It was a light, breezy evening on Berk. The sun was setting above the ocean, and Hooligans were returning into their homes after a day outside seeing to crops, herding cattle or training dragons.
Inside Meade hall, Stoick and Gobber sat at a table. Few other vikings were in there, but just enough so their conversation could not be heard.
"I'm just worried, Gobber. Hiccup isn't... Like this. He'd always do what I tell him to.." Stoick sighed.
"Now, we both know that's a lie." Gobber looked at Stoick sternly. "Hiccup is 18, Stoick. When you and me were around that age we didn't give a dragons' backside what our fathers told us to do. Me and you, we went out into the forest to catch dragons! Though we were never very successful, we got as mighty kick out of it!"
"That's the thing." Stoick replied, putting his hand on the table. "When we did that, we had no idea how dangerous dragons were! Of course, they're not dangerous anymore once they're trained, but a wild dragon will kill you."
"What's your point?" Gobber asked.
"My point is, Gobber, we were too big headed and ignorant to know it. So is Hiccup. Him going off in a mood about something will lead him into danger."
"Stoick, I think he's very capable to look after himself. He did train a night fury at the age of 15 when everyone around him said dragons were killing machines!"
Stoick grunted.
"He will be fine. And even then, if you didn't make him go off in a mood he wouldn't be 'in danger'!"
"I'm just concerned." Stoick looked down to the table, suddenly interested in the wood. "I can't lose him too."
"There's no need to be. He'll be fine." Gobber patted Stoick on the back and got up. "Come on grump, let's go home." Grump snorted and heaved himself up off of the hard floor.
Skullcrusher noticed Gobber and Grump leaving and Stoick still sitting at the table. He padded over to him and murmured in a sign of concern.
"Oh, I'm fine lad. Its just my son who's worrying me." Stoick patted Skullcrusher on the head and got up, ready go head home.
Toothless spiraled through the thick grey clouds and up into the open night sky, and took a dive back into them. He then emerged again and slowed down.
"That was great, bud! Maybe a little less violent tossing next time? I think my bones are cracking as we speak." Hiccup said.
Toothless made an annoyed expression and looked back at Hiccup. He loved to throw himself about in the sky like that, and Hiccup is not going to suggest any different.
"Ok, never mind." Hiccup put his hands up.
Toothless gurgled. "Hey, fancy sleeping outside again tonight? I know you like watching the stars." Hiccup smiled.
Toothless hummed in disagreement and looked back at hiccup. It was too cold for sleeping outside, even then hiccup was only trying to avoid his dad
"Well, maybe we could go do some more night exploration?"
Toothless blinked. He sniffed at hiccup.
Hiccup sighed. "Its just my dad. He thinks that I don't do jobs, like preparing for chief and all of that. That's in two tears time. He thinks I need to stop training dragons and start learning what its like to be Chief. Which I'm not a big fan of. He wants me to go meet a tribe, come sailing with him, meet important people etcetera." Hiccup bends over and puts his head on his arms.
"I'm not ready..."
"Hiccup!"
Hiccup blinked and looked to his right. Astrid was coming up behind him on Stormfly.
"Oh, hey Astrid." Hiccup managed a smile.
*Evening, Toothless!* Stormfly warbled.
*Hi Stormfly,* Toothless snorted back.
"I wondered where you were, and i went to check on your in your house and you weren't there, so i knew you'd be flying somewhere." She paused. "Uh, your dads looking for you you know..." Astrid flew Stormfly next to Toothless.
"And why doesn't that surprise me? What does he want me to do now? See what stocks need refilling? Have me redraw Berk's map?" Hiccup threw his arms up in the air.
"Hiccup, he's only getting you into gear for preparation. Just imagine it as some father-son time, and it wont seem that bad-"
"But that's the thing, after the 'father-son' time is over, guess what? He'll be making me try on robes, see how well I can control the town. That's what I don't want."
"Well luckily for your, that's in two years. Right now is the easier stuff." Astrid comforted.
"I guess..." Hiccup looked down.
"Hey, and I'm here to help, remember? Astrid exists, and she doesn't mind seeing her boyfriend every once in a while to talk." Astrid snickered.
