hiccup's left leg started to tingle again and he felt a weird sense of déjà vu come over him. The jagged tooth-like hole that bore into the rock pointed menacingly to the point of the volcano.

Looking up, following the mountain's line, Hiccup's eyes reached the sky. No longer grey and stormy; in the hours they'd been traipsing through the tunnels of the volcano the storm had long moved on. Instead, what lay above them was the perfect sunset. The sky showcased an array of colours, starting high above them a deep royal blue littered with stars and a thin, pearly moon, the horizon blindingly golden, the sun still peaking out casting an ashy light over the group of vikings and dragons sending long shadows trailing out behind them. It was a beautiful evening, perfect for the flight home; it would be smooth sailing all the way to Berk.

Hiccup caught up with the pair in front of him who had walked closer towards the black ocean. Looking around them, Hiccup noticed that still, there were the remnants of the ships that had been destroyed here the last time vikings had come to the island. Pieces of eroded rope and planks of wood were strewn over the beach in messy piles where each boat and catapult had been.

"Ready?" He asked the group, turning toward them and smiling as he hopped up into Toothless' saddle.

"Ready. Come here Grumpy" Gobber confirmed as he did the same, hoisting himself up into the saddle of his own dragon.

Hiccup looked down at Malie from his seat who seemed to be looking back at him slightly perplexed. Her gaze quickly shifted downward towards Toothless' harness when he caught her eye before following it down towards his tail.

"Don't worry about that," He said reassuringly, scratching at Toothless' neck who lifted his chin and gave a cheesy grin before bouncing up to jostle Hiccup in his saddle playfully "he can still fly circles around anyone on Berk,"

Gobber chortled in the background before murmuring "Not long before Astrid catches you up though, eh, Hiccup,"

Hiccup didn't bite; it was just a tease, trying to evoke the competitor that lay almost dormant in him. It wasn't news to anyone that Hiccup didn't particularly enjoy the competitive sport that Hiccups friends had invented as teens. Dragon racing really wasn't his thing.

"Funny Gobber," he replied coolly, "but we both know that Night Furies are the fastest thing in the sky. As he spoke he looked towards Malie's dragon who stood calmly by her side. Her rider was still looking at the men on their dragons.

"Malie?" Gobber asked, "You coming?"

Her face flicked to her fathers and she nodded before turning and leaping gracefully up to her dragon in one swift motion.

"Let's go," Hiccup announced as he flicked the position of his prosthetic in Toothless' harness before they took off towards the stars. Not soon after he took off he heard the buzz of Grump's wings coming up behind him before settling at a steady pace next to him. Malie followed suit and came up on the other side of the Night Fury.

The whole flight home, Hiccup couldn't help but steal glances at Malie whenever he got the chance to. She was enticing to watch. The way that her and her dragon moved was like nothing he had ever seen. She didn't sit, but crouched on its back, on the balls of her feet, her balance infallible. It was as if she had absolutely no fear of falling, absolutely no regard for the distance between her and the raging ocean. Where Hiccup sat low to Toothless, hands on his harness, she faced the wind, her hands wandering her dragon's neck in front of her; not holding on, but just casually finding a place for them. But it wasn't just the way she sat that engaged Hiccup. The look on her face was one of absolute joy. Her wild hair and her dragon skin clothes trailing out behind her in the wind; she looked as though she was the epitome of freedom.

Suddenly he felt anxious for her. This girl, who had been free, alone for the last however fifteen years, was about to be thrown into an island so different to what she had known. Of course, they were vikings, so things weren't particularly structured but their way of life was something she really had no idea of. Of course she wasn't tied to Berk. There was nothing stopping her from leaving again.

The idea was unsettling for Hiccup. The idea of this girl ever leaving Berk. It would probably crush Gobber, but it was more than that. Malie had grown up living with dragons, she must know more about them that anybody on Berk could ever hope to. The way she'd communicated with Toothless and Grump, dragons whom she hadn't seen in years, was evidence to that. There was another level to their relationship, something that Hiccup had experienced himself with Toothless; a shared understanding, a history. There was so much he could learn from her; that could help the village and the dragons to live more harmoniously than ever before.

Watching Malie now, Hiccup was caught mid thought as she turned to face him and gave a shy smile. He returned it and watched as she quickly turned her face back forward. Through the darkness he thought he could see a small blush on her cheeks; but it was probably just the wind, the temperature had dropped dramatically since they had left, he wouldn't be surprised if he got back to Berk with frost in his hair. During the course of their flight, the sun had dipped beneath the horizon and left them in darkness, their path lit only by the moon and stars. They'd been left any source of warmth. Hiccup thought again about how he needed to get that suit on the way, it would be winter before they knew it.

