Author's Note: Hi all! Congratulations! You have just clicked on my newest How to Train Your Dragon fanfiction! And it's another family bonding fic for our favorite father and son, Stoick and Hiccup. I wrote this a while ago when I saw the sneak peek for Riders of Berk on Youtube when it first came out, and I saw the trick Hiccup did while flying with Toothless. It got me thinking that since Stoick is obviously going to try to be a better father to Hiccup especially after hearing the panel at Comic Con say that Stoick is "trying to balance chiefdom and fatherhood," he is probably going to try to pay more attention to him and worry about his son more (not to say that he didn't worry about Hiccup in the movie. Why else would he try to keep his only son from going outside during raids and away from the Kill Ring in the beginning? It's just that now it will be different). Anyway, this is what I think would happen if Stoick saw one of Hiccup and Toothless's moves whilst flying.
ENJOY!
Disclaimer: I do NOT own How to Train Your Dragon.
A Father's Job Description
It was one of those rare sunny days on the ocean waters surrounding the island of Berk, and Chief Stoick the Vast took in a deep breath smelling the salt air as he sailed off to catch the fish along with his best friend Gobber and brother Spitelout. His son Hiccup would have joined them, but he was off on his daily flight with his best friend a dragon, specifically a Night Fury named Toothless. Stoick never said anything to his son or even to Gobber, but he actually took the opportunity to go fishing to hopefully catch a glimpse of Hiccup and Toothless flying together. He had seen them flying, but only during the battle with the Green Death and when they came in for landing after their daily flights. He had asked Hiccup about flying with his dragon, but based on what Hiccup had told him, it was something one needed to see for himself or herself.
"Any sign of Hiccup and Toothless yet?" Spitelout suddenly asked his older brother jolting him out of his thoughts.
"Uh…no, why do you ask?" Stoick asked Spitelout trying to cover up the fact that he realized that he was caught. "We only came out here to fish."
"Because I know my brother," said Spitelout.
"That…and you keep staring up into sky," Gobber said as he steered the boat.
Stoick sighed. "Alright," he said. "You caught me. I just hear Hiccup talking about his flights with Toothless so much that I just knew that I needed to see this for myself."
"Stoick, there's nothing wrong with wanting to see what your son loves more than anything else in the world," said Gobber. Stoick knew his best friend was right. It was just that he also knew that it wouldn't be appropriate to put his duties as chief aside just to see what his son did with his dragon during the day. Then as if on cue, the three adults heard a screech from above. They all knew who it was as Gobber smirked at the chief. "Heh…looks like you just got a front row seat."
They all turned around to see a black dot soaring in the clear blue sky right toward them. There was no doubt that it was Hiccup and Toothless in the middle of their daily flight. Stoick watched them soar through the sky and saw that Hiccup was right! It was indeed an incredible sight. He could only imagine how his teenage son felt as he sat on Toothless's saddle in the air. It was still hard for Stoick to believe that the boy currently riding a dragon was the boy, who was considered to be an outsider by his whole tribe just because of how he looked and the disasters that followed him every time he stepped outside during dragon raids not too long ago. Pride welled up inside the chief's heart as he kept his eyes glued to Hiccup and Toothless. However, pride…suddenly turned into…confusion as the black dot split in two and began to dive downward toward the ocean right next to each other. That was when confusion turned into worry and panic as Stoick, Spitelout, and Gobber realized that Hiccup for some reason jumped off Toothless's back and that both were making their way down to the ocean at a dangerously fast speed.
"HICCUP!" Stoick shouted to the boy despite the fact that there was no way Hiccup would be able to hear him. Thankfully, just as Hiccup and Toothless were about 12 feet away from the crystal blue water Hiccup somehow managed to get back on Toothless and to guide the Night Fury upward away from the ocean.
"WHOO-HOO!" Stoick heard Hiccup shout before Toothless crooned in response as the two of them flew away clearly not noticing the ship right below them and thus continuing on with their flying.
The boy and dragon unknowingly left Hiccup's father, uncle, and mentor in a complete shock that rendered them all speechless. None of them could believe what they just witnessed. Hiccup just practically put himself in danger by…jumping off Toothless's back and diving toward the ocean. Luckily, Hiccup managed to get Toothless to pull up in time, but still…how could Hiccup endanger himself like that?
