Little Miracles

The Hunt

Chapter Nine: The Hunt

For a moment, all was silent. Everyone was giving the note a great deal of thought and no one wanted to speak up for fear that Hiccup would round on them. He was dangerous when he was this desperate. Finally, Stoick strode forward and took the note out of Hiccup's hand. He read it again, his brow furrowed.

"This one isn't for me." he said, more to himself than to any of them. "I never kept any friendships hidden."

"I did once!" Tuffnut piped up, feeling a bit neglected in the conversation. The others turned to him, several with eyebrows raised as they silently encouraged him to continue the story. "I was ten and I had a pet frog but my mom told me I couldn't have her in the house. So I kept her under Ruff's bed. The next clue must be there!"

"Wait, is that why I kept hearing that weird croaking noise? You told me you were doing that in your sleep!" Ruffnut shouted, punching her brother on the arm.

"Not exactly love at first sight." Astrid wrinkled her nose.

"Says you! Her name was Stella and I was heartbroken when mom found her and made me let her go!" Tuffnut said dramatically.

"The note is not talking about your pet frog!" Hiccup said, his head in his hands.

Oh yeah? Who's it talking about then?" Tuffnut crossed his arms.

"Hiccup." said Astrid, her eyes boring into his. "The note is for Hiccup. Look to your left and you will be right. He's left handed. And we all know he's hidden a friendship."

Hiccup raised his eyes and locked them with Astrid. The entire group was confused at what she meant, but he stared back at her with a sudden spark of understanding in his eyes.

"The cove." he whispered, reaching out a hand to stroke Toothless' head. "The next clue is in the cove."

"Yeah right! What friendship did you hide? You and Astrid? Everyone knew about that!" Tuffnut chortled. "It's obviously meant for me."

"Toothless. I was hiding Toothless. Does no one remember... no, it doesn't matter. We need to go. Now!" Hiccup rambled, immediately mounting Toothless.

Everyone flew off to the cove except Stoick and Gobber. They faced each other for a few seconds.

"Now might be a good time to fill them in, Stoick." Gobber warned his friend.

"Now is the worst time to tell them. Trista is already getting into Hiccup's head. I tell them who she is, what she's done, and he'll never be able to think straight." Stoick swung a leg over Thornado.

"For the record," Gobber said as he got on his dragon, "I think you're making a mistake."

"Yes, you've made that quite clear in the past." Stoick held up a hand to get him to stop talking. "We need to focus on getting Adrianna back. Anything else is secondary."

But Stoick couldn't shake the feeling that Gobber might have been right. If he had been up front with Hiccup and Astrid from the beginning, would this have happened?

It had been one of the best days he'd ever had. Almost better than Hiccup's Welcoming Ceremony. He lost count of how many people had come to him to congratulate him on his new grandchildren. He felt like the gods were smiling down on him, giving him another chance to set everything right. His son looked like he had on the wedding day, sort of surprised that something this wonderful had actually happened. It was an expression he didn't get to see much.

After several hearty congratulations from villagers he didn't know very well, Stoick looked over at Hiccup holding his newborn son and smiled. Something about the way Hiccup held the baby assured him that his son would be a very good father. He gently rocked his body back and forth to make sure the baby slept on despite the confusion and the people pressing in on all sides. Stoick looked over at his daughter-in-law and immediately caught sight of his newborn granddaughter's eyes fluttering closed. She looked completely comfortable in her mother's arms. Stoick couldn't help but think that his grandchildren had the best parents in the world.