The Ambush

This is Berk. Here on this damp hunk of rock we enjoy two lovely different climate types throughout the year: cold and dry, and cold and wet. The one main thing that makes living here enjoyable at all is our mode of transportation.

Now most places you might see others riding on horseback or in wagons pulled by oxen. If we have to travel a considerable distance then we might sail in ships like our ancestors had for centuries. Our main choice for getting from point A to point B, however, is….dragon riding!

I know what you're thinking, "Riding on the back of something that flies, breathes fire, and can eat you? You're crazy!" But the simple fact is that we're Vikings, that's pretty much the definition of 'crazy'. Of course most other Vikings also think we're crazy for befriending the ancient enemy that they've hunted for generations, but seven years ago I found out that dragons were simply misunderstood. While they were to be treated with respect, I learned that if we approach them correctly then they could be the greatest of companions, and eventually I'd brought my entire village around to my way of thinking.

For the next few years I spent most of my time learning all that I could about them, and whenever anyone had any questions about their new dragon friend they would come to me. For a while I came to think myself the greatest dragon expert around. And then I met my mother. Yeah, turns out that while everyone believed that she had been killed by a dragon when I was a baby, she had actually spent the next 20 years living with them, learning secrets even I had yet to discover!

I don't really miss everyone always coming to me for dragon advice, however, as I have new responsibilities now. You see, the day that I found my missing mother (and Berk got a huge dragon population boost thanks to our liberating them from the cruel control of Drago Bludvist) was also the day that my father Stoick the Vast retired as Chieftain of Berk and I took his place. Thankfully he still lives with us in the village so I can come to him for advice, along with my mother who is always willing to impart her dragon knowledge onto me.

When I think of how the battle with Drago might have gone differently had Dad not found that shield that day, I cannot help but shudder. Now he's passed the shield on down to me, as it was "too small" for him. Of course I've learned some neat tricks with this strange shield, though nothing that I feel is all that useful, but seeing as how handy it came in against Drago I still keep it with me all the time.

So that's how I spend my days most of the time these last two years, either running the village, learning from my Mom and Dad, or trying to unravel the mysteries of this shield. Today, however….

"Where is that boy!?" Stoick barked grumpily as he paced quickly back and forth across the grand hall.

"Stoick, calm down," Valka chuckled at her agitated husband.

"Calm down?" Stoick asked her in disbelief, "Valka, I had our whole day planned today! We were to go and fill the orders at Gobber's, then we had that important meeting with the other Chieftains before we went out on a patrol to make sure Drago's trappers weren't getting into any mischief, but before I could tell him any of that he tells me he'll be right back, then he takes off without letting me know where he's off to!"

Valka lays her hand tenderly on Stoick's face, which seems to have an immediate soothing effect, as she says, "Dear Stoick, I know it hasn't been easy adjusting to being retired, but you have to understand that our son is the one who is Chieftain now, not you."

Stoick sighs as he looks into her eyes, then he continues less heatedly, "I know, but that's precisely why he needs to be here at the village, not running off who knows where."

"Well he's been very good about taking his Chieftain duties seriously these last two years, so I think that he deserves a half-day off at least. Also I'm guessing that he left on Toothless, and you know how fast that dragon is, so if Hiccup said he'll be right back then I'm sure that he'll be true to his word," Valka reasoned as she straightened out Stoick's outfit, "Besides, I recall that around 23 years ago you had left your father in the lurch to have a certain talk with me."

Stoick looked stunned, as if he hadn't though of that possibility, "You don't think….you don't suppose that's what Hiccup's off doing now, do you?"

"He better be," Valka responded, looking as though she was starting to get agitated herself, "If he doesn't even bring it up today then I might have to have a talk with our son myself!"

Stoick chuckled under his breath as he said kindly, "Now who needs to calm down?"

"You're right," Valka conceded, "It's just that I'm not getting any younger, and our life expectancy is not all that high to begin with. I'd just like to have some grandkids while I'm still young enough to enjoy them, and he's kept that girl waiting long enough as it is."

