So the most frustrating thing happened as I finished this chapter.

After experiencing weeks of a lack of inspiration on how to do this chapter, I was suddenly hit with the motivation to write and finish it within a day. It was while I had almost finished spellchecking the thing that my laptop crashed and I lost the entire file!

After crying myself to sleep that night (not a drama queen, I swear) I got right back to writing it and it actually turned out better than my previous version! And longer too!

What Friendship Can Do: Chapter 8 - Goodbye For Now

The following days on Berk were of the hectic sort.

As the next search for the Dragon's Nest came closer preparations had to be made. That meant weapons needed to be sharpened, supplies needed to be gathered, and ships needed to be made ready. Every capable warrior on Berk hurried to get everything done in time and those that were able helped them in any way they could. Even children did their very best to do what the adults expected of them.

But there were always those that prefered to be a pain in the rear-end than to help.

"Chief Stoick is making a grave mistake! Hiccup Haddock shouldn't go on that search!" Mildew screeched across the plaza, purposefully standing opposite to the forge where a certain blacksmith and his apprentice worked to fulfill the quota on weapons and shields this afternoon.

Or were supposed to work. This particular villager could be quite distracting if he demanded your attention and Mildew was wailing for Hiccup's.

"The Gods will be angered! That boy was attacked by the Offspring of Lightning and Death Itself and yet he lived! This is a bad omen, he's cursed! Bring him along and his mere presence will curse the ships and our men!" The man preached, even though no one was really listening as they went about their day.

Many had protested against their Chief's decision at first, but most had come to accept it. Who were they to argue against Stoick's wishes? Besides, they had better things to do than to stand there and listen to an old man. Though, there were still a few who had a hard time ignoring him.

"He's been standing there and preaching for an hour now, doesn't he ever get tired?" Hiccup asked as he leant on the counter with an elbow, resting his chin in the palm of his hand as he looked through the window. Gobber was standing next to him, hand and prosthetic firmly set in his waist as he watched the shipwreck of a show unfolding before them.

"Doesn't look like it. Ye know how boar-headed that man can be sometimes." Gobber wasn't too amused by this either. He looked on with a scowl.

"Yeah, I know. I just wish he'd put all that energy in his cabbages instead. That is at least more productive than this! And it would keep him out of the village! He was there when my dad became chief, right? He's gotta know by now that Stoick the Vast doesn't just change his mind." Accompanied by the usual wild gesturing of his one free hand, Hiccup rightfully complained about Mildew's insistence before tearing himself away from the sight.

It was only because of Gobber that he did.

The blacksmith grabbed a sword with its blade warped by the fires of a dragon in a more recent raid, one of the few that still needed work. If that sword was still useful. They needed all the steel they could carry on this dragon hunting trip.

"Ye know what? How about ye go ahead and see if there is somethin' yer old man needs ye for? I can 'andle the rest, so there's no need for you to stick around and listen to Mildew." Gobber spoke and with his free hand patted Hiccup on the shoulder as he pulled him away from the old man's preaching.

"Are you sure you don't need me anymore?" Hiccup wasn't just going to leave if there was still work to be done. Not now at least.

"Very sure. Now hop along. I can finish today's work by myself." He shooed his apprentice out of the forge and Hiccup didn't fight him on it.

"Pfft! Cursed." The boy repeated as he left. He thought the very notion of it was ridiculous, though he did not doubt he must've wronged the Gods in some way to be graciously granted such amounts of misfortune.

But he did as he was told and left Gobber behind to finish up. He wanted to search for his father as suggested and see if there was something he could do for him, but Hiccup didn't make it all that far down the road before he was stopped by a familiar voice bearing a round, friendly face.

"Hiccup?"

Turning to look at who had spoken his name, Hiccup came to face a large young man, one of the only other few Vikings on Berk who was as tall as he was broad. Though it didn't at all derive from his plump and kind features.

"Fishlegs! What can I do you for?" Hiccup greeted him with a smile, one that was swiftly returned.

Just like Astrid, Snotlout, and the Thorston twins, Fishlegs Ingerman had also participated in Dragon Training that year. He had always been a big and sturdy boy ever since he was born. Many friends of the Ingermans, Stoick the Vast included, had often stated how he would become a prime example of a true Viking before he could even walk!

