This is where I belong ||httyd fanfic||

44. Not believing what's true

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"Oh... My... Gods..." Ruff and Tuff said at once.

"I don't believe it," Snotlout said completely breathless and shaking his head in astonishment. "It's right there in front of me and I don't believe it."

"Believe me, I didn't believe it at first either," Astrid said. "But it's real."

Stoick, Gobber, Astrid and the others were peeking in from the edges of the windows of Hiccup's home, sticking mostly to the sides so no one inside the abode would notice. Astrid had managed to sneak them into the village without any trouble thanks to the cover story she had told the lady, though it was a bit hard to keep the others in line with them trying to hack away at every single dragon that crossed their line of sight. As she predicted, the whole of the village got under the skin of the chief, Stoick's face turning surprisingly redder than his own beard, not even being able to resist drawing his weapon with murderous intent and charge off every time he saw a dragon eating, napping, or being scratched by its rider. Astrid had been forced to physically restrain the man each and every time, and managing to stop him, Gobber told her, was a feat of strength in itself. He looked at every single person they passed along the way with angry condescendence like they were a brainless fool with a death wish, and as time passed and they saw more of the village he found a powerful urge to kill them as well as their beloved pet demons. The man was running on a very short fuse, and it wouldn't be long before he exploded.

The rest, however, were taking things a bit more in stride once Astrid had managed to calm them down. They had taken the time to notice how advanced and prosperous the village seemed to be in comparison to theirs, taking note of all the intricately designed houses and wooden structures with purposes unknown to them. Fishlegs was like a child in a room full of pies, gasping and gawking at all the rare dragons they were seeing, not being able to help himself from spouting out facts and stories about them. Gobber found himself marveling at the food dispensers and the windmills that seemed to power everything; he had mentioned seeing Hiccup's hand in each of them, and couldn't help but let out a whistle of pride. The twins were paying attention to the dragons as well, noting how much fun they could have blowing things up while on the backs of their own dragons, although the bleachers to the side of the island had caught their attention as well. They had wondered for a while if it was so people could watch the dragons cause destruction, but Astrid had remarked otherwise. Snotlout was just looking around, gods knew whatever it was he was thinking, but based on the glare and small smirk on his face, Astrid could safely assume it was nothing good.

The Berkian group was completely mesmerized by the scene in front of them. There Hiccup was in the living room, still dressed in his armors, having a conversation with the ex-chief from before. They were discussing Hiccup's plans for the village going on ahead now that he was chief, to which Astrid could confirm Gobber's theory that Hiccup had a hand in all the construction of the village. The woman she saw from before was there as well, reading a book silently by the fireplace while rubbing her stomach to check on the baby's condition.

But what really struck everyone as the dragon in the room was the actual dragon in the room, the one Astrid had pointed out to be Hiccup's curled up around the child she saw earlier. The little boy was on the floor, playing with wooden blocks with the dragon watching and nuzzling him, the boy giggling and trying to shove the black scaled creature's ticklish head away. The dragon only did so after a quick lick on the cheek. It curled its tail around him, Gobber quickly taking notice of the prosthetic and marveling at Hiccup's fine craftsmanship; he seemed almost disappointed that Hiccup was to be a chief and would not be a master blacksmith since he clearly had the talent for it.