A Runaways Resolve, A Dragon Master's Legacy

Chapter 4 Berks Resolve

Quick authors note before the chapter starts. Some of the actions of some characters may seem weird but I will properly explain my thought process at the end of the chapter to give an idea on why they are going to do what they do.

Whilst Hiccup and Toothless were out having their adventure, exploring new lands and making new inventions, Berk was fracturing. For the Berkians nothing could be better, their heir just came first in dragon training, in just one more day their future chief would get to kill his first dragon in front of the entire village. Just One More Day. All they had to do now was drink and celebrate this mighty achievement and yet some were beginning to wonder at this party for the future chief, where was he? The answer would soon arrive in a form most unexpected.

Astrid ran, ran as fast as she could from the cove she followed Hiccup to. Never could she have imagined that he was friends with a dragon, with a Night Fury and the fact he chose to leave. How could he choose to leave? Why? What could be better to him than staying here? These questions raced through her mind over and over and yet she couldn't think of an answer for any of them. Not that it mattered at this moment. SHe had to get back to the village, back to the chief and tell him what happened. But how? How does someone tell chief Stoick the Vast that his heir, the sudden dragon training prodigy, chose to leave, and chose to abandon his people, his village and his family for a dragon? How do you tell a father his son decided to leave him?

It only took a few minutes for Astrid to make it back to the village and now she just had to find the chief. Of course there was the obvious place. The great hall, where practically the entire village would be gathered. Everyone gathered in one place to celebrate, celebrate a traitor. As she thought this she began to feel a hatred growing in her, her hatred for dragons for taking the heir, and a hatred for Hiccup for abandoning the village like this, for abandoning everything vikings stand for. However she would have to put these feelings of hers to the back of her mind as she entered the great hall. Immediately she was assaulted by the smell of mead and the various types of food causing her to gag and stumble before she was able to adjust to it. Now all she had to do was find the chief among this sea of people. Astrid struggled to pick out just one face among the crowds, struggled to pick out the face of the chief among the horde. Whilst it only took a few minutes for her to spot him for her it felt like an eternity. "AH Astrid, so good to see you join the party!" the mighty chief of the Hooligan tribe bellowed out as the young viking ran up to him pushing past some of the vikings in the way. "Chief! Finally I have been looking for you. I need you to come with me. It's about Hiccup" Astrid blurted out to the somewhat drunken Stoick, almost too quickly for him to realise most of what she said but he heard enough. "Hiccup? Why what happened?" Stoick responded, almost as quickly as he said it he was up out of his chair and following behind Astrid as she led him out of the great hall. The other vikings seeing their chief rush out of the hall like that would have followed had it not been for Gobber telling them to go back to their drinks.

"Lass slow down, what is it you wanted me to see and how is Hiccup involved?" the vast viking chieftain asked as he eyed the young girl who seemed a bit rushed. "I need to tell you it in private, it's something only you should hear for now, though I guess Gobber should hear it too." responded Astrid as she kept trying to figure out how to word it "Okay then, let's go to my house, last I checked Hiccup was there as well" Stoick responded as he, Astrid and Gobber made their way to his hutt on the hill. Astrid slowly growing more concerned on the way considering Hiccup is in fact not in his home nor is he even on the island anymore. After a couple of minutes they arrived at the chief's home, Stoick opening the door and leading the two behind him inside. Though when they got inside something immediately caught their eyes, a helmet sat on the middle of the table, to Astrid this didn't seem like it would be anything out of the ordinary but for Stoick he was instantly drawn to it as he knew it wasn't there when he last came in. Stoick walked in and picked up the helmet but didn't notice what was underneath it. Gobber did however, as he picked up the note and read the top of it. "Stoick, there's a note, it's from Hiccup." Gobber spoke up in a somewhat low voice. Hearing this Astrid had a moment of realisation, Hiccup was a lot more prepared to leave than she thought. Stoick put down the helmet and took the note from Gobbers hand but before he could open it fully to read Astrid finally broke her silence, "Chief I think I know what's in the note and you should probably sit down for this." she said, taking a seat herself before continuing "It probably has something to do with what I came to tell you, Hiccup he. He left, he left the island on the back of a dragon, he chose to leave on the back of a Night Fury." As she finished she let out a breath as she felt a weight lift from her chest, finally having been able to put into words what she needed to. "What! What do you mean, how could he have left, how can you be sure he chose to leave!" Stoick demanded in a booming voice startling both Astrid and Gobber, "I, I followed him after he left here, followed him through the woods until he got to a cove, I waited and watched wondering what he was doing and then, then I saw it a dark shape shifting around in the cove he had descended into and so I chose to go down there. That's when I saw it, it was a dragon, sleek and covered in pitch black scales, they just sat there together, like friends and when I confronted him he told me himself, told me he is leaving. You should read the note, I am sure he left it to tell you himself." Astrid responded not wanting the chief to get any more worked up. Gobber seeing that it would probably make sense to leave his old friend alone for a minute began to usher Astrid out of the house "Come lass, no point staying in here right now, let's go to the forge for now and come back later when Stoick has had time to process this and you can tell me more about what you saw" the blacksmith spoke up as he practically pushed Astrid out of the door.