Stoick sighs when he finishes reading the letter. Feeling an oncoming headache approaching, Stoick rubs his forehead.

"What is it this time?" Stoick looks up when he hears Gobber; he stands before him in the vacant Great Hall. Not saying anything, Stoick slides Gobber the letter that arrived earlier that morning. Stoick watches at Gobber reads the letter, his facial expression remains blank

Finally, when he reaches the end, Gobber looks pale and puts the letter on the table. "He is dead."

Stoick nods, "Yea. Still no other word as to who killed him." Staring off into the distance Stoick continues on, "What am I supposed to do Gobber?"

"I understand why you don't want to go out searchin'," Gobber starts as he walks around the table to sit in the seat next to Stoick, "not after what happened five years ago, but you can't let that stop you from what needs to be done."

"I can't send people out looking for that man. It would be another suicide mission," Stoicks says regretfully, although, he knows his argument is weak. Gobber is right, he can't let past events affect his duties as a chief. He has to protect his people. Sitting idly on Berk, and fearing what'll happen if he sends out a search party, will only get more people killed. "However, I do see your point."

"Good, because I already sent out letters to the surrounding islands for a chief's meeting. They should be here in about a week," Gobber says, standing up from his seat, a smirk on his face. Though it disappears when he turns back to Stoick. "Oh and Stoick," he says, his voice somber. Stoick looks up at Gobber.

"I miss him too."

-----00-----

Snotlout is thrown to the ground, landing on his stomach. Astrid presses her foot into Snotlout's back while pulling his arm behind his back.

"Ow, ow, ow. Ok, ok, I give. Now let me up," Snotlout whines from the sharp pain in his shoulder. When Astrid releases him, the two snickering twins laugh at his misfortune and failure.

"Your form is weak. You keep getting distracted. You can't let your opponent distract you or you will be killed," Astrid tells him in a firm voice.

"I wasn't distracted!" Snotlout snaps, crossing his arms defensively, "I just wasn't ready..." He adds in a slightly quieter tone. The twins start cackling at his coverup.

"Yea, you weren't ready to get your ass handed to you," Tuffnut laughs. He doesn't pay attention to the two glares that are sent his way.

"It doesn't matter. When you are in the middle of a battle, you always have to be ready. You can't let your guard down," Astrid states when it becomes obvious the twins won't shut up. "Now, let's start again," Astrid gets back into stance, but Snotlout shifts nervously.

"Uh... Can't we take a break?" From the glare that is sent his way, he knows that he won't be getting a break anytime soon.

That is until Fishlegs comes barreling into the arena, with Meatlug not far behind. His face is red from exhaustion. When he stops in front of Astrid and Snotlout, he bends over, hands on his knees as he tries to catch his breath. Snotlout lets out a breath of relief when Astrid turns her attention to Fishlegs.

"Fishlegs, what is it?" Astrid asks, confused as to why Fishlegs ran all this way to the arena.

"C-chief... me-meeting... A c-chief meeting," He huffs out when he can finally get air into his lungs. He then stands up straight, still looking winded.

"What?" The four say simultaneously.

"Stoick scheduled a meeting with the chiefs in our alliance," Fishlegs informs them, a scared look on his face.

"Wh-what? Why?" Snotlout asks, quickly approaching Fishlegs.

"A few nights ago, a chief of an island-a few days trip from here-was killed in the middle of the night," Fishlegs tells them, his face turning white. Nobody says anything as they wait for him to continue. "That chief was planning on joining our alliance. However, before they could start their trip here, he was assassinated."

"Wait, how did you hear this?" Astrid says, giving Fishlegs a stern look.

He sheepishly looks away from the group, "I may or may not spend my free time looking into some things."

"When are the Chiefs supposed to get here?" Astrid asks Fishlegs, not pressing for any more details about what he does in his free time,  for she doesn't want any part in that.

"In a few days."

"And what exactly are they going to talk about in the 'meeting'?" Ruffnut asks.

"Stoick plans on setting up a search party with the other villages."

All goes quiet as the teens process these words, knowing nothing good will come out of this.