Welcome to my second story, "Starting Over".
I hope you enjoy it as much/even more than my first one!
Shout out for Toothless is best: Happy Birthday! ;)
This is Berk.
It snows nine months of the year, and hails the other three…
Any food that grows here is tough and tasteless…
The people that grow here are even more so,
The only upsides are the pets…
While other places have ponies or parrots…
We have…
Dragons!
Hiccup had finally woken up for the first time in three months…and after his first flight, he really just wanted to spend some quality time with Toothless. However, everyone else in the village had other plans…
"Hiccup! Why does this dragon keep following me?"
"Hiccup! Get this dragon away from me!"
"Hiccup! Help us!"
"Hiccup!"
"Hiccup!"
Hiccup groaned, "C'mon bud, let's get out of here," he said, quickly mounting onto Toothless' back. Toothless snorted and spread his wings, taking off in a matter of seconds. Cries of protest could be heard from the Viking's—
"Where is he going?"
"Stoick! What's happening?"
"Night Fury! GET DOWN!"
"Somebody stop him!"
Stoick sighed and rubbed his forehead, "Quiet down everyone! Give the boy some space!" he said, holding up his hands in an effort to stop the crowd.
No one budged, "Get going! Go back to your homes, nothing to see here," said Gobber, shooing everyone away.
The villagers groaned and reluctantly walked away-constantly glancing up into the sky, hoping that the chief's son would come back—which he was not. As everyone began departing, only the five teens remained, "Should we follow him?" asked Tuffnut.
Astrid bit her lip, "Normally I would say no…but I think we can change the rules just this once," she said, walking towards their dragons. The teens followed her, mounted their dragons, and took off—hoping they weren't too late to set things right with their new hero, and-hopefully-friend.
Toothless gracefully landed in the cove, while Hiccup not-so gracefully fell off of Toothless' back, "Stupid leg," he mumbled, shaking his half-leg in the air. Toothless gave Hiccup and apologetic look and nudged his stomach.
"Thanks bud," said Hiccup, leaning onto said dragon, "You're the best friend I could ever ask for," he yawned.
Toothless turned around and saw that his rider had fallen asleep. Toothless snorted and laid his head down on Hiccup's lap, wondering why his rider would need to sleep when he had just slept for so long already. Toothless shook his head…humans were interesting creatures.
…
Meanwhile, the other teens had landed on the top edge of the cove, where they proceeded to watch the duo with awe.
"Wow…" said Fishlegs.
"Wow, what?" asked Tuffnut.
"How did he keep a Night Fury hidden? I mean it was right here under our noses! There were so many signs! I can't believe nobody noticed anything…" mumbled Fishlegs.
"Maybe it's for the best," said Astrid, "Who knows what would've happened if we had found out…" she said.
The other teens agreed, "Maybe you're right…" said Fishlegs.
"Hey what's that?" asked Tuffnut, pointing just in front of where they were hiding.
"What? Where!?" asked Snotlout.
"Right over…" he said, crawling forwards, "Got it!" he said, holding up a black scale triumphantly.
Fishlegs gasped, "That's a Night Fury scale!" he exclaimed.
"Well, duh," said Tuffnut, "What else would it be?" he asked, "Oh hey look! There's another one!" he said, reaching out even further.
"Tuffnut, be careful," warned Astrid.
"Oh please," said Tuffnut, "I am the most careful person that has ever lived on the Archipelag—AHH!" he yelled as he lost his footing, and slid/tumbled down into the cove.
"Idiot…" muttered Ruffnut as she jumped after him.
"Ruff! What are you—" started Astrid.
"I'll handle this babe," said Snotlout, as he started slipping and sliding to the bottom of the cove.
Astrid and Fishlegs shared a glance of annoyance, "You wanna go?" asked Fishelgs.
Astrid groaned, "We probably should," she agreed. She turned around and faced their dragons, "We'll be back soon," she said, jumping off the side. Fishlegs looked down at the other teens, "Is this even safe?!" he cried, testing the edge.
Just then, Snotlout's dragon decided to take matters into his own hands—err…claws, and nudged Fishlegs…just enough for him to loose his balance and fall into the cove.
Snotlout laughed, "My dragon is the best!" he boasted as Fishlegs fell to the ground, "Snotlout! Snotlout! Oi Oi Oi!" he chanted, dancing around in a circle.
