Trust Must Be Earned | Eret Son of Eret (HTTYD)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN - A CHIEF & AN ALPHA

Hiccup and Toothless jumped down, and Hiccup dismounted Toothless. All of Berk continued cheering.

Meanwhile, all of the dragons landed on the ground, circling Toothless. Cloudjumper took a step forward, and he bowed his head at Toothless. The new alpha. All the other dragons around them also bowed their heads, and Toothless straightened, looking very regal. He roared, and all the other dragons followed suit.

"You never cease to amaze me, bud." Hiccup said, petting Toothless and resting his forehead against Toothless'. "Thank you."

Toothless then began licking Hiccup all over.

"Toothless, you know that doesn't wash out!"

Everyone then began running to their dragons, happy to be reunited with them once again. Atlas started looking around for her dragon. Then she spotted her. That familiar white with a flash of Crimson in the eyes.

"Crimson!" She yelled, waving her hand and running over to her dragon.

When they reached each other, everything else fell away. It was just her and her girl.

"Oh, I missed you so much, Crimson. You have no idea. Now that we're safely here and there's nothing else to deal with, you can finally have that mackerel."

Crimson growled affectionately.

Atlas then opened her eyes and began looking at everyone else. She was happy to see all of her friends also reunited with their dragons. When she looked around, she saw Eret standing next to Skullcrusher and Hiccup. She saw Skullcrusher nuzzling Eret and Eret patting Skullcrusher.

She smiled. She knew what Hiccup was saying to him, and, somehow, it didn't hurt too much. She would miss her father riding atop Skullcrusher, but she also knew that Eret and Skullcrusher would be a good match.

As she was watching them, she felt someone nudge her shoulder. She looked behind her, and it was Astrid. Astrid smiled knowingly at her and nodded in Eret's direction. Atlas sighed. She hated apologies. Mostly because she hated being wrong and admitting she was wrong. But she also knew that now was not the time to be prideful.

She swallowed, and walked over to Eret.

When Eret saw Atlas walk over, he instantly brightened.

"Hello, again."

Atlas cleared her throat. "Hello, Eret. I uh, I wanted to apologize. For what I said. Back at Drago's camp. You had just saved us from being thrown overboard, and I pretty much accused you of still working for the other side. And I called you untrustworthy. And I'm sorry for that. You didn't deserve it. You have definitely earned my trust now."

Eret smiled. "There's no need for you to apologize. It was a stressful situation, and I would have probably reacted the same way. No hard feelings."

Atlas half-smiled half-grimaced. "Great. So uh, friends?"

Eret's smile grew bigger. "Friends."

Atlas smiled and turned away. She saw Hiccup and Astrid kissing sweetly, and she laughed.

Then Gothi came up to the couple and tapped Hiccup on the shoulder. She gestured to the fire, and Hiccup walked forward. Atlas grinned. This was it. Her little brother was about to become chief.

Hiccup bent down, and Gothi wiped her finger across some of the ashes from the fire. She reached up and drew a small marking on Hiccup's face, signifying that he was chief. She then bowed her head at him.

Hiccup stood up and faced his people.

Gobber stepped up. "The Chief has come home!"

A/N: AHHHHHH! My plans were canceled and there's no school today, so you guys get chapters early!!! Oh man, only one more chapter until PART TWO. I can't believe this. It's amazing that we're here already. Oh, and thank you guys for 500+ reads! This is so cool. We're halfway to 1,000!!! Please be sure to comment + vote!

XOXO,

arosy