That Look (Hiccup x Reader)

75: Dire Straits

Spike and I were just lazing in the grass as Fishlegs showed Hiccup his new whistle commands for the Night Terrors.

"Nice work, Fishlegs." Hiccup complimented him.

"Thank you! I've discovered that the Night Terrors respond quite nicely to whistle commands." Fishlegs grinned happily.

"I think he means 'I' discovered," I told Spike who nodded. "Whatever, he can take the glory. As long as we know who the genius is, it doesn't matter."

"Hey! Impressive!" Fishlegs exclaimed as the Terrors changed formation. "Oh! That's a new formation. Nice Rumblehorn, you guys."

"Should we tell him it's not a formation?" I asked Spike as we watched Scullcrusher fly into the Terrors. He shook his head 'no' and we watched in interest at the scene.

"Uh, that's no formation, Fishlegs." Hiccup told Fishlegs.

"Ah! Blasted dragons! I'm a chief!" Stoick yelled and batted away Night Terrors with his hands.

* * *

"And no trade ships have come to Berk in weeks?" Hiccup asked his father who had just finished explaining our newest dilemma.

"And no sign of Johann, either." He added.

"Strange..." Fishlegs muttered.

"We've sent scouting boats to the Straits of Baldur to investigate, but none have returned." Stoick told us.

"That route has been known to be a hotbed for Scauldrons." Fishlegs suggested.

"Hm, I could use some Scauldrons." I mumbled, obviously being ignored by the others.

"Except that the Auxiliary Riders have scouted the area as well, and say the seas are empty and quiet." Stoick continued.

"I'm not sure what could be keeping the trade ships away, but something definitely isn't right out there." Hiccup frowned.

* * *

"Uh, I hate to be the one who points out the obvious, but you do realize we're just staring at water, right?" Snotlout pointed out the obvious.

We had flown to the spot where the trading ships had vanished. It was disappointingly not the Bermuda Triangle, so that checked aliens, ghost pirates and golden meteor off the list.

"No sign of any wild dragons or hunter ships." Hiccup sighed after looking through his spyglass. "So what's keeping these merchants away?"

"Hiccup, look!" Astrid pointed to a spot in the water with a large Scaldron.

"Adolescent male. About two ship lengths. Whoo! He's a big boy for sure." Fishlegs told us after a quick examination.

"That could be our culprit."

"Okay, we'll head to Berk and grab some nets." Hiccup commanded. "It's just a routine Scauldron extraction and relocation."

"Or-..." I spoke up, only to be cut off by the Scauldron shrieking.

"Wait, looks like he might have a friend." Astrid pointed out.

"Ugh! Ugh! What is that stink?" Ruff asked and unfortunately also smelled it.

"Yeesh! Hey, Snotlout, kinda smells like the trail to your hut after last year's Mutton Fest." Tuff added, bringing back memories which I had tried to block out. "No bueno."

"Hey, back off. It isn't me." Snotlout snapped at them. "And that was a very trying time by the way."

"Well, remember what wise old Uncle Hagelin used to say." Ruff began. "He who hath smelt it, hath dealt it."