"I know, I'm sorry I haven't exactly spoken to you for a big talk lately. I've been so busy with all of this stuff my dad is shoving on me. I just want to have a few days to myself."
Astrid paused for a few seconds before saying. "How about tomorrow Snotlout, Fishlegs, me, you and the twins can do some more island exploring? We'll sneak out if Berk early so your dad doesn't know," Astrid suggested. "The twins are very good liars." She added.
"Yeah, that's a good idea. What do you say, bud?" Toothless gurgled, in reply Stormfly chattered.
"Alright, well I'll go tell everyone. See you later!" Astrid waved and turned Stormfly around to head back to Berk.
"Right, I guess we better head back too..." Hiccup patted Toothless. "Dad won't be very happy to see us."
Hiccup opened the door. The fireplace was burning out, so it was pretty dark in the house. "Ok, coast is clear, you can go up bud," Toothless went in front of hiccup as he shut the door. They both tip toed over to the stairs.
"Hiccup,"
"Oooh, hey dad, urh, what are you doing in the dark?" Hiccup awkwardly said.
"I've been waiting for you to get back. Where have you been?" Stoick got up for on the chair he was sitting in.
"Ah, I... I was just, uh, speaking to-"
"Hiccup." Stoick sternly interrupted.
"...Yes?"
"I can't have you going off. You need to concentrate on the first stage of becoming Chief, learning the ropes. Then in two years you will be putting it into practice. Then you-"
"Ugh, yes, dad, I know what I need to do. You've told me this already. I just need-"
"Son, I just want to prepare you, so when I'm not here the town will have a good Chief and-"
"So, your just bothered about the town, and not what I want? Have you ever considered me needing a few days to relax? Perhaps a day off? Maybe even some time to talk to you about something other than being an heir?"
"Chiefs don't get the day off!"
"Maybe I don't want to be chief!"
There was a deadly silence. Toothless had already made himself scarce by going upstairs, because he knew these where the two stubbornness men he knows. And when they had opinions, they always just had to be different.
"You cant not be chief. You were born into this family, and unfortunately whether you like it or not, the Haddock family is a family of Chiefs!"
"Tell you the truth, I've never felt like a part of this family. I've always been scrawny. Used my head instead of my strength. I bought dragons into Berk! I'm Hiccup. I am a Hiccup. And 'hiccup' means accident!"
"How-"
"I am not ready, you can't pressurize me into something that can't be real! I don't think anyone on Berk can imagine me being chief! I-"
"Hiccup!" Stoick shouted at the top of his lungs. "I am your father, and chief, and you will do as I say. From now on, no more flying. No more going off and so help me if you do something I tell you not to all of the dragons will be gone!" Stoick turned around and slammed the door to his room, leaving hiccup alone.
Hiccup felt the anger seething up inside him, trying to burst out of any cracks it could find. He wanted to just, explode. He clenched his fist and was about go walk out of the house when toothless slinked down the stairs. He saw hiccup all tensed up and went over to him and nuzzled him.
"Yeah, yeah I'm alright bud," Hiccup wrapped his arms around the Dragons' snout. "Come on." He gently guided the dragon towards the stairs. Maybe some sleep would ease his mind.
There was a nudge on his shoulder. Hiccup murdered and turned over in his bed. He was really uncomfortable, he had left his prototype chest and shoudler armour on when he went to bed. Bad idea. There was another tap on his face. "Toothless, no I don't want to go flying..." He heard a small giggle before something smacked his face pretty hard. He bolted up in bed.
"Well hello Hiccup, had a nice sleep?" Tuffnut snickered. He was on Belch through the window.
"Huh, yeah, you look beat." Ruffnut was also on Barf.
"What are you two doing here? Its so early," Hiccup rubbed his eyes. How much sleep had he had, like four hours?
"Astrid told us that we were all going flying today? And we know your dad won't approve," Fishlegs poked his head through the window. He was obviously riding meatlug.
"Oh, uh yeah, I'm coming. Toothless?" The dragon got up from his bed and came over to hiccup.
"We'll be outside," Fishlegs said. The three of them left his room. The sun was just rising.
Hiccup threw his covers off of him and sat on the edge of his bed. He grabbed his prosthetic from his bedside table and clipped it in. Toothless snorted and licked his hand.