Those promises turned out to be empty ones when the boy grew up to be soft-hearted and mild-mannered, but his parents were never any less proud of him. The Ingermans were kind people.

"You're more chipper than usual, Hiccup. You're really excited to join the search in a few days, aren't you?" Fishlegs asked him, his own mood growing brighter as he was genuinely happy to see Hiccup in a cheerier mood for once.

His hands were behind his back and in them he held the reason why he had decided to approach the blacksmith-in-training. It was also why he was so nervous.

"Well, can you blame me? Dad is finally giving me the chance to prove myself and this time I won't fail." Hiccup spoke with a kind of determination he hadn't felt in a long time. In the past he had often messed up, though it wasn't always in his control. For once things would be different.

"Yeah, about that..." Fishlegs' voice trailed off and not in a way that Hiccup liked.

With his arms crossed in front of his chest did he watch the broader boy pull out what he had been hiding and it was a familiar leather bound book with the image of a Monstrous Nightmare on its decorated front.

The Book of Dragons.

"I was wondering, since you're going away soon, if we could take another look at this? Just the two of us? For old time's sake! And to prepare you." Fishlegs suggested as he offered the book to Hiccup, who took it and stared down at the image of the dragon on the cover.

How long hadn't it been since he had last held this book? Or even seen it?

He remembered, quite vividly so, that one of his arms had been bandaged and in a sling back then.

Thor, it really has been a long time.

"So... What do you say, Hiccup?" Fishlegs pulled him back out of his sea of thoughts. Hiccup hadn't even noticed his mind had wandered again.

"You know what? Let's do it. Right now, just the two of us, in the Great Hall." Hiccup forced his lips to curl up into a smile.

He just had to remind himself that things would be different soon.

Fishlegs, upon hearing Hiccup agree to his plan, could hardly contain his excitement.

The two young men found themselves a quiet spot at an empty table near the large fire build in the centre of the Great hall to keep the space dimly lit during the day. There were not too many people present during this time of the afternoon, which would change once dinner was prepared in the kitchens.

For now, the hall made for a good place where one could touch up their knowledge on dragons with a peer.

"Now this is the Timberjack! With Wings so strong and so sharp that they can even cut through the thick trunk of a full-grown tree! Our nets and even the metal dome of the Kill Ring can barely contain this dragon. Their wingspans are huge too!" Fishlegs rattled on about the reptile that was their current topic of discussion with an excitement that was almost palpable. It made Hiccup smile to see him so giddy.

That Fishlegs was absolutely fascinated by the scaled beasts was no secret. Often enough did conversations with him end up being about them, particularly about the Gronckle.

"Oh, and here's the Scauldron! This dragon has the ability to heat the water in its throat pouch or stomach up to boiling temperatures, which it then sprays at its victims. Many Vikings and traders have fallen prey to it when coming across one at sea. It's extremely dangerous!" The two moved on to end up on the page of the Scauldron and Fishlegs was more than happy to read what its pages contained.

Hiccup sat next to him and listened with a slight grimace of discomfort, his brows furrowed.

Death by scalding hot water, what a way to go. Hiccup almost felt like he'd gotten off easy if his fate had been a fatal one.

Then again, exactly how much 'easier' had he gotten off? There were places in his body that ached when it was too cold outside and cold was the only available climate here in the Archipelago, he couldn't see in his right eye, scars littered his body...

Hiccup found himself sighing deeply.

These were happier days and still he could rarely stop thinking about the bad.

Fishlegs continued to talk about what he could now only assume was the Scauldron as his exact words seemed to elude him. Hiccup heard him talk, but the meaning of his words were foreign to him.

"Next up is-"

"The Changewing, right?" Hiccup guessed, cutting Fishlegs off a little louder than he had wanted to.

He was right, judging by the picture of the strange dragon with its strangely shaped head, long neck, triangular wings, and the leaf-like shapes adorning its back all the way to its tail, but the other had still caught on.

"Are you okay, Hiccup? Do you want me to stop?" Another overprotective Viking in his personal inner circle. Though, he wasn't exactly in the wrong to worry. Even while still paying attention had Hiccup kept an eye on the steady thinning of the pages, dreading what would come at the end.

The funny thing was, that page was still a blank.

Fishlegs was talking once more and skipped the Changewing in favour of the next dragon on the list, the Gronckle, which was usually his favourite. He kept a wary eye on his study buddy as he read out loud, though he could tell he wasn't quite with him.