"What in Thor's name did Hiccup just do?" Gobber asked Stoick, who still kept his eyes glued to the sky.
"I don't know, Gobber," Stoick said. He then furrowed his eyebrows in determination, "but I'm going to find out."
It wasn't long before Stoick, his brother, and friend finally made it back to Berk after having just witnessed the most frightening experience in their lives. However, Stoick knew that nothing would ever compare to when he thought Hiccup was dead after the battle with the Green Death, but still, what Stoick had just witnessed during Hiccup and Toothless's daily flight…it came in close second to that fateful day against the monstrous dragon. He could not understand why Hiccup would take such a risk when flying with Toothless when it was just the two of them high up in the air, where no one would be able to help them if something happened. Surely, his son knew better than that. That was what the chief of Berk tried to convince himself as he paced back and forth in front of his house waiting for Hiccup and Toothless to return home.
"The things I would do to get inside that boy's mind," Stoick said to himself.
"Hey, Dad!" a voice suddenly shouted from above. Stoick looked up to see that it was Hiccup and Toothless coming in for a landing on the hill that led up to their house. As soon as the boy was on the ground, he hopped off Toothless and ran up to his father beaming from ear to ear clearly oblivious to the dangers of what he was doing.
"Hello, son…" Stoick said gravely. He had a funny feeling that this conversation was not going to go well…at all.
Hiccup raised an eyebrow at his father. Stoick seemed like he was in very deep thought about something and even looked upset. Usually, his father would have a big smile on his face whenever Hiccup and Toothless came back from their daily flights. The boy couldn't help but feel slightly worried. "Uh…gee…that wasn't a very enthusiastic greeting," he said. "You okay?"
Stoick sighed. "Gobber, Uncle Spitelout, and I saw you and Toothless flying this morning," he said.
Hiccup smiled even wider. He had always been meaning to show his father what he and Toothless do during their flights together. "Really?" Hiccup asked in excitement. "You know I thought I saw a boat in the water. So what did you think?"
"What did I think?" the chief asked while trying to keep his temper in check. "Hiccup, do you have any idea how dangerous of a move that was when you jumped off Toothless's back?"
Hiccup was suddenly taken aback by what his father just said. This was the complete opposite of what he thought his father would say about his and Toothless's moves in the sky. "D-Dad…what are you talking about? Toothless and I were fine. Nothing happened."
"Son, you jumped off Toothless's back and dove straight down when you two were flying alone thousands of feet in the air above the ocean. What if something happened to one or both of you that didn't let you get back on Toothless in time? You could've easily been killed because of your recklessness." Once again, Hiccup was completely oblivious to the dangers around him.
Hiccup started to become slightly more worried about the way his father was acting about the situation. Didn't he trust him to take care of himself? "Look, I know we do a few risky moves here and there," he said trying to calm his father down before this erupted in a huge screaming match, "but we've been doing this for a long time. Toothless and I can handle ourselves in the sky just fine. You have nothing to worry about."
"Yes, I do, Hiccup, because I'm your father! And if you think that I'm just going to go on with my life knowing that my son is putting his life in danger just by performing those dangerous moves every day, then you must be mad!"
"Dad…"
"No, Hiccup, I don't want to hear it anymore. From now on, you and Toothless are not allowed to go flying alone anymore. The only time you can is when you have either Astrid or all of your friends with you, and anytime you and Toothless try to pull a stunt like you just did, they are to let me know as soon as possible."
"What?" Anger boiled up inside of Hiccup as he and Stoick glared at each other. The boy could not believe how his father was acting. It was almost as if his father was trying to chain him and Toothless to the ground. How could he take away the one thing Hiccup and Toothless loved more than life itself? "Come on, Dad, this is so unfair! You can't treat me like this!"
"As a matter of fact, son, I can. I'm the parent around here, and if not letting you and Toothless fly alone is the only to teach you to behave responsibly, then so be it."
Hiccup simply stared at Stoick with his jaw dropped as his mind went back to the aftermath of the raid that occurred on the day he first met Toothless.
