How To Find A Hiccup

ACT II: Berk

Chapter 4

'Twins'

"Well it's about time," Toothless said. Hiccup chuckled. He had his arm around his new fiancee who was admiring her new ring. Hiccup couldn't help but notice she was trying not to cry.

"CONGRATULATIONS!" A voice screamed behind them, making the couple jump and Toothless laugh. Phlegma all but ran up and hugged her daughter, she happily returned the favor. Hiccup clutched his chest.

"Scare me to death why won't ya," he said, Phlegma chuckled.

"Sorry, dear," she hugged her soon-to-be-son-in-law. "I was afraid I'd have to marry Astrid off to someone she didn't like," Phlegma stated, pulling away from the hug after a moment. "But, I'm glad I didn't have to do that." She laughed.

"Me too," Hiccup said, smiling and looking at Astrid. For once in a long while, Hiccup forgot about his troubles and was just enjoying the moment.

Phlegma led them to her house to whip them up a celebratory dinner. Toothless waited outside, hiding in the brush and keeping watch for the angry mob. He hated this place. He saw it as an evil island that was always mean to his friend and now they wanted to hurt him again. Toothless wasn't here when Hiccup was getting bullied or picked on, but he was here now. And no one was going to lay a hand on his master. That incident in the cove hurt Toothless, he let the bad people hurt his Hiccup, that just increased his protection instincts. So, Toothless laid in watch in the brush beside Phlegma's house.

Phlegma frantically walked around the kitchen grabbing pots and pans and herbs and spices. Anything that could be used to make food. For a moment, Phlegma disappeared into a small room at the back of the house. Hiccup and Astrid took the time to take a seat at the table.

They were still kind of in a shock-and-awe state about the engagement. Hiccup's was due to the fact that Astrid had actually said yes and he now had someone else to please and look after. And Astrid's was due to the fact that she was getting married. For most of her life she just wanted to be a shield maiden, but now she was giddy with excitement. Hiccup made sure to bring that up a few times, though it didn't seem to bother her like it would have years ago.

"Guess I can live being married to you," she would say. Hiccup smiled every time. Astrid loved his smile, even if most people saw it as goofy, it was just... Hiccup.

Phlegma came back into the kitchen with a freshly plucked chicken. She wasted no time in starting to cook it over a fire. The fire pit was in the middle of the house with a wooden couch beside it. The only other furniture was the table and a few chairs.

"Really, Ms. Hofferson, you don't need to cook anything," Hiccup said, being his polite self. It definitely wasn't due to the womans ability to cook, she was amazing at it.

"Nonsense!" She exclaimed. "My daughter is getting married, she deserves it, as do you. I'm not sure how the marriage is going to work out, considering Berk's feelings towards you, so this will have to do." Hiccup smiled sheepishly when she brought up Berk and how the people felt about him. Astrid put a hand over top of his.

"We'll figure it out. Promise," she said. Phlegma chuckled.

"You'd better," she joked. "You are getting married one way or the other, whether it be to Hiccup or someone else."

"Well, it's a good thing I got her first," Hiccup said. Astrid rolled her eyes.

"Yes, it is," Phlegma agreed. With everything set and cooking, Phlegma joined the couple at the table.

"We should get your friends here as well, tell them the big news and finish the day with a feast. Just between us, of course," Astrid said.

"And my father and Gobber?" Hiccup asked. Astrid nodded.

"Of course," she said.

"Great idea!" Phlegma said. "I'll have to start cooking more though." Phlegma started another frantic mission around the kitchen gathering anything she could use to make food. Hiccup felt like he had to help, he couldn't let her slave over him. Call it what you want, but he was just like that.

"You need any help, Ms. Hofferson?" Hiccup asked, standing up. Phlegma looked at him, but shook her head, no.

"Not in here, why don't you go gather everyone and bring them here. Assuming you're OK with going out into the village. Because, you know, the villagers." Phlegma said. She went back to gathering food supplies.

"Yeah... yes of course we can go get the others. Coming, milady?" Hiccup said, offering his hand to Astrid. She gladly took it. The two exited the house, Phlegma smiling at them until they left.

It seemed like Stoick had lost his villagers as they were flooding out of the Great Hall. They walked passed Hiccup and Astrid with scowls on their faces. They weren't going to like it when they heard the news that their most feared warrior (Astrid) was getting married to an outlaw and a murderer (Hiccup). Hiccup sighed, he really messed up.

"Ah! There ye are," Gobber said, walking up to the couple. "Where'd you run off..." Gobber couldn't finish. Astrid shoved her hand with the ringed finger into his face.

"Hiccup and I are getting married!" She exclaimed a little quickly. Gobber smiled.

" 'Bout time, though I wouldn't think you'd do it when everyone hates Hiccup," Gobber chuckled. Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Well, to be fair-" Dane said, walking to the three grownups. A few vikings bumped into him on purpose. "- They weren't really planning on it. I love getting Boss Man into embarrassing situations." Hiccup laughed. That was Dane's favorite thing to do.