"I wouldn't worry too much about Astrid, love," Stoick said as he brought Valka's hand to his lips, "If strength of will translated into strength of arm, then she'd be able to take on all of Berk and her dragons without breaking a sweat. Trust me, she won't be one to let Hiccup string her along even if he was someone who would do so. Anyway, I do hope that he takes care while he's out there. Although we've heard no word of him these last two years, I have no doubt that Drago is still alive and out there somewhere. Who knows what he's planning this time."

Hiccup paced back and forth on the shore of the archipelago, nervously fiddling with a ring in his hands as he muttered to himself, " '…and because we are such a good team, getting married is only the next logical step.' No, no, that's no good, makes it sound like some sort of business arrangement. Maybe 'Astrid, I cannot imagine my life without you. Would you please marry me?' Ugh, sounds like I'm begging. I wish I had talked about it with my mother before I left today."

"You wish you talked about what with your mother?" Hiccup heard Astrid say unexpectedly from behind him, startling him so badly that he jumped and tossed the ring into the air, though he managed to catch it quickly enough and stowed it into a compartment on his flight breeches before turning towards Astrid and saying in a nervously broken tone, "H-hi, Astrid. Thanks for coming today."

"Of course, but what's got you so nervous, Hiccup?" Astrid asked him in concern, then a dawning look appeared on her face as she guessed, "Oh, your father didn't give you a hard time about just hanging out today, did he?"

"Not really," Hiccup said truthfully, then he expanded, "Fact is I didn't give him the chance. I just ran past him saying I'd be right back, then took off on Toothless before he could get a word in edgewise."

"Oh, I didn't realize that we were playing hooky today," Astrid said as she looked down at her feet, her face reddening with the onset of a blush.

"We're not, not exactly," Hiccup gently corrected, "When I told Dad that I'd be right back I meant it. It's just that between running the village, going out on patrols, and learning the finer points of being a Chieftain and a dragon rider, it seems that we hardly get any time for ourselves. I just thought it wouldn't be unreasonable to steal away for a couple of hours, just to talk about some things."

"Oh, you asked me to come to….talk?" Astrid asked uneasily, a look of trepidation in her eyes.

"Don't worry, it's a good talk," Hiccup said assuredly, apparently taking strength in comforting Astrid as he sat down on the mossy ground and gestures for her to do the same, "At least I hope it will be."

"Okay," Astrid said as she settled onto the ground nest to him, taking a deep breath as she continued, "so what did you want to talk about?"

As Hiccup glanced over at Toothless frolicking with Stormfly, Hiccup wondered how he could make this look so easy as he took Astrid's hand in his and said, "Astrid, we've know each other for quite a long time. At least I feel like I've known you for a long time as I've had a crush on you for as long as I could remember, though before Dragon Training I wasn't sure that you knew I was alive, which is why I wanted to learn to kill dragons in the first place. To get you to notice me, that is."

"Oh, I noticed you alright. I was always on the lookout for you in order to stop you from messing up mine or anyone else's job," Astrid said teasingly, "Although I must admit that, before you and Toothless opened my eyes, if you asked me out on an outing like this I would have punched you in the arm so hard you wouldn't have been able to use it for a week."

Hiccup chuckled at the reminder of how Astrid used to be, then he rubbed the back of his neck as he said, "Averted physical violence aside, a lot of things have changed since then, and while I now have more friends than I know what to do with, you are the one that is most dear to me."

"Thanks, Hiccup," Astrid said as she smiled tenderly, "I feel the same way about you."

"I'm glad to hear that, because there's something I want to ask you," Hiccup said as he shifted his position from sitting beside her to kneeling before her, and her eyes widened as he took her hand in his and continued, "I know that traditionally we are supposed to go through our fathers first, but I wouldn't feel right unless I asked your thoughts on it first. I wouldn't want to try and pressure you in any way to do anything that you weren't 100% sure of."

