The arena is silent; nobody moves.

Hiccup is still, processing what he had just done. His hand is empty, the sword that once occupied that hand is now buried in the chief's chest. He doesn't know if the chief is dead, but Hiccup doesn't really want to find out.

He feels numb. His heart is pounding harshly inside of his chest; sweat drips off his eyebrows. He doesn't wipe it away. He doesn't move.

Astrid stands in front of him, her back to Hiccup. He sees her shaking slightly. Most likely because he just held a sword to her throat and almost killed her.

It may have been what Astrid said that broke him from the chief's control, but Hiccup starts to wonder if Astrid's claims will remain true.

He did almost kill her.

He wouldn't blame Astrid if she decided that he wasn't worth trying to fix.

He knows that he is a screw-up.

He is aware of all the things he has done these past few years.

He has killed a lot of people.

Why would someone like Astrid actually want someone like him?

He's a monster.

Astrid lets out a deep breath, and she turns around to face Hiccup. Her posture and expression radiate caution. "Hiccup?" She says softly. She walks forward but stops when Hiccup flinches.

She sighs and reluctantly turns around. "Is Viggo dead?" She yells up to the others.

The larger boy with blonde hair - Fishlegs, his mind supplies - stands up from his kneeling position and nods to Astrid. His face is pale, yet he looks conflicted.

"Wait," the stocky raven-haired boy - Snotlout - starts, looking around desperately, "Where did Ryker go?"

Ryker.

The commander.

The chief's brother.

Hiccup remembers him.

Ryker and Viggo never really got along too much. Usually, after they dealt out Hiccup's punishments, he would hear the two brothers arguing. Ryker always said how he wasn't getting the respect he deserved, and that Viggo doesn't deserve all the power that was handed to him.

Ryker always said that if he were able to, he would leave his brother behind.

And Hiccup allowed him that chance by killing Viggo.

"He's gone," Hiccup says, drawing everyone's attention.

"What? How do you know that?" Tuffnut asks, suspicious. Ruffnut smacks her brother upside the head.

Hiccup tells the others about what he had heard from Ryker over the years, but he doesn't tell them anything more than what they need to know.

The teens make their way down to the ground level; Hiccup notices that they keep glancing over at him. They look a little wary.

It shouldn't bother Hiccup as much as it does.

"So, what now?" Snotlout asks.

"Now, we find our dragons and we go back to Berk. Stoick needs to know what happened. " She briefly glances at Hiccup, he tries to ignore the subtle gesture.

Tuffnut and Ruffnut start leading the way out of the arena, and the others follow the twins.

But Hiccup stays behind.

He has to leave.

Disappear.

"Are you coming?" Astrid is standing in front of him, concern in her bright blue eyes.

Hiccup takes a step back and shakes his head. "No," he states. "I can't."

"Wha- Hiccup, everybody back on Berk will be so happy to see you again! Especially your father," Snotlout exclaims; he walks up to Hiccup.

"You don't understand. I can't go back. I've hurt too many people. And from what little I remember, your people weren't too thrilled to have me around."

"Our people." Astrid's voice is stern, but her eyes are kind.

Hiccup doesn't deserve to be approached with kindness.

He doesn't know how to deal with compassion. All that he has felt over the years is pain. And to him, pain is a familiar concept.

"I almost killed you. You almost died because I care for you. I'm dangerous. You don't know what I have done to people; what I could have done to you all. It's best for you guys to leave and don't look back." Hiccup starts backing away. "Don't look for me."

"Hiccup, I made a promise to myself that I ever have that chance, I would apologize for everything that I ever did to you. For leaving you behind." Snotlout sighs and looks away. Hiccup gets the feeling that Snotlout isn't good with dealing with his emotions. "Well, now I have that chance. So I am very sorry, Hiccup. I've hurt you, taunted you, beat you. I left you behind," Snotlout breaths in deeply and looks into Hiccup's eyes. "But I refuse to leave you behind now."

Hiccup isn't sure what to say.