"So, I'm guessing you said yes?" Dane asked Astrid. She nodded.

"Guess you're going to have a mother," she teased. Dane did his best to put on a happy face.

"I'll have to make up a nickname for you to then, I suppose," Dane said. "Anyway, I'm off to the healers to see if they can't fix my eyesight." With that, Dane headed off, Hiccup yelling to meet them at Phlegma's house before it got dark.

"Where is it?" He called back. Hiccup told him the general direction of the house.

"Just keep an eye out for Toothless," Hiccup called. Dane gave him a thumbs up and walked off.

(~)(~)(~)

"Has anyone seen Fishlegs!" Hiccup all but yelled to the dragon riders. The group had already checked the woods and were double checking the village. For some reason the large viking was nowhere to be found. Hiccup even checked the skies on Toothless. Nothing. He even checked the secluded beach on the far side of the island, still nothing. Not even a trace.

Hiccup ran his fingers through his hair.

"What's so important anyway?" Tuff asked in his laid back, uncaring way.

"You'll never find out if we can't find the fat..." Hiccup began, but was cut off.

"Hiccup!" Astrid exclaimed. He looked at Astrid apologetically.

"Sorry. It's just that I'm a little peeved. Your mother is going to be done cooking any minute now, and we still have to find Fishlegs," he said, heaving a sigh at the end of his speech.

They were in the middle of the village. Toothless came bounding up to them. He gave Hiccup a nice lick across the face, as if to say hello.

"What are you doing, Toothless? You should be hiding," Hiccup said, wiping the saliva off his face.

"Got bored. You've been gone forever," Toothless said.

"Well, you're going to have to wait a little longer. We can't find Fish anywhere." Toothless huffed and trotted off without another word.

"Oh, come on. Don't be like that," Hiccup yelled to his friends retreating back. Hiccup groaned, Fishlegs would just have to find out later, he guessed. The group went to look for Stoick and Gobber, who, thankfully, were much easier to find.

(~)(~)(~)

"So, what's the big news?" Gobber asked, though he already knew. He took the last seat at the table. He noticed Hiccup's goofy smile and Astrid seemed like she couldn't sit still. Odd couple.

Astrid opened her mouth to speak, but a large racket outside stopped her short.

"I CAAAN SEEEE!" A voice echoed from outside. Hiccup chuckled, it was Dane. The kid burst through the door wearing the biggest smile on his face Hiccup had ever seen.

"Stoick! Your island's healers did it! I can actually see... CLEARLY!" Dane was ecstatic!

"Ha ha! Well, I'm happy they could help you!" Stoick replied.

Dane laughed again and went to stand beside the fire to warm up.

"So, what are we all doing here?" Dane asked, his hands extended towards the fire to warm them up.

"Yes! Seriously, tell us already!" Snotlout said with an exaggerated sigh.

"Well, Astrid, would you like to do the honors?" Hiccup asked. Astrid smiled.

"Me and Hiccup are... (Sneeze)..." Dane wiped his nose.

"Sorry," he said. "Continue." Astrid blew the bangs out of her eye, a little irritated, but continued.

"Hiccup and I," she began, but noticed Dane was about to sneeze again. She shot him a death glare, Dane shut his mouth. "Hiccup and I are getting married!" The room fell silent, the only sound was the crackle of the fire.

"Oh no," Hiccup said under his breath. He was kinda afraid that...

"Noooo!" Snotlout yelled as he dropped onto his knees and screamed at the ceiling. The rest of the house burst into merriment and laughter, except for Stoick.

"Listen, son," he said, but Hiccup cut him off.

"I know, I know. This really isn't the ideal time, but..."

"But I didn't really give him the choice," Dane cut in. Stoick glared at him.

"Why would you do you that? You, out of all people, should understand the problem with this... marriage," Stoick said. It was a good thing Astrid was up and talking to the others, or she might have taken issue with that last statement.

Dane's brow furrowed. This was the first real time he had to come up with a good lie about something. What did I say before? He thought. If it wasn't good enough, then Stoick and Hiccup might keep a closer eye on him. That, and Astrid seemed to already be weary of him.

"Oh, wellll..." He trailed off.

"Dane?" Hiccup asked when Dane didn't finish his thought.

"Oh, I just like getting Hiccup into embarrassing situations. That's all," Dane finished. His eyes darted around the room. "Well, congratulations anyway. I'm going to get something to eat."

Was Hiccup overthinking things, or did Dane seem to be in a hurry to get away? He shook his head and turned back to Stoick. He didn't seem to be any happier. Great.

"So what do you want me to do about it?" Hiccup asked in a hushed whisper, leaning a little closer to his father so he could hear.

"Let's talk outside," Stoick said in an equally quiet tone. He got up from the table, as did his son.

"Hey, Astrid, me and my father are going to step outside for a moment," Hiccup called over to her. She spun around and frowned.

"Oh... OK," she said and went back to speaking with her mother and Gobber. Hiccup and Stoick left the house, the door closing quietly behind them.

Hiccup brought his arms up a bit an let them fall down again, slapping against his legs.

