Chapter 5

                                    

                                          
   "Ground all dragons!"
    Hiccup and I managed to catch up with Stoick, finding the large man racing down into the stables before he started shouting at the people working in there.
    "What? Why?" Hiccup was trying his best to get his dad's attention, but to no avail.
    "Seal the gates!" he ordered. "Lower the storm doors!"
    "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait, wait! What is happening?"
     "Come on, you heard the man! Lock it down!" The doors to the stables started to shut.
     "No dragon or Viking sets foot off this island until I give the word."
     "Wait, because some guy you knew is stirring up trouble in some faraway land?" Stoick finally stopped and looked down at us, but his gaze was bone-chilling, sending shudders down my spine.
     "Because Drago Bludvist is a madman without conscience or mercy. "And if he's built a dragon army..." Stoick paused for a moment, thinking of the horrible possibilities. "...gods help us all." He turned right back to shouting out orders. "Get them into their pens. Quickly!"
     "Aye, chief." Hiccup pursued his father again, not wanting to give up.
     "Then let's ride back out there. We'll follow those trappers to Drago, and talk some sense into him." I couldn't help but shake my head. Hiccup always wanted things to be peaceful, but sometimes, that wasn't an option.
     Or maybe that was just the Berserker in me talking.
     "No. We fortify the island."
     "It's our duty to keep the peace," he protested.
     "Peace is over, Hiccup. I must prepare you for war." He looked shocked and alarmed.
     "War? Dad, if Drago's coming for our dragons, we can't wait around for him to get here. Let's go find him, and change his mind."
    "No. Some minds won't be changed, Hiccup. Berk is what you need to worry about. A chief protects his own."
     Stoick moved away to reveal Toothless, looking up at us with big, curious eyes. My heart immediately melted at the sight of the cute dragon, and it quickly struck me just how important it was to protect him, and all the other dragons. But as soon as I stole a glance at Hiccup, I knew he wasn't going to take this.
     "Hiccup, don't."
     "I have to." He gave me a quick peck on the cheek before jumping onto Toothless, and as much as I wanted to stay behind and protect the other dragons, I knew I couldn't abandon him. With a huff, I whistled for Shriek and jumped onto her back the second she came up to me. Hiccup looked back at me curiously, and I shrugged.
     "I have to, too." He smiled at me, then patted Toothless to get him to take off.
     "Hiccup!" We managed to swoop through the first reinforcements, and although it looked like things were going to close on us, we managed to get out in time.
     "We'll go back to where we found the Trappers, and search that area."
            "What if they're not there?" I offered. "We should break off and look within a certain radius in that case."
     He laughed and steered our dragons close together, before leaning down and resting his forehead against mine. I sighed in content, and started to move to kiss him, when I noticed we were hurtling toward a rock spire.
     "Hiccup!" The both of us steered our dragons out of the way of the spire, right before we hit it. The two of us sat there in silence for a moment, attempting to compose ourselves, before we both erupted into laughter. I reached up to move some of my wild hair from in front of my eyes as the laughter died down, pulling us back to reality.
     Toothless and Shriek leveled out in a clear stretch, which allowed Hiccup to turn around again and look at me. Carefully, he removed the glove from my right hand and laced his fingers through mine. I looked down at our conjoined hands for a moment, before meeting his eyes again.
     "Why do you always do that?" He hummed, asking what I meant. "Remove my gloves before you hold my hands? I wear them for a reason!" I teased. He shook his head at my playfulness, then gently lifted my hand and placed a soft kiss on the back of it.
     "Because I want to hold your hand, not some glove."
     "You made me those gloves, stupid."
     "But still..." A sigh escaped from his nostrils, before he did the same with the other hand, including kissing the knuckle. I reeled my head back slightly and raised a fiery eyebrow at him.
     "What's with you being all affectionate today? I mean, you're still a pretty romantic person and all, but you've gone and cranked it up a notch." He let go of one of my hands to help move Toothless up with the draft.
     "I don't know," he shrugged. "I honestly can't pinpoint a specific thing."
     "Mm... We've been married for, what, almost a year now, and you're still so incredibly indecisive when it comes to these things."
     "What can I say?" I shook my head and reached over to kiss his cheek before settling one hand on his thigh for a second.
     "You're cheesy, but I love you."
     "Another thing someone's been saying since we were sixteen."
     "Correction, you were sixteen."
     "Yeah, yeah." He rolled his eyes.
     "And I don't recall telling you that I love you until I was about 20."
     "Are you really gonna do this?" I laughed and turned to face front again on my dragon, staring at the sky before us.
     "Always. Congrats, you're stuck with this for the rest of your life." His sigh held no exhaustion or malice.
     "I'm glad."