𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 | hiccup haddock

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑

edited.

Vincent let out a breath, scratching Temple behind his frills.

Hiccup and Astrid glanced at each other, her raising her eyebrow. Hiccup gave in. "Well, Vincent, why don't you come up to the club-house? You can meet the gang."

Vincent shrugged. "Sure, but Temple follows."

"Yeah, yeah." Hiccup sighed.

The three made their way up to the supposed club-house, Vincent riding on Temple to save his energy. He would never admit that though. When Hiccup entered first, he saw the whole gang surrounding Freya, who was talking vividly about the events of the day. They all turned to look at Vincent when he entered.

Tuffnut gasped, holding his hands out. "It's another one!" he grabbed onto his twin's shoulder in terror as both Hoffersons glared at him. Freya snorted, then covered it up with a cough. "That's the dude I was telling you guys about."

Fishlegs looked at the two in wonder. "Oh my Thor!! I heard some of the villagers talk about what happened to Ingrid, but I never imagined I'd ever meet off-Berk Hofferson!" Vincent jumped off Temple at that, raising his brow. "Well, aren't I popular?"

Snotlout scoffed. "No, I didn't take your axe, before you ask. I have enough experience with that." he muttered the last part.

Vincent just blinked into nothingness. He was confused, and he was tired. He sighed again.

"So... are we all just going to stand here, or what?" Freya raised an eyebrow.

Astrid snorted, moving over to the table in the middle. She grabbed a plate with chicken and potatoes, handing it to Vincent. "Eat. You look dead on your feet."

Vincent grabbed the plate gratefully. "So, not just the hair." he muttered, moving over the chair nearest, slumping down in it, ignoring all the stares.

Hiccup observed that the first thing he did was throw the biggest chicken leg to Temple.

"Do the rest of us get food or no? Because I'm honestly starving."

Freya grumbled, wiping her hands on her clothes with a grimace.

Ruffnut sat down next to her. "I mean, food's at the table. Dig in."

They all made their way to sit down around the fire in the middle of the table. Vincent relaxed. He glanced out at the night sky. The moon... it was almost full. Delightful.

The brunette reached out, grabbing two chicken legs, then passing one to Thor while slowly eating the other. "This is decent. Who made it?"

"Fishface over there. It's better than the twins salt encrusted sea-bass at least."

Tuffnut made an offended sound. Vincent observed them with a small smile. He missed this.

His smile fell as he glanced at the moon again.

"Don't be rude about the twin's cooking. It's... unique." Freya winced at the memory.

Fishlegs snorted. "That's one way of saying it."

Hiccup shook his head at their antics. He looked over at the newcomer, who was looking at the night sky... no, the moon, with a closed expression.

He frowned. "So, what species of dragon is... Temple, was it?"

Vincent snapped his head to look at the dragon trainer. "Yes. He's a Stormcutter dragon. Sharp class."

Fishlegs looked interested now. "A Stormcutter? We've never come across those before! Do you know where he's from?"

Freya exchanged a glance with Tuffnut. "All they ever talk about is dragons! Dragon this, dragon that! There's dragons right here, honestly." She groaned.

"I think that's the point, my friend. You see, Fishface here and our one legged friend seem to have taken an interest in these flying lizards. And, when one takes an interest, like Ruff with her weird habit of washing her hair with salmon oil, one diverges deep into said interest... " Tuffnut started rambling slowly.

Snotlout groaned, throwing his head back. "Great. Now there's two sides of I think the hell not."

Vincent glanced back at T. "Nah. He came to me at 8. Never led me anywhere."

Hiccup held his hand up. "Wait, you said he saved your life. Was that when you were 8?"

Vincent furrowed his brows. "Yeah. I was drowning."

"You've been island hopping since you were eight? How old are you anyways?"

"I'm... 18. I think. No, 19."

"Hiccup can't go a moment without finding out everyone's whole life story." She mumbled, munching on another chicken leg.

Astrid punched her lightly. "Livin 'up a bit Frey. You've been as sour as Snotlout all day."

Freya gasped with mock amusement. "How dare you compare me to Snotlout? No offence." She added hastily, shooting a glance at Snotlout.

"Very much offence." Astrid added drily.

Snotloud gasped dramatically, taking out a book from his back pocket, a pencil, and a monocle. ""Day in the life of the Snot. Everyone around me hates me. They do not see me in all my glory.""

"Such a harsh life for poor 'ol Snotlout," Freya let out a dramatic sigh. "No one ever understands him."

"Precisely! Poor me." he sighed too.

At the other end of the table, Fishlegs raised a brow. "You don't know your own age?" he asked. Vincent shrugged. "'s hard to keep track of. One year becomes two, two become six, six become eight, eight become ten..." he trailed off.

"Are you just really bad with counting?" Freya asked Vincent, taking a sip of a bottle.

He let out a breath, not taking the bait to argue. Leaning his head back, he rested up against Temple. Two seconds later, he was snoring softly.

"Well. That's one way to get out of a conversation." Tuffnut commented.

Freya leaned against the table and gently nudged Vincent's face. "Is he dead?"

Hiccup nudged her hand away. "Let him sleep. He looks like he needs it."

"Fine." She leaned back against her chair, blowing a strand of hair out of her face.

A/N: There's not a lot of Hiccup and Freya scenes yet, but there will be more in the future. The beginning of the story is more of an introduction, and more secrets get revealed later on.