The teens were so busy with staring at Snotlout that they didn't notice that someone had joined them…
"What are you guys doing here?" Hiccup asked.
They jumped, "Oh! Well…you see…" said Fishlegs, standing up.
"Astrid was worried about you," said Tuffnut.
"I was not!" yelled Astrid, shoving Tuffnut into the water.
"We just wanted to make sure you weren't going to do something stupid," said Snotlout.
"That's a first…" Hiccup mumbled.
"What did you say?" challenged Snotlout.
"Nothing," said Hiccup, "You never answered my question by the way…what are you guys doing here?" he asked, placing his hands onto his hips.
"Hey!" yelled Tuffnut, "Can somebody help me? Please?" he asked.
Ruffnut went over and held out her hand, which Tuffnut eagerly reached out to—only for Ruffnut to pull her hand away and kick Tuffnut back into the water, earning shouts of protest.
"Look Hiccup," said Astrid, "we just want to make sure that you're doing okay," she said, taking a hold of his hand. Hiccup looked down at their intertwined hands, and then up at the nodding teens. In one swift motion he yanked his hand away from Astrid's grasp and backed away, "Why do you guys care so much about me now, huh?" he asked, "Is it just because I saved everyone's life and because I killed the biggest dragon? Is that why everyone finally accepts me now?" he snapped.
The teens were taken aback, "Do you know how long I've been waiting for this? Just waiting for someone to tell me that they actually care? Do you know how long?!" he yelled into Snotlout's face.
Hiccup fell silent again, "Ten years…" he said, "I've been waiting ten whole years for someone to talk to me without a hint of disgust in their voice," he said, "And now…I'm not really sure if I want that," he muttered, hanging his head down.
"We're really sorry Hiccup," said Fishlegs, "I can't believe we didn't notice before…" he said.
"But we need you now, Hiccup," said Astrid.
"For what? To keep the dragons under control? Yeah, now you all actually need me," said Hiccup.
"No Hiccup," she said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, "They need all of you...and I mean every single detail," she said, "If we had listened to you and given you a chance, we could've fixed so many problems and saved so many lives…" she said.
"Can you ever forgive us?" Fishlegs cried, earning stares from the rest of the teens.
Hiccup pretended to think about it, "Well let's see…" he said, "First, you all didn't speak to me nicely for ten years…Then, you bullied my in front of the entire village…You've made my dad hate me even more…" he said as the teens cringed at his words—which were the truth.
"But…" he said, "You also believed me when no one else would, and you also helped me—and risked your lives—to defeat the Red Death," he said, "So of course I will—" said Hiccup, "—as long as you all help me convince the other villagers to accept dragons," he said.
The teens all agreed and—after getting up to their dragons—took off towards the village.
Hiccup sighed, "I really don't want to do this," he said.
"Why not?" asked Tuffnut, earning a punch from his sister.
"I'm just…not used to all of, well…this," he said, gesturing to the village.
"Ohhhh!" said Tuffnut.
Everyone glared at him, "And shutting up now," said Tuffnut.
Suddenly, a loud explosion sounded the air, making the teens whip their heads to the direction of the village…where there was in fact, a fire.
There were three very distinct shapes that Hiccup could make out: Gobber, his father…and Mildew. Just thinking of the old man sent shivers up Hiccup's spine. The moment Hiccup landed, everyone immediately ran towards him demanding an explanation.
"Step back! Give him a chance to speak!" yelled Stoick, "Son, what is that dragon doing?" he asked, gesturing to the lone Monstrous Nightmare who was on a rampage.
"Dad…I don't know," said Hiccup.
Everyone groaned and Stoick rubbed his forehead, "Get the fire brigade! We have to put this fire out, now!" he yelled.
"What about my cabbages! You must save my cabbages!" said Mildew as he followed the chief.
"We'll worry about your leaves later Mildew…right now, we have more important things to deal with," said Stoick.
Hiccup slouched slightly as Gobber came up to him, "Don't worry, you're fairly small and weak…so the villagers won't give you much trouble," he said with a smile.
Hiccup stared at Gobber as the teens landed behind him and said, "Thank you…for summing that up," he deadpanned.
1) What is something—fairly minor for now—that Mildew could do that would cause a problem for Hiccup and the teens, which they will have to deal with later?
and
2) Why is the dragon on a rampage?