Then in the distance he saw it. The giant island stuck out of the ocean, jagged and windswept, the sheer rock faces topped with plains of grass and the hundreds of little wooden houses that had flickering light pouring out of the windows. And somewhere on that island was his fuming father, presumably ready to give Hiccup the 'Chief's dos and don'ts' speak of the century.

"There she is Malie, there's your home," Gobber yelled over the wind, "You're finally home,"

Back on Berk, Stoick was just leaving the great hall. It had been an exhausting day and he was in a foul mood. There had been several meetings to attend, all regarding Alvin's imminent attack. There was so much to be ready for. Today's agenda had mainly been deciding where most of the women and children would be sheltered during the battle. It was common for attacks to be waged throughout the town and they didn't want any innocent bystanders getting hurt. It was village protocol, when the battles began, all those who weren't fighting would quickly be taken to a safe location on the island to keep them away from the carnage and keep them protected. They'd finally decided that this time, Gothi, the village elder, would take all of those not protecting Berk to the forests on the other side of the mountain, a location that could only be reached by dragon, where huts would be erected in the next few days, ready at a moment's notice to be inhabited.

Stoick rubbed his face and scratched his head under his helmet is exhaustion. On top of this hectic day, he'd been constantly worried about Hiccup. The boy had it in his mind that he was going to find Gobber's long lost daughter. How could he not see how foolish this idea was? The girl had been missing for fifteen years and had been carried off by a crazy dragon; of course she had died long ago. And worse of all he'd infected Gobber with this hope. Now Stoick was going to have to be there to pick up the pieces of his friend when they didn't find what they were looking for. Of course, there was a part of Stoick that envied his son's optimism; it would be nice to believe as he did. But what was necessary and important right now was Hiccup staying level headed. If he was going to become chief one day he couldn't afford to go gallivanting around on that dragon for days at a time to chase after a lost cause.

Lost in his thoughts, Stoick sighed to himself as he walked down the stone steps of the great hall and began to head towards his home; sleep was what he needed right now. But as he wandered the trail to his home, his path was disrupted by a mob of people charging past.

"What's going on?" He asked, concerned as to why people were charging about the village at this hour; it normally meant something bad was happening. The small group stopped and one viking stepped forward.

"Chief! Nod's been down at the main square," he began, gesturing to somebody in the group behind him who Stoick assumed was Nod, "Hiccup and Gobber are back. And there's somebody with them. A girl. They're saying it's Gobber's daughter, errm, what did they say her name was...Maddie, Menka, errr"

"Malie?" Stoick provided.

"Yea that's it chief," The young man in front of him replied, "It's Malie, she's back!"

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	9. Chapter 9

**Look who's back! It' been over a year and I've completely forgotten how rewarding writing is! Anyway I hope you enjoy!**

This was going to be interesting, Hiccup thought to himself as he, Gobber and Malie flew towards the village. Still flying over the black ocean, they approached the islands stone guardians that sat ahead of the island, their mouths glowing and shields held firm. Lights from the village itself flickered as vikings moved and worked to welcome in another night, taking their dragons back to the stable, trading for some last minute supper or bumbling to the great hall for a flagon of mead. It wasn't late, but the coming winter brought long cold nights that seemed to begin as soon as they ended.

As the space between the village and the threesome narrowed Hiccup turned to his left to see Gobber still smiling. His eyes were set on the village and anticipation radiated off of him as he prepared to reintroduce his daughter to her rightful home. He looked over his shoulder back towards Malie now, who was flying slightly behind the pair. Still hunched on her feet, she was illuminated by the light coming from the village. Her expression was difficult to read. Hiccup was sure he could see an element of excitement there, in the small smile on her lips, but the crease between her wide eyes, flickering in the light, revealed an anxiety. She noticed him turn and he smiled at her reassuringly and gestured ahead to welcome her home. Her expression didn't change and she slowly looked back towards their destination.

Hiccup pulled slightly at Toothless' harness bringing the dragon back to ride next to their newest addition.

"It's going to be alright you know. They're going to love you. One of Berk's own raised by dragons," Hiccup explained, not sure what she could understand.

Malie remained silent and looked back at Hiccup, the sound of wings beating the only sound. Her hand moved to glide across her dragon's scales.

"Right, dragons" Hiccup praised seeing Malie make the connection. He smiled at her but the concern remained etched on her face. Of course when she had last been here dragons had been killed on site. It was only rational that she would want to protect Freya.

