I had this story up on previously with a different title, but due to some circumstances I had to face IRL, I decided to take it down. However, now I am ready to go on with this story! I hope you like it! :)

There was absolutely no better feeling than the rush of excitement Hiccup had flowing in his veins right after having flown on Toothless. Flying made him feel more alive than anything else, and soaring in the skies was the best way to relax and forget about the dreading responsibilities that were waiting for him back on the ground. The mere thought of them were almost enough to make Hiccup feel sick to his stomach, and he often found himself wish he still were that carefree 15-year-old without a single worry on his shoulders. When he rode on the back of Toothless, the Night Fury, there was just him, his dragon, the breeze and the sky. On some occasions, if they were unlucky, they were also accompanied by some rain or hail. The best part, however, was that Hiccup just knew that no one would even try looking for him when he and the dragon were gone; there were no limits to the size of the sky, which meant that Hiccup and the black dragon had limitless possibilities to fly to. His father thought it was reckless and too dangerous, Hiccup thought it was wonderful.

Up in the sky, Hiccup was just Hiccup – with no fancy titles or high expectations. Back on the solid ground, he was nothing but fancy titles and high expectations. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, an apprentice, a prince, the future king of Berk, the future of Berk. He would be as great a leader as his father, some had the nerve to say.

Except he wouldn't be, that he was certain of and so was his father, too. During the twenty long and tiresome years of trying to live up to his father's expectations, he hadn't made much progress. It wasn't that they didn't get along – they had things to talk about and they could avoid awkward silences when having supper. They just didn't see eye-to-eye in the slightest bit when it came down to the important stuff such as decisions. While Stoick the Vast, the current king of Berk, valued things like strict rules, power and image, Hiccup had his greatest interests in the use of brain, justice and fairness. Where Stoick saw hopelessness, Hiccup saw possibilities. Where Hiccup saw hopelessness, Stoick saw things gone according to plan. It was an endless cycle of disagreements, and it had never been easy.

It was hard to believe they were related by blood; they didn't look anything alike. Stoick was a large man with a lot of facial hair, whereas Hiccup was lanky and thin as a plank and his entire being was just awkward. The only thing that was there to resemble their father-and-son relationship was their mutual love for extreme stubbornness; neither of them gave up easily. And if there was one thing they had in common, it was the desire to protect the kingdom and its people. It was just the methods of doing it that made them have a go at each other at least three times a week.

Hiccup did try his best to please his father. Every day he had fighting practice and he had won all tournaments since he turned 17 (which might have been because none of the knights wanted to see the consequences if they didn't let the prince win; a royalty losing to a knight would "bring shame upon the royal family", according to Stoick's beliefs). He and Toothless were unbeatable in the sky and the Night Fury's plasma blast was the most vicious weapon in the kingdom's arsenal. Hiccup even attended every meeting they had with other kingdoms and, on top of that, he had promised to marry Princess Arleigh of Olissa to ensure that Berk's future would be safe, and he hadn't ever even seen said princess. Hiccup didn't have the slightest clue when they would have to tie the knot, but he sure did hope it wouldn't happen soon; as cliche as it might sound, he wanted to marry someone he loved, and maybe when he was at least five years wiser. But he knew such promises made the King happy, which was the exact reason why he had made it in the first place.

But was that enough? No, it wasn't. Whenever the lanky boy was doing something his father didn't approve of, there was this hopeless and empty look on his face, as if his son was fatally ill and he was just watching him fade away. When Hiccup realised that there was no way for him to change this, thanks to their different ways to see the world, he just focused on training Toothless and for the tournaments – the only two things he knew his father was proud of about him.

After his daily flying session with Toothless, he knew nothing could make him feel gloomy for a while. Someone could drop the most dreading news on him this right second, and he would keep on smiling. However, he hoped no one would put that to test, as he often found his thoughts about himself not colliding with the reality, and the chances of his mood being ruined by a piece of bad news actually existed. As he walked towards the stables with his dragon on the kingdom grounds, a lot of the villagers bowed down or curtsied to him as a way of greeting and showing respect. Some of them said something like "Your Highness" or "Your Majesty", and all Hiccup could do was give them a small nod and keep on walking. There was a rule the king had once told him: never get down to the villagers' level or they start to treat you like an equal. This basically meant that there should be no talking to them or signs of caring. It was something Hiccup had been doing since he began to understand his father's thick accent, so he just kept doing it and never questioned it.

When close to the stables, he saw Fishlegs, his very own servant. The boy must have known he would be flying, which would explain why he was already waiting for him to return. Without exchanging a word, Hiccup gave him his helmet and walked into the stable where all of the dragons of the royal family were kept. As much as Hiccup would've loved it, Toothless wasn't allowed inside the castle, so he had to keep the dragon in there. The stable was really noisy, with all those people that were taking care of the other dragons. The foul smell that was present in the stables made Hiccup block his nostrils with his fingers every time he entered. How the dragons were fine with living here, he had no clue.

"Did you enjoy your flight, Sir?" he heard Fishlegs ask right behind him.

"Yes, it was refreshing, and I was able to clear my thoughts," he answered tersely.

In the part of the stable where Toothless was usually kept, there were very few workers. Once they saw Hiccup, they bowed down or curtsied to him. In Stoick's, and therefore also Hiccup's, eyes, the stable workers were on a higher level than the common villagers since they had been granted a job within the castle, so he greeted them with a friendly wave before he spoke.

"I'd appreciate it if you left me, my dragon and Fishlegs here alone. And no one's to enter this part of the stables unless I say so." He got silent agreements in response and one by one, they left the smallest part of the stable and soon there were only the three of them left. Hiccup let out a long, content sigh.

"Perfect. Now, let's get to work."

