A few months later

They had done it.

They'd finally found Hiccup and Astrid again.

Currently, there was a small number of ships who had volunteered to come to the so called Island, sailing towards it. They'd be there in less than a day's time and Stoick felt multiple feelings all at once.

He felt a small bit of warmth build up in his heart at the prospect of seeing his son again. But he was also anxious. Last time he had seen his son, Hiccup had made it seem like he didn't want to see him, but could he blame him? It was his fault after all. He just hoped that he could show his son that he really wanted to make amends. If not now, Stoick dreaded to think that it would never happen. 

Gobber came to his side, "So, what are ya goin' to say ter him when you actually see him?"

"I guess the first thing I have to do is say sorry to him, don't I? And then we'll see because, if I'm being honest Gobber, I don't think he'll forgive me that easily."

"Don't be too sure of thah Stoick," he patted his friend on the back, "I knew thah boy just as well as you did. An' if I know one thing abou' 'im, i's thah he is more forgivin' than yer think."  

"How can you know?"

"Well. He forgave Astrid for ignorin' 'im all those years, di'nt he?" Stoick's eyes widened in realisation because he was right. If he was Hiccup, he wouldn't of forgiven her. But his son was too soft for his own good. 

He reminded him of Valka.

At the Island the next morning.

Hiccup opened his eyes to find a pair of huge green eyes staring at his face intensely, before proceeding to lick his face.

"Argh. Toothless. Why?" He asked, trying to wipe his face.

"I'm washing your face. Don't you do that at this time?" He replied with a smug smile.

"I hate you," Toothless stuck his tongue out.

Astrid came into the room with two cups and some cut fruit.

"Toothless, go downstairs. There's some salmon for you. You better eat it all or we're not going for a flight today."

"Okay moom." Astrid just laughed and shook her head as she watched the dragon happily bounce out of the doorway and down the stairs.

"Come on you big baby. It's time to get up," Hiccup just replied with a groan and placed his pillow over his head. Astrid rolled her eyes and walked towards his side of the bed, setting down the tray and pulling the pillow away from him. He looked at her with a sheepish smile whilst she stood there, hands on her hips, staring- maybe glaring- at him. He knew this wasn't a battle he would win.

"Ugh fine," he kicked the blanket off and swung his leg over, reaching for his prosthetic, "Any word from mum?"

"Yes actually," she passed a cup to him, "She said that they might be back earlier than expected. It seems that the group of trappers they found aren't particularly intelligent."

Valka and Sigyn had gone on a trip together to bring back a hoard of dragons that had been trapped recently. They hadn't gotten any letters from them in the past week, so Hiccup had begun to grow worried. However, everything seemed to be in order and it looked like they were coming home soon.

Hiccup stood up and walked to the cupboard, reaching out for his flight suit, finally ready to start the day.

A few moments later

"Wooooohooo. Yeaah Baby!" Hiccup screamed in glee. He loved flying. A gust of wind in the wrong direction made him look behind him to see his fiancé laughing at him.

"Catch us if you can losers. First one to the beach wins," he grinned.

"Oh you bet we will. You know what to do bud."

Toothless grinned sinisterly and squinted his eyes, before adjusting his good tail and racing forward. He folded his wings slightly, building up the speed and gaining a boost against the wind. Astrid and Stormfly were still ahead but the duo were quickly levelling with them. Astrid looked behind and her smile dropped as she saw how close they were. She whispered something to Stormfly which seemed to make her go faster than ever and she smirked again. The sudden speed they were gaining had clearly confused the two behind them and Toothless had paused for a second, only to focus again and fly even faster. They were again, quickly reaching the other two until they were neck and neck with the Nadder and her rider. they would of surpassed them too if it weren't for the Rumblehorn that had flown next to them.

"Uhh Sire," Eret said.

"Not now Eret. I'm a bit busy. Go faster bud"

"I know Chief but I just came back from patrol and I think you should know what I saw."

"Can't this wait Eret?" he asked fustrated. Astrid was ahead again, "Come back in about 5 minutes."

"I'm not sure it can wait that long," Hiccup looked at Eret, "We have some unwelcome guests. And you're really not going to like who they are."

Whilst Eret spoke, Astrid could see the beach. What was usually a calm and empty sea had now been filled with fleets of boats which were taking dock at land. Stormfly was startled at the sight and all of a sudden, Astrid was in the air and screaming for Hiccup.

Hiccup jumped at the sound of her voice and instinctually, he clicked Toothless's tail and they were diving for her. She was reaching out for them but she was too far. Without warning, he put Toothless on auto flight and leapt off the dragon, spreading his own wings.

"I'm coming Astrid."

Finally being able to reach her, he clasped her hand and pulled her towards himself as they plummeted towards the ground. 

Luckily, Stormfly was able to recover from her fright and landed before pouncing off the sand, engulfing the two in her wings. They were spinning and they were out of control.

And then they crashed.

Hiccup and Astrid rolled out of Stormfly's wings and ended up on the sand, Hiccup on top of Astrid.

"I-uh,"

"Uhh sorry,"

"Heh uhh this reminds me of uhh,"

"Of when I got blinded huh,"

"Yeah," Hiccup blinked and they both blushed in embarrassment. It was very rare nowadays that they felt shy with each other.

"Sorry. She got frightened," Astrid said, trying to reduce the awkwardness between them. It seemed to work.

"Do you know why?" he rolled off of her and sat up, pulling her up with him.

"Oh Thor. I almost forgot. We have some unwelcome guests. Stormfly got startled by them."

"Eret said that too but who are they?"

Eret, who had been standing next to them for a few moments had cleared his throat, "That's what I've been trying to tell you Chief. It seems like the guests are from Berk."

Hiccup and Astrid stood up abruptly and simultaneously exclaimed, "What?"

Stormfly and Toothless walked towards them and Astrid quickly checked over her dragon, making sure she was okay.

The sound of horn caused them to turn their heads towards the ships and they watched as anchors were thrown onto the land and with it, the leader of the Hooligan tribe and his council.

"Great. Just great. This is just what I need today."

"Hiccup. It's okay. You can do it. You have the upper hand. You are the Chief so you have the power here. They can't make you feel inferior in the place you belong."

"You're right Astrid."

"And besides. If they try anything, I will not hesitate to set stormfly on them and blow their ships apart."

"Let's try not to go that far m'lady."

"I can't make any promises."

Hiccup grabbed Astrid's hand, head held up high and they walked together to meet their unwelcome guests.

Sorry this is late. I kind of forgot it was Saturday today. And then I was bombarded with things to do. But they're done now so I found time to write this.
Next up Surprises and surprises.
Since it's the holidays, I might post twice a week for the next few weeks.
Bug out Sky Riders 👋.