The Strength of the Princess (HTTYD)

Almost Found

Chapter 29: Almost Found

Eira did not run into Snotlout the next day. She could have sought him out, but she wanted to give him some space. Still, she wondered what he could be up to and if he was feeling better. So, she found Hiccup to ask him how his talk with Snotlout went. Before she could even get a word out, the other riders suddenly barged into the room, all complaining about the Viking in question.

"He totally ruined my training exercise!" Astrid exclaimed.

"And he totally ruined my serenity garden!" Fishlegs said.

"And let us not forget he almost got us killed," Heather added.

"We're mainly here to watch the drama unfold," Tuffnut said, exchanging a look with his sister.

Eira frowned at Hiccup. None of this sounded good at all. "I thought you talked to him."

"I did talk to him," Hiccup said. "It must not have stuck."

"You have to do something, Hiccup," Astrid said.

Hiccup took in a deep breath. "Look, Snotlout is clearly going through something right now, and we need to be there for him as hard as that can seem sometimes. We're a team. He's one of us."

"Hiccup's right guys," Fishlegs said. "While flowers can be replanted, a fractured team can take years to fix."

Eira nodded. "Exactly. All of this is probably worse on him than it is on us."

"Just so we're clear, the tides have turned," Tuffnut said. "There's not going to be any banishing of anyone?"

Hiccup stared at him. "No banishments, Tuff."

Ruffnut frowned. "I should have stayed in bed."

"I should have stayed under that bed," said Tuff.

"Okay, I agree that Snotlout's a member of the team," Astrid said. "But we have a mission to destroy the dragon root. How are you going to snap him out of this?

Hiccup furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "That is a good question."

"Perhaps you could remind him how valuable he is right now?" Eira suggested. "He likes to know he is appreciated."

"I will take that into consideration."

They left it at that. The following day, Hiccup gathered everyone around a map of the dragon root camp and explained his plan.

"Now Viggo's growing the Dragon Root in these fields, underneath camouflaged tarps," he said. "They make the arrows over here. And this is their stockpile. The island is heavily fortified."

"Sounds complicated," Astrid said.

"If by 'complicated' you mean 'impossible,'" Tuff began, "and if by 'impossible' you mean 'not possible,' then I - I actually... I'm lost now."

"Nothing's impossible," Fishlegs said. "I'm sure Hiccup has a great plan."

"We're going to do a practice run here at the Edge, just to make sure we're perfect," Hiccup said. "And Snotlout's gonna lead the mission."

Snotlout appeared as surprised as everyone else. "Me? Now?"

Hiccup gave him an encouraging smile. "Yes you. Now."

"You can do it," Eira said.

Snotlout nodded. "All right. Right, okay, I'm the leader. So..."

"So, that means you have to pick who drops the barrel of Monstrous Nightmare gel on the arrow stockpile," Hiccup said. "It has to be a precise drop so Toothless can blast it."