Apparently, Snotlout had somehow made Hookfang irritated enough the dragon had left the young Viking hanging from one of the upper ledges.

"Snotlout! What did you do?" Astrid asked as Stormfly neared him, the black-haired guy looking quite relieved someone had come to help him. He started pointing frantically at the Monstrous Nightmare known as Hookfang, who watched on with an almost amused aura.

"I didn't know Hooky didn't like being pet under the wings! I swear! I did nothing and he stuck me up here!" Snotlout replied, wiggling, trying to get free.

"Stop wiggling, Snot. You might get free and fall to your death," Astrid said as Stormfly slowly hovered near Snotlout, although she couldn't grab him with her talons until he stopped moving. The other Viking gave a grin.

"You would catch me before that happened, though, wouldn't you babe?"

"I might consider it, but I couldn't be sure until you tried," came the reply as Stormfly finally got a hold on Snotlout's arms as said Viking let out a shriek.

"Tell your Nadder to have an easier grip!"

"No." Astrid flew down to the level that everyone mostly stayed at and dropped him there in a slightly rough manner. "Next time, don't try to pet a Monstrous Nightmare under it's wings, alright?"

Snotlout nodded as Hookfang approached in a happy-go-lucky manner, as if he hadn't left his rider hanging a thousand feet in the air. Snot glared at his dragon a moment before it faded away a moment later. "I can't stay mad at you forever, tough guy." Hookfang snorted, enveloping Snotlout's head in a cloud of smoke. A way of showing affection, Astrid guessed as she flew away on Stormfly to check on Gobber and the twins to see how far along they'd gotten at preparations.

***

The morning after they'd spent the night in the Great Hall, Hiccup and Fishlegs were flying around on their dragons. Valka was most likely actually talking with the villagers, but the other two riders didn't really find interest in that. Hiccup had no desire to speak with them, and Fishlegs just wanted to catch up with Hiccup.

To be honest, Hiccup regretted saying he was looking forward to this to his mother. He secretly was, at first, but when he saw his father's attitude he almost took the statement back. It might've been good for him to see his father after so long, but seeing him reminded the young adult on why exactly he left.

"So, how'd you and Toothless meet? I never asked even though the question's been nagging me for a while," Fishlegs said after a while of them flying in a content and comfortable silence.

"Oh, well, remember that time I was all excited about shooting down a Night Fury? Since when have I lied?"

"Never," Fishlegs replied, secretly ecstatic that Hiccup was open to him already, after five years--he'd tried to make friends with the auburn-haired dragon rider, but his dragon training and his friends (mainly Snotlout) ordering him around, Fish hadn't really had a chance to. Hiccup was slightly reclusive as well, back in those times, whether it was intentional or not. To Fish, he seemed slightly unapproachable.

"Yeah, that was basically when I met Toothless. I tracked him down to kill him the next day and... I just couldn't. He didn't kill me either-- like an eye for an eye, perhaps-- and just roared in my face, flying off to some cove I found him in a few days later. I offered him a fish, gained his trust, and it basically went on from there," Hiccup rambled on about how he bonded with Toothless and trained with him, and Fishlegs listened.

They flew around for a few more hours before Valka found them, saying she was wondering where they'd been.

"Catching up," Hiccup said. "Is anything wrong?" Valka shook her head.

"No," she replied, "but Stoick said it'd be nice if you both tried to integrate yourselves with the village, gain their trust a bit." She laughed, "The way he was describing it makes the Berkians seem like wild dragons we have to approach carefully."

Fishlegs chuckled slightly as Hiccup patted Toothless on the head, signaling to take off from where they were resting in a clearing. The Night Fury crooned at his rider, hovering in the air. "Well, let's get going, shall we?"

***

Astrid was quite startled when she heard the Terrible Terrors she'd trained squeal in warning.

Something was coming, something was here, something was anything and anywhere. She didn't know the specifics, since she didn't train them to call different patterns to signal different things. She regretted not doing that.

She rushed onto Stormfly, who was just as shaken up from the sudden wailing as her rider was. As they took off, she could see Gobber and the others mounting their dragons as well. Stormfly flew toward where the calling was coming from.

When she arrived, she was way ahead of the others due to her Nadder's surprising speed and finesse (compared to other dragons of her species). The Terrors had calmed down, although they were all crowded around something lying in the sand. She dismounted and heard the other riders land as she bent down to examine what had cause all of the ruckus.

It was another Terror, looking malnourished and scarred. She recalled it as the test dragon that was kept in the arena at Berk. There was a note tied to it's leg as it slept (no, it wasn't dead. Astrid could see rapid breaths).

She read it over and decided to recite it out loud to the others. "It's from Fishlegs," She said. "He says that they'll be staying on Berk a couple of days while the chief readies the army, since they have to lead the Berkians here. He wrote at the bottom 'P.S. how do you like this form of air mail? It was-- there's something scratched out here-- Night Fury's idea. He also said to take care of this little messenger.'"

Ruffnut spoke up. "So they're staying a few days? What if the trappers attack before then?"

"If they do, we'll be ready," Astrid assured her. "We need to finish preparing, and strengthen everything. Let's go."

[mm yes

tbh fishlegs and hiccup's friendship is really underrated in the movies bc in th book they're like bffs for life yo

i tried to give off a close bond/ possible close bond vibe ayy]