"Things have changed a lot since you were last here. Dragons and vikings work together now. Nothing's going to hurt her,"

This was fear that Hiccup understood all too well. Before the incident with the red death Hiccup couldn't have imagined anything more distressing that Toothless being brought to the village. They'd have to show her that there was nothing on Berk for her to fear any longer.

"You ready?" Gobber called out over to Hiccup through the darkness.

"Yea," Hiccup replied flatly, anxious to what Berk had in store for them. Introducing Malie to the rest of the villagers was going to be interesting to be sure.

Day to day life on the island was fairly slow theses day. The dragon scourge now nonexistent and the threat of starving over winter minimal due to the extra land being covered to hunt, the small village's only threat was other vikings. Other vikings who were still oblivious to Berk's scaly companions. This being so whenever anything new came around, people had a tendency to become slightly maniacal. Whenever trader Johann came to the docks, people would gather in their masses and crowd the little boat as they picked through his knick-knacks for hours, studying every weapon, every new map, every piece of crockery they could get their hands on. And that time a few years back when the King and Queen of DunBroch had come to stay for their treaty signing, things had gotten slightly out of hand. Vikings on the whole, weren't really one for 'boundries' Hiccup had concluded long ago. They weren't aggressive (usually) but they had a tendency to get over-excited. Not that Hiccup could blame them, he was right there lined up with the rest of them, ready to experience anything new, anything to trade with Johann or meet with new visitors.

As the group approached the island Hiccup saw members of the tribe swarming below; a few of them looking up and pointing as their chief-to-be returned. Without a doubt his father would soon hear of his sons' arrival and come to greet them, word on Berk travelled fast.

Lowing their dragons to the ground the three found them selves in the center of the village. Men and women hurried past some leading dragons, others carrying lanterns and tools readying the village for a cold night. As they landed Hiccup noticed a few who stopped and stared at the wild-looking stranger and the foreign dragon that she was riding.

Hiccup slipped out of his saddle and turned to face the other two giving Toothless a small scratch on the head as he did. The other two dismounted, Gobber clumsily plodding to the ground and Malie slipping silently onto her bare feet. Hiccup started to think that their similarities started and ended with their blonde hair.

Following her riders dismount, Hiccup noticed Freya become agitated, her long thick tail flicking and eyes darting around. Malie looked up, pushing a long strand of hair out of her eyes and stroked the dragons scaly neck quickly, softly shushing in an effect to calm her. Hiccup made a mental note to get to know this dragon; he'd have to add a chapter to the Book of Dragons about the species. Grump on the other hand proceeded to lift off and buzz away towards the closest feeding station once his rider had given him a soft pat to the snout.

Some of the vikings passing the group started to slow and turn their attention towards the threesome who stood together in the middle of the path. Hiccup saw a few pointing and caught a couple words as they passed.

"-can't be who I think it is? I swear-"

"-thought she was eaten by-"

"-takes after her mother if it is her-"

"-where's she been all these-"

Looking at Malie, who stood slightly hunched with one hand still on her dragon, Hiccup noticed her eyes dancing looking at her surroundings. Her mouth hinted a nervous smile as looked up and down the structures and people around them. This must seem like a whole other world to her, Hiccup thought, fifteen years among dragons and now this.

"Okay then," Hiccup began, unsure of what they should do next, "what do we do now?"

"Errrrrr," Gobber responded slowly before picking up speed, "I want to show her everything, she'll need to see the shop, oh and meet Stoick of course and then we'll take her to the academy! Yes, she'd love that, I'm sure she could teach you all a thing or two, haha,"

Hiccup smiled at Gobber, he was so pleased for him, this must like something out of a dream to have his daughter back.

"How about for now you take Malie to the shop, show her her old home, it'll probably be something she'll recognize. I'll go and find my dad and hope he lets me tell him what's happened before he gets too mad, I'll bring him over later on, I'm sure he'll want to meet Malie,"

He looked over to her.

"Doing ok, this probably all a bit crazy?" He asked, unsure of what she'd understand.

She looked back at him wide-eyed before nodding with a smile before looking at her father. Hopefully this language barrier wouldn't be an issue to long.

"Alright Hiccup, we'll see you later," Gobber replied taking Malie hand and putting it in the crook of his left arm before starting to lead her towards the forge, Freya trailing behind them sourly.

Hiccup watched them as they walked away and watching Gobbers free arm swing wildly as he started point at building and shops along the way. Vikings around them gawping at them as they walked though the village. Their eyes then came to lay on Hiccup as they passed. Feeling slightly uncomfortable Hiccup made his way up the the Great Hall in the search for his father. Got to face him eventually, he though sighin.