Astrid gaped at him but said nothing, barely managing a small nod before Hiccup continued, "When I see how much happier my father is now that Mom is back home, I cannot help but think that what you are like for me. In fact, there is no one that I'd rather spend the rest of my life with. Astrid Hofferson, would you do me the great honor of…"

Hiccup is interrupted by the sound of a deep rumbling growl barely three feet from him, and both Hiccup and Astrid were startled to see that Toothless and Stormfly were growling in their direction. At first Hiccup was worried that something was wrong with Toothless, then he noticed that the dragons weren't looking at them but rather past them. Also, Toothless was glowing from within a bright blue that shoe though his scales and especially within his mouth and spine ridges, and Hiccup had seen Toothless like that only one time before! Standing quickly to face in that direction, Hiccup saw edging around the rock cliff in the distance a large, menacing figure he knew all too well, a man who chuckled and said in a mocking, apologetic tone, "I'm sorry. Was I interrupting something?"

"Drago," Hiccup said in a low, even tone as he drew his shield and fiery sword, and Astrid did the same with her axe, "what brings you here?"

"Oh, much the same as you, I imagine," Drago said with a smile that held no warmth, "It's just a beautiful day today, just perfect for proposing to a special woman, or for enjoying the sweet taste of revenge."

As he spoke, Drago's Bewilderbeast, with its left tusk broken, rose up out of the ocean behind him. Drago chuckled then and said, "You know, I'd heard about you becoming Berk's Chieftain, and so I figured I'd have to finish building my forces back up to what they were before in order to attack Berk and draw you out into a one on one duel; man to man, dragon to dragon. But then you went and obliged me early when you headed out to this archipelago."

"Well, in case your waterlogged brain had missed it, Hiccup's not exactly alone here," Astrid said as she twirled her axe in her grip, "and I'm not exactly some helpless damsel in distress."

"Of course, my lady, I apologize," Drago said with a bow, then he straightened again and bellowed as he twirled his hook-spear in the air, then he used it to point at both Astrid and Stormfly.

"That's not going to work," Hiccup chided him, "Our dragons recognize Toothless as the…" But then Hiccup saw that Astrid was not staring at the Bewilderbeast but rather something that was past it. Following her gaze, Hiccup saw a glowing blue streak heading their way fast.

"Flightmare!" was all Astrid managed to say before the speedy dragon swooped into their midst and saturated Astrid and Stormfly with its breath. Toothless unleashed some shots at it, but the Flightmare flew off again just as quickly, leaving Astrid and her dragon frozen where they were standing.

"You lousy, stinking…!" Hiccup growled angrily at Drago as he pointed his flaming sword at him.

"Calm yourself, boy," Drago admonished him, "Surely such a great "dragon master" as yourself recognizes the brilliant beauty of the Flightmare?"

"Of course," Hiccup acknowledged, for he'd seen one years before, when Astrid went off to challenge it to try and restore the honor of her family name.

"Yes, then you should know that its breath…" Drago started to explain before Hiccup interrupted, saying, "…contains a venom that instills a temporary paralysis on its victims that can last around 2 minutes, depending on the dosage received."

"Ah, so you have been studying," Drago smirked at him, "Good. Well I promise I will not personally harm her, so long as you accept my challenge. Just you and me. Your Night Fury can dance with my Bewilderbeast all he wants, but if he tries to help you in your duel then I will finish her off myself."

Toothless growls angrily at Drago, but then Hiccup turns to Toothless and says, "No, bud, we can't take the chance." He then strides over and locks Toothless' tail fin into position, saying as he points his sword at the Bewilderbeast, "You take care of the big guy, leave Ugly here to me."

