Come Darkness, Come Light

Chapter 33 - Revelation

"You really think that boy will cooperate," he replied after a moment of consideration, doubt heavy in his expression.

"If you give him a bit of space for a while, aye. He seemed to want to help us when I spoke with him before," I explained. Of course, Hiccup's version of helping was withholding information about the nest, but Stoick didn't need to know that. One step at a time.

"Why in Thor's name would he want to help us? We're complete strangers," Stoick argued, pinching the bridge of his nose briefly. "Gods, when did I start relying on children for anything?" He muttered, then lifted his head and threw his arm out toward the dragon. "I mean, look at—" His words cut off abruptly, and my eyebrows drew together in concern as I followed his shocked gaze.

"What?" I questioned, expecting to see a threat. Well...another threat.

Stoick dropped his hand, squinting in disbelief at the Night Fury. "Is...Is that a saddle?" He breathed, not even blinking.

It took me a second to process what he'd said, then my eyes caught on the small piece of leather attached to the dragon's back, almost hidden by its wings. I hadn't even noticed it before with all of the commotion, but now it seemed to stand out starkly against the midnight black scales. It really was a saddle...on a dragon.

"I...think so, Chief..." I responded at last, unsure what else to say.

Stoick's gaze darkened, and he glanced toward the sky thoughtfully. "I'm starting to think we've got an even bigger problem on our hands than the nest," he said with a frown.

"That would explain how he made it to the middle of the ocean without freezing to death first," I murmured, mostly to myself. "He flew out there. A boy on the back of a Night Fury...I don't believe it." I was still wrapping my mind around the fact that Night Furies were even real. This was too much information to handle all at once. People didn't ride dragons. It was impossible. Hell, you couldn't even get close to one without risking your life.

"Still think he's on our side?" Stoick questioned roughly.

"I don't know what to think," I admitted. "I could use a mugful of mead, though," I added.

Stoick snorted at my attempt to lighten the situation. "Plenty of time for that once we get back to Berk." He turned away, heading back toward the captain's quarters. "Right now, we need to brainstorm what to do with our guests," he called over his shoulder. "The village will want answers, and at the moment we have none."

I sighed, sensing a bit of trouble in the near future. This was supposed to be a scouting mission. That's why we only brought the one ship. The villagers would be quite surprised when we returned with a Night Fury and a strange boy wearing dragon-scale armor. Stoick was right. They would all have questions.

"We need to start storing barrels of mead below deck for these trips," I grumbled under my breath, following after the chief.

HICCUP'S POV

When my eyes fluttered open, darkness greeted me. I took a moment to focus on my other senses since my vision had no information to offer me. It smelled like saltwater—we were still on the ship, then—and I could hear the murmur of calm waves. My fingertips glided over smooth scales, and I smiled at the reminder that I had Toothless by my side once again.

*Stay there.* His soft command filtered into my thoughts. Of course he knew I was awake.

*Is the Alpha still out there?* I wondered, unable to keep the nervous edge out of my voice. Gobber seemed alright, as far as vikings went, but Stoick set off all my alarms in terms of how much danger he posed to both of us.