"Yea, man. We came all this way because Dagur knew something about you. Well, about the assassin. Which turned out to be you. And instead, we found you." Tuffnut says, walking up next to Astrid and Snotlout. Ruffnut and Fishlegs soon join in.

Hiccup feels overwhelmed.

He knows that there is no way that he can win against them all.

Hiccup sighs, defeated.

"Okay, I'll go back to Berk with you."

-----00-----

Hiccup ends up leading the others to where their dragons are being held. He spent a lot of time mapping out the hideout and finding all the hidden rooms. So finding where the dragons were wasn't too difficult.

He watches as they all happily reunite with the dragons. He feels a pang of jealousy; however, he can't place why.

Eventually, Astrid turns back to face Hiccup. She gives him a confused look. "Where's Toothless? Viggo mentioned that he was here."

Toothless.

He racks his mind over and over again, trying to fit the pieces together, but he comes up blank.

Hiccup frowns, looking at the teens' hopeful faces. "I-I... I don't..."

Tuffnut and Ruffnut gasp in an overexaggerated manner. "You don't remember Toothless? He was an awesome Night Fury! He flew really fast and was very protective of you." Tuffnut states.

A sleek black dragon with bright green eyes blasts a hole through the chain cage of the arena. He fights the Monstrous Nightmare back and stands protectively in front of the small Viking.

"I screwed up. I should have told you before now. Take this out on me, but please... Don't hurt Toothless." "The dragon? That's what you're worried about? Not the people you almost killed?!" "He was just protecting me! He's not dangerous."

A great inferno. A club tail. Pain. A black dragon desperately tries to reach the unconscious Viking.

The memory is barely there, and Hiccup desperately tries to keep his grasp on it.

"Hiccup," Astrid says, walking up to the man. "Are you okay? You kinda zoned out for a moment."

He nods. "Yeah. I'm fine." He turns to the doorway and walks out. "Follow me."

Hiccup leads them through a series of passages until they reach a familiar dark passage. Hiccup stops at the beginning of the passage, that familiar pull returning.

"Are you sure he is down that passage?" Snotlout asks, voice high and shakey.

"Yea. I explored this passageway only once, and I found a large cage at the end of it."

"Ooh, Snotlout... are you scared?" Ruffnut teases.

Snotlout scoffs at her, crossing her arms. "Pfft, no. I'm not scared."

Tuffnut shoves the torch into Snotlout's arms, a smirk on his face. "Then why don't you lead the way, Snotman?"

Snotlout gulps but doesn't back down. He slowly starts making his way down the passage.

At the end of the passage lies the cage, just as Hiccup remembered it. And behind it held the black dragon with the bright green eyes. The others walk closer to the cage, but Hiccup stays behind, wary.

The dragon sniffs the air, and then his pupils instantly dilate when he recognizes who is in the room with him.

"Oh my Thor! It's Toothless! He's okay!" Fishlegs shouts, relieved.

'Toothless' yips and bounces around his cage. He seems to be unharmed. Hiccup wordlessly gives Astrid the key to the cage and she unlocks it. The dragon runs out of the cage, a toothless smile - Hiccup feels realization dawn upon him - on his face, tongue sticking out in joy. Astrid laughs and scratches his neck. The dragon purrs and leans into her touch.

When Astrid pulls away, Toothless sets his eyes on Hiccup. The dragon slowly approaches the brunette, but he stumbles backward, uncertainty and a little bit of fear gripping at his chest.

The Night Fury notices this and looks away, sad that his friend doesn't recognize him.

He closes his eyes and bows his head. A somewhat backward yet familiar gesture.

Nobody says anything. They watch Hiccup watch Toothless.

Hiccup stares at Toothless, trying to figure out what is so familiar about this dragon.

Hiccup sits at a rock in the cove, stick in hand, sketching in the sand. It's a picture of Toothless.

Toothless walks up behind the human, watching him draw. Hiccup takes notice of his presence, but he doesn't acknowledge him. He doesn't want to scare him off.

Toothless then walks and comes back with an entire sapling. He starts to draw lines in the sand; Hiccup watches, mesmerized. Toothless drops the tree, and he stands back to inspect his work.

