Hiccup's Secret

Part 24~Alpha

Sighing, I sat next to Ave. Astrid and Snotlout were sitting in the middle of the camp, Mum checking over them for any injuries I might have given them. Ave was grumbling something while laying his head on my shoulder.

Eret and Heather were standing by their dragons, tapping their weapons against their hands. They did not look happy. They had both Astrid's and Sotlout's weapons. They were not going to take any chance.

Gobber, Ruff and Tuff were sitting next to Astrid and Snotlout, not being affected by their sudden appearance.

They were probably used to it now.

"There we go. I'm sorry about Avery, he can tend to get protective over us," Mum said softly, putting away her supplies.

"I'm not surprised, he is a beast. He'll kill you all," Astrid said, glaring at Avery. I let out my wing, pushing him behind me. She was not going to hurt Ave.

"We are not beasts. And neither are dragons. They are kind, beautiful and intelligent creatures, you are just too blinded to see it," I snapped.

"Hiccup," Mum warned me, causing me to grumble and sit back.

I folded up my wings and let Ave pull me into a comforting and protective hug.

"Now, we are all Vikings here, I am sure we can talk like Vikings," Mum said, walking up to Cloud Jumper's side and retrieving her staff.

"Why do you let her boss you around? You said you were the leader," Astrid asked, watching every movement Mum took.

"The Dragon Thief is different. She has a higher authority than most in our group," I explained quickly.

"She takes over if you leave? The dragon thief, stupid name," Snotlout exclaimed as I rolled my eyes.

"That depends where you are Snotlout. The Dragon Thief runs the sanctuary under rule of the white king and alpha of the frozen planes. I run these lands without need for a dragon for an alfa as I am one. If we are in the other's lands when they aren't there we can take emergency control but not just order people about. If the Dragon Thief cannot hold command in her own planes then Eret takes over. If I can't here, then Gobber will take temporary control alongside Toothless. That is until Ave has properly trained up to take my place," I explained simply. It wasn't that complicated.

Ave gave us a weird look, as if he hadn't expected me to train him to take my place once I die. Or for him to stand by my side and command together. Why wouldn't he work that out, it's not like we lead a safe life.

"Who Toothless?" Astrid looked at me and Ave with a glare in her eyes.

"He's Toothless, the last of the Night Furies." Tooth jumped down from the rocks he had been standing on, sniffing Astrid before curling around us. "And my brother."

I ran my hands up and down Toothless's spine, making him purr. "I do not trust them, they smell of fight and I do not think that fight will be on our side."

"That is why we are meant to change their minds, Tooth," I said in dragonese, smiling softly.

"That only works if they have a brain," Ave added, also in dragonese.

"You three need to behave," Heather said, flicking my ear. "And stop speaking in dragonese, if you have something to say, speak in a language we can all understand."

I smirked happily. "Never."

"Why are you holding us here?" Astrid glared at us. I have a feeling she is not going to like us.

"Because if you go back to Berk you'll tell everyone about us," I explained, rolling my eyes at the obvious answer.

"And you'll get thrown off the island," Astrid finished, smirking slightly.

"No, you'll get thrown off the island. You seem to forget who I am, Astrid. I am the chief's son and I have been kidnapped over and over again by madmen with dragons, or more commonly known as my friends, but they don't know that. If you start screaming that there is a secret group of dragon riders hiding on the island, who do you think they'll believe?"

"Hiccup, that is enough," I scolded me, sending me a glare. "I am most sorry Astrid, Hiccup is not usually like this, I think you put him in a bad mood earlier. Maybe it will be better for him to take a walk."

I knew she wasn't going to let me stay, so I got up and started walking to the exit. "For your information, I didn't care that you put an axe to my neck, I care that you put an axe to Fish's neck and then you insulted my friends and family. The dragons are wonderful creatures, with lives and emotions and so much more that they can lose than you can ever imagine."

Ave walked to me, smiling brightly. "And this is why you are our alpha."

"All hail the alpha," Tooth shouted, ignoring my glare as the rest of the dragons repeated it.

I opened my wings and took off into the sky, Ave following after me.

I landed on top of one tree that overlooked the cliff. The sea was calm, much calmer than it should be. Avery landed next to me as we sat down together.

"It's quite peaceful up here, isn't it? I can see why Ruff and Tuff spend so much of their time in the trees," Ave said softly, he wrapped his wing around me as I laid my head on him. He started to run his fingers through my hair making me smile.

"I don't think you should start listening to Ruff and Tuff, the results could be catastrophic," I joked happily. "How about you only get your ideas from me?" I heard Ave laugh sweetly, it was so pure. "Or mum," I added, the point dawning on me.

"Mum has good ideas and she would kill me if you stop listening to her because of me."

"And when did you think I would start listening to anything I am told?"

"I am your alpha, you have to listen to me," I joked, smiling broadly.

"Oh really? I am alpha in training, you should listen to me," Ave joked back.

"Yep, but only in training. You have a long time to go yet before you can start ordering me around."

"But that means I'll get to order you around at some point."

"Only if you do well."

"I always do well."

"Says the boy who is afraid of chickens." I felt Ave punch me as we collapsed into a ball of laughs. This is how we should live.