Hiccup had once been asked to fill that blank space with everything he knew. Gothi had told his father it would take a while before he could leave his bed, but the problem was that his boy could hardly sit still long enough.

His fifteen year old self had quickly gotten tired of the four wooden walls of his home and he wanted to step outside to feel the sun on his skin and the breeze brush through his hair. He had, admittedly, become quite fussy.

His father had requested this of him as a way to keep him pacified in the house for a little while longer so his wounds could heal properly. Back then Gothi hadn't even been sure yet of what was to become of his ruined eye. So Stoick had desperately hoped that a long stay in bed would help it get better. And he had told his son he would be helping the village if he shared his knowledge.

Subconsciously did the currently eighteen year old teen wrap a hand around his right arm in discomfort as he gazed down on the yellowish pages of the book, which was no longer on the Gronckle, he vaguely seemed to notice.

The last time he'd even seen that book was also the first time he had shut down. Coincidentally enough, the husky boy sitting and reading in the seat right next to him had been there then too.

A younger Hiccup had been eager to work on something instead of waiting for the hours to pass by and hope someone would eventually come for a visit before he would be driven mad by the silence. Fishlegs had come by to bring him the Dragon Manual and all his notes on the Night Fury.

One look at a coloured version of that thing's head was all it took. That was what had done him in.

Those eyes...

Hiccup wasn't sure what happened because all he remembered next was that he was suddenly lying on the hard wooden floorboards of his living room with his father calling his name in a panicked frenzy with eyes wider and more scared than he had ever seen them. Astrid, Gobber, and Fishlegs were in the background, each one of them wearing varying looks of fear and worry.

He had never been so aware of his body's aching. It was almost as if it suddenly remembered, as if his numerous stitches had been ripped back open. Some of them even might have.

That night was also when the bad dreams had started. Whatever lie he had been trying to tell himself after surviving past the first night, one glimpse had made reality crash down on him heavier than a solid rock. It was when his new fear of dragons had been discovered.

"Hiccup!"

The young man at the receiving end of that call jumped in his spot, visibly tensing when a heavy, but gentle, hand landed on his shoulder.

Gazing at the other youth, Hiccup found two green eyes staring back at him momentarily. When they pulled away from him and the hand was taken back with a sigh, Fishlegs spoke up again.

"I thought it would help to refresh your mind a bit before you left, but all I'm doing is making bad memories return, aren't I?" His words expressed an honest sadness while a finger aimlessly traced the page of the Whispering Death. Hiccup had no words to say as his eyes followed.

"I just wanted it to be like old times, you know? Back during Dragon Training? When we used to sit at the table all evening and discuss dragons?" Unlike the huskier boy, he had grown silent. A suffocating kind of shame settled in the pit of his stomach.

"I wanted us to be back the way we were. Before the Night Fury, when we were still friends. And before that night, when you suddenly drifted away from us and wouldn't let us in anymore." Fishlegs spoke with a kind of frustration Hiccup hadn't expected and he looked at the other in surprise.

"Drifted away from you?" He asked as the old book was shut with a slam.

"Well, yeah. We all tried to hang out with you, but you shut yourself in your room and barely came out of the house even when Stoick told us you could. You never opened the door for us anymore and told us to leave when we went in anyway." Yes, he vaguely remembered needing to be alone for a long time even after he had healed.

He had wallowed in his own despair and fear. The question why this had happened to him remained unanswered no matter how much he tried to mull it over and it had been more than he could bear.

But he had never meant to push them away.

"We all missed you, you know. I know it took us a long time to give you a chance, but we had really got to know you during training and..." Fishlegs seemed unable to finish his sentence.

This evening, one of the few that were still left before the voyage to the Nest, was supposed to be special. It was supposed to help rekindle the friendship that had briefly bloomed so long ago.

Hiccup was speechless.

They missed him? They mourned the time they hadn't spend together? Hated that they lost his friendship? That he shut them all out?

Astrid had forced her way in as if she were invading a fortress all by herself. The twins still taunted, but Hiccup now realized they hadn't been as often as they once were. Snotlout had been trying to rile him up all this time just to get a reaction out of him. And Fishlegs, he tried patiently waiting until Hiccup came to him.

