Chapter 8

"Wait.... So Hookfang's name is Harriet?!" Dagur couldn't stop laughing.

"Hey! My mother wanted a daughter alright!" Hookfang growled.

"Brother I don't think you should laugh," Heather said and then pointed out "Your middle name is Shirley after all."

"SIS!" Dagur shrieked while looking aghast.

"So what happened next?" Camicazi asked as she leaned forward slightly in anticipation. "What does this have to do with The Dragons joining you guys?"

"It's getting late, shouldn't we.... You know head to bed? Tomorrow is going to be a big day after all." Hiccup mumbled.

"Oh no you don't!" Camicazi uttered. "You aren't leaving us here with this cliffhanger!"

"Alright alright!" Hiccup shrank back somewhat. "But it's a pretty long story."

"Maybe a moderate summary would do the trick," Heather suggested. "I mean if none of the important details are left out,"

"Okay, well..... When we got out of the hole with Windshear's help we realized that we were about 2 miles from Berk." Hiccup started to explain. "Dad was pretty pissed when we got back for a number of reasons. First, I kind of knocked out several key systems which I was already afraid of. Second we brought back members of The Dragons."

"But that wasn't the thing he was most livid about," Astrid chimed in. "Remember he nearly blew off his beard when you explained as to why said Dragons knew about you personally."

"Right, so dad really didn't appreciate us hiding Toothless. Much less that several of us were in on it including Mildew." Hiccup explained. "Ellie and Mildew actually took the brunt of his ire which I still feel bad about. And because he didn't trust The Dragons he threw them in the brig and it took me several days to convince him to hear what they had to say."

"Mighty stubborn he was aye," Gobber now spoke.

"Gobber you didn't trust them either!" Hiccup spoke up.

"Aye, I didn't trust them but I didn't say throw them in the brig!" Gobber retorted.

"What are you lot talking about?" A deep voice came from behind causing the whole group huddled around Hiccup to look over and see Stoick approaching.

"Oh Hiccup was just telling us on how The Dragons joined you guys." Camicazi answered.

"He is now is he?" Stoick raised a bushy red brow as he looked at his son before taking a seat on a nearby log. "Well go on. I'm curious as well."

"Don't you already know?" Toothless frowned.

"Just the bare bones of it," Stoick answered.

"Aye, Hiccup was mighty tightlipped about the whole thing." Gobber added. "Well considering what happened with the Red Death...."

"Gobber, you know?!" Stoick exclaimed.

"Wait, he didn't tell you?" Gobber uttered in surprise.

"Gobber... REALLY!!!" Hiccup groaned.

"Sorry lad. I thought you told the old man about the harem." Gobber said while looking nervous.

"GOBBER!" Hiccup exclaimed at the same time Astrid shouted "WHAT HAREM!"

"Uhm... Astrid... really. It's not what you think......" Hiccup gulped as he looked into the piercing eyes of his girlfriend.

"Hiccup...." Astrid said threateningly. "I may have been a computer system years ago but I do know what a harem is." Her voice had gotten a deadly edge in it as she clenched her hands. "Now what the frick is Gobber talking about and how did you get involved with a harem?"

Hiccup turned pale as he recognized that glare. It was the same glare Astrid had given some of the younger girls who had set eyes on Hiccup while they were traveling. He was doomed. He knew he was doomed. No way could he explain this and not be doomed.

'Way to go Gobber,' Hiccup thought as the man in question simply drank his mead. Toothless was no help either as all Hiccup got from him was a smirk.

"It was the only way to save Toothless!" Hiccup said as he looked at his girlfriend. "Believe me I would never ever willingly join a harem!"

"Boy don't keep us in suspense!" Madguts growled "Not unless you got anything harder than mead!"

"Right... uhm... where was I?" Hiccup mumbled, grateful for the slight distraction.

"You were going on about Stoick being pissed and throwing Hookfang and Windshear into the brig," Gobber happily supplied as Tuffnut refilled his mead mug. "You staying Stoick?"

"Aye, I might finally get the whole damn story out of him." Stoick muttered to his best friend.

Meanwhile, as Hiccup was trying his best to explain and not get killed by his girlfriend, two ships were approaching Earth's orbit.