"Come on bud," he muttered to Toothless and the pair started up towards the top of the village.

After a few minutes walking Hiccup saw Astrid, Fishlegs and Snotlout coming around the corner together. They all looked slightly windswept and Snotlout was covered in red scratches and cuts. Seemed as though the day at the academy had just finished.

"Hiccup," Astrid exclaimed when she noticed him. She seemed shocked to see him home so soon, "you're back,"

"Yea, just got back, heading up to see my dad now, let him know I haven't flown of the edge of the Earth"

"Where were you today Hiccup? How come you didn't come to the academy?" Fishlegs asked simply.

Hiccup looked at Astrid and smiled, grateful that she hadn't the group about his plans for today. If they'd known, it would have only been a matter of hours before the whole village, and more importantly his father, knew what he'd been up to. Now he considered it, it was probably stopped them from being followed by an angry chief and rumblehorn.

"Well-" he began.

"Urgh," Hiccup was cut off by a lound huff, "it was terrible, because you weren't there I had to partner with Hofferson, it was a complete waste of time"

Astrid swiftly gave the beefy boy an elbow to the stomach before looking back at him curiously.

"Did you find her?" She asked quietly.

Hiccup nodded.

"We did,"

"Wait," Fishlegs added, "you're not talking about that girl are you? Gobber's daughter,"

"Yea, we found her," Hiccup explained with a smile.

He proceeded to tell them all about what had happed that day as he walked with them up towards the great hall. The listened in what was mostly silence besides the odd gasp from an enthralled Fishlegs.

Reaching the outside of the hall Hiccup was finishing up his story.

"So she's here? Now?" Fishlegs asked enthusiastically.

"Yea, her and her dragon have gone over to Gobber's shop so she can settle in before meeting everyone. I just need to talk to my dad about it and then I suppose we'll be ready to introduce her to the rest of the village,"

"Her dragon?!" Fishlegs followed up, seeming even more excited. Of course it would be this that would hold the most interest to him.

"Yea, her dragon, I've never seen anything like it, we'll have to add it to the book,"

"A dragon that's not in the book of dragons?" Astrid asked curiously.

"I thought it was weird too, I mean when was the last time that thing was updated? There hasn't been a new dragon on Berk in I don't know how long"

"It was over a hundred years ago the last species were added," Fishlegs informed them.

"Well, I guess we get to add a new chapter,"

Opening the giant doors into the side of the cliff the small group of riders entered into the light and warmth of the great hall. Viking men and women sat eating and drinking at tables and benches around the pit in the center of the cavern. Huge beams between the ground and the rock ceiling standing tall between them. The loud crackling of the huge fire could be heard mixed with the chatter and laughter of Berkians who sat with the odd dragon. The hall was busy and bustling with vikings but as a glace it seemed like the chief was not here. Looking around the huge hall Hiccup saw a few familiar faces, Gothi was there the village elder. As the oldest member of the tribe she had a lot of wisdom and was respected by all on the island. Spitelout, Snotlouts father could be seen chatting with some of the warriers, mead in hand and laughing boorishly. Sat in the back of the hall with a grimace on his face was Mildew. An older member of the tribe, Milder hadn't taken kindly to the dragon population that came to live on Berk. A bitter and superstitious old man, his rants had been heard by all as he'd screamed to the chief about his discontent. 'Dragons were an omen' 'Dragons were the root of all plights on Berk'. Hiccup had to commend his father on his patience, he didn't know how he'd cope dealing with that kind of man.

As the three young vikings began winding through the tables and around the room searching for the chief, Hiccup noticed a lot of eyes on him. Obviously word had spread that he'd bought a stranger to the village. The ruckus that had been so cheerfully loud when they'd entered the hall became all but a small hushed chatter. He could hear questions being whispered between vikings.

Suddenly, Hiccup felt somebody tug on his arm and pull him like a rag doll down towards a table. It was Spitelout.

"Hiccup, words going round that you found some sort of wild woman and brought her back here, what's going on?"

So word had spread, Hiccup concluded to himself, he'd have to explain.

As he took a breath to retort to Spitelout's accusation he noticed all eyes on him.

"Hey Hiccup," Astrid interrupted, "maybe best you make the announcement now rather than later so people don't get the wrong idea"

Hiccup sighed inwardly, he might as well get this over with. Public speaking wasn't exactly his forte - yet another reason he didn't think chiefing was for him – but he didn't want people to start getting the wrong idea. He took a deep breath and spoke to the room.

