Hofferson Sisters

Grounded Riders

Five Days Later

I sat at the table in the clubhouse, looking down at my plate, picking at my breakfast. The others were doing the same. Hiccup and Daystrid still hadn't returned, and we'd found no sign of them, even after we'd expanded our search.

I slammed my fork down on the table. "We need to tell Stoick. It's been five days, no sign of them. We need help."

"Yeah," was the only response I got from all of them.

"Look. I'm not excited about this either. The Chief isn't gonna be happy, we all know that." They looked up at me. "But somebody's got to tell him.

"We're leaving for Berk in an hour." I stood up and walked out of the clubhouse.

That Afternoon-Stoick

"Hey, Chief?"

"Yeah, Gobber?" I'd just got done settling a brawl that had broken out in the town square. It's almost Snoggletog, really? What do we have to fight about?

"That the Riders?" I looked over at him. He was pointing at something flying towards Berk. As it got closer, I could make out dragons.

"Yeah. But it is almost Snoggletog, that's probably why they're here," I replied, hoping to Odin that was the reason and not something else.

I walked over to greet them, but, as they landed, I could tell something wasn't right. For starters there were a couple people and dragons missing. And none of the kids were actually looking up. They all seemed to be finding the ground quite interesting.

Astrid slid off of her dragon and walked up to me. "Hey, Chief," she said, her eyes still on the ground.

"Astrid. Where's my son? And Daystrid?" I asked.

"Uh, yeah, um. Actually, Chief, that's why we're here," Fishlegs said, walking up next to Astrid, his eyes still on the ground as well.

People were starting to stop and stare; the Riders were acting strange, the five that were here. "Why don't we go somewhere else and you can tell me what's on your minds?" The five of them nodded, and I led them up to the Great Hall. We walked in, and they all sat around one of the tables. I sat across from them, hoping to ease the fear that seemed to radiate off of them. I didn't know why, but I had a feeling it had something to do with what they were about to tell me or my reaction to it.

"What's on your minds?" I asked.

Astrid said something, but it was so quiet, I couldn't understand her. I'd caught my son's name, and it gave me an uneasy feeling.

"Could you repeat that, lass? I didn't catch it," I told her.

"Hiccup's missing." She said it so quietly, I almost had to ask her again. "So is my sister."

"Wha-what happened?" I asked, hardly able to believe my ears.

Fishlegs pulled a piece of paper out of one of the pouches on his belt. "They went for a flight about five days ago. Hiccup left a note in the clubhouse because none of us were up yet." He placed the note on the table in front of me. I picked it up...

Daystrid and I have just gone for a flight.

We should be back by high noon at the very latest.

- Hiccup

"This was the last you heard from either of them?" I asked.

"Yeah. We've spent the last five days looking for them or any sign of where they could have gone," Fishlegs answered.

"Sir, we've looked everywhere. We've even tried eavesdropping in on Hunters' conversations, to see if they were possibly shot down by the Hunters. We've found nothing," Snotlout added.

I sighed, I was going to regret this later. "I want the five of you to go back to the Edge. pack up your things and bring them here. I'm grounding the dragons until we hear something."

"WHAT?!" I knew they'd react that way, and it's exactly how Hiccup would have reacted.

"You heard me. The dragons are grounded the minute you get back from grabbing your things from the Edge," I repeated.

They all stood up and walked out of the Hall. I followed shortly after, watching them fly off, hoping to the Gods that they'd make it there and back without any trouble.

Two Months Later- Astrid

It was hard living with the dragons grounded. Even the dragons had a hard time adjusting. But that wasn't the problem I was worried about anymore.

The last time Trader Johann had been here, and the trader before him, there'd been talk of two new people in the Archipelago. They supposedly rode dragons, had wings like dragons, and went by the names of Night Rider and Flame Rider. That was a week ago, and I'd been feeling extremely guilty for not telling the Chief about Hiccup and Daystrid's second identities.

Now, here I was, standing at the bottom of the stairs up to the Chief's house. I knew he was home; I'd watched him enter the house about an hour ago. I'd been working up the courage since.

I walked up the stairs to the door and knocked. Stoick opened the door, his expression stoic, as was usual.

"Astrid. What brings you up here?" he asked.

"Chief, I, uh, I have something I need to tell you."

To Be Continued...

Alright, so that finishes up Hofferson Sisters!

As I stated back in my note at the beginning, a sequel is in the works titled "The Rider Twins". Once it is fully completed, I will start posting it similarly to the way I posted this one. In the meantime, if you haven't already, go check out Hiccup's Story. It is somewhat of a spinoff of this one, clearing up some of the specifics of how Hiccup's story here differs from canon.

As always, I love and would appreciate any feedback you guys would give, so please review.

So until I post something new...

Daystrid out!
*puts earbuds in and wanders off to nowhere specific*