This is where I belong ||httyd fanfic||

40. Arriving at a bizarre tribe

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Stoick remained on the deck, as unmoving as any statue erected in his honor would be, still focused on the horizon ahead. The incessant chattering and petty squabbles of his shipmates were completely ignored behind him. In his head, Stoick was turning over all the way their meeting with Hiccup could go, every possible scenario based on what he did or didn't say. As willing as he was to force his son to come home, he really hoped it would not have to come to that. It may have been the only thing he would respond to, since gods knew orders and scolding never really worked. But Hiccup had always been a timid child and never adopted the brutality of his father or fellow Vikings, so harsh tones and physical efforts could possibly serve to push him away even more.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he heard a wet smack against his helmet; looking up he saw a day-old fish lying there, its mixed smell of fish and human hands pungent enough to snuff out any sense of edibility. He gave a dirty look back to the culprits, the twins, who were playing catch with it, and immediately tried to pin the blame on each other under their chief's intimidating glare. It wasn't long before yet another fight between the two broke out, but Stoick only scoffed and let it go. He had too much to think about already to worry about two immature Vikings who shared one dysfunctional mind between them both.

Before Stoick could even get his mind back on track, the boat shook violently against something, nearly knocking him over on his rear. He had only managed to keep himself balanced by grabbing hold of the boat, the weak wood nearly breaking under his grip. The others had managed to do the same while the boat shook and started to break apart over the jagged rocks underneath.

"Land Ho!" Gobber yelled as the ship came to a stop upon the shores of a beach, several of the wood planks falling to the ground. It was a wonder to the smith as he reeled in the sails and dropped down the cracked stone anchor below that their ship was even still intact at that very moment.

Before the ship had even come to a complete halt, Astrid had already grabbed the side and vaulted herself onto the edge of the shore, her boots splashing on the shallow water before walking up to the sand. She took a moment to take in her surroundings – the island they were on was completely unknown territory to them, not found on any map and far too distant from any of the other islands. It looked to be like any other island though, a beach filled with sand, rocks, and patches of dune grass here and there. The sand stopped a little ways ahead though, making way for lush grass that led the way to a dense forest.

It was nothing special, just a plain, seemingly uninhabited island, but to a runaway like Hiccup, it would be the perfect place to hide and live in peaceful isolation. She heard thumps behind her and turned back to see that Stoick, Gobber, and her companions had joined her on the beach. Stoick and Gobber had landed without a hitch, while the other quickly lost their balance and clumsily fell on their stomachs or butts, Astrid inwardly groaning at the sight.

"So, what's the plan now?" Tuffnut asked rubbing his rear as he stood back up and joined the others.

"Yeah," Ruffnut agreed, both twins quickly adopting their classic dim faces. "We've been kind of unclear about it since day one." Stoick slapped his face at the twins' ignorance. His son may have been the biggest, but he certainly wasn't the only sign that Berk's future looked bleak. Apparently, unless it involved fire, explosions, or something getting broken, the Thorston sibling preferred to remain blissfully ignorant and not care in the slightest. It showed in the way they were among the first eliminated during dragon training when they were still children: they had complete disregard for strategy and willingly stepped into the line of fire hoping that they could be mauled or scarred by the dragons so they'd have something to brag about. That was the problem with young Vikings these days, too focused on looking heroic instead of being heroic.