Hiccup stands and admires the scribbles, amazed. He takes a step forward and accidentally steps on one of the lines. Toothless's reaction is instantaneous. Toothless growls at the small Viking until he steps off the line.

Hiccup steps on the line again, and Toothless growls at him yet again.

He realizes how sensitive the dragon is so he carefully steps in between the lines. He turns round and round, careful not to step on the lines until Hiccup accidentally bumps into the dragon.

Toothless snorts. Hiccup is amazed at how close they are, yet again being face to face.

Hiccup extends his hand, but Toothless hesitates.

Hiccup then turns his head away and closes his eyes, extending his hand back out.

A sign of trust.

To his amazement, Toothless bends down and nuzzles in Hiccups hand.

Then in a flash, the dragon is gone, leaving Hiccup astounded.

Hiccup's eyes widen. He extends a shaker hand and rests it on Toothless's nose. The dragon snorts and opens his eyes.

Hiccup gives a breathless laugh. Toothless purrs and nuzzles into Hiccup's hand.

Out of the corner of his eye.'c he spots the others smiling at their interaction.

Hiccup reluctantly pulls away and turns back to the others.

"Alright. I guess it's time to go to Berk."

-----00-----

The ride back to Berk was... awkward.

Thankfully they found Toothless's tail-fin in Viggo's room. But actually trying to take off was a different problem.

Hiccup knows that working Toothless's tail-fin took him a lot of practice and patience. But five years and multiple sessions of "shock therapy" doesn't help him when he tries to remember how the mechanics work.

It's probably almost a half hour that Hiccup feels comfortable going to the sky. But flying on the backs of dragons that Hiccup hasn't seen in five years along with his, supposedly, friends can get uncomfortable really quickly.

They talked about what they were going to tell Stoick about why they left and what they learned.

They also talked about how they would tell Stoick that his thought to be dead son was alive and an ex-assassin.

And by "they talked about it", it was everyone but Hiccup.

Hiccup flew next to the others, feeling very uncomfortable and awkward. He felt guilty about tagging along with them.

He felt cautious about being close to them.

What if something happened to him that makes him hurt his - dare he say - friends?

What if Ryker finds them on Berk and hurts his friends?

What if his assassin skills cause him to hurt one of the others?

What if they realize how much of a lost cause he is?

But Hiccup doesn't tell them any of this.

It's his problem.

It's something he has to deal with himself.

They shouldn't have to be dragged down with his many issues.

When they do reach Berk, it is early morning. The village is already up and about, going about their daily duties.

Hiccup feels dread settle in his stomach.

He can't be here.

He is a danger to these people.

Once they find out who he is and what he has done, he might as well be as good as dead.

Astrid suggests that Hiccup go and wait in the arena. She claimed that Gobber should be in the blacksmith all day and shouldn't stumble into Hiccup.

Hiccup was wary about this idea, but then Toothless nudged his hand with his head and he felt some of his worries lift away.

Hiccup is curious about why they trust him so easily.

He hasn't really done anything to earn their trust.

Maybe if they knew what was good for them, they would forbid him from stepping foot in their village and exile him.

Hiccup doesn't really trust himself.

But again, Hiccup doesn't have time to get worked up over his issues and is ushered to the training arena by the twins.

Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Astrid went to go found the sure-to-be-furious Stoick the Vast.

Hiccup paces as he waits for the others to enter the arena, unsure about what his fate will be.

When he and Astrid were fighting, she mentioned that Stoick was chief of the tribe.

He now holds Hiccup's fate in his hands.

Finally, they enter the arena. Stoick sounds furious as the others lead him into the arena.

Hiccup immediately stops his pacing when he spots the chief.

His father.

His name really does suit him.

He also spots a large man with a long and uneven blonde beard with a peg leg and a hammer for a hand.

Hiccup's attention is brought back to the chief when he stops yelling at the others.

He is staring wide-eyed at Hiccup, disbelief covering every inch of his face.

"Hiccup."