"Okay. For those who didn't know, Gobber had, well, had a daughter called Malie," He began. Some of the younger vikings started to chatter quietly again in shock but were quickly silenced by Astrid's killer glare.

"Yea, she was taken in a raid about fifteen years ago. My dad told me about her and everything that had happened and I just couldn't stop thinking about it. I mean we know dragons are harmless to those who mean no threat so what would have happened to her?" He asked rhetorically gesturing his arms out towards the crowd.

"Er, Red Death?" Snotlout suddenly piped up, pushing his way to the front of the group and standing smugly, his huge arms crossed over his chest. Hiccup heard Toothless snort behind him in response to Snotlout's sarcastic tone.

"Well," Hiccup quickly retaliated, "That's what you'd think, but when Astrid and I first went to Dragon Island, we saw the kinds of food the Red Death was after. If a dragon didn't bring enough food, they were eaten themselves. It wouldn't've be happy with anything as small as a toddler, and apparently she was tiny," Hiccup saw a couple of helmets bob as vikings throughout the mob nodded in agreement, "So maybe Malie was still out there. Me and Gobber travelled there today and had a spent hours searching, and yea, long story short, we found her. She's been living amongst the dragons for fifteen years. I don't know how she did it but she's still alive," He finished with a wide smile and looked around the mass of in-awe vikings.

"So you see, this isn't some 'wild woman'," Astrid followed up on Spitelouts initial remark, "It's Gobber's lost daughter, Malie,"

Outside in the village Stoick the Vast was walking from the docks through the village after spending the last few hours working with the fishermen discussing catches and the changing of the weather. The men were sure there wasn't a lot more fishing to be done with boats; the sea would be freezing in the next few weeks leaving them stranded at the docks. Stoick was reminded again of how grateful he was that his son had helped them to see the error of their ways when it came to the dragons. Being able to continue to fish on the backs of dragons in the coming months would help ensure they wouldn't starve to death.

Reminded of his son, Stoick sighed to himself. He'd woken this morning to an empty house yet again. His initial conclusion was that his son and dragon had gone out for a morning ride but as the day wore on with no sign of his heir it only became more clear about where he had gone. The boy was convinced that Gobber's daughter was out there and as noble as his intentions were it was unlikely that he would succeed in finding any trace of her. Gobber was going to be crushed. He'd gone to find Gobber later this afternoon in the hopes of apologizing for Hiccups behavior yesterday but his friend had given him the cold shoulder. It looked like he wasn't coming out of his home at all that day. The shop was shut. Stoick understood, he knew what it was like to loose somebody you loved.

Now walking up to the great hall to take his evening meal and consult with some of the villagers he looked around to see men and women bustling about. It wasn't uncommon but the people seemed more worked up that usual. He shook it off, if it was important, the information would find its way to him.

Rubbing the bridge of his nose he tried to think of what he was going to say to Hiccup. How could his son disobey him like this? If he thought he was going to get off lightly he had another thing coming.

As he approached the great hall he walked with his head low, he was starting to feel tired, but not just that, he was beginning to feel old, aching in places he didn't know existed by the end of a long day. When he was Hiccup's age he wouldn't have broken a sweat after an easy one like today and he'd been married with a baby on the way. He was going to have to pass the torch of chiefing down to Hiccup soon enough, he just hoped his son was ready.

Not paying attention the chief was then rushed into by one of the younger members of the tribe who'd charged out of the hall and straight into the chief.

"Oh sorry chief," he said quickly.

"Watch where you're going," Stoick replied gruffly before asking "what's got you in such a hurry?"

"Hiccup, he's in the hall telling us all about this girl, Malie, he said she's Gobber's daughter and that he's found-"

The young man was cut off and pushed aside as his chief barged past and into the hall ready to confront his son. It was one thing to try and get this into Gobber's head but telling the whole village! This was Gobber's private information, Gobber who has been a confined to his home all day just after the mere mention of his daughter. This boy had some nerve.

The vikings all sat in stunned silence for a few moments as the information sunk in. It was probably the most interesting and exciting thing to happen in Berk since peace was made with the dragons. But before the silence could go on for too long, the room burst into chatter with questions being shot at Hiccup from every direction and conversations breaking out between members of the tribe. Answering best he could with his limited knowledge of exactly what Malie had been through he tried to calm the vikings but it was only a few seconds before the room was silenced by the slamming open of the hall's heavy doors.

Oh Thor, Hiccup thought to himself, this could only mean one thing.

He saw his father, red and raging, storming across the room toward his son.

"HICCUP!" He yelled across the hall. Hiccup winced at the sound of his voice. Vikings backed up out of his father's path and some of the smaller dragons cowered under tables to make way for the chief's wrath.

