[ Was he becoming his father? No, that wasn't possible. He's just so used to Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout running off into things that it's second nature now.

He certainly can't judge for being distracted by fairy dragons which is why he doesn't linger and simply considers the question at hand: ]

It's entirely possible that it's one or even the both. I've seen people build in trees and into cliffsides. You'd be surprised how good natural landscape is defensible and often unexpected for a village.