Homeward Bound: An Incredible Journey

No one ever expected Hiccup to return. When he does, the story of his journey home may be too incredible to believe.

AN. So this was written on a whim because I couldn't find any "Hiccup returns" stories that didn't involve him a. going with Valka as a baby or b. running away with Toothless. I wanted to take a different approach and this is it. Don't worry. Toothless will be in the story.

Also... ABNE is still my main story. In fact, I finally started the next chapter. It will be out soon. Promise.

Disclaimer: Hiccup, Toothless and all of their friends are the property of Dreamworks Pictures. I dos not own them but am grateful for the opportunity to use them in the unleashing of my own imagination.

Rating: K+

Trader Johan's ship pulled into port three days late. That was hardly unusual. He had all of his typical goods to barter - metals, fabrics, foods and spices from all over the archipelago - plus a rather large supply of dried sea cucumbers, which might be considered strange. But perhaps the oddest thing about this particular visit was that, for the first time anyone in Berk could remember, Trader Johan wasn't alone.

The young man stepped onto the deck and heaved a large sack over his shoulder. He wasn't large, as Vikings usually went, but he had a tall, solidly built frame with thin yet muscular limbs. He wore an outfit made primarily from leather and lacking most of the usual metal accoutrements which passed for Viking armor. He wore no helmet and his hair tossed messily in the ocean breeze.

For several long minutes he stood there, looking about with wide, green eyes as though the old Viking village with its constantly overcast skies and frequently rebuilt houses was the most incredible place he'd ever seen. He breathed in deeply through his nose and let a small smile settle at the corner of his mouth. Then he blinked and, had anyone been watching, they might have caught him wiping a stray tear from his cheek.

And yet, for all that, Hiccup Haddock's return to Berk went largely unnoticed. All around, Vikings were bustling to and fro, hurrying to snatch up the best deals for their households. Trader Johan himself was engaged in yet another too long tale about some made-up adventure or other while simultaneously managing to conduct business with the Vikings who weren't actually listening to his story.

Gobber was the first to notice him.

"Who's tha'?" The blacksmith elbowed his friend in the side and gestured to the stranger on Johan's ship with a hooked hand. "Johan's go' 'imself an apprentice, ya thin'?"

Stoick the Vast, chief of Berk, eyed the young man down below them. It was a strange occurrence, indeed, for anyone to come to Berk unannounced and unexpected. Gobber's theory seemed as likely as anything else. "Don't know." Stoick answered in a grim voice. His voice was always grim these days. Not even Gobber had heard so much as a chuckle from the man in the past five years. "Let's go find out. No use standing about up here."

As the two men made their way down to the docks, elbowing their way through the press of villagers eager to buy some goods, the stranger took up a place near Johan's elbow and seemed to be waiting for a moment to interject his own piece of mind between the story and sales negotiations. His moment came just as Stoick and Gobber stepped onto the ship, drawing the Trader's attention with their large forms. The young man wasn't so distracted though, jumping on the break in conversation without glancing over to discover its cause.

"Thanks for the lift, Johan." He said, drawing the man's eyes back to him.

The Trader smiled. "Ah! Yes, yes. Anytime. Anytime, Young Master."

Stoick frowned. There went the apprentice theory. No, this traveler had come to Berk for his own purpose and was clearly from a house of high standing if Johan's respectful address was any indication. But who was he?

With a smart salute and a smile of farewell, the stranger hoisted his bag and turned to step off the ship… only to pull up short when he came face to face with Stoick. His eyes widened and his mouth opened in a look of shock.

"Ah… Um…" The boy - for he was still a boy in Stoick's eyes, though clearly past the age of adulthood - floundered for several moments. His gaze roamed over The Chief's face, searching, while his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water.

Stoick cleared his throat. As chief, it was his duty to welcome visitors and determine their purpose, whether it be good or ill. He'd not have some strange lad just waltzing into his village without reason. Berk was no tourist town or adventurous destination for foolhardy youths. They didn't need another useless body to worry about during the next raid. If the boy was just going to get in the way then he'd best be on his way.

"Welcome to Berk," he said without a smile. He hadn't smiled in years. "I am Stoick, chief of Berk. What brings you to our island, lad?"

The stranger took half a step back and blinked, as though he'd somehow expected a different reaction to his presence on their island. Stoick's frown deepened. There was something about those eyes… something, somehow… familiar.

