So yesterday I saw HTTYD2 and today I saw the clip from HTTYD where Stoick yelled for the fight to stop when Hiccup was facing Hookfang. Watching Stoick's reaction, I suddenly thought, what if…
"I should have known. I should have seen the signs!"
~Stoick the Vast, How to Train Your Dragon
"Stop the fight."
Stoick heard the words come out of his mouth, but he wasn't really aware of saying it. He looked down into the ring, down to his son, but all he saw was the woman he had loved. He saw his beautiful Valka. He saw her running around as she always did during a raid. He saw her throwing herself between viking and dragon. He saw her ripping weapons out of vikings' hands. He saw her pleading with the villagers that there was another way, that the vikings didn't need to fight the dragons.
Then he heard them, the whispers of villagers who didn't think their chief was around or simply thought he couldn't hear them. He heard them talking about how Valka, his beautiful, clever Valka, was insane. About how Stoick could have done so much better. He heard them whisper, and then he heard the whispers get worse after his Hiccup was born. He remembered how some said - not to his face, never to his face - that he should rid himself of the woman and her runt child and find himself a proper wife.
"No, I need you all to see this. They're not what we think they are. We don't have to kill them."
The chief then remembered that night. He remembered seeing a dragon breaking into his home and rushing to defend his wife and son. He remembered how Valka had tried to plead with him. How she had tried to save the dragon's life. He remembered watching as the beast stole her, carried her away from him forever.
No, he wouldn't let that happen. He wouldn't lose his son to the beasts. He wouldn't lose his family to the beasts. Not again.
Stoick slammed his hammer against the cage of the kill ring as he yelled, "I said, 'Stop the fight'!"