"Every time you step outside, disaster follows…" Stoick said to him that day.
"I can't believe you're treating me like this again," Hiccup finally said as all emotions known to man rang through his voice. "No, wait! Actually, I can because that's so like you!"
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about how nothing I do ever pleases you! I'm just the biggest screw-up to you! That's all I ever will be!" Hiccup always believed that after the war was over and that he finally accomplished something to make his father smile at him and simply say, "I'm proud of you," his father wouldn't think that he was Hiccup the Useless anymore. Only now did he see that his father did not care about his safety just as he claimed to do so, he only cared about making sure his son didn't do anything to embarrass him…just as he always did in past with the dragons raids along with everything else…and now with his and Toothless's aerial stunts.
Stoick furrowed his eyebrows together in concern as he listened to the words coming out of Hiccup's mouth. "Hiccup…n-no…no, that's not it at all…I just…"
"You know what, just forget it, OK, Dad? Just forget it…" Before Stoick could do or say anything else, Hiccup quickly ran past him and into the house slamming the door right behind him leaving his father and best friend staring at his departing figure.
Stoick sighed as he realized that Hiccup completely misunderstood what he was trying to tell him. He was only worried about him. It was in a father's job description to worry about his child's safety, wasn't it? Then again, he couldn't help but think that maybe he was slightly a little too hard on Hiccup. Toothless would never let anything happen to Hiccup. The Viking Chief suddenly shook those thoughts out of his mind. He knew he couldn't falter. Hiccup needed to know that he couldn't act careless when it came to flying with Toothless, and this was the only way to make him see the light.
Out of the corner of his eye, Stoick noticed Toothless staring at him trying to understand what just happened. He sighed. "Do me a favor, Toothless. Don't ever have children."
A week… It had only been a week since Stoick banned Hiccup and Toothless from flying alone together…unless Hiccup's friends were with him. It had only been a week since Hiccup abruptly decided that he and Toothless would never fly again…at all. Hiccup and Toothless did try to go flying with Astrid and the others once like they usually did, but it wasn't the same. It only made Hiccup even angrier toward his father. Not only that, but Hiccup and Stoick never spoke to each other since their argument regarding Hiccup and Toothless's aerial stunts. Stoick had tried to talk to his son, but Hiccup refused to utter a peep or even look at Stoick for the past week. It was almost as if the father and son's relationship was going back to the way it was before Vikings and dragons began to live together on Berk.
"Hiccup, I know you're mad at your father," Astrid said as they sat together in the Mead Hall with their friends while Stoick sat with Gobber at a table not too far from where theirs. "To be honest, I can't really blame you. I don't know what I'd do if my parents didn't let me fly with Stormfly anymore, but you can't be mad at him forever. You have to talk to him."
"There's nothing to talk about, Astrid," said Hiccup. "The only reason he banned me from ever flying with Toothless again is because he doesn't want to see me screw it up like I always did with the stupid dragon raids. I'm just an embarrassment to him. That's all I ever will be."
"Hiccup…" Astrid tried to say before someone interrupted her.
"Hiccup…" Stoick suddenly said as he walked up to the kids with Gobber behind him. He felt his heart fall when Hiccup refused to look at him. "Uh…son, I have some time before a meeting I need to go to. Would you like to take a walk with me?"
"No…thanks…" Hiccup replied coolly.
Stoick sighed. "Alright," he said. "Then I'll see you at home, son." Without receiving even an acknowledgement from Hiccup, Stoick left the Mead Hall with Gobber wobbling behind him.
The kids simply sat in silence as they watched Stoick and Gobber leave the Mead Hall and then Hiccup as he sat there in silence. Even Ruffnut and Tuffnut didn't bother to make any comments about what just happened between father and son. They were all expecting Hiccup to realize that he shouldn't be mad at his father and just run after Stoick to try to work things out, but of course, that didn't happen. However, Hiccup did suddenly stand up from his seat and began to leave the table without uttering a word to his friends.
"W-Where are you going?" Astrid asked him.
"I don't know, but I'm going alone with Toothless," Hiccup replied as he made his departure. He left his friends all staring at him flabbergasted watching him leave the Great Hall.