"What?" He asked a little irritated. Stoick crossed his arms.

"Call off the engagement," he said in his tone that meant, 'do it now or I'll break you.'

Hiccup felt like his father was looming over him, so he took a step back. He crossed his arms as well, his jaw set and his eyes serious.

"No." He said in a firm, strong voice.

"No?" Stoick pressured. His thick accent, for some reason, made him seem bigger, stronger to Hiccup. But that was the last thing on his mind.

"No. I'm not calling off the engagement. Me and Astrid are getting married one way or another. Whether it be here, or somewhere else. You can help your son, or ignore him like always," Stoick was taking back. There, he brought it up again. The last time Hiccup mentioned him not listening to him was when Scale came back to Berk to compete in the games.

"So," Hiccup continued. "You're going to help, deal?" Hiccup held out his hand for Stoick to shake. He didn't.

"Listen..." Stoick tried.

"No! You listen," Hiccup said a bit to loudly. "Do we have a deal?!" Stoick looked into his son's eyes. He may not be a carbon copy of Stoick, but he got his stubbornness. Stoick sighed in defeat and shook his son's hand.

"Deal," he said unwillingly. Hiccup beamed.

"Thank you, dad," he said. With that settled, the two rejoined the party.

"What was that about?" Astrid asked as she came up to Hiccup.

"Oh, nothing," he lied. Hiccup knew Astrid better than he thought he did. If Astrid found out that his father didn't approve of the marriage, then she might not follow through with it. Hiccup continued, "Nothing your manly viking couldn't handle."

Astrid scoffed and Hiccup kissed the top of her head.

"Soup's on!" Phlegma called as she started putting pots and pans full of food onto the table. For once in five years, there was merrymaking between Stoick, Hiccup and Astrid. All was good with the world.

(~)(~)(~)

{After Dinner At Phlegma's House}

The twins walked through the woods looking for large branches to start a bonfire. They used to do it all the time, but they had been whisked away on an adventure and haden't been able to in a long while. Now, with them being back on Berk they thought that they would get back into the swing of things.

Ruffnut is unusually quiet, Tuffnut thought. Dare he show feelings and ask what was going on? He sighed, he was going to regret this, but...

"Anything wrong, sis, You seem... uh... troubled," Tuff asked. He cringed at how he sounded saying that. He cared for his sister, he really did. He just wasn't good at, well, anything sentimental.

Ruff stared at the branches in her arms, but kept walking.

"You... do you think, uh..." Ruff stuttered. She wasn't really good at this kind of stuff either. Tuff took a deep breath.

"OK, don't think I'm going soft or anything, because I might have to beat some sense into you then. But, you can tell me anything, I am your brother, after all," Oh gods, he thought, what's happening to me?

Despite Ruff's best efforts, she couldn't help but smile.

"Thank you, Tuffnut. Do you think Hiccup will be able to get our dragon back? I actually... miss... it." Tuffnut furrowed his brow for a second, thinking. Another thing new to him.

"Well, Astrid's dragon is still trapped there, so I think Hiccup will try to get hers back. And, from what I do know of Hiccup, he'll try to get ours back, too," Tuffnut said. He rubbed his head, it hurt to think all that up, but, it seemed to have worked. Ruffnut seemed to have perked up.

"Thanks," she said. OK, things were getting too friendly for Tuffnut. He needed to get things back the way they usually were between them.

"You sound like a boy," Tuff said. There, that ought to do it, he thought. And it did. Ruffnut smirked, knowing what he was doing, and kicked him in the side. Tuffnut fell with a howl and rolled down a hill, sliding on his face to a stop right beside a cliff. He groaned and lifted his face out of the dirt.

Tuff looked down the cliff and Ruff ditched her branches and slid down the steep hill, stopping beside her brother.

"What are you looking at?" She asked. Tuff pointed down towards the bottom of the cliff. There, a kid that looked familiar was dragging... Fishlegs! They were both soaked. The kid dropped beside the tied up Fishlegs, exhausted.

Ruff saw them too and quickly dropped beside her brother. She could have sworn she has seen that kid before. Who was he! All this thinking was making her brain hurt. She did know, however, that this wasn't good.

"Come on, we need to go find Hiccup," she said. Brother and sister got up to leave, only to meet Dane.

"Sorry, but I can't let you do that. It'll mess up my plans," Dane said, taking a step closer.

"What? What are you talking about ki..." Tuff was cut off by Dane grabbing his shirt collar. He did the same with Ruffnut. He pushed both of them off the cliff and down onto the beach. Their heads hit the ground... hard. Both blacked out, but were alive.

Dane climbed down the cliff to meet Raden. He was still lying on the ground, Dane stood over him.

"You have no clue how hard it was to drag this fat lug through the water. Hiccup almost found us, good thing Toothless likes to screech when he's flying," Raden said through deep breaths. Dane smiled.

"Keep this up and your family won't have to suffer," Dane said. "We got the twins now, just Snotlout and Astrid are left." Dane chuckled darkly. His plan was working flawlessly. [/quote]