They missed him and he hadn't even noticed.

The Ingerman boy had grown silent and disliked the tense atmosphere that now hung at their table.

But as he looked at the former heir, he noticed a bittersweet smile on his freckled face.

"Hic-"

"I'm sorry. You all waited for me, didn't you? Some in your own sick, twisted little way." Fishlegs was surprised to hear an apology. That wasn't why he had suggested this study session, but he found himself unable to interupt him.

"I never realized... I was so obsessed with that Night Fury and questions I didn't have answers to that I was completely blind to the good that I still had in my life and I just... Fishlegs, let me make it up to you." He turned in his seat to face the other teen completely, swinging his leg over the bench.

"From today on until the day I leave and from the day I return, let's make up for lost time. You, me, Astrid, Snotlout, and even Ruffnut and Tuffnut." Hiccup requested and Fishlegs felt a smile pull on his lips.

"I would like that." Was his answer with a small smile and Hiccup pulled the Dragon Manual closer to open it again, facing the table once more.

"We were at the Skrill, weren't we?" He asked with renewed energy.

"Actually we were at the Whispering Death, but I think you spaced out after the Changewing, so let's start there." Fishlegs was in a considerably happier mood as he flipped through the pages, backtracking to an earlier reptile.

The two of them had spend the entire rest of the afternoon just like that. Studying dragons, talking about their weaknesses, discussing the upcoming trip for hours. Their session only ended when both of their stomachs growled hungrily in protest and Hiccup stated that he had to go meet with his father for dinner.

It was time and food was prepared in the kitchens. The Vikings of Berk, those that did not feel like eating at home, steadily came pouring into the Great Hall looking for a meal.

At one table sat a small group of five teenagers.

"You should've seen the look on Not-So-Silent Sven's face when he went looking for his black sheep in the well and found a dozen of them instead!" Tuffnut bellowed with laughter together with his sister, who imitated the apparent look of utterly dumbfounded confusion the shepherd had worn.

Opposite to them sat Astrid, Snotlout, and Fishlegs and they were less than amused upon hearing them tell of another one of their grand schemes, which they had already gotten in trouble for with the Chief.

"It was priceless! And totally worth the time we spend on this 'project'. By the time Sven had gotten the real black sheep out, he was covered in black paint!" Ruffnut smacked her hand on the table as she snorted, adding to her brother's tale.

"Is this seriously how you two want to spend the rest of your lives? By pranking innocent people in the name of Loki?" Astrid asked disapprovingly. Her meal went forgotten for the moment.

"Uh, obviously." Came Ruff's answer before she took a bite out of her chicken, as if this should make perfect sense to her aswell.

"My dear Astrid, the art of Loki'ing takes years of practice to perfect and we shan't ignore our talent for pranking." Tuff's answer wasn't much better.

"It runs in our veins."

"It is our very soul."

"Our life would be meaningless if not for our dedication to Loki." The twins ended up finishing together, getting a simple 'muttonheads' out of Snotlout. Astrid was close to losing her temper, as was usually the case whenever she hung around the twins. The hand with which she held her spoon was already tightening into a fist.

"Oh sweet baby Thor in a thunderstorm-"

"Mind if I join you guys?" A high and nasal voice interrupted what would've most likely turned into another one of the shieldmaiden's rants and/or beating of the Thorston twins and the five looked up to the offender.

All but Fishlegs were surprised to see Hiccup standing at their table, holding a bowl of mutton as he stood on two feet unable to stand still. He was clearly unsure of himself, but tried to give them a friendly smile.

Snotlout was too stumped to speak, Astrid's look of surprise quickly melted into a happier one of her own, and the twins...

Ruffnut scooted over to sit a bit closer to her brother and patted the now empty spot next to her.

"Yeah, I guess we can let you join the cool kids again , but you'll have to hear about our great 'black sheep' plan." Tuff followed up as Hiccup moved to sit down next to his sister.

"Oh my Thor!" Astrid sighed in exasperation, though her smile betrayed how happy she was to see Hiccup join them for dinner.

The blacksmith-in-training shared a look with Fishlegs, who enjoyed his own food with glee now that he knew Hiccup had truly taken their talk to heart.

For so long they had reached out and waited for him and he had never even realized it. Now he was finally reaching back for them.

*whispers* Psst! The Search is coming soon and so is Toothless!