Rider on the run

Mending the past

It's been three days since their tour around the island. The Dragons have gotten used to the presence of the gang and aren't as hostile to them as before. The gang have found hobbies for themselves too. Astrid occasionally trains in the arena. Fishlegs spends most of his time in the library, reading the books. Tuffnut and Ruffnut tried to cause Chaos a few times. One particular incident led up to many a group of Dragons running into the woods and burning down a portion of it. It took Hiccup almost a whole day to get the situation under control and three more days to put out the fire. Ever since then the twins are banned from interacting with Dragons. Hiccup had to assemble a team of Terrible terrors to watch over them always so that they don't cause any destruction. As for Snotlout, he had suddenly taken an interest in Ruffnut and has been continuously trying to woo her. As for Hiccup, he is busy most of the time, doing his work. He would talk with the gang sometimes but he wasn't that open with them. The only exception was Astrid, with whom he spent a lot of his free time.

Like every day Fishlegs was in the library, reading books. Today he found a new book on Dragons. He was fascinated with the information the book provided. He was so enclosed in the book that he didn't notice someone entering the library. 

"I see you have found a new book." The sudden statement freaked out Fishlegs as he screamed as he looked up, only to find the person speaking was Hiccup.

"Oh, Hiccup. Please don't do that again. You scared the life out of me." Fishlegs said as he tried to catch his breath.

"Sorry Fish." Hiccup apologized.

"By the way, where did you get this book from?" 

"You like this book?"

"Yeah. It is extremely informative and fascinating."

"Oh well, I wrote this book." 

Fishlegs looked at Hiccup in shock as Hiccup finished his sentence. 

"No way!" Fishlegs said in awe.

"Come on Fish. I spent five years living with Dragons and rescuing them. I have gathered enough knowledge to write thousands of books on them." Hiccup proudly said.

Fishlegs was in total awe and they spent some time talking about Dragons and sharing their opinions. 

"You haven't changed that much Hiccup. You still have the same enthusiasm and curiosity for the unknown as before." Fishlegs suddenly said.

This made Hiccup go silent. He was quiet for a few moments and then said,"You know, we haven't had a conversation like this after that day."

Fishlegs looked down in sadness. He clearly remembered the day Hiccup was talking about. It was the day he ended his friendship with Hiccup. He and Hiccup used to be very good friends when they were young. But when Snotlout started bullying Hiccup, he got scared that he would receive the same treatment if he hung out with Hiccup. So he ended his friendship with Hiccup to hang out with the more popular kids. He still remembered the pained look on Hiccup's face when he told him that he doesn't want to hang out with her anymore. Fishlegs sighed. He felt ashamed for doing that.

"I am sorry Hiccup." Fishlegs suddenly said "I am really sorry. For what I had done with you. It was wrong for me to throw away your friendship like that."

Hiccup listened to him carefully. After years of living with Dragons, he could easily read someone's emotions and tell if the person is telling the truth or not. Hiccup listened to Fishlegs and realised that Fishlegs was truly sorry.

"It's okay Fish." Hiccup said as he put his hand on said man's shoulder. This shocked Fishlegs. He looked up to meet Hiccup's gaze as the Dragon rider continued "I was sad at first but I had realised your reasons. I never held a grudge against you." Hiccup finished with a smile.