Uhm ya, School started back up and all the craziness happened. But by now Y'all should know I don't hold myself to update times...maybe I should be better for y'all cause ya get better updates...but uhm ya, blame my love for video games and the crazy business that is life for how long these take to get out. Anyways, on to Chapter 19! Thought I should point it out but the date is late August 1990. Also, thank Narniaqueen for convincing me to post this now rather than later.

"So how do you think that went?" Ragnar asked Hiccup as they walked through the village, away from the Great Hall and towards the forest from which they came.

"Well, we got them to accept it so that's a good sign," Hiccup responded, not paying much attention to Ragnar but to the surroundings as something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.

"Hiccup?" Ragnar asked, noticing that he was looking off to the side.

"The gang is following us. To our 7 o'clock trying to hide behind the buildings."

"I see them. Are we going to disappear on them?" Ragnar smugly asked Hiccup as they kept walking.

"Of course we are." The two continued to walk towards the forest, waiting for their moment to disappear. They soon had it as the gang walked behind a building just as they passed behind a group of villagers. Hiccup and Ragnar both stopped and took off running to the right, quickly getting behind a nearby cluster of buildings and then into the forest from there.

It was then that the gang peeked out from around the building that they went behind.

"Where did they go?" Snotlout asked as they all looked for the pair.

"We lost them, think they saw us?" Fishlegs asked.

"They must have, but how did they notice us?" Ruff started.

"We are like the masters of stealth!" Tuff ended, causing Fishlegs to facepalm. It was then that they noticed Astrid wasn't with them but had gone off on her own. She indeed had left the group, who had been quite loud for trying to quietly follow somebody. She noticed the two strangers duck behind a building to avoid the gang before running into the forest.

They kept running through the forest, snickering among themselves after seeing the surprised looks on the gang's faces.

"Oh man, that was good." Hiccup said as they slowed to a walk after running for about a minute into the forest.

"That it was," Ragnar responded to him as he patted him on the back. "Back to Wraith and Toothless?"

"Race you there!" Hiccup said as he took off in a sprint towards the cove.

"You wish you could beat me!" Ragnar yelled at him before also taking off in a sprint to catch up. Astrid however, not expecting them to take off was left in the dust accidentally by the pair as they raced away. She tried to follow the pair, but as they got farther into the forest the pair got further away until she eventually lost sight of them. She then climbed up on a nearby boulder to try and find them but couldn't.

"Son of a Half-Troll." She shouted as she slammed her hand against the rock in frustration before turning around and heading back towards the village.

Both dragons perked up as they heard their riders come sprinting into the cove practically neck and neck.

"I so beat you, Ragnar!" Hiccup exclaimed as they came to a stop just inside the entrance to the cove.

"In your dreams Haddock, I clearly won that race buy a good foot!" came the response.

"It was a tie." they both heard from one of the dragons.

"Oh come on, there is no way we tied," Ragnar said as they caught their breath.

"Well, you better believe it cause it's true," Toothless said as the two Night Fury's stayed parked where they were.

"Really?" Hiccup asked.

"YES!" Both Toothless and Wraith said at the same time as the boys reached them and flopped down onto the ground, leaning up against their own dragon.

"So how did it go?" Wraith asked the pair.

"It went well, all things considered. They accepted the embassy but I'm not sure everybody was excited about it." Ragnar responded to him.

"Nobody recognized you then?" Toothless said to Hiccup as the boy started to rub the Fury's head.

"No, honestly I thought Snotlout would when he tried to take my sidearm," He responded. In a flash, Toothless was up and sniffing up and down the boy as if trying to find something on him.

"Toothless!" Hiccup protested as said dragon started to lick the boy from his waist to his head. "Ugh, Toothless!" It was then that Toothless stopped and looked down at his rider, now covered in in Night Fury saliva, before nodding and laying his head on Hiccups chest.

"Oh, come on Toothless! You know that doesn't wash out."

"That's the point!" Toothless responded to the human that was trapped beneath his head. It was then that the two heard some snickering from where Ragnar and Wraith were standing.

"We should get moving, we don't know if anybody is out looking for us or not," Ragnar said as they finished playing around and letting off some of the steam that had built up from being in the village.

"Okay," Hiccup said, following Ragnar to the other side of the Cove to help pack up his gear.

"So where are we going to go?" Toothless asked as the two teens started to strap their gear onto the saddles.

