This is where I belong ||httyd fanfic||

24. Taking the next step

Back on Selardalr, the sun had long since risen and the town had resumed its normal hustle and bustle, adults training, women taking care of the children, work at the forge going strong, people getting a mug of mead and whatever else. Save for the dragons that were also roaming around getting their own meals or finding a new place in the sun to take a nap, everything was as it had always been. It was some kind of unfamiliar norm to everyone, but given that they had two months to adapt to it, no one was particularly uncomfortable. Still, past all the intimidation at living so close with their former enemies, some truly had wondered what it was like looking down on the world, seeing everything from their point of view, as that one boy who made it all possible did.

Three hours had passed since Hiccup's departure, and now that the village knew what was happening, the atmosphere around the Silent Wolf village was stifling. People carried on their activities a bit more solemnly than they usually would, wondering if the kid, smaller than any normal Viking, would he be able to pull it off. Then again, just what was it he was going to pull off anyway, besides just taking care of a large group of dragons all at once and bringing them over? Aside from the challenge in numbers, no one knew what it exactly was that Hiccup needed to go to the nest to do that he couldn't do here. But that boy was a thinker, and like any warrior, he trusted his instincts, and they told him that there was something else. He truly saw the dragons as innocent, and the Silent Wolfs in stark contrast to their names were no fools: they had seen it too. Human beings accept something as truth once it was presented before their own eyes – it was a natural trait for them to be catered so.

Syn, of course, was one of the few beside Hiccup who had seized that truth for herself; she always viewed dragons as incredible creatures. Granted, she didn't try to reach out to them and bond with them as Hiccup did, but she still admired them from a distance. She had always seen and done things from afar, watching but never really interacting. Perhaps that was one more reason people referred to her as 'The Dreamer.'

This time was no different – she was just standing on the edge of town, watching the same exact spot where Hiccup and Toothless flew off to the nest. She had skipped breakfast and every other offer of food and rest from her father and her friends, just continuing to stand, never moving from that spot. The other teens of Selardalr had been watching her unmoving form, wondering how to even get a single response from her, break her from this waiting spell that held her. Without a word, Leif wandered up to her side and watched the same spot with her, just letting the ocean breeze hit their faces and slash small drops of water on them.

"He's coming back, you know." Leif said all of a sudden. Syn merely remained silent. "Dragons seem to have a thing for him, especially that Night Fury. Compared to that, what's some random, run-of-the-mill dragon?"

Again, Syn said nothing, her eyes still transfixed on the exact same spot, her long light brown hair flowing smoothly in the wind. Leif merely looked at her expecting some kind of response, but his hope was shattered as her face remained as unreadable as ever. "Syn, that guy had big dreams, and the talents to back it up. I seriously doubt he'd just leave the place where he had a real chance to make it happen, certainly not after everything he's accomplished."

"How do you know?" She asked looking to the ground. Leif gasped silently, startled at the first words she had spoken since Hiccup left.

"W-What do you mean?" Asked Leif shyly.

"He abandoned one tribe, who's to say he didn't abandon another? Sure he was no small-time thinker, but he wasn't really the type to stay in one place for long either." She was grasping for her elbow, squeezing it as hard as she could. The words she spoke suggested some kind of anger at Hiccup for whatever reason, perhaps his near wordless departure that seemed to pass for abandonment as she said. Syn didn't mean it, but her heart had been damaged, and the statement just burst out of her mouth.