"How dare you come in here and start talking about Gobber's family with no regard for him,"

"Wait, Dad, listen," Hiccup tried to explain.

"No Hiccup, you listen to me. I told you yesterday and I'll tell you again, do not start getting these ridiculous ideas into people's heads, Gobber's daughter is gone. Don't do this to him again,"

"Dad, we went there today and-"

"No Hiccup I don't want to hear it, if you're going to be chief you need to starting thinking of your tribe, of what you can do to keep people safe and happy,"

"But we found her!" Hiccup almost yelled back at his father.

"Hiccup when will you learn that-" Stoick paused and took a long look at his son.

"What did you say?" He asked.

"We found her, me and Gobber. We went to dragon island and found her there,"

Stoick was speechless.

"Her and Gobber are at the shop now,"

There was a pause but a viking in the silent crowd spoke up.

"It's true chief, I saw her not long ago, walking towards the forge with Gobber. She looked a mess, covered in dirt, no boots and a huge mess of hair, but I don't think it could have been anybody else,"

Stoick kept his eyes on his son who squirmed uncomfortable under his gaze. His face stern and creased. He let out a soft 'hmmm' before his face erupted into a smile.

"By Thor himself Hiccup," he said suddenly letting out a deep throaty laugh, "He only went and did it"

The vikings watching also burst out cheering and laughing following the lead of their chief and once again the room burst into chatter.

"So," Stoick began one the room was a bustle, "I need to see her, haven't seen little Malie in fifteen years!"

Hiccup led the way out of the hall, his father's hand proudly holding onto his sons' shoulder, Astrid, Snotlout and Spitelout following. As they left a few more vikings joined their party as they made their way to the door who were also, clearly, interested in meeting Berk's returning member.

As the group approached the forge, the windows could be seen lit up and flickering as a fire danced within the building. Laying on the ground outside, guarding her rider within, was Freya whose ears picked up as they approached. Her blank white eyes met the group with a glare and she growled quietly.

"What is that?" Hiccup heard his father exclaim as they approached the forge quietly.

"That's Malie's dragon, Freya," He explained "Oh hey, bud,"

Toothless had snuck in next to his rider and jostled his shoulder slightly.

Distracted from the dragon ahead of him, Hiccup looked around to notice that since leaving the hall quite the group of viking had gathered to meet Malie.

"Errr," Hiccup began, "I think maybe I should go first, make sure they know what they're getting into coming out here,"

"Good idea son," Stoick replied, "Probably been a while since she's seen this many people,"

Hiccup approached the closed door of the forge. Inside he could hear Gobber speaking happily and a feminine laughter. It seemed the reunion was going well. Next to him, Malie's bodyguard barked a growl. Hiccup heard somewhere behind him Toothless growl back. Inside the laughter stopped. Hiccup knocked on the door steadily.

"Gobber, it's Hiccup, the whole village is here, they want to meet Malie," He said loudly enough for the people inside to here. He heard some shuffling and mumbling and then the door opened.

Gobber filled the whole door frame and walked through the door first.

"Gobber," Hiccup heard his father say from behind him, "I heard we've got somebody to welcome back,"

"Alright everybody," Gobber said cautiously, "I'd like you all to meet my daughter, Malie"

He stood aside to let her stand next to him as she left the forge. She was smiling softly and her eyes were wide looking at the crowd ahead of her. Freya instinctively stood next to her rider protectively. Gobber took Malie's hand and led her toward the chief.

"Hiccup," she said smiling as she passed Hiccup.

Hiccup smiled back widely. Toothless then bound over, knocking several villagers out of the way, and began to lick Malie's face once again. She giggled letting go of her father's hand and quickly scratched his head and chin.

She returned to stand by her father and walked up to meet the chief. As she walked toward him she smiled and ran her hand over her face pushing the hair back out of her face. Hiccup heard a whisper from behind him.

"Just like her mother,"

Stoick nodded his head and bowed slightly before extending his hand to Malie. Hiccup watched on as she timidly put her small delicate hand in his and shook it.

Looking around Hiccup noticed the stares on the faces of the Berkians. Their wide eyes were captured by this wild girl who now Hiccup considered it would be unlike anything they had ever seen before. Now in the light of the village her soot covered face and untamed hair looked even more wild but her soft blue eyes were enough to pacify any worry that this girl was dangerous.

"It's good to have you back Malie," Stoick said softly before announcing loudly to the viking surround them, "One of Berk's has returned!"