"You guys do know that he's going to be in big trouble, right?" Fishlegs asked after a brief moment of silence once Hiccup was gone.
"Oh, yeah," said Snotlout.
"Definitely," Ruffnut and Tuffnut said in unison.
"But I love it," Snotlout suddenly said after a brief pause.
"Me too," said Tuffnut.
"What a rebel," said Ruffnut.
"Well, I hate to rain your parade, guys," Astrid interjected, "but…what are we going to tell Stoick when he sees that Hiccup went off flying with Toothless and we're not with them?"
It was almost a whole two hours since Hiccup and Toothless snuck off Berk to literally fly solo together, and the teens still had yet to notify Stoick. It was very conflicting for them until they all eventually decided that they would give Hiccup some time to come to his senses and turn around to come back to Berk so that his father would have never known he left in the first place.
However, when Stoick finally came back from his meeting, he walked in to a completely empty house. The Viking chief looked around and saw that the fire had clearly never been lit, and there was no sign of Hiccup and/or Toothless anywhere.
"Hiccup? Toothless?" Stoick said hoping to at least get a response from the boy and/or his dragon. That was when he was painfully reminded that Hiccup wasn't speaking to him. He sighed to himself and went up the stairs to Hiccup's room. "Son…are you up here?" There was still no response or any indication that Hiccup and Toothless were present in the room at the moment.
Trying not to worry so much about his son's whereabouts, the chief concluded that his son and the Night Fury were at the forge as usual. If Hiccup wasn't with his friends or at home, Stoick was always able to find him at Gobber's blacksmith shop in his old hangout relaxing with Toothless. However, much to his disappointment, when Stoick looked at his best friend's shop, Hiccup and Toothless were not there.
Stoick sighed as he exited the stall. "Hiccup, where are you?" he asked himself. He was really starting to worry now. It was as if his son had vanished into thin air, but just when he felt his heart begin to pound, Stoick noticed a trail of smoke rising from one of the watchtowers. It was Hiccup's friends sitting around a fire. Seeing the teens gave him another idea. Hiccup was obviously with his friends on top of the watchtower at that very moment, which meant that it was the perfect chance to talk to him and finally straighten things out.
The father of the Dragon Trainer wasted no time in going up to the watchtower to get to the teens. When he finally got to the top, he cleared his throat to get the teens' attention, but as he did so, he couldn't help but notice how…troubled they looked.
"Oh…S-Stoick…" Astrid said as they all turned to face their chief.
"Kids…" Stoick replied returning the greeting. He was just about to say something to Hiccup when he noticed that…Hiccup was nowhere to be found. The only kids who were present were Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut with their respective dragons lying around nearby. "Where's Hiccup?"
"Uh…" Astrid stammered.
"Haven't seen him," Snotlout piped.
"Not here," said Ruffnut.
"Nope," said Tuffnut.
"He's certainly not out flying with Toothless alone or anything like that!" Fishlegs suddenly blurted out before quickly covering his mouth in shock.
"FISHLEGS!" the other kids shouted in unison.
"HE'S WHAT?" Stoick shouted.
Gobber watched Stoick pace back and forth in his friend's home. After finding out that his son deliberately disobeyed his orders and went out to fly with Toothless alone at night, he sent his son's friends to go out and look for him. This had to be one of those extremely rare moments when Stoick silently wished that he had a dragon of his own so that he could go out and find Hiccup and the Night Fury himself.
"Stoick, I know how worried and upset you must be right now," Gobber finally said after a long hour of watching Stoick pace for almost a whole hour, "but I'm sure Hiccup will be back any minute."
"Oh, I know he will be back," Stoick said as he continued to pace. "I'm just trying to think of a way to punish him for disobeying me."
Gobber felt his heart drop. He knew what Hiccup did was wrong, but in a way, the boy did have a valid reason to rebel the way he did. The blacksmith sighed before continuing. "Look, my friend, I don't condone Hiccup for disobeying you, but…don't you think you went a little overboard banning him and the dragon from doing something they both love?"
"What are you saying, Gobber?" the chief asked when he finally stopped pacing to look the blacksmith in the eye. "I only said he couldn't fly Toothless alone unless his friends were watching him. It was the only way I could make sure that they didn't get themselves killed. You saw the stunt that they pulled when they were alone."