"We could camp out on one of the sea stacks, nobody ever goes out there due to the rocks and since they can't fly they can't get to the top like we can," Hiccup suggested, "It will also allow us to stay close to observe how Berk reacts."

"Good idea Hiccup, you two lead the way," Ragnar motioned as they got onto their saddles and were soon in the air, heading towards the sea stacks where Hiccup and Toothless had almost crashed after while learning to fly almost three and a half years ago.

"Why don't you go set up camp while I radio command and let them know everything is a go," Ragnar said while getting the long range DSCS radio turned on which would allow him to radio back to Anders AFB.

"Base, Fury One how copy over?"

"Fury One, Base. We read you five by five."

"Copy that. The Berkians have agreed to host an embassy and are expecting the airdrop in one week, repeat, one week from this date."

"Base copy's all Fury One. You are clear to stay in the area until the embassy is built and the ambassador is moved in. After that has happened you are to return to Base."

"Understood, Fury One out." Ragnar finished with the radio and turning it back off.

Hiccup took a seat as Ragnar set the radio down. Sighing, he removed his mask and held it in his hands, staring down at it, lost in thought. Ragnar crossed his arms and leaned against a tree.

"Hey, what's up Hiccup?"

"Nothing."

"Oh come on. Your mind's a million miles away. What's going on?"

Hiccup shifted, sighing again wearily. "It's just...well I guess seeing everyone again just brings back old memories. And my father...."

"You haven't seen them in years."

"That doesn't mean that the memories have gone away," Hiccup snapped back at Ragnar.

"You're right; I guess I just don't know what to do or say. I never thought it would be so...strange coming back here." He paused and forced a laugh. "Actually I never thought I'd be back here ever again."

"Well we are back here, I know it's not the best situation but it's the one we have been given."

"Oh lighten up, hiccup it's not that bad," Toothless said a fish in his mouth. "I think it's pretty great here, I mean all the fresh Icelandic Cod a dragon could want. Plus the three of us are here with you, so does it matter where we are as long as we are together?"

Hiccup turned to face him. "Ya well, I don't really eat Cod."

Toothless, Wraith and Ragnar all looked at him. "Yes, you do!"

"Oh."

"Ok Hiccup, come on. I know you're feeling down but Toothless does make a point. We're here so we might as well enjoy it. We won't be here forever."

"Yes, we will," hiccup answered glumly. "Don't you see? This place is like a whirlpool of death and destruction that nobody can escape from. I tried to get away but I'm back here again."

Toothless threw a fish at him that knocked the boy off his rock.

"Hiccup, you do realize we can fly out of here whenever we want, right?"

Hiccup groaned as the fish landed on his face while he was on his back. "Whatever you say. If that's the case then why don't we just leave now?"

"You know why, we are under orders to observe Berk for one week until the ambassador arrives."

"Oh, I've spent my whole life observing berk. Trust me, there's nothing much to see. You've seen one dragon killing culture, you've seen them all."

"Ok mister cultural observer, how will Berk react to the news that they are centuries behind technologically and are only a small part of a large world?"

"They won't; knowing my dad he won't tell anybody about that just that there is a new tribe that they are allying with."

"Alright alright will ya keep it down over there? Some of us have the good sense to try and get some sleep." Wraith shouted from the corner.

"Oh hush you, it's not even that late and aren't you supposed to be a nocturnal dragon anyways?" Ragnar teased the dragon before heading over to his tent.

Hiccup remained where he was for a little while longer. In a few moments, he could hear the sound of Ragnar snoring. He stood and walked to the edge of the cliff, looking out towards berk. All the stars seemed to point in that direction. As he gazed out into the dark sky, his mind seemed to be flooded with memories from the past. He remembered his times with his friends, with Astrid, with his father...even if he were to take off his disguise, would his village still treat him the same way that they had? Would they even recognize him? He had changed so much over the past couple years and it seemed that berk had hardly changed at all.

No matter what happened, at least he had his three best friends with him now. Hiccup fell asleep by the edge of the cliff and dreamed about the old times.

*pokes head out from bunker and waves a white flag* we give up, you can have this chapter. please don't kill us! Well if they kill us then no more chapters, TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT! *gets hit with a rubber bullet and goes down like a sack of potatoes* wellll that's that then. Hopefully, he comes around so we can write chapter 20. But seriously thank you for all the support guys! We're having a great time writing this story and we're super glad you're enjoying it. Ok, that hurt. 

And now to start chapter 20. Jethro, more coal for the furnace!

Semper Fi,

Thearizona