Rider on the run

Trust is broken

The entire armada of Stoick was scattered on the sea shore. It was sheer luck that none of them had died in that conflict. After the failed invasion on the island and Night rider's threat, they were left with only one option. To leave the island. But there was one problem. During the battle, the Dragons had badly damaged all of the ships. After examining the damage it was concluded that the ships needed a lot of repairing before they could set sail. What made it worse is the fact that more than half of their men were badly injured. They weren't in critical condition, but weren't capable of doing any hard work either.

In the midst of all this, Stoick was sitting on a large rock. The events that had transpired some time ago had taken a toll on him. He just sat there, his shoulders slumped, not looking towards anywhere particular. He could still see his encounter with the Night rider, who turned out to be his supposed dead son. He could still see those green eyes staring right into his eyes. He could remember the burning hatred and anger behind those eyes.

"Stoick." The sudden call broke him out of the train of thoughts.

He looked up to see it was Gobber, who was looking at him with concern.

"Ya okay?" Gobber asked.

"Honestly Gobber….. I am not." Stoick admitted.

"Still sulkin' about getting beaten by tha' vigilante?"

"It's not that Gobber….." Stoick said "I saw his face. It was Hiccup."

"What!?" Gobber exclaimed.

"What do you mean Stoick! We all know the traitorous runt died 5 years ago! You really expect us to believe that!?" Spitlout exclaimed.

"Well, I caught a glimpse of Night rider's face too. And he kinda looks like Hiccup." A Viking suddenly said and some others also supported him, who claimed to have seen Night rider's face.

"But this doesn't make any sense. Hiccup died years ago. How can he be Night rider?" Spitlout protested.

"It is true Spitlout. Night rider is none other than Hiccup." Astrid suddenly said.

Stoick looked up to see Astrid and her friends approaching him.

"You knew?" Stoick asked.

"I did. I tried to tell you Stoick. All of us did. But you didn't listen and instead locked us up." Astrid said, with a hint of anger in her voice.

"That doesn't matter! He's a traitor!" A Viking suddenly exclaimed and Spitlout along with some others supported him.

"Hiccup isn't a traitor! He is the reason why there are less Dragon raids now! He killed the queen of the Dragons in Hellhiem's gate! He spent 5 years stopping Dragon human conflicts! He is not a traitor. If anything, he is a hero." Astrid proclaimed.

This made many of them go silent as they stared at the young shieldmaiden in front of them. Spitlout was going to say something, but Snotlout cut him off.

"What she is saying is true dad. We all have spent a long time with Hiccup. We have seen him trying his best to bring peace between Vikings and Dragons." Snotlout said.

"Can you believe this lad? Huh! Dragons are nothing but vicious mindless beasts!" Someone said,

They all turned to the source of the voice, who turned out to be none other than Mildew. Seeing the old man, some of the Vikings audibly groaned.

"Oh, great. Who let him on the boat?" Tuffnut groaned.

"If they were mindless beasts Mildew, then you wouldn't be alive to speak." Astrid said.

"Those Dragons have killed hundreds of us!"

"And we killed thousands of them!"

"It still doesn't matter. Making peace and befriending those filthy creatures isn't the Viking way."