The Riders had already spent most of the morning on our dragons, heading out to one of the most remote islands possible. Sure, it was closer to Berk, which was kind of the point, but to fly all the way out there just for a storehouse strangely didn't seem worth it. Of course, we weren't the only ones that had to make the trip—by the looks of it, nearly the entire village back on Berk had turned up.
"Hmm. Pretty good turn out." I steered Toothless closer to Snotlout, who was beaming with pride.
"Of course it's a good turnout, Hiccup," he laughed triumphantly. "The people love the Jorgensons."
I wasn't quite sure about the validity of that statement, but Snotlout flew way ahead of the rest of us, leading the way down toward his father's latest project. Once we touched down on the actual island, I reached for Reign's hand, squeezing it and offering her a smile. We were both still quite shaken up from the incident that occurred last week, when a couple bounty hunters managed to get the jump on me. She had joked that she wasn't going to leave my side from now on, and while we still gave each other quite a lot of space, whenever we left the Edge, she kept a close eye out for anyone that might try to do something.
"Look at that! All of Berk has come out to admire the Jorgensons' handiwork!"
"Nah, everyone's just here for the free food," Tuff dismissed as his sister dumped a bunch of yak chops into her helmet.
"Nobody comes to these things to admire anything," she scoffed. Reign opened her mouth to shoot something back at the pair, but before she could even breathe, my dad stepped up onto the front platform of the storehouse and cleared his throat, demanding everyone's attentions.
"In every Viking's life, there comes a time when you have to take a chance. Risk everything." A few people had already started cheering. "Today, we celebrate a man who took the initiative. We now have a new off-Berk storehouse, thanks to— "
The doors flew open behind my dad, knocking him out of the way as Snotlout's dad came striding out confidently.
"Spitelout Jorgenson, of the great Jorgensons!" he boomed, outstretching his arms to accept the praise. Snotlout, of course, cheered the loudest, letting out his family's battle cry before pushing through the crowd, attempting to catch up with the man whose approval he so desperately vied for.
Deciding that was a more personal conversation, I decided to just focus my attention on the rest of the group. The twins were, of course, intensely focused on the food, which gave Reign, Fishlegs, Heather, Astrid, and I a chance to just talk and catch up. Thankfully, there was no mention from the rest of the group of that thing that never ended up happening at the 400th anniversary, even when Reign walked away for a brief period of time to get the two of us something to eat. I got sympathetic looks from Heather and Fishlegs, but the discussion remained tabled in case she heard anything. Besides, we all knew it was going to happen at this point—it was just a matter of when.
The opening celebration lasted for a good couple of hours, but Snotlout remained relatively lifeless throughout most of it. I could catch Reign constantly glancing at him, concerned, but she never asked what was going on. Though she was often reluctant to express it, Reign had spoken, on a few occasions, about her concern for Snotlout. His father put a lot of pressure on him, not through faith in his abilities, but in constantly demeaning him and making him feel worthless. She had seen that since she met him, not long after she arrived on Berk, and often times, her face would twist in a certain way when she heard his dad make a snide comment. Even if Reign and Snotlout fought most of the time, they were surprisingly close.

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The Great Beyond
FanfictionThree years after the end of the war with the Berserkers, Dagur the Deranged escapes from Outcast Island with a hunger for revenge against Hiccup, Reign, and the rest of the Dragon Riders. But Dagur's not the only thing out there, and as Hiccup and...