Toothless looks at him in concern, then after Hiccup nods reassuringly Toothless turns and roars at the giant. When the Bewilderbeast responds with its own roar, Toothless takes off into the air and draws it away from the island before engaging it in battle. Then, as Hiccup gently lowers Astrid to the ground, Drago chuckles as he gets into a battle stance and says, "You don't know just how much I'm gonna enjoy this. Your Night Fury won't have a flock of dragons to command to help him this time. And even if he does survive his battle, you are the weak link in his partnership. Without you he'll never make it back to Berk, which means that all your dragons will become mine once again."

"And what makes you think that you can handle me?" Hiccup says across his flaming blade.

Drago laughs before saying, "Your suit may let you glide like a dragon, but it doesn't let you take off like one. Without altitude, you're just a scrawny bug to be crushed under my boot. But enough words…"

Drago then swung his weapon at Hiccup, who deflected the blow with his shield and countered with a slashing strike with his sword. As the deadly dance continued, Hiccup ducking under what blows he couldn't easily block with the shield as he knew the sword wouldn't absorb the force as well, Hiccup thought to himself, Okay, Drago may be bigger than you, but that means that you're fast and he's slow. He's clumsy and you're agile. He's bulky and you're… Then Drago feigns a blow to Hiccup's shield arm, and when Hiccup goes to block it, Drago instead swings the haft of the weapon to knock Hiccup's sword out of his hands. …about to be pounded into a pulp, Hiccup finished his thought. Drago then grabbed both of Hiccup's arms and dealt him a savage headbutt that left him stunned and reeling, then he followed it up with a series of hammer blows with his fists that caused Hiccup to collapse to the ground, wheezing and groaning in pain.

"What a complete waste of time. You aren't even worth the time I spent to prepare to assault Berk," Drago said disdainfully as he casually picked up his hook-spear from where he'd dropped it. Then, as he pulled Astrid's inert form into an upright position, he added, "I know the paralysis will be wearing off any moment now, but I don't feel like waiting, and I want her to know that her would-be husband was utterly unable to save her life."

"You said…" Hiccup groaned as he reached for his sword and painfully pulled himself into a stooped but standing position, "…that if I took your challenge….that you wouldn't…"

"…that I wouldn't personally harm your girl. Yes, I remember, and I'll keep my word," Drago finished for him with a sneer, "But I never said anything about having my dragon do it for me. Nothing personal, but I can't leave anyone here who might be able to take your dragon to Berk and ruin my plans." Drago then turned to the Bewilderbeast, who was still engaging in battle with Toothless, and pointed his weapon at Hiccup and Astrid while bellowing at the dragon, "Finish them!"

As the Bewilderbeast abandoned his fight with Toothless to open his mouth to unleash its frigid blast, Hiccup saw his friend realize the danger and rushed back to help. However, despite how fast the Night Fury was, Hiccup knew that his friend would not arrive in time. Taking a defensive position in front of Astrid, Hiccup held his shield in front of him. He knew it wouldn't be enough to protect him, but he hoped it would be enough to help him protect her.

As the rush of white neared him and Hiccup braced himself for death, a second ice blast struck the ground a few feet in front of him, and the Bewilderbeast's frost breath was deflected by an ice stalactite as big around as his father and twice as tall. The disrupted ice blast solidified into a series of ice spikes that formed a V-shape around Stormfly, Astrid and himself.

"What!?" Drago barked in confusion and rage as he glared up in the direction the second blast had come from. As he felt Astrid soften beside him, Hiccup also looked for the distinctive shape of another Bewilderbeast, for he reasoned only that could have created the ice pillar that saved their lives. Astrid, however, gripped Hiccup's chin and made him look at the top of the rock ridge behind them, where she was currently staring in shock and silence. There he saw not the majestic gaze of the Bewilderbeast he's expected to be peeking out from behind it, but rather four much smaller figures standing atop of it: one man, two women, and a reindeer. As the woman in front, whom Hiccup noted was dressed in a powder blue dress and had her platinum hair tied in a ponytail, lowered her hand and the snow flurries dies down, he saw her glare down at Drago and heard her say, "I really despise bullies."