"I understand you want to protect your boy, Stoick, but it may not seem like that to Hiccup, especially after those times when you tried to keep him inside during those dragon raids."
Realization practically slapped Stoick across the face as he thought back to the argument he had with Hiccup a week ago.
"I can't believe you're treating me like this again. No, wait! Actually, I can because that's so like you!"
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about how nothing I do ever pleases you! I'm just the biggest screw-up to you! That's all I ever will be!"
He sighed as things became a little clearer. His son really didn't understand why he didn't want him and Toothless to fly alone. Hiccup only saw it as his father trying to keep him from screwing up again. Stoick knew that things definitely needed to be worked out between father and son. He was just about to say something to Gobber when the front door opened. Both Stoick and Gobber turned to see…Hiccup and Toothless walking into the house!
"OK, I'm back," Hiccup said nonchalantly as he and Toothless walked in. "Let me have it."
"Hiccup, where in the name of Thor have you been?" Stoick quickly asked.
"I was out flying with Toothless," said Hiccup. "I figured that if I'm going to get punished for something, I might as well do something to deserve it."
Stoick stared at his son and the dragon, who was standing on the side trying to comprehend what was going on. The chief sighed realizing that Gobber was right as usual, which made one thing clear to him. This tension between him and Hiccup had to be resolved tonight. This fight had been going on for too long.
"Gobber, can you please take Toothless out so that I can talk to Hiccup?" Stoick asked the blacksmith.
"Sure, Stoick," said Gobber. He then leaned over to the chief so that he could whisper something in his ear. "Just remember what we talked about." He didn't wait for Stoick to reply as he wobbled over to Hiccup and Toothless gently guiding Toothless out the door after patting Hiccup on the shoulder as father and son engaged themselves in a staring contest. "Come on, Toothless, let's give them some time to talk."
Hiccup turned around to see Toothless giving him a worried look as he followed Gobber out the front door. He mustered up a smile for the Night Fury, but Toothless didn't seem convinced. "Don't worry, bud," he said. "We're just going to talk. That's all."
Toothless let out a little purr as if to say "Fine, but I don't like this" and followed Gobber out the door. Gobber took one last look at his dearest friends and closed the door to give them some privacy while getting a funny feeling that a screaming match was going to start at any moment.
Silence erupted in the house when Stoick and Hiccup were finally left alone. Both of them recognized it to be the very same silence that danced through the house before Hiccup met Toothless, and needless to say, they both hated it more than ever.
"Sit down, Hiccup," Stoick finally said gesturing to the smaller chair at the table next to him.
Without saying a word, Hiccup did what he was told and went over to the table to sit down. He turned the chair around so that he could still face his father and sat down. He didn't bother to say anything. He knew this was going to happen, but Hiccup actually felt bad about disobeying his father, especially after hearing from Astrid that he was worried sick about him when she and the other teens managed to find him and Toothless in the dark of the night.
"Hiccup, I'm very disappointed in you," Stoick finally said.
Hiccup sighed as he stared at the ground. He couldn't look at his father. Not only was it because he was still angry with him, but it was because he actually felt horrible at the moment. "Yeah, I know," he said.
"You deliberately disobeyed me," Stoick continued while trying his best to keep his temper in check. "You took off with Toothless without your friends at night after I specifically told you not to fly alone and without telling anyone where you were going. Not only that but you put your friends in a bad position when you left. What? Did you think that I wouldn't notice that you were gone and your friends wouldn't have to tell me where you went?"
"Look, I'm sorry, Dad, but what did you expect? Did you really think that I was just going to accept the fact that my flying with Toothless embarrasses you? That I was going to let you keep me locked up just because you don't approve of what I like to do again?"
"That's not why I banned you two from flying alone, son. I was trying to protect you!"
Hiccup stood up feeling more anger burning inside of him. "Come on, Dad, we both know that's a lie. You're doing exactly what you did before the War ended. You're trying to keep me from doing something that could ruin your image!"
"How could you say that? Don't you understand?! I almost lost you once because of what happened the last time I saw you and Toothless flying alone! I couldn't bare it if I had to go through that again!"