"Come on, let's get out of here. I can't stand the stress any longer." Hiccup got up and slowly went down the stairs. They both snook past Skullcrusher who was snoring as loud as anything. So was his dad. "OK," hiccup slowly shut the wooden door.
"Ugh, finally!" Snotlout snapped. "Are you ready?" He climbed onto Hookfang.
"Yes, let's go." Hiccup got onto toothless.
"Where exactly are we going, Astrid?" Fishlegs asked Astrid who was looking at a map.
"Why don't we go to hothead island? I heard there's lost of monstrous nightmare babies, they could need some help feeding?"
"Yeah, whatever. Let's just go." Hiccup got toothless to walk past the group, who all looked at each other. Hiccup flew toothless up into the air very fast and they followed.
"Uh," Astrid flew next to hiccup. "Hello, anyone there?"
"Sorry, its just.. Me and my dad had a fight last night."
"Well that doesn't surprise me,you were so angry yesterday." Astrid said.
"Are you still angry now?" Fishlegs asked. Astrid stared at him and he grimaced.
"Well, if I were chief-" Snotlout started.
"Oh here we go," Tuffnut groaned.
"I wouldn't do what my dad told me! I would rule Berk how I wanted to."
"I wonder how that would turn out," Ruffnut grinned at Tuffnut.
"But I don't exactly want to rule Berk, so much is wanted of me and I could be mistaken for a child by another tribe." Hiccup huffed.
"Well let's not talk about it, OK? It will just get you more angry." Astrid said.
"Yeah. Which way?"
Suddenly, the group looked up and for the first time saw where they were. It was slightly misty and there was no island in sight. Hiccup stopped Toothless and the others did the same with their dragons, and realised how fast they were flying, Toothless was heavily panting.
"W-where are we? How can we be this far away from Berk? We weren't flying that fast were we?" Fishlegs said.
"Oh great, we're lost!" Snotlout whined.
"No, we're fine, I can just see Berk over there," Ruffnut pointed to a piece of land.
"Wait, let me check the map," Astrid said.
"But, what's that?" Tuffnut pointed go a small spec in the ocean far away.
"Its the island!" Astrid exclaimed.
"OK, well let's go meet some dragon babies!" Fishlegs eased Meatlug forward and the others followed.
"I can't see any baby monstrous nightmares," Ruffnut snorted.
"Yeah, what if they've all flown away?" Tuffnut continued.
"I agree Astrid, I can't see any either." Fishlegs added.
The group had already landed on the island and were in a clearing of a forest near a rocky beach. They'd been feeling thought he island for hours and hours now, and it was winter in Berk so it would be getting dark soon.
"Yeah, well even if I did make a mistake, we don't need a few baby dragons to keep us occupied! We can do something else." Astrid suggested.
"Like what?" Snotlout said as he sat on a rock.
"We could go do some tricks on our dragons, or sit around and talk or something like that?"
"Yeah, let's make a day out of it," Hiccup said. "We could all use some fun lately."
There was a crack in the woods. The group looked over to where it came from, but where just met with thick branches and vines.
"What was that?" Ruffnut asked.
"Maybe a dragon?" Fishlegs grabbed onto Meatlug for support, he felt a bit scared.
Astrid started walking. "I'll go look-"
"No, I will." Hiccup pushed in front of Astrid. "I don't want you to get hurt, baby dragons are very feisty,"
Astrid grabbed onto hiccups hand and smiled. "OK, be careful Hiccup."
"Hey, bring us back some food will ya? I'm starting to get hungry." Snotlout yapped. Hiccup rolled his eyes and continued to go into the forest. He heard a growl from toothless.
"Uh, stay here bud. Look after the other dragons, OK?" Hiccup scratched toothless' chin and carried on.
Astrid came back and sat down with the others. "Sorry to waste all your time, guys," Astrid said.
"Oh, its not all bad, we got to have a good flight, right Meatlug?" The dragon replied by licking fishlegs' face.
"Yeah, I could be stuck inside my house with her," Tuffnut pushed his sister in the face.
"It would be better than being stuck somewhere with you!" She pushed Tuffnut back.
"I guess its better than doing chores all day," Snotlout put his legs up on another rock and stretched out.