"Wow…" the boy spoke, his expression hovering somewhere between hurt and humor. "This is… awkward." He moved his free hand about as he spoke while the other tugged his bag a bit higher up on his shoulder. "I know I've grown but I didn't realize I was that different." His tone was a strange cross between nervous and sarcastic. The sound tugged on something in Stoick's chest and he suddenly found it hard to breathe.

It can't be…

The young man gulped and looked at his feet for a moment before meeting Stoick's eyes with painful hope in his own. "You… don't recognize me at all… do you?"

But he did. All at once, the identity of the stranger before him was clear. Impossible… So impossible and yet… there he stood. Stoick lifted a shaking hand, hesitant to touch, not daring to hope. But the moment his palm came to rest on the young man's cheek, he knew.

"Dad." The choked whisper brought tears to the chief's eyes.

"Hiccup?" He dared to breathe. "My Hiccup? My boy?"

"It's me, Dad."

Tears ran over his cheeks in a sudden flood, soaking his mustache and beard but, for the first time since Hiccup had disappeared, more than five years before, Stoick smiled. Then he laughed and he wrapped his large arms around the grown boy's shoulders to hold him close. "My son! Hiccup! Alive! Returned to me after all this time."

Hiccup laughed from where he was nearly smothered against his father's chest. This was new. He couldn't remember the last time his dad had hugged him - certainly long before he was taken from Berk. He wondered if his father had ever regretted that. He was certainly making up for it now. Hiccup could barely breathe for the force of the embrace.

"Yeah. Yeah, Dad. I'm home. I'm alive. I…" He stopped short, realizing what he'd just said and craned his neck in an attempt to see his father's face. "Wait. You thought I was dead?"

Stoick leaned back, just a bit, giving Hiccup some room to move. "Aye, Son. We searched the archipelago for you, but after so many years… I'd given up hope."

Hiccup couldn't find the words to reply. He'd figured his father would be happy to see him, to have him home, but this reaction was more than he could have predicted. After all, he'd once been Hiccup the Useless, failure as a Viking and failure as a son. But they'd thought him dead and, clearly, his loss had weighed heavier on his father's shoulders than he'd ever imagined.

Seeing his dad's tears, the relief and joy in his eyes… Hiccup knew he was right in coming home. Even after everything he'd been through, a part of him had always yearned to return.

"And now look at you!" Stoick exclaimed suddenly, stepping back to hold his son at arms length. "Look at you! Where's that scrawny boy I once knew?" He laughed loudly. "Your right! I hardly recognized you!"

By now, the shouts and tears had drawn a crowd of onlookers, their attempted purchases long forgotten as news spread rapidly. Hiccup was back! Stoick's son was alive! The heir had returned!

"Yev cer'inly grown a might taller there, 'Iccup." Gobber's heavy hand dropped onto Hiccup's shoulder on top of Stoick's. The combined weight, plus the heavy bag on his other shoulder was too much. Hiccup's legs threatened to buckle.

"It's great to see you, Gobber." He grinned and took a few steps back, ducking out from under the hold. He stumbled a bit and then rolled his eyes at his own clumsiness and shook out his left leg to get the prosthetic working right again.

Of course, his father caught it immediately. The man's brow furrowed and his jaw clench at the sight. "What happened?"

Hiccup looked up at his father, down at his leg, and then back up again. He smirked and chuckled a bit. "What? This?" He gestured to the foot. "This is nothing. Just… you know, one of the hazards of being a Viking." It was enough for now. The story… the whole story… was far too long to be told while standing on the deck of Trader Johan's ship.

"A battle wound." His father summed up quietly.

Hiccup shrugged his shoulders and nodded. "You could call it that."

"Then…" Stoick looked up, meeting his son's eyes. "You are truly a man now." Hiccup gasped as, for the first time ever, he saw pride shining in his father's eyes. His father was proud of him.

An incredible feeling of warmth spread through his chest. But with it, came worry. Stoick didn't know anything yet - about where he'd been, about the things he'd done. How could his dad be proud of him now, before he knew. Once his story was told, sure… maybe… at least, Hiccup hoped so. It just seemed silly to be proud of him now, without actually knowing anything.

"Come!" Stoick clapped a large hand across his son's back and ushered him off the boat, the whispering crowd parting before them. "We must tell everyone. Tonight we feast! For my son has returned. My son has returned, a warrior!"