Knight's Honor

Nightly Visit

A/N: And I'm back! So originally I was going to update this yesterday, but since "lucky" me had too much food and cake. I pretty much past out an hour after. So as the old saying goes... enjoy whatever age you're becoming, because you only become that age once.

Anywho, enough of my excuses, as usual, I don't own any aspects of HTTYD, so please don't stone me. Now on with the story!

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Stoick was slumped in his chair, happy to finally have a little peace. It's been 3 days since their return, and in that time Stoick had been busy sorting out the usual problems as well as dealing with what had arisen during his little "absence." On another note, Abbas had informed him that the ships that had gone to the Bog-Burglars and the Stone Shields. He'd suggested that instead of telling them that there was no need to come, that Berk should let them stay for a week or two as guests. He'd hoped by now, Hiccup would be around to support him. His plans meant making accommodations for the coming tribes, and that had taken up most of his day. He was very worn out and glad to get some peace and quiet after dinner.

There certainly wasn't peace and quiet when they'd returned. Stoick doubted any of them had ever received a warmer welcome and felt very touched to see his people so relieved to see him again. Gobber had almost wrung his arm so much it felt ready to fall off, he'd seen the parents of Astrid, the Twins, and Fishlegs embracing their children as if Midgard depended on it, and everyone else was shouting, "What happened? What happened?" Nobody seemed too pleased to see Spitelout of Snotlout again, but the latter had joined his friends and their families, while the former had stayed with him the entire time as Stoick told the story, with a few omissions on personal matters. Fishlegs at certain points was called upon to fill in a gap. It was the first time the man had ever spoken in front of the entire village, and he seemed to find it both terrifying and thrilling. Because of this, everyone found the story to be both thrilling and terrifying.

Only one thing had really marred the happiness of the reunion: Hiccup. As soon as Gobber greeted them he'd asked where Hiccup was, and a few other people, including Olaf Hofferson, echoing the question. While Stoick trusted his people, family matters were still private matters, and he was reluctant to tell them the details. So, he replied formally that like any leader, Hiccup had some affairs to sort out and left it at that. He told Gobber more about it that night, much to the smith's relief.

Stoick had already noticed a strong turnabout in people's opinions of Hiccup and the dragons. It was amazing how fast the mind of the public can change. It was almost scary. The fact that mostly Hiccup had to put aside what was likely a great deal of animosity. Along with his comrades, had orchestrated the escape, taking a server beating for it; on Hiccup's part, fighting alongside them, and had actually succeeded in doing all of this impressed a lot of people, having the indisputable evidence that the dragons have helped Berk out. Of course, some saw everything as an act of manipulation, but the opposition to this crowd was more vocal than it was a few weeks ago. This boost in support, however, that had the natural side effect of promoting much louder arguments.

Speaking of which, Stoick was snapped out of his thoughts by a loud disturbance in the plaza. A chorus of loud and angry voices began to reach his ears. With a groan, he rose from his chair and went to the door. By now, this was purely out of habit; when people started shouting he dealt with it. He scowled once he recognized the voices. Spitelout and Mildew were shouting the loudest, while yells of Fishlegs, Astrid, and Abbas carried over shouts of dissent and agreement, leaving him with a strong suspicion of what this was about.

"He saved our lives and you taunt him!" Fishlegs shouted. "He and his Knights helped us after everything we've put him through! He set all that aside and saved our Chief! Everyone on Berk owes him and his Knights our gratitude!" Stoick was secretly pleased to see a majority were nodding and muttering their approval.