"We could camp out tonight and then go back in the morning?" Astrid patted Stormfly who had curled up with toothless next to her.
"Sure, why not?" He said.
"Its starting to get dark. Oh, I know, let's get Barf and Belch to light the fire!" Tuffnut exclaimed after whacking his sister on her helmet.
"I don't think that a very good idea," Fishlegs said.
"We'll sort-"
Another crack in the woods interrupted Astrid mid sentence. The group looked around to the direction it came from.
"Hiccup?" She shouted.
"Have you got something to eat?" Snotlout added.
"Hello?" Ruffnut barked.
"Hey! Its rude to ignore people you know!" Tuffnut hollered.
"Oh, all too well, Tuffnut," A familiar voice spoke. The group swerved around to see who it was.
Dagur.
"Do you remember me, or have you ignored me for the past two years?" Dagur said.
Everyone imideatly got up and grabbed their weapons. All of their dragons hissed, especially toothless.
"Woah, thats a bit unnecessary, don't you think?" Dagur held his hands up.
"What do you want?" Astrid held her axe up.
"Yeah, why did you come back?" Snotlout grabbed his hammer.
"Can't you see your not wanted after so many battles for Thor's sake?" Tuffnut moaned.
"I don't want to be any trouble," He stepped forward.
"Well we don't believe you," Ruffnut hissed.
"Yeah, we don't." Fishlegs nervously said.
"Hm, well your all pretty smart then. I wouldn't either. Men!" He shouted.
Suddenly before the group could act, dragons traps came hurtling into the clearing, ensnaring Meatlug and Barf and Belch.
"What are you doing?!" Snotlout shouted.
"Just a little capture and hold hostage, nothing original really," He made a sign with his hand and a dozen men came running out of the forest and toward the teens. More nets came through the air.
Ruffnut attempted to cut barf and belch loose as three vikings came towards Tuffnut who tried to fight them off. Snotlout swung his Hammer into another mans' face and knocked him clean out. Fishlegs was trying to free meatlug who was tangled up in ropes, when suddenly he was grabbed by a big viking. Astrid was also fighting off two big men as Stormfly was caught by nets, as was Hookfang. All of the dragons were breathing heavy fire and screeching as loud as they could for help of their riders.
Toothless had just knocked out a man when he saw Dagur admiring the performance of the helpless teens and their dragons. He roared and charged towards the smug baddie, who had only just noticed toothless. He pounced on the deranged viking who fell backwards onto the ground. Toothless roared in his face and was just about to shoot as another dozen men grabbed toothless on his saddle, sail, arms legs and wings to pull him off of Dagur. Toothless growled and spat at the heavy handed men who had him pinned down. Toothless looked around. The commotion had stopped and the dragons and teens were all being held down.
"Did you really think a few whispering deaths would get rid of me?" Dagur got up and brushed himself off.
"Well you've been gone for a good two to three years, so yeah, i'd say we nailed it." Tuffnut snickered.
"Be quiet!" Dagur pointed at Tuffnut who looked at him blankly.
"What do you want anyway? I'm so sick of seeing your face." Snotlout struggled in someone's hold.
"Well, after your sad attempt to defeat me, I came to this island with some of my men. We've been stuck here for years after our boat was destroyed by a group of baby dragons, but that's beside the point. We stayed here and just hoped that we'd see a Hooligan, and we did! We even got the best ones, Hiccup and all of his friends." Dagur laughed.
"Uh, sir?" A viking said.
"What?" Dagur turned around.
"We, don't actually have the cheifs son..."
"What?! Where's hiccup?!" Dagur asked the teens.
"Hey, we don't know." Ruffnut said.
"Yeah, he could be anywhere." Astrid said.
"Then why is his beloved night fury still here?" Dagur thought for a moment.
"How should we know? We came looking for him and Toothless was just here. No rider." Snotlout came back. The teens all had the same idea.
"Shall we take them back sir?" A viking asked before Dagur could reply.
"Oh, yes. Let's go, people, we need to move and get everyone comfy in our luxury prison sweet! We have the night fury now and that's all that really matters." Dagur started walking away.
"What?!" Fishlegs started to be pushed forward. He saw all of the dragons being pulled behind them in nets.
"Do I need to remind you that I'm deranged?" Dagur sighed.