"Sir, ETA to stable orbit 1 hour," A crewman informed Grimmel as he sat in the Commander's chair.

"Good, how is the scan of the surface going?" Grimmel then asked.

"Sir, it's not." A female Lieutenant answered with a gulp.

"Would you care to repeat that Lieutenant?" Commander Grimmel sharply asked.

"The scan sir, we can't seem to perform it." The woman answered again. "Our sensors pick up nothing."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Grimmel stated.

"Sir, maybe I should explain it like this. Our sensors are not picking up the planet. At all."

"WHAT?!" Grimmel shouted as his eyes widened slightly. He quickly composed himself again and looked at his bridge crew. "Run a systems diagnostic. Find out what is happening!" He ordered as he could clearly see the Earth from their forward-facing viewport. "Get the readings from the Persephone as well." He added. "If their sensors were damaged then the Persephone should have the data we need."

Not five minutes had passed when the previously mentioned Lieutenant approached her Commander with a datapad. "Sir, All systems appear fully functional. The data requested from the Persephone shows the same readings. We simply can't detect this planet on our scanners."

Commander Grimmel was quiet for a moment as he was deep in thought. He hadn't expected this development. "Lieutenant......... Senna," He looked at her name tag ID. "Do you have an idea as to why this happened?"

"I don't sir," The woman answered. "My best guess would be that it is caused by the planet itself and not our sensors."

"Send out the order for the T.S.S. Persephone to dispatch ground reconnaissance troops." Grimmel stated.

"Sir, with all due respect...." The woman uttered. Several members on the bridge held their breath as they listened in on the conversation while appearing to do their job.

"Did you just question my order Lieutenant?!" Grimmel raised a brow as he looked at the woman in the standard crisp white uniform.

"S...Sir.... it's just. For safety reasons, shouldn't we inform the Council of this development before we proceed? What if we send out the drones first? The exploration team would be walking in blind otherwise." The woman stammered.

"So you are questioning my command then," Grimmel sat back as he haughtily looked at the woman. "Tell me Lieutenant, who's vessel is this?"

"Y-Yours sir," She answered.

"So who is in charge then?" He then asked with a raised brow.

"You are sir," She bit down.

Grimmel then pressed a button on his chair to bring up a direct line to the Persephone. "Captain Queen, I am here to inform you that you will assemble a ground force to survey the planet." He wasted no time in telling the woman on the other end his decision. "You will report your findings directly to the Pandora."

"Very well Commander. Is there anything else?" Mala asked emotionlessly.

"Yes, I am transferring a staff member over to your ship. She is to be part of the Exploration team." Grimmel then added as he watched the young Lieutenant gulp nervously in glee.

"Very well. I will have my crew stand by for the incoming transport." The Captain stated and then ended the call. Grimmel then turned back to the woman that was still facing him.

"Lieutenant Senna you are to gather your belongings and report to the Departure bay. You will be transferred to the T.S.S Persephone effective immediately."

"Yes sir," The young Lieutenant bit her lip and was about to turn and walk away. All the eyes of the rest of the bridge crew were on her and her face burned in shame.

"And Lieutenant," Grimmel called. The woman stopped and answered with a "Yes sir?"

"Don't ever question my orders again," The Commander stated before he turned back to the viewscreen, ignoring her completely.

The young Lieutenant's hands clenched in fists but she kept her head high as she departed the bridge for her next assignment. Only in the Departure Bay did she notice that she was actually relieved to be away from her former commanding officer. 

AN: (Pops up out of nowhere scaring several readers) Hi everybody. I hope everyone that celebrates Thanksgiving had a wonderful time. So many turkey food comas. I know I've been away a while but I needed to take little break from writing so as to not get burnt out. During my 'vacation' I revised the plot of AI a bit. This story will now be a trilogy. The 3rd part will be called A.I.: Slaves of Ambrosia and it will cover the 3 year mark where Hiccup and Toothless face off against the Red Death (The flashback would have taken me another 16+ chapters to complete if I left it in this story).

Also I will be actively working on world building for my first original novel and I have plans to return to my roots and do another Hiccup runs away fic.
My original novel will be called Thorns of Time and the new HTTYD fic will be named HTTYD: Secrets of the Hidden world. Both I will announce properly when the time for publishing is near.