I tore my eyes away from Fishlegs's petrified gaze as he collapsed on his side, like I had found Johann a couple days ago.

"Is... is he dead?" Astrid whispered.

"I... I... don't think so," I replied after a long silence.

I threw one of the blankets Gobber had stashed nearby over Fishlegs to keep him warm, then walked to the table and sat down.

"The weather is freezing, and we can't be outdoors for more than five seconds," I mumbled.

"What's your plan?" Astrid asked.

"I don't know." I rubbed my forehead with my open palm.

"How are we going to get the Speed Stingers out of Berk?" she clarified. She waited for my response, but I stayed silent. Nothing came to mind. "You know the longer they stay here, the harder it will be to get rid of them," she added.

"Yes, thank you for making that absolutely clear to me," I said curtly.

"Hiccup, I'm trying to help. Maybe we can come up with an idea together. We've already decided a barricade won't work, and we aren't gonna kill any more dragons."

"What am I supposed to do!? Wave my hands and hope the Speed Stingers will magically disappear?"

"That would be nice."

"Well, it's not gonna happen. I'm sorry to get your hopes up."

"Hiccup, you're Chief of Berk now. Everyone here is depending on you. You can't just give up like this."

A pang of realization hit me like someone had punched me in the stomach. I hadn't even thought about the consequences of my dad being incapacitated.

"Way to rub it in," I said to the table in front of me after a long silence. "Every choice I've made about the Speed Stingers has led to more problems. How in Thor's name does that even remotely make me any kind of 'chief?'"

"Would your dad do anything different?"

"Probably. He would have barricaded the docks or something like that. Something so that we wouldn't have to worry about Speed Stingers."

"Your dad supported you from the beginning!" Astrid shouted. "If he didn't like an idea of yours, he would have said something different!"

I tried to stifle a short laugh. "And why was he crazy enough to agree with my logic? In case you haven't noticed, we can't get to our food stores, we're trapped in our own homes, it's freezing outside, and most of the village is petrified! He coulda prevented all of that!"

At that moment, the door opened, revealing Gobber supporting Johann. Johann's nose was grotesquely swollen and red. I connected the image with the difficulty he had while speaking earlier. Gobber wasn't lying about his nose being frostbitten.

Maybe ten minutes had elapsed between Fishlegs turning to stone and the door opening. With a bunch of Speed Stingers hiding throughout the village, it didn't make sense to me how Gobber and Johann could show up unscathed at this moment.

"Hiccup, why are you so hard on yourself?" Gobber asked me as he walked Johann inside. He closed the door behind them. Johann was using a wooden crutch to keep the weight off his gashed leg. Gobber helped him into an empty chair at the table.

"Thahk you, Gohbber," Johann said quietly. Toothless whuffed at Johann, probably because he was less familiar with him.

I put my head into my arms on the table. "Great," I said. "Just fan-tas-tic. Now the entire world will know we don't have a chief."

"Stand up, Hiccup," Gobber commanded.

Against my better judgment, I slowly moved the chair away from his table and stood.

"Look at me," he said.

I did, although I could barely meet his eyes.

"I heard most of your conversation from outside. Astrid's right. You're Chief for now. And, no, you haven't made any bad decisions."

"Have you looked around Berk recently?" I asked impatiently.

"Oh, yes," he said quickly. "Nobody's dead, and we still have our food stores. So tell me why you think you shouldn't be Chief?"

"Because I can't protect anyone here. That's why."

"I beg to differ, Baster Hiccub," Johann chimed in. His inability to enunciate had no effect on his talkative nature. "I would have bed dead if you hadit foud be."

After a few seconds, my mind translated what he was saying: I would have been dead if you hadn't found me.

I wanted to tell Johann that his situation was different, that he somehow "didn't count." But that was blatant disrespect to everyone in this household. And I knew I wasn't crass enough to blurt it out, especially to Johann himself.

The fact was I did protect him. Not only that, I saved his life.

I thought for a few moments, trying to find an answer to Gobber's question. I knew I just wasn't "Chief" material. After a short pause, I gave up, looking away from Gobber, unable to meet his stare any longer.

"Look at me, Hiccup," he said again.

I took a deep breath and slowly moved my eyes back toward his.

"You don't approach problems like your dad or anyone else here."

"Translated: incorrectly," I stated before Gobber could continue. "That's exactly what happened when I tried to strand the Speed Stingers on the mountain."

Gobber rolled his eyes and said, "Are you gonna listen or do I have to tear your head open with this to help you listen?" He held up his prosthetic hook.

Somehow, his tone was a little too serious for me to take it lightly. I sighed and made a small motion with my left hand for him to continue.

"You did the right thing, making sure our food store was safe," Gobber said, changing the subject.

"And just how do you know the Speed Stingers haven't gotten to it already?" I blurted out, unable to keep silent.

"Easy. Those dragons are only out for a few hours at a time."

"What!?" Astrid shouted. "Fishlegs just became paralyzed a few minutes ago!"

I knew Johann couldn't move quickly because of his leg. He and Gobber must have trudged through the cold and snow at a snail's pace.

Gobber shrugged like he had no plausible answer. "Maybe he ran into a straggler. But right now, you can stand in the middle of the plaza."

"So, what?" I began. "Should I tell everyone they can go to the great hall now?"

"We've already done that," Gobber said. "Everyone who can still move has been to the great hall and back. That's why Johann and I were gone."

"See!? This is why I can't be Chief! Because I'm too stupid to think about stuff like this!"

Gobber turned to Astrid and opened his mouth, but she cut him off.

"Uh-uh," she said in frustration. "I'll save him from himself."

She strode toward me, grabbed my upper left arm and pulled. I was nearly yanked off my feet as I stumbled behind Astrid.

"Wh-what are you doing!?" I shouted. She didn't reply.

As she opened the door, we were blasted by a rush of snow and freezing air. Astrid pushed me against the outer wall of Gobber's house and plastered her forearm across my chest, preventing me from moving. She glared into my eyes as I squirmed against her strength and the cold.

"I'll wait as long as it takes," she announced.

The wind whistled through the village, covering my left side with snow. The right side of my torso also became cold, thanks to the gash in my coat from the Speed Stinger.

After a couple minutes of Astrid pinning me and the snow freezing my left ear and right side, I gave up, and she let go of some of the pressure.

"Are you gonna help us now?"

I sighed gruffly. I wanted to complain, but I had already done enough of that.

"Yes," I conceded

Astrid smiled a little, although there was a hint of malice behind it, like she was ready to hit me if I said anything stupid again.

"Good. I'll be waiting here. Get Toothless and bring him with you."

I scowled but didn't say anything as I trudged back into Gobber's house and immediately found Toothless watching me.

"C'mon, bud," I said flatly.

Toothless stood on all fours and slowly lumbered toward the open door. Astrid joined us as I closed the door behind Toothless and climbed onto his back.

Astrid looked at me quizzically before deciding to follow my lead. I helped her onto the saddle but didn't hook in with my peg.

"That way, bud," I whispered to Toothless, pointing toward the great hall.

I was grateful Gobber lived near the main plaza, just across from the forge and armory. Walking to the great hall would take a couple minutes at the most.

He began loping in that direction. It didn't take long for him to reach the large double doors leading into the great hall. Astrid dismounted and wrenched one of the doors open, letting Toothless amble past her with me still on his back. An echoing clank reverberated throughout the great hall as the door closed behind us.