Found again (HTTYD FF)

★11★

Among all the wailing voices of the frightened dragons, Hiccup heard something else that stood out above everything else. He knew he recognized the voice, but he felt like he had never heard it before. It was a voice from his memories, but this time it wasn't echoing inside his head. It carried through space to his ears. Through his wings, however, the words could not be understood.

He raised his head to hear better.

"I don't understand Valka! Why even talk to him? After all, he's just a creature that should have been dead long ago! I should have known Astrid wouldn't do that! She always thinks too much!"

Hiccup recognized the voice. He drank in the words like he was in a daze. It was someone he knew! He remembered his voice! He wasn't paying much attention to the meaning of the words at the moment, so he was startled when a hulking Viking entered his cell, axe in hand, ready to attack. A thick red beard swayed on his chin, interspersed with grey hairs here and there.

"No, wait! There's something I haven't told you yet. The reason I brought you here, and the reason I brought Gothi. She's the only one who can confirm my words. Odin, I hope I'm not mistaken," Valka stopped him and pointed to the little old woman behind her. "That dragon boy isn't just anyone. We know him, everyone on this island knows him," she said, stopping the Viking in his path to Hiccup. He was grateful to her for that, because it wouldn't have taken much for him to start shaking with fear. He didn't like any weapons in such close proximity, especially when held by a human.

Hiccup tried to shrink back, clasping his wings even tighter around him.

The red-bearded Viking looked at Valka in confusion, but the old woman must have known what was going on, because she just looked at Hiccup and smiled. She leaned on her long staff and nodded towards Valka, as if promising her all the support she could offer. As if she understood the situation with certainty.

Hiccup didn't catch their exchange of glances, so he just sat quietly in his seat.

"This isn't just any winged boy... this is our son, Stoick. This is Hiccup, our... our son is alive," she uttered with so much love and longing in her voice that it almost made her tear up.

Hiccup frowned in confusion. How had she found out? What had led her to come to that conclusion? Could it have been true? What did it mean to him if it was?

Stoick looked at her in disbelief. His gaze flicked between her, Gothi, and Hiccup. After a moment of oppressive silence, he left his gaze solely on Hiccup, scanning him with misty eyes as if trying to remember something. He narrowed his eyes in concentration.

"That's impossible..." he finally said, the words so quiet that even Hiccup's sharp hearing almost didn't pick them up. 

Hiccup agreed with him inwardly, even though his instincts told him otherwise.

No such thing was possible.

Gothi shook her head, walked over to Stoick and gently poked him in the shoulder with the end of her staff. She looked at Valka and Hiccup and nodded slowly. Understanding flickered across Stoick's face for a moment before it was replaced by astonishment.

"H-how?" was all he could muster.

Hiccup understood from his reaction that it was probably true. That this was his family... or used to be. He didn't dare look anywhere but at the dusty, blood-stained ground. But deep down, he couldn't quite believe it. He didn't know what he should feel. 

Valka put her hand on Stoick's shoulder and they embraced. Tears flowed from the eyes of both Vikings, which they quickly wiped away. Valka pulled away and looked at Hiccup. She probably realized that he was still sitting on the ground.

Hiccup ducked down and tried to pull away from her outstretched hand. Despite the friendly look and all that had passed in the previous few moments, he didn't trust her. Not completely.

"Don't worry. No one here is going to hurt you. Come on, let's get your tail fixed." She offered him a helping hand once more. When he didn't respond, she withdrew it again. "Tell me when you're ready," she whispered.

"L-let them go, please," he repeated his plea. He didn't know how to respond, so he did the first thing that came to mind. Maybe now that they thought he was from here, that he was their son, they might listen to him.

"Let who go?" Stoick asked immediately. Not directly rudely, but the suspicion in his voice was immediately apparent.

"D-d-dragons."

"Chief! Chief!" came from the entrance of the Arena. Astrid ran inside, stopping only at the cell where she leaned back on her knees, trying to catch her breath. Everyone turned to her.

"What's going on?"

"Down at the docks..." she took several ragged breaths before continuing, "...something's going on. The whole fleet has arrived..." She didn't even finish her sentence, Stoick interrupting her with his hurried running away. Astrid followed him, as did Valka, leaving Hiccup alone with Gothi.

He glanced at her nervously. She gave him a faint smile in return. She walked over to him and indicated with her staff that he should give her access to his wound - poking him in the wing. Hiccup reluctantly obliged her. His instincts told him not to underestimate the old lady with the staff. He was afraid of her - naturally.

Gothi leaned down and ran her fingers gently over the membrane of his tail. She frowned, then nodded to herself as if she had just decided to do something. She turned and walked away. 

Hiccup looked after her in confusion. He was left alone - again - in the silence of whispering voices. Still, he tried to hear anything that might be coming from the village or the docks.

A fleet? What fleet? What's going on?

~~~

Astrid ran from the Great Hall to the docks with the others. The news of the incoming fleet had spread through the village like wildfire. When she got there, she saw more than ten large dragon hunter ships. Trader Johan stood at the very edge of the longest pier, waiting for the ships to arrive. 

What is Johan doing there?

"Where is the chief!?"

"Someone get the chief!"

Astrid was the only one to run out of the mass of Vikings, intent on finding the chief. The first place she went was his house - where else would he be now that he wasn't at the docks yet?

She ran through the emptying village. Most of the villagers headed for the docks. None of them could be sure if they should prepare for an attack or if something else was going on, because nothing like this had happened in a long time. Since when did entire fleets of dragon hunters visit islands like Berk? Usually a lone ship would dock here for a few days, resupplying, but otherwise the dragon hunters didn't show much interest in trading with Berk.

She ran to the door and knocked sharply. Nothing. No answer. She pressed her ear to the door. The house sounded empty. Where else could he be? Come on, Astrid, think! You have to find him, and you have to find him fast!

The dragon arena! Valka had been there and talked to Hiccup, and if she thought he was really her son, she must have brought Stoick there too!

She sprinted to the other end of the village. She crossed the wooden bridge, and when she reached the Arena, she could hardly catch her breath. With difficulty, she sent the chief to the docks, and with even greater difficulty, she followed him there. She was barely aware of Valka's presence at her right side.

The three of them reached the docks in record time. The first of the boats had already docked and several hunters stepped off its deck, led by someone Astrid had never seen before. From the astonished whispers all around, however, she realized that many knew him personally. Then, above all the whispers, the voice of one Berkian stood out.

"Viggo."