Wanted: Hiccup Haddock III

Chapter 3 (Edited)

At the table, my father and I sat across from each other, the roasted yak and bread with yak butter on our plates untouched, while Toothless was wolfing down a basket of fish by the fireplace.

There was an awkward silence as I tried to look at anything else but Dad, who was watching me. After a few moments, I decided to say something.

"Dad-"

"Hiccup-"

I stopped. "Uh, you go first." he offered. "No, no, you go..." I waved at him to go on. Why does this sound so familiar...

"Alright. About Berk's gold." I cringed, waiting for the yelling. Instead, he cleared his throat. "That was my fault too, son." My head shot up to look at him, eyes wide. "Yes, it was partly my fault too, not entirely yours. And I am still furious about that..." He paused, and looked me directly in the eye. "But I'm not mad at you."

I slowly nodded, the nervous knots in my stomach easing. "Okay, Dad." He nodded, and then forked a rather big piece of the roasted yak, chewing and swallowing before speaking again. "So, how's life at the Edge? Anything important going on?" I bit off a piece of yak and chewed, thinking of how to answer. For certain, I wasn't going to tell him about the bounty.

I decided to tell the truth. Well, half of it. I swallowed, and said as convincingly as I could, "No, other than your birthday tomorrow, there's nothing new at the Edge." I thought I said I was 'through with the lies?'

Maybe that was a lie too.

Dad smiled. "Thanks for coming, by the way."

"Of course, Dad. I didn't wanna miss it." I answered honestly this time, feeling guilty about the lie. "So," I continued. "Anything happening here? How's chiefing been?"

"Don't get me started," Dad groaned, taking a swig of his mead. "Spitelout has been absolutely-"

"Oh no," I chuckled, glancing up at him. "What happened now?"

.          .          .

After listening to a tirade of Stoick's complaints about Spitelout, I trudged up the stairs to my room, exhaustion blurring my vision. When I reached my bed, I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

.          .          .

The next morning, Gobber came over to cook breakfast for Dad's birthday, since he had taken the day off from smithing. I managed to cook a decent cake, flavored with fruits and honey. Thankfully, Dad seemed to enjoy the meal all the same. Or maybe he was pretending---I'm not sure, you can't tell with Stoick (hence his name.)

Dad had also taken the day off from chiefing, or rather Gobber "convinced" him to take the day off. Despite his great dislike of him, Dad swallowed his pride and chose Spitelout to be temporary chief. After that, Dad said he wanted to spend the day with me, Gobber, and Skullcrusher.

We went fishing for a good chunk of the day, managing to catch a basket of salmon, cod, and even one eel (which we released.) Gobber went home, exhausted, and Dad and I went flying, racing against the wind.

We joked around at dinner, which was cooked fish, rye bread, and special mead. I didn't touch this, because the last time I had this particular kind of mead (which the twins snuck into my cup as a joke), I wound up puking my guts out and spending the next day in bed with a throbbing headache.

Now, it was late at night, and I was reading The Book of Dragons, leaning against a sleeping Toothless, when I heard a door creak open. I looked up, warily looking about the room. You're just hearing things. You should go to bed.

Shaking off the nervous feeling creeping down my spine, I marked the page and closed the book, getting up to stretch. My back turned to blow the candle, I heard a growl from Toothless. I gasped, seeing a dart in Toothless's side. "That oughta keep him calm." A rough voice said. I whirled around, and saw the shadow of a man in the doorway.

"I've been looking for you." The rough voice said. Before I could reach for Inferno, I felt a sharp needle pierce my unprotected neck. My hand clamped on the dart, but I wasn't quick enough to pull it out. A wave of heavy sleepiness overtook me, causing me to collapse. My eyelids closing fast, I looked up and saw a hulking figure looming over me. After that, I saw black.