The vikings cheered and Hiccup watched as the crowd engulfed Malie and her father, greeting her back as though she was an old friend. So many 'you look like your mother's and 'what happened to you out there's could be heard echoing through the crowd loudly as each viking got a moment with the girl.

Hiccup smiled to himself as he watched the vikings of Berk talk at Malie. He noticed her try to respond as best she could but her memory failed and often was reduced to smiling or giggling.

"Not bad, not bad at all," Hiccup heard from behind him. He shifted his eye away from the group before him so see Astrid stood with a hand on her hip, smiling widely, "you've got the makings of a chief yet," she teased. Hiccup chuckled and he looked back towards Gobber and Malie as Astrid came and stood beside him.

"Yea, can't believe we did it," he said softly.

"I can," Astrid replied, "Once you set your mind to something Hiccup, you always get there in the end,"

Hiccup looked at the girl next to him.

"Thanks Astrid," he replied simply

"And it looks like Fishlegs is having a good time," She followed up gesturing to the huge boy who was less interested in the returning member of the village than the dragon she'd bought along with her. The guy looked like he was going to faint as he excitedly pulled out the cards from a pocked in his tunic and started comparing Freya to all the dragons in his collection chucking each to the ground as it didn't fit the match.

"You're right, I think he might pass out," Hiccup responded chuckling.

"Tonight we feast!" The pair suddenly heard Stoick shout above the crowds, "to celebrate Malie's return!"

The crowd of vikings cheered again and began to disperse back towards the hall. A viking feast was never a party worth missing. Mead and food in excessive quantities and laughter the same.

The quietening scene though gave rise to a shriek through the darkness.

"STOOOOOP!" the voice began, "DON'T YOU REALISE WHAT YOU ARE DOING?!"

The crowd turned see the red faced Mildew. His sagging wrinkling features distorted into an expression of disgust and anger. His eyes shot daggers at Malie who Hiccup was impressed to notice, glared straight back. Mildew released her from his stare and stood to face Stoick.

"This girl cannot stay here," He spoke menacingly looking at his chief and slowly walking towards him. The villagers who hadn't left to start preparing the feast stopped what they were doing to listen in.

"What are you talking about Mildew," Gobber said impatiently "she's my daughter, she belongs here,"

"Daughter or not," Mildew retorted, spitting his words and pointing aggressively at Malie, "this girl is an omen sent by Odin,"

Some of the villagers chortled and giggled. Hiccup looked up to see his father rolling his eyes.

"Ey, what are you talking about Mildew," Gobber spat angrily grabbing the older man's hand that was waving in Malie's face and pushing him backward. The slight man tumbled back and fell to the ground causing another round of giggles to erupt.

"Mildew enough," Stoick said, his voice ringing with authority, "This is a night of celebration, if you're not going to join us, then leave,"

"We're not safe with her on the island," Mildew argued back, getting to his feet "Do none of you remember the legend of Hariasa?"

Hariasa? Hiccup knew that name. Growing up on Berk, every child had been told that story. Mildew continued to tell it to his audience.

"Hariasa was the Goddess of devastation, one of the many who ruled the mortal world from Asgard. She was a mighty warrier, as powerful as she was beautiful, who had fought along side Odin himself in thousands of battles. Loved by all, she was familiar with all of Valhalla and convivial with all who she met. Hundreds of years into her service however, she was forced to betray Odin in an effort to save the man she loved, a mortal man named Drakí who was sentenced to death for association with dragons. But her betrayal came too late; Drakí was killed and Hariasa was discovered plotting their escape. As a result, Odin cursed Hariasa and ensured that she would never know companionship again. She was banished to the mortal realm to live out the rest of her years in solitude amongst her lover's dragons and the curse laid upon her caused all that she touched to burst into flames. Legend spoke of her entering villages to trying to live amongst mankind, but where ever she travelled, destruction and fear followed, each new place eliminated and turned to ash,"

The tale was more of a morality tale told when Hiccup was a child to teach that dragons were not accepted by the Gods and to show misbehaving kids what happens when you betray Odin. Not really something adults would take seriously.

The vikings stood and laughed boomingly around the small credulous old man who continued to bark his warnings.

"She'll be the death of us all, raised by dragons, Berk will be burnt to the ground, you'll see!"

Hiccup looked around to see smiles and his eyes landed on Malie. Her expression had seemed so fearless when Mildew had begun his rant but it had since collapsed into something that looked more like dread.

Next to her, Gobber was red and looked about ready to tear the small man apart but Stoick lay a steady hand on his friend's shoulder and turned to Mildew.

"Mildew, we won't have this, you and I both know that the story of Hariasa is just that, a story. I think it best that you return home for the night," Stoick instructed forcefully.

