Without Saying

Chapter 11 - A Stranger on the Island

Stoic woke up the next morning with the early specks of the rising sun dusting his eyelids just like it did every morning. Stoic groaned and attempted to roll over to hide himself from the nagging sunbeams. Life as a chief was not easy, but it could be rewarding, even if it meant getting up earlier than everyone else and going to bed later than everyone else. He had grown used to it, fallen into a routine, but last night the aging chief had stayed up way later than he should have. Astrid's encounter yesterday had him worried. Who could the man be? Why would he suddenly appear now? The distant bellow of a rising yak eventually pushed Stoic to get up and begin his day. There wasn't much he could do about anything from inside his house. As he exited his room and walked down to the main floor, Stoic happened to glance over at the closed door to his left, the one that led to Hiccup's room. The Chief sighed.

"Oh, son...I miss ya so much."

He whispered, gently placing his hand on the door.

"You just gestured to all of me."

He could hear his son's nasally juvenile voice replying back. Stoic chuckled at the memory. Although, it had been really annoying at times back then, he'd grown to miss every bit of the boy's wit and sarcasm. A yak bellowed again in the distance, jolting Stoic from his thoughts. He wasn't sure if it was the same yak but doubted he would have been paying enough attention to know. Quickly, the aging chief shook his head clear and continued down the stairs and out the door. He was getting a late start as it was today, at this rate there would already be people gathered at the Great Hall for breakfast. The village was still rather quiet at this time of morning, with the occasional viking yawning loudly as he or she stepped out to greet the sunrise. Rays from the slowly ascending sun drifted gently across building roof tops, tree peaks, the cliffside alike, drawing Stoics attention to the statues outside the Great Hall as he approached it. Every statue there was of a Haddock ancestor, chiefs and warriors throughout Berk's three hundred years that had passed away through some mighty act of protecting their home and people. Stoic's gaze rested on the statue in town square. He never thought Hiccup's statue would go up before his. It shouldn't have gone up before his, but life wasn't fair like that. The Dragon Master. They had been so close to him. The man had been on their ship and wounded! Stoic would be lying if he said that he didn't think this new Dragon Master and the mysterious dragon rider that landed on their boat six years ago weren't the same person. There was no way that was a coincidence. This man had been making many appearances since that first day on the boat, but even Stoic was sure they were one and the same person, but he was puzzled by the frequently contradicting actions. He had heard many stories of the man and, even though he couldn't be sure which ones were true, he knew in his heart that the masked rider and his dragon had been involved in Hiccup's murder. But if that were the case, why would he save Berk at the Nest a year later and again at the island a couple days ago? It made no sense, but then again, riding a dragon didn't make sense either? Stoic let out a long sigh and turned his gaze from his untouched food to look at the crowds of Berkians eating around him, the people he was responsible for. What if that stranger Astrid met last night was the Dragon Rider?! It was possible, but Stoic wasn't too sure. Why would he bother when there clearly weren't any more dragons on Berk. Plus, Astrid probably would have recognized him. So, what other reason would he have for coming? But what reason did he have to kill Hiccup? That was one of the big, unanswered questions that plagued Stoic the most. Why Hiccup? He was just a boy...
Stoic shook his head to clear the thoughts away. He couldn't walk that mental path again, not today. He had more important things to worry about right now. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to talk to Gobber before the tribe meeting though.

~

I woke up with the dawn the next morning, or at least I think it was the dawn, it was hard to tell since we were underground, but judging from previous habits I guessed it was close to a few hours before sunrise. I yawned and stretched a little, then walked to the false slab of rockface and pushed it open. Scanning over the moss-covered rocks and clay that was the cove floor, I smiled. Being back in this place brought back so many memories that, for a second, I felt like I was back to my fifteen-year-old self, sleeping in the cove after a test flight with Toothless went too long. I smiled and spared a glance at Toothless, who was still huddled up in sleep behind me. The charred earth beneath him looked smeared and rough, and I chuckled when he very roughly stretched before flopping on his other side. Sometimes he reminded me more of a cat than a dragon. Birds chirping echoed throughout the cavern, bringing my attention back to the cove outside as rays of sun began to show. Toothless and I had found this place many years ago. The cavern was big enough to house the entire village of Berk, which I'm assuming is what it was built for in the first place. There were tunnels and secret panels that led across the entire island but every one of them led back here. It all appeared long forgotten when we found it however, which makes me think that our distant ancestors had it built but forgot about it over time. Either way, the tunnels had proven quite useful to me in the past, and they just might come in handy now. It was obvious, after a long restless night, that I had to do some damage control after what happened yesterday with Astrid. I might have managed to pull off leading her away from Toothless without her learning anything, but it did still mean that our - my presence on the island was no longer a secret, even if they didn't know who I was. This would undoubtably hinder efforts to get into the forge to make a new tail for Toothless because if I knew Berk (which I'm pretty sure I did) everyone would be on edge for a little while after hearing of a mysterious strange running around on the island. So, if I want any chance of fixing Toothless' tail, I'll have to start sooner rather than later.