Hiccup paced a few steps and though his prosthetic didn’t usually seem to pain him it made this action stiff. He walked this course as she spoke and then turned to grasp her by the shoulders as serious as he had ever been. “A chief protects his own.” He mirrored his father with this phrase but then breathed the weight out of him, voice softer, strung with affection for his daughter. He loosened his grip and urged her to really look at him. “Ava… when I was younger and still trying to find myself in this world a horrible man had sought to destroy everything we worked so hard to achieve and yet… I could not see him for what he was. I believed that peace could be forged with reason and truth… but this man was not one that could be reasoned with.”

“This man had wanted a war. My father and mother both had warned me and yet I believed by putting myself before him and stating my case I could stop the battle. He had turned Toothless against me and killed my father, though I had never struck a single blow. I had believed things could be resolved peacefully but men without reason can not be reasoned with.” He hoped to impress this upon her as his parents could not him. “This man was Einar’s father and I see in Einar that same hatred. Even if you go to him I don’t believe he will be so kind as to honor his words. He will still call the skrill as to ensure you will never be taken again.”