Hiccup heard Mildew mumble something unintelligible under his breath before he turned and stomped up the hill towards his patch of land further up the village.

"Alright then people," Stoick announced to the remaining men and women, "We have a feast to begin!"

The villagers dispersed leaving Hiccup and Malie with their respective fathers outside the forge. Malie's face still looked fearful and she carefully placed one hand onto Freyas flank for support and the other, Hiccup noticed, was in a tight fist by her side.

"Don't worry about him, he's the village nut job, not enough bolts to make a wagon" Gobber said to his daughter, twirling his finger at the side of his head to gesture Mildew's craziness, "the village would be better off without him, eh Stoick?"

"He's a superstitious old man, but he does have his uses," Stoick replied quietly.

"Wait what do you mean has hi-" Hiccup began but he was swiftly cut off by his father.

"Anyway, back to the celebrations, I'll head up to the hall and start sorting things, come up to the hall when you're ready,"

Hiccup turned away to start back into the forge with Gobber and Malie but was stopped when he felt a strong hand on his shoulder.

"And Hiccup," his father added for only him to head, "well done for finding her, it's a good thing you didn't listen to me or she might still be out there. I'm proud of you,"

"Thanks Dad," Hiccup replied, "I'm just glad Gobber's got his daughter back,"

"Aye, this means everything to him,"

And with that Stoick headed up the hill towards the hall and Hiccup turned to see Malie and her father walking into the forge. He started to follow them but was stopped by a small tug at his shirt.

"Huh,"

He turned to see Astrid and Gothi; the latter pulling on the fabric of his tunic to get his attention.

"Hey Hiccup," Astrid started, "Gothi was thinking maybe it would be a good idea for Malie to get washed up before the feast," Gothi nodded, "A few of the women have gotten a bath set up for her already. They though she looked a little," she hesitated, "fithy. They'll be cold but it's better than nothing right?"

Hiccup hadn't really considered this. Of course it had probably been a while since Malie had had a proper wash and she did look slightly untamed with her matted hair and her dust covered face. Probably wasn't a bad idea. A cold bath at this time of night though, it was going to be freezing and chances were the scaldrons had all been put in for the night.

"Uh, yea, let's run it by Gobber,"

Hiccup and the two women entered the forge to find Gobber and Malie. It looked like they were comparing weapons, sizing up Malie's bone staff to Gobber's maces and hammers.

"Hey Gobber," Hiccup interrupted "Gothi was wondering if Malie would want to go get cleaned up before the feast,"

Gobber looked at his daughter and seemed to only just notice for the first time the state that she was in. But he looked uncertain, obviously not liking the idea of them being separated.

"We'll take good care of her Gobber, and meet you up at the hall when she's ready?" Astrid added whilst Gothi nodded in agreement.

"Uh ok, sure," Gobber replied before looking to Malie.

"Malie did you get that?" He asked.

Malie silently nodded in agreement before stepping towards a smiling Gothi and Astrid, the former taking Malie's hand into her own and leading her out the door.

Hiccup heard behind him Gobber sigh peacefully and the creak of a wood as the older man sat down at a small stool by the flickering fire. He looked up at Hiccup and smiled.

"I don't know how I'll ever thank you enough Hiccup," he said

"Don't mention it Gobber," Hiccup replied, "I'm just glad you've got each other back, it must be an amazing feeling,"

"You can't imagine, I've always wondered what it would be like to see my little warrior again, I'm not surprised she made it out there alone, even when she was little she was tough as any man I ever met, knew it from the day she was born" he paused, "Just like her mother that one. Got her looks as well," he chuckled before adding, "It's just a shame I missed her growing up,"

"But just think Gobber," Hiccup replied, "you'll have so much time now to get to know her, and just think how much she'll be able to teach us,"

Gobber laughed heartily.

"Does your mind ever take a break from dragons?" he said between chortles.

Hiccup laughed as well before the two fell into a comfortable silence.

"Oh Hiccup," Gobber quickly spoke up, "I realized earlier I don't have the room for Malie here. Every room is chock full of weapons ready for Alvin, do you know where she can stay?"

Hiccup looked around and wasn't surprised about Gobber's lack of space, every orifice was littered with hammers, maces, axes and knives.

"She can stay with us if you like," he suggested casually, "I'll sleep on the couch,"

"Thank you Hiccup," Gobber replied, "now, shouldn't we be getting up the hall, celebrations are in order don't you think?"

And with that the two headed up towards the great hall to prepare for a celebration.

**Hope you liked this chapter! Remember to review! Please and thank you!**


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