By that he meant that Fishlegs would sit on a hay bale and keep Hiccup some company as the prince took care of Toothless. It was a secret between them – only when there were other people around, Fishlegs played a role as his servant, but once they were alone, Hiccup would do all the work. This was another thing where he and his father didn't see eye-to-eye; Hiccup didn't understand why he should be doing absolutely nothing just because he happened to be called Prince Hiccup. He despised the feeling of being useless, and he was able to avoid that feeling by doing some of the work. He would never, ever wash his clothes though, that was where he drew the line.

Apart from Toothless, Fishlegs was Hiccup's only friend, and the truth coming clear would mean his friend losing his job, so he was eager to keep this secret, a secret.

Hiccup took the saddle off his dragon's back and examined it for a while until he decided it needed some waxing. He made a mental note to remember to do that after he had finished taking care of Toothless.

"How are you feeling about the–"

"Fishlegs, for the love of Thor, can we talk about something else?" Hiccup interrupted and gave a glance at his friend's direction. Seeing his puzzled face, he rushed to explain himself. "I am in a really good mood and talking about this evening won't do any good. I'll deal with it later."

"If you say so…" Fishlegs said, not sounding confident at all. "I thought the revenge was what you wanted, too," he added emotionlessly. It felt strange to hear Fishlegs – the guy that was enthusiastic about everything – speak so half-heartedly.

"Of course I do, I probably want it as much as Dad does. But planning the attack and thinking about it will make me angry and restless, and I'm very content with the state my mind is in right now, and I'd like to keep it that way for as long as I can."

On the western side of the great lands, there was another kingdom, Briral. It was almost as magnificent as Berk and it had the best knights known in the country, which made them nearly invincible. For as long as anyone could remember, Berk and Briral had been at war with each other and peace never seemed to heave in sight. They no longer knew the reason behind the hatred, but the pride that both kingdoms carried on their shoulders prevented either from making peace. Briral was always planning attacks on Berk, and Berk was glad to return the favour. A week ago, the kingdom of Briral managed a surprise attack and they took most of Berk's dragons. Those horrifying, fire-spitting creatures were the best weapon any kingdom could've asked for, and it was only a matter of time that the word about Berk being in a vulnerable state would start spreading and other kingdoms would fix their eyes upon Berk. Stoick, and Hiccup too, were furious about the loss of their dragons and they wanted them back as soon as possible.

"Don't you want war?" Hiccup asked Fishlegs after a short silence. In Berk, war was an honourable thing – something you had, to protect the people. Being afraid to fight was considered a weakness and it usually granted a one-way ticket onto the other side of Berk's walls. He began his walk to the basket full of fish when his friend spoke.

"You know I don't. There should be another way to deal with your animosity. Shedding the blood of your enemies isn't the right way to come about peace," Fishlegs responded to Hiccup's back as he bent down to take some fish from the basket. His friend's reply made him stand up and turn around to face him. That was the exact answer Hiccup had expected to hear, and most times the prince would have agreed with Fishlegs, but lately the prince had seriously begun to reconsider his way of looking at things. When they took their dragons, Briral had once again proved to be a power-hungry and selfish kingdom and having people like that next-door would never result in anything good.

He sighed deeply and ran his fingers through his hair. "I know, Fishlegs, I know. But," he began, had a pause and continued with another sigh. "This isn't about making peace. Briral is a kingdom of foul playing, they seek nothing but power. We can't just start acting like a bunch of princesses and let them take over our kingdom. We need to protect our people, and fighting back is the only way."

Hiccup turned his attention back to the basket of fish just as Fishlegs made an I-disagree-with-you-but-I-won't-even-bother-arguing-with-you face at him, so he completely missed it.

Hiccup and Fishlegs had been friends for a couple of years. Hiccup was 15 back then, Fishlegs wasn't entirely sure about his own age because he hadn't been in contact with his parents since he was five, so he had lost track in time, but he was around Hiccup's age.

Their friendship was a unique one. The prince used to treat him like a servant, only speaking to him when he needed to put on his armour, or it needed polishing; the circle of superiority that surrounded Hiccup had managed to corrupt his mind and he thought Fishlegs wasn't worthwhile. With time, he started to realise how great a person his servant was, and how wrong it was for the Prince to treat him like he wasn't worth his time. Damn, before Hiccup had learned some basic skills himself, like waxing Toothless' saddle or getting into his armour by himself, he had been completely dependent on the help of Fishlegs. He had begun to treat Fishlegs better, and soon they developed a friendship. Somehow one thing led to another and now they were at the point where Hiccup demanded that he'd do all the work when they were alone. Fishlegs had hesitated and told him that it wasn't his responsibility to do the "dirty job", but Hiccup had taken advantage of his royal title there.

"I am your future King, and my command for you is to do what I say, so you'd better obey the orders I'm giving you," he had told his friend with a huge grin on his face, knowing he had won the argument.

Hiccup picked a few fish from the basket and walked back to his dragon. Toothless let out a satisfied growl as he saw the fresh fish in his best friend's hands and wolf downed them. Both Hiccup and Fishlegs silently watched as the dragon ate the very last bit of the fish, and with that Hiccup finally spoke again: "But once I am King, I am sure the situation will change."

"You mean you'll try to make peace with Briral?" Fishlegs asked with a hint of hope in his voice.

Hiccup let out a dry laugh as he turned to face his friend once more. "Oh no, Fishlegs. Once I am King, I will make sure I'll finish what the current King and the previous ones didn't manage."

"So you mean…"

"Yes. I might have had a similar opinion with you a while ago, but Briral's recent actions have changed my mind. You see, no one takes our dragons without consequences, and I am an unforgiving person. I will not rest until Briral is down, once and for all."