Once More To See You [Hiccup x Reader]

i. | brand new city

"I think I'd just throw you overboard, too," your dad retorted, placing a defiant fist against his hip.

"Oh, I would love to see you try!"

You huffed a breathless laugh to yourself with a shake of your head. The two grown men bickered lightheartedly amongst themselves, moving away from the side of the ship you'd been leaning against, so you took the opportunity to return your focus to the twinkling ocean, squinting against the sunrays as you struggled to make out any potential isle silhouettes. Sure enough, once your eyes adjusted, you noticed the outlines of a handful of jagged blue-grey shapes jutting skyward, hazy against the horizon.

An uneasy jumble of nerves and eagerness swirled inside your stomach in anticipation, unsure of what was coming; unsure of how you'd feel, or if maybe you would've been better off staying home and waiting for your father's stories once he returned instead, like you always had. Perhaps you were better suited to listening to everyone else's adventures, stagnant but safe inside the home you were born in. You let out a heavy sigh, leaning your chin into the palm of your hand as your eyes glazed over in dissociation, staring blankly at the isle slowly encroaching upon the skyline.

You couldn't remember the last time you were so desperate to watch a sunset.

—

"Hiccup! How are ye' doing with that axe there?"

"Almost done," Hiccup called out, the sound of the sharpening nearly drowning out his voice.

"Well, hurry up and get down to the docks, then. Merchant ship's been spotted and I need someone there to cover since your dad's gone," Gobber insisted, tossing a few broken weapons into the crate beside the blacksmith counter before starting to leave. Hiccup paused out of confusion, eyebrows furrowing before he glanced in Gobber's direction.

"Wait, hold on. You want me to help you with them? Are you sure that's a good idea?" he asked in disbelief, readjusting his hold on the axe that had started to slip along with his focus. He'd already had the rest of his night planned out ahead of time, hoping to flesh out the build for one of his saddle prototypes some more.

"Who else am I supposed to bring?" Gobber protested, resting his hook on his hip impatiently.

"Uh, I don't know, maybe literally anybody else?"

"Well, you can think of it as some very early chief training, how's that? Now, get on it!" Gobber said, tapping his hook for emphasis on one of the wooden pillars before making his way out of the building. Hiccup sighed, rolling his eyes gently before grunting a little with the exertion of sharpening the remaining bit of the axe head. He cycled through about a dozen different possible excuses in the meantime, all of which failed to convince Gobber once he'd finished up and reluctantly made his way towards the dock ramps.

—

"Oh, come on, Hiccup, now I know you can move faster than that! You've got more feet than I do!"

"Gobber, seriously, do I really need to be here? I mean, don't you feel this is a liability having me here? Or—or maybe the merchants won't want to come back?" Hiccup offered, trying his best to get Gobber to let him leave. It didn't seem to be working, however, for Gobber only waved his hook dismissively in Hiccup's direction before gesturing towards the ship that had slowly started to pull into the dock. Hiccup felt a wave of anxiety come over him as he took in the visitors; there had to be at least ten or fifteen people, though he wasn't quite sure who was there to trade and who was just manning the vessel. He couldn't even remember the last time his father had made him standby for travelers, especially considering how infrequent visitors were in the first place due to Berk's relatively isolated location.