Hiccup was suddenly struck speechless as he stared at his father. His jaw dropped, as he knew what Stoick was referring to. The last time his father saw him and Toothless flying alone together…was during the battle against the Green Death. The pieces were finally starting to come together. He was just about to say something when Stoick continued to speak.
"Hiccup, during that battle…watching you and Toothless go against that dragon alone from the ground, I felt so helpless," Stoick finally said. Hiccup noticed that his father sounded like he had wanted to say this for a while now. "I couldn't do anything to help you and make sure you were safe. I couldn't just hop on a dragon and fly up there to fight alongside you. All I could do was stand there and watch you knock on death's door as you and a Night Fury fought that monster of a dragon, and last week, when I saw you pull that stunt, all I could think about was watching you and Toothless almost fall to your deaths."
The boy was once again stunned by his father's words. He never actually realized that Stoick was that affected by the battle with the Green Death. Hiccup knew that it helped change their relationship and how Stoick viewed his son, but…never once did Hiccup think that he was so traumatized by seeing him and Toothless free-fall.
"I…I never realized…" Hiccup finally said. "Y-You never showed that…"
"Well, I thought that keeping you and Toothless would show it, but…thinking back…it just seems like it just did the opposite."
"In all honesty, after everything we went through before the war ended…not so much. Dad, you really don't have to worry about me."
"I know, but I do worry about you, Hiccup. I've worried about you since the day your mother became pregnant with you. It's part of a father's job description, and I love you too much to let anything happen to you."
Hiccup gave his father a genuine smile as he walked up to his father and hugged him tightly. "I love you, too, Dad," he said, "and I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry, too," said Stoick. He then kneeled down to Hiccup's level as they released each other, "and you know what, maybe banning you and Toothless from ever flying alone again was a little unfair. It's something you two deserve to have to yourselves every now and then."
A huge smile slowly came across Hiccup's face as he realized what Stoick was implying. "A-Are you saying that we can go flying alone again?" the teen asked excitedly.
Stoick chuckled at the young boy's enthusiasm. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying," he said.
"Alright!" he said as he hugged his father again. "Thanks, Dad! Thanks so much!" He finally released his father again and made his way to the front door to get Toothless. "I got to tell Toothless!"
However, before he could even move an inch to the door, Stoick grabbed him by the back of his vest holding him in place. "Hold it!" the chief said as he stood up again. "Not so fast, son."
Hiccup sighed in exasperation, as he knew that there was a catch going to come from somewhere in this conversation. "I knew that was too easy," he said.
"Hiccup, I may have decided to let you and Toothless fly alone again, but you still disobeyed me. You still need to be punished, so for one week, starting tomorrow, no flying at all."
Hiccup looked up at his father with an exasperated face. Just when he thought that he was able to go back to his and Toothless' number one hobby, his father took it away from him again, but then again, this time it was only for a week. It wasn't forever, and it was just so he would learn not to disobey his father's orders again. Hiccup sighed and held up his hands in a defeated agreement. "OK, Dad," he said. "I may not like it, but…it's fair enough."
"Good, glad we can see eye to eye on some things," said Stoick.
"Yeah, you know, it really helps when a father and son can actually agree on something," Hiccup quipped. They both shared a hearty laugh at their little banter until it finally went silent again…until Hiccup remembered what his father asked him earlier before he left. Maybe, now that they were talking again, it would be a good chance to bring it up. "Uh…hey, Dad?"
"Yes?"
"Um…I was just thinking that…if it's not too late…do you…do you maybe want to go take that walk you wanted to go earlier?"
Stoick seemed shocked at first, but it quickly went away as a warm smile splashed onto his face. "Of course, son," he said before standing up. "Come on. We can go now while the moon is still high in the sky."
With that said, father and son walked out the front door of their house and after asking Gobber to keep an eye on Toothless, made their way to go on their walk together through the village under the bright full moon over Berk while feeling grateful that they were able to finally work things out.
Yeah…sorry, the ending was a little cheesy, but hey, cheesy can be good, right? Anyway, thanks for reading, guys. Don't forget to leave a review, please.