Open Borders

Forming Foundations

This one is short but it was high time I updated this story. Thank you too everyone who read this and reviewed! You all make my day!

Young Hiccup's P.O.V
Myself and the other recruits lazily made our way up one of the village watch towers, presumably to hear another one of Gobber's tall tails about dragon slaying. Honestly, I think he only invites us up there is so he won't get bored while he's supposed to be working. Don't get me wrong, we all loved Gobber, he was like the crazy uncle we never had. But like the crazy uncle, none of us understood him and most of us had long since given up trying.

When we finally made it to the top of the tower, I was surprised to not only see Gobber, but all of the Dragon Riders as well. Not just them, but my father was talking to my older self. I wasn't sure why, but it made me feel angry-- no-- nervous. How dare my father try to steal him away from me? Hiccup had been more of a father to me than Stoic had been! And I had only known him for a few days! No, I wouldn't allow it. The dragon Riders were slowly becoming my friends, and if what Hiccup had said was true, then they would be more than that some day. No, this was mine, for the first time since I met Toothless, I had somewhere to belong and no one was going to take that away from me.

"Chief!" I called after him. To my great relief, he turned and smiled at me, though he didn't get the chance to greet me, Astrid beat him to the punch. She hit me lightly on the arm and then, much to my surprise, kissed me on the forehead. I was a bit dazed at first, that was the most affection I had been shown since I was a kid.

"We were wondering when you would show up." she teased me.

It didn't take long for everyone to get comfortable; Fishlegs was looking over some sort of trivia cards with his older self, the twins had pared up and even Snotlout had managed to make eye contact with his counterpart. The only one who didn't seem at ease was Astrid. Not the older Astrid, she was busy fussing over her kids, the young Astrid was glaring skeptically at everyone while the chicken roasted over the fire pit. The evening might not be so glamorous after all.

"So," started my father, obviously still feeling uncomfortable. "How about we hear of your adventures. I'm sure you have plenty of war stories to share."

"Oh!" Tuffnut jumped up in excitement. "I've got one! how about when Hiccup lost his leg!"

"No." said the Chief.

"But--"

"No."

"Buzz kill."

"How about the Death Song?" suggested Astrid.

"Perfect! So there we were, searching for an island to call our own, when we finally stumbled on the perfect place. Little did we know, we would soon come face to face with death its self."

And so the stories continued. It had to have been at least three hours before the tales were finally interrupted. We learned about the Bewilder Beast and the Night Terrors as well as the journeys involving Berserker Island. We were all enamored by the dramatic display put on. All except my father. No, Stoic was getting angry and confused, much like Astrid had when she first learned that our future relationship with the dragons wasn't what she'd expected. There was no denying that this wouldn't end well.

"Explain something to me." Stoic told them, "In all these stories not once have you mentioned the tail of how you broke these dragons in the first place, nor have I seen you working them in the days you've been here. So tell me, what is this thing you have with the beasts?"