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

CHAPTER FIVE - MOVING

"It's the middle of the night." A villager complained.

"What are we doing here?" Another asked.

"All right, all right everybody," Hiccup called. "Settle down please."

They had assembled all villagers and Berkians into the great hall for a meeting that Hiccup had called. As you could tell, the people weren't very happy.

Hiccup turned to Fishlegs. "Fishlegs. Have you ever seen that species of dragon before?"

Fishlegs wearliy sat up straight and opened his mouth, but then fell over out of his chair. Most likely from the effects of the dart.

"Let me at him!" A man yelled

"I'll give him a piece of my mind!" Another yelled. "And by mind, I mean fist!" He promptly punched a Viking next to him in the face.

Atlas rolled her eyes. She stepped up onto her chair, and then onto the table. "Everybody shut up!"

Well, that quieted them down. Almost every Viking was scared of Atlas. Eret stared at her in wonder. She stepped back down to the floor, and nodded at her brother. He mouthed a 'thank you' to her.

"Did you miss the part where we almost died?" Hiccup asked the people. "Have you seen my house? This is a new kind of enemy. And I underestimated him. Now, that's on me. But I will not do that again."

Snotlout slammed his fists on the table . "We're Vikings. We don't run from a fight. At least, I don't," He pointed at Eret. "You might."

"I agree with Hiccup," Eret said, ignoring Snotlout. "We haven't seen the last of Grimmel. He's a predator. Single-minded and patient. He won't stop until he gets what he wants. And I for one won't let him take everything we love."

At saying this, his gave came to rest significantly on Atlas, but she was staring fixedly at the crowd.

"I'm with Eret," Valka said. (Snotlout stood up, jealousy written across his face.) "We have to take this threat seriously."

"Grimmel is just a sign of the times," Hiccup said. "Our enemies are getting smarter, more determined. We're not just overcrowded. We are exposed and vulnerable. Short of full-blown war and risking everyone we love, I don't... I don't see a way of staying here any longer."

The crowd immediately started shouting and yelling at Hiccup.

Astrid threw her axe at the table. "Hey! Hear him out!"

As the crowd quieted, Hiccup started again. "If we want to live in peace with our dragons, we need a better plan."

"So... what are you saying, Chief?" Gobber asked.

"I'm saying we have to disappear. Off the map. Take the dragons to a place no one will find them."

"And where might that be?" A man asked.

Atlas sighed. "He's talking about the Hidden World."

"The hidden what?" A woman asked.

"Out to lunch." Ruff said from her spot in the crowd.

Tuff laughed. "Yeah."

Atlas rolled her eyes. Thankfully, Hiccup had banned the twins from ever speaking at the table during these sorts of meetings.

"My father was obsessed with it when I was a boy," Hiccup said. "He made notes and maps in search of the ancestral home of all dragons, tucked away somewhere beyond the edge of the world. It may be the